The Odyssey

[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.

[00:00:34] Hello, everyone, and welcome to Footcandle Films here on the MESH.TV Podcast Network. My name is Alan Jackson, and with me across the table is Chris Fry. We took a week off, Chris. Yes. Did anybody notice? I'm not sure, but I'm glad that we're returning. You know, we're talking about one of the summer's biggest films. You know, everybody's heard about it, Minions and Monsters, so I'm looking forward to talking about it. Minions and Monsters. That's what we'll be discussing. That's what we needed two weeks to prep for. That's right.

[00:01:03] To kind of build up our energy and our conversation capabilities to talk about. No. In all seriousness, Chris was leaning in the right direction. He was pulling a funny for everybody. We're not going to talk about Minions and Monsters. We're going to be talking about different types of monsters, and that's the ones found in The Odyssey, the latest. Christopher Nolan directed film with Matt Damon, Tom Holland, and pretty much half of the rest of Hollywood, I think, shows up in this film in some capacity.

[00:01:31] We will be discussing the two-hour, 52-minute epic film here during our review in just a moment. Followed by, we've got some trailers to catch up on, Chris. It's been a couple weeks. Trailers are coming out, Fast and Furious. We've got some new ones to show. These are trailers, many of them films that are going to be coming out in late fall, winter, which means they are ones that might be pining for some award recognition.

[00:01:56] So all three of the ones we're going to be discussing, I think, have some loftier ambitions of what they're trying to achieve. We will take a look at the trailers and see what we think of these early views of these films. And then, Chris, I think you got a recommendation for us as well at the end of the show, right? I do. Good. Chris has got a recommendation. And you said it's a film I've seen. Yes. So I will not have to worry about overburdening my ever-expanding watch queue any more than I have to because I have seen this one. So that'll be good. Okay.

[00:02:26] Great. Well, Chris, are you ready to set sail with our review of The Odyssey? Let's do it. After years of war, no one could stand between my men.

[00:02:51] Not even me.

[00:03:17] Christopher Nolan, he of such films as Memento, a long time ago. More recently, things like Tenet, and then also historical films like Dunkirk and Oppenheimer, which got him some Oscars. He has now decided to give us a Cliff Notes version, so no high school student ever has to read it again, of The Odyssey. This film kind of chronicles after the Trojan War.

[00:03:43] Odysseus faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops, Polyphemus, Sirens, and Calypso along the way. Starring, as Alan mentioned kind of in the intro there, Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson. This goes on and on and on. Alan, you know, obviously both of us are a fan of Mr. Nolan. This is like Monsters and Minions, which has done well at the box office.

[00:04:08] This has been one of the big anticipated films of the summer, specifically one that is not a franchise. Yes, it is of previous material. You know, as I alluded to, most people had to read this in high school. But what was your experience with this two-hour and 52-minute epic? Well, first, before we get into that, I feel the need to do a little bit of defense of our ragging on Minions and Monsters just a tad. Okay.

[00:04:37] I will say I've seen 20 minutes of said Minions and Monsters. It's not bad. I've actually heard decent things about it. It's not bad. It actually is a fun little jaunt through old Hollywood, and they have a lot of fun with old movie tropes. Yeah. No, I'm here to say I'm sorry I included that in kind of our batting down and making the butt of our jokes in the early part of the show. Because it's not a horrible film.

[00:05:06] It actually sounds like it would be kind of fun. I kind of want to watch all of it now. Okay. But now, back to The Odyssey. Yes. What did I think of The Odyssey? I am not a bandwagon guy, and right now the bandwagon seems to be everybody loves this film. It made tons of money and blah, blah, blah. Everybody's still raving about it. Yeah. I'm there. I am with the bandwagon 95% of the way. Okay.

[00:05:35] I do have a fault of the film that I think unfortunately left me at the end of it a little less than as super enthusiastic as I was up until that point, which I'll discuss without spoiling as we get into our review here. But no, I think, look, I think it is a masterful film in telling of The Odyssey story. I've always been a huge fan of the concept of The Odyssey, the whole lore behind it.

[00:06:05] I loved the idea of seeing those adventures put to film, and Christopher Nolan was the right one to do it. And I had fun with all the chapters of the saga, the adventures that are followed along. And I think Mr. Nolan does something that I did not expect and have not come to expect with Mr. Nolan is add a little dramatic heft to the film.

[00:06:32] Typically, I'd say his films are technically very, very good. But I'd say the one area his films typically lack and for me are any real emotional heft to them. This one, it's still a Christopher Nolan film. Don't get me wrong. He didn't completely change his filmmaking style. But by the end of the film or late in the film, there are some real moments of emotion that I felt. And that was something I did not expect from this film, but was very happy to get.

[00:07:01] So I think it was, I think it's worth the hype. I think it's really good. And I enjoyed it. I'm actually looking forward to seeing it again, even despite its length. And my main misgiving is a section towards the end that I will kind of mention a little bit later. But Chris, I want to hear your thoughts. What did you think of The Odyssey? I'm going to borrow a phrase from you and say it was fun. Okay.

[00:07:30] Now, is this because of all the hype? Is it because I am a fan of Christopher Nolan? Is it because after driving 13 hours home from a vacation I was on last week, which is the true reason we didn't record last week, I was on vacation. Um, I saw this last night at seven and finished it up around 1030. Well, maybe closer to 11 because you have previews and stuff.

[00:07:57] So I will say a lesser film by a lesser filmmaker, I completely would have fallen asleep. Cause I mean, you know, like I said, I was, I was already pretty tired. Sure. Um, so it kept me interested. Um, and I, the reason I say I, my reaction is kind of like, Oh, it's, it's fine. I think the acting was strong across the board. Just the scope of the film, everything looked great.

[00:08:24] You know, costumes, production design, all of that stuff. All of it is firing on all cylinders. I would say that if I had not read the Odyssey in high school, maybe I would have enjoyed it more because there would have been like some surprises for me. But as it was, it's like, I, I kind of knew everything. So there was like, you know, it's like reading a book before going to see,

[00:08:52] except this is something that not only has it been done before. And you've seen different like versions of this type of thing, but I don't know. I found myself kind of like, okay. You know, it was just kind of like, you felt like it was maybe like it was checking the boxes. It's like, Oh, now we got to have the Cyclops. So you, here's the sirens. And I'm like, okay. Okay. I didn't feel like other than I will say kind of a double-edged sword, I guess, because it's a, it is not a backhanded compliment, but it is something that.

[00:09:26] Nolan's hallmark of nonlinear narratives is on this. He could have told it from the start, you know, from the Trojan horse thing, and then told it all the way up to the end where Odysseus, spoiler, he comes back. He, he could have, he could have done that. Yeah. But he didn't. He did the typical Christopher Nolan, which you and I, I think maybe off mic had talked about, how is he going to make this interesting? I'm not a big, what do they call it? Sword and sandal guy. As far as like these type of epics, like it's just not really my bag.

[00:09:55] So how is he going to make it more interesting to maybe people like me that don't go in for this type of thing? He's going to do his nonlinear thing. And he totally did. Yeah. Now I will say maybe at some points I was kind of like, because it's also a little bit of a disconnect. Cause I'm not, I haven't studied this in a while since high school. Some of the names got to be a little bit confusing. Names are tough. And so it was like, do what, you know, when they would kind of jump back and forth, I'm like, huh?

[00:10:20] You know, so it kind of left me a little kind of like flailing a little bit, but it was okay. I just didn't really get a sense of, you said you were eager to return to it. Um, I feel like I could be one and done with this. Um, not to say that it's bad, but just, it was just okay. Okay. Well, you, you hit on something that I think is a, is an issue with Nolan's films. And we, I think we've even mentioned it in some of our past reviews of it.

[00:10:50] And it is an issue with this film as well. Um, dialogue, dialogue's not always, uh, recorded or meant to be as pronounced and clear as it, as it could be. That's a common criticism. A lot of people have with Nolan or Nolan's films is, oh, it's really kind of hard to hear the people sometimes. And because they're just talking a whole bunch of names and things, it's like really hard to follow what's going on. Right. And yeah, the problem with the Odyssey from Nolan standpoint is there are a lot of names

[00:11:18] that are not easy to remember and not easy to decipher. And that is a issue. Now I will say of all the Nolan films I've seen in a while, I mean, Oppenheimer, I'll even put in this Oppenheimer, it was very easy for me to get confused about who's talking about who and who's this person and what's this person's role. What's this person's name? It happened. It definitely happened in Tenet. Oh my gosh, it happened in Tenet. But the Odyssey, I will say it has that same issue.

[00:11:45] It's probably, in my opinion, it's the least offensive of that in a while that Nolan's done. So I at least was kind of happy that midway through the movie, I'm like, dude, I'm actually kind of following this. It's like, I'm happy. But it wasn't because you were familiar with the storyline because of high school. Well, it's been a really long time since I read it. So, you know, I knew the beats that were going to hit with the story, but I did not remember

[00:12:11] all the true backstory, what was going on back in Ethica, back home, what was, you know, who all the characters were. I knew of the fantastical elements of the story. That's what I remembered. So yeah, when the Cyclops shows up, I'm like, yeah, I remember that from the story when the sirens are there. Yep, got that. But there's a few that I did not remember. So it was kind of nice. I did feel like I got a little bit of a surprise.

[00:12:36] I'll say, and this is a movie that I'm happy to say there are scenes that I kind of am jockeying my head which one I feel like are my favorites. And the fact that I've got three or four that I'm kind of having to decide between, that's a good sign because that means there's three or four at least that I feel like are worthy of saying they're the best scenes in the film. So that made me happy as well. I'll just say the scene with Cersei having to deal with animals. Sure. Very, very cool.

[00:13:06] Very good scene. Samantha Morton, very, very good in it. I think there's a scene having to deal with Hades, a trip to Hades and some revelations that happen in Hades. Very well done and really good. So yeah, those are just a couple right off the bat that I'm like, yep, those are really good scenes. I like them a lot.

[00:13:28] I like, I think there's a element to the Trojan horse story that in typical Nolan fashion, and I don't know what it is about Nolan loves the idea of guys like kind of compressed into a tight space and like having to survive. We got that with Dunkirk. I think we've got in a couple other films. And yes, we have it here with the Trojan horse situation in Troy.

[00:13:56] And that to me, it was still really a interesting way of depicting that story. A story that felt like I knew, but it's like giving it some more depth, giving us some more real aspects to it that just made it a really interesting sequence. So yeah, so I can walk away saying there's a lot of sequences and scenes I thought were really good. And the fact that it stitched it together into an enjoyable over two and a half hour tale,

[00:14:24] I think worked really good for me. Um, I will say this, the film ends, I'm not talking about the very ending, like the, the ending that lets you know what is in store for these characters next. I'm not talking about that ending. I'm talking about the whole sequence that led up to that ending. Basically there is an extended fight sequence towards the end of the film that goes on. I don't know. It's 10, 15 minutes.

[00:14:54] It felt really long or really kind of unnecessary. It felt just overindulgent. I don't think Christopher Nolan does very good with filming close quarter hand to hand combat. That was actually something I remember even back in the days of Batman Begins when that movie came out. As much as I love that movie, the criticism I had is that trying to film two people having a fist fight was not Nolan's forte.

[00:15:21] And unfortunately here at the Odyssey, we've got an extended, uh, mano a mano. Well, mano versus many, many mano, uh, battle, uh, fist fight, uh, fight that just went on so long. And I think it kind of flew in the face of the rest of the film where we had just gotten some revelations about Odysseus is his beliefs now about what had transpired over the course of this movie and some of the actions he and his men had taken and how he felt some remorse

[00:15:50] about them and what it means for his travels. And then we lead right into him just beating the crap out of 30 men that almost made him superhuman, which I just, again, did not feel like that that jived with where we ought to see him at this point in the story. So that, that whole sequence really frustrated me and kind of soured me a little bit on where the movie decided to end outside of that. That's that 5% I said that just didn't work for me.

[00:16:19] The rest of it, I think I was totally on board with, and I thought it was great and very masterly done. So that's my, that's my criticism is I think it flubbed the ending, the buildup to the ending that it really needed to make that story completely work. And, um, anyway, that's, that's my only negative feedback on the film, honestly. So Chris, do you have any other pros or cons or anything to kind of point out that you think about the film? I mean, so prepare to take a drink.

[00:16:48] I guess one of my main criticisms is I felt like it didn't need to be as long as it did. I mean, I understand you are telling an epic story, but there's a portion which, uh, I guess they're giants. They come out swinging from the woods. Yeah. And I thought there, and so that's just like we have all these other experiences, like we've mentioned of the Cyclops and we have the sirens. Um, I don't remember that. I'm not saying it's not in the Odyssey, but I don't remember that specific piece.

[00:17:17] And just the main fact that I was like, okay. And it didn't add or subtract. It was just kind of useless. I thought that could have been done away with. Um, I like John Barenthal, uh, as an actor and he's in the film as let's see, what is his name? Let me look real quick. Don't know. It's one of those names. I can't remember. Cause I don't remember, but he was probably owns ends in a lonious. Sure. Or ethica. Sure. Sure.

[00:17:44] But he, he's in the film and he, he knows a desk, um, a desk use and he, you know, talks to Telemachus, uh, Tom Holland goes looking for him. And it's basically like, he's trying to track down his father and that doesn't really give me anything. And it doesn't, it's kind of extraneous. It's basically distraction to make them, you know, just, it's like, to me, it was just like mechanics to give some backstory that didn't really feel like was necessary.

[00:18:12] I felt like this could have been a little leaner and would have worked better for me. Um, you mentioned like, you know, debating, which were standout scenes for you. Um, for me, what was interesting and normally I guess can kind of be a negative when you have a film like this, that's has a stacked cast. Sometimes people showing up, you called out Samantha Morton, which I agree as her as Searcy was probably one of my favorite parts.

[00:18:42] Normally if you see somebody like, Oh great. You know, like here's a cameo. But I think in this film, because some of the, it was nonlinear and there's so many people, it's like, okay, I don't have to know this person's name. This is just Samantha Morton. It's like, you can kind of like lock on and be like, okay, she's doing this. And it helps you kind of remember things about her for some reason. So she was really good. Um, John Leguizamo who at first when he was on screen to me unrecognizable, but then the Marla is like, no, that's him.

[00:19:10] And you, you know, his voice cause it's John Leguizamo. Um, he plays, um, you may, I think maybe it's how you say his name. He's a servant of the Desus and I really liked him and he kind of, he pops in in several different places and I really, I really enjoyed his character. Um, Elliot Page as Zenon, who kind of is part of the Trojan horse portion.

[00:19:37] Um, thought that was really cool too. And at first I was like, huh, you know, it was like disposed of or dispensed rather quickly, but then kind of comes back around and you're like, okay, I get it now. Um, and then I'll call that one. So those are like these scenes kind of form like my favorite parts. And when they were to turn to him or those actors would come back on grand, Samantha Morton didn't do that, but I would kind of perk up.

[00:20:02] Um, Zendaya as Athena, I thought the way they kind of portrayed her fading in and out of the story also really good. And I will say as a positive, I talked about like, there wasn't a lot for me because it was pretty much just a straightforward storytelling of the Odyssey, which I was familiar with. So it's like, you know, why did he do this?

[00:20:25] The nonlinear aspect helped and another aspect, I could see how you could criticize it because it may have felt a little tacked on, but at least it felt somewhat relevant to the times we are living in about repercussions of actions that are taken. And Matt Damon, which actually I feel like probably was his, he's basically just strongman, he man walked around the whole film.

[00:20:53] He, not that he's bad, but he doesn't get to do a lot. He basically just grunts, reacts, grows a beard, not told the end. Yeah. Right. But at the end, you kind of alluded to a speech that he gives talking to Penelope kind of about realizing what went on at Troy, what he lost, what he said. And it's like, okay. Well, it kind of reframes his performance the whole rest of the movie because it's like,

[00:21:19] he's supposed to be kind of a, just a, a brute, just kind of going through situations. He's a bit arrogant in the first half of the stories again. So yeah, that's why that ending, that ending, that more talking to Penelope through the, through the, the, the gate or the door was like, that worked really well. And that was, again, something I did not expect from Nolan to give us that kind of emotional beat like he did. So it was, it worked. Yeah.

[00:21:47] I would say, um, I was curious. I'm wondering what your takeaway is. Otherwise than to just make this person seem mythic. Matt Damon at first, as it is, they, when they first show his character, they don't show his face. And then, I mean, granted, he's supposed to be younger because of how they're flashing back to when he was younger. And then they finally do show his face. And I was like, okay, were they trying to keep it a mystery or what was going on there? Okay.

[00:22:15] And one character that they never reveal who it is. And the early posters for this character had like a golden looking skeleton or like a backbone kind of coming up of her. Oh, this helmet. Agamemnon. Yeah. And they never like, you kind of see his face at one point through like a helmet, but you don't really, or I couldn't tell who it was. And then they show Agamemnon later in the film when he comes home to his wife and they show him completely from behind. Yeah.

[00:22:43] And I didn't get why they were doing that other than maybe just to make him seem mythic and spoiler, because it doesn't really matter. It's Benny Safdie. Right. But I'm like, why? I think it's the whole mythic nature is what it was. I think both he and Odysseus were supposed to be kind of viewed much in the same way by people, very mythic. You just hear stories about these characters. Songs. Right.

[00:23:08] Odysseus we see earlier on because we actually get to see him because he's going to be our lead. We kind of have to follow him. Chop his head off. The other one, I think there's something to be said for. Never really revealing. Right. And it's like treating as a true mythic character that people just talk about and hear about and never really know. So, and I think that's a little bit of when we spoiler, when we see him in Hades, for whatever

[00:23:33] reason, I think that's also some of the messaging is that, you know, he dared to go back home to a situation that he had had inflamed. And it's just, again, it's just building up that mythic persona. Yeah. That's how I took it anyway. No, it was irritating, but then reflecting after, I was like, I guess this is what he was going for. But yeah, I just wanted to know who it was. Yeah. Right. Well, that's why he had IMDB afterwards.

[00:24:03] So, yeah. Well, I mean, I, again, I'm very high on the film, save for a 10 minute sequence that I don't think worked in the nature of the film. But overall. That's the fight scene you're talking about? Okay. Agreed. I felt like it was long. Plus, I've never really noticed him suffering from it before you were referencing Batman. I don't really.

[00:24:30] But this was, to me, we've grumbled about it in the past, usually with Marvel movies, things being dark and you not being able to tell. I mean, yes, I get it. People are fighting. Gotcha. And it's supposed to be kind of chaotic. Gotcha. But when it seems to be about 10 minutes of it, at some point, I'm just like, okay. And because I kind of know how the story ends, I'm like, I know what's going to happen here. Yeah. Right.

[00:25:26] And it's just, yeah. Learning and watching your men just be brutes and, you know, just destroying people and civilizations and what impact it had on you. And then you go. And granted, I know most of the men in this room had ill intentions. Right. But not all of them, maybe. I don't know. Well, they did show some people taking a knee. Right. Yes. So, okay. So, the guys who took a knee, obviously, he didn't go around and kick their ass.

[00:25:53] I mean, just the ones who started fighting him. Right. I get it. But it was just as easily as he was just kind of like throwing them off and like battling them. I'm like, oh, I didn't want this to end with Odysseus being a superhuman powered individual. Gotcha. It just didn't work for me in the story that Nolan built up to. But I got it. He had to get to the point where, yes, he had beaten them all down.

[00:26:20] But he himself has some injuries, which will, you know. Yes, I know you need to get to that point. I think there was a more elegant way to get there without 10 minutes of just really hard to decipher, dimly lit fistfights. So, anyway. Okay. But otherwise, I love the film. I think it's great. Chris thinks it's fine. I think it's fun. You think it's fun? Yeah. I mean, do you like it more or less than, I'm just looking at his last film, Oppenheimer? I like it less.

[00:26:50] You like it less than Oppenheimer? I really dug Oppenheimer. Yeah. I was in the bag for Oppenheimer. And I like Oppenheimer, too. I like the Odyssey a bit more just because it played more to what I was looking for. Got you. Oppenheimer, I really liked. I admired the craft of Oppenheimer. I found it a little, I found it just a bit tedious in places and a bit too wonky, too much need to know what's going on behind the scenes to understand it better.

[00:27:21] It was a bit too technical at times for me to have a full enjoyment of it. But Odyssey was the right mix for me. So, okay. Well, that is the Odyssey. It's doing pretty good right now. People are seeing it. People are talking about it. That's what I hear. Yes. It is. So, with that. Third biggest opening of the year? I believe so. Yes.

[00:27:44] It's up there in that top-tier film status with Super Mario Galaxy and Toy Story 5, I believe, are the other two that crossed the $100 million opening weekend. Something like $250 million to make and made $265 million. So, it's like. Yeah. It'll still need to. I mean, in theory, you're supposed to try to double. What the production budget was to account for marketing and all the other costs involved. So, we'll see. I think it'll do it.

[00:28:14] I mean, this has got long legs. It's going to be in theaters for a good while. I think people are clamoring for it. And you want to see something. A Christopher Nolan film. You do want to see it on theater. You typically want to see it on a big screen. Absolutely. Because it's meant to be seen that way. Agreed. All right. Well, that is the Odyssey from Christopher Nolan. That was our review. Chris, how about let's take a quick little break. We come back. We've got three trailers of upcoming films to share with each other and with the public.

[00:28:40] And we'll also get your recommendation on record as well for the episode. So, stay tuned. 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?

[00:29:09] The Mesh can help you bring your podcast to life with the tools, support, and platform you need to be heard. Check us out at TheMesh.tv where great podcasts live and new ones are born. Welcome back to Foot Candle Films here on TheMesh.tv podcast network. Chris, we had our review of The Odyssey in the first part of the show.

[00:29:35] As always, let's turn our attention forward, not backwards. We're looking at upcoming movies. Ones that we have not seen yet because they have not come out yet, but they have gifted us with small little morsels we call trailers to let us know what is in store for these films. So I've got three I want to show. As I mentioned in the setup at the beginning, I think all three of these are shooting for lofty ambitions come into the year. Definitely two of the three.

[00:30:04] Now the third one, we'll decipher when we get to it. I'm going to save that one for last. Let's go through the two more, a little more traditional, big award contending films, I think that are, that are, that are going for some recognition later in the year. First up, uh, the film is called The Uprising. This is written and directed by Paul Greengrass. Oh, okay. Okay. Uh, he, uh, oh gosh.

[00:30:34] United 93, some of the Bourne films. Yeah. You got it. Anything else? Uh, did he do, he didn't do Captain Phillips, did he? Oh, he might have. I think he did. I think he might have. Yeah. That might've be his most recent, maybe. I think that was since, yeah, it was after United 93. I feel like it was. Okay. I'll need to look up his filmography and see, but yes, uh, accomplished director, well-known director, Paul Greengrass.

[00:31:02] This film, The Uprising, it stars Andrew Garfield, Jamie Bell, Tom Hollander, and let's see, Catherine Watterson. Uh, the little log line of the film. I'll just tell you, this is coming out September 11th, by the way. Uh, kind of odd. We just mentioned in 1993. Yeah. Coming out September 11th. Anyway, uh, odd coincidence. Uh, the film centers on a legendary leader of a ferocious rebellion against the tyranny

[00:31:31] of King Richard II. So Chris, you're getting a period film. I know you're excited. As war burns across England, he forms an army of the people to face the king's might in a fight for justice and survival. Okay. So leader of a rebellion fighting against King Richard. Uh, that's what we've got. So it's interesting too, is, you know, there again, we'll have to look at his homography and neither one of us are like a perfect expert on his films, but I do believe he's ever done a period piece. So this is interesting.

[00:32:01] Subject matter makes sense about people like rising to an occasion. Yeah. But a period piece to me for him seems that's it. That's interesting. Yes. Agreed. Um, I'm actually going to look up Mr. Greengrass's IMDB while we watch the trailer. I've seen part of this already. So here we go. Let's watch the trailer for the uprising and we'll talk about it afterwards here. I am no soldier. I am no priest.

[00:32:31] I'm just a farmer. The land is broken. We are forced to work. Beyond what our souls can take. The king is the law. We have nothing more left. He says pay taxes, you pay taxes. She's of age. Then she must pay. He says work harder, you work harder. Enough!

[00:33:00] Enough! We've given you enough! I shouldn't have done that, a farmer. It is time to set the world on fire. So that was the trailer for the uprising.

[00:33:29] Otherwise, Paul Greengrass's version of Braveheart. Yes. Braveheart, Gladiator. Let's roll all this together into, yes. Based on a true historical story. I did look up Mr. Greengrass's filmography. Although he has done films, obviously, about historical events, this is the first one that's like really historical, like old historical, like true. All those other films have taken place in the last 20 years.

[00:33:59] People have had cars. Right. Good point. So any just initial gut thoughts on this? It looks very politically charged, obviously. Looks good. Very, of course, he doesn't stray away from violence. This looks very, very violent. Like it reminded me of Braveheart just because of like time period and the accents and stuff. But yeah, looks good. And I can definitely see how it could be angling for awards during award season.

[00:34:29] Well, it certainly seems Mr. Garfield might be angling for that as well. So it seems to be a pretty meaty role for him to get into as well. So, well, it's just the whole idea behind it. Like you said, it's a uprising. It's a commoner kind of rising up against tyranny. Which seems the tyranny seems to be corrupt and just taking money from people. And yeah. Yes. All right. Well, that is coming out, as I said, September.

[00:34:58] We've got the uprising will be out in Among Us. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I hope there's more to it than just the simplest, the story that we kind of saw in the trailer and just being tons of fighting. Yeah. It does look like there will be tons of fighting. A lot of fighting. But I hope there's a little more to it than that. But be anxious to see it. Okay. Now, another film. This one is called Behemoth. Okay.

[00:35:27] And it has an exclamation point at the end. So you have to say it. Behemoth. Behemoth. Really sternly and excited when you say it. This is also from another gifted director that we're familiar with, Tony Gilroy. Okay. Michael Clayton was probably a film that I think most people know of his. I know he has spent the last several years, I think he was involved with the show Andor, the Disney Star Wars show. Sure. That was very well acclaimed as well.

[00:35:55] Tony Gilroy was kind of the, I think he directed episodes, but I definitely think he was also like producer and kind of showrunner of it. Gotcha. So this is a film though. This one stars Pedro Pascal. He really needs to start working. I know. It's so happy to see him in something. Yeah. It's been too long. It's been a couple weeks since we've seen him in anything.

[00:36:17] So Pedro Pascal, Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Jo Beth Williams, Hank Azaria, and Will Arnett. Okay. Interesting cast. The log line for this film is a gifted cellist, cellist. Cellist. Cellist. Yes. Cellist. Gotcha. Playing the cello. A gifted cellist returns home to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road. Please let the cellist be Will Arnett.

[00:36:47] No. Music, which has been the constant, all-consuming river of his life, begins to carry Alex on an adventure that will change him forever. So this is considered a teaser trailer. It's a little on the shorter side. Okay. More to give us a vibe for the film, but this is the teaser trailer for Behemoth. So it's eight free into bar 33. And let's roll clicks.

[00:37:23] Heard a rumor that you were back. Is that who I think it is? How are you? What are you doing here?

[00:38:02] So that is the teaser trailer for Behemoth coming out. I need to look and see when the release date on this is. I will know that shortly. Once the intern runs in with that information, I know I have it right at our fingertips. I'm just waiting to see. I have no idea. I don't know when it is coming up. Later this year, I'm sure. Probably closer to winter. It would be my guess. Chris, any immediate thoughts on Behemoth?

[00:38:31] Probably one of the odder trailers I've seen in a while. Specifically, I mean, I know this is an audio podcast, but if you watch the trailer, if you're interested in the film, we mentioned the cast. Towards the end of the trailer, you just see scenes and there's the slow title of the movie kind of zooms in. And then just very interesting, kind of odd. They just do a montage of different scenes as the title is fading in. I don't know. It's interesting. And then you did get to hear this because it is audio.

[00:39:00] Will Arnett kind of dropping that line at the end. There's an interesting level of irony that I need to talk to you about. Yeah, I'm curious because it's the perfect trailer. I am curious. I like the actors involved. Michael Clayton, I did appreciate that movie. Yeah. I'm wondering what exactly is going on here.

[00:39:22] Is it something more than maybe a more of an intrigue film like Tar done as a mystery? You know, because that was about a composer, whereas this is about a cellist. Yeah. I don't know. Will Arnett, too, seeing him come off the film, is this thing on? Is this thing on? Which he was good in it, but overall it left me a little wanting. But seeing him in this, I'm curious. Very curious.

[00:39:51] I think this is the perfect trailer in that I have a feel for the vibe of the film without knowing exactly what the film really is about. Sure. And I think that's great. I'm intrigued enough, very interested in seeing this film. I kind of don't want to see anything more about it. I just want to experience it just from that teaser. Just the title itself for, you know, Behemoth with an exclamation point. Yeah. Odd in itself, and then for this type of film, you're like, okay, do what?

[00:40:21] Yeah, that's great. It's interesting. So interestingly enough, you know, Tony Gilroy has written many, many films for many things. But as a director, he has only made three previous movies. Michael Clayton was actually his first directorial debut as a film. Okay. He did the film Duplicity, which I don't think I ever saw. And then he did The Bourne Legacy. So interesting, we did Greengrass and now we did Gilroy and both of them have done a Bourne movie.

[00:40:49] The Bourne Legacy, I think it was the one with Jeremy Renner in that role that didn't quite take off. So yeah, Behemoth is, his last film was The Bourne Legacy 2012. So it's been 14 years on that. Again, he's been involved with Andor. However, he wrote, I believe, Rogue One. Okay. The Star Wars movie there. Sure.

[00:41:15] And I think he was also involved in the film Nightcrawler, that one with... Jake Gyllenhaal. That's it. Yeah. That's the one. Okay. So anyway, he's involved in a lot of projects. But as a director, it's just been a handful, small number of films. But Michael Clayton's the one I think most people know him from. So anyway, I'm terribly excited. Can't wait. Very much looking forward to it. Yeah. Don't know anything more about it. And I'm happy with that. That is good. I still can't find a release date. That's December 4th.

[00:41:45] Okay. December 4th is the release. So yeah, it's coming in right at... Prime time. Peak Oscar recognition time. Yes. So Chris, we have one more trailer to show. Okay. We... I don't think we talked about this on the show. I think this was an off mic discussion about the fact that if you went to go see Supergirl

[00:42:09] in the theater, you were regaled to a three and a half minute trailer for this film that was really a retrospective of its lead actor and all of his performances up to that point. To which my wife turned to me and said, I will not be seeing that film. She does not like Tom Cruise. And then that trailer was like... Yes. Nail in the coffin at that point. And that...

[00:42:36] I think we talked about the teaser that they released for the film. There was a teaser. And then we didn't discuss this trailer. And now they've got a new one. Yeah. This is a full trailer. And I only want... Yeah. The teaser was very, very cryptic. It was just... Tom Cruise dancing. It was just him kind of with a shovel doing a little dance. It was like very, very brief, very quick. Didn't really tell you a lot. This is a full trailer. And I'm always hesitant to get into full trailers because I do feel like they give away too much. And I'm not a big fan of that.

[00:43:05] But this trailer, I'm going to weave my wife into the story. We watched this trailer the other night. And she turned to me afterwards and said, what weird, trippy, fever dream thing came up with this film? I'm like, yes. And that's why I'm excited about it because it just looks bonkers. And I am happy about it. So this is the film Digger. This is from... NR2. I'm going to have a hard time.

[00:43:34] Always mess up his name. NR2. Right? Right? Alejandro Inarratu. He did Birdman. Yes. Which I will always... I will still to my dying day. I love Birdman. I forget the subtitle of the film, but I just know it's Birdman. And that is one of my favorite films. He's done several others too. I think he did Revenant. He did... He did Babel, right?

[00:44:04] Babel. Okay. Yep. Did he do... Was it 21 Grams? I believe so. And then also Morris... Yes. Yeah. Yes. So he's... All right. Not his first rodeo. Oh, no, no. And... But a very interesting... Most recently before this, a film for Netflix, which I think I'm one of maybe 10 people who saw it, Bardo. Oh, right. Right. I did not catch Bardo either. So... All right. This is Digger. This is Tom Cruise.

[00:44:35] This film has already gotten a lot of kind of interesting hype just because Tom Cruise is supposed to be unrecognizable. Don't buy that. He's recognizable. It's totally Tom Cruise. But it is an interesting role. It's interestingly shot and looks very interesting. I do have a comment about the look of the film that we're seeing in the trailer afterwards. But with that, let's go ahead right into the trailer. This is Digger.

[00:45:01] The logline on it just says, the most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything. You also got Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Huller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons all in this film as well. Caution to everybody. I don't know how well our editor is going to be able to cover up all the profanity.

[00:45:31] But so earmuffs on if you've got young ones in the listening in case we miss some of these in the editing process before we release. So, all right, here we go. Trailer for Digger. Everything changes. You know, one day you're a cat. Just take a little taste for daddy. Come on, sweetheart. Or a king.

[00:46:01] Next day you're just ashes in a box. How long would you say she has? Between two weeks and five minutes. Woo-hoo! Mr. Rockwell, my name is Sandy Clarkson. Yes, Sandy! How you been, buddy? You're the man with the five-foot crap. Now, Glacier over there in Greenland, it shifts five feet. Now, this desk in front of me is bigger than five feet. Mr. Rockwell- My dick is a tenth of that size. Who do you want me to shut down the billion dollar platform over something that's ten times the size of my d***? Oh!

[00:46:31] I don't believe you understand what's happening, sir. What did you just say? Sorry, sir. Well, I know perfectly well what's going on there, because I'm paying for the whole thing. I'm paying for your f***ing 90% Hungarian goose down winter jacket. I'm paying your salary. You want to shut her down? Well, uh- Say it! Mr. President, we're utterly unprotected against a disaster of this magnitude. What's our worst-case scenario? $18 trillion, sir. Is that all the f***ing news? There's the nuclear waste, too.

[00:47:01] Oh, man! Oh, man! All right. That is the trailer for Digger. Chris? It looks like an interesting ride. Yeah, kind of a Terry Gilliam type idea going on. Terry Gilliam meets Dr. Strangelove meets... Right.

[00:47:28] I mean, there was another film I was thinking about when I was watching it. I can't... I'm drawing a blank now. Anyway, yeah. There's a lot of styles at play, and it looks interesting. Yeah. Seemingly very political, shall we say. Yes. Might make a lot of people angry. Yes. But it looks to be... Yeah. It looks to be something to behold. I am interested in seeing it.

[00:47:58] And R2... Birdman, I think, rubbed me a little bit the wrong way when I said... We're not a fan. I should revisit it. But he's definitely an interesting filmmaker. And the cinematography, production design, all that kind of... You know, all those checkboxes. He's always an interesting stylist, interesting visual person. So this film looks to be no different. So... Yeah. So I was trying to look back at the filmography of NRA2.

[00:48:26] Who looks like the last films he did... I think you're right with Bardo. I just want to make sure we're not missing anything here. It's like, what if Frank T.J. Mackey dropped the Manosphere sex stuff for guys to try to pump men up and became like a oil tycoon or something like that who had no regard for the environment? Yes. That's what like Tom Cruise... And he's much older and not as handsome. Like, that's seemingly what this is. Yeah, I could see that as well. Right.

[00:48:55] So before this film, Bardo was the last one, like you mentioned. He did The Revenant before that. Birdman was before that. Then we also had the film Beautiful that he did with... Javier Bardem. Javier Bardem. He did Babel. 21 Grams. I'm kind of going backwards here. And Amoris Peres, like you mentioned. Gotcha. So yeah, that is his filmography there. So interesting to see how this pans out.

[00:49:26] I think my prediction is this will either be a very interesting film or it'll be a horrible film. I mean, it's going to be polarizing one way or another. It's not going to be a, oh, you just watch it and you don't really think about it afterwards. It's either going to be bad. And it has the potential to be very, very bad. Sure. Or it could be a very interesting watch that sticks with you. So we will see. Okay. That is all the trailers I had to share. Three is enough.

[00:49:56] I think we are... There are... I'm not going to do something I was tempted to do just a few minutes ago, Chris, because the new trailer or the first and only trailer so far for the Avengers Doomsday just came out while we were recording here. But I'm not going to do it. Okay. Because, you know, that film's going to get enough attention. It doesn't need a bump from us. Probably not. To promote it. So... I think it has people that will go see it regardless if we talk about it.

[00:50:23] So let's try to give these other three movies a little more attention. And that's what we're going to do here. Now, Chris, here at the end of the show, last thing we'd like to do is turn it over to you exclusively for a few moments while you share with us your recommendation of a film that you think is worth checking out. I am just... Again, I'm excited because I know it's a film. At least you told me it was. One that I've already seen. So I have no pressure to want to see anything new or add to my list. So, Chris, I'm going to turn it over to you. What do you have to recommend for us this week?

[00:50:54] I'm going to recommend a film that was released this year. It was a 2025 film, but I think it was actually released this year. Came and went in theaters pretty quickly. If you have a smaller independent theater in your area, it may still be showing this. It is Tuner by director Daniel Rower. And he... You think, well, that name maybe sounds familiar. He directed the Oscar-winning documentary, Navalny. So this is his first narrative film.

[00:51:22] It tells the story of a talented piano tuner whose life is turned upside down when he discovers that his meticulous skills for tuning pianos can equally be applied to cracking safes. Kind of an odd premise for a movie, but it works. The piano tuner is played by Leo Woodall, who for me was pretty much an unknown. Dustin Hoffman is in the film. I know him. You do know him.

[00:51:51] Not personally, but you know. And he plays kind of the mentor to this fellow. And this being a smaller independent film, granted the guy who directed it did win an Oscar. But I feel like Dustin Hoffman's name on this probably helped it get funding. But for me, I felt like his role was a little meatier than what it could have been. He could have been in like one scene and then gone.

[00:52:17] But he stuck around and had some interesting dialogue back and forth with the main character. So I appreciated that. I think the film, I didn't know what to expect going into it other than just the description that he was a piano tuner. It was funnier than I thought it was going to be, at least until things start getting serious. Which it does get serious. And there's some violence because he, as he is doing a safe cracker, as we know, that is not legal. Because usually you are stealing things from people.

[00:52:46] And gets involved with some organized crime elements. So mourning, not a film for the kids. Plus it has profanity, a lot of it. But I enjoyed it. It's currently, you can rent it on places from Amazon or like Apple. Letterboxd, actually that service that Alan and I are fond of. They have it in their video store where you can rent it for them. At some point, it will probably also come to general streaming like Netflix. It's not there yet.

[00:53:14] But that's the film I'm going to recommend, Tuner. And we recently brought it for our film society, for Cano Film Society. And it was well received. So Tuner is my recommendation. And that's like a piano tuner. T-U-N-E-R. Right. And I'll echo. I enjoyed Tuner quite a bit. Thought it was great. My phrase on it is, it was better than it needed to be for being a relatively simple story. Simple concept.

[00:53:43] But it was good. It was very well done. Very entertaining. Yeah. No, I like to Tuner as well. So thank you for the recommendation on that. Absolutely. That's good. Yeah. I think it's available now for purchase, like bigger dollar purchase online. But that means it's within weeks of it'll be available for rental or maybe on a streaming service, a subscription service soon. It's a perfect film for that, for a streaming service for somebody to pick up on later.

[00:54:11] Because you're right, it didn't get tons of theater play. So it's one of those things that we had heard about it for the film society. A lot of critics are kind of championing this film because it's kind of an underdog that not a lot of people know about. But people who see it actually really like it. Yeah. So. No, it's good. Very, very good. That's Tuner. Thank you for the recommendation, Chris. And with that, I think we are done. We're going to wrap this puppy up. We had our review of The Odyssey in the first half of the show.

[00:54:38] We had trailers for The Uprising, Behemoth, exclamation point, and Digger. Digger felt like it should have an exclamation point at the end of the title too. Yes, agreed. Right? Just based on the trailer. And we should suggest that to the marketing department. That's right. We need more films with exclamation points or any kind of punctuation really, I think. We already have colons. Yes. We have plenty of colons. I think we need to get the exclamation points going back up a little bit more. All right, Chris.

[00:55:04] If anybody wants to dialogue with us about anything we talked about or share any of their opinions or thoughts on anything, especially when it comes to The Odyssey, I'd love to hear anybody out there that had some more misgivings with the film because that tends to be out in the minority from what I'm hearing out there in the public. But I'd love to hear it. So anybody who's got some feedback for us, Chris, how can they get a hold of us? You can contact us by sending an email to info at footcandle.org or leave us a voicemail

[00:55:30] 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 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'll help us reach new listeners. And we would appreciate that. The Footcandle Film Festival will be happening September 18th through the 27th.

[00:56:00] The lineup for that will be released shortly. Maybe by the time you hear this episode, it's possible. But definitely before the end of July, it should be up. And we encourage you to go take a look and come and see the festival in Western North Carolina in Hickory, North Carolina. So it should be fun. September 18th through the 27th. All right. Well, that will wrap us up for today. Thanks, everybody, for listening to Footcandle Films. We will look forward to talking to you next time we record. Take care. See you in the ticket line.

[00:57:09] Special thanks to Carpal Tuller for the show theme 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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