Twisters Thelma

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

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

[00:00:10] Footcandle Films. Film news and reviews from two guys who really like movies.

[00:00:17] This episode is brought to you by the Footcandle Film Society.

[00:00:21] For a schedule of upcoming screenings and membership information, visit the Society's website at www.footcandle.org.

[00:00:35] Hello everyone and welcome to Footcandle Films here on the MESH.TV Podcast Network.

[00:00:40] My name is Alan Jackson. With me, as always, Christopher Fry.

[00:00:44] We are with the Footcandle Film Society and the Footcandle Film Festival located right here in Western North Carolina.

[00:00:51] And today we are hosting the podcast Footcandle Films.

[00:00:55] Lots of the word footcandle scattered all through that sentence.

[00:00:58] Chris, how are you doing?

[00:01:00] I'm doing well.

[00:01:01] So we are in the midst of the summer movie season.

[00:01:04] So always lots to go see in said multiplex.

[00:01:08] So yeah, it's an interesting time.

[00:01:10] It is nice.

[00:01:11] I've kind of been able to get back in my habit of, you know,

[00:01:14] I try to go to the theater once a week.

[00:01:16] That's always been my goal.

[00:01:17] The last few months, I have not been as successful with that.

[00:01:20] But the last few weeks, there's been some summer movies, been some movies to go see.

[00:01:26] There's something new coming out every week that's worth at least talking about or at least seeing.

[00:01:31] And this week is no exception.

[00:01:33] We're going to be reviewing the latest new summer release.

[00:01:37] It is the film Twisters.

[00:01:38] That is Twister with an S at the end.

[00:01:41] It is the, I'm not going to call it a sequel.

[00:01:43] It's not a sequel.

[00:01:44] It's just a new version of the Twister, I guess.

[00:01:49] And it was never a franchise.

[00:01:51] They never made a sequel to Twister.

[00:01:53] Like not even a direct-to-video one that we're aware of, right?

[00:01:56] I mean, Twister was a standalone movie.

[00:01:59] Correct.

[00:01:59] My understanding is.

[00:02:00] This is now, what?

[00:02:01] How many years passed?

[00:02:03] Are we like 25?

[00:02:05] Maybe.

[00:02:06] Yeah.

[00:02:06] Someone in that neighborhood sent the first one.

[00:02:08] Anyway, we're going to be reviewing the film Twisters by director Lee Isaac Chung

[00:02:13] and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glenn Powell.

[00:02:17] Then we'll be moving on.

[00:02:18] We're actually going to do a two for today, Chris.

[00:02:20] We're going to do two reviews.

[00:02:21] We've got a second film to review.

[00:02:23] It is the film Thelma starring June Squibb.

[00:02:26] We will be talking about that film as well as our second review.

[00:02:30] And we also have another one of the world-famous Chris Fry patented film recommendations for us

[00:02:39] to explore at the end of the episode.

[00:02:41] So, that is all what we've got planned for this episode.

[00:02:45] Chris, are you ready to just jump right into our first review of the film Twisters?

[00:02:49] Sure.

[00:02:50] Intern just ran in here at the last second.

[00:02:52] 28 years.

[00:02:53] 28 years.

[00:02:54] Okay.

[00:02:54] I wasn't too far off then.

[00:02:55] So, it was 90...

[00:02:57] It was 98.

[00:02:57] 98.

[00:02:58] Mm-hmm.

[00:02:58] Okay.

[00:02:59] That checks out.

[00:03:00] All right.

[00:03:01] I'm sorry.

[00:03:01] 96.

[00:03:02] Sorry.

[00:03:02] 96.

[00:03:03] Okay.

[00:03:03] All right.

[00:03:04] Are you ready to get into the review?

[00:03:06] Yes.

[00:03:06] All right.

[00:03:07] Here we go.

[00:03:07] Guys, whatever's in there is big and it's moving fast.

[00:03:21] Drive.

[00:03:21] Go.

[00:03:36] Mr. Glenn Powell.

[00:03:39] We reviewed his recent collaboration with Richard Linklater, Hip Man.

[00:03:43] I was one over to Team Powell with that entry into his catalog.

[00:03:48] Prior to Hip Man, he starred with some Thomas Cruise fellow in Top Gun Maverick.

[00:03:53] With Twisters, Powell works to pull another dusty blockbuster film from the vault of cinema

[00:03:58] history.

[00:04:00] Alan, did this revisit to the land of tornado chasers work as well as his jet flying antics

[00:04:06] and male bravado in Top Gun Maverick?

[00:04:09] All right.

[00:04:09] Well, if we're focusing on Glenn Powell for a minute, which I think...

[00:04:13] It's kind of hard not to.

[00:04:14] I think we can do that.

[00:04:16] Yeah.

[00:04:17] Yeah.

[00:04:17] I mean, call me Camp Team Powell.

[00:04:22] I like this guy and I liked his character in this film.

[00:04:27] I liked his performance.

[00:04:28] I will say, Chris, I was in a packed theater watching this film.

[00:04:33] It's kind of a good way to see almost any movie, but definitely a blockbuster movie.

[00:04:37] A big movie, like a big spectacle movie and all that.

[00:04:39] But what got the constant audience reaction was reaction to Glenn Powell in his dialogue

[00:04:47] line scenes or reactions on things.

[00:04:50] I mean, and there was a lot of ladies in the audience.

[00:04:53] I think that were kind of driving that.

[00:04:55] Understandable.

[00:04:55] He definitely knows how to work the screen.

[00:04:59] And I think audiences respond well to him.

[00:05:02] I responded well to him.

[00:05:03] I liked him a lot in this movie.

[00:05:04] I liked Daisy Edgar Jones in this movie.

[00:05:07] I thought she was great as the lead actress in the film.

[00:05:10] Chris, I'm going to go out and say, I really like this movie.

[00:05:13] I had a really good time with Twisters.

[00:05:15] I thought it was fun.

[00:05:16] I thought it was kind of what we need from a good summer blockbuster movie that, you know,

[00:05:25] doesn't go to, doesn't take itself too awfully seriously.

[00:05:29] Does it have some, some shortcomings?

[00:05:31] Does it have some contrivances and some plot devices that are, I think, kind of weak and

[00:05:35] character motivations that are weak?

[00:05:37] Yes, absolutely.

[00:05:38] But it never got to a point where I found myself eye rolling, which will happen in a lot

[00:05:43] with a big blockbuster movie where I find myself groaning at some character motivations

[00:05:49] or some plot devices that are thrown in to move the plot forward.

[00:05:54] This never got to that point with me.

[00:05:56] Yes, there, there are things where you kind of have to take with a grain of salt.

[00:05:59] And yes, you kind of have to roll with the punches sometimes, but overall it was just,

[00:06:04] it just worked.

[00:06:05] And I think it's a combination for me.

[00:06:07] It was a cast that I found myself kind of engaged with and I found myself pretty, pretty

[00:06:13] on board with.

[00:06:15] Um, I thought the special effects were good.

[00:06:18] I thought the, the, the, I mean, I would give it to Lee Isaac Chung, the director.

[00:06:23] I think the guy knows how to direct a pretty good action movie.

[00:06:26] I would not have expected that after watching his previous film, Minari, which I also really

[00:06:31] liked.

[00:06:31] There are some similarities, strangely enough, but, um, I, I, I really enjoy twisters and I

[00:06:39] am absolutely curious to hear what you thought about this.

[00:06:42] Um, I did not expect to like this.

[00:06:44] I honestly did.

[00:06:45] I'm not the biggest fan of the first one of the, the original twister.

[00:06:49] I'm just not, I, I just never quite grabbed me the way that I think it did a lot of people

[00:06:54] at the time.

[00:06:55] Uh, so anyway, not pulled into its vortex.

[00:06:58] Yeah.

[00:06:59] And I don't know.

[00:06:59] I think it was honestly, I just never really got, I never really felt that connected to

[00:07:03] the characters.

[00:07:04] Um, we had, um, Helen Hunt and Bill Pullman in that film.

[00:07:08] Paxton.

[00:07:08] Paxton.

[00:07:09] Sorry.

[00:07:09] I always get those two confused.

[00:07:11] My apologies to the bills.

[00:07:12] Um, yeah, I just, it just never grabbed me from a character standpoint.

[00:07:17] This one definitely did more of that.

[00:07:19] So anyway, that being said, Chris, I want to hear your thoughts on twisters.

[00:07:24] So this is not typically my cup of tea.

[00:07:28] You know, I, I don't know if twisters was the first, but I remember back in the nineties,

[00:07:33] we had twister, we had deep impact.

[00:07:36] We had Armageddon.

[00:07:37] We had all these like disaster movies.

[00:07:41] Um, just not, not kind of where it's all about the spectacle and there's not a whole

[00:07:45] lot.

[00:07:45] And any, any other threads that they try to pull in there for plot.

[00:07:49] You're just like, yeah, just, just show me the thing blowing up or just show me the

[00:07:52] tornado.

[00:07:53] That's, that's all we're here for.

[00:07:54] Come on.

[00:07:55] Um, so not my typical genre.

[00:07:58] Um, I, I highlighted Glenn Powell in my intro because I think without him, I would have checked

[00:08:05] out of this movie completely.

[00:08:07] Um, because he was, even though I'm not going to say he was totally playing an original character

[00:08:12] that we've never seen before.

[00:08:14] Um, because it's, you kind of sensed from the moment he hit the screen, like he has all

[00:08:19] this bravado, but you're like, okay, I know that he's not going to be the bad guy.

[00:08:23] I know that he's going to have a harder goal and sure enough, but they don't, they don't,

[00:08:27] it's not like they delay that.

[00:08:28] They kind of hinted early on.

[00:08:30] And again, so, you know, it isn't like a third act shift on it.

[00:08:33] Like you would expect a character.

[00:08:35] And that's, I did appreciate in the film that they didn't try to cop out on that.

[00:08:39] It's like, no, you know, within five minutes of meeting this guy, there's probably something

[00:08:43] else here and we're going to go.

[00:08:45] Because he's, he's being, he has this big PT Barnum showmanship quality, but you can tell

[00:08:53] he's not a jerk.

[00:08:54] You know, he can tell underneath it.

[00:08:55] He's like, no, he's not.

[00:08:56] He's not.

[00:08:56] He's being funny.

[00:08:57] He's playing to the camera, but he's probably not a jerk.

[00:09:01] So sure enough, that, that plays out.

[00:09:04] Um, so I will say too, kind of like what you mentioned, Lee Isaac, director Minari.

[00:09:10] Yeah.

[00:09:10] I would never have expected.

[00:09:11] I think we T or mentioned this in a news story that we had that they were making a sequel

[00:09:16] and mentioned that he was involved.

[00:09:18] We're like, well, that's interesting.

[00:09:19] Yeah.

[00:09:19] Um, I feel like you alluded to maybe touches that you can tell that he brings to it.

[00:09:25] I think the wide open spaces and the way that like lots of things are done at the golden

[00:09:30] hour seemingly, or just wide open fields of grass.

[00:09:33] And you see the ominous storm like way in the background, but you can see it approaching

[00:09:37] just those type touches.

[00:09:39] It's very painterly.

[00:09:41] And I appreciate that.

[00:09:42] So the film looked good.

[00:09:45] You know, it's tough for me to analyze things like the effects and CGI in a film like this.

[00:09:53] They weren't, I will say they were not bad.

[00:09:56] It was not the toilet bowl effect that we had with the flash movie that came out.

[00:10:01] So no, it was not that.

[00:10:02] Yeah.

[00:10:02] But you know, they're either to me because we're so inundated and we just expect it to

[00:10:08] look good now because we're like, well, we've got the technology.

[00:10:10] If it looks like a toilet bowl, shame on the film for not spending more time on it.

[00:10:14] But then other than that, it's like good or bad.

[00:10:17] And I'm like, nope, this was good.

[00:10:18] Yeah.

[00:10:19] But I'm not bowled over because I just kind of, I've been spoiled, I guess is what I'm

[00:10:22] saying.

[00:10:23] And I just kind of expect it.

[00:10:24] So nothing blew me away.

[00:10:26] Ha tornado joke there.

[00:10:28] But I don't think that's the film's fault.

[00:10:31] Right.

[00:10:32] So they were just, they were just okay.

[00:10:35] I will appreciate, or I do appreciate the fact that from what I could tell, like you,

[00:10:40] I'm not a huge devotee of the original Twister.

[00:10:43] Mm hmm.

[00:10:44] It didn't rely on a lot of references.

[00:10:48] Actually, I only pick up on one.

[00:10:51] I picked up on two, which, you know, one is the little, little spheres that get sucked

[00:10:57] up in the door tornado.

[00:10:59] Yeah.

[00:10:59] Okay.

[00:10:59] That was in the original one from what I remember.

[00:11:01] Mm hmm.

[00:11:31] I think it's Helen Hunt who is at risk of being swept up in a tornado.

[00:11:35] Okay.

[00:11:36] In this film, they end up running to the bottom of a pool where there's some pipes and they

[00:11:41] grab hold.

[00:11:42] I don't think Glenn Powell takes his belt off.

[00:11:44] No.

[00:11:44] But he then has to kind of grab somebody.

[00:11:47] According to all the women in my theater, I did not hear any.

[00:11:51] That probably would have leveled the theater.

[00:11:53] I didn't hear any shrieking.

[00:11:54] So I assume that means he did not take his belt off.

[00:11:58] Fair point.

[00:11:58] Right.

[00:11:59] But it was, it was, it reminded me not that it was a direct callback, but it was like,

[00:12:02] oh, yep.

[00:12:03] It reminded me of that scene from Twister.

[00:12:05] So other than that, like you're saying, yeah, very minimal.

[00:12:08] Apparently if you're a huge fan person, there are some things in here.

[00:12:12] I think Bill Paxton's son, because Bill Paxton has passed away.

[00:12:16] His son is somewhere in this film.

[00:12:18] I don't know.

[00:12:19] I don't know if he plays one of the, I don't, somebody on maybe Glenn Powell's crew or I'm

[00:12:24] not sure, but he is somewhere in this film.

[00:12:26] So I thought that was interesting.

[00:12:27] But unless you're like a big fan boy, you just, you don't.

[00:12:30] Well, no, I don't mind little, uh, I don't mind little, uh, slight callback.

[00:12:37] Yeah.

[00:12:38] Like little Easter eggs, little, if you know, you know, but that's it.

[00:12:42] That to me is okay.

[00:12:43] Um, I, that, that, that's not offensive to me.

[00:12:47] I was scared to death, Chris, that there is a scene in the film where the main character,

[00:12:53] Daisy Edgar Jones character, Kate, uh, is going to be going back home.

[00:12:58] Oh yes.

[00:12:58] And I was scared to death.

[00:13:00] I'm like, Oh my gosh, I know what they're going to do.

[00:13:03] She's going to walk in the house and it's going to be Helen Hunt there as the mother.

[00:13:08] And that's going to be their tie to the original film.

[00:13:11] I was like, it's going to be eye rolling.

[00:13:12] I imagine that was a pit in your stomach.

[00:13:14] It was.

[00:13:14] And then come to find out.

[00:13:16] Nope.

[00:13:16] It's a Mara Turney.

[00:13:18] And, and she's awesome.

[00:13:19] She's great.

[00:13:20] And the iron call.

[00:13:21] I guess that's her niche now is playing like, um, kind of like farm mom, you know,

[00:13:26] like living out in a farm somewhere.

[00:13:28] That's kind of her thing.

[00:13:28] But you can tell there's a lot of pain or there's things hidden under there.

[00:13:32] Yeah.

[00:13:32] So anyway, I, I, I was happy from that regard that this film did not take any of those routes

[00:13:38] of saying we're going to just, we have to kind of do all of these, uh, arbitrary, um,

[00:13:44] um, connections to the first film.

[00:13:46] It was good.

[00:13:47] It was nice.

[00:13:47] Um, look, here's the thing.

[00:13:49] I realized that I think why audiences are responding well to this film and it made a

[00:13:54] lot more money than people expected.

[00:13:56] And overall reaction from the audience has been good is for probably the same reason I

[00:14:00] felt good about it too, is you were in the air conditioning.

[00:14:03] Well, there's that, you know, it was an outside, um, it's, it's an entertaining movie that doesn't

[00:14:12] rely on gunplay or, uh, violence like extremely.

[00:14:17] Yeah.

[00:14:18] There's quote violence in this film in terms of, you know, the veracity of these tornadoes

[00:14:23] and people you see getting kind of sucked up in the tornado, but it's not, it's not

[00:14:28] gratuitous.

[00:14:29] It's not over the top.

[00:14:30] It's not, you know, disturbing stuff to see as bad as a lot of other stuff.

[00:14:35] We kind of get thrown out in the multiplex.

[00:14:37] I think that's just new how to hit all the right notes.

[00:14:40] It's like, give us two engaging league characters that we are kind of connected to.

[00:14:46] And we feel like we want to explore them a little bit more, put us in some precarious

[00:14:51] situations, uh, make a good use of CGI and special effects that kind of put us in these

[00:14:56] environments.

[00:14:58] Yes.

[00:14:59] There's quote, good teams, quote, bad teams.

[00:15:02] And yes, some alliances change.

[00:15:04] And there's some things you learned about, but all those are telegraphed, I think pretty

[00:15:08] early on.

[00:15:08] So I, it's not like there's any surprises, but they weren't offensive ones to me.

[00:15:13] I mean, I never felt like, you know, cheated or I never felt like, okay, yeah, they're just,

[00:15:17] this just makes no sense why this is happening.

[00:15:19] No, everything kind of made sense.

[00:15:21] So overall, it just, it just worked.

[00:15:24] There's enough humor in it that, you know, that's why audiences are enjoying that part

[00:15:28] of it there.

[00:15:29] I thought it was, I thought it was, uh, well shot and well put together from an action standpoint

[00:15:35] that the moments of, of, of energy and, and tenseness in the film.

[00:15:41] I, I felt, I felt like we're, we're well earned.

[00:15:45] So overall, I'm, I'm kind of a fan of the film.

[00:15:48] I think it worked really well and I had a good time with it.

[00:15:51] It's not perfect, but I mean, compared to what it could have been, oh my gosh, what it

[00:15:56] could have been, this could have been horrible and it actually turned out to be a really good

[00:16:01] fun.

[00:16:01] So I had a good time with it.

[00:16:03] I think, um, my surprise, you kind of alluded to a little bit of like alliances and things

[00:16:08] changing, or you're learning a little bit about some character backgrounds.

[00:16:11] There were two individuals in this film that one of them I was aware was in this film.

[00:16:17] The other one I wasn't.

[00:16:18] And I expected a little bit more of development for them, but then they, they didn't get it.

[00:16:23] Um, first and foremost, the one that I was aware of because I'd seen trailers, Anthony

[00:16:27] Ramos, who played Javi in the film.

[00:16:29] Um, he is a friend of Kate's that we meet, you know, first scene in the movie.

[00:16:34] And then he comes back and he's like, you know, cause then they kind of do a flash forward

[00:16:38] five years, something like that.

[00:16:40] Yeah.

[00:16:40] Um, and he comes back and they start working together again.

[00:16:44] Um, Anthony Ramos, like, I think I first knew about him when he was in, in the Heights

[00:16:51] and I really liked him and he was a really strong presence.

[00:16:53] He had been in Hamilton, you know, up in New York, the actual performance play, but I'd

[00:16:58] never saw him there.

[00:16:58] But I saw him in the movies in, in the Heights or yeah, in the Heights.

[00:17:02] And I thought it was really good.

[00:17:03] And, um, I was like, wow, I think he's going to be like a huge, huge star.

[00:17:07] And then he was in a transformers movie, which I didn't see.

[00:17:10] Didn't not either.

[00:17:11] And then now he's in this, not that it's a franchise cause they're only, this is only

[00:17:14] the second film, but he's, he was in this and he is not that he wasn't good.

[00:17:20] He was good, but there just wasn't a whole lot for him to do.

[00:17:25] Like, yeah, he was K, but it wasn't that he was a bad actor.

[00:17:27] It was just like, no.

[00:17:28] And so I was like, huh, when I, when I saw him there, you know, it's like you've Glenn

[00:17:34] Powell, known quantity, Anthony Ramos, known quantity, Daisy Edgar, Daisy Edgar Jones.

[00:17:38] I knew who she was, but I haven't really seen a lot with her.

[00:17:41] I don't think, but I was expecting because he was such a name.

[00:17:44] I was expecting him to have a lot more to do.

[00:17:47] Yeah.

[00:17:48] And he, and he didn't, um, his role, his, his character was my, was my most problematic

[00:17:55] in the film and I was the most disappointed with his, his character, not with the performance,

[00:18:01] just the character, the way it was written.

[00:18:03] And yes, I think that was the weakest part of the film.

[00:18:06] I agree.

[00:18:07] Someone else that not that, I mean, there, you know, you can only have so many people in

[00:18:11] it that have the major role you have, you know, side characters and stuff.

[00:18:15] Um, but I was just surprised cause I hadn't seen her, you know, Sasha Lane who played Lily,

[00:18:20] she was in heart speed loud.

[00:18:22] She was in how to blow up a pipeline and you know, her just kind of being American honey.

[00:18:27] Also American honey.

[00:18:27] Yeah.

[00:18:28] That was one of her big things with Shia LaBeouf that she was kind of a breakout role for her.

[00:18:32] Um, so kind of surprised, like you just, the teams you're going to have like one or two

[00:18:38] people that are like the major people and the other people kind of fade in the background,

[00:18:41] you know?

[00:18:41] So for her to be kind of a face that I really recognize, I thought she would be more of a

[00:18:47] foreground presence, you know?

[00:18:49] And when she's not, you're like, huh?

[00:18:51] Okay.

[00:18:51] It's like, I don't know.

[00:18:53] I was kind of surprised by that.

[00:18:55] Overall.

[00:18:55] I think the cast is good.

[00:18:58] Sure.

[00:18:58] And I liked the choices of the cast.

[00:19:00] I mean, to, you know, they're not going for terribly big name recognizable stars.

[00:19:06] And I guess if you would have just had Sasha Lane be somebody else, you know, like not

[00:19:10] not be in the film, like that would have seemed more natural, but you just, because of

[00:19:14] expectations, you just expect her to have more to do.

[00:19:18] So I mean, Sasha Lane, Imara Turney, we already mentioned, you know, Anthony Ramos, not surprised

[00:19:24] with her because it's like, she, she has that sequence where it's like, okay, the home sequence,

[00:19:30] the mom sequence.

[00:19:31] And yeah, she nails it.

[00:19:32] And that's what she's there to do.

[00:19:33] And it's like perfect, but you don't really have that with Sasha Lane.

[00:19:37] So you're like, Oh, could have just been, could have just been anybody.

[00:19:40] Well, I mentioned that the Anthony Ramos character, Javi and his kind of role in the film and kind

[00:19:47] of his character path, it was really weak.

[00:19:49] And it had some, it had potential, potential.

[00:19:53] And it just never, and it was the most, I never got eye rolling in this film.

[00:20:00] His, his, his character arc came the closest to the point where I'm like, okay, this was

[00:20:05] not good the way it was handled.

[00:20:07] So, and also to that end, he had a kind of a partner in this film played by, um, uh, Oh

[00:20:14] gosh, David Cornswit, Cornswit.

[00:20:16] I think I'm saying that right.

[00:20:17] Cornswit who plays Scott, who's kind of his partner or one of his partners in this thing.

[00:20:23] And he's, he's probably the most, um, labeled bad guy we've got, which again, it's not that

[00:20:30] this film really relishes the good and bad guy roles.

[00:20:34] There's a lot of gray areas in there, but he was the most over the top.

[00:20:38] Oh, I'm a bad guy type of thing.

[00:20:42] And he's our new Superman.

[00:20:43] So that's the guy that's going to be Superman.

[00:20:46] Oh, wow.

[00:20:46] James Gunn movie.

[00:20:47] Um, so we're going to figure out how to pronounce his name.

[00:20:49] I hope it's Cornswit because that sounds amazing.

[00:20:52] Especially being out in like Cornswit.

[00:20:54] The, like the, the fields and everything and like around all these like fields of corn or

[00:20:59] grass or whatever.

[00:20:59] Cornswit.

[00:21:00] C-O-R-E-N-S-W-E-T.

[00:21:03] That's Cornswit.

[00:21:04] But just corn, like corn is sweating.

[00:21:07] Cornswit.

[00:21:08] Cornswit.

[00:21:09] Maybe the tea's silent.

[00:21:10] I don't know.

[00:21:11] Wow.

[00:21:11] Anyway, he's going to be Superman.

[00:21:13] We'll know his name in the next year easily.

[00:21:15] The James Gunn Superman.

[00:21:16] Correct.

[00:21:17] Wow.

[00:21:17] I had no idea I was watching the former.

[00:21:19] You wouldn't, the moment he hit the screen, you're like, oh, that's him.

[00:21:22] Yeah.

[00:21:22] Did you know that?

[00:21:23] Wow.

[00:21:24] Also in Pearl, which I recently just saw.

[00:21:28] It's been a while for you for Pearl.

[00:21:30] Was he the projectionist?

[00:21:31] Yes.

[00:21:31] He was the projectionist in Pearl.

[00:21:33] Wow.

[00:21:33] And so, yeah, I'm, I think, I think he's a good actor.

[00:21:39] This is just not, this is not the role he needed to have.

[00:21:42] But anyway, those two were the most problematic for me because they were the most, they were

[00:21:48] the most wanting to be in what I expected this film was going to be character wise.

[00:21:53] And that's not what I wanted.

[00:21:54] And everybody else seemed to be playing a little different game with more nuance in their

[00:22:00] characters and more depth.

[00:22:02] And those two, I didn't quite get that.

[00:22:05] So.

[00:22:05] So let me ask you a question because it sounds like you're kind of, you know, wrapping up

[00:22:09] a little bit.

[00:22:10] Yeah.

[00:22:10] Um, it seems like from what I can tell, um, we haven't dilled into star ratings, but you

[00:22:15] are a little higher on this film than me.

[00:22:17] Sounds like so.

[00:22:18] Um, it's, you know, summer blockbuster movie.

[00:22:21] Maybe we often joke about going in and turning your brain off and maybe I didn't quite turn

[00:22:25] my brain off enough.

[00:22:27] I was, but you know, I say it's okay, but I have a question.

[00:22:30] Mm-hmm.

[00:22:31] So thinking back to an earlier film this summer that I did turn my brain off, I managed to

[00:22:37] have a good time and was much higher on than you.

[00:22:41] Okay.

[00:22:41] And, and I think audiences were not like audiences were more on your side than they were on my

[00:22:49] side.

[00:22:49] Okay.

[00:22:50] So for this film, I know you're, you're curious.

[00:22:51] I was curious what film it is.

[00:22:52] Because you've already forgotten about it.

[00:22:53] Yeah.

[00:22:53] So as everybody else.

[00:22:54] Yeah.

[00:22:55] Um, but I'm curious why that film didn't do well.

[00:22:57] And this one did.

[00:22:58] Okay.

[00:22:59] The fall guy.

[00:23:00] Ah, right.

[00:23:01] Now it was an action, not special effects per se, but action sequences.

[00:23:07] There was humor in it, more humor in it than there was in this film, but there was

[00:23:10] humor in twisters.

[00:23:11] I mean, you know, Glenn Powell was, you know, um, it was a little bit of romance going on

[00:23:15] with Daisy Edgar Jones and Glenn Powell.

[00:23:17] There was a romance between the two leads in that film.

[00:23:21] So was it because that film was too jokey?

[00:23:24] Why do you think audiences and you didn't respond to fall guy like they are to twisters

[00:23:28] because twisters is doing much better.

[00:23:31] Yeah.

[00:23:31] Yeah.

[00:23:32] Um, I, I think honestly, I mean, I think what brought is bringing audiences into the

[00:23:37] multiplex for twisters is the premise.

[00:23:41] It's tornadoes and people want to see a big, big spectacle movie.

[00:23:45] A big, uh, the fall guy wasn't really touted as a big spectacle movie.

[00:23:49] It was like action movie.

[00:23:50] Right.

[00:23:51] Which people tend to like, I mean, they do.

[00:23:53] And I, at least for me, the reason, look, I was, I was excited about the fall guy.

[00:23:58] I was not excited about twisters.

[00:24:00] So maybe mine was a expectation thing.

[00:24:02] Got you.

[00:24:03] Okay.

[00:24:03] The problem for the fall guy is all in the storytelling.

[00:24:06] It was all in the script and the plotting.

[00:24:08] And that was where the film lost me.

[00:24:10] A lot of times I didn't buy a lot of the characters.

[00:24:14] I didn't buy a lot of the decisions that were made.

[00:24:17] I didn't buy the steps taken to move the plot forward.

[00:24:20] So I enjoyed the charisma of the lead characters, but I needed a good story to connect it and

[00:24:27] to make it work here.

[00:24:28] I'm not saying the story's awesome, but the stories, the story serves the purpose it needs

[00:24:34] to.

[00:24:34] And it follows a path that I think is a more appealing to audiences.

[00:24:40] Path of a tornado.

[00:24:42] Yeah.

[00:24:42] Well, I mean, but it's like, it just, it made sense.

[00:24:44] It's like people get it and there's people to root for.

[00:24:47] There's people to kind of root against for, and then there's some changes and then there's,

[00:24:50] you know, you got the Glenn Powell thing in there, which may be people are a little

[00:24:54] burnout on, um, Ryan Gosling.

[00:24:56] Cause it had kind of been a big year.

[00:24:58] I know we did mention that I think in our review and then yeah, Gosling might be kind

[00:25:02] of a little bit tapering down his, his, uh, his, his, uh, his appeal.

[00:25:07] Not, I'm not, I think he's great.

[00:25:08] People may just be burned out on.

[00:25:10] There's a little bit of that.

[00:25:10] Glenn Powell was kind of on a rise where it's like he is, he's on fire right now.

[00:25:14] So I think it's a mixture of that.

[00:25:16] Okay.

[00:25:17] And look, we tend to get really into movies about movie making and Hollywood a lot more

[00:25:23] than the general public does, but everybody loves to go out and see a big tornado whipping

[00:25:28] around the sky.

[00:25:29] So that's what they do.

[00:25:30] And that's why people are coming out to see this.

[00:25:33] Okay.

[00:25:33] Also, I mean, look, I don't, I even joked beforehand, you know, obviously we've had a

[00:25:37] lot going on politically in the world, uh, the last little bit.

[00:25:40] I joked even before the recording, can we just make our new section about politics?

[00:25:44] Because there's so much more to talk about right now.

[00:25:46] Sure.

[00:25:47] I think in a way I'm going to get just a tinge political.

[00:25:50] I think twisters is a much more open America type of film.

[00:25:58] We're fall guy is a little more of a niche Hollywood niche elite kind of film approach.

[00:26:04] Okay.

[00:26:05] Okay.

[00:26:05] Okay.

[00:26:05] I think there's a little bit of that too.

[00:26:07] Twisters is, you know, there's not, yeah, it's just very, well, it takes place in the

[00:26:11] heartland and it's like, you know, and it's like a more of a, it's more of a communal

[00:26:15] film.

[00:26:16] I think that everybody across the nation might have some appeal to where fall guy is going

[00:26:21] to appeal maybe a little more to coastal elites.

[00:26:25] Sure.

[00:26:25] No, I, okay.

[00:26:28] But because you have Daisy Edgar Jones character, she starts off in Oklahoma, right?

[00:26:34] But then she goes off to New York and that's where she lives for a while.

[00:26:37] And then comes back and that's like a whole thing.

[00:26:38] And then you have assumptions people make about her that aren't, yeah, okay.

[00:26:41] So it's a lot more like everybody playing together to try.

[00:26:45] Okay.

[00:26:46] And the Glenn Powell character is, he's playing Tyler.

[00:26:49] I mean, he's kind of this YouTube sensation, but he's like a rebel kind of cowboy type of

[00:26:55] guy, big PT Barnum energy going on.

[00:26:58] But then you learn more about him that there's a little more depth to it than you would expect.

[00:27:02] So it's like, it's playing all those angles.

[00:27:04] And I think that's appealing to audiences in general, as opposed to just Ryan Gosling

[00:27:11] shooting and punching a bunch and saying quippy things, but he's still in show business.

[00:27:16] He's still portraying an actor.

[00:27:18] I don't know.

[00:27:19] I know.

[00:27:19] I think this had a much broader appeal.

[00:27:21] So again, that's my rationale for how I think this is making a lot more money and doing well.

[00:27:27] Yeah.

[00:27:27] Um, and for me, the, for me, the problem with the fall guy was just the story and the plot

[00:27:33] was just to me a mess, but twisters, it's not brilliant, but it served the purpose.

[00:27:39] It did what it needed to do.

[00:27:41] It took me down the path.

[00:27:43] I kind of expected it to take me, but kept me just engaged enough that I didn't find

[00:27:49] myself bored by the story, you know?

[00:27:51] So, and look, I mean, now if I want to bring this full circle, yes, fall guy was about,

[00:27:57] you know, movie making and inside the movie twisters, I think has a really great closing

[00:28:03] scene that takes place in a movie theater.

[00:28:05] There's a little bit of meta context going on here.

[00:28:08] I'm like, we've got to get everybody into the movie theater.

[00:28:10] I thought that was hilarious.

[00:28:12] Yeah.

[00:28:12] It's like, that was a line to you.

[00:28:13] Get everybody into the theater.

[00:28:15] Get into the theater.

[00:28:16] I'm like, yes, get everybody in the theater.

[00:28:18] That's right.

[00:28:19] Filmmakers.

[00:28:20] That's what you're trying to do.

[00:28:21] But actually visually, I thought actually the whole scene in the movie theater was really

[00:28:25] cool.

[00:28:25] So I can imagine, like I chuckled at that line, but I think I had heard an early review

[00:28:30] of the film.

[00:28:30] So I kind of knew that was going to be in there, but I imagine watching it.

[00:28:34] If we were to see a critic screening of this, I imagine like the audience laughing out

[00:28:38] loud at that just because it's kind of like, okay.

[00:28:40] Yeah.

[00:28:40] Right.

[00:28:41] Interesting.

[00:28:41] I mean, good little meta context.

[00:28:43] I liked it.

[00:28:43] I thought it was fun.

[00:28:44] Sure.

[00:28:45] But I mean, look, I love things that take place in movie theaters and movies.

[00:28:49] And this was, I thought, a really exciting scene in a movie theater and had a great visual

[00:28:54] ending of what kind of how it looked at the end.

[00:28:57] Anyway, it was cool.

[00:28:58] It was really cool.

[00:28:59] I'll say too, I don't remember the original Twister because I've only seen it once

[00:29:04] and I saw it back when it came out in 96.

[00:29:06] So I don't remember it much.

[00:29:08] I was kind of surprised at how many people died in this film.

[00:29:12] In this one?

[00:29:12] Yeah.

[00:29:13] I don't really know.

[00:29:14] I'm sure some people died in the other film, but like actual, like people that you see

[00:29:19] and you're like, oh, you kind of, I mean, air quotes, know them.

[00:29:22] And they're like, oh, now they're gone.

[00:29:24] And, you know, it just like you maybe saw buildings being taken away or you saw damage

[00:29:31] in the other film.

[00:29:32] I'm not saying there wasn't damage that you saw, but you see damage in this one, but you

[00:29:35] actually see people being whisked away as well.

[00:29:39] And I don't, I was like, wow, that's a lot more than what I remember.

[00:29:42] Well, and to the film's credit, I think the fact that it was willing to do that even

[00:29:47] pretty early on.

[00:29:48] Correct.

[00:29:49] Made it to me that the drama and tension work a little better even towards the end of the

[00:29:55] film, because there are a couple of characters that are, have had, they get into tight, tough

[00:30:00] situations and you're honestly thinking to yourself, okay, yeah, are we going to lose

[00:30:04] this character or not?

[00:30:05] Right.

[00:30:05] And that's good.

[00:30:06] I mean, because if I just thought, okay, well, there's no way they're going to get rid of

[00:30:09] these people.

[00:30:10] This is all, there's no stakes here.

[00:30:12] No, I actually did feel some stakes at times.

[00:30:14] I'll even say there's a moment towards the end of the film where I'm, I'm thinking

[00:30:20] one of our main leads is maybe not going to make it to the end.

[00:30:26] And it's like the fact that me, as a film critic, as many films as we see and we critique

[00:30:31] to me, the fact that I even had an inkling of thinking, Ooh, are they going to, are they

[00:30:35] going to go that way?

[00:30:37] That's good.

[00:30:38] That's good.

[00:30:38] That's a, that to me is a sign of a good, it is.

[00:30:41] And it means that you've put sufficient stakes in front of me to know that something could

[00:30:45] happen.

[00:30:46] Right.

[00:30:47] And the films kind of earned it.

[00:30:49] If that went that route, I would be okay with it.

[00:30:52] It would make sense to me.

[00:30:53] So anyway, um, yeah, there was a look, I'm, I'm, as you can tell, I'm surprisingly high

[00:31:00] on this film, which I, I did not expect to be at all.

[00:31:03] So that's a good, I like those surprises.

[00:31:06] Two, uh, thoughts that I had, you know, and I want to hear your thoughts, just, you know,

[00:31:11] throw away thoughts, but a, can you shoot fireworks up into a tornado?

[00:31:17] I mean, according to Glenn Powell and Glenn Powell, anything Glenn Powell says, I think,

[00:31:21] I believe at this point that yes, you can.

[00:31:23] I will say it's an interesting visual.

[00:31:24] I was like, okay, interesting.

[00:31:27] And would definitely make a good YouTube video.

[00:31:29] Yes.

[00:31:29] Interesting.

[00:31:30] Second, are there vehicles that drill into the ground to remain stationary during a

[00:31:37] Chris, if they're not, there should be immediately now.

[00:31:41] So, um, it was like, huh, interesting.

[00:31:43] Well, and again, that was, that was cool as well.

[00:31:45] I mean, the film tries to throw some sciencey things in the mix.

[00:31:49] It never goes overboard where it's like, you're just going to get lost in the whole, the whole

[00:31:53] deal.

[00:31:54] It keeps it pretty surface level.

[00:31:55] It knows what kind of film this is.

[00:31:56] So it's not going to go overboard.

[00:31:58] But I think the mechanics of some things and some, some actions that they're taking and,

[00:32:03] you know, they're going to go drive in the middle of this tornado and basically clamp

[00:32:06] this truck down into the ground.

[00:32:08] I'm like, yeah.

[00:32:09] Okay.

[00:32:09] That makes sense.

[00:32:10] That seems like that would work.

[00:32:11] I kind of get it.

[00:32:12] I see what they're doing here.

[00:32:13] And, uh, that's what I was surprised about with this film is I, I got it.

[00:32:18] I mean, I kind of understood what was going on and why I never really questioned any more

[00:32:23] than I needed to.

[00:32:24] Sure.

[00:32:25] Yeah.

[00:32:25] I'll say one of the most impressive things for me with my film going experience was we,

[00:32:31] we were not in a drought here in Western North Carolina, but we haven't had a lot of rain.

[00:32:36] Yeah.

[00:32:37] And, uh, I walked out of the theater into a rainstorm and I was like, Whoa.

[00:32:42] And immediately I was like, Whoa, I just saw this movie about like, you know, storms and

[00:32:45] everything.

[00:32:46] And I walk out and it's like raining and the winds blowing.

[00:32:48] I was like, Whoa.

[00:32:49] So it was like, it was a special effect.

[00:32:52] That was a natural effect that I did.

[00:32:53] So that, that actually helped me kind of immediately have an interesting experience walking out of

[00:32:58] the theater.

[00:32:59] Yeah.

[00:32:59] No, I, I mean, mine was not as stormy, but I walked into rain and when I came out of

[00:33:04] the theater and I'm like, yeah, okay.

[00:33:06] The fact, I mean, that's another sign.

[00:33:08] The film did work for me on some level.

[00:33:10] Cause if I come out and I'm still feeling kind of in the world of the, in the world of

[00:33:14] the film and it's like, there's a brief moment where I'm just like, Oh, wait a minute.

[00:33:18] Look around, make sure there's not a tornado anywhere.

[00:33:20] That's good.

[00:33:20] That's the films done its work.

[00:33:22] So, uh, look, uh, star ratings.

[00:33:25] I, this is kind of crazy.

[00:33:27] Um, I might be at four.

[00:33:30] Oh, okay.

[00:33:31] I mean, four is reserved for like films that really entertain me.

[00:33:35] And I really, I enjoy watching again, uh, four to five gets in that level.

[00:33:41] This is, this is right up there.

[00:33:42] I was going to say three and a half, but the more I think about it, I'm like, no, it's

[00:33:45] like this work, this worked.

[00:33:47] So the, this, this is your fall guy for this movie going to the end that, you know?

[00:33:51] Yeah.

[00:33:52] And I preferred fall guy.

[00:33:53] You, you're more on board with twisters.

[00:33:54] So that's interesting.

[00:33:55] Yeah.

[00:33:56] Interesting as well.

[00:33:58] So that is twisters.

[00:33:59] Uh, again, credit to, uh, director Lee Isaac Chung.

[00:34:03] Hey, he, he showed me he can pull off a good action movie as well as he did a good family

[00:34:09] drama in the previous film.

[00:34:10] So kudos to him.

[00:34:12] I'm looking, Hey, the Marvel universe is always looking for some of those directors that

[00:34:17] had kind of independent roots that are now moving up.

[00:34:21] He's showing me, look, he can make an action movie.

[00:34:23] So Marvel, you should be on the phone with this guy if you're not already.

[00:34:28] So, um, did you know it was written or the story, not the screenplay, but the story meaning

[00:34:34] kind of the core concept of the film was written by Joseph Kosinski, who was the director of Top

[00:34:42] Gun Maverick.

[00:34:43] Hmm.

[00:34:44] And is also the director of that upcoming F1 that we've previewed here.

[00:34:49] Interesting connective tissue.

[00:34:50] Yeah.

[00:34:50] So it's almost like, you remember how Michael Crichton was like, I think he was the original

[00:34:55] story guy on the original twist.

[00:34:57] I believe you're correct.

[00:34:59] I almost get the sense Joseph Kosinski is kind of leaning into our big spectacle movies world,

[00:35:06] either in storytelling or directing.

[00:35:08] It's like, that's kind of his thing now.

[00:35:10] So, yeah.

[00:35:11] Interesting.

[00:35:12] Interesting.

[00:35:13] Okay.

[00:35:13] Uh, let's take a quick break.

[00:35:15] Chris, when we come back, we've got another review, a twofer for this episode.

[00:35:19] We'll be reviewing the film Thelma, which is available on demand at the moment.

[00:35:23] We'll be reviewing that film and then hearing from Chris with his recommendation of a film

[00:35:27] we ought to check out as well.

[00:35:29] So stay tuned.

[00:35:30] We'll be right back with Foot Candle Films in just a moment.

[00:35:33] This podcast is sponsored by Jackson Creative, a custom communication agency located in downtown

[00:35:39] Hickory, North Carolina, specializing in online content creation.

[00:35:43] To learn more, visit thejacksoncreative.com.

[00:35:48] Jackson Creative, we tell your story.

[00:35:51] Welcome back to Foot Candle Films here on the mesh.tv podcast network.

[00:35:55] Chris and Alan here with you.

[00:35:57] And we had our review of Twisters in the first half of the show, but let's go ahead and let's,

[00:36:02] let's give them another one.

[00:36:03] Chris, let's do another review.

[00:36:05] This is going to be of the film Thelma.

[00:36:10] What's your plan for the day?

[00:36:11] Ah, the usual.

[00:36:14] Hello?

[00:36:15] Grandma.

[00:36:16] Danny?

[00:36:16] You sound so strange.

[00:36:18] I'm in jail.

[00:36:19] Oh my God.

[00:36:22] Mail $10,000 to this address.

[00:36:25] $10,000?

[00:36:28] How did you think this was real?

[00:36:30] Mom, you thought it was real too.

[00:36:32] Oh my God.

[00:36:32] She was very convincing.

[00:36:34] She was scared.

[00:36:35] Your mother, we were all scared.

[00:36:37] I wasn't quite as scared, just for the record.

[00:36:41] In Thelma, we have 93 year old Thelma Post played by June Squibb.

[00:36:46] She of Nebraska fame.

[00:36:50] It's probably the film that she's the most known for, I guess.

[00:36:52] She was an Oscar nominated for her supporting role in that film several years ago.

[00:36:58] But starring as Thelma Post, an elderly woman that gets scammed by a phone scammer.

[00:37:05] It's one of those phone scams where they try to pretend like they are a loved one of yours

[00:37:10] in an effort to get you to send money and to help them out in this situation.

[00:37:14] Well, she does get scammed.

[00:37:16] But instead of sitting back and just letting it fall by the wayside, she decides to set

[00:37:23] out on a quest to reclaim what was taken from her.

[00:37:26] So we get a little bit of a vengeance movie from the perspective of a couple of elderly people.

[00:37:37] This movie is based on a true story.

[00:37:40] Some semblance of a true story.

[00:37:42] Writer-director Josh Margolin has said that it is based on his grandmother.

[00:37:46] His grandmother did almost get scammed and there was some drama from that.

[00:37:50] But I don't think she took out a path of vengeance to go find the scammer either.

[00:37:56] But in this film, we also have Richard Roundtree starring as Ben, one of Thelma's close friends

[00:38:01] and becomes a little bit of her cohort on this trip.

[00:38:06] And also her grandson, played by Fred Hershinger, Daniel, whose parents, played by Parker Posey

[00:38:14] and Clark Gregg, also prominent in the film.

[00:38:18] So, Chris, we have a little bit of a – well, it's deemed as an action movie but told from

[00:38:23] a very kind of a geriatric positioning.

[00:38:27] Sure.

[00:38:27] So a little bit of an interesting take on a film.

[00:38:31] June Squibb is someone who, from my understanding, has never really been the lead in her own film,

[00:38:37] even after all these years of being in the film business.

[00:38:41] So with all that being said, there's a lot of elements going into this film.

[00:38:45] It's a small, small film, small budget film, but it has an interesting premise behind it.

[00:38:51] How did this work for you as a film in general?

[00:38:54] Did it live up to its promise of what it was kind of selling that it was going to be?

[00:38:59] And did you find anything worth taking away from the film?

[00:39:02] So did I feel scammed?

[00:39:04] Well, a little bit of that.

[00:39:05] Sure.

[00:39:05] I mean, you know, it's like I honestly thought going into this that, you know,

[00:39:09] I could see where this premise wasn't going to hold up or not going to work as a feature film.

[00:39:15] So, again, I'm waiting to hear if you felt like it did or if it fell short.

[00:39:20] So I had the benefit – usually when we review films, I've only seen them once.

[00:39:25] But I had the benefit of seeing this film at a film festival earlier in the year,

[00:39:29] and then I just saw it recently when we showed it at our Film Society screening.

[00:39:32] So I liked it okay the first time, but seeing it the second time with a bigger crowd really, really helped the film.

[00:39:40] And the people around me just really seemed to be engaged or, you know, laughing at all the jokes and everything

[00:39:45] and just really seemed to have a good time with it.

[00:39:48] And it reminded me – so, you know, you often hear people say like, I don't know, like feel-good movies

[00:39:55] or they don't make them like they used to, like crowd pleaser type.

[00:39:59] Hollywood just doesn't make a lot of films like that.

[00:40:01] And I think in a general sense that's probably pretty true.

[00:40:04] They make blockbusters.

[00:40:05] They make outright comedies.

[00:40:06] But something that's kind of just at the end of the day you kind of feel like there weren't really bad guys per se.

[00:40:11] It's just kind of a – I don't know, just kind of a human decency type story.

[00:40:16] It's PG-13.

[00:40:17] So it's not PG, but it's PG-13 because there's a little – I think maybe a little bit of language.

[00:40:21] And I guess you could assume like there's some gunplay at one point that could – but I really enjoyed it.

[00:40:28] And it's just one of those things that it's just a simple film.

[00:40:32] And you alluded to the premise being this 93-year-old woman kind of strikes out on a journey of, you know,

[00:40:40] trying to take vengeance against the people that scammed her.

[00:40:43] Sounds like it could be really hokey, but I think it's done with just the right amount of believability.

[00:40:49] But yet they just kind of keep it really grounded.

[00:40:53] Yeah.

[00:40:53] And so I think that really – I think that helped.

[00:40:56] And I also think that going in you could think that they're going to be making fun of older folks.

[00:41:04] And I don't feel like they did.

[00:41:06] Then you could say – or I mean I think they did it in a very honest manner.

[00:41:10] It was all even-handed.

[00:41:12] I think, you know – yeah.

[00:41:14] And then you could say like with the son that – or the son, grandson, played by Daniel Hackinger,

[00:41:19] you could say like, oh, now they're going to put the target on young people that are kind of aimless,

[00:41:24] that don't really know what they want to do with their life.

[00:41:27] And they're depending on older folks to kind of steer them in the right direction.

[00:41:31] And no, they hit on that, that the grandson is having struggles.

[00:41:37] Yeah.

[00:41:37] But I don't feel like they hammer it home.

[00:41:40] No.

[00:41:40] And then there's another group.

[00:41:42] There's the parents, you know, of parents of Daniel and the – I guess I never – was it the June Squibb who plays Thelma?

[00:41:51] Is she – is it the mother's mom?

[00:41:54] I believe so.

[00:41:55] Okay.

[00:41:55] Okay.

[00:41:55] So – and you mentioned Parker Posey.

[00:41:57] Like then it's that age group that are playing the parents of Daniel and the, you know, the daughter of the Thelma character.

[00:42:03] Like you could say, oh, they're going to mock them and make them be kind of like the helicopter parents that are, you know,

[00:42:10] sheltering Daniel too much and overreacting maybe.

[00:42:13] But no, I feel like they just kind of basically say this is life.

[00:42:18] This is a family.

[00:42:19] These are some – you know, they all love each other.

[00:42:22] They all care about one another.

[00:42:23] But they have little, you know, just little quirks, little things.

[00:42:27] And they kind of hit on everybody equally.

[00:42:29] So I thought that was nice.

[00:42:30] I was going to say – I think that's the key is that, yes, my fear going into this film was that it's just going to be a let's joke at the expense of older people.

[00:42:39] Right.

[00:42:40] And it didn't.

[00:42:41] You joked – it had jokes about older people, but they were joking with the older people.

[00:42:46] Sure.

[00:42:47] And the jokes and comments or critique about the younger – the grandson actually kind of took a little bit more of an insightful view later in the film.

[00:42:59] I think there was a moment where, you know, the grandson kind of has a little bit of a breakdown and kind of explaining his thought process of where he is in life.

[00:43:07] I'm like, huh, that was actually kind of surprisingly honest.

[00:43:10] And I thought that was good to – you just didn't walk away thinking that this grandson is just some aimless kid that, you know, like you said, kind of a personification of how people sometimes view that age group.

[00:43:21] So I think the film was pretty even-handed.

[00:43:23] I think the film – I think the film hit the beats it needed to hit.

[00:43:28] And I think, yeah, it had fun where it needed to have fun.

[00:43:32] And I think the – I mean, I'm not going to say action.

[00:43:34] Look, let's not – we're not going to belabor – this is not a, quote, action movie.

[00:43:39] The film may be trying to promote itself as a little bit of, you know, June Squibb doing all of her own stunts and all that.

[00:43:44] Which is true.

[00:43:45] Yeah.

[00:43:45] Which is true.

[00:43:45] She did.

[00:43:46] Right.

[00:43:47] But also, you know, the stunts we're talking about are not extravagant.

[00:43:52] It's not special effects driven.

[00:43:53] I mean, it's a pretty simple, simple story.

[00:43:56] But I had a good time with it.

[00:43:57] I thought it was a fun film.

[00:44:00] And surprise.

[00:44:02] I mean, because I figured it would be going to be okay.

[00:44:05] It was actually a little better than I expected it to be, which is good.

[00:44:09] And, you know, and I think the fact that there's an overall message of the film that I think is good and positive.

[00:44:17] Kind of this idea of, you know, people not wanting to be kind of taken advantage of.

[00:44:24] The idea of feeling like you want to be more independent and you want to be able to do things for yourself.

[00:44:29] And the fear of bringing other people in, your family members in, and exposing your own perceived weaknesses.

[00:44:38] When, look, I can't believe I'm going to do this.

[00:44:43] I wove in a little bit of a political theme in the first review with Twisters, surprisingly enough.

[00:44:49] I'm curious to see where this goes.

[00:44:50] There's a little bit of one here in that we were right in the midst when I saw this film, right in the midst of dealing with a leader of our country that people were starting to question and wonder, does he still have what he needs to be able to do the job and or move forward?

[00:45:07] There's a little bit of that sprinkled in here, too.

[00:45:09] I mean, a lot of the ideas of, well, they're this age, so they can only do this and they can only be this way.

[00:45:17] And this film is willing to say, you know, no, there's more there.

[00:45:21] People have a little bit more to provide and share.

[00:45:25] And I think it did it tastefully.

[00:45:27] I think it did it entertaining way as well.

[00:45:31] I will say I really like June Squibb.

[00:45:34] I thought she was great in the role.

[00:45:36] Perfect for the role, of course.

[00:45:38] I really liked Richard Roundtree as Ben.

[00:45:42] And fortunately, it was his last performance.

[00:45:44] He passed away right after making the film and was not around to see it when it came out.

[00:45:52] But of course, Mr. Shaft himself, Richard Roundtree, I thought he was great.

[00:45:56] I really liked this character, Ben.

[00:45:58] So he was good.

[00:46:00] And you're talking about how they hit some themes.

[00:46:05] And I think it's a good film to see with, you know, maybe your parents were because it's funny.

[00:46:10] But yet there are discussion things because it's a way of opening up the discussion about how do we take care of our parents or how do they, you know, how, you know, there's there's there's a lot there.

[00:46:18] And one of my favorite scenes in the film involves Mr. Roundtree.

[00:46:22] And he kind of, Thelma, you know, is taking on this thing.

[00:46:26] She's going out.

[00:46:26] She's trying to find this person and get, you know, vengeance or get what's deserved her and, you know, correct the wrong that was done to her.

[00:46:34] And he's helping her.

[00:46:35] But at some point, he kind of calls her on the carpet a little bit.

[00:46:38] And he has a scene where he says, look, you need to be aware that what you're doing isn't only affecting you.

[00:46:43] It's affecting your family.

[00:46:45] And he kind of has.

[00:46:46] And then he relates it to his life and what happened with his wife.

[00:46:49] Yeah.

[00:46:50] And it was just like, whoa, that was really good and really well done.

[00:46:53] And it was like a really shining moment for Roundtree to kind of, you know, get some serious mind deliveries and stuff.

[00:46:59] And I was like, that is really cool.

[00:47:00] So that, you know, and I wasn't expecting that in a little film like this because you just expect it's just going to be a gimmick.

[00:47:07] Oh, it's an older person, you know, seeking out revenge.

[00:47:09] And that's all it is.

[00:47:10] But there was more to it.

[00:47:11] Yeah.

[00:47:12] More to it than that.

[00:47:13] So, no, I did.

[00:47:14] I did enjoy Thelma.

[00:47:16] I thought it was good.

[00:47:17] I thought it was creatively done.

[00:47:21] And there are some moments that were generally really funny that I found myself laughing at.

[00:47:28] I think overall some good messaging to the film.

[00:47:32] Like you said, it picked its targets and it was pretty broad with the targets.

[00:47:35] I mean, I would say the revelation of the quote scammers that we do find was kind of interesting as well.

[00:47:43] It was interesting.

[00:47:44] And I think it could have been a lot more Pat, but let's just say the composition of the scammers that were there.

[00:47:50] And I was like, interesting.

[00:47:52] Yeah.

[00:47:52] And well done.

[00:47:52] Not, you know, could have been more Pat, but wasn't.

[00:47:57] I thought that was a good thing.

[00:47:58] No, it went against my expectations, which I think was interesting for a film like this to be able to do.

[00:48:06] And yeah.

[00:48:07] No, I think it was good.

[00:48:10] Good storytelling in general.

[00:48:12] I think that the story, the writing of this film was, was pretty solid and, and had some interesting things to say.

[00:48:19] And you alluded to the fact that, you know, a lot's been made of June Squibb doing her own stunts.

[00:48:23] And so it was like, you know, air quotes action movie.

[00:48:26] And yeah, there was a little bit of that, but there's just not like the movie is doing that.

[00:48:30] But yet they know like, you know, they're winking, but they're like, yeah, we know we're not a true action movie, but they have like a scooter chase.

[00:48:37] A high speed air quotes in a nursing facility, scooter chase.

[00:48:42] There's a scene where people are walking away from something and there's an explosion behind them.

[00:48:48] So it's, it's, there are enough of the action.

[00:48:51] They play with the action tropes.

[00:48:52] Yeah.

[00:48:53] And look, the fact that Mr. Tom Cruise, who we, you named dropped in the first review, I think for a moment, also shows up in this film, surprisingly.

[00:49:03] I don't think that's a spoiler, but in a way he's in this film very quickly in a little bit of an inspiration for some of the plot.

[00:49:13] So I thought that was kind of interesting.

[00:49:15] A little hard.

[00:49:16] They knew what they were doing.

[00:49:17] They know.

[00:49:18] Okay.

[00:49:18] Yeah.

[00:49:19] This is, this is the angle we're taking with this.

[00:49:22] They gave June a little enough of an inspiration.

[00:49:24] So, yeah.

[00:49:25] And specifically they kind of referenced Mr. Cruise in like his mission impossible performances.

[00:49:31] And then you think about the way hearing aids are used in this, like there's some type of futuristic tech spy technology.

[00:49:37] That was clever.

[00:49:38] It was clever.

[00:49:39] So you have to hand it to the movie that, Hey, that was, that was a good idea.

[00:49:42] Clever is a good way to say it.

[00:49:43] There were several clever moments where this film didn't, my fear is that it wasn't going to be clever at all.

[00:49:49] My fear was that it was going to be just very much.

[00:49:52] Yep.

[00:49:52] This is, this is the deal.

[00:49:54] This is the, this is the route we're taking with this film.

[00:49:56] And the fact that it was a little more clever than I expected was nice.

[00:49:59] So yeah.

[00:50:00] Good.

[00:50:01] Well, that is Thelma.

[00:50:03] It sounds like Chris and I were both generally positive on the film and enjoyed it.

[00:50:06] And where would you be star rating on this?

[00:50:09] I didn't ask you this with twisters.

[00:50:10] And I know I'm a, I'm a numbers guy.

[00:50:12] I got to have a star rating with these to see, but where will you be with the, with Thelma?

[00:50:17] That was probably three and a half.

[00:50:18] I'm with you on three and a half.

[00:50:20] That's perfect for me.

[00:50:21] Not quite four, you know, but it's a three and a half is a good, very strong film.

[00:50:26] I'm, I'm still wrestling with twisters.

[00:50:28] Really?

[00:50:28] You don't know where you are?

[00:50:29] I don't.

[00:50:30] I'm going to guess you're at a three.

[00:50:33] Maybe two and a half?

[00:50:34] Maybe two and a half.

[00:50:35] Oh boy.

[00:50:36] Really?

[00:50:36] Yeah.

[00:50:36] Yeah.

[00:50:37] So I almost doubled your star rating.

[00:50:38] Yeah.

[00:50:39] It's, it's twisters was my fall guy.

[00:50:42] Okay.

[00:50:43] And fall guy was your twisters.

[00:50:44] Yeah.

[00:50:45] Right.

[00:50:45] So.

[00:50:46] Interesting.

[00:50:46] Okay.

[00:50:47] All right.

[00:50:48] Well, the couple of, uh, at least we're on the same page with Thelma.

[00:50:51] So that's where we're going to go with that.

[00:50:53] All right.

[00:50:53] It is available by the way, on demand for rental or.

[00:50:56] It may still be playing at some smaller art house.

[00:50:59] Could be.

[00:50:59] Maybe.

[00:51:00] Could be.

[00:51:00] Yeah.

[00:51:01] All right.

[00:51:02] Uh, you know, look, I, I want everybody to go to the movie theaters because I love movie

[00:51:06] theaters, but this is okay to watch at home.

[00:51:10] Sure.

[00:51:10] Yeah.

[00:51:11] I mean, this is a film that I'm not going to sit here and say, you got to go see it on

[00:51:15] a big screen to really experience it.

[00:51:16] This is fine.

[00:51:17] Twisters, I would say if you care anything about it.

[00:51:19] Yeah.

[00:51:19] Look, I'm not, I'm not the biggest fan of the overdone big Dolby cinema theater we have

[00:51:25] in our, our area.

[00:51:26] I have a lot more faults with it than I do benefits.

[00:51:29] I will say though, watching twisters with the rumbling base, rumbling your seats and the

[00:51:35] noise, it actually worked really well for that.

[00:51:37] So there are moments when a big theater experience is, is warranted.

[00:51:41] Thelma.

[00:51:42] No, you're okay.

[00:51:43] Cue it up on Amazon or Apple TV or whatever and, and enjoy it.

[00:51:48] So.

[00:51:49] All right, Chris.

[00:51:50] Well, the last thing in the show we're going to do, since we didn't really have any news,

[00:51:53] we scoured the news area and we just couldn't find anything worth talking about that we

[00:51:57] were interested in all the trailers that have been coming out of just second trailers

[00:52:01] for films we've already teased about in the film in the, in the podcast.

[00:52:05] So what we're going to do is we're just going to jump right into your recommendation of a

[00:52:09] film.

[00:52:10] This is where Chris Fry, the cohost here gets to see films and shares with us his opinions

[00:52:17] on ones that he thinks are worth maybe our time if we're looking for something to watch

[00:52:21] in the near future.

[00:52:22] So Chris, what recommendation do you have for us today?

[00:52:25] So this is a film that has recently, I guess been remade, but what they did was just make a

[00:52:30] filmed version of the musical version.

[00:52:32] I thought I had seen this film, but apparently after watching it, I don't think I ever really

[00:52:37] had.

[00:52:38] And at least letterbox didn't tell me that I'd seen it before, but it is a film from 2004.

[00:52:42] So it is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

[00:52:45] It's mean girls.

[00:52:46] It's directed by Mark waters.

[00:52:48] It stars Lindsay Lohan, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried.

[00:52:55] And yes, you may remember.

[00:52:57] So it's not the 2023 version.

[00:52:59] That was a musical that they put out there.

[00:53:01] The original 2004 film that Tina Fey, there was a book and she basically like wrote the

[00:53:07] screenplay for this film.

[00:53:09] And then she plays a teacher in this film, but it's all about Katie Heron, who is played

[00:53:14] by Lindsay Lohan and she is going to a new school.

[00:53:19] So it's kind of a set in a high school.

[00:53:21] And she runs into a group of young women called the plastics who are basically a clique that

[00:53:27] aren't the nicest people in the world.

[00:53:29] And she tries to somehow assimilate herself into this group.

[00:53:34] And then the problems that causes with her social life.

[00:53:38] Um, so Regina George is played by Rachel McAdams and she's kind of the big, the big

[00:53:44] bad, I guess you can say in the film.

[00:53:46] And Rachel McAdams, like I remember game night and some other things that she's done.

[00:53:51] She was in, um, are you there?

[00:53:53] God, it's me, Margaret.

[00:53:54] She played the mom.

[00:53:55] She's, she's good.

[00:53:56] And I can really see, I guess, you know, this is 20 years ago.

[00:53:59] I'm like, oh yeah, you can tell, you can tell how good she is by how good she was in

[00:54:04] Mean Girls.

[00:54:05] She like, yeah, the potential of her, she's just jumps off the screen as this ridiculously

[00:54:09] good character and she's a good actress.

[00:54:12] So, um, if you haven't seen Mean Girls, I would recommend checking it out.

[00:54:16] I liked it.

[00:54:17] And actually it made me think a little bit about, and this film came before Mean Girls, but,

[00:54:22] uh, Clueless, that film with Alicia Silverstone.

[00:54:25] A lot of people really liked that film, that film.

[00:54:27] I saw it.

[00:54:28] I just think it's okay, but it's something about maybe some of the humor is a little bit

[00:54:32] more sophisticated or something, something more is going on with Mean Girls that I really,

[00:54:37] I really appreciated.

[00:54:39] So, uh, I saw it streaming on a Paramount plus, but I'm sure it's also rentable in thousands

[00:54:45] of locations.

[00:54:45] So, um, I recommend Mean Girls.

[00:54:48] All right.

[00:54:49] Mean Girls.

[00:54:50] I've never seen that.

[00:54:51] So, um, you know, it's a, it's, and it's, it's a comedy.

[00:54:55] So it made me laugh a couple of times.

[00:54:56] So that's always a good sign.

[00:54:58] So yeah, check it out.

[00:54:59] Mean Girls.

[00:54:59] All right.

[00:55:00] That's, we will do that for sure.

[00:55:02] So Chris's recommendation of Mean Girls, our review of Twisters and our review of Thelma,

[00:55:07] and that's going to do it for us today.

[00:55:10] So Chris, if anybody, uh, has some thoughts, feedback, questions, or just wants to talk to us

[00:55:15] at all, what should they do?

[00:55:17] You can send an email to info at footcandle.org.

[00:55:21] You can follow us on Twitter at footcandlefilm, Facebook, footcandlefilmsociety, Instagram

[00:55:26] and threads.

[00:55:27] We're just simply footcandlefilm.

[00:55:29] Al and I are on Letterboxd where we try to leave, uh, you know, quick reviews of what

[00:55:34] we've seen recently.

[00:55:35] Do us a favor.

[00:55:36] If you like the show, give us a star rating, write a review, share with friends or whatever

[00:55:40] service you receive your favorite podcasts on because it'll help us reach new listeners.

[00:55:44] When I mentioned Letterboxd, speaking of Letterboxd, um, the 2024 footcandlefilmfestival is coming

[00:55:51] out the September 20th through the 29th.

[00:55:53] We're going to be releasing our schedule.

[00:55:55] One of the places you can check the schedule out other than the film festival website,

[00:55:59] which is footcandlefilmfestival.com.

[00:56:02] I'll put up a list on Letterboxd that'll kind of say all the different films we're showing

[00:56:07] and then you can click on them and learn a little bit about them that way.

[00:56:10] But anyways, um, that will be out today.

[00:56:13] Actually, as, as we're recording this, uh, by the time you're listening, you should be

[00:56:17] able to go to footcandlefilmfestival.com.

[00:56:19] Uh, everything is set up there, so we should have schedule announced and tickets on sale

[00:56:24] starting today at the recording.

[00:56:26] So by the time people are hearing this, yes, it should be all active to go.

[00:56:30] Definitely recommend checking it out, going and seeing all the films we have scheduled

[00:56:34] to play at our festival.

[00:56:36] Buy ticket, individual tickets for the films, or you can buy a pass to come and join us for

[00:56:41] the whole weekend of films.

[00:56:43] We actually have events going on throughout an entire week, but, uh, the actual film screenings,

[00:56:48] competitive film screenings will be during the Friday, Saturday, Sunday weekend, uh,

[00:56:53] towards the end of the festival week.

[00:56:55] And, uh, so that's gonna be a lot of fun.

[00:56:57] We're looking forward to it and, uh, encourage you to come to Western Carolina,

[00:57:00] Western North Carolina this fall in late September and come, uh, hang out with us in the theater,

[00:57:06] watching some movies.

[00:57:07] Absolutely.

[00:57:08] All right.

[00:57:09] That'll wrap it up for today.

[00:57:10] Thanks so much, everybody, for listening and we'll look forward to talking to everybody

[00:57:14] next time.

[00:57:15] Take care.

[00:57:15] See you in the ticket line.

[00:57:56] Special thanks to Carpal Tuller for the show theme music.

[00:57:59] For more about Carpal Tuller, visit www.carpaltuller.com.

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