Transcript
John Holt: Hello and welcome to the Media Mega Rumble, the podcast where films, TV, video games and characters enter the squared circle and battle it out to see who will emerge victorious. My name is Jon Holt and with me is novelist and former writer for What Culture, James Friginshaw, how are you?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: and I'm very, well, I'm very well, I'm leaning back and there's nothing anybody can do about it.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: i i have I have got a slight cold, but I'm hoping that, you know how Michael Jordan played that amazing game of basketball when he had like flew?
John Holt: Yep.
John Holt: Oh yeah, he's all sweaty.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, I'm going to do like the podcast version of that today, so yeah just bear witness.
John Holt: All right, I bear witness, you got a nice fleece on.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: That's it a beautiful fleece.
John Holt: Here we go, it's all good.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: The only fleece I own, I should definitely get more. I'm definitely fleece lacking in the fleece department.
John Holt: See, I have a really nice, really expensive, comfortable fleece right that I bought from Fat Face about two years ago.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: I've worn it once and it just hangs there. And I don't know why I don't put it on. I think it's because sky blue isn't really my color, but I don't know.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm. And also, do you think, when you say sky blue, all I think of is that sonic image you sent me the other day.
John Holt: Oh, yeah. Did you like that?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Is that blue?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Do you know what, as I said to you at the time, the actual image was less disturbing than what Sonic said when he started talking about, it sounds like frying chicken.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I was like, no, I'm out.
John Holt: I'm going to bring it up and recite it, right? So so oh i just off the bat, if people didn't already think I'm weird, I would be messaging this to everyone right now.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: and
John Holt: I think this is genius for some reason. So what it is listed as, right? I saw this on Blue Sky, which is a furry haven, FYI. So it's got sexy Sonic the Hedgehog with a bare chest and a six pack. I mean, it's like a nine pack. It's huge. And he's wrapped in a towel and he's coming out the shower. And in speech bubbles, it says, are you frying chicken, baby? Haha, just kidding. You make a lot of noise when you pee. I like that. What is that all about?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: it It's so weird and you just like, it it's really weird but very, what's the word?
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: But the null, is that that the right word I'm looking for? It's just very, yeah, yeah it's it's just, yeah.
John Holt: yeah
John Holt: It's ordinary because it's not porny, but it's like it's like just what he's saying.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: It's just so disturbing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And it's just so oddly specific and you're like, what why why are you likening somebody having a piss
John Holt: I know, throwing up some chicken. Just imagine that.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: and And if I was selling the hedgehogs a better half and and he came at me with that I'd be like excuse you mate you're a fucking six foot hedgehog like you know you've been wearing one pair of trainers for the last 30 years so don't come at me with I'm fucking pissed with
John Holt: this is Anyway, this isn't the fleece cast or the furry cast. This is the media mega rumble. And tonight, these listeners, because someone didn't do the homework, we're doing something that I am calling the Moskers.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh.
John Holt: Because obviously our podcast begins with an M and it's awards season and awards season every year. is a pile of crap.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm
John Holt: It's a lot of politics, a lot of people giving them themselves pats on the back, virtue signaling, doing all the things that annoy me, that annoy me more now that I'm over 40, basically.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: -hmm.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, and this year seems to be a particularly fucking like all I've read about the Oscars over how you using the word but controversy surrounding it like all these
John Holt: Well, yeah, I mean, tells you all you need to know, didn't it? Like, the one that got 13 Oscars has had its lead cancelled. So that was like the favourite. It's a film that seemingly everyone hates.
John Holt: I don't understand where the norms came from. And here we are, basically. But it's just all, I don't know, I just don't. You don't need a round of applause and a pat on the back, you know, let's let's have awards for like Best Doctor.
John Holt: But anyway,
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: and
John Holt: regardless these are the moskers right and these are the alternative categories with the alternative nominations all right so none of this best support in whatever we ain't doing that these are the moskers this is the only award show that now matters in your life and you might be asking yourself where does the conflict come in well stay tuned because you're going to find out
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah. Nah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: over the most unlikely of films please do us via instagram
John Holt: And trust me, with a lot of these choices, you're going to want to rage at us online. So you can do that via Blue Sky, Furry Haven itself, Blue Sky. We're at media -mega -rumble .bsky .social. We're also on threads at media -mega -rumble. And then we've got an Instagram, but that's pretty useless. So I'd avoid that one. There's a lot of interesting channels you can subscribe to.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: but But Instagram ain't one of them.
John Holt: But I was in one of them. So do what you like, basically. But if you want to argue, that's where the rumble comes in. Rumble with us online. You can do it.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: You do it. Do it now.
John Holt: Do it. So, I mean, I don't have a drum bell. So all I or drum roll will have is this. I don't think that's really going to do it.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: that One of like two sound effects that this platform has given us.
John Holt: Yeah, but we'll go with it. So the first award, if I do a lot of these in a row, will it be a drumroll?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: uh i'm
John Holt: No, it doesn't really work, does it?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: kind of in that you could you could kind of do the 20th century foxing if you if you just did it like maybe um
John Holt: Yeah, once again, you've mistaken me from Mark Ronson with my HP laptop. I'm a hundred pound microphone, but we'll let that go. um first award is film that was actually hated by critics but is actually quite good and in 10 years you may agree with me so the nominees are the beekeeper the crow maxine or never let go and the winner
John Holt: for the Moscow, for a film that was hated by critics but is actually quite good and in 10 years you may agree with me, is The Crow.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, I mean,
John Holt: Yep, I went there. The Crow remake is the second best crow movie ever made.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: comfortably I mean, no.
John Holt: No, but look, it's good. right Seriously, I think it's good.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Okay.
John Holt: It's different. right but it like a lot like First of all, the trailer for it was rubbish.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm.
John Holt: That is one of the worst trailers that does not represent the film. The look of it annoyed me when I first saw it. I was like, why does Eric Draven look like Little Peep?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm hmm.
John Holt: I'm not happy about this. forget this movie. Let me tell you that just goes away as soon as you start watching the movie and it does it like this angle where like Eric and Shelley are like almost mentally ill and one of them has done like something, seen something she shouldn't have and that results in basically her being killed and him being killed and he comes back obviously but it's got like a really creepy villain
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: like really creepy like Danny Houston is the villain and he's got like this this power where he whispers in people's ears and he's in service of the devil and it's well creepy it's never fully explained but I like that I think that it's got like this urban fairy tale vibe to it that the first one has a little bit but it's more like that movie running scared with Paul Walker
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: so
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm hmm.
John Holt: where it's like this urban fairy tale that really works with like huge amounts of violence and stuff. I think the the soundtrack isn't intrusive because one of the major complaints about the original The Crow was it's just a feature length music video.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm -hmm.
John Holt: This one doesn't have that and it doesn't really have any modern music.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: That's good.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Ooh.
John Holt: That's the weird thing. It has like needle drops from like Enya, Gary Newman and then I think like the the last song is by that band Foles.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: That's heated.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, okay.
John Holt: And um yeah, it's I just think it's a really good movie.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I like falls. Yeah.
John Holt: I've seen it twice. And I'm kind of a bit like, I think people just dismissed this sight unseen, first of all, and was so convinced that it was going to be rubbish that they just had to give it like a one -star review just out of principle.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: and
John Holt: I think it's the same thing that happened with Waterworld when that came out.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Great.
John Holt: And I think in 10 years time, people are going to look a lot more fondly on this movie. um Nothing will be the original. But I think this is as good as it could possibly have gotten.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh well.
John Holt: And and they they tried to make this film for 15 years. And the fact that I liked it, I didn't hate it. And that first movie is the first 18 movie I saw in the cinema. and Let me tell you, that was an experience.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh well, yeah.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's weird, like the first film kind of... It kind of went under my radar a little bit. Like I still saw it but I was kind of...
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I felt like it's kind of mythos with the whole Brandon Lee thing. I feel feel like they kind of built that up maybe a bit more, because they were like, oh, you know, this guy's gonna be like the next big thing in Hollywood.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And I'm like, maybe.
John Holt: I think he would have been, though. like I reckon like Brandon Lee would have had the career that Keanu Reeves ended up having.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, he would he would have been going into an era of film that is perfectly suit like with the matrix and all all that sort of stuff coming in.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And he would have been perfectly suited to just walk around in the big fucking trench coat and looking angry.
John Holt: Yeah.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: and I think maybe, now I haven't seen this film, I would, I dismissed it out of hand. Now I didn't go, oh shit, and not having seen it. I just, I can't obviously and qualify it if I hadn't seen it.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: But the thing that put me off it is, I think I saw that, ah is it is it City of Angels, the second one?
John Holt: yeah city of angels that's right that's that's basically a remake of the original like two years after the original that film is pointless yeah so after that there's um that one with cursed and danced in it
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh boy, that's ah that's a little bit of a bit of canon. Yeah, absolutely. So I was kind of like, this is the franchise, it's gone. night I think it's been maybe one or two sequels.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: um which is actually not bad i think it's called salvation and then the fourth one is called wicked prayer and that is laughably bad yeah no
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: see I might seek that one out if it's so so bad. it's It's just bad.
John Holt: it's it's terrible james yeah yeah anyway do you want to introduce and go through the next category good sir
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's just bad. Okay.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: So my ah my category is called most unintentionally funny scenes. So ah the nominees are gladiator two for the baboon scene.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Alien Romulus for get away from her, you bitch. The substance for the bit at the end where it's like, oh, okay, guys, it's me. And and then ah Civil War for the bit when Nick Offerman tries to speak at the end and get shot.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I found it kind of hilarious.
John Holt: Really? Oh.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I know it's like you're not meant to and it's like, oh, you've got to shut down these venomous people.
John Holt: iiel I thought I loved that bit.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, don't get me wrong. I loved it, but I also found it quite funny.
John Holt: Because of his reaction, he goes, that'll do.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: she
John Holt: And that's literally, ah spoiler warning, that that's literally the end of the movie. But anyway, so yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I would say my winner is going to be the substance because all the others I would say are
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Well, I feel like they're all are unintentionally funny, but I feel like that scene from the substance just... It is kind of meant to be funny, but it's also just... ah like I remember when we talked about it before I saw it and you were like, the last 10 minutes, your your jaw will just fucking drop.
John Holt: It's like a guar video, basically.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: What a comparison.
John Holt: That's what I texted to my brother immediately after I saw it. I was like, you were not prepared for the last 20 minutes of that film. Like, I don't think anyone is.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, it is absolutely wild and there's another film that I'll talk about later but I just love these ones where it follows a fairly straightforward narrative and like yeah there's some gruesome funny bits as well but it just goes absolutely balls to the wall and just the the amount of you know blood like they've clearly taken um reference from like Evil Dead films where it's just literally just thick layers of it just big creamy blood and um if you don't know the moment I'm talking about it's where the
John Holt: Mm.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Our main character has kind of transformed a third time into this big, like, homunculus thing. Now the other moment I could have had, unintentionally funny, is where she she but she puts on the earring to try and make herself look nice and she just puts it on a big like lump of dead flesh and she's like checking herself out in the mirror.
John Holt: oh god so much of that film and I feel like I could smell it it's just so much of it like when she's sitting in the chair with her knee oh what the hell yeah
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: ah
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's really like visceral and like grimy and
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: oh it's fucking grim but again like i think we've said this about a few films that i've seen where yeah that i i find things hysterically funny that maybe other people wouldn't find necessarily hysterically funny and this
John Holt: I actually have to admit, I don't know about other people, but yeah, I was cracking up the whole way through that last 20 minutes. Like, i I don't know how... Do you think you're supposed to be serious?
John Holt: Because i'm on you I'm on your wavelength here.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I don't know.
John Holt: I completely... It was hilarious.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, I don't know. It kind of feels like it could be and it just kind of build up to the moment where she, you know, she like dies on the Hollywood sign and it's like, you see it kind of getting, it's like the beginning where you see like the generations like clearing it up and so and that feels maybe a bit more, I think maybe because it leads to somewhere that's a bit more somber that it's just
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: quite funny that it goes like this ridiculous place to get to, yeah, get to something which, yeah. It's, yeah, I don't know. Maybe I need to have a look and see what other people thought then.
John Holt: yeah and okay all right excellent so that's our second winner off the stage you go you waddle with your slimy arse um so yeah listeners please assume from here on in we're going to spoil everything
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's just, it's so gratuitous. Like it's just, it's just like they've completely flipped a switch, but yeah, I'm i'm all for it. Like it's, it's tremendous.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mmm, yes.
John Holt: ah I'm going to try not to, but I might do it by accident or the conversation might lead us that way. But this is just spoiler warning anyway. James has just spoiled the ending of the substance, but I'll put it I'll put it on the the the doodle.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh yeah, oops, sorry. Yeah, you know what, time's up.
John Holt: So my second award is for the otherwise hilarious film that left me emotionally devastated by the credits. And the nominees are Nutcrackers, Snack Shack and Anora.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: ah Okay, I've not seen any of these, so I do like not.
John Holt: Have you not? Good Lord. Well, the winner, very sad, is Anora.
John Holt: Now, Anora, this sounds like it's now the favorite to win a lot of awards, whereas it wasn't before. It was kind of canceled, then uncancelled, and then Amelia Perez canceled herself. But regardless of that, so Anora is basically a story of this stripper in upstate New York who hooks up with this stupidly rich like 20 year old Russian twat and they go he like basically pays her for a company it's a pretty woman type story they get married in Vegas his family find out about it they want it annulled and
John Holt: It's a Sean Baker film, he of Florida Project Red Rocket Tangerine, and he he makes he he makes movies about disaster people who you just find utterly compelling. Now, fairly early on in this movie, something about this this Mikey Madison actress, I have to say, I did not expect, because she's played like basically serial killers and cult members up to this point. So you wouldn't think, oh, that's just a ah likeable actress. She is so likeable in this movie and fairly early on, you want her to succeed.
John Holt: you want her out of that strip club and you want her to like live life like a rich person. I don't know what it is but you just want that to happen.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm.
John Holt: As the film goes on it's bloody hilarious with like these Russian goons trying to sort of like get rid of her, she won't go easily, slapstick comedy, lots of shouting, it's it's hilarious.
John Holt: But come the finale, there's a final scene where I gotta be honest, it stayed with me.
John Holt: It ruined my week. Like, I just could not get it out of my head. It is just like this person who only understands affection when it's delivered in one way, so doesn't understand when someone's just being selfless.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: And there's a realisation, a reaction. It is the saddest thing I think I've ever seen.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, God.
John Holt: Like, it's so sad. And yeah that's why she needs to win for that that scene alone. It's just a masterclass in everything.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, wow.
John Holt: Yeah, so there you go. Anora, see it immediately. It's amazing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, that's been on my list. And it's it's only something that I've... Did it come out of the kind of latter end of 2024? Because I feel like it.
John Holt: Yeah, November.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, because I only really recall hearing about it kind of the last few weeks. So yeah, that kind of checked out.
John Holt: Oh, really?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, it's it's weird I mean, 2024 was a weird year for me, film -wise, because I saw a lot more films than I expected ah that came out that year. but I think I've missed quite a lot of the big hitters and Anora seems to be, or certainly was at one point like, yeah, like on an Oscar bait and yeah, and I don't know if like, I was maybe put off slightly because the storyline at least on the surface seemed a bit a bit rote and I was like, yeah, like you say, it sounded a bit kind of pretty woman and
John Holt: Mm.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: But, you know, there has to be a reason why, you know, and this is the thing with the Oscars, like they do get a lot of stuff wrong a lot of the time, but if you're nominating for an Oscar, then there is probably probably at least some element there that's a little bit different.
John Holt: yeah
John Holt: They do.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: So maybe, yeah, oh ohll I'll check it out, especially as you recommended it at this point, you're basically like my film guru. So yeah, I'll put that on my watch list.
John Holt: yeah
John Holt: Nice one! Alright dude, what's your next category?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Okay, so following in, ah I guess not at all the same vein. So my category is called most what the fuck law.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: So ah this is ah law, so like the kind of story building behind a story where it's either maybe scratch scratch my head or wonder like what the hell went on there.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: So my Noah nations are Arcadian, long legs,
John Holt: Hmm. Hmm.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Deadpool versus Wolverine and Alien Romulus.
John Holt: the
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And the winner ah is Longlegs. Now, I've spoken to you about this before, but there's a very, there's ah in Longlegs you've got a very good film which has a shell of like, you know, it's a hunt for a serial killer and then spoiler alert, there's actually a hunt basically for two serial killers
John Holt: Hmm. Yes.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: But then the whole ah whole concept of which this entire film hangs is how are they able to seemingly basically kill people without actually doing anything to them?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: You know, these people have been, okay, seen, or this lady has seen, you know, looking after families, blah, blah, blah, blah, and they're all fine. And then suddenly they just go absolutely psychotic and kill each other.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: So, you know, there's a lot of, um it's a lot of ways
John Holt: It was the silver ball in the doll heads that they're delivered to.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It is and that's that's what causes the evil and in this silver ball it's like like the essence of hell or something.
John Holt: Yeah, so I think long legs and certain character were like manufacturing them. I don't get i'm I'm showing a thing and I'm wondering if, because a lot of it is sort of hinted at and never explained, but I get the sense that that just purely for the fact that who made them, that evil was transferred somehow.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah and also why
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: I don't know.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, which I think checks out but I think my problem with this film is it kind of paints itself as kind of semi realistic. It feels like one of those kind of 1970s kind of ah FBI thrillers and then just as you get into the the the climax, you do find out it's like, oh, it's just this weird. Yeah, like magic stone that's been I was just expecting I think I was trying to work out, bless you, I was trying to work out what um i was trying to work out what what it was trying to say by doing that.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And I couldn't really, I couldn't really, there wasn't anything to latch onto. I think, I mean, I think the performances all around are fantastic.
John Holt: Hmm. Oh.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I do you think Nicholas Cage was good. I don't necessarily think he was,
John Holt: He made a choice and it was one of these classic choices and he was like, Mrs Doubtfire on her deathbed. So he was like, Oh child, you're so precious child.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: ah and it was creepy the you doing that actually has probably said chills up my spine yeah be and be like hello james i can't see you because i'm on my long legs
John Holt: I'm going to phone you later and just say that like a free AM. Cause I do that in my sleep.
John Holt: Yeah, I got my long legs out, James!
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: You fucking drop in front of the window. like
John Holt: Oh, sorry. oh sorry
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: ah yeah no So it's just weird. It's just like the law doesn't quite work. I feel like it it raises more questions and answers, but not in a a satisfactory way.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: it kind of Like I say, because the film plays it kind of straight and quite realistic, and then they don't really explain this this element. And like I say, I don't can't work out what it's trying to say about like it's like oh if you could bottle up evil you would or and then there's um like the main character like gets uh uh i think she touches it or she gets it like invades her mind but then i don't think it gets brought back does it like she doesn't suffer from the effects like it
John Holt: Yeah.
John Holt: No! I can't remember exactly, but I think she, like, blacks out and then suddenly she's awake and she has to track her mum down, I think.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: yeah that's right but it doesn't you know it's not like it it doesn't seem to have a hold on her or anything or it doesn't you know she had been like oh this dark power seductive or i can see yeah it just no it just didn't and it's a strange one because i think that film got a lot of hype and i enjoyed kind of individual elements but as a whole
John Holt: Hmm.
John Holt: I kind of really enjoy that movie, but I don't, like, I think I've said this to you before and I think I said it on a review on another podcast, but, like, I'm so sick of these poster quotes.
John Holt: Like, it's the new silence in the labs. Well, it's not, is it?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: It's like a above average X -Files episode, let's be honest. And it's just like, I don't know, I just don't get what, well, I do get it, but you're doing your readers a disservice, stop it.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, exactly. Like, yeah, the Northman gladiator that.
John Holt: Oh yes, the new Gladiator, that was the classic, yeah. Ugh, anyway.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Anyway, that's that's me.
John Holt: Okay, so my next category is the I just don't get what you saw in this award, sponsored by Zencaster. I'm not Billa, or anything.
John Holt: And I'll just add the caveat that I like all of these films. too There's only one on this list that I don't like but these films were just on every critics top 10 or they were given like a five -star banger rating proclaimed a classic and I just don't see it.
John Holt: So these are my choices.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: no
John Holt: The nominees for I just don't get what you saw in this award are The Beast, Presence, Hundreds of Beavers,
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, come on, man.
John Holt: Get away and I saw the TV glow.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I know what one you're going to go for as well.
John Holt: The winner is hundreds of beavers.
John Holt: ah li So here we are.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Sahelia.
John Holt: Let me explain why. Now I was primed to love this film. It's exactly the sort of harkening back to the cartoons I grew up on.
John Holt: got an element of the Far Side Gallery to it. All stuff that I really love, old fashioned animation, slapstick humor, looney tunes. That's a great idea. In a 40 minute max YouTube short.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mmm.
John Holt: How long is this film?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I think it's an hour and 50, isn't it?
John Holt: Yeah, why is it that long?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's quite - it's quite low.
John Holt: and And it was great for like 30 minutes to 40 minutes. And then I was done and I tuned out and I was like, this has gone on too long. The jokes won way for thin. I'm out.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: And I just, I hate doing this because as well, you can tell it was a massive labor of love. It's like low budget in the extreme, but you can tell what they did, how many actual beaver suits they had and how they cleverly used tools available to them.
John Holt: And that is why I hate like just criticizing stuff like this because I just feel like
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: yeah
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hating on it.
John Holt: I shouldn't do it. I don't want to do it. You know, some of my favorite films ever have had this exact do -it -yourself attitude, but I just felt like hundreds of beavers just stretched itself way too thin.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: a
John Holt: And I am sorry, because it's so weird that I wrote this literally while you were watching the fucking film and you texted me an hour later to say you were crying, laughing, watching it and loving it.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: i
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: aye I there's ah can't remember the last time i yeah I was crying, laughing, watching a film. I mean i was okay so think the first half hour, it's pretty funny, the setup and when you get used to the ridiculous things, like oh the beavers are all dressed up in suits when they die they get the big X through the eyes all that sort of stuff i yeah that's oh so did you not love the bit do you not love the bits where instead of like the beavers and wolves like fucking ripping stuff apart they would just like kick stuff to death
John Holt: Yeah, I love that stuff though.
John Holt: Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of little touches like that that is really funny.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah and then okay so then you get to the middle part of the field because I know exactly the bit where you fell off you fell off at the bit where he he's kind of has to go off on his own because spoiler alert Santa Claus maybe is dead but actually he's probably a beaver so that's fine and but then he then goes around the entire map and I think that is a running joke in that he literally
John Holt: Yeah, yeah. Hmm.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: like fucking paints a map of like how to catch all these beavers, goes around the map once, then like corrects it as he goes, goes around and then he's refining all these traps and stuff. And then and did the opening credits kick in.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I'm done. But okay, so I get his sags in the middle, but that last, I think it's 30 minutes to the dot is some of the the best, I'm gonna say it here, it's some of the funniest the most creative filmmaking I've ever seen.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: the How could you not laugh at the bit where he gets like arrested by the beavers and then gets allocated a beaver lawyer?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: He's really shit and just sensible to say.
John Holt: See, I don't even remember that bit. This is the thing...
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: No, man, it was so good.
John Holt: I need to, I need to probably, like, there's a lot of stuff I probably need to give a second shake.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: I will give this a second look, because and enough people have loved it, and now the fact that you love it, i'm I'm a bit like, what was wrong with me that day, but...
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: yeah well because i saw that when i saw this film i was like there's there's two people that i that i feel like it's like this will stick with them and it will be like as if they created this film one of those people was you i was like i was like there's no way that that you i was like john will see this as a fucking masterpiece i was like i was i was under no impressions i was like i'm just gonna tell him
John Holt: Yeah.
John Holt: Hmm.
John Holt: Oh, really?
John Holt: Yeah, well, maybe that was the thing, though. Maybe it was just like, oh, this is made for me. It's completely my my jam. And then it was just like, oh, OK, well, maybe it's it just I don't know.
John Holt: I just bounced off it because it was probably too high expectation that that happens sometimes.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: That's interesting, because for me, like, because when we, you know, came up with this, this, ah you know, fairly last minute kind of idea, I was like, looking around, I was like, okay, I want to watch something from 2024, but something that's, you know, I could watch something like a Nora or something a bit more mainstream, but I was like, let's have a look.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And it was one of Empire's top films of the year. And I was like, Oh, this sounds weird.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And I was like, Is this what I think it is? And it's like, yeah. So maybe it's because the hype train never got to me. I must've been living under a rock in 2024 at various points.
John Holt: Yeah, could be because, like, i I think it was it started around this time last year. It sort of like continued into the summer. But it was very much like hundreds of beavers is amazing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: a
John Holt: And it was like really indie, indie outside the the outside of the mainstream sort of thing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, yeah.
John Holt: So it was like
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Like super niche, yeah.
John Holt: Yeah, it was showing a lot of like really like lesser well -known festivals and and people were kind of like shouting from the rooftops how good it was.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: So that probably set me off for a fail for a start because I always kind of take those things with a bit of a pinch of salt now and it was like six months of it.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: So that could be it. I don't know.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, but it is like, and what I do like about it is, yeah, it's a ridiculous film, but like it is genuinely a love letter to like old silent cinema. And I love the fact that the only bit of dialogue like it comes up like as ah as a sub -title.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's one of those films where as soon as you think it is tailing off, like it would just hit you with another funny bit. like Again, like it's very straightforward, but just a running gag where the the kind of like a shopkeeper dude, like whenever he spits out his tobacco and he always tries to aim for that pot, and then like a gust of wind or something would just like take it off.
John Holt: Yeah. yeah
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: like or like the the the the kind of grand reveal where you know for the kind of the title where it's like so he's got a on his like shop that's outside it's got like oh if you kill so many beavers you get an axe kill so many beavers you bes get a gun and then he the the main characters after the like this guy's like daughter basically and hit
John Holt: Oh yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: and there's like a life picture of an engagement ring and he's like the only way you can get the engagement ring is to and then it just on the screen it's like kill hundreds of beavers and then suddenly like that sign just like there's just like hundreds of beavers like running off it like in a big ah it's just yeah i i have to say i loved it and it was uh very well i say it was very tough week it was only Monday but um yeah like i was having quite a tough time and it just cheered me right up.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Now I could come back to it and think, this is ridiculous. But I i think that if you enjoy the first half hour, yeah, it sags a bit in the middle. But that last half hour is just like a complete joy.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And, you know, beavers on um sleds that then turn into like motorbikes. And so I think, yeah, I think it's just, it just tickles that kind of childish part in your brain.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And it was just a lot of fun. I loved it.
John Holt: Fedus? Agree to disagree. Umm...
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Sick it with The Last Jedi and all those other films that we disagree on.
John Holt: Okay!
John Holt: So, what's your next category?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: So my next category. o sort link ah So this category was originally called something, something Hollywood, blah, blah, blah. But apparently that wasn't too clear. So this category is called most blatant Hollywood industry in joke. So
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: For us, so the nominees are Substance, Maxine, Deadpool versus Wolverine, and Late Night with the Devil.
John Holt: Oh.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, so like, that yeah, the kind of through line with all of these is pretty much like, and oh, you know, washed up superstar, has get to Hollywood, but sells their soul kind of thing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: For me, and this is easily my least favorite film out of all these four, the winner is Deadpool versus Wolverine, because it does that thing, you know, there's all these inside jokes about, oh, we've brought back all the old Marvel characters back together. Oh, here's Electra, here's Gambit, who we all wanted, but he's got stupid voice and he's gonna die in like three minutes, like, ha, ha, ha. But and yeah, it's just,
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's become like, it's almost like self -referential about Marvel's failings, but i I don't see, I just still don't see how it's a good thing. And they do it in every Marvel film where they write, it's like with the whole Hawkeye and it's like, oh, he's really shit. He's got a bow and arrow and it's like, ha ha, but it's like, but it's your, it's your IP. And at the same time they want to, it is part of the machine. So it's all very well, Ryan Reynolds coming on the screen basically like,
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: oh, we couldn't afford the budget for this. It's like, well, yeah, that's maybe funny in the context of the film that you you want us to think you're making. But in the actual reality, it's a really polished Hollywood product, which is, despite all the kind of and glib one liners, is actually really and as hollow as the Hollywood machine itself. So would you agree with that?
John Holt: Yeah, I would agree actually. There's a lot about that film I don't like. um I think it's it's fun while you're watching it. I think it's like eating McDonald's, basically. Because when we were talking on last episode about PUBG being a bit of an icky moment for games, I feel like Deadpool vs Wolverine is a bit of an icky moment for movies, if I'm honest. It's it's like callback and reference to the movie. and And I struggle to see what a lot of the cameos actually added to the story.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, especially like when, when he battled Sabertooth and it was like, oh, well you nerds have been waiting for this.
John Holt: um
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And then it's like, it was like a minute and it was completely non.
John Holt: Have you been following the Hollywood gossip?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I can't, I can't say I have. What is the Hollywood gusset right now?
John Holt: Do you even take shits? What do you do with your phone when you're on on the loo, but look at Hollywood gossip?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I, Our YouTube hints and tips for Rogue Waters, the greatest strategy game ever made.
John Holt: That's probably more productive, but anyway, if you get a chance, next time you're having a turnout, look just specifically when you're having a turnout, no other time of day should you do this.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: crazy
John Holt: Like, look up the origins of Nice Pool. Like, Nice Pool, as in the nice version of Deadpool, and it will possibly change your opinion of the entire movie.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: I don't know what's real and what's gossip, but it's interesting, let's put it that way.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Is it one of without wishing to go down a rabbit hole? Is it one of those where it's like, oh, this is what Ryan Reynolds was originally going to do with the character kind of thing?
John Holt: no it's like that character is is a dig at someone else and that's all i'll say because yeah this is the moskers and we need to keep it civil yeah
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: a
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: aye Okay, I mean, yeah, there's been a lot of fighting in the background, Channing Tate and spat at someone, ah you know,
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Sabrina Carpenter's fucking sworn on stage. It's all getting a bit, you know.
John Holt: Bryan Reynolds is going to walk up and slap a host from daring to mention Blake Lively. But anyway,
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, Anthony Spinioli or whatever he's called, yeah.
John Holt: so the next award, the next Moscow is for best performance by an animal.
John Holt: Because animals are actors, too.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: They are. and they won awards for it in the form.
John Holt: Perhaps the most underrated of performers um
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yes, I agree with that.
John Holt: The nominees for best performance by an animal are The Horse in Venom the Last Dance,
John Holt: The Pet Monkey in Gladiator 2, The Whole Cast of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, or finally
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: Count Orlok's penis in Nosferatu.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Did you even get...
John Holt: And the winner score the winner is the monkey in Gladiator 2.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, sorry. Sorry. na No, no, no, no. Go on, go on.
John Holt: How could it not be? He runs an empire.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: and
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: He's literally like on the Senate. if The monkey is on the Senate.
John Holt: So what I'm talking about here, right, so Gladiator 2, alright, the Caesars in power are these two twins who are basically terrible.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh.
John Holt: They're like Trump Jr. and Eric, but like on meth, basically. So think Caligula and that kind of thing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: a
John Holt: So one of them's like brain -addled with syphilis, basically. And he looks dirty, doesn't he? Like all the time, you just look at that, actually.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, it's just crying in.
John Holt: He's like, he just looks dirty. Anyway, for one reason or another, he ends up in power. And he's got this pet monkey and he appoints his pet monkey, like literally deputy prime minister or something like that.
John Holt: And never has a monkey performance ever shone so brightly. Like, think Gary Oldman in The Darkest Hour. Think Killian Murphy in Oppenheimer. He's haunted by by the weight. The weight of Rome is upon that monkey's brow in the very short scene where he's actually in charge.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And also he gets the entire Senate, or Denzel Washington gets the entire Senate to like swear allegiance to this monkey as well, which is fucking terrific.
John Holt: I think, yeah, it's weird actually because Denzil sort of like doesn't pay homage to the monkey.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: No, well, that's good see that's because he's the organ grinder.
John Holt: You kind of just blanks it and strides about.
John Holt: Oh, boom, boom, where's the, where's the drops? There I go.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I dropped the mic, so.
John Holt: Drop the mic.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I just went on stage. I was drunk and I gave a a drunken rant about ah about Trump and about the forest fires in LA.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And then I pissed myself on stage and I was like, fuck you. Like it was a proper, like, yeah. And I've got one more thing to say. And my agent's like, come on man, just go, go, go.
John Holt: Come on.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: a Yeah, I mean, I don't know. You said underappreciated, so maybe this is why you missed it out. But what about the dog in Deadpool versus Wolverine?
John Holt: Oh yeah, I forgot about that dog.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Okay. Or I mean, my argument would be that its performance was recognized as such. And and maybe it deserved, you know, I don't think it deserved all the plaudits.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I think I don't want this dog to come away with an inflated sense of self. and become like the new Timothy Chalamet. So I can see why you left the dog out. You want to keep him grounded.
John Holt: Yeah, he was already in the biggest film of the year, you know what I mean?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: you know
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, exactly. So there's other other takers.
John Holt: We don't need that one getting me too, do we?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And actually actually, you could probably put that monkey scene actually in my unintentionally funny scenes. But then again, it probably I think it was meant to be funny, but not that funny.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Like it was hilarious. Like how fucking stupid it was. And I know it happened in real life every year.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah. yes Someone did get yes. Yes. And yeah, but no, it's, it's trash film, but yeah.
John Holt: Is that based on a truth? Is that something that happened in Rome?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: Because you know all about Rome.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: so Yeah.
John Holt: Was a monkey actually Caesar at one point?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah. So like the, the,
John Holt: amazing
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: The Emperor, like I can't remember what his name is, but he basically yeah did yeah a and get a monkey. I can't remember it if it was, he made him Emperor or he just got him a seat like in the Senate, but was it was, yeah, it's one of those.
John Holt: Oh, brilliant.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I think there's a myth as well about, what's it Nero did with, like Nero made his horse Emperor as well, so there's obviously a whole, now that's apparently a bit of a myth, but there's obviously a whole
John Holt: See, this is a problem with politics now. We take it too seriously, don't we?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's not enough animals.
John Holt: Like, what why can't we have an orangutan, like, sector of defence? Like, what's the harm at this point? ah she
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Don't give him ideas. like yeah
John Holt: Well, you know what I mean? Like look introducing you to the new Secretaria of the Interior, and it's my Alsatian Bob.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: he said
John Holt: ah he who He's a very good boy.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: and he just just shat on the senate floor like oh bad boy and he we will get the the that he he will raise tariffs he will oh god that is true we we literally did and what a what a fun job that lettuce did
John Holt: Yeah. I mean, we had to let us as Prime Minister for like six weeks, didn't we? Yeah. Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: uh definitely did better than that fucking upstart that tried to uh try to get in on the lettuces uh parade but yeah you're right i think yeah while we're at it and and i think maybe we could like incorporate like marine animals into it so like obviously i'm not saying think if you make a stingray the head of agriculture i mean that's a fucking
John Holt: Oh, I tell you what, a dolphin is going to be president of the world eventually and they're going to just sort everything out, I reckon.
John Holt: That's a win.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: that the economy sorted like, um and stingrays don't have ah any sense of what an economy is, which I mean, I think coming into it with a completely blank slate, it's genius really.
John Holt: Yeah.
John Holt: There you go. Alright, what's your next category, sir?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: so So this is where it starts to get and a little bit a little bit weird.
John Holt: The next award?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: So my next category is, ah the most interesting facial hair or lack thereof.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: So you'll see why I've added that caveat on at the end because ah well, hope you'll see soon enough. So, ah yeah, I'll just do a quick breakdown just to really, I really want to paint the picture of, of and I mean, I think this is a very strong category. It's got some of the the biggest nominees, some of the biggest films of the year. so ah So Nosferatu is my first one.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Now Nosferatu, so everybody thinks of Willem Dafoe's like big crazy mustache and that's absolutely fair but I also posit to you, you also have Nosferatu's weird like fucking greasy limp like ah like Russian Cossar mustache as well.
John Holt: oh yeah
John Holt: This is one of about two things that I didn't like about Nosferatu.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: I liked it overall. I'm positive on it. But he looked like zombie Wario, let's be honest.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: du
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah. Do you know what? He was good when he was in the shadows, when he was like in the coffin and stuff. and And you actually saw like, yeah, it wasn't a great design.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Fair play to insert first name Skarsgard here because he it's yeah he always does a really good job of like inhabiting that character.
John Holt: Hmm.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: In terms of characteration characterization, it was great. I think
John Holt: yet hold that thought cuz you haven't read the rest of the nominees Pedro Pascal
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I think... There he goes, my ADHD again. So, Nosferatu. Gladiator2, I mean, look, you've got, ah I was gonna say Javier Bardem.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: You don't, you've got Pedro Pascal. You've got, and I wanna say Charlie Hunnam. Why is that happening?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, fucking hell. How is this? He's really famous. Who's the main guy in Gladiator2? God almighty.
John Holt: Paul Mezcal.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Call mezcal. So yeah, I'll fuck that one up, but yeah, they both got beards, so enjoy that. ah Deadpool versus Wolverine. You know, sometimes Ryan Redhalter's light facial hair, but obviously here. right Now, this raises a very interesting question.
John Holt: Before you continue, have you finished reading the nominees?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: No.
John Holt: OK, finish that. yeah
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Okay, okay, you know what, but before I finish it, I'll leave this with you and you can answer it at the end. So Wolverine sideburns, is it facial hair or not? Don't answer now, not now. I'll finish going through the list. Apocalypse Z at the beginning of the end. The main actor has a beard.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: so
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Civil War. Ron Swanson has a beard. I don't know why I'm forgetting people's names, but I'm gonna have to run with it. The zone of interest, Rudolf Höss has no facial hair, but it's so like exquisitely not facial hair that I can only applaud it. So back to you in the studio, John, sideburns. Facial hair or not facial hair?
John Holt: Uh, I class it as facial hair.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Okay, excellent.
John Holt: Do you know what I thought you were just going to say? Like, Rudolf Huss has no facial hair, but his wife has hundreds of beavers!
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: a And that would have been the perfect, and and we all could have gone home, you would have completed the internet. But alas, the winner is and the zone of interest for
John Holt: Yep.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: it's remarkably so little hair on his face that it actually made me wonder out how it was possible to have such a close... yeah I mean you look at that man's face that is smooth a and you can see you can see the five o 'clock shadow you can see like where the basis of a beard could be.
John Holt: Really?
John Holt: What's the actor's name?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's a great question and I was hoping you wouldn't ask me that because I've forgotten. ah Let me have a look.
John Holt: Don't worry, don't worry. I'll look it up.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: eight But he just, and it's not part of the the award, but the way his hair's swept over, it just accentuates that.
John Holt: Oh, Christian Freel!
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Ah, the name was on the tip of my tongue all along, yes.
John Holt: Oh, he's one of those people like Benedict Cumberbatch where he looks like he was grown in a lab. It's just like facial hair wasn't part of the deal because we could create the perfect person and it wasn't hairy.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah. Oh no, exactly. ah So yeah, I mean,
John Holt: Do you know he's actually ah same age as me. That's annoying.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Is he?
John Holt: Yeah. And he's actually a musician as well.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, wow.
John Holt: And he released a song called Angelic Bitch in 2005.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: hit.
John Holt: Interesting.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I wonder if Jonathan Glazer considered that as ah the backing track for Sign of Interest rather than what we eventually got. um Yeah, so I think, look,
John Holt: Probably.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: If you're going along the traditional, like, like woke liberal route, then yeah, you've nominated someone with a beard, but I'm here to tear up the rule book.
John Holt: All right, so a close shave.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: So, yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: who ah Oh, where's the...
John Holt: Actually, that wasn't that wasn't actually meant to be funny. I was just I was referencing what you gave the award for, which was literally a close shave.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: a Okay, yeah, I could have, yeah.
John Holt: But anyway, I appreciate it. um
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: i ah
John Holt: OK, so next category is best film made for streaming. Now, this is a bit weird because some of these were like independent movies that were then picked up by like Netflix or what have you.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And is this, are we saying best films made for streaming? Are we saying like, that's best films that came out in the streaming platform or films that are better, maybe not necessarily viewed in a cinema, but at home.
John Holt: bli Let me know. These are all like either Netflix originals, Apple originals, HBO Max originals or think one of them's.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Right, oh yeah.
John Holt: a No, that's it. Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: okay
John Holt: So the nominees are Will and Harper, Rebel Ridge, Wolf's, Caddo Lake and Carry On. And the winner is Rebel Ridge.
John Holt: Have you seen this?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I have not seen any of these or not heard of any of these films.
John Holt: Good Lord. OK, so Rebel Ridge is basically Jeremy Sornier's latest movie, he who directed Blue Ruin and Green Room. And this is a highly intelligent grounded in police corruption and brutality.
John Holt: thriller which is a take it's kind of like a and like a more intelligent version of Stallone's like first blood so basically you have this guy he's a former marine he's taking some bail money to his cousin he gets hit by a police cruiser and they end up taking his money putting him through like bureaucracy so it's like impossible to get it back he takes offense to this starts investigating the town the sheriff
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm hmm.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I have heard of this.
John Holt: things get violent, but they don't get violent straight away. It's interesting in that when the violence eventually erupts, it's like this catharsis and it's more like, I'm just going to disable you so that you can't kill me rather than me kill you.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: And it is a cracking thriller. It's a great piece of writing. um Aaron Pierre is the the main star of it. I think he's playing some version of Green Lantern next. And he's a star. He's freaking amazing. He would have been a good choice for Blade as well. And it's just a cracking movie. Everyone should watch it. And it's just a shame that these things aren't released in the cinema now. You make a thriller for like 30 million.
John Holt: That used to be like the mainstay of your local flea pit in the 90s. Now it's just, that's the the kind of movie that just goes straight to Netflix now and it's, it's a shame.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, and then get forgotten. Yeah.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah. Okay, that's interesting. Because yeah, I saw that. And again, oh, God, I feel like a broken record here. I kind of avoided it because I was like, oh, it looks a bit rote and he's gonna now if I hadn't realized it was a directive of blue ruin, which is one of my faves of all time, then I maybe would have reconsidered because that
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: that felt quite although there was kind of violence in Spurs with ah throughout the film like that felt like it kind of ramped up towards the end and it's I like I like the directors kind of whole I'm guessing it's films like it as well where it's like the whole idea of like revenge actually isn't like it's it's really not great and it's actually better if you just didn't do anything
John Holt: Hmm.
John Holt: No, and I think that that director, I think he actually understands how to use onscreen violence better than anyone in a really long time, because he uses it to ramp up the tension.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: and the ah ah okay
John Holt: It's like when Like in Green Room, that first act of violence is so horrific that you very much do not want that to happen to anyone else.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: yeah
John Holt: And that's suddenly the tension comes in because it gives you like the stakes that these Nazis, they're not dicking around.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: And and he does it again in like Hold the Dark. There's some great use of violence in that. But again, it's all in aid of story.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mmm.
John Holt: And I think this does the same thing in that it builds, it builds, and it builds, and it doesn't go the way you expect.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mmm.
John Holt: But it makes perfect sense when you think about like the narrative and the character.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: So strong recommend, Rebel Ridge.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: Love it.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Okay, excellent. I would definitely check that one out.
John Holt: Cool. What's your next category?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Well, my next category. So, oh, this one's a bit of a mouthful. so Worst attempt by a carbon -based life form at being nice to children. So hopefully the carbon -based bit will become apparent. So nominees are Long Legs, Poor Things, Sting, Late Night with the Devil, Furiosa, Civil War, Outside, and Nosferatu. And
John Holt: hell's outside?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: so So this was ah a... It was either a Malaysian or Sri Lankan zombie film about... ah Yeah, it's...
John Holt: Oh, I do know what this is. I haven't seen it, but I know.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I mean, I've struggled to finish it. It wasn't very good. And I am going to say that the winner is...
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: ah Poor things.
John Holt: Poor
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: yes because it's a kind of funny haha because of the ridiculous uh debate that happened where it's like oh well isn't he having sex with the child and it's like no yeah see it's all still glib and i mean it's i've kind of out glibbed my own glibness but yeah that's basically yeah
John Holt: Oh, I see what you mean.
John Holt: Oh, right, yeah, because she's like a newborn, isn't she? In the head of a fully grown adult that then goes out and has loads of fun.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah. Yeah. And discovers the world and rather than look at it as being like, oh, it's a metaphor for like, you know, exploring your sexuality and like growing up and, and the way of sex and all that.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: They're like, yes, but he's having sex with a child. It's like, that's not, it just isn't, it just isn't.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: That's not what it's about. It's not, and it's not dealt with because it's not, it's just not there. It's not, it's not something.
John Holt: No.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And it's always bothered me about Not about the film. I think the film's an absolute ah ah masterpiece. And I love the director as well.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I think like pretty much like that that whole kind of a kind of sense of like oddness like just pervades everything he does.
John Holt: Mm.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And I think Jorgas Lanthimos. And um yeah, I think it's a triumph. I think it's great because he's made kind of a mainstream film. We still see some heavy issues and there's a bit of science fiction in there.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: You know, I've not really seen, you know, you could argue there's a bit of Frankenstein in there and Willem Dafoe being crazy, like it's it's got it all. And I think, yeah, I think it was a masterpiece.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And yeah, I just think it got unfairly rounded on and yeah.
John Holt: It is by far the best body horror steampunk sex -fast you will ever see. I think.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's like the top two.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Top two. Definitely.
John Holt: I really enjoyed it though, but you know what what you're talking about with that controversy. That's like, I swear to God, like when these controversies erupt and they don't take off and I think it's all bots, you know what I mean?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: Like I think it's literally Russian agents sowing dissension wherever they can and and discord and disharmony because it never catches on and it goes away.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: but that's That's such a ridiculous thing to say that like that's your takeaway from that movie.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: and it's like you know I think that the ending of that movie is, I mean I've had discussions about this with other people, but it's kind of like empowering and it's a strong message
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm. Oh, God, yeah.
John Holt: And it feels like certain people's takeaway from it was like, well, she was the child and that kind of thing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: This is weird.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's like she was a prostitute. And this was very and it's like, again, it's like, okay, the these things.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yes, you can look at it and be like, yes, that is true. But that's that that's not it's just not what the film is about. And it
John Holt: nor No.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: You know, it doesn't at any point, you know, glamorize, um, underage sex or anything. Like it's not, it's just, it's just not that film. And I just feel like, yeah, as you said, people have either seen a completely different film or yeah, some shadowy fucking shit on the internet's going down, which time goes on.
John Holt: No.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's time yeah more and more convinced that is, that is probably what's happened there. But yeah, so, uh, yeah, you know what, that was meant to be a really lighthearted category. And then I just, uh, yeah.
John Holt: right so from that let's go into another light -hearted category.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm hmm.
John Holt: Most disturbing film.
John Holt: So the nominees are Smile 2. Way better than you think it's gonna be.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Okay.
John Holt: blink twice the substance red rooms or strange darling and the winner is red rooms because absolutely it is and it's so weird because that's not even a horror movie technically so red rooms i think i told you about this movie didn't i so it's this french canadian thing
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: mmm maybe it doesn't ring a bell but but
John Holt: um and it's basically about the trial of this killer who was taking teenage girls, torturing them and murdering them whilst streaming it online on the dark web whilst a whole bunch of people paid to watch it basically because I don't know but for the purposes of this movie let's say no
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: See, this is like a ah real life thing. Oh, okay. Mm -hmm.
John Holt: So this is the trial and you've got this model outside of the trial who is obsessed with the trial. And you kind of see her attend court every day.
John Holt: You see her go home and go on the dark web and start selling the actual clips that the killer made.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm.
John Holt: And she's like trying to track people through and it's like it's never clear what her motivations are. And I've got to be honest, by the end, it's still not clear what her motivations are, but she does something so despicable in the courtroom, so callous, so cruel that I've just never seen anything like it. But that's not even the most disturbing part. The disturbing part is in the courtroom when the jury are shown the the torture and murder videos.
John Holt: Again, you don't see it.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mmm.
John Holt: You see the reaction and you hear a snippet of it. And that is enough.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm -hmm.
John Holt: It is blood curdling.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh.
John Holt: like Like nothing I've experienced in a long time. Genuinely upsetting stuff. But it's a great movie.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: um
John Holt: like Red Room is funny enough. did make a lot of people's top 10 lists last year in the end and I didn't think anyone had seen it because it' it's like in this country it didn't get a cinema release it just squeaked out around the back of the Amazon new releases section and there it was and it was not the film I thought it would be because when I rented it I was like oh this is gonna be like hostile it's gonna be like fun and silly and it was not that film so yeah
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: hmm is it uh neither fun nor silly yeah was it uh was it a foreign film or like oh that's right you said ah okay so they're all speaking in in french okay hmm okay that sounds
John Holt: It's French Canadian. So I don't think so, I guess so. Yeah. It's like set in Quebec, I think. yes Yeah. Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: That sounds very interesting actually, yeah.
John Holt: It is very interesting. You know, I would have appreciated a little more clarity come the finale. It gets a bit black swan.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: a
John Holt: But um yeah, worth a watch, definitely. like Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Okay. The one thing I need to take away from today is that it's just a bunch of films that I need to see from last year. I miss so many.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I'll blame it on the house move, but yeah, we'll forget about the the ones earlier on the year, but yeah.
John Holt: That happened months ago now.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: That did happen. That's old news size stuff.
John Holt: That was like two years ago. What a nonsense. Anyway. Right, James, ah I believe you've got one more category and I've got one more category. What what one do you want to do first?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, so I'll i'll just do, ah so I've got a category. So in terms of like, you know, looking at all the, fit sometimes it's a film comes along and um I just don't think one category is enough. So I just want to nominate a film, just a real quick list of these categories. So I think this film wins. If it went to the Oscars like today, it would win best film, best actor, best supporting actor, actress, best original your screenplay, best director, cinematography, editing and costume. And the winner is Hundreds of Beavers.
John Holt: Alright, look, is this recency bias because you watched it last night?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I, when I tell you it's the funniest film I've seen, I mean, I can't even remember the last time I was like crying, laughing. I just can't, I can't think of a film that's done that to me for decades.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And it, again, like maybe because I was in a slightly fragile state of mind, although that's over egging it somewhat.
John Holt: Really?
John Holt: you just hysterically laugh like
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, just, just crying like tears of blood.
John Holt: ah a
John Holt: yeah
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: mirroring it in my face like, ah, screwing the walls. But it just connected with me in a way that very few films have. Again, like I always use the example, I'm gonna text my friend about it the other day, I was like, it's as if you and me like made a film, and this is what came out of it.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Like, it just, it's kind of dark in a weird way, but it's also just fucking silly.
John Holt: He's just hysterically laughing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And I just, there's just so much,
John Holt: yeah
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: If you don't like it, it's absolutely fun. But like I just think there's just so much to offer there.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And I'll definitely watch it again to see, to have a look. I mean, I'm not a big fan of comedies anyway. I usually watch like stuff like that, red rins, like that would probably be more up my alley.
John Holt: Yeah, that's why I'm so surprised you haven't seen off these movies I've been mentioning to be honest, because they're like exactly your Christmas Day sit down and
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: but
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Sit down with the grandkids, like, yeah. but
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And maybe maybe that's because it is very against type, because I found as I've got older, the video games I play, the books I read, the films I watch, I am now at that stage where I'm, because there's so much out there, I'm now at a stage where I'm like, in my head mentally filing away like hundreds of pieces of media that I'm like realistically, I'm not going to get round to seeing that. So I'm just going to focus on my particular lane. So again, video games.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: turn -based strategy is now pretty much all I play because I'm like, there's so much out there that I'm now focusing in on, I'm kind of going into myself when it comes to kind of media now.
John Holt: That's why I've kind of decided for the whole of 2025 I am not buying any video games because my backlog is ridiculous.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Good man. Yeah, same here. And this is the thing, and I, I mean, I have, forty 46 games on Steam alone, not counting Epic Games, all that sort of stuff.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And um about five minutes every night, I'll scroll through them just being like, shall I play this one? Oh, don't I don't know, shall I play this? Oh, but what if I don't like it? And what about this one? I said, i'd oh, and then I play, like, like this there's too much choice.
John Holt: Mmm, it really is Yeah,
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And I do think we'll, as a society, will we'll get to the point, if we haven't already, where it's too much out there to consume, like,
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It's just everything you see inside nebulous i Obviously
John Holt: I Think Yeah, I think we're there. I think we're there but anyway, so Obviously we disagree on that um But they go so the final category is
John Holt: This show's gone on for four hours. Everyone's falling asleep. Kirk Douglas has wandered backstage. No one can find him.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Kirk.
John Holt: So the best film, not nominated for the Best Film Academy Award. The nominees are Civil War, Challengers, Furiosa, A Mad Max Saga, Love Lies Bleeding,
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: o
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: moon
John Holt: the order or sing sing oh have you you keep that quiet yes great
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I've seen some of these, you know. ah Oh yeah. ah So Love Lies Bleeding, I didn't think I'd like but I actually kind of loved.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: It really is and like, oh my God, I've been dreadful with names today. The main actress, Kirsten, no.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Jesus Christ. Yeah, shit like she's amazing in it.
John Holt: She's so good.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: But yeah, and Furios that I liked, I don't necessarily know that it was Oscar worthy, but we've we've talked about that before, I guess.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: And what was the second film you mentioned? I think the second one.
John Holt: Challenges Civil War
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Sorry, what was the one before that? Civil War. So Civil War, I thought would get a token nomination. However, I wonder, Because of a political landscape we're currently living in, do you reckon that's maybe partly why it's been avoided?
John Holt: Well, do you want to know what my winner is?
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, go on then. Yeah.
John Holt: Civil War is the winner.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, for a lot. So, ADAC tonight.
John Holt: so Civil War, directed by Alex Garland, was my favourite film of last year. I watched it the first time I was riveted. I was blown away. I cried.
John Holt: I watched it the second time. I saw it from a completely different angle.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm.
John Holt: But I gotta say, that was the best directed film of 2024. It is freaking marvellous. It gives you like some things you've never seen before, because we've never really had, and correct me if I'm wrong listeners, because I'm sure I am.
John Holt: I'm sure this must have been done. But I feel like there has never been a proper story done about combat photographers before. and we get that here and boy do we get it because you sort of get this this glimpse of it like just the adrenaline and junkie side of it and also just the general sort of like PTSD side of it and then you get all this in a war going on in a country historically stable for hundreds of years which is
John Holt: not completely outside the realms of plausibility in our current world and that's kind of terrifying but it's also really funny like this film is hilarious in so many ways but I gotta tell you best 10 -minute sequence in any film for a long long time is is this film and it goes from the bit with Jesse Plemons playing himself and the mass grave to the next bit
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: where they're in a car going through a forest that is on fire whilst Sturgill Simpson plays on the soundtrack.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Hmm.
John Holt: And that that scene was so freaking beautiful that I just burst into tears. It was freaking amazing. So Civil War, I love it. It was my favourite film of last year.
John Holt: That's the best film that is not nominated for the best film.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Wow, okay. ah Yeah, I mean, it was very good. I would say the problem with the Jesse Clemens bit is I kind of knew like people would give me spoiler free, like things being like, oh, there's a bit.
John Holt: It was in the trailer so you get a pretty good idea of where it's going to end up.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, and so I was kind of a bit like, I could see the steps as they were playing out and like when things do happen. I guess it was a shock, but at the same time, I was like, well, that's kind of how I expected it to go.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I mean, you see that car, to be honest, when you see that car pull up alongside them of those two guys, you're a bit like, oh, okay, I know what's going to happen to them. It fell. But to be fair, I mean, that for me, that whole shootout in the presidential palace, ah Jesus Christ, the White House, as it's also known, yeah, like phenomenal, just like the cinematography,
John Holt: Oh, yeah.
John Holt: Yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: The lighting, that I mean, the set sound design is incredible.
John Holt: Oh, yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah, and it's, yeah, and it's, I think, I think we've gone past the point where it's like, I wouldn't even call it apocalyptic, I would just say like, this is something that could happen tomorrow, to be honest.
John Holt: Yeah. It's a scary thought. And um but there we are.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Yeah.
John Holt: But I mean, that's yeah, so weird because that wasn't really like what I liked about it necessarily. It was just kind of the whole thing. And it's really cool because Alex Garland's pretty amazing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: yeah yes yes i'd love to everything he's done everything he's done no it's on my list but again like it kind of feels like oh i know what they're going to do with this one and okay there's there's probably a very good message in there but it just yeah and there's i've heard there's some
John Holt: And he's got.
John Holt: Have you seen men, though?
John Holt: Yeah, so.
John Holt: Yeah.
John Holt: It's freaking weird, like it's along the lines of the substance, like the last 20 minutes of the substance. And um yeah, I'm not sure what it's trying to say, but I think it's worth a watch, but it just, it doesn't, there's no narrative clarity there.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: But I watched them Annihilation again the other day and I was like, yeah, it's masterpiece, like, it's brilliant, brilliant.
John Holt: Like, yeah, superb. And then ah I bet you haven't watched it, but the TV show Devs is on Disney Plus.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Oh, no, I haven't, no.
John Holt: yeah that's that is excellent like that is so good and he's doing a pure war movie next comes out in the spring but we'll see all right so that's the end of our award ceremony they're playing us off they're like get out here just get out
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Mm, okay. I could get behind it on that one, yeah.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: but i'll do it's in the bar
John Holt: All right, we've gone. um So one good thing we like to say in this world of doom and gloom, one good thing we've done in the past week to end this podcast on a high. James, one good thing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: A woman dropped a fiver outside Primark, kept walking. I picked it up. and gave it to her and she just kind of went, oh, thanks. And then just carried on.
John Holt: I wasn't good, she would have done the same for you.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: She was, yes.
John Holt: That's one bad thing.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I think it was, I did a good thing, but the way, like, I don't feel like the karma that came back, like she wasn't like, oh, thank you so much. ah
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: I bought a pirate turn -based video game and I quite like it.
John Holt: All right, well, that's great. But next week, I want to hear I had a shit and I read all about the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni case. um My one good thing is The Book of Elsewhere, the first novel by Keanu Reeves, co -written with China Melville. It is basically the philosophical novel version of his comic series, Berserker, and I love that comic. I'm liking the book just just as much. Keanu can do no wrong. He's also a great author. This is fantastic.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: That is fantastic.
John Holt: OK, so that's the end of this nonsense. ah Thanks for listening to our awards. We'll be back fairly soon with some more rumblings.
John Holt: ah You can follow us on Blue Sky Media Mega Rumble dot B Sky dot social and on Instagram and threads at Media Mega Rumble. That's going to do it.
John Holt: We'll speak to you soon.
OOOOOL' BRIGTOWN: Goodbye.
John Holt: Bye.
