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TSP Ep 134 Part 1: Oscars 2025 - SPOILERS!!!
16 Plays26 days ago
In this episode, Tom and Steve discuss this years Oscars!
So come along with us and shit on the best movies of the year!
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Transcript
The Gentleman's Drink: Glenfiddich
00:00:02
Speaker
Lent Fittich is too easy to drink. You know, it's one of my favorites. ah It's a great scotch. I love it. Oh man, on the rocks, this is like the perfect gentleman's drink because like you don't make any weird faces when you drink it you know It sounds fancy. Yeah, i always think like you know like some high-class businessman is sitting in a hotel bar. He's just like...
00:00:28
Speaker
He can't drink the wild turkey, right? He can't drink it because he's a lot of, you know, there can't make that face in front of a people. front of a people.
Podcast Release Challenges
00:00:36
Speaker
front of people. All right. You know, we're a little bit behind in releasing our episodes. We'll say we have episodes banked.
00:00:42
Speaker
Yeah.
Inspiration from Stephen Aripes' Episode
00:00:43
Speaker
And i just finished doing the second half of Stephen Aripes. aripis Aripes? Aripes? Yeah, sure. Arpes. What the hell his last name?
00:00:53
Speaker
Arpes? Arpes? Yeah, I'm sure it's pronounced far more eloquently than I just did. But yeah, Stephen Otipus. Stephen A. Stephen A. And, you know, that second half of that podcast was really good. it it was kind of, he shared a lot of really good insights.
00:01:13
Speaker
He had a lot of good things to say. He's pretty good on the mic, I'll i'll say. Oh, yeah. I like having him on. Yeah, and and it was a lot of fun listening to it. And insightful and encouraging, too, because he gave us a little, um what do you call it?
00:01:27
Speaker
Those speeches. Inspirational? Motivational? Yeah, he gave us a little motivational speech there to keep on going with Dickhead. And it was so funny. He's like, yeah, man, you guys just got to keep doing it.
00:01:40
Speaker
You guys got to make Dickhead. It's funny. It's just so funny to hear like the sincerity and then just to hear our title. It's like, God. Yeah.
00:01:50
Speaker
We got to be proud of that one. I mean, i'm pretty I'm proud of it. Yeah.
Exploring 'Dickhead': Humor and Subtlety
00:01:56
Speaker
I think it it gives us a lot of leeway in a sense because it's like wait and we take ourselves just serious enough that we can call ourselves dickhead, right? Yeah. Yeah.
00:02:10
Speaker
um It's like, we're actually going to talk about literalism later. But i mean know I mean, come on. like We've called our movie Dickhead. It's full of dickheads. Good.
00:02:24
Speaker
good Right? It's how on the nose. You were saying like, oh, you know, the lyrics to that song are on the nose. I'm like, buddy, the movie's called Dickhead.
00:02:34
Speaker
We left subtlety at the door, you know? but But you wrote that, right? Which one? The lyrics? No, I did not write that. Oh, I thought you wrote the lyrics to the to it. No, Pat wrote the lyrics to it Oh, okay I was like, wow, Tom, you're pretty good at this.
00:02:49
Speaker
You got someone. No, he asked me if I wanted to, and I was like, I don't, I could, no, no thanks. I could try, but I would, I don't want to fail. Well, you did write some lyrics that were pretty good that you shared with me.
00:03:01
Speaker
My ai music creation. I don't think anyone else could ah hear it. But I listened to that song probably like five times. It was making me crack up.
00:03:13
Speaker
I was just at work, like looking around like, okay, no one's around, right? I can listen to this. Yeah.
AI in Music Creation: A Quick Experiment
00:03:20
Speaker
It's a little graphic. A little bit, huh? I was trying to push to see if the AI would do everything, and it did. It did, yeah.
00:03:28
Speaker
I think it said one word like incorrectly, though. I think you had someone's name in there or something. It just couldn't pronounce it right. Yeah. But it was pretty remarkable, honestly. It's terrifying.
00:03:40
Speaker
like i it That took like three minutes. Really? Yes. Wow. It's just like I wrote the lyrics a and then I dropped it into this program. can't remember which one I used.
00:03:52
Speaker
And then like two three minutes later, the song was done. Really? Yeah. Wow. I was just like, I'm sure there's and there's a lot of like tweaking and other options I can do, but I was like, hey, this is enough.
00:04:03
Speaker
But at the same time, I'm like, Jesus Christ. This is a new world that we are in. Well, for coming right out of the oven... That was a good batch, man.
00:04:14
Speaker
I mean,
Twin Shadows Podcast Introduction: Episode 134
00:04:16
Speaker
it's interesting. But welcome, everyone. This is a Twin Shadows Podcast, episode 134, The Return of the Tiny Golden Man, which I hope we haven't used that title but before.
00:04:28
Speaker
Yes, we have. Part two. Part Do-do. Part do-do. So, yeah, this is ah our Oscars wrap-up kind of discussion episode. Like Stephen said, we're a little late.
Balancing Life and Creativity
00:04:44
Speaker
It's ah St. Paddy's Day week, so we are celebrating with some Glenfiddich. Oh, yeah, there you go It's not Irish, but enough. It's Scottish, right? Close enough, yeah.
00:04:54
Speaker
Close enough. And we have a special guest star for the first part of the show. yeah Hopefully not for long. She shouldn't be speaking too much, but we have baby Sylvia on the the show.
00:05:09
Speaker
um She's currently trying to kick Steven, which is very good. That means she's got good motor functions. She's having her bedtime snack.
00:05:20
Speaker
But yeah, um let's kick off with like, ah so how are things going, buddy? um How's it been? and We haven't i met in a few weeks. It's been going all right. Just trying to still navigate everything with life and kind of be more consistent.
00:05:39
Speaker
You know, there's some days where where I feel good and I just come home straight from work and I just sit down and work and put in a few hours. And then there's some days where I'm like, man, I really don't want to do anything.
00:05:54
Speaker
and And that's been hard. you know like Some days just going without eating or without sleeping. yeah and And that really affects the mood. But interesting little aside, I know we've talked about this in the past, but it just happened to me.
00:06:10
Speaker
So on my computer here, i wanted it to be an editing station for other people to use.
Premiere Pro Delays and Frustrations
00:06:15
Speaker
So I created a secondary profile that you know And it's open to anyone. So Karen got on it and she was kind of just messing around um with the computer itself. Dude, are you a kid?
00:06:30
Speaker
Come on. You might hear some murmurs. I'll just edit all that out. don't even know there's Hey, stop it.
00:06:41
Speaker
What are you, the karate kid? Can't exploit the baby yet. Ever. Whatever. You're not even hungry?
00:06:53
Speaker
Let's yeah Editing profile. And she was playing on the computer and just messing with it for her homework. and um And then I just went through it because I was noticing like some files only accessible on there. So I was like, oh, I didn't even know all this shit was on here. Because my old roommate used to use it a lot. And she would just, even though I told her not to, because every time she was on there, she kind of messed it up more.
00:07:20
Speaker
But um so I went back to work and then I was like, okay, well, let me get back to working on that VFX list and just listing stuff because it's still going important for the colorist, I think.
00:07:31
Speaker
And also for me to um go through each shot and really find the other stuff because we're working on the green rectangle, but, you know, there's like dead pixels, there's stabilization issues, you know, reflections. So there's a lot of other things to work on.
00:07:48
Speaker
And i up i noticed on my desktop, because I have some of the projects just saved on there because I'm lazy. And they were white. You know, it was like a blank white page. I was like, what the heck? Why isn't it showing the Premiere Pro shortcut icon for that project?
00:08:06
Speaker
And I click on it. And then
00:08:12
Speaker
opens up and it says Premiere Pro 2025. And I'm like, shit. oh shit And then once it loads up to a certain point, you know what? It stops you and it says, you got to resave this project with the current version of Premiere Pro.
00:08:27
Speaker
And I was like, no I guess when she was on the other user, because I don't have this to where it auto-updates.
00:08:40
Speaker
I think on the other user, it was set to auto-update. So it auto-updated Premiere Pro to 2025. Nice.
00:08:47
Speaker
And so I was on there and of course nothing was loading up. I was like, okay, well, let me try 2025. And of course, you know, it changes all of your settings. So it was screwing up with my memory because I have it going to a different drive.
00:09:02
Speaker
And then it wouldn't load certain videos because it was crashing for I don't know what reason. And i was like, fuck. So then I started trying to download older versions.
00:09:13
Speaker
And I guess the version I had was like 2022 because I liked it. And so i had to just upload 2024, like the latest version before 2025.
The Final Steps of 'Dickhead' Post-Production
00:09:27
Speaker
And I've been working with that.
00:09:29
Speaker
And it dude, I mean, just something as simple and as dumb as that took me about a whole day of work. Yeah. You know, that I could work more like two days to fix that problem.
00:09:44
Speaker
And that's why you never update the software to a new version. Especially mid-project, right? During a current project. Yeah, you do it after a project. Yeah.
00:09:55
Speaker
Before you start a new one. Man, we'd still be on 2015 Adobe. That's true, we would be. um But, yeah, that sucks. ah The nice thing is the spot that we're in is we're really like actually more hands off, which is great.
00:10:11
Speaker
Yeah. There's only like a few hands on things like left for dickhead, which is like kind of crazy. Like two things really. Yeah. Yeah. um which is the title credits and the font that we have to decide on and then placement and then like all that. And the cop dialogue.
00:10:31
Speaker
Yeah. that Oh yeah, cop so there's three things. The cop dialogue, though I think Adam and Pat recorded something for us. Did they? I think so. Okay. At least I hope so because we express expressly asked them that if they wanted to do it, right? No, you did and I was like, what the fuck?
00:10:50
Speaker
Okay, buddy. yeah Let's make them Australian cops. I think it's cool. I mean, like I said, if we every if if anyone ever gets it to that point, they've already watched the whole movie.
00:11:04
Speaker
People aren't going to watch it. I don't think we got to worry about that. um but And then then then we just have to compile the list of credits, which should be pretty easy.
00:11:16
Speaker
um For the most part, we already have it all done on IMDB because ah everyone wanted like IMDB credit. Yeah, so we did that a long time ago. a lot of that's already kind of done. just needs to kind of be moved over. into I'm not sure how you do credits. this it like I don't know if we just upload a text file or use the pre-built credit maker or whatever.
00:11:39
Speaker
sure it's not too difficult. I never really looked into it too much. I did a little bit. Like I saw, you're not supposed to do it 100% white. Yeah. For the projection. You're supposed to do it at 75% white.
00:11:53
Speaker
Okay. So you know there's some there's some things that you should do. But that's that's it? other than And then just waiting for the ah people working on it to finish up? um Let me ask you a quick question, though. Sure. Because I remember...
00:12:10
Speaker
you know we We haven't really been talking too much because I've just been so busy and I've just been AWOL and then you've been so busy like with work and your life. um
00:12:23
Speaker
We were talking one time and you seemed real down and I was like, dude. And you seemed down on the movie. And i was like, dude, why are you de depressed on the movie? We're in a really good spot. like I mean, it feels...
00:12:36
Speaker
if it's this weird space to be in because we're not working on anything and we're just kind of waiting and it feels like we're stagnant because it feels like we should be working on stuff and and i guess we yeah I guess we do have things to work on. Like there is, there are items to be checked off the list.
00:12:57
Speaker
But, our jobs to be checked off the list. But, You know, overall, we're like... I was telling you, like, oh, dude, we're we're in a
Filmmaking and Personal Growth Through Podcasting
00:13:05
Speaker
really good spot. Like, music's getting done. VFX is getting done.
00:13:09
Speaker
um We're pretty happy with the music and how that's all going. And with VFX, it sounds like Jorge is... um he He knows what he's doing because he's talking about stuff that's just very quickly going over my head.
00:13:24
Speaker
But the results, you know, that rectangle is is is being addressed and less noticeable. You know, I mean, there's still issues to be worked out, but... You know, maybe that's for the colors to figure out. But, you know, overall, like, it's really moving along, and and we are in that good spot. and And did that change your mind at all, or do you still kind of feel a little down about things?
00:13:49
Speaker
I do. ah Only because it just... Like, I'm so... I just want to, like... I'm so ready to just be like done with dickhead stuff.
00:14:00
Speaker
And things are like so infrequent. It does feel wrong in a sense. Like it for so long, it's just, it was just like on us to do everything. Yeah.
00:14:11
Speaker
Literally for years, like 10, nine years, eight years. Yeah. It was just on us to like get into a place, hire people, find things. And I'm, I'm just at a point where I'm just like,
Future Projects and Filmmaking Directions
00:14:21
Speaker
God, I'm so ready. Like,
00:14:24
Speaker
like well I'm like trying to see ah imagine what post dickhead life is like in a sense. Like gearing up to mostly like get into the marketing and and pushing the podcast more and kind of like
00:14:44
Speaker
I don't know, like, we need to start pivoting our focus on the things that going to matter for post-Dickhead being done. Yeah. Like, once post is done, we have the marketing and pushing it to festivals and cutting trailers and and all and things like that.
00:15:04
Speaker
But it's just like, damn, like i'm I'm so... I'm ready for it to be done. It just seems like it's, I guess we need to take our time, but I'm just like, God, I'm just so, I'm getting like antsy. Like everything is kind of just flowing and working. yeah And I'm like, i just want to be done with it. like I'm ready to be done. like we were like We had these windows that we wanted to to achieve like because the strikes had like cut down on like all the films that were coming out.
00:15:32
Speaker
And we're now like probably like on the other side of that. Oh, I don't think so at all. I think we were getting close. Like... i Well, that's true. We just had those fires in l LA. So maybe that yeah kind of was another setback. And all those social media I say says like, it's so dead out here and it's impossible to find work. It sounds really depressing, honestly. Yeah, it is.
00:15:53
Speaker
It really is. It's bad for... On the subreddits. It's bad for filmmakers out here. um But like i I just want to like make stuff. you know im just like I've been wanting to make stuff. like And it's just like, fuck, dude. I'm ready to like actually like get back into the creative mode.
00:16:10
Speaker
yeah um And try to like work on a project like that I want to work on. like you know We have like Rico, but I'm like i'm not like super passionate about Rico, unfortunately. i want i'm I'm there for Alex.
00:16:24
Speaker
um It's not something I would ever make myself if on my own. um So that i mean maybe that's bad. I don't know. ah But I'm just like, you know I'm ready to make our stuff. you know I want to make our the more you know Tom and Steve TSP tsp productions. you know like ah I think that we have...
00:16:49
Speaker
like our skills are just like ready. Like our, like at least I feel like we're ready to like actually make some more kick-ass stuff. Yeah. And it's like that I'm just excited about.
00:17:01
Speaker
And then it's also like, I feel like the prospect of what Dickhead could be After like hearing that some of the tracks that Adam and Pat are putting out and what John is doing with the mix yeah and yeah getting the VFX actually done, like that fucking nightmare of that fucking rectangle.
00:17:23
Speaker
I mean, like like we said, worst comes to worst. We have, at least we have something. It's better than it was. Yeah. um It's manageable if we can't get it better. Because, yeah, there should probably be another pass through all the files to color match the the squares.
00:17:41
Speaker
And if Jorge can go through and do those, like I said, that's what's going to be on us next is to download all the files and and and work on that. But it's like, dude, you know, we're getting close to 10 years.
00:17:56
Speaker
Yeah. And it will probably be 10 years before yeah the film actually premieres. Yeah. um And it's just like, damn, I'm just ready to be like over it,
Desire to Move Beyond 'Dickhead'
00:18:09
Speaker
you know?
00:18:09
Speaker
Oh, no. i i find it interesting like, because we're both, I think, in the same place where i'm I'm done. I'm done. Like I told you, I really feel done with dickhead to the poor to the extent of um
00:18:27
Speaker
of working on it so hard ourselves. you know like if we had to do coloring, I guess... Yeah, we do it because we're that close if we have to. But I'm just like, oh my gosh.
00:18:42
Speaker
Put a gun to my head first before we before I hit power on the computer. Oh, I would. I mean, if if it we're not doing it, right? yeah It would never come to that. I mean, I would just get like more and more loads. I'd sell the car. you know like At this point, it's like we also, it's just like, it doesn't make sense for us to do it.
00:19:03
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. we it's like we'd have to learn too much. Yeah. Like we're at a point where it's like some of this shit, like you said with Jorge, it's like so fucking above my head. I have no, it's like, you're,
00:19:16
Speaker
You're up there. Can you hear me, God? Because it's like, dude, like we were talking about like that windowing out the to matt the the rectangle to blend it in. yeah I don't want to have to learn how to do that.
00:19:32
Speaker
I want to know how to write. i need the learn We need to be writing and, you know, thinking about pre-production or or marketing. Like that's where our focus, our focus needs to be on once Dickhead is done, what's next?
00:19:43
Speaker
Yeah. What do we do with Dickhead once it's done? Yeah. As a film? Because we haven't had to worry about that for but at all. Ever, really. But now we need to worry about that because it's a possibility. It's happening.
00:19:54
Speaker
Yeah. Dickhead will be done this year. Yeah. Like, even if we go until December 25th, you know, Christmas Day, you know, we're going to be done with it. If the colorist takes six months, it would still be within this year to be done.
00:20:09
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Like, it's getting done this year. So what what we need to like, then we have to like, just like gear up and be like, well, how like do we need to be, is our focus going to be need to be more on the on this show? And getting it out there and getting guests that build the audience and then i think getting ears out there. Like, right? Like every Cargill or...
00:20:33
Speaker
ah Sean Baker. sean You know, like that kind of like meeting those people and talking with them. And then when we hit, if we hit the festival circuit and we're there, like those are the people we need to like be networking with and talking with. And it's like, we need to get, you know, and then, and also just like keep finding the Steven Arapes.
00:20:54
Speaker
We need to keep finding them. We need to find the Jared and Clarks. You know, and it's like...
Evolution of the Podcast: Quality and Content
00:20:59
Speaker
Because we have put a big backseat on the podcast to while we're getting things situated with Dickhead.
00:21:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, certainly I think the quality... Well, I wouldn't want to say the quality has suffered because I think it's gotten better in certain ways too. Like, I think we're just kind of better at this in general.
00:21:23
Speaker
But certainly with the earlier episodes, I mean, we had like... you know little segments, interesting sections to the podcast, you know real focused topics, where now it's more journalists journalistic,
00:21:40
Speaker
yeah journal-entryistic, and certainly more tangential. Would that be correct to say? yeah um you know and so so I can see, sometimes I listen to the podcast i'm like,
00:21:56
Speaker
I know we care about this, but does anyone else? Because it's just so personalized. Yeah. You know, and it and perhaps too hard for people to to get engaged because it's like, well, you're just talking about your movie that I've never seen. That we'll never see. So I have no way to, you know, ah there's there's nothing to grab onto. I'm just hearing people talk into the void. Yeah.
00:22:22
Speaker
But... Yeah, I mean, certainly ah the podcast should be something we, I mean, it was always designed with that. ah Part of it was always designed with that purpose to use it as marketing for our projects.
00:22:36
Speaker
um And it's fun and it's educational. And i honestly, i i mean I really feel like I'm a better filmmaker today because you know just sitting here with you for hundreds of hours talking film, yeah I think really has gotten me to think about it more and and more intelligently and see new things and see new perspectives and and grow in that way.
New Film Projects: The Need for Collaboration
00:22:57
Speaker
But I did want to ask you, With, you're saying you're feeling more creative. So have you been brainstorming like any any projects you want to do? like Like, is is it what we've kind of talked about in the past? Or you kind of thinking of new things? Like, what's that like for you? I almost filmed something a couple like weeks ago. But I was just like, this is too much for just me to get what I want.
00:23:20
Speaker
Like, I was doing like lighting tests and things like that around the house. And i was like, fuck. like I need Steven here. like I need somebody. that like yeah I need a DP. i'm not I know how to like work the camera, but i'm not i'm like what I'm imagining in my head, like I wrote a shot list and I did all this stuff. And then was like, I can't really invite you and Alex. like You guys are so fucking busy.
00:23:41
Speaker
And it's like, finding it i'm like how is Steven going to get like a day away? Yeah, that's that's been real rough on me. Right? and first Yeah, I mean, I know you've complained about that in the past. And I like, yeah, when there's no end to this.
00:23:54
Speaker
Yeah. No day off. Yeah, it's like you got to like beg an in-law or yeah or you know a family member to like, hey, I need a day to to do this to do this or that or whatever. And those days are so precious yeah because it's like it's like once a month or once every three months, you'll have like one night away with the with the out the family. But yeah, i almost shot something. i was like really I was like, okay, we can do it. And then I was like doing the test shots and I was just like,
00:24:24
Speaker
I can't do it. ah yeah It's like, i'm I can't, it would be a disservice for me to try and do it all myself. Really? Because I want like, I want, might the idea is like very dramatic, like contrasty black and white. Oh. With like flagging and and things like that to like cut the, cut like the, cut shit like the shapes out.
00:24:44
Speaker
And then there's puppetry involved and I was doing, I was doing the puppetry. yeah And yeah, and like I was testing, I was testing it and I got like fishing line and I was doing the puppetry and then I was going in DaVinci and removing the strings. And was like, okay, I can do this. This is, I've watched some tutorials. I can do this.
00:25:02
Speaker
But then I was like, fuck, how am I supposed to be doing the puppetry and then the camera work and then the lighting? Yeah. yeah And then the kids are trying to help, but I'm just like, they're trying. you like, god damn, you're useless.
00:25:16
Speaker
You're seven and four. like Yeah, but yeah, you know like I bought like like little prop knives for the puppet to use. And like, it's going to be, it's good it's just like, there's like gross out humor and ah Katie was going to do special, the special effects and i'm going to break my nose in it. And there's a shot that's, that I want to do where I project on the wall that the creature is like growing on the, as a projector.
00:25:42
Speaker
And then like, i run at the wall and break my nose against the wall. And then I was like, fuck it. i have I can't figure out the lighting. trying to do this. it's like too its just It was just too much. I was like, I know I could do it in like a day.
00:25:55
Speaker
it's like, you know. But you need people. It takes a village. Yeah. yeah I mean, it filmmaking's hard. Filmmaking's hard with people. Yeah. i The people who do it by themselves. I mean, I think the only way you can do it by yourself is is if you're doing stop motion or animating and then taking a lifetime. Yeah.
00:26:14
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. yeah so But that short that I want to do, it's called Bottoms Up. okay about a guy It's about an alcoholic home alone. yeah He sells his soul to Satan for the last drink.
00:26:28
Speaker
Wasn't this a script that we read? No, I have never. Oh, then you might have told me about it. Yeah. okay I think I sent it to you and then I deleted it because I was like, well, I don't want like... i don't want Stephen to steal it. No, it's like, don't want... I'm like, you're not going to be able to help.
00:26:43
Speaker
Yeah. ah you know Yeah, I don't know. and so i was like I mean, I'd like to say yes, but it's like, I mean, look at me right now. Yeah, you know yeah that's when I was just like, you know, let me see if if I can do it myself. And then I was trying and I was like...
00:27:00
Speaker
I can't do it. yeah like i can't I mean, i I would, but I would be making tons of compromises. But yeah, yeah. and so That's the pitch. You're right. It's after two, a a guy wakes up. A Faustian story. Yeah. it's But it's like Evil Dead.
00:27:14
Speaker
Okay. ah Because there you know like the the spirit of Mistoffelees or whatever the Faust story is ah inside the demonic... puppet okay and um chasing the dude around the house and like stabbing him in the legs and shit and there's like gags where that fake hand that we use for dickhead oh i was gonna have a shot where it's like the puppet stabbing the hand but then it cuts to a wide of me holding the fake hand yeah and we both look at the puppet looks at the hand and i look at the hand and and then i hit him with the puppet that hit the hand the puppet with the hand then he fly flies away yeah and we were doing tests with that and i was like okay this is kind of cool but it's like this is fucking hard yeah
00:27:53
Speaker
Jim Henson is a goddamn genius because I designed like a rail a rail system where I could like push it and it would just like slide along the rail. yeah But yeah, I was like, fuck, dude. You did all that? Yeah.
00:28:05
Speaker
Damn, buddy. i took like for I took some time off of work um When did we have the last holiday? President's Day? Yeah. I think i took some so I took two days off, and I was like doing all the tests because I going to try and shoot it.
00:28:19
Speaker
yeah and like Yeah. I tested the puppet and the pulley system, and I was doing like lighting tests, and i was like, fuck, I can't ah can't do all of this. Because I was like, Katie, can you figure out the camera? She's like, no.
00:28:31
Speaker
Really? I was going to say, she knows photos. I mean, that was years ago, but... yeah they Well, when they say no, I was like, okay. She's like, I help you with the puppets, doing the puppetry. And I was like, and okay.
00:28:49
Speaker
Yeah. Well, speaking of puppets. Yeah. But yeah, we watched the Oscars. That was the last we hung out. We all got together.
Oscars Reflection: Independent vs. Mid-Budget Films
00:29:00
Speaker
Yeah. We watched the Oscars like we do. It's like an annual tradition now.
00:29:05
Speaker
And... um Let's see.
00:29:12
Speaker
All right. So yeah, yeah. We gathered and we watched the show. Huddle between kids running around and Steven's taking care of. you know Women shouting that we're drinking too much. We observed what would be a night for indie film.
00:29:23
Speaker
A night for the little guy. But what did we think of 2024 the themselves? Well... and the oscars themselves well Conan O'Brien is, you know, he's great as always. He's a funny dude.
00:29:40
Speaker
um The ceremonies itself were fine.
00:29:44
Speaker
It was interesting because,
00:29:49
Speaker
you know, we always make criticisms episode. episode for whatever reason about the quality of film overall, like mainstream Hollywood and how it's gone down.
00:30:04
Speaker
and I feel like that, is never more prevalent than in the Oscars this year. Uh, outside of a few wins, everything went to low budget independent film.
00:30:21
Speaker
Uh, The big movie, like, there are no more mid-movies, like middle ground great films and that are coming out theaters. They just don't really exist.
00:30:35
Speaker
um
00:30:38
Speaker
And I don't really know why. It's very strange.
00:30:42
Speaker
There should be a market for them. Like, where are the Saving Private Ryan's and the ah Beautiful Mind's like Those movies don't really come out anymore. like What happened? I don't know.
00:30:59
Speaker
i I kind of miss movies like that. um There certainly weren't bad movies. ah I need to bring up the list because my notes didn't show...
00:31:16
Speaker
All the best pictures. And I forgot to add that to the list. I only show show who won. So yeah. that of you know There are 10 films that were nominated for best picture.
00:31:28
Speaker
ah Only one of them was like in my opinion bad. And it wasn't even that bad. It was like just fucking crazy.
00:31:39
Speaker
And that was Amelia Perez. That movie was fucking crazy. Like ah i it's ah It's a hard movie to really have a take on, i think, because it's doing... it's such a It's such a weird movie, Amelia Perez.
00:32:01
Speaker
And it also like, it rubs a lot of people the wrong way, which I kind of like. I kind of like that a movie i can bring up like that much kind of like controversy and discussion on over the the contents of its film while still just being just outright fucking insane. That movie's fucking crazy.
00:32:20
Speaker
um But you know, there were a lot of films I enjoyed. Anora was great. Substance was good. Dune was good. Brutalist was good. a lot of these films echo other films in the past. like I feel like Oscar movies are so predictable nowadays.
00:32:41
Speaker
like You have your same... Every movie like slots in somewhere to another. like It's very rare that we have like something that's fresh that's nominated in a sense.
00:32:54
Speaker
Like, you have your... Like, Conclave is like a... um like previous movies. It's like a green book, right?
00:33:05
Speaker
It's not offensive. Yeah. It's well-made. It's well-acted. But it's just, you know, I'm never going to watch it again. I'm glad I watched it because it was like a movie that was like, you watch once and it you enjoy And it's like, okay, it's not going to make anyone's best of the decade.
00:33:26
Speaker
But it was good.
00:33:28
Speaker
Well, With Conclave specifically, you know it was it was a really tight film. Yeah. And it was well executed, but it had its issues, man. and like I really hated the ending.
00:33:41
Speaker
And it's not the very end, like some people think. that I mean, that was kind of just... I mean, it came out of left field a little bit. But it was... Okay, listen. If you're going to listen to this podcast, ah there's going to be some spoilers.
Critique of 'Conclave' and Dramatic Choices
00:33:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:56
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Spoilers for all 10 best pictures, potentially. So any movie that was in the Oscars, there's potential spoilers for all of that. So if you don't want to hear spoilers for all these movies, then don't listen.
00:34:09
Speaker
But in Conclave, when they have the... So here we go. One, two, turn us off. yeah He didn't make this far anyways. But for Conclave, you know, it was that whole explosion, man.
00:34:20
Speaker
That was just... It was so well done, you know, this procedural film. and And that was engrossing to me, you know? like but it was It kind of reminded me like of Sorkin like with The West Wing.
00:34:36
Speaker
Yeah. The West Wing, it's a procedural kind of film or show, right? And that's engaging because it's really well written. And they go into why certain... um certain topics can be so complicated and there's intrigue and in a lot of these complications, right? When they explain it um clearly and, but also to where you can understand. And i felt like they executed that really well and then they have a fucking explosion and it's like,
00:35:07
Speaker
Why? Why would you do that? You already had all of this tension and energy built up, right? Because you have this whole flipperoo with who now who's going to be the Pope and you're going to see him cast that vote.
00:35:24
Speaker
You already had enough drama and tension within this vote ah casting scene. where you could have gone from there. You didn't need to add an explosion. that just That just, it felt like the Marvel moment.
00:35:41
Speaker
It felt to me like, you know, audiences, they need their action, okay? They got to see some action. So we need a we need a big spider to come down from heaven and and knock down the Sistine Chapel. You know, it just felt like it was that moment. I disagree quite a bit.
00:35:58
Speaker
It didn't feel earned
00:36:01
Speaker
I disagree just on the basis that it was like the outside world is still happening because they're so secluded. they're so It's so insular. Then do a zone of interest type deal.
00:36:17
Speaker
And what they are like what is going on in the world is having an effect. Yeah. Yeah, I just... ah I mean...
00:36:29
Speaker
it doesn't ruin the movie at all for me. I think it was, i think that that, that film in particular was very nicely executed in the fact that it addresses a lot of, of modern issues while also kind of just like keeping things,
00:36:53
Speaker
um,
00:36:56
Speaker
Just kind of, right? yeah every Everyone is, there are no like ah characters as much as there are representations, which is kind of nice and well done. And and i I, don't know, I was surprised.
00:37:12
Speaker
Conclave surprised me. I will say i um ah by how much I enjoyed it. um
00:37:18
Speaker
And I could have, I could have pegged that as like a dark horse winner ah in my mind. And then, of course, you have your real Dark Horse, which was the substance, getting nominated, which in my mind was kind of crazy. like
00:37:36
Speaker
I don't really understand how that got nominated. It's a good movie.
00:37:47
Speaker
i dont I don't know.
00:37:50
Speaker
Maybe I'm having too much whiskey here.
00:37:55
Speaker
Yeah, so, you know, that's... We... yeah Kind of rambling. um Steven jumped out at a weird time taking care of the little ones. You know, that's always that's always tough. But yeah, you know, while he's he's gone, I can talk a little bit about the other best pictures.
00:38:14
Speaker
um Dune 2. I think that's a pretty obvious nomination. ah It's tough a film of...
00:38:25
Speaker
Grandeur, spectacle. to you know We complain about spectacle in Marvel films and things like that. And it's not that it's a it's a criticism there because the impact is not felt as much. everything feel It's like superficial, superficial.
00:38:48
Speaker
Maybe that's it's a weird way to describe it. It's a superficial um
00:38:59
Speaker
spectacle. It doesn't feel like they're...
00:39:05
Speaker
like this The best way I can describe it is it's it's the scale. Dune has scale. And it's like undeniable, the scale.
00:39:17
Speaker
of that film. It does spectacle in the way where it's respectable spectacle. If I don't, if I start rhyming, it's like, you know, we'll shit on spectacle in a Marvel movie all day because it's like not executed very well, but Dune's spectacle is executed in a way where it's like, Oh, this is marvelous to you know, add more insult to the Marvel shalt shaker there.
00:39:47
Speaker
um So that was Dune. i what You like Dune, right, buddy? ah Did I like Dune? Well, I think Denis Villeneuve is a really amazing director and he can really
Mixed Feelings on 'Dune 2': Grand Yet Challenging
00:40:04
Speaker
do some beautiful moments in movies, you know, in cinema as a whole.
00:40:12
Speaker
But my issue with Dune is... is It was just so visceral and it's just such a deep story like from what you're telling me. And so much of that just – I didn't understand what the heck was going on.
00:40:27
Speaker
you know And on NPR, he did this interview where he was talking about – how he would love to do a silent film. And I think he was kind of channeling some of that energy into Dune where there's just not a whole lot of dialogue or maybe just the dialogue doesn't feel um like it's used very well.
00:40:47
Speaker
You know, like like for Dune, you got to have some exposition to to explain things. I mean, you know, sometimes i think you can i think you can get away with it to an extent, but you got to make sure the audience can follow along and yeah And I think like a Blade Runner, and I feel like the audience could follow along for the most part.
00:41:07
Speaker
Maybe not. I know they had narration in the theatrical version. But certainly in Dune, it's just like, what the heck? what is did what What did What?
00:41:17
Speaker
Who is this? Why do people like him? I hate this casting. But... Yeah, I mean, I don't know. It's beautiful. It's epic.
00:41:28
Speaker
It's an epic movie. Yeah, I feel like Denny ah does Nolan better than Nolan. Oh, yeah. And that's what fascinates me because, ah you know, last year it was all about Oppenheimer or previous two years ago,
Comparing 'Oppenheimer' and 'Dune'
00:41:44
Speaker
whatever. It was all about Oppenheimer, right? That was the big sweeper.
00:41:47
Speaker
Yeah. At the 2023 Oscars. And it was like, dude, Oppenheimer sucks. Yeah. I said it once, I'll say it again. That movie is not good. People that like it are... It's pseudo-intellectualism, right? like Yeah. often and i And while Denny is like right like... Those criticisms are like... It's just like, well, dude, read the book.
00:42:08
Speaker
His is just intellectualism. it That's why I couldn't follow along. I was like, huh? He's just like... you You don't get it? He's like, the story's out there for you if you want it. Yeah. um And I appreciate that because...
00:42:24
Speaker
I don't want – that movie's already long enough without a 10-minute exposition scene explaining – I don't think you have to add to it. Why don't you just refine what you have? You know, that's my issue. like Oh, i don't I have a lot of issues with Dune. I don't think it's perfect.
00:42:40
Speaker
I just think he does big, beautiful imagery. Yeah, he does that exceptionally. He's exceptional probably one of the the best yeah at it right now. like No one does – I mean, maybe Chazelle a little bit with Babylon because Babylon has like these beautiful, elegant, big set pieces that work really well.
00:43:01
Speaker
yeah It's just – that movie is such a fucking mess. It's just too bloated. It just goes all over the place. yeah it's like a It's like a you know ah this majestic, beautiful whale, but it's beached.
00:43:16
Speaker
It's a rotting corpse. Yeah. It's like, you should have shoved it back out to sea, Danny. It's got to breathe. um but yeah so You know, this year, it wasn't about the studio, the big studio pictures.
Technical Achievements in 'Dune'
00:43:33
Speaker
Those other than, i mean, Dune was, it took home the technical awards because, of course, it took sound and visual effects. I mean, yeah like we said, no one does it better than Denny Villeneuve. Like, I don't know how you fucking top that guy when he like he actually uses his budget.
00:43:53
Speaker
Yeah. When I see like an Oppenheimer or fucking Gladiator 2. two It's like that movie sucked so bad. It's like so it's like this was 200 million or and a Russo brother. Any Russo brothers movie that Electric State. Did you actually see that? We were going to watch it. We built like this like elaborate pillow, our blanket fort in the living room. Yeah.
00:44:19
Speaker
And we had put the TV on the floor. And we were like had like this huge blanket fort. It was like the length like the whole length of the living room. Oh, wow. And we were gonna like and we just laid down there. we were watching movies. And we watched The Gorge, ah Love Hurts. And then we were like, well, let's watch one more. And it was like we watched the trailer for Electric State. I was like, i ain't watching it.
00:44:39
Speaker
yeah ah Yeah. Sorry. We ain't watching it. So we ended up watching Novocaine. Okay. um one Of those three, which one? ah Were they all good? They were they were they were like a fun was like a fun watch.
00:44:54
Speaker
Love Heard sucked. Really? was so bad. Yeah. it And it made me it made me feel bad for a kiek because i really like Ki-Ki-Wan or Ki-Ki-Wan.
'The Gorge': A Promising Start Gone Awry
00:45:02
Speaker
Yeah. I like him a lot. I mean, and he's like...
00:45:06
Speaker
yeah he's like He's like a sweet guy. kind Or at least that's what hit my impression is of him. yeah But it's like, dude, this movie is fucking trash. like You deserve better, man. Everyone in that cast deserves better. um Yeah. like yeah i don't yeah I'm like, how do these movies get... This movie, you could make 10 honoris for the cost of this movie. Yeah.
00:45:28
Speaker
right Well, The Gorge, that's the one that Cargill worked on. He's the producer. That he talked to us about, remember? Because he said he had to go to Europe. Yeah, because that was with Anna Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller. And I liked it.
00:45:41
Speaker
i It nosedives fucking hard, though. like Really? Really Yeah. um it has this, it has a a sweet buildup. If you like Miles Teller and you like Anya Taylor-Joy, they are good.
00:45:57
Speaker
And they're sweet and it's cute for like these assassins. For these killers? These killers of of humans. Yeah. And it's like, right, it's like ah But then it, and then they go down into the gorge and it's like a Silent Hill, Silent Hill Lovecraftian movie.
00:46:17
Speaker
And you're like, right wow, this is great. But then the movie doesn't end. Okay. They leave the gorge and there's like 30 more minutes. Okay. And it, and it's like, you know what the whole premise of the movie is?
00:46:32
Speaker
Corporations are bad. Okay. Yeah. Yep. Not like, oh, we opened the mouth of hell and, you know, this is... Why not, right? This is what we did. Nope.
00:46:46
Speaker
Corporations are bad. Well, yeah. That's why we're not corporate. Yeah. We're just bad, bad. We're just bad. Okay, well... We're poor, bad. which What about Novocaine? Was that any... Was that fun?
00:47:01
Speaker
It was fun. That looks like it would be fun. It's like... It's in that... ah It's very silly. Oh, I also watched Companion. We also watched, after the kids went to bed, we watched Companion. How was that too?
00:47:14
Speaker
I liked it. Yeah. ah The trailer ruins the whole movie. So don't. Yeah. It just tells you the whole movie. Yeah. i saw it. Yeah. Trailer. I was like, oh, this is the movie. It's like the barbarian guy.
00:47:25
Speaker
Yeah. the That did the... Zach Krieger or whatever his name is. And it's like, wow, i I don't think I've ever seen a case where the... tra It'd be like if you watched the trailer for Sixth Sense and it's like, oh, Bruce Willis is dead.
00:47:38
Speaker
but What? You fucking spoiled the movie in the trailer? Like, the most pivotal... Because it's like... I equate it to, it's like ah watching it the second a second time.
00:47:50
Speaker
Yeah. Because if you watch the trailer, you see the movie. You've seen it. You've seen the whole movie. Well, what i when I was watching the trailer, I was like, yeah, you just saw the whole movie. I think because we were trying to see it as a family.
00:48:02
Speaker
like with my my mom and sister and I was telling I think I told Karen I was like well this is the whole movie right here this is one of those trailers yeah cause we I was i I hadn't seen the trailer until we were about to watch it cause I was like oh I've heard this is good like let's just watch the trailer and i just need to like confirm my suspicion that it's gonna be good cause like Barbarian I thought was it was okay yeah it was a great comedy yeah but you know ah with some spooky elements like it was like a But then I was like, oh no.
00:48:34
Speaker
I did not like Barbarian. Yeah. I thought it was like, it was pretty mid. Which one? Barbarian? Okay. Both were pretty mid. Really? Companion was mid, huh? Yeah. Was it better?
00:48:46
Speaker
No. It looks better. Companion, um i imagine Companion is better if you don't know what the story is. Well, then I guess there's no point of watching it. No.
00:48:59
Speaker
I'm not joking. If you know the twist, Because they lean on it so hard. Really? So hard. Why would they ruin that then?
00:49:10
Speaker
I don't know. like I'm not joking. It is literally like watching fucking Sixth Sense if the trailer told you that he was dead. That's how bad it is. Well, because not all directors have... We're not even talking about the ah yeah Not all directors have a lot of input into trailers, right? No, studios cut those.
00:49:30
Speaker
Why would someone do that? That's... See, again, like Denis Villeneuve and who did you say? Nolan? Yeah. A lot of people. But look who made more money.
00:49:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, maybe we all are are are all stupid. We did vote for Trump, so. I know. I'm just like. He is our president. Like, are we just a lost cause?
00:49:53
Speaker
man. Maybe that i mean we do got to just watch Electric State and enjoy it. How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Electric State and just enjoy it. What is the title? ah How I Learned to Stop Worrying About the Bomb.
00:50:08
Speaker
Yeah. Doctor Strangelove. How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. There you How I started. Exactly. That's what we got to do. Shit, man. But that's… Damn. No, right? You got to rally against the dark. You always say, you don't rally against the and the du and the dying of the light. Yes.
00:50:24
Speaker
Well, I will say this to bring us back too. You know, with the Oscars, I think that a lot of the films, especially for Best Picture, did
Best Picture Nominations and Resonance
00:50:35
Speaker
do that. Like, there was, I mean, obviously we'll get into Best Picture Nora.
00:50:40
Speaker
I mean, I'm pretty happy that that got it in ah some of the nominations too. Like, you know Even the one blockbuster movie, Wicked, that was nominated.
00:50:52
Speaker
ah kind of i i you know I had very low expectations. you know I'm thinking Marvel, that kind of thing. But I was really um surprised by it. and And I did enjoy it. Especially Ariana Grande.
00:51:07
Speaker
um I thought she was great in that film. She was... It was like perfect casting. Yeah, she was... that That is a case of perfect casting right there because I thought she knocked it out of the park. I loved her character.
00:51:20
Speaker
i think I developed a crush on her watching that because I don't know who Ariana Grande is. Miley, yeah. She... She was so good in it, she upstages the lead.
00:51:31
Speaker
yeah and And that's the problem. And the other problem is, is like that movie fucking sucked. Yeah. It was... ah It's not that the movie sucked.
00:51:42
Speaker
It's like... Okay, it's like... Let me put it like this. Sorry, my my speech is devolving as I talk. It's a glifidage. So, Wicked.
00:51:57
Speaker
Yeah. essentially a fan fiction of Wizard of Oz, it which is... Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it. Sure. And it is so poorly done as a fan fiction, but it's gorgeous.
00:52:13
Speaker
And yeah the sets are elaborate and intricate and interesting, and you can't really take your eyes off them. Yeah. But as soon as you leave the sets and the cool musical numbers, you just want to rip your eyeballs out. Yeah.
00:52:27
Speaker
Like the fucking goat thing. I was just like, i I'm so like, okay, we get it. The wizard's a Nazi. The animals are Jews. We get it. yeah Or I guess maybe not Jews, but they're the you know the target of the Nazis. it is Hollywood, you know, so.
00:52:45
Speaker
Yeah. Holocaust would. Jesus Christ, dude. I was just like,
00:52:51
Speaker
And then there's like teen drama, romance, love triangles. And I'm just like, this every fan fiction gets boiled down to the shit.
00:53:02
Speaker
yeah yeah I don't like the story. I hated the story. yeah it's But what can I say? I will say ah I recently watched Wizard of Oz because it's like oh I was watching with Emma.
00:53:16
Speaker
Because she's like really big into like... big flashy like she kind of was liking the dance numbers so i was like well let's watch Wizard of Oz and I was like was yeah and I was like holy shit Wizard of Oz is so fucking good like I mean it's arguably the greatest film ever made right um I don't know about that but it's it's really good I was just like shit but you know like how would why would you ever want to watch Wicked yeah or Wizard of Oz but see that's that's the problem like
00:53:50
Speaker
Wizard of Oz is just such this... I think it's on the route mount rush ma rush Mount Rushmore of Hollywood films, yeah in my opinion. There is something about films that don't age.
00:54:05
Speaker
Yeah. You would not believe... i mean, there there are some technical aspects where you would know that Wizard of Oz obviously
'Wizard of Oz' vs. 'Wicked': Timelessness
00:54:15
Speaker
was made in you know the thirty s Is that when it was made in the 30s? Yeah, 19, 39.
00:54:21
Speaker
I mean, come on, dude. It's like, dude. For being that old during that time of film. Like, that's that's insane. Just the technological achievements. Like, we're praising Dune.
00:54:33
Speaker
Wizard of Oz is like a million times better technologically than Dune. Because, I mean, Dune's just VFX. Yeah. You know, it's just a computer where, wow. That's crazy. I didn't know it was 39.
00:54:45
Speaker
Yeah, it's like we've... We've missed the step. People complain about ai but it's like, and the only difference between AI and VFX is a human.
00:54:59
Speaker
Yeah. It's like, they both suck. Yeah, the humans, they do it too good either. I mean, I fucking hate VFX. Like, I don't think it's there to fix problems. Well, I mean, I think Dune is a good case for VFX, and I think it is used very well.
00:55:18
Speaker
Same thing with Blade Runner 2049. Denny has it down. You know, if you're going to do it, yeah guess. Because you even Nolan. Nolan no one doesn't VFX.
00:55:30
Speaker
That's one of the things I like about him. you know He's very much practical. Yeah. Even Interstellar. like A lot of that stuff is like... um ah a macro photography of of of things.
00:55:42
Speaker
Yeah. ah Like huge computer, like physicist simulations of what it would look like. When you told me when he's in the fourth dimension and that's practical.
00:55:53
Speaker
Yeah. was just like, What? Like, what? How is that possible? Like, that's impressive. I mean, it it feels uncanny in the sense of it just feels like it was done by a computer, not that it's a real thing.
00:56:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you know, he set off a nuke. Yeah, I mean, you got to give the the man some credit. Yeah, I like, I mean, i should have known a lot, but it's like, we should it's the same reason we should on Edgars.
The Lasting Impact of Kubrick's Films
00:56:19
Speaker
Or Tarantino.
00:56:20
Speaker
It's like, you're the cream of the crop. Yeah. You're the best that we have. You have to be better. Yeah.
00:56:31
Speaker
Right? It's like, you know, you want to be Kubrick? You've never been touched him. You've got to be better than Kubrick if you want to be Kubrick. Yeah. Like, Nolan is not that.
00:56:42
Speaker
You know, 2001 has not aged a fucking day. Yeah. That movie is just as beautiful and brilliant as it was when it was released in 1968. If not more beautiful because all the...
00:56:53
Speaker
um remasters of it like I saw a very clean version of it I don't know where I saw it man that movie I was just blown away was is this in space how is this possible how did he do yeah these effects this is gorgeous it is one of the most beautiful films ah With special effects I've ever seen.
00:57:15
Speaker
Yeah. you know And that's a movie that's it's very light on plot. Very. It's very light on character. Very. It's just... It's like Dune in the sense where it's like... It's just beautiful images and sound just flowing. It's like an experience.
00:57:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's more visceral. It's like a visceral experience. Like you experienced 2001. You're not there but you're not there to be like... discovering the intricacies of like this of you know Hal's machinations which that story is very complicated it's there yeah it is and especially when you get like into if you notice the details like Hal cheats playing chess Oh, really? Yeah.
00:58:00
Speaker
And which is like one of the things that people always point out is like he makes an illegal move. and ah Dave or Hal? Hal. Really? and dave's like And Dave doesn't notice. And Hal makes an illegal move playing chess. And it's like if he was always truthful. What a little touch. That's beautiful. Yeah, Kubrick. shit You know? and and And that also leads to like people over...
00:58:25
Speaker
exemplifying him not all but like you know people like they they lose the forest for the trees when they like you know the shining it's like oh the Indian can Indian burial ground and you know yeah the the whole film's about you know the genocide of the indian the Native Americans are like what the fuck where did that come from okay it's like ah Because you know everything is so planned. every You just read into everything. inch of the frame is there on for a purpose. And so people just like dive in a little too hard when I think Kubrick was a simple storyteller.
00:59:00
Speaker
you know like With Eyes Wide Shut, probably one of the most misinterpreted movies ever. It's just... ah About a dude that wants to get laid. And then when he doesn't get laid, he realizes how much he loves his wife. Yeah, it's really just kind of like a family drama. Yeah.
00:59:14
Speaker
you know Just wrapped up in this Illuminati subplot. It's just that thatum it just like, right? People get lost in that. Because it's interesting. It's flashy. In the conspiracy. yeah But it's like, that is there to show you how more the conspiracy.
00:59:32
Speaker
to Bill's character. He's a doctor. like He should have access to all of this. Yeah. But it's like, he ain't shit. Yeah. He didn't get the invite to the island.
00:59:43
Speaker
Yeah, he really didn't, right? You think he would, but... Yeah. you know he's the He's a very well-off doctor, but he here What's his name? I don't remember. The sex guy?
00:59:56
Speaker
Oh, Epstein? Epstein. He didn't get the Epstein invite. No, he didn't. Because that's like what that is, essentially, right? yeah It's like he he wasn't on that level. That's interesting, too. And also, he wouldn't want to be, right? Because as he got deeper, he was like, uh-uh. This is too weird. I'm not into this.
01:00:12
Speaker
Right. Once that you know the threats... and yeah like He's enticed by it to an extent, but then once he sees it more closely and deeply, he's like, this is... Maybe I have it pretty good. This is a little too dark. And you know, maybe it is, it ain't so bad back home.
01:00:25
Speaker
And then he has that. And he's scared too, right? Yeah. He, right. He almost, that's what I love about that movie is like, He has that thing where his wife tells him about how she wanted to have an affair. it's kind of like Dante's Inferno.
01:00:40
Speaker
Honestly, the whole story, right? He goes down to hell and then through purgatory and then back up to heaven, right? And it was all back to get back to Beatrice. Yeah, and then people... Poor Beatrice.
01:00:51
Speaker
That bitch stuck.
01:00:54
Speaker
shouldn't kill yourself. Well, maybe. don't know. um But were we talking about the Oscars? Yeah, we were supposed to be talking about... um Well, we were talking about Wicked and and I was surprised by that film. It was better than I thought, but I also had very low expectations for it.
01:01:09
Speaker
Yeah. um But, you know, it's one of the best performing plays ever. Yeah. I saw the play when I was younger. And so, you know, some of those numbers just are pretty damn good. You know, there's some catchiness.
01:01:25
Speaker
Cynthia Erivo, she cries great. She's a great crier. There were a couple scenes where she cried. I was like, I didn't think I was going to feel on this. i think she No, she's great.
01:01:36
Speaker
It's just the story isn't so boring. Yeah, the writing. It was like Marvel movies.
01:01:47
Speaker
Filmmakers getting the script to like, I don't know, Umbrella, Chernobyl. Yeah. It's like this magical world, but there's no magic. Yeah. I don't feel.
01:02:00
Speaker
It's like, yeah, she can do magic, but I'm like, I don't feel it. Yeah. I want to feel it. like And maybe I just too cold-hearted or. No, they just needed to be more epic. They needed Denis Villeneuve to direct it. You know, like go with some epic sweeping shots. Yeah.
01:02:16
Speaker
you know and and And a lot of it was just, from what I remember, just static. um So there were only two films I did i didn't watch. So you didn't see all the best pictures? I didn't get them. See, I did good this year. I actually saw all of them except for The Brutalist because I only saw like an hour and a half.
01:02:33
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't i didn't see k Nickel Boys. Oh, that's one of the ones i I did want you to see. And then I didn't see I'm Still Here because it came out like right before the Oscars and then the Oscars happened.
01:02:45
Speaker
Yeah. And I was like... do I still need to watch this? Should I watch it? Nah, I would say i'd say don't watch either if if it's after the point. Yeah, I'm just like, I didn't make it. i tried, I tried, but I was just like, damn, Stephen kept saying like Nickel Boys was like, it's not, I was like, ah, what? It's like, do you want to watch his Zone of Interest again?
01:03:08
Speaker
No. Not to say it's really anything like it, but I feel Zone of Interest was a little gimmicky. I would say that. i With this whole sound aspect.
01:03:19
Speaker
That really just annoys the shit out of me to no end. It does. It's a gimmick, i but it... God, dude, it's so fucking cool. Okay, well, for Nickel Boys, there's a gimmick aspect to it I don't know if you know. Yeah, it's all first-person cameras.
01:03:34
Speaker
I watched the roundtables. Okay, well... 30 minutes into it, i was i was like, wait a second. Is this how the entire film is gonna be? andd It's like, oh, okay, we're all in first person.
01:03:49
Speaker
And of course, there's a reason for it. It makes you it makes it a little more visceral. It makes you literally in the shoes of these young men going through this reform school, I think it's supposed to be. yeah It's more like a prison. It's more like juvenile.
01:04:07
Speaker
ah What is it? Yeah, it's more like juvie. Do you the tension? and And so it it has um impact doing that. It it it does. it's It's interesting. But it's like, I'd rather just see them act.
01:04:22
Speaker
Because it also switches POV. um Oh, that's interesting. Anyways, it switches POV and there's a little there's a pretty big twist in it And when you get to see the other actor and not just through his eyes, essentially, it's like, dude, this person's a good actor. I want to see this person on screen.
01:04:42
Speaker
so So I didn't like that. I mean, but it's powerful. You know, it's it's like about the oppression these boys went through and literally the murder, murdering of them.
01:04:54
Speaker
hmm. So, is based on a true story. So, yeah, you know, it has a lot of weight. And I'm Still Here is also based on a true story. It's based on the protagonist's memoirs. Yeah.
01:05:08
Speaker
I do think... I mean, it's it's a toss-up, but I do think she should have got Best Actress. shes and She's phenomenal. Her character is phenomenal. It's like one of the best written female characters and just one of the best written characters in general.
01:05:23
Speaker
um So, you know, there's something to champion. When women say... You know, more women, I guess, ah roles that are like... Yeah, it's not just Ripley anymore. Yeah.
01:05:36
Speaker
there you go this was a I think this was a tough year for actress. Because i think Demi was up there. Yeah, you know. Demi Moore for substance. what What's her name?
01:05:49
Speaker
Mikey? Mikey Madison. Mikey Madison. I mean, she's great in Enora. You know it's it can't deny how amazing she is. But Demi Moore was like, I thought she was going to win. But that movie is her.
01:06:01
Speaker
Yeah. Anora. If her performance doesn't work, that movie is nothing. That's very true. That movie, literally, it that she carries that movie on her shoulders like Atlas carries the world.
01:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, that's very true. It solely rests on her performance. Yeah, that's a really good point. I didn't think of it that way. Same thing with I'm Still Here, though. Oh, really? Yeah. It rests solely on not just her acting, but just his character. It's just ah such a well-written character. like This woman was amazing. It's terribly sad story.
01:06:35
Speaker
Yeah. ah Well, yeah. it's sort Her husband is murdered by and the government's secret police, right? No, just by, I guess there was a revolution. I don't know anything about Brazilian history, but there was a coup.
01:06:48
Speaker
And so he was part of the previous government. And he still wanted to just help. And he was just… Well, all he was doing was getting letters to um the victim's families and kind of telling them updates like, hey, so-and-so is dead or we still can't find him. Kind of just keeping people up to date, just relaying messages. no And so the coup, when they do the coup, they take him away.
01:07:17
Speaker
And it's it's pretty scary, man. Like that first act of that film, like the first and second acts, or yeah, act one and two, Really good.
01:07:29
Speaker
If Act 3 was like that, be like, yes, you have to see it. But Act 3, I felt like dropped off a lot. um But that first and second act, it was it was pretty fucking intense. Kind of like Civil War, but without so much in your face.
01:07:44
Speaker
Because you just see this coup literally in the background happening in front of them. And they're just going on a family trip to the beach. Yeah. And you just see this coup in the background. It's like, oh shit, this has cut it this is scary.
01:07:57
Speaker
they were They did really well at building the tea the fear and the tension of getting stopped by military. So does that kind of show you like how different America is?
01:08:13
Speaker
What do you mean? i always think when I hear stories like that, and then, you know, we've seen films like come and see we've seen. yeah Films about war.
01:08:25
Speaker
You've seen films about, you know, we've all seen the, uh, the pianist. We've all seen those films, right. About world war two Europe. Oh yeah. We've seen, you know, uh, another one rocket.
01:08:40
Speaker
Oh, what's the fucking movie rocket. Yeah. His name's rocket. The main character. um Eyes of God. It's another Brazilian movie.
01:08:52
Speaker
Oh. Oh, God. Oh. You know what I'm talking about. Yes. doesn't Isn't God in the title? Yeah. Children of God? so that's Something like that. I'm thinking Children of Men.
01:09:05
Speaker
Is it Children of God?
01:09:08
Speaker
God damn it.
01:09:14
Speaker
ah City of God. City of God. Where like you see like the yeah know the dispossessed, the you know like how tragic and shitty life is for people and like how normal these kind of things are. And then it's like, we don't have that here.
01:09:32
Speaker
No, we don't. And I always feel like you don't... ah Roma, right? Well, we kind of did. It depends on which groups you ask, honestly. yeah To a degree, yes. But it's we've never had it like they had in Brazil, right? I mean, man unless you're like like... I don't know, man. Unless your last name's Muhammad or your product. I mean, we had like... this like Are you talking about like recently?
01:09:55
Speaker
Recently. Okay. I'm talking like post nine eleven Well, certainly Muslims, they had a good time. Our Sikhs. Yeah. I mean, yes. But like for the most part, it's like... You never had to worry about... But where it's like the government...
01:10:15
Speaker
Breaking into their homes with guns. i But that possibly has happened with the Patriot Act. I don't know. ah We don't know. yeah But um'm what I'm saying is like it's interesting to one – it's presented in a film like that because it seems like such – like you were saying, right? Like they just go to the beach. Like how could you live a normal life when this is happening every day?
01:10:35
Speaker
But that's like such like an American point of view because – we would hope that you wouldn't just like sit around and like be normal about it. Right. Like, well, you Jojo rabbit, you, you just, you you wouldn't want to just be the guy, the kid, just like going to Hitler youth camp and like, Oh yeah. You know, it's like, those are the bad guys. And it's like, but that shit is, that's the reality. Like you just, people live normal life, right? Like you, all ah you have probably have this image of your head of the middle East as like, just like, just, just,
01:11:08
Speaker
dirt and camels and mud huts and, right? There's actually cities and escalators and and like civilization and then people and shit there, right? like It's not like Afghanistan isn't just this desert wasteland. It's not?
01:11:24
Speaker
That's all I've ever seen of it. Right? It's like there are cities and people and and trucks and... Wait, are there like legit cities? Yeah, of course. They're not just all war-torn and...
01:11:35
Speaker
Of course, dude. de la sure I'm sure there are parts that are dilapidated, but you know, like people just still walk, you know, the yeah they have to walk like six miles to get fresh water out of a well in the ground. But you know, it's, it's, that's such the yeah non-American experience. Like you just go to Costco and get like 600,000 bottles of water for nine bucks.
01:12:00
Speaker
um But we're getting close. Yeah. It feels like, hey, maybe it's we're on our way. You know, every day I think Civil War is like, that movie was like a little more real a little too prescient than I would have liked.
The Snubbed 2024 Movie and Its Politics
01:12:13
Speaker
And i that movie got snubbed hard. um I think it did because that movie was amazing and it was made in 2024, right? like Yeah. I like it better than a lot of the films that were nominated.
01:12:24
Speaker
I think a lot of people got that movie wrong. um They got so hung up on the... Maybe Civil War was just too political because, right, the president was essentially like... a tro trumpmp Trump avatar there. Yeah. So maybe that's why it was just like, yeah, yeah let's just not go
World-Building Excellence and Understanding
01:12:42
Speaker
there.
01:12:42
Speaker
It's a little too... I think people wanted that to kind be the focus. People wanted it to be about... why it started. And they want, you know, it's like you, but it's like, no, that movie was great because it just presented a world.
01:12:59
Speaker
Yeah. It didn't like over explain everything. Like, and that's a great use of world, really. You know, you don't need exposition like in that. And they had a little bit, but you you really did You didn't need it, at least currently, right? Because we can understand that.
Kirsten Dunst's Scene and Themes of Oblivion
01:13:13
Speaker
and love there's that scene with when Kirsten Dunst is like, yeah, my dad's just sitting on a farm in Iowa something and just, you know, not with a care in the world. Like, none of this has ever happened. it's And that's what kind of brings it back to what you're talking about with I'm Still Here. And that's what happens, right? Like, wait we've had like a...
01:13:39
Speaker
I don't know. America is an interesting time as a nation. And i feel
Oscars Recap: 'Nora' Wins Best Picture
01:13:46
Speaker
like it's almost a disservice to not address it a little bit.
01:13:51
Speaker
But, you know, back to the Oscars. We're still going over best pictures. and We had already spoiled, you know. I mean, if you're what if you're listening to this, you probably already know, you know, Nora.
01:14:03
Speaker
Nora won.