A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games

The Great Fat Elemental Wedding

• Steve Bennet-Martin, Stephen Martin-Bennet • Season 1 • Episode 186

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The Steves discuss what's making them happy in pop culture today, covering Hulu's The Great, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, and Disney Pixar's Elemental.

Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.

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Steve:

Hello, returning Happies and new listeners. This is Steve Bennett

Stephen:

Martin. And this is Stephen Martin Bennett. And welcome to A Lifetime of

Steve:

Happiness. The podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, TV shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy while hopefully bringing a smile to your face along the way.

Stephen:

And today we're catching up on a historical comedy that Steve actually likes, along with two movies that filled our hearts. Disney Pixar's Elemental, and Nia Vardalos's My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.

Steve:

Well, before we get into that, my love, what's been making you happy? It's

Stephen:

my birthday!

Steve:

Boom, boom, boom! I know, and hopefully the next episode you can report back on how it

Stephen:

went. Fingers crossed that nobody... Fucks it up. My mine was not as dark as

Steve:

yours my gosh I was gonna say I know I didn't fuck it up. So if something happened, it would be random and tragic Death?

Stephen:

My goodness. Yep.

Steve:

That is worst case scenario of most situations. I guess.

Stephen:

Oh Okay, so what's been making you happy?

Steve:

I got my life coach certification

Stephen:

Excellent. Now, what do you want to do with that? Help people

Steve:

Help people do what? I don't know yet, I'm still figuring it out. But I know that it involves helping other people reach their goals and focus on sexuality and recovery related stuff.

Stephen:

I think that sounds fantastic and I think you'll be excellent at it. Thank you, you know what else

Steve:

I'm excellent at? Watching a lot of TV and movies with you.

Stephen:

I was gonna say a lot of things. I don't know if I can narrow it

Steve:

down. Yeah, and it was a minute ago that we watched season one, but we just binged through season two and three of Hulu's The Great. An occasionally true story. Yes. What

Stephen:

is it? Well, The Great is an alternate historical satirical comedy drama very loosely based on the rise to power of Catherine the Great. Empress of Russia

Steve:

the star. By definition. I hate it. Keep going.

Stephen:

the series stars, El Fanning as Empress Catherine II and Nicholas Holt as Emperor Peter iii. And later his body Double pache. Yes.

Steve:

The show has three seasons run from 2020 to 2023, and despite the second and third season, especially receiving critical acclaim, Hulu canceled it in August.

Stephen:

Yes. And. Because our podcast is the way it is, we will probably be spoiling a few things on here. Fair warning, A, you should watch this show. B, if you don't want it spoiled, skip this section and come back and listen to it later. Yes,

Steve:

we will talk about plot points, but I feel like the biggest thing that this show has going is the character development that we get into, and so we won't spoil that too much. No. But I know that it also received seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with both Fanning and Holt being nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress and Actor in a Comedy Series.

Stephen:

Absolutely deserved. This is one of those shows where so it's a period dramedy and the Actors, especially the two leads, are chewing the scenery so fully and beautifully, but in such a three dimensional way, like, at no time is their character able to be pigeonholed as just this or that. The, I mean, and that's due to the writing, of course, but as well as the performances. And both Elle Fanning and Nicholas Holt act with their entire body, and especially their whole faces. It's so impressive to watch. It

Steve:

is very impressive to watch. I know that the first season I enjoyed, but they were all very, Like, outlandish caricatures. Yes. And like, they got the complexity in the second and third seasons, but even the outlandish characterizations that we get in season one are just so enjoyable. Like, I said earlier, like, on paper that sounds horrible, but you add in the fact that they turned the camp up to 11, and the filth and raunch up to 11, and like, the self awareness of like, None of this is true, so let's just have fun with it, and like, the way that they would reference things from history, like Russia made it, like the rollercoaster, I, I mean. And the stapler. It was just, it was a fun

Stephen:

series. And we learned about Velcro. Yes, exactly. I, do you know the most important thing that I learned? What? Catherine the Great did not fuck

a

Steve:

horse. She did not fuck a horse, yes. But, besides not fucking a horse, what did you think on her arc over the three seasons?

Stephen:

Okay, so that was what was really impressive. You have this learned woman who has great knowledge, great social skills great ideas brought in as a mail order bride. Yep. Not expected to do anything except open her legs to receive the king and spit out a future king. Yeah. That is her only job. She sees more, because she was bred to be more. And, so you see her, like, first with these ideals and things aren't right, and then realizing, I deserve better than this. And you have people that are backing her up saying, you do deserve better than this, but she doesn't really have a plan. And this whole time, you see her develop from a child into a woman. And it's an impressive arc, and Elle Fanning did it with gusto.

Steve:

Yes, she did. And I love Nicholas Hoult most things that he does. I think that he is so charismatic and funny, but he shines in this role as the prince. I mean, on

Stephen:

paper And it's better than you would have ever seen Nicholas Hoult do

Steve:

anything. I know, and on paper If you describe the prince's character of being like a horrible monster, douchebag, savage, it sounds not great. But, the way that he does it, and just like, he doesn't know better, he was like raised to be that way, and just like, as, especially as like his heart changes in season two, it's just fascinating to see this character, like that starts off as this joke, turn into this like complex

Stephen:

human. And, you have these people that... Like him because they're paid to. Yeah. The court. You have some people that like him because of who he is, his best friend. Grigor. Yes. But, like, in season one, where he tells Catherine, You know. I was thinking about having you killed, and she's like, you know, I thought you might, and it's that sort of like, he's just giving away the plot, and she's like, oh, I already knew asshole, but she says it in a way that's like, how funny, I thought you might be trying to kill me, and they have this sparring relationship. And just when you think that he's not actually intelligent about certain things, he sees the world differently than she does. Where she has the book smarts, he actually does have the street smarts. And usually I make fun of, like, street smarts aren't a thing. They are. Yeah. And, it's, whenever they can combine the two, that they're, like, if they could've combined the two long term, there's no telling what they could've accomplished under their rule. Yes.

Steve:

And I know that. As much as those two together is ma are magic, the more I got to see her on screen, the more I fell head over heels in love with Belinda Bromelow as Aunt Elizabeth, yes. As Aunt Elizabeth. Just the most hysterical, matriarchal figure I've ever seen in, like, any fun any any comedy, modern, historical, whatever.

Stephen:

And besides wanting the best for her Peter, and now her Catherine, and the country, she really just wants to catch people having sex without them knowing that she's watching.

Steve:

Yes, and telling you about her past sexual exploits of which there are many, and they're so ridiculous,

Stephen:

but Like they make her out to be older the actress is a gorgeous 40 year old woman Yeah, like she's stunning like the hair and the lack of makeup and things make her out to be She is such a

Steve:

highlight for the show. I can't wait to see what she does next. Because the show didn't end, but I would definitely still say check out all three seasons. It makes us happy. How did it end for you? I want

Stephen:

to get over some other characters. I don't want to rush through that just yet. Mariel. I loved the character of Mariel. I was on and off for her. Character that I hated, Georgina. Never liked her.

Steve:

Season three though, I saw the lengths that one person will go through. And it was interesting.

Stephen:

Archie was one of those characters that you're not supposed to like, but the guy's performance made it worthwhile. who was the, oh, the the child. Oh, yeah.

Steve:

Mariel's cousin. Mariel's cousin!

Stephen:

It was hysterical, but... He was

Steve:

SO good. And then getting to know Arcadee in season three more, when General Vellemental stepped down, and we got to know him more. Yeah. It was just... Yeah, they they had some good characters. I don't want to get TOO into them, Yeah. because that's how they relate to one another, that's magic, but... I just wanted to say that, during the coups and... revolutions and changes... Yeah. A lot of the people are in different places in Season 3 than where they start, but it's an interesting and fun ride. So,

Stephen:

we had found out that it was cancelled after Season 3, before we got to Season 3, and we were having such a good time with Season 2, we were like, Oh, boo hoo, I can't believe it's cancelled. Now, with seeing how Season 3 ended... It was a perfect three season series, correct? I don't think it should have continued even if they had wanted

Steve:

to know I think it's best that it ended there I agree You know what? I think you'll want more sequels of though

Stephen:

And I'm not sure that I do, but I, I, I, so it's my big fat Greek wedding part three. Yes,

Steve:

and why do you love big fat Greek weddings, period? Okay,

Stephen:

so I love anything that pulls at your heartstrings in a happy way. The first Big Fat Greek Wedding where Neo Verdalos character Tula, goes from what she felt was frumpy and wanting more out of her life to doing what she had to do to get that while staying true to her familial roots, but also searching for love. It's that sort of story where you can root for them. And the family is big and over the top. It's bigger than a lot of people's family. There are certain things you're like, whew, and I thought my family was weird type of thing. And the writing is funny, and it still feels grounded, even when you have those. Over the top things. Two went a little more over the top. Two, less... I don't... Believable, I guess, is the right word. But three. Ugh.

Steve:

So... Well, the third installment stars returning family members and new faces as the Portakalos family goes on a trip to Greece for a family reunion after the death of their patriarch, Gus. Now, this was the first of the trilogy to be both written and directed by Nia Fardalos. And it also stars Tula Porta Oh, who also stars as Tula Porta Colos. And it was released in theaters on September 8th.

Stephen:

Yep, 2023. Had a budget of just 5 million, and it's already grossed 38. 7 million worldwide. Making it a huge success already. Yes, but did

Steve:

it make you happy?

Stephen:

Actually, like, so each one had different feelings. You know, that first one was about hope and love and all of that. This one was like a warm hug. Like, this is probably the closest I got to, like, happy tears in the theater. I got happy tingles. And yeah, it made me very happy. I thought it was extraordinarily well done. Yeah, I mean,

Steve:

right off the bat, the setup is addressing the passing of Michael Constantine, who played Gus, but they also showed the mother, who In real life, it's probably fine, but they showed the actress character being, having dementia.

Stephen:

Now, whether it's true or not, I had heard that Lainey Kazan was not going to be physically able to go to Greece. Yeah. And so, they thought of that, like, how they can have her in the show, but still be able to pass on head of the family while she's around. And

Steve:

I think she did a great job with it, because so often times... We working in the industry for you for so many years before you got out of it. Yeah, well, I'm trying to get out of it You see all the time that like media Portrayals of people with dementia are not accurate or might be upsetting or the family's reaction to it It's like no remember no and like pulling them out and shaking them and it I think that they did a really good job of Handling that with care. What did you think of those two

Stephen:

plot points? I thought so too and one that I really liked Was early on in when the mom says, Yes I talked to your father last night. And they're like, Mom, Dad's dead. And she goes, I know that. It was in my dream. He can still come to me in my dreams. Yeah. I absolutely think that's true. So, I think it was handled with grace and realistic ways to do it and I thought it was good to be addressed. But I was glad that they also moved on because that would have been a whole other movie. Yes,

Steve:

correct. And, thoughts on the family trip to Greece? Ugh.

Stephen:

So, Greece looks gorgeous. Never been. Want to go. And the people that besides Aunt Vula and the other aunt they hadn't been to Greece before. So this was their first time. It was lovely. There was an excitement. They were there for a serious reason about passing their dad's journal off to his best friends from childhood, as well as coming back for the reunion of his hometown. And it all blended really well, as well as continuing some of the stories from the second one about their daughter and her not wanting Greek romance pushed on her. Yeah. And it just, it worked really well. But wasn't it

Steve:

stunning? It was stunning. Now, when we go to Greece, are you going to want to do the larger city areas and places by the water? Or will you want to go to those remote... So I houses and villages in the middle of nowhere, up on the mountains,

Stephen:

both because I want to see the Parthenon in Athens. I want to go up to. Apollo's Temple, where, you know, the mystics were that would give you your fortune. But I also want to hit those smaller towns, where everything's a little slower, a little quieter in there. And those, that was some of my favorite parts of Spain, too. Can Remy come?

Steve:

I think so. Count me in, then. Okay. Now, would you travel across the country to give your dad's notebook to a bunch of childhood friends?

Stephen:

Absolutely. Would you

Steve:

depends on how my dad and I leave things and what country it's in. I would go to Greece for my dad. Yeah. I don't know whether I'd go to like Long Island for my dad. But also what was your favorite part of their search for the childhood friends and why was it Nikki and Angelo coming to the rescue? It was

Stephen:

absolutely Nikki and Angelo coming to the rescue. Because I love Gia Carides. I love Joey Fatone. They have such good chemistry in all three movies. And I was afraid that since they weren't going to grease with the others, the only time we were going to see them was in that scene at the airport at the beginning or quickly over the phone. And I loved that the, their brother and sister are like, We're gonna fix this. And they hop on a plane to Greece. And as soon as they hopped on the plane, I smacked your leg so hard. I was

Steve:

like, Yes! Yes, I didn't even have to consult you in writing this outline. I knew that was

Stephen:

the answer. It was. And, Ugh, and it was so worthwhile, and then when they all saw each other, Cousin! Cause it's number one. The best.

Steve:

Yes. Other favorite

Stephen:

parts? Silly enough, getting the fountains to

Steve:

work. Oh, the fountains was really cool. Seeing the town, everyone worked together. Always gets here. I know it is. Was that when you got the tingles? It was, yeah. So, and as soon as they're like, that's the fountain, it hasn't run in years. I was like, they're gonna fix it for the end of the movie before the wedding. And you knew it was gonna happen and it's still touching when you see it happen.

Stephen:

It was so final thoughts. I loved it. If this was the final Greek wedding, it was a beautiful way to do it. If there are more, I trust Nia Vardalos to come up with the reasons because she wrote the first one. I mean, it's based on

Steve:

her life. Number four is her daughter getting married. They set it up at the end of the third one. With,

Stephen:

yeah, so.

Steve:

And it's making money, so if, I would say that if, if you watched the first two and you weren't head over heels in love, I don't know whether this one would be the one to tie the knot, but it is an enjoyable movie where if you like the first two, go see it and support Nia in the theaters. And

Stephen:

because smaller budget movies are important, and it didn't look like it was made for five million dollars. No, it

Steve:

looked, yeah, especially when we look at like, Some of the other movies that we've covered in the past and the money that they spend. Yeah, beautiful.

Stephen:

Yes So I give it two big thumbs up Also, if you want so a movie that Nia Vardalos did not write or direct but is about her in Greece Yeah is called my life in ruins

Steve:

Oh yes, I know

you've

Stephen:

watched that a bunch. Yeah, it's super enjoyable and check

Steve:

that out. You know what was also enjoyable?

Stephen:

Elemental.

Steve:

Yes, we watched that on Disney Plus the other night. It is Disney Pixar's 27th and most recent feature film that's based on the idea of whether fire and water could ever connect or not. The movie is written by Peter Son, who drew inspiration from his youth growing up as the son of immigrants in New York City during the 70s.

Stephen:

Now, this is the little movie that could, because it was written off before it came out as being woke. Yeah. Like catering to a certain audience that it's filled with anti racist things and why do you have to bring politics. into it and all kinds of things and it came out at a weird time and didn't blow the roof off

Steve:

of

Stephen:

It's opening weekend. The opening weekend or anything like that. But what's really funny is that no one watched that it has stayed in the theaters the whole time and kept making a shit ton of money because the movie was released on June 16th with a budget of 200 million and so far has a box office of 484. 3 million. We saw it just this past weekend when it came out on Disney plus, but it is now a bona fide success. And all the people that were like, Go woke, go broke. Fuck

Steve:

you. Yes, and the movie is about Element City, a place for water, air, earth, and fire elements to live together peacefully. Except we see quickly that this utopia isn't built with fire elements in mind. Now... This isn't the most subtle metaphor ever, and it clearly does, like we say, draw on his childhood inspirations, but how do they do with it?

Stephen:

Okay, they did a very, very good job with it, and it's interesting that you could pick out a variety of minorities and say, Which of those were fire? Are they Jewish population? Is it a black population? You could even go back to Irish. And, what was his background? Peterson, did you look it

Steve:

up? S O H N, I don't want to be wrong

Stephen:

I guess. I didn't, I didn't I didn't look it

Steve:

up, but I also feel like the answer is any of them. With the way that Disney writes things, they're smart where they weren't going to make it a specific...

Stephen:

And it's about an immigrant family and moving to the big city for a better life. And then

Steve:

living up to your parents expectations.

Stephen:

Yes, and it was fantastic.

Steve:

Yes, and I love the way that they played with all the elements. Now, if you were turned into an element, which element would you be?

Stephen:

So, part of me says air so that I could fly. I'm a Libra. They

Steve:

all kind of have their own personalities. Yes.

Stephen:

I don't know. The way the waters cry all the time. I kind of was thinking that you would make me be water. I was going to say, what do you think I would be? In the past, I would have said fire. But I'm not sure anymore. What did you... See yourself as I

Steve:

saw just with the crying. Well, I saw that more for you, but I just love water. Yeah general I was always the water gym with Pokemon, but with all the elementals, I don't know maybe earth It's like all about love and coolness. Yep. That would be a hell of a lot of people Now, what are your thoughts on the family dynamic with Ember and her parents and what that's how that story unfolds

Stephen:

And so that was also a definite Interesting thing. Even if you look between the two different families the water family comes from money. So he's had a different upbringing where he could try anything. The family was always supportive. He had every opportunity imaginable to him. Ember came from a very working class family that anything they've had, they have built. The father is very clear. I have created this generational wealth for you and I would like you to take it on, but at the same time, he's also being very clear that it's not just I've created the store. I have created. A customer base in a community, and I need you to be able to represent us in the community before I feel comfortable doing that. And I thought that was a very important part of it was. You have to be able to represent us to the best of your ability. And that's not, like, sometimes the character in this is already, like, the best child. And in this one, she had her issues, and the father was wanting her to be her best self.

Steve:

Yes, and she gets through her friendship, turned into a relationship between Ember and Wade. What did you think about how that unfolded?

Stephen:

Realistically beautifully. One of my favorite scenes was dinner at his parents house, breaking, the family member broke the vase. And she does this thing that in her community is just, you're made of fire, something everybody does. Yeah. Because as you see, she repaired their display case in the store in no time flat, which I still thought was really impressive. And she does this thing that she thinks nothing of. And the entire family wants to give her a standing ovation because it's this creation and it makes you think of what we can learn from other minority groups, other communities, other religions, other nationalities, things that You know, even when they can learn from us, too, that things we take for granted are new and exciting, and all of this, and I think that that's part of that whole American ideal of a melting pot, where we're all stronger together because of what we bring to the table. And this was a really great way to show all that.

Steve:

Plus, she was so well spoken. Oh god! I forgot

Stephen:

about that! That one, with that one was definitely about the black community because But

Steve:

that happens with anyone, even if you come from a Hindu culture Oh yeah. Any culture, if you don't have a thick accent You'd be automatically hire the entitled white privileged people be like oh you sounds oh my yeah I don't even have an accent. Oh, you're so eloquent.

Stephen:

Yeah. Oh That one yeah And it was one of those things and probably that line in of itself pissed off all the right people to exactly

Steve:

I loved it Yeah, and what any other favorite parts for you the movie?

Stephen:

I loved when she was making tempered glass things. I thought it was beautiful.

Steve:

Yeah, and I love their underwater adventure. I won't say more for spoilers, but that was beautiful. Oh my gosh, I love that. Yes, so definitely check it out. If you already have Disney it's on there. And if not, go get it because there's enough awesome stuff on Disney even if you don't have a Star Wars boner.

Stephen:

Or a Marvel boner. I mean, there's enough on there. I have a Marvel boner.

Steve:

I know you do. All right All right, you know what I also have a boner for No.

Stephen:

Absolutely not. Just kidding. But do you know what we also enjoy? It's our listeners. I

Steve:

love our listeners. They should email us about what they thought of this episode. Or

Stephen:

what they think about what you were about to say. Please keep listening.

Steve:

Alright. You could do that by emailing us.

Stephen:

At happylifepod at gmail. com. And you can also check us out on the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter at happylifepod. I

Steve:

am eight shades of red now. So until next time, everybody stay happy.