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The Screen Queens 2022 Wrap Up & 2023 Movies
13 Plays2 years ago
Happy New Year! With a new name and new energy, our hosts: Tope Eletu-Odibo & Greg Clark look back at some of their favorite movies directed by women in 2022 and explore anticipated movies for 2023 that are also directed by women.
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Transcript
Introduction: Exploring Women in Cinema
00:00:00
Speaker
to all the ladies I am big it's the pictures that got small
00:00:14
Speaker
All this way for my advice, I feel like Oprah. Person your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night. What the hell? I'm not going to worry about if people accept me or not. I'm going to make Hollywood wherever I am at.
00:00:33
Speaker
Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to the Screen Queens, where we discuss the selection of movies directed by women from the silent film era all the way to modern releases. I'm your host, Tapi El-Hodibo, and joining me is Greg Clark, my co-host in life and in this podcast. Hey, Greg, what's going on?
00:00:53
Speaker
Oh, not much. Just enjoying the new year and the quiet that we currently are experiencing. And why are we experiencing the quiet right now? Because the kids in daycare. Yay. Babies in daycare. So yes. Um, you know, we were doing, um, it was, we were doing, uh, the podcast for a while. Um, and then I got very, very pregnant and then the baby came.
00:01:18
Speaker
And yeah, we had to take a little break. And by little break, I mean a lot of break. But we're back because we really love doing this and we wanted to continue to share all of our favorite movies that we've watched and some weird stuff that we've seen. And yeah, we'll be doing that going forward and enjoying this little bit of quiet.
00:01:38
Speaker
while babies in daycare. Now you might have noticed something a little different. In our previous
Rebranding to Focus on Women
00:01:44
Speaker
podcasts we mentioned the title as the stream queen and the reason for that was because I was the one streaming movies during the pandemic and it made sense because it was more about what I was watching. Going forward we'll be calling this the
00:01:58
Speaker
Screen Queens because we're focusing on the women who are making movies the women who have made movies and so we're going beyond the Streaming to include more cinema that's in person at the theaters because we're back We're back back back. I know some people don't think that we're fully back but I
00:02:19
Speaker
We are, and we love going in, we love watching things on the big screen, so we want to include some of those in our podcast as well, because there are some fantastic stuff that have hit the theater circuit, and there's probably some more that are coming in 2023. And a few of them were directed by women. Yeah, so... Not many. Not many, but the ones that have come out are pretty awesome, are pretty awesome.
00:02:42
Speaker
So, we want to focus on those people, and obviously this is going to be a podcast that just doesn't focus on what's happening right now, but it goes back to some of the pioneers, the women who fought the system to basically bring us some really interesting topics, topics that maybe men would not have covered.
00:03:05
Speaker
And so we hope that we'll be able to share just some of the cool stuff that we found just in our time in 2022 and beyond. So yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess let's go to start with 2022. Yeah. Since we're at the beginning of 2023, this is the time to look back.
Favorite Female-Directed Films of 2022
00:03:28
Speaker
What were your favorite female-directed films of 2022?
00:03:32
Speaker
Oh, this is tough. That's tough. There were definitely, there were definitely like a few that I felt were forever my favorite. Like I will revisit them. Um, one of them, even though it causes me a little bit of trauma or revisiting my trauma is turning red. Um, that was such a brilliant, um, film, uh, animation that, uh, Disney dropped Pixar, which is still part of Disney.
00:04:01
Speaker
Technically, yes. Okay, they don't like talk about that, but You know what I do what was pretty sad about it was like it should have been it should have come out in theaters It should and we talked about that in one of our podcasts. We definitely have a vent and a venting session about it And I believe you called them cowards. They yes, I stand by that assessment that
00:04:24
Speaker
whoever was making the decisions in March of 2022 at Disney to go, you know what we should do with this really awesome Pixar film that we have been marketing heavily as coming out in theaters for about six months now? Let's
Theater vs. Streaming Debate
00:04:42
Speaker
dump it on Disney Plus.
00:04:44
Speaker
with little to no warning just so we can goose our Q1 subscriber numbers. Which, by the way, within six months it had come out that they had been goosing those numbers a little too much. Not a little fraud. And that Disney Plus was actually about a billion dollars in the hole.
00:05:07
Speaker
Yeah, it feels like hidden forever. Yeah, it feels like a really great film got Swept under the table. I mean, yes kids are gonna watch it. They're gonna watch it No matter what platform it's on and I am sure that it is destined to be a new classic But yeah, but it it's one of those films where you watch it and you go. Oh my god This was actually made for a giant screen
00:05:35
Speaker
Yeah, it really was. They put a lot of work into it. The animation is fantastically done. And I think one of the things that you always pick up on is the expressions on the faces of the characters. Like it's like your favorite thing. And you can really, there's so many inflections. These are not boring animations. These are animations that feel real. Like the emotions are real, the reactions and the gestures. Like you can feel,
00:06:03
Speaker
your relation to these characters, like yes, I would do that face. I know someone who made that face. I know someone who acted that way, who moved in that way. It's just the attention to detail was fantastic. It's also genuinely hilarious. So funny. The line, I'm 13, deal with it.
00:06:24
Speaker
And I think that it made Tyler's the new Karens. Yes, yes. Not just turning red, because the menu also did a fair amount of heavy lifting there on Tyler's bullshit. The name of Tyler is officially dead as of 2022, dead and buried by turning red and the menu.
00:06:45
Speaker
Apologies to all of our friends named Tyler out there. Which, quite a lot, actually. Yeah, no, I have to start fixing their Christian names, or at least their initials. So it's Tyler M, Tyler T, Tyler D.
00:07:00
Speaker
Exactly. We're not gonna out their names on our podcast. No. But yeah. You know who you are. You know who you are. But going back to Turning Red, Dumishi, who's the director, really did such a great job. And prior to this, I believe she also directed a short that won an Oscar.
00:07:19
Speaker
yeah she did bow it won best best lampooning of toppy's emotions in under five minutes oh my i went through i went through so many you went through the seven stages of grief are they seven i thought they were five i added whatever i added two stages um but yeah it was
00:07:39
Speaker
It was so beautifully done. Like, this is a director that understands growth, like the growth of millennials, the growth of, you know, just kind of that journey that you go through, that rite of passage that you go through from being a child to being a teen to being a young adult to being, you know, the rest of the party will talk about that.
00:08:04
Speaker
But, you know, kind of like the pains and the trials and trying to develop relationship, trying to save relationships. She really does a great job of establishing that parent-child relationship, all the things that it's fraught with. Like, Bao was where she kind of started to explore that, but turning red is where she nailed it. And, you know, just kind of a brief summary for people who don't understand, Tanya Wright is about a young Canadian, Asian,
00:08:34
Speaker
a girl who is, I guess she's young, she's 12, 13, and on her 13th birthday she basically is able to transform into a giant red panda. Some may say- It's a metaphor. It's a metaphor. You get to figure out what the metaphor is about. Apparently some people are struggling with that. Some people are taking offense to it. Some people are taking offense to it.
00:09:00
Speaker
Anyway, so it was just kind of like this 13-year-old girl whose body's changing, literally, and how she kind of navigated that as her mom and her parents really don't want her to grow to be this woman. They want her to remain their little girl. And so there is, if you come from a multicultural family, you're going to totally relate to every single one of this. If you have so many aunties in your life, you're going to relate to every single one of this. Who show up without an invitation.
00:09:29
Speaker
Yeah. And so for me, there was so many parts of this where I could just see myself. I saw myself growing up. I saw all the fights I had with my mom. I saw my struggles through my changing identity, my changing body, my changing everything. Growing up in a Western society and also having to adhere to traditional rules. It had everything for me.
00:09:56
Speaker
but it's not just for the multicultural sisters out there like i feel like you know you yourself as a lap male what from the self i'm even to quote steve martin and the jerk i'm not black no i'm sorry babe i just want to die
00:10:20
Speaker
It's basically I'm saying it's for everybody. Okay. Yes I actually have watched this movie more times than you have that is true is because I don't like to wreck my emotions multiple times Okay, you also just don't watch movies more than once. I really unless it's the godfather for it, too Okay, don't need to bring the Godfather into this first of all second of all. I need to let things marinate. I
00:10:40
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? Like, let it just filter into my pores and then I'll go back and watch it again. But turning red is different because I feel re-traumatized every time I watch it. Well, speaking of trauma and seeing yourself in films, I think the next film directed by a woman that appeared on both of our top lists, The Woman King,
Analyzing 'The Woman King'
00:11:08
Speaker
The Woman Yes Queen. Yes! Directed by Gina Prince-Blythewood. Gina. Yeah, I dug that movie a lot. I know a lot of internet ink was spilt on it not being completely 100% iron-clad, documentary-style, historically accurate. Haters gon' hate, though.
00:11:38
Speaker
And for those of you who don't know Gina, she directed Love and Basketball, which is a requisite movie to watch during Valentine's Day and if you're into sports. So, you know, February is the right time for this. Also directed The Secret Life of Bees, which I remember being pretty solid. Beyond the Lights, also pretty solid. The Old Guard.
00:12:00
Speaker
exists Some of us liked it when some of us Didn't and both of those opinions are totally okay, but she came back with a woman king. She did come back with the woman king Yeah, it does go to show that The quote-unquote Netflix budget Might have been my biggest problem with the old guard because the action that movie sucks. Yeah
00:12:24
Speaker
It was a little cheap. It was very cheap. It was, hey, look, here's a bunch of people in the room, and they're backlit, and the choreography doesn't feel very rehearsed. No. Yeah, we have exactly one big, quote unquote, set piece on a plane, not to be confused with the other Netflix movies where the big set piece happens on a plane.
00:12:50
Speaker
But I will say wherever Gina got her money for the woman King they paid up. Yes, I think the woman King is Actually, I think has about roughly the same quoted budget as the old guard, but this is where The whole streaming versus theatrical. Yeah thing comes into play because when you do a film for streaming
00:13:14
Speaker
Your budget, a large part of your budget is going towards your stars and your above the line talent, the directors, the writers, the producers. They're not getting residuals from Netflix movies. They're not getting paid every time it gets played. They're getting one fee up front and you're done. You're never going to see another cent from this work again. The Woman King, again, comparable budget, looks
00:13:39
Speaker
Way better so big expansive visuals action is just on point and it's because They didn't have to pay them as much because they're getting residuals. Yes Just killing it and a lot of white guys
00:13:59
Speaker
You know for some of us very cathartic but I you know they this was like a mix of talent in this movie because you have your big-budget names Like viola and then you have like some newer
00:14:14
Speaker
cast newer actors that maybe have only done like one or two small things. And that blend of the range of experiences really adds so much color to the movie. Like you know when those people are kind of in this film, they know what it's about. They know that there's a lot at stake because we're talking about a movie that is about all women
00:14:41
Speaker
all women in a like an army basically like they are they are assassins they are the the guards of the king like you know and these are not women that are cool they seal team six basically these are these women are not quote-unquote pretty okay
00:14:57
Speaker
They are jacked up. They got machetes. They got spears. They got knives. And I believe one of the character literally uses her nails as a weapon to rip out people's eyes. So like we're talking about women that are that are just not on the I wouldn't say I mean to me they were hot. They were pretty. They did it for me. But you know we all know how you feel about LaShonna Lynch. LaShonna, LaShonna, LaShonna.
00:15:23
Speaker
I'm just singing music for you. But by point being, like, this isn't a film, and then also we're talking about black women, like not like dark, chocolaty black women. And they are the main characters in these stories about them. By all definition, with all of these elements in, this film should not have taken off at all. Like this should not even be on the screen.
00:15:46
Speaker
it got made a lot of capital spend getting it made and I think that you could tell every actress in that knew that they knew the stakes and they brought it like if you if you're able to go on youtube just google the training videos
00:16:01
Speaker
Yeah, Viola went hard on the training. And Viola, you know, she'll always be a young woman, but we're talking about someone's momma here. Like, she is doing it. She is keeping up with the youngins on this one. No, it was her own, you know, Tom Cruise, Hugh Jackman. I still got it. All of that. All of that put together. John Boyega's in this. He didn't have to do anything. He just sit down.
00:16:29
Speaker
John Boyega is in this movie playing your brother, essentially. I loved it. He was just like, I get to wear flashy clothes and then I just get to like wave my hand. And you know, like it's probably the least amount of work he's had to do in the movie, except for that accent.
00:16:48
Speaker
He's going hard on that accent, but it's such a good film and from what I've heard from friends who You know have watched the movie or this wasn't like a movie they would originally pick to go watch This is one of the best war films that they have seen Yeah, even if it's not historically accurate
00:17:10
Speaker
Even if, I mean, you know, the women existed, okay? Like, do we know what they said and how they did XYZ? No, we don't, but nobody knows that. Like, it's not written. But, you know, it's always been a fictionalized version of people who existed in history, okay? As far as I know, Abraham Lincoln was not a vampire hunter, but we still have a whole movie about it.
00:17:35
Speaker
Not the example I would have co-opted in here because I hate that movie. I'm just saying, if we're going to be like, ugh, why is it not historically accurate? Tell me, is Abraham Lincoln a vampire hunter? Well, he is not. Here's the thing about that whole controversy that irritated me. Outside of it just being very obviously done in bad faith.
00:17:56
Speaker
because it was a lot of people going did you know the Dahoumi tribe was one of the biggest slavers in Africa and they're the ones that were selling slaves to the south and this movie is rewriting history and it's trying to make the Dahoumi out to be a bunch of good guys and I was like have you watched the movie?
00:18:15
Speaker
Because
Historical Accuracy in Cinema
00:18:16
Speaker
the whole movies about the kingdom of Dahoumi grappling within itself over slavery. Yes. The whole film is about the fact that they are slavers and that they are selling their enemies into slavery. Where it gets into fictionalized is the whole uprising by the woman tribe to try to change
00:18:42
Speaker
the king's heart to get rid of slavery is the only part where it's like okay maybe that didn't happen but i would also contend you can do a period film set it in a real place set it in a real time and have characters who
00:19:02
Speaker
act aspirationally, or behave aspirationally, and it might not be historically accurate, but it's still emotionally accurate, okay? You know, I can't go, I can't say with absolute certainty that 100% of everyone in the Dahoomi kingdom was on board with what was going on. It's actually just statistically not likely. Yeah. That would be the case. And to top this whole thing off, I will just say this.
00:19:31
Speaker
How does Adolf Hitler die an inglorious bastards? Okay? He gets shot to fucking hell by a pair of Jewish soldiers. And it's cathartic as fuck. Yes, but not accurate. Is it accurate? Not at all. Is it satisfying? Yes. I still like my Abraham Lincoln vampire hunter though, but that comes second for sure.
00:19:51
Speaker
oh yeah yeah in the annals of uh cinema history it will always go abraham lincoln vampire hunter one two inglorious bastards a Quentin Tarantino film let me have my moment i will not anyway yes so i think
00:20:12
Speaker
Now this does sort of speak to a problem, an ongoing problem in Hollywood in that as far as big like big ticket movies directed by women last year in 2022, that's pretty much it. I mean there were, we did see some other ones that
00:20:36
Speaker
The only other high profile one that you and I saw was don't worry darling. And I did worry.
00:20:44
Speaker
I didn't worry as much. I actually enjoyed that film. Yeah, I mean I didn't say that I didn't enjoy it, but... The look on your face at the end of the movie said that. No, what I enjoyed was Florence Pugh. Florence is without blame. Yes, Florence is without blame. Harry Styles on the other hand... Was he good? Probably not. Did I mind? It helps that you know the director. I guess it does help.
00:21:11
Speaker
Yes, directed by Olivia Wilde. Olivia Wilde, which girl, great job with the vision and everything on this. It's like a solid three stars for me. I'm not saying it was bad. I'm just saying it wasn't like, I might not watch it again. I know you've accused me of doing that. I do watch films one-on-ones, thank you very much. Yeah, if they're called the Godfather.
00:21:32
Speaker
Oh, sorry. There's more than... You watch more than just the Godfather. You also watch the Godfather part too. I was watching John Wick like the other day. You weren't really watching John Wick. You were falling asleep on the couch. But I have watched John Wick multiple times. Okay, so I do have more than one film that I watch more than once.
00:21:53
Speaker
Yes, it just has to involve young Al Pacino and the Terminator and the Terminator. The Terminator. I watched multiple times the Terminator. Anyway, this is not about me. So this podcast is exclusively about you. We changed the title of the show. So, yes.
00:22:08
Speaker
Don't worry darling. It is a solid movie if you are able to find it. I don't even know where it's streaming We're gonna look that up, but you should yes, you are right. It's on HBO the woman King I think you can rent on Amazon if you have not seen it yet. I absolutely
00:22:29
Speaker
Ask that you do I would say the other one that we saw it didn't come out in 22, but we did watch it for one of our podcasts and I know that it didn't really hit us the same way and the reason is because
Mixed Feelings on 'CODA'
00:22:47
Speaker
It got a lot of Oscar buzz and it won. Oh, and we were talking. Oh, OK, so just because we haven't done this in a while, we got to go all the way back to 2021 way back and we got to talk about CODA, CODA, which is an acronym for child of deaf adults. Yeah.
00:23:14
Speaker
it's fine yeah it is i want to be clear the movie's fine it's fine i could just see like the hair on your arm just like it's just possibly the most pedestrian
00:23:33
Speaker
Avenue that kind of story could have taken. Yeah, it is it's it's like It winning best picture. Mm-hmm. And that's really my contention. It's as a movie. It's fine Yeah, I thought the dad was great. Yeah, Marley Matlin is a great actor deserve to win something
00:23:50
Speaker
It did deserve, I think the dad, his name escapes me, but the dad's supporting actor win. Completely deserved. Frank Rossi. Yes. Yeah. No. He was Frank Rossi in the film. His name is Troy Cutzer. Something like that. K-O-T-S-U-R. I'm terrible with names. You just don't want your accent to slip out.
00:24:16
Speaker
I think his supporting actor win was completely deserved, but it's just the most pedestrian filmmaking. It's basically, when you look at the crop of Best Picture nominees last year, it was a lot of supremely crafted on every level works of art from various filmmakers of legend. And you have this one which is basically a paint by numbers
00:24:46
Speaker
TV movie and I don't want to be that person but I really do think that the topic is What got it over is what got it in that group to begin with and also possibly what got it to win? You know
00:25:04
Speaker
And yes, do these stories need to be told? Absolutely. And it's fine for them to be fine. They don't have to be the best movies out there. But if you're just voting for it because you want to give a win to this group, I don't think that it does it justice. I don't think that you're doing them any favors, particularly when anybody who basically has a pulse
00:25:30
Speaker
can look at the lineup of movies that came out or that were on that list and say, anyone else about this one was a tough choice. Anybody else? And so- Even if you want to keep on the trend of, we want to give best picture to a film that was directed by a female director, Power of the Dog.
00:25:55
Speaker
Power of the Dog was so good. I think deservedly so. I was a big fan of that movie. Sorry, Sam Elliott. I love you, Sam, but you were wrong about this one. But anyway.
00:26:10
Speaker
So yes, Koda is a movie that exists and that's all I've got for it. That's all we got for you. I did want to point out some other female directed films that we did not get to see in the calendar year.
Depicting Black Trauma in Film
00:26:26
Speaker
I'm sure at some point we will catch up with them.
00:26:28
Speaker
Let's do it. There's the documentary Fire of Love. Okay, yeah. Directed by Saradosa about a pair of volcanologists who record each other as they do their work and study and as they worked together as colleagues they ended up falling in love. I actually remember
00:26:53
Speaker
seeing these guys' documentaries. They did stuff for National Geographic. I remember seeing their stuff in elementary school because they would put on these aluminum suits and get super close to the volcano as it's erupting just to show you the scale. And as an eight-year-old, I was just like, these people are crazy. So there's a documentary about them now. They literally were doing it for the Grammys.
00:27:19
Speaker
But yeah, I think the couple disappears, right? I don't remember what happens to them. I think that's why. This is what happens when you don't watch the movie. Yeah, I think that part of the trailer said that they just up and disappeared and nobody knows what happened to them. Well, we do know what happens to them because it's in the vlog line. Oh, OK. On Letterboxd, it doesn't end well for them. They lose their lives doing what they love. Yes, you know. Fire of love, apparently. OK, what are the movies?
00:27:47
Speaker
Other movies that we that we know came out, but we didn't get around to seeing this one. I know You saw the poster. Yeah checked that it was being directed by a woman. Yeah saw that it was being directed by a woman Said okay, but I'm never watching it. Do you know what I'm talking about? No till
00:28:12
Speaker
You were like this has to be told by a woman, but I'm never watching it. It's one of those things I think and I think black people could probably I'm not just disclaimer. I do not speak for black people I'm just speaking for myself as a black woman but there I'm I'm done with films that Show
00:28:34
Speaker
black pain and I don't mean like in the sense of like a romantic black pain or like we lost our job or whatever you know like just the lived lives of black people but I mean where we're making movies whether it's about slavery or about the civil rights movement or about lynching and I'm like I'm just done it's like a lot it's just
00:28:59
Speaker
It's traumatic for us to see it. Now, my understanding of this movie is that it focuses more on the mother and her response to what happened than it does the actual incident that happened. The horror that happened to Emmett Till. Yes, they go out of their way to say we do not show what happens. But you don't even you don't even have to not show it. You don't have to show it for for people to really feel right that
00:29:29
Speaker
There isn't even a word. There's not emotion for us, at least for me. And so I know that even if I'm sitting there watching this movie about this woman, that it's just going to replay in my head because there are historical images out there.
00:29:46
Speaker
Of what happened. Oh, she made sure of that. That was the whole reason for her to have the open casket funeral. Exactly. So there's no way that you cannot just like have that, just be re-traumatized by it. So is it a story that needed to be told? Absolutely. Didn't it need to be told by women? Absolutely. Should people of a certain skin tone go watch it? Absolutely. People of a certain skin tone. But, I just say.
00:30:11
Speaker
You know who you are. Coast, actually coast. Coast. I'm just like nod. For me, this is why I love sci-fi, this is why I love fantasy because black future, Afrofuturism and all of that stuff is where I really find I want to see black joy. I want to see black romance. I want to see black families loving on each other. I want to see positive stuff that's not, our pain can exist obviously in there.
00:30:40
Speaker
but it shouldn't be the core of the plot. Because it's just, I mean, there's a word for it. It's like, it's like erotic, well, no, well, I say erotic, it's not erotic, but it's like pain porn or whatever, or, you know, trauma porn. I just, it's just not for me, but I imagine, and from what I heard, that it's a fantastic movie, so please go see it and support it.
00:31:07
Speaker
If you feel that you can handle it. If you feel you can handle it. All right. Take your friend. Three more that I've only recently heard of, but wanted to put on the list just so we have it on the record. There is The Eternal Daughter by Joanna Hogg, starring Tilda Swinton, apparently part three of their collaboration. And not to get any spoilers here though, we might be watching that for the podcast.
00:31:32
Speaker
Oh, well, that's news to me. Um, and then also there is corsage by Marie Kretzer, uh, starring Vicki, uh, Vicki Cripps. Yes. If I'm saying that correctly. You may know of her from the Phantom Thread.
00:31:48
Speaker
Yes. She is playing Empress Elizabeth of Austria, who apparently was a badass bitch. Yeah. I don't know anything about this other than I saw the poster, which is Vicki Cripps dressed as an empress giving you the finger. I did watch the trailer. My understanding of the movie is that it's
00:32:11
Speaker
It goes through her experience. I think she turns 40 and basically at that time when you turn 40, you're dead to the world. And it's basically about her defiance. Yeah. It's about her defiance of society who expect her to fade into obscurity after that age. And, you know, she basically, as you say, with the poster gave a very firm, polite, delicate middle finger to that, to society, basically. And so.
00:32:40
Speaker
Look forward to catching up on that one. Two more that are, I guess, very much buzzed about potential Oscar contenders. One of them is After Sun by Charlotte Wells. Film From Your Homeland. The UK.
00:33:02
Speaker
and is sort of an autobiographical tale about her father and sort of the challenges that he had growing up. I have heard that Paul Mezgal in this movie, who I am unfamiliar with, but apparently he was on a show called Normal People and has blown up over in England. He is now like
00:33:23
Speaker
Acting royalty over there and he's about to come over here for the gladiator sequel This could be sort of his coming-out debut depending on how well it does during another movie that I've watched more than once Gregory
00:33:41
Speaker
And then the last one that we'll talk about is one that features women talking, and it's called Women Talking. And it's directed by Sarah Polly, who I love unabashedly, both as an actress and as a writer and as a director. Her film Away From Her wrecked me.
00:34:01
Speaker
when I was in college and yeah this is about I think they're either Amish or they're Mennonite. It just says religious community. Yeah but noon you watch the trailer you're like they're Amish. It's more Amish I think than Mennonite. All that silver barns.
00:34:24
Speaker
but it's basically the women of this community come together and have a discussion about the Treatment and in some cases the violence that's being visited upon them and what they're going to do about it And well, you know what I would do, you know Francis McDormand isn't isn't involved here, which you know, that's over for us emotionally Francis McDormand who tears people apart
00:34:53
Speaker
Yes. Well, it's one of those things of like, well, I know what she's going to do. Yeah. If someone tries to lay a hand on her. But it is kind of, it is one of those movies where you just see the cast list and it's Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jesse Buckley, Ben Whishaw, Frances McDormand, Liv McNeil, Michelle McLeod. I am now just reading the rest of the letterboxed. I will be completely honest. I don't recognize all of these names. Basically a lot of amazing actresses.
00:35:23
Speaker
Actors. Are we doing Actors or are we doing actresses? I never know anymore. Let's just say actors. Actors, yes. I'm going to do that. Actors. Actors. It has a sense of theater to it, stage play. So yeah, I'm looking forward to that. Obviously, with that one, probably trigger warning should be placed on it. Trigger warning should be placed on till. Trigger warning should be placed on a few of these. So that's 2022. Yeah. Should we look ahead to 2023?
00:35:53
Speaker
Yeah. Cause there's definitely some movies. I have at least three that I am looking forward to seeing. I had, I actually went through and looked at the release schedule and put down every film that is currently slated for a release in 2023 that it was directed by a woman. Um, the first one up is also the first one coming out in the end of February. I think we both know what this is.
Anticipation for 'Cocaine Bear'
00:36:21
Speaker
Does it involve a lot of pain?
00:36:23
Speaker
No, okay involves a lot of red and white a Lot of white a lot of white a lot of white in the form of a powder a lot of white
00:36:37
Speaker
I was like, what are you talking about? Is this the color of a flag? Anybody going into battle? I guess I'll go in and tell our our listening audience that the the song that my our infant child has
00:36:58
Speaker
Glommed onto as the song that will calm him down and soothe him Is is a song about cocaine is a song about cocaine. It's white lines by Grandmaster Flash Yes, it is used heavily in the trailer for cocaine bear for obvious reasons. Yes
00:37:13
Speaker
Hashtag Modern Parenting. Hashtag Modern Parenting. He's three months old. He doesn't know what it's about. It's also about how dangerous cocaine is. So miss me with I'm teaching him like setting a bad example. It's a great song with a great message. Don't do it. Anyway, let's go back to Cocaine Bear. Cocaine Bear. Cocaine Bear looks great.
00:37:36
Speaker
It's basically about, I actually didn't realize that this was, so initially when I saw that it was gonna be made, because this is based on the real story. Yes. Well, inspired. Inspired by a real story. Let's be clear, in real life, that bear was dead inside of five minutes.
00:37:51
Speaker
is basically about a bear, obviously, who finds a bag of cocaine and proceeds to consume said bag of cocaine. Now, as you have mentioned, normally this would kill the bear, but in Cocaine Bear the movie... What it presupposes is... What if the bear had lived?
00:38:13
Speaker
And the Trilla is, as one might say, bonkers. Yes. Just wild. Yeah, totally nuts. And I am so excited to see it, because I was excited to see it before I knew it was directed by women. Yes, directed by Elizabeth Banks, an actor. Actor, you know. I have loved for a long time. May the odds be forever in your favor. Yes. Banks. And apparently it is.
00:38:41
Speaker
Yes, Hunger Games, Lego Movie. Her small role is Betty Brandt in the Spider-Man, Sam Raimi trilogy. First time I ever saw her was Catch Me If You Can. She's the bank teller who Leah wants to take out for a nice steak dinner.
00:39:02
Speaker
Wow, what an accent. But anyway, she's really made her bones as a director in the last 10 years or so. She directed Pitch Perfect 2. She directed the Kristen Stewart Charlie's Angels that came and went. Yeah. I remember she directed that, but I didn't see it.
00:39:24
Speaker
And she's produced a lot of stuff too. She's a producer on the other two Pitch Perfect films. She was a producer on the Bruce Willis film, Sura Gets, for some reason. I don't know that one. Yeah, it's basically Bruce Willis's Avatar. But instead of a blue person, it's just a robot that looks like Bruce Willis. Oh, that's weird. Anyway, we are very excited about Cocaine Bear. It's happening.
00:39:51
Speaker
I am excited about Cocaine Bear. It looks very silly. It looks like a lot of fun. It looks like a really good time at the movies. Next up, we actually have a double header, okay? A filmmaker that you and I are both big fan of, Nia DaCosta. Nia!
00:40:11
Speaker
Has two movies she does on the slate this year. She has the big budget The Marvels the Marvels yeah, Captain Marvel 2 yeah, which will bring my my beloved Kamala Khan to the big screen Yes, I am very much looking forward to that and then she has something called the water dancer and
00:40:37
Speaker
Ah yes, by Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta- Ta-
00:41:02
Speaker
Okay, see, this might be one where I might need to think about it because we're looking at the pre-Civil War South, born in slavery, and you know we just covered this topic right now. We just covered this. So, it really does depend on where they go with it. Yes. Real quick, some other films that are on the slate that don't have official dates yet. There is Cleopatra from Carrie Skogsland. Yeah. Skogland, sorry. You know the story.
00:41:31
Speaker
And currently this was going to be Patty Jenkins directing Gal Gadot as Cleopatra. Apparently, Gal Gadot is still attached, but it is Switch directors.
00:41:45
Speaker
Wait, I thought that she was doing Wonder Woman 3. No longer. Oh yeah, I remember that. James Gunn came in and basically hit the big reset button on the DCEU and went, we're starting over. Well, you know. So there's that. There is the Nightingale directed by Melanie Lauren. We need to go back and talk about.
00:42:20
Speaker
She's at least closer geographically.
00:42:25
Speaker
to also I will not to be the well actually person Cleopatra was half Greek so you know that's fair that's fair I'm just saying we've been down this road before you know and it was she's she's from the other side of the bank
00:42:46
Speaker
The other side of the tracks. Anyway, so there's The Night of Gale, directed by Melanie Laurent, who most people will know is Shoshana Dreyfus from Inglourious Basterds, the very historically accurate World War II film by Clement Tarantino.
00:43:04
Speaker
drag these people. It pops on my radar, not just because it's Melanie Laurent and she is actually a very good director. You should check out her film Galveston. Very, very cool. But this is going to be that I can think of the first time as adults
00:43:25
Speaker
We're going to have Elle and Dakota fanning. Oh. Playing sisters. Oh, I don't think I want to see that though. In the same film. They're my babies. They ain't so baby anymore. They're both completely grown up as we've seen.
00:43:41
Speaker
It's weird. It's weird to think about it. It is weird to think about it. I don't know. It says the lives of two French sisters were torn apart by the onset of World War II. So when this was initially announced, the World War II part wasn't in the logline. It was just a film about two nurses during wartime. And so in my head, I was like, oh, it's about Florence Nightingale. Yeah.
00:44:05
Speaker
I don't think it's that anymore. But now I'm like, I don't know what it is, but I'm interested. Okay, real quick. There is a potential, again, this doesn't have a release date, but it does have a director, Dee Rees, of Mudbound. Yes, Dee, I'm glad she's back. I don't know if you've heard about this, but it's a remake of Porky and Bess.
00:44:30
Speaker
I still haven't seen the original because nobody will let me stream it. I'm so excited. This is great. Do we know who's gonna be in it?
00:44:40
Speaker
Uh, no. Okay. DeReeze is writing and directing. Um, they, looks like they're at least keeping the original George Gershwin script as a basis. Yeah. Uh, and it was being produced by Erwin Winkler, who is somehow still alive. Um, as we know, death has been 93 years old and still going. God bless you. You have a lot of, you have a lot of.
00:45:09
Speaker
Films on this list except for one really glaring. I'm getting there work faster So real quick there's also An animated film from Vicki Jensen called spellbound which is not a remake of the Hitchcock film like I initially thought it was Has the voices of Rachel Ziegler Nicole Kidman Javier Bardem John Lithgow and Nathan Lane
00:45:34
Speaker
Story of Elaine, a teenager who comes of age using her magical powers to defend her family when the opposing forces of light and dark threatened to divide her kingdom. So that's all I got. And then there is another animated film, Wish, which is Disney's big hundred year. We turned a hundred this year, so we're making a movie about the star.
00:45:56
Speaker
literally the star that, you know, Geppetto wished upon. So that's why it's called a wish. I don't know what, that's all I got. That's all anyone has for that. It does have a Ariana DeBose. It's good to see the cast of West Side Story continuing too.
00:46:17
Speaker
I mean, she won her Oscar. There's always that curse where you win the Oscar and then no one hires you again. Yeah, there's that. But I also don't see anyone running out to lock down Mike Faste, who played...
00:46:35
Speaker
the gang leader. Yeah. In West Side Story and was amazing. He was pretty good. Whose name is escaping me so that doesn't sound great but. Nope, nope, nope. We can fix that though. Yeah. Now the big one that you were alluding to that we do need to talk about. Yeah. Is the one that I expect the one film to rule them all. And I talk of course about Greta Gerwig's. By the
Buzz Around 'Barbie' by Greta Gerwig
00:46:57
Speaker
great Greta who has become a legend.
00:47:02
Speaker
Barbie. Now, I will say, I never expected those words to leave my mouth. Same here. In that order. Do I look like a Barbie person to you? Absolutely not. No. No. I loved the teaser. I loved both the 2001, you know, parody. Yeah. But I also just loved that A, within the parody, they were able to speak a truth about how big Barbie was. Yeah.
00:47:31
Speaker
when it hit the market. And I think up until about five or six years ago, Barbie was the number one toy in the world for half a century. No one came close. Eventually got supplanted by Lego, but just barely. Barely. And it's always been known as the toy that you get, girls. There is no other toy after that that comes close.
00:47:53
Speaker
Yeah, Barbie occupies its own spot in the pop culture. It is a name that immediately, you know, you immediately have a picture in your head when someone says Barbie of what they're talking about. And I just loved how the teaser used the 2001 parody to basically be like this, when this toy suddenly came into being, it was like,
00:48:22
Speaker
apes discovering fire and weapons and becoming humans. And my favorite thing about that trailer is just the look on the little girl's face when she looks up at the Barbie monolith. Because the craze at which they toss aside their ragged beige looking dolls
00:48:47
Speaker
to made out of fabric and porcelain to chase after this god. And then for 15 seconds you get a glimpse of the actual movie, which I can say quite conservatively looks bug nuts fucking insane. It's basically like candy hearts on steroids. Yes, it looks like a cocaine bear dream. Yeah, certainly like that.
00:49:17
Speaker
It appears to be a musical. It appears to just be completely off the wall. Hopefully it translates. Hopefully it's not one of those things where for 15 seconds it looks great and then it's annoying as hell. I don't think that'll be the case because Greta's previous films have been so good. They have been so good. Once I heard this was coming out and it was her, I was like, I trust you.
00:49:46
Speaker
with this. I think Margot Robbie is perfect casting. I know she's basically gonna be doing, if I had to guess, sight unseen, I would just be like, she's gonna take her Wolf of Wall Street, you know, the Jersey character, and transpose it to Barbie, and safe for kids. So probably no full frontal nudity. Wolf of Wall Street, but safe for kids. Wolf of Wall Street, but for kids. Yes. What did I say? Wolf?
00:50:15
Speaker
Woff, what? Woff of Wall Street. I'm broken, guys. This is what happens when you get enough sleep. But there are some really, you know, these are some of the faces that you kind of see pop up, you know, Issa Rae's in it, Will Ferrell's in it, Simi Liu is in it, America Ferrer is in it, Ryan Gosling for what you, some people might be like, is he a can? Is he not a can? Who knows? I think that is perfect casting for Ken. But he's in it. I think Ryan is like historically unappreciated as a comedic.
00:50:45
Speaker
that's true talent I will say again and again go watch the nice guys anyway so yeah these are as any other movies you want to add to that you were just working your way up to Barbie because that I was mainly working my way up to Barbie we do want to throw a quick shout out there to are you there God it's me Margaret by Kelly Freeman Craig whose previous film edge of 17 was a
00:51:10
Speaker
Great. That was great. Yeah. I remember this book being one of those perennial. It was that book was before my generation. I was born in the 80s. Yeah. It is a book from the 70s. But I do remember it was one of those that just carried over like every girl right around the time of puberty. Yeah. Ended up with a copy of Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.
00:51:40
Speaker
So yes, I am curious about that one. Okay. So that's our lineup for, I mean, we're not saying that we're going to have a podcast for every one of these, but for some of them, for sure, because we think it'd be fun to talk about. We definitely got to do one about Barbie. We got to do one about Barbie and Kung Fu Bear, for sure. But that is our podcast today, guys. And I just want to thank you for continuing to follow us.
00:52:04
Speaker
Stay tuned, we have so many cool movies in store for you, not just ones that are dropping in a theater, but the stuff that you can stream at home for you introverts who don't like to leave your house. Leave your house. Go to the movies. Go to the movies. You know, you can go do a matinee time when there's no one else. 10 a.m. is a great time. Breakfast. Breakfast movies. I'm gonna pitch breakfast movies to people.
00:52:24
Speaker
But thank you so much for listening. As always, let us know what you've been watching. Let us know what you'd like us to talk about during our podcast. And yeah, and from us, thank you. And we will see you soon.