1
00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:10,399
Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in

2
00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:12,560
Speaker 1: which we speak with some of the brightest minds working

3
00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,440
Speaker 1: in the media business today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety

4
00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,800
Speaker 1: Intelligence Platform. Imagine a future that may or may not

5
00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,640
Speaker 1: be too far from now, in which an AI video

6
00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:28,000
Speaker 1: generator is capable of cranking out an entire movie, its

7
00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:31,560
Speaker 1: script derived from a large language model, fed nothing but

8
00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,400
Speaker 1: the entire run of the HBO series Succession, and every

9
00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,960
Speaker 1: article from the past six months written about the reigning

10
00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:43,159
Speaker 1: tech titans of our time, Zuckerberg, musk Altman. Maybe a

11
00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,200
Speaker 1: dash of Peter Teel that may be the best way

12
00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:50,160
Speaker 1: to explain Mountainhead, a new movie debuting May thirty first

13
00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:54,400
Speaker 1: on HBO from Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Succession, the

14
00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,120
Speaker 1: critically acclaimed series from the same network. I got a

15
00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,840
Speaker 1: lot of thoughts to share about this one. Stick around.

16
00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,959
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Strictly Business, where this week I'm going

17
00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,759
Speaker 1: deep on the new movie Mountain Head. In stark contrast

18
00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,000
Speaker 1: to the typically glacial speed with which most movies or

19
00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,919
Speaker 1: TV are developed, the film was conceived, pitched, and rushed

20
00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,240
Speaker 1: through production in a matter of months because Armstrong felt

21
00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:34,199
Speaker 1: strongly that his story would resonate most reflecting the current

22
00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,479
Speaker 1: moment in our culture while we're still in it and

23
00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:40,400
Speaker 1: does it ever, You don't have to work in Silicon

24
00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,080
Speaker 1: Valley these days to be exposed to the constant churn

25
00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,480
Speaker 1: of headlines describing the Frankenstein like potential of a technology

26
00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,320
Speaker 1: that allows just about anyone to conjure up hyper realistic

27
00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,120
Speaker 1: images of anything their minds can imagine with lowered barriers

28
00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,880
Speaker 1: to cost or distribution. But what's more, Mountainhead is being

29
00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,280
Speaker 1: released at exactly the moment when AI fears must be

30
00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,720
Speaker 1: kicking into overdrive. Look at what's just transpired in the

31
00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,560
Speaker 1: past few weeks, starting with Google's release of VO three,

32
00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,400
Speaker 1: the most sophisticated video generation tool to hit the mass

33
00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,240
Speaker 1: market to date. If that's not scary enough, Open Ai

34
00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,840
Speaker 1: just unveiled the partnership with former Apple design guru Johnny

35
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:26,800
Speaker 1: Ive to release new AI power devices. Meanwhile, Meta is

36
00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:31,600
Speaker 1: reportedly running into trouble developing its own Lama LM, invoking

37
00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,520
Speaker 1: fears of what measures the company could take in order

38
00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,320
Speaker 1: to catch up. How serendipitous for Armstrong then, that his

39
00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,440
Speaker 1: decision to make Mountainhead a rush job has resulted in

40
00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,639
Speaker 1: a movie that could not have picked a scarier time

41
00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,240
Speaker 1: to mine our anxieties about AI and the people with

42
00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,600
Speaker 1: the power to deploy it in pursuit of profit. But

43
00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,360
Speaker 1: Mountainhead is also a triumph of timing of the comedic variety,

44
00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,360
Speaker 1: because while the plot might sound like a twenty first

45
00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,240
Speaker 1: century spin on nineteen seven and these disaster movies, it

46
00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:07,040
Speaker 1: also manages to be uproariously funny. A masterclass in satire

47
00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,040
Speaker 1: anchored by a quartette of actors capable of delivering lines

48
00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:15,079
Speaker 1: with dead pant perfection. Mountainhead is set in an opulent

49
00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,639
Speaker 1: mansion nestled in the snowy mountains of Utah, where four

50
00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,120
Speaker 1: billionaire tech moguls have gathered for a few days of

51
00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,720
Speaker 1: R and R. The timing of their vacation is fortuitous,

52
00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,440
Speaker 1: as they're fairly isolated from the rest of the world,

53
00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,200
Speaker 1: which happens to be descending into anarchy at the same time.

54
00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,640
Speaker 1: What's worse, several of these friends just might be responsible

55
00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,880
Speaker 1: for this chaos, and as they watch the chaos unfold

56
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,240
Speaker 1: from the safe distance of their mobile phones, not even

57
00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:48,160
Speaker 1: quality bro time or luxury amenities can keep reality entirely

58
00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:52,160
Speaker 1: at bay. As the impending apocalypse turns the heat up

59
00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,000
Speaker 1: on them. They start to turn on each other.

60
00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,320
Speaker 2: Guys, is this on every channel? There have been a

61
00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,480
Speaker 2: number of occurrences since your launch. You and officials are

62
00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,200
Speaker 2: now openly attributing the recent uptake and ethnic tention to

63
00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,800
Speaker 2: powerful new generative AI tools unveiled last week on TRAM.

64
00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:10,040
Speaker 2: I just want to say, this is not on you venus,

65
00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,760
Speaker 2: Obviously it's not on me. Why would you even say that.

66
00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,960
Speaker 1: Your platform is inflamed, vobal situation, weapons, stock piling, some

67
00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,440
Speaker 1: bank fronts, violence, chaos, and people are dying.

68
00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,680
Speaker 2: You're not real and don't explode like that. Head. Don't

69
00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:26,320
Speaker 2: explode like that?

70
00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,080
Speaker 1: You know how to heads explode. At the center of

71
00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,160
Speaker 1: the narrative, a Mountainhead is a fictional social network known

72
00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:36,080
Speaker 1: as Tram, which has just been supercharged with AI content

73
00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:40,520
Speaker 1: generation tools so powerful that engagement on the platform explodes.

74
00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,560
Speaker 1: But there's an unfortunate side effect of this innovation, too.

75
00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,720
Speaker 1: Many bad actors start to create incendiary deep fakes, sparking

76
00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:52,080
Speaker 1: violence all over the globe. Part of what makes fountain

77
00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:54,479
Speaker 1: Head compelling is that as the action unfolds and we

78
00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,200
Speaker 1: learn more about each character from their actions and what

79
00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:01,120
Speaker 1: they say, it sparks for the viewer and internal debate

80
00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,760
Speaker 1: which of these characters is the most morally repugnant. The

81
00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:09,760
Speaker 1: competition is stiff, starting with Hugo played by Jason Schwartzman,

82
00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,440
Speaker 1: the owner of Mountainhead. Despite the fact he's the laggard

83
00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,400
Speaker 1: of this foursome because he carried around the shame of

84
00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,560
Speaker 1: having a fortune in the sub billion dollar range. He

85
00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:22,840
Speaker 1: might be the most sympathetic of the bunch were he

86
00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,880
Speaker 1: clearly not using the whole get together as an excuse

87
00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:29,960
Speaker 1: to get any of them to bankroll his new wellness apventure.

88
00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:33,760
Speaker 1: And what's come clear in time is he's desperate enough

89
00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,320
Speaker 1: to do anything to get their validation, let alone their money.

90
00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,200
Speaker 1: Says a lot about Mountainhead that it hands a veteran

91
00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:44,240
Speaker 1: comedic genius like Schwartzman what is easily his best role

92
00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:47,080
Speaker 1: since the movie that gave him his breakthrough way back

93
00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,360
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety eight, Rushmore. And yet the movie might

94
00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:53,960
Speaker 1: belong to the least known of its four lead actors,

95
00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:58,359
Speaker 1: Corey Michael Smith, who has handed the juiciest role as Venice,

96
00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,200
Speaker 1: the CEO of the fiction Tram. He is two hundred

97
00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,160
Speaker 1: and twenty billion dollar net worth, makes him the richest

98
00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,360
Speaker 1: of the group. Venice is something of a mashup of

99
00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:12,200
Speaker 1: Zuckerberg and Musk, melding the formers move fast and break

100
00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,680
Speaker 1: things ethos to grow his user base at all costs.

101
00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:21,640
Speaker 1: With the latter's robotic ruthlessness. Venice's obscene wealth justifies an

102
00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,520
Speaker 1: unbridled narcissism that reflects our worst fears of tech moguls.

103
00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,760
Speaker 1: He repeatedly comments that other people on Earth just aren't

104
00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,080
Speaker 1: on the same plane of existence with himself or his buddies.

105
00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,320
Speaker 1: It's fitting for someone who's profiting from manufacturing images that

106
00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,920
Speaker 1: blur the lines between truth and fiction. He doesn't see

107
00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,840
Speaker 1: other people as real. But what's interesting here is Armstrong

108
00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:47,280
Speaker 1: doesn't right him as just a one dimensional monster. As

109
00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,800
Speaker 1: the technology he's unleashed greeks havoc. Venice is invested with

110
00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,920
Speaker 1: just enough self consciousness to be a little horrified by himself,

111
00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,440
Speaker 1: just not to the point where he could be bothered

112
00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:03,240
Speaker 1: to filter his solib selic impulses. If Smith is a

113
00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,599
Speaker 1: stand in for Zuckerberg, then Steve Carell is something of

114
00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,440
Speaker 1: a Peter Thield type, an older brother advisor figure who

115
00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:14,560
Speaker 1: he learned was Venice's first investor, but Correll's character is

116
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,880
Speaker 1: trying to hide a secret from his friends, which is

117
00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:21,600
Speaker 1: that he's dying of some unspecified incurable medical condition that

118
00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,400
Speaker 1: gives him just years to live. Of course, he's too

119
00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,920
Speaker 1: much of a narcissist to accept that, and he channels

120
00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:31,520
Speaker 1: his denial into the belief that tram will eventually evolve

121
00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:36,200
Speaker 1: into supporting transhumanism, a technology that will allow his soul

122
00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,560
Speaker 1: to live forever once he's shuffled his mortal coil, and

123
00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,080
Speaker 1: that delusion puts him at odds with the last character, Jeff,

124
00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:48,160
Speaker 1: played by romy Yusef. Jeff seems to be possibly both

125
00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:52,680
Speaker 1: the most conscientious and deplorable character. He seems the most

126
00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,440
Speaker 1: troubled by the circumstances playing out in the real world,

127
00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,720
Speaker 1: yet not so troubled that he won't be rushed into

128
00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,320
Speaker 1: a deal with Venice to sell him his own special

129
00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,600
Speaker 1: blend of AI, which trams Board believes will help consumers

130
00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,560
Speaker 1: distinguish the difference between real and fake video. It's like

131
00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:13,000
Speaker 1: Jeff has the antidote to the AI poison Venice is

132
00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,960
Speaker 1: practically killing the world with, but won't release it because

133
00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,840
Speaker 1: he has overdosed on the toxic masculinity that keeps these

134
00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:26,720
Speaker 1: supposed friends, in a constant state of competitive one upmanship, are.

135
00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:30,080
Speaker 2: The smartest men in America. We literally have the resources

136
00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:31,480
Speaker 2: to take over the world.

137
00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:35,440
Speaker 3: This ugly death traphouse might have just become humanity's global

138
00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:36,840
Speaker 3: HQ boom.

139
00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:39,360
Speaker 1: The President once the speak to us, guys, we could

140
00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,360
Speaker 1: actually do this. I can handle Leargentina and Paraguay.

141
00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,280
Speaker 2: We could probably buy Haiti or Belgium.

142
00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:50,760
Speaker 1: Those chocolatey assholes in the mouths of anyone else on earth.

143
00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:55,200
Speaker 1: The machinations about global domination would be delusional in enough

144
00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,280
Speaker 1: to merit them a ticket to the looney bin. But

145
00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,600
Speaker 1: the sick joke of Mountainhead is that the these characters

146
00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:05,120
Speaker 1: are so powerful that they're not entirely delusional. Listening to

147
00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:07,959
Speaker 1: them talk about their ability to fix the world as

148
00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,640
Speaker 1: casually as they would be repairing a car will surely

149
00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:15,400
Speaker 1: bring to mind musks many public musings from the recently

150
00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:19,439
Speaker 1: concluded Doge phase of his career, in which he convinced

151
00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,400
Speaker 1: the current president to essentially hand over the keys to

152
00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:23,440
Speaker 1: the US government.

153
00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,040
Speaker 3: We're going to take a quick break, but when we return,

154
00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,880
Speaker 3: more on Mountainhead and the inevitable comparisons that will be

155
00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:40,640
Speaker 3: made to Succession, and we are backed and I'm talking

156
00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:44,880
Speaker 3: about Mountainhead. A very interesting movie coming to HBO May

157
00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:49,280
Speaker 3: thirty first, and HBO max at that the extra resonance

158
00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,319
Speaker 3: mountain Head achieves from being released at the same time

159
00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,440
Speaker 3: as the world it's trying to reflect is also what

160
00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:00,199
Speaker 3: separates it from Succession. Sure, there were flashes of moment

161
00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:02,959
Speaker 3: that seemed ripped from the headlines of the media trade

162
00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:07,160
Speaker 3: publications in Succession, but it's largely drawn from the exploits

163
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,120
Speaker 3: of the Murdochs and Redstones, many of which preceded the

164
00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,040
Speaker 3: show by some years. Mountainhead isn't a sequel or spin

165
00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,600
Speaker 3: off to Succession, but it also kind of is not

166
00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:19,880
Speaker 3: a sequel in the conventional sense of the word, in

167
00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,000
Speaker 3: that it doesn't continue the mythology of the Roy family

168
00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,040
Speaker 3: media empire in any way. But it is a sequel

169
00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,559
Speaker 3: in the sense that Mountainhead's characters feel like they belong

170
00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:34,160
Speaker 3: in the same world. Armstrong could have brought the world

171
00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:36,679
Speaker 3: of Succession and mountain Head together in any number of

172
00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:41,640
Speaker 3: cute crossovery kind of ways. I really half expected Kendall

173
00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:47,080
Speaker 3: Roy to wander into any particular scene. Honestly, Armstrong could

174
00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:51,480
Speaker 3: have swapped out Jason Schwartzman's character for Kendall, and this

175
00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:52,800
Speaker 3: movie would have held up.

176
00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,480
Speaker 1: I've always marveled it the way each installment of Succession

177
00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,840
Speaker 1: was something of a bottle episode contained to the rooms

178
00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:03,240
Speaker 1: of a single building sometimes, but it's a credit to

179
00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:07,160
Speaker 1: Armstrong that there's nothing claustrophobic about this. To the contrary,

180
00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,440
Speaker 1: it gives the action of more coiled powers if the

181
00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:14,440
Speaker 1: characters gather steam by bouncing off the walls and each other.

182
00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,720
Speaker 1: By squeezing the narrative a Mountainhead entirely into one mountain

183
00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:23,240
Speaker 1: side mansion. The movie operates by a similar dynamic, so

184
00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,240
Speaker 1: much so that I honestly think Armstrong could have, maybe

185
00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,160
Speaker 1: should still put this story on a Broadway stage. But

186
00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,079
Speaker 1: I don't want to overstate the similarities between the shows either,

187
00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,920
Speaker 1: because Mountainhead is distinctive in a bunch of key ways.

188
00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:43,880
Speaker 1: Succession is more of an actor showcase. The family drama

189
00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:48,160
Speaker 1: lends itself to more emotional depth. It tilts more towards

190
00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,520
Speaker 1: drama than comedy the way fountain Head does. And I

191
00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:55,760
Speaker 1: also want to make a distinction between Armstrong's two creations

192
00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,839
Speaker 1: because fair warning, I don't think every Succession fan is

193
00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:04,400
Speaker 1: going to like Mountainhead. Yes, it's situated in the same world,

194
00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:08,280
Speaker 1: but there are some tonal differences that Succession fans looking

195
00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,160
Speaker 1: for a spin off movie might be disappointed by. I

196
00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:14,160
Speaker 1: don't want to ruin the movie with a spoiler, but

197
00:12:14,559 --> 00:12:18,000
Speaker 1: be ready for the story to take a turn. It's

198
00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,960
Speaker 1: actually such a departure from this Succession world as to

199
00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:25,720
Speaker 1: almost be like crossing over into magical realism. And I

200
00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:27,560
Speaker 1: don't think some viewers are going to be ready to

201
00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,520
Speaker 1: take that leap. It's like success It's like Succession, and

202
00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,520
Speaker 1: that it's dark and funny at the same time. But

203
00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,360
Speaker 1: this one just gets darker and darker and funnier and

204
00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,480
Speaker 1: crazier in a way it just wouldn't make sense for

205
00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:45,479
Speaker 1: Succession to do. But that's also the fun of Mountainhead.

206
00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,360
Speaker 1: It's like watching a car slip into a whole other

207
00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,800
Speaker 1: gear you didn't know Armstrong could drive. Strangely, though Mountainhead

208
00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:55,480
Speaker 1: gets more and more absurd as the story unfolds, it

209
00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,720
Speaker 1: also captures the precariousness of the moment we as a

210
00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:04,320
Speaker 1: societ society find ourselves in today. It conjures up just

211
00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:07,760
Speaker 1: the kind of worst case scenarios that come to mind

212
00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,360
Speaker 1: every time you read about AI or reckless moguls. That's

213
00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:14,959
Speaker 1: enough for me for this week. Thanks for listening in.

214
00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,640
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening, be sure to leave us a review

215
00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:25,400
Speaker 2: at Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music. We love to hear

216
00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,600
Speaker 2: from listeners. Please go to Variety dot com and sign

217
00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:32,640
Speaker 2: up for the free weekly Strictly Business newsletter, and don't

218
00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:36,160
Speaker 2: forget to tune in next week for another episode of

219
00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:37,160
Speaker 2: Strictly Business