April 11, 2025 • 37 mins
Welcome to Season 2 of The Film Dept. Podcast! We've got a new crew reviewing the latest films screening at The Beverly in downtown Las Vegas... and beyond.
This episode of The Film Dept. Podcast marks our very first crossover with Las Vegas's own Piecing It Together podcast to discuss NEWLYWEEDS (2013) directed by Shaka King and screened in front of a live audience at our partner cinema, The Beverly Theater. Piecing It's ever-curious host David Rosen joins Nic, Ani and L in front of a live audience on a sticky exploration of Shaka King's hilarious and touching first feature before going on to co-write and direct JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (2021). This live podcast followed a Q&A with King and Beverly programmer Mike Plante. An excerpt from that interview is featured in this episode.
Credits:
Email us: thefilmdeptpod@gmail.com
HOSTS - Nic Patrick, Ani Rogy, L Villareal Production
Sound Mixer - Sydney Maier
Co-Producer/Editor - Lilly Richie
Assistant Editor - Byron Schnell Davis
Production Coordinator - Kay Walgate
Director of Photography - Chris Chael
Camera Assistants - Edwin Ramirez and Angelo Masangkay
PRODUCERS - Tom Bjelic, Sam Decker
EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY - Adam Paul, Roudi Boroumand
For The Beverly:
Kip Kelly, Founding Creative Director | Chief Experience Officer
Alexi Harber, General Manager
Ivy Ergunes, Marketing Manager
To read the hosts' reviews, head over to: substack.com/thefilmdeptpodcast
This semester, The Film Department has teamed up with the mad geniuses of The Beverly Theater. Imagined by The Rogers Foundation, The Beverly Theater brings cinematic connectivity, novel collaborations, live happenings, cultural portals, and a zest for independent spirits to DTLV. With a mission to stage uncommon cinematic, literary, and live experiences, The Beverly Theater is Las Vegas’ first and only independent film house, storytelling arena, and live music venue.
For the latest screenings and events at The Beverly, visit thebeverlytheater.com The Film Department Podcast is supported by UNLV Film.
At the film department of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, every story has a beginning.With degree programs for undergraduates and graduates, state of the art equipment and facilities, incredible professional internships around the world, and expert guest speakers, students discover the power and potential of cinema as they prepare for the film and television industry… and beyond.
Learn more at UNLV.EDU/FILM UNLV Film. Find your voice. Tell your story.
This episode of The Film Dept. Podcast marks our very first crossover with Las Vegas's own Piecing It Together podcast to discuss NEWLYWEEDS (2013) directed by Shaka King and screened in front of a live audience at our partner cinema, The Beverly Theater. Piecing It's ever-curious host David Rosen joins Nic, Ani and L in front of a live audience on a sticky exploration of Shaka King's hilarious and touching first feature before going on to co-write and direct JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (2021). This live podcast followed a Q&A with King and Beverly programmer Mike Plante. An excerpt from that interview is featured in this episode.
Credits:
Email us: thefilmdeptpod@gmail.com
HOSTS - Nic Patrick, Ani Rogy, L Villareal Production
Sound Mixer - Sydney Maier
Co-Producer/Editor - Lilly Richie
Assistant Editor - Byron Schnell Davis
Production Coordinator - Kay Walgate
Director of Photography - Chris Chael
Camera Assistants - Edwin Ramirez and Angelo Masangkay
PRODUCERS - Tom Bjelic, Sam Decker
EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY - Adam Paul, Roudi Boroumand
For The Beverly:
Kip Kelly, Founding Creative Director | Chief Experience Officer
Alexi Harber, General Manager
Ivy Ergunes, Marketing Manager
To read the hosts' reviews, head over to: substack.com/thefilmdeptpodcast
This semester, The Film Department has teamed up with the mad geniuses of The Beverly Theater. Imagined by The Rogers Foundation, The Beverly Theater brings cinematic connectivity, novel collaborations, live happenings, cultural portals, and a zest for independent spirits to DTLV. With a mission to stage uncommon cinematic, literary, and live experiences, The Beverly Theater is Las Vegas’ first and only independent film house, storytelling arena, and live music venue.
For the latest screenings and events at The Beverly, visit thebeverlytheater.com The Film Department Podcast is supported by UNLV Film.
At the film department of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, every story has a beginning.With degree programs for undergraduates and graduates, state of the art equipment and facilities, incredible professional internships around the world, and expert guest speakers, students discover the power and potential of cinema as they prepare for the film and television industry… and beyond.
Learn more at UNLV.EDU/FILM UNLV Film. Find your voice. Tell your story.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The Film Department is supported by UNLV Film.
(00:04):
At the Film Department of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, every story has a beginning.
With degree programs for undergraduates and graduates, state-of-the-art equipment and
facilities, incredible professional internships around the world, and expert guest speakers,
students discover the power and potential of cinema as they prepare for the film and
(00:24):
television industry and beyond.
Learn more at unlv.edu/film.
UNLV Film.
Find your voice.
Tell your story.
[MUSIC]
(00:45):
All right, so I'm David Rosen, the host of the "Peezing It Together" podcast.
I'm here with the UNLV Film Department podcast.
Everybody I want you to introduce yourself before we start getting into the movie.
Nick, let's start with you.
I'm Nick Patrick.
I'm a third-year filmmaker at UNLV, and I'm very happy to be here with you, David.
Absolutely, Annie.
Hi, I'm Annie.
I'm a fourth-year film major at UNLV, mainly a designer.
(01:08):
And I'm Elle.
Hi, I'm a fifth year UNLV Film student.
I mainly do screenwriting, and I'm so excited to be here with all of you guys.
Absolutely.
Here at the Beverly Theater, which thank you so much for the Beverly for doing screenings
like this.
It's awesome to get to see a movie like this that none of us had seen yet, right?
Is that correct?
It's only like 400 watches on letterbox I saw before we started.
(01:32):
It's crazy.
Yeah, the same.
Some people who've watched the movie think that it's like an anti-wee to movie like "Refirmadness"
and I've always thought it's just like what I've always appreciated is when people who
really smoke, like really smoke, when they go, yeah, that's real.
Like that's like it's heightened, obviously.
(01:54):
It's a comedy.
It's supposed to be ridiculous, but the idea is behind it.
I think that's just a real appreciation for the complexity of fondly enjoying a minor
(02:15):
turn of substance.
I actually honestly thought Judas and the Black Messiah was a directorial debut when it came
out in 2021, which is a great movie, but yeah, I didn't even realize this.
And so I'm really happy to get to see this on a big screen and not just at home or whatever.
But let's get into the movie.
You know, first of all, when you hear the word "nouleeweeds," like what did you expect
(02:39):
this movie to be going into this?
What's very clever.
And I don't know, it just tells you this is going to be a fun time.
It's going to be a comedy.
But I don't think what I expected was the darkness to it.
And the very intense themes and the very real betrayal of the negatives of smoking weed.
(03:08):
Because I think oftentimes you see the glamourization of weed.
You have stoner comedies like Harold and Kumar and you get stuff like that.
But you don't see the real day to day as someone who smokes weed.
You just don't see that.
You just don't see that.
Absolutely.
(03:28):
And I mean, it's a difficult balance to pull off because this is a comedy, you know, mainly,
but it's also definitely a drama.
And it gets into a lot of heavy themes as well.
And so there's a lot going on here.
But what do you guys think?
Something that I really loved about it just straight from the beginning was that it does,
you know, balance these comedic elements with these darker tones, as we had mentioned.
(03:51):
But I think having a film that kind of is under the guise of substance the entire time really
lends it to be this absurd but also very grounded film.
That juxtaposition is throughout the entire thing.
And I think that was the thing that like I really watched too the most thematically.
You know, when verse reading the title, I'm going to be honest, I thought it's a nilly
(04:15):
what at first.
I was just, I was just, I was just, oh wait, it's just nilly weeds.
I just can't sleep.
They're not married.
I don't know.
I just sometimes gloss or the but I really when watching it, I was very surprised because
you know, though the title itself, it gives a very, again, very comedic look and feels very
(04:36):
comedic when hearing it and then watching it, especially the cinematography style.
It just felt very similar to even akin to like a documentary in some ways.
It felt like we were being plopped down straight into somebody's life, completely watching
this and it felt so real and it felt really cool to see those things depicted.
(04:59):
It just felt so interesting to see like the struggle found within it, but also, you know,
the realness.
It's honestly very, I find it very authentic.
Yeah, I think that speaks a lot to the point of view of the movie, which is absolutely
out to cover both ends of that.
I mean, obviously this is a relationship drama and it's a comedy at the same time.
(05:20):
It's also about the whole repo business that this guy is working in and that takes up
quite a bit of screen time and we get a lot of comedy there.
We also get a lot of drama there too.
The mix of comedy and drama is in both of these stories, the A and the B and being able
to put all that together is definitely a difficult thing to pull off, I think.
I think that really speaks to the performances a lot and whether, you know, whichever kind
(05:47):
of part of the story that we're following, we're seeing some really amazing stuff from
these actors.
I mean, talking about the performances, what did you guys think about both of these lead
actors?
God, I love them.
I was really, I was really, they do such a excellent job with going to these spots where
(06:11):
they can be very personal.
It feels very personal, especially when it comes to relationships.
We all dealt with relationships at one point, another and those highs and lows found within
it.
So seeing them really get into those spaces is so intimate and it feels so just wonderful
(06:31):
to be able to see it.
And also I think to see them also hit those comedic beats.
It's when I was first watching it, I didn't really have moments where I necessarily laughed
a lot only because I just don't have that much for me kind of, but seeing everyone's reactions,
I think that's the part that I got a lot of value out of.
(06:53):
That's a joke right there.
I just have sometimes such a hard time really grasping of something that's joking on and I thought
it was a bit that didn't fantastic.
I already kind of mentioned this to you, but I think that the fact that you kind of viewed
all of those like comedic beats is very serious.
Or I guess like the tone of it didn't like grasp you in the same way that it did to some
(07:15):
others, I think that that automatically shows the nuance in these characters.
I think that you can view it into very like strong at streams either like these really
high comedic moments or these very like grounded, very sentimental, very sad performances.
And I got pretty emotional there towards the end just because I felt like I was on this
(07:37):
wave of like absurdism and all of a sudden like once everything kind of starts to spiral
and plumb it like that really affected me emotionally and you start to realize like he is losing
everything.
Yeah, Shaka mentioned during the Q&A that some people view this movie as anti-weed, which
I don't think it is, but at the same time I totally could see where somebody would get
(08:00):
that because I mean it does take this character in some pretty you know bad places and we don't
know whether or not things are going to be okay for anybody in this movie by the end
of the movie.
So I mean we are not going to get into our experiences with weed here but we could at least talk
about that like kind of up and down of the character.
I think it is almost, I don't think weed in the film is a protagonist or an antagonist.
(08:27):
It is like this pure neutral kind of device in the plot where these characters can either
use it for good or they can use it for bad and I think it really puts like a very tight focus
on the characters because you have to see the choices that they are going to make you
(08:50):
know you have to kind of see the outside variables in their life and how they are going to
come into the apartment and how they are going to treat that drug.
Yeah, absolutely.
There was another question where somebody was asking about the individual characters relationships
to weed and how they change throughout the movie and I think that is something that is
(09:14):
really strong in this and that both of the main characters they their relationship absolutely
changes from it being more of a negative to a positive or vice versa and all of the other
characters are all you know all the small characters to some level are also pot heads and
they all deal with it in different ways as well and we get a lot of really rich characters
to that too.
(09:34):
I think my favorite thing about the influence of weed on these characters is for me at
least I saw the character Kyle or sorry Lyle definitely being more influenced by a weed
as like a form of escapism where I think that oh my gosh I just forgot.
Nina.
So much I think Nina is viewing it more as a form of connecting to her environment.
(10:01):
It's a very like a state versus connection thing for me and I think when you we were very
lucky to hear shocker kind of mention his influences on writing these two characters and
even though he was coming from a place of having gone through a breakup I think him putting
himself in the shoes of both of these characters and writing from his personal experience and
(10:23):
this give or take dichotomy with weed I think is very influential to the relationship as a
whole and especially when we start to see it in the outside perspective we kind of mentioned
like who's perspective are we viewing this in since us as an audience were very like thrown
into this environment but we're not really favoring one character over the other.
(10:49):
At the end of the day the relationship is one unit.
Absolutely speaking of characters do any of you have favorite characters in this?
Coleman Domingo.
Of course he steals the screen every time and I mean he's blowing up right now but and
shocker talked a lot about his performance during the Q&A right before this and it kind
(11:14):
of mentioned that Coleman Domingo's character Chico I believe his name is was kind of underwritten
in the script and I think it's really interesting that you know you have to have this character
and then you hire somebody and then they completely take it you know they completely make it
their own and I think that's like the beauty of acting is you know it becomes this immense
(11:40):
collaboration between not just the actor and the director but the actor and the overall
film like what the film is meant to be and I think that's incredibly beautiful and I think
all I think all the actors really did that they really made these characters their own
but yeah Coleman Domingo he steals it.
(12:00):
He's so good what about you guys?
I really like Lyle.
Yeah.
Lyle is just I really seeing his character I mean there's a lot to be said about a relationship
that suffers under a few things I think one of them is like like miscommunication or even
one of that a circumstance.
(12:21):
He just always is at the root of some really unfortunate circumstances like he gets screwed
over time and time again on various different things.
One of them is his own fault and some of it you know he but I find myself rooting for him
because it's something that he sees that Nina is important to him but he has a lot of
(12:44):
escapism as you were mentioning and but at the end of the day he also has a bit of a good
heart you know because once he realizes that hey we took the wrong guy's couch we should
go back and go and get it.
He's trying to advocate for it and then guys like nah we're not doing that.
He always seems to be on whenever he sees something that's going on that's messed up.
(13:09):
He wants to see to make it right to mend it and I just can't help but root for somebody
that is at the the ends of their own circumstances or circumstances that live and pose upon them
and hoping that things get better.
And you know it is a sad ending you know.
(13:30):
Yeah.
But it strike me so much and I think it was the correct ending and as Shaka was saying
we was not ridden originally and the skirmish was about them going off together but I feel
like this itself feels so much more personal because I think in a lot of ways Lyle uses
(13:52):
both wheat and also his relationship with Nina as a form of working on his own self but
now it's just him and it's just him and you know he's got his talk from from his dealer
saying yeah I don't like seeing you like this man.
Let's clean yourself up a bit and he goes in like I'm going to do this so I want to go
(14:16):
with Nina.
I want to be with Nina and so doing all this intention with being with Nina and he
doesn't get her the end and I think that itself could really be because we don't see where
it goes from there you know but I'd like to hopefully believe perhaps that he begins to
do that just for himself at one point so I've done it for that's the least I see you know
(14:40):
he uses relationships and really this is relationship and wheat as a form of not really
working on himself a bit so yeah.
Right.
And yeah I love that character as well.
What about you Annie?
I really empathize with Nina.
I think there's something so I feel like I get personally attached to characters who have
(15:02):
a sense of like winzy and I think that she really captures this like beautiful gracefulness
throughout the film even even in times where you know she's starting to feel like she's
lost a sense of control in this relationship and she doesn't really know what's happening
I think that she at the end of the day is just someone who is really empathetic and I think
(15:26):
she leads with her heart and I think she just kind of in captures like this strive for
human connection and in relation to Lyle again I think he is driven by escapism and I think
that's why he needs her because she is kind of this escape and I mean once she's gone the
(15:51):
only thing that he can think to do is escape with her and I just I really love that relationship
in itself.
Yeah and there's a lot of great stuff there with that whole entire relationship story and
I really love both of the main characters I also want to shout out Isaiah Whitlock in the
prison there so fun.
Amazing.
Yeah really great stuff.
(16:12):
So on my podcast piecing it together we talk about a movie through the lens of what other
movies might have inspired it and we call those movies puzzle pieces and so we're going to
go through a couple of rounds of puzzle pieces here talking about movies we think might have
played a hand in influencing Shaka King in making this movie in some way and I think Nick
(16:33):
I think was you that brought up New York in your questions and I kept thinking of this
as a New York movie and I was thinking of Woody Allen maybe Annie Hall specifically as a puzzle
piece here as far as a relationship where both characters are just so kind of on their own
paths and they love each other but they're not really right for each other and so it's
(16:55):
kind of meant to be that this is going to go the way that it goes by the end of this movie
and there's one scene I haven't seen it in a while but one scene in Woody in Woody
on Annie Hall where they're getting subtitles to like kind of say what they really mean
because they're like anxiety they can't really quite open up to each other in the right way
I could totally see these two characters having a moment like that where we're seeing what
(17:18):
they actually mean because there's a lot of anxiety to these characters and maybe that's
a New York thing but I think that it makes them kind of closed off from one another and
it leads to a lot of the issues in the relationship and where weed kind of comes into kind of
help it along for as long as it possibly can anyway but yeah so that was the first one I wanted
(17:39):
to bring up Nick what do you got?
I think I'm gonna cheat a little bit because you know a shock I did mention that there
were some the graduate inspiration and near the end there and obviously he didn't go
in that direction and we don't see them take it well we do see them together in the
car at the end but we don't really see them right together at the car at the end but
(18:03):
I think there's definitely some inspiration there outside of those those final scenes and
those movies just in regards to like their relationship and I mean it's like we said it's
two people that just it just cannot work and it will not work no matter what you do and
(18:26):
both films deal with escapism and I think newlyweeds adds an interesting layer upon it with
the weed because with the two characters Nina kind of sees escapism when she sober but
Lyle his escapism is only only through weed and he can only connect with her through the
(18:52):
escapism you know when he's high and I think I think that's an incredibly interesting layer
that he adds upon it and I love that I love that dynamic between the two.
Yeah me too and I think you can kind of combine those two movies the graduate and any
hall as movies that would inspire any really rich relationship drama comedy mixture like
(19:12):
this and I think they both fit really well in similar ways for those but let's go to
one for you Annie.
Mine's gonna take a complete detour from what we've just been talking about the first one
that I immediately clocked in my head and I was like this is a puzzle piece.
This scene where the repo man seen like the the dream I immediately was like this is this
(19:39):
is Beastie Boy sabotage.
Oh yeah.
And I'm a big Beastie Boy's fan and I just I think that considering that you know shockers
from New York he has a lot of you know New York influence that the Beastie Boy's influence
is like the first thing that I thought of just for that scene alone but also just for
(20:00):
the love of New York that's just like very subtly thrown throughout this entire film.
Absolutely great.
It's amazing that's a great pull.
Yeah totally synonymous with New York and just fits so well in the vibe of this thing
and that's so much fun.
I think just design wise like the entire like like 70s costume like badass repo man look
(20:24):
but it's you know fake moustaches and it's very corny and even like the scene after like
following that where he's in the skies and he's literally wearing a beard on top of a
beard.
Sure.
Yeah.
That just felt very fun and I love that.
By the way outside of that scene because that scene is great but outside it's seen great
use of music throughout this whole movie.
(20:45):
Yeah really great soundtrack but let's go to one for me.
Well you know for me when I come to think of it in terms of New York feeling vibe I want
to go and say midnight cowboy.
Good one yeah yeah.
I think that the realism found within the feeling of the entirety of the setting as well
(21:08):
as the grittiness that you know I wouldn't say grittiness.
It's just and I think that's the one that's kind of popping into my head.
I just feel the authenticity there it is.
The authenticity that I feel along with the characters and like all the moving pieces are
(21:29):
happening in the background you know he's being over there you know in the stores and you
know seeing all this nightlife and I just think the way how it feels just kind of gives
off this like the midnight cowboy because I remember when I watched that film I was like
it feels real and also even that ending with like it doesn't go the like even within the
(21:57):
midnight cow we have two characters like let's go on this trip to like Florida.
Sure yeah.
And now they're like well let's go to the Galapagos and then it both doesn't go the way
that they both don't expect and so I kind of see it within that you know maybe intentional
on intentional but midnight cowboy.
I think it's a really interesting one and I think they're both characters if we're looking
(22:21):
at Lyle as the main character which he is both characters that are just totally not
okay in their own skin basically.
Oh yeah.
And just totally out of place in this world that they've gotten themselves into and trying
to basically just survive and stay keep their head above water in this entire thing and
yeah midnight cowboy is really a really great movie and definitely an interesting one to bring
(22:41):
up here.
We got to get a weed movie in here so I'm going with half baked.
For my next one.
I mean the love with literally Mary Jane because Dave Sheppell's girlfriend's name is Mary
Jane super on the nose and ridiculous but the love for Mary Jane is kind of pulling
him out of his love for weed and you know we hope that maybe that same love here will
(23:08):
you know get us in a better direction after the credit roll and newlyweeds but we don't
really know but hopefully.
And along with the love story we also have just like really weird odd jobs goofy friends
that are all just total stoners and you know the the friend that he does the repo work with
(23:29):
total screw up and really just it reminded me a lot of the friendships within that movie
and half baked the movie I used to love back in the day and he gets younger than me.
I think no but I think I think like so many of the side characters you're like yeah I
know a guy like that.
Yeah sure yeah I knew a guy but no totally it's yeah that's an amazing pick.
(23:55):
That's good one other one for you Nick.
I want to touch back on that dream sequence where we're in the disguise and it's the tough
guys song.
When I was watching that and then pretty much after that point I am getting a lot of those
like old 70s like caught movies and and like those kind of vibes but I was getting a lot
(24:19):
of shame black in the way in the way the the humor could sometimes be very slapstick you
know it's a lot of physical physical stuff and you've got cuts that just show them doing
something crazy.
I just I loved it and yeah I just got a lot of shame black in that and I don't know if
the nice guys came out after or before this but or around the same time maybe nice guys
(24:43):
is after but it's so good and totally yeah yeah yeah.
Kiscus bang bangs maybe a little closer in time but yeah no shame black is amazing and yeah
also going back to that era of where he's basically known for of those kinds of action
comedies so yeah absolutely and more people need to watch the nice guys nobody is seen
it and it needs to see cool it's serious it's absolutely it's got another one Nick.
(25:08):
I don't know if mine would necessarily count my nights one just because it came after newly
weeds I was really feeling like the high fidelity mini series was like I saw a lot of connection
in that mainly because you know it's a story about I once again like set in New York I think
there's something beautiful about New York apartment complexes and visually I think that
(25:31):
that's like very represented in like a very similar way but I think when you start to
think about like the the needle drops the the lighting it just feels very New York and
I think that high fidelity is a beautiful representation of that I also think in terms
of class struggle that also connects pretty well.
(25:55):
I haven't seen the series but I'll go to the high fidelity movie which is fantastic.
Yeah that's true that's true.
I hadn't thought of that but it's a really great one because I mean these are both characters
are kind of stuck in a rest of development and just they can't quite move on with their
life and be better.
I think that like the struggle of being like in your early to or more like mid to late
(26:16):
20s but feeling stuck is a very strong point that's made in both the show and in the mini
series.
Sure.
And I think that like I wouldn't say it's like a millennial story but I think that there's
like a little bit of that that similarity to it.
We felt it back then too.
Yeah.
Let's cut it one more for Mel.
(26:36):
I think you know this movie had a lot of had just reminded of Friday you know Friday.
I just you know the comedy aspect of it all I you know I recognize there the comedic
elements found within it and you know it's a bit more you know it's a bit more dramatic
(27:01):
at times here but I think when I think about it I just I can see a lot of you know characters
having that sort of ways about them and I remember watching Friday when I was like I don't
know 13 with my dad.
(27:21):
And I just I just kind of remind me of that here because you know we got people kind of dealing
with their own circumstances and situations and personal relationships and I just feel
like it really there's a lot of energy within that here and you know I think that it would
(27:42):
be very amiss at least for me to not mention it.
No no absolutely.
It's a really fun colorful cast the characters that all decide people that they hang out
with the drug dealer and all the people that they meet up with along the way and so that
there's a lot of great characters in that movie and here too and that makes for a big tapestry
of a cast really so.
(28:03):
Yeah and that's what makes that film and I feel like so many of the side characters here
really make the film too because we go like hey we know that guy coming back like we
see the guy you know still in the cans also took that he's the guy that we get the they
take the couch from he's also in the jail cell and it's just the recurring car as well
(28:25):
so like several smaller characters coming back all nice to come back but like just coming
in being like oh I didn't expect this to be here but hey this is great.
Yeah absolutely.
Well let's get into some closing thoughts here Nick any any things that we didn't quite
get to that you wanted to mention about this?
I again I just I want to just keep touching on the fact that this is this is this is really
(28:49):
and I and I don't mean to like I feel like everybody says this but this really is a film
that where I've seen a theme not really put the screen correctly or I haven't seen it
you know at all on screen because again it is it is something that gets glamorized so
much or you get like something that's pushed so far that's like anti-weed you know I
(29:11):
think this shows so many different perspectives and you know I think one of my favorite scenes
is that scene between Lyle and his dealer because I think any other film would have shown
that dealer and it would have you know the dealer would have pushed him further into the
pit you know and it's it's it's characters are just so colorful and they have so many
(29:37):
layers and they they are not what you expect and yeah it's just you know again you read
newlyweds you think it's a comedy and you come out and it's a you have a whole new perspective
on on the drug and and people's relationship with it so I think it's truly beautiful
(29:59):
absolutely yeah there's a lot of layers to anybody's relationship with any kind of substance
honestly and I they're all kind of on display here in this movie which not a lot of movies
would do all of those layers and and you can tell how authentic this film is because so
many people go up to shocker right after this this screening and you know connect with him
(30:21):
and connect with the characters in the film and and that's really that's you know with
film you want to entertain but you also want to touch other people and you want to you
want to make a connection absolutely any how about you yeah to kind of piggyback off of that
I think the one thing that I was mainly surprised about I mean you hear a title like newlyweeds
(30:46):
you go and it's acting it to be you know like a film that is about like about weed but at
the end of the day like the substance is the like atmosphere I kind of there's in a
some kind of strange but the way that I kind of view it is like we're kind of like hot
boxed in this like situation that they're in where the film itself isn't necessarily about
(31:09):
the substance but it's the thing that is just like lingering throughout the film it's it's
in the atmosphere of it and however these characters decide to go about how it influences
them is really the driving force of it it's it's so character driven over circumstandurally
driven I guess yeah absolutely there's a lot of textures here that you know from the weed
(31:35):
too we talked about New York here a whole bunch through a lot of our pieces here and and
honestly a lot of 70s kind of movies coming up so a lot of different textures that were
kind of mashing together into a very current story even though we're you know 12 years
away from it or however long it's been but yeah it's it's a really interesting mix of those kind
of themes and yeah absolutely oh it's good for you you know it's sort of speak to that I'd
(32:00):
say a lot of the you know even the the techniques used in terms of the music I mean we were
just talking about the soundtrack but even in the editing because we get these very long
takes where we are traveling along and it feels to me very documentary-esque but then it's not even
(32:22):
just that it's just those hard cuts from point to point and I think to that itself I feel that's
very disorienting in a way I know that whenever sometimes when I I take my own medication I can get
disassociation episodes because like just foggy mind so sometimes it really feels like I'm at one
(32:45):
point in my house and also when did I get into my classroom so to have that sort of editing technique
of just going from one scene then just straight hard cut to the next it feels disorienting it feels
very jarring and I feel like that itself really supports you know this idea of you know substance being
(33:10):
lay-laced throughout this whole film and even with the soundtrack we have moments where there is no
music it's all about the what's in the environment around it's all the sound but then you get you
know those those melodic keys or you know that very soft music or like those very fun hard fast
(33:30):
things within the the the dream sequences the hallucinationary sequences and I think that itself
can feel so euphoric and you know I know we I think when I think of like it's always sort of talk about
that doing drugs is so hard to depict or on the screen but I think it's just little things that
(33:57):
really help highlight it to be you know yeah when you when you do smoke you do feel euphoric
before before the for that second you know so I'd say that the lot of a lot the use the intentionality
of it all really brings it together and forms a very cohesive a very very cohesive movie yeah absolutely
(34:21):
I think you're right it is hard to depict like being high in movies like it's you either go too far
it's just not right or whatever so I think that it kind of it does that really well but also
another thing about like weed or whatever is is it's hard to predict what you know the effects
are gonna be and I think that's kind of mirrored in the dreamlike sequences and the the dreamlike
(34:45):
kind of narrative of the movie shock I was talking in the Q&A about how the ending kind of just
came about because it felt a little bit more dreamlike and it seemed like it fit better with the movie
and I think that's something that throughout the entire movie we're seeing a lot of everything kind of
playing out like a dream sequence from beginning to end and even as things get more down to earth
(35:07):
and things get more stoned I mean anytime it's also you kind of could go anywhere you get to those
smash cuts you talked about or you could get into just like a total imagined sequence like like
the cop scene that we've all been talking about just all different kinds of things can happen
and I mean when you're stoned all the time really there's no telling where you know that mindset's
(35:29):
gonna go so yeah I think that it's a really interesting thing to balance and I think it's pull off
really well here so yeah I think that's a good place to wrap up newly weeds Nick tell people
they could find you anything you want to plug oh man I don't know if there's anything I want to plug
but I definitely want to plug the film department podcast which is on Spotify YouTube you can
(35:50):
find out on the unilv website it's we talk about movies we talk about films that are happening here
at the Beverly and yeah it's fantastic I've amazing co-hosts and yeah we have a great time so definitely
watch some episodes of the film department and the piece in pod oh yes thank you yeah piecing it
(36:11):
together we'll be at a downtown cinema is for death of a unicorn this weekend Saturday and next
Thursday for scream boat which is a Mickey Mouse horror movie which looks absolutely ridiculous but
should be fun but lots of lots of live shows coming up around Las Vegas and hopefully we'll be back
here with you guys sometime soon here at the Beverly so anything else you guys want to plug over here
(36:33):
anything the Beverly Theater yeah absolutely watch movies yeah go to the movie go to the
leader yeah absolutely absolutely that's been a great being here if you guys everybody all right on
thank you everybody imagine by the Rogers Foundation the Beverly Theater brings cinematic connectivity
novel collaborations live happenings cultural portals and assessed for independent spirits to
(36:59):
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The Film Department is supported by UNLV Film.
(00:04):
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With degree programs for undergraduates and graduates, state-of-the-art equipment and
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(00:24):
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UNLV Film.
Find your voice.
Tell your story.
[MUSIC]
(00:45):
All right, so I'm David Rosen, the host of the "Peezing It Together" podcast.
I'm here with the UNLV Film Department podcast.
Everybody I want you to introduce yourself before we start getting into the movie.
Nick, let's start with you.
I'm Nick Patrick.
I'm a third-year filmmaker at UNLV, and I'm very happy to be here with you, David.
Absolutely, Annie.
Hi, I'm Annie.
I'm a fourth-year film major at UNLV, mainly a designer.
(01:08):
And I'm Elle.
Hi, I'm a fifth year UNLV Film student.
I mainly do screenwriting, and I'm so excited to be here with all of you guys.
Absolutely.
Here at the Beverly Theater, which thank you so much for the Beverly for doing screenings
like this.
It's awesome to get to see a movie like this that none of us had seen yet, right?
Is that correct?
It's only like 400 watches on letterbox I saw before we started.
(01:32):
It's crazy.
Yeah, the same.
Some people who've watched the movie think that it's like an anti-wee to movie like "Refirmadness"
and I've always thought it's just like what I've always appreciated is when people who
really smoke, like really smoke, when they go, yeah, that's real.
Like that's like it's heightened, obviously.
(01:54):
It's a comedy.
It's supposed to be ridiculous, but the idea is behind it.
I think that's just a real appreciation for the complexity of fondly enjoying a minor
(02:15):
turn of substance.
I actually honestly thought Judas and the Black Messiah was a directorial debut when it came
out in 2021, which is a great movie, but yeah, I didn't even realize this.
And so I'm really happy to get to see this on a big screen and not just at home or whatever.
But let's get into the movie.
You know, first of all, when you hear the word "nouleeweeds," like what did you expect
(02:39):
this movie to be going into this?
What's very clever.
And I don't know, it just tells you this is going to be a fun time.
It's going to be a comedy.
But I don't think what I expected was the darkness to it.
And the very intense themes and the very real betrayal of the negatives of smoking weed.
(03:08):
Because I think oftentimes you see the glamourization of weed.
You have stoner comedies like Harold and Kumar and you get stuff like that.
But you don't see the real day to day as someone who smokes weed.
You just don't see that.
You just don't see that.
Absolutely.
(03:28):
And I mean, it's a difficult balance to pull off because this is a comedy, you know, mainly,
but it's also definitely a drama.
And it gets into a lot of heavy themes as well.
And so there's a lot going on here.
But what do you guys think?
Something that I really loved about it just straight from the beginning was that it does,
you know, balance these comedic elements with these darker tones, as we had mentioned.
(03:51):
But I think having a film that kind of is under the guise of substance the entire time really
lends it to be this absurd but also very grounded film.
That juxtaposition is throughout the entire thing.
And I think that was the thing that like I really watched too the most thematically.
You know, when verse reading the title, I'm going to be honest, I thought it's a nilly
(04:15):
what at first.
I was just, I was just, I was just, oh wait, it's just nilly weeds.
I just can't sleep.
They're not married.
I don't know.
I just sometimes gloss or the but I really when watching it, I was very surprised because
you know, though the title itself, it gives a very, again, very comedic look and feels very
(04:36):
comedic when hearing it and then watching it, especially the cinematography style.
It just felt very similar to even akin to like a documentary in some ways.
It felt like we were being plopped down straight into somebody's life, completely watching
this and it felt so real and it felt really cool to see those things depicted.
(04:59):
It just felt so interesting to see like the struggle found within it, but also, you know,
the realness.
It's honestly very, I find it very authentic.
Yeah, I think that speaks a lot to the point of view of the movie, which is absolutely
out to cover both ends of that.
I mean, obviously this is a relationship drama and it's a comedy at the same time.
(05:20):
It's also about the whole repo business that this guy is working in and that takes up
quite a bit of screen time and we get a lot of comedy there.
We also get a lot of drama there too.
The mix of comedy and drama is in both of these stories, the A and the B and being able
to put all that together is definitely a difficult thing to pull off, I think.
I think that really speaks to the performances a lot and whether, you know, whichever kind
(05:47):
of part of the story that we're following, we're seeing some really amazing stuff from
these actors.
I mean, talking about the performances, what did you guys think about both of these lead
actors?
God, I love them.
I was really, I was really, they do such a excellent job with going to these spots where
(06:11):
they can be very personal.
It feels very personal, especially when it comes to relationships.
We all dealt with relationships at one point, another and those highs and lows found within
it.
So seeing them really get into those spaces is so intimate and it feels so just wonderful
(06:31):
to be able to see it.
And also I think to see them also hit those comedic beats.
It's when I was first watching it, I didn't really have moments where I necessarily laughed
a lot only because I just don't have that much for me kind of, but seeing everyone's reactions,
I think that's the part that I got a lot of value out of.
(06:53):
That's a joke right there.
I just have sometimes such a hard time really grasping of something that's joking on and I thought
it was a bit that didn't fantastic.
I already kind of mentioned this to you, but I think that the fact that you kind of viewed
all of those like comedic beats is very serious.
Or I guess like the tone of it didn't like grasp you in the same way that it did to some
(07:15):
others, I think that that automatically shows the nuance in these characters.
I think that you can view it into very like strong at streams either like these really
high comedic moments or these very like grounded, very sentimental, very sad performances.
And I got pretty emotional there towards the end just because I felt like I was on this
(07:37):
wave of like absurdism and all of a sudden like once everything kind of starts to spiral
and plumb it like that really affected me emotionally and you start to realize like he is losing
everything.
Yeah, Shaka mentioned during the Q&A that some people view this movie as anti-weed, which
I don't think it is, but at the same time I totally could see where somebody would get
(08:00):
that because I mean it does take this character in some pretty you know bad places and we don't
know whether or not things are going to be okay for anybody in this movie by the end
of the movie.
So I mean we are not going to get into our experiences with weed here but we could at least talk
about that like kind of up and down of the character.
I think it is almost, I don't think weed in the film is a protagonist or an antagonist.
(08:27):
It is like this pure neutral kind of device in the plot where these characters can either
use it for good or they can use it for bad and I think it really puts like a very tight focus
on the characters because you have to see the choices that they are going to make you
(08:50):
know you have to kind of see the outside variables in their life and how they are going to
come into the apartment and how they are going to treat that drug.
Yeah, absolutely.
There was another question where somebody was asking about the individual characters relationships
to weed and how they change throughout the movie and I think that is something that is
(09:14):
really strong in this and that both of the main characters they their relationship absolutely
changes from it being more of a negative to a positive or vice versa and all of the other
characters are all you know all the small characters to some level are also pot heads and
they all deal with it in different ways as well and we get a lot of really rich characters
to that too.
(09:34):
I think my favorite thing about the influence of weed on these characters is for me at
least I saw the character Kyle or sorry Lyle definitely being more influenced by a weed
as like a form of escapism where I think that oh my gosh I just forgot.
Nina.
So much I think Nina is viewing it more as a form of connecting to her environment.
(10:01):
It's a very like a state versus connection thing for me and I think when you we were very
lucky to hear shocker kind of mention his influences on writing these two characters and
even though he was coming from a place of having gone through a breakup I think him putting
himself in the shoes of both of these characters and writing from his personal experience and
(10:23):
this give or take dichotomy with weed I think is very influential to the relationship as a
whole and especially when we start to see it in the outside perspective we kind of mentioned
like who's perspective are we viewing this in since us as an audience were very like thrown
into this environment but we're not really favoring one character over the other.
(10:49):
At the end of the day the relationship is one unit.
Absolutely speaking of characters do any of you have favorite characters in this?
Coleman Domingo.
Of course he steals the screen every time and I mean he's blowing up right now but and
shocker talked a lot about his performance during the Q&A right before this and it kind
(11:14):
of mentioned that Coleman Domingo's character Chico I believe his name is was kind of underwritten
in the script and I think it's really interesting that you know you have to have this character
and then you hire somebody and then they completely take it you know they completely make it
their own and I think that's like the beauty of acting is you know it becomes this immense
(11:40):
collaboration between not just the actor and the director but the actor and the overall
film like what the film is meant to be and I think that's incredibly beautiful and I think
all I think all the actors really did that they really made these characters their own
but yeah Coleman Domingo he steals it.
(12:00):
He's so good what about you guys?
I really like Lyle.
Yeah.
Lyle is just I really seeing his character I mean there's a lot to be said about a relationship
that suffers under a few things I think one of them is like like miscommunication or even
one of that a circumstance.
(12:21):
He just always is at the root of some really unfortunate circumstances like he gets screwed
over time and time again on various different things.
One of them is his own fault and some of it you know he but I find myself rooting for him
because it's something that he sees that Nina is important to him but he has a lot of
(12:44):
escapism as you were mentioning and but at the end of the day he also has a bit of a good
heart you know because once he realizes that hey we took the wrong guy's couch we should
go back and go and get it.
He's trying to advocate for it and then guys like nah we're not doing that.
He always seems to be on whenever he sees something that's going on that's messed up.
(13:09):
He wants to see to make it right to mend it and I just can't help but root for somebody
that is at the the ends of their own circumstances or circumstances that live and pose upon them
and hoping that things get better.
And you know it is a sad ending you know.
(13:30):
Yeah.
But it strike me so much and I think it was the correct ending and as Shaka was saying
we was not ridden originally and the skirmish was about them going off together but I feel
like this itself feels so much more personal because I think in a lot of ways Lyle uses
(13:52):
both wheat and also his relationship with Nina as a form of working on his own self but
now it's just him and it's just him and you know he's got his talk from from his dealer
saying yeah I don't like seeing you like this man.
Let's clean yourself up a bit and he goes in like I'm going to do this so I want to go
(14:16):
with Nina.
I want to be with Nina and so doing all this intention with being with Nina and he
doesn't get her the end and I think that itself could really be because we don't see where
it goes from there you know but I'd like to hopefully believe perhaps that he begins to
do that just for himself at one point so I've done it for that's the least I see you know
(14:40):
he uses relationships and really this is relationship and wheat as a form of not really
working on himself a bit so yeah.
Right.
And yeah I love that character as well.
What about you Annie?
I really empathize with Nina.
I think there's something so I feel like I get personally attached to characters who have
(15:02):
a sense of like winzy and I think that she really captures this like beautiful gracefulness
throughout the film even even in times where you know she's starting to feel like she's
lost a sense of control in this relationship and she doesn't really know what's happening
I think that she at the end of the day is just someone who is really empathetic and I think
(15:26):
she leads with her heart and I think she just kind of in captures like this strive for
human connection and in relation to Lyle again I think he is driven by escapism and I think
that's why he needs her because she is kind of this escape and I mean once she's gone the
(15:51):
only thing that he can think to do is escape with her and I just I really love that relationship
in itself.
Yeah and there's a lot of great stuff there with that whole entire relationship story and
I really love both of the main characters I also want to shout out Isaiah Whitlock in the
prison there so fun.
Amazing.
Yeah really great stuff.
(16:12):
So on my podcast piecing it together we talk about a movie through the lens of what other
movies might have inspired it and we call those movies puzzle pieces and so we're going to
go through a couple of rounds of puzzle pieces here talking about movies we think might have
played a hand in influencing Shaka King in making this movie in some way and I think Nick
(16:33):
I think was you that brought up New York in your questions and I kept thinking of this
as a New York movie and I was thinking of Woody Allen maybe Annie Hall specifically as a puzzle
piece here as far as a relationship where both characters are just so kind of on their own
paths and they love each other but they're not really right for each other and so it's
(16:55):
kind of meant to be that this is going to go the way that it goes by the end of this movie
and there's one scene I haven't seen it in a while but one scene in Woody in Woody
on Annie Hall where they're getting subtitles to like kind of say what they really mean
because they're like anxiety they can't really quite open up to each other in the right way
I could totally see these two characters having a moment like that where we're seeing what
(17:18):
they actually mean because there's a lot of anxiety to these characters and maybe that's
a New York thing but I think that it makes them kind of closed off from one another and
it leads to a lot of the issues in the relationship and where weed kind of comes into kind of
help it along for as long as it possibly can anyway but yeah so that was the first one I wanted
(17:39):
to bring up Nick what do you got?
I think I'm gonna cheat a little bit because you know a shock I did mention that there
were some the graduate inspiration and near the end there and obviously he didn't go
in that direction and we don't see them take it well we do see them together in the
car at the end but we don't really see them right together at the car at the end but
(18:03):
I think there's definitely some inspiration there outside of those those final scenes and
those movies just in regards to like their relationship and I mean it's like we said it's
two people that just it just cannot work and it will not work no matter what you do and
(18:26):
both films deal with escapism and I think newlyweeds adds an interesting layer upon it with
the weed because with the two characters Nina kind of sees escapism when she sober but
Lyle his escapism is only only through weed and he can only connect with her through the
(18:52):
escapism you know when he's high and I think I think that's an incredibly interesting layer
that he adds upon it and I love that I love that dynamic between the two.
Yeah me too and I think you can kind of combine those two movies the graduate and any
hall as movies that would inspire any really rich relationship drama comedy mixture like
(19:12):
this and I think they both fit really well in similar ways for those but let's go to
one for you Annie.
Mine's gonna take a complete detour from what we've just been talking about the first one
that I immediately clocked in my head and I was like this is a puzzle piece.
This scene where the repo man seen like the the dream I immediately was like this is this
(19:39):
is Beastie Boy sabotage.
Oh yeah.
And I'm a big Beastie Boy's fan and I just I think that considering that you know shockers
from New York he has a lot of you know New York influence that the Beastie Boy's influence
is like the first thing that I thought of just for that scene alone but also just for
(20:00):
the love of New York that's just like very subtly thrown throughout this entire film.
Absolutely great.
It's amazing that's a great pull.
Yeah totally synonymous with New York and just fits so well in the vibe of this thing
and that's so much fun.
I think just design wise like the entire like like 70s costume like badass repo man look
(20:24):
but it's you know fake moustaches and it's very corny and even like the scene after like
following that where he's in the skies and he's literally wearing a beard on top of a
beard.
Sure.
Yeah.
That just felt very fun and I love that.
By the way outside of that scene because that scene is great but outside it's seen great
use of music throughout this whole movie.
(20:45):
Yeah really great soundtrack but let's go to one for me.
Well you know for me when I come to think of it in terms of New York feeling vibe I want
to go and say midnight cowboy.
Good one yeah yeah.
I think that the realism found within the feeling of the entirety of the setting as well
(21:08):
as the grittiness that you know I wouldn't say grittiness.
It's just and I think that's the one that's kind of popping into my head.
I just feel the authenticity there it is.
The authenticity that I feel along with the characters and like all the moving pieces are
(21:29):
happening in the background you know he's being over there you know in the stores and you
know seeing all this nightlife and I just think the way how it feels just kind of gives
off this like the midnight cowboy because I remember when I watched that film I was like
it feels real and also even that ending with like it doesn't go the like even within the
(21:57):
midnight cow we have two characters like let's go on this trip to like Florida.
Sure yeah.
And now they're like well let's go to the Galapagos and then it both doesn't go the way
that they both don't expect and so I kind of see it within that you know maybe intentional
on intentional but midnight cowboy.
I think it's a really interesting one and I think they're both characters if we're looking
(22:21):
at Lyle as the main character which he is both characters that are just totally not
okay in their own skin basically.
Oh yeah.
And just totally out of place in this world that they've gotten themselves into and trying
to basically just survive and stay keep their head above water in this entire thing and
yeah midnight cowboy is really a really great movie and definitely an interesting one to bring
(22:41):
up here.
We got to get a weed movie in here so I'm going with half baked.
For my next one.
I mean the love with literally Mary Jane because Dave Sheppell's girlfriend's name is Mary
Jane super on the nose and ridiculous but the love for Mary Jane is kind of pulling
him out of his love for weed and you know we hope that maybe that same love here will
(23:08):
you know get us in a better direction after the credit roll and newlyweeds but we don't
really know but hopefully.
And along with the love story we also have just like really weird odd jobs goofy friends
that are all just total stoners and you know the the friend that he does the repo work with
(23:29):
total screw up and really just it reminded me a lot of the friendships within that movie
and half baked the movie I used to love back in the day and he gets younger than me.
I think no but I think I think like so many of the side characters you're like yeah I
know a guy like that.
Yeah sure yeah I knew a guy but no totally it's yeah that's an amazing pick.
(23:55):
That's good one other one for you Nick.
I want to touch back on that dream sequence where we're in the disguise and it's the tough
guys song.
When I was watching that and then pretty much after that point I am getting a lot of those
like old 70s like caught movies and and like those kind of vibes but I was getting a lot
(24:19):
of shame black in the way in the way the the humor could sometimes be very slapstick you
know it's a lot of physical physical stuff and you've got cuts that just show them doing
something crazy.
I just I loved it and yeah I just got a lot of shame black in that and I don't know if
the nice guys came out after or before this but or around the same time maybe nice guys
(24:43):
is after but it's so good and totally yeah yeah yeah.
Kiscus bang bangs maybe a little closer in time but yeah no shame black is amazing and yeah
also going back to that era of where he's basically known for of those kinds of action
comedies so yeah absolutely and more people need to watch the nice guys nobody is seen
it and it needs to see cool it's serious it's absolutely it's got another one Nick.
(25:08):
I don't know if mine would necessarily count my nights one just because it came after newly
weeds I was really feeling like the high fidelity mini series was like I saw a lot of connection
in that mainly because you know it's a story about I once again like set in New York I think
there's something beautiful about New York apartment complexes and visually I think that
(25:31):
that's like very represented in like a very similar way but I think when you start to
think about like the the needle drops the the lighting it just feels very New York and
I think that high fidelity is a beautiful representation of that I also think in terms
of class struggle that also connects pretty well.
(25:55):
I haven't seen the series but I'll go to the high fidelity movie which is fantastic.
Yeah that's true that's true.
I hadn't thought of that but it's a really great one because I mean these are both characters
are kind of stuck in a rest of development and just they can't quite move on with their
life and be better.
I think that like the struggle of being like in your early to or more like mid to late
(26:16):
20s but feeling stuck is a very strong point that's made in both the show and in the mini
series.
Sure.
And I think that like I wouldn't say it's like a millennial story but I think that there's
like a little bit of that that similarity to it.
We felt it back then too.
Yeah.
Let's cut it one more for Mel.
(26:36):
I think you know this movie had a lot of had just reminded of Friday you know Friday.
I just you know the comedy aspect of it all I you know I recognize there the comedic
elements found within it and you know it's a bit more you know it's a bit more dramatic
(27:01):
at times here but I think when I think about it I just I can see a lot of you know characters
having that sort of ways about them and I remember watching Friday when I was like I don't
know 13 with my dad.
(27:21):
And I just I just kind of remind me of that here because you know we got people kind of dealing
with their own circumstances and situations and personal relationships and I just feel
like it really there's a lot of energy within that here and you know I think that it would
(27:42):
be very amiss at least for me to not mention it.
No no absolutely.
It's a really fun colorful cast the characters that all decide people that they hang out
with the drug dealer and all the people that they meet up with along the way and so that
there's a lot of great characters in that movie and here too and that makes for a big tapestry
of a cast really so.
(28:03):
Yeah and that's what makes that film and I feel like so many of the side characters here
really make the film too because we go like hey we know that guy coming back like we
see the guy you know still in the cans also took that he's the guy that we get the they
take the couch from he's also in the jail cell and it's just the recurring car as well
(28:25):
so like several smaller characters coming back all nice to come back but like just coming
in being like oh I didn't expect this to be here but hey this is great.
Yeah absolutely.
Well let's get into some closing thoughts here Nick any any things that we didn't quite
get to that you wanted to mention about this?
I again I just I want to just keep touching on the fact that this is this is this is really
(28:49):
and I and I don't mean to like I feel like everybody says this but this really is a film
that where I've seen a theme not really put the screen correctly or I haven't seen it
you know at all on screen because again it is it is something that gets glamorized so
much or you get like something that's pushed so far that's like anti-weed you know I
(29:11):
think this shows so many different perspectives and you know I think one of my favorite scenes
is that scene between Lyle and his dealer because I think any other film would have shown
that dealer and it would have you know the dealer would have pushed him further into the
pit you know and it's it's it's characters are just so colorful and they have so many
(29:37):
layers and they they are not what you expect and yeah it's just you know again you read
newlyweds you think it's a comedy and you come out and it's a you have a whole new perspective
on on the drug and and people's relationship with it so I think it's truly beautiful
(29:59):
absolutely yeah there's a lot of layers to anybody's relationship with any kind of substance
honestly and I they're all kind of on display here in this movie which not a lot of movies
would do all of those layers and and you can tell how authentic this film is because so
many people go up to shocker right after this this screening and you know connect with him
(30:21):
and connect with the characters in the film and and that's really that's you know with
film you want to entertain but you also want to touch other people and you want to you
want to make a connection absolutely any how about you yeah to kind of piggyback off of that
I think the one thing that I was mainly surprised about I mean you hear a title like newlyweeds
(30:46):
you go and it's acting it to be you know like a film that is about like about weed but at
the end of the day like the substance is the like atmosphere I kind of there's in a
some kind of strange but the way that I kind of view it is like we're kind of like hot
boxed in this like situation that they're in where the film itself isn't necessarily about
(31:09):
the substance but it's the thing that is just like lingering throughout the film it's it's
in the atmosphere of it and however these characters decide to go about how it influences
them is really the driving force of it it's it's so character driven over circumstandurally
driven I guess yeah absolutely there's a lot of textures here that you know from the weed
(31:35):
too we talked about New York here a whole bunch through a lot of our pieces here and and
honestly a lot of 70s kind of movies coming up so a lot of different textures that were
kind of mashing together into a very current story even though we're you know 12 years
away from it or however long it's been but yeah it's it's a really interesting mix of those kind
of themes and yeah absolutely oh it's good for you you know it's sort of speak to that I'd
(32:00):
say a lot of the you know even the the techniques used in terms of the music I mean we were
just talking about the soundtrack but even in the editing because we get these very long
takes where we are traveling along and it feels to me very documentary-esque but then it's not even
(32:22):
just that it's just those hard cuts from point to point and I think to that itself I feel that's
very disorienting in a way I know that whenever sometimes when I I take my own medication I can get
disassociation episodes because like just foggy mind so sometimes it really feels like I'm at one
(32:45):
point in my house and also when did I get into my classroom so to have that sort of editing technique
of just going from one scene then just straight hard cut to the next it feels disorienting it feels
very jarring and I feel like that itself really supports you know this idea of you know substance being
(33:10):
lay-laced throughout this whole film and even with the soundtrack we have moments where there is no
music it's all about the what's in the environment around it's all the sound but then you get you
know those those melodic keys or you know that very soft music or like those very fun hard fast
(33:30):
things within the the the dream sequences the hallucinationary sequences and I think that itself
can feel so euphoric and you know I know we I think when I think of like it's always sort of talk about
that doing drugs is so hard to depict or on the screen but I think it's just little things that
(33:57):
really help highlight it to be you know yeah when you when you do smoke you do feel euphoric
before before the for that second you know so I'd say that the lot of a lot the use the intentionality
of it all really brings it together and forms a very cohesive a very very cohesive movie yeah absolutely
(34:21):
I think you're right it is hard to depict like being high in movies like it's you either go too far
it's just not right or whatever so I think that it kind of it does that really well but also
another thing about like weed or whatever is is it's hard to predict what you know the effects
are gonna be and I think that's kind of mirrored in the dreamlike sequences and the the dreamlike
(34:45):
kind of narrative of the movie shock I was talking in the Q&A about how the ending kind of just
came about because it felt a little bit more dreamlike and it seemed like it fit better with the movie
and I think that's something that throughout the entire movie we're seeing a lot of everything kind of
playing out like a dream sequence from beginning to end and even as things get more down to earth
(35:07):
and things get more stoned I mean anytime it's also you kind of could go anywhere you get to those
smash cuts you talked about or you could get into just like a total imagined sequence like like
the cop scene that we've all been talking about just all different kinds of things can happen
and I mean when you're stoned all the time really there's no telling where you know that mindset's
(35:29):
gonna go so yeah I think that it's a really interesting thing to balance and I think it's pull off
really well here so yeah I think that's a good place to wrap up newly weeds Nick tell people
they could find you anything you want to plug oh man I don't know if there's anything I want to plug
but I definitely want to plug the film department podcast which is on Spotify YouTube you can
(35:50):
find out on the unilv website it's we talk about movies we talk about films that are happening here
at the Beverly and yeah it's fantastic I've amazing co-hosts and yeah we have a great time so definitely
watch some episodes of the film department and the piece in pod oh yes thank you yeah piecing it
(36:11):
together we'll be at a downtown cinema is for death of a unicorn this weekend Saturday and next
Thursday for scream boat which is a Mickey Mouse horror movie which looks absolutely ridiculous but
should be fun but lots of lots of live shows coming up around Las Vegas and hopefully we'll be back
here with you guys sometime soon here at the Beverly so anything else you guys want to plug over here
(36:33):
anything the Beverly Theater yeah absolutely watch movies yeah go to the movie go to the
leader yeah absolutely absolutely that's been a great being here if you guys everybody all right on
thank you everybody imagine by the Rogers Foundation the Beverly Theater brings cinematic connectivity
novel collaborations live happenings cultural portals and assessed for independent spirits to
(36:59):
downtown Las Vegas with a mission to stage uncommon cinematic literary and live experiences the
Beverly Theater is Las Vegas's first and only independent film house storytelling arena and live
music venue check out our event calendar at the Beverly Theater dot com
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