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Episode 034 - The Comfort of Strangeness Part 3
19 Plays4 months ago
In this episode, we continue our journey through the cinema of the strange finishing our look at the surreal as well as introducing films as metaphor, fairtale and the unsettling.
Intro clip from David Lynch's "Lost Highway" from Ciby 2000 and Asymmetrical Productions, distributed by October Films and Ciby 2000
Opening music: https://pixabay.com/music/id-116199/
Closing music: https://pixabay.com/music/id-11176/
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Transcript
Opening and Podcast Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
I'm the space invader. I'll be a rock and rollin' bitch for you. Two oceans. Two oceans will begin.
00:00:25
Speaker
We've met before, haven't we?
00:00:31
Speaker
I don't think so. Where was it you think we met? At your house, don't you remember?
00:00:44
Speaker
No, no I don't. Are you sure? Of course. As a matter of fact, I'm there right now.
Podcast Growth and Audience Engagement
00:01:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Tuition's podcast, where myself, Sufire, along with my friend and inexplicable colleague Scrumpey discuss film and other media through a decades-long lens of mass media consumption. In this episode, we continue our journey through the cinema this strange, finishing our look at the surreal, as well as introducing films as metaphor, fairy tale, and then settling. This is the two oceans podcast. So sit on a branch and reflect existence as we begin episode 10, series two.
00:01:34
Speaker
Right, so this is our 34th episode since starting. Woohoo! Yeah, and we reached the point where you can listen to Two Oceans for 34 hours straight. Well, if you shoot them out for a month. It's only a matter of time before the US military weaponizes our show. It's true. Try to pry some despot or drug lord out of their barricaded building hiding place. and It'll probably be this episode that makes them crack. That's true. It might it might just do it. And then the Facebook page, as well, finally gained some traction. but I'm not sure I'm convinced about the calculations. Like you were pointing out, it says it's increased by 1 million percent. Yes. Sounds like Dr. Evil from Western Powers movies. Right. It's meta math. It's Zook math.
00:02:23
Speaker
now you want to you Now you want to pay for all these add-ons and everything, right right? That's what it's trying to do. yeah That's what they're trying to do. That's how they're trying to screw you. Yeah, you guys are really popular. you know The Belgians got cash.
Film Trivia and Surreal Cinema
00:02:36
Speaker
They got money to burn, right. and Yeah, before we get started, there's one thing I found out going back to one of the earlier ones that we did in our Comfort of Strangeness series. We talked about freaks. And I only just realized that Angelo Rossetti, who played Master in Mad Max be Beyond Thunderdome, was in that, and he was in The Wizard of Oz, and he was in Invasion of the Saucerman, Galaxina, and all kinds of other films that fit on this list.
00:03:03
Speaker
Isn't that wild? yeah to yeah yeah interesting Because of the Furiosa stuff I was looking at. Anyhow, in our continuing look at the cinema The Strange, we're picking up where we left off with surreal films. And we don't start easy because we've got 1969. No, you don't start easy, right? hey Hey, check this out. You think you know movies? Here, here's some weird shit we're just going to throw you right into. and This is a weird one as well. Oh man.
00:03:37
Speaker
yeah I mean, if the world ever looked like this and people started behaving as they do in this film, you'd know that you're in bat country and the drugs are kicking in. Right. Exactly. I mean, it's an experience. I'll give you that. It's been a few years since I've seen it, but... Well, you know, that's ah it's a funny thing about a lot of these movies on here. They're good to see. The majority of them are good to see once. so um though you never want to see a you don't have to they stick with you so well there's no you know there's's something about in effectiveness or the I don't know that I need to see that. And then it's also the the the recommendation, right? You got to, you know, ah somebody says, Oh, what's ah you know what's your favorite weird movie? You're like, you win right i don't I don't know you that well. So if I don't like them, I've got a way to, I've got ah a path to put them down. If I do like them or want to foster a relationship with them and continue talking to them, I have a different path.
00:04:36
Speaker
Just to clarify, we're talking about Sergei Perginov's 1969 film, The Color of Pomegranate. This definitely would be classified as the advanced weirdness. Yeah. Very arty. I mean, it's similar to some of the weirder Jodorowsky movies. The weirder Jodorowsky. I know. I know what you mean. that's It's that that idea that that when an artour you really like grabs a hold of a narrative and you're like, oh, they can do narrative. Huh. You know, Miike with audition. It was like, oh, he can tell a coherent story from beginning to end. Huh. Who knew?
00:05:14
Speaker
Well, we're going to the other extreme, because the next one, I think, is is really accessible. Yes. It's based off Kafka. It's Orson Welles' 1962 adaptation of The Trine. Yeah, agreed. much more Much more accessible, but still very, but not, well, again, like the book, like everything else, like the stuff it would inspire, and what would follow it, you know thinking you know most closely to Brazil or something like that. but Right, sure. A lot of people have, and they're just like, huh, but they're they're still entertained, right? you know And it's beautiful movie. wait And yeah, absolutely. Yeah. The trial's gorgeous looking movie. Yeah. I would say that I also enjoyed David Jones's version with Kyle McLaughlin in 1993. And that's also got Anthony Hopkins, Alfred Molina. That's worth watching, you know. And I bring that one and i think Kyle McLaughlin is really good for the part, that the lead.
00:06:05
Speaker
It just works out really well. and Next on our list, somewhere in the middle, I guess, is Charlie Kaufman movie. I'm thinking of ending things with Jesse Buckley and Jesse Plemons. By the way, I just found out that Charlie Kaufman has written the script to a dreams work animation that's coming up called Orion in the Dark, which is an adaptation of a children's book. because i was wondering what you know oh that'll be Charlie Kaufman doing next it's like a kids movie for dream work childhood's over kids you know okay we've had our traumatic childhood movies so come on suck around that's true this movie is definitely a mood piece
00:06:46
Speaker
But the cast across the board is great. Jesse Plemons, Jesse Buckley are always good. And then you've got Tony Collette and David Thewlis playing Plemons' parents. I mean, I need to watch it again. I can't say that I knew what to think when I finished watching this, but it has really kind of stuck with me. Like most Kaufman stuff. Yeah. Well, I mean, in in this more so, because usually I come out of the Kaufman movie and I've got two or three theories in my head about what's going on. When he's yeah when when he's not just the writer, when he's actually at the helm, he pushes it to the next level like more and even further into his head. Yeah, yeah but yeah always enjoyable. I just hope
00:07:26
Speaker
that uh keep letting you make movies you know or at least writing a script right and then we got a big one next on the list it's kind of not a weird movie but it is a weird movie you know objectively it is a weird it's uh stanley kubrick's 2001 a space odyssey indeed and yeah it's yeah it's one of the ones that's like is a is that really surreal i'm like well yeah Yeah, yeah it's ah I mean there is a there is a narrative arc if you want to bother it to find it, otherwise it's like you know this very you know for the time long but totally interesting you know movie that has a lot of different elements. yeah
00:08:01
Speaker
I think a lot of people latch on to the second half of the movie because they can kind of get yeah their head around it. But those monkeys, oh, I don't know. Let's move on. I mean, what can you say about this? I mean, it's a film where the significance of individual characters isn't so great and is writ large and pretty much humanity is the main character in the movie. You know, you got to look at it that way, which it pulls the whole thing together, which is because if you're kind of concentrating on individual characters, You're like, oh, no, it's this Hayward Floyd guy. He's the, ma whoa, where'd he go? You know, you where he's just gay. yeah Also worth noting that at the beginning of all of our podcasts, we have Hal saying two oceans will begin.
International Cinema and Unique Storytelling
00:08:43
Speaker
Oh, yeah look at that. Look at that. Right. Oh, we're kind of going to the metaphor category now. And the next on the list is Abbas Kirastami is certified copy from 2010.
00:08:55
Speaker
Now, this doesn't start off strange, and it's pretty grounded, but as the film progresses, the line between past and present gets more and more blurred, and Like I said, it's from Abbas Kirastami, who's one of my favorite directors. And he's the one that really got me into looking at other Iranian directors. And I tell you what, Iran has so much cinematic talent. It's just a shame that their government has cracked down on all these creatives. Like they they've they all end up fleeing or they get sent to prison. you know They're just going through hell. Iran hasn't heard about soft power yet, I suppose.
00:09:33
Speaker
But the film also has Juliette Benach and a rare film appearance by William Schimmel, whose day job is an opera singer. But his performance in this movie, man, I mean, just just kind of hooks you. I mean, the majority of the movie is just Benach and him kind of talking, similar to before sunrise. But like I said, it starts going off the rails in terms of what time period you're in and And it so subtly happens that that you know you eventually get to this point and you're like, what's going on now? But yeah, I almost didn't put it on this list. Next up, and I think this is one that actually surprisingly has connected with quite a few people, and that's Jorgos Lanthimos' 2015 The Lobster. yeah
00:10:19
Speaker
Yeah, and yeah that one is not gradual. It's right off the bat. Oh, yeah. Which actually, you know, this thing, I was thinking about that. you know It's like that's not really the case for all his movies. Some of them are a little more gradual. Sure. Or you're at least like, okay, what's he doing here versus this one? Just straight off straight off the bat. Just bam. I mean, they're all guides to go on, though, his movies. Right? Yeah, exactly. And so it's, uh, yeah, this is a matter of just having fun in this movie as well. Colin Farrell is awesome. Yeah. In the lead. And then you've got like doy the doughy, the doughy, uh, Colin Farrell, the doughy Colin Farrell. I mean, he's got range that guy. I mean, he's, he's, he's stupid. yeah Just amazing. Then you got Rachel vice. Olivia Coleman's really good in it. Ben Whishaw, John C. Riley stands out for me in that movie as well.
00:11:05
Speaker
right John C. Riley understands the weird. He understands the weird, but that competition between his whole Steve Brule character, like, yeah, you want to get into surreal metaphor. That guy understands that. Yeah. And then you had ah an old Lanthamos regular Angelique Papoulia, who is credited as the heartless woman. And she is just chilling in that movie, man. Like, oh man, she's good. Yeah. That's just like, holy cow. That's the, uh, she's the, uh, equivalent of the the kids that comes back just for fun in battle royale, just to do it again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. That's her.
00:11:46
Speaker
like same, same energy. I mean, the energy when they're, they're being chased through the hallways of the hotel is, is, is, is she's, she's so much like Jack Nicholson in the shining of that state. Right, in the shining. Yeah. and Exactly. And whatever he does to her, that's the, you know, he does something to her. and I mean, it's great to see that Lanthamos has as successful as he has done, because a lot of these films, you're just happy that they exist. And you kind of just a roll the dice if these directors ever get another job, because some of these movies are just so weird, man, that, you know. Based on some of these, exactly. you're like It could be career enters.
00:12:23
Speaker
Yeah, totally. totally and and But but you know ultimately, you know there is it's just, you know again, it's the point of surreal, right? You go so far as to really drag things out in the open and really make them about something fundamental right right to to existence or to humanity. I mean, they all seem to work at that level. But what I'm realizing this week, especially with the news around like Furios and not doing as well as expected, is the kind of low tolerance that a lot of people have in terms of weirdness, because that movie is chock full of weird, but it's easy to to get, right? it's It's set in this post-apocalyptic world.
00:13:02
Speaker
It's no different than like going to see Star Wars and you got all these aliens and things, except these are just weird people, right? Which, but you know, director's foreign, so. yeah Foreign. isn He's an Australian. and So foreign. And speaking of weird directors, next in the list we have Ari Aster with Bose Afraid. I still haven't seen this. Have you? No, me either. Right. Okay. Well, it's on the list. The trailer looks black.
00:13:30
Speaker
There you go. And next on the list is is one that we probably talked about as soon as we met, which is Terry Gilliam's Brazil from 1985. In fact, I'm sure that we talked about this because there was the whole controversy around the director's cut and the studio. Yeah, the whole idea at the time that like, hey, this exists, the sort of weirdness is possibility, this weirdness exists, kind of the idea. I mean, 1980s Gilliam was awesome. so Yeah. yeah post Sadly. Yeah, yeah he was he was in his stride then. Hmm, no, not so much. But or afterwards, not so much. There was a moment there. And yeah, the but Brazil also plays into that whole
00:14:09
Speaker
you know the the pessimism of the 80s, but then with just this beautiful you know a fantasy imagery as well. A lot of these, again, are combining a lot of different things. you know A lot of different genres mash into one or use give know they use elements of it. So they may use a bit of horror or a lot of horror. or bit of melodrama or a lot of melodrama, you know, but in mix, right? They can hold all these things in tension to try to tell the story to cover as much ground as possible, I guess. I think i'm and that's the way I'm thinking of it. Again, because I think there's a universality of it. And it came out in 1985 and it did Orwellian 1984 better than anything that we we we had in terms of adaptations as well. I mean, the image that sticks with me from that movie is De Niro getting consumed by paperwork.
00:14:57
Speaker
the fact that Robert De Niro was in it. right Or you had Michael Palin in it and Michael Palin being scary. That's fantastic. yeah Chilling. I mean, he's really, really chilling in that. And yeah and you just couldn't imagine it if something someone to mentioned that to you before going into that movie. Totally. Right. And next on the list, I don't know if you've seen this one, Shinichihiro Ueda's One Cut of the Dead from 2017. One Cut of the Dead is fantastic. It is. And at that point, there was just zombie things all over the place, like the 2010s, everybody was in the bandwagon with zombies, and there there weren't too many things that were kind of sticking their their head over the parapet. You know, Train to Busan, I think, is one of them, and this is and this is another. But it pulls that sort of trick
00:15:44
Speaker
kind of an Inception or Groundhog Day style with like Gorilla filmmaking, that's that's kind of goofy as well. And the whole thing was just really kind of refreshing. So you didn't know where it was going. Well, and that's that's more of what it's about is Gorilla filmmaking. Oh, totally. zo Totally. Totally an ode to that level of filmmaking and what it takes and what it demands. and It opens with a 37 minute single take shot. Yeah. which is wild, which you then get to see from other perspectives later in the. Yeah. <unk>s It's really clever without being cheeky, clever. Like, like, Oh, look at us. Yeah. It doesn't, it's it's not showing off. It's very. No, it's very honest with it. Yeah. It just does it so right. You know, a lot of it to me think, you know, seeing something like a Corman oh totally ask style of, of that and kind of more like an ode to that kind of filmmaking than the rock solid, I would say.
00:16:38
Speaker
horror film that it also happens to be and comedy and mockumentary. Again, all these genres held together at equal tension that they're just really well done. you know its it's It's just proving you don't have to go down one road and stick to it. ah you can you can There's other ways to express it. that's the thing is i i think people well a lot a lot of filmmakers or studios maybe probably have more to do with it is when they kind of halfheartedly do things. Like they'll they'll put a horror element into something. I'll give you a perfect example of something that could have been great if they lent into the horror a lot more is Dr. Strange, right? You can't you know do things by have and it just becomes watered down if you don't kind of really go for it.
00:17:25
Speaker
And I'm sure Rainey would have loved to have the green light to make it rated R, you know, 18 certificate over here. yeah But yeah, that was a mistake. I mean, you look at Deadpool and see the success that that's had, you know, but there you go. I mean, glad Deadpool exists.
Historical and Anti-War Narratives
00:17:41
Speaker
The next on my list is kind of a childhood number A1, which is Joseph Locey's The Boy with the Green Hair from 1948. And like I said, I've not seen this in decades, but it has stuck with me. Wow. Yeah. It's like, I was real curious to see it on the list. I'm like, huh, I kind of remember that movie. This is the weird thing. It's, it was originally meant to be a fantasy about racial discrimination, but what they turned it into is an anti-war story. So the kid in the movie, he is found and he's bald, right?
00:18:15
Speaker
and he's a refugee. And there's all these refugees from Eastern Europe and Asia in the world of the movie. That's straight after World War II, isn't it? And there are all these posters around town talking about taking in refugees from Eastern Europe and Asia. And he's looking at those posters and realizing that that he's he's one of them. right And then I can't remember what happens, but at some point his hair goes green and he's he's kind of ostracized because he's he's different. right And he meets up with other refugees in the forest and
00:18:52
Speaker
I, you know, it kind of goes on from there, but it's this whole sort of anti-war kind of metaphor. But reading about it, it would have made more sense to have it as that sort of racial discrimination thing, like like the studio must have massively. It's kind of interesting, you know, a few years after World War II, and you know make a movie about this. I mean, it stands out, the poster's kind of iconic. you know And you know launching the career of someone who would go on to star in many other stockwell films that would work on this list. Exactly. Dean Stockwell. Great Dean Stockwell. The next category we got, these are very broad.
00:19:25
Speaker
category is kind of the fairy tale stuff. And I think the first one on the list is a perfect example, which is fantastic. The 1967 Russian film from Konstantin Yershov. And right off the bat, the effects in this are fantastic. Oh, man. ah This is the one, though, this is one of those that I have to tell people, because again, it's also that part of the the weirdness, at least for Western audiences, is the perhaps norms of non-Western narrative, too. I mean, the character at the beginning, like yeah like the priest, I mean, you want this guy to die. You know, it's a thing like a horror movie thing, you want the characters annoying, you want them gone.
00:20:06
Speaker
I'm like, get past, and I'm like, get past the setup. Just stick with it. It will so be worth it for that last act. yeah And that last act is amazing, especially for 1967. The effects and the way they do it and and everything. its and and And a lot of it's practical. it It's mind-blowing. It's really, I mean, even or early on is it's like early on in the film, as well, you see the witches flying, and the way they do that, you know, most of the time youre you you have to stop for a few seconds, kind of go like, how do they do that? Now, the root of this one is obviously Eastern European folklore, but just sort of thinking about it now, in Eastern European folklore for a start is off the hook bonkers, right? But it does have influence over a lot of the films that we have in the list. We're going to be hitting a few more as we go through.
00:20:57
Speaker
But yeah, this is this is a great movie. And thankfully it's been put on Blu-ray. So, you know, it's got a crisp new copy that is out there and it's ah it's a beautiful one. A fitting format for, yeah. It's it's it's absolutely fantastic, that one. Next on the list, super accessible one, Jim Archer's Brian and Charles from 2022. This is a light, charming, and accessible little film about a guy that sort of tinkers in his garage and makes a POW. But the thing that carries it, because what he builds is just ridiculous looking.
00:21:34
Speaker
But the voice is fantastic. It's very funny. It's different. It's kind of nice, you know, which is kind of this. I mean, OK, the next one on our list from a bigger director is Tim Burton's Ed Wood from 1994. And if anything, boy, is it important for a director to have enthusiasm and connection to what they're making with Edward. Cause here Tim Burton shows what he's capable of and he hasn't even come close to magic yeah ever since. No, no, just going through the motions most of the time. Yeah. I mean some good ways, but yeah, for me, Edward and ah when I remember when it came out, they did a premiere. They did it as a midnight screening in the town wire. So it was it was, you know, so that was awesome too. You know, just.
00:22:16
Speaker
already being very familiar with the source material and the character of Ed Wood ah himself, and liking Burton, but still being a little like, he's a little Hollywood, let's see what he does. And then just and knocking it out of the park in terms of this version of a biopic, or biopic, however you want to say it. Well, we've got it in fairy tale, don't we? Because it's kind of a heightened reality. Yeah, exactly. it's Right, exactly. It really is, yeah. And, you know, Bill Murray's great in it, too. Everybody's great in this. And some of the cinematography just adds to the humor in it because I remember early on when Sarah Jessica Parker is kind of blurred out in the background and Ed's in bed and in his pajamas and all this. And she's like, you know, what's going on with my you know sweaters? They all seem to be stretched. and And he kind of turns over and leans toward us in the audience and kind of pulls a blanket over him. But it's such a great shot. It's just absolutely hysterical.
00:23:14
Speaker
Right. Next on the list is Victoria De Sica's Miracle in Milan in 1951. Now, if you've seen De Sica's other work, like the Bicycle Thief, this will completely take you by surprise. and dont If you've not seen it, I won't spoil it, but early on in the film, okay, there's all these homeless people struggling to keep warm, which, you know, if you've seen the bicycle's Bicycle Thief and his other stuff, or the kind of social realism, right? And it feels like that's happening here, but what happens is a ray of sunlight comes through the clouds onto the wasteland where these people are trying to keep warm, and everyone is trying to get into the sunlight. And the sunlight, because the clouds are moving, it keeps moving and everybody's fighting to get in this little tiny spot of light.
00:24:03
Speaker
it's such a great metaphor. And it just descends into chaos as this beam of light starts splitting into different areas. And yeah, it goes off the rails. I won't tell you how far off the rails, but man, and this has some great effects as well. But yeah, that point sets the tone for the rest of the movie. It's almost like a silent movie for the first 15 minutes. You have have all this kind of kind of weird stuff going on. but yeah and Next on our list, it's another sort of Eastern European inspired folklore piece called Little Otik from Jan Spankmeyer in 2000. Now, this is Spankmeyer doing live action
00:24:45
Speaker
kind of of the opposite of Alice, like the percentage of live action versus stop motion. Like most of Alice's stop motion and there's a little bit of live action. This is the exact opposite. And it's about a couple who want to have a child and they ah end up raising this kind of wooden log, but it gets really unsettling, right? And I remember this being in the video shop under horror when I first rented it. And yeah, that kind of makes sense. It's kind of similar to the movie Lamb from Iceland. I mean, it's funny based on a folktale, again, off the rails. the These folktales are just crazy. you know why I'm not quite sure what the lesson is. And there's a little bit of a little shop of whores.
00:25:31
Speaker
Yeah, that's funk. That's funk Meyer. Yeah. And I got another check piece here, which is film
Fantasy and Mythological Cinema
00:25:38
Speaker
called kooky. And this is a great one. Would this be it's checkmate check check? Well, it's, it's, it's no longer a checklist. No longer the Czech Republic. It is now Czechia. I wish they would just settle on a freaking name, okay? but So this is another live-action animated hybrid that plays like a bizarre version of Toy Story, with Kookie being this beloved doll owned by a six-year-old. And the doll comes to life at the dump. The whole movie is its journey back to its human. And
00:26:14
Speaker
It's kind of like if Jim Henson did Toy Story is is what it feels like. And in the first trailer that we had for Two Oceans, way, way, way back, the very first, it features a clip from this film at the beginning. And in the end there's also another clip in the Comfort of Strangeness series trailer as well. But yeah, it's great. It's a beautiful looking movie. There's a lot of practical sort of puppet manipulation and things. it's it's It's a lot of fun. It's a nice sort of alternative to Toy Story. And next up is David Lowry's ghost story from 2017. Have you seen this one? I have. I and thoroughly enjoyed it. I watched it as a pair with the ghost stories, the one from whatever, the it was 80, 81, with all the old actors being in it, because it was like, wait, am I watching the right one? I'm like, ah, I'll just watch both.
00:27:01
Speaker
I've looked around to see if this has been credited, but there's a graphic novel called Here right by Richard McGuire. I'd read that before seeing this movie, and the story of Here is essentially about this room in a cabin, historic, and how that location changes over time to modern day and into the future. It has almost all the same beats as Ghost Story. Does he have a lawsuit on his hands? Well, it's a weird one. i i you know it's it's It's not exactly the same, but it's kind of telling the same story. Sounds like it, yeah just based on that alone. i Yeah, yeah it's it's it's ah it's it's a really weird one. But you know i i overall, I love David Lowery's movies. I'm kind of looking forward to whatever he does.
00:27:54
Speaker
really enjoyed The Green Knight. I did enjoy Ghost Story. I think think it's a great movie. Yeah, the one that I haven't seen is Pete's Dragon. I heard it's okay, but, you know, ah big list of stuff to watch. It's just not a top priority. And then actually next on the list, we've got The Green Knight from David Lowry with the great Deb Patel. It's The Green Knight. Yes, and yes. Ralph Innocent is amazing. I don't think so. And it's got a cameo from Barry Kilgan again being creepy. Yeah.
00:28:26
Speaker
yeah being Barry Kilgan. Yeah, it's I mean, it's a stunning looking movie as well. It sticks the landing to absolutely. And it's very much and it's all those fantasy elements from a fairy tale elements from seeming get its cues from Borman's Excalibur, right? I mean, same story, part of it, but but the whole everything in that just felt to me like, oh, this is just like a natural extension. Like, okay, you want to do a tribute to your favorite movie? You know, like, um, you look at, uh, Garland's Annihilation and hold that up against Stalker. You know, you could hold Green Knight up against Excalibur and be like, Oh, I see what you did. Well done. Or another Borman movie as well you could compare it to as the Emerald Forest and as well. Absolutely.
00:29:12
Speaker
wow Yeah, I never thought about the good one. I like yeah that. Yeah, look at that. Wow. Gold star for me. Learn things from each other. It's awesome. Wow. It's special. But so the thing of the Green Knight, and you were talking earlier about it, maybe you want to add the next one on there, which is 2009's Valhalla Rising. That one. From Nicholas Winding-Reffen, and Mads Mikkelsen is the silent war. I mean, the first, I don't know, 20, 30 minutes, there's no dialogue. Right. It's purely just brooding and brutal. and There's action. There's stuff going on. Samurai Jack kind of visual storytelling. Narrative of being told, and yeah.
00:29:50
Speaker
Kind of, yeah. in And it's got the, you know, this one's very close to something like, I think maybe like a field in England or something like that, that kind of thing. What's actually going on here? Where are they? Like when they go into a fog and then they come out and where they're supposed to be, where they're going, where they've been, this sort of thing. it's all everything's up for grabs in it in terms, you know, there's a priest in their party. Mikkelsen's character is the is the warrior, the the resolute one, so it's like being presented with these as they go, you know, gets taken captive and
00:30:25
Speaker
as they begin to explore for the new world and they want him along. So it's definitely though, I mean, it fits in this fairy tale idea where the narrative is not necessarily as straightforward as you'd want it to be, but that's kind of the point. You go on this journey with them into the unknown and it's like, well, why are you here? You know, reference another one of those directors, I don't know if I'm even saying that name correctly, but he's another one of those directors that has kind of that his films have maintained that kind of fairy tale like this has the trappings of this kind of narrative story whether nor fiction or biopic or you know whatever it might be and it's like but another one that would his work his body of his uber hey I think his entire oeuvre would would definitely fit in this list and kind of going to the next one as well like
00:31:11
Speaker
Jim Jarmusch as well. I think a majority of his films would kind of fit into this. But I thought Mystery Train in particular is kind of a fairy tale. You know, you've got the ghost of Elvis Presley in there. And it's just just a lot of a lot of fun. Yeah. And the multiple perspectives and everything like that versus something like, you know, any anything else of his. Right. Well, you know, kind of one kind of the dead. I mean, in this was taking the the narrative and splitting into parts and having things cross over. before well before Pulp Fiction, right? Because I've i've heard people kind of go like, yeah, fiction was the first movie to actually do things in non chronological or it's like, no, no, it no, it wasn't, you know, no, no, no, no, no, it's a good movie. But yeah, it's Tarantino. He's going to be lifting it from someone else. He'll be doing it well, exceptionally well. But yeah, trust me, it's not going to be original in that regard. He will have seen it somewhere else.
00:32:04
Speaker
Yeah. And next on the list, and this is a director who who, again, all his films could be on this list, is Valerian Brozic, his 1975 film, The Beast. Like all his felt ebony like I said, Ed recently discovered that he did animation as well. And you'd swear it was either Spankmeyer or David Lynch or you know the Brothers K who'd done this work. And they're really interesting. I mean, they're really short, but they're they're they're interesting. And It sort of gives another perspective to, you know, his work. And the Beast is, again, fits perfectly into fairy tale, but weird. Out there. It's stuck around. It's obviously kind of resonated.
00:32:48
Speaker
Right. We're going to move into the category of the unsettling. but Yeah. The fairy tale gets, there is a bit of a, like with Jarmus, you know, he' he's really a romantic at heart. Yes. And so his films kind of have that. I don't necessarily have happy endings, but there is a certain, even in the midst of its heavy pe ah pessimism, there is a certain level of optimism. Like Vim vendors. That sustains it or runs through it. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But yeah, unsettling is not necessarily the case. That's not that that's not these guys. That's not these guys. And we're we're going into the shallow end first, which is ah Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse 2019. Shallow end, folks, so just beware. That's the shallow end, so beware. Dance! Oh, and Defoe's, this is my favorite like pirate voice to use and just to whip out when I need to you know have a affect any kind of accent like that. You're never told to see bird.
00:33:44
Speaker
and you know it's Oh, there's so much in there when he's just still yelling at Robert Pattinson. This is my favorite. Robert Pattinson here is... Oh, it just crushes it. He's just awesome. I mean, the two... did this the bow Yeah, they're both fantastic, right? There's a great chemistry like going on there. Great chemistry. Yeah, yeah. Dance, Winslow, dance. You're covered me lobster. This is the thing, and I mentioned this before about Eggers, what I really love about Eggers is with the witch and then the lighthouse, he seemed to have kind of cornered the market in terms of creating kind of authentic American folklore, because i' I'd seen the making of this and the work that they put into putting the dialogue together for Willem Dafoe was amazing. These turns of phrase that he uses, that the words, all of it,
00:34:35
Speaker
And you know ah really kind of it it you could feel it in the movies as you have all this this authentic dialogue from that particular time, from that particular region. And then he went and did the Northmen, which is... Give you an opportunity to rail against the Northmen again, well done. Oh man, what a disappointment. i you know We'll see what he does with Nosferatu. Nosferatu. I'm hopeful for Nosferatu. I'm hopeful for Nosferatu, but I am hopeful that he will go back to American folklore again. Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. That's his strength. If you listen to this, Eggers, go back.
00:35:18
Speaker
Right. Yeah. He doesn't have to pretend, you know? Yeah. Right. Okay. We're taking a step, but it's a steep step. It's a steep step to the next one. It's a steep, steep step. Giulio De Carneiro's Italian. French. No, we're just going to French. From 2021. It's French, but it's got a very Cronenberg as well. Oh, and Cronenberg, and Will Lustig, and Gaspard Neway, and I'm like, it's all that. I enjoyed it. it's and this is a This is definitely one of those ones. I enjoyed it. I will never watch it again. And I'm very careful whom I recommend this to.
00:35:58
Speaker
oh No, no, no, this is this is definitely one that you need to be careful with in fact But also if you like, you know hot French firefighters, you know dancing around shirtless and playing around shirtless for a majority of the movie Got you covered it first if you really really like cars Well that that's the whole thing too I thought that was and I thought that was the point of the movie was that there's gonna be this weird Yeah krona krona berg or a. You know that's well i don't mind yeah yeah yeah i guess i'm actually black blending and thing and it is and it's also not.
00:36:35
Speaker
And it goes, it bounces, the way it bounces around in a way that any, ah in any other movie that would have pissed me off, the way that the narrative, where it goes and where it changes and why they change it to protect their main character. And this, it somehow works. It does. Yeah. It didn't annoy me. it's It's, it's, it's like that they plant the seed at the beginning, oh literally. And that, that whole thread disappears, right? Right. and and But then it makes it that much more shocking when it comes back. it comes back you know yep But what I would recommend, and I think Julia DiCerno is an awesome director to kind of dip your toe into her her repertoire, is to start with 2016's Raw. Now, that is that that is if you you have to be into horror to watch that one because that that is that is a tough one. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know which's what you mean. I have not seen that. It is a lot more straightforward than
00:37:28
Speaker
Titane, yeah. Really, really good. The same director? Okay, good to know. I will check that one out. you know Bump that up in the list. So at the very least, I started with that and then kind of knew somewhat what to expect. Somewhat, right? This this out outstripped it because I was like, whoa, boy. he it The next movie is an older movie. And i admit I only saw this when I was going like, oh my God, I i remember intending to watch this way back when. but i didn't and it's phillip ridley's the reflecting skin yeah that is uh it was when i saw it i'm like oh somebody else can do a lynch movie as well as david lynch that was my first reaction when i saw it
00:38:04
Speaker
Right. Back then. it was just like i really I remember enjoying it. I mean, again, it's not one I wanted to seek out again, but I haven't thought of it really, or it didn't really stick with me that much since then. Right. I see it comes up. I'm like, oh yeah, that was a really good movie. I should probably watch that again. Well, it's kind of interesting just for the fact that you've got Viggo Mortensen in an early role in there. Actually, this probably fits under the surreal because everything's symbolic in it. But it's a beautiful movie, the way it's sort of filmed on these sort of wee fields and whatnot. But yeah, I wouldn't say it's a great movie. I wouldn't say it's a classic, but it's worth watching. We're checking out a few. Stumble across it. Next up, David Lynch, Lost Highway, 1997. Yeah, which I just recently rewatched and there was a bunch in there that, you know...
00:38:49
Speaker
um I remember I saw it when it came out and then I hadn't seen it since. And I really enjoyed it, but I liked it, but it was more in that pure law. I was just fanboy lost in that lynching and sure imagery rather than the stories telling. And I'm sitting down with that and looking back at it because there was an interview with that was up kind of recently with Patricia Arquette about making this. And her take on it and like how she was treated on set and how Lynch had to step in. and it basically you know She was treated horribly and Lynch, at least good on him, stepped in and put a stop to it. But it's very symbolic to what the character does to her. So I watched it again. It's like, oh, okay. Bill Pullman's character is a piece of garbage. Horrible misogynistic. But it's like there was a lot there was so much in there in terms of
00:39:40
Speaker
What would you build for yourself to inhabit to to take comfort in rather than facing the horror of what you are? This is like kind of the test pilot for I think how he would nail it better in Mulholland Drive. I highly agree with that. I had a hard time with this movie when it first came out. i there There were bits I liked. I thought Robert Blake was chilling in it. Robert Blake, exactly. I mean, he's a convicted murderer. So yeah, it's legit. and and And Robert Lozier is creepy in as well, but just that whole whole bit where Robert Blake, and in fact that's that's that's that's an introduction to this episode, is that whole scene where he's like, ah you know, have we met before?
00:40:21
Speaker
Yeah, I'm inside your house right now. It's me calling him. Yeah, we totally, totally David Lynch. But yeah yeah, I think that was an evolution for food for David Lynch for sure. Each time he doesn't hold up that great. I mean, it looks fantastic. The performances are good. It's a it's a tougher watch now though, especially to especially after Mulholland Drive, right? Yeah, totally. Make the make the meculin narrator a woman and explore that route. not You know, women have been victimized
Artistic Craftsmanship and Cult Classics
00:40:49
Speaker
enough. This is just a movie about female victimization as well. So it's like... I think the other thing for me as well with the casting of Bill Pullman was that this was like off the back of Independence Day, which I... Oh, Independence Day is a pile of fucking garbage. Right. But this was right around when he did... Oh, what was the one he did that he shot here in Portland, where he plays basically Sherlock Holmes? Bill Pullman? Yeah.
00:41:13
Speaker
Yeah, that that one, it was like right around then. It's like, oh, he can he can pull it out when he wants to, you know? And I need to look that one up later. I keep wanting to call it this. I mean, ah apart from Spaceballs, of course, you know. Right. Well, this is the thing. and he He lacked a certain weight, so and which which I found a little bit distracting, I think. I mean, mean there's something to be said about getting unknown actors and in movies, especially with this sort of tone that works really, really well. zero effect that was it zero offense stellar and uh from uh jake castan's i think that might have been his first keep that one for the crime uh yeah yeah the crime episode the next one crime and next up we've got boy we're getting at a deep end here phil tippett's mad god from 2021 which one yeah
00:42:04
Speaker
Well, he released in 2021 after what, 34 years? Yeah. man And it's like, i I'm glad it finally, he was able to complete it. I'm still not sure what he completed. I have never been this you know relieved and happy to see something and also so like not let down or disappointed, but just in a confused way like, okay, you spent 34 years on this. I mean, I could see it though. You could see it in the in the art in the craftsmanship and everything and you can understand why something like this, but it is, yeah, unsettling and is a very light way to put it. yeah
00:42:42
Speaker
right i mean i think because as yeah I've seen it once, and if ever I watch it again, I'll know that I'm in a really good place because um it's it you know I'm confident in it. I'm willing to take those walk that path again. Yeah, exactly. had God's not going to drag me down to misery. oh it's It is tough. i mean But there's some some bits that are they're weirdly beautiful in it as well. Absolutely. yeah There's a lyricism to it that's just that pervasive right his hand over all that is just there's a Quality yeah to it to it. That's not you know, it's not just like You know Street of crocodile something where there's a bunch of just short things mashed together these these actually Connect and that's what you're trying to do because you're like, okay. These are connecting. How are they connecting? And then you're like, oh my god, these are connecting. Oh
00:43:32
Speaker
you you know yeah Am I drowning here? I think I might be drowning here. you know That's ah is how it feels. you know but But it's really well done for that. yeah it's definitely yeah let me tear you off listeners it's really worth watching but but it is not an easy watch it's not an easy watch i mean it feels like phil tippett had things that he needed to get out he's doing some processing probably feeling a lot better now that that's out he's great he's skipping down the street you know he's got a balloon tied around his wrist all the time
00:44:05
Speaker
Yeah. Whistling a happy song. It's a, it's a, it's a dark. It's, you know, you think that Jan Spankmeyer is tough, but boy. No, no, no, no. This is all other level. It's not tough. That'll be the grounding. You can temper yourself. There you go. Right. I'm going to skip the next one, which is David Lynch's rabbits as we've already covered David Lynch. David Lynch's rabbits is available on YouTube for free. So you can have a look at that. It's collection of shorts. We're all going to the World's Fair from Jane Schoenbrunn, who's getting all the attention now because I saw the TV glow, who's getting rave reviews, so looking forward to that. And we'll skip to Ken Russell's 1980 Altered States. Which again, Ken Russell, another one unsettling, probably fit several films on here. But one is another one where the tone was a bit more grounded than some of his others. Yeah, there's an accessibility, right? And it's an interesting idea, I think.
00:45:02
Speaker
It is, and you know a great performance from your old nemesis on there. I'd be his nemesis. You're accidental nemesis, I know. ah But William Hurd is fantastic. He is fantastic. this this was in oh This was also in... you know We talked about Gilliam in this time in the 80s. Hurd at this time in the 80s was just knocking him out of the park as well, just movie after movie, role after role that he was doing. well I realized when we finished up the queer episode that we hadn't mentioned Kissing the Spider Woman.
00:45:33
Speaker
I would say Kiss of the Spider Woman is another good one. Which was a really kind of early representation, which was with hurt. in the lead World According to Garp, both roughly same time period too. Oh, that's a great movie as well. You know, that's and John Lithgow in that is just, he's the one you remember. Totally. His story and that is what the one you remember. Anyway. And and he yeah. yeah we're We're going to have to do another queer episode at some point because I'm suddenly going to miss all this other stuff that we actually knew. and And we're not going to do all the strangeness as well, so there's no way this is going to be the last episode because we are probably going to need to have a fourth episode at some point. But we might have to save that for the autumn period, the second semester of series. The fall. Yeah. The fall. And the next up on the list, we don't need to go over this too much because we did a review for this is Kyle Edward Ball's Skinema Rink from 2022.
00:46:26
Speaker
So good. Yes, but unsettling AF. And again, a lot of these, unsettling if you buy it, if you allow yourself to enter that, right you know be hypnotized by it, but you got to commit right from the get-go. You do. you know If you don't, the movie, any of these, where you don't commit to that, where you're like, no, this isn't worth my time or I'm not interested. You know, which could be valid for any number of reasons, right? But the film's not going to land for you. You're not going to like it. My wife hated this. She watched this movie. She hated it. I adored. I did too. And it's it's a whole atmosphere thing that completely bought. yeah And I probably have false memories from this now.
00:47:06
Speaker
Yeah, that happened in my childhood. The windows disappeared. It's so, so well done. Looking forward to it. My favorite thing out of it was when they were doing the screening in LA and Patton Oswalt was hosting it. And he said like, oh, he's reading off like the celebratory congratulations they'd sent to the director or something like that. And he's like, oh, here's one from David Lynch. You know, good luck on your Shrinky Dink movie. He does it in a David Lynch voice, but he calls it Shrinky Dink, which would also be very David Lynch to do. I thought that was just Brilliant. Brilliant bit of comedy there from Pat Knowles. Oh, wow. Oh, Pat Knowles. Right. So next on the list, and I don't recommend this one. I've seen it recently as part of preparation for this episode. Matthew Holness is- I've got into my view, but I've never watched it. Well, I've seen it on lists and being recommended, but it fell flat for me. I mean, I think Sean Harris is awesome in it, and I think Alan Armstrong's strong in it.
00:48:01
Speaker
It's a psychological horror, but it but there's minimum minimal dialogue in it. There's minimal action in it as well. it It's disturbing, for sure. You're not quite sure what's going on. And then it does tie things up at the end, but almost too neatly at the end for a movie this weird, where it was like, well you you put me all through that all that weirdness and it's just a two-dimensional story? Well, yeah okay. ah yeah I wasn't overly happy with this. You can watch it.
00:48:38
Speaker
It'd be good to talk to you about it, but yeah. Fair enough. If you've got something else in the list that you're eager to see, then yeah, watch that. Go do that. I think we're going to have to finish up here with an eraser head from David Lynch. Actually, we can probably do a couple more. Eraser head being a classic of weird cinema. Right. This has been around our lives. Exactly. And when it hit, it was one of those companion things of You couldn't find a copy of this to watch. You had to find you know a seventh generation VHS dub, which only enhanced the movie, I think. Just added to the the cinematography, the quality, the story, everything else. And then this is another one, though. If if you if you watch Eraserhead and you enjoy it, you're going to love everything David Lynch does.
00:49:27
Speaker
If you didn't, you're going to hate everything he does. It's a, yeah, it's a litmus test. i It's a make or break. Yeah. Yeah. And it's a commit to exactly. And for us, you know, it was just such a companion one. It was like, you know, again, this one of those movies, like it was, Eraserhead, Evil Dead 2, Suburbia, a Decline of Western Civilization. You know, these are the movies like, you know, the right people had that I hung out with or, you know, wanted to hang out with. So, so and you would always watch that then. but youd Like that was just, we didn't have, you know, any of the choices and we're like, all right, we're putting on one of these if you happen to have it. And yeah, it became much more of a community, almost a community building thing, like
00:50:04
Speaker
You know, it used to be, you know, the the thing now, you know, like with people like talking about Marvel films and Star Wars stuff and all all out in the open, you know, and that's how part of the reason, you know, you and I became friends, is it wasn't out in the open. You couldn't proclaim that without getting the shit kicked out of you. you know and And so it was you know it was ah it was our code, such as it was. I'm forgetting about that. And that's you know and that's also you know a theme for a lot of these. And I think why we keep talking about these kind of movies, you know you and I in particular, because it's a love language, right? it's a
00:50:35
Speaker
something that we resonate so well with because we know we get it. And so many people that make these movies are in that same boat. And the people that watch them are the people that listen to us talking to them. We're all in that same boat. you know And again, that's part of that universality that it binds together, right? But just in the weirdest possible way. I mean, the interesting thing about this one, as well, that I think stayed with him through his entire career is because he had so much limited limited funding that he had to work with his sound man, Alan Spiel, I think, and to kind of build up more layers through sound, right? And yeah I think ever since then, and I've seen him in interviews kind of say,
00:51:19
Speaker
Watch watch my movies with headphones right because as you know, we put a lot of work into the sound I think that kind of kicked off from here because you know that the sound of this is just wild, you know And we're going to, we'll see how we do here. We might be able to get a couple more squeaky slides to talk about freaks. We've talked, we've talked about freaks um already and a bit with the horror stuff too. But I mean, freaks is still unsettling. It is. Even now it's, it's, it has, there's an authenticity to it that
00:51:54
Speaker
is common with browning stuff, I would argue, as well. But it seems even more pointed here when you have the actual people at the time, they were sideshow freaks. Like, yeah, this is what they needed to do. this is how Yeah, and this is not a documentary, but it almost is in a way. yeah But it's also this like really tragic story crammed into there that is just very moving. and the gut punch at the end, not not going to spoil anything, because it's still, yeah the movie's you know over 100 years old, or almost 100 years old, and you know I could still potentially spoil it for somebody because they haven't seen it, because it kind of hides out in the margins, which is the point of the people in it, and the point of the movie. It just works so well. yeah and and And he's got other movies as well that,
00:52:41
Speaker
Yeah. One that I wanted to see from him is a film from 1927 called The Unknown. And the synopsis is an escaped killer pretends to be a sideshow's armless wonder. ah yeah And the the reason I'd stumbled across this is, again, our friend who played a master from Master Blaster was in this movie as well. But yeah, I know how to escape the law. Just pretend I have no arms. And then... Which is funny, because I've got that one on the collection that I've yet to watch. for Oh, really? and Oh, interesting. With Freaks and the Mystic, the Unknown is in there too. So I'll throw that at the top of the list here. Well, that's why we have to have a halftime break in the season. Right. So we can go away and catch up on all this stuff.
Conclusion: Technical Brilliance in Modern Cinema
00:53:30
Speaker
And I think to close out this episode is Gasper Knows' Enter the Void. Yeah.
00:53:38
Speaker
He's another director that I think his entire repertoire could fit in this list. And yeah, and and this one in particular it probably has. It's disturbing, but it might be the least disturbing of his stuff. And that's gonna scare some people. And also scary too, you know, when you have a vagina point of view, sex scene, for example, as one thing. Certain genocide club. But there's also, and and there's another thing about these movies too that I really appreciate. And this one in particular that calls it out is the technical. I think you mentioned with the the sound stuff with Yeah, Lynch and Eraserhead. You know, this one, the the camera angle and how they how he manipulates that camera where it's like at an eight foot angle of sorts and and maneuvering through Tokyo that way, it's it's amazing. like I just watch it from that alone. Like, forget the rest of the story or whatever, you know, if you want. But just from a technical standpoint, this movie is just, I don't know what how he did it. i still i keep ah you know I've watched it several times and I still don't know how he does it.
00:54:44
Speaker
It's amazing from that alone, but it's also, yeah, they're gonna say, yeah, it's probably the most accessible of Casper and the Waste stuff. Boy, that's insane. Right. So, yep, I think we're coming to the end of the episode here. There's a chunk for you to chew through. We're gonna have to do another strange episode in autumn, which is probably a good thing. I do wish the podcast was not liable for any trauma or therapy bills that may result. Therapy bills, yeah. I think, yeah, we probably need to have that warning on every episode. who dis scal I mean, the next episode we're doing is our look at the cinema of crime. And just a reminder to all you listeners out there to subscribe to Two Oceans on your favorite podcast platform and make sure that you give us a follow on our Facebook page as well. Be ahead of the game. You'll engage. Yeah, exactly. We're always happy to hear from people. It'd be nice
00:56:16
Speaker
now da
00:56:27
Speaker
Dance Winslow! Dance! two oceans