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28 Weeks Later (2007)
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In preparation for 28 Years Later releasing next week, Ricky Townsend and Travis Talaric continue their rewatch of the franchise, with this episode devoted to Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's 28 Weeks Later.
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Transcript
Introduction and Transition Discussion
00:00:01
Speaker
All right, we are back with part two. Oh my God, didn't even do the plan. Okay, we are we are still getting our feet underneath us here.
00:00:23
Speaker
All right, we are back with part two of 28 days later into 28 weeks later. so abrupt It's a quick fade. Yeah, I have to click it to fade out or it loops.
00:00:36
Speaker
We're still learning how to use our soundboard here instead editing in the music. Fucking thing sucks.
28 Days Later: Impact and Production Insights
00:00:41
Speaker
um So we're talking about 28 weeks later now, coming off the heels of our 28 Days Letter episode that we just recorded. It's now almost 1 a.m. in the morning.
00:00:51
Speaker
Before we get into 28 weeks, though, Ricky. I'm Ricky Townsend. I'm Travis Telerik. This is the Sunday Scaries. Rick has to get something off his chest. One last element on 28 Days Later, and then we'll jump into the sequel here.
00:01:03
Speaker
Selfishly, this is more of a COAA than like adding anything interesting to the conversation about 20 days later. But I think we would be remiss if we just didn't acknowledge what an important post 9-11 film that is.
00:01:16
Speaker
Not just because it was, i it was largely, it was written before the events of but it was... They were still filming when 9-11 happened. It did impact how they covered some scenes. um One of the things was, you know, when they see all those flyers on the yes missing people, they added that in after the eerie images that came out of New York where you see all those missing people flyers. Got it.
00:01:45
Speaker
really captures ah fear of infection as like a metaphor for terrorism, terrorism you know it sudden un-control violence. um view there's There's imbued paranoia, collapse of institutions, but um the empty cities. I mean, it wasn't just COVID that the cities were empty. I mean, after 9-11, lot of eerie shots of just like the dust settling and...
00:02:08
Speaker
So just wanted to mention that, that we both know it's a very important post 9-11 movie. We didn't get into it because other people smarter than us have already said all there needs to be said about all that. So that's that's our excuse.
Reception and Sequel Excitement
00:02:18
Speaker
Yeah. So let's talk about production stuff with 28 Weeks Later. so this is the sequel. It came out in 2007.
00:02:26
Speaker
So again, four years after the US release. Right. but Iconic movie year, by the way. Yes. And actually with a lot of movies going on, I think this is the perfect lead and it gets only four years later, later Fox greenlights this sequel right away.
00:02:41
Speaker
And I do not understand how the timing works out on this one because i don't think we're jumping the gun too much. I think this is a very good standalone film. but it had to live in the shadow of its predecessor of 28 days later.
00:02:54
Speaker
So the critical consensus was lower. And actually the numbers on it were worse. it Even with a twice as large budget, there were like at 15 million. It only did like 66 million.
00:03:06
Speaker
Yeah. spell the I think it's crowded. I think it's crowded, um it's not only in the shadow 28 days later, but also it's in a crowded movie. This is probably the the the best movie year of you and I's lifetime, I would say. we We can litigate that later, but like there will be blood, no country for old men, Zodiac, assassination of the of ah Jesse James or the coward Robert Ford.
00:03:30
Speaker
um I always... hate having to rattle that one off. But it's just a huge year. and i say i But I do think, and this is like an unscientific observation, I think it has grown in esteem and appreciation and a great
Synopsis and Character Introduction
00:03:43
Speaker
expansion. I just want to go out there and say this.
00:03:45
Speaker
Watching both these movies back to back and ending with this one, it's got me so excited for 28 years later. like i am so stoked for it I don't want to get the hype too much up, but like... ah I was maybe expecting a bit of like ah a decrease in enthusiasm just because, like you said, it lives in the the shadow of days. But this is a great sequel.
00:04:07
Speaker
A really, really, really great sequel. agree. um i I think it is unfairly criticized because they are using 28 Days Later as the bar, where if you use it against other, not just zombie films, but other horror films or films in general, it was very exciting. And they took it in a very different direction. But part of that, and going back into how crowded... 2007 was with good movies is Danny Boyle, Drex and Alex Garland writes 28 days later.
00:04:34
Speaker
This was their movie they made. even though Fox wanted to green light the studio, I do not understand how the timing works out because when this film was going to go into production, both Boyle and Garland were tied up on making another film that they did together called sunshine. In fact, it's not just the two of them.
00:04:52
Speaker
They bring Killian Murphy yeah as the starring role. So all three main pieces of the original are working on another film, sunshine. Now sunshine, I think it has aged well over time. That was a flop, a box office
Opening Scene Analysis: Don's Choice
00:05:05
Speaker
floss.
00:05:05
Speaker
Well, andm I'm seeing a $40 million dollars budget. It only grossed 35 million. So you get the the big name director, the writer, and the actor who made the first film work. They are all out on this one.
00:05:19
Speaker
Is that why they didn't do this? Because they were tied up? because they were tied up filming Sunshine. So they were interested. They were interested. Oh, they were very interested. And you still get Boyle and Garland as EPs on this. they I mean, so a lot of the vision was theirs. But instead of them bringing this film to life,
00:05:34
Speaker
you get very much a no name director in Juan Carlos Fresno Dio, who, if you look at his filmography had done, he he had a Academy award nominated short live action film that came out just before this that I have not seen before. And I apologize, but I'm spacing on the name wow outside of that had done nothing and really did nothing after this film.
00:05:56
Speaker
So they give him the reins to this sequel with the larger budget. And again, it's I still think it is a pretty damn good movie, but it does go in a different direction. And just thinking through,
American Military Representation
00:06:08
Speaker
I don't understand how Fox.
00:06:10
Speaker
couldn't figure out the timing where this movie couldn't have been made with Boyle and Garland you know just earlier or just after if they pushed it back. But I think they they wanted to stay in the flames while the fire was still hot and get production moving on this one so they could have it for a time. years though is still... I mean, I know that we're so used to like sequels being an episode of years after their producer. So maybe maybe maybe back then, five years, yeah it feels longer for...
00:06:37
Speaker
now yeah it was kind of an out of nowhere success i don't think they had any initial plans for a sequel until it was received so well and then to get those gears moving again after that came to standstill i think is why you get such a change in the entire crew as well as the cast for this film is but travis they they Boyle was able to find time in his schedule to direct one of the more iconic opening scenes of any horror film.
00:07:04
Speaker
Yes. in ah in this movie I think that is the biggest takeaway from this film. and I know we usually do highlights, but I don't think we're spoiling much in that. The opening to 28 weeks later, it's one of my favorite, most iconic horror openings ever.
00:07:20
Speaker
of all time. And so knowing Boyle was still involved in what really is the high point of this film. There's there's some other great elements as well. And so I don't, I don't want to unfairly criticize this, but that opening, i think was the best part of this movie. and And you still see Boyle's touch there, which again is why people are so hyped for 28 years later coming out soon. You know, when he can touch this franchise, it is, it is magic. And I think that's why expectations are high and only getting higher for the sequel.
00:07:48
Speaker
Now, you know that he's not, there's going to, they have planned three 28 years later. I saw that. Yes. And that neat, that Nia da Costa, who did the, uh,
Family Dynamics and Character Arcs
00:07:58
Speaker
like requel, like remake slash sequel, legacy sequel to a candy man, which I haven't seen, but it's got great reviews. Um, it's okay.
00:08:05
Speaker
I've seen it. ah you've seen it. Okay. Um, but then Danny Boyle is supposed to go back again for the third right now, but I was doing this first one and then, and then what is his name? I apologize. He did the candy man.
00:08:17
Speaker
Her. Nia Dacosta. Nia Dacosta is doing the second. Wow, just because this she's a director, you think it's she's a male? i guess Nia is a predominantly female name. You just like can't imagine that a woman would would direct a whole feature film i by herself.
00:08:36
Speaker
i I think I am predominantly shocked because it is 1 in the morning here. And so I'm just like, yeah, sure, whoever that director is, let's keep this thing moving. ah Alex Garland will be penning the scripts yeah all three of those films.
00:08:50
Speaker
um I think ah while Hot Take, I love the opening scene of this movie, it is also one of my favorite opening scenes of any horror film. Not in my high point of the movie, though. I think it really gets going for me, and maybe that goes back to the the political environment we're in right now, that I get more I don't know, incensed by or or get something out of me. But it's it's where the tides turn in this movie, which we'll get into later yeah about Jeremy, Jeremy Renner's character and the turn he takes. yeah I just I was like, I totally forgot about that. i was like, oh, yeah this is exciting. Well, speak about production then. And you bring up Renner's name.
00:09:22
Speaker
This is also a jumping off point. So they have to bring an entirely new cast, entirely new crew. But you still are treated with the start of the careers or very, very early film french film entries before any of these people were household names for Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Idris Elba, and Imogen Poots.
00:09:41
Speaker
So you get four now stars. Can you say that last name again? i just i love hearing that name. Imogen Poots, who has... One of the most British sounding, unique British sounding names, but she's actually been a staple for horror as of late. She came out in a green room a few years ago and also Vivarium.
00:09:59
Speaker
Vivarium is a film. I, it's one of the horror films. I think I liked a lot more than the critical consensus did. So maybe at some point we can, uh, focus on that one. But yes, is it? Is it would would that because it can't be Travis because ah Blue told me from your meeting today that you guys both agree that I'm a fan of it. Well, he said he's so this is our good friend who will hopefully i have on the pod soon.
00:10:23
Speaker
but we're all big horror buffs. He says he doesn't do 80s campy horror as much. I was telling him, I've actually been coming around to it. I recently saw Killer Clowns from Outer Space, which is what I try to think of peak campy 80s horror. What is that about? It's exactly, mean, that is the full synopsis. Like, don't know what more I can tell you. There's clowns that come from outer space and they start killing people. They're killers. came from outer space. They're alien clowns from outer space and they're killing people. Who...
00:10:51
Speaker
is This is a ah planet of clowns? They come from planet where they're all clowns there? This is what I like about the movie. Who cares about exposition and backstory? All I know is there's a UFO that lands. They're clowns from outer space, and they're going to start turning people into cotton candy, which is, I think, how they later...
00:11:07
Speaker
eat them or maybe breed them but they bring them back if only there was like a novelization of this where they're like weird alien takes the shape of a clown and terrorizes people so we've seen scream get rebooted recently we've seen it final oh man right over my head it's one in the morning layup for you stephen king i was just saying there's been so many horror reboots recently that if we could get killer clowns from out of space being rebooted i would be a fan i would honestly be a fan um Anyways, a big start for a bunch of these actors.
00:11:40
Speaker
And then you also get Robert Carlyle, who was a probably the best known name going into this, but he was a Boyle guy. Like he was in Trainspotting, some other Boyle films.
00:11:50
Speaker
And so they at least get him in as the the lead role, I think, is is what he's billed at for this film as well. Um, so it's a cool, cool cast, more of
Plot Points and Social Commentary
00:12:00
Speaker
an ensemble. Again, you get that with the bigger budget. i mean, this really does feel like a larger budget film, um, and all the production quality here, but, um, maybe to explain that Rick, do you want to take a stab at the synopsis for this one? And then and that might be a nice segue into kind of why this film is different than the first.
00:12:20
Speaker
Yeah. um So Boyle kind of passes. It's kind of kind of a nice torch passing moment because he directs the first scene, ah which depicts what I totally forgot what a it what a large role.
00:12:34
Speaker
The consequences of this first scene lingers for the entire movie, which I totally forgot. Yeah. A man and a woman, ah presumably husband and wife, they are yeah locked up in a cottage with other adults.
00:12:46
Speaker
ah They're just trying to like survive and and stay away from these infected. ah There's an attack on the cottage. ah Pretty much everybody is getting ripped up, but the the guy, and it's a woman and a so child that we don't know. The child the shri arrives at the door banging asking to be let in.
00:13:06
Speaker
He's causing a lot of noise and quickly thereafter follows a horror of zombies just yeah shortly after he arrives. So um Robert Carlyle's character in a very pivotal scene is, is, ah has an opportunity to, he's in a bedroom while the zombies are coming everywhere and he sees his wife and this child and they're near a closet and rather than like grab them and run out the window with them, which would take, it it would take courage. It would take balls. It would take a bit more time. It's a risk.
00:13:36
Speaker
He had an opportunity to save them and maybe sacrifice himself. ah Instead, He just fucking cowers and he does what maybe a lot of us would do. Who knows? We all say, oh yeah, i'm going to save everybody. But like, would you, would you, I don't know.
00:13:53
Speaker
He doesn't do what we all want a hero to do do in a movie. He runs out the door or the window. Not only does he leave his wife to get presumably killed by zombies, but then like gets on a boat with his buddy and pushes him off and kind of I think the buddy was trying to start the boat. And again, with him kind of establishing himself as a coward, he was just firmly on the boat when his yeah buddy gets pulled down. But yeah, it's a... ah so that I mean, I guess this is more in the scene than the synopsis, but...
00:14:24
Speaker
this very much subverts our expectations again for thinking we're about to see kind of the origin story of who will be the hero of our film and quickly realize, wait, this is the anti-hero or essentially someone who at least, you know, doesn't have those traditional ah Hollywood American characters.
00:14:42
Speaker
character traits we'd all want to aspire to, but it feels so much more real. All Americans are brave, courageous. At least how we see ourselves, right? Not the truth of matter, which is why I think it makes it more real because in the situation, he makes what is a very real...
00:14:58
Speaker
He makes a business decision, as they said. I would never do this, Travis. He makes a business decision. He sees the zombies. He does. He does buy does the Dion. All right. so See ya. Yeah. He says, see ya. He gets in the boat. The guy, his buddy falls in, tries to start the boat. He like pushes him off.
00:15:13
Speaker
Then we do a hard cut to 28. Oh, actually it's not. They do a so sequence of like five days later, 14 days later. love Yeah. Yeah, it it kind of tells the story of of what has happened since... So what happens in that opening scene is kind of where we left off in the other movie, where the zombies are still... Sorry, the infected are still everywhere.
00:15:32
Speaker
Then over a brief montage, we see that the infected have starved for the most part, the quarantine was successful, and um now we're... starting to rebuild society. People are starting to come back. and part of the group trying to come back and, you know, large groups in sequential order, like as they slowly come back to their homeland of, of, um, Great Britain is this father's two kids.
00:15:56
Speaker
Um, they reunited the train station and very smartly, very, very smartly. I was really glad they did this. it it It was already known. They already knew their mother was dead. There wasn't this big scene of like, oh, where's mom at the train station? Like they they probably got a letter or something. we didn't have to go through that. They saved that emotional space for a big speech. The dad gives them about what happened to their mother.
00:16:19
Speaker
And he completely lies. He's just like, yeah, you know, before I could get to her, the zombies got her. There's nothing I could do, which is not what happened at all. They asked him, verbatim did you see her die? And he says, yes.
00:16:29
Speaker
Yeah. And I was watching this with my girlfriend and ah I've got to give her props because she was like, Gordy, she's not dead. She's not dead. And I was like, is this ill saying and I don't remember seeing this.
00:16:42
Speaker
Yeah, she had never seen it. She saw the first one. She's never seen this one. and And then as the movie kept going, you know, me being a snob, I was like, I don't think so. And then i was like, oh, shit, I think she's probably right because they keep getting they keep yeah referring back to the mom.
00:16:55
Speaker
Anyways, yeah, it it is true. The mom is alive. um I'm kind of skipping over just to get through this the synopsis. We can fill in the blanks later. But basically, ah we see that the there's headlight. heavy, heavy, heavy military presence. Really, interestingly enough, ah the American military, which I think is a, we're full, we're at this point, we're full into the Iraq and Afghanistan war.
00:17:18
Speaker
And so, American interventionalism is a hot topic. um And they there is even a quote, they say again, um i'll I'll get back on track with the synopsis, but America is responsible for your safety is like an actual quote that they say in there or something along those lines.
00:17:32
Speaker
um So heavy military presence. ah As we go along in the movie, we meet these characters. The kids, ah one of the kids has two different colored
Horror Tropes and Comparisons
00:17:43
Speaker
eyes. Rose Burns character, who's a nurse or sorry, that is she's she's a she's a doctor. she's a meic who She's a medic who's studying the infection.
00:17:52
Speaker
ah The kids want to go find their old home. They find their old home, and there they find their mother, who's alive, but she's got a red eye, and she's acting kind of strange. Turns out that she has some type of immunity um to the disease, or she's not immune in the sense that she she can't get it. She doesn't have the effects of Rage Virus.
00:18:10
Speaker
very special character. um And then that, that, that takes us to a very interesting interaction between the dad and the mother. Is that, can spoil, I guess, for a 20, almost 20 year old movie? You take it here. What happens when the mom and the dad see each other? I think that's great.
00:18:26
Speaker
But yeah, the big part, which you touched on for the synopsis is instead of following an individual, like we did with Killian Murphy and kind of him, seeing the world and we're we're slowly exposed to other characters in the world around them. And again, 28 days later, having very few characters in total, they are reclaiming London.
00:18:45
Speaker
There are a lot of civilians there, but a, what seems like far larger military presence. Again, that the Americans are there. So you see snipers up on the rooftops and trucks in order, really like what you'd come to expect.
00:19:00
Speaker
likely if a military was to come take over and try to rebuild the city. And so i do wonder how much Alex Garland had to do with crafting that vision because there's such echoes of civil war. You're telling me Garland likes military figures in his films.
00:19:15
Speaker
What? No way. Yes. Yeah. hundred percent. um in And so that's kind of the setup. um I've tried to think what else is important for the film, but yes, the the primary characters here are this family at the heart of it. So the the dad who's Robert Carlisle playing Don, his wife, Alice, who you believe to be potentially killed or you you don't see her fate at the opening, but then they do bring her back as well as his kids who are Imogen Poots who plays one. And then an actor named McIntosh Muggleton didn't really have a large film crew after this, but he has the son, Andy, um in the film. And he is one of the most, I'd probably say the most central character to this film.
00:19:57
Speaker
yeah You have a scene where the mom has been brought in, and while Rose Byrne's doctor character is realizing that she is a carrier of the virus, she is infected, but is not showing the symptoms.
00:20:10
Speaker
So potentially, you know, it's such a light bulb but goes off moment that maybe there is a cure here. um At the same time she is discovering this, to to Don, Robert Carlyle. Can we just say big dull knife? Huge dull knife. with The dullest knife that we've just as we've seen. The pretense is Don is, I believe, the custodian or one of the custodians here on site at this military complex.
00:20:35
Speaker
Robert Carlyle's character, Don, when he tells his kids what he does there, he is the custodian, so he has keys to different areas, so he is able to go into the i didn't cast secure area where Alice is being held.
00:20:48
Speaker
um Again, this is his wife that he abandoned and left for dead. And he tries to talk to her and tell her he's sorry. And immediately, you know, unbeknownst to him, I guess she's infected. Clearly she's not well. like when the kids discover her, she is feral.
00:21:04
Speaker
um But he decides to go for a a full on kiss full with the most saliva I've ever seen coming off two people's lips um between them. We get a close up shot. i missed each other, man. And if you remember from the first film, this disease can be transmitted via saliva, blood, bodily fluids.
00:21:24
Speaker
All the fun stuff. he quickly, quickly taken. by the virus and becomes our new patient zero when they thought that the infection had been eradicated for weeks. and Let me tell you, I got zero patients for this patient zero.
00:21:38
Speaker
Oh no. Wait, ashley actually, actually. been waiting is that sound effect were you just begging that there you're begging the question i was waiting i mean it is 215 where i am yeah um yeah and then so he starts spreading the disease and what we get into is ah situation where obviously zombies are running amok but it's not the zombies that i mean it's similar to the first film they do cause a lot of problems but it's the overreach of the military that is the most uh
00:22:12
Speaker
it's it's It's clearly the biggest threat to humanity in this movie. um You'd think that ah having a problem enough of having an infected ah virus spreading everywhere, but it's really the ah yeah the overreach of this military state and what they do to these people ah that that takes us to the the the bulk of the movie is them trying to evade both um the military and their antics and zombies.
00:22:41
Speaker
But also, loved the thematic thrust of this film of like, these kids are totally disappointed in their father. Not only does he, not only did he bail on their mother, um but he's also patient zero and now he's trying to kill them.
00:23:00
Speaker
And so they have such a bad example. Enter Jeremy Renner and Rose Byrne who are like, they're not zombies, they're not cowards, they're experts in their field. And a great example of like what these kids needed in their life.
00:23:13
Speaker
And I really liked that there was like kind of a, I guess, an inversion of what they were experiencing and all four of them go through this shit together. And that's, that's the movie. I mean, what they're dealing with.
00:23:27
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, there's a huge piece of this movie and maybe why some people are more critical of it. That turns into what I think we feel nowadays is a run of the mill zombie movie.
00:23:40
Speaker
which is a lot of zombies taking a lot of victims. You're getting way more deaths per minute in this movie as the zombies begin to, the contagion spreads and they begin to take over.
00:23:52
Speaker
And then you have the classic, I don't want to say it's too big of a trope. Again, they were a little earlier to the scene, but with the military overreach, as you're saying, where it quickly turns in from The military only killing the infected to a kill everyone.
00:24:08
Speaker
um MO like that is their new mission objective is to shoot anything that moves. They fire bomb like the quarantine zone and it quickly turns into like you said, we're now.
00:24:18
Speaker
the the two kids aided by Rose Byrne's meta character and then jerry Jeremy Renner's sniper turned traitor essentially, or I guess he sees the light of like, hey, we need to protect these people guided by those two characters. They are trying to escape.
00:24:34
Speaker
So um because we're just talking about what the military's role is here. I, I think this is probably the the best opportunity to talk about like current events.
00:24:45
Speaker
Rick was teasing this long before we got on the pod. So go for it, man. so
00:24:51
Speaker
So it's what we're, it is 2 AM where I am June 10th. Um, a couple of days ago, trump deployed the national guard to deal with protesters in la who were protesting um in my opinion very rightly so ah the handling of ice raids ah trump has given an extremely difficult to reach quota of deportations to hit and the way that they're carrying out these raids is is problematic to say the least um
00:25:25
Speaker
They're stalking them at immigration hearings where they're actively trying to get on the pathway to legal citizenship. They are finding them at work. They are, in some cases, not practicing due process.
00:25:37
Speaker
So there's look, this is not a part about immigration, but it is a movie that has political undertones. And I i thought it was very relevant to what's happening right now um because that hasn't happened. The president has not sent the National Guard into a state without the governor's consent and since 1965.
00:25:53
Speaker
That was already a big play, a big push. But then to make things even ah more complicated, that after California resisted and the governor saying, what are you doing? We're going to sue you. This is crazy. And violence and activity in the street started to mount.
00:26:08
Speaker
but Already make the situation worse. What does he do? He turns around and deploys 700 Marines. um I support our troops. I have several friends that were in the Marines. But they are not trained to police situations. they are They are trained to do a lot of things. Other than that, one of them is to shoot and kill.
00:26:28
Speaker
I mean, using them as tools to suppress dissent of the government is is a is a wild move, to say the least. um And so to watch a movie the same day that that happened, because that that deployment happened today, ah to then turn around and see a movie where they say the words,
00:26:44
Speaker
abandon selective targeting, shoot everything.
Favorite Scenes and Lines
00:26:47
Speaker
Now you can apply that to how the Trump administration is not just going after criminals, as they said they would. They're going after anybody that may or may not be illegal in this country.
00:26:57
Speaker
You can also apply that to how they're handling protests. Let's not just go after those who are actually causing harm to buildings and throwing Molotov cocktails. They say that they did, but let's just go after everybody.
00:27:09
Speaker
Let's shoot ah an Australian reporter with a rubber bullet. So, uh, painting I just wanted to paint a picture of like what we're dealing with right now in America and then seeing an exaggerated version of that in a 2007 movie was was pretty striking.
00:27:22
Speaker
so i don't know if you want to add anything to that, if if you think I captured kind of like the yeah what's happening right now. Art reflects life and life can reflect art, but I think in a lot of these movies, this military trope was a bit of a dystopia.
00:27:38
Speaker
and so It is always troubling when we see something from real events where we're like, wait, this is actually getting... getting pretty close to what we tried to just portray as art as this is as bad as it can get. So we, or, or like, or like this is, this is a ah warning of how, how it could be.
00:27:54
Speaker
And now we're seeing signs of it happening. Yeah. um But it is also what makes this film unique from its predecessor, I think, is we we had a taste of a few, I'd say like rogue military individuals in the first film who you find out are really just trying to get chicks in the most horrible way possible.
00:28:16
Speaker
This time you actually have, you know, not rogue individuals, but at the direction of the U.S. government, like a large military operation, a more formal command. um and they are the ones who decide to fire upon civilians, which, if you're okay with it, like...
00:28:35
Speaker
Thinking about the most impactful scenes for this movie, i I don't want to necessarily say best because it is gruesome, but that one, other than the opening scene, which again, I think is the most iconic, at least, if if not best in your opinion, but that scene when the infection starts to run amok amongst the civilians and they are all pouring out of a building and you see all the snipers on the roof who are initially targeting the zombies and then get those orders to start targeting anyone and Anyone and everyone down there. like That is, I think, one of the other most memorable scenes. and
00:29:11
Speaker
And well shot, at least for the purpose of film now, getting out of the social commentary. But like it is impactful, as you just see through a lot of these kills, like through the sights of a sniper rifle.
00:29:22
Speaker
And you see people drop in left and right. And you can't tell even as a viewer. Is this person a zombie or is this person a civilian? It's hard to tell. Well, that's where I got back to like, hey, are you are you arresting known violent criminals or are you just arresting people because there's an agenda here and then there's exclusionary politics or – um ah Toxic nationalism, whatever you want to call it.
00:29:46
Speaker
I think the turning point for where the movie got me really jazzed was I totally do not remember much of this movie aside from the first scene. But Jeremy Renner stepping up and being like, I know this isn't right. I'm getting the fuck out of here. But on the way, I'm going to help you guys.
00:30:00
Speaker
I think personally... And again, ah not not to make this whole thing about politics, but it's like, and that is that's the only way these things, you need help from the inside to get through stuff like this. And like I think Renner made a judgment call where he's like, okay, mike my duty is to to protect the innocent and and not carry out the whims of Idris Elba, who I love the smash cut of ah from, I think, that was that Napoleon?
00:30:25
Speaker
As the flames are building and there's a statue. It's Napoleon and it a smash cut to Idris Elba. Because it's in London, so I'm not sure it's Napoleon, but it was some type of- Napoleon had his hands on on England here and there. yeah I mean, he he kind of got all over the place. I'm not a historian. The UK was known for a bit of an experience expansionist empire and kind of imposing their will on others prior to us. So maybe a figure with that. But again, we're Americans here. I don't know who that statue was of.
00:30:54
Speaker
Oh, shit. I think I'm going to get ripped by some British person who says who the statue is. I have no idea. um yeah but but he's the words the words I want to tie to that moment, Trav, and then i'll ill I'll let you finish, is ah he goes he's talking to his buddy in the helicopter.
00:31:12
Speaker
and he's And he's like, what are you doing? are you helping those people? Huh? Yeah. ah That was, was his name? Michael from Lost. Harold Perrineau. Okay, I knew he looked familiar. He's few other films too. and He was like, what are you doing? like You can't help those people. like We got a job to do. And he's like, it's code red. He's like, fuck the code red.
00:31:28
Speaker
Fuck the chain of command. yeah And like displays what real courage is And then does the ultimate courageous act, which we can talk about later. Or now, if you want. Yeah. it's um I do highlight, again, I always... I like to...
00:31:46
Speaker
maybe both sides it because i I do agree with you. But I think
Jump Scares and Horror Elements
00:31:49
Speaker
this movie also paints a great picture of the morally right thing, which again is the selective targeting, is very difficult. In fact, it is the more difficult decision because again, these snipers can't tell who's infected, who's not. People are getting by, they're losing the moment.
00:32:05
Speaker
So I think it does a great job showing that you know the right choice, truly the harder choice to execute. So they take the lower hanging fruit of just screw that, you know is use a sledgehammer, instead of a scalpel, take everyone out.
00:32:19
Speaker
um And I do, again, it It is somewhat of a trope, but I think a universal truth that the right action sometimes is the harder one to take. And so I i think it highlights that well. And then, like you said, it shows a character of Renner who realizes this in the moment and says, okay, and I'm going to try to change the trajectory here, change the course. Well, I think i think the you're right. It is a tough call to make, but I think the movie does go to great pains to show that that it went too far. it was just like, oh yeah the intent went to power hungry motives and and fear mongering versus like, but um can we the right thing? saying made it realistic and the military didn't just on a whim say like, yeah kill everyone.
00:32:59
Speaker
They tried to do right thing. They realized you know you know this isn't working and they just quickly then switch over to the you know scorched earth strategy. So anyways, yeah I'm going to, as always, be our pacer here of moving this along favorite scenes for me you just saying i can't do that that scenes for me uh that opening sequence then again firing on civilians is the run of containment which we've just been talking about and then honestly it's not my favorite but it is impactful and in a big set piece is near the end of the film where you have rose burns character shepherding the kids down into the subway or into the tunnel
00:33:38
Speaker
And she is seeing through the ah the scope or the night vision, essentially, on the ah assault rifle she's carrying. And so it's like blackout dark in that final set piece as they get down there and they find the most diligent zombie of all time. Again, Don, played by Robert Carlyle.
00:33:55
Speaker
Instead of being mindless by any means, he is on a mission to track down and murder his kids because he keeps reappearing throughout the film, tracking them. And it's their final competition. What did I tell you? What did I text you about? What what kind of movie this is?
00:34:10
Speaker
Oh, a great father son movie. Yes. Because it's, it's a complicated relationship. it's your Dad, just trying to get back to his kid. Right. Dad, dad just, like that things it's, it's like taking, it's like taking, right? Like Liam Neeson, Liam Neeson needs to get his daughter back.
00:34:25
Speaker
He's just trying to his kids back. um But those are probably my favorite set pieces or scenes throughout the film. Do you have, you have any to add to those three?
00:34:36
Speaker
And what you said, because you said the opening scene was not your favorite. So what was your favorite? My favorite scene is when Renner says, hey, fuck this. I'm going to help you guys. Perfect. yeah, on the tail end hiring on civilians. It's more moment than anything.
00:34:48
Speaker
yeah um But honestly, I think a scene that I, again, it's more and in concept than in execution. um It's where Renner sacrifices himself because it completely closes the loop of like they had this dad who...
00:35:02
Speaker
did not make that hard choice to sacrifice himself or, or put himself in harm's way. Renner gets out of the car. They're gassing the streets. Well, after the fire bombing, um they see a crew coming through with flamethrowers, essentially burning anything and everything again. And they're in a car that can get away, but it will not get jumpstarted. So he, he gets out the old fashioned jumpstart, push that vehicle.
00:35:24
Speaker
Well, uh, he, he makes sure Rose Byrne knows how to shift the car. um and drive do you Do you know how to drive stick, Rick? Would you have been able to drive that out of there? Were you insinuating that Rose Byrne wouldn't? because No, im i'm coming I'm trying to be forthcoming saying I do not know how to drive stick. If that was me left in the car with the kids, I'd be like...
00:35:44
Speaker
nah man we ain't going nowhere i don't know how ship this thing i'll keep it in neutral and renner can just push this thing however ah he preed in the maybe too soon but he probably should have learned from ah this incident to maybe not try to push large vehicles uh while they're yeah oh that is a too soon cut that's he's okay he's good i'm just saying like yeah you it saved a lot of man again art imitates life and life imitates art like it was But he he gets torched to death, and it's a heartbreaking scene. But it's I just think it's great story writing. He probably has the best character arc.
00:36:19
Speaker
He has the best character arc out of any character in this movie, right? I mean, I guess the only close to that is... Yes, he's the only one with the arc. Yeah, Don starts bad and gets worse. The mom's pretty written off, pretty minor. The kids don't... Things are happening to them. They don't make any choices, really. They're kind of... And Rose Byrne's character is just pretty consistent. She's just like, she's there to help and support. Yep, yep, I'd agree.
00:36:44
Speaker
yeah Maybe Harold Perrineau's character, the helicopter pilot, he he kind of comes around too in the end, but to a lesser degree. He's just like a change of what we see in Jeremy Renner.
00:36:57
Speaker
I think even though I might have my personal favorites, it's without a doubt that the scene of the movie is the opening. I mean, yeah no disrespect to, yeah, no disrespect to Fresnadillo. Am I saying that right? Yeah, Fresnadillo. Who did a phenomenal job, but Boyle's opening scene is just killer. So I'm going to jump ahead in categories. I just have to hit best line here because both my favorite lines are from that opening scene.
00:37:23
Speaker
Um, the first is prior to the mayhem, we get a little bit of peace. We see what life is like for these few survivors. Again, it's, um, Robert Carlisle and his wife. So Dawn and Alice, an elderly couple, uh, a girl who has recently lost her boyfriend and then a, another guy. So I think it's the six of them prior to this boy arriving.
00:37:41
Speaker
And amidst the chaos of a zombie apocalypse, which is still pretty fresh as we see from the timeline shortly thereafter this opening scene, they are doing a, uh, they find a wine bottle and they decide to take the time to do the wine tastings of the older guys saying something of like, I'm getting blackberries, vanilla, notes of autumn. They seem like good hangs, man. They picked the right cottage. I love that. And then at the tail end of that scene, um as the wife is pressed up against the glass, the second story window of the home that Dawn is quickly escaping from. And she's just shrieking out like, Dawn, help us. And he does the over the shoulder glance and just books it out of there. So I think those are my two favorite lines, two favorite quotes for the movie. I don't know if you had any others.
00:38:25
Speaker
i already I already said a few of mine, but fuck the code. Fuck the code. Fuck the code red. Fuck the chain of command. um Abandon so selective targeting. Shoot everything. um And then one more I didn't mention earlier was ah when I forget who's explaining the steps of how they got to this Orwellian the situation. But it's like, look, this is their plan, guys.
00:38:49
Speaker
step one is stop the and infection. Step two is containment. But if those two fail, step three is extermination. yeah And as somebody who recently has been trying to like educate myself on, you know, how authoritarian governments start and and how dictatorships start, it reminded me of these like steps that whether they're playing as day or that you just emerge throughout history, like there are steps how these things can happen. And i thought that was like a really succinct way to so illustrate that. Yeah.
00:39:18
Speaker
Yeah. Favorite line? i also Selective targeting for you? What was that? Selective targeting. Yeah, it was just it was just shocking. It was just like, I immediately thought of the Australian reporter getting shot with the road bullet today.
Critiques and Nitpicks
00:39:31
Speaker
And then I also thought of just like the sweeping ways that they've been handling deportations. and it was like, then I'm seeing a movie right in front of me, abandoned selective targeting. Like, let's not go after the criminals, shoot everything. it was just like coalesced in this like horrific way.
00:39:45
Speaker
You want to do best jump scare? I don't remember one, dude. you'd have to Oh, I actually thought there was more in this film than the first one. um Honestly, the scariest part that makes me jump in this movie is not a real scare, so to speak, but it it is meant to scare the audience.
00:40:03
Speaker
is ah Again, Harold Perrineau, who's the helicopter pilot, Jeremy Renner's friend, is just sleeping. This is before all hell is breaking loose broken loose. He's sleeping in his helicopter, and Jeremy Renner just jumps in there and scares him as a prank.
00:40:17
Speaker
but it is a closeup shot and Redder's screaming his head off and gargling his words. Yeah, and gargling and really committing to the bit. And that scared me. um So there's that. And then there's like literally within a minute of that, it cuts to the kids.
00:40:33
Speaker
And it's a nightmare that the kids, I guess, are collectively having of this is before they have found their mom, Alice. And they are just having a dream of her peeling her face off. So both those two were- It's a quick moment. It's a quick- Exactly. That's why have it more as a jump scare. It's a pretty quick face peel.
00:40:50
Speaker
It is face off, but instead of two hours long- Yeah, as face peels go, it's pretty decent. But those were probably the two most frightening kind of jump out of my seat moments. um Yeah, i can't i I can't think of another one.
00:41:03
Speaker
But ah the Renner... Oh, you know what, though? There is one more. um There's a sequence of the movie that is very reminiscent of another zombie movie that came out this year, which is, I believe, one of your favorites as well. Spanish film called Wreck.
00:41:17
Speaker
Yes, love Wreck. With a Mexican girlfriend, I did not want to get this wrong. I think it's Spanish. man. I don't know either. It's Spanish speaking, but I don't know. No, it's it's it's Spain. It is Spanish. poof Okay. ah ah The found footage, i guess it's not found footage. It's it's night vision.
00:41:36
Speaker
um And there's some night vision, I believe, right? I'm not tripping, right? Yes, the ending of the movie. There's a lot of night vision. but yeah And I love the effective use of night vision here in Romeo, Silence of the Lambs. You're in a sewer. It's always creepy. At the end the tunnel.
00:41:51
Speaker
Yeah, and there's a few times that things pop up. yeah um Not like the best scene, I just like the setting. And i think the scene kind of crumbles into something that is not as good as it could have been. Yeah, I agree. You know mean? It doesn't stick the landing. Silence of the Lambs made night vision scenes a thing.
00:42:08
Speaker
And I think everything that's tried to come after it has been close tried to pay tribute, but yeah, hasn't come close. um I will say, and and maybe this is a good moment to say this, and ah but I do think Fresnadilla, and I'm mentioning this on the heels of this rec reference because of the multiple modalities of ah the way he uses film. He uses 16mm, this...
00:42:31
Speaker
ah night vision i think he honors the franchise without aping boyle style like it's not trying to be too much like boyle but he still uses that frenetic quick cutting chaotic moment but he then expands it with like these larger set pieces and there's a bit there's more action i don't know i just i think it's a hard when you're in the like you know in the shadow of a of a great director and a successful predecessor of a movie that I, if you do, if you try to do your own thing too much, then people are like, wait, this is not what I signed up for.
00:43:07
Speaker
But if you do it too, if if you're trying to mimic it too much, you're like, I need a bit, I know I thought he struck the right tone. And like, that's an example of that. Yeah. hundred percent. Let's go into, um, yeah, get watch through the gaps in my fingers. Not a lot of it here. Maybe when Andy is going up into their old home, they're looking for photos of their mom.
00:43:26
Speaker
And he actually gets upstairs and you realize someone's been living there and you see plenty of maggots over old spoiled food. And then his mom in the back corner, a human at this point, you can't tell is she infected? Is she not in the back corner of the room?
00:43:42
Speaker
That's the only point where I was, I was waiting for something to really say when she saw that scene, she said, chaos, which means that's disgusting. Yes. chaostic It was disgusting. I'm not entirely sure.
00:43:53
Speaker
So like 28 weeks, canned goods would still be good but short of that you don't have a lot of food options and it looks like this lady clearly wasn't i mean i don't know if we really want to go off on a tangent here but like she could have some basic hygiene right i don't since she was infected as a carrier but not full the rage virus i think she had most of her faculties um and she she didn't have a very large vocabulary and She went like, and I mean, 28 weeks time.
00:44:23
Speaker
It is half a year, but she went like full feral in 28 weeks where like, i think I would still have the decency at least for a while to be like, hey I'm going to keep my trash on lower level or elsewhere. Right.
00:44:37
Speaker
I just think that we shouldn't ah until we run a mile an infected shoes. Where was she getting the food? like The food wasn't up in the attic. She had to be going down to the kitchen. like She was going places.
00:44:49
Speaker
she could have Are you saying that based on the type of food that was there, like open bowls of What is she doing? She's finishing a meal and just leave it there? like At least we know from the first film, Cillian Murphy is very adamant that he's going to collect and dispose of trash. That is the first thing he wants to do when he gets out of his coma.
00:45:05
Speaker
So this is like the true juxtaposition where this woman is just like... a few weeks in and she's just like, fuck it. I'm going to eat up. She's, she's honestly reminds me of my toddlers where it's like, I'm done with my food. I'm just going to like fucking chuck it on the ground. Like that's it.
00:45:20
Speaker
Really, really laying it on thick for this poor woman. Uh, she's just trying to survive with this rage virus. Yeah. I mean, She is surviving though, right? Like we see Andy who gets infected at the end. He's fine. She's not thriving.
00:45:35
Speaker
I think again, she needs to embrace the tone of the first film where we're not merely trying to survive. There's more to live for than this. Like she could have treated herself. You give me 28 week break from you love. My girls love them to death.
00:45:47
Speaker
You say, Travis, take 28 weeks off. You're going find me at the end of the 28 weeks. Well rested. I've probably lost a few pounds. ki I'm not eating junk food all the time. I'm i'm probably in better shape getting more, more athletics in. How do we, how do we know though that like her, her appetite has not completely changed. Maybe she prefers maggots.
00:46:06
Speaker
Maybe she's got a new palate and because she's half zombie infected, she's like leaves food out to get some nice juicy, juicy grub like Timon and Pumbaa. I mean, she did pretty much just get dumped by her husband. and So maybe it's part of like that breakup woes as well, or instead of like eating ice cream. yeah I mean, maybe she ate the ice cream and then just left it out there. Yeah. Yeah.
00:46:28
Speaker
Anyways. um Don't, uh, no. Best death. Oh, best death is easy for me. I am wondering if you have the same feeling. Hold on. Let me, is it a, it is is it? No, it is killing zombies.
00:46:45
Speaker
Oh, the picking them off with the snipers. No, no, no. Oh, oh, oh. I did not like this. Really? This was ridiculous. but The helicopter. And maybe this is why people are like, oh, it's not as artsy, but you get Harold.
00:46:58
Speaker
But it's not as artsy. I felt like I was watching a cut scene from House of the Dead. like it looked it looked like It looked like a straight to DVD. so like so I like the idea. I like the concept. This is both my best death as well as cannon fodder award.
00:47:13
Speaker
You have the one coward who's with Jeremy Renner's group who now escaped the city. They see the helicopter coming in. but There's a horde of zombies approaching them. And instead of staying cool, calm, and collected, this dude bolts for the helicopter, grabs onto one of the rails on it.
00:47:29
Speaker
So Harold Parano is starting to take off. These zombies are coming in. He wants to save his buddy Jeremy Renner and the kids. He's like annoyed by this guy, right? He's able to tilt that helicopter to let those blades on top just slice through all of them.
00:47:42
Speaker
And somehow this dude hanging on manages to survive that whole ordeal. And only after that. Harold Perenot looks at him and goes, fuck you, pussy, and then shakes the other human off of his helicopter and sends him to his death as well.
00:47:57
Speaker
that is my best kills, my best cannon fodder. That was as far as action goes in a horror movie like that. That was it for me. and Sure, it's not as That's the perfect dichotomy of the military ah industrial complex right there.
00:48:11
Speaker
It's like, yes, that Marine will protect you from infected zombies, but also if you're annoying them, it will shake off a helicopter. Yeah, you try to hop helicopter, like, get the fuck out here.
00:48:23
Speaker
Just, fuck you, pussy. hches that Is that his actual line? That's the literal line. I was saving that from best lines. Got to bring it up here, but... um Yeah, we have we have best we have we have best lines, dull knives, and scream queen. Yeah, well, we kind of hit our best lines already, so let's just go right into dull knives.
00:48:44
Speaker
I only have one. It's the most glaring one whole movie. See, this funny. I have plenty more for this film. Oh, really? I'm surprised. mean, the one for me is like, how did they... I guess I didn't catch that he was a custodian, so this knife is not as dull now, but it's...
00:49:00
Speaker
No security. still It still is though. that's they're not going to give a They're not going to give a custodian all access. There was no one down on that floor watching her. Dude, it was like a soundstage. Well, it probably was.
00:49:13
Speaker
ah like they they're so They make such a big hubbub of showing what control freaks this military approach is to contraining the virus. And they even acknowledge that she has it.
00:49:26
Speaker
Like two people are like, yeah, she definitely has it. So that she's not, how is there not like six dudes with like, you know, assault rifles guarding? It was just, it really took me out on it. I mean, try in his horror film, whatever it for the first two minutes. I was like, this wouldn't fucking happen, but also they needed as the catalyst, obviously to restart like patient zero, slowly infecting people where you can't have too many people there. or They would have just put them down.
00:49:50
Speaker
But yes, it is and we need is hard to suspend. It is hard to suspend. And the smooch itself was a little over the top. Like if it's kind of hot there are at least four to five strands of saliva you can visibly see from that close up shot between their mouths and they hold it for while. This is the dude who just left his wife for dead. And just like, like I am, I'm the first to admit when Anna and I get in a fight, i I want to try to make amends quickly, but I don't necessarily know if this is the best tact that that he used here. Oh,
00:50:19
Speaker
So yeah, a lot of lot of issues with that scene. my look like as as the old As the old Carl's Jr. marketing campaign said of the 90s, if it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face. And that is how I feel about saliva between two loved ones.
00:50:31
Speaker
okay Um, yeah, sloppy, sloppy kiss. Well, in fact, I put it up as one of the sloppiest kisses of all time in a horror movie. If we want to start ranking those. That's such a, how long is this list?
00:50:44
Speaker
This is sloppy kisses in films. going to bookmark it, timestamp it in our podcast. and We'll, we'll take note just like men hanging dong, which speaking of which, no men hanging, no dong, no dong. Oh, we broke the streak. Damn it.
Concluding Thoughts and Franchise Future
00:50:58
Speaker
so we can release Release the Dawn cut. three We're two for three. um Yeah, that's what happens when you lose Danny Boyle directing. You lose the full frontal male nudity. um Okay, other nitpick here.
00:51:10
Speaker
Idris Elba, he's kind of presented as the big bad up front. He is the one saying, shoot anything and everything. yeah Just disappears the second half of the movie. like Yeah, he does. What happens to him? I have a defense for this. um I have a defense.
00:51:26
Speaker
i I'm going to justify it by saying that they're trying to show that this is a like a systemic problem than just like one guy. Yeah. I guess he is the standard for the military, but still.
00:51:38
Speaker
Yeah, he's just a figurehead. An incomplete character arc. where I feel like there would have been more payoff if you at least see him get well there's not a take he's not a he's he's He's not somebody with an arc.
00:51:50
Speaker
yeah I don't hold him against that. He's just a character who's got shit to do. Last one we touched on it, but like Robert Carlyle tracking down his kids. like Is this some different strain of the virus? This is the most intentionality I've ever seen where he's like, screw this. I'm not going full feral.
00:52:11
Speaker
Just tagging anything and everything. like I'm going to stalk my family members, I now have this confused low cunning um and stealth ability and then and then surprise them when they least expect it so um he's he's He's confused. He's not well. It makes it more poetic that obviously with his character showing up at the end, but also a bit silly.
00:52:34
Speaker
right like is it really like these zombies are mindless creatures if this one is just kind of chilling with us, following us? um so That's really it. um No, they're dull knives for you.
00:52:47
Speaker
Time to move on to our MVP, our Scream King or Queen. Yeah. Cool. Who is it? This one, honestly, very tough. So the first film I had Boyle, who directed, obviously he's not here. um Who do you have for this one?
00:53:02
Speaker
I didn't pick a person. I picked a thing. Okay. And my so my Scream... king or slash queen slash entity is the 28 Days Later franchise itself.
00:53:15
Speaker
Because I think this could have – let's take the financial situation out of it. I think this could have – it make money. It's just panned reception. or I don't think it was panned.
00:53:26
Speaker
yeah I think it was received lukewarmly. That's the right way to put it. I think time has been done has done very well to it. I think if we look back now, it it treated this the the and treats the franchise with respect. It expands the narrative.
00:53:41
Speaker
and And there's a world where maybe we don't get 28 years later without this movie. Maybe this is the gap. it It bridges the gap in a nice way. um i I think it maintains. if you want to use a cu it's It's a good custodian, to ah to use a term that we for one of our essential characters.
00:53:58
Speaker
I think it's it's the i think is the scream king of the movie because the the franchise wins because maybe we don't get this upcoming trilogy. um And it it could have just gone so much worse. yeah Think of how many horror sequels devolve into camp, which not always a bad thing.
00:54:15
Speaker
But this is not a movie where camp would work. And it just works. i I'm with you. I still... um again where we started this conversation it is in the shadow of 28 days later but this film by itself still in my favorite horror movies of the uh 2000s like still top 25 easily for me um and ah in a very good film in and of itself yeah you don't that that's the other thing you don't need the first movie to i mean it's it is this true a true standalone sequel um uh just one one thing to mention because i don't know where else to fit it in this podcast but uh you're not gonna let me say my stream king
00:54:48
Speaker
Oh, I thought you were agreeing with me. Oh, no. i mean, is it such a good point I'm trying to just echo your point, but I got to go Jeremy Renner, your guy, because he goes from this less known actor into this military role, goes on right from this to go in Catherine Bigelow's Hurt Locker to win Best Picture just like a year or two later. Does he win Best Actor?
00:55:08
Speaker
I don't think he won Best Actor, but he was the you the main role in a Best Picture winner. Yeah, that movie's... And so I think this really opened doors for him and kind of his coming out moment. Other movie about American interventionalism. Yep.
00:55:23
Speaker
And exceptionalism. People love Renner as a soldier. And then he goes on to play Hawkeye, who's kind of a soldier for the Avengers. So... They kind of took it to his head a bit, though. He's not even... Anyway, what's your last point?
00:55:36
Speaker
Give us something in closing. No, I think Renner's a good pick. ah Oh, I was trying to... And it's surprisingly a short list, Trav. I was trying i was trying to think of other movies that hinge on like a cowardly act, like Force of Majeure, which is a... ah The whole premise of the movie...
00:55:58
Speaker
is ah there's a family on a ski trip, okay? And they're at one of the tops of the mountains where they're like at one of those like restaurants where you can like get a quick hot cocoa before you go back on the slopes, you know?
00:56:10
Speaker
An avalanche starts to come And as the avalanche comes, rather than pick up his kids and his wife, he just like fucking bolts. And the whole movie is about how the family reconciles.
00:56:24
Speaker
I wonder if this was the inspiration for it There was a Will Ferrell. It is. really yeah That's the American. That's the American version of it, which was what's it called? One of Will Ferrell's worst words of nature is called Downhill.
00:56:35
Speaker
Downhill, yeah. I'm not even sure if it's a comedy, but yes, it is the same thing. I don't know, but it's a movie where a cowardly act is the inciting incident and it runs to the rest of the film. Couldn't find other ones. Well, actually, i saw other movies mentioned, but I didn't want to read the synopsis because they're like big movies, like big blind spots for me, like The Road, Children of Men, and The Mist all say that- Wait, The Road? Cormac McCarthy's?
00:57:01
Speaker
yeah. i don't know how that hinges on a cowardly act. I mean, I've read the book. haven't seen the movie. You haven't seen the mist. I would not say the catalyst for the plot is a cowardly act, but there is a very cowardly act.
00:57:16
Speaker
but I think this list was just mentioning cowardly acts in the films. but Oh man, we might have to cover the mist at some point. That's a Stephen King adaptation, which I haven't even brought it up in the pod three episodes. And obviously favorite author being a big horror guy. And it's a great, one of my favorite adaptations of any of his books. An hour in, we're starting to get into Stephen King on the 28 weeks later. All right. No, yeah Trav, you are, I do look forward to doing Stephen King with you because that is like, that's your guy.
00:57:42
Speaker
yeah More specifically, a Mike Flanagan and King adaptation because that's two your guys. Yes, yes. Those are my guys and they're working together more and more now. What I really want for you slash for us is ah I really want you to watch the director's cut of Dr. Sleep because I feel like you're sleeping on Dr. Sleep because you saw the theatrical version.
00:58:01
Speaker
No one intended. And I think a back-to-back viewing of The Shining versus Director's Cut, I think not only will you fall in love with Wrecking Becca Ferguson all over again, i think you'll fall in love with the movie.
00:58:12
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Well, I think that's it from us at the Sunday Scaries. um Let's see if I can cue the music successfully this time. Nope, still don't have it. Thank you guys for listening.
00:58:23
Speaker
We'll be back on the next episode after this one, 28 years later. you guys next Sunday.