The Mandalorian and Grogu

[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.

[00:00:36] 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 with the Footcandle Film Society and the annual Footcandle Film Festival, as well as the co-host of this here podcast, Footcandle Films. Chris, how are you doing? Doing good. I'm glad and happy that we're kind of in the summer movie season where

[00:01:04] we don't have to wonder what we're going to review. Kind of starting with this week, it's kind of like we have a semi-schedule and it's like big movies are being released, so it's kind of a no-brainer. Makes our job easier. Yeah, and speaking of summer, we did take a short little break as far as recording schedule here, so a life in summer started to get in the way, but we're going to see how regular we can keep it throughout the summer months here. With those new releases, as you mentioned, Chris, it does make it kind of easy to look at the schedule.

[00:01:33] The challenge we've got is just making sure we're not just going for the top box office grocer every single week, which is going to be a little boring to do, and we're going to try to mix it up a little bit. But this will not be that week. This week, we're going to go with Tried and True. The film we're going to be reviewing is the new Star Wars film, Star Wars, colon, The Mandalorian, and Grogu. That is going to be the featured film that we'll be discussing here

[00:02:01] in just a few minutes, followed by we're going to have some discussion about some upcoming movies based on the teaser trailers that have been put out for said films. We're going to watch those teasers and talk a little bit about the films that they're promoting and see what our level of enthusiasm are for any of these projects coming up. And then I believe, Chris, you also have a recommendation to share with us for a film that you think is worth checking out. So we're going to try to

[00:02:29] get all that crammed in. But first, Chris, before we do, it's time to go to a galaxy far, far away. Once again, it's been a little while, but we're ready to take the journey again. Let's talk about Star Wars, The Mandalorian and Grogu.

[00:02:58] Never touch the buttons. I can use some information. For this price, I'll tell you whatever you want. I'm looking for a hut. Close for the night. Thank you. Gangsters. More criminals. Long live the Empire. We'll take out every bad guy in your deck of cards.

[00:03:29] Right off the top, I feel we need to place this review in proper context by settling an important issue. How shall we refer to the character that's voiced and sometimes physically embodied by Pedro Pascal? The Mandalorian, Mando, or Din Djarin? I'm not going to say Din Djarin. Okay. Because I already had a problem saying it the first time. Fair enough. And I don't like the Mando nickname. Okay. So I'm going Mandalorian. Mandalorian.

[00:03:59] Okay. And just the full proper name. Sure. Okay. Now that we've got that dragon snake in the room taken care of, Alan, what did you make of Star Wars colon The Mandalorian and Grogu? Uh-oh. I don't know if that's true. I don't know if the microphone picked that up or not, but that was a little bit of a sigh. Yeah. Maybe sigh, maybe groan combination? It was a combination. It was a, it was a, it was a thrown.

[00:04:27] It was a sigh and a groan combined together. Yeah. I, boy, boy was I, I didn't go in with high expectations at all. Okay. We've talked about this film leading up to it. We were both hesitant with this film. It's like, yeah, you know, is this the direction we want to see Star Wars movies go? Maybe not. Are we really bought into the whole baby Yoda thing?

[00:04:52] Eh, you know, you and I were both a little, we'll wait and see, but we're not like excited about it. We were just kind of tiptoeing hesitation to it. And boy, I still, I still came away just so bored and disappointed in this film. And bored is the word I'm going to use. And I'll tell you why, because this film, there's nothing to it.

[00:05:17] I mean, this film is, you talk about popcorn movies, going to the movies and it's just a popcorn movie where it's just something to fill your eyeballs while you're popping popcorn in your mouth. That is the perfect definition of this movie. It is the purest popcorn movie. And I guess for people, if you're looking for that, if you just want two hours of sci-fi,

[00:05:41] some, some gunfire, some CGI creatures, and you just want, you know, just random stuff to fill the screen and yeah. Okay, fine. It's all right, I guess. Whatever. But there's nothing else to it. I mean, I don't want to sound like the film critic snob on this side, Chris, but, and I know this is a Star Wars movie we're talking about, but like Star Wars means something more.

[00:06:05] And it's just, there's no development of any character, any sense of the world in this film whatsoever. There is no stakes. I felt like at any point where I felt like things were really important and things were really like had to be done or there's a reason why we're doing things. It's like, there's just nothing. It was just the most lightweight feather of a movie I could imagine. And it just bored me. I think when I got to about the two thirds point of this movie, I realized like, yeah,

[00:06:34] there's nothing else to this movie. It's like, what we're seeing is this is it. There's nothing else I can grab onto nothing else. I can get any enjoyment out of this. So yeah, I'm, I was, I was bored. I did not feel like that this did anything at all for the Star Wars universe. It did nothing for the Star Wars franchise. It just, other than maybe sell a lot more plush Baby Yoda toys. Maybe. I don't know.

[00:07:02] Um, I, I, I've got more details, but Chris, tell me your thoughts. Am I crazy here? Am I just off base? What, what, or am I just being grumpy about this? What, what, what's your take? So first, let me ask you a question. Um, there have been three seasons of the Mandalorian. The Mandalorian. How many of those did you make it through? Two. Okay. I made it. Wait, did you, and you didn't count the book of Boba Fett, which is technically like a season

[00:07:32] 2.5. I did see that. I did not see the final season of the Mandalorian. Okay. So I saw the first two. I saw a book of Boba Fett, and then I think I saw one or two episodes of the third season. And I was like, you know, I, my wife and I both just kind of said, yeah, it's not that it's bad. It just kind of seems villain of the week. This just really isn't for us.

[00:07:58] And my biggest, not complaint, but I think the thing that just shows like, hey, this maybe isn't for you. So I did not mind, I guess, do we want to go against the grain and just rebel and also call him Baby Yoda instead of Gargu? Because that should have been my follow-up question to how do we talk about the Mandalorian? Because my wife refuses to call him, she just says Baby Yoda. And she knows that's not his name, but she's just like, I don't care.

[00:08:27] They kept it from us for so long. That's who he is. He, it's like the worst tendencies of marketing and, you know, it's a business. So I understand that. But the Mandalorian, the first season was, I thought was really good. And Baby Yoda, who is known as the, at the time, he was cute, but it didn't interfere with like a lot of other stuff going on.

[00:08:56] I mean, he was, he was a plot point, but he wasn't just like, okay, let's make sure in every episode he makes a cute face or is eating something. It just, it wasn't as central. And I feel like, you know, now it's to the point where, oh, the title of the movie is both of them. It's not even, it's like, they just can't. And let's talk about that from a broader sense before I get into more of your thoughts. Yeah, exactly. You're right.

[00:09:20] And when the Baby Yoda in the TV show was introduced, I remember it was the first episode of the first, first season. The very end of the episode, the Baby Yoda is introduced and we're just like, oh, that's an interesting twist now that the show is going to take is that, okay, this is a, the Mandalorian and he's, you know, a bounty hunter and it's like all gunfire and action. It's like, oh. Man, a few words. Right. Rough and everything. And like, oh, cool.

[00:09:48] Let's have him see what he's going to do with this little baby. Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. Comedy and light drama has always been based off this idea of putting somebody as an, somebody you would not picture as being a parental figure and now they're having to deal with a child. And how do you handle that? That's, that's very common in our entertainment world. Right. So it added something to that show to make it just a little interesting.

[00:10:14] But yeah, now we're here to a movie where it's like, what's the point? Like if, if I'm, if I'm somebody who's never seen any of the TV show, which again, I get that, you know, movies can be built for, to be standalone or they can be built to, to you, it helps to bring in some, some past knowledge either way. But if I'd never seen it and I'm just like watching this movie, it's like, I don't know what their deal is. Like who these two are, like what's their relationship really? I mean, is he the dad? Is he just a caretaker?

[00:10:45] I don't know what, what the, what are the implications if they're not together? What does that mean? It's like, no, we know none of that stuff. And the movie has no interest in like developing anything at all about the roles that either of them play this world. So please continue. I'm sorry. No, no, no. And so I had dropped off in the third season and going into this movie, I was like, huh, I wonder if I'm going to suffer because of that.

[00:11:12] And no, they put up some, you know, text beginning and it was like, okay, well that's where we are. But as I think basically has kind of been stated in the press, or if you like go searching on Wikipedia, because of the writer's strike shortly after 2020 and some other things that were going on, they had planned for a fourth season of the Mandalorian.

[00:11:37] And then it was kind of, kind of deciding, you know what, let's not do a fourth season. Let's do a movie. And you and I had talked about this in the news and they were kind of like, huh, wonder what that, and to me, I felt like this was maybe three episodes because you were kind of like, you know, two thirds of the way through the movie. So, and movies usually do have first, second and third act. But to me, this was like episode one, two and three of the fourth season.

[00:12:06] And I expect a lot less out of TV than I do movies. Movies because you're making a point to go to a theater. You expect a kind of a tighter storyline with, you know, more integral details or you, you expect something more than I do from typical TV shows. Okay. And I felt like kind of echoing your comments. I got, I got none of that. I got nothing that was really satisfying. I will say. That's true. Nothing satisfying.

[00:12:35] The opening couple of minutes where they're like, okay, here's their goal. Here's what they're going to do in this movie is they're going to track down imperial people that have kind of escaped and we're going to bring them to justice. Kind of like he's a sheriff and he's going to, or if you bring it up to like semi more modern times in the 1940s after World War II had ended going after Nazis and bringing them to justice because the empire has always been kind of a, you know, an allegory for that. Absolutely. So, okay.

[00:13:04] Got you. Cool. They start off. They do that. They're trying to track this one guy down. And that was kind of the first episode. Yeah. And that first, that first 10 minutes, that first action sequence before the titles was okay. It was, it was, it gave me a little bit of a glimmer of a hope. I'm like, okay. All right. This is not horrible. This is decent entertainment.

[00:13:29] Although I realized in hindsight that everything that I thought was looked cool and interesting visually in all the promotional material for this film all happened in that first 10 minutes. So as soon as that happened, I'm like, oh, that's not a good sign. Cause that means the other hour and 45 minutes. They didn't really feel like they wanted to show. What would have been the premiere episode of the show? Yeah. Season four, episode one to get people excited about it. So yeah, the premise, I think fine.

[00:13:57] The setup, the setup for the movie, you know, again, there, there could have been a good movie made here. Absolutely. I mean, I, I think the concept of the Mandalorian and now having this infant stowaway or tag along who he's now caring for, who has like emerging powers. That's interesting. Mm-hmm. But they did nothing with that to set up as a movie to make this at all interesting or fun or,

[00:14:25] or I, in my mind, like engaging in any way, shape or form. Let me just rattle off. Like you set it up and you said, you know, we had this opening sequence. We're kind of given the setup of, this is what the premise of the movie is basically going to be, is that there are these, uh, imperial like tied warlords or, or crime people still tied with the empire that we need to go take down. Okay. Yes. Got it. And we have an opening sequence, which was mildly entertaining.

[00:14:53] I don't think Jon Favreau, the director, by the way, I don't think he handles action very well. I don't think any of the action scenes in this film were done in a way that made them fun to watch and interesting. They were just all very cut and dry and just, just not engaging. So there were some great setups for some good action scenes, but I just didn't think the action themselves were, were really fun to watch. Okay.

[00:15:18] Um, but then we get, once we get past that opening sequence and we get to Mando goes to the next, like to set up the rest of the movie. Mandalorian. I'm sorry. I did say the shortcut. Okay. Maybe Mando is a little, it's just easier, shorter, takes less time. Okay. We'll go with that. But once we get to the opening credits, which I actually think the opening credits were actually kind of fun too. It was like, it was this rebel base, you know, the rebels have kind of now like set up more permanent structure of a base.

[00:15:44] And you see like a lot of shots of like, it harkens back to the old star, original star Wars with X-wing fighters kind of being pulled into hangar bays and people walk. I'm like, all right, this is getting me. All right. I'm liking the shots I see here. I think this movie like completely just tanked in the very next scene. Okay. And that is Mandalorian and poor, uh, um, oh my gosh, actress. I can't believe I'm forgetting her name. Sigourney Weaver. Sigourney Weaver. Poor Sigourney Weaver.

[00:16:15] I don't know who was less interested in being in this film. If it was Sigourney Weaver or if it was Pedro Pascal, who we're going to talk about in a minute. Okay. Or if it was Jeremy Allen White, who we're also going to talk about in a minute. I don't know who was more uninterested acting in this film, like interested in being in this film. It seems like to me, but Sigourney Weaver, you know, it's like right away, the film just, just goes off the rails where it's like, she's like having to be the boss.

[00:16:44] Who's reprimanding Mandalorian. It's like, Oh, things got really messy out there. Mandalorian. You, you shouldn't let things get so bad. You know, you're, you're supposed to follow the rules and all. I'm like, okay, this is about as cliche. And again, we've already seen part of this scene in the trailers as well. So like already in the first 10 to 15 minutes of this movie, I've seen most of the stuff that was in the trailer. I'm like, this is normally that would excite me. I'm like, I have no idea what to expect for the rest of the movie.

[00:17:11] With this situation, I'm like, no, this has got me worried because they're, they put the stuff like that they thought was going to market this film. Up there pretty early. And so I don't know, I did what the rest of it's going to be. And then, you know, but then she turns right around and it's like, Oh yeah, you really kind of screwed up that deal. And you kind of made some bad things happen. Oh, but here, I want to go give you a gift. I'm going to give you this whole new ship and I'm going to do this. And Oh, Hey, here's the playing card of the next person. I want you to go get where a playing card has nobody's face.

[00:17:41] Nobody's name on it. It's like, what, why didn't you just, what are we doing? Because like, this is like the most cliche setup. And like, and already at that point, I'm like, all right, yeah, this movie I can tell is just not going to work. And it's like the reason he doesn't have a face is because there's supposed to be a surprise reveal of who it ends up being. Which I don't think anyone, including the younger audience, that's maybe seven or eight years old. That's going to go see this because they liked the TV show.

[00:18:10] I don't think they're going to be surprised. No. Well, it's not even a surprise, but like when the person is, the person is announced to be the villain, you're like, who again? Like, who was that? And then when they show him like, Oh, that guy. Well, yeah, of course. Of course. He's bad. We just didn't know he was bad in that way. He's not bad, bad. We just thought he was bad, but he's really bad, bad. Okay, great. Yeah. It was like right away. It's like, oh, this is just, oh. Yeah. You know, so cliche.

[00:18:40] Mandalorian walks into their, the rebel compound base or whatever. And of course everybody stops and has to turn and look and see Mandalorian come in. This big dramatic entrance is so cliche. It's so, but so boring. It was just, that's my whole thing is that this film was just boring. Um, can we talk about Radha the Hutt? Which is Jeremy Allen White. Jeremy Allen White plays Jabba the Hutt's son.

[00:19:09] Which, that plot line, he is the one, so what are his aunt and uncle Hutt? I'm just going to call it, you know, I refuse. I'm going to call them aunt and uncle Hutt. Yeah, auntie Hutt and uncle Hutt. Okay, so they have information to try. He is Jabba's son, right? Yes. Okay. They're caring for her. Auntie and uncle Hutt have information that is going to lead the Mandalorian to his next playing card that was given to him by Sigourney Weaver.

[00:19:37] Right, which we are truly saying, these are playing cards that Sigourney Weaver is giving. And actually, that is real world referential to, uh, what was it, people in Afghanistan where they have like, they have military targets. So, I mean, it's, it's- It's a little bit of that. It doesn't make sense for me in the Star Wars realm. No, no, no, no. And again, if you're going to use that motif, if you want to harken to that, which again, understand the historical semblance or resemblance of it. Sure. Just don't give me a card that has a blank face and no name on it.

[00:20:07] It's just basically a blank card. It's like, here, here's your next mission. Like, what? Right, yeah. What am I supposed to do with this? Right. Do they keep the cards? Do they have to turn the cards back in when they turn the person in? I don't understand. Yeah. And again, it doesn't fit Star Wars. So, it just didn't make sense. Anyway, they were trying to be a historically clever and reverence, but it just made no sense. Okay, go ahead, please.

[00:20:29] So, Mandalorian says, okay, I will go track down your nephew because I want to get this information. Now, I will say that Rodda the Hut by Jerry and Malen White, I thought there was real potential there. So, you have the opening scene where they're like trying to track down the baddie and then he's like, okay, well, I turn in one baddie and to go after the next one, I have to go rescue Rodda the Hut. Okay.

[00:20:59] Not necessarily that part, but the fact that, oh, this is kind of referencing the original thing. It's an interesting development where the son wants to kind of get away from the history of his father and how bad his father was. There was potential there. Potential. But then it just kind of devolves. I want to touch on something you said. Who is less interested? I'm going to say, I think Jeremy Allen White was actually having kind of like fun being in

[00:21:29] a Star Wars movie. Granted, it's just his voice. Well, not barely his voice. I mean, it was just him talking. Right. With a voice modulator put on. So it's like, why? Other than just if you want to be able to say Jeremy Allen White's in our movie. So he did a voice. I mean, there was no other point to it. But I mean, his voice acting, it was just so, you know, trying to sound like a spoiled teenager. It was like, that's the tone it was trying to give off half the time. Right.

[00:21:58] You know, it was just so, oh. I kind of enjoyed it, I guess. I think just because I was hoping that it was going to be, end up being more interesting and it wasn't. No, it was not. To answer you, who's less interested, Sigourney Weaver or Pedro Pascal? I don't know. That's a tough call. Well, let's go and clarify something first. Okay. Pedro Pascal has got top billing in this movie. Oh, and that's what I alluded to. Sometime physically embodied.

[00:22:25] And I'm talking very minimal sometime because there were three actors. Three actors played the Mandalorian. There's one that does a stunt performer. And then there's one that just moves around in a suit. So basically, anytime that Mandalorian has a mask on, it is either Brendan Wayne or Lateef Crowder playing the Mandalorian. Which they do a great job. No, that's fine. I mean, look, I still think the look, style of the Mandalorian is great. But here's the problem with the Mandalorian as a character. Okay.

[00:22:56] He's supposed to be this man of few words, very direct, very mysterious, you know, whatever. And that's fine when we've had two to three seasons on a TV show of kind of like dealing with this character. And I do remember in the TV show, there was some moments of development with this character where it's like, we learn a little bit more about him. We kind of get a little more insight to his thinking, whatever. Okay. Well, the movie had no interest in any of that.

[00:23:23] It's going to be the most simplistic, stated, unemotional dialogue we can possibly have for the entire two hours and 15 minute running time. Sure. And we're also going to make sure that the acting work, the true emotion or body acting work is done by these two other people. And then Pedro Pascal clocks in for, what do you think? Could he have done this in two days shooting time? Probably. I'm thinking two to three days. And that kind of annoyed me too, because.

[00:23:52] Like he was on the screen basically for five minutes. The whole thing with the Mandalorian, if you watch the series, like, you know, he just always wears a suit. You never see his face. He's always in his armor and that's fine. But I feel like in this movie, three episodes put together, they own. I wonder if once they decide to make a movie, they're like, okay, we do have to have Pedro come in because we want to prove that he was on set at some point. And so they have a mask removal point. And then of course, as quickly as possible, they put it back in.

[00:24:21] Oh, and the mask removal was so dumb. And then the retrieval of the mask or given back to him was also dumb. It was like, all right, well, this is so obviously clear why this scene was put in there that way. Yeah. I feel like that was the scene that was written when they decided to make it a movie. They're like, well, we need to add this. And yeah. Because, you know, Pedro Pascal's face was in the TV show. Like he was unmasked on a couple of occasions. Sure. There were times that was like kind of a big moment when we actually saw his mask come off, I think at the end of the first season or beginning of the second or something like that. Right.

[00:24:51] And so it wasn't like a big deal that the mask came off in the movie, but you could have made it a bigger deal, but it just wasn't. It was really a kind of a throwaway moment in an action scene. And then at the end of the action scene, it's like, oh, well, here's your mask back. So it's like, yeah, you're done. You're done with that scene. So here's your mask back going back to the way it was. Yeah. Chris, Chris, Chris. So my question for you is also what kind of hold does Disney have on Martin Scorsese?

[00:25:22] Yeah, that's true. Okay. So this is the second film of 2026 that we reviewed where Martin Scorsese has made a cameo appearance first being outcome. Right. Okay. But Disney didn't do outcome. It was on Disney plus, right? No, outcome was Apple TV. Oh, sorry. I lump Apple and Disney together. Yes. But you're right. They are, in theory, separate. They are separate. Okay. Yeah, yeah. So really, this is his first dabble in Disney as far as I know.

[00:25:50] Again, kind of concerned because it's like, you know, okay, it was Apple, not Disney. Yeah. But it's like, huh. Although he was good in it, it was just kind of like. But yeah, I was going to say, as far as voice acting goes, he was still the best voice actor, I thought, for his very short scene in this film. I thought he was good. Yeah. It was, I have to say it was one of my more favorite parts of the film. I mean.

[00:26:15] How crazy is it that two movies I don't like that we've reviewed, Martin Scorsese has a cameo in and I think he's like one of the best parts of that film. Right. Because it's like, and I think it was actually good casting because of like, there's this character, he's running kind of a food truck. Right. And they get somebody who can kind of have some funny, funniness to his voice. And he's a little bit of a, he's a little bit of a, what's the guy, the guy is always

[00:26:42] like tipping off, you know, kind of giving out informant type of thing. A little, a little bit of an informant, but also a very nervous informant who doesn't want to get hurt. And yeah. I mean, it's that Scorsese can pull that off. Yeah. It was, it was, it was mildly fun. So I did kind of enjoy that. I think that was a little thing they tried to throw out there for the parents be like, Hey, here's something funny you might think is interesting. It's Martin Scorsese. And it, yeah, I thought it was so funny. Chris, there was, there was a moment in this film. Yes.

[00:27:12] Where I, I, I started to get a little glimmer of hope. Okay. And it was. Mine was the fact that a rod of the hut was like Jabba's son. I thought that could have been interesting. What was, what was yours? But why did, why did rod of the hut speak English? Like with no accent or anything? I mean, just like perfect English. Right. I think other than that, don't know. Um, so. And that would be too much reading for younger children. Yeah. I guess. Yeah.

[00:27:42] Two thirds of the way through the film. Yes. There's a moment where I thought something important was going to happen to one of our two main lead characters. And it got me a little, slightly excited, thinking that the movie was actually going to try to do something. Um. Is it when, uh, Grogu, sorry, baby Yoda builds a mud hut? Well, it's related to that. Okay. But before that. Okay.

[00:28:10] The, the actions that led to baby Yoda doing the stuff in the jungle that he did on his own for like 20 minutes of the film. That's episode two. Right. Actually, it'd be like episode three. I think they could have gotten two episodes in before that. Maybe. Yeah. I think the, the going and, and then rescuing Rada, that's like two episodes. Oh, okay. It takes two episodes to get to. A part one, then two. Then you get to episode three, which is baby Yoda out in the jungle. Yeah. Okay. Um. So maybe it's. But I. Sure.

[00:28:37] They made it seem like something, uh, dramatic was going to happen with the other lead character that's not baby Yoda. And, uh, is a little bit of a, a typical action movie fake out where it's like, oh, somebody's, you think something's going to happen. You think maybe they're not going to be around in the film after that. And what's that going to mean for the rest of the characters? And I'm like, oh, okay. Well, maybe the movie that's the angle that they're taking here. Maybe the development we're going to see is.

[00:29:07] All right. For the last three seasons and now a movie it's Mandalorian and Grogu kind of need each other in Grogu. We, how, how, how can he, uh, operate without Mandalorian? And I'm like, okay, maybe we're going a little interesting there. And then we spend about 20 minutes of the film where it's just baby Grogu, baby, baby Yoda adventuring in the woods, trying to accomplish some things.

[00:29:34] And I found this part also incredibly boring, but because just because I, I'm like, you had an opportunity now to do something else interesting and you just still have not chosen to do it. And then it's like, and then it's like when the resolution of this situation where all of a sudden the two leads are all fine and back together. It's kind of like, man, it's like, there's nothing, there's nothing. These characters are no different from the first frame of this film than they were the last frame.

[00:30:02] And I'm not saying a film has to have the leads go through any kind of development just to make it work. But if you're not going to give me interesting action sequences, if you're not going to give me any interesting twist or, or, uh, unique setups for anything, then at least let the characters breathe and develops on it. And you got none of that either too. So this film became so inconsequential by the end. It was like, I don't understand what we just spent the last two and a half hours watching.

[00:30:30] At least if it was a well-shot, well-made action movie, a sci-fi action movie. Okay, cool. I'm, I'm game for that for two hours, but it was none of that either. So it was like, man, just what a, what a waste. What a waste is, I think the big thing for me. Um, there was one, uh, I got so bored with the season. Like everything was just the CGI random creatures everywhere, except there was one.

[00:30:58] It's a, it was like a giant sea snake. That's the dragon snake, the dragon snake. Um, there is a shot, uh, of the, of the dragon snake kind of coiled up and you've got a Mando in the bottom corner getting ready to face off with him. I'm like, all right, that's a really good shot. That looks awesome. The dragon snake looks awesome. Cool. And then, then the action sequence just kind of limped by and nothing to it.

[00:31:24] So I had little flashes of moments where I thought the film was going to be interesting and it just did it. Um, Chris, are you a Babu Frick fan? More or less or the same after this movie? Less. Okay. And Babu Frick. Babu Frick and friends. Is he, is he from, yes. Which is it supposed to be him? Uh, no. Or is his, it's his, it's his, it's his people. Just like there's more than one Yoda, whatever creature Yoda. Yes.

[00:31:54] Because if you think about timeline, I think the Mandalorian and Grogu takes place. Are there before Frick? Before, uh, this after Return of the Jedi. But before all the. But before Force Awakens. The Rey stories. Uh, but Babu Frick was in the, the last, uh, Rise of Skywalker. Which is my least favorite. Um, well, prior to this film. Well, okay. We're going to get to that in a second. I do. I am curious. Sure. You're ranking how this affects me. The moment, um, the Babu Frick adjacent characters showed up, I was like, oh dear. Yeah.

[00:32:22] And what actually irritated me even more was the, how much English they spoke. Yeah. And it was like, basically because it's just them and baby Yoda on screen and they wanted to communicate. So I was like, oh, well, we'll just throw a bunch of work because we can't have baby Yoda speak. Right. So we're just going to throw a bunch of words. And I'm like, no, those guys just talk gibberish. Just like, that's not fair. Like, no, no, no, no. So, so that, that irritated me and I never, I didn't like that character in, uh, Rise of Skywalker anyway.

[00:32:52] So, um, yeah, that was, that was problematic for me. I will say, I'm going to mention something positive. Okay. Go for it. Um, I liked the music, the score. Yes. This film. Agreed. Um, so the guy who won an Oscar for Sinners, uh, Ludwig Goranson. Yes. He does the music for this. It's really good. And I thought he picked up John Williams's like things like. But he put a cool spin on it. It was like his 80 cent vibe kind of, but it's still harkened back to the, the score.

[00:33:22] It was great. So it was like paying homage, but yet doing something kind of different. Just like, which something I admired of the film, the opening credits, how they did the text on screen. They followed rogue one. And so we don't do a scroll. We just put stuff up. Cause we're not one of the official chapter or episode movies. So I'm like, good. You're not trying to make this something that it's not. So I thought that was, um, I thought that was good. So yeah. The phrase you just said is harkening.

[00:33:49] You liked the score because it harkened back while also trying to do something new. Right. I wish that was the motto of this film as a whole. Okay. Yeah. I, I, I, I don't mind the harkening back and like, Hey, look, I posted my point it out to me. Oh, there wasn't a single lightsaber in this movie. I'm like, yeah, I'm cool with that. That's fine. Yeah. It's like, yes, you threw in some at, ats at the beginning and the opening sequence. Okay, fine. And of course we got the job of the hut relationship with his son. I'm like, yeah, there it's harkening back.

[00:34:16] It's reminding you of these things, but I wanted it to do something else and something different and something new. And by the end of the movie, it had done nothing. Yeah. That was, that was my issue. Yeah. And I, I will say another, this is the fan boy nerd part that was excited in the first 10 minutes in that ad at sequence. As a child, I had a toy that was supposed to be an empire toy.

[00:34:43] It was like a gray little thing that flew that had wings that dropped down. I was like, I've never, never saw it in any of the movies. I was like, who cares? They're going to sell me a piece of plastic. I'm going to buy it as a kid. It came out. Was it in the movie? And I was like, there it is. There's that toy that I have no idea what the name of it is. But there, and so for a brief moment, I was like, oh, that's really cool. And I got to relive my childhood because I finally knew, finally knew what that toy's purpose was. All right.

[00:35:10] Chris just added an extra half star to his, his review of the film because of a long lost toy that he got to see represent on the screen for the very first time. Yes. That's actually, that's actually kind of nice. It was kind of cool. It's kind of nice moment. Maybe they actually did have a plan for it. They just didn't make it in the movie. Yeah. Who knows? I think, you know, in summary, kind of like, if your children or if you have been a huge fan, because there obviously are fans of the Mandalorian TV series, then yeah, I think you'll like this movie.

[00:35:39] I think you'll find it fun. Will you get anything more out of it? Will it be any memorable than maybe some of the episodes of the series? Probably not. But it will, it will still be an enjoyable time from a family. Enjoy. I will say too, something that kind of struck me. I haven't seen recent seasons, so maybe they've kind of amped up the gunplay and everything. But in that action sequence, I was like, man, what is the body count here? Yeah. There's a lot of shootings. It's a lot of, and a lot of people.

[00:36:09] Actually, a couple of times I thought, you know, they're, they're trying to, they're trying to make the Mandalorian a bit, a bit more of a John Wick type of character where it's just like constant gunplay, constant flicking around people, murdering people. And it's like fire, which I always, I do love the fire always coming out of the hand, the hand glove thing with the fire is always cool. I can see why this was rated PG-13. Yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. It's like, honestly, yeah.

[00:36:36] I'm, there is a bit of a tone issue with the film in that, that regard because you, you marketing it with the baby Yoda and it's all this, but yet, yeah. In the action scenes, there's a lot of shooting. There's a lot of gunfire. There's a lot of people obviously not making it past that scene. Right. And it's a lot. So yeah, just a little fair warning on that, but it is a PG-13 film. So it's got a little odd balance. I mean, you know, yeah, I think it still works for young kids.

[00:37:05] If this is their entry into Star Wars, I mean, yeah, fine. It's, it is two hours of eye candy and cool looking creatures and spaceships and all that. Fine. You know, and you got the baby Grogu doing cute little things occasionally and Mandalorian, the, the outfit, the costume, the presence is still cool no matter what. So yeah, you got all that, but there's just nothing else.

[00:37:31] And honestly, if these were episodes of the TV show, if these were three or four episodes of the TV show, whatever the duration may be, I think after the first one or two episodes of this, I'm like, eh, I'm not really, even as a TV show, I'm just not. Sure. I'm not seeing any real value to watching this. Yeah. There's just no, yeah, it may look great. There's acting, music's great, but there's just not a story that's holding you captive.

[00:37:55] Well, even on the villain side, like we had a very, we had another assassin, I guess, who becomes kind of a mano a mano kind of villain fighting Amanda late in the film, but there's no depth to that character. There's nothing we learn about him. There's nothing interesting. It's like the Hutts are kind of villains, but yet they're also not really very present. Not really that involved with things. Yeah, that could have been.

[00:38:23] There's just, yeah, there was nothing to hang, there's nothing, just nothing to hang on to, you know? And then we get to the end of the film or close to the end. And again, Sigourney Weaver, I love Sigourney Weaver. As you are. Boy, oh boy. The shot of seeing her in an X-Wing fighter, I thought would have been cool, but it just wasn't. Because again, she just looks so bored. Right. And I'm like, you're in an X-Wing fighter. You're dressed in the X-Wing garb.

[00:38:51] You're talking over the headset with an X-Wing fighter and you just look like you don't care. It's like, and I'm just, unfortunately, it's just, I think that's how she seemed to just be feeling about this whole endeavor. That's what it seemed like. That's what it was communicating anyway. Right. And anyway, oh gosh, I could go into like so much more detail about decisions that characters make, about why they're doing, it just makes no sense to me. Everything was just, let's just play for the image we want to put up on the screen.

[00:39:20] Let's just play for the next set piece we want to put together. And it's just, the plot made no sense. The story, the decisions character made no, made no sense. Very disappointing. Yeah. Me, me too. And I think they have, is it Sean Levy who's going to do the next? Sean Levy is doing one coming out next year is Star Wars Starfighter. That's going to star Ryan Gosling. Right.

[00:39:48] That, I will say, I do have more hopes for than I did this movie going in. Have they revealed timeline wise with this one? I don't believe so. Okay. But just because I think Ryan Gosling's on it has got my interest. Cause I do think Ryan Gosling's a good actor. I think he picks good projects. I don't think he does subpar work for the most part. So he and Sean Levy, I could take her leave as a director, but I think there's at least

[00:40:17] some, some talent there. Jon Favreau, I think is a good, I think he's a good producer of content. I think he's got a real heart and emotion for this type of stuff. I just don't think he's a good director. I know he did the first Iron Man movie. And I think that movie worked because of the setup and because of Robert Downey Jr. And I think because of the, the lore around it being a big budget Marvel.

[00:40:44] I don't think it worked from a craftsmanship directorial standpoint necessarily. And to me, this film was just a pure sign that yeah, just Fabrice just, just doesn't, doesn't build sequences. Doesn't make scenes that evoke any emotions for me. Those emotions could be you're thrilled in a great action sequence. It could be emotional because of the dramatic beats to it. And it's just, this film had none of that.

[00:41:13] And I can blame the writers as well as the director for just not finding something to make this movie work. So. Yeah. Agreed. It was not that I had high hopes going in, but it did nothing to change my mind. Yeah. It actually brought, it actually was more disappointing to me than I expected it to be. Okay. So I actually came in with low expectations and this exceeded like on the, on the negative side, exceeded those expectations. Okay.

[00:41:42] Well, that is Star Wars, The Mandalorian and Grogu. Did you have anything else to add? No. You're doing more good. All right. Well, that is our take on it. Obviously you can hear a disappointment seems to be kind of the presiding theme of our discussion of this film. So money wise, it's, it's not doing great for a Star Wars movie for sure. But let me wrap this up. Let me, we talked about ranking.

[00:42:09] So are you prepared at this point to give me a full theatrical ranking of all Star Wars movies? Or do you just want to tell me where this falls kind of compared to others? Well, I, yeah, I'd have to like think about like the full ranking probably, but I can say. Give me a sense of kind of where this falls. This is at the bottom. This is at the bottom. This is at the bottom. So. Rise of Skywalker, which I realized recently I hadn't seen since the year it came out. Yeah.

[00:42:37] I saw it twice to confirm like, oh yeah, I don't like this movie. But then just recently, actually kind of in preparation for this, I watched the three, um, uh, force awakens, the last Jedi. The sequels. The new, yeah. The new, the new sequels. I watched those just kind of to kind of get me back in the Star Wars mood. And I realized Rise of Skywalker, I have numerous issues with, but there's some things that I do like about it. Well, I will. Yeah.

[00:43:07] Grogu and Mandalorian. This is, this is. Yeah. It is the bottom for me as well. Um, I'm, I'm a, I will still to this day despise, uh, attack of the clones. So much. I don't, I don't. I do. Yeah. So to me, it's, uh, Mandalorian Grogu. It's then it's attack of the clones. I'm going upward on the scale. Then it's Rise of Skywalker. Cause yes, I did not enjoy that film, but there were at least, there were at least some things happening. You don't like attack of the clones, but you like revenge of the Sith better.

[00:43:36] I like revenge of the Sith a little better. Hmm. I know. Okay. You can definitely flip flop that for me. No, revenge of the Sith at least had for me some, some dramatic elements and moments that worked for me, but it's still very problematic. After you go Rise of Skywalker, it is revenge of the Sith. Okay. After that. So, I mean, these are my bottom tier. Yeah. Um, I think you and I both felt like Solo is better than what a lot of people say about it. I agreed.

[00:44:06] It's, it's not a great Star Wars movie, but it's better than the four I just mentioned. And yes, I would have liked for the, um, Lego people, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. I would have liked for them to be able to continue directing it, but you know, it's the way Hollywood works. Yeah. People get in disagreements. Ron Howard came in and yeah, like, but you just take the movie that you got. And I thought it was okay. I thought it was good. And I really liked Rogue One.

[00:44:31] I'm a big fan of Rogue One. Cause I know you and I are much more in agreement on that. Yeah. And your favorite Star Wars film is? Empire Strikes Back. Of course. Yeah. Which is, yeah, that's the boring answer. Empire Strikes Back. That's the boring answer, but it is the answer to me. Empire Strikes Back. First original Star Wars.

[00:45:02] Then, then Last Jedi. Then Return of the Jedi. Then Force Awakens. Then Phantom Menace. A Rogue One and Solo somewhere in there. Okay. So we're pretty similar. Yeah. Got you. Okay. I think we've talked enough about this. Yeah. We're going to take a break, guys. We're going to come back in a few minutes and talk about some trailers for some upcoming movies and also hear Chris's recommendation for the week. You're listening to Foot Candle Films.

[00:45:31] We'll be right back in just 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? The Mesh can help you bring your podcast to life with the tools, support, and platform you need to be heard.

[00:45:58] 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. We went a little longer than normal on that discussion. Make up for no show next week. That's true. We were giving a double discussion on this film. Well, because it's also Star Wars.

[00:46:23] There's a lot more emotional baggage we bring to the table, I think, when talking about some of those films. So, well, thanks to everybody for indulging us on that first half. But we are turning around to talk about new films instead of ones that have already come out. New films that are still yet to come out here in the coming months that have released teaser trailers or just regular trailers to promote them recently. And we'd like to talk about some of those teaser trailers right now.

[00:46:53] So, Chris, this one just came across my desk yesterday. Okay. And already I am so fascinated and intrigued by this movie because A, I had no idea it existed until seeing this teaser trailer and reading about it just yesterday. Okay. This is a film called Primetime and it is coming from our darling studio, A24, which we all just make that a segment on the show.

[00:47:23] Like, what new A24 movie are we going to talk about and get our hopes up high that it's going to be good? It's true. This is one called Primetime. It stars a Mr. Robert Pattinson. And just even the premise of it, I'm like, all right, very interested. Robert Pattinson will play the To Catch a Predator host, Chris Hansen, in a mysterious new drama film.

[00:47:47] So, yes, he is playing Chris Hansen, who is the real life host of the NBC gotcha crime show To Catch a Predator, a show that was widely popular, but also incredibly controversial. Quick question. Yes. Did you see the documentary Predators? No, I have not. Okay. Yeah. But, so that's, and that's a question to you, is I am assuming that this film is going to

[00:48:16] take a more critical view of the way that show and the whole premise of the show was conducted. Is that kind of your take as well? I would assume so, yeah. Okay. And to me, I haven't seen the trailer yet. I'm interested. But what is this going to show me, reveal to me that the documentary Predators didn't? Well, again, the reason you take a real life subject that has a good documentary made about

[00:48:45] it that was very informative and well made, and you make a dramatic version of it, the dramatic version has to give you some more human insights that are not easy to communicate in a documentary. It has to give you more character, nuanced development that you can't really see in a documentary. Well, and I'll say as well, I love documentaries. I recommend them all the time on the show, but more people see narrative films than they do documentaries.

[00:49:15] So if a documentary does really well, they're going to be like, you know what? You know what would do even better than this? A narrative film. So I get it. I get it. Well, so this is called Primetime. It is coming out. Let's see. Hold on. I had the date right in front of me here. It's now scrolled past it. Shoot. Shoot. And just this fall is all it's saying. It also co-stars Merit Weaver, Skylar Gassando, and Phoebe Bridgers.

[00:49:44] Phoebe Bridgers being an alternative rock girl I like quite a bit. The musician. Yeah. And her feature debut that she's going to be in. So Chris, you said you have not seen this teaser yet. I have not. Okay. Well, here. Let's take a look at it then. This is the teaser for Primetime. What would have happened if I wasn't here?

[00:50:15] You see how this looks, right? End of the day, men must be held accountable for the decisions that he makes. Do you agree? Do you watch television? Well, there's something you should know. I'm Chris Hanson.

[00:50:45] It's just a predator! The Dayline NBC. And you're about to be a part of television history. Going to be the number one show on TV? All right.

[00:51:06] So that was the teaser for Primetime starring Mr. Robert Pattinson. Did you catch the director? Because I did not. I did. Lance Oppenheim. Ah. Okay. Lance Oppenheim, which I know I familiarly recognize the name. Well, I think I might be confusing him with Joshua Oppenheimer who did like... Right. The Act of Killing. The Act of Killing. So not him. No.

[00:51:36] Which I could see him making this movie, actually. Lance Oppenheim has made... That name also sounded familiar. Yeah. Some Kind of Heaven. Oh. Okay. I think I remember that film. Sperm World. Don't remember that one. The Paradise Next Door is a short film. Happiest Guy in the World is a short film. Yeah. A lot of shorts. Okay.

[00:52:03] Some Kind of Heaven appears to be his only feature film. And that was... Oh, that was the one about the retirement community, the villages in Florida. Oh. But that was a pure documentary. That was a documentary. Okay. I did see that. Okay. Yeah. So he did some Kind of Heaven. Okay. Yeah. That was it. I will say, at least from the trailer, the teaser, it does look to be very stylish, which that right there answers my question. Like, what's this going to...

[00:52:32] Because obviously documentaries are pretty straightforward. But using the whole idea of maybe multi-screen, which like, you know, the different camera angles that was used in the show. But also, yeah, it does look like there's some interesting things going on. It does look like it is not going to be the most flattering image of Chris Hansen that's ever been put out there, which the Predators documentary also, it doesn't paint him what this... It doesn't paint him as poorly as what it looks like this film's going to do.

[00:53:03] Yeah. But, and I had guessed, and again, I haven't seen the film, but what part Skylar Galizando was going to play. And I'm like, yep, that's... I think he's going to play somebody who is caught as a... Yeah. I think, you know, I don't know, because I haven't seen the movie, but I'm like, yeah, that's kind of... And I see him doing a very, very, very, very, very good job in that. Well, I am a... I am an unabashed fan these days of Robert Pattinson. Okay.

[00:53:29] I really just think I'm into anything the guy is working on. I was really impressed with him in the drama, liked quite a bit in that film. I really think his... Bruce Wayne in The Batman, I think, is really good and very interesting. Yeah, I think, and even going to something like Mickey 17, I was not the biggest fan of that film, but I mean, he was going for it.

[00:53:55] So it was like, the guy's got some range, and I'm kind of excited to see him doing a film that I would not have pegged him as being somebody to pull off. But I'm like, no, I think he could do it, and I'm excited to see it. I think, in many ways, the documentary Predators did this, but I think even more so, it looks like this narrative film is going to kind of hit on it. Just kind of a reckoning with reality TV and doing that with a narrative film. So there, you do get insights on some...

[00:54:26] It's not just... Yeah, you're able to do a little bit more because you can use the narrative structure. So, yeah. No, I think in a good situation, a documentary and a narrative film exploring a subject can complement each other and kind of give you the different angles you need. Both can be successful. Both can work. The challenge has always been when you have a really good documentary, and then somebody tries to make a narrative film.

[00:54:51] If all they're doing is just basically acting out the parts of the documentary with actors, especially a lot of musical biopics, it's like, all right, we've seen documentaries. We know these characters. I don't need to just see somebody just acting out these scenes on screen. That's not interesting to me. The documentary is much more interesting. So I think this has got a chance to be different. And you can't hold it against me, listeners. Predators, if when this film comes out, maybe I'll like it or whatever.

[00:55:19] But on that episode, I wouldn't be surprised if I recommend Predators as my recommendation. Because a lot of times it's like, okay, here's a narrative. It was an interesting story. Maybe it was hard to watch, but it was still well done. And then, okay, if you want to know some sort, then watch the documentary. I mean, I love it when those two can coexist. There's a lot of examples of that where a really good narrative film and a really good documentary kind of on the same subject exist, and they work together in a way that's just really—

[00:55:46] And right off the top of my head, the narrative film that was done about Mr. Rogers versus the Morgan Neville documentary, both of those are great. Yes. Are great. And they explore—they have some overlap in a little bit what they do, but they explore things from a different angle, and they give a complete picture into that world. So, no, that's a perfect example. Very, very good. So, they can coexist. It's not like one has to be better or whatever. That's right. Coexist. Okay, good deal.

[00:56:14] Well, that is primetime coming out this fall. Okay. We will see how that shapes up when it's released. All right, Chris, there's another couple trailers you've tipped me off to that we're going to set up and watch here. We got one called Her Private Hell. Anything you want to set up with this one? What's the deal with this film? I have known nothing about it. Sure. It's the new film from Nicholas Winding Refn, who's been—it's his first film in 10 years. He's the guy that kind of hit the scene with Drive. Drive. Originally. And he did Drive.

[00:56:43] He did Only God Forgives. Wasn't that the name of it? I think so, yeah. That was the one with Ryan Gosling also afterwards. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What was the last one he did? Was it The Neon Demon? Yeah. Okay. The Joe Ballant. And I've seen all three of those, but I forgot, because he hadn't done it. He hadn't won in a while. But yeah, so I think maybe this is his fourth. Okay. But definitely first in 10 years. I feel like he did something else in between. He may have. But this is his first in 10 years.

[00:57:09] Premiered at Cannes, I think, because that was a big film festival, obviously, that's happened recently. So I think that may have been where he, like—or maybe there's just been a teaser for it, which is what we're going to watch. So do we know anything about this film, or are we just going to watch the teaser? Nothing about it. Straight into it. I know nothing about it. Just real quick, because now I'm curious, and this is what I do. Hold on. Oh my gosh, I just totally messed that up.

[00:57:36] I had his filmography pulled up, and then I just lost it. I just wanted to see if I was right that Neon Demon was his last one. Well, that was definitely after Only God Forgives, I think. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was definitely—I just couldn't remember if there was anything else beyond that more recently. Short musical video, short, short miniseries. Okay, he did some miniseries, I think. That's probably what I was thinking. I think last feature film, yeah, does appear to be the Neon Demon. Okay. He did Only God Forgives before that.

[00:58:06] He did Drive before that. And Bronson was his first film. Oh, which I've seen that as well. His first—well, he did previous films, but the first one that I think got a major release was Bronson. Bronson, yeah. Okay, all that to say, let's check out the trailer for Her Private Hell from Nicholas Winding Refn. Yes. All right, here we go.

[00:58:34] There's not a single person that is like you. Say it with me. I am. Unique consciousness. She's like us, but she's not one of us. And I am made of stardust.

[00:59:18] The moment you forget that is the moment you disappear. Okay. So that was the most teasery of teasers. I mean, really, which is great.

[00:59:48] I love it. Yeah, yeah. For Her Private Hell. Sure. Did not really tell us anything, and I'm cool with that. I'm going to make up a plot synopsis. Okay. Struggling model or new model is trying to break into the world and try to get famous and has to make sacrifices and in doing so enters her own private hell. That's kind of what it looks like to me.

[01:00:18] It actually looks very similar in story-wise and color palette and everything else to the Neon Demon. Neon Demon. Agreed. So maybe this is just Neon Demon Part 2. So Chris, I'm going to give you an option here. Okay. I am sitting here in front of me looking at a one-line description of this movie. And it's just Neon Demon Part 2? No. Okay. And this description is very different than what I feel like I just saw in this teaser. Oh. Would you like to hear this description? It's one line.

[01:00:46] I don't think it spoils anything from the film. Okay. But it... All right. When a mysterious mist engulfs a futuristic metropolis, unleashing a deadly and elusive entity, a troubled young woman searches for her father. And her quest collides with an American GI on a harrowing odyssey to rescue his daughter from hell. Okay. I'm like... Yeah. So it sounds like a big swing.

[01:01:17] Yeah. Charles Melton, I'm going to guess, is the GI. Yeah. I mean, we saw Charles Melton in the trailer. And Sophie Thatcher is kind of the lead. But yeah. Reading that description, I'm like, huh. I could see futuristic metropolis. Yeah. I think there was some futuristic Blade Runner looking kind of imagery in there. A mysterious mist. I don't remember seeing that, but it was fine. Unleashing a deadly entity. Searching for her father.

[01:01:45] But then the American GI rescuing his daughter from hell. I'm like... Okay. Yeah. That was... I love the fact that that teaser trailer gave me very little of that. And to know that that's the film that could be waiting. Sure. All right. Cool. I'm on board. So that is in theaters July 24th, coming up in just like a month and a half or so here. Two months. Okay. Well, that is Her Private Hell from Nicholas Winding Refn.

[01:02:14] All right. Let's take a look at the last trailer, teaser trailer we have. Chris, this is a film called Hope. Yes. This is from... Also, Her Private Hell was from Neon. Yep. These are both neon films coming out. This is one that's in theaters this fall. What do you know about Hope? What are we... It had its premiere at Cannes. It was from a Korean film... Or a Korean director, Na Hongjin.

[01:02:42] And it received a lot of, like, buzz coming out of Cannes. So... How long was the standing ovation? I have not got a time on it. But it supposedly was good. Because I base my opinions solely on the number of minutes people stand for ovation. And Her Private Hell also had... I saw the trailer mention that they had premiered at Cannes. So I don't know which of these had the higher ovation ovometer. I really don't know how to feel about them then. I know. I know. It's hard to say. All right.

[01:03:11] So is this a science fiction? Do we know what the deal is? It's one of those that you got very few plot details. But I think there is a sci-fi element to it. Well, let's check out the teaser trailer for the film Hope. Here we go.

[01:03:49] Okay. That's the teaser trailer for Hope. I'm giving that little odd inclination. Because this is a South Korean film. I believe, right? Definitely Korean. Korean. Probably not North Korean. Yes. South Korean's fair. And, you know, we see a lot of... We see the director's name. We see a lot of the cast name. But then we saw also Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender. Yep. Interesting. Yes, it is interesting.

[01:04:19] I'll just say this, Chris. This is the first... I played this teaser off of YouTube. And obviously you have a lot of comments underneath it that people make. The very top comment right underneath it is that this looks like, quote, a loud place instead of a quiet place. And I'm like... Touché to whoever commented on that. I'm like, yeah. It reminds me of District 9. Yeah. Yeah, there's a little bit of that too. It's apocalyptic looking.

[01:04:46] Aliens or creatures have infected some... Yeah. It does look a lot like a quiet place. I mean, both the creature designs and being out in the woods and having a lot of forest imagery. And there's a lot of that. That's... I don't know. I want this to be good, but right now it looks very samey. I mean, we've seen a lot of these. It's like it's this whole... And if... I hear what you're saying. Yeah. I hadn't thought...

[01:05:14] I hadn't seen the teaser, obviously, until now. So, if this was coming from an American studio or an American filmmaker and everything... I would probably be like... I'd have a lot of those same fears. Sure. But because it takes place... Yeah. Looks like it does take place in Korea. And I feel like it'll be kind of tackling different things. But... I hope so. I hope so. Aliens and... Yeah. I can see why they say a loud place. I get it. Yeah.

[01:05:43] But I am still hopeful. No, I'm always hopeful. I just... Yeah, I hope there's something interesting. I hope there's something different there. Sure. It looks good. I mean, it looks like shot really well. It's like interesting set pieces. And I was surprised because with these type films, one of the biggest things is... Do they show what the creature looks like in the trailer? And it looks like they did, but then they showed some interesting... Looks like there may be more than one. Yeah.

[01:06:14] So that's... I don't know. We'll see. One type of creature, one type of alien. Who knows? So... We will... I'm curious. We will see. Absolutely. All right. Well, those are the three trailers we wanted to talk about. So we have Primetime. We have Her Private Hell and Hope all coming out sometime between July and this fall. All three of those. Okay, Chris. Well, I think we are done with news. We are done with our glimpse into the future. Let's go backwards in time again a little bit.

[01:06:43] And let's flip over to your recommendation. What do you have as a film that's obviously already out? So therefore, in the past reference I made, what is a recommendation of a film you think we ought to be checking out right now? Well... This film is 12 years old. Came out in 2014. Alan, you have seen it, so you don't have to add it to your watch list. I'm going to give you the one-sentence summary, and you're going to tell me the name of the film. Oh, I like this. Good. Okay. Mm-hmm.

[01:07:11] Happy Hogan leaves the employee of Iron Man to go out and cook some really awesome eats out of a food truck. Oh, yeah. This is Chef. Yes. Yeah. We actually reviewed this film back in 2014 on the show. Yeah. I gave it a three-and-a-half-star review. Did you bring this up specifically because I talked about how Jon Favreau is not a good director? I had already planned to do this film, and then you mentioned that. And yeah, I mean... No, take it back. This film was good. He did this. He was the only writer on this. He wrote and directed it. Yes.

[01:07:40] So, but this is not an action film. No. True. And it does have more like heart. It has a lot of heart to it and has a lot of good imagery of food. Yeah. So, don't go into this film hungry. But yeah, it's great. It's currently streaming on Netflix. I think you can also watch it like on the Roku channel. But yeah, Chef. Highly recommend it. 2014 film. It's good. So, I agree.

[01:08:09] We actually brought it as a foot candle screening several years back. Not only did we review it on this show, but we brought it as a screen. We did. Okay. I thought it was really good. It was a fun, light, hangout movie that I thought was just, yeah, it was really good. And I'll say this too. There is a version of the song Sexual Healing that is played, I guess, maybe by Cuban band in the film. Okay.

[01:08:38] That I still think is just an amazing rendition of that song. I still have it in my playlist. I play on a regular basis. All right. It's very, very good. I wish I could remember the name of the band right now. Oh, man. Oh, the Hot 8 Brass Band. That's it. Okay. The Hot 8 Brass Band does a cover of Sexual Healing on the soundtrack for Chef, which I still think is just Chef's Kiss. See? Nice. Oh, I did that. Nice, nice, nice. Wobbed that in there. No, it was a really good movie. Yeah. I'm glad you recommended it.

[01:09:08] Because yeah, Jon Favreau, that's the style I need him playing in. You know, he made Swingers, obviously, which I think is great. Sure. Or wrote Swingers. I don't think he directed it. I think he just wrote it. Yeah, I'm not sure. But still, wrote Swingers, great. He wrote and directed Chef, also great. So I think that's his vibe. That's where he's really good. And actually, I heard background production on the Mandalorian and Grogu movie that during

[01:09:34] production, Jon Favreau was cooking for the cast and crew throughout the production. Because he likes it. That's his thing. He likes it. So I'm like, just lean into that, man. That's your thing. Let's make some more movies like that. Let's do that. That's great. Fair enough. Anyway, cool. Good recommendation. Thank you. And thank you for being one that I've already seen a couple of times. I don't have to add to my list. That's very nice. Okay. Well, that is our show for today.

[01:10:02] We have expressed our disappointment in Star Wars, colon, The Mandalorian and Grogu. We talked about three very interesting and very different films that we are looking forward to seeing in the next few months. And Chris brought up a reason why Jon Favreau can be a good director and can make some good movies that we like. So with that, Chris, if anybody has any feedback, thoughts, comments, criticism, they want to

[01:10:30] champion the Grogu movie, have at it. Tell us. Give us some positive. We are open to that. I mean, this is not a matter of we believe that our opinion is like, you know, the gospel that needs to be stated by everybody. No, we're totally open. And if somebody says, look, this was a really good movie to accomplish some things, tell us why. I'd like to hear some thoughts and feedback on that. So Chris, how can they do that?

[01:10:54] You can contact us by sending an email to info at footcandle.org or you can leave us a voicemail at the mesh.tv website. On that website is also where you can check out past Footcandle film episodes as well as other podcasts on various subjects from barbecue to comedy to mental health. We are also on Facebook at Footcandle Film Society and other social platforms as Footcandle Film. I am on Letterboxd where I try to track what I'm seeing. Alan sometimes pops in there, but you can check us out on there as well.

[01:11:24] Do us a favor. If you like the show, consider leaving 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. By the way, the 2026 Footcandle Film Festival is coming up September 18th through the 27th. It'll be held here in Western North Carolina. So if you're going to be in the area or maybe you want to take a break and take a trip, we'd love to have you come join us for the festival. Absolutely. All right. Well, we're going to wrap it up for today.

[01:11:52] Thanks, everybody, for listening to Footcandle Films. We enjoy spending this time every week-ish or so to talk movies and have you guys listen in. So thanks a lot. We'll look forward to talking to you next time. Take care. See you in the ticket, man. Watch out.

[01:12:47] 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.

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