Spider-Man: Brand New Day

[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.

[00:00:37] Hello everyone and welcome to Footcandle Films here on The MESH.TV Podcast Network. My name is Alan Jackson and with me is Chris Fry, as per usual. And we are here every week, or most weeks, with Footcandle Films, our film review and discussion show right here on The MESH.TV Podcast Network. Chris, how are you doing today? I am doing well.

[00:01:03] One of the bigger releases, possibly. Who knows? It's not the end of the year yet, but definitely of the summer that we'll be talking about today. So I'm looking forward to hearing your opinion. We're talking about The Invite again? Yes. No. We're not talking about The Odyssey, which is the other one I was referring to. I mean, no, The Odyssey was a big movie, but yeah. Spider-Man walked in and said, here, Odyssey, hold my beer and let's show you how it's done. Sure.

[00:01:30] And yeah, it is the biggest movie of the year. Actually, the second biggest box office opening ever for any movie. Now, would that be behind Endgame? Yes. Okay. Correct, it is. So, but I got a feeling we're recording this as a Monday morning. There's still time for Sony to make a slight adjustment to their tallies. I mean, it happens. Sure. On the day Monday, we find out that- Oh, look. Oh, look. We just found $3 million. We didn't count. Surprise.

[00:01:59] So now it's number one. Anyway, we'll see what happens by the end of the day. But yes. All right. Box office numbers aside, we are going to be reviewing the film Spider-Man, colon, Brand New Day. The latest, I think I counted it. It's like- 38? Or 38 total movies in the MCU? Oh, no. I was just going on Spider-Man movies. Oh, okay. I think it's 11 Spider-Man movies. And that counts the Spider-Verse ones? It does count the animated Spider-Verse movies. Gotcha.

[00:02:26] I think I'm right with that. So anyway, the latest with Tom Holland, Zendaya. Let's see who else was in this. Mark Ruffalo, John Bernthal. Yeah, a lot of people. So we will get to that movie review here in just a moment. After we do the movie review, we do have a few trailers that we're going to dig into. Some trailers for new films that are yet to come out.

[00:02:50] And we're going to watch the trailer, some of them for the first time here between us and give our initial thoughts on what we think about the movies that they are going to be or they're playing to market for us this year. And Chris, you have a recommendation for us this week? I do. Good. Well, then we'll end up the show with that. Chris is going to give a recommendation of a film he recently caught up with or was reminded of and wanted to share with us as a recommendation today.

[00:03:16] Anyway, so Chris, that is our plan. Are you ready to try to think of a cool thing to say? Spider-Man related to go into the swing into it doesn't really work. That's really that's pretty good. It's pretty lame. It is lame. But you know what? Let's not beat ourselves up because it's a brand new day. Oh, my gosh. That was good. That's we'll go with that one. Here we go. The review of Spider-Man brand new day.

[00:03:47] I can't believe our first day at MIT. MJ, come on. Pretend like you're not the happiest you've ever been in your entire life. I can't. I knew it. Hi, my name is Peter Parker.

[00:04:15] You don't remember me, but we used to know each other. Something bad was going to happen. And the only way to stop it was to make everyone forget about me. Because I'm not just Peter Parker. I'm Spider-Man. Spider-Man brand new day picks up where the previous Spidey cinematic installment, No Way Home, left off.

[00:04:40] A forgotten Peter Parker lives alone as a full-time Spider-Man until mounting pressure triggers a dangerous change and a powerful new enemy emerges. Destin Daniel Cretton, director of previous MCU entry Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, replaces the previous director of the last three Spider-Man installments, John Watts. But returning to the screen are, of course, Tom Holland as Peter Parker, Zendaya as MJ, and Jacob Batalon as his friend Ned.

[00:05:10] Alan, to kick off our review, I'd like to ask you which of the cast members borrowed from other IP did you feel like was used the best? Trammell Tillman from Severance as Department of Damage Control Leader Bill Metzger. John Bernthal or Lisa Colon-Zayas from The Bear as Frank the Punisher Castle and Detective Gene DeWolf, respectively. Michael Mando from Breaking Bad as Scorpion.

[00:05:37] Or Sadie Sink from Stranger Things as Redacted. Oh, very nice. Okay. All right. I'll go into your question. Okay. I'll play. I would say actor borrowed from another franchise or intellectual property already existing. A face you may have seen somewhere. Brought into this movie. I would say my favorite was probably Lisa Colon-Zayas playing Detective Gene DeWolf.

[00:06:07] Excellent. I really liked her addition to this film. I do have an issue with her addition in the film in that I don't think it was enough. And I think she disappeared about midway through and it was kind of a shame because I liked the dynamic that she introduced into the film. But I really liked her role. And Chris, I was going to go ahead and lay this out here right now. Okay. I've said anytime we've talked about a Spider-Man film, I've had to put my disclaimer. You are a big fan. I'm a super fan. Right.

[00:06:35] I'm a reader of the comics since I was like 10 years old. Spider-Man is to Alan as Batman is to Chris. Yes. But I think you still like Batman quite a bit too. Oh, I still like Batman quite a bit too. But Spider-Man is my thing. And I know the history. I know the details. I know the characters. For example, Lisa Colon-Zayas playing Detective Gene DeWolf. Gene DeWolf, very much a mainstay in past Spider-Man comics. That unknown to me. So it was great.

[00:07:02] They name dropped her and seeing the role that she played in the film, I'm like, yes. Awesome. Love it. That is great. That works. Okay. What was the other question you asked? Well, it was just, which was your favorite? And I just listed out the- Which I satisfied that answer. Yes. Were there any others of those that I listed, being the Tramiel Tillman who played the damage control leader or Jon Bernthal who has, you know, as the Punisher, kind of one of the bigger, buzzier things, I guess. The fact that he was going to be in the film.

[00:07:31] Which I'll say I liked. Okay. I thought he was good. I liked his addition. It was a little jarring. He is a very, in the MCU, the Punisher is a very hard R character. Especially they did a one-shot little short movie recently just of the Punisher, Jon Bernthal. It was extremely violent graphic and hard. So to see him kind of- Was that released just on Disney Plus? Okay.

[00:08:01] But to see him now and play that same character with a little more PG-13 mentality- Sure. Was, I thought was going to be a little jarring. It actually worked really well. So I really liked him in this film. I liked Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner in the Hulk in this film. I liked everybody in this film. Chris? There's not an except? Or there is?

[00:08:27] Well, the only one I will say that I thought was unfortunately underutilized was Trammell Tertelman as Bill Metzger. I thought I really liked his addition, but again, I felt like it was way underused and kind of, again, also forgotten by the end of the film and just, I didn't feel like really worked as well. Is he somebody from the comics as well or no? Bill Metzger, I think maybe so. Okay. Not someone I was really familiar with. Okay. Yeah.

[00:08:54] But I'll just back it up to say, I really liked this film. Okay. I dare say, this is going to get me in trouble. Uh-oh. This might be my favorite Spider-Man movie ever. Okay. Because I am one who is saying, I respect the Raimi films, but I also never really felt like they got it right for me.

[00:09:20] Mainly because, yes, I did not like Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker slash Spider-Man. Okay. In either side of the role. So I was always a little disconnected by those first three movies. I liked the Andrew Garfield character performance, but did not like the movies he was in for those two movies. Well, definitely didn't like the second movie. The first one I thought was actually pretty good, but the second one didn't like.

[00:09:44] And then these Tom Holland movies, I have enjoyed, I've liked a little up and down. You know, I liked Homecoming. I did like Far From Home. What was the last one? No Way Home. Did not like No Way Home or thought it really handled the subject material really poorly. Um, so all to say, I can stand back and say from a complete package, and this is not a perfect film.

[00:10:09] I've got misgivings and issues with it, but I did really enjoy it, really have a fun time with it. And it probably is my favorite of all 11 or whatever movies right now for reasons I can go into in a little bit. But before I do all that, Chris, I'm honestly very, very anxious, a little nervous to hear your review of this film. So please tell me what you thought of Spider-Man Brand New Day.

[00:10:35] So Spider-Man, I've had a rare opportunity in that my wife went out of town for like business. And so I was by myself for a couple of days prior to going to see Brand New Day. So I had the opportunity every night at dinner to sit down and watch the three previous Spider-Man movies before this one. So I watched them in order. Yeah. I was like, you know what? I committed to the craft, Chris, which I really respect. I'd only seen each movie once.

[00:11:04] And I was like, you know, even though I know the story, you know, I'm very familiar, but let me just watch them again. Liked Homecoming the first time I saw it. Liked it even better this time. No, or Far From Home, liked it a little better maybe, but still liked it. And then we come to No Way Home, which I remember, I think I gave that movie two stars, which I felt like was really generous when we reviewed it here on the show. Yes.

[00:11:28] And my struggle with Brand New Day is that if I take my complaints, I didn't go back and listen to our podcast, but if I did, I think a lot of my vetching on that would be that all they were doing was kind of giving fan service and doing callbacks. And the plot didn't really go anywhere other than setting up the multiverse, which, you know, I think most people feel like was kind of a train wreck anyway.

[00:11:57] You know, it's just kind of just got jumbled. People got bored. So hearing all that, you'd be like, oh, well, you probably hated Brand New Day. We do have a different director, but I don't put John Watts. I mentioned him in the intro because I actually don't really blame him for No Way Home. You kind of do. However, then you would say, oh, maybe it's the writers, but the writers on that film also wrote this film. Yeah.

[00:12:26] So all I can say is for some reason, and we'll talk about this, this worked for me. Okay. Maybe it's because I had the cumulative. I think I have ideas of why. We have the cumulative buildup. Yeah. Maybe it's because unless you live under a rock, you are probably aware of the fact that Tom Holland and his co-star in this film, Zendaya, are also co-stars in real life now as they are husband and wife. Yep. Didn't mean to. That was a spoiler. Sorry. I think I didn't hear that.

[00:12:57] Because I know you don't live under a rock. I know where your house is, so I know it's not a rock. And something about going back and watching, you know, who knows, but it's like I put that lens on it like, oh, here are these two people, young people that are acting. You see them grow up through the course of the films. You see the relationship, like mature and everything. And then in this film, it's like, you know, I don't know. It was something really cool, like seeing people grow up on screen and then seeing a relationship that you know in real life has gone somewhere.

[00:13:26] I don't know. And maybe it's just because, you know, this film said a lot about people and how they can change. Like you mentioned the Punisher. I have never seen any Punisher IP, but I'm aware of the fact that he is violent. I do know that. Like he wears black. He's got a skull, shoots guns. Like, yeah, it's like, I get it. And then in this film, I felt like, yeah, they shaved off some of his rough edges, but you can still tell, yeah, he's rough.

[00:13:55] He likes to do things his way. But there's a scene kind of towards the end of the film where they let him go extremely. He gets emotional. And it's kind of played for less, but yet there is kind of a serious beat there. Like, no, you are human still. And I was like, huh, interesting little grace note there. If I were so over, I like this film. Okay, good.

[00:14:22] I think I'm going to have to, it's probably up there with Homecoming. I don't know if it could beat Homecoming. I will say, too, I was surprised. Now, granted, like I said, I'd just seen three previous films. Towards the beginning of the film, or at the beginning of the film, they had a lot of, as the Marvel credits are going, they play some of the audio. You're like, okay.

[00:14:44] But then in the first maybe 30 minutes of the film, they actually had a lot of scenes taken directly from the other couple of films, like the relationship between his friends and stuff. Like little flashback, callback shots. And I thought maybe there were just a few too many of those. But I had just seen the films. If somebody comes in and they haven't seen anything. I don't think we needed them. Yeah. That's the problem. It was a little force feeding. Hey, remember? Remember? Remember?

[00:15:10] I know the previous movie, you also made a billion dollars, so everybody saw it. But just in case you forgot, this is what they looked like when they were happy. It was like, yeah, it was a little unnecessary. But yeah. I think, and so this is another, the, with the other films, it was like, I felt like it was greatest hits and there wasn't really a villain, really. I mean, you knew who the villains were. It was Dr. Octopus, you know, all those people.

[00:15:35] With this film, yes, I could see a ding where, where this film is going is franchise building, setting up previous or not, sorry, future films because of how things, how things work out. But something just about, and maybe it's because I'm not that familiar with the comics that I didn't know what was going on. I knew. But then once I saw it, I was like, oh yeah, right. That's what I know what they're doing.

[00:16:02] It did franchise building in the most unoffensive way. I feel like it. I feel like it too. I mean, really, because like, the thing is, if you didn't know this character's name, like you had no connection to who this character was. Right. Outside of this film. There's no franchise building going on. It's like, it's just, nope. It's a standalone. You wouldn't know. It's the bad guy. That's the bad guy we're dealing with. That's the villain. Got it. Okay.

[00:16:30] It's only because people may know a name and be like, oh, I didn't know where that's going. But there's a moment in the film, Chris, towards the end. I'm really at the end. Are we talking about Aunt May? A little bit. We'll get to that in a minute. I'm talking about the very, very end. Okay. There is the shot of people are now leaving. Yes. To wherever they're going to go. Yeah.

[00:16:56] And there is a shot of said mystery person. Right. And I was so worried. Oh, yeah. That the shot was going to reveal her destination. And I'm like, okay, that's what I didn't want this film to end up doing. And it didn't do it. Correct. And I'm like, okay, that is cool. That, I respect it. Yes, it is franchise building in the most unoffensive way possible, I felt like. So, yeah, I was good with it.

[00:17:22] Something else that I appreciated was, you know, my knock against No Way Home was they just gave us a bunch of people we'd already seen before. But a knock against sequels can be sometimes you just lob as much new stuff on the film as possible. Usually they do it with villains. It's like if you had one villain in the first villain, you have two in the second, three in the fourth. So we would have like four bad guys all vying for attention. They didn't do that. But they did give us new stuff, but I feel like they actually used it just enough.

[00:17:52] The new stuff for me was Bernthal's Punisher. And I feel like it's a very Commissioner Gordon Batman relationship with Detective Gene DeWolf and Spider-Man, which I'm sure in the comics that kind of made me mirror stuff. But I really liked it. And for me. In the comics, it doesn't go well. Oh, really? Interesting. I hope. Fascinating. Anyway, yes. Fascinating. But in this, I just felt like it was just enough new stuff.

[00:18:19] And it was kind of, it made sense to me because he doesn't have his friends. He doesn't have any. It's like- This is now his outlet. And there was something they kept alluding to, which maybe you know what it is, the thing where the Punisher and Spider-Man helped out the Punisher. No, we don't. No. I think it's great. And I hope we never know. It's just that. And then because he's helping out the police, he has this relationship, but she doesn't know he knows the name of her kids. Like, it's kind of, you know, it's a little endearing.

[00:18:48] Yes, maybe a little cheesy, but it's like, no, that seems like something he would kind of do. It totally worked. You know? They nailed the fact that, look, Peter Parker is a very sympathetic, caring person. Always. And that's just the nature of his person. He cares. That's why he does what he does. I mean, he's all about. So I thought the first 20, 15, 20 misses movie were absolutely exhilarating for a fan like

[00:19:15] me, because not only am I seeing truly like, this is the character I know. It's like, yes, he's, he is a loner. Yes. He has friends. I mean, in the comics and then he has friends, he has girlfriends, he has whatever, but it's like, he's still kind of still a little bit always alone because the people he cared about the most he's lost or got you maybe a little more distant to him. And it's like, he just burrows into the work. He's like, no, this is my job. This is what I do.

[00:19:43] And yeah, having the, the phone conversations with the police chief. I'm like, yes, that's what he would do because he's like, he's wanting to try to help, but he needs somebody on the inside to kind of be his partner and be as his colleague on this. And, you know, him going through the montage of the different villains he's taken. I'm like, I loved it. I'm like, yeah, don't, I don't need a whole fight scene with these guys. Just show me that he's been doing this stuff for a couple of years and he's really good at it now. Yeah. I like that too. It felt from what I know, like very kind of comic book where it's like, oh, I show, I've

[00:20:13] caught this one guy and I dance off instead. I like that. It was like bringing up the speed without doing too much. Well, and it was all done the first few minutes montage to a great TV on the radio song that I love anyway. So it's like, as soon as that song kicks in and we're getting this montage, I'm like, ah, this is, this is perfect. This is great. So where I feel like the film did lose some points with me, not to the point where it caused me to not like it, obviously. Okay. I do love this film. Sure.

[00:20:39] But I do feel like the film is trying to do a lot and I do, you could make the argument and I do feel that way that the, the emphasis and shift goes a little too much towards our mystery villain. A bit too much. Almost like to the point where I felt like, wow, we've just really dropped Gene DeWolf. We've dropped a couple other supporting characters that we haven't checked in with in a while because we really went for like a 30 minute.

[00:21:07] It seemed like a 30 minute block of time where it's all about this character. It's not a problem. It's just, I feel like unfortunately when you try to put too much into a film, it does call some of the better elements to get a little short shift. And I felt like the better elements from the first half of the film got a little short change in the second half of the film. So it's a little bit of one little issue for me with that. Interesting. It's a little bit, it's just, it's just more of a storytelling choices. I mean, they were trying to do a lot in this film.

[00:21:36] There's also a subplot has to do with mutation of our main character that again, I was fascinated by and interested in, but I also felt like in the latter part of the films, I was like, yeah, just kind of, again, another, another plot point that I was really kind of into that just kind of got a little second, secondhand changed, you know, late in the film. So anyway, it was, again, I liked everything they were trying to do.

[00:22:04] I just felt like having these three to four different things going on, each of them got a little less attention than I would have liked in the latter half of the film because they were trying to do so much. So anyway, that's, again, I'm not saying it was a made of bad. It's just, you know. I'm finding myself defending it. Yeah, go for it. Please do. So it was specifically with the mutation part you mentioned, and it's Peter Parker. That's kind of what I talked about, like, you know, the dangerous triggers of change and anything.

[00:22:35] He has a little bit of a dialogue with MJ about that. I think it's MJ. Yeah. And says, like, you know, why are you trying to, it seems like something you're just changing. You need to cut that. And then there's a moment with, which was another, here again, another new thing that was brought up. And some people may be disappointed that I believe they're referred to as the hand. It's basically like the ninja people. You see in one of the posters. Ninja clan. Yeah. You saw it in some of the teaser.

[00:23:03] They're used here, but it's not like cramming in your face or not ever used. And there's kind of a revelation that happens when he's fighting them. And I'm like, that was just enough. And that one happens towards the end. It's like, it was just enough to like bring it back around. It's like, okay. Between those connecting those two dots, it was, it was just enough for me. Okay, good. Now, so I kind of defended it because you love the movie. I think we're kind of on the same page. If I'm going to put my movie critic hat on and which, you know, obviously I do have it on.

[00:23:33] We're reviewing it. That's what we're doing here. There is a moment in the film where I thought if this would have happened, it would have A, blown my mind. B, I don't know how they would have kept it secret. Like this far. And I was going to be amazed if it happened. It happened to do a major character I thought was going to die. Oh, yes.

[00:24:03] And I was like, oh, like my jaw was on the floor. I was like, you know, I was kind of like, I'm kind of curious because, you know, and I was amazed and I was like, nope. But if they had done that, like this would have been, I mean, granted, I'm a movie critic. I see too many. And I want something like it would have, it would have shocked me. And I would have been like five stars. There would have been no question. It would have been hard to do. But like, I think I would have made a lot of people angry.

[00:24:29] But doesn't that also though say something really good about the way this film was made in that when that scene happens, we actually do think this could happen. This could happen. Where in most other films. There's no way. It's like you see this happen with a major character. You're like, okay, well, it's just going to, it's obviously they're playing this up for drama. It's going to be waved off. It's going to be fixed. But there was a good 30, 45 seconds of time where I'm just like, oh, yeah, exactly. Same way.

[00:24:59] The fact that the film pulled that off and made me even feel that it was potential was good. Pretty impressive. Pretty impressive. Look, I got to give a lot of credit. I know the director is not the only source of creative input in making these films. I get that. I know it. But something about the way this film looked compared to the previous films, it looked better. It felt better. It moved better. It just I felt like the characters were more real.

[00:25:29] I felt like the performances were more authentic. And it's like I look at it as a total package. And when I compare it to like the previous three films, especially No Way Home, the last one, I'm just like I just I felt like this was real. And it just felt so much more lived in and just I don't know. And I got it. I got it kind of. I mean, the only thing I can point to is say the director. I'm like, look, you pulled it together. I mean, I don't know who was more influential and kind of the look of the film. Sure.

[00:25:57] Other people in the creative team involved. But the director is the one at the top of the banner who said this is he made the film. I got to give him credit because whatever he did to make this just a much more enjoyable viewing experience, I felt like it was. So, yeah. We've talked every time we've reviewed. I feel like almost every time we've reviewed a Marvel film since Endgame. It's well, actually, no, I take it back because, you know, Endgame was like a high point. And then, you know, things dropped off and like it's always like, OK, is this the comeback? Is this the comeback?

[00:26:27] Is it coming? You and I both like Thunderbolts, which I was Florence Pugh used just enough. Yeah. If it had been any more, it would have been too much. Yes. She was like two very quick scenes. And she was one of the she was Yelena Belova. I think is how you say her name. Black Widow. OK. OK. Yes. That's an easier way. New Black Widow. And she was, you know, a major character in Thunderbolts. And here used just enough comedic.

[00:26:54] But yet there's still something there about kind of there again, being kind of a friend to Spider-Man, kind of helping him a little bit. Well, and the reason I know there's been some pushback on people like, oh, it's just, you know, more just putting in more and more characters from. Here's the thing. And again, I'll put on my Spider-Man fanboy hat for decades now. That's who he is.

[00:27:16] He is a loner, but he is always relying on or partnering up with or getting information or help from other superheroes. So it's like him going in like, yes, calling on her with the Avengers to like find out something. I'm like, yeah, that's totally what he would do. Like that is him. Yeah, he's not going to join a team. He's not like surrounded by friends and buddies. He's still kind of a loner in a lot of the work he does.

[00:27:44] But yeah, he's going to go and enlist the help of the Punisher to help with something if he needs protection for something. He's going to go and do this. I mean, the Punisher was actually introduced in the pages of Spider-Man's comic book back in like the 70s or something like that. So it's like, this is who this character is. So yeah, anybody who complains about too many other supporting superheroes and all that, it's like, yeah, they're in there and they are playing supporting roles.

[00:28:09] But ultimately, Spider-Man is the hero who gets stuff done in this film. Like he is the one that makes everything happen. So that's the key. You know, that's the whole way it ought to work, I think. I'm such a fanboy. That's okay. But no, I do. I did really just enjoy this film. And I feel like we're back on the upswing again with the, aha, there we go, upswing, Spider-Man. Nice.

[00:28:38] I feel like we are, I feel like the MCU, like Avengers Doomsday only has, it's like, okay, you've got a lot of really, for me, you've got a lot of goodwill again. I hope that, you know, I enjoy watching movies. I want to like movies. Yeah. I feel like this one finally feels like, okay, we're back. You mentioned earlier Aunt May. Yes. And like, you know, she obviously, you know, I just want to spoil it and say that last movie she died. Apparently everyone saw it, like you said. Everybody saw it.

[00:29:06] So she perished in the last film. Yeah. She is on the cast list for this film because she does make some appearances in kind of a creative way. Um, and I will say again, trying to counter some criticism I've read people online say when they are commenting about the over reliance on the storyline for this mystery villain and kind of the resolution of that mystery villain.

[00:29:33] I'm like, no, no, no, that totally works because it just goes to show May Parker, Aunt May, the influence she has on not just Peter, but ultimately on others. I'm like, oh. She ran a non-profit that fed hungry people and all this kind of stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they had a stat. They'd done a good job establishing that.

[00:29:56] And the fact that this mystery villain has a way of, yes, had a way of communicating with somebody in that mode. Yeah. It just, it just worked. I thought it was well done. It just worked. Yeah. The first instance we have, I think it's two Aunt May appearances. And the first one you're like, oh, okay. You know, you could kind of complain. But then when it's brought back around, you're like, got it. Right. Well, well played. That was the reason this was all played out.

[00:30:24] This is the reason that why even maybe said mystery villain was our mystery villain, because there was actually a way to connect the dots with these people and make something work. So yeah, no, I'm totally on board. I will say not a, not a ding against the film, but Sadie Sink. I mentioned, you know, she's a lot of people know her from Stranger Things. She was in The Whale, but you know, people know her probably primarily through, she's done

[00:30:52] some Broadway work, but they, you know, are primarily from being in Stranger Things. Considering how her character is used in this film, kind of weird to me that she was also in Stranger Things because there's a lot of parallels with like 11 in some ways, which kind of was interesting. I was like, huh. It was very interesting. I mean, I think it's just, you know, whatever. But like somebody else, I probably wouldn't have even thought about it. But the fact that Sadie Sink was in Stranger Things, I'm thinking about like, huh, that's weird. That's weird. You know? So.

[00:31:22] And. Didn't take away from my enjoyment of the film. Just thought it was interesting. On her character. Yes. I just say, I applaud the screenwriters and the people who wrote this film. Okay. For making such a great device of there's a term or a phrase that's kind of a mystery box thing that Spider-Man hears about, others hear about, and they're just like, what is this thing?

[00:31:46] And you're kind of led to believe it's some big thing, a hidden source of power or some sort of whatever. And it turns out it's not. Turns out it's actually something very creatively mentioned because of what somebody sees above them during a very important moment. Like, that was good. It's like that. I'm like, that subverted expectations. That totally made something work.

[00:32:13] You're expecting this big comic book-y big deal to come out of something. And it's like, no, it's actually something very human and something very like kind of emotional and dramatic. I'm like. Right. Yeah. That was good. It's good. Anyway, definitely. I think. Yeah. I think this movie is firing on all cylinders. It's great. Had such a good time with it. Awesome. Really kind of anxious to see it again. So, yeah. Yeah.

[00:32:39] I wonder if some of the things, not that held you back, but some of the things like, oh, you know, that's a difference between a, you know, that would maybe definitely solidify its position as number one Spider-Man, maybe even though it's pretty much already there. Yeah. I wonder when you watched it a second time, if it would kind of smooth, smoother or any doubts you had. It could. It very, very well could. So, yeah. I'm just trying to look back through my notes, see if there's anything else I want to call out. But no, I think that was pretty much everything. I mean, yeah. Oh, no.

[00:33:06] I mean, we didn't even really talk about Tom Holland, but still. Yeah. I think he's only getting better in this role. I mean, honestly, I do think he is the best performer. You know something? Not that I noticed in the credits, but before I saw the credits, I was like, huh, I don't remember that ever happening before. And I had just watched the three previous movies. Yeah. Maybe it's his exposure to The Punisher. And maybe it's the fact that they did something. What was the prison they kept or the thing they kept referring to? The incident or whatever they kept.

[00:33:35] He kept being like, well, I helped you out. Well, he kept saying Staten Island. I helped you out. Yeah. I helped you out. Staten Island. I was like, maybe it's because that. Not sure. But at some point, Tom Holland's accent was very like New Jersey or something. And I was like, whoa, I don't remember that in any of the three previous films. So I'm like, well, maybe he's getting older. He's been exposed to like enough rough types or something.

[00:34:00] But then I noticed that the movie I saw, I don't know if the one you saw, they have the things which a lot of big actors do now. When there's a big movie, they come on screen before the movie starts. And it's like, hi, I'm Tom Holland. You know, we're really happy you're here to see this movie. We made it for you. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, and then the movie starts and he's, he has a British accent. He's seen a British. So then at the end of the film, I saw a dialogue coach and I was like, okay, maybe they just said, hey, why don't you try to Jersey it up a little bit or like New York it up a little bit.

[00:34:29] So I thought that was a little, it didn't bother me, but I thought, huh, that's interesting. Well, I noticed he got that thicker accent a little bit more when interacting with Frank. And it's almost like, I think when he was just getting frustrated and angry and kind of matching Frank a little bit in his dialogue, I think, I think they let it slip into a little stronger New York, New Jersey accent a little bit, a little bit more. Fair. I know that's the justification I'm going to give to it is I think, uh, I think he's,

[00:34:56] he's, he's, he's matching, he's matching his sparring partner in this situation. I would give you that. I think you're probably right. Yeah. Interesting touch. Okay. Well, you know, it's weird in that audiences are loving this movie. I love this movie. You seem to also really enjoy this movie. After being kind of just okay with some recent movies you've reviewed, I'm, I'm, I like it. It's odd. Yeah. Again, I looked at the other reviews like just yesterday. After I kind of already formulated my opinion, I'm like, all right, fine. I know where I am.

[00:35:25] Now I want to see where others are. There's a lot of critics not giving this a lot of love. So I'm, I'm, I'm surprised. I'm curious. I want to read into more and find out what some of their misgivings are, but I don't, I don't know. I just thought that was great. Yeah. I think you and I were with a lot of critics. It's really all that matters. I think we were with a lot of critics on no way home. And now it seems like maybe like they're still feeling the same way. And we're like, no, it's good.

[00:35:50] Well, and I wonder if anybody was expecting this to be something bigger, something more momentous, a story in this fact that it's not really, I mean, you know, the story wise, our characters are not dramatically different than they were at the end of the movie from the beginning. True. And you know, it's like, okay. Yeah. And the villain, you could argue that didn't really have any major impact on, on Peter as a, as a character. I'm like, yeah.

[00:36:20] So you can almost write it off as it's just a, another, another adventure, just type of thing. But to me, I was good with that. It's like, I, that's all I kind of wanted right now. So, and it worked. So anyway. And for a two hour, 25 minute movie, I was never bored. Oh no, no. Definitely not bored. It moves. I feel like. Yeah. I did. Okay. Well that is Spider-Man brand new day. It might still be at some theaters. I probably hear this. I mean, it'll be in theaters for like another, quite a while. Sure.

[00:36:48] Uh, Spider-Man brand new day. Uh, we are saying, yeah, check it out. It is, uh, it is a good one. It is a good one. And, uh, we'll give you instructions at the end of the show. If you've got any feedback or thoughts or questions, uh, you want to geek out on Spider-Man stuff, man, drop me a note. Love to do it. Let's talk. Um, Chris with that, let's go ahead and take a quick break from our show. And we come back in just a second. Uh, we got some trailers to discuss and watch, and then we'll also hear Chris's recommendation at the end of the episode. Stay tuned.

[00:37:18] You're listening to foot candle films. We'll be right back. 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? The mesh can help you bring your podcast to life with the tools, support, and platform you need to be heard.

[00:37:46] Check us out at the mesh.tv where great podcasts live and new ones are born. Welcome back to foot candle films here on the mesh.tv podcast network. Chris, we had our review of Spider-Man brand new day in the first half of the show, both of us big fans of that movie, enjoying it quite a bit. Um, you told me before the show that you have not seen the trailer for Avengers Doomsday. Correct.

[00:38:17] Which is since you were even in your review, you said now the bar has been kind of set and you feel like hopefully things are maybe on the upswing. Well, we've got told no December 18th to see if that's true or not, because that is the next movie, uh, in the MCU. I believe, I don't think there's another one that comes out until December. I think you're right. I think that's it. Uh, and it is the big one Avengers Doomsday.

[00:38:43] Um, yeah, they didn't play the trailer before your theatrical viewing of the film or my theatrical viewing here at the state cinema. So it's kind of interesting choice. I would have thought that's like a perfect thing to like make sure is embedded in the movie beforehand. I think they've always done that previously. Okay. So odd choices there, but suffice it to say, Chris, you're kind of in a right frame of mind. Sure. You kind of got a little bit of a riding high from the Spider-Man movie.

[00:39:13] So let's see if this continues your enthusiasm or if this now tampers it back down to realistic expectations. This is the trailer for Avengers Doomsday, uh, of course, starring everybody. Um, so the people that weren't in the Odyssey with the exception of probably. No, no, there's a couple of people from the Odyssey. Um, and, uh, most notably we do have Robert Downey Jr. playing in his new role as Dr.

[00:39:42] Doom, henceforth the Doomsday title. So with that, let's watch this trailer and see what this does for you, Chris. Here we go. Something's coming.

[00:40:00] Be faced with an unthinkable decision. I've fought with many warriors in high time.

[00:40:28] They were far stronger than all of us put together. And they died. They died facing enemies. And threats. It scared me far less than this one. All right.

[00:40:53] That was the T or I don't know that's official trailer for Avengers Doomsday coming out December 18th. Chris, your newfound enthusiasm for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Has it now subsided or are you continuing the train or where are you on your, your enthusiasm now? I, you know, the mere fact that we don't have two or three movies and then we have this

[00:41:21] movie, for example, um, some of the new characters that we are seeing, which makes sense after seeing homecoming, I'm not homecoming, but makes sense after seeing, um, brand new day. Um, it makes sense that they are just now like, here they are. And instead of, you know, I'm like, okay, you know, that you're not wasting time. You're just going in and putting us here. Um, and we know Dr. Doom's going to be the big baddie. Um, I don't know.

[00:41:50] I, I, I remain cautiously optimistic. Well, I, I'm on record as being a big, I know. So other, I did not like, uh, love and thunder. Other than that, I've always been a big Thor fan. Um, and so I like Chris Hemsworth in this, in this role. So they got Thor going back to a serious Thor. Serious Thor. Yeah. He seems a little scared. Yeah. Um, so I, I, I'm cautiously optimistic.

[00:42:19] I'm the same way. Cautiously optimistic. I think the trailer, I don't think the trailer does much to really build up any hope with me because it just seems like it's just, Oh, here's hero shot, hero shot. Oh, here's people partnering together shot. Here's another shot of another hero. Here's a shot of somebody else, uh, shaking hands or working with somebody else. It's like, it was almost like fan service. The trailer is like, just let's just show all the characters.

[00:42:49] Let's listen, but you're not revealing anything about the movie. That's what I was getting ready to say. I have to remind myself that the trailer campaign going up to end game, which right now in my mind is kind of like when Marvel was hitting the peak, like the lead up to end game was like off the charts enthusiasm and the trailers for end game told you nothing. Right. Like really? I love the fact still that I walked from that theater, not really knowing what was going to happen.

[00:43:18] And we know that we do know that doomsday or this Avengers story is going to be a two parter just like infinity. Okay. We do know that. We do know that. So, so I, I remind, I have to keep reminding myself like Helen, it's okay. Cause trailers for end game were really nothing. It was like the same thing. It was just a bunch of quick shots of like heroes walking and posing and all that. I'm like, but it didn't tell you anything about what to expect in the movie. And I'm like, cool. And it worked. So I'm like, that's kind of where I am with this too.

[00:43:47] I just want it to work. I just want it to be something good when you walk in the theater. Yeah. If I'm not totally amped up with what I'm seeing yet, it's okay. But I'm hoping there's a still some good stuff down the road. Sure. And the Russo brothers are back. Correct? Yeah. Yeah. They're doing it. Mm hmm. So yeah. Which there is our brothers. I mean, let's just be honest. They did really, really good with their Marvel movies. Yeah. Anything outside of the Marvel movies hasn't been that great.

[00:44:17] So just, I'm hoping that this is just there. This is just their wheelhouse and they're, they're going to knock it out every time they do something in Marvel. Right. But I mean, I've seen like, was it the gray man they did with Kristen? It was not great. They did a one with Chris, Chris Evans or no, not Chris Evans, Chris Pratt kind of with a Millie Bobby Brown. Oh, some like sci-fi adventure movie. And it was, I heard it was not good. Okay. There's another film they did that was also not.

[00:44:47] Anyway, I have not seen a good film of theirs outside of the Marvel movies. Gotcha. So I'm hopeful. This is just, they just know how to make this work. So, okay. All right. Let's move on to another trailer, Chris. Let's change gears completely. Okay. Get out of the franchise mode for a little bit, just for one trailer anyway, and try to do something a little different, a little unique. This is a film called Wicker. Okay. It is not. It's a documentary about what they make porch furniture out of.

[00:45:17] Yes. Nice. And I think it's going to make billions of dollars. Now, this is Wicker. This is coming out in October in theaters. It stars Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debecky, and Peter Dinklage. Okay. It was written for the screen and directed by Alex Houston Fisher and Eleanor Wilson. Not familiar with the pair. I am not either. So I'm going to have to kind of read into that a little bit and see what's going on.

[00:45:45] But let me just give you the quick, quick little byline before we jump into the trailer. Sure. An audacious comedic fable about sex, marriage, and the absurdities of social convention. Wicker tells the holy original love story of an ostracized fisher woman, played by Coleman, who commissions a husband to be made by the local basket maker, played by Peter Dinklage. It's made out of wicker. Okay. So instead of porch furniture, she goes for, okay. A husband.

[00:46:14] So let's take a look. This is from Black Bear Studios. Coming out in October. This is the film Wicker. Let's take a look and see what we think. Catch! Catch! You needn't yell. You can smell your cummin'. Lick my worm!

[00:46:42] So then, fisherwoman, you caught yourself a lover yet? Love seems more burden than a prize. Sorry. There's my mom's. There's absolutely no shame in living out your remaining days alone. I'll marry you. Oh. I want you to make me a husband. We have the chapel in a month.

[00:47:15] Okay. So that is the trailer for Wicker, starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård. Chris. A little bit of language in there. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry about that. We didn't pre-screen the trailer ahead of time. So it might have. Yeah. And I'd also like to apologize for the fact that we talked about this because this would have been one of those movies that I wish I could have gone in knowing absolutely nothing

[00:47:41] about it other than the title and just like, yeah, Alexander Skarsgård plays like a Wicker man. Because, yeah, this looks like it is right up my alley as far as just like weird, bizarre. But yet, there's a little bit of humanity there. There's humor, but there's actually like some emotion there. Like, yeah, it looks like a Chris Fry film. So, yeah. And it does look very original idea. Yeah. No, you got to love that about it for sure.

[00:48:10] No, I think this looks great. I'm excited to see this as well. Wicker is coming out October something. Trying to see if I can find an actual date in October. I do not see a date. Just October. We're going to go with that. Yeah. So I'm very curious. I actually wanted to look up really quick. I'm doing this on while the mics are rolling, which is not something we typically like to do, but I just like to kind of find out.

[00:48:40] And the cast looks great. Remind me, what do I know Elizabeth Debicki? What do I know her from? She was in Tenet. Oh, yep. There you go. And she was also, she played Princess Diana in The Crown. Okay. And she was in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie as the gold. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. I was like, I've seen her before, but I don't know. And I know, recognize the name, but okay. Got you. Yeah. The cast just looks amazing. I mean. Yeah. That's great.

[00:49:10] Alex Houston Fisher is one of the two directors. Save Yourself. Save Yourselves. Don't. That movie sound familiar? Okay. Well, that's it. Okay. And then his co-director had her name up a second ago. If the internet wants to cooperate with me. Eleanor Wilson. Not familiar with her. Same.

[00:49:38] They worked together on a film called Save Yourselves. Okay. Back in 2020. And I think that's it. That's what they've done. And so they work together on Wicker now. And that's what we got. I'm curious. Yes. All right. Coming out in October. We'll see how that turns out. All right. Last one, Chris. We're going to talk about. We're going back into franchise world. Okay. I try to keep these sparing because I get sort of just burnt out on watching. Sure.

[00:50:07] Trailers for ongoing franchises. And, you know. But this one, the trailer came out. I have not seen the trailer. I remember enjoying the first one of this rebooted series. We're talking about Jumanji. Right. Right. Obviously, the original, the Robin Williams movie. Many, many years later, they did kind of a sequel, kind of reboot sequel. Right. Called Jumanji. Welcome to the Jungle. Welcome to the Jungle. Okay. They did a second one.

[00:50:36] Which I did not see. I did not either. But do you remember the name of it? I do not. But it was Jumanji colon something. Yeah. I don't remember. And Jack Black Return. Yeah. Jack Black. Kevin Hart. The Rock. And Karen Gillian. Karen Gillian. Yep. So, they've done two of these rebooted ones. So, technically in the Jumanji world, that was, they've done three movies. This is now the fourth movie. Right. The third in this series with these characters.

[00:51:05] Like, confusing enough. Okay. Sure. Um, so, we're going to take a look at the trailer for Jumanji Open World. For anybody who's not familiar with the deal, Jumanji, the whole concept is, uh, it's a game. But you can actually, you play the game in real life. The game kind of comes alive. In the first one, it was Robin Williams with a board game kind of thing. But then it turned into more video games with the later movies. And that's where we are right now.

[00:51:34] So, let's take a look at the trailer for Jumanji Open World and see if this franchise has still got some juice in the tank or not. Here we go. What is going on? Oh, my God. Spencer, you gotta get back here. Grandpa, are you okay? Look over my left shoulder.

[00:52:04] No way. Is that? Yes, it is. Honey, do you know him? Spencer and I were both inside of him when we were in Africa. Dr. Bravestone, I'm so glad I found you. Of course you are. Because of my reputation and my charisma. You, you're what? We have a problem. They're video game characters. But they're stuck in demo mode. Bravestone is Spanish, I think. Hey, mom! Tyson.

[00:52:32] There was a hip-hopotamus in the alley. My nephew, he's a lunatic. I'm beginning to suspect we're not in Jumanji. So that was the trailer for Jumanji, colon, Open World. So, looks like the whole premise here is that the video game characters have now come into the real world? Yes, that does appear to be the case. Okay. All right.

[00:53:01] I'm sure this movie will probably be fun for people. It looks like, to me, the typical sequel a franchise gets to when it's like, we're just going to randomly throw out kind of a weird concept to put into our franchise. To make an excuse. Just to make an excuse to have another one. Sure. So this one's like, okay, now we're going to put them in the real world.

[00:53:22] And the whole demo mode, with them acting very odd, I don't know if that's a premise they're going to keep through most of the movie or if that's like just the first 10, 15 minutes. I don't know. It seems like they're just throwing a lot of stuff on the wall and like, oh, let's just see if any of this works. Maybe it does. I don't know. But I did chuckle a couple times in the trailer. And hopefully, you know, as the danger, hopefully those weren't the only times you'll chuckle if you actually see the movie. But yeah, some of the laughs in the trailer were genuine notes. Yeah.

[00:53:52] I mean, I guess you could say it's always kind of fun to take established actors and let them play like they're inhabited by different type of people. And that's always could always be good for a laugh if done right. Right. Yeah. And, you know, I do think, too, they are going for a family holiday type here. It's like, you know, it's guaranteed. Yes, this isn't going to be earth shattering. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:54:19] But it's kind of a good time at the movies and kind of a safe type thing that, you know, because you see little kids interacting with parents and like, you know, learning to like their parents. Right. It's nothing groundbreaking. But it could be good. It could be all right. All right. Well, that's coming out Christmas Day. Oh, well, there you go. So that seems like a good Christmas Day type movie. Yeah, sure. So that was our trailers. Avengers Doomsday coming out the week before Christmas, December 18th. Wicker sometime in October.

[00:54:50] Jumanji Open World Christmas Day. Gotcha. Okay, Chris. We've gone a little long because I think we talked about Spider-Man Brand New Day a little bit more than we typically do other movies. So not to rush you up at all. No, no. We want you to take your time. Sure. But please share with us what you have to share as a film recommendation for this episode before we wrap up here. So I'm going to recommend a film called Redux.

[00:55:16] Redux, that's R-E-D-U-X, is a 2025 film directed by brothers Kevin McManus and Matthew McManus starring their sister, Michaela McManus. It is a sci-fi, you know, it's independent film. So you're like low budget type thing, you know, not just like crazy effects, but there are some effects in it. The tagline is revenge is a vicious cycle. So here's the plot synopsis.

[00:55:44] In an attempt to avenge her daughter's death, Irene Kelly travels through parallel universes, killing her daughter's murderer again and again. As she becomes consumed by vengeance, her humanity begins to slip away until the cycle is disrupted when she rescues Mia, a sharp-witted teenager already marked by the killer. So kind of one of those films that lets you say, hey, revenge kind of can take a toll on you.

[00:56:14] So I thought it was pretty good. The acting involved, pretty good too. And just kind of a unique premise, especially – and there's some imagery in it that's really striking. So yeah, it's streaming on Hulu. If you like sci-fi, it is violent. So, you know, not a family film. But if it sounds interesting to you, it's streaming on Hulu, which if you pay for the service, it's free. So I recommend it. I enjoyed it. All right. That is Redo Redo on Hulu. Yes. Okay.

[00:56:44] Good. Good. Thank you for the recommendation there, Chris. I was not familiar with that film, so now it would be another one to check out in the near future here. And with that, I think we're going to wrap up the show. We have done our review. We've done trailers. We had Chris's recommendation. The only thing left to do, Chris, is to let people know how they can talk to us or share in the conversation. How can they do that?

[00:57:07] If you'd like to contact us, you can send an email to info at footcandle.org or leave us a voicemail 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. So do us a favor. If you like the show, consider leaving us a review on whatever platform you receive your favorite podcasts on because it will help us reach new listeners, and we'd appreciate that.

[00:57:37] I would be remiss if I did not mention the 2026 Footcandle Film Festival is coming September 18th through the 27th. We've got the lineup at our festival website, which is footcandlefilmfestival.com. You can go and see what movies we're going to be bringing. It's going to be a great time if you're in western North Carolina or want to make plans to be in western North Carolina to join us in Hickory, North Carolina. We'd appreciate it. All right. And that will wrap us up for today. Thanks, everybody, for listening.

[00:58:04] We'll look forward to talking to you next time here on Footcandle Films. Take care. See you in a ticket line.

[00:58:50] Special thanks to Carpal Tuller for the show-themed music. For more about Carpal Tuller, visit www.carpaltuller.com. 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. All programs are available on the website as well as through iTunes and YouTube.

[00:59:18] Check us out online at themesh.tv. Discover other network shows and give us feedback on what you just heard. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.