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Ranking the 2025 Best Picture nominees
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In this episode of PodSlop, Unnamed FilmSlop Representative and Bald Ann Dowd rank the 2025 Oscar Best Picture nominations.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Welcome
00:00:00
Speaker
Would you like to know about sex change operation?
Podcast Format and Ideas Discussion
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome back to Podslop. I am Sivvy, known better to all of you as Baldand out, and I'm here with Film Slop.
00:00:13
Speaker
Is that good? That's great. I'm a film slop. Unnamed film slop representative. And this is our first real episode. Right off the bat, I want to apologize for whatever bullshit we were trying to push with that slop curve that we were talking about last time. I had an idea. it dawned on me in bed last night.
00:00:31
Speaker
Oh, why don't we just do a humble... Two axis, four quadrant graph. Why don't we do x-axis is love it, hate it and wait, no, what did I say the axes were? You're doing great. Keep going. Keep going.
00:00:46
Speaker
Is that right? There's an arc slash swap axis and one love slash hate axis. Imagine four quadrants. We share these memes all the time as it yeah when as it relates to the political spectrum. society As a society, we've seen the four quadrants. We're familiar with them.
00:01:03
Speaker
um So imagine the X axis is love it to hate it. And then the Y axis is art to slop. And that's really all we need. And then... definite john If we're quadrants, let's just get like a better picture. So we have one which is top left, top right is two, bottom right is three, and then four. Bottom left
Oscar Nominations and Surprises
00:01:25
Speaker
is four.
00:01:26
Speaker
Top, what is what is top left? That is Lovett and it's art. Okay. Top right? Yeah, that's like the best it could be. Top right is Lovett and it's slob.
00:01:39
Speaker
That's the second best. That's a really fun quadrant to be in. yeah That's a real fun area. um Then bottom right is love it no wait bottom right is hate it and it's slop so it's like wait i fucked this up no no you're doing great you're doing great wait this makes sense
00:02:04
Speaker
am i right yeah you're right your love it to hate it was x-axis i feel like love it to hate it should be the y-axis the vertical one Okay, we're gonna work this out. We're gonna post a graphic.
00:02:15
Speaker
You guys get what we're talking about. gonna post a second graphic. though We're gonna post a new graphic that makes way more sense. um As you can see, the American education system failed me. With a gun to my head, I could not describe the bullshit that we were trying to pull last time. I mean, the bullshit we were trying to pull last time makes sense. You just impose a parabola on the quadrants. I think the quadrants just makes it a lot more simple. I stand by the parabola. I'm gonna kill myself in front of you.
00:02:41
Speaker
Please don't do that. Anyway, so new graph right off the bat. Didn't say that you weren't going to kill yourself. I just want to make sure that you're not going to kill yourself before we move on to the next segment. Yeah, I guess not.
00:02:52
Speaker
Okay, cool. If you killed yourself, I mean, I don't know. I don't think we'd have any more podcast. I don't think I'm cut I'm going to say that's true. I'm going to say that's true. you can't You can kill yourself if you want, but you can't do it because of the podcast.
00:03:05
Speaker
don't really want to. it was the podcast, would have no problem. Oh, okay. You're business-minded. You're thinking about the market. I'm thinking about the the three extra followers Film
Favorite Performances and Highlights
00:03:16
Speaker
Slop is going to from this.
00:03:17
Speaker
Hell yeah. um Okay. Oscar nominations came out yesterday, and I really want to talk about it. Before we get into it, should we just give people like a little bit of a roadmap of what to expect on this episode, what we're going to talk about, and then...
00:03:32
Speaker
Yeah, we're going to talk Oscar nominations. I have some stuff I want to talk about. It doesn't have to. we can We can zoom through it, but I do want to hit on every Best Picture nominee because I have thoughts. I've seen all 10.
00:03:43
Speaker
i've Well, I've seen nine and a half, which we'll get into. Right off the bat, Amelia Perez is the second most nominated film in the academy in the history of the academy awards which we will of course get into it tied oppenheimer which is i just want everyone to sit with that um and challengers got no nominations not even a best score nod to trent resner and atticus ross which hurts um but there were some it does hurt but that hurts really badly um but there were some good when yeah i was gonna was gonna say i think with this oscar nomination slate there are a lot of bummers but i feel like we should first just talk about the things that that made us happy i was that we were very happy happy to see um
00:04:32
Speaker
coleman domingo nominated for best actor i was heartbroken that clarence macklin was not given a supporting
Singing Talent and Song Discussion
00:04:39
Speaker
actor nod because i actually think his performance was my favorite in that film um the film being the best of the year man i think he is he gave my favorite performance of the year it sing sing is incredible and if you haven't seen it even think it's the favorite performance of the i think objectively it's just the best person no i i don't think i think it's both for me um Oh, yes.
00:05:01
Speaker
Just genuinely incredible. Yeah, it's both. um Really phenomenal, though. Yeah. yeah I'm most interested at... Oh, another highlight for me was Monica Barbaro getting ah nomination for her portrayal of Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown, which I thought... I have complicated feelings about the movie, but I was blown away by every performance in that movie, particularly hers, because she just learned... she I don't know if you've listened to her talk at all, but she just learned to sing for this movie.
00:05:35
Speaker
And she sounds exactly like Joan Baez. And it's crazy. She is so talented. So I was very happy that she got recognition. It would be crazy if you would just like learn to sing like that. I feel like I would have so much. Imagine if I just like learn to sing like Stevie Nicks tomorrow.
00:05:50
Speaker
just like popped up like stevie next that would be sick if you could if you could learn to sing like anyone in the world who you might be stevie or whitney houston obviously can you imagine opening your mouth and sounding like whitney houston i'd be insane i i think for me it's between robbie williams when he does rock dj because i haven't been able to get that song out of my head since the movie i feel like the relationship i have with that song is the relationship you have with diet pepsi and then the other thing that's really stuck in my head is that one video of lil pump where he's serenading his grandma I've never seen that, but I would love to see it.
00:06:24
Speaker
It's like he like sings to her on a chair and she's like sitting there and he's like shirtless and singing to her. Can you send me a link? I will try to find Little Pump Sings
Podcasting Journey and Future Goals
00:06:34
Speaker
to Grandma. Thank you. I'm Googling it right now as we speak. Amazing.
00:06:37
Speaker
um No, i have actually, i haven't thought about who I would want to sound like on a serious level. Okay, you can do you can sit with it. You can think about it. i can i'll I'll get back to you in a couple months when we when we release episode three.
00:06:49
Speaker
A couple months? I mean, we have been... When release episode three in November. When we release episode three 2027, you will have an answer to this question.
00:07:00
Speaker
um I want to talk best picture. Yes. Do you have a ranking? I do have. i So I've seen all of them, but one I'm about to see the final one. Which is what?
00:07:14
Speaker
Two hours, which is the Brazilian one. I'm still here. Oh, I watched it last night. I knew nothing about it. And I was I saw you had many thoughts blown away.
00:07:25
Speaker
um Okay, let's just i I'll read off the list of Best Picture nominees. Should I read them in the order that I currently have them ranked? Is this your ranking? Should we start from the bottom for both of, like, you say your 10, I say my 10?
00:07:41
Speaker
Yeah, starting from 10? From 9, I guess, because you have, well, we know which one's at your bottom, I think. have 10. I have about a half hour left in my last one.
00:07:52
Speaker
um Yeah, yes. Okay. You say you sit you start with your 10, and then your 9, and then I'll say my 9, you say your 8, I say my 8. Okay, my 10 is Emilia Perez.
00:08:05
Speaker
10 as in this was your favorite movie of the year. Absolutely. um I'm assuming this is your 10 as well. Is this true? this is This is not. Yeah, this is, I think, this is the kind of evil that can truly only be conceived by someone who is French. here Yes. The thing about this movie is I love the concept of it.
00:08:27
Speaker
I think it's a really fascinating concept. I think to interrogate masculinity as it relates to, like, organized crime, and drug cartels, and all of that. Like, that is a really interesting angle.
00:08:39
Speaker
My... Thank you. Thank you
Oscar Snubs and Surprises
00:08:41
Speaker
for clarifying that, because I thought you hated the move because you were transphobic. So I'm you just... Yes, course....want to come out and say that you're okay with the concept of transgender. Yeah. um This is a really interesting concept.
00:08:54
Speaker
um Actually, Zoe Saldana does give a great performance. Like, she really is fantastic in this movie which I didn't I think she's wonderful but I don't think I really expected anyone to give a performance that made me go like oh okay they're serving but she was serving like I will give that to her um I would be okay if she won.
00:09:14
Speaker
I think I would feel a lot better about it. I would feel a lot better about than the Robert Downey Jr. one from Leicester. And I'm going to agree with that, actually. um Let's go. Hell yeah. star Yeah, I thought she was great.
00:09:26
Speaker
But big issue... big issue And there i have many. My issue first is why is it a musical? Why are none of the songs um sung? Why are they all whispered?
00:09:42
Speaker
And why is there no melody to any of the songs? Also, why is Selena Gomez filming on her front camera for one of the songs? Like, partially. for Like, none of it makes... sense And when the film starts to gain momentum in these really interesting moments, when Amelia is like talking to her ex-wife who thinks she's dead, but really she has transitioned and her wife doesn't know this and her wife doesn't know that this is her former husband who
Musical Films Analysis
00:10:12
Speaker
she thinks is dead. Like that is a really interesting dynamic.
00:10:15
Speaker
And all of these moments are so undercut. by these songs that don't lyrically make any sense, do not further the plot at all, do not have any conventional musical formula that makes ah a listener or viewer want to continue engaging with the media. Like, it just, I don't understand. And this is the type of evil, like you said, that could only be done by a French person. And when I was watching the Golden Globes,
00:10:46
Speaker
when I was listening to the presenters, I thought that this was a film, I thought this was a Spanish film because it's called Amelia Perez. They were speaking Spanish the whole time. When I heard them say that this was a foreign film from France, the guttural laugh that left my body, something clicked so perfectly in my brain.
00:11:07
Speaker
It finally made sense because the penis to vagina clip that I had been just absolutely bombarded by on my Twitter timeline was, that really contextual contextualized everything that is just kind like the it's a sin that only a french person could commit and that's all i have to say going to tel aviv illegally get my sex change oh my god yeah i i what are you how did you i'm
00:11:38
Speaker
Like, so personally, i feel I feel shameful admitting this, but I'm a fan of Selena Gomez. I enjoy her presence. I feel like she's going through a lot of pain in life and we give her a lot of shit. I was on her side. She was pretty good in this. Like, she didn't bother me at all. I thought she gave a fine performance. It was not distracting until she pulled out her front cam during the song.
00:11:56
Speaker
But that was not her choice. She wasn't making that choice. I thought she was pretty bad. I thought she was not very good. I was rooting for her. And I was just like, i as much as I want to be there for you and support you.
00:12:06
Speaker
through all you've been going through. I just don't know if I can
Nominated Films Critique
00:12:09
Speaker
support you right now in this moment. but is thought Zoe Saldana was great in spite of everything else. And I think in spite of everything else is how I feel about this movie. Yes.
00:12:18
Speaker
I feel like we can leave it there. i mean, it is not. i I've I've seen. but Great sound editing, I guess. ah Sure.
00:12:29
Speaker
i'm trying to be nice. I'm trying to be nice. I think. Wait, I want to read off really quickly the Amelia Prezzavital. I want to read off the list of nominations that this film received. Please make us suffer.
00:12:41
Speaker
I'm Googling it right now. Okay. um Yeah, I will say that... Okay, go ahead. I was trying to stall for dumb. um Okay, this is... It got 13 nominations.
00:12:55
Speaker
Oh my god, I hate when they write a big article and I just want to see the list. Journalists need to get paid. I need fast information from the Associated Press.
00:13:07
Speaker
You are the reason the Brutalist has AI in it. Oh, God. I don't even want to. Actually, before before we do move on to that, because there was a huge like yeah discourse bubble that really impacted the Brutalist, nobody is talking about the AI usage in Amelia Perez.
00:13:22
Speaker
I think that is insane that... like everyone's just like oh brutalist fuck you end of the world here's my thing i'm very anti-ai but the ai that is used in amelia perez and the brutalist for it the one that is consistent across both is called re-speecher which is apparently used in a lot of films such as naiad um but which i was unaware of when i signed on to play young naiad um This is used a lot to correct, to make small tweaks to people's pronunciations. to
00:13:57
Speaker
It's kind of a tool that's used in sound editing alongside other tools that have been used for a long time. That doesn't really bother me that much. I have no issues with Respeecher's current usage. I think what it stands for is scary, and I worry for what the future is going to look like, but I think how it was used, it's just like an ADR tool. You just pressed send on the video of Lil Pump singing to his grandma while you were...
00:14:20
Speaker
speaking that sentence i have adhd i i like to do many things at once um i'm still looking for the list of amelia perez wasn't the thumbnail of that video great he's just like shirtless standing on a chair and his grandma is so confused i
00:14:39
Speaker
i like i there is not a day that goes by my life where i don't think about that in the lyrics of rock dj by robbie williams i still have never heard a robbie williams song You need to watch that movie. It is really good.
00:14:52
Speaker
and Like, shockingly good. And it has ruined my life because every day I wake up and I think about that song. really want to see it. They took it out of theaters. Okay. Okay. Let's go through the list. So, Amelia Perez.
00:15:07
Speaker
Nomination for Best Picture. um
00:15:12
Speaker
Nomination for Best Actress for Carlos Sofia Gascon. Is that how you pronounce her last name? think Who plays Emilia Perez, the titular Emilia Perez, best supporting actress for Zoe Saldana, um best director, best adapted screenplay, best international film, best cinematography.
00:15:43
Speaker
um Best Editing, that to me might be the most egregious nomination. um i I think the Best Picture one is the most egregious nomination. I don't know. there's But there's a case for like the people in the Academy thinking that they're doing something progressive by nominating like a foreign film about you know trans issues at this moment in time. like I kind of get it.
00:16:07
Speaker
I kind of get it. But Best Editing...
00:16:12
Speaker
Every single trans person I've talked about this movie has said that this movie feels offensive. Absolutely. Oh, i Yeah, I don't think I've seen anyone um thrilled about it. Anyway. like you I've been represented perfectly by Emilio Perez. Continuing on. Best makeup and hairstyling.
Film Structure and Narrative Techniques
00:16:28
Speaker
Best original score.
00:16:33
Speaker
fine okay vaginoplasty yes um best sorry i'm really best sound you got two best songs in there yeah best sound um i is that it the two songs oh and i got two song nominations okay so that's it's kind of all over all over these nominations very interesting to me um what was i gonna say Where were we going with this?
00:17:06
Speaker
You were just reading it out. I will say, yeah now that now that you do mention it, we didn't talk about this in our snubs conversation, but I think one of my biggest bummers is that kneecap got snubbed for the international picture, which I'm very fond of. It was a very sweet, fun movie. still have not seen it, but I'm very excited to see it. I'm also very excited to see Andrea Arnold's Bird.
00:17:26
Speaker
Hell yeah. One of my favorites of the year that apparently no one else liked. but Really? i think you'll like it. Okay. um My buddy Matthew liked it. Okay. um That counts for anything.
00:17:38
Speaker
um I'm also really excited. i feel I'm excited to see my first film. Have you seen that? No, my buddy Matthew hasn't seen it either. Fuck. Okay. We got to get Matthew on here.
00:17:49
Speaker
i' i've heard I've heard good things about um my first film. I will. I will all get to it. Same. um The Outrun, Seed of the Sacred Fig, The Apprentice, No Other Land, Flow.
00:18:02
Speaker
No Other Land is really good. And Between the Temples. Are you just reading out movies now? These are the ones that I have not seen that I'm excited to see. I also still haven't seen Problemista or Janet Planet, which is very out of character for me because those are kind of right up my alley. But um I'm going to get to all of these. i'm My goal is to work through 2024. The people are winning. I know.
00:18:24
Speaker
I know. um The people are. i still haven't seen Megalopolis either. But I digress. Okay. So. the whole nation of Brazil hangs earnestly at your viewers. They've been so lovely to me today, which we'll get to. know. Okay. So do you want to say your number nine spot now?
00:18:42
Speaker
My number nine, which is the bottom of my list, which I assume is going to drop to number 10, but it is Amelia Press. And I will, yeah, I mean, the one movie I haven't seen is the Brazilian movie, which I'm really excited for, but I'll text you my thoughts as soon as I get out tonight. Okay.
00:18:55
Speaker
So Wicked is my number nine.
00:19:00
Speaker
we Valid. I think that's also my number eight. Okay. Okay. Okay. um Wicked. What to say, what to say. had fun. I liked it.
00:19:12
Speaker
I didn't hate it, but it's just not an Oscar movie. I think it's really long and there's something sinister going on with how it's colored and how it looks. Yes. I thought Ariana Grande is very deserving of that nomination. I loved seeing the wiggly man dance. He was very good at dancing. i think do you mean Do you mean Jonathan Bailey?
00:19:31
Speaker
Yes. Okay. Like, I forgot his name when i was saying it. Because, like, that could describe any man in Wicked. Yeah, but he's, like, the way he moves is insane. Like, he was just, like, the he was just flowing through it. was shocking.
00:19:44
Speaker
Yeah. The way I feel about Wicked is kind of a consistent theme um between Amelia Perez, Wicked, and my number eight movie, which I will not spoil, which is the movie itself...
00:19:57
Speaker
um felt long it felt like it was dragging i did not necessarily enjoy the conventions of it but the lead performances were so good that i can't hate it i think cynthia erivo and ariana grande were both absolutely incredible
Discussion on Favorite Directors
00:20:14
Speaker
very good i ah agree with you think we also have the same number eight based you're well would you like to just jump right to it ah jump to You don't want to say anything else about Wicked?
00:20:23
Speaker
the The beautiful... i just i don't I think there is an audience for it. I don't think I was that audience. I appreciate a musical. I appreciate the talent um of all that whole cast.
00:20:36
Speaker
I enjoyed the press run arguably more than anyone else. um i think But it's just not... If you look at this list of movies, this lineup, especially as we get into the top four, five, even six, I...
00:20:51
Speaker
They were really strong movies that I have strong feelings about, and I just didn't really feel strongly about Wicked either way. I agree. i think there was there was that point in time where everyone was like, Wicked's going to win Best Picture. People were really convinced about it for that that week. Yeah, that dream to be dead.
00:21:08
Speaker
it felt like It felt like hell at that moment, but now that we have another frontrunner, I would desperately love to go back to it i also think there's this like... It's like very much lib media where it's like very on the nose. We have to work together. Imagine video personified that I think is going to be an effect of some of the art that we're going to get that comes out of the Trump presidency where it's going to be a lot of that. We have to love each other. Very soft.
00:21:34
Speaker
messages where you like kind of want a little bit more yeah i tweeted this the other day and i got yelled at so i deleted it and i took my thoughts to tiktok um yeah art's gonna get shitty again art's gonna get very pussy hat resist lib uh tooth toothless is the word that i like it thinks it it's yeah not like it's like not saying much in the moment is so bleak that maybe it does necessitate like going back to very basic messaging but that just sucks and i Don't like it.
00:22:06
Speaker
Anyway. um Number eight. Let me guess. Let me guess what it is. yeah Complete unknown? Hell yeah. Again. Longest movie in the world. It the longest movie in the world. This is, um this felt like going to the Brutalist six times in a row.
00:22:22
Speaker
Well, the Brutalist feels like it's three minutes long. This is a complete unknown. Well, we're going to get, we're going to get to the Brutalist. I hope. We We will. yeah I have some thoughts. Anyway, a complete unknown. Again, Timothee Chalamet killed this. He is, i would argue, the first Gen Z slash Zillennial movie star, capital M. He is so good. He deserved an Oscar for Call Me By Your Name, Gary Oldman, I Have Not Forgotten.
00:22:50
Speaker
um But he really, really kills it here. He completely embodies Bob Dylan. He is I mean, he nailed the voice. He learned how to play guitar. He did. ah ah He's just this is a really incredible performance and he should be very proud. And you can tell that he is and he's just seems lovely and cool.
00:23:05
Speaker
So I've. Tennessee, if you're listening to this, you should be really proud of yourself, my man. Tim, good job. um I'm very excited also to see him host SNL tomorrow because he's doing double duty as a musical guest. And I'm just absolutely so curious to see what that is.
00:23:23
Speaker
I feel like you are one you're one of my few friends who like also likes SNL. I feel like every time I tell somebody, I'm like, I enjoy some of their stuff. I always get shamed in the silence. I have a real reverence for the process of creating an episode of SNL. And I'm that type of... like that's like No one wanted to go on dates with me when I was 16 and 17 and 18. We could keep going. But I got... But we could keep going but i got right and i didn saying but we I don't know.
00:23:52
Speaker
We find ways to occupy ourselves. And I love, I mean, I grew up during the Bill Hader era of it all. Lonely Island. Like, that was just absolutely massive. And I really do respect um the amount of talent and the amount of pressure that they're under to make something every week.
00:24:08
Speaker
So I think it's- If only there was a movie about this. That was good.
00:24:14
Speaker
If only there was a movie that didn't suck shit about it that came out this year. Also some really great performances in that one, though. I feel like it wasn't awesome we have the talent. We just need to refine the productions.
00:24:27
Speaker
Anyway, a complete unknown. Also, Monica Barbaro. It's not about this podcast, by the way. We have the talent. We just need to refine. The structure. just We'll get there. We're doing great. We came up with our graph today. It took us um six months to come up with a four-quadrant graph.
00:24:44
Speaker
I'm going to level you. I don't think I'm a podcast guy. i don't think I was born for this world, but I'm just glad that I'm undertaking this journey. I think you have the gift. We're doing our best here. You think I have the gift? I think you've been blessed with the gift. Thank god I needed a gift.
00:24:59
Speaker
touch. um The podcast touch over here. I, on the other, I just like every day, I'm just like, I don't, I don't know why I
Impactful Cinematic Experiences
00:25:07
Speaker
this. there's ah My thirst for views on filmslob.com has led me to places I wouldn't go with a gun.
00:25:13
Speaker
I'll just do and I would go I would attend the opening of a box of chocolate. But that's not the same. Anyway, let's go unknown. um Yeah, Monica Barbaro floored me. I had not seen her in anything prior to this. I actually don't. need I could not tell you one thing that she was in before this, but I think she's a star. She was very, very good.
00:25:37
Speaker
i took ish I was listening actually to a an episode of the Big Picture podcast. Shout out. um your Your whole dialogue on like movie star and that stuff really clocked you as a Big Picture listener. What do you mean? That's one of their like biggest sort of conversation areas. Really?
00:25:57
Speaker
Yeah, they they they taught me a lot about that. recent convert. I have not listened to much of it, but I really enjoy the episodes I've listened to. Anyway, they were having a really interesting conversation because they are big Bob Dylan fans.
00:26:11
Speaker
So it and I think everyone on the podcast like ranged from liked it to loved it. I'm pretty neutral, if not a little negative on it, but they're all but big Bob Dylan fans. They have a lot of context for his work. I'm a very casual Bob Dylan listener. So I feel like, you know, if someone makes a movie about your favorite artist, it's going to hit a little bit harder for you. And I think you're going to find things in it that you really like, and you're going to, it's going to resonate more with you than it would with me. So in the same way that fans of Wicked
00:26:42
Speaker
who have been listening to that soundtrack for 20 years, probably really loved seeing Wicked. Huge, massive Bob Dylan fans probably really loved seeing A Complete Unknown. And I will admit, when he started singing The Times They Are Changing, I cried.
00:26:56
Speaker
Like, that was the big moment. Very emotional. no It hit me. i I do. I hear what you're saying about Wicked, but I feel like in the Wicked case, if I was a fan of Wicked, I would be so offended. I think the movie is... The performances are great and the source material is solid, but the way it was brought to life on screen...
00:27:16
Speaker
made me feel like I just wanted so much more. Like, the the way it was lit, the way some things were changed and shifted, i feel like it was a really easy job of just translating it. Whereas Bob Dylan, I think it does, like, a really like cool way of painting this complicated figure, who I did not know was such a huge piece of shit. No offense, Bob Dylan, but, like, he was not a good person in your life. I did love learning that he was kind of shitty. I found that really fun, and I liked that part of it, and I wish that that there had been more
00:27:47
Speaker
interiority, you kind of don't get enough from anyone. And maybe I'm wrong about that. I don't know. But I just wanted something more. It felt like there are no...
00:27:59
Speaker
ah i don't know. Just the way it kind of unfolded. There was no real
00:28:06
Speaker
I don't want to say narrative because it was really something that happened. So I don't know how much you could really do with that. But I just didn't. I don't know. i really felt the runtime. i wasn't that engaged. And maybe that's a me thing. think.
00:28:20
Speaker
The second half when he goes like full bozo mode and he's just like an asshole and goes complete rage mode. I like that a lot more than the first half. I think all the songs have a lot of time to breathe. Like the songs have maybe five to ten minutes and there are so many songs.
00:28:37
Speaker
And i like like you, I'm like, sure, he's ah he's a great figure. I just did not have much of a relationship with Big Bob before this movie. Yeah. I don't know. Watching this, I'm just like, I don't know if I need more of a relationship with Bob Dylan.
Audience and Critic Perception
00:28:50
Speaker
Like, the songs are great, but it feels... I'm really interested that you say that because I far preferred the first half. I thought it was really compelling, like, watching him meet Woody Guthrie and play these songs for him and say, you're my hero, and then Woody and Bob or Pete... what were you was it you it Was it you who said he club-shall made Woody Guthrie at the hospital?
00:29:13
Speaker
No, but that's fucking funny. but someone told me that and i haven't able to stop thinking about it that was my i was watching that and i was like first of all who let this kid in secondly i would i would do that to bill but like can you just pull up to random people in the hospital and hang out with them sing them songs i start doing my lois griffin impression at bill hater and he can't speak so he just like has to pound his fist up and down yeah and you can't tell if he's mad or joyful would you watch that film 100 would
00:29:44
Speaker
I mean, I watched Complete Unknown and enjoyed it, but I think I just... It was good. Not my favorite. I don't think... in the I actually really like the slate of Best Picture nominees this year.
00:29:55
Speaker
um in a biopic, it's just... I mean, it's funny for me to say this after my Oppenheimer bonanza from last year, but I don't think like a standard conventional, like, this guy made songs type of movie is going to hit for me as hard as some of the other screenplays.
00:30:12
Speaker
But... right right It's very traditional, and i appreciate it doing something non-traditional to a traditional structure. You don't really see biopics that really kind of put the person between two people and sandwich them in that. I just think you could really feel the length. I did enjoy...
00:30:30
Speaker
it like not pulling any punches and both the performances ellie fanning and monica barbaro grounded it in a really cool way yeah ell fanning was great i love her i'm a huge ellie ell i'm sorry all for mispronouncing your name but also it should be should be on her for spelling it's her calling herself l well i don't think she named her i just i just feel like you like me go by something else i don't know Okay.
00:30:56
Speaker
Just because I want to find Keep it in. um Oh, all right. What is your next film in your ranking? My next one. This is when things get a little controversial. This is going get controversial.
00:31:09
Speaker
Conclave. Me too! Which I really liked. I really enjoyed Conclave. also have Conclave here. I really liked Conclave. It just didn't... I don't know.
00:31:20
Speaker
i loved the ensemble. It was fun. was fun. had fun, but it also felt like... I don't know. it did i I didn't leave it being like, oh, I gotta watch that again. And I didn't write think about it much after. It just kind of felt like a, yeah, sure.
00:31:38
Speaker
some really great performances. um There is a really cool film slop interview that will be coming out related to Conclave. Sorry to continue plugging, but this is a film slop podcast. course. Take a break at you. Plug away. um and I had a lot of fun with it. Really great performances, really engaging. I, like, also deeply frustrating in that, like,
00:31:57
Speaker
Like Rafe would find out something that was going on in the church and then you'd have to be like, what did you find out? Tell me. And then he'd be like, he's doing simony. And then I'd have to be like, what is simony? And then 10 minutes later he'd explain to me what simony was. Yeah. I was like at the edge of my seat the whole time. But when it ended, i also think there's a big sort of...
00:32:18
Speaker
shaking revelation at the end that changes things and i appreciated that it was included but it felt like they just kind of threw it on i think that's how i feel as well yeah i don't know that the film earned the moment at the end that is the big reveal is that fair to say I think so. I think it's cool that they included that
Emotional Effects of Films
00:32:39
Speaker
reveal. Absolutely. But I don't feel that those themes were woven throughout the movie in a way that made it feel gratifying. Earned.
00:32:46
Speaker
Yeah. I also like, I kind of want to know what happens after. Yes. What's the shakeup? Maybe that's like IP brand of me, but I do like, I would love a Conclave 2 where they're like dealing with the fallout.
00:32:57
Speaker
Conclave Avengers? Conclave Endgame? That would be sick. How's the how's a handling? I would finally tap into a more Marvel movie if they did like ah just a bunch of cardinals fighting crime.
00:33:13
Speaker
like what What kind of crime were they fighting? Like pedophiles? Sure. any kind. Sometimes white collar and it gets kind of boring. It's like, we've discovered simony in the church. Here are the accounts. um Speaking of Big Conk, how do you feel about that Isabella Rosalini nomination? Yes, I've been talking. I love Isabella Rosalini. I think she's fantastic. I am a little puzzled.
00:33:38
Speaker
By the supporting actress nomination. Because she was in the movie. For what felt like three or four minutes. like she really She made some copies on a printer. She gave a few great scowls.
00:33:50
Speaker
She was doing great work. But she I just didn't really. Clock her much in the film. And maybe. that i A lot of people have been pointing out. That maybe we're so used to category fraud.
00:34:01
Speaker
or you know i don't know people like to throw that term around but maybe we're used to people who are in the majority of a film submitting as supporting because they know they have a better chance than lead um but i don't know it just it didn't fully there were other people who i think i would have liked uh to have gotten a nod um i think maybe maybe at the end of this episode we can do like our ideals for the bigger categories absolutely um i I think I'm in the minority, where i like I don't mind that she was nominated. I think she did great. I think her one scene where she gets to like really go actress mode is really good. yeah And I think... I don't know. I feel like she was always in the background.
00:34:39
Speaker
I feel like she was always kind of lurking behind the scenes. So I don't feel like... I feel like she felt in into integral. Integral? Integral? How do you say that word? I said integral. Integral?
00:34:49
Speaker
Okay. English is my second language.
Debating Complex Film Themes
00:34:51
Speaker
But she felt integral to the film, which... Maybe, i don't know, maybe it was a maybe I was coming in like, oh everyone's talking about Isabella Rossellini. I paid attention to her. But i like there's been a lot of people pissed off about that one.
00:35:05
Speaker
I wouldn't say I'm pissed off. I'm just kind of indifferent. It's kind of a what the hell sure category for me this year. Healthy attitudes afterwards to the Oscars. Yeah. um Okay. Okay. Number six. This is going to be controversial, I feel.
00:35:19
Speaker
My number six is The Brutalist. That is pretty controversial. What is yours? i thought it was going to be something off What did you think it was going I thought it would be what my number six was because we've been so locked in. But my number six is actually Anora.
00:35:35
Speaker
Okay. Which is also very controversial to say. That is... Well, can I reveal... Well, my number five is Anora. Not to skip ahead. Locked in. we really similar in our ranking. I'm really excited to hear the order of your top four.
00:35:52
Speaker
Anyway, um back to the Brutalist. Loved it. Yeah, let's talk about it. Thought the first... Listen, if there's one thing I love, it is a long movie in IMAX.
00:36:04
Speaker
I'm going to be locked in. I did not like... And this is a probably a childish complaint, but I did not like the intermission. Interesting. It broke my focus. It took me out of it. I had to like listen to people...
00:36:21
Speaker
talk i checked my phone because i'm a child i walked around i peed i like people were getting food it was just such a it really took me out of it and i got back into it obviously but something about that structure just did not work for me like i sat through killers of the flower moon did not have to get up once i think we should be able to power through a three and a half hour movie I think if you have to use the bathroom during the brutalist or killers of the flower moon or anything else, you are a coward and you do not deserve happiness. I think anyone who the bathroom in movies like that and longer movies, you just need to train. You have to adequately dehydrate beforehand.
00:37:00
Speaker
and you I do not you as a, as a person. If you use the restroom, I have to say my grandma made it through killers of the flower moon without getting up to go pee. So like if she can do it, anyone can fucking do it.
00:37:14
Speaker
Respect your grandma. Huge respect. We need to get her on the pod. need to get Dusty's grandma on the pod What movie do you think she'd talk about?
00:37:23
Speaker
Um, depends what she's in. Ask her. I think her favorite movie is like Mary Poppins or something like that. That's a fucking great episode. she does She does really like The Greatest Showman.
00:37:37
Speaker
I'm like, ah, grandma. There's there's better movies I've never seen it. Maybe it's... Who knows? If the musical theater kid is telling you that it's bad, I don't know. I also haven't seen it, but i did but he did win me over. The direction and the musical numbers, really well done, but I can't get over how they just like make P.T. Barnum like a good guy.
00:38:00
Speaker
it just pisses me off, because he's awful. so isn't zach efron in that movie yeah he is and so is zendaya and it's zach efron no he's like
Trends in the Film Industry
00:38:13
Speaker
uh pt barnum jr he get he gets a hat at the end and he's like this is the you the greatest showman well no that's hugh jackman oh so hugh jackman's speech yeah hugh jackman's pt barnum does Zac Efron get like a minor greatest showman? Yeah, so he's like he's like he's like the greatest showman too. like His whole arc in the movie is like how he like great too yeah yeah he comes from like a rich family and he has to like prove to them like that this isn't like a waste of his money or something. don't know.
00:38:52
Speaker
Yeah, keep going. Tell them more. I haven't seen the movie since 2017. Like, what do you want from me? Okay, okay, okay. but You gotta talk about The Brutalist. We veered yeah so awkward.
00:39:06
Speaker
The Brutalist is my number three. Your number three of the year? Of the best pictures. Interesting. Okay. Okay. I loved the first half. I thought it was really great.
00:39:17
Speaker
I was... I think... Again, there's a lot of re-speech or controversy. It honestly doesn't bother me that much. I think Adrian Brody gave an incredible performance. And if he wins Best Actor, I will think it is a deserved win. I thought he was really, really fantastic. And I loved... I thought it was shot beautifully. I mean, that... That...
00:39:40
Speaker
shot of the statue of liberty upside down is seared into my brain there's some really incredible stuff happening i know that it was a tight shoot they didn't have a lot of time it was a very small budget like all of that is fantastic um the second half i don't i don't know it lost me a little bit it it felt a little bit it was meandering i don't know how you felt
00:40:05
Speaker
Okay, so to your intermission thing, I, like, I got that people who pee during movies are the weakest links of society, and but you can't deny that the buildup into the intermission is one of the greatest things.
00:40:16
Speaker
It was incredible. oh and I was, like, fist pumping just there when I was watching it. was awesome. Genuinely. Thrilling stuff. i The second half worked a lot on me. I think it was really fun in the first half. I enjoyed it when it was like, this is kind of a journey. This guy's accomplishing things. He's doing this stuff and like meeting people. I was having fun. I was like, this is thrilling.
00:40:38
Speaker
This is captivating. And the second half is like when it really hits its stride for me, when it becomes no longer a movie about the thrill of architecting, which I don't think is a real thing. But when it becomes more about like how America is completely rotten, how the capitalist system that we live in steps on immigrants, how turns immigrants into other oppressors. And the only way to survive is to become an oppressor. And I think The piece about, like, sort of threading in Zionism through the meat of the movie, which I've seen so many takes to be like, oh, the Brutalist supports Zionism. That's, like, the stupidest thing I've read in life. think it's a very dumb take. I found it to be kind of actively anti- It's little stupid.
00:41:16
Speaker
In my brain, it was a film that was asserting, like, America could be the homeland for these people who were displaced, and America could have been a really great settling place, and it was for very many people, but this country didn't take care of those people. It had a very violent pressure to assimilate, and that incentivized people to then go ah to this settler nation, and it's just a completely...
00:41:40
Speaker
and't I found it really kind of beautifully nuanced. I really thought it handled that well. I know some people will disagree. My interpretation of that is like the US treats its immigrants like dirt and it teaches immigrants to treat other immigrants like dirt. That Zionism is like a direct learning from how the American colonial system is. it just kind of applying one colonialist experiment into another world, which I thought super brilliant. yeah Putting that metaphor through Guy Pearce's Insanity, who just phenomenal, really great stuff. Really great performance.
00:42:13
Speaker
i I think both the actor awards... Like, the actor is the best actor one, i whoever wins, i would be happy with, because all those performances are i agree really fucking solid. The supporting actor, there are a few that are kind of sneaks here and there, but I think Guy Pearce just...
00:42:28
Speaker
Guy Pearce really... Blew me away Everything he's doing. I'm glad we're having a renaissance. um I don't know. It's just the brutalist three and a half hours, but it feels like it's one hour. it goes on zoom by really quickly. Second half knocks the wind out of you. Just...
Cultural and Social Influences in Cinema
00:42:41
Speaker
I know.
00:42:41
Speaker
i don't think it's it works for everyone, but I think... it kind of It kind of ties the movie together. Were there pieces i'm in the first part? I'm thinking back. I think the second half does work for me.
00:42:55
Speaker
Wow. It's something that I've gone really back and forth on this one. And I really do like it. like Genuinely, the the top what six here are relatively interchangeable to me.
00:43:09
Speaker
um I really like most of these best pictures. are these I think the brutalist is incredible. So I don't want that to be misconstrued. um Yeah.
00:43:21
Speaker
Yeah. I think the performances were really great. I ah agree with everything you said. I think it was a smart metaphor. Weaved in well, or woven in well. yeah Whatever.
00:43:32
Speaker
um I also really liked when Joe Alwyn did a version of um did a version of Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood when he's like, my boy!
00:43:43
Speaker
abandoned my boy! But um instead, Joe Alwyn's like, dad! Where are you, dad? That was really fun for me. Yeah, solid. I also think, obviously, the number one thing about this movie is the soundtrack. The... do um um Incredible. Yeah, I've been... Sometimes when I work, I just have that playing in the background. It really gets me going.
00:44:06
Speaker
yeah Yeah, incredible.
00:44:10
Speaker
Anyway. Yeah, that's just, like, in my head. I'm very pro-brutalist. Good. I would say so, too. It's my number three. You're number six, you said, yeah? Yeah. All right, your five. my five is Anora. And my so my five, I guess, also, Anora.
00:44:25
Speaker
um um forgot what number I'm at. I'm just going and doing whatever. But yes, Anora. Anora. I have seen it twice. I saw it, admittedly, on a very weird day.
00:44:37
Speaker
i was very stressed out. There was a lot happening. I was not super focused on it. But I left the theater, and I didn't really like it And I was so confused and upset because Red Rocket is one of my favorite movies. I think the Florida Project is brilliant. I'm a big Sean Baker fan.
00:44:53
Speaker
I really expected to love Anora based on everything that I'd heard people talking about. It won the poem. All of these things. Wasn't really moved by it. But then we saw it the next day and it clicked for me.
00:45:05
Speaker
I found it real like all of the jokes were landing i found it really funny i just i enjoyed watching it i think the progression of things and the way they unfold and the um the kind of reveal at the end of i don't remember the character's name igor the fact that yeah igor the fact that he had been kind of quietly lurking in the background the whole time like i i i really liked it the second time it is not my favorite sean baker
00:45:37
Speaker
But ah again, I don't know. I really liked it. I don't know why it's above the brutalist in my list. I think it's because the end worked very well for me, which I know the end has been divisive for a lot of people.
00:45:49
Speaker
I really loved it. And I think the final scene put it a little bit above the brutalist in my mind. I enjoyed it a lot.
00:45:59
Speaker
um I think Igor's performance, also a very deserving supporting actor. He was phenomenal. Mikey Madison insanely good he's so talented i think that the ending is very powerful and the for i like for me the full movie like the the majority of it's kind of like a just a lot of fun you're kind of going through it you're having fun you're in coney island you're laughing and the ending really forces you back into reality which i think is very special my one thing is i feel like everyone's talking about it as this culmination of sean baker's ideas it's the greatest thing he's ever done
00:46:33
Speaker
But I honestly, like um like you, I love his work. I think it's very special. I think this is a lot weaker and less thoughtful and dense as his other material.
00:46:43
Speaker
It's still a very good movie. It's very fun. I like that it has, like, the typical rom-com tropes with the other guy. I'm a huge rom-com fan, allegedly. Just some really great work, really funny stuff, really good performances, and then an ending that snaps you back to reality. But overall, in terms of, in, like,
00:47:01
Speaker
conversation with sean baker's other work it does not hold a candle to florida project or red rocket or tangerine i think i agree that's kind of all i have to say about that i'm still like florida 4.5 pro in aura I've seen a lot of people be very, very against it.
00:47:18
Speaker
um I'm pretty neutral. It is crazy that I was in the front runner before the intimacy coordinator discourse just killed its chances. Absolutely wild to me. I really thought that was going to sweep everything.
00:47:29
Speaker
um Yeah, the like intimacy coordinator stuff is wild. I'm not even going to unpack that. Yeah, there's a huge discussion to be had there. um And I guess we will never really know what those conversations were like. So, you know, moving on.
00:47:43
Speaker
Now is my number five. My number four is Dune 2. Oof. Oof. What? That's my number two. Wow.
00:47:55
Speaker
and know. Interesting. Okay. Dune 2. Honestly, I saw this a long time ago. I don't fully remember all of it, but the pieces that have stuck in my brain are just really powerful. Like the images of the Harkonnen planet, of that black and white stuff with Austin Butler, the way it's directed, the fact that Denis was not nominated for best director is.
00:48:25
Speaker
Criminal. Insane to me. um This is just a beautifully directed movie and I had a lot of fun and it is it's like Star Wars on crack. Um, like Yeah, I don't have much to say about Dune 2. It just was kind of like solidly in my top.
00:48:42
Speaker
I had a ton of fun. I honestly, a lot of people went really Dune mode this year. I kind of like watched it and then didn't think about it much again, but I really loved it for the time that I was in the theater. And I think it's a very,
Oscar Predictions and Rankings
00:48:53
Speaker
it's it's a feat of filmmaking. I think, I think Dene is really good at making big movies and this was a really fun one. And I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it got a nod, even though Challengers and Queer Did not, um you know, Denis, I feel, i hold Denis, in my mind, his work is not as high as Luca's.
00:49:12
Speaker
i Luca is one of my very, very tops, but it was fun to see this nominated and I enjoyed it. I think this is maybe the best theatrical experience I've had in a really long time.
00:49:24
Speaker
Like, it was just sitting there in the IMAX theater. I was gripped. Every visual was so cool. I read the book beforehand, so I had that relationship. And everything I kind of imagined when I was reading the book, when it was put on screen, was more beautiful than anything that I came up with in my mind. I think when I walked out, I was just kind of in a lull. Like, you know, the yeah the one song where Ariana Grande is talking about walking side to side?
00:49:46
Speaker
That's kind of felt. where i Dune just kind of had me walking side to side, just s wobbling out of that theater. I was levitating through it, smiling the whole way. Just so many, like, goosebump scenes, such super cool visuals. Yeah.
00:50:02
Speaker
Really, really fucking sick. i and Truly, no words. Again, and incredible performance from Timothy. He really is such a star and if you look at this cast it is crazy and everybody is being used very well Rebecca Ferguson is another standout but you have Timothee Chalamet Zendaya Rebecca Ferguson Javier Bardem Josh Berlin Austin Butler Florence Pugh Dave Bautista Christopher Walken Leah Sadu Stellan Skarsgård I mean it goes on but like all of these people are really doing great work and they are such stars so it just feels like a very well cast well done massive picture and I had a lot of fun
00:50:40
Speaker
Yeah, just like it's the magic of movies. Like you go in to have a good time and you have the greatest of your life. It's like a movie's fucking rule type of thing. It's like the same sort of feeling that I felt when I saw The Paramounts for the first time. That like kind of level where you see like a national landmark. That's the experience that I had where I was watching this in theaters for the first time. Not to be dramatic, like The Seven Wonders of the World and all that bullshit. That I think is in conversation with a really well done. du is the Eighth Wonder of the World. Yeah.
00:51:08
Speaker
I don't even know if I would put it in the same conversation as those wonders. I think if it's like its own. It's its own Marvel. It's just you're sitting there and you see things. Also, this is the movie that convinced me on Timothy. I think I always knew he kind of had it in him, but I've seen him in those roles where he does like the same kind of smarmy little fuck in most of the movies. is' abandoned But this one kind of asks him to do so much and he delivers to an insane degree.
00:51:31
Speaker
It's awesome. I doubted him. I will admit I, I think he gives one of the great performances of the 2010s in Call Me By Your Name that just completely floored me. I was very convinced on him very early. But then when I heard that he was playing this like, young king in this movie, I was like, i genocide he's gonna have to yell a lot. He's gonna have to be like embody this thing that I really can't picture him.
00:51:54
Speaker
I don't know. He was like this European gay boy. And now he's like, who? This leader of men? it just, it didn't really. That like scary. I didn't think he could pull it off, but he really did pull it off.
00:52:07
Speaker
I also think one of the things, this is super minor, but one of the things I appreciated about this is when the first one came out, there were so many people who were like, we have to boycott Dune because it's Orientalist and it encourages white savior narratives.
00:52:17
Speaker
And I think there's some validity to it, but this one really leaned in on the fact that white saviorism was super stupid and that Dune is a story about the dangers of following the white savior. rather than that and i appreciate how like both subtle and clear it's made where it's like one you can kind of just go in to have a good time but there are some thoughtful commentaries about how the world works um there's a bit there's a bit of substance to it that works in a way in tandem with the first one we we're kind of lulled into that security but dinny doesn't i mean dinny never doubts never fails i i'm a i'm a big big dinny head
00:52:53
Speaker
i think the movie i don't know if i told you this but the movie that like got me into movies was prisoners that was the first one where i was like this is this is the shit i'm gonna watch movies for the rest of my life interesting i watched arrival recently and it was very blown away he's really good at directing yeah i'll be the first to say it I mean, ah a lot of people put him in conversation with Nolan, and i think that is very unfair to them. Wow.
00:53:24
Speaker
No offense Nolan heads and no offense to Oppenheimer, but... actually, despite it all, I don't identify as a Nolan head. um Oppenheimer is the sole Nolan movie that has really grabbed me.
00:53:39
Speaker
I think I feel similarly about Memento, and I think that a lot of his movies have the same strokes, and he tries to apply them in ways that don't necessarily work for me sometimes. Especially in a movie like Oppenheimer, where i am looking for something a little bit more than a romp.
00:53:56
Speaker
i I think I would have liked Oppenheimer a lot more if it was released in a year that wasn't with Killers of the Flower Moon. think those two movies in conversation make Oppenheimer feel a lot weaker to me.
00:54:06
Speaker
And we're gonna- I'm sorry, I have to get my punches on Oppenheimer whenever I can with you. Not to derail. Oppenheimer was the movie that made me decide to keep watching movies. Then I'm really happy for you. There would be no fucking pod slop without Christopher Nolan, so... Hey.
00:54:26
Speaker
um it's the onion meme anyway um i like nolan he's great yeah sure like yeah i actually i have not seen memento and i have not seen the prestige so i can't really claim to be well read the prestige is very fun memento is solid it's like a good knockout of a movie i think My issues with Nolan that he loves his plot twists and he loves to mind fuck you. And sometimes a movie like Oppenheimer that is supposed to make you contemplate how horrible things are does not need to mind fuck you. i think to try
00:55:05
Speaker
What would you say is the mind fuck of Oppenheimer though? and I wouldn't say it's a mindfuck, but I think the sort of narrative points of view where you're comparing it with Strauss and having this like, holy shit, there's actually another bad guy kind of takes away from the power of it. Whereas if you played it similar to how Scorsese played Killers of the Firemen, I know that's not a one-to-one, but like I think you know what I mean with the with the comparison of the two, where one is kind of more designed to make you sit with it and to think through it, whereas Oppenheimer's kind of made to just...
00:55:34
Speaker
I'm having a ton of fun and I'm watching an Olin movie and it hits you on the head with a hammer that tells you that you're watching an Olin movie every single minute of it.
00:55:44
Speaker
I'm going to choose peace. Coward. And move on. Howard. Once again, Oppenheimer is a good movie, but I wanted something else, which i think is a mean novel.
00:55:56
Speaker
I wanted nothing and I got everything. um I'm really happy. when number three but My number three is... Wait, do you want to go Wait, we're out of order now, though.
00:56:09
Speaker
I have no idea what order I'm at, because I think I've revealed my two. I've revealed... just going start from the bottom. So I did Amelia Perez. Yes. Completely and unknown. Or Amelia Perez, Wicked, Complete Unknown, Anora.
00:56:21
Speaker
No, Conclave. Oh, yeah. Conclave, Anora. So this is this one is actually tied with Anora for me. um But where it's at, where I feel very similarly about it is The Substance.
00:56:34
Speaker
I think when I first watched it, I was not as high on it, but it's I've grown a lot more fond of it. The Substance. of Yes. This is my number three. nice okay twinning again kind of i love it i think it's a film that if you really sit with it and you try to interrogate its politics it reveals itself to be deeply french so you know like kind of that's those are where my problems lie with it yes it's sort of a simplistic view of feminism the female experience etc etc but i fucking love a body horror
00:57:09
Speaker
And I fucking love a gross movie. And I just think that this was so over the top and well directed and fun to watch. And it really grabbed me at every moment. And the moment that Demi Moore is in the mirror getting ready to go on her date and she just keeps like fucking with her makeup and then she smudges it all and has a breakdown and doesn't go.
00:57:26
Speaker
That happened to me the day after I watched this movie. Like I... i Oh my God. That hit me so hard in the theater. I think about it constantly. That is such a masterful scene. I think this is just, I had so much fun with this movie. I've seen it twice.
00:57:41
Speaker
I watched it with my family. My dad is the kind of the leader of substance. I've, um, nice. well that's really fun. It's really uniting generations. Um, It's just a fucking fun movie. And it was so ah cool to see a movie original body horror nominated for best picture. Like that fucking rules. Sorry to keep swearing. I just, this is such a fun movie. I think we've, we've, we've gone past the swearing level. We're officially into our movie territory.
00:58:08
Speaker
Yeah. um No, I agree with It's so fun, but like once you just kind of sit on it and try to unpack it, you don't really get as much as you want out of it, which is... like That's completely fair. I had a really good time when I was watching it. It's a good, super fun movie. Demi Moore is fantastic, and I'm really glad she's the frontrunner because...
00:58:28
Speaker
She is very deserving of it. um Just like really good stuff. Really fun. I do not trust the director lady. I keep seeing tweets about her being a Zionist, unfortunately, but she did a great job.
00:58:40
Speaker
She did a really good job with this movie. so Yeah. Good movie. Let's, you know. Good movie. Not going to look into that, but. It's kind of like Sean Baker tweets for girls. and i'm sea Yeah. Again, it's why this and Enora are in the same place.
00:58:58
Speaker
Yeah. um Have you seen have you seen a Revenge? I have. Have you Very good. Very good. I liked I didn't fully understand. And again, the substance was so out there. I understand that you there has to be some sort of suspension of disbelief when you watch Corley Farris' movies. But like this woman was fully impaled.
00:59:18
Speaker
And then she was just running around for 90 minutes serving face. So it kind of did take me out of the whole thing. She was fully skewered. Fair. um And the one guy looked like Nick Kroll, so I was kind of like... I don't know. I had a very specific viewing experience with that. So I just... I don't know. I liked it. I think... Have you seen Reality Plus, the short film that you made?
00:59:43
Speaker
No, i haven't. You're not very good at watching short films. I need to do better with that. There are so many pieces of the substance in that. And it's really fun to kind of track...
00:59:55
Speaker
how she evolved and how she kind of expanded on those ideas to make this big feature. So I love this. but I know she might have questionable politics, but you know she's French. I think it's the it's the portions of the questionable politics that maybe seep into this movie that I think turned me off a little bit by it. Totally agree. forgot what it was, but someone someone was like talking about the movie with and they were like, it reminds me a lot of Sorry to Bother You, and that sounds like it actually has could be so different from Sorry to Bother You. I think the inclusion of Dennis Quaid and the sort of lack of depth within some of the messaging...
01:00:31
Speaker
makes me appreciate it a little bit less. But it is a ton of fun. And I think if you just take it at a service level, it's a really great movie and it's a huge win to see it get its representation, its flowers.
01:00:44
Speaker
Agreed. i also I've gone Cronenberg mode recently. And I think that tuning my brain to that sort of a thing put this higher on my list. I just think like diving into body horror has been a lot of fun. So the fact that this was nominated, like put it in my top three.
01:00:58
Speaker
um But yeah, no, anytime I sit with it, I'm like, Oh, okay, whatever. It's a really good entry point into body horror. What are your favorite Cronenbergs so far? Where are you at? The Brood. What are we? The Brood. The Brood.
01:01:09
Speaker
It's so good. I got a vintage poster on Etsy for $5. It's like this old box office magazine. It's sick. I'm going frame it. Have you seen Dead Ringers yet? Not yet. i'm Again, I don't claim to be a an expert on Cronenberg, but Dead Ringers is my next one because i have I know what the concept is and I'm all in.
01:01:29
Speaker
buts I think that was my favorite from him. Have you seen Crimes of the Future? Of course. Did you like it? Yes. I want to do surgery on someone.
01:01:41
Speaker
I got a buddy who can make that happen. Hell yeah. If you're interested. I'm going to do surgery on your buddy later. I think before anything, i am a big case stew head.
01:01:53
Speaker
So I'm just happy to, happy to see her cooking that really good. Leah's amazing. Digo's amazing. Yeah. Really good cast. um Anyway, I digress. It's almost eight o'clock. We are not recording the second part of it. Absolutely not. That's okay. At least we did something.
01:02:07
Speaker
um We'll do next week. We a lot of time next week. do next Friday. Okay, that's fine. awesome um My number two was my number one for ah up until yesterday. Number two is my number one. No way.
Closing Thoughts and Listener Engagement
01:02:19
Speaker
Number two is Nickel Boys.
01:02:21
Speaker
What? Nickel Boys got dethroned? Nickel Boys got dethroned. I want to say something. Last year, my number one best picture choice was Oppenheimer.
01:02:34
Speaker
What I knew in my brain, and what I wanted sort of in the back of my head to win Best Picture was the zone of interest. I thought if the zone of interest wins Best Picture, i will be happy with that.
01:02:46
Speaker
I think it's maybe maybe a better Best Picture winner. I don't know. I was so Oppenheimer mode, though, and it just it it hit me in such a way, and I had such a personal relationship with it that I really, really was pulling for it.
01:02:58
Speaker
That's what's happening here. I think Nickel Boys is It's in my top three movies of the year period. I think it's Nickel Boys, Sing Sing, and I'm Still Here, which we'll get to.
01:03:09
Speaker
But um the way it plays with form is really fun. I also just watched the new Soderbergh movie called um Presence, which also plays with the camera in a fun way. I think we could get into this, but I think the fact that that's being marketed as a horror film will hurt it. It's just like a very...
01:03:26
Speaker
compelling family drama and reflection on grief that plays with form in a fun way. It is not scary. It is not horrifying in the way that it's being marketed. Like it's not a ghost movie. Anyway, I really enjoyed this trend that I'm seeing of directors starting to play with form more, more,
01:03:41
Speaker
Love it. Nickel Boys did such a good job of adapting the book. I read the book a few years ago. I loved it. And I was very curious to see how it would translate onto the screen because the twist at the end does make it a very difficult yeah text to translate to film.
01:03:58
Speaker
But Rommel Ross is a genius. He did such an incredible job. I think Anjanue Ellis-Taylor was amazing. incredible in this the two leads were like everything about nickel boys worked for me floored me if this wins best picture i'm still kind of pulling for it to win best picture um i think the fact that it got nominated is um really exciting but it was dethroned for me just by via hair yesterday I think for me, this is objectively the number one of the year, maybe even of the decade, just unquestionably so good, so emotionally affecting, and also just such a flex of directorial, cinematography, just any sort of
01:04:37
Speaker
technical talent, it is such a huge flex. It is insane that they managed to cook this up. And i think there will be things that try to copy it, but it is truly original in a way that will never be able to be replicated. It is so powerful, so cool, so thoughtful, just genuinely i floored. I've seen it twice, the second time just made me appreciate everything so much more. There are pieces that kind of fall into play once you know everything ends, once you see some visuals.
01:05:04
Speaker
The score is really good. Everything about it is, this is, should be the number one movie of, like, it ah should win. I'm very excited for your Brazilian movie now that I know how high up on it, but I yeah like, i there is no chance in hell that Nickel Boys is getting dethroned for me. I think I am willing to bet my firstborn child on this. And I don't, I don't expect it to be dethroned for you. And it, I don't, I still, part of me still wants Nickel Boys to win best pick. I think I am. I think Nickel Boys is my number one, but just something about, I'm still here.
01:05:42
Speaker
i don't, I think they're tied for number one for me. um This is a really hard decision. They will kind of, they alternate in my brain every time I think about it, but they are two very brilliant films. I love Nickel Boys. I, I do hope it went, I, yeah, that is my pick for best picture, but my number one right now is I'm Still Here, which I knew nothing about going into it.
01:06:05
Speaker
um And it is a true story. I don't want to spoil it for you. I don't know how much I should say. Do you know anything? um I'm going in relatively b blind. My only experience is that I went to a film festival earlier this year and I saw like five screenings before every single screening.
01:06:24
Speaker
The guy who introduced in the film would be like, the Brazilians are hosting a party next door after I'm still here. Make sure to go to the party. And I think I have many regrets in my life. um I've made many mistakes that I'm not proud of, but I think the biggest mistake of my life was not partying it up with the brazilians after like the whole cast was there uh i don't think the whole cast i just think the the brazilian embassy was like hosting a party on behalf of they were really pushing that party they like really wanted everyone to go party with the brazilians and i'm i like now that i know how much of a kinship you share with the brazilian people yeah they've embraced me
01:07:00
Speaker
And I love that you are You are officially Brazilian. I hate to be the one to tell you. And thank God. I've always wanted to be. Come to Brazil people say kind of bre brazil is a staple ah lexicon your butler come to brazil i think bre what but torres gives i c incredibled leap performance I think part of why this film hit for me is because the relationship that she has with her husband and her children in this movie is so beautiful. And as we all know, I'm obsessed with my mom.
01:07:33
Speaker
The end of this film, like this isn't spoiling anything, but it shows. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Actually, actually, hear me now. So i'm I'm going to go mute you and let you talk about it because i don't want to rob our listeners from hearing your beautiful thoughts. I think this movie seems very special. It deserves for you to talk about it. I'm going to mute myself for like a little bit. i'm going to go call my mom because need to call my mom, check in, see how she's doing.
01:07:53
Speaker
And I will let you talk about this for a bit. Just text me when you're good to go. I literally have like one sentence to say. Oh, that was... Oh, fuck. Okay. I mean, you can call your mom. My bad. Like, you can... We we will probably be done recording. I thought i thought like you wanted to like talk about little bit more. No, I just want to say, like, the relationship between the family really hit for me, and...
01:08:16
Speaker
um there's a bit at the end where it like shows an old version of her and the thought of my mom aging made me burst into tears so I called my mom on the way home just like sobbing um because I was like I don't want you to get old i mean I hope you get old because if you died young that would be uh absolutely fucking devastating but like the thought of you getting old made me cry and my mom's response was like girl I'm only 20 years older than you like we're probably gonna die at very similar times and that made me feel better That's not. I think the way that our generation is living, we will die 20 years before the generation before us. so Yeah.
01:08:51
Speaker
We'll see. um But yeah, really incredible lead performance. I was locked into this in a way that I haven't really been locked into a movie in the theater since Oppenheimer. It just really grabbed my attention. I was so engrossed. I just... It was...
01:09:08
Speaker
A really brilliant movie. Directed beautifully. Everything looks stunning. I just, I'm excited to hear your thoughts. I wish you had seen it before because I don't want to spoil anything. But yeah, really loved it.
01:09:22
Speaker
I'm very pumped. I think I saw the trailer before something and it did not move me as much, but now I'm moved already by hearing you talk about it I thought this was going to be very middle of the pack for me, if not like toward the end of my list, but I had such an incredible time.
01:09:36
Speaker
I hope you all enjoyed this episode of Podslop. We will be back eventually, hopefully soon, to talk about the worst person in the world and our personal connections to
01:09:50
Speaker
It'll be out within the next few years. We will see you guys next time. If you listen to this, you genuinely deserve an award. um Anyway, keep moving to Not one of these fake Podslop Awards. You deserve like a real award.
01:10:03
Speaker
Like a Nobel Peace Prize. Like the one that they gave Bob Dylan for literature. In fact, if you make it until the end of this episode, DM us and Dusty will give you a forehead kiss. We're pimping Dusty out.
01:10:14
Speaker
Anyway. It's going to be like a real sloppy, wet forehead kiss. Not a bitch forehead kiss. Like a pod sloppy. <unk> He's going to go full on lip. You're going to feel that thing.
01:10:26
Speaker
He's going to have a forehead hickey for two weeks after. It's going to be wet like that shit in Alien Romulus. I love all of our listeners. So actually, this might be a win. Anyway, hope you're all having a wonderful day, night, week, wherever you r Keep being you. Thank you for listening. Love you. See you next time. Kisses XOXO. Bald and doubt. Love you. Remember, DM us for your forehead kiss.
01:10:50
Speaker
Bye. See ya.