The only features Peyton Reed has directed for the past decade have been Ant-Man films for Marvel. Before that, for a brief period in the late aughts, he was the studios go-to for adult romantic comedies. Before that, his finest (two) hour(s) — all due respect to Bring It On — was the Rock Hudson/Doris Day riff, Down With Love, a period parody filled with a digitally ’60s Manhattan and pre-sexual revolution, pre-Mad Men glee. On this episode, guest Lani Gonzalez and I discuss:
Pillow Talk, the most specific parody subject for Down With Love;
the Oscar-winning lineage of Hudson/Day series;
why Lani, a lover of Bring It On, disagrees about it being Reed’s finest (two) hour(s).
Also:
Peyton Reed’s pre-MCU work, from Mr. Show to the Back to the Future Saturday morning cartoon;
how Reed turned a pitch for a pre-MCU ’60s-period Fantastic Four into most of Down With Love’s New York “locations”;
and his post-Love period of adult romantic comedies.
Lani Gonzalez writes about film for both Book and Film Globe and, alongside her husband (and former guest-host) AJ, their blog Cinema Then and Now.
Both Down With Love and Pillow Talk is available to buy and rent digitally and, also, on physical media.