Blink Twice

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_01]: What you want, when you want it, where you want it.

[00:00:06] [SPEAKER_01]: This is The MESH.

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Footcandle Films. Film news and reviews from two guys who really like movies.

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_01]: This episode is brought to you by the Footcandle Film Society.

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_01]: For a schedule of upcoming screenings and membership information,

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_01]: visit the society's website at www.footcandle.org.

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Hello everyone and welcome to Footcandle Films here on the MESH.tv podcast network.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_03]: My name is Alan Jackson. With me is Chris Fry.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_03]: We of the Footcandle Film Society, the Footcandle Film Festival,

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_03]: and now the Footcandle Films podcast. Chris, how's it going today?

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_02]: It's going well. I am looking forward to talking about today's film.

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_02]: We batted around a couple and then you said, I tell you what, let's review Blink Twice.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_03]: We had three films in contention.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_03]: We did.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_03]: All coming to our local multiplex which was kind of nice to have a little variety for once.

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_03]: There were actually some interesting options of films to review.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_03]: But like Chris said, we did settle on one that we're going to be discussing today.

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_03]: It is the film Blink Twice by writer and director Zoe Kravitz.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_03]: We'll be discussing that film at length here in just a few minutes.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Followed by, we'll play a little game because I have three trailers we could play.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_03]: But I don't want to play three trailers. I want to play two.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_03]: So we'll figure out a little game to figure out which two we want to play.

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Films are going to be coming out here before too long.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_03]: And we're kind of curious about all three of them.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_03]: So we will see which of the two make the cut this time.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Whichever one we don't get to, we'll table and we'll push off to another episode.

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_03]: But we'll at least get the two trailers in.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_03]: And we're going to end the episode with one of Chris Fry's recommendations of a film

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_03]: that he recently caught up with that he thinks might be a good thing to recommend to the rest of us.

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_03]: I've got a feeling I know what the recommendation is going to be because I sat with you watching it

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_03]: in an outdoor environment last weekend.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_03]: But anyway, we'll leave it to that and get to the recommendation at the end of the episode.

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_03]: But first, Chris, before we do any of that other stuff, we got to get to our main review.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_03]: It is, as I mentioned, writer director Zoe Kravitz's first film starring Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_03]: And it is the film Blink Twice.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_05]: We're going to my island for a few days. Do you guys want to come?

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_05]: This is crazy.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_05]: Did we just jet off to a billionaire's island with a bunch of strangers?

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_05]: No, he's not a stranger. He's later king.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_05]: Everybody say, making memories.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_05]: Making memories.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Are you having a good time?

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: We're having a great time.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: We're drinking champagne and we're eating amazing food.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that's great.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So do you think the human sacrifice is before or after dinner?

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: The legendary parties of State of King. Not what I thought it was going to be.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_05]: We still have fun. It's just a little different now.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: What do you mean?

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Bones, please.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Wait, for real?

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_05]: You don't have to do anything that you don't want to do.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm having a great time here.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But I also have this feeling that I'm like...

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_02]: ...not.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Zoe Kravitz makes her directorial debut with the suspense thriller Blink Twice.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_02]: The film stars Channing Tatum as tech billionaire Slater King,

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_02]: who invites Frida, a cocktail waitress he meets at his annual fundraiser gala,

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_02]: to a getaway vacation on his private island.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Frida, played by Naomi Ackie, invites her friend Jess, played by Alia Shawkat, to tag along.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_02]: When strange things start to happen, both begin to question what exactly is going on in this supposed paradise.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm most familiar with Kravitz from her acting roles as Catwoman in 2022's The Batman

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_02]: and as the lead in Stephen Soderbergh's Kimmy.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Alan, what did you make of her first time in the director's chair?

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_03]: So, I'm just going to go ahead and put this out there.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to point out some issues I had with the film here a little bit.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_03]: But before I get to any of that, I do want to say...

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_03]: I think this was a very well made film.

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think there's a lot of talent here.

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm excited to see what she continues to work on in films.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot here to chew on.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_03]: I think from a filmmaking standpoint, I think was really good.

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_03]: And I can rattle off a lot of things I really did like about this film.

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Overall, I am positive on this film, but I do have some...

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_03]: I do have some issues that I think hampered my enjoyment of it to a full extent.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_03]: But overall, I'm just here to say right off the bat, because I like to recognize anytime somebody makes a first film

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_03]: that I thought was generally a good film and has a lot to talk about,

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_03]: this film does meet that category.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_03]: So, kudos Zoe Kravitz.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Good start, good movie, good first film.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay, that's my take on that.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_03]: I guess you can kind of tell.

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_03]: I am generally positive on the film.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_03]: I do like it.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_03]: I think I was probably more impressed with the style and the production of the film.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Even if I was left a little distant from the story by the end

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_03]: and some of the choices that were made on the storytelling side, on the plot.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Even though I liked all of the elements leading up to that,

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_03]: I think acting was across the board really strong.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to go ahead and say, and I'm curious your thoughts on this,

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Mr. Channing Tatum and the role he played, I thought was really good.

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_03]: I would agree with that.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay, good, good, good.

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_03]: I didn't think he was really good.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_03]: I thought Naomi Ackie was very good in her role as well.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, there's a lot to like with this film.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_03]: I think again, I'm more enamored with the production of it and the style

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_03]: and the overall vibe of the film and I think the confidence that Zoe had

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_03]: in putting this together, all that was really impressive.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_03]: I just have issues with the plot and storytelling

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_03]: and the pacing of the film in general.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Anyway, I'll leave it over to you.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Chris, what are your thoughts on Blink Twice?

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_02]: It's interesting.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Having seen the trailer, which I don't...

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Did we discuss the trailer here on the show?

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_02]: We do so many.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_02]: I can't remember if we did or not.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_02]: I think we did.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'd seen it.

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_02]: The only one that I've seen more than this trailer in the theater

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_02]: is the trailer for Speak No Evil.

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_02]: If I walk out of a theater without having seen the trailer for Speak No Evil,

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_02]: I feel a little off.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_02]: For instance, I saw it before Blink Twice.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_02]: So I was like, okay, everything's right with the world.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_02]: I've seen that trailer.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_03]: I think the staff of the theater actually stop you on your way out

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_03]: and say, did you see the trailer for Speak No Evil?

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_03]: If not, you have to come back inside and watch it

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_03]: because it's a requirement now.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, but saying all that, because going into this,

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_02]: I was interested...

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_02]: I liked Channing Tatum.

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_02]: I knew it was Zoe Kravitz's directorial debut.

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_02]: I like her as an actress.

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_02]: But I was a little weary because to me,

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_02]: it looked like Knives Out, Glass, Onion done by Jordan Peele.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_02]: And so that's kind of the mind's...

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Because it's the desert, or not desert,

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_02]: but an island and these people coming there

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_02]: and odd things happening, a little bit of a mystery.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_02]: But that was my concern.

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_02]: But I went in with that concern.

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_02]: So the good thing was, not that it really wasn't that,

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_02]: but it was enough of its own thing that those concerns fell away.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_02]: And I will say, unlike what it sounds like happened with you,

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_02]: which I will get to more of that maybe without trying to...

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_02]: We don't want to spoil things.

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_02]: We always try to uphold that thing in the show here.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_02]: We try not to spoil things because we like people to go see movies.

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_02]: I really felt like it stuck the landing

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_02]: and I really liked specifically...

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'm not going to go into it.

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_02]: But as the film reaches its climax and things are happening,

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_02]: you're like, okay.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_02]: And then kind of the final...

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_02]: I guess after the climax, some of the final scene,

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_02]: just how that was like, okay, that is not...

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Are you referring to...

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_03]: I just really liked it.

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_03]: And the word climax has a broad term.

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_02]: There's a big action scene.

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay, you are talking the kind of the big, the bigger...

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Fire is involved.

[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_03]: After that.

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_03]: We'll say the fire.

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_03]: After the fire scene or the fire scene itself.

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_02]: There's a lot of stuff going on.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_02]: I just really liked and I like the last shot of the film

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_02]: and what the whole film was about and how it kind of...

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Sure.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_02]: And the way I walked out of the theater with that last scene,

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_02]: I was like, okay, I liked it.

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_02]: My concerns.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_02]: And I wish there again, it's not Zoe Kravitz's fault

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_02]: that I'd seen Glass Onion or that Jordan Peele has made films.

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_02]: It's like...

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm not saying she totally copied and saw it.

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_02]: That's just what it looked like to me

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_02]: in the way that the trailer was edited.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_02]: But it was enough here that I felt like it was enough original.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Now what?

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Like you say, I'll second what you've said.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_02]: I am really looking forward to whatever if she decides to direct another film

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_02]: and maybe it's something completely unlike any other thing I've seen.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_02]: So that way, that would be like, okay, now here's something

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't have to come in with preconceived notions with maybe.

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, and I think it's just the fact that it's a mysterious story

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_03]: on an island with a rich millionaire or billionaire or whatever.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_03]: And granted, that's enough, I think, for us to kind of look

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_03]: and say, oh, we've seen this before.

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Not that Glass Onion was the first film that had ever done that.

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_03]: And you're right.

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_03]: It's not really fair to the film to say that you can't borrow some elements

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_03]: or use some elements that people have seen in the last couple of years.

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_02]: And actually, another film that came to mind once I was watching the film,

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_02]: one we've reviewed here on the show, which if I remember,

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_02]: you were a lot higher on than I was,

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_02]: which I wasn't expecting to compare to this film, but the menu,

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_02]: because there's a lot of food involved and really like nice meals.

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_02]: And they go on and on talk about how fancy they are.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_02]: And so I was like, huh, this and they have like every night

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_02]: they bring like a big fancy course to meal.

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, this is really interesting.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. So but I think it was just to kind of set the tone

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_02]: for how exclusive this place is.

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, and let's talk about the tone because I think it's a double edged sword.

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_03]: I think I think this film does a really, really good job

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_03]: in the first half of the film setting the right tone.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_03]: And it's this mixture of I mean, they kind of revel in the

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_03]: joyousness that you see on the surface of what's happening on this island.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_03]: The music, the food, the, you know, it's all done really, really well.

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_02]: And making sure everybody just has a good time.

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. And it the movie does a great job of showing you

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_03]: what it needs to show you on the outside of that happening.

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, all along something else is going on.

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_03]: You know that from the trailer, the trailer, the title sequence.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, there's things, you know, something's going on.

[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Something's up. Even if you never saw a trailer.

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, there's enough of a hint that, OK, something's not right or something's

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_03]: the other shoe is going to drop at some point.

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think the first half of the film is really good at that scene setting.

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_03]: I do feel like that that scene setting went on too long

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_03]: before we got to an actual element where where this where the story kind of really kicked in.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_03]: I feel like, I mean, I don't know.

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_03]: And I don't want to try to feel like it has to be in a formula.

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_03]: But you kind of think in a thriller like this, you know, you go 50, 60 percent

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_03]: of the movie and you're building your building.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_03]: You're kind of setting tone. You're setting the scenes.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_03]: You're kind of giving just enough of a taste of what might be coming down the road.

[00:12:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Then you spend that last 30, 35 percent of the film kind of getting to it.

[00:12:25] [SPEAKER_03]: This it felt like it was a lot more like 80, 20, 85, 15.

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, it's like by the point we got there, I'm like, OK, there's a lot you've got to do now in this last 15 minutes of this film.

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I agree. I think compressing all that had to happen in that last 15 minutes, they did a good job with it.

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, it was a tight ending.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_03]: It's just, you know, I do feel like the run up to to where we're going with the story might have taken just a bit,

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_03]: bit longer and overstated welcome a little bit for me from a from a pacing standpoint.

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_03]: But once it got there, I think it was solid.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, now the other thing I'll just mention is there is a there's a plot device that is kind of the story hinges on this item,

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_03]: this plot device, this this thing being able to do what it does.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_03]: And I had a I had a tough time with that, just a tough time with the mechanics of the film.

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm I'm OK. Suspension of disbelief.

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_03]: I am not the guy that's going to sit on a mountaintop and say, no, films have always got to make sense.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_03]: You've got to you know, you can't you can't try to pull one over on the audience.

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_03]: No, no, I get it. There are plenty of times I am all for.

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Look, suspension of disbelief. I get it.

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_03]: There's not a way this could really happen this way, but I'm fine to let it go.

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_03]: For me, the ending when it got to the ending and there are certain mechanics that had to be in place to make things happen a certain way they did.

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_03]: It was a little hard, a little hard to digest for me.

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_03]: So that's that's that's my takeaway with it.

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_03]: I just I found myself a little distance from that because I found myself pulled out of the film trying to just understand the mechanics of what was happening.

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_03]: And realizing how it couldn't have happened, but it had to for the movie.

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_03]: So we had to kind of go with it anyway. All right.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_03]: That's that's about as vague as I can get with my description of it.

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, and I all I can say is I guess it was working so well for me that it it worked.

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, the mechanics were bothering you were you were bought in enough.

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_02]: It's kind of like Christopher Nolan type thing with inception.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_02]: If the mechanics are working for you, even if they seem a little crazy or not necessarily logical, which is the film world, then the film works for you.

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_02]: If they don't seem to quite if the gears don't quite seem to be meshing, then you get distracted by that.

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_02]: And it detracts from your enjoyment of film.

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_02]: For me, I understand what you're talking about.

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_02]: The item that has to be placed.

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_02]: But it but, you know, let's just lay it on the whole table.

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_02]: The film is about and actually this is the second film in a row where I have seen interesting disclaimers at the beginning of the film for this film.

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_02]: There was a trigger warning about abuse of power and sexual violence, sexual violence.

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. OK, so that was interesting, which I don't really recall that ever being done before.

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_02]: I can't remember one, but it was one of the for the other one.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_02]: We were not going to end up reviewing it, but a strange darling.

[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_02]: That film had this thing that's like this film was shot on 35 millimeter like it's to let you know this was not digital.

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_02]: So it's like things are making audiences aware of that they want them.

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_02]: So one was a trigger warning. One was like an appreciation of how the film was made anyways.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_02]: I think the logicalness of the film didn't bother me because after that warning, I was like, OK, well, they're basically telling you or they were to me at least.

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_02]: This film is going to be commenting on abuse of power.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Sure. And I was like, OK, got it.

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_02]: And so therefore the ending, I was like, OK, for me that was satisfying.

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, of course, it's fictitious, but it's like instead of just violence, there was like a there was a come up aspect.

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Right. And I appreciated that.

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_02]: And I guess the mechanics of it to get there didn't bother me as much because I just I just let them let them flow.

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I want to I want to say I was surprised at the interesting cast that was put together for this.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_02]: We've got you know, we've talked about mechanics and everything, but I want to you touched on briefly Naomi Aki her performance and you touched on Channing Tatum, which I thought he did a good job to.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes. But the the casting, like I guess is it this year at the Oscars that they're going to start giving an award for casting or is that two years off?

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_02]: And this is going to be this is going to be not what not special effects.

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_02]: They already do that. But action stunts. This is going to be the other do stunts.

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_02]: And I've heard rumors that casting is supposedly not far.

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. And this was interesting casting for sure.

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, Christian Slater. Yeah. Haley Joe Osment.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, two two stars from, you know, 90s or whatever. And like you remember them looking at.

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_02]: However, I will say I know Christian Slater was in Mr. Robot.

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't feel like he ages. I mean, he does have some gray hair. But like overall the dude to me just looks the same as he's always.

[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_03]: It was interesting to see him. Well, and Gina Davis and Gina Davis, I did not expect to be in this film at all.

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_03]: And I will give them all props. This is interesting choice of film for them to be in with the parts they were given to play.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_03]: And I admire them for doing it. But I'm sure it was probably had to do a little there probably had to be a little soul searching to decide if this is the kind of part to jump into because, yeah, they all had some interesting parts to play in this in the story and this film.

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Surprising, surprising roles to play. And I thought Simon Rex. Oh, yeah, Simon Red Rocket.

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_02]: And you know, so for him to be in this, it was also kind of interesting. Well, and then again, I got to call out and Kyle McLaughlin, Adrian Arjona, who we saw in Hitman.

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_03]: And we were I was raving about I thought she was so good in that. And she's very good in this.

[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_03]: And I like that film more than you, but you both we both were we both really liked her performance. I thought that was the best thing of that film. And yeah, she's really good here too.

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_02]: And when I saw her, I was like, I recognize her, but I don't know where from it was only after the film when I looked up was like, oh, that's where I've seen her.

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, this is 2024 is my year of getting to know that actress for sure.

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, and and we didn't mention another member of the. Well, you mentioned already about Leah Shawkat, who from you know, I remember so much from Arrested Development and she's been Search Party, I think was another thing, a show she was in for a while.

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_03]: But she's really good. She's so good in this.

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Leavened Hawk, who is another Hawk member of the Hawk family. He is Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawks son.

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_03]: So we've already had Maya Maya. You know, we've seen in a lot of work now.

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Leave on the sun is also has a part in this film. So let's let's talk about you mentioned both.

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes. So all that I thought that I like the cast. I thought the acting was good. It was interesting.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, just like a really people you wouldn't think of being in certain roles in this movie.

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, just really, really well done.

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so we mentioned both leave on Hawk and we mentioned Gina Davis. OK, if we were going to say something about the film for me, you've already mentioned, you know, misgivings positive on the film.

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_02]: I think I like a little more than you.

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_02]: But miss not miss giving's, but I felt like there was potential.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Gina Davis, they ended up coming around a little bit more on her character and kind of giving us a little.

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_02]: But still, I felt like if she just would have had a little more like, you know, let's say they gave her of the film, they gave her, let's say, 10 percent screen time.

[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe she just had 12 like because there was they did end up answering some aspects.

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_02]: You're like, OK, now I know what her air quotes deal is.

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, now with leave on helm or hawk.

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Sorry, not leave on the on leave on hawk who played Lucas.

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_02]: He was interesting and his character, I don't feel his art got kind of little short because they kind of made you question certain things about you like, OK.

[00:21:05] [SPEAKER_02]: And then they were just like this was when you were talking about kind of the fire portion, things kind of one.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_02]: And there was so much going on that I think they just didn't have time to kind of resolve that.

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_02]: But I wanted to know ultimately, OK, what am I?

[00:21:19] [SPEAKER_02]: What do I need to be thinking about this character?

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Because I know ultimately they did do that for Gina Davis's character.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Very briefly, but very briefly.

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_02]: But they did do it and it worked.

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_02]: I was like, OK, got it because she basically spouts out some exposition dialogue.

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_02]: You're like, OK, now I know where you are.

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Got it. Got it. Got it. Got it.

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_02]: But him, I'm just like, wait, so I don't I don't understand where you are on the good bad spectrum.

[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Let's just put it that way.

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, and just to kind of catch what I was saying earlier, that's that's part of the culprit I felt like was happening in that last 15 minutes is like, wow, there's a lot to process.

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot being thrown by Gina Davis character.

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_03]: The leave on hawk character Lucas were kind of not really clarified on.

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, there's a moment where the Christian Slater character.

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I feel like I mean, I knew that was him in one particular scene, but like it wasn't really clear at first.

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And it's like it's you're having to kind of process a lot to go on.

[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's why I felt like the ending if the ending could have breathed a little bit more and given, like you said, a little bit more time to each of these little characters and plots to understand kind of where we are, where we got to by the end of the film.

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_03]: It would have been so much stronger.

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_03]: That was my big takeaways.

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_03]: I felt like I just felt like that last 15 minutes was like, wow, we're doing a lot here.

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_03]: We're doing a lot and we're still not quite catching all the points in all the nuances we need to.

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_03]: It's like, yeah, it was that rushed ending.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_02]: I'll justify my original statement, which I was saying I went in with these expectations of this was going to be glass onion done by with a Jordan Peele feel making it feel like get out.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_02]: And because it was dense enough that I was unsatisfied with the arc of leave on Hawks character agenda.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_02]: But that was like, well, a second viewing might help me submit things more.

[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_02]: And at least it was trying to do so much instead of just being something as simplistic as what I thought it was going to be.

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_03]: I would much rather take the route it did.

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_03]: It was a pacing thing for me.

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_03]: I got you.

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_03]: All right, we're spending the first 80 percent of the film kind of setting up everything and then 10 minutes or 15 minutes of payoff that had a lot going on.

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_03]: And yeah, I wanted the room.

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_03]: I wanted the film to breathe a little bit.

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_03]: I felt like there was a lot more to explore with how things were ending by the end of this story.

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_03]: And I just felt like it was a little a little bit of a disservice because I felt like we invested so much time kind of the buildup.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_03]: I see.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_03]: And then we just didn't really get that that satisfaction resolution with a lot of what was going on.

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Got you. So I wanted or I want it's not going to happen, but it would be entertaining to me if Channing Tatum somehow got nominated for best actor for this because I want the clip that the Oscar's pull is the scene of him just saying I'm sorry.

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_02]: I want that. And actually, I wanted that scene to be capped, which this film has some humor in it.

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_02]: It's dark. A lot of it's dark, but it has little little glimpses here and there.

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_02]: I wanted that scene to be capped by some line from There Will Be Blood, even like I've killed my son or I drank your milkshake because the ratcheting up of that.

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_02]: It was like and then he acknowledged it.

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_02]: But I just I was like because that kind of would have broke a fourth wall in a way because it was just so so good.

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_02]: It was a great, great scene.

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Honestly, I've always liked him.

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_02]: I liked his role in Hail Caesar, although it was very small, but it was a lot of fun.

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_02]: This may be one of my favorite Channing Tatum performances.

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, because it's different.

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_03]: And look, the film is definitely making some commentary on kind of the tech bros culture.

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_03]: The Me Too movement is making a lot.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot to say.

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think it does really well in what it's saying.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think it does it and couches some great commentary in a thriller movie, which is good.

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I like that.

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_03]: It's it you've mentioned you mentioned Jordan Peele.

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_03]: And I mean, yeah, there are a lot of similarities to Get Out.

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I do feel that Get Out kind of had that same premise of OK, this is an actor who's now becoming a director, writer, director.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_03]: It's got a little bit of a what's going on.

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_03]: We don't know the deal.

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_03]: There's social commentary mixed in with horror, thriller elements.

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_02]: A lot of people. Yeah.

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_02]: And that's when you go see a Jordan Peele film, even though it's built as like a horror, a thriller, you know, there's going to be social commentary.

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_03]: So I mean, we see Zoe Kravitz kind of following a little bit of the same path.

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_03]: And I admire that.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_03]: But she did put her own spin on it.

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes. Where I do feel like the film had a different style, a different vibe to it.

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_03]: I think. Yeah, then then then what we've seen from him.

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_03]: So like that.

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_03]: But yeah, I mean, my my only issues are I don't want to say they're fairly minor because they were substantial issues to me by the end of the film.

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_03]: But I don't think they make the film a not a good film.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_03]: I think there's a lot of people that.

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_02]: There's been a good film and a great film.

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_03]: I think there's a lot of people that would appreciate this film.

[00:26:18] [SPEAKER_03]: I think there's a lot to see from a from a filmmaking standpoint.

[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_03]: There is even some times and this doesn't happen very often where I see shots or scenes that kind of make me go, oh, wow, that was he talking.

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_02]: That was really nice about the lounge chair scene with Naomi Aki and Channing Tatum where they're laying down and the way the cameras do this slow.

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, that was good.

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, in general, there's a lot of use of some wider angle shots where the camera would kind of move to reveal.

[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes. Different things.

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a big really great full of wide angle shot in front of the whole complex where they're staying.

[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And you know, you've got Aki and Tatum kind of having an interaction dialogue going on that scene.

[00:27:04] [SPEAKER_03]: But then there's other things going on in the background.

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Other characters, the camera kind of follows and shifts your attention.

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_03]: It's just it was really smart.

[00:27:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think there was a lot of really great, great moments in it.

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_03]: So those definitely made me kind of sit up a little bit and be like, oh, wow, there's there's some real effort going into this.

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_03]: And this this looks really good.

[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_02]: And it was OK.

[00:27:23] [SPEAKER_02]: This being from a female filmmaker, Zoe Kravitz, and being co-written by her early on.

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Once they get to the island, there was some camera work and some shots that were very focused on leering at the female body, specifically from neck down and knee up.

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_02]: And I was just like, and there's one shot that you're talking about that kind of does a pan and it kind of fall.

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_02]: It's like, you know, obviously in the female walk across the screen is the center of the frame and they follow.

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_02]: And it was just like, oh, no.

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_02]: And it was it made me feel uncomfortable.

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_02]: And I think that was the place.

[00:28:00] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, we're going to do male gaze, but we're going to really lock it in and we're going to make you feel queasy because you already know you've seen the trailer.

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_02]: So then something slow off here.

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And they're like, no, we're going to, you know, there's just you have the camera work and the way they show that whole scene setting of that first hour where it's just putting you is a it puts you in an uneasy position where you are kind of appreciating the fun.

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER_03]: They thought this group seems to be having on the surface.

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER_03]: You appreciate the environment that they're in, the setting that they're that they're in.

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_03]: But there's just enough reminders along the way.

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_03]: And honestly, having that that warning message at the front now think about it.

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_03]: If you went into this movie not knowing anything about it right and you saw that warning at the beginning, automatically that warning automatically puts in your head.

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, things are going to go south.

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Right?

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_02]: You just have to know that this isn't like.

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I mean, this isn't definitely not going to be light.

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I mean, but I could see if it wasn't for that that warning at the beginning and you watch the first 30 minutes of this, you're like, OK, this could actually be a we're really following these two girls that kind of get wrapped up in a big extravagant weekend.

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And maybe it's a romance movie.

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe it's whatever.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, the film does a good job of not not tipping its hand in any one direction too much.

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_03]: It wants to put you at ease.

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_03]: It wants you having a good time with these characters.

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_03]: So that way, when you do realize and they reveal what's going on, it becomes even more horrific for you, the viewer as well.

[00:29:29] [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, I want to mention the cinematographer because to do our due diligence and review, we both kind of commented on it.

[00:29:36] [SPEAKER_02]: But Adam Newport Barrett, which not familiar with his name, but I think I'm going to become familiar with his name.

[00:29:41] [SPEAKER_02]: I see that he was the cinematographer for Last Black Man in San Francisco.

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, wow.

[00:29:47] [SPEAKER_03]: And he's also did that was beautifully shot, too.

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_02]: He also did some of Euphoria.

[00:29:51] [SPEAKER_02]: He's shot a couple of episodes of that TV series.

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, Last Black Man San Francisco, the cinematography in that was really amazing.

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_02]: So now that's great.

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't realize the connection there.

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it makes perfect sense.

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_03]: That's so just wanted to call someone to watch for sure.

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_03]: We really like like his style.

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_03]: So that's great.

[00:30:10] [SPEAKER_03]: So, you know, look, I like the film.

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_03]: I think it's an I mean, I think it's a I think it's a great first film.

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_03]: I think it's a great showcase for a lot of these performers.

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_03]: I definitely think it's a showcase for the cinematographer and for Zoe Kravitz as the director.

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_03]: The writing, I think I think they could have worked on the pacing and structure of the film a little bit.

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think given that ending, a little more time to breathe, a little more time to explore what was going on.

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Me personally, I've just got to deal with the mechanics.

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_03]: The I mean, you wouldn't call it a MacGuffin because I mean, it is a tangible thing in the film.

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_03]: It's not really like a it's not inconsequential by the end of the film.

[00:30:50] [SPEAKER_03]: A MacGuffin would be this is this is pretty consequential and the way this thing performs and acts and the function that plays.

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I just I have to get come to peace.

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'll also say it's important because it is something that has to do with an expectation for females, how they look, how they smell, how they appear.

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_02]: I get it is a put on them by mail and so for that to actually come around and I'll leave it vague.

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_03]: But I think no, no, the choice of what that item is makes sense.

[00:31:27] [SPEAKER_02]: The belief in that it's always the practicality of how that functions for the story.

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_02]: I just accepted it.

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_03]: But yeah, yeah, it's it's tough.

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_03]: It's tough.

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a little it's a little swallowing of some disbelief, not disbelief in the situation of what's going on.

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_03]: It's disbelief in the mechanics of how it was supposed to.

[00:31:46] [SPEAKER_02]: And I just I forgave it.

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_03]: And there's a moment where this same device has to act on another character for the first time.

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And it just acts a whole lot different than it did the rest of the movie.

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_02]: But I would say the delivery method is what did it.

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_02]: So I can excuse it for that way.

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_02]: And I would maybe I don't want to get into spoilers anymore.

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, yeah.

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.

[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_03]: OK.

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_02]: And here, here.

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_02]: So I've been overall very positive and I like the film.

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_02]: The number one issue.

[00:32:20] [SPEAKER_02]: This is really dumb and really petty.

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Number one issue I have with the film is the movie poster because it's Channing Tatum using a Polaroid, which yes, the Polaroid camera is in there.

[00:32:33] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't believe maybe we just don't see it, but it's mainly the Polaroid cameras used by I think Christian Slater's character.

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah.

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_02]: And so it bothers me that it's maybe maybe it was just cut out.

[00:32:48] [SPEAKER_02]: But that bothers me that he's on the position like, wait, but he's just so that's something stupid.

[00:32:53] [SPEAKER_02]: That's a mechanic thing that for some reason is bothering me.

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_02]: So I don't know.

[00:32:57] [SPEAKER_02]: But overall, yes.

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Like the film.

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Can I just make one more quick call out?

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Something I really liked.

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:33:03] [SPEAKER_03]: The opening title, if you recall, and you saw this film last night, so you should recall it a little bit better.

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_03]: There's all the lead up at the film starts.

[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot of lead up.

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot of scene setting.

[00:33:13] [SPEAKER_03]: They all get to the island and they're all posing for a photograph.

[00:33:16] [SPEAKER_03]: And then when somebody takes a photograph, the word blink twice comes up like for a split second.

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_03]: OK.

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's it.

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm like, that's nice.

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_03]: OK.

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_03]: I like that.

[00:33:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Just I don't know.

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, again, it added a little bit of that.

[00:33:28] [SPEAKER_03]: You're having such a good time.

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Everybody's all fun and silly.

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And then just to have that title just kind of boom, like when you realize the line is set.

[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, OK.

[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Something's up.

[00:33:38] [SPEAKER_02]: And the line is said as well by Naomi Ackie's character to Kyle McLaughlin at the gala.

[00:33:46] [SPEAKER_02]: She says it to him.

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, and he does actually blink twice.

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:33:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, good.

[00:33:53] [SPEAKER_03]: You counted.

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_03]: OK.

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_02]: I did because I was like, OK, that's interesting.

[00:33:57] [SPEAKER_02]: But yeah.

[00:33:58] Yeah.

[00:33:59] [SPEAKER_03]: No, it's a good film.

[00:34:01] [SPEAKER_03]: It is a good film.

[00:34:03] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not going to say I wish it had been great because, I mean, again, I think

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_03]: I think the film outperformed whatever I thought it could perform on, given the premise and giving the setup that I heard about it.

[00:34:15] [SPEAKER_03]: But it's a good film.

[00:34:16] [SPEAKER_02]: How could I have been so lazy in my setup just not to have ended on the question?

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Did you have a good time?

[00:34:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, yeah, because that's like the whole timeline in the film.

[00:34:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I had a good time.

[00:34:27] [SPEAKER_03]: OK.

[00:34:27] [SPEAKER_03]: I had a good time.

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.

[00:34:30] [SPEAKER_03]: I had some questions, but I had a good time.

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER_02]: So I'd say they had questions, too.

[00:34:34] [SPEAKER_03]: I had a couple of misgivings and a question or two.

[00:34:38] [SPEAKER_03]: But overall, I generally did have a good time.

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Sounds like you did have a good time.

[00:34:42] [SPEAKER_03]: So, yeah, that's great.

[00:34:43] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.

[00:34:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, that is Blink Twice that is in theaters should be available for a little while longer in theaters.

[00:34:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Didn't do great in Puck's office.

[00:34:53] [SPEAKER_03]: But, you know, it's one of those I could see this one getting a little little better word of mouth as it goes along and making a little more of an audience over time.

[00:35:01] [SPEAKER_03]: So, all right.

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's go ahead and take a quick break, Chris.

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER_03]: When we come back, we've got two trailers to show or make a production mean decision here during the break of which two we're going to play.

[00:35:12] [SPEAKER_03]: We've got two trailers to play films to talk about that are becoming up soon.

[00:35:17] [SPEAKER_03]: And then we're also going to hear Chris's recommendation of a film he thinks we ought to check out.

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_03]: So stay tuned.

[00:35:23] [SPEAKER_03]: You're listening to foot candle films here on the mesh dot TV.

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_03]: And we'll be right back.

[00:35:27] [SPEAKER_00]: This podcast is sponsored by Jackson Creative, a custom communication agency located in downtown Hickory, North Carolina, specializing in online content creation.

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_00]: To learn more, visit the Jackson creative dot com Jackson creative.

[00:35:44] [SPEAKER_00]: We tell your story.

[00:35:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Welcome back to foot candle films here on the mesh dot TV podcast network.

[00:35:51] [SPEAKER_03]: We had our review of blink twice at the first half of the show, both positive reviews.

[00:35:57] [SPEAKER_03]: So Chris, a little little higher on the scale than me, but still both of us coming away very impressed and enjoying the film quite a bit.

[00:36:04] [SPEAKER_03]: So let's move on to some news about movies coming up soon.

[00:36:09] [SPEAKER_03]: We like to play trailers.

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_03]: I know trailer playing on an audio podcast seems a little weird.

[00:36:15] [SPEAKER_03]: That's playing a clip of the audio from a trailer and you can't really see the trailer.

[00:36:18] [SPEAKER_03]: We're encouraging you to go online and watch the trailer if you're so intrigued.

[00:36:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:36:22] [SPEAKER_03]: We're just going to play the trailers because we like to watch them here in our studio.

[00:36:26] [SPEAKER_03]: And then we comment on what we're seeing.

[00:36:28] [SPEAKER_03]: So we do have two trailers we did well down to two during our break production, our 30 second production meeting got down to the two we're going to show.

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_03]: We'll table the other one for another week.

[00:36:39] [SPEAKER_03]: So to two particular shows or movies we're going to preview for you here.

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_03]: The first one up, Chris, I want to talk about is by Pedro Alvaro Var.

[00:36:49] [SPEAKER_03]: A filmmaker we're all familiar with anybody who's either been listening to the show.

[00:36:54] [SPEAKER_03]: We've talked about some of his his more recent films and in general, I'm pretty big fan of his work like his films, his body of work in general.

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_03]: But he is traditionally made films in Spanish.

[00:37:09] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, so his first film now as an English language feature is coming out.

[00:37:16] [SPEAKER_03]: OK. And it stars two actresses that I'm also big fans of and excited to see them together is Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.

[00:37:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Both I think are new to his like cast of actors.

[00:37:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Right. I agree. I don't think they've been in any other of his work.

[00:37:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe due to the whole language thing.

[00:37:37] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if either one of them really speak Spanish that well.

[00:37:39] [SPEAKER_03]: So very, very true. OK. Very, very true.

[00:37:41] [SPEAKER_03]: This is a follow up to Amadova's parallel mothers that had oh gosh, Penelope Cruz, his constant in so many of his films.

[00:37:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Pretty much as Penelope Cruz and the actor.

[00:37:59] [SPEAKER_03]: What is his name? Antonio Banderas.

[00:38:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Boy, boy. You know what? I tell you, getting old sucks.

[00:38:04] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to tell you, Chris, I do not remember anything anymore.

[00:38:09] [SPEAKER_02]: A second cup of coffee will cure that right.

[00:38:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe I'm only through my first.

[00:38:12] [SPEAKER_03]: So anyway, so this is a English English language feature film.

[00:38:18] [SPEAKER_03]: OK. Tilda Swinton. Julianne Moore is called The Room Next Door.

[00:38:23] [SPEAKER_03]: OK. It is being released by Sony Pictures Classic.

[00:38:26] [SPEAKER_03]: It's going to be playing at the Venice Film Festival on September 2nd.

[00:38:30] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, so we don't really have a date.

[00:38:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, we do. It'll open in theaters December 20th.

[00:38:37] [SPEAKER_03]: We got the Venice premiere coming up next week.

[00:38:40] [SPEAKER_03]: But then so we'll probably hear some rumblings about whether it's good or not.

[00:38:44] [SPEAKER_03]: And then by December 20th, Sony Pictures Classics will be releasing it in theaters.

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_02]: So holding it for that December release always makes you think that.

[00:38:52] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, I mean, it's Elmendover who does has done.

[00:38:54] [SPEAKER_02]: He's got some clout already.

[00:38:56] [SPEAKER_03]: I think I think him attached already kind of adds a little bit of level,

[00:38:59] [SPEAKER_03]: even if whether or not the film is really good or not,

[00:39:02] [SPEAKER_03]: I think they're going to hold that for December and kind of try to get some buzz from it.

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Come on, season. So let's go ahead and check out the trailer for The Room Next Door.

[00:39:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, man.

[00:39:46] [SPEAKER_02]: So here again, first time Alan and I've seen this trailer.

[00:39:50] [SPEAKER_02]: And the cool thing is you get our immediate reactions because we've never seen it before.

[00:39:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Bad thing is that just like with Stephen Soderbergh's trailer that we showed,

[00:40:00] [SPEAKER_02]: this one was pretty much all music for those listening audience.

[00:40:03] [SPEAKER_02]: So we do encourage you to go check it out.

[00:40:04] [SPEAKER_02]: But also awesome because they were the last things they leave on screen is Pedro Almodovar's first movie in English,

[00:40:11] [SPEAKER_02]: which is just that's kind of funny.

[00:40:14] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, well, yes, it's a little it's a little grandiose, but kind of, hey, you know, yeah, you know this guy.

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_03]: And now he's in English.

[00:40:23] [SPEAKER_03]: All right. But yeah, it's definitely more of a mood teaser piece.

[00:40:27] [SPEAKER_03]: It doesn't really give you a lot.

[00:40:29] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I'm still not really quite clear the plot other than what Variety wrote up about the film that I'm reading from in the news section here.

[00:40:37] [SPEAKER_03]: The only thing I've got is that it seems to be a film about two people who were close friends in their youth when they worked at the same magazine together.

[00:40:50] [SPEAKER_03]: And one of them goes on to become an auto fiction novelist while the other became a war reporter and they're separated by life.

[00:40:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And then being after years after being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.

[00:41:03] [SPEAKER_02]: So that's that's and if you watch the trailer, obviously the two friends are Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.

[00:41:08] [SPEAKER_02]: One seems to be in failing health.

[00:41:11] [SPEAKER_02]: That does seem to be. Yeah.

[00:41:13] [SPEAKER_03]: So beyond that, I don't know.

[00:41:16] [SPEAKER_03]: And what I love about it is I don't know if this is a pure drama.

[00:41:21] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know if there's supposed to be some elements of Hitchcock like yeah exactly is going on.

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Don't know. You kind of get a little bit of sense of that maybe in the trailer, but maybe not.

[00:41:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe not. We don't know.

[00:41:31] [SPEAKER_03]: So I like the fact that I don't really know what I'm getting into with this, which is always good for me.

[00:41:36] [SPEAKER_03]: So that's all I need to see about this film.

[00:41:38] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't want any more plot and only more details.

[00:41:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Just December 20th.

[00:41:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Looking forward to it.

[00:41:45] [SPEAKER_02]: And it looks like an Almanzov art film.

[00:41:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Like just the shots, the colors, everything is like, yep.

[00:41:50] [SPEAKER_02]: And you know going into an Almanzov art film, even if maybe you don't care for the plot or you find it a little, you know, the acting is going to be good.

[00:41:58] [SPEAKER_02]: And the cinematography is going to be good.

[00:41:59] [SPEAKER_02]: You just you just know that. Yeah.

[00:42:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'm looking forward to that.

[00:42:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Same here. Same here.

[00:42:06] [SPEAKER_03]: That's December 20th.

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_03]: We will be on the lookout for that.

[00:42:09] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, would I have been equally as excited if this was two people pretending they were college roommates and they were like the room next door and it was like a zany comedy or something?

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER_03]: If it's Almanzov are making it.

[00:42:22] [SPEAKER_02]: And if for some reason it was like slightly D.H. Tildes went in and Julianne Moore.

[00:42:27] [SPEAKER_02]: No, no, no, no, no.

[00:42:28] [SPEAKER_02]: They're just going.

[00:42:28] [SPEAKER_02]: It's like a back to school Rodney Dangerfield.

[00:42:30] [SPEAKER_03]: And that like that you want a college aged D.H. to Julianne Moore and Tildes.

[00:42:35] [SPEAKER_02]: No, no, no, no.

[00:42:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Just being Rodney Dangerfield like going back to school.

[00:42:39] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm going back at their current age.

[00:42:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Let's forget the D.H. part because you and I usually hate that stuff.

[00:42:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:42:41] [SPEAKER_02]: No, but I want Almanzov are shooting a comedy about two women going back to college playing roommates and it's Tilda Swenson and Julianne Moore.

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_03]: The thing is I, I mean, that sounds great.

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:42:53] [SPEAKER_03]: I would actually I'm actually on board.

[00:42:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Not what we're getting.

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Completely on board.

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_03]: No, it doesn't seem to be the case with this film but that's good.

[00:42:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.

[00:42:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.

[00:42:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's talk about let's talk about the elephant in the room, Chris.

[00:43:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Sure.

[00:43:04] [SPEAKER_03]: We have a movie coming up that correct me if you feel differently.

[00:43:10] [SPEAKER_02]: It is one of my which I was one of your anticipated films.

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.

[00:43:15] [SPEAKER_02]: And I guess we're going to get to see it in 2024 or maybe I'm not actually going to get to see it till 2025.

[00:43:21] [SPEAKER_03]: But you got to admit in recent months this film has become a bit of a punching bag.

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, yeah.

[00:43:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.

[00:43:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Which is which I'm okay with because I'd rather a film get punched all the way down before I see it.

[00:43:33] [SPEAKER_03]: And then when I see it, they're like, oh, that was actually really interesting.

[00:43:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Really good.

[00:43:37] [SPEAKER_03]: We are talking about Francis Ford Coppola's film, Megalopolis.

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Now, Coppola himself has not made a film since was it Youth and Revolt?

[00:43:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, gosh.

[00:43:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Or Youth Without Youth.

[00:43:50] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm sorry.

[00:43:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Youth Without Youth.

[00:43:53] [SPEAKER_03]: I think that was his last film as a director.

[00:43:58] [SPEAKER_03]: No, he did a couple others.

[00:43:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, he did Twixt.

[00:44:00] [SPEAKER_03]: That's right.

[00:44:01] [SPEAKER_02]: And Tetro, which I've wanted to see all three of those and have never have never seen them.

[00:44:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, let's be we're just going to be I'm just going to be very open here.

[00:44:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Sure.

[00:44:13] [SPEAKER_03]: And I hate basing a filmography of somebody just on scores and ratings.

[00:44:19] [SPEAKER_03]: But when you do look at his filmography and you look at average critic and audience reactions to it pretty much since.

[00:44:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, gosh.

[00:44:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Pretty I mean pretty much since like 2000.

[00:44:34] [SPEAKER_03]: He has made several films like five or six films and people just haven't connected with them.

[00:44:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:44:40] [SPEAKER_03]: OK.

[00:44:41] [SPEAKER_03]: They haven't gotten a lot of attention and I don't think they got very good regards.

[00:44:46] [SPEAKER_03]: So he is a little bit of a phase right now where I think this is where this punching bag situation comes.

[00:44:52] [SPEAKER_03]: You get a big name director like Coppola, who of course has created some of the indelible classics of our cinema.

[00:45:00] [SPEAKER_03]: In the last 20 some years hasn't done anything of note that people have really kind of clung to or gravitated to.

[00:45:09] [SPEAKER_03]: But he's now he hasn't made a film.

[00:45:12] [SPEAKER_03]: His last film was called Distant Vision back in 2015.

[00:45:17] [SPEAKER_03]: So this nine years later we have his new film Megalopolis.

[00:45:20] [SPEAKER_03]: And this one is kind of getting a lot of attention for a few reasons.

[00:45:24] [SPEAKER_03]: One, it's got a big name cast.

[00:45:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Adam Driver.

[00:45:29] [SPEAKER_03]: You've got let's see here.

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's see.

[00:45:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Aubrey Plaza is in it.

[00:45:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Shia LaBeouf, Lawrence Fishburne, John Voight, Jason Schwartzman, Talia Shire.

[00:45:40] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, it's a big cast.

[00:45:42] [SPEAKER_03]: It is a lot of people, a lot of interesting casting.

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a high concept film.

[00:45:47] [SPEAKER_03]: It takes place in the city of New Rome, kind of in a I guess a futuristic, I don't know, futuristic alternative universe type of thing.

[00:45:58] [SPEAKER_03]: It's all about a main conflict between the main character Caesar Cotillina, a brilliant artist in favor of a utopian future and the greedy mayor Franklin Cicero.

[00:46:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And between them is Julia Cicero with a loyalty divided between her father and her beloved.

[00:46:14] [SPEAKER_03]: So it's kind of going for a little bit of a...

[00:46:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Can you give us the rundown of who plays those three characters?

[00:46:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Adam Driver is one of them.

[00:46:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Adam Driver is the Caesar Cotillina.

[00:46:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Mayor Cicero is played by Giancarlo Esposito.

[00:46:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[00:46:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:46:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[00:46:28] [SPEAKER_03]: And then Natalie Emanuel, who I'm not familiar with, but she plays Julia Cicero.

[00:46:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Everybody else are kind of supporting characters in this world that he's created in this film.

[00:46:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Now it's two hours and 18 minutes, which nowadays is kind of quaint.

[00:46:44] [SPEAKER_03]: It's like, you know, you expect this to be a three or four hour movie, but it's like, oh, two 18.

[00:46:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, it's actually kind of short.

[00:46:49] [SPEAKER_03]: It's pretty trim.

[00:46:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:46:52] [SPEAKER_03]: But the reactions in the festivals that's played have been sharply mixed.

[00:46:58] [SPEAKER_03]: So here we are.

[00:47:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's take a look at the trailer for this.

[00:47:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Now go and give a little quick news on this too.

[00:47:05] [SPEAKER_03]: The trailer we're playing is not the one that had been released recently and has then therefore been pulled because it turned out

[00:47:13] [SPEAKER_03]: that they, the marketing team behind the trailer fabricated some critic quotes in the film.

[00:47:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Now granted it was a premise, Chris, you were telling me where they weren't meant to be.

[00:47:25] [SPEAKER_03]: They were supposed to be showcasing negative reviews of past Coppola classic films.

[00:47:31] [SPEAKER_02]: That is mine.

[00:47:31] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't wasn't privileged enough to see it in the five seconds that it was online.

[00:47:35] [SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, that's my understanding is that it was kind of like kind of commenting.

[00:47:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Hey, Pauline Kale.

[00:47:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Look at this negative review she gave about the Godfather.

[00:47:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[00:47:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Or something like that, which that concept is interesting because again, they're trying to build up this idea that, hey, a lot of people didn't get Coppola's classics when they first came out.

[00:47:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Getting this one either.

[00:47:54] [SPEAKER_03]: But they did end up fabricating some of these negative reviews, which is kind of that's a no-no.

[00:48:00] [SPEAKER_03]: You don't you don't put a critic's name and then put something wrong in quotes around them.

[00:48:05] [SPEAKER_02]: That's my understanding.

[00:48:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:48:07] [SPEAKER_03]: So anyway, so all that being said, this is a trailer that is not the one that includes those fake critical quotes.

[00:48:16] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a newly released trailer.

[00:48:17] [SPEAKER_03]: We're going to watch the trailer for Megalopolis and just see what we're getting into with this.

[00:48:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Here we go.

[00:48:31] [SPEAKER_05]: When does an empire does it collapse in one terrible moment?

[00:48:43] [SPEAKER_05]: But there comes a time when it's people don't let them know.

[00:48:51] [SPEAKER_04]: Destroyed forever.

[00:48:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Gentlemen and children of all ages.

[00:49:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Welcome.

[00:49:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Is this society?

[00:49:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Is this way we're living the only one that's available to us?

[00:49:19] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, so the trailer we just played was one that did have those negative review quick quotes that I was under the understanding that was all being pulled.

[00:49:29] [SPEAKER_02]: I thought it had been.

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe just the version with the fake ones.

[00:49:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe those were all real ones that we saw.

[00:49:34] [SPEAKER_03]: And if there were some fake ones fabricated, those have been pulled out.

[00:49:37] [SPEAKER_02]: They'd like read.

[00:49:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, who know?

[00:49:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Man, that's crazy.

[00:49:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Anyway, so interesting marketing strategy.

[00:49:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Will the movie be as interesting as the marketing strategy?

[00:49:45] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.

[00:49:46] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, again, for those again, I know just hearing it, it's flashing up of what we believe are real critical quotes from different publications.

[00:49:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Kind of negative reviews of some of his classic films.

[00:50:00] [SPEAKER_03]: We had The Godfather.

[00:50:00] [SPEAKER_03]: We had Apocalypse Now.

[00:50:01] [SPEAKER_03]: We had Bromstockers Dracula.

[00:50:05] [SPEAKER_03]: And and again, it's kind of playing that this idea of yeah, some people didn't get his movies back then either.

[00:50:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And look at them now.

[00:50:12] [SPEAKER_03]: So you got to come see Megalopolis because you may hate it when you watch it, but it's going to be a classic in 30 years or something.

[00:50:18] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know.

[00:50:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:50:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Look, I think the trailer looks I'm fascinated by this film.

[00:50:24] [SPEAKER_03]: I want to see this film.

[00:50:27] [SPEAKER_03]: It absolutely could be way overindulgent.

[00:50:30] [SPEAKER_03]: I could already see that there could be hints of that being the case and or so obtuse with its messaging or what it's trying to say or its commentary.

[00:50:40] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know, but it looks interesting.

[00:50:43] [SPEAKER_03]: And so, I mean, I hate all the negative buzz is getting coming out of the festival season because I'm unfortunately it's already it's already affecting our opinions of this film without having even seen it.

[00:50:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Sure. And that's never that's never fair.

[00:50:56] [SPEAKER_03]: So I'm curious and interested to see this, but I also know Coppola's films in the last 20 years have been a little tougher to reach audiences a little tougher to connect.

[00:51:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Will this one change that pace?

[00:51:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Will this one kind of resonate?

[00:51:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Don't know what you having immediate thoughts after seeing it, Chris?

[00:51:16] [SPEAKER_02]: I absolutely did.

[00:51:19] [SPEAKER_02]: And now you've made me forget the name of the film, but you'll help me remember it.

[00:51:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it was one about Hollywood that the director of Whiplash made.

[00:51:29] [SPEAKER_02]: What was it?

[00:51:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, La La Land.

[00:51:31] [SPEAKER_02]: No, no, no.

[00:51:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.

[00:51:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, Babylon.

[00:51:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Babylon.

[00:51:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you.

[00:51:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, Babylon.

[00:51:36] [SPEAKER_02]: So this to me looks like a combination of and I guess Babylon and Metropolis.

[00:51:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Nope.

[00:51:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Babylon, the Matrix and Annette.

[00:51:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Annette probably because Adam Driver's in it and also my expectations headed into Annette.

[00:51:52] [SPEAKER_02]: It was Lewis Kerrack's.

[00:51:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Adam Driver was in it.

[00:51:55] [SPEAKER_02]: It was all this like big flashiness.

[00:51:57] [SPEAKER_02]: The soundtrack was done by the Sparks.

[00:52:01] [SPEAKER_02]: And then I admired it.

[00:52:04] [SPEAKER_02]: It was a huge swing, but it just didn't quite work.

[00:52:08] [SPEAKER_02]: But I admired it.

[00:52:09] [SPEAKER_02]: It was admirable.

[00:52:10] [SPEAKER_02]: I agree, but it just didn't quite work.

[00:52:12] [SPEAKER_02]: It's like a spectacular failure that was oh so worth seeing.

[00:52:15] [SPEAKER_02]: I wish I could have seen it in a theater.

[00:52:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe I need to revisit because there were moments that were really interesting.

[00:52:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so that's Annette for those reasons.

[00:52:24] [SPEAKER_02]: The Matrix just because of some of like the effects and how it's very futuristic

[00:52:28] [SPEAKER_02]: and the fact that Laurence Fishburne was narrating that trailer makes me think of The Matrix.

[00:52:33] [SPEAKER_02]: And then Babylon just because that movie was just a huge, there was just a lot going on

[00:52:39] [SPEAKER_02]: and ultimately did not mesh for me.

[00:52:42] [SPEAKER_02]: I think you appreciated it.

[00:52:43] [SPEAKER_03]: It meshed gloriously for me.

[00:52:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Right, way more than it did for me.

[00:52:47] [SPEAKER_02]: So but that just kind of, and I admire the big swing that the director took.

[00:52:51] [SPEAKER_02]: So that to me is what this trailer reminds me of or what this looks like.

[00:52:57] [SPEAKER_02]: I can't wait to see it.

[00:53:00] [SPEAKER_02]: Question, I guess I can boil all it down.

[00:53:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Will I end up thinking it's a better film?

[00:53:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Even though it's a different type of film.

[00:53:06] [SPEAKER_02]: It's not a musical like Annette was.

[00:53:08] [SPEAKER_02]: But will I think it's a better film than Annette or than Babylon?

[00:53:12] [SPEAKER_02]: We'll see.

[00:53:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I mean again, I think for me it's just going to be.

[00:53:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Are we on board with the ideas that Coppola is trying to present this film?

[00:53:24] [SPEAKER_03]: And does he go, does he keep it at a level that we as an audience can process

[00:53:30] [SPEAKER_03]: and comprehend and follow along?

[00:53:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Or is it going to go really, really big and big and big?

[00:53:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know.

[00:53:36] [SPEAKER_03]: It looks big from the movie.

[00:53:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, but looks enormous.

[00:53:41] [SPEAKER_03]: But I'm intrigued and very, very curious about this.

[00:53:43] [SPEAKER_03]: So that is Megalopolis.

[00:53:45] [SPEAKER_03]: It is coming to theaters September 27th.

[00:53:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, OK.

[00:53:51] [SPEAKER_03]: So soon.

[00:53:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Experience it in IMAX, Chris.

[00:53:54] [SPEAKER_03]: It'll be in IMAX theaters.

[00:53:55] [SPEAKER_03]: September 27th, which is kind of kind of smart because I mean, you know,

[00:54:00] [SPEAKER_03]: September, late September there's not, you know,

[00:54:03] [SPEAKER_03]: IMAX is probably a good environment to watch this kind of film in.

[00:54:06] [SPEAKER_02]: It would seem so.

[00:54:07] [SPEAKER_03]: And there's not going to be a lot of demand for big summer movies

[00:54:10] [SPEAKER_03]: and IMAX action movies and spectacle movies at that point.

[00:54:14] [SPEAKER_03]: So September, so it could have the IMAX theater wrapped up.

[00:54:18] [SPEAKER_03]: That could be a good way to see it.

[00:54:20] [SPEAKER_03]: True.

[00:54:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Will it come to Hickory?

[00:54:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Hard to say.

[00:54:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Hickory is our hometown.

[00:54:25] [SPEAKER_03]: If anybody listening.

[00:54:26] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it does have.

[00:54:27] [SPEAKER_03]: We're a small market.

[00:54:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:54:29] [SPEAKER_03]: But, you know, we do get we have our one AMC theater in town

[00:54:33] [SPEAKER_03]: and it does tend to get some some good variety of films.

[00:54:35] [SPEAKER_03]: So we'll see if Megalopolis makes it our way or not.

[00:54:39] [SPEAKER_02]: It does have Adam Driver, which I guess is he's big enough.

[00:54:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Sci-fi with a big name director.

[00:54:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it could definitely it could definitely show up.

[00:54:49] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, well, that is Megalopolis coming out September 27th.

[00:54:54] [SPEAKER_03]: We will hopefully be having a chance to discuss it at a future episode.

[00:54:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:55:00] [SPEAKER_03]: All right, Chris, that was the two trailers we want to talk about in films coming up.

[00:55:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's end the show this in this episode with our Chris Fry patented recommendation of the week.

[00:55:12] [SPEAKER_03]: What do you have to recommend for us as far as a film that you think we might want to check out or revisit if we haven't already recently?

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_02]: So right.

[00:55:21] [SPEAKER_02]: You teased in the opening of the show that you knew the recommendation.

[00:55:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, yes, you do.

[00:55:25] [SPEAKER_02]: We had an outdoor screening of The Princess Bride, the film from 1987 directed by Rob Reiner.

[00:55:31] [SPEAKER_02]: We screened it outdoor in downtown Hickory and I had not seen it in a couple of years.

[00:55:37] [SPEAKER_02]: And I just remember, of course, I liked it.

[00:55:39] [SPEAKER_02]: I checked in letterbox and I rated it five stars and give it a heart.

[00:55:43] [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, I just I really, really like this film, the casting.

[00:55:48] [SPEAKER_02]: You've got Robin Wright as Princess Buttercup.

[00:55:52] [SPEAKER_02]: You've got Carrie Hughes playing, you know, Wesley and just Mandy Patinkin.

[00:55:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, just I don't think there is a misstep in casting throughout the entire film.

[00:56:03] [SPEAKER_02]: And when the people show up, you're like, oh yeah, that's right.

[00:56:06] [SPEAKER_02]: He's in this just well crafted.

[00:56:10] [SPEAKER_02]: And I don't feel like there's really a lull for me.

[00:56:13] [SPEAKER_02]: The film starts.

[00:56:14] [SPEAKER_02]: It just moves along.

[00:56:16] [SPEAKER_02]: It has kind of the the plot making devices of the grandfather telling his son or grandson a story.

[00:56:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Fred Savage plays the grandson and Peter Falk plays the grandfather because he's sick and in bed.

[00:56:28] [SPEAKER_02]: And it just it just works and it just moves in.

[00:56:31] [SPEAKER_02]: It's we know it's something fun to watch with kids because it's an adventure story, but yet there's romance.

[00:56:37] [SPEAKER_02]: But kind of winking at the fact, OK, yeah, this is sappy and young kids don't like like it just it just works.

[00:56:44] [SPEAKER_02]: And, you know, there's for me true emotion when Enigo Montoya played by Mandy Patinkin gets to spout the line.

[00:56:54] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, my name is Enigo Montoya.

[00:56:56] [SPEAKER_02]: You killed my father prepared to die like the culmination of that is is amazing.

[00:57:01] [SPEAKER_02]: It just it's a really good a really good moment that earns the weight that it's given by the end of the film.

[00:57:09] [SPEAKER_02]: So Princess Bride, you've probably seen it.

[00:57:12] [SPEAKER_02]: If you haven't, go check it out.

[00:57:14] [SPEAKER_02]: It's on Disney Plus.

[00:57:15] [SPEAKER_02]: So it's pretty well or you can probably.

[00:57:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's Disney Plus.

[00:57:18] [SPEAKER_02]: You may have that if you have kids, you probably have a subscription to Disney Plus.

[00:57:22] [SPEAKER_02]: If not, it's probably rentable on lots of streaming services.

[00:57:26] [SPEAKER_02]: But the prayer used to also rerun on cable like TVS and stages like that constantly.

[00:57:31] [SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, The Princess Bride, 1987 Rob Reiner.

[00:57:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Just a great film.

[00:57:36] [SPEAKER_02]: You like the film, but you're not quite as over the moon as I am about it.

[00:57:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it's all right.

[00:57:42] [SPEAKER_02]: It's OK.

[00:57:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Send your hate mail to Alan at foot Kendall dot org.

[00:57:47] Right.

[00:57:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, no, I agree with you on the casting.

[00:57:50] [SPEAKER_03]: I like the concept of the film.

[00:57:52] [SPEAKER_03]: I love the book, the setup of the grandfather reading the son and grandson.

[00:57:56] [SPEAKER_03]: It's great. It's a good setup.

[00:57:58] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a fun little story.

[00:58:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, I don't I don't think Rob Reiner directed a great film with it.

[00:58:08] [SPEAKER_03]: But luckily, the story and the actors and the characters made up for it, made it compelling enough.

[00:58:16] [SPEAKER_03]: So I yeah, I do like it.

[00:58:18] [SPEAKER_03]: But even watching the other night, so kind of kind of sloppy film.

[00:58:23] [SPEAKER_03]: But yeah, that's right.

[00:58:26] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I won't I won't say that the charm outweighs the charm.

[00:58:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, the charm outweighs how good a quality film like I just it moves for me enough.

[00:58:35] [SPEAKER_02]: And the charm and the funniness helps it move along.

[00:58:38] [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, is it like is it maybe kind of shaggy or something?

[00:58:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but it doesn't bother me.

[00:58:44] [SPEAKER_03]: That's hey, this is what film is all about.

[00:58:46] [SPEAKER_03]: So you know what?

[00:58:47] [SPEAKER_03]: There are times where you're so wrapped up in a film that you can overlook major operational details of how a plot works.

[00:58:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:58:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And it can either distract you because you're not engaged in the film or if the film's working for you,

[00:59:01] [SPEAKER_03]: you're able to just kind of let everything roll like, yep, no, give me what you got.

[00:59:06] [SPEAKER_03]: I'll take it because I'm enjoying the ride.

[00:59:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's film.

[00:59:10] [SPEAKER_03]: That's that's that's what we that's what we that's why we do this show.

[00:59:13] [SPEAKER_02]: And I will say to you, I think during covid they did a live read of The Princess Bride and it was a part of me that was worrying that that was building up like some type of momentum for them to do a sequel or something to The Princess Bride,

[00:59:27] [SPEAKER_02]: which I would not like.

[00:59:29] [SPEAKER_02]: However, it does surprise me that there's never been thinking about it this time after it finished.

[00:59:34] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, OK, I don't want a sequel.

[00:59:36] [SPEAKER_02]: I definitely don't want to remake, which has also been threatened.

[00:59:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Don't want to remake either.

[00:59:41] [SPEAKER_02]: But a spin off of the dread pirate Roberts, I could say, you know what?

[00:59:45] [SPEAKER_02]: With the humor, which I guess would be like this flag means death in a way kind of like that TV series on HBO Max at Tite.

[00:59:52] [SPEAKER_02]: I like that.

[00:59:54] [SPEAKER_02]: But it would be different, but that would kind of be like the the mood of the piece.

[00:59:58] [SPEAKER_02]: So it's kind of surprised me that that's never happened.

[01:00:01] [SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, I highly recommend the film.

[01:00:04] [SPEAKER_03]: All right. The Princess Bride, as Chris said, is available on Disney Plus, but you can also rent or purchase on any other streaming or online movie platform.

[01:00:14] [SPEAKER_02]: So if you your local library still stocks DVDs, they probably have a copy.

[01:00:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Call probably probably do.

[01:00:23] [SPEAKER_03]: I would put some good money on the fact that they probably have it.

[01:00:26] [SPEAKER_03]: All right. Well, that's going to wrap this up for today.

[01:00:29] [SPEAKER_03]: We had our review of Blink twice.

[01:00:31] [SPEAKER_03]: The Zoe Kravitz film in the first half of the show.

[01:00:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Positive reviews from both of us on that film.

[01:00:37] [SPEAKER_03]: We had our discussion of trailers for the films Megalopolis and also for the film The Room Next Door.

[01:00:44] [SPEAKER_03]: That was the latest Alma Dovar film.

[01:00:46] [SPEAKER_03]: And then Chris's recommendation of The Princess Bride.

[01:00:50] [SPEAKER_03]: So, Chris, as always, if anybody hears me talking even the slightest amount of smack about The Princess Bride, I really I'm not making negative.

[01:00:58] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm just not as over the positive.

[01:01:02] [SPEAKER_03]: They may want to take me down a peg for that or has something to say or has seen Megalopolis.

[01:01:07] [SPEAKER_03]: I would love to hear from somebody who's actually seen this film.

[01:01:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe got to one of the big festivals and got to see it.

[01:01:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Tell us about it or or different opinion on Blink twice.

[01:01:17] [SPEAKER_03]: We want to hear that as well.

[01:01:18] [SPEAKER_03]: So how can they get a hold of us for any of that?

[01:01:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Chris, you can send an email to info at foot candle dot org.

[01:01:24] [SPEAKER_02]: You can also follow us on Twitter at foot candle film, Facebook foot candle film society, Instagram and threads, but candle film.

[01:01:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Alan and I are also on letterbox where we try to track what we're seeing and leave quick takes.

[01:01:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Do us a favor. If you like the show, consider giving us a star rating.

[01:01:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Write a review, share with friends and whatever service you get your favorite podcast on because it'll help us reach new listeners.

[01:01:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Have you got your tickets yet for the twenty twenty four foot candle film festival coming September 20th through the twenty ninth to Western North Carolina?

[01:01:53] [SPEAKER_02]: No? Well then you need to go to foot candle film festival dot com and do so.

[01:01:58] [SPEAKER_02]: The schedule's up there. It's going to be our tenth year.

[01:02:00] [SPEAKER_02]: You can also get tickets at the box office.

[01:02:03] [SPEAKER_02]: They'll probably be available, not normal for things to sell out.

[01:02:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Although it could happen. But if you're going to be in Western North Carolina, we strongly encourage you to come check it out.

[01:02:11] [SPEAKER_03]: It's going to be a good time. Absolutely. Absolutely.

[01:02:14] [SPEAKER_03]: All right. Well, thanks everybody for listening and we will look forward to talking to everybody next time.

[01:02:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Take care. See you in the ticket line.

[01:03:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Special thanks to Carpal Tuller for the show theme music.

[01:03:05] [SPEAKER_01]: For more about Carpal Tuller, visit www.carpaltuller.com.

[01:03:12] [SPEAKER_01]: You've been listening to The Mesh, an online media network of shows and programs ranging from business to arts, sports to entertainment, music to community.

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