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Episode 037 - Before the Intermission, Mid-Year Review Part 2
18 Plays10 months ago
In this episode, we finish our review of the first half of 2024 citing the best and most notable films in what's becoming an amazing year in cinema.
Intro clip from Yorgos Lanthimos' "Kinds of Kindness" from Element Pictures, Film4, and TSG entertainment distributed by Searchlight Pictures
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction and Series Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Sweet dreams are made of the ends. Who am I to disagree?
00:00:11
Speaker
Two oceans will begin. These two are fighting and ideas are banging around in Bella's head and heart like lights in a storm.
00:00:29
Speaker
Good afternoon, Robert. Don't just stand there. Sit down. Were you waiting long? No, 15 minutes or so. Your hair's nice like that. Don't get it cut. Let it grow a little longer. And you've lost more weight, I think. Skinny men are the most ridiculous thing there is. We've gone over this before. You must put on a few pounds. I told you that last time. but i have you most certainly have not you're even skinnier now we'll have to take another look at your eating plan for the week.
00:01:04
Speaker
Welcome to the Tuitions Podcast, where myself, Sue Fire, along with my friend and rational colleague, Scrumpey, discuss film and other media through a decades-long lens of mass media consumption. In this episode, we continue our two-part review of the first half of 2024. This is the Tuitions Podcast, so choose your partner in 45 days or turn into an animal of your choice as we begin Episode 13, Series 2.
Exploring 'The Holdovers' and Dramedy Genre
00:01:37
Speaker
We're on to dramedy and kick things off. We have the holdovers from Alex Payne. Yeah, which I really enjoyed. Payne, Payne's a mixed bag for me. Sometimes his stuff is a little, it's kind of like Wes Anderson for me. It kind of gets, it borders on the pretentious art school, right privileged upbringing sort of thing. But this one, you know, really leans into that though. And I think it benefits from that. And also, I mean, Paul Giamatti is, I mean, everybody's good in this. Dominic Sessa is amazing and in the lead. For his first movie?
00:02:15
Speaker
He's so great. It really reminded me of Harold and Maud, this particular movie, not just the look and feel, but the kind of relationships that are kind of going on. Yeah, yeah, a little bit. Less on that, you know, just the, yeah, the cantankerous old man thing, though. I like, you know, as I move into that, oddly enough, I'm finding that, like, no, he's right, you know, everything he's saying, he's actually, I think he's being fair to those kids. Yeah.
00:02:40
Speaker
And then Divine Joy Randolph as well yeah is a great kind of addition to that kind of dynamic that's going on there. she She elevates it more beyond just being the help and having a troubled existence outside of that with her own loss. and yeah know Because that's what the movie is about. like you we know Lost and Found, right? and and But how you go about looking, that's what it really examines. which i really That's what I really appreciated. For me, what really resonated for this. If you've got something lost, you might not be looking for you know not a fix, but some way out or some path forward. It's not necessarily that it's going to get better.
00:03:20
Speaker
But it's that you can carry this now and move on. Whether that's as you're getting into life, as you've had a terrible tragedy, or life's finally catching up to you and you're realizing what you've been doing with it isn't exactly maybe what you should have. Sure. And I think something else that it's a common kind of thread in a lot of Corita's movies as well is these stories about people who are not blood family kind of coming together and yeah being a family. The family you make. Yeah, the family that you choose and that that you make and you're going to bring them all together. it Seems like the ah the hallmark of you know modern cinema more than anything.
00:03:59
Speaker
And the other thing is it handles everything really well. It doesn't over egg anything. Like say, for example, with Randolph's son dying in Vietnam, you know you just need to make people aware that that's happened, but you don't need to hammer it home, which I think they overdo in a lot of kind of mainstream movies. It was all fought the shot digitally as well, the holdovers. And looking at it does not look that way. it does not at all it looks it's gorgeous i like appreciate about it is that uh giamatti's lazy eye he would switch the contact and just at random while they were shooting so you never knew which one was his good eye and which one was his lazy eye and the characters it's a line in the movie isn't it which one do i look at yeah uh-huh
00:04:54
Speaker
And then next up, we've got American fiction from Cord Jefferson.
Film Reviews: 'American Fiction' to 'Sometimes I Think About Dying'
00:04:58
Speaker
Yay. So good. Jeffrey Wright. again let's say Again, I'm talking about Favorite Act and Jeffrey Wright finally getting to lead something, probably all on his own. I mean, he's got a great supporting cast, obviously. allowed funny as well while being like razor sharp. And being comfortable with its uncomfortableness. you know i think that's a big thing that I think that's a big thing for me that resonates for the this whole this idea of a dramedy. It's okay with being awkward, or okay with being speaking into the the awkward things you're not supposed to talk about or that get talked about. you know Again, and this story in particular is making fun of how that's talked about.
00:05:42
Speaker
as well as giving it a new narrative format or or template, yeah almost, if you will. and And this is another movie that is, you know, feature in-length premiere. Like, this is his first feature-length film, Court Jefferson. It's mad. It's crazy. But going on next in the list is Richard Linklater's Hitman, which I have not watched yet. and Oh, you've not watched it yet? Oh, no it could have got into that noir thing, but it is more dramedy and noir. okay it's it's It's another one similar to the one he did with Jack Black, where he had collected all these stories from a Texas newspaper. And this one is is is is wild. So Glenn Powell is kind of this mousy,
00:06:33
Speaker
lecture and he works for the police sometimes and he ends up pretending that he's a hitman for the police. And it just kind of goes off the rails from there, but it's really well paced. It's a light, frothy movie, but really well structured. It's a lot of fun. I think you'd enjoy it. It's an easy watch. That's why I heard everything about it. All the reviews have just been glowing about how much fun it Yeah, it it is it is fun. And I think think it's kind of similar in tone to Fall Guy. it It takes itself more seriously than Fall Guy for sure. It's a lot more grounded, but it it is a lot of fun. And then next on the list, we got luco Luca Guadagino's Challengers with Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, Mike Feist. It's kind of my least favorite film from Luca? Yeah, I can say. You have thoughts.
00:07:32
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's it's it's a really strange film. I mean, it's telling the story of a love triangle through all these flashbacks that get confusing, you know? It's like, this is, what time period is this in? You know, we talked earlier in the previous episode how, you know, in Fury Road, there are more cuts than in the Transformers movies. but it's more cohesive. Well, this is the same thing. You have all these flashbacks. It's so confusing and it feels really overbaked. I mean, the performances are good, but the characters are weirdly unendi-
00:08:16
Speaker
um of 130 minutes, which is really excessive for the story that you're, that was, that's being told here. Yeah, I, anyhow, he's done better
Critical Film Reviews: 'Saltburn' and 'Promising Young Woman'
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Speaker
movies. I don't. And then the next movie, don't really want to talk about it too much is Rachel Lambert's, sometimes I think about dying. It's got a great central performance from Daisy Ridley. it's It feels like an echo of a Philip Kaufman movie, but felt a little bit shallow despite great visuals, terrific performance from Ridley. And she's this isolated and introverted woman working in this green fluorescent bleached office in Tacoma, Washington.
00:08:59
Speaker
Again, looks great. It looks like someone was trying to look like they're making a Philip Kaufman movie. but not really knowing how to to layer it. you know So it feels felt really shallow to me. But it's not terrible. You could pass the time in worse ways, which I think I'll refer to the next one, which is Saltburn from Emerald Fennel. Now, I don't rate Emerald Fennel very highly.
00:09:32
Speaker
Again, one of these directors from a very privileged background, her 18th birthday party was covered by Tatler magazine, just to give you flavor of where she's coming from. And I think that kind of background contributes to some of the failings of the entire story, which is so predictable, shockingly unoriginal. And it feels like a stupid fairy tale, the rich tell their children, right? Like, don't let any of the lower classes into your life, or you know what will happen? All this stuff. And so, so I mean, bear Barry Kilgan is always watchable. Roseman Pike, I mean, the actors in it are great.
00:10:14
Speaker
Sure. But I really didn't enjoy it. And and people refer to a twist in the movie, but it's so obvious that you could see it a mile off. Did do you see this? No, I have not bothered. Lucky you. You're fortunate. And I said, yay, yeah. that's You want to make a thing out of something that's not a thing? Okay, I see what you're doing. I'm just going to move on. I got plenty to watch. Well, her previous movie was Promising Young Woman, which was as like, well, you know what? I didn't. I mean i mean mean, I did up to a point, but then yeah I didn't think the ending again. the No, they didn't. It didn't stick the landing.
00:10:55
Speaker
um Yeah, I think and it kind of fell into the trope of you know women. you're You're meant to sacrifice yourself, right? and and And people will remember you become a martyr. and It's like like, oh, God. yeah it's In some ways, it drops the the third act similar to Boy
Comedy and Style in Upcoming Films
00:11:16
Speaker
Kills World. like i that that third act in Promising a Woman just kind of ruined it for me. Anyhow, that didn't come out in 2024, so no we're going to move on to comedy.
00:11:30
Speaker
Have you seen Wicked Little Letters? No, not yet. I haven't either, but I've heard it's fun. Yeah, nothing that's why we're doing it. Nothing that's going to change the world, but a lot of fun. Olivia Colman, Jesse Buckley, Timothy Spall, always good to watch. So looking forward to that one. It's in my list. Lisa Frankenstein, have you seen this? I haven't yet. It's in the queue. I haven't seen this one either, but yeah you know, it caught my interest. So yeah, I definitely want to check it out. Juneau Temple written. Yeah. That's a Juneau Temple script. Juneau Temple done. She did well. Or not Juneau Temple, what am I saying? Diablo Cody, sorry. yeah I was thinking Juneau, you know.
00:12:17
Speaker
Jennifer's body and and Juno, and yeah that's that's Diablo Cody. And that's this is another one of hers, at least story-wise. Different direction. Well, gosh, I might have to push it up aque a queue a little bit more. That's why I've been the kind of... Yeah. And next on the list, Sasquatch Sunset from the Zellner Brothers, with Jesse Eisenberg and a few others. did Have you seen this one? No, not yet. I've heard great things. Mmm. Yeah. No. It it did oh i didn't work with me. I mean, I i think it's it's it's a Love It or Hate It kind of movie. Yeah. it's It's entirely wordless. It's just full of scatological kind of tongue-in-cheek story about these Bigfoots, right? And it kind of hangs together stylistically. Big feet. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. like what What's the term? Big foot a pie. Bro, feet!
00:13:11
Speaker
but but it feels kind of weirdly hollow. like Again, you can predict the ending a mile off. At one point, I thought, it was turning into something like the happiness, the categories. And I was totally there for it. And then it went down a far more predictable route. And I was like, oh, you missed it. You missed a chance there. And actually talking to the critic that I met, kinds of kindness, I was like, I'm really curious, did you did you watch Sasquatch Sunset?
00:13:45
Speaker
And she was like, I am not watching that. So she wasn't even going to give it a chance. But yeah, I sat through that. And ah I mean, I didn't really enjoy the Zellner Brothers previous movie as well. I like the idea of it, but I didn't think the execution was great. It's the one about the Japanese woman that sees Fargo thinks it's real, and she tries to go out there to try to find the case that was buried. Oh, yeah. but But yeah, let's get to the fall guy from David Leitch. Your thoughts?
The Art of Stunts and Action Films
00:14:17
Speaker
I enjoyed it. Again, it was, you know, old enough to remember and have what remembered watching the TV show. Didn't remember anything about the TV show apart from who was in it in the theme song and kind of the premise.
00:14:30
Speaker
I'm like, oh yeah, this is kind of a similar thing, but you know this one ties it together a little more neatly. And yeah plus, press Ryan Gosling is you know so grotesquely endearing and gets you involved, you know draws you. He's just one of those actors that can do that, right? chemistry between him and Emily Blunt, I completely bought into. it was really like they They took time to make it legit. I really enjoyed that. It felt like an 80s or 90s movie. yeah right that The pacing and everything. The movie they're making in the movie yeah you know was a real movie. ah was it It was one of those craptacular 3D films that came out in the early 80s.
00:15:17
Speaker
which I saw because it was 3D and I went to every 3D movie I could see when it was, when that came back, you know, i had a brief. that one summer. It used to have them on television as well. It'd be a big event at school. It's not in the cinema. It was Jaws 3D. Oh, no yeah. And I couldn't see the Friday 13th in 3D because I wasn't old enough. But yeah, Jaws. But yeah, this one. yeah ah But anyway, it's like I was looking at it. I'm like, kind of this seems to me. And then we looked it up after. I'm like, oh, totally. Yeah, I remember seeing that. That was a terrible movie.
00:15:49
Speaker
Wow, I didn't even realize that. Oh, that's a good one to know. But it was just a nice touch. And but no, there's a lot to it. And also, I just love the because I've also thought for years there should be, you know, there should be an Academy Award or some kind of award for action. Stunt Sequences. Oh, totally. Yeah, I think there should be a word for best comedy. BAFTAs do one. I like, you know, that best body of work in a year. I think that should be something in the Oscars. And then, yeah, best best choreography as well, because that's really It's really unique. It's very cinematic. or yeah It's very unique to cine to cinema. The only thing is, you know, I was like watching this and all the stuff they're going through and then I throw on something like, there's a new upgraded version of like Armor of God, Jackie Chan movie can right from 86. And I watch that. I'm like, those guys are doing it with like, okay, let's put down a mattress.
00:16:41
Speaker
You know, or there's a, there's a hundred foot drop off on the other side of this wall. So don't go over this wall when you're, that you're, that you're flying on top of just land there. Just don't go over the other side. Okay. Cool. And that's it. There's no ropes. There's no nothing. There's no, it's just pure physicality of like what the things with, you know, versus this where everything's so controlled, you know, not to say it's not dangerous, not to say they don't take risks, not to don't say they put their bodies through hell, put them on the line for what they, for what little they get back, especially, you know, yeah But yeah, I thought this was a good celebration and and also around their marketing and and sales of it where they would do events with stunts, with actual stunt people doing stunts and things like that. So as ah as a big action guy, I really enjoyed that.
00:17:26
Speaker
and getting getting put to the fore and like showing it like, no, this is really amazing and this is why, you know, sort of thing. So that's kind of like a cool part of cinema that's not film making, that's not, you know, shown enough or or such too. It's like, you know, it's it's a little more dynamic than showing, you know, like, oh, this is how we did, you know, these practical creature effects or something like that, which, you know, for a nerd like me is still just as fascinating, but not totally different.
Musicals and Adaptations in Cinema
00:17:51
Speaker
And I know that's not going to reach the same audience. Well, this was ah another one of those movies that that that I you know i ah couldn't tell you why why it failed. it's it's It's a weird one. It is. It odd it seems he should tick tick should tick every box. Yeah, yeah it seems to tick every all all the boxes you want for a big popcorn flick. and You get a good audience going, you laugh at the various points. yeah
00:18:14
Speaker
you know I think it's another one that'll find its audience later. I think it will as well. And next up is the one musical that we've got is the... Actually, I got one more comedy on there. I did. I added one. Oh, snuck one in. That I haven't seen. It's on my wanna see. Thelma. Yeah. I just heard about this one as well. Yeah, she gets, 93-year-old, gets scammed so out of her life savings. So she and in Richard Roundtree's final role, he's her best friend. He helps her. she gets on her It's kind of the short story. She stops on her scooter to go across town to track this guy down to get it. It's supposed to be just hilarious and endearing and and kind of actiony.
00:18:58
Speaker
It's June Squibb, isn't it? June Squibb is the, and apparently she is just like, you wouldn't know she's 93. You think she's faking it because she's so just effervescent and just nailing and Parker Posey's in it. You know, it's just got all these like things that just clicks the right, clicks and, uh, we just did the old age episode a few back. Right. I know that was the thing. I was like, ah, you know, we'll just missed it. But So yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing that one when it's available because it looks, it's supposed to be quite good. It just seemed like worth calling out to sure yeah things that are already released. Ah, nice. I mean, it just, it's a great year anyhow. And, you know, there, there are all these other movies that we'd hoped we, we would have seen that the color purple. I didn't, I didn't see. I've seen that one yet. I will. you I will at some point. The same with, the there was the Mean Girls. That was the other musical note that came out this year. Oh, that's a good shout. Yeah. That I do want to see as well because I like the original movie and the musical is supposed to be really good. and
00:20:02
Speaker
Again, musicals for me are not the pinnacle of what cinema can offer, but they're pretty damn close because it's a movie musical, you know not the ah the stage thing and not just showing a thing on stage where it's like... you know Like okay here's the stage adaptation and you know here's the movie version of it and like no no you know like ah like what's coming with wicked you know something where they actually. Can dig in and claw in because it can do everything that takes advantage of ah everything cinema can offer.
00:20:32
Speaker
Or just at that level that du where it can just be that where narrative just changes and you have people yeah people breaking out into song and dance and just that idea. you know That doesn't happen in the real world. yeah Exactly. that does yeah You can't really pull that off in the same way, you know in in a similar fashion, but not in the same way, I think, that the movies can.
Yorgos Lanthimos Films: Soundtrack and Themes
00:20:56
Speaker
Well, talking of weird, so we got the weird category, which I realized can just be the Yorgos land. Yorgos land. And may as well mention both of them, which is poor things. Does he refer to himself in the third person? Because he should with a name like that. He's like, Yorgos does not like this coffee. you know I would if I had a name like that. I don't think he's very keen on the question that I had. So on kinds of kindness, I was pointing out, I said, well, you know,
00:21:25
Speaker
and and I'm sure you'll agree with me once you've watched the movie, is the soundtrack is very reminiscent at points of 2001's Space Odyssey. And I'm talking about this sort of unique music, like when they're going through the the tunnel at the end, and it's got that weird a mix of sounds and it sounds exactly like it. and I asked him about it and he was like, well, I didn't have anything to do it it do with it. It's Erskine Fendricks who did the soundtrack and he's not here tonight kind of thing.
00:22:00
Speaker
but what he did say, which was kind of weird, is that that they would talk about the script and he would your skin would make the soundtrack before anything was shot. And then they would use that soundtrack when they're putting it together. you know, in a lot of films, they will actually have an orchestra in front of right the way to do the screen. but But it was all down to, you know, Yorgos, the editor, just going through. Okay, so they did it in editing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which I thought was neat. Yeah, that is that's really cool. I know like James Gunn will pick his soundtracks or his movies so they can play the songs when they're on set. Sure.
00:22:45
Speaker
so they know what they're kind of right to do i'm like okay that's actually really smart that's how i think they work so well you know what it's such an ethereal soundtrack that it's not it's not like it needs the time it exactly at this point when he does this kind of you mean he doesn't tell you how exactly to feel like don Williams does.
00:23:05
Speaker
I mean, the other thing to mention about these two movies is, so Poor Things was written by Tony McNamara, which is one of Jorges's collaborators, but Kinds of Kindness was with Ephemus Philippu, who he has worked with on Killing a Sacred Deer, The lobster, the short nimic is almost... It could probably be fit into this movie and you would think it was part of it. By the way, nimic is really good. It's like a 15-minute short with Matt Dillon. And it's also got Daphne Patakia, who's in kinds of kindness as well.
00:23:41
Speaker
But yeah, it has got this whole unreal quality and it is confusing. It's epic because you got three different stories in it. It's kind of a triptych. It's immersive if you let it pull you in and it is laugh out loud hilarious. I mean, it ends with the funniest gag I've i've seen in ages because you've you've had to work through this movie to get to that point and it is a nice payoff. But basically, it's about people who are desperate to please other people taken to the extreme, like the far extreme. And you know this can involve gore and all sorts you know all sorts of craziness in the movie. But it was really enjoyable. But also at the same time, I kind of realized that
00:24:30
Speaker
A lot of, some people in the audience were really fucking annoying me because it's another
Horror Films: Upcoming Releases and Reviews
00:24:37
Speaker
commandment we got to have. People are actually going on their phones and I was just like, oh for God's sake, you know, it's really hard to get tickets to the stamp thing and what's wrong with you. But yeah, I enjoyed it a lot. it it's it's it's It's closest to the lobster. If you like the lobster, you enjoy that kind of weird hyper world where he's kind of setting up these things. That's that's that's what it's like.
00:25:06
Speaker
But yeah, it's it's really good. But if you don't get the humor, it probably isn't going to work with you for you. And I say it's funny, but it does have a lot of darkness in it it as well. sure like like It goes really dark. But that's kind of the flip side of comedy, right? that That's what kind of makes things funnier. And that last scene Yeah, yeah you would you I got some looks like, i what are you laughing at? I'm like, no, this is fucking hysterical. And it was made and in the can and edited before Poor Things. It was filmed before Poor Things. I think because Poor Things is probably more marketable.
00:25:44
Speaker
and has a more kind of ah traditional kind of storyline in it. And then they were like, oh man, that movie did well. Let's get this out as quick as we can, which is, cause I was wondering how, how does he make these so quickly? But you know, it's just been released in a different order. Yep. Okay. Oh yeah. Highly recommend that one. And yeah, horror category. And we're missing a lot because later in the year, we're getting a lot of horror releases. Yes. Are really exciting. But we've already had the first one come out, and which is Quiet Place day one. It's just been released, at least been released here this week. I slept on the, on the, I haven't seen the sequel. I saw the first one enjoyed it, even though it, uh,
00:26:29
Speaker
I'm in the same boat. Hit that trope of the the kids ruining everything which they usually do in horror movies. so raise yeah not but you know But I enjoyed it. I thought it was really good. So yeah, just haven't watched the second one for whatever reason. But I'm hearing really good things about this one and of course Lupita Nwongo. be in the lead. It's good to see her getting a lead role. Right? Yeah. So yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing it. Yeah, we're both looking forward to seeing it. and then you know For the things that we haven't seen in this category, we'll definitely be covering them in the Halloween. But I did see Anil Karya's Sting, which is this story of a space spider basically landing in this block, this tenement block in, I believe it's New York.
00:27:15
Speaker
ah it's It's really short, it's it's ah super well crafted, but feels a bit rushed, and there are some uncomfortable race and age stereotypes over the course of the film, which it's quite comedic the way it's done, but also at the same time you kind of wince a little bit. Arachnophobes will have a terrible time with this movie. and And usually, you don't say this very often, this is a film that would have benefited from a longer runtime. So they could flesh out the characters a bit more and give the story some breathing room. But it is fast. like it It just goes fast. and I'd say too fast. It just needed some moments to kind of get to know the characters. But the next one, Late Night with the Devil,
00:28:09
Speaker
I have no complaints. ah No. No. And speaking of, you know, Des Moklian or how you say his last name. Yeah. Him finally getting a lead role and like showing what he's capable of, which is great. Yeah. Yeah. It's, uh, has a lot of similarities. to One of my favorite Brit horror films is Ghostwatch. It has a lot of feel with that, but it's also its own thing. and There's a little like with the ah skeptic guy that's a little, it's like, okay, community theater reject, you know, keep it in your pants. Come on. I understand. I mean, it works, but it's still a little late. So for me, it was a little distracting. The rest of it overall was, I think, yeah, it was really fun, really well done. Great concept and and good.
00:28:55
Speaker
you know, tying in some other strains that kind of pulled it a little further away from just this event. Like, Oh, okay. There's some other stuff going on here. That's cool. So, yeah. And it didn't explain absolutely everything it gave kind of. And it didn't need to. Yeah, it didn't need to. And I take what you said about the the critic as well, but that made me hate him even more. It just got under my skin. you know So yeah. And then I just mentioned it in passing. it has an hilarious number of production and distribution companies involved at the beginning that goes on for ages. It's it's just like the star to start of story or you're opening to Spaceballs. It is. I counted eight, nine. People started tittering a little bit at four and then at but five people were, and by the time it got to the, you know, whatever the last number was, everybody just, more, especially with horror films. I mean, I've started since, since that came out, since we, and since you pointed that out and I've been watching stuff since then with, especially with horror films, I've been watching that more and four or five is common.
00:29:58
Speaker
Right. Right. It's more and more. And more and more lately, right? Yeah. Spreading the budget. Wherever you can get the money from. Yeah. Yeah. So the next one is another one like that, but far better. I've not seen the next one. Far better than it deserved to be, both visually and with the story and everything else, and pretty well sticks the landing and leaves it open, leaves the door open for another one. first omen the the prequel for the omen which I'm a fan of the all the omen movies I mean some more than others they get very didn't like to remake no no because yeah the remakes not even in the in my review it typically is you know it's like yeah yeah this is just ah really well done
00:30:42
Speaker
The story is very similar to another one I'll list on here of the the young nun going to another place and then being somehow tied into a prophecy sort of thing. you know you know another it'll It'll pop up again here shortly in another movie I'm going to talk about, but but here it's just it's just really well done. and What's your name? No tiger free is the lead. She's the yeah, it's it's it's like I need to have three nouns, please Exactly. like Yeah, like it's like mad libs of for actresses names anymore And then Ralph Innocence Ralph Innocence shows up in it Charles Dance has a brief bit in it Bill Nye shows up for a little bit in it Sonya Braga is like a lead none at the convent so stellar cast
00:31:31
Speaker
but the story moves well. It doesn't, you know, it's a lot of it's stuff, you know, what's going to end, you you know, the ultimate, and you know, the outcome of it, right? Yeah. You know, where it's going to happen, but you don't know exactly what's going to happen to these people. So it's kind of an interesting space to fill in. You know, this is one of those, again, stories that shouldn't exist. And in any, but any lesser person's hands, I think it would be, uh, something, uh, you know, this is directed by Arkasha Stevenson, female director. Another woman director going into horror and just and outdoing the male counterparts. Knocking out of the park. Yeah, yeah yeah yep totally. The next one on the list, I'm a bit surprised because I put this in the upcoming. Has this been released in the States in a violent nature? Yeah, it's on shutter. That's where I watch it. Oh, ok okay. Okay. Because I've been really looking forward to that one. So like you mentioned with Sting, arachnophobes do not watch this.
00:32:25
Speaker
because this one in particular, Premise. Again, the guy is a ah exotic pet kind of collector, but he's just a ah young guy trying to sell sneakers. That's his main thing, but he has this whole dream of having like an you know like a reptile zoo or something maybe someday. So he has a bunch of like critters in his apartment. you so like But he gets this one and the the opening scene sets it up, kind of like Dead Alive did. It's like, oh, you're getting more than you bargained for when you get this thing. but he hasn't done a spider, and it's this cool looking spider, and it's in a box. you So he's like, great. Puts it in another, gives it a little nest sort of thing, doesn't have a good box for it. Well, of course it gets out. And it becomes and and he's in this tenement, and friend either in Paris or in a suburb of Paris.
00:33:10
Speaker
right But and instantly, it very quickly, as a problem start to as the species starts to adapt, because it's a very apparently highly adaptable species, it becomes very aggressive when it's attacked. And it responds by not only becoming more aggressive, but by growing. right So the spiders, as the movie goes, start to get bigger. So again, if you're an arachnophobe, you will hate this movie. I mean, there's a lot and there's the way the spiders are handled, like how they move and just, just, just ah just out of frame or just in the background a little bit, but not in that typical way. It's really well done. It's like after this movie, you know, I'm i'm not afraid of spiders. I love spiders. yeah like Oh, me too. trying to like The wife's like, kill it, kill it, Dad. I'm like, oh no, it's doing good work, you know? What, the mosquitoes? Exactly. But even after this one, I was like, you know, I'd see something out of the corner of my eye after watching this. I'd be like, wait, what was, oh, no. just I mean, it has that kind of creepiness to it. It's very well paced, sticks a landing pretty well. Yeah, it becomes kind of, yeah, wreck in that thing where they quarantine the building down and they have to survive. And one of their group is a super arachnophobe.
00:34:20
Speaker
and when they have to go through this hallway, let's just overrun with them because they don't like light and there's only one light at one at the one end, it's like on a timer thing that only lasts for like a minute. So one gal has to stay behind and keep turning the timer while the rest of them go through and then she has to try to get through. Yeah, that kind of tension, just these little things, they really work well in the space and how the characters interact and and what happens with them. I mean, my only complaint is at the end, it wraps it up a little bit too neatly in one part, but not quite. I mean, it's not, that doesn't ruin it. What this is going to reminds me of is that, that, you know, we were talking earlier about driveway dolls and death-wise bleeding. It is that, I think sting is the driveway dolls in this pair. And it sounds like in a violet nature is kind of more accomplished. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That would make sense.
00:35:17
Speaker
And you've also added Abigail to the list. Now, I'm really annoyed. I'm really annoyed about this. film And I've not seen it yet, but I wish I didn't know. See the trailer? Yeah. I wish I didn't know what the twist was. yeah i would have Because as as from what I hear, once you know the twist, you're kind of spending the first half hour to 45 minutes going like, I know what's coming, which which could be okay. Yeah, it's ah it's a bit of a Chekhov's gun in a way. but i don't think See, I don't think that part harmed it. There was a couple things in the trailer that, because there's more twists beyond that, right that were just kind of like, oh, okay, but I knew they were coming because of the damn trailer. I was like, that's annoying. Well, i I've forgotten the trailer by now, so maybe it's good that i've've I've left it for a while.
00:36:05
Speaker
Yeah, all right. I mean, I love the concept. I think it's good. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And again, Dan Stevens knocking out of the park yet again. He's he's solid. he's But these these guys behind it, I'll now space in their name, the guys behind Ready or Not and the two latest Scream movies. Enjoyed Ready or Not. just a bit Yeah, they're just doing an incredible job. They're keeping it fun and violent and and Entertaining and not afraid to mess with your head a bit too. So yeah, it's just really enjoyed it. I thought it was really well done one worth watching And that the gal that plays Abigail is really good too. This is the thing. There's so many ah we're gonna have to do an episode in child actors child actors who just keep blowing me away with their performances just so yeah
00:36:49
Speaker
But we're going to move on to science fiction fantasy. Before we do, actually, I want to come back to one that's related to First Omen, I want to talk about on horror, which came out this year, which was Immaculate, with Sidney Sweeney, and that one. Oh, how do you miss that? It's actually on the list. Yeah, right? Yeah, we're going we're going full speed. But it's actually better than it should be, you know, there's a lot in it that's kind of that you've seen before if you've seen the, you know, possessed or, you know, prophesied and then there's the woman gets pregnant and by some supernatural means are seemingly such and the church being having another ulterior motives for it and all or having their own agenda and and how's this poor girl going to survive this, right? So very similar in a lot of ways to the first omen.
00:37:40
Speaker
except for the fact that immaculate cares it but it's working in less because it's not within a franchise so it's working kind of on its own territory. It's got a little more freedom but it absolutely nails the landing. I love this one. You know, the final scenes, the final bits, the last act is super, super strong. I was like, Oh, they'd better do this. And they did. And I was like, Holy cow. I was like, felt so rewarded. You know, it's like all those things. It's like, yes, you got it. You guys got it. You understood the assignment.
00:38:11
Speaker
And Sydney Sweeney is great in this and she doesn't have to rely on her looks. you know She's a nun. sure So everything's very muted and and and such. So which works the benefit of actually like, hey, I'm you know i'm actually a really good actress here. you know oh Good. Good. I've heard good things about it. so but But then again, i mean So one of the reasons that I've sort of not watched all these movies is I'd like to have a little bit of a marathon in the run up to Halloween as well. Good call. Yeah. It starts in September. Right. Yeah, right. Mine starts now.
00:38:46
Speaker
uh because this next one just came out on video on demand here in the states at least in a violent nature which is the slasher film from the point of view of the slasher well and this is the one that i i well it hasn't been um yeah it's not been released here yet but it's got a cinematic release coming up so Yeah, excited i went very much so in this getting yeah, great reviews just kind of the way it deconstructs the slasher genre a bit as well and just supposed to be very, very, very well done. So I'm looking forward to that one. Very nice. Yeah, no, that that that is very high on my list in terms of things I'm looking forward to. terrific Now you may proceed by
00:39:27
Speaker
Okay. Right. We're opening the pod bay doors and we're going to the science fiction fantasy now. Here we are. And the big one, the big one, I can't believe this is all this year as well. The Dune part two from Denis Villeneuve. Dune or Dune. Dooner. Dooner. Dooner. I've been calling it Dooner. Dooner. Dooner-er. Yeah. We talked about this one. Yeah. We did already just about, and I was still, I need to watch it again just cause I enjoyed it so much, but I want to watch both movies back to back.
Mixed Reception: 'Madame Web' and Blockbuster Reviews
00:39:58
Speaker
for the 4k ultra. Good call. Yeah, good call. But yeah, still just awesome. Fantastic. Totally well done. This is how you do it.
00:40:09
Speaker
trust film, live yeah and so so many practical effects in it as well. The next movie I'm glad I didn't see it was Madame Web, which had a lot of attention around it. But are you, you said you're glad you didn't see it, but are you violating one of the, one of our commandments?
00:40:28
Speaker
I'm not rating it. yeah No, that's fair. ah That's totally fair. No, there's ones that are like, yeah, I'm not going to rate it, but I'm just like, I'm not going to watch it. That's different than saying like, this movie sucks. i i but but But I am kind of tempted to watch it because of the, who's the lead in that movie again? Is it Dakota Fanning? is in Dakota Johnson. Dakota Johnson sorry yeah yeah that my Dakotas oh no he got youre you mixing up your Dakotas you don't you'll have a terrible time in the morning I'm a mark not Fargo sorry but you she a humor reacted to it just say I mean she's just been very sort of
00:41:13
Speaker
down to earth about, you know, right yeah, it's not great kind of thing. It's almost clear that it was like it got slaughtered in committee. Yeah. It was it was made by committee and it shouldn't have been. there were some It looked like it had great ideas. Yeah, there's some neat elements to do it. Ideally, what the original story was was kind of a terminator, the thing coming back to stop the parents, stop the mother of this thing from ever happening. Right, right. Okay. Yeah, I watched it. It's not great. It's not as terrible as people said, but it's not great. You can totally skip it and be fine. Yeah, exactly. Totally.
00:41:50
Speaker
My favorite thing about it was the only good thing for me that came out about it really was the bit from the Oscars this year when John delaney john Mulaney did his little intro of for screenwriting. He said, you know they've given us you know famous lines like, you know, I'll have what she's having. And you know, he throws out a couple and then he throws out the one from the trailer for Madam Web. It's like, Oh, he must have been there with my mother when she was you know researching spiders in the Amazon, which, okay, let that guy host the Oscars forever. That was his whole thing was brilliant. But that use of that line and that was just
00:42:28
Speaker
Absolutely, savagely, wonderfully beautiful. Best thing to come out of that movie. Well, that's the thing, the humor around it. I've i've really been kind of enjoying, you know, right I just thinking, you know, that's the, make the best out of a bad situation, yeah you know, rather than people going, no, no, no, it's genius. What are you saying? You know, it's, it's better to just kind of let it go. And then let it people probably going to be more likely to. you know, engage with it. Next one, Godzilla X Kong, the new empire, which I've not seen yet, but apparently the biggest grossing Godzilla movie. yeah What's wrong with you? Why haven't you seen this one? It needs to be seen on the big screen. It's fantastic. It's my second favorite one in the entry of the Godzilla and Kong stuff. Is it? Okay. Okay.
00:43:11
Speaker
absolutely have a blast with it. And again, that's probably 50% due to Dan Stevens being in the movie. but But no, the story overall is such that there was points in and I'm just like, oh yeah, they're going to do oh yeah they're going there. Yes, let's do that. Tints is kind of our current Sterling Hayden, isn't he? Like the overlooked actor that just makes everything better. that When he pops up, he makes something better. Yeah. Yeah. No, I really enjoyed this movie a lot more so than it got. It got a lot of negative stuff in it, but there's the the combination of and the way they're building the little world, the universe, right? This Godzilla Kong monster universe. Modern or television as well.
00:43:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, right. It's all kind of ties in nicely together. And I thought it was really well done. I really, really enjoyed this one. Well, I'll check it out. Cause I did, ah I especially enjoyed the first Kong movie. I thought that was great. Yes. And yeah, no, I'll give it a crack. I'll probably like it more than the next movie, which has been very well received, which is Bertrand Bonello's The Beast. And I think what the problem is with it is, so you got Lea Seydoux and George McKay, who are meant to be these lovers across time, which I never bought. They have zero chemistry. And being someone who's watched a lot of movies,
00:44:35
Speaker
I can see the lines between everything that's been lifted and thrown into this movie. I mean, as ah as ah as a good example, you know it's like, oh, she has to go into this tank, and what is it filled with? Black goo, like Dune, right? now Done cheaply, right? it's um It's just a miss on every level. It just feels sterile, contrived, derivative, badly edited, and and really boring. It goes on for two and a half hours.
00:45:11
Speaker
and there is a lot of misogyny in it. They they say, it just has to be naked. Her clothes have to get wet. There's a lot of female nudity of her, but no male nudity at all. And it it just just feels half really half-baked. And yeah, ah the high points are the unintentional humor in it, where you're just thinking, oh my God, I can't believe that they said those lines, probably similar to Madam Webb. But yeah, I won't linger on that one
Documentary Reviews: 'Robot Dreams' and 'Copa 71'
00:45:42
Speaker
too much. But going back to something that was great is Wes Ball's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Yes, which I did not. I missed my chance. to Oh, you didn't see it. No. Oh, it's my shame. So, you know, I think we've talked about the Planet of the Apes films. I'm a real big fan. I wasn't overwhelmed by the last film.
00:46:07
Speaker
I liked it, but but but but I didn't enjoy it as much as Ryze. And this one is is is better. This one gets it back on track. I really enjoyed it. But yeah, don't spoil anything on there. Animation, so recently we've had, what is it, Inside Out 2? It's come out, and I've heard great things about that. So yeah I'm going to kind of jump on that as soon as I can. And Robot Dreams I caught up with, and you've seen this as well. Yes. Yes. I thoroughly enjoyed that one, speaking of no dialogue, but doesn't need it.
00:46:43
Speaker
and and And you know, I went in not prepared for the weight of the ending. ah Very similar to Evil Does Not Exist. this This really hit me and I was not expecting it. Yeah, it hits a different part of your heart, that's for sure. It does, yeah. But it hits and it's beautiful. Oh, it's absolutely gorgeous. and Yeah. you know having having lived in New York and at that time period. At that time, right? Yeah. It just brought back so many memories. It's really authentic. And and exceptional soundtrack as well to this one. Yeah, yeah. um the The whole thing, it's paced so well, and it's so it just feels so fresh. Yeah, Robot Dreams, big recommendation to to to catch that as soon as you can. And then documentaries. So I've only seen one of these, Copa 71.
00:47:35
Speaker
which is extraordinary, which is about the Women's World Cup in 1971, and how essentially FIFA just tried to bury it. it was It was one of the most successful tournaments ever stadium packed with you know oh hundreds of thousands of people, people listening to it everywhere and being covered as soon as it ended. FIFA just killed it. How much FIFA sucks? Yeah, every time they cut to him, we'll watch it guys. That is a bow. it yeah But it's so interesting. which just as it's It follows the whole tournament. So you're kind of, ear ear they're they're talking to all these
00:48:16
Speaker
women athletes from around the world from various teams. And you're're you're really kind of engaged thinking, and you know do they make it to the final? What happens? What's going on? And ah they weren't even getting paid. like People were making hand over fist millions and millions off of this tournament. And and the the the women weren't getting paid. So you know part of the way through, they they they they strike. And they're like, you know come on. But it's it's it's awesome, and it's pretty short as well, but it's it's really well put together. One thing I wish they would have done more on is gone into the how how the footage came to be, how they, you know, that part of it. I would have liked to say that, but I feel, you know, I understand I probably would have distracted from the focus, right?
00:49:00
Speaker
ah of what they wanted to keep it on. But the other thing I liked, the other thing I liked about it was the when they're talking to these surviving players, because you know they're all old women now, but when they're talking about walking in that stadium, for and they do well to set up the nature, the state of women's professional football at that point, which was laughable at best. FIFA had banned it, or banned other organs countries in their footballing organizations. for recognizing it because- Well, they upped them going into a smaller stadium and then they were forced into a larger stadium and they still filled it out. So it forced them into a bigger stadium and they filled, they sold it out. And on these very male outdated pretexts of being the weaker sex and such,
00:49:48
Speaker
oh no the The questions that the press were asking the women as well. or but the ah Yeah, and then trying trying to play up the sexy angle. Short shorts. But the women talking about it now, 50 years later, they're back in that moment. You could see it on their faces. they were yeah absolutely the The rivalries, you know the players they hated. and other things like Those are still just as strong. They're still right back there. Everybody's like, oh yeah yeah, this is what it was. This is what it was like. And yeah, it's important you don't realize, you know, you know, you know we were we we were born at that time. And, you know, all this stuff was hidden. Like, yeah like it was just hidden. We just never told about it. Completely bare for something so huge and successful. and It was completely 100% buried.
Podcast Reflection and Future Themes
00:50:36
Speaker
yeah They were just told, okay, well, I guess, and then you know being women at the time, they're like, oh, well, I guess nothing we can do. and you know fifty it's what's It's been 50 years it's taken to get them the recognition they deserve, even though women's soccer has been ah yeah you know growing in popularity, su but you know especially in the US since the late 90s. Oh, it's been a huge here as well. I mean mean, especially with the England team doing as well as they've been doing. it's I mean, yeah, your press is equally as as as down on the women's team as they are on the men's team now. So I thought that was a sign of progress. Well, the other thing, the Copa 71, another film that I think mentioned back in 22,
00:51:22
Speaker
and in my top 10 list was a film called Summer of Soul, and it was basically the Black Woodstock in Harlem. And all this footage got buried, yeah, yeah, it all got buried, and thankfully it got rescued, and you know they made this documentary, but you know you just think about it. At the time, if you said, you know we're we're we're being sidelined, people would be going, No, no, you're imagining it, you're paranoid, bo but it was really happening. It's good that the stuff is seeing the light of day. But something more modern, and I've not seen this one, but it's been on a lot of lifts of some of the best movies thus far in 2024, is Bad Faith, Christian Nationalism's Unholy War on Democracy. And I've been hearing good things about this one.
00:52:11
Speaker
and Well, see i get I get to watch that play out real time. I've got a front row seat for that. I don't know if I'm interested. I'm excited about like diving right in. and
00:52:22
Speaker
Well, I mean, this is this is the thing about that ah dead this this is kind of aimed at people somewhere on the fence. The people on one side don't need to be told this, and the people on the other side, their problem is that they don't listen anyhow. so Yeah, so when look at that. Those are those movies just from the first half of this year. And I don't think we have got time to go over the movie, the the television stuff, but some to kind of call out. TV catch up here. We could do a TV catch up at some point. let's say that's ah But yeah, you may as well mention, you know, we think we mentioned Monarch already, but then you got the act light. Which again, every time the Monarch show, every time it just it was the venture brothers is all like the Monarch.
00:53:08
Speaker
Every single time. Well, naturally, of course you should. Yeah. But kind of looking back at the first, actually it's it's now 13 episodes because we had to split this one. what What did we learn? did we I think we've been getting better. I don't know if you, you listener out there, you got to get in touch with us and let us know because seriously, are we any good at this? Are we getting better at this? It's, I think we're getting better every, I think, but I think we're getting better with time management too. and That's an important thing. Trying to you know respect people's investment and keep it to an hour, but sure. Sure. While also being able ah to provide some insights. Cause again, our whole point was just to provide
00:53:53
Speaker
what we've known, what we've experienced. I mean, we've watched this number of movies all the time for decades now and have formed some, have created a good pantheon of things. It's a good base education to work from. And then just on our own, I've done a lot. So there's a lot of interest and passion and thoughts and discussions and everything like that, that's gone into it. And so just wanting to share that in some way that might be beneficial to other folks and might be ah useful. And that's true. So, i you know, why we shy away from doing, you know, like, this is our review of X. It's like, well, yeah we'll fit it in there, but, you know, there's topically, I think it's more important to kind of, for us anyway, to to to be able to get at all the stuff we know, all the stuff that's out there, all the stuff that we don't know, all the stuff that we're discovering.
00:54:37
Speaker
ah that you know Because that's been my favorite thing from this is the discovery of like, oh, I'd never heard of this. And I think that's like also the beauty of having two different, basically two different libraries, other sides of the ah the sides of the pond to reference, you you know, you'll pull out stuff. I'm like, nope, never heard of them or this or that. But would make sense because you've got proximity and the things too, a lot more diverse voices. you You tell me about stuff as well that I don't have. Exactly. There's another side, right? Yeah. but Yeah, I mean, it just just because of the themes that we do in the episode, you know, we we puffed at our chest before and we're like, we've seen practically everything. And then when we start going into these like special subjects, the gay episode, you know the gray episode, I saw a gay movie once. Yeah. so
00:55:27
Speaker
They made more than one. But yeah, it's, it's, it's really kind of forced me to kind of fill some of the gaps in my viewing and just amazing discoveries along the way. So, uh, yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's been really good, but kind of going back to what we've mentioned, I think in the last episode was that, that, that quote from Roger Ebert about movies being and machines to make empathy. I think that's the important thing is. hopefully when we do topics that people might not be familiar with, like around queer cinema or even non-mainstream cinema in our strange episode, that that we make it a little bit easier for people to access those movies and not quite be afraid of them, yeah so to speak, and that they can try something new that that ah they went to otherwise tried. so
00:56:22
Speaker
Yeah, yes but and a lot of these to the other thing I'd call on and i probably post a link to it is I You know use something like just watch the app for finding out where stuff might be available Sure about that's a good shout. We're pulling from all sorts of different Places and options and it may be streaming or maybe it was streaming or maybe it's here or maybe if it's in cinema or maybe you can find it on if you have access to a a local place that still does rentals, which if you do, go rent from them, support them, because they need it. And the physical media is worth chasing down and and respecting. Local cinemas, local things like you do, the the special screenings and things like that, you know, if you're interested, in you know, that stuff exists, it's out there, it's accessible, look for it, and go. and go Go by yourself. You will not be alone. It's kind of underlined as well, like going to the cinema is a different experience than watching it at home.
00:57:15
Speaker
I'm not saying it's better or worse, but it's a different experience to different experience a movie altogether. which there' There's big screen and the elements it presents as well as with an audience. Yeah, totally. Which can be positive and negative. Yeah, it depends on the type of movie. and That's something that we could talk about at some point. Yeah. but it it's yeah yeah It's been a good first half of season two. I think we're, we're, we're, we're speeding up and yeah, we'll be off until September schools out forever.
00:57:52
Speaker
Yeah. So, uh, yeah, we'll be bringing you exciting stuff in the new year. Cause, uh, yeah, it doesn't mean that we're not going to be doing homework over the summer. So, right. Follow the Two Oceans Facebook page, the newly minted Instagram on two, number two, Oceans podcast. And yeah, we will see all you good folks in September, in the autumn. Yes. Or as the Americans call it in and literally, I think this year it will be the fall. This is there. I am i am feeling like I'm Slim Whitman on the wave in my hat. Right in the bottom right now.
00:58:46
Speaker
Skinny men are the most ridiculous thing there is. two oceans