Hokum

[00:00:02] What you want, when you want it, where you want it. This is The MESH. Footcandle Films. Film news and reviews from two guys who really like movies. This episode is brought to you by the Footcandle Film Society. For a schedule of upcoming screenings and membership information, visit the Society's website at www.footcandle.org.

[00:00:35] Hello, everyone, and welcome to Footcandle Films here on The MESH.TV Podcast Network. My name is Alan Jackson. With me is Chris Fry, and we are both with the Footcandle Film Society, the annual Footcandle Film Festival coming up in September of this year, and are now co-hosts of the ongoing, long-running, never-canceled Footcandle Films podcast. Yes.

[00:01:03] I say that, honestly, Chris, I have no idea how many listeners we have. I don't look at the stats. I don't either. We don't know. We have no idea. We're just doing this because it gives us a good chance to sit down and talk movies, and if we have, you know, a couple people listen, even better, even more fun. That's great. But welcome, no matter how big the crowd is out there listening to us. Thanks for checking us out. We do this show every week? Yeah. Oh my gosh, are we weekly still now? We are. It's pretty impressive.

[00:01:32] It is. And I don't even know how many episodes we've done at this point. I need to go back and look. Over 100. But I don't know. I mean, that doesn't say much. But it's been going on for a while. So, yeah, I'm not exactly sure. We should probably look at the moment. We really should do a little research on our own podcast. Somewhere between 100 and 500. I don't think we've hit the 500 mark. So, I'm going to keep it nice and vague. That's a lot of the numbers we're giving out here. Yes. Okay. But this is our show where we get together.

[00:02:00] We review new films that are in the movie theaters or are streaming at the time. And we also throw in some movie news. Like today, we have a couple of news items about some upcoming film projects and a couple of trailers to show regarding those projects. And we always try to squeeze in a recommendation of a film at the end of the episode as well. And today's episode, no exception. We have one to share this week also.

[00:02:26] So, Chris, I always kick it over to you to say, are we ready to go? And I'm going to ask you once again, are we ready to get started? Oh, I guess I should mention what our main film review is going to be. I'm all off the format today. Something's throwing me off. I don't know what it is. But you celebrated May 4th too much. You watched every Star Wars film and or animated series that's ever been made. So you're still recovering a little bit. I did do that on May 4th.

[00:02:54] And follow it up with May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, back to back. It's like kind of a crazy couple of days if you're in the mindset of wanting to celebrate both of those holidays. I wish I had that as an excuse. That would be a fun couple of days to throw together. But no, I'm just discombobulated for many other reasons, I'm afraid. But I'm going to get us on track. The film we're reviewing is Hokum.

[00:03:22] Hokum is a horror film starring Mr. Adam Scott, directed by Damian McCarthy. Not familiar with any of his other work, but we'll get to that when we get into the review. But that is the film we're going to be reviewing, followed by some movie news and a recommendation at the end of the episode. Now, Chris, are you ready to get started? Let's go to Ireland. That's where the film is, right? Yes.

[00:03:58] First time in Ireland. My folks came here for their honeymoon. Always wanted to come back. Why didn't they? I don't know if you've noticed, but there are some oddballs walking around this place. There are worse things than strangers out there, Yank. One of the members of staff is missing. What about the honeymoon suite? It's always locked.

[00:04:32] In Hocum, Adam Scott plays novelist Ome Bowman, who travels to a remote inn in Ireland to scatter his parents' ashes. Once there, he hears tales of things being haunted and has disturbing visions. Alan, how was your trip to the Bilberry Weeds Hotel? Oh, yeah. I'm glad you mentioned the name of the hotel, because that does have a lot to play into the review of the film. Okay. um, so, you and I are not horror people.

[00:05:01] We do see them. But we will seek out well-made horror films. We'll seek out ones that maybe, well, I don't know. We've seen our fair share. We've done our time with horror films over the past year of reviews, I feel like. Typically, if A24 and Neon is attached, we'll give things more of a shot than we would have otherwise. And that, to us, gives us a little bit of a sign of maybe, I hate saying this term, art house horror.

[00:05:30] A little more, a little more quality put into the design and the construction of the film. Something more there than just jump scares and blood and gore. Yeah. That's what we're usually kind of more interested in. So, with Hocum, I saw the trailer for this and the trailer scared me. We had it on the end of the segment of the show. I know. I showed it. Unfortunately, I kind of regretted showing it again, but I saw the trailer. It kind of freaked me out a little bit. Sure.

[00:06:00] So, I don't know why I recommended that we should go see this, but it was really, we didn't really have any other options of new films coming out or anything we wanted to see. This is true. So, Hocum, I do like Adam Scott, so that was a nice selling point for it as well. So, Chris, the best way I could describe Hocum, I'm going to right up the bat say I had a good time watching this. Okay. I did enjoy this film. I enjoyed the film as an experience.

[00:06:28] I can't say it worked as well as a movie. That kind of helps describe a little bit. Okay. And let me give some examples of what I mean by that. I think this is a very high production quality film where I love the settings. I love the environment. I like the rooms. I like the locations of everything being done. You mentioned jump scares. Yeah. There's a lot of jump scares in this movie.

[00:06:57] And they're well done jump scares. I mean, it's like, you know, they're not cheap ones. They're good ones. They're earned. And it is ones where you go into a room, you go into a situation, you go into a scene, you are expecting the jump scare. It's more of a matter of how are they going to pull it off and how are they going to get me off edge on that? And I think the film does really good with those. I think the film has some truly scary moments. I was frightened at times.

[00:07:28] There are things that happen that are frightening. Sure. It's like the experience is great. I mean, and we have an even a haunted house type motif going on in this hotel, you know, which was really cool. I kind of thought that was really fun too. So the experience of watching this was great. If I really sat down and thought about it as a movie, though, with a story and with a kind

[00:07:51] of a theme and a kind of an idea of what it's going for or trying to tell, I don't know if it really holds up as a, in that regard, but I'm okay with it because I had a good time with the experience. So this is a film that knows what it's trying to pull off and it knows the, the experience it wants the viewers to have. And it's very meticulous in the way that those are being shown on screen.

[00:08:18] But I can't really say that the underlying story, mainly what I'm talking about is the main character, um, Bowman or Bowman you mentioned. Nothing about his story really worked for me. I just didn't feel like I really was connecting with what he as a main character was going through, what we were supposed to be facing with him. The other characters in the hotel, I didn't really connect with any of them either to understand

[00:08:45] kind of what their role really was standing for and meaning in the story. So that's what I'm saying. The experience is great. And I do ultimately like this film. I just, at the end of the day, is it a good movie? Maybe like the way you would define a movie with, you know, plot, story, acting, uh, maybe kind of, it just, it did kind of, it, it, it, it loses some when I try to look at it from that perspective. So that's where I am with this film, this movie experience. Chris, I want to turn it over to you.

[00:09:15] What do you, what did you think of Hocum? So I can understand what you're saying and about, you know, you enjoyed it. I enjoyed the experience as well. I think overall, the different pieces that were going on, the acting, the production design, the music, you know, all this other stuff, you come in like, yeah, they're all good. So, you know, high production value. Agree on that as well.

[00:09:40] I think some of the, it comes down to, there are a lot of different little plot threads that are kind of going on. And to me, they ended up kind of being pulled together and being woven enough that it didn't bother me. But I will say, I think that there's, there's trauma from Ohm's past that comes back and kind of plays a little bit more of a role than you may have thought otherwise without giving away any spoilers, which we try not to do here on the show.

[00:10:09] But there's that, there's that kind of thread. There's just the mere thread of witchcraft in this. Then there's the haunting aspect, aspect of the hotel. Then you have, you have some interesting characters at the hotel. You have this kind of odd owner who's not in a lot, but he's very present when he is. And you have some of the staff and there's, so each staff member has kind of a little bit

[00:10:38] too, that they end up kind of unifying as a whole as well. That's kind of important to kind of at least remember who they are. So I think, I think the mechanics of all that may have gotten a little wobbly for you. Well, I think they were all well-intentioned elements to put in the film. I just don't think any of the elements really got a fair shake at having a true impact in the film. Okay. I mean, I had even forgotten that we met the owner of the hotel early in the film until you just mentioned his name.

[00:11:07] I'm like, oh yeah, he was a character. Cobb. He was there. Yeah. And then there's another character. Is it Mal? Yes. Or Mal. I don't know. With the Irish accent. I'm sure. Yeah. Plays an interesting role. He's like the front desk dude. And there's an interesting role that you learn that he plays and that stems off a whole nother subplot that gets. Well, and Mal is the son of Cobb. Right. Or son-in-law. Oh, yeah. Maybe son-in-law. Yeah, maybe.

[00:11:37] Yeah, I think it's son-in-law. Okay. Yeah. There's just some interesting, there's a lot of interesting ideas. Well, Mal's not married. I think he is. Okay. I think, I think the reason he does what he does is because. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So maybe son-in-law. Okay. Yeah. That makes sense. Okay. Without trying to spoil anything. Right. Yeah. Trying not to. So a lot of interesting. Yes. Things. I just don't think. You have a, you have a guy who lives out in the woods. Yeah. Who. All.

[00:12:07] Takes mushrooms. And you find out that he has some relevance to the connection. Some trauma in his past. So there's a lot. Yeah. I just don't know if all of it get, got the attention or, or need or, or time that it really deserved to be impactful on the film. Gotcha. Cause I got to the end of the film and it's like, wow, there was a lot thrown on the screen. A lot of characters, a lot of ideas, a lot of cool motifs, a lot of cool themes.

[00:12:35] But did any of it land with me? Not really. It wanted me to, to know more. It wanted me to see more of these characters and see more of some of the mechanics behind the, the story. But at the end of the day, it was like, ah, okay. So this was just, we just got to experience little glimpses and moments with all these characters and see things, but it just didn't seem to really build to anything meaningful for me anyway. Okay.

[00:13:03] But again, I love the experience enough that I didn't really care, but it's like, it's more of those after you leave the theater and you're thinking about it, you're like, yeah, it was really cool. I liked all the scares. I liked all the, the, the, the hotel and the stuff in the hotel and the down in the basement and the dumbwaiter. And I was like, I loved all those elements. It's like, ah, but it just didn't really add up to anything that's stayed with me afterwards. It was more just, I enjoyed the experience for an hour and 45 minutes and that was it.

[00:13:33] So I think, yeah, I'm definitely, it sounds like from synthesizing what you're saying, I'm definitely higher on the film than I believe you are. But I do understand, I understand what you're saying. And I think the more I've kind of had both enjoy the experience, but I think, and I've had a little bit more time to sit with the film. And I think the more I go back and reflect on it, the more I appreciate it. And I'd actually would like to, especially now that I know where the jump scares are. I'd like to see the film again.

[00:14:01] No, I actually would like to as well, because there were a lot of, I mean, when I do say that the experience I really liked, it's because there are moments that are really, really good. I mean, it's just, and even from a horror perspective, I'll just say there's an element of the dumbwaiter I mentioned, which is a great mechanic to that. It is. Kind of this idea of, okay, something doesn't work with this, but I have to use it. And somebody else had tried to use it and it didn't go well for them.

[00:14:30] And now I have to figure out how to use it. And then that adds this element of tension to it because anyway, it was great. There's a element of the bell, the service bell kind of being used as a way to communicate with others. It's like really great ideas and really great scenes and moments.

[00:14:52] And even the, you know, even some of the visual, which may sound a little typical for a movie, but, you know, what you can see in the shadows and then comes out of the shadows and then what you see in the reflections of things in a TV screen reflection and all. It's like all really some, some a little cliche things you get from a lot of other horror films, but they're just really well done here. So, um, yeah, absolutely. All those moments are great.

[00:15:21] And I think for me, what I was reminded of, which was, well, okay, two things starting the film off. You're always, you're kind of like, okay, how are we starting this film off? And the very, you know, with the horror movies and just jumping right into like a setting or something. And I knew this was going to take place in Ireland. So I'm just like, oh yeah, we're going to have, you know, the opening establishing shot of this really creepy place. Nope. Instead we're out in a desert and it's a conquistador. And he's like on this quest. You're like, okay.

[00:15:52] And then it cuts to Adam Scott, his own, the novelist. And he's like trying to finish these books. You're like, oh, okay. And then there's a bookend to that scene at the end of the film. And I thought that was interesting. And it's, there's also, so what made it kind of stand apart for me from just a typical horror film was kind of commenting on how people treat one another. Then there's the whole element of like trauma, but also Adam Scott, I typically think of

[00:16:21] him as like, you know, he's a TV actor. He's been in some movies, but I typically think of him from like Parks and Rec and Party Down. And of course, my recently Severance, but that one has a little bit more of like weight to it. It's not just like, I mean, there are funny things in Severance, but there's a lot more weight there. But I enjoyed seeing him play a character that was just really different from how I feel like I've seen him before. Like he's just sniping at people. He's just negative.

[00:16:46] He's the kind of famous, well-to-do celebrity writer who comes over to Ireland and he's just like, I'm better than everybody else. I'm going to like knock everybody down. But then he comes to kind of, you know, realize he's being a little bit of a jerk. And that was just an interesting kind of perspective. But also the whole time I was watching the film, not that I'm saying it is as good as this film.

[00:17:13] Because this is like, you know, I think many people, myself included, would call this film a masterpiece, The Shining. Mm-hmm. Because The Shining, you know, Jack Torrance, he's a writer. He goes to this hotel. We all know how that goes. This guy's a writer. He goes to this hotel and things just go out of control. So what I felt like this film was for me was if David Lynch, who's now gone on, unfortunately, he's passed away.

[00:17:41] But if he had like done a version of The Shining, set it in Ireland and gave it a happy ending, because that's the way all these different characters. Because David Lynch, you know, he just has this like cast of kind of oddball characters in a lot of his films and definitely in the show Twin Peaks. And that's to me like everybody working at this hotel was like such an individualistic character. But it still kind of pulled together to kind of move this story along.

[00:18:11] I definitely, yeah. And so that's how I was kind of able to appreciate it. And I, yeah, some things happen with some of the characters playing certain roles. And then at the end, how it's kind of left, I was like, okay. Yeah. So ultimately I liked it. You mentioned the director you were not as familiar with. Right. He's done two other feature films, one of which I've seen, one of which I haven't seen. His first feature was in 2020 Caveat, which I have not seen that, but I really want to

[00:18:38] see it now because the next one that he did was Oddity, which I've actually recommended on the show and that was from 2024, he seems to like to have his characters go and be in isolated places. Caveats, kind of this guy goes out to an island and weird things happen to him there. Oddity was like this remote house, huge house, but kind of remote off in the countryside. Here we have a hotel. Mm-hmm.

[00:19:04] So he kind of seems to be very interested in people and being remote and being, I don't know, lost and having really horrifying, terrible things happen to him. I don't know, it seems to be kind of like his focal thing, kind of taking the whole premise of like, oh, the cabin in the woods and kind of taking that and doing different iterations of it. Yeah. I can say too, I appreciated Oddity.

[00:19:33] I like Hocum even more. Mm-hmm. And I think as a filmmaker, he's kind of really refining his style and the way he communicates things. I can't wait. I feel like, even though I like Hocum a lot, I feel like his next film may be like his masterpiece, I feel like, because of just how he's progressing. Yeah. Definitely progression is there.

[00:19:56] Um, yeah, everything you said about the film, even the comparisons to The Shining and to Twin Peaks, which I agree on. And even the elevator in The Shining and the twins that happen in the elevator and that whole dread that comes, that to me, the dumbwaiter was like, oh gosh. No, yeah. There's several points of, I'm not saying he's copying The Shining, but just that same kind of dread.

[00:20:21] Well, that is, I mean, I gotta, gotta just throw up a couple things that did, I don't think it worked as well. Okay. Um, and it is a little bit related to what you just talked about. Obviously, if you're staging a horror film with ghosts involved in a hotel, there are going to be comparisons to The Shining. Sure. That will happen. Just because it's so famous and everything. It just, I did feel like the movie maybe leaned a little too hard into, oh, hey, look, we're like The Shining type of thing. In that. Interesting.

[00:20:52] There's a Halloween party and the people in the Halloween party are dressed as giant animals, furry animals, which right away when I saw that, I'm like, okay, yeah, well, that's, that's The Shining right there. That's obviously there's a couple scenes I can burn in my brain from The Shining that people are dressed in a similar manner. Yeah. Um, bathtub, there's a giant bathtub inside the, the suite. I'm like, okay, yes. It's a honeymoon suite. Yeah. That has a big bathtub. Yeah.

[00:21:16] So it's just, I'm, I'm totally, I got The Shining vibe right from day, like minute one of this film. There was no need to have any more illusions to The Shining because you, you got it. You got, you nailed it. Right. So I felt like a couple of those moments, I'm like, ow, why, why did it have to go so similar or omagi or whatever it is to The Shining? Okay. There's a little nitpick, just nothing that hurt the film.

[00:21:42] I don't think just, you know, just little, little things that I wish were a little different from it. Um, and then you mentioned the ending, which I really love the bookends with the conquistador story. Okay. It was great because you're right. It got you off track at the beginning. It had, you had no bearing of where the film was going to be, what it was going to do. And by the end, I'm glad it was revisited because yes, it was like left at the beginning meant to be followed up on in the end.

[00:22:12] I mean, it just made sense. Especially because of comments he has as somebody who's kind of a struggling writer and he kind of makes some sarcastic comments to him. It was perfect. Gotcha. But even, even when you were mentioning the ending and saying how, you know, the film was kind of touching on this theme and this theme and this theme, I'm like, yeah, it did touch on dealing with trauma, personal family history. It dealt with, uh, you know, we had, uh, um, infidelity and outcomes of that.

[00:22:41] We had, uh, you know, being a jerk, being an unkind person and implications of that. Uh, there's dealing with, uh, suicide and the, the, uh, outcomes of that. I mean, it's like, wow. And then the conquistador is like, okay, so that story is about kindness and giving of others instead of taking for yourself and greed. And it's like, yeah, there's a lot. There's a lot going on. Being mentioned, discussed in this film.

[00:23:09] And that's, I think when I come back to it at the beginning, my, my one kind of overriding concern about the film is that I just don't feel like it quite a nailed any of that as a takeaway from this film. And again, it was, for me, it's shown as it shined its brightest light as a really great horror film experience, a haunted house story and a really great setting and a really great

[00:23:39] location. And it nailed all that. I just, yeah, I just, I still feel like the film just didn't stand as a film at the end of the day as, as well as it could have. So, so. I think I'll, I think I will retool something I said. It's not David Lynch. It is Damien McCarthy doing a remake of The Shining, but giving it a happy ending and putting in it. Because the more I think about it, I think this stuff's intentional.

[00:24:06] I think it is absolutely intentional because Adam Scott has a character from his past, Jack the Jackass. Notice his name is Jack. Yeah. Jack Torrance from The Shining. Like, I just can't, I can't. You know, I didn't even pick up on that. Yeah. That would have probably made me angrier about the allusions to The Shining. But I kind of think maybe. I think it's. I think if it's all truly intentional and not just a subliminal, oh, I love The Shining

[00:24:34] and there'll be some of these references to The Shining. If it's trying to do something in that vein, that's like commenting even maybe on The Shining and the impact that The Shining has had on the horror community. Right. I could, I'm okay with that. I just felt like it was just on the edge of like, is it truly trying to redo The Shining or is it just trying to play heavy homage to it? Or is it just, hey, these are cool moments that I'd love to put the film in.

[00:25:03] And it just so happened they are very similar to the ones in The Shining, you know? So anyway. Again, I had a really good time watching this film. Okay. And I, and that says a lot for me to say about a horror film filled with jump scares because that's not the kind of film I want to do. But I did have a good time with it. And I think there's a lot of elements in this that really work. And like you, I am actually more interested now in this director's other work and want

[00:25:31] to check it out because yeah, he created a really great horror film experience. And you know, it was that's, there's a lot of talent there. I would just say maybe, maybe the screenwriting side of it, the plotting of the film could have just been tightened a little bit or have a little bit more of a focus on where it wanted to go and where it wanted to take us. Um, that'd be my only, my only, my only takeaway from it. There's a lot of characters. Yes.

[00:26:00] A lot of interesting sub points that I just don't feel like really gelled and worked and kind of came to a conclusion that I felt like worked, but, um, but I was happy for the experience to get there. And I thought an interesting line that was said by, I can't remember the, the actor's name, but it's the fellow who's okay. David Wilmot as Jerry, who lives outside the hotel and eats mushrooms and drinks the outside mushroom guy. Yes. The mushroom guy.

[00:26:28] Um, he makes a statement at one point, demons do exist. It's just people with closed minds can't see them. And that kind of wraps around to something that happens at the end of the film. So just kind of interesting statement that, yeah, people with closed minds can't see things that are maybe going on. Yeah. Well, that's, that's an interesting thing to think about in many, they're good. Lots of things going on in this film, lots of different ways you could take levels.

[00:26:55] And that's what makes it, like you say, stand apart from just like a generic blood and guts home. Yeah. Sure. Absolutely. Uh, let me just throw this one little beat out because this will make you want to go and watch the film again, which I already want to. Okay. Yes. Okay. Uh, but because I, after I watch a film, I like to go online and I form my opinions and I'm like, all right, now let me go see what other people are saying about this movie. Sure. As well. Um, the eyeglasses that Ohm wears. Okay.

[00:27:21] Supposedly there are some interesting use of reflections in his glasses or not reflections in his glasses. That helps to also coincide with the ending that you alluded to about what, um, the comment Jerry made and even the, the, the final dialogue with the bellhop kid. Yeah. Yes. You know, I'll be all that. When I look back at that, I'm like, ah, see again, cool experience stuff. It's great. It's just, yeah.

[00:27:51] See, and I think, yeah, to just, which you're not, I'm not saying you are, but to dismiss it as something like, ah, it's just a rip off the shotting. I'm like, no. And you, I know you're not saying that, but I think like, that's the thing is there's so much kind of detail there that I think it's really worthwhile. And the detail leads to the experience. Sure. Again, that's, that makes the experience work. Is that, that attention to detail and the care taken with all the shots and all the sequences and, you know, how do we best, you know, you look, you got a character looking

[00:28:21] down into a, uh, a tunnel where a dumbwaiter's going down and you know something's going to happen. Right. The skill in this movie is not knowing exactly what's going to happen and when, but knowing it will. So it's not, he's not trying to say, oh, well, I'm going to like totally throw something out of left field that you're not going to expect and try to scare you. No, you know, something is there to happen.

[00:28:46] But the talent is how to make it interesting and exciting and fun to watch. And that, this pulled it off the entire movie. I was like always very interested in what was happening and what was going to happen. So I'll say to you that with this review, it's one of the more, you know, we, we did, we did outcome. We reviewed the Keanu Reeves movie outcome. I was like, oh dear. And then we had balls up, which while not a perfect film, it made it, it made us laugh. I almost watched balls up again the other night.

[00:29:16] You needed a laugh. Almost did. You needed a laugh. I didn't laugh. Okay. I almost did watch it again. So there was balls up. Then the roller, we kind of went back down on the roller coaster with Michael. Yeah. And so this film, I'm like, okay, now I'm, I'm back to where, like, I was excited to see the movie. I was excited to talk about with you. So like, I'm glad we're both positive on the movie. Maybe to different varying degrees. But yeah, I'm not, I'm not exuberant. Like I could be. Sure.

[00:29:43] And like, I feel like I should be because again, I liked so much of this movie and had such a good time with it. But, um, it's just, it was, it was trying to do a lot. It was. And I just don't know if everything needed to be in there that was in there to still be really effective. I think it could have been just a little more focused. Gotcha. And that would have really set this as like a premiere horror film that I'm going to like recall and recommend to many, many people to see.

[00:30:11] Um, but it was still a really good experience. Kudos to the director for pulling it off and making me actually watch a horror film, not through the back of my hands that I was thinking I was going to have to, but I'm like, no, I'm actually, I want to see everything going on and I want it to scare me. And it did. I'm like, great. Pulled it off. It was good. So, okay. That is Hokum, uh, playing in theaters, uh, made a little money.

[00:30:38] So I'd recommend though you run out and go see it pretty quickly because it may not be around for much longer, but. Sure. Uh, I was, I was glad to see this made it to the theater though. Oh, me as well. It was a good theater experience. So yeah, you have the whole sound thing with like the noises happening at different places. Let me mention one quick thing I did not mention and I did, I'm bringing it up now because I want to claim that it did not affect my review of the film in one way or shape or form. Did they not have the air conditioning turned on like they did when I saw the Fantastic Four movie?

[00:31:08] No. Okay. No, they didn't have AC on it. Okay, good. Although it was fine. Because that definitely affected my review of Fantastic Four. It's cool climate outside right now. So it wouldn't really matter too much. No, um, I saw the open caption version of the film, which means it's a, it's a special showtime where the captioning is on the entire film. Now I was not happy about that when I bought the ticket, but it was the only time I could go see it.

[00:31:33] However, in going in, I'm reminded of my age and I'm reminded of my ability to hear everything clearly. I'm like, okay, this is actually not bad. I actually kind of like this. Just a fair warning to people. If you go see a film with the open captioning on, the captioning not only tells you shows on the screen what the character's saying, but it also tells you who's saying it like on colon. Here's the sentence he said.

[00:32:01] In a film like this, it does hurt the experience a little bit because you're not always supposed to know who a character is and who's saying something in a certain way. Okay. The captioning kind of gives away a few details that I kind of wish I hadn't. Okay. I'm curious to have y'all have to, we won't do anything now, but I'm. Well, I'll just say this, like there's a good part of the film where I did not really

[00:32:29] know if a certain rumored character was a real thing or not. But when you've got the captioning that comes up and says, there's the character and this character says this, I'm like, oh, okay. So I guess that is a real thing then. That is, that has now been spoiled for me that that is, yes, what we were dealing with in this film. So little things like that. I'm just saying it's a cautionary tale. Well, captioning is great because it does help the viewing experience.

[00:32:55] If you have some difficulty with the way they mix films these days and vocals are kind of hard to hear sometimes compared to the loud special effect noises they put out there. But in a film that has any element of mystery or anything you're trying to figure out as you go, it could actually spoil some things. Gotcha. Okay. Okay. Interesting. It's a PSA from me. Just a little. Fair enough. The more, you know, little helpful information for everybody out there. Okay. Cool. All right. That was Hocum. Great.

[00:33:24] Chris, let's take a quick little break. We come back. We've got a couple of trailers to show. We've got our film recommendation to give. So stay tuned. You're listening to Foot Candle Films. We'll be right back in a moment. Want to discover great podcasts or maybe even start one of your own? Welcome to The Mesh, Western North Carolina's podcast network built for creators and listeners alike. From local sports and business to comedy and culture, The Mesh is home to unique voices and fresh perspectives. Do you have something you want to say?

[00:33:54] The Mesh can help you bring your podcast to life with the tools, support, and platform you need to be heard. Check us out at TheMesh.TV, where great podcasts live and new ones are born. Welcome back to Foot Candle Films here on The Mesh.TV podcast network. Chris, yeah, I can't decide if it's good, if we should record our mid-break talks about

[00:34:23] the film after a review and then just put it at the end of the show. Because it's like, hey, again, when we enjoy talking about a film, no matter what our opinions are, when we enjoy talking about the film, normally some fun stuff comes out about the film or our takes on it. It's true. But it's very detailed. It's very spoilery. It's not something we'd put in the review. But I don't know. We need to think about how we can capture these moments and package them up some other way for people to hear later. Okay. All right.

[00:34:53] That was our—we had a discussion about Hocum during the break. Even though I know it was only like a 10, 20-second break for you guys, the listener. It was like several minutes long we were talking about the film here. We're just so overly concerned with spoiling things for people. We don't want to ruin stuff. Oh, yeah. I mean, the stuff we were talking about was very spoiled. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah. Okay. All right, Chris. Let's move on to our next section of the show. This is when we talk about upcoming films or news about upcoming productions.

[00:35:19] Or in this situation, we maybe have some trailers to watch that are going to inform us about these productions and see what we think about them this early on. I had two trailers. I think we're going to throw in a third one. Okay. I think that'd be fine. All right. Probably won't have a lot to say about the third one, but we'll still just show it. But let me get through these first two. And these both I do want to talk about a little bit because they're new projects to me. Sounds like they're fairly new to you as well.

[00:35:48] First one I want us to talk about is a film called Tony. Okay. This is an A24 film. It is a biopic about Anthony Bourdain. Anthony Bourdain, you know, is a chef who turned into a TV host for CNN. And, you know, really made his name with the memoir he did, Kitchen Confidential Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, which detailed his experience as the executive chef of a high-end restaurant in New York.

[00:36:18] Of course, Bourdain died just five or six years ago. Committed suicide. Yes, he did. Yeah. But he won many Emmy Awards and so forth. So this film called Tony, which obviously his name's Anthony, so Tony, stars Dominic Sessa in the leading role as Anthony Bourdain. And it's all focused on the year 1976. Oh.

[00:36:43] When a young Bourdain has a life-changing experience working and living in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Okay. So the film is very focused on one year, one time. Which we say biopics, that's usually a strength. Yep. They do that. It's very focused on, obviously, his younger years as becoming an iconic chef. Okay. All right. Now, I really like Dominic Sessa. I mean, granted, I've only seen him in two films, I think. The Holdovers, which I loved him in. Yes.

[00:37:11] And I think he was in that Now You See Me, Now You Don't. The newest? Yeah. Okay, I didn't see it. I didn't see the whole thing, but I saw parts of it. And he is one of the magicians in it. Okay. And even though that movie looked pretty lame, the parts I saw with him in it, I'm like, well, yeah, he's still really good. He's a good actor. So this I'm really excited about because it's a starring role for him. It's kind of one of those big performances for him to kind of take the lead in. Do we know?

[00:37:40] I know we're going to watch the trailer and I'll probably have this information given to me, but I'm just going to ask you because I can. Do we know the director? You mentioned the studio. You mentioned a star. Yeah, that's a good question. The director of the film is Matt Johnson, who I do not know. I don't think I do either. Okay. Matt Johnson. Yeah. I'll have to look up and see what else Matt Johnson.

[00:38:05] That's not the guy from, that's not Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie, because that guy's name is Johnson, I think. I could be making that up. Hey, let's watch the trailer. Yeah, let's watch the trailer. We'll do a little debrief on it afterwards here. Here we go. This is the trailer for Tony. Okay. So I'm just going to walk you through the basic vision. It's a coming of age story. Excuse me. I need to speak with you. Didn't you punch a hole in the principal's door?

[00:38:35] You know, a lot's changed since high school. I'm a writer now. The truth is I'm about to get this huge writing fellowship. Hello? Mr. Bourdain, the committee has decided to go with another student for the fellowship. I need a job. You work in the kitchen before? Sorry. Yeah. We open Wednesday to Sunday. Start 11 a.m.

[00:39:05] What time is it? That means that you're here at 1045. 11 is late. Anyone late is fire. You know, I can cook it too. The kid said he's a cook, chef. I'm actually not a cook. I'm a writer. But I said I know how to cook. Oh, I'm sorry. So that was the trailer for Tony. We looked it up. So, Chris, it is the director is Matt Johnson, who. Apparently is. Same director of Blackberry that we both really liked. And then you had Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie.

[00:39:35] Which I really liked. That you really liked. I have not seen yet. Got you. So, yeah, that was a little kind of surprising. But what did you think of the trailer for Tony? It looks really good. And Dominic Cesar, yeah, it looks like he plays a great young Anthony Bourdain. I am also, I like Anthony Banderas. Yeah, Antonio Banderas, excuse me. And he's in it as kind of looks like a mentor figure.

[00:40:03] And it looks like he does a great, I mean, Antonio Banderas is great anyway. But it just looks like this is something that's really going to, it's going to play to his strengths. You know, kind of like a charismatic, charming on some respects, but could be intense maybe in other respects. Yeah, it just, it looks good. The only thing I guess I'm slightly worried about, just because we came off last episode of biopic of somebody really famous. That was Michael.

[00:40:29] Well, you're just always concerned when you go into a biopic, is he going to do nothing but put this person on a pedestal? Mm-hmm. However, from some of the things they show, they show that maybe he makes some poor decisions, is held accountable for it, and realizes that he has some reckless tendencies. Well, and I think one thing to keep in mind is, I mean, this is a little bit based off of Bourdain's own kind of autobiography. Reckoning with how he was.

[00:40:54] He's always been someone who's been very clear and open about his own issues and shortcomings and problems. So, you know, if they're going into that vein, I think they're going to be fine with it. My only fear is, I thought the trailer maybe gave away, showed too much late in the film. True. Moments, I'm like, oh, you know, I always hate it when I see that. But no, this looks great. Again, Dominic Sessa, I am ready for this guy to be a star. I'm ready for him to be a big actor.

[00:41:23] I know that, because Holdovers was, but then this could really be like, hey, remember this guy? He's still good. Holdovers was great, but Holdovers was like, oh, look at this kid, too, who's like, we've never seen in a movie before. And he's pulling off this great part and all that. It's good, but it's like. And it was Giamatti's, like, real thing. Yeah, he gets to play off of Giamatti the whole time, which is, that's the person everybody remembers from that film. Sure. So, I kind of want, yeah, I want people to remember Dominic Sessa from this, hopefully. Fair enough. Fair enough. Fair enough. All right.

[00:41:54] So, that is Tony. Do we see a date on this? You were mentioning a date. I don't know a police date on it. August 2026. Okay. I just saw. August 2026. Okay. So, about four months from now. Right in time for Oscars. Yeah. India. I mean, yep. Yep, yep, yep. It could be. All right. Let's go on to another trailer. This is one you brought to my attention, but I have not seen yet.

[00:42:20] It is a coming from Oscilloscope Laboratories, which is another studio that, you know, have some fun with. It put out some really interesting films over the years. Um, and they've got a documentary coming out called The Python Hunt. Uh, the tagline on this, it was a South by Southwest hit in this year, uh, past year 2025. It's now coming to theaters in May, meaning this month.

[00:42:46] Uh, a wacky cast of snake hunters descend upon the Everglades in a stranger than fiction documentary. Um, okay. Uh, I mentioned earlier with Hocum that I'm not a, I'm kind of a scaredy cat with, with, with horror movies. Uh, I'm also a big scaredy fat guy when it comes to snakes. Okay. Fair enough. You and Indiana Jones. Not a fan of snakes. Do not like them at all. So this is already, I'm a little trepidatious on this, but we'll, uh, take a look at the

[00:43:15] statement or the trailer for this. Anything else you wanted to set up with this or are you? No, I'm just really curious. I had heard about it and it's just seems really kind of bizarre. So yeah, I, but I haven't seen the trailer, so I'm looking forward to it. All right. Let's check out the trailer then for The Python Hunt, the official trailer for this documentary coming out, uh, this month. Uh, coming out right now.

[00:43:41] The newly waning moon just beginning its ascent into the blackened sky peaked above the distant cypress trees, casting its pale light across the river of grass. As I'm riding this, I'm guiding an eclectic gathering of first-time python hunters, each hopeful of cashing in an award winning snake during the Florida Python Challenge. The $10,000 prize. Is that for the biggest snake or the most snakes? I believe it's for the most snakes.

[00:44:11] And I am going to pith them, put a nice pick down in their brain and scramble their brains. Uh, uh, uh. Yeah. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation. So, Alan wants to see this movie as soon as possible in IMAX. And yeah, maybe a little stressful for you to watch. No, look, I do want to see this movie just because it looks great. The thing is, it seems like it's a Will Ferrell movie or something. It's like, oh yeah, a python. It's like, no, this is legitimate.

[00:44:41] Yeah, I think that's what's the coolest thing about it. It looks like the film's made up. Well, I'm saying the trailer shows that the film's going to dig a little deeper into these people. Oh yeah. Yeah. There's a nice sequence in the trailer where it's like, they're almost all hypnotic about the snakes and it's just like, all right, that's what is intriguing to me is I want this to be a really interesting exploration of these people. Mm-hmm. And it looks like that's what we're going to get. So.

[00:45:09] It seems really interesting. So, I'm looking forward to it. I knew nothing about it. Yeah, but, whew, it's a lot of snakes in there. Yes, it is. A lot of snakes. Yeah. It's going to be opening at the Angelica Film Center on Friday, May 8th with expansion to follow is what the word is. So, I don't know when exactly they'll be making it to potential theaters for anybody to see. This would make an amazing outdoor screening. Oh yeah. Oh my gosh, yeah.

[00:45:38] Yes. Like out in the woods or out in the, you know, near water, just something outside. Yeah, near a lake. It would be a great screening. Yes. It would be great. It would be so good. All right. That is the Python Hunt from Oscilloscope Laboratories. Again, sometime in May, they're trying to roll this out to theaters for a short, I'm sure, limited theatrical run, but still, hopefully you get a chance to check it out because I do kind of want to see it. In a weird way. Awesome. All right.

[00:46:07] Last thing we'll do, Chris, here, probably is not going to warrant a lot of conversation because we've already talked about this film a couple of times, but the Odyssey, which is the new Christopher Nolan film, does have a new trailer that came out. They've been releasing bits of this film a year in advance. I mean, I think last summer they actually put out some very early images and maybe a very, very short, brief teaser trailer for it.

[00:46:36] So this is a... Now, is this the last trailer we get before it comes out? So is this like the final trailer or... I would assume so just because we are looking at a... It's July. July date for release. So probably this is it. This might be it. Okay. But it's considered their official new trailer. Okay. Where I think everything else has been a little more teasery, a little more, you know. Again, we're going to watch this even though we are kind of against the idea of full trailers.

[00:47:04] But look, we're going to see this movie no matter what. And like you said before, we know this story. So it's not like there's spoilers. Oh, wait. Yeah. Right. Yeah. This is obviously the telling of the mythological hero Odysseus. Tells a story of a 10-year voyage back to his homeland of Ithaca after the Greek victory at the siege of Troy. So unless there are like UFOs in this trailer, which was not in the original myth... Could be. ...then I'll be disappointed that I saw that there were going to be UFOs. Or the whole story is being told backwards.

[00:47:34] Kind of in a Christopher Nolan thing. Oh, okay. Don't know. We got Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson. Boy, there were some others too. John Barenthal, is he? He is in it. Yep. Probably be a shorter list of people to say who's not in the film than would be in the film. Anyway, let's watch the official full trailer for The Odyssey and see if it diminishes in any way our desire to see this film when it comes out. So here we go.

[00:48:11] Tell me what you remember. A wife? A son. No, no, no. We want no war.

[00:48:43] This is a household waiting for master. I want you to choose me. This king is coming back. No, he's not. Okay. Well, that was the official full. Can't get much more full than that. I think that's a pretty nice long trailer for The Odyssey. Yeah. Coming out in July.

[00:49:08] Obviously, Christopher Nolan directing Bay, seeing it on the famous Homer, The Odyssey. Yes. Chris, thoughts? Anything change your opinion of this film from what you saw? No UFOs, which I think is a good sign. I was concerned, which those fears have now gone, that Christopher Nolan's made things like Batman and he made Inception, which dealt with fantasy or science fiction type stuff.

[00:49:35] I was afraid just because of normal, what do they call it? Thong and Sandal or something like that. Sword and Sandal. Sword and Sandals. Thong and Sandal. Yeah, I'd be Baywatch. I don't know what that would be. What kind of movie is that? I don't know. Sword and Sandal. Okay. But typically, when you go for that, you get things like, I guess, Ben-Hur. It's like that. Period pieces. Like, there's, you know, they end up usually kind of boring me, even though there are many that are good.

[00:50:01] So, I was concerned from early glimpses that we got that this was going to be more of like people making speeches and people wearing togas. And I was like, okay, that's, and it's going to be like, you know, over two hours of this. That's going to, that's not going to interest me that much. I was afraid that he would kind of steer away from some of like the cool parts of the More fantastical elements. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, um, Cyclopses or like the Whirlpools, like maybe the Sirens. And nope, it looks like that stuff's in there.

[00:50:31] So, I'm like, okay, cool. Well, so. Yes, but I'll also, I'm going to counter you a bit. I'm actually happy to see, because if it's just for me, if it's just a telling of the Odyssey and it's like him going from challenge to challenge or creature to creature or whatever, I'm like, yeah, okay. I mean, I kind of know all that. I'm actually happy to see that it looks like there's going to be also kind of a flip

[00:50:58] side story going on about the political dealings going on in his absence. I'm like, oh, that's also interesting to me as well. Right. So I hope it's a good balance of the two where we get the fantastical, we get the true story that we all know. So, but let's also give it some really interesting backstory going on between his wife and kid and the person trying to get power in his absence. I'm like, that's also really interesting too.

[00:51:28] So I think knowing Nolan and kind of how you mentioned, no, I don't think he's going to tell this all in reverse, but maybe he will. But how he likes to kind of jump around. I think that will be the Nolan-esque telling of the story is you'll have the different trials Odysseus is going through, but that'll be intercut with what's going on back home as opposed to in the original myth. I think it's like, yeah, you have all the stuff that happens to him and then you get the politics kind of hitting him and us in the face when he comes home. Right.

[00:51:57] And then you have that playing out through the rest of the table. I just like the idea of- I think of intercutting. So, yeah, I think that's likely what it'll do. No, I think it'll look great. Just kind of mention really quick, because it just kind of hit me. Okay. Anne Hathaway. I'm thinking of four movies out this year that she's in. Am I right in saying that? So Mother Mary, Devil Wears Prada 2, The Odyssey. And The End of Oak Street. Oh, wow.

[00:52:27] Yeah, and those are just the ones that come to mind. She's busy. I mean, great. Mother Mary, a small movie, not a big splash, but Devil Wears Prada, big hit right now. Oh, yeah. The Odyssey will be a big hit. I assume so. And I think The End of Oak Street could be an interesting hit as well. It's a busy year. Yeah. It's a lot. So anyway, just thought I'd mention that. It just kind of hit me while I'm watching her. So 2026 could be the year of Hathaway. Yeah. I mean, she could be in two of the biggest movies of this year. Wow.

[00:52:55] Because Devil Wears Prada is doing really well. Sure. It's very successful. Sure. You know. Anyway, just thought that was interesting to think about. Okay. I think we have done enough news. We've got our fill. We've got some interesting films coming out in the coming months that we're interested in seeing, all three of them. Yes. All right. But with that, Chris, let's talk about something that is available now. If we wanted to see a movie today, tonight, cue something up online that we want to watch. What can we watch?

[00:53:24] Chris, this is the time for your recommendation. What do you have to share with us today? So I'm going to recommend a film from last year, 2025. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. I remember seeing trailers for it, and then it was released into theaters in October, October 17th, supposedly, according to Letterboxd. But it came and went. I think it was in our theater for only a week. I didn't have a chance to see it, but then when it disappeared, I was like, oh, must not be that good.

[00:53:52] But then it did things like appear on Barack Obama's, I think it was top 10 films of the year. And then I've heard other people talk about how it was good. But it did kind of come and go. It's a comedy called Good Fortune, directed by one Aziz Ansari. And it is starring Mr. Keanu Reeves. So it's a good performance of his. Oh, yes. The film is much better than Outcome. But I mean, I think it just plays to his strengths.

[00:54:22] He's an angel in this film, Angel Gabriel. But it has Aziz Ansari, who directed it. He also wrote it, and he stars in it, and Seth Rogen. The story is a well-meaning but rather inept angel named Gabriel, played by Keanu Reeves, meddles in the lives of a struggling gig worker, who's Aziz Ansari, and a wealthy capitalist, played by Seth Rogen. So, yes, it's a comedy. It's funny. It has some good acting in it, some funny jokes.

[00:54:50] The thing is, ultimately, as you may have guessed from a little bit of the premise there, a struggling gig worker, he's having to do Uber and do all this kind of stuff. You may guess that it has a message. It does. Yeah. But I don't feel like it's heavy-handed. And it kind of ends in a good place. I don't know. I feel like if you're going to have a message movie, this is a good way to do it because it's just funny. And then it kind of says, yeah, maybe they aren't being treated fairly.

[00:55:19] But that's not beating you over the head with it the entire film. Another strong point as well, 97 minutes. Oh, Chris Fry patented under 100 minutes magic or run times. Yeah, especially for a comedy because you feel like they stretch it out longer than that and you're like, okay, 97 minutes. The one downside for some – and this is why it took me so long to catch up with it because I was trying to be very careful with my money. Not streaming anywhere still.

[00:55:48] But then it finally started being streaming but only on Starz. And I don't know that. Starz with a Z. Yeah. I don't know anybody that has that service. So I finally just ended up renting it. I rented it through Apple. And it's also available on Amazon for like five bucks. Yeah. And it was well worth it. Okay. I do recommend Good Fortune. Good Fortune. Yes. Excellent. Well, that is on top of the – well, who am I kidding? It's on my watch list. I can't say it's on the top. There's so much stuff on the watch list.

[00:56:16] But you should definitely put it on the list. It is somewhere on the watch list. Fair enough. Just a matter of when to get to it and how. Understood. Okay. Well, thank you for the recommendation, Chris. I appreciate the yeoman's work. Is that what it is? Yeoman's work that you're doing and watching. These films for us. So you can give us good recommendations. And it's a redemptive film for Keanu Reeves. I mean – Because also keep in mind, people, Chris is recommending the films that he watches that are really good.

[00:56:45] Which means there are films he's watching that are not so good. That is true. He is not recommending to us. That's true. So just because we hear him give a recommendation once a week doesn't mean, oh, Chris just watches one movie a week and he's going to recommend it. No, no, no. There's a lot more going on with Mr. Fry in the movie-watching business. So thank you for the work that you do, filtering through all the stuff you have to get through to get to a good recommendation. Appreciate it. It's a tough job. Somebody's got to do it. It is tough.

[00:57:15] All right. Well, that's going to wrap us up for today. We had our discussion and review of the film Hocum, which we both came out positive on. Chris, very, very positive. Me, very positive. Not two verys. Just one very positive. A couple hangups for me, but not enough to say I did not enjoy the film and look forward to possibly seeing it again. And then we had our trailers for The Odyssey, had a trailer for Tony, and we had a trailer for The Python Hunt.

[00:57:43] All three films super excited to see over the coming months. And then Chris's recommendation of Good Fortune. So Chris, with all that being said and done, if somebody wanted to join in the conversation, they want to, they've seen Hocum and they want to talk about that with us or equally excited about any of the films that we previewed. How can they join in the conversation with us? You can contact us by sending an email to info at footcandle.org or leave us a voicemail

[00:58:11] at the mesh.tv website, where you can also check out past Footcandle film episodes, as well as other podcasts on various subjects from barbecue to comedy to mental health. We're also on Facebook at Footcandle Film Society and other social platforms as simply Footcandle Film. Individually, Alan and I are on Letterboxd, where if you'd like, you can give us a follow there. Do us a favor. If you like the show, consider giving us a review on whatever platform you receive your favorite podcast on because it'll help us reach new listeners, and we'd appreciate it. All right.

[00:58:41] And just to be clear on Letterboxd, yes, follow Chris if you want to really see everything Chris is reviewing. Me, I barely just put up there the things I see. There's no other indication. I don't have any notes. I don't write anything. It's just if you at least just want to see what I am watching, the very few films, unfortunately, I get to log to see. That's great. But Chris is a lot more of an interesting follow. And I'll say to you on Letterboxd, if you want to know, hey, has Footcandle Films reviewed this movie?

[00:59:11] I have a list on there that you can click on that shows every movie that we've reviewed on the show. So I also have a list that shows all my recommendations as well. So it's like ways to, you know, kind of follow different things for a candle. Yes. Awesome. Good. All right. Well, thank you for all that. Thank you for listening, everybody. We'll look forward to talking to you next time here on Footcandle Films. Take care. See you in the ticket line.

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