Director Watch Podcast Ep. 136 - 'Rules Don't Apply' (Warren Beatty, 2016)

On episode 136 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by AwardsWatch contributor Trace Sauveur to discuss the final film in their Warren Beatty series, Rules Don't Apply (2016).

Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love.

In a Howard Hughes like move, for close to two decades, the world got used to see Warren Beatty more as the arm candy for his wife at award shows and less so as a direct. But in the mid-2010s, Beatty finally got back to the director chair to make his long-awaited dream project, a film about the famous Hughes. It was a box office, critical disaster of epic proportions, but in the time of its release, and in the process of going over his directorial achievements, it’s a bittersweet ending (potentially) to one of the most curious figures in Hollywood history, with the film becoming a meta commentary on where the world and Beatty see himself; it’s really the films only redeeming quality. Ryan, Jay, and Trace break down the film, their thoughts on it, how Beatty mirrors Hughes later years, how it almost continues the story after the events of The Aviator, cream jeans, the cinemas in the greater Georgia area, the 2016 Oscar fiasco, whose fault it really was, some justice for Alden Ehrenreich, and a mention or two about Rob Lowe singing with Snow White at the Oscars (yes, it really happened). Plus, the guys give out their rankings of the Beatty series and preview their next movie series starting next week.

You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 2h08m. The guys will be back next week to begin their series on the films of Chantal Akerman with a review of her first film, Je Tu Il Elle (1974). You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).