A Complete Unknown Babygirl

[00:00:02] What you want, when you want it, where you want it.

[00:00:06] This is The MESH.

[00:00:10] Footcandle Films. Film news and reviews from two guys who really like movies.

[00:00:17] This episode is brought to you by the Footcandle Film Society.

[00:00:21] For a schedule of upcoming screenings and membership information, visit the Society's website at www.footcandle.org.

[00:00:34] Hello, everyone, and welcome to Footcandle Films here on The MESH.TV Podcast Network.

[00:00:40] It is our last recorded episode of 2024, Chris.

[00:00:46] We are here together in the podcast studio for the last time before we roll the calendar over to 2025.

[00:00:52] So we're getting in our last episode. How are you doing on this last 2024 episode?

[00:00:57] How are you doing today? Holiday season, movies everywhere around us. How are you?

[00:01:04] Unfortunately, I still have a little bit of holiday shopping to do.

[00:01:08] That is a bit of a...

[00:01:10] Movie watching is more important than holiday shopping, Chris.

[00:01:12] You can get gifts for people later.

[00:01:15] And maybe if I had not spent two hours of my time yesterday watching Transformers 1 and instead had headed to the mall and that headache that that induces,

[00:01:25] maybe I wouldn't be where I am with gift buying.

[00:01:28] But as it is, I did sacrifice two hours of my time to watch Transformers 1, which made our North Carolina Film Critics Association ballot.

[00:01:36] And I, you know, am I...

[00:01:36] You're kind of...

[00:01:37] That's my right to vote.

[00:01:38] You have to watch them all.

[00:01:40] Right.

[00:01:41] Well, that's Pokemon.

[00:01:43] Pokemon catch them all.

[00:01:44] Right, yeah, right.

[00:01:45] Transformers, you don't have to catch them all.

[00:01:46] That's a whole different thing.

[00:01:47] But you did watch the Transformers 1 movie.

[00:01:50] Yes.

[00:01:51] I will be watching it because I am also, like you, I feel an obligation that if the film is on the nominations,

[00:01:58] the balloted list for our North Carolina Film Critics Association, I feel the need to have to watch it.

[00:02:04] So I was eagerly anxious to see when those nominations came out to see how many of the films have I already seen.

[00:02:09] And luckily like 95% of them.

[00:02:12] I'm like, awesome.

[00:02:13] Great.

[00:02:13] Which it did give me the excuse to finally catch up with the Wild Robot.

[00:02:16] So check.

[00:02:17] Okay, good.

[00:02:17] So you see a few others there and there.

[00:02:19] So I've got a couple docs, a couple foreign films, and a couple animated to kind of fill in my week here

[00:02:24] before we have to send our ballot off on the 29th to choose our favorites.

[00:02:29] That'll be an exciting time.

[00:02:30] Here on this podcast, this is our last episode of 2024.

[00:02:34] The next time we get together to record, it is going to be our best of 2024 year

[00:02:39] because we would have completed our ballot.

[00:02:41] But we're going to feel very good about our choices by that point.

[00:02:44] So we will announce on this episode, yours and mine, favorite films of 2024,

[00:02:50] our favorite performances of 2024, as well as a couple of films that maybe,

[00:02:56] maybe a film that didn't quite hit it for us was a bit of a disappointment

[00:03:00] and maybe our biggest surprise from 2024.

[00:03:03] We're going to cover all those in our next episode.

[00:03:05] But Chris, I'm getting ahead of myself.

[00:03:07] We do have some important films to talk about today.

[00:03:10] We have two films to review.

[00:03:12] First up is going to be the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, starring Mr.

[00:03:19] Timothy Chalamet.

[00:03:20] Then we'll be reviewing Baby Girl, the latest film starring Nicole Kidman.

[00:03:25] And I forgot Harris Dickerson.

[00:03:28] I knew his name.

[00:03:29] Right on the top of my...

[00:03:30] Antonio Banderas, too.

[00:03:31] Oh, yeah.

[00:03:32] Antonio Banderas is in this as well.

[00:03:33] Yeah.

[00:03:34] We'll be reviewing those two films back to back.

[00:03:37] Then after those two reviews, I've got a few trailers I want to share with Chris of films

[00:03:43] that are coming up.

[00:03:43] We haven't done trailers in a little while.

[00:03:45] We've been kind of consumed with films that are being released now.

[00:03:48] Sure.

[00:03:49] There are some interesting films that are coming out next year, and we've got a few trailers

[00:03:53] to talk about those and see what everybody's thoughts on those films are.

[00:03:58] So that's our episode, Chris.

[00:04:00] Are you ready to get started?

[00:04:01] Yeah, let's do it.

[00:04:02] All right.

[00:04:02] Here's our first review, which is the film A Complete Unknown.

[00:04:12] I want to tell you a little story.

[00:04:15] A few months back, my friend Woody Guthrie and I, we met a young man.

[00:04:22] He dropped in on us out of nowhere, and he played us a song.

[00:04:29] In that moment, we got a feeling we were getting a glimpse of the future.

[00:04:40] Biopics.

[00:04:41] Love them or loathe them, they seem to be a given as Oscar season approaches.

[00:04:46] Films about famous musicians are a specific subset of the genre that are especially popular

[00:04:52] as studios figure, hey, they'll have a guaranteed audience of the subject's fan base.

[00:04:56] We've had The Doors, Ray, Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, Maestro, and Walk the Line.

[00:05:03] I mentioned Walk the Line that focused on Johnny Cash last because it was also directed by James

[00:05:09] Mangold, who has now directed today's A Complete Unknown about Bob Dylan.

[00:05:13] And because it also influenced the satirical biopic Walk Hard, which spun comedic gold from the familiar

[00:05:21] tropes of the biopic genre.

[00:05:23] What was your experience watching A Complete Unknown, Alan?

[00:05:27] Would you make a Chalamet's performance as Bob Dylan?

[00:05:30] And did you find the film able to break the confonds of the paint-by-numbers structure that Walk Hard mocked?

[00:05:38] All right.

[00:05:38] You gave me three questions.

[00:05:40] I think there were three questions there.

[00:05:42] What did I think of it?

[00:05:43] It was fine.

[00:05:44] It was fine.

[00:05:45] What did I think of Timothee Chalamet's performance?

[00:05:47] He was fine.

[00:05:49] Did it break the barriers?

[00:06:01] Two finds.

[00:06:03] This movie is fine.

[00:06:05] And I hate using that word fine, but I don't know of another word to get this across.

[00:06:11] It did the job I wanted it to do in that I'm not the biggest Bob Dylan fan.

[00:06:18] Okay.

[00:06:20] So I needed a film that let me in a little bit to the Bob Dylan world.

[00:06:25] Okay.

[00:06:25] And it let me in just enough, just enough to build a little more appreciation for his music,

[00:06:35] understand a little bit more about him as a person, but not so much that I felt like.

[00:06:43] Bob Dylan works in Mystique so much of his career.

[00:06:45] So I liked the fact that the movie let that Mystique exist and didn't feel the need to,

[00:06:53] okay, we're going to explain everything about Bob Dylan.

[00:06:56] You're going to hear his backstory.

[00:06:57] You're going to know exactly where he's come from.

[00:06:59] I like the fact that the film's like, nah, you don't really need to know all that.

[00:07:02] You need to know what people around him are seeing of Bob Dylan.

[00:07:06] And that's what the film is here to show.

[00:07:08] So I was okay with that.

[00:07:10] And I think it did it fine.

[00:07:12] I don't think there was anything extraordinary about this film.

[00:07:15] I don't think there was anything that causes me to want to go back and revisit it for any reason.

[00:07:21] It was fine in the way it presented this information to give a little bit of insight,

[00:07:27] just enough into the character of Bob Dylan.

[00:07:30] The thing I will say that I think the film excelled in that biopics,

[00:07:35] I think sometimes don't always do as well with musical biopics is it did let the music breathe.

[00:07:41] Okay.

[00:07:42] So the music performances I thought were really good and they let them play out.

[00:07:47] It wasn't all montages and quick clips of songs and all that.

[00:07:51] It's like, no, when you see him perform on stage, you get to see a song being performed.

[00:07:56] And I'm like, that was great.

[00:07:57] That was really nice.

[00:07:58] So performance wise and the music wise, I thought the film was really good.

[00:08:03] Everything outside of that, it was a little paint by numbers.

[00:08:08] I was okay with the fact that it didn't decide to go any deeper than it did on anything.

[00:08:15] I wish there was more, I wish there was more riveting, invigorating about this film.

[00:08:22] And there's just wasn't, I just didn't really get any of that from it.

[00:08:25] Timothy Chalamet's performance.

[00:08:28] He did the job.

[00:08:30] I'll give him that.

[00:08:32] Could it, could somebody else have been better?

[00:08:35] Possibly.

[00:08:36] But I think he did a serviceable job.

[00:08:40] Did I answer it?

[00:08:41] Was that all the questions?

[00:08:42] Yeah, yeah, I think so.

[00:08:43] Okay.

[00:08:43] I'm sorry.

[00:08:44] That was, that's where I am with this.

[00:08:45] Okay.

[00:08:46] It was fine.

[00:08:47] And I use fine in a slightly leaning positive tone than I do a slightly negative leaning tone.

[00:08:53] Fine meaning.

[00:08:54] Yeah.

[00:08:54] It did the job.

[00:08:56] It was okay.

[00:08:58] I didn't feel like there was a lot to champion out of this film, but, uh, but yeah, I was okay.

[00:09:04] All right.

[00:09:05] That's my, that's my really weak review there, Chris.

[00:09:08] I'm sorry.

[00:09:09] I don't have a whole lot more to go into with that.

[00:09:10] Chris, let me turn it over to you though.

[00:09:13] I think you're a little more Bob Dylan fan than I am.

[00:09:16] I mean, possibly.

[00:09:18] Okay.

[00:09:19] Maybe that maybe affects your view of the film.

[00:09:21] Anyway, go right ahead.

[00:09:22] Tell me, tell me.

[00:09:23] Okay.

[00:09:23] So I hear everything you're saying and I can see, I, you know, I kind of as film people

[00:09:30] that watch a lot of movies, we've discussed a lot of biopics here on the show.

[00:09:33] I feel like that.

[00:09:34] And the whole paint by numbers criticism.

[00:09:36] I feel like that.

[00:09:37] I understand why that's law because after you see so many of these films, you're kind of

[00:09:42] like, oh, great.

[00:09:43] Here's one about Bob Dylan or, you know, I forgot.

[00:09:46] I totally forgot the one Elvis that we had.

[00:09:48] You know, there's just been so many of them recently.

[00:09:49] And it usually means the person who plays the titular, you know, the, the big star, the famous

[00:09:55] singer is going to get nominated.

[00:09:57] Austin Butler, you know, happened with him, you know, Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody.

[00:10:01] So all that said, um, what it comes down to for me was I'm not really, unless I have no

[00:10:09] idea about who this person is, which I, I know who Bob Dylan is.

[00:10:13] I do like a lot of his songs, but I don't really know a whole lot about him as a person

[00:10:19] other than like, I know that his real name is Bob Zimmerman.

[00:10:22] I did know that.

[00:10:23] I know that he has a son, Jacob Dylan, but you know, I know very broad strokes.

[00:10:28] Um, but I did know kind of like you're saying, I remember, uh, Martin Scorsese did a documentary

[00:10:36] couple of years ago.

[00:10:37] It's like the rolling thunder review.

[00:10:38] And it talks about Bob Dylan and he's interviewed air quotes around that.

[00:10:43] In the documentary, but it shows a lot of historical footage.

[00:10:46] And I kind of got a sense.

[00:10:47] And I remember reading at the time, like some of the stuff Bob Dylan says when he's

[00:10:50] beginning is completely fabricated.

[00:10:52] Yeah.

[00:10:52] And so I kind of got like, okay, this, this guy, he's kind of unknowable.

[00:10:58] And so going in, I'm kind of not expecting to learn, which usually you and I say that,

[00:11:04] like if we want to learn something, we watch a documentary, which would be hard to do on

[00:11:07] him anyway.

[00:11:07] But, but if we want to see just like a direct, so what I got out of this, I wasn't expecting,

[00:11:12] I had the advantage, like, okay, this guy's kind of mysterious.

[00:11:15] I'm not expecting to learn anything, but what I was hoping to get and what I feel like

[00:11:20] I really got you touched on.

[00:11:22] And maybe I'm a little bit more enthusiastic because I like some of his music, um, were the

[00:11:28] scenes with the music.

[00:11:29] Yeah.

[00:11:30] Um, and I'll call out, I think I thought Timothy Chalamet, as much as you can do somebody like,

[00:11:35] how do you portray an elusive figure?

[00:11:37] Well, I thought he did a good job.

[00:11:39] I think, you know, with today's skill level.

[00:11:42] And when you have a budget of this kind, yeah, the hair, the sunglasses, his clothes, his

[00:11:49] vocal inflection.

[00:11:50] Like I thought he did a good job of, but not doing it into a caricature of his voice,

[00:11:55] but I thought he did a good job of doing Bob Dylan and singing stuff.

[00:12:00] Yeah.

[00:12:00] I mean, the trailer that, you know, they had shown in theaters of it shows him singing like

[00:12:06] a rolling stone.

[00:12:06] Cause I think that's where the, that's where the line of complete unknown is like wedged

[00:12:10] in that song.

[00:12:11] So it makes sense.

[00:12:12] They would use that in the trailer.

[00:12:13] So, but I thought he, I thought he did great.

[00:12:16] Okay.

[00:12:16] Um, especially in the, the singing scenes, which I think I've heard a rumor or not rumor, but

[00:12:20] I think I heard that supposedly they were filmed like concert scenes.

[00:12:24] Yeah.

[00:12:25] And I could buy that.

[00:12:26] So like, he supposedly I think is really singing.

[00:12:28] Um, but I want to give equal credit to, uh, Monica Barbara who plays Jim Baez because

[00:12:34] I thought she was really good in the film.

[00:12:37] And whenever she was with him singing, she, for me actually managed to steal the spotlight.

[00:12:44] And I think it's because, and it may be by design a little bit, which I want to give

[00:12:49] the film credit for.

[00:12:51] One of the things I definitely want to call out for the film is that she is willing to

[00:12:55] be Joan Baez.

[00:12:57] And then by extension, Monica Barbara more like vulnerable and open and honest about who

[00:13:03] she is.

[00:13:04] And so because, and her voice is amazing in the film, in the film.

[00:13:09] So she was like more magnetic to me and it, the push and pull between her and Bob Dylan

[00:13:15] was interesting.

[00:13:15] And that's something I did know a little bit about cause we watched a documentary with

[00:13:18] our film society about Joan Baez and she mentions Bob Dylan.

[00:13:21] And, um, but their, their whole kind of like side arc or Monica Barbara's Joan Baez,

[00:13:28] her kind of arc through the film and the culmination at one point of how they, after they've

[00:13:33] had a falling out, they then reunite on stage at the Newport folk festival and kind of that

[00:13:41] back and forth.

[00:13:42] I thought that was just like, that was like, okay, that was interesting for me to see now.

[00:13:48] Was that exactly how it played out?

[00:13:49] I don't know, but the staging of it, I thought was really well done.

[00:13:52] And I, I enjoyed like getting to see like, okay, this is how that, but then they come

[00:13:57] together and they still managed to make magic on stage.

[00:14:00] So that, that was, that was satisfying.

[00:14:03] And I guess too, I did have, and it provided a good enough, um, fun for me.

[00:14:11] The whole buildup and I knew the buildup was about him going electric.

[00:14:16] And I knew that same Newport, right?

[00:14:19] And I knew the very little I know about Bob Dylan.

[00:14:21] I know that when he did that, that ticked a lot of people off.

[00:14:24] So the whole film I'm like building up, I'm like, okay, I know that's what he's going

[00:14:27] to do.

[00:14:27] They show him working in a little bit of which, okay.

[00:14:30] Again, I got just enough stuff that kept the musical stuff was awesome.

[00:14:35] Yeah.

[00:14:35] I thought it was really good.

[00:14:36] The key phrase there you're saying is just enough.

[00:14:38] Yeah.

[00:14:39] Well, I mean, just enough to escape the criticism of, you know, Oh, by the numbers.

[00:14:44] Yeah.

[00:14:44] I'm not saying like when you're doing somebody's life and they want to hit like ups and downs.

[00:14:48] I didn't really feel like, I guess if you're going to say there wasn't a particular down

[00:14:53] that I really felt like they tried to hit on, they just kind of basically, but there was

[00:14:58] enough interesting stuff that I didn't know.

[00:15:01] Um, for instance, I cannot remember the actor's name.

[00:15:04] He was on Ozark.

[00:15:05] He is in this film very briefly, but he plays the keyboardist that apparently if the film's

[00:15:11] to be believed in the recording session for like a rolling stone, he was going to, I think

[00:15:16] he wanted to be a guitarist, but he shows up and he's like, nope, the guitarist, I feel

[00:15:19] but he like starts messing around with the keyboard and they let him do the keyboard for the song

[00:15:23] in theory, like a rolling stone.

[00:15:25] And like the strident keyboard on that supposedly that was him like trying to make his presence

[00:15:30] known and like the little, no, whether or not this is true.

[00:15:33] I don't know, but it was intriguing enough from a movie standpoint to be like, Oh, that's

[00:15:37] awesome.

[00:15:38] Um, because the song starts and he's like really loud and full front and Dylan's kind

[00:15:42] of like, huh?

[00:15:43] Okay.

[00:15:43] Like, you know, he's kind of like acknowledging like, okay, yeah, this guy's trying to make

[00:15:46] it, but he doesn't like push him down.

[00:15:49] He kind of, I guess he sees the creative, like, okay, yeah, we're, we're creating something

[00:15:54] here.

[00:15:54] And he kind of admires it.

[00:15:55] Plus I guess he knows maybe in his mind, the whole thing.

[00:15:59] Yes.

[00:15:59] With this album, with my next performance in Newport folk festival, I am pushing myself

[00:16:04] forward.

[00:16:04] I am not Mr.

[00:16:07] Balladeer anymore.

[00:16:08] I am.

[00:16:09] I'm a rock and roller.

[00:16:10] I'm, I'm leaving the folk scene to that.

[00:16:13] That was fun for me to see something else.

[00:16:16] Not really aware of, and it is a trope of biopics.

[00:16:21] Um, or it can be a trope, not just a biopics, but movies in general.

[00:16:25] Um, the bookends, um, and not necessarily, they weren't as sharply in contrast to bookends,

[00:16:31] but what I'm referring to is, uh, Bob Dylan, which I was not aware of, I guess it should

[00:16:34] have been maybe, but his relationship with Woody Guthrie, which in this film is portrayed

[00:16:39] by Scoot McNeary.

[00:16:40] And I thought he did an awesome job, even though he doesn't really get to say anything.

[00:16:43] He didn't get to say much.

[00:16:44] Yeah.

[00:16:44] But, uh, apparently from what I may have learned from the film, if it's true, Bob Dylan had an

[00:16:50] interesting relationship with Woody Guthrie, where he was at a very young age, Bob Dylan

[00:16:54] got to meet him.

[00:16:55] He was Woody Guthrie was in the hospital.

[00:16:57] He was ailing.

[00:16:58] And apparently, uh, if there again, a cool moment that I thought was at first, I was like,

[00:17:04] okay, even if there are no other cool performances in this film, Bob Dylan, in theory, having

[00:17:09] to perform on command for Woody Guthrie, a song.

[00:17:13] And then not only that, but a song that he had written for Woody Guthrie, he's like, okay.

[00:17:18] And he like plays a song.

[00:17:19] I love that.

[00:17:20] And that there's no crowd.

[00:17:22] It's just Timothy Chalamet trying to sing this song.

[00:17:25] And I thought it was, and I, there again, I guess benefit too, which is strange.

[00:17:30] All the other songs that are performed in the film.

[00:17:32] I basically knew this song I'd never heard.

[00:17:36] Sure.

[00:17:36] So I'm sure Bob Dylan fans probably do know this song.

[00:17:38] I did not.

[00:17:39] So for me, it was extra cool because I liked the song and then the context they were putting

[00:17:44] it in.

[00:17:44] Now, is that completely fabricated?

[00:17:46] Don't know.

[00:17:47] But as a movie magic moment, it totally worked for him.

[00:17:51] Going to the hospital is not fabricated.

[00:17:53] So he did go to the hospital supposedly when he got into town and meet him.

[00:17:57] Whether or not Pete Seeger was there also at the same time and all that might've been

[00:18:00] a little convenient stitching.

[00:18:02] And we'll get to Pete Seeger here in a second portrayed in the film by Ed Norton.

[00:18:07] So I really liked that.

[00:18:08] And then kind of the relationship kind of returning at the end of the film.

[00:18:12] And like, there's some, yeah, I just, I kind of liked kind of the interesting, if it's

[00:18:19] maybe a little bit of hero worship on Woody Guthrie by Bob Dylan specifically, it helped

[00:18:27] me think, okay, maybe this person is real because Bob Dylan, there's so much unknown about, but

[00:18:32] the fact like, no, this is somebody he admires and he's actually being respectful and caring

[00:18:38] for somebody who's kind of towards maybe the end of his life and struggling.

[00:18:43] Because I'll say this about the film, which is something I admire about the film.

[00:18:47] Again, I came away from the film.

[00:18:52] Not, I think it's easy for biopics to put someone on a pedestal.

[00:18:57] And I don't feel like they did that with Bob Dylan because they show that he kind of does

[00:19:02] what he wants.

[00:19:03] His relationship with Ed Norton's, with Ed Norton in the film.

[00:19:08] And he plays Pete Seeger and kind of the way he, you know, Pete Seeger helps him get his

[00:19:14] start.

[00:19:15] But then there's kind of tension between them, especially as the New Fork Folk Festival, he's

[00:19:20] going to be going electric kind of happens.

[00:19:22] And he can tell he admires Pete Seeger, but yet there's, there's tension there.

[00:19:26] And I can see Bob Dylan as him being an artist, you know, Oh, he's an artist and he wants to

[00:19:32] grow.

[00:19:33] But I still felt like the film didn't just give him a pass on that and made him maybe kind

[00:19:38] of jerky at times, especially how you can consider his relationships with Elle Fanning.

[00:19:43] He plays Silvio Russo.

[00:19:45] And then we already talked about Joan Baez, Monica Barber.

[00:19:49] Maybe womanizing, not really sure there.

[00:19:51] They don't hit that too.

[00:19:52] But it's just like, I don't feel like they make him out to be this complete angel.

[00:19:56] And that, and that, and that helped me like the film better because it was just more of

[00:20:00] like this, this is stuff happening.

[00:20:02] This is how people, like you said, are reacting to him.

[00:20:05] Um, I, I appreciated it for that.

[00:20:09] Um, so I guess I'm probably, it sounds like from everything I've just said more positive

[00:20:15] on the film than you are.

[00:20:17] Um, but you know, I do, I've, you said, I don't think it's like some monumental achievement.

[00:20:25] Like I'm not going to go.

[00:20:26] Um, so I wouldn't say it's like, you know, memorable for like, Oh, picture of the year

[00:20:31] or anything like that.

[00:20:33] But I do appreciate it just because it allowed me to attend a Bob Dylan concert in theory

[00:20:39] from that timeframe that I felt like is really fascinating time for music.

[00:20:42] So, um, I've never been able to see Bob Dylan live.

[00:20:46] So this was my chance to see somebody pretending to be Bob Dylan live and also during this time

[00:20:50] period.

[00:20:51] So I don't know.

[00:20:52] I think if you're a Bob Dylan fan, um, you may like the film or you may not like it because

[00:20:59] you're not, you struggle with not learning anything new and you think it was just a very,

[00:21:02] you know, by the numbers that, which I guess if you're wanting a non by the numbers, a film

[00:21:08] we talked about long time ago.

[00:21:10] Um, I'm, I'm not here by Todd Haynes.

[00:21:14] Is that the name of the bill?

[00:21:15] Yeah.

[00:21:15] I'm not there.

[00:21:16] I'm not there.

[00:21:16] There we go.

[00:21:17] Um, if you're wanting something that's really unique and all this kind of stuff, then yeah,

[00:21:22] that that's the film you want to check out.

[00:21:24] But if you're wanting more of a standard, um, which, you know, I still thought the, I think,

[00:21:30] you know, based on the track record of James Mangold, he directs films that I'm generally

[00:21:35] positive on Ford versus Ferrari walk the line, uh, Logan, um, you know, all these things.

[00:21:41] Yeah.

[00:21:41] And so this, it's not like it's earth shattering, but it's, it's, and I guess I would go a little

[00:21:47] bit more than fine.

[00:21:48] Cause I guess I had a little bit better time than fine, but I under, I understand.

[00:21:53] I understand your, uh, your commentary of just, just fine.

[00:21:57] And you said slightly, slightly on the positive side of fine.

[00:22:01] Slightly on the positive.

[00:22:03] Chris, that was the longest I've ever heard you talk in a continuous stream.

[00:22:07] So there must've been a lot working in the movie more than you may expect.

[00:22:10] That's true.

[00:22:10] Yeah.

[00:22:11] Coming out of the movie, you know, it's, it was able, and that's the other thing I have,

[00:22:15] you know, it's been a little bit of breathing room since I've screened the film, but coming

[00:22:19] immediately coming out of the film, it was one of the ones that was said, oh yeah, I could

[00:22:23] turn around.

[00:22:24] This comes out Christmas day.

[00:22:26] Um, I could turn around and probably see this film.

[00:22:28] Um, I wouldn't walk right back into the theater, but I could see this film again in a theater

[00:22:32] because it was an enjoyable experience.

[00:22:34] Like if somebody over the holidays was like, Hey, this is coming out, let's go see it.

[00:22:39] And I'll be like, okay.

[00:22:39] And I would enjoy seeing it again because especially seeing in the theater with the sound and everything,

[00:22:45] um, and with the crowd was, was fun.

[00:22:46] So yeah, I guess I could tell from your reaction that you weren't as, you know,

[00:22:53] I mean, no, it was again, I keep coming back to the word fine because I don't know another

[00:22:57] word to use for it.

[00:22:58] I mean, it's just, it, it did the, it did the, it did the minimum.

[00:23:03] I felt like it needed to, to make this work without falling into all of the stereotypes of

[00:23:09] a typical biopic.

[00:23:10] Although it did have some, I mean, I will say I thought tropes are tropes for a reason.

[00:23:16] The first half of the film was much stronger than the second half.

[00:23:18] I felt like the second half, I was really impressed with the female, the women characters,

[00:23:25] Elle Fanning's playing Sylvia Russo, kind of his first girlfriend.

[00:23:30] She's on the cover of the freewheeling Bob Dylan album with him.

[00:23:34] And then you've got Monica Barbera, as you already mentioned is Joan Baez.

[00:23:37] Well, I thought both of them were really good.

[00:23:40] I'm afraid both of them became a little more than tropes in the latter part of the film,

[00:23:45] which I didn't like.

[00:23:46] Like both of them spent a lot of times.

[00:23:48] I think that's factual though.

[00:23:50] Well, as far as like not there became sidelined because they became sidelined.

[00:23:54] No, no, it's not sidelining.

[00:23:56] It's the fact that when, when the shots you get of them are them either longingly looking

[00:24:00] from backstage at Bob Dylan, or you got Elle Fanning, Sylvia, who in the first half of the

[00:24:06] film is a very strong, powerful woman with her relationship and confident who she is.

[00:24:12] But then they turn her into a crying, running away because she thinks Bob, I mean, get, I

[00:24:17] get Bob is philandering.

[00:24:19] He, he, he is having an affair and it is hurtful and all that.

[00:24:22] But the way they portrayed Sylvia in the second half of the film, I thought was, yeah, yeah.

[00:24:27] I mean, it made the women, we have to fit them into this story and they have to be affected

[00:24:33] by Bob Dylan as opposed to having their own agency, which I thought was a real problem.

[00:24:37] So I thought those two kind of fell apart by the end, those two roles.

[00:24:43] And I guess, yeah, I hear what you're saying.

[00:24:45] And I think, yeah, the way they depicted it, but it, it made me, I was like, and I said,

[00:24:52] I was appreciating it because it gave the warts and all view of Dylan.

[00:24:55] Oh yeah.

[00:24:56] And so it made me like, yeah, the, his, the way that happened with her, yeah.

[00:25:00] Getting teared up and kind of running away.

[00:25:02] Like, yeah, maybe not the best way to show that.

[00:25:05] But, but I was like, yeah, that makes me not like Bob Dylan.

[00:25:09] No, no, no.

[00:25:09] I can tell he's talented.

[00:25:11] No.

[00:25:11] But that, I, yeah.

[00:25:12] My criticism has nothing to do with how you portrayed Dylan.

[00:25:15] I understand.

[00:25:15] I think, I think the portrayal of Dylan was pretty accurate and pretty fair.

[00:25:19] Unfortunately, it's just, when you get to the biopic, you've got to kind of, you, the,

[00:25:27] the trap is to turn your lead into a mythical character.

[00:25:30] And I feel like that's what they was doing by the end with the whole electric, going electric

[00:25:34] performance in the way that the two women in his life were kind of reacting to him in

[00:25:40] those days.

[00:25:41] It, it just, it, that's when it started to fall into a little bit of that biopic formula

[00:25:47] format that I didn't care for.

[00:25:49] So, um, the movie was pretty good about not leaning into a lot of conveniences, which a

[00:25:54] lot of biopics do is like how convenient was it?

[00:25:57] That's these two people met in this way or got connected to some, the film played pretty

[00:26:02] authentically.

[00:26:03] And I thought it was, I thought it felt natural and you know, the, the, the times it had to

[00:26:08] weave in some, some conveniences, it, it was not distracting and it worked for the storytelling.

[00:26:14] So overall, yeah, I'm good.

[00:26:17] I am.

[00:26:18] I am good.

[00:26:19] I just, yes, I wish it had been more, wish it had been more.

[00:26:25] That's the best way I could say, I wish it had been more for me to grab a hold of outside

[00:26:31] of just the music, but the music itself was enough to justify my support of the film.

[00:26:38] So, so performance.

[00:26:39] So something, so we both, we agree on the music performances.

[00:26:42] I think there was more, the things that you're wishing was more, I think, I feel like I was

[00:26:46] able to get more.

[00:26:47] So I think that's why I'm higher on the film and that I'll bring it back to somebody that

[00:26:52] I made passing reference to, uh, Ed Norton's portrayal of Pete Seeger.

[00:26:57] Um, and this is bringing baggage from, unfortunately that like, you know, you hear about Ed Norton

[00:27:02] as an actor.

[00:27:04] I've always liked him.

[00:27:05] I hear sometimes he can be like hard to work with cause he's very, I don't know, opinionated

[00:27:10] about how he wants to do things.

[00:27:12] And I don't know if that's true or not.

[00:27:13] Cause I'm not on set, not familiar with it.

[00:27:15] I don't know him personally, but, um, seeing Ed Norton portray Pete Seeger was very satisfying

[00:27:22] for me because I feel like it was a strong performance yet it was, he's not the focus

[00:27:26] of the film.

[00:27:27] So it was for him to be a supporting player in this film.

[00:27:32] I really enjoyed seeing him do a supporting performance.

[00:27:35] Yeah.

[00:27:35] Also, um, the way in which he depicts Pete Seeger, I feel like was kind of an interesting

[00:27:42] balancing act.

[00:27:43] I know very little about Pete Seeger.

[00:27:45] I recognize the name.

[00:27:47] Um, my wife is funny because she confused it with, um, the other Seeger who does night

[00:27:51] moves.

[00:27:53] Oh, Bob Seeger.

[00:27:54] Right.

[00:27:54] And I was like, nope, this is Pete.

[00:27:55] She's like, oh, right, right, right, right.

[00:27:56] We joke.

[00:27:56] We had that, that, that, uh, that when the trailer came out, I think you were the one

[00:28:01] who got confused thinking it was Bob Seeger.

[00:28:03] Yeah.

[00:28:03] Right.

[00:28:03] Probably so.

[00:28:04] Very good.

[00:28:04] I've made the same conclusion.

[00:28:05] Nice and no one's in your family.

[00:28:06] Yes, apparently so.

[00:28:07] But, um, so with Pete Seeger, um, I guess what I'm going to do with Pete Seeger.

[00:28:13] Again, something I give to the documentary, his reaction, like, you know, they, they show

[00:28:19] him as kind of the flag stander bear for folk music.

[00:28:22] And, you know, he's kind of helping Woody Guthrie in the later times of his life and

[00:28:25] kind of, you know, he's tight with Woody Guthrie and then he sees Bob Dylan's helping

[00:28:29] Bob Dylan.

[00:28:30] And he's, you know, Jim by is also, you know, friends with her.

[00:28:33] Um, however, his not painting him as just there again, putting them up on a pedestal,

[00:28:40] his resistance to any type of change in theory to the new Newport folk festival.

[00:28:47] And then his reaction when Dylan goes ahead and goes electric.

[00:28:51] Now, whether or not Pete Seeger actually tried to shut off the sound system, don't know, but

[00:28:57] the willingness to kind of, the willingness to kind of do that with the legacy of, or

[00:29:03] the, the, that event to make a good or to make better than average, I guess, by a pick

[00:29:09] for me, like those were interesting things that added texture to the film that, that

[00:29:14] I enjoyed.

[00:29:14] Okay.

[00:29:15] Okay.

[00:29:15] So, no, I thought, I thought Ed Norton was good as Pete Seeger.

[00:29:19] Pete Seeger, not someone I know a lot about.

[00:29:22] So, uh, any introduction to him as a, as a, as a person is great.

[00:29:27] Um, yeah.

[00:29:29] And I thought, I thought it worked.

[00:29:30] I, I was surprised by, I mean, again, the, the movie could have very easily leaned into

[00:29:38] if it wanted to fabricate a little bit to make it a quote, you know, Hollywood biopic,

[00:29:44] you could have created a little more animosity between Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan by the end

[00:29:49] of the film.

[00:29:50] Right.

[00:29:51] But they didn't, I mean, they had their moments, but yet, you know, they still ended with Pete

[00:29:56] Seeger.

[00:29:56] I think one of the last shots we see of him is he's still looking very admirably and

[00:30:00] longingly at Bob Dylan and recognizing his talent.

[00:30:04] He recognizes his talent.

[00:30:06] He's not agreeing with what he's doing, but he's recognizing it.

[00:30:08] And I thought that was a nice touch to at least, I mean, I was really fearful it was

[00:30:11] going to turn into a whole, Oh, and now they're just completely split and they're at odds with

[00:30:15] each other.

[00:30:16] But, and it could have gone that way if it wanted to fabricate that.

[00:30:18] But I think this was more authentic to how it really was.

[00:30:21] And I liked also, if I'm going to, you know, another trope of biopics, um, or just, yeah,

[00:30:26] biopics and biopics and musicians, the text they put up on screen when you've gone to credits,

[00:30:31] it didn't forget the other members of the film.

[00:30:34] It mentions Joan Baez.

[00:30:36] It says how she went on to have all this success in albums.

[00:30:39] It doesn't come.

[00:30:39] It talks about how we're not going to fabricate that Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan never talked

[00:30:45] to each other.

[00:30:45] Nope.

[00:30:45] It says that they did reunite for a, you know, a performance to raise some money.

[00:30:50] So I liked that.

[00:30:52] It did try to say, bring some truth facts there at the end.

[00:30:56] So yeah, it was, I think it was pretty good.

[00:30:59] Um, that's my pretty, pretty good.

[00:31:02] I will give out a call out of a scene.

[00:31:03] I did think, I mean, all the music performances I thought were really good, but there was one

[00:31:07] scene in particular is my favorite scene of the film.

[00:31:10] Pete Seeger is hosting a TV show.

[00:31:13] Um, okay.

[00:31:15] And it's kind of an interesting scene in that they're expecting that Bob Dylan is going to

[00:31:20] show up as kind of a guest and the pub is really hot and big at the time.

[00:31:24] So it's like, that would have been a really big thing to have him on the show.

[00:31:26] You can tell there's a little bit of nervousness that Bob's not there.

[00:31:30] So it's like, all right, we got to kind of keep going with the show.

[00:31:33] It's like a PBS public access show about music that Pete's doing.

[00:31:37] Right.

[00:31:38] But then Bob Dylan does show up, but he's also there with another performer who was already

[00:31:43] on the show and just their interaction, their dialogue, the kind of mechanics of that.

[00:31:48] And then, then, then starting to play, it just, it really worked.

[00:31:52] That was like, that was a scene where I'm like, I buy it.

[00:31:54] It let the personalities come in and you saw both warts and all of everybody, but ultimately

[00:32:01] they're musicians and they're really good musicians.

[00:32:04] And it just kind of built.

[00:32:06] And that scene.

[00:32:06] Yes.

[00:32:07] Yeah.

[00:32:07] So that there's so many good scenes in this film and that particular was one where, yeah,

[00:32:13] you're kind of hating Bob Dylan at that point because he's, he's made Pete Seeger nervous

[00:32:19] and kind of like, you know, not done well with his friend, but then he does show up, but

[00:32:22] then the way he shows up is kind of like, okay, big man's here now.

[00:32:26] And it's kind of like, okay.

[00:32:27] And then is he going to completely be a jerk to the guy who was already on the show?

[00:32:31] The musician, the blues musician, but no, in a way, I mean, he's still the big dog in

[00:32:37] the room, but they actually play off one another.

[00:32:40] And it ends up being kind of fascinating how all three then, you know, in theory have

[00:32:45] this jam session.

[00:32:46] Yeah.

[00:32:46] Also nice to see if this can be believed later, Bob Dylan, I don't know if he sees him at

[00:32:53] a festival or maybe runs into a part, but like says hello to him and they seem to have

[00:32:57] a good, a good rapport, which is kind of cool that he, you know, kept in touch with him.

[00:33:02] So who knows?

[00:33:03] But yeah, thank you for making me remind her.

[00:33:06] No, it's a very good scene.

[00:33:07] It was great.

[00:33:08] Yeah.

[00:33:08] I mean, again, I thought, God, fine.

[00:33:12] I don't, I don't know any other, I'm not going to say good because again, I just, I just don't

[00:33:18] feel like it did enough to warrant a good, but it definitely did enough to warrant a fine

[00:33:24] in that it was serviceable.

[00:33:25] If it wasn't for the music, I will say this, if the music was not as well done, well performed

[00:33:31] and feeling like very authentic performances, I think this movie would have been really kind

[00:33:36] of rough.

[00:33:36] But the music, the music made it work, made it work as a film.

[00:33:42] The performances, Chalamet's performance again, I'm, I thought was, was okay.

[00:33:48] I thought everybody else around him was really good.

[00:33:50] So I do feel like everybody else's performance kind of helped elevate his character a bit.

[00:33:55] Okay.

[00:33:55] Because again, this is a movie where people reacting to Bob Dylan less than we're seeing

[00:34:00] Bob Dylan act.

[00:34:01] You know, it's like, it is a reaction film.

[00:34:03] It's like, how's everybody dealing with this character of Bob Dylan?

[00:34:07] So it's really, I kind of need everybody else's performance to be either a game.

[00:34:11] And it was.

[00:34:11] So even if Chalamet's was hit or miss or maybe, maybe not stellar for me, everybody else around

[00:34:18] him was, was so good that it made the Bob Dylan character work in this film.

[00:34:23] So overall, whoo.

[00:34:26] Okay.

[00:34:26] I think we've, I think we've done enough on this film.

[00:34:29] Okay.

[00:34:29] I think we're good.

[00:34:30] You are more positive on it.

[00:34:32] I'm not negative.

[00:34:33] I'm slightly positive.

[00:34:37] Admitting there are some issues I had with it, but overall I felt it was a fine biopic.

[00:34:45] Fair enough.

[00:34:46] There we go.

[00:34:46] Okay.

[00:34:48] Whew.

[00:34:48] Okay.

[00:34:49] We still got to do another review.

[00:34:50] Don't we do?

[00:34:51] Okay.

[00:34:51] Here we go.

[00:34:52] Let's go into our second review.

[00:34:54] That was a complete unknown opening Christmas day.

[00:34:57] So about the time you're hearing this, it should be out and available for people to see.

[00:35:02] Um, let's go ahead and go into our next review, which is also another Christmas day film.

[00:35:07] Great double feature.

[00:35:09] I think take the family, take the kids.

[00:35:12] Sure.

[00:35:13] Both of these films.

[00:35:15] We're going to talk about the new Nicole Kidman film, baby girl.

[00:35:21] Good girl.

[00:35:22] Good girl.

[00:35:28] Being a CEO means being a collaborator and a nurturer.

[00:35:32] But you have to be a woman.

[00:35:34] Everyone is just waiting for me to buckle under the pressure.

[00:35:37] Is now a good time to introduce the interns?

[00:35:39] Yeah.

[00:35:42] Hey, how'd you get that dog to calm down?

[00:35:45] I gave it a cookie.

[00:35:47] You always have cookies on you.

[00:35:48] Why do you want one?

[00:35:53] Baby girl tells the story of Nicole Kidman playing Romy, a high powered CEO that puts her family and career on the line.

[00:36:03] When she becomes a, begins a torrid affair with her much, much younger intern played by Harris Dickinson.

[00:36:10] We saw Harris Dickinson, I believe last in the film, uh, the iron claw.

[00:36:15] He was one of the wrestler brothers.

[00:36:18] Uh, he was the one that died overseas from illness.

[00:36:22] Um, I'm familiar with him from the show.

[00:36:27] I can't remember.

[00:36:27] Maybe it was either Netflix or Amazon.

[00:36:29] I can't remember.

[00:36:30] But, uh, murder at the, at the edge of the world, uh, was a murder, like mystery series that he was a part of.

[00:36:37] And there was something else he did to that.

[00:36:39] Uh, the thing that I remember, I didn't remember him from, but when I, Oh, triangle of sadness.

[00:36:43] Yes.

[00:36:43] That's the one from, yeah.

[00:36:44] That's where I kind of was like, Oh yeah, this dude.

[00:36:46] Right.

[00:36:47] And then Nicole Kidman, we know from, uh, 85 different movies.

[00:36:52] She's not the camera.

[00:36:53] Yeah.

[00:36:53] Yeah.

[00:36:53] I think, I think she's got big, big things ahead of her.

[00:36:56] Um, so Chris, we have a very, uh, I read an interview with the director of this film after seeing the film.

[00:37:01] Um, and it sounded like they were a lot of, um, eighties, uh, sex driven thrillers that were kind of a little bit more of a motivation for this.

[00:37:15] Okay.

[00:37:15] Fatal attraction also got brought up as kind of a little bit of a underlying kind of obviously not going in the murderous side that, that, that film does, but there are some tinges, but a little bit on a flipped side of things to some degree.

[00:37:29] Okay.

[00:37:30] Um, I'm curious, Chris, what you thought of this film?

[00:37:33] I, I told you after seeing it, uh, my only suggestion to you was, uh, not one to watch with the parents or family.

[00:37:41] So you were joking about taking the family to this on Christmas day.

[00:37:43] I was very much joking.

[00:37:44] Please do not take your family to go see baby girl on Christmas day.

[00:37:48] Okay.

[00:37:48] A Christmas day, not the, not the ideal date I would have expected this to be opening up.

[00:37:53] B it's definitely not for families.

[00:37:55] Um, but given counter programming, I guess, maybe a little bit of that.

[00:37:59] Um, given all that though, Chris, what was your take on baby girl?

[00:38:06] So yeah, what was my, what is my take on baby girl?

[00:38:10] I'll say, um, maybe we revert back to the whole, the whole fine phrase.

[00:38:16] Um, and I think it would probably be less than fine if not for Nicole Kidman's performance.

[00:38:25] Um, I feel like she gives a really good performance.

[00:38:29] Um, and some of the ways they treat female characters in this film.

[00:38:37] There's, you know, her character obviously is being the star of the film, but then there's

[00:38:41] a, um, I don't know, I guess she's a, um, is she, she's her assistant in the film.

[00:38:48] Um, yeah.

[00:38:50] So if you want to, yeah.

[00:38:51] Okay.

[00:38:52] So there are two arcs in the film and how they're portrayed as, um, I feel like, um,

[00:39:00] strong females or females that have positions of power and kind of how that develops in

[00:39:07] the film.

[00:39:07] Um, that makes me think this is on the slightly positive side of fun.

[00:39:12] Um, yeah, as obviously, like you mentioned, I can see the inspirations from something like

[00:39:17] basic and standard or fatal attractions.

[00:39:19] So those things, um, I never felt that it was really a thriller and there's, there's no

[00:39:25] murder as you mentioned.

[00:39:26] Right.

[00:39:26] No, I think those comparisons are more in tone and style than they are in like, you know,

[00:39:32] subject matter.

[00:39:32] Um, so yeah.

[00:39:35] And Harris Dickinson, you know, he's, he's good.

[00:39:39] He's fine.

[00:39:39] Um, I think he's fine, but yeah, as the, um, Sophia wild doing as me, I thought she was

[00:39:44] the more interesting character.

[00:39:45] And I feel like there's interesting stuff going on with Romy and Nicole Kidman's character.

[00:39:50] Possibly maybe we would want some more cause there's some stuff going on that never really,

[00:39:55] at least I don't think is explained.

[00:39:57] Maybe some like therapy or hypnosis type stuff that's going on.

[00:40:00] Yeah.

[00:40:00] There's a whole bit about her maybe being raised in a, uh, in a, like a cult.

[00:40:08] Yes.

[00:40:09] And a little bit of some hypnotherapy and other forms of therapy she's been going through to

[00:40:13] kind of deal with that.

[00:40:14] It's really slightly touched on.

[00:40:16] So there's potential to make something more, but maybe, you know, just giving just enough

[00:40:22] and maybe that would have weakened the film to go into that too much.

[00:40:24] Don't know.

[00:40:25] Um, I mentioned at the very top of the show, when you were listing off people that were

[00:40:29] involved in the movies, I listed Antonio Banderas as her husband, Jacob.

[00:40:33] I really enjoyed Banderas, um, as her husband, Jacob.

[00:40:37] I thought he was awesome.

[00:40:39] He has such a recognizable face, but yeah, I feel like he was, I guess, nuanced enough.

[00:40:45] So not like, but I, I, I liked seeing him in this film.

[00:40:49] Um, I'll say, I'm curious you, you, and I'll give you a chance to give your reaction here

[00:40:57] in just a second, but I'm curious if American psycho was one of the things that, um, the

[00:41:03] director called out as an inspiration.

[00:41:06] I say that in that film, obviously people are killed.

[00:41:10] Um, but what may reminded me of that film was this film's use of music specifically never

[00:41:19] tears apart by an excess and father figure by George Michael.

[00:41:23] Yes.

[00:41:24] Um, oddly disturbing both of them, especially father figure when that is used and not, but

[00:41:30] effective because it's just so jarring and not since a film like American psycho when they

[00:41:37] were using like the music of Phil Collins had something been so jarring that it will probably,

[00:41:44] I'll not be able to hear those songs again without thinking of this film.

[00:41:48] Just like when I think of Phil Collins, I can hear Patrick Bateman talking about like,

[00:41:54] Oh yeah.

[00:41:55] So that I was not expecting that.

[00:41:58] And that was probably one of the more interesting things from this film for me was the way they

[00:42:05] use those two songs and just music.

[00:42:06] And you had mentioned to me, I think off mic, um, about how the person responsible for the,

[00:42:14] the score and soundtrack work in the film had done the white Lotus TV series.

[00:42:19] Yeah.

[00:42:19] And Oh yeah, I can, I can, I can see the fingerprints of that, of that happening.

[00:42:24] I don't have the person's name on the tip of my tongue, but I can definitely see how that,

[00:42:28] and that, that helped add to the film.

[00:42:32] So Cristobal Tapia Devere is the composer of the white Lotus TV show on max, but also

[00:42:38] the composer of this film as well.

[00:42:41] So those are a lot of my thoughts.

[00:42:43] Alan.

[00:42:43] So we're going to flip flop a little bit on our reviews here.

[00:42:45] I love this film.

[00:42:46] Okay.

[00:42:47] I loved it.

[00:42:48] So you are more than strongly.

[00:42:50] Okay.

[00:42:50] So go off on 10 minutes.

[00:42:52] Unrupt the red.

[00:42:53] Okay, here we go.

[00:42:54] Uninterrupted.

[00:42:54] Start the time.

[00:42:55] Yes.

[00:42:55] No, no.

[00:42:55] I, uh, I, this film just worked on many, many levels.

[00:43:01] A, let's start with performances.

[00:43:03] Okay.

[00:43:03] Look, I think Nicole Kidman's a good actress.

[00:43:05] I generally like her in most anything she does.

[00:43:07] I will not argue that point.

[00:43:09] I think this may be one of the best things I've seen her do.

[00:43:12] Oh, wow.

[00:43:13] I thought her character was fascinating.

[00:43:15] Well, it's she, there's so many layers.

[00:43:18] Yes, you're right.

[00:43:19] It does hint at the whole growing up in a cult.

[00:43:22] She makes a mention of it to somebody and you see some like quick images flashing in

[00:43:25] her head.

[00:43:26] I kind of like the fact that they don't dwell on it.

[00:43:29] It's kind of like, yeah, we know there's more going on.

[00:43:32] We know something's going on in her head, but we don't need it spelled out for us.

[00:43:36] I think I got a pretty good idea.

[00:43:38] Well, what's going on in her head?

[00:43:39] Obviously it's led her to the situation she finds herself in.

[00:43:42] And now she's someone who's unable to be satisfied, you know, in a, in a physical relationship.

[00:43:49] She definitely has some power dynamic issues going on.

[00:43:53] She's in a very powerful role herself where she gets to command and tell people and direct

[00:43:57] things.

[00:43:58] But yet she also wants to be controlled and directed in a way.

[00:44:03] It's like, it's fascinating to me.

[00:44:04] I just, I love whatever's going on in the head, her head.

[00:44:07] And I think Nicole Kidman plays it extremely well.

[00:44:11] Then you flip over to Harris Dickerson.

[00:44:14] Yeah.

[00:44:15] It, it, it's an interesting role as well.

[00:44:17] I mean, he, uh, he gets to, he gets to really lay in the charisma.

[00:44:22] You, I kind of get, and I understand what Romy Nicole Kidman's character.

[00:44:29] I get her draw to him and the, watching his wheels turn as he's realizing what power he's

[00:44:37] wielding in this situation.

[00:44:38] Right.

[00:44:38] Like, yeah, it was really interesting.

[00:44:41] So I just, I had, I had a lot of fun with this dynamic between these two and the scenes

[00:44:45] together.

[00:44:46] I thought were really, really well done.

[00:44:48] Okay.

[00:44:48] And then I'll echo you on Antonio Banderas.

[00:44:50] I, you know, he plays kind of the thankless role in the film, but he's a, yes, but it's

[00:44:55] an incredibly important role, especially by the end of the film.

[00:44:58] And I think it, he plays it really, really well.

[00:45:02] Some great supporting actresses.

[00:45:04] You mentioned Sophie Wilde as, uh, Esme, her assistant.

[00:45:06] Also Esther McGregor as one of the daughters, Isabel, that's Ewan McGregor's daughter.

[00:45:12] Oh, really?

[00:45:13] Yeah.

[00:45:13] Playing, uh, one of the two daughters in this, that she herself seems to be going through

[00:45:18] some identity crisis or not crisis, but just a little bit of redefining who she is as

[00:45:23] a person and looking to her mother to kind of act as some sort of guidepost and whether

[00:45:28] that's a foolish or not to do.

[00:45:30] So anyway, it's just interesting performances.

[00:45:32] I like the style of the film.

[00:45:34] I think the film just had a really, it does lean into a little bit of eighties, eighties,

[00:45:40] uh, you know, uh, um, erotic thriller format, but yet you're right.

[00:45:45] It's not a thriller.

[00:45:46] It's not, it does, it's not interested in that.

[00:45:48] It's interested in really these relationships, these dynamics between these people.

[00:45:53] And then you called out Chris, two of my favorite scenes.

[00:45:56] It was the music.

[00:45:57] I tell you, I mean, one of my favorite songs set the movie is one of my favorite songs of

[00:46:02] all time is in excess never tear me apart.

[00:46:04] So hearing that go into a montage in a sequence, I'm like, Oh yeah, this movie just went up

[00:46:09] four or five notches on my books.

[00:46:12] Then you roll into father figure about 10 minutes later.

[00:46:15] And although that's not one of my favorite songs, the way the song is used in this film.

[00:46:20] So creepy.

[00:46:21] Oh, it's, it's absolutely creepy.

[00:46:22] And just the fact that it starts with a very interesting dance from Harris Dickerson as

[00:46:29] Samuel kind of leading in a hotel room.

[00:46:31] I'm like, Oh yeah, this film knows a magic, magic mic type.

[00:46:35] This film knows exactly what it's doing and it knows exactly how it wants us to feel.

[00:46:39] And during this whole thing, I'm like, and it's got it.

[00:46:42] So I'm, I thought this film was great.

[00:46:44] I really did enjoy it.

[00:46:46] Um, and I liked the fact too, that it ends.

[00:46:51] I'm even trying to remember how it ends.

[00:46:52] Cause I, I, I, you've seen it more recently than I have.

[00:46:56] Yeah.

[00:46:56] It ends without, you know, spoiling that.

[00:46:59] I think it ends.

[00:47:00] Yeah.

[00:47:00] Just kind of give me a general.

[00:47:01] Yeah.

[00:47:01] Sure.

[00:47:02] Oh, it's with the, um, Romy and her husband.

[00:47:07] Yeah.

[00:47:07] That's pretty much it.

[00:47:09] Okay.

[00:47:10] Yes.

[00:47:10] Okay.

[00:47:10] I think I remember.

[00:47:12] There's some scenes of Romy at her business and kind of some changes that have happened.

[00:47:16] Oh, right, right, right, right, right.

[00:47:17] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:47:18] Right.

[00:47:18] So that are interesting.

[00:47:19] And then I don't, I'm not sure if it's a, it's, if it's a co CEO or a COO that's, it's

[00:47:27] a, it's an older guy that's somehow involved with the company.

[00:47:29] They have some dialogue early on and then they have, and then they have it at the end.

[00:47:33] And it's like, okay, so this is a more female positive supportive film than you might

[00:47:38] otherwise think.

[00:47:39] Which I was really happy to see the direction it took at the end.

[00:47:42] And I was afraid it was going to go the other direction, which I don't think would have been,

[00:47:48] would have been as successful and would have made for where the film needed to go by the

[00:47:53] end.

[00:47:53] So I was happy with the ending and happy with kind of some of the messaging.

[00:47:57] I mean, look, there's some, there's some, there's some, there's some commentary about

[00:48:02] power dynamics between people.

[00:48:04] I like the fact that they're not afraid to say that, you know, it's this young man is

[00:48:09] figuring out how to exude power.

[00:48:11] And he's preying on someone who in a way has some power control issues of her own that are

[00:48:17] deep seated.

[00:48:18] But yet how do they, how do they use those to kind of excel them better themselves?

[00:48:25] And by definitely by Romy's character at the end, she is a stronger person because of

[00:48:31] these experiences.

[00:48:32] And she makes several comments through the film.

[00:48:34] Cause you know, it's, you commented on the whole age gap thing too.

[00:48:37] Yeah.

[00:48:37] And, but she's like, Oh, you know, I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of,

[00:48:41] you know, she it's, it's stated in the film.

[00:48:43] So there's that kind of acknowledgement of what's going on and how, you know, uneasy it

[00:48:47] makes people feel.

[00:48:49] I just think there's a lot of interesting psychology going on with, with all these characters.

[00:48:54] And, uh, um, the film surprised me along the way, which is always nice to know.

[00:48:58] I'm not, I wasn't always quite sure where it was going and when scenes happened or actions

[00:49:03] were made, it kept me on, kept me alert, kept me aware of what was happening.

[00:49:08] So that's always good too.

[00:49:10] I never like a film where I can predict pretty much where everything was going by each step

[00:49:14] of the way.

[00:49:15] So I, uh, I really like, I think Harris Dickerson's a really good actor.

[00:49:19] I'm excited to see him do more things.

[00:49:22] Uh, he seems to be kind of on the rise right now, getting a lot of roles and getting a lot

[00:49:25] of attention.

[00:49:26] So, um, yeah, I'm a big fan.

[00:49:29] I'm a big fan of this film.

[00:49:31] So I will, I will give it that.

[00:49:33] It's I'll say this, uh, two, two, two closing thoughts.

[00:49:37] Um, ordering someone a glass of milk as an act of passive aggressiveness, not on my 2024

[00:49:43] bingo card, but an interesting, interesting thing that happens in the film.

[00:49:47] Um, so the director, Helena Rain made bodies, bodies, bodies.

[00:49:53] Um, and I thought that, yeah, really?

[00:49:56] Yeah.

[00:49:56] And I did not know that 2022.

[00:49:58] Yep.

[00:49:58] So this isn't her first film.

[00:50:01] She embodies bodies.

[00:50:02] What a different type of film, right?

[00:50:04] Like horror film, but commenting on like even a phone culture and all this kind of stuff.

[00:50:08] Feel to it.

[00:50:09] Yeah.

[00:50:10] Um, but had a lot of like Pete Davidson was in that.

[00:50:13] Um, so yeah, bodies, bodies, bodies.

[00:50:15] And now this is second film.

[00:50:17] So she's interesting director.

[00:50:19] I'm curious as to what she'll choose to, uh, to do next.

[00:50:23] No, it's, I'm actually more intrigued now to see that she did something so different.

[00:50:29] I mean, yeah, bodies, bodies, bodies was, I thought I didn't love the film, but I thought

[00:50:34] it was good, but it just was such a completely different style tone, uh, look to a film.

[00:50:42] And, but yeah, this one, I thought she pulled off so amazingly too.

[00:50:46] So I, uh, I really liked baby girl.

[00:50:50] I found, uh, found a lot to like out of it.

[00:50:53] Okay.

[00:50:53] Had a good time with it.

[00:50:55] Um, did have to, you know, watching it in my home theater, I've got family, you know,

[00:51:00] kind of been going in and out of the house at times.

[00:51:02] I had to kind of do a lot of pausing, a lot of, uh, you know, Hey, uh, you might want,

[00:51:08] you might not want to walk in right now.

[00:51:10] Cause it is, it is, I joke about it at the beginning, but it is like, it's, it's pretty,

[00:51:14] it's pretty explicit.

[00:51:14] It's pretty explicit, pretty raw.

[00:51:16] So just a fair warning to everybody watching, but, um, but, and I know these were daring so

[00:51:22] much when they talk about older actresses or actors doing roles that are a little more

[00:51:26] explicit.

[00:51:27] It is, it was pretty daring for Nicole Kidman.

[00:51:30] I thought it was a really quote daring performance and I admired her for it.

[00:51:36] I thought it was really good.

[00:51:37] And, but yet she played it with such ease and I thought, yeah, it, her performance, I

[00:51:43] actually threw her name out as a nomination for best actress for this role.

[00:51:48] Cause I thought she was really good.

[00:51:49] I'll throw out what I assume was at least one, maybe a team of five or six intimacy coordinators.

[00:51:56] They should get Oscars for this.

[00:51:57] Yeah.

[00:51:58] That one probably needed between this film, uh, Nora, a couple other films this year.

[00:52:03] I think intimacy coordinators had a banner year.

[00:52:06] Yeah.

[00:52:07] 24 was their year.

[00:52:08] I agree.

[00:52:09] Their year to shine for sure.

[00:52:10] Oh boy.

[00:52:11] Okay.

[00:52:11] That is baby girl.

[00:52:13] Like I said, it opens on Christmas day also.

[00:52:14] So take your pick.

[00:52:17] You got a couple of films on Christmas day to go check out.

[00:52:19] And, uh, I, uh, it sounds like we're a little flip flopped.

[00:52:23] We both liked both of the films we reviewed.

[00:52:25] You are more positive on a complete unknown.

[00:52:28] I am more positive on baby girl, but overall we're still saying these are two good films.

[00:52:33] You know, there are two, two films worth checking out for sure.

[00:52:35] So, and your third option will probably be Nosferatu, which is also that comes out and we,

[00:52:40] we've already reviewed.

[00:52:42] We both love, we both were on the same.

[00:52:44] Yes.

[00:52:45] Very positive on both sides.

[00:52:47] So, uh, man, it's a good Christmas day for the movie theater.

[00:52:50] It's going to be a good Christmas day.

[00:52:51] Yeah.

[00:52:51] Not bad.

[00:52:52] People got some good choices there.

[00:52:53] That's awesome.

[00:52:54] All right, Chris.

[00:52:55] Well, that was our two reviews.

[00:52:57] We're going to take a quick break.

[00:52:58] And when we come back, it's a lot of trailers.

[00:53:00] We got a lot of trailers to cram in before the end of the year.

[00:53:03] Some new ones came out this past week.

[00:53:05] So we're going to take a peek at three of them in particular.

[00:53:09] So stay tuned.

[00:53:10] You're listening to foot candle films.

[00:53:12] We'll be right back in just a minute.

[00:53:13] This podcast is sponsored by Jackson creative, a custom communication agency located in downtown

[00:53:20] Hickory, North Carolina, specializing in online content creation.

[00:53:24] To learn more, visit the Jackson creative.com.

[00:53:29] Jackson creative.

[00:53:30] We tell your story.

[00:53:32] Hello, and welcome back to foot candle films here on the mesh.tv podcast network.

[00:53:36] We had our reviews of a complete unknown and baby girl in the first half of the show.

[00:53:42] Chris, let's turn our attention to some movie trailers.

[00:53:46] We, uh, again, we have our love hate relationship with trailers.

[00:53:50] Do they give away too much?

[00:53:51] Yes.

[00:53:52] Do they create unfair, unfair expectations for films that we, yes, absolutely.

[00:53:57] But do we still kind of enjoy watching them?

[00:54:00] Especially if it's a guilty pleasure, especially if we don't know anything about the film and

[00:54:03] it's our only opportunity to kind of see what we're in store for.

[00:54:06] Sure.

[00:54:07] But conversely, sometimes it might get Chris more excited for a Marvel movie because I'm

[00:54:13] like, Oh, this looks like they're taking a different tack with it.

[00:54:16] Hey, maybe I want to see this.

[00:54:18] So you never know.

[00:54:19] Well, that was a nice segue, although not a Marvel film, but close to it.

[00:54:23] We're going to talk about, let's do our first trailer.

[00:54:25] Okay.

[00:54:25] Um, this is a film I'm very curious about.

[00:54:30] Okay.

[00:54:30] It is a film.

[00:54:32] It's a superhero movie and it is the new Superman movie, uh, directed by James Gunn.

[00:54:38] If kind of as a little quick backup, Mr. Guardians of the galaxy, Mr. Guardians of

[00:54:42] the galaxy for Marvel.

[00:54:44] Um, he also did, um, the suicide squad.

[00:54:48] For DC.

[00:54:49] The second one, the better one.

[00:54:52] And, um, you know, and he's, he's now taken the reins of the whole DC film universe.

[00:54:58] He's the Paul Feig of the DC universe.

[00:55:01] Would that be?

[00:55:02] No.

[00:55:02] Uh, Kevin Feig.

[00:55:03] Kevin Feig.

[00:55:04] Paul Feig is a bright director.

[00:55:06] Right.

[00:55:06] Right.

[00:55:06] And some comedic comedy.

[00:55:07] Kevin Feig.

[00:55:07] Kevin Feig.

[00:55:09] I believe.

[00:55:10] Okay.

[00:55:10] Is the kind of landlord of the Marvel universe.

[00:55:14] Now James Gunn is his equivalent on the DC side.

[00:55:17] Gotcha.

[00:55:17] Gotcha.

[00:55:18] So even though they have released an animated show on max, that was like the first one under

[00:55:22] James Gunn's direction, creatures, creature commandos.

[00:55:26] Have you seen this?

[00:55:27] I have not.

[00:55:27] Okay.

[00:55:28] Uh, Superman though is supposed to be the first like movie movie, like big movie.

[00:55:32] That's kind of kicking off his whole DC universe film.

[00:55:36] Gotcha.

[00:55:37] Film universe.

[00:55:38] Uh, we have, uh, in effect restarting the DC universe kind of, so like justice league

[00:55:46] goes away.

[00:55:46] Oh yeah.

[00:55:47] All that is gone.

[00:55:48] Oh, that's gone.

[00:55:48] All that's gone.

[00:55:49] This is a, this is a new, a new take.

[00:55:51] Although my understanding is this film is not a redo of Superman and his origin.

[00:55:57] I think it's supposed to allude to all of the Christopher Reeve films are still kind

[00:56:03] of there.

[00:56:04] Okay.

[00:56:05] I believe there's a part of the trailer that, well, I think we'll clue you into that.

[00:56:09] Um, so it's not a reintroduction of Superman.

[00:56:13] It's more of a, so we're not getting an origin story here.

[00:56:15] I don't believe we're getting an origin story.

[00:56:16] Okay.

[00:56:17] So, uh, we are getting Superman played by David Cornswit, which he was in twisters

[00:56:24] and has an amazing name.

[00:56:25] I think I'm pronouncing it right.

[00:56:27] Now maybe it's corn, corn sway.

[00:56:29] Doesn't matter.

[00:56:30] Corn sweat.

[00:56:30] Still, corn sweat is more amazing.

[00:56:32] It doesn't matter.

[00:56:33] It's amazing.

[00:56:34] Corn sweat.

[00:56:35] Corn sway.

[00:56:35] It's one of those three pronunciations.

[00:56:37] All are amazing.

[00:56:38] He was also in a Pearl.

[00:56:41] He was the projectionist in Pearl.

[00:56:43] Okay.

[00:56:44] Twisters.

[00:56:45] He was one of the quote bad guy hunters.

[00:56:50] Yeah.

[00:56:50] Yeah.

[00:56:51] So anyway.

[00:56:52] So now he is center stage.

[00:56:54] He is, he is Superman.

[00:56:56] Okay.

[00:56:56] He is Superman.

[00:56:56] So what we're going to do is we're going to watch the teaser trailer for Superman.

[00:57:01] And I have not seen it.

[00:57:03] So this will be my first experience with the trailer.

[00:57:05] I actually waited to see this because I knew we'd probably talk about it on the show.

[00:57:08] Very smart man, Chris.

[00:57:10] Hey.

[00:57:10] Smart man.

[00:57:10] You're doing it all for the show.

[00:57:12] That's right.

[00:57:12] I appreciate that.

[00:57:13] Here we go.

[00:57:13] The teaser trailer for Superman.

[00:57:28] So that is the teaser trailer for Superman.

[00:58:00] The new James Gunn DC universe movie.

[00:58:05] Chris, initial quick take thoughts.

[00:58:07] I feel like it's unfair.

[00:58:08] I feel like you should probably have the quick take thoughts.

[00:58:11] You are a bigger Superman dude, I think, than I am.

[00:58:13] And you're a bigger comic book guy than I am.

[00:58:16] Mm-hmm.

[00:58:16] But you are doing this segment.

[00:58:19] So I feel like, I imagine, that James Gunn just gave comic book nerds an early Christmas

[00:58:27] present if they've seen this trailer.

[00:58:28] Yeah, because it came out last week.

[00:58:30] Yeah.

[00:58:30] Um, because I can't imagine them not being more excited.

[00:58:35] Um, from the straight, uh, I could be concerned.

[00:58:40] I think it looks good.

[00:58:41] Okay.

[00:58:41] I could be concerned that it does seem like it may suffer from a little bit too much fan

[00:58:46] service and that it seems like there are a lot of bad guys.

[00:58:48] Like, you know, with sequels, you're like the first movie, they do like one villain.

[00:58:52] And then with second movie, they do two.

[00:58:53] And then it's just like, they just multiply.

[00:58:55] But this just looks like it is a laundry list of, um, villains, which could be a problem

[00:59:02] balance story wise.

[00:59:03] But I think it, so let me, and then there's also the dog, which very crypto, um, very,

[00:59:13] uh, daring to put that in the film period in the teaser and put it in the trailer and

[00:59:19] give him kind of like a big part.

[00:59:22] But I don't, I don't know.

[00:59:23] I think it kind of works.

[00:59:25] There are a lot, are a lot of dog people.

[00:59:26] So those are, those are my initial points.

[00:59:28] All right.

[00:59:28] Got to put in my comic book nerd hat for a second.

[00:59:31] Take it away.

[00:59:31] Okay.

[00:59:32] First off, Chris.

[00:59:32] Yes.

[00:59:33] Uh, most of the characters you saw in there, you were referring to as villains are not actually

[00:59:36] villains.

[00:59:37] They are other superheroes.

[00:59:38] Okay.

[00:59:38] The only villains in the film, Lex Luthor played by Nicholas Holt, which I was, I guess

[00:59:43] I'd forgotten he was in the film, but I was like, Oh yeah.

[00:59:45] And then there's the giant dragon thing.

[00:59:47] Okay.

[00:59:53] I didn't realize there was a Hulk girl.

[00:59:56] There's a green lantern version of a guy.

[00:59:59] So he's, he is a, not a villain.

[01:00:02] I generally speaking.

[01:00:04] No.

[01:00:04] Okay.

[01:00:05] Um, now the film could take a different take on it, but my understanding is these are all

[01:00:09] other superheroes that are kind of in a, okay.

[01:00:12] But same problem.

[01:00:13] No, I, I wholly acknowledge that.

[01:00:16] It's like an X-Men problem.

[01:00:18] Or a justice league problem right out of the back.

[01:00:20] My hoping is that these are all like in one scene, kind of one sequence, because I think,

[01:00:26] I think the film seems to be saying, Hey, look, we want to get past the whole origin.

[01:00:30] We want to get past the whole, who is Superman type of question.

[01:00:33] It's more of a, no, in this universe, it seems like at least from the film, everybody knows

[01:00:38] who Superman is.

[01:00:39] Superman is a known quantity.

[01:00:40] And it's like, so let's just go ahead and dump them into this bigger world.

[01:00:44] And I like the fact that the film shows, Hey, we're going to be a little playful with

[01:00:49] them too.

[01:00:50] Like him having a super dog in the comics was a totally a 1940s and fifties thing that you

[01:00:56] would not think anyone would touch with a 10 foot pole.

[01:00:59] But James Gunn's like, no, we're going to totally do it.

[01:01:01] We're going to have fun with this movie as well as make it a serious endeavor.

[01:01:06] So I think here's my hope again, there again, downside of trailers, like you've mentioned

[01:01:12] can get your expectations high.

[01:01:14] Why my, one of my, and I will be sad if this is not the case, because then it wouldn't

[01:01:18] have revealed too much.

[01:01:19] I really want that to be the opening scene of the film is what we saw in the trailer,

[01:01:23] because that to me would be an amazing way.

[01:01:25] He's already Superman.

[01:01:27] He's right.

[01:01:27] Cause I think they kind of tease a little bit where they show something crashing.

[01:01:30] You're like, Oh yeah, that's, but it's in the, it's in the Arctic, which you're like,

[01:01:34] well crashes in a cornfield, you know, originally for the, but no, it's like, no, that's

[01:01:38] not what's happening.

[01:01:39] Yeah.

[01:01:39] I think that would be an amazing way.

[01:01:41] And I guess it could be fun.

[01:01:42] Yeah.

[01:01:42] I think that'd be an awesome way to start the film, but I would be, I am a little sad

[01:01:46] that maybe they've spoiled it by the trailer, but still I, I, my, I am excited.

[01:01:51] I got an, I got a feeling.

[01:01:53] It has made me excited to see that James Gunn.

[01:01:55] I'm happy.

[01:01:56] The fact that I don't know the plot.

[01:01:58] Right.

[01:01:58] And I'm going to try to remain.

[01:01:59] Luther is a bad guy.

[01:02:00] Okay, cool.

[01:02:01] I get that.

[01:02:01] But that's pretty much any Superman film.

[01:02:03] So, um, so we will see.

[01:02:06] I am optimistic.

[01:02:08] I think this looks good.

[01:02:10] I like the fact that it's bright colors and it's fun looking and it's true where, you know,

[01:02:16] the, it's not a gloomy Christopher Nolan Batman film with Superman.

[01:02:19] Right.

[01:02:20] And you had the whole, uh, what was the justice league?

[01:02:22] Who was the guy who did all those?

[01:02:24] Zack Snyder.

[01:02:24] Zack Snyder's were all just so depressing looking and dark and gloomy and all that.

[01:02:30] I'm like, no, this is like super bright.

[01:02:32] There was the one that I think I may be the only person alive other than probably the people

[01:02:36] that made the film and the, that liked it.

[01:02:38] And I cannot even remember who directed it.

[01:02:40] The Batman versus Superman.

[01:02:42] Oh, that was Zack Snyder as well.

[01:02:43] Oh, was it?

[01:02:44] Okay.

[01:02:44] Well that, I actually liked, I actually liked that.

[01:02:46] That was of the Zack Snyder movies.

[01:02:48] That was my favorite, but I mean the, I'm not saying a lot, but the, the whole creature

[01:02:52] that came at the end, doomsday.

[01:02:54] Doomsday.

[01:02:54] That was terrible, but I thought there was a lot of other stuff in the film I liked.

[01:02:57] Yeah.

[01:02:58] But no, I'm, I'm, I'm happy with this take on Superman.

[01:03:01] I'm, I hope, I hope this lives up to it.

[01:03:03] I'm excited.

[01:03:04] And you know, doesn't come out until the summer.

[01:03:07] Yeah.

[01:03:07] So it's still got a ways out, but a big movie like this, you got to tease it.

[01:03:11] Sure.

[01:03:12] Six or seven months in advance.

[01:03:13] Marketing is key.

[01:03:14] Yeah.

[01:03:15] All right, Chris, that was our first trailer.

[01:03:17] That was Superman by James Gunn.

[01:03:19] Okay.

[01:03:20] Let's take a little turn here.

[01:03:21] So it is just Superman too.

[01:03:23] No like colons, no nothing.

[01:03:25] Just Superman.

[01:03:26] All right.

[01:03:27] Yep.

[01:03:28] All right.

[01:03:28] This next film is a very different film.

[01:03:31] It is by Studio A24, which I know we are fans of.

[01:03:35] The film is called Death of a Unicorn.

[01:03:38] Okay.

[01:03:38] Okay.

[01:03:38] Okay.

[01:03:39] I don't think I know anything about this film.

[01:03:41] Good.

[01:03:42] It stars Jenna Ortega.

[01:03:44] Okay.

[01:03:44] And Paul Rudd.

[01:03:46] Okay.

[01:03:46] It is a black comedy.

[01:03:48] Okay.

[01:03:48] Directed by Alex Sharfman.

[01:03:51] And it follows Elliot and Riley, who are a father and son daughter that accidentally kill

[01:03:57] a unicorn.

[01:03:58] Oh.

[01:03:58] That's all we're going to say.

[01:03:59] It also stars Richard E. Grant.

[01:04:01] So let's take a look at the trailer for Death of a Unicorn.

[01:04:09] The Leopolds donated this entire nature preserve.

[01:04:12] And they care about a lot of things, not just pharmaceuticals.

[01:04:15] Fine.

[01:04:16] I will sit there and smile.

[01:04:20] Sorry.

[01:04:21] We're...

[01:04:21] What happened?

[01:04:22] You walked from the airport or what?

[01:04:23] It's perfect timing.

[01:04:26] I need you to act like everything is fine.

[01:04:28] Is there something in your car?

[01:04:32] A lot of species in this area are rare.

[01:04:36] What exactly are we saying this is, though?

[01:04:39] I think we know exactly what it is.

[01:04:40] A horse-like mammalia.

[01:04:43] With some sort of protrusion or growth.

[01:04:47] It's a fucking unicorn.

[01:04:50] All right.

[01:04:51] So that is Death of a Unicorn.

[01:04:55] Chris, I'll be honest.

[01:04:56] I saw this trailer and I thought, I think Chris Fry is going to like what he's seeing here.

[01:05:02] Am I on board with this?

[01:05:03] Oh, totally.

[01:05:04] Use of the Beach Boys song.

[01:05:05] Awesome.

[01:05:07] Yeah.

[01:05:07] Only concern is I've seen I Know Too Much, which happens with trailers.

[01:05:11] But I'm glad I'm aware of the film now because now I have something to look forward to.

[01:05:16] And that's not a sequel or existing IP that they're trying to bring.

[01:05:20] No.

[01:05:22] I probably will have to reconsider making my list of when does it come out?

[01:05:29] So much going on in the trailer.

[01:05:31] I didn't even catch the date.

[01:05:32] I know.

[01:05:32] I missed that as well.

[01:05:34] Hold on.

[01:05:34] I will tell you because my intern is running into the room feverishly to give me this information.

[01:05:40] I mean, I'm going to have to hurry up.

[01:05:42] Spring 2025.

[01:05:43] Okay.

[01:05:43] So yeah.

[01:05:44] Okay.

[01:05:44] I may have to rejigger my year-end list that I always do every year.

[01:05:50] My top 10 anticipated films for 2025.

[01:05:53] This may jump onto that list because yeah, I was not previously aware of it.

[01:05:59] So thank you for bringing that trailer to my attention.

[01:06:02] Now we will watch no more about it until the film comes out.

[01:06:05] Or try not to.

[01:06:06] Try not to anyway.

[01:06:06] But yeah.

[01:06:08] We're pretty good about not doing second trailers anyway.

[01:06:10] No, no, no.

[01:06:11] We got to do the first ones that are the biggest teaser trailers.

[01:06:14] Let it be.

[01:06:15] Don't go into the ones they do that are always like recap the entire plot of the film, you

[01:06:19] know, a month before release.

[01:06:21] So try to avoid those.

[01:06:22] I will say, I guess there is going to be a little bit of a theme about pharmaceutical

[01:06:27] companies and maybe like, you know, corporations in general that may lend it to be a little more

[01:06:33] A24-ish, but just kind of doing an outright what seems to be comedy.

[01:06:38] Yeah.

[01:06:39] Not that I mean.

[01:06:40] Comedy with maybe some slash horror fantasy comedy.

[01:06:43] Sure.

[01:06:43] Yeah.

[01:06:44] I mean, there again, A24, one of my favorite studios going.

[01:06:47] So yeah.

[01:06:48] Looking forward to it.

[01:06:49] Oh, side note.

[01:06:50] And the cast looks amazing.

[01:06:52] Yeah.

[01:06:52] The cast looks great.

[01:06:53] Side note.

[01:06:54] Harkening back to our review of Baby Girl.

[01:06:56] Yes.

[01:06:56] The offices where the Nicole Kidman character runs, many of those scenes shot in A24's offices.

[01:07:06] Really?

[01:07:07] So those are actually A24's offices that the film is being shot in, in many of the scenes.

[01:07:12] Interesting.

[01:07:13] Okay.

[01:07:13] Small world.

[01:07:14] Just wanted to mention that.

[01:07:14] Okay.

[01:07:15] Last trailer we're going to do, last part of our show here.

[01:07:18] Do we have one more trailer?

[01:07:19] It is for the film 28 Years Later.

[01:07:22] Okay.

[01:07:23] Okay.

[01:07:23] Now this is the third in a trilogy of the 28 blank later trilogy of zombie movies.

[01:07:30] It was days and weeks, right?

[01:07:31] They're days, they're weeks, and now we're years.

[01:07:34] You and I have both seen days.

[01:07:36] Yes.

[01:07:37] I don't think either one of us has seen weeks.

[01:07:38] I've not seen weeks.

[01:07:39] Okay.

[01:07:40] But this one returns director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, who did the first

[01:07:46] one together.

[01:07:47] They did not work on the second one.

[01:07:49] Big fans of both.

[01:07:50] Yeah.

[01:07:51] Absolutely.

[01:07:51] And I wasn't aware, again, you hear all this bluster around the internet.

[01:07:56] I wasn't aware that Garland and Boyle still like, I thought there was like a falling out,

[01:08:02] but it doesn't sound like maybe there is.

[01:08:03] Because I know they used to work together and they didn't.

[01:08:06] Garland went off and made Ex Machina and made Annihilation.

[01:08:10] And I thought they'd kind of like gone there.

[01:08:12] But it's cool that they're partnering together.

[01:08:14] They're coming back in.

[01:08:15] And so the third installment is franchise.

[01:08:17] That's awesome.

[01:08:18] Danny Boyle will be the director and Alex Garland, the writer.

[01:08:21] They were both executive producers on the second movie.

[01:08:24] Okay.

[01:08:25] Just not directly involved.

[01:08:27] Got you.

[01:08:28] This film, this one is we've got Aaron Taylor Johnson.

[01:08:31] You know, Craven, the hunter.

[01:08:35] Right.

[01:08:36] I like the fact that that's how I'm going to refer to him now.

[01:08:38] Sure.

[01:08:38] It's Craven, the hunter.

[01:08:39] He's in Nosferatu, but yeah.

[01:08:41] Yeah.

[01:08:41] But it's Craven, the hunter.

[01:08:42] I mean, that's how everybody knows about us.

[01:08:44] Right.

[01:08:45] No, I joke.

[01:08:46] I never saw Craven, the hunter.

[01:08:47] I should not bash the film.

[01:08:49] It's gotten horrible reviews.

[01:08:50] It made no money whatsoever.

[01:08:53] But I can't bash a film I haven't seen.

[01:08:55] So Aaron Taylor Johnson, I apologize.

[01:08:57] Your work in Craven may have been the best thing that you've ever done.

[01:09:00] And I don't know because I haven't seen it yet.

[01:09:03] So Aaron Taylor Johnson, Jodie Comer.

[01:09:06] She of Killing Eve and then The Last Duel.

[01:09:09] Bike Riders.

[01:09:10] Oh, yeah.

[01:09:12] And Ralph Faines.

[01:09:15] Ralph Fennies.

[01:09:17] Ray Fines.

[01:09:18] Right.

[01:09:19] Conclave.

[01:09:20] Yeah.

[01:09:21] He's having an interesting choice of some roles this last year or so.

[01:09:24] Yeah.

[01:09:25] We've talked about.

[01:09:25] I would not have expected him to pop up in this, but okay.

[01:09:29] Yeah.

[01:09:29] Yeah.

[01:09:30] Interestingly enough.

[01:09:31] So Killian Murphy was star of the first film 28 days later.

[01:09:35] The trailer is saying that although original movie star Killian Murphy has been reported

[01:09:39] to be reprising his role as Jim, in addition to being an executive producer, he appears

[01:09:45] absent from the trailer and is not listed as a cast member in the promotional material.

[01:09:50] So don't know what's going on there.

[01:09:52] Okay.

[01:09:52] Okay.

[01:09:52] So just that being said.

[01:09:54] Interesting.

[01:09:54] Let's check out the trailer for 28 years later.

[01:09:57] I'm excited because I really like Danny Boyle as a director.

[01:10:00] And he hasn't done anything in a while.

[01:10:01] Yeah.

[01:10:02] I think the last film we did was yesterday.

[01:10:05] Okay.

[01:10:06] That was the Beatles.

[01:10:07] Right, right, right.

[01:10:07] I can't remember if that was before or after.

[01:10:09] I don't remember either.

[01:10:10] But yeah.

[01:10:10] And I did not care for yesterday.

[01:10:13] Don't think it worked.

[01:10:14] I never saw Train Spotting 2.

[01:10:16] I really liked it actually.

[01:10:18] I feel like I've kind of jumped off the boiled bandwagon.

[01:10:21] I need to get back on.

[01:10:22] Sure.

[01:10:22] So I need something good and this could be what serves that purpose.

[01:10:26] So let's check out the teaser trailer for 28 years later.

[01:10:29] Here we go.

[01:10:40] Auntie, what's going on?

[01:10:42] Do me sit still, keep quiet, and do not move from this spot.

[01:10:59] So that was the teaser trailer for 28 years later.

[01:11:05] Chris, does this peak your interest at?

[01:11:08] Yes.

[01:11:10] I would be interested to see it anyway just because the party's involved.

[01:11:13] We mentioned how Garland and Boyle are reuniting.

[01:11:18] Do I think it will be one of my top ten of 2025 that comes out in the summer?

[01:11:23] No.

[01:11:24] But I will enjoy seeing it as kind of a thrill ride, popcorn type event.

[01:11:30] We don't do awards.

[01:11:32] I think we, at one point back when we used to kind of do like top fives or whatever,

[01:11:37] we maybe talked about some of our like top five favorite trailers ever.

[01:11:44] Like how well done.

[01:11:44] Like I feel like we did that as kind of like a news type thing.

[01:11:47] This trailer, I feel like deserves to be in contention for like if there are four awards

[01:11:53] because it couldn't be a better trailer.

[01:11:55] Yeah.

[01:11:55] Because it references the other two movies but not like direct, you know, but it's just,

[01:12:00] it's just really, really, really well made.

[01:12:04] The creepy countdown happening is kind of a through.

[01:12:08] With the woman's void.

[01:12:09] Yeah.

[01:12:09] Yeah.

[01:12:09] It doesn't give away any sense of a plot.

[01:12:12] It has some interesting imagery that kind of just makes you go, ooh, I wonder what that

[01:12:16] is.

[01:12:16] But it doesn't tell you, which is great.

[01:12:18] Starting off with the Teletubbies.

[01:12:19] Yeah.

[01:12:19] Right.

[01:12:20] You're like, what is this?

[01:12:21] No, I agree.

[01:12:22] It was a good trailer.

[01:12:23] It was a good trailer.

[01:12:24] It's an amazing trailer.

[01:12:25] Yeah.

[01:12:26] I tell you, having been, so here's the thing.

[01:12:29] I know the first two films all take place relatively soon, obviously after this breakout

[01:12:35] of zombie stuff, like one within a month or no hours later and then one within weeks later,

[01:12:40] which would have been.

[01:12:42] Days, days, days, days, days, and then weeks.

[01:12:45] So you're still within a year.

[01:12:47] Right.

[01:12:47] This is obviously many, many years later.

[01:12:51] You know, and you can look at this trailer and say, okay, well, the walking dead as a TV

[01:12:58] show, it's kind of what this time is representing in this film.

[01:13:02] What gives me hope in this film is that where the walking dead as a TV show was, was okay.

[01:13:08] Was the timeframe with that?

[01:13:10] Like they'd been in this thing.

[01:13:12] It had been at least a couple of years.

[01:13:14] Okay.

[01:13:14] There've been some years since everything kind of went to hell.

[01:13:19] Yeah.

[01:13:19] Right.

[01:13:20] But I like with this is that, I mean, Alex Garland just knows how to make something

[01:13:27] interesting and I don't want to say it's not bizarre.

[01:13:32] It's not, but just there's enough imagery.

[01:13:34] There's enough things in there.

[01:13:35] I'm like, Ooh, something's going to be interesting in this film.

[01:13:38] There's going to be an interesting take on this form of civilization, this community,

[01:13:43] this village, whatever it may be.

[01:13:44] And that's what I'm excited about.

[01:13:45] So I think it looks good.

[01:13:48] I think it gives you glimpses of different characters that may be, I mean, you see Ray

[01:13:51] Fonz, you see, um, but we don't know anything about him, which is great.

[01:13:55] Mr. Craven.

[01:13:55] Um, yeah.

[01:13:57] That's right.

[01:13:58] Mr.

[01:13:58] The Hunter is how he prefers.

[01:14:01] I'm actually wondering, you know, we've talked about different actors in the past.

[01:14:05] Can I remember the guy's name off the top of my head?

[01:14:07] Who's in twisters and in hit man.

[01:14:09] And I said, hit man, Glenn Powell.

[01:14:11] Thank you.

[01:14:11] And excuse me, Top Gun Maverick.

[01:14:13] Um, but where hit man was the film.

[01:14:16] I was like, okay, I like Mr.

[01:14:18] Glenn Powell now.

[01:14:19] Like, you know, he's a star, he's been a good, but like, I'm not like, I'm, I'm a fan.

[01:14:24] You're a Glenn Powell fan.

[01:14:25] I'm curious if 28 years later will make me say Mr.

[01:14:30] Hunter, Mr.

[01:14:32] The Hunter.

[01:14:33] I am.

[01:14:34] I'm actually, cause he has been around for a while.

[01:14:36] I think kick ass was one of his first things they did.

[01:14:39] He was in Anna Karenina.

[01:14:40] He didn't know.

[01:14:42] But I'm never like, Ooh, Taylor Johnson.

[01:14:45] Okay.

[01:14:46] I've never been.

[01:14:47] Ooh, Mr.

[01:14:48] Craven, the Hunter.

[01:14:49] I'm there.

[01:14:50] Yeah.

[01:14:50] But I'm wondering if I'll be like, okay, you know, no, he's done good work.

[01:14:53] It's just not, you know, stuff I generally, but like, I'm wondering if this will be something

[01:14:57] that.

[01:14:57] I have not been the biggest fan of his work.

[01:14:59] Okay.

[01:15:00] And I'm kind of in the same boat.

[01:15:01] I'd like for something to really stand out with his work to make me say, okay, yeah,

[01:15:06] the guys, the guys got it.

[01:15:07] He's, he's a good actor and I'm waiting for that.

[01:15:10] And maybe this will be it.

[01:15:11] Honestly, I'll give the disclaimer Alan gave.

[01:15:13] It could have been Craven, the Hunter that could have done it for me.

[01:15:15] It could have been again.

[01:15:16] I refuse to bash a film.

[01:15:19] I haven't seen.

[01:15:20] Right.

[01:15:20] I can't do it.

[01:15:21] I can joke about the marketing of the film.

[01:15:24] I can joke about whatever, but I mean the film itself.

[01:15:26] Craven, the Hunter is JC Chandler.

[01:15:28] I mean, he's, he's a good director.

[01:15:29] He's, he's, he knows.

[01:15:30] Russell Crowe's in it too.

[01:15:31] Yeah.

[01:15:32] Yeah.

[01:15:32] So it's like, you know, could be good.

[01:15:35] I don't know, but the reviews are not saying it's good, but I'm still holding out judgment

[01:15:40] myself.

[01:15:40] I will watch it one day.

[01:15:41] We need to do a, now what you being more of the pro and there's not, what is that?

[01:15:48] So it's not more.

[01:15:49] It's the Sony Marvel universe.

[01:15:51] Spider verse.

[01:15:52] Okay.

[01:15:52] Yeah.

[01:15:52] So at some point, I think we got ownership.

[01:15:55] Sony owns the rights to have Spider-Man adjacent movies.

[01:16:00] Okay.

[01:16:00] They share with Marvel.

[01:16:02] They basically have licensed the actual character of Spider-Man back to Marvel.

[01:16:07] So Marvel does the Spider-Man movies in partnership with Sony.

[01:16:10] Sony's got the rights to do all the outside, all the other Spider-Man related films.

[01:16:15] That's what gifted us the three Venom movies.

[01:16:18] Oh God.

[01:16:18] Three Venom movies.

[01:16:19] We had Madam Web.

[01:16:20] We had Morbius and now we got Craven the Hunter.

[01:16:23] Okay.

[01:16:23] And so at some point you and I need to watch all of them.

[01:16:26] I've seen you and I, we reviewed Venom.

[01:16:29] Did we?

[01:16:30] Yes.

[01:16:30] I'm pretty sure.

[01:16:31] I know it's faded.

[01:16:33] Sure.

[01:16:33] But I don't think I've seen the second, third.

[01:16:35] I didn't see Madam Web.

[01:16:36] I did catch more.

[01:16:37] You've seen.

[01:16:38] Okay.

[01:16:38] Now I've seen more.

[01:16:39] You saw Morbius.

[01:16:40] Okay.

[01:16:40] I saw Madam Web.

[01:16:41] Okay.

[01:16:42] Yeah.

[01:16:43] And when Craven the Hunter comes out on online, probably in the next few hours, we will check

[01:16:50] Okay.

[01:16:50] But at some point we should, we should revisit and give fair due.

[01:16:54] No, I agree.

[01:16:55] There again, I'm, I'm cracking on, I'm cracking on just because it's Craven the Hunter.

[01:16:59] It's not a, it's not a film that fans were clamoring for.

[01:17:03] I mean, it's not as a Spider-Man fan myself.

[01:17:06] I still don't understand making these movies about these villains and trying to turn them

[01:17:10] into antiheroes.

[01:17:11] Other than it just be a money.

[01:17:13] And not having Spider-Man in the film.

[01:17:15] That makes no sense to me whatsoever, but whatever.

[01:17:18] Got you.

[01:17:19] But again, I'm willing to say, hey, maybe it's a good movie.

[01:17:22] Maybe there's something to it.

[01:17:23] We'll see.

[01:17:24] What?

[01:17:25] Okay.

[01:17:26] One to five.

[01:17:27] Madam Web.

[01:17:31] One's the lowest.

[01:17:32] Oh man.

[01:17:33] Two.

[01:17:34] Oh, okay.

[01:17:35] I mean, a couple of moments I liked in it.

[01:17:38] Okay.

[01:17:38] All right.

[01:17:39] But yeah, at some point we're going to have to, we're going to have to revisit that universe.

[01:17:43] Yeah.

[01:17:44] We want to, but we'll do it.

[01:17:46] All right.

[01:17:47] Anyway, back to Mr. Taylor Johnson.

[01:17:49] Yes.

[01:17:49] Could this be the film that gives him a starring lead that we're really taken by?

[01:17:54] We'll see.

[01:17:54] I don't know.

[01:17:56] You, I saw you point to the screen at one point.

[01:17:59] Yes.

[01:18:00] I think there's, I think I feel like, I feel like I spotted.

[01:18:03] Yeah.

[01:18:03] I think they're building a mystery around his character and I think, you know, that's

[01:18:07] where they're going.

[01:18:08] Yeah.

[01:18:09] Okay.

[01:18:10] So that is 28 years later.

[01:18:12] That film is coming out also in the summer, June 20th.

[01:18:16] So we got June 20th for 28 years later.

[01:18:18] We got July 11th.

[01:18:20] I think it was for Superman.

[01:18:22] So two summer movies.

[01:18:24] And then a death of a unicorn was sometime in the spring.

[01:18:27] So we're kind of looking out a little bit.

[01:18:30] None of these films are coming really quickly, but.

[01:18:32] Uh, it's the time of year we want to get excited about 2025.

[01:18:36] Absolutely.

[01:18:36] So there we go.

[01:18:37] There's a few to keep our eyes on and that will wrap us up for today.

[01:18:42] Chris, we had our reviews of a complete unknown and a baby girl.

[01:18:46] And we had trailers for Superman 28 years later in death of a unicorn.

[01:18:52] Chris, there's a lot that people could want to interact with us about.

[01:18:56] Maybe, uh, they have issues with either of our takes on either of the two reviews that

[01:19:01] we gave early on the show.

[01:19:03] Maybe, uh, there's some other trailers that people think we ought to be checking out.

[01:19:06] A lot of things they could dialogue with us with, uh, about how can they go about doing

[01:19:11] so?

[01:19:11] You may tell us that we never need to reference the Sony Marvel Spider-Man adjacent universe.

[01:19:18] Again, you can do so by emailing info at foot candle.org.

[01:19:23] Send us an email there.

[01:19:23] You can also follow us on Facebook, foot candle film society, Instagram threads where

[01:19:28] foot candle film are also on blue sky.

[01:19:31] Alan, I do tend to log things on letterbox so you can follow us on there as well.

[01:19:36] Do us a favor, give us a star rating, write a review, share with friends and whatever service

[01:19:40] you receive your favorite podcast on because it'll help us reach new listeners.

[01:19:43] We'd appreciate it.

[01:19:45] Um, hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

[01:19:47] We'll see you back in 2025.

[01:19:50] That's right.

[01:19:51] Remember next time we get back together, it'll be our year end 2024 recap episode.

[01:19:57] We will have our best of both films, performances, directors, and our most overlooked or, um,

[01:20:05] underappreciated surprise film as well as our biggest disappointment.

[01:20:09] So lots to share.

[01:20:10] Did you have something else?

[01:20:12] No.

[01:20:12] And I was going to say, and we'll actually be in the calendar year in which the 2025 foot

[01:20:16] candle film festival.

[01:20:17] Oh yeah.

[01:20:17] We'll have that too.

[01:20:18] September 19th through the 28th.

[01:20:20] That's right.

[01:20:21] Big, uh, big festival coming up in next September.

[01:20:23] So go ahead and mark your calendars.

[01:20:25] More details.

[01:20:25] You get your new 2025 calendar.

[01:20:28] Cause you know, your aunt will probably give you this calendar for the year.

[01:20:31] Flip to September and just mark those days.

[01:20:33] Go ahead and mark it out.

[01:20:34] That's right.

[01:20:35] Mark.

[01:20:35] Just put a big line.

[01:20:36] They're like, I am busy that entire last week of September.

[01:20:39] That way you make sure you will not miss it.

[01:20:42] That's right.

[01:20:42] I think that's a good move.

[01:20:43] Good move, Chris.

[01:20:44] All right.

[01:20:44] Thanks everybody.

[01:20:45] Happy holidays.

[01:20:46] We'll talk to you in 2025.

[01:20:47] See you in the ticket line.

[01:20:51] Watch out.

[01:21:28] Special thanks to Carpal Tuller for the show theme music.

[01:21:32] For more about Carpal Tuller, visit www.carpaltuller.com.

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