Speaker 1: Oftentimes it's not until we experience lost firsthand that we
Speaker 1: truly understand the value of life. Sometimes to understand the
Speaker 1: value of life, it means taking more risks, like traveling
Speaker 1: to a place we've always wanted to go but we're
Speaker 1: afraid to without the one we lost. But maybe having
Speaker 1: the courage to try could lead us to someone new,
Speaker 1: but not without some hijinks along the way. It's You,
Speaker 1: Me and Tuscany. I'm Ronald Young Junior, and I'm leaving
Speaker 1: the theater. All right. This is Ronald and I am
Speaker 1: leaving the theater after seeing You, Me and Tuscany. You
Speaker 1: Me and Tuscany Written by Ryan Ingele, directed by Kat Quo,
Speaker 1: starring Holly Bailey, Reggae, Jon Page, Marco Calvanni, Lorenzio des More,
Speaker 1: Aziza Scott, and Isabella Ferrari and per usual. For complete
Speaker 1: listing of the cast and you could go to the
Speaker 1: link in our show notes, I'd like to start this
Speaker 1: with a trigger warning before I reveal whether or not
Speaker 1: I have a guest. This is a movie about Italy,
Speaker 1: and at some point I am going to do an
Speaker 1: Italian accent. It's gonna happen if that is something that
Speaker 1: bothers you or triggers you. I want to apologize in advance.
Speaker 1: It's gonna happen. I almost did it in the theater
Speaker 1: while I was watching the movie, and I thought about
Speaker 1: it the whole time, but I didn't. But it's I
Speaker 1: feel it bubbling up. For that reason. I'm not here alone.
Speaker 1: Actually not for that reason, but I'm not here alone.
Speaker 1: I am here with.
Speaker 2: John glood Hill. I'm glad you gave me the trigger.
Speaker 2: The trigger warning is actually for me because I did
Speaker 2: not know there was an Italian accent comeing y'all, we're
Speaker 2: in this together.
Speaker 1: I can't. I as soon as they started talking and
Speaker 1: they got to Italy and it kind of became a
Speaker 1: caricature of Italians. I was almost in the film. I was,
Speaker 1: and there it is.
Speaker 2: And there's literally a man named Luigi in this film.
Speaker 1: There's a Giuseppe. There's a Luigi. It's it's it's it's
Speaker 1: all right there, Okay. So you, Me and Tuscany is
Speaker 1: a film about a woman played by Holly Bailey, and
Speaker 1: I'm definitely gonna slip on the call her Holly Berry
Speaker 1: at some point during this, so please don't email me.
Speaker 1: So it's about Holly Bailey, who is playing a woman
Speaker 1: named Anna who is grieving the loss of her mother,
Speaker 1: and she decided she wanted to be a chef, and
Speaker 1: she had done a lot of cooking with her mother.
Speaker 1: She was inspired by her mother. Her mother died before
Speaker 1: they were able to go to Tuscany, Italy, and Anna's
Speaker 1: going through a rough patch. She's struggling to pay rent,
Speaker 1: but she already had the ticket to Tuscany. So through
Speaker 1: some happenstance, she ends up in Italy in this villa
Speaker 1: with a fake engagement, and she becomes entangled with this
Speaker 1: family and lies in high jinks ensue as a result.
Speaker 1: It's a true romantic comedy. I'll stop right there. Jacqueline Hill,
Speaker 1: what did you think of this film?
Speaker 2: I really enjoyed this, Like I was saying, if you
Speaker 2: like two thousands, ram calm, like hijinks that style, if
Speaker 2: you like dirty macking talking about filthy macking, disgusting macking.
Speaker 1: Can you describe what filthy macking is? So?
Speaker 2: Dirty macking is like if you know someone has a
Speaker 2: guy or girl and you're like, I don't care, I'm
Speaker 2: about to spit my game anyway. That is, and the
Speaker 2: dirty macking gets downright disgusting. At one point where it's
Speaker 2: like Ronald turned to me and he was like, this
Speaker 2: fanc has come back.
Speaker 1: Really I did, I really did, because at that moment
Speaker 1: I was just like, yo, dog, she is engaged as
Speaker 1: far as you know, and you're just like that dog.
Speaker 1: I'm getting a like he was. It wasn't just dirty
Speaker 1: macking he was.
Speaker 2: It was like wild. It's actually wild for that. It
Speaker 2: was so wild for that. If you like those things
Speaker 2: and along with women who lie I personally love all
Speaker 2: three of those things, you're gonna have a good time
Speaker 2: at this movie.
Speaker 1: Yes, I feel the same. I really you said early
Speaker 1: two thousands, I thought nineties as well. It was zany, yeah, zaye. Hijinks,
Speaker 1: there's hijinks. It just feels like early in the film,
Speaker 1: almost as a wink and a nod to the audience.
Speaker 1: Neil Verdalos is listed in the in the cast. She's
Speaker 1: in this movie not very long. It's very much a cameo.
Speaker 1: But Neil Ardalos is my big fat Greek wedding and
Speaker 1: and it's almost like a signal to what this film
Speaker 1: is about to be because she shows up and it's
Speaker 1: almost like she's passing the Torch to Holly Bailey in
Speaker 1: a way, and so I kind of after that, I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I kind of know what I'm I'm what I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be expect. I know what to expect.
Speaker 2: Now, and I hope i'm what I'm interested to know.
Speaker 2: What I like about this is seeing it before the
Speaker 2: hashtag discourse, and I think, like more and more we
Speaker 2: should all see movies opening weekend so that we can
Speaker 2: form opinions before the conversation starts.
Speaker 1: I'm a strong proponent of that. I told everyone every
Speaker 1: time I'm yelling at people, I come out of the
Speaker 1: film early, and I'm always like, this is one you
Speaker 1: need to see early. Don't wait, you'll be behind the discourse.
Speaker 2: And it's very much a thing of like rom coms
Speaker 2: require a sense of earnestness, and I am curious how
Speaker 2: people are going to respond to the earnestness. But if
Speaker 2: you love earnestness, if you love hijinks, if you love zany,
Speaker 2: if you love wacky, if you love people two people
Speaker 2: who are we talked about this before the movie a
Speaker 2: little too hot?
Speaker 1: Okay, and so I was wrong because so he did exactly.
Speaker 2: Okay, we're gonna get into the Reggae Jean page of
Speaker 2: it all. But he did exact I was like, what's
Speaker 2: the COMMISSI you're gonna like, is it gonna be able
Speaker 2: to do this? But he was exact exactly. He did
Speaker 2: exactly this. I think he's been trying to get off
Speaker 2: type sir, do more of this. I loved Bridgerton, Do
Speaker 2: more of this, do more of this.
Speaker 1: If you are a woman and you are listening to
Speaker 1: this podcast, and I have a lot of women that
Speaker 1: listen to leaving the theater, this is when you go
Speaker 1: see if you were into Bridgerton, if you were into
Speaker 1: if you like reggae Jean, he is he's playing the
Speaker 1: hits in this one. We're talking, takes his shirt off
Speaker 1: at one point, smoldering, looks long like lustful gazes weird.
Speaker 1: People are getting wet and people talk about getting wet
Speaker 1: like it's.
Speaker 2: It's the amount of why, Like just him pouring wine
Speaker 2: and then looking at you like what is this? Ah?
Speaker 2: Like I was literally, Ronald. I don't know if you
Speaker 2: saw it, but there were times I was giggling and
Speaker 2: kicking my feet.
Speaker 1: At one point, you were sitting there looking at the
Speaker 1: film and you had you had your hands in like
Speaker 1: a tepee, like just like all figures together, and it
Speaker 1: was like you had Martin Scorsese had, like cinema.
Speaker 2: Cinema, this is Cinna mu.
Speaker 1: Holly Bailey what. She has the perfect look for a
Speaker 1: romantic lead. She has it. I believed her. What did
Speaker 1: you think?
Speaker 2: I think so too. Also at first I thought she
Speaker 2: was gonna be doing a lot of singing. That was
Speaker 2: not the case. That was not the case, but one
Speaker 2: from her what and also the outfits like if you
Speaker 2: need Milkmaide dress inspiration, I'm like, I don't know how
Speaker 2: she got all them little milk made dresses in that
Speaker 2: little carry on, but she did what she needed to do.
Speaker 2: Like you're gonna people are gonna, people are gonna this
Speaker 2: is what's gonna happen. People are gonna watch this movie.
Speaker 2: And then the tourism board in Tuscany is going to
Speaker 2: do tours where it's like we're gonna do a You,
Speaker 2: Me and Tuscany trip tour and they're gonna gather all
Speaker 2: of their buff black men and they are gonna be
Speaker 2: oh my god, they are gonna be dominating these wineries.
Speaker 2: It's about the girl trips are about to be sick.
Speaker 2: The girls trips are about to be sick.
Speaker 1: It's funny. I'm glad you said that because I immediately
Speaker 1: thought that. I was like, there's gonna be a lot
Speaker 1: of black women in Italy after seeing this, or at
Speaker 1: least it's gonna come up in the group chat because
Speaker 1: one I mean the setting. The setting was beautiful and
Speaker 1: I sat there and I said, Oh, they're in Italy.
Speaker 1: They shot this in Italy.
Speaker 2: That was the thing. If you look at the credits,
Speaker 2: all those names are Italian. They're like, thank you to
Speaker 2: the tourism board in Rome, like they shot this on
Speaker 2: location the country of Italy. I feel like they're all
Speaker 2: in on this. They are about to be welcoming these
Speaker 2: girls trips with open arms.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's definitely gonna spark the tourism. The score in
Speaker 1: this film is doing a lot of work. It's almost
Speaker 1: another character because it's very reminiscent. When you said early
Speaker 1: two thousands, I remember thinking, oh, yeah, this movie is
Speaker 1: doing what Hitch was doing in terms of like just
Speaker 1: playing the piano at the right time, picking the strings,
Speaker 1: plucking the strings at the right time, versus playing the strings.
Speaker 1: Then a needle dropped just so many ways in which
Speaker 1: they were using the score to signal that this is
Speaker 1: your classic rom com. Do not expect anything else than
Speaker 1: a classic rom com here. As a matter of fact,
Speaker 1: it makes me wonder how it's going to be received. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll get in the ratings in a second, but it
Speaker 1: makes me I'm sitting there watching it. Even the part
Speaker 1: of me that's like this should be a streaming film,
Speaker 1: I had to push that down because I thought, no,
Speaker 1: I really want these movies back in theaters.
Speaker 2: I think that's it. Like part of me I was
Speaker 2: also just like, oh, I could have streamed that. This
Speaker 2: would have been a good streaming but it's like, no,
Speaker 2: we want rom coms. We want them in the theater,
Speaker 2: like this is what you do. There was also another
Speaker 2: two thousand's trope that was very like, oh, we're so back,
Speaker 2: and it's very much a skirt. You're probably wondering how
Speaker 2: I got here, and I was like, oh, I was
Speaker 2: wondering how you got here. Thank you for explaining that
Speaker 2: to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I saw that. I remember thinking as that was happening.
Speaker 1: I remember watching it being like, this is a different
Speaker 1: movie than I imagine based on what she's doing right now.
Speaker 1: But that also builds the remarkable heart of the film,
Speaker 1: in which they stick with the idea that she is
Speaker 1: trying to escape from her own life by living other
Speaker 1: people's and this this zany thing comes comes to be
Speaker 1: Missus Doubtfire a movie that is zany but still has
Speaker 1: a heart. It's still at its root about a man
Speaker 1: who just wants to spend time with his children, you know,
Speaker 1: but they couch it in this this zany hijinks. This
Speaker 1: is a movie about a woman who doesn't have family.
Speaker 1: She lost her mom, and like, and it's funny because
Speaker 1: I'm watching this and I'm thinking, I think the losing
Speaker 1: your mom trope. As someone who's lost her mom, I feel.
Speaker 2: Like I's thinking of you. When that happened, I was like, Ooh,
Speaker 2: is the movie like not it for you now?
Speaker 1: No, because it felt like it. I understand why they
Speaker 1: do that. I think it's hard to really quantify the
Speaker 1: pain of losing your mond until you go through it.
Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, a lot of Kanye
Speaker 1: West made sense to me after this. And I know
Speaker 1: that's crazy. I know it's hot button. I don't forgive
Speaker 1: anything he said that's wild, but I'll just say there
Speaker 1: was a moment where I said.
Speaker 2: Oh, a heartbreak made sense.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. There's just a stretch of time in
Speaker 1: there where you could go down a very dark path,
Speaker 1: and I think this movie displays it through zany hijinks,
Speaker 1: saying that she misses her mom, and when you have
Speaker 1: a relationship with your mom and you miss her, yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe you'll go to Tuscany and lie about an engagement
Speaker 1: and get ingratiated with.
Speaker 2: A fast time she was when I think about it,
Speaker 2: like she she committed crimes, but like, you can do
Speaker 2: that when you're pretty. No, you can't. Don't take that
Speaker 2: as legal advice.
Speaker 1: You absolutely can't. I mean you can do it if
Speaker 1: you're pretty. Because like to say, all right, we're getting
Speaker 1: off top of I was gonna say, but the same
Speaker 1: thing that attractive people do, If less attractive people do,
Speaker 1: it's considered to be creepy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like, no, get her out of my home. But
Speaker 2: it's like, oh it's Holly Bailey.
Speaker 1: Yeah you could stay. Yeah you'd be like, oh, it's
Speaker 1: weird that Holly Bailey is here, But I'm definitely not
Speaker 1: kicking her out. Are you serious?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah. So anyway, so let's talk about the rating. We've
Speaker 1: talked a lot about the film. We liked it. Was
Speaker 1: there anything else you want to talk about? Movie wise?
Speaker 2: I enjoyed that all the men were jerks. That's gonna
Speaker 2: sound until you see it, that won't make sense. But
Speaker 2: all the men kind of suck and that's a little
Speaker 2: well maybe not all of them, but there's the men
Speaker 2: are a little dubious, but in a way that makes sense.
Speaker 1: There's nothing remarkable about any of them.
Speaker 2: I would say, no, no, we're going John Page is
Speaker 2: just hot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's literally it. Yeah, he's not bringing anything other
Speaker 1: than hot to the table. Uh. And I think the
Speaker 1: other thing is, oh, there's I cannot remember the actress's name,
Speaker 1: but the sister. The sister is hilarious and he steals
Speaker 1: a lot of scenes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's a wild girl. I will also say there
Speaker 2: is a Mario needle drop, and the moment that happened,
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, I know what movie I'm in.
Speaker 2: It's been a while, but I know what I'm doing here,
Speaker 2: and it allowed me. That was a moment where I
Speaker 2: was like, I am along for this ride.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of again in Hitch, Don't You Worry
Speaker 1: About a Thing? That part of the movie when they're
Speaker 1: on those jet skis and they're out in the water
Speaker 1: with the wide shots. That's kind of like there's always
Speaker 1: a moment where the movie is trying to tell you
Speaker 1: these two people are about to fall in love, and
Speaker 1: it's starting with this needle drop and this adventure that
Speaker 1: they're about to get into.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Also, that family was just so wild because
Speaker 2: there were so many times where like if things were
Speaker 2: what they appeared and be like, get away from that girl,
Speaker 2: why do you get away from that girl?
Speaker 1: You have no business talking to her whatsoever. Let's talk
Speaker 1: rating So me and you were kind of like teasing
Speaker 1: it a little bit, But with a film like this,
Speaker 1: it's it does what it does very well and let
Speaker 1: me just make you hip to this. The other day
Speaker 1: I saw Mario and the Mario Super Mario Galaxy movie,
Speaker 1: and at one point I'm watching it, I remember thinking,
Speaker 1: this movie can't be higher than the three point five
Speaker 1: because it can't do anything that it can't do anything
Speaker 1: that I would consider a three point seventy five or
Speaker 1: four or four point five movie could do in those cases.
Speaker 1: But it's very good at what it is doing. In
Speaker 1: front of me. It kind of like I sometimes I
Speaker 1: try to think of movie scores like gymnastics scores, where
Speaker 1: it's just if this is what you're doing. This is
Speaker 1: why Simone Biles was beating so many people because her
Speaker 1: starting score was so high that as long as she
Speaker 1: didn't die doing the vault, she was going to win,
Speaker 1: which is like it was amazing because even like, even
Speaker 1: if she stepped off the mat, all that her starting
Speaker 1: score was so high that it didn't matter. So a
Speaker 1: stumble is different watching a film like this, I remember
Speaker 1: just thinking in my head, I know what the max
Speaker 1: score that this could be, because in my heart, this
Speaker 1: is a this is an insane movie. There's just there's
Speaker 1: problems with it, but I like it so much that
Speaker 1: I'm willing to ignore them. Yeah.
Speaker 2: It's like, so when I think of ratings, I also
Speaker 2: like I take genre into account. So for instance, I
Speaker 2: can't remember what the score I gave it, but I
Speaker 2: think I gave the most recent Bad Boys that came out.
Speaker 2: It probably have the same score as Oppenheimer. And those
Speaker 2: are like totally different films, completely different films, like what
Speaker 2: like not. They are both not gonna be at the Oscars.
Speaker 2: They are both not gonna be But it's like, I
Speaker 2: know what I came for and I had a ball,
Speaker 2: and you gave me what I was looking for. And
Speaker 2: I think that's something people I don't know. I think
Speaker 2: that's something that gets lost with a lot of like criticism,
Speaker 2: especially if like lay criticism, because it's a thing of like, well,
Speaker 2: why wasn't this Citizen Kane? Therefore it was bad? And
Speaker 2: it's like, no, the movie did what it came to do. Like,
Speaker 2: not every movie is gonna be like I don't know,
Speaker 2: not every movie. Not every movie is gonna be sinners.
Speaker 2: But that doesn't mean the movie's not good.
Speaker 1: I agree, And I also think that there are there's
Speaker 1: still a range of romantic comedies in terms of stuff
Speaker 1: that is probably better than you Me and Tuscany. But
Speaker 1: I mean you.
Speaker 2: Still thought, listen, it's not when Harry met Sally.
Speaker 1: That's that's what I was gonna say, Like, look at
Speaker 1: the classics. It's not gonna be one of those. It's
Speaker 1: not gonna be like a Sleepless in Seattle, which actually
Speaker 1: I don't think.
Speaker 2: People like it's not even a brown sugar.
Speaker 1: It's not a brown sugar. It's not even what's the
Speaker 1: other one with them? Oh, it's not a loving basketball.
Speaker 1: But that's not really a comedy, right.
Speaker 2: Horror movie?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is a horror movie.
Speaker 2: I would say, is it a twenty seven dresses?
Speaker 1: It could be a twenty seven dresses? Is it a
Speaker 1: runaway bride?
Speaker 2: Is it a runaway? That is it? Is it a runaway?
Speaker 1: Is it a pretty woman?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Ooh m.
Speaker 1: I think Holly Bailey should go on all right. With
Speaker 1: all of that being said, let me finish. I thought,
Speaker 1: I think that Holly Bailey should go on a run
Speaker 1: of romantic comedies right now. I think she should be
Speaker 1: trying to get these at least try to get another couple. Whatever.
Speaker 1: But with all of that being said, what do you
Speaker 1: rate this movie out of five stars?
Speaker 2: I am going to give it a four point twenty
Speaker 2: five because I think it does the rom com thing
Speaker 2: it needs to do. Like three is like very average,
Speaker 2: Like you know, three's like a C. This is definitely
Speaker 2: a B plus. Like go see it with your girls,
Speaker 2: have a good time, have a giggle afterwards, be like, girl,
Speaker 2: we should go to a winery in Tuscany. Reggae John Page,
Speaker 2: do more of this. I'm trying to. I'm trying to.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to watch you, like I don't know like,
Speaker 2: take your shirt off in more things?
Speaker 1: Do that?
Speaker 2: Do that? We like it, do more of it. You're
Speaker 2: good at it.
Speaker 1: I give it a three point seventy five of five stars. Uh,
Speaker 1: I think that in my opinion, I don't think it
Speaker 1: could get higher than that, but I think it maxes out.
Speaker 1: I know why, based on what you explained, I think
Speaker 1: are essentially our scores are the same, which I know
Speaker 1: sounds insane, but based on you, our scoring get to say.
Speaker 1: In terms of genre, I'm still rating it according to
Speaker 1: the original scale, and I am holding the scale fast
Speaker 1: and saying that I think that a movie like I
Speaker 1: think that there are romantic comedies that do rise to
Speaker 1: the range of four point twenty five. Uh. And I
Speaker 1: just think if we're giving if I gave you me
Speaker 1: a Tuscany a four point twenty five, then what am
Speaker 1: I giving pretty will be a six? You know what
Speaker 1: I mean? Like at this point, so I feel like
Speaker 1: at that point, so I'm like, I always like to
Speaker 1: hold it down, but I don't. I recognize your score.
Speaker 1: You just explained why, So it makes sense. Regardless, go
Speaker 1: see this movie. It's good. It's good, and uh, it's
Speaker 1: it's black love and it's it's it.
Speaker 2: Really is it really but like it's black love but
Speaker 2: like very excess accessible to non black audiences, even though
Speaker 2: it has two black leads.
Speaker 1: They made they made a black movie for white people.
Speaker 2: And it's also like race comes up, but it's like
Speaker 2: very I don't know, very like there's an acknowledgement where
Speaker 2: it's like, oh, it was just you and me here,
Speaker 2: and it does come up in a discussion some characters
Speaker 2: have at the climax. There there is some tension, but
Speaker 2: I don't know it was done.
Speaker 1: You mean when he calls them a no not.
Speaker 2: Having that did not But there is a little thing
Speaker 2: of like, mm are you like and so I don't
Speaker 2: know it did a good job. Shout out to Will
Speaker 2: Packard for this one.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, well go see it. Wine is gonna be
Speaker 1: on a premium this summer, so just get ready for
Speaker 1: that and with that. Leaving the Theater is a production
Speaker 1: of Oh It's Big Ron Studios. I mixed this episode
Speaker 1: per usual. I'm working hard putting out episode of this show.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of coordination that's going on about Leaving
Speaker 1: the Theater, specifically working on doing more social videos, trying
Speaker 1: to get ahead of that. Also revamping Heartbreaker. I'm still
Speaker 1: telling stories on stage, so I'm working on that. I
Speaker 1: have a new top secret project that I can't even
Speaker 1: tell you all about because if I start saying it
Speaker 1: out loud, I feel like I will it will grow
Speaker 1: to a place where I might start to get afraid
Speaker 1: of it. So I'm just starting to do it, and
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna leave it at that. All of the
Speaker 1: contributions that come in from odes Big Ron help me
Speaker 1: with all of these projects, not just leaving the theater,
Speaker 1: but you're helping with multiple projects. You help with wait
Speaker 1: for It, you help with Heartbreaker, you help with leaving
Speaker 1: the theater, you help with this top secret project. You
Speaker 1: are helping me, and all of this is a labor
Speaker 1: of love. This is what I do for a living.
Speaker 1: It's a labor of love, but it's still labor. If
Speaker 1: that means something to you, go to patrion slash Oh
Speaker 1: It's Big Ron and become a patron, or go to
Speaker 1: the link in our show notes. Show art from Heather Wilder,
Speaker 1: theme music by the mysterious break Master Cylinder. For more
Speaker 1: information about you, Me and Tuscany or Jacqueline Hill, check
Speaker 1: on our show notes. You can follow me on Instagram,
Speaker 1: Blue Sky, TikTok, threads or letterboxed at Owitz pig Ron.
Speaker 1: That's at O h I T S b I g
Speaker 1: R O N. You can find out more about this
Speaker 1: show and other OIZ Big Ron Studio shows by following
Speaker 1: us on Instagram. At owits Big Ron Studios leaving the theater.
Speaker 1: Will be back soon. Thanks for listening and thanks for
Speaker 1: being on the show.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: I'm Ronald Young Junior and i'd bah Ba