Transcript
Speaker: All right. We're ready. Oh, another episode of what we saw last night. um Philadelphia and South Jersey's preeminent horror culture podcast. This episode, we're absolutely howling to go over the um Oscar nominations.
Speaker: We're going to be talking about Wolfman and some other things. um Let's get into it. As always, we got a warm up question. Um, kind of tying into the Wolfman theme for one more question one.
Speaker: um I was going to ask you guys to recast Abbott and Costello meets the meets Frankenstein. um So if we were to do like a modern version, who would we get? You would have to have two people that are playing kind of like slapstick comedy guys with Abbott and Costello.
Speaker: They were a comedy duo for those who don't know. And they did a lot of movies. One being Them meets Frankenstein, which is a great, silly horror comedy. um And it is Wolfman, Frankenstein, Dracula.
Speaker: So, yeah, what do you guys got? What you have, Julia? um
Speaker: I have to think. mean Do you have any ideas? ah So, I don't have the duo quite yet. But... I have John Cena as one of them.
Speaker: Okay. I really, really, really... There's something about John Cena that... Wait, as the way has one of the duo or as... Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah So like ah so he's he's one of the duo.
Speaker: So you you know how this has to be a two-person, and it has to go together. So I'm not sure who... So I i want to say, so if you've got John Cena... This could work. give you like What about Jack Black?
Speaker: oh I feel like he was one of the first people I thought of, but I didn't know who to put him with. Jack Black. I could see Jack Black. i could see I could see a movie with Jack Black and John Cena.
Speaker: That might not be my final, final, final answer. But as of now, I'm going John Cena, definitely. And Jack Black, if my... Jack Black, because we're negotiating with someone else.
Speaker: But if it falls if it doesn't fall through, we're going with Jack Black. Right.
Speaker: I'm trying to think who was in the... Oh, go ahead. In the cast of Ricky Stunicki, because they all worked well together. I feel like John Cena... So the cast of Ricky Sinecki was great, but i don't know if... See, he would have to be like... The thing is, nowadays, like in today's time, and i I am not... This is not what I'm picking, but in today's time, this is like a Kevin Hart role.
Speaker: Okay, don't do that to us. No, no, no, no. ah ke you gotta pick like I'm thinking of like comedy people like funny so hear me out I'm thinking like maybe you throw like Post Malone in there or or somebody like a Pete Davidson i could see i could see Pete Davidson I could also see Gerard Carmichael he was in um he's a stand-up comedy I think he's really funny he was in he was the black guy in um
Speaker: Four Things, who kind of was like an asshole. Yeah. he could his like his He could be like the asshole and you could have like John Cena do all the physical comedy.
Speaker: I'm also thinking David Desmalchian. That guy fits everywhere. Yeah, but maybe he could be with Gerard Carmichael. I feel like that's a good... Bet one, two punches.
Speaker: Because I feel like they're not overly funny, but they can be really funny. I could see that. That would be really that would be really entertaining. In and one of the one of the people in my casting list, if I were casting for this, out of the people we're we're reaching out to, a a long shot in would it work? I think like Pedro Pascal. I feel...
Speaker: I don't know. feel like Nick Cage. No, no, no. And and and John Cena. I think he can do just enough. But like I said, he's just on the list. He's not like, you know, you know, you, you bring in a lot of people to audition.
Speaker: Yeah. Like he's auditioning. I don't know if we would pick him.
Speaker: If I think that would be great. Um, What do you guys have for the <unk>s the three monsters?
Speaker: Like who's playing the monsters? Yeah.
Speaker: Okay, this changes everything. I feel like I didn't understand the question and I was like, okay, that makes sense. So we need two guys and then the guy that plays the monster. Yeah, well, you need a wolfman, Dracula, and a Frankenstein.
Speaker: Okay. Okay. right For Frankenstein, I'm going present-day Dolph Lundgren. Wait, who's that? Interesting choice.
Speaker: He's like a an old action star.
Speaker: But here, i'll send you I'll send you a picture so you can see. While you're thinking, I'll send you that picture. But I would present-day just because...
Speaker: Man, I know how this sounds, and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way, but he kind of looks like fucking Frankenstein. So I have who I think i would pick for Frankenstein, and that would be Scarsgarden.
Speaker: Which one? That's literally what I was going to say. Bill Scarsgarden. Bill.
Speaker: He's too young. i think he's like too cute.
Speaker: He's literally typecast as a monster. like Yeah, but... I could see him as like a Dracula. No, but why... No, because Dracula is old. Frankenstein's not old. He's just dead. Yeah, yeah but he doesn't have the head shape.
Speaker: I feel like Dolph Lundgren's head is Frankenstein's head. But is that the real shape? You can put a headpiece on him. It doesn't have to be that he's... like he is't he He played Count Orlok. He looked nothing like him.
Speaker: Yeah, but like Dolph Lundgren also sounds, but he also sounds like Frankenstein too, you know? i mean, that's just my pick. I mean i don't know if you're aware like There's like costumes and voice acting.
Speaker: like It's not just going to be Bill Skarsgård on set. Yeah, no, I mean, I know how life works. I'm just saying, if you're Looking for the perfect mold, I personally feel Dolph Lundgren's the perfect mold for Frankenstein.
Speaker: Alright, so hear me out. This this is mine. Yeah, go. I have David Desmaltion and Gerard Carmichael are the guys.
Speaker: And then i have Post Malone is the wolf man. Pete Davidson is Dracula. Bill Skarsgård as Frankenstein. That's my casting.
Speaker: I actually agree with the two. I agree with Post Malone and um ah Pete Davidson. And I was thinking the same thing about Pete. Actually, I think Pete Davidson played Count Chocula in like a SNL sketch. sketch The thing is, if it makes you feel better, you can swap Frankenstein and Dracula. If you really feel some type of way.
Speaker: ah No. i I would do... um James McAvoy as the Wolfman. Okay. ah And scars Bill Skarsgård as Frankenstein.
Speaker: And like literally, I don't know, like the Dracula is the one where I got hung up on. Maybe like Nick Cage. No, i can I can see Pete Davidson as Dracula. a ped I can see Pete Davidson too.
Speaker: easy He looks pale. Yeah, he's he's goofy looking. I feel like he fits the mold. Malnourished. you know
Speaker: I would love to see him in a serious role because I don't think I've ever... i don't know if he's been in any, but that I've seen... um i would love to see him in like a really serious, like dramatic role.
Speaker: I would love to see that. because it's like Let's see if he can actually act. We'll see what happens. I'm sure people get tired of being a... A Pete Davidson type?
Speaker: Yeah, like a Pete Davidson. I want it to be like a silly, over-the-top Dracula movie, but I want Pete Davidson to play it straight. I want it to be like the Muppets Christmas Carol.
Speaker: Nice.
Speaker: That was kind of... That's how like the... um Evan Costello, it's like the monsters, they play it straight and then everyone else is in a comedy. That's exactly... Let's move on to the next one of the questions. We're going to just do a quick rundown of um the Oscars because they just dropped.
Speaker: Yeah. so We'll do the the main ones, like the best... Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah Not like... ah Sound and all that stuff, i don't know anything about it.
Speaker: Right, very right, right, right, right. So which one we doing first? um Do you have the list up or you want me to pull it up? I have the list. I have the list. Oh, yeah. Let's do let's start with a movie.
Speaker: Sorry, that's not the order of that my list is Okay, we can just go for the order of your list. Okay, best picture. We have a Nora, the brutalist. Go ahead.
Speaker: was going to say I agree with that. yeah but Keep going. keep going A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune Part 2, Amelia Perez, I'm Still Here, Nickel Boys, The Substance, and Wicked. Are and are there any ones on there that you guys think shouldn't be on there? um Amelia Perez...
Speaker: That movie's kind of fascinating. I'm not really understanding...
Speaker: hype? The hype around it, and I'm not... Obviously, everyone hates that movie, and I don't want to just be like... But I'm i'm genuinely curious to see, like...
Speaker: I guess I really have to search out some more, like, reviews of it to see, like, what they're getting from it that I missed. Like, what is making people...
Speaker: review that movie well yeah my question to you guys about amelia perez before we say if there's any other snubs or who you would replace it with is did you guys try to watch it because i tried four times and could not get through it and every review i've read of it is that they've tried multiple times and couldn't get it through with it in one sitting yeah i i tried i i didn't finish it it's just
Speaker: julia said Julia sent me a clip of a scene in Amelia Perez, and I thought it was an SNL skit, if that helps any. i'm trying And I'm trying to remove myself from the fact, like, we've talked about it before. There's a lot of things about this film that people think are offensive, and I'm trying to not take that into consideration because I don't think it... That's why I don't think it... That's not why I don't think it should be nominated. I don't think just because it's, like, offending people, I don't think... If it was a well-made film,
Speaker: And it is, well, that's different, but I feel like it's genuinely not good. The acting is funky. The writing is funky. but For me, it's like, if it takes this much effort for me to watch it, as a person who watches a lot of movies and a lot of different movies, like, I can't sit here and say that, oh, it should be on there.
Speaker: Not when, like, there's been a handful of good snubs. So, like, who do you guys think should be, should have replaced it um Nosferatu because that had other nominations and I feel like is genuinely deserving.
Speaker: It's just not nominated for Best Picture. oh I agree 100% for... ah Literally for Emilia Perez, I think three movies can... Either one of these three movies can replace it.
Speaker: Nosferatu, I think that's just a gorgeously made film. But honestly, Challengers could replace it. Challengers? yeah and And I wouldn't mind even Gladiators 2 being on there.
Speaker: I mean, I know it's not like a best picture movie, but I mean... Gladiators was, though.
Speaker: Right, right, right. glad ah Of course. so you know That's why that's why i thought thought of Gladiators because Gladiators was nominated for best picture. Wait, it won, didn't it? I don't remember if it won or not, but I know it was nominated.
Speaker: So I honestly, realistically, I don't know how challengers is not on there. Realistically. Yeah. Um, my other questions, my last question about the, uh, best picture is, um, we're not going to do picks yet. We'll publish them online separately. Um,
Speaker: What do you guys, what which ones um do you want to see? Because like I know like all of us, we haven't seen all them. I definitely want to see a Nora that looks, honestly, I'll probably watch most of these because a lot of them, um they all look good to me. I just, for one reason or another, didn't get around to watching them throughout the year.
Speaker: But out of all... Everything that's nominated for Best Picture, I'll probably watch all of them that I haven't seen yet. Because I've only seen a few. But in the next month, I definitely plan to watch all of them. If you have an interesting Conclave, I do have a Paramount or Peacock subscription. So people want to watch Conclave.
Speaker: Yeah, I want to see all all of them too. I think the brutalists Brutal List is in theater soon for like a few days. maybe it's It's in theaters.
Speaker: I can't. It's been hard because it's three hours long. So, like, there's so many times that I'm like, oh, I should go see The Brutalist. And I end up seeing, like, literally everything else.
Speaker: yeah Because i it's like, do you want to sit through three hours? I'm waiting for it to be streaming. I hope it will be streaming before the Oscars. Yeah, it's just like how much of the same. The thing is, how many of the same stories can we see, you know?
Speaker: kind of is my thing. But to see it because if it's nominated, then obviously somebody thought it was worth yeah putting up there, you know? ah what do you What do we got for Best Director?
Speaker: Or whatever is next on the list, Julia. um On the list I'm looking at, the next one is Production Design. Do you want to do that one or skip it? Skip it. I have Live Action Short Film, Sound, Visual Effects...
Speaker: Writing adapted screenplay. Writing original screenplay. I have to go back to the top. ah say hey Let's do the actors, actresses, director. your Actor in a leading role. We have Adrian Brody in The Brutalist.
Speaker: Timothee Chalamet in A Complete Unknown. Coleman Domingo in Sing Sing. Ralph Fiennes in Conclave. And Sebastian Stan in The Apprentice.
Speaker: I don't know. I think um i also have not seen any of these movies. haven't seen them, but I think they're all really great actors otherwise.
Speaker: So they all seem pretty solid having not seen any of these films yet. Okay. I've seen some, like, I will say Conclave, Fiennes does an amazing job.
Speaker: And he refuses to campaign. And we'll talk about that when we talk about like, um, do an Oscars campaign episode. He's on the record saying if, you know, he, he would like to win an Oscar, but he's not, he's not going to put in any extra effort.
Speaker: Like he's not going to do extra interviews. He's not going to go around putting in extra work to campaign for the role. So he's probably not going to win it. And I thought he did a very great job um in it.
Speaker: Um, Coleman Domingo, he's great, so I hope he wins it. like Just as a biased, I haven't seen Sing Sing yet. And you know what, though? I don't think that's a good idea it's to not campaign because at the end of the day, you still have to.
Speaker: Or people are just going to like, who gives a shit? you know he says He's got better things to do. but like it stays It stays fresh in your head you know like when you do campaign because some of these movies came out later than other. By later, I mean like earlier in a year.
Speaker: yeah But I respect that, though. like you you either you don't like you either like it, you don't like it I'm not here to convince you. because i feel like it's also amicable because we've talked about it's just a popularity contest. These people aren't necessarily winning based on their performance or based on the role or how film was.
Speaker: At the end of the day, that's not always the case. like I agree. yeah He said he's... aity contest so you he might just not want to participate in that. And he's saying like, if I win, I win. It's because I did a good job, but I'm not going to win for being popular. Like I'm not going to suck up to the Academy.
Speaker: Well, so I was just saying you're like, he's not going to suck up to the Academy to try to win. He's just going to win. yeah He's on his performance and nothing else. I agree. i respect that so much. I really do.
Speaker: And he said like he but he just wants to focus on his next roles. like He's working. he's He's like, I want to put all my... like I'll have the direct quote when we do the campaign issue because I found this inner like really fascinating. He's just like, i don't care. like He's like, I'm focusing on my next role. People are paying me a lot of money to bring a good role performance to my next thing.
Speaker: So that's what I have to do. It's kind of like what... What's-his-face Joe Bendeli said when we had him on. He was like, You don't always get a chance to celebrate the film because you have your next work. roll Right, yeah. and One, I respect that so much.
Speaker: I think if you're... The thing is, you put out the best you can and that's all you could do.
Speaker: Everything else, you know, nothing's really fair. Nothing's judged fairly and all that. So I respect that 100%. Yeah. All right, what do we got for actors?
Speaker: Oh, wait, wait, does anyone have any snubs? Like, but you did you see a performance by um a male actor this year where were like, they need to be on there, or Off the top of my head, nothing is jumping out at me. Like, I feel like these are fairly fair. Yeah, I did see the Bob Dylan movie, and I thought Chalamet was great in it.
Speaker: So, like, that was the big question for me going, like, it would have been like, is he good enough or was that good enough? And it was. So, and I think that there wasn't that many, there was a lot of great female performances.
Speaker: Yeah. It's, it's difficult. Cause don't know if this year was a good year for like best actor roles. I feel like,
Speaker: This year was a strong... I think this year was a strong female year. I think there was way more, like, best actresses this year than there was um actors. So, like, I... If this is the list, honestly, I'm okay with this being the list.
Speaker: Yeah. ah In a real world, or in a perfect world, I would have wanted, like, David Desmeltz-Chan for Late Night with the Devil. But like that was never, ever in a million years getting a nomination.
Speaker: Yeah, well... Right? Like, if we're being realistic. Yeah, I think... No, I think this list is what it is, you know? What do we got for female? um Best actress in a leading role, we have Cynthia Erivo in Wicked...
Speaker: Carla Sofia Gascon in Emilia Perez, Mikey Madison in Onora, Demi Moore in The Substance, and Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here.
Speaker: i I really liked Mikey Madison, and I think she should win it. um Does anyone have any like thoughts on the um ones who should be announced?
Speaker: I think these are all fair and justified, except I don't think anyone should ever be nominated for anything in relation to Amelia Perez. Like, I feel like... I don't i don't want to just, like, blanket trash that movie, but, like... It just wasn't great.
Speaker: Maybe your performance was good, but the writing was not good, and just overall it was not good. agree. I agree. um Zendaya not being on here is yeah huge snub.
Speaker: ah I mean, i I don't think there's anything else to say about that. otherwise It's absolutely criminal. Crazy that she's not on here. I mean,
Speaker: i i I don't know how all this stuff works, but the fact that she's not nominated, I think is beyond insane but you know it is what it is these things happen and you kind of just we'll talk about theories I have when we do the other episode that's fair but i think um kind of the same thing I mean I like this list a lot I really like this list I haven't seen Anora but
Speaker: i it's a movie that I've really wanted to see for the past well months before it came out and then months since it's come out I just haven't gotten around to it and um but I'm really excited for that I shout out for Demi Moore for even making the list I don't know i think she should i think she should i just don't know why she made the list but great for her. I mean, i'm i'm I hope she wins. I hope she pulls it off, you know?
Speaker: Yeah. Like, the horror community is very united behind Substance right now and hoping they get a few wins. Well, the Substance, Nosferatu, and a ah an Alien Romulus, I mean, they have... And Planet of the Apes.
Speaker: And Planet of the Apes. Like, all of these movies have nominations and and i think that's I think that's great.
Speaker: As like a joke... um I would say June Squibb. um She was the one who played Thelma.
Speaker: Listen, man. The movie Thelma, I thought the movie Thelma was fucking hilarious. It was. I genuinely laughed throughout the whole movie. There's a few movies this year. I'm not saying they're best pictures or nothing like that. But, like, um I had a fun time with with the movie Drive-Away Dolls.
Speaker: Fucking Drive-Away Dolls was hilarious, man. Drive-Away Dolls, Babes. I thought these movies were were we're great. you know i mean Again, I'm not saying they should have been up for anything, but Thelma?
Speaker: i would be ah I would be okay with literally anybody because I agree with Julie. I don't know if Emilia Perez is a good movie or not, but from all I've seen,
Speaker: i I don't know.
Speaker: I'll be cool with literally anybody yeah else.
Speaker: I really want to see June Squibb in like a buddy comedy. She could be like in Abbott Costello for us. I feel like she um should be in a buddy comedy with like a Margaret Qualley. Like let's let's mix it up.
Speaker: Maybe John Cena. I was going to say, yeah, love it. would be great. It would be hilarious. Like a buddy cop. But they're not cops. But they're not like cops, though.
Speaker: They're just like together solving something. Because that's what, I mean, in a way, that's kind of... Yeah, like if you think about it, kind of what Thelma was about.
Speaker: Yeah. they were kind That was great. In a way, they were kind of solving mystery. What did we get for...
Speaker: and what we get for um the next category. Do you want the supporting roles or no? Yeah, sure. Just cause the, I don't know the the men, i forget that one, but i know the women's one is going be like highly contested. So, and there was some snubs.
Speaker: All right Actor in a supporting role. We have Yura Boriskov in Anora, Kiernan Culkin in A Real Pain, Edward Norton in A Complete Unknown, Guy Pearce in The Brutalist, and Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice.
Speaker: Um, and Nora,
Speaker: like, I would like to see him win. Um, I didn't think Kieran Culkin really brought it. So I'm not a fan. Like, I don't know. He was okay in it.
Speaker: I think the, yeah, like the guy from Nora, the, the Russian guy, I think Yuri, whatever. I think he stands out the most for me.
Speaker: i I haven't seen The Brutalist. Obviously, I mentioned it. But I love Guy Pearce. One of my favorite movies is Memento. And i would not mind seeing him ah get this.
Speaker: I like Edward Norton, too. oh meant to say he was great. Yeah, like I like Edward Norton, but... If I had to choose blindly from this list, I think I just like Guy Pearce more. So i would I would probably go Guy Pearce.
Speaker: Anyone need to be dropped? I don't think so. oh Yeah, nah, I don't think so either. ah would have liked to have seen someone from, like, Nosferatu, even though, like, none of the guys... The guys were great actors. They didn't just... They weren't in the film enough, I feel like, to drop, like...
Speaker: um someone... Yeah, it's hard because... i mean, when you think of all the movies we saw this year and you kind of look back at who would be considered like a supporting actor, i mean, it's kind of hard to be like this person or that person maybe... think I played twice.
Speaker: I mean...
Speaker: I don't know. I'm i'm kind of i'm going through my letterbox through the last year, and I don't know if I see... Someone that's like, oh, like that they had a good one. Yeah, yeah, like someone that's had like a good... Like like someone that's that's got that good... Len Powell for Twisters.
Speaker: You know what? Twisters was so fucking good. I guess. I think it was. I don't know. I can't remember if it was good or not, because... I was just happy to make it out alive.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't know, man. i Honestly,
Speaker: i'm fine with the list, to be honest. I'm right with it. All right. Best actress in a supporting role. We have Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown, Ariana Grande for Wicked, Felicity Jones for The Brutalist, Isabella Rossellini for Conclave, and Zoe Saldana for Emilia Perez.
Speaker: ah who Who do you guys want to see dropped, if any, or... Who gets nervous? Amelia Perez doesn't need any nominations for anything. hard to say. Would you put more of the quality in?
Speaker: For... Substance. See, I thought about that, but I feel like she doesn't do enough, or I feel like she doesn't... Yeah, she ain't really shine as much, you know? She doesn't... If you...
Speaker: If you look back, she hardly has any dialogue in the film. She plays the role well, but the ah the the role itself isn't like... Yeah, it's not really like a speaking role, and it's so it's hard to... Well, I'll tell you this.
Speaker: Zendaya getting snubbed once again for Dune? Yeah. ah Crazy. Absolutely just do not understand...
Speaker: not not Not really sure what's happening here. um But if she didn't get a nomination for Best Actress, you could have at least given her Best Supporting Actress in Dune. Not because she didn't get it in one, but because she was literally just as good in Dune as she was in Challengers.
Speaker: If for whatever reason you want to punish her because the Challengers crew threw a fucking fit and walked out and oh fine, whatever, then punish her for that. you know but Do whatever you have to do.
Speaker: But right is right. And she was amazing in both. don't don't Don't punish her for do also.
Speaker: I agree with that. agree with that. That's a solid take. I just, i there's something about, there's something about that that just kind of angers me, I guess. Not, I mean, I'm not like mad about it, but it's like, come on now, you know, right is right.
Speaker: And I get it. You got a rep to uphold, but let's be real here. I mean, She's got... Those are two of the best movies of the year. It's not even like... they were It's not even like... Let's say Dune was like... last... Like the last Jedi. It's not like Dune was like the last Jedi. You know what I'm saying? a It was... Dune 2 was... Should... Oh, no, wait. It is up for best picture.
Speaker: So... It's like... That's crazy to me that she's not even on there for that. Or actually that nobody is on there for Dune.
Speaker: Even um Austin Butler in Dune 2 was phenomenal. I mean, should he have gotten nominated for Elvis? Probably.
Speaker: Should he have gotten nominated for Dune 2? Oh. Hands down Definitely. like Not even a question. Not even a question. i though I don't even know why we're even bringing it up, to be honest with you.
Speaker: I have no idea how this is part of the conversation. It should not be. But here we are, and it is. so But i'm i'm looking i'm I'm looking through the list, and again, I don't see anybody that... Outside of, obviously, the ones I just mentioned, I don't see anybody that I would throw on there. I mean...
Speaker: like I saw the movie Kinds of Kindness and like Emma Stone was was very good in it. but she and like The argument is that since the Kinds of Kindness is three stories in one and it's all the same actors all playing different roles, they technically were all supporting.
Speaker: so i could like i would have She could have potentially been nominated. Her, Margot Polly, or Hong Chow, they all were really good in I don't even like Scarlett Johansson.
Speaker: But I would have been okay with her from Fly Me to the Moon. She was good in it. She did what she needed to do. Right, right, right. I'm just looking through my list and I'm like, I love that movie. I love Drive Away Dolls. I love Blink Twice.
Speaker: Hell, I loved fucking Fall Guy. I thought Fall Guy was amazing. you know and Again, i haven't seen Emilia Perez yet. I will at some point. probably but I might even watch it tonight.
Speaker: um I just, I'm not sure. i don't know, man. I'm just not sure.
Speaker: i'll i'll definitely let y'all know if it does deserve any kind of of the awards it got. Because it's going to win one. i'm afraid I'm afraid that I know that as a fact that it's going to win one.
Speaker: whats on Next, Harry, I think Let's do director and animation. um the Best director. We have Sean Baker for Enora.
Speaker: Bradley Corbet for The Brutalist. James Mangold for Complete Unknown.
Speaker: Jacques Audyard for Amelia Perez. And Coralie Farge for The Substance. you know I hope the substance wins it. hope she wins it.
Speaker: Again, dude not being on this list. Crazy. ra Challenger's not being on this list is crazy. it's It's way beyond. Robert Eggers not being on this list is crazy.
Speaker: I mean, it's it it's beyond anything I can think of, but I don't. I don't know, man. I'm just a fan. So it's like these people, they're they're professionals at this.
Speaker: So there're there has to be a reason why this happened. But I mean... enough Yeah, i don't know. You know what I'm saying? Like, Dune 2 not being nominated just like Dune 1 wasn't for director?
Speaker: Crazy. I don't understand it do you have any thoughts? No, I mean, I think they're all decent. i So I'm not a big Dune or Challengers fan, so I have a hard time agreeing with those. But I feel like I didn't really give either of those a chance. Maybe I'm wrong.
Speaker: I'll just say it ah because I'm not a like a fan of Dune, the franchise, like the whole from the 80s and the books and like...
Speaker: I'm not like a fan of it like I am of Star Wars. But when I saw Dune 1, I don't even remember how I saw it.
Speaker: I didn't go to the theaters anything to see it. A friend of mine really loves Dune from back from the 80s. And they did they told me actually to, they said, hey, look, ah check, you know, Dune is out. Dune's such a great movie. I've seen it.
Speaker: a hundred times, right? And I was like, all right, cool. I saw it and I was like, holy shit. I understand what you're telling me. And the thing about Dune is, again, I don't know the lore of Dune. I don't know like if it followed the books, if it didn't follow. I don't know any of that shit because that doesn't matter to me.
Speaker: But Just the visual representation of a world that doesn't exist. And they did such a great job with just making everything feel like you could drive to this place. you know like like Like if it does exist. Kind of how Avatar, their bread and butter is...
Speaker: Basically, their visuals. because the Say what you want about the story. I you know i don't care about that part. But their visuals are stunning. I just feel Dune... Dune 2 in particular surpasses all of that.
Speaker: um The acting in Dune 2 from literally everybody is top-notch. The cinematography in Dune 2, top-notch. I mean, it's it's some of the best I've seen.
Speaker: In a long time. Again, the story itself is great. you know may it's It's a long movie, so I can understand why.
Speaker: you know people don't like it. Yeah, or even like why you probably didn't get too into it, because it's like it does take a while. And it did take me a while to actually. like I had to watch it the second time I watched it. I actually watched it. like The first time I just kind of like put it on.
Speaker: But once I saw it, then I saw Dune 1 four or five times. And Dune 2, I've already seen it like three times. And these were like back-to-back, so I have to rewatch it to see if it's still like the best movie.
Speaker: But i don't know. It's just that's that's my thing on Dune, why Dune not being nominated for Wadoon's not on this list for almost every one of the categories we mentioned.
Speaker: i I don't understand. Challengers was just fun. Challengers... Challengers is a very good, like, technical... we' done Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No doubt. But I'm saying... But Zendaya was phenomenal. She really was phenomenal. She did such a great job ah it just like pulling you in and then pull and then you pulling back, like, damn, you know, her career is ruined.
Speaker: And then you're just like, fuck this bitch. Like I hate her so much, you know, and you're kind of, it's, it's, it's, it's a beautiful love. The thing is challenges is a beautiful love story. And it's not even about Zendaya.
Speaker: Right. So it's just like, ah overall, the story is just, it's, it's, I don't know. It's just I don't understand how neither of those weren't nominated for more things.
Speaker: No, I agree 100%. ah Julia, any thoughts on that? No. cool Let's do um animation. I'll wrap this portion up. Alright, animated feature film. we have Flo, Inside Out 2, Memoir of a Snail, Wallace and Gromit, and The Wild Robot.
Speaker: Guys, So I saw The Wild Robot and I fucking love it. And i it might win. And if it does, that's great. um Wallace and Gromit is always a classic. But when I saw Flo, Flo was like the most transcending. Like it was it was a an amazing movie.
Speaker: I hope everyone gets a chance to watch it. It's beautiful. It's visually like moving. Watch it on like the nicest TV you can find. Biggest screen you can find.
Speaker: And you're going to be on this like wild journey. I'm so happy that I got a chance to see it. And if it doesn't win, i'm going to burn down the Academy. All right.
Speaker: Is it streaming or is it? I don't i don't know. I saw it. um it It played like ah for a week at the Bourse. So I just like jumped on it and went. I didn't even know what I was getting into.
Speaker: And by the end of it, I was like, that was the it was a wild ride. It was great. is It is available to rent right now for $6. Hopefully someone picks it up.
Speaker: Yeah. It's not a bad price. I'll probably rent it yeah it's like It's beautiful. That's my my thoughts on it. and Also, the Wild Robot's now streaming on um Peacock.
Speaker: It's great, too. um So, yeah. yeah i haven't seen I haven't seen many of these, so I don't have many thoughts.
Speaker: I think they're all pretty good contenders.
Speaker: can't really think of any other animated stuff I've seen this year off the top of my head. i me Memoir of a Snail, I want to see. I'm working on it.
Speaker: um yeah let's Let's get into it. so We saw The Wolfman, which this is not going to get nominated for anything ever. um But that doesn't mean it wasn't a movie. And that doesn't mean that fun couldn't have been had.
Speaker: I have a bunch of pre-production notes to try to tell the story of this movie. um First and foremost, I'm a big Wolfman fan. Like ah going back to like the beginning from the first werewolf or the first werewolf movie that Universal did, which was um werewolf in London, not American werewolf in London, or just werewolf in London.
Speaker: And then few years later, they did The Wolfman, which um is like what most people think of when they think of werewolf. They kind of set the tone and the lore.
Speaker: And then um this this this thing happened. um So let me go over some production notes.
Speaker: um So this movie was originally said to be part of like the dark, you know universal dark universe, which was like the Tom Cruise mummy. Ryan Gosling was set to be the werewolf.
Speaker: um So he would have been in it. It was supposed to be a more classic retelling, just like they were going to do like Russell Crowe's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. So they had all these actors lined up and then said the mummy was so bad and the contracts were so bad, like because they trusted Tom Cruise so much that they just blew it all up and canceled everything.
Speaker: this movie went through a lot of different changes. COVID delayed this movie. um The Rock was actually set to be the Wolfman at one point, and he eventually dropped out.
Speaker: The director, Wannell, that's his, I think, last name, he went he happened to be at an off-Broadway show, saw Christopher Abbott, um who was actually acting with Aubrey Praza in an off-Broadway play, which was probably great.
Speaker: And he started like setting up zoom interviews and zoom meetings and trying to lure him onto the project. He eventually gets them. ah The director wanted to make this film feel isolating and that the werewolf was more like a disease.
Speaker: Something like he said, like ALS meets COVID. um During the production of it, they hosted a lot of screenings, just like they would all watch movies together, the whole cast.
Speaker: They watch The Shining, The Thing, The Fly, Under the Stairs, and a lot of different other like body horrors. and um I think you could see that in the actual like ah the movie. gar um it was Julia Garner is the actress. She's the main actress in this.
Speaker: um She did a lot of studying about grief. She spent a lot of time interviewing um mothers who work. And feel like they are suffering from societal pressures. And not doing a good enough job. Either in a toxic environment. At a workplace.
Speaker: not doing a good enough job. but Being a mother. So she took a lot of that. And um she tried using that. To be like very subtle with nuance and body language. she would So she mimicked a lot of their body language.
Speaker: To try to portray portray. What her character was feeling. Without saying it. And. Christopher Abbott spent. every day watching hours of animal videos on YouTube and like wolf videos.
Speaker: And he would practice making mannerisms. um The budget was $20 million. Right now the box office stands at $18 million. um Julia, do you want to give a quick rundown of it? So you want just the synopsis?
Speaker: Yeah, just like real quick. Real quick. Okay, so... Because this is not like a traditional werewolf movie. This is not like... Yeah.
Speaker: We have the mom and the dad and they have like an eight-year-old daughter. um The dad's name is Blake. We find out um he was raised by his dad. His dad went missing like ten years ago.
Speaker: Fast forward... Blake gets a letter that they're like, hey, your dad's been missing for 10 years. We're just now declaring him dead. Congratulations. Here's the keys to his house.
Speaker: Blake and his wife, Charlotte, their marriage is kind of rocky because she works a lot. He's a stay at home dad. So he has a really close relationship with their daughter and Charlotte just does not. She just works all the time and doesn't really know how to interact with her daughter.
Speaker: But now they just they just inherited this house. So they have to go so Blake's dad's house and like clean it out and everything. um They go out to the middle of the woods where this house is.
Speaker: um It's really creepy. They're in the middle of nowhere. There's no phone service. It's like sketchy as hell. Charlotte is like very obviously annoyed. She had to take off work for this.
Speaker: they end up i think they have a moving van and they run into blake's dad's neighbor who's like oh yeah just just give me a ride i'll show you the way to your dad's house because because blake doesn't really remember and as they're all in the moving van together like a man appears in the middle of the road and makes blake crash the van like swerving out of the way to miss him turns out that was um the wolf man and
Speaker: so the neighbor gets like eaten by the wolf man and then somewhere in the crash and like the attack blake is scratched or bitten by the wolf man unknowingly They're able to all escape and get out of like the crashed van. They make a run for Blake's dad's house.
Speaker: So that now they're like holed up inside the house. The wolfman is after them. They don't really know it's a wolfman. They're like, what the fuck is that? It's like a wild animal, but it's like clearly a man.
Speaker: um Blake starts to change into a werewolf because he was somehow infected by the wolfman and then we also later find out that the wolfman that is attacking him is actually Blake's father because his father was I was gonna say killed but we find out turned by his dad was hunting the wolfman to try to protect Blake ends up getting attacked and changed into the wolfman and that's why he's been missing for 10 years and now he's the wolfman what did you guys think of it
Speaker: So, this film was not good, but I feel like it was kind of fun. i appreciated watching it. I had like a nice time watching it. It was fun, it was good enough, but technically I just think it missed the mark in a lot of ways.
Speaker: do you think it would have been better if it wasn't called Wolfman because it didn't feel like a werewolf movie? So I actually, I'm not familiar with any of like really the original Wolfman movies.
Speaker: So I kind of went into this pretty blind. Like I know about werewolves, but I haven't seen like the original Wolfman. Okay. That probably would be a lot better that you didn't.
Speaker: um However, I do think this was kind of a really bad werewolf movie because I feel like the lore and, like, kind of science and explanation of how werewolves work is a lot of what missed the mark on this film. Like, a lot of things that seem to me like writing mistakes or things that didn't make sense is surrounding, like, the werewolf part itself.
Speaker: Yeah. Enrique, what are you thoughts?
Speaker: Uh... So...
Speaker: My only thought... really I mean, i I always enjoy it. And I enjoy it more when I get to see it with you guys. um I didn't like like the movie, but... My my thoughts... So... One... um a werewolf... And a wolfman...
Speaker: um i think are two different things. One... is a creature. One turns into a creature. The other one just transforms. um I won't get into it because I have a long thing and I won't get into it. But this one was, he was conscious at the end of the movie as he fully transformed.
Speaker: He's still conscious and still human. So um was he conscious of his own being? Like, I don't know. I think so, yeah, because i don't think he was attacking.
Speaker: So there's a scene there's a scene at the end of the movie where he's fully transformed. You know he's fully transformed. And he reaches out to his daughter because they had this thing where they would like touch each other on the head say, what am I thinking? It's like, oh I want to keep my daughter alive or I love my daughter or something.
Speaker: Something like a father would say, right? Lame. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm sure I would probably do the same if I had children, but I don't, so it's like some corny or cheesy that a father would say.
Speaker: But at the end of the movie, he's fully transformed. The family's like, oh, shit, yeah, he is 100% not my husband any anymore, not my dad anymore.
Speaker: But he himself, I think, was reaching out to them to say, hey, we probably can't take... family pictures anymore and I probably can't go back to New York anymore or wherever they were at but I'm still here because he went to reach out to the daughter but the mom panicked which at first I was just like why the fuck would you panic you know he's not but eventually I came to my senses and realized smart move I would have panicked too but he went to go reach out to the daughter to kind of show
Speaker: He's still there kind of in a way. Mom panics. I don't know. She stabbed him or she did something. him. No, she didn't shoot him yet. This was like, this was when they were inside. Oh, right. won Once he fully, I'm sorry. This was when he was inside the house and just 100% fully transformed and he was reaching out to the daughter.
Speaker: And then at the end, he did the same thing to confirm to me that he was just, um like he He transformed, but is still human.
Speaker: um Right. So i i like that I like that approach. But I also want to say something a little bit.
Speaker: So you're saying, you know like yeah and I get it, and I agree. you're like yeah He was human in that point. But you also just watched him kill his father, who was a wolfman, who had no semblance of being a a man anymore. Like he was fully feral.
Speaker: So like you could assume that he, you're, you know, if you're the wife, if you're Julia Gardner, that he was going to go that route. True. True. And, and, and I agree 100%, but here's the thing. The dad was already fucked up when he was a human, you know, like he was already fucked up as in like, yeah.
Speaker: I mean, he was in the fucking bunker, and this was probably like 1980, and he was in a bunker looking for what I assume he was looking for a wolfman. Yeah.
Speaker: So he was already kind of out there. But here's the thing. He didn't know... so And you can argue you can argue that, well, he attacked his son, but he doesn't know that's his son because he was a kid. like He left... You know what I'm saying? like he was hes got oh He's a wolf. he's He can do smell sense.
Speaker: Yeah, but he smells like a fucking city boy. You know what I'm saying? i Yeah, yeah, yeah. so Because I kept thinking the same things too. And I came up with...
Speaker: I came up with the the thought that the dad just did not recognize him. Had he recognized him, maybe he'd be a little less... A little less open to eating him and all that, right?
Speaker: But he also, like, he ate his... He fucked up his neighbor, too. Well, yeah, because they've been trying to fucking shoot him for the longest. Because here's the thing. What if, when the dad transformed, what if...
Speaker: um and maybe I'm giving this movie way too much credit, but what if when the dad transformed, maybe he tried reaching out to being like, hey, i have this fucking sickness. Because in the beginning of the movie, they put that the indigenous people call it a fever or some sort of sickness.
Speaker: What if he's like, hey, I have this sickness, guys. I need your help. But remember in the movie, the what was this what was the the main guy's name?
Speaker: Derek or... Blake, Blake, Blake. Yeah. um Um... So, Blake... Um... He's speaking to his daughter. He's speaking to his wife. And he is talking to him.
Speaker: But nothing's coming out in the real life. Like, to him, he's talking to him. So the dad must have gone through the same kind of thing where he's talking to him. And he's like, hey, I have this fucking fever.
Speaker: This creature finally got me. um i need your help. And they're like, let's kill this fucking guy. So then he's just like, well, fuck everybody, you know, because I'm trying to talk to you guys. So that's what I'm just assuming. And it was like a scenario like that.
Speaker: where the dad's just like, fuck this town. I'm just going to go do my thing because I try to tell them it's me, but you know they out here trying to kill me.
Speaker: Well, on the other hand, he doesn't know that's his son. At least off the top of his head, he don't know that's his son. and Because when he killed his dad, he looked down and said, oh shit, that's my dad.
Speaker: you know what saying? And after he fully transforms, he's like, hey, I just saved you guys. I'm not the same. um um i have to say goodbye to you because I cannot come back with you. Like, my life is over.
Speaker: But the wife panicked, which rightfully so. Like I said, I would have panicked too. um but that's But that's what led me to think um And I had this conversation with someone right after the movie because that's what led me to think, hey, there is a difference, I think, because take a movie like – take a more modern movie like ah Underworld, right, or or Van Helsing, right?
Speaker: So in those two movies, when the transformation happens – They go on this destructive destructive spree. They kill. They break things. They eat sheep. They do all kinds of weird shit.
Speaker: And then right, right, right at the ah at the end, they go back to being human. yeah And everyone's like, dude, you just fucking ate three-fourths of my whole family.
Speaker: and yeah And they're always like, I had no idea. Because they don't. They're 100% the creature. So they go back and forth from dying to coming back to life to dying. into You know what I'm saying? they That's the difference between that and like this character. Whereas he now has transformed.
Speaker: And he'll never go back to being him, his boring self. But he still knows that's my daughter.
Speaker: That's my wife. My wife was going to divorce me. All up until I fucking saved her life. But now I can't because now this. You know? Like, I'm sure as as the movie was ending, I'm sure all he was trying to do was say, like, goodbye or something. Right?
Speaker: That cheesy, like, goodbye. But, yeah again, he's a fucking creature, so they shoot him. Because he's also like, I ain't like I can go back to my apartment.
Speaker: And when I go back, you might still divorce me. So some might as well just die here.
Speaker: so yeah. I'll get that. That was my only thought about the movie. Because I thought the movie was stupid. um i usually i usually love a dark movie. Because nighttime is the first fear of everybody. You know, the dark is the first fear everyone's ever had.
Speaker: um And not only me, I mean... This goes back to a professor. and my My source is an old college professor. but you know He mentioned some of the first people. you know their their fear Their first fear was the dark. you know the so These movies, when they' dark they're dark, they're in the woods, they're scary. you know that All of that can help me look past a lot of things.
Speaker: But even that I didn't feel anything through that. so i just The movie just really missed the mark. and um But I did get that long thought that I just gave out.
Speaker: I did have that thought after the movie. so The good thing about this movie is that it made me think that there's two types. you know There's a werewolf and a wolfman.
Speaker: You get what I'm saying? Like, I'm starting to believe that there's two types. Like, I mean, to me, this almost wrote as, like, a Bigfoot movie. um Yeah. Like, the character felt, like, you're in Bigfoot country, Sasquatch country, and, like, the um the the the monster itself had very little, like,
Speaker: features of a wolf outside of like, I mean, very little like physical appearance of a werewolf or whatever, what I know to be a wolf man. um So like, i' and like, I've watched a lot about like 10 move wolf man movies or werewolf movies in, in a week to kind of prepare for this.
Speaker: And then this happened. So kind of a letdown, but um they did do some things very well. And I want to credit them for that. um The actress, she was great. um She portrayed,
Speaker: what her character is like perfectly. And like at all times, like you're like, is she, how is she like, is she checked out of this relationship? Is she into this relationship?
Speaker: And she shows like um at times how much she does care and how much she does pay attention um through like her nonverbal cues. It's just when they were outside of the wilderness, she was burnt out from having to carry a family and,
Speaker: being underappreciated at work, but needing to do the job to get the money to keep the family going while their husband works for work. So I think they, they did that non-verbally very well. And she did a great job and that's something really cool.
Speaker: um I loved that they, they kind of like had him as like this feral monster, but also like in control of his senses He was pack-oriented, so like he was trying to take care of his pack.
Speaker: That's kind of like a wolf thing. um There were some things they did very well. What did you guys think of the wolf senses?
Speaker: Are you talking about like his vision from his perspective? Yeah. I didn't love that. I like the idea that he can't understand them.
Speaker: I don't like how it was really done. It looked strange to me. they They took it a little too close to what a dog sees and hears. Okay. i Yeah, I didn't get that.
Speaker: they like he under like You would hear some words because a dog understands some words. A wolf understands some words. I didn't want the visual aspect of it.
Speaker: Yeah, dogs see a different color palette than humans. but what Their eyes were like glowing. Yeah, that was weird.
Speaker: Reflective at night. But they that was weird. I don't know. i I don't know, man. I mean, i feel like they could have done better on a lot of stuff.
Speaker: I think this had potential. i i don't know if they try to give it like a supernatural feel to it. I mean, it had a suit he was physically transforming. Right, right. But I'm saying, or if they tried to give it like, because the thing is, it also felt like they were giving it like a natural feeling to it. Like they were trying to make it seem like it's just a sickness. Like he can get, like he could probably take some fucking.
Speaker: penicillin of some kind or something. Like, at some point, they mentioned the death caps, the mushrooms. And at some point, I thought maybe that was, like, going to be the cure, that they were going to stumble across it and shove it down his mouth or something. You know what I'm saying? like Like, I wasn't really sure where they were going with any of that.
Speaker: It's more so what I'm saying. i mean, I know it's a supernatural because he's turning it into a fucking werewolf, but for a moment, I thought maybe... mushrooms were the answer to curing him.
Speaker: But, I mean, it wasn't because they literally never brought that back up.
Speaker: Yeah. I like the idea of the wolf senses because, like, when he, like, because, again, like, he he, as an adult, is going through a physical transformation and he's, like, physically in a lot of pain and then he all of a sudden has, like great hearing where he hears, like,
Speaker: A spider crawl. Like, I like the way they handled that as like, because it was like, oh, we don't need to spoon feed you. Like, we get it. Like, he's going through a lot. He's in a lot of pain.
Speaker: And he's now, like, gaining senses. And, but, like, it did come off as a little clunky. And I wish they, like, cleaned it up a bit. I feel like his transformation just didn't make a lot of sense because things like, like I liked like the spider scene. It was cool how he was hearing the spider, but then you kind of never use that again.
Speaker: And there's like, there would be so much noise happening in the house. He would hear every little movement that the wife and the daughter make, but he doesn't hear that, but he hears a spider And then you also have like the physical transformation scene where he's been he's been kind of turning slowly for a while. And then he has the like where his flesh is ripping and the nails are growing and his his like jaw is popping out.
Speaker: He has this whole physical transformation and they show like his cheekbones pop out of his face and like he becomes all distorted. But then in the next scene, he looks exactly like how he did before. I was like, what happened to the transformation?
Speaker: Yeah, that was my thing. Like, I like that they showed the transformation. I just wish they stuck with it. yeah it It was so and it has to be a mistake. There has to be some kind of like editing or like a budget thing where like they just couldn't afford to keep up because like he transformed into a wolf and then in the next scene had a human face again.
Speaker: What happened there? There's just a lot of things in this movie that I feel didn't make sense and just seem like mistakes. And it it very much gives like one of those movies that was planned 10 years ago and then somehow, even though it was thought about for 10, 15 years, it comes out and it's somehow worse for it.
Speaker: I could see that. like It obviously had some trials going. I would have liked to have seen a more classic Wolfman movie, but overall, like, don't know, I still had a lot of fun with it.
Speaker: There were moments of, like, good tension, and so like, there's... Yeah, did have fun. Like, i would I would put this on at, like, a party with friends. I would... It's... It's not a bad watch. It's just technically not great.
Speaker: um Yeah, and I think that's where, like, it it was just fun enough to where, like, yeah, this could be a good cult movie, like, group movie, like, ah Whereas like other Blumhouse ones have like fallen below that.
Speaker: So I think this is an overall net good for Blumhouse. Yeah, and and it's not a it's not a complete, at least to me, I mean i don't know how you guys feel about it, but it's not a complete stinker like his other ones were. i mean it's It's hard to say because they have Really unfortunately we've been putting out some like really really bad stuff the past few years so it's hard to like it's like we get 10 shitty movies and then we get one that's like halfway decent and it's like I don't know where to go from here. I don't know what to do with this information. Yeah.
Speaker: The good news is Robert Eggers is doing a werewolf movie that will be dropping like next year? something like that.
Speaker: And I will be absolutely feral for it. Yeah, love it. like I'm so excited for it. um We'll keep people updated as we get information. William Dafoe was offered a role and Skarsgård has offered um interest in acting in it as well. We'll see what happens with it. going be great.
Speaker: um Any other thoughts on Wolfman?
Speaker: No. i Yeah, I was just kind of let down. Good for Ryan Gosling for not getting sucked into this. Yeah, I would have been interested because I'm a really big fan of him.
Speaker: So that would have been interesting.
Speaker: e Yeah, and it would have been a different script. this is semi unrelated, but people have told me that I look like Julia Garner and I don't know I see it.
Speaker: i I guess I see what they're saying, but I have, I have been approached and told that.
Speaker: Just fun fact. Interesting. I think she was great. Like she's done great work in so, so movie and good for her for elevating the movie and having, like, it was a lot of making it more fun than,
Speaker: expected or whatever. um Here's my thing. i want to do a group ranking. So like we'll do our own individual ones and we'll talk about like that at the end of the year when we do our year in review or like our halfway review.
Speaker: But I want to do a group ranking. So as a group, do we put this as better or worse than the damned? Worse. Definitely, definitely way worse.
Speaker: Alright, so yeah I'm going to keep this list going. Right now it's easy because there's only two films. Alright, we've got it. Two films in, locked. Damned is number one on the year.
Speaker: Wolfman is number two. Yeah, I agree. I did see a i did see it another... to Oh, never mind. Not worth it. yeah i said well this is because we We all have our own individual Right, yes yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought it was a movie that we maybe we all saw, but it isn't, so.
Speaker: Yeah. All right, let's cut this one. We'll end it here. Next week, I guess, Presence is in theaters. yeah I'm going to try to catch a lot of the Oscar movies in theaters.
Speaker: um I'm probably going to overspend because ah can't watch everything on a Tuesday. So plan on being pretty busy.
Speaker: right. Let's end this episode. All right.
