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You must be looking through my Shyamalan takes over the last couple of weeks. Thank you, Christina, for having me back. It's wonderful to be here. And also Olympic times before we hopped on here just talking about Simone Biles, shout out to that performance. Shout out to her. Shout out to the women's U.S. rugby team for winning on the last second. That was thrilling. The swimming's been fantastic. LeBron James and Team USA has been killing it. So have Team USA on the women's side, the soccer, everybody, just it's been great. The guy who picks up the caps that they lose at the goal. I'm obsessed with that man, because he has like my dream body in a pool anyway. And then he's just like, I don't care about my physique. Fabulous. It was like, oh my God, you didn't have to do a speedo, but they did. Fabulous. So this is what we're going to be doing this time around, Ryan. We're at the midway point of the movie year, so to speak. Now it's no Barb and Hymer year as we know it, the movies, it's always worrisome, but the summer has brought some positive vibes. We're seeing some bigger box office numbers with films like Inside Out 2, Deadpool and Wolverine, Twisters, of course. What we're going to do is we're going to go back and summarize some of our favorite films of the year so far up until August 1st. And for me, I can see that it's probably not going to be those big ones I just mentioned. There's a few little other ones out there. We're going to run through our favorites. And I have a quick, little lightning round of questions at the end that I haven't really established with you yet about some upcoming films, but we'll get to that. But first, we have to talk about some breaking news stories here, Ryan. The last show we did together, we talked about Horizon, Costner's semi-self-financed Western epic, which premiered at Cannes to lukewarm reception, bombed at the theaters. The second installment has been pulled from cinemas in August. Part one is doing pretty well on streaming, which is not surprising since it's basically a TV series. But now, a couple of hours ago, they announced that Part 2 is going to be premiering at Venice. Mamma Mia, Costner is working it. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think it's going to get carried over to Telluride? It's that one of those little munchies. Oh, God. Well, he looked good at Telluride. Oh, yeah, he did. I think that it is good for him. I mean, it's obviously got pulled from theaters, and the fans of the film Twitter fans of it seem to get really upset about it. I'm like, it's going to come out. It's not going to be shelled. This is all I think another attempt for Costner also to go to Italy and to speak to potentially backers and others to make the final two. And so I think that it's fine. I mean, then it's just-- But did he like pick up the phone and call, hey, Barbara? Probably. Yeah, I mean, probably. Come on. Give us a night, right? Well, Barbara, I mean, to be fair, he has put a hell of a lineup together. He has. I mean, he's the-- I think he's the guy. Oh, yeah. He's been the guy for years now. He's better than Cannes. He's better than Telluride. He's better than Toronto. He's the one that's like, this is the place to be. And he's done it the last two years now, where he has just dominated the field and made me extremely jealous for not going for the two weeks. But I do think that-- and I'm interested to hear what you have to say about it. I do think it is just kind of not surprising because they do like to work with celebrated or acclaimed directors. They're not put off by putting a blockbuster or two. They have Wolfs, which is a terrible title. And they have a Joker 2 playing at the festival, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice is opening the festival. So they also have a clear good relationship with Warner Brothers as well. So it's not too surprising. If Costa needs this to, one, sound like he's not going to be like falling off the horse for a terrible metaphor and gets, you know, to kind of ride off into the sunset of getting more money so that he can go and make his little horsey movies and go on ahead. But I mean, it was-- I do think that you're right. There was like a phone call be like, "Hey, hey, man, can you put up my other three-hour Western and a foreign film festival, please?" Because as you were saying on the last show, the reception from critics at Cannes wasn't great, but he was great at Cannes. It was a big thing that when he was there, it was very emotional. He said some very good things. I mean, it's a huge deal to have your movie premiering at these major festivals. I mean, the only thing that surprises me because, of course, they want Costner there and it's lots of news today. I mean, the tweets keep clicking in here for a Venice Film Festival. It's just that they usually don't want to do the overlaps with Cannes and it feels sort of like been there, done that eight weeks ago. But on the other hand, I mean, sure, I think it's very smart. I'm sure they can get more backers. I'm just not sure that what the backers can see now is going to interest them anymore. Yeah. I mean, I think that it's not going to get the same reception as it did it can and I think that it's going to ultimately just be another opportunity for Costner to try to get money from backers. And it's going great on streaming. We don't have to. It is really doing well there and I can't wait for the steelbooks to get to Walmart. But it's their excuses there. You're in line already. Yeah. They're in line. There's tents. I don't know if you, when you were in California, if you saw that there, but no, I mean, that's, but that's the other thing too is like he, he in that press conference doubled down. He did a press conference for a smaller festival, like the, like last week or something. And he essentially doubled down on the idea that like, you know, Hollywood and the opening box office weekend is a poisoned, you know, mindset and it's like, just take the loss. Yeah. Like just say, just say that you didn't, you didn't get what you wanted and yeah, I have to go through alternative routes to do it, but like. Which will go well. Yeah. It will. Appreciated. People have found it already, like they're, they're going to find it. Like it takes time. The dumb thing about all this was, and I think we talked about this on that episode, but I'll restate it if I didn't. It was done putting two parts out within a month of each other, which also, they never fully explained, do you get refunded for buying those two tickets? Do you have to like, you know, because they were selling them as bundles, which is also a mistake financially. It's like, you're not seeing like, buy Deadpool Wolverine and get the next Marvel film free. Like that's not how this works. So it, it seemed, it seemed like a really old fashioned, at times even desperate attempt to make a franchise happen when again, no one asked for this Kevin. So it, but it will be interesting. I mean, I don't think that it's like kind of can been there done there because it is a second part and they obviously have done sequels before. So it's, it's, but it will, but it is interesting that they're going to screen it and they don't even know when it's going to come out in the United States, like they were around the world at all. So, but I've already seen the movie because at the end they showed you everything. Yeah. So, so I've got a one up on you, you know, it, Italian audiences, you know what I mean? Well, I, I'm kind of happy for him. He's working it. We have to give him that, right? So, you know, yeah, there you go. And the second thing I want to talk to you before we get started is that Kimmel has said no to host the Oscars. My big disappointment, John Mulaney, who I have every year, hope is going to do it has said no to Oscars. So give me three guesses on who you think could be hosting the Oscars. Well, one, it should be Mulaney, but he's busy. He's extremely busy. It's not that he said no, is that he just passed because of his busy schedule. And thank God. It's not Jimmy Kimmel because I'm like, been there and done that. I think that John Oliver would be a great choice. It would go in the sort of the mold of when John Stewart used to host it. I mean, it is an election year and hosts that election. It could be really fascinating to have a political commentator do the Oscars. And also he's one of the best television hosts we have right now. I mean, it would be better than Colbert or Fallon and it's because the one, I don't think that they would work into contractually speaking, it wouldn't work. Maya Rudolph would be fantastic, in my opinion, because of her just, I mean, she's one of the funniest people on the planet. She's shown by presenting multiple times at the Oscars that she could do it and because her and her husband, Paul Thomas Anderson, she, they have an appreciation for movies. And I think that that is a lot like Billy Crystal will be Goldberg. They used to have an appreciation for movies and Kimmel has doesn't have an appreciation for movies. He has an appreciation for punching down on the nominees and the problem is all those fabulous women that we want, Tina and Amy, and they just don't want to do it. It's not right. No, they don't. And I mean, obviously then, you know, the choice of, I mean, looking inside the house of mouse is, is then the way to go. I mean, you could do Steve Martin and Martin Short. That makes me see, you know, it makes sense. I think this, though, Christina, and this is the ultimate cynic in me talking to you right now. Hang on one second, sorry. This is the ultimate cynic in me talking right now to you, Christina. I think based off of the weekend they just had, hosting Kimmel, that the Oscars would be fools not to call Ryan Reynolds and you, Jackman, to come and do this show one. It would be symbolically very interesting because Reynolds asked Jackman to come and do Deadpool Wolverine. So, and it was never going to do that again. And this is a never going to be maybe able to do it against situation for Jackman. But I think he would do it if he was doing it with Ryan, with Ryan Reynolds and say what you want about the over the top abundance personality that has been Ryan Reynolds. People love it. And the movie is going to make up the movie is going to make a billion dollars and they would sing and dance. I think it would be great. That's fab. And since this is not, well, won't be a barbenheimer year, well, they'll get all those free stars that they did last year. There you have them. Yeah. And I mean, you need, if you're not going to have a comedian do it, you need a person like Jackman and Reynolds who's going to get the average person to watch a show where let's face it, the biggest movie probably that will likely get nominated at this point, side unseen with other things is Dune, like you need a reason to get people to watch. And when they done the no hosts or they did the trio of hosts that didn't work, that wasn't the recipe. And so I think that that should happen. Eric and I were talking about this. And I said, who do you think he's like, just as long as it's not the rock, I don't care because I don't want to see the rock up there and it won't be funny. And I think that that's the other thing too. It needs to be a celebration, but it needs to have some fun. I want some fun to this. I mean, we're getting closer to a hundred years. We need to have some really fun hosts because when it gets that 100, it needs to be knocked out of the park and they should secure the hosts. Now I'm actually glad that they are already talking about this now rather than two months before and scrambling. They seem to maybe buy September, October will know and that's how it used to be. And so I mean, the other one that you could consider and you tried doing it years ago, this was about 10, 15 years ago, I don't know if it would work, but any Murphy's always wanted to do the Oscars. Oh, really? He's so good. He was supposed to do it. The producer at the time was Brett Ratner. And yeah, they'd done Tower Heights together, so it made sense at the time. But I mean, you could get Sean Levy to work with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman there as a producer on it. I mean, Feige could help. I don't know. I mean, it makes sense for them to do it. But I mean, that would be kind of great. I think that I mean, Eddie Murphy has been trying to get back up in the stand-up gig, doing the hosting gig like that. When he did SNL a couple of years ago, that was fantastic. I mean, think about SNL, like Gosling, Gosling just killed it at the Oscars. He wouldn't do it. I think because of his personality and not wanting to be in the spotlight and the pressure of that. But I mean, that would be… But all the ones you're saying are dreams. It just feels like all of those, I'm sure they're salivating the bosses to get these people. I just feel like they don't want to. It's just such a thankless gig. It is. And I mean, is there someone you would want to do? Oh, I mean, the ones you mentioned, all the, you know, from Maya Rudolph to John Mulaney was my number one. So I keep wanting that to happen every year. But all of the ones you mentioned, I think Gosling would be amazing. For now, what seems to make the most sense is, you know, Steve Martin and Short who have the experience of doing this before they make sense. It's ABC. They could bring on Selena Gomez, which I'm sure will be there anyway for Amelia Perez. If I don't know, it just feels like the package makes sense. It makes sense, yeah. But I do think we have to start looking towards some potential hosts in the future that are for like this generation. Yes, exactly. They feel that's the only thing that doesn't make sense is that it feels old. It's starting to feel like this generation at all doesn't want to do it. And you know, I've said this before, obviously given his terrible comments and not wanting to apologize, Kevin Hart did want to do it. And I'm not saying he should do it to be clear listeners, so do not come after me. I'm not saying I want Kevin Hart to do it. I'm saying that you need to find somebody that wants to do it and you're not gonna like try to kill this time for having an imperfect past because everyone has skeletons in their closet and also who if there is a skeleton that comes up, that person needs to like just straight up apologize and just for the sake of it. But a lot of people for a while now have been put off by the Twitter online verse destroying potentially a reputation of someone and not wanting to do it. And I mean, Hart's gone on to work with literally the Olympics in Keenan Thompson in Snoop Dogg and it's worked. So he got to scratch that itch in another way where he wasn't given a pressure like this. So you know, you have to think about it like that too, it's like I want John Mulaney to do it so bad because he would be perfect. But I also know that, you know, he's got a million other things to do and you can't just put every hope into the basket of one comedian. You need to like I think giving a call to Bo and Yang and Matt Rogers because they do Los Costa Rica's, they have an appreciation for this that that would be something like take a risk with the hosts. Yeah, they have their awards. Take a risk. I mean, Aubrey Plaza has done great job at the spirit awards. So you know, take a little bit of risk like that, you know, find find something different. Do not go safe with this like it like going safe would be like if they called Billy Crystal and I had to hear 10 now nominees in a song melody that would kill me. And also the other option is do not just think, well, no one wants to do it. So don't do a host because I didn't work out last time. You can't go backwards. And call costner. Yeah. Well, yeah, you know what? Just call costner. He's got a movie to celebrate. There will be a really awkward end of the world like speech. Remember when he gave that right before he gave out best act and then like Jake Campion was like, I was doc, you know what I mean, like good impression. All right, let's go on to our best of the year so far. Thinking we will do it sort of in going from January to now, do you want to start or do you want me to start? Sure. I'll start. Good. I actually have a film in January. Oh, me too. One. Yeah. Oh, you have one. I have one. That's perfect. Um, Kristina is totally talking about the Jason state, the movie, the beekeeper in about a in a couple of minutes. Oh, my God. You've read my mind. Um, I am the first movie I'm going to talk about is a movie called Sometimes I Think About Dying, which is Rachel Lambert's film that premiered actually at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, but actually came out literally one year later in theaters and on VOD. And it's just a small independent kind of just semi contained in this small town of following this, uh, this girl played by Daisy Ridley, who's very socially awkward and it's kind of isolated herself and sort of is really sad and has like this dream state of, of, of honestly thinking about death and dying most of the time. And, uh, and as she's been thinking about this over and over again, going through the mandayity of her job, this new coworker comes in and kind of blossoms her out of her, out of her shell. And I think that it's a really beautifully interesting film. It's just sort of kind of a sweet, um, coming of age, really, really enough film, but yeah, really good office movie made it made me miss the office, uh, a lot. Um, but, uh, I think Daisy Ridley is extraordinary. She has a couple of other films coming out later this year, uh, that premiered at South by Southwest, um, but this like showed, this is a showcase for her in a showcase that she's beyond Ray and it was a sweet little film and it has just like these really beautiful connection between these two people about someone that is very lost in needing a lifeline in the world. So, um, yeah, that came out in January and, uh, and not a lot of people talked about it, you know what I mean? Cause I saw it via sound dance last year too. So I had sort of forgotten about it. Um, I can't say it was one of my top, top, top of 2023, but it is a very sweet movie. And it was really nice to see Daisy Ridley in it who does a really good job. So good choice. My pick for January is also a smaller movie that was shown via Sundance. And it's a documentary that I want to mention because it's been bought by Netflix and should be coming any minute, hopefully it's called Iblin. Um, it's about a kid named Matt Steen on Norwegian gamer who had a degenerative muscle disease and died at the age of 25. His parents who are in the documentary mourned the fact that he had lived such a lonely and isolated life, but when he died, they started receiving messages from all over the world about his online life and friends and how he had had a totally another existence in an online world as a figure called Iblin. And it is so beautiful and so touching and I cried so much, but in it also is a really incredible movie as his father told me in an interview I did to see with another generation who doesn't understand certain parts of gaming and online. And what an incredibly full life he led and how many people he helped. And I can't wait for this to go on Netflix. I think it's going to be a huge, make a huge impact to really good. That sounds interesting. Yeah. It's really. They always have the best docs. I think Sundance does. Are you going to talk about Madam Webb now? Was we getting into that? Yes. Actually, I am because and you think I'm joking, but I'm not, I'm not, I'm here to talk about maybe one of the wildest, you know, film going, watching experiences I had this year. And that was with Madam Webb. And it's weird to say that I will be talking about Madam Webb more than I will be talking about Doom part two. So obviously I'm like my love hate relationship with comic book movies or cinematic universes are very well established in our society here. But I, I don't know, there was something of the quality that I found with movies that I have a soft spot for like, I mean, obviously B movies and it really felt weirdly like the tone of an M light Shyamalan movie. I was reminded a lot of when I saw the happening in theaters of, I don't know if you're giving this movie. It was, no, hang on. Here's the line. It's the line that I heard an audience member when I saw the happening, I had an audience member next to me and they were with their friend. And I overheard the friend saying, what is going on? And the other person said, I don't know, but I can't stop watching. And that is the definition of Madam Webb. It is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. And that means that I couldn't stop watching it. And I had a great trash time just like get the nastiest, most disgusting pizza you've ever had a box wine or a craft beer and just watch this thing. It's on Netflix. We had a fantastic time with it. And you have to take it at face value. This is a bad movie, but it is a bad movie in the vein of like cats. You're going to enjoy it because of the, of the terrible ride you're on. So yes, I have been, it has, it has one of my favorite scenes of the year, which is the bad guy trying to go after the trio of girls to stop whatever stupid. I don't even know the plot of this. But Dakota Johnson literally takes her ambulance and runs it through this wall. And it hits the guy and the way the guy's body kind of flops in the air is one of the most hilarious things. It is the funniest thing I've seen this year easily, hands down. So yeah. We like that kind of cinematic experience as well. And I'll give you that it's probably my favorite press tour of the year, Dakota Johnson's fabulously snarky. Does she like this movie or does she not like this movie press tour that she gave, which was really she hated every minute of it, but she did do her the first tour. She did. She did it. If you notice separately from the other girls too. So it didn't seem like she wanted to be attached to any of this, which is I honestly fair, very fair, but also she's exceptionally bad in this movie. But she also rolls like it's, it's this weird thing of like, this movie is terrible, but it also, it's the kind of dumb fun that these movies should provide. You should remember these experiences more than, I know this is kind of sound like I'm hating on this, but and I had a fun time with that movie too for what it is. But it's a different experience than something like Deadpool Wolverine, because it doesn't feel so manufactured. It feels like the sky falling. And that's kind of fun to watch at times. So can't believe I'm talking about Madam Webb, but it's a calamity that you must see. So the beginning part of the year also featured Dune part two. Is that on your? It is not on my list. Dune part two, I, my reviews up on an awards watch and actually it is kind to that film. I think I ended up giving it a C plus and I would most likely give it a C minus. I think that the movie is, is, is rather, I don't know how you feel about it, but for me, I felt incomplete and I felt kind of, I kind of felt like numb to the whole experience. I think the movie is rather bland looking. And I think the performances are some are good, some are bad. I think the writing is the ultimate problem with this. And it's when it's when the themes actually start opening up for this movie. It's like, damn, I understand now what everyone's talking about. It does feel like the second part of the movie. And the first part I found to be more patient and methodical and expanding this world to set this up. And then it felt super rushed to to get to, you know, oh, well, you know, he's the, you know, he's the leader and, and, uh, oh, yeah, the harking in her bed. And here we got to bring in Austin Butler and it felt, it felt honestly like it should have been this part should have been two parts as well. So, um, I know everybody loves it. I know everybody just wants to call it like the greatest equal of all time and, you know, because no, no, because, you know, cause most people don't watch movies beyond the year that they actually watch movies in and they forget that film has a history and all that other stuff. So, um, but, uh, you know, cause like a Godfather part two and Dark Knight and Empire Strikes Back and all these other movies exist. But, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm not a big fan of it. I don't know what you think about it. I feel about, about the same way. It's not on, on, on there for me too. I just wanted to, to mention it there because. But Austin Butler. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm going to jump forward a bit in the spring here to Monkey Man, um, Dev Patel's directorial debut produced by Jordan Peele, his sort of ultra violent revenge movie of the corrupt Indian patriarchal world to speak, Dev Patel is going to make better movies. But this really surprised me at how incredibly rich and difficult it must have been to put together and what an incredible concept that he managed to do for his first movie. I think he's great at, I mean, give him the Bond role, give him anything. I think he both has humor and looks and smarts and so, um, I mean, it's, it's not the best movie ever made, but it was something that really stuck out for me in the spring that I thought was, was fascinating. But it is as I have warned listeners before incredibly violent. Yeah, it's incredibly violent, but it also is like, if you're going to put your foot into the kind of, um, revenge thriller, John Wick, you know, universe, uh, it's not the same connective universe, but like the style of movies that you're going to do it, do it through an ultra personal lens and I think he does that really well. And I agree with you, he's got a, he's got an eye for this thing. It didn't, you know, this movie is, is a very good debut for him, but, uh, yeah, can't wait to see what he does next. Obviously we're not the only ones that thinks he has an eye for this Jordan Peele, who is his producer, uh, saw something in him that, um, you know, it's the same thing that Blumhouse saw in, in, um, in peeled before. So if you got a master right now of cinema saying that you, you got a knack for this, uh, make more films deaf and yeah, hell you cut the cost. Just get, if you give him bond, he can direct the hell out of the thing and, and, uh, and then you don't have to pay two people. You paid for the price of one. Now obviously you had to pay them a lot of money, but still, you know, like he would be, he would be a great bond. They need to figure out who's going to be bond. I like that idea, both bond and him making bond. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he proved it. He could make a really good action movie. So, um, yeah, I, um, I'm going to, I'm going to actually move back because you're moving forward. I'm sorry. I'm back a little bit. No, no, no, no, it's okay. We're going on. We're going to go back and forth. I'm still in March. You're in April. I'm in March. Well, technically I did see that in March. I saw that at South by Southwest. I introduced Patel and, uh, and so that was a, that was kind of great. It was a great night. Crowd loved it. Um, I'm going to go back actually in a time machine to 20, uh, 23 when I saw this other film at, at South by Southwest and that's Julio Torres is Prabamista, which is. Oh, I haven't seen that yet. You haven't seen it? Oh my God. No, I know. I'm on my list. And I can see it now too. Right? It's, it's already out. HBO Max or Max and it's about this, uh, Julio Torres plays Alejandro, who's this, uh, aspiring toy designer and he wants to make the greatest toys known, you know, to man, uh, but he has no experience. So he starts working with, uh, as an assistant to this, uh, ultra crazy, weird art, uh, world to outcasts that is to the Switten. And he essentially has to try to work with her and get her to sign off on his visa paper so he can stay in the United States. And it's all about his struggles to try to stay above in terms of housing and in terms of the immigration system in our country and gaining employment and, uh, and it also is about trying not to kill this woman who is the, uh, being of his existence because she's driving him insane, uh, and it's not a murderous thing. She's just like literally causing him anxiety at every turn because she's ultra specific about every single thing. Uh, I would implore everyone to watch this if they love Julio Torres, but my God is still to Switten and absolutely insane performance in this movie, uh, it is hilarious. Maybe if you went online and you watched a trailer just to get a taste, you'd see a quote from somebody that says it's one of the funnier films of the year from last year and this year. Um, it's a really good movie and it shows the sort of imaginative, uh, almost fairy tale like visionable style that Torres has as a director mixed with his unique sense of comedy and, uh, and I highly recommend it and, uh, yeah, it's on Mac. So go get her watch. Fabulous. I'm going to see that immediately. Um, it's surprisingly tender too. I know. I've heard so and you talked so much about it and, and, and we have a good till the Switten year ahead of us too, she's in so many things coming and that's a good year. Yes. She's got like three films at Venice. I'm like, why don't you just own the festival, maybe. Do you want to, are you still in March? Go ahead. I don't know if you want to talk about this. I don't know if it was on your list. It was a movie that both of us saw last year, but it, it technically premiered this year and that's Alicia Roivacher's lucky man. Yes. And I don't know if you want to speak to this because it's been the year of Joshua Connor, but this is, you know, a film where he plays Arthur, who is a sort of reluctant English archeologist who, uh, with this ragtag, a bunch of, you know, individuals there looking for these prized possessions. Like he has this unique gift that's also extremely haunting and he, it's, it's almost a curse more than a gift. And I think it's Rorocker's best film, in my opinion. It, there's something, it's saying about, you know, our connection, I think, to culture and art and the sort of danger when we kind of put our imprint on it and how we're trying to possessively take it. And I think it's one of the most beautiful films that you're going to see this year. And beautifully loving to a classic Italian cinema. Yes. And I think O'Connor's performance is the second best performance this year. But it's also, I mean, he's incredible in it and he's just continuing to prove that he is an actor that you have to pay attention when he is selecting projects because he's, there's not many right now that are selecting this kind of versatility and vulnerability that you can find in his performances. So I would highly recommend you all check that one out. It is on VOD. You can watch that right now. Amazing. Yes. And you know, you made a good rule because I hadn't looked at movies that, that were for like last year's Oscar year this year. Yeah, it's this weird thing like, I know taste of things was another one where that one, that one fully came out in February. And, but I think I talked about it enough last year and I didn't, and it did do limited and it's weird. Some movies that, that do end up taking their time to get here. But like that movie literally came out in March, like America, I'm like, wait a minute. I saw this movie like in September. What are we talking about? So it really is weird when you go to festivals and you're like, when is that movie ever coming out? So. I think we both like this. Well, I know we both like because at least you liked it when we did a show about it. And that was Civil War, Alex Garland's dystopian photojournalist war film starring Kristin Dunst, which I think we both really appreciated and was also one of the big surprises of the year, both in terms of the tone he used that we went into that show after a horrendous trailer being really worried about where he was going to go with this movie. And it turned out that it wasn't what we, what that trailer announced it would be. It was better in every way. It was also a very visually very interesting film. So that's one for me. I agree. That movie is, you ready? Become very relevant. I was thinking a lot of, obviously when the, just a couple of weeks ago we had a assassination attempt on Donald Trump, God damn it, I hate saying his name. But I was thinking about the journalist that took the photo that, you know, and being right there on the front lines. And that is the, that is a movie that is talking about the impact of the photo and the impact of the journalists and what they represent in sort of telling the truth. Been watching a lot of movies this year, older movies like, you know, The Managed Shot Liberty Valence and even, you know, Malick's work and, you know, looking at how these masters are attempting to examine their past in order to talk about their present. And I think that, well, Garland is not a, I wouldn't call him a master of anything really. You know, he's a very fine filmmaker. I think that he's, I think that we sort of tried because it is our tribal nature to want to find a divisive quality to them and movie. And I think that weirdly presented itself in real life, the sort of the dangers of what a photo can do and how, and how the world around us can be framed in our history. So, uh, fascinating film to talk about. One that I, you know, I know that, uh, your former guest, Chris Ryan, it was his favorite film of the year so far when I was listening to the big picture podcast. So it is one that's very liked and it, I did see that. Yeah, go back and listen to our show that when I did with, with you about this, because it was really interesting conversation where we had one thought of the movie and turned out to be something else. And that's such an interesting journey to take when you're waiting for a movie like this with a director like this, who often surprises also just a great IMAX experience. The sound came not forget the sound of the, the sort of warfare in that movie. And it, it's in shivers down your spine when you think of, you know, how our divisiveness now could lead to something like that and how people are encouraging it. It's kind of wild. So April was good for us both I think for me because we have Joshua Connell's best movie there also of the year challengers, Luca Guarraninho's triangle power play set in the tennis world with Zendaya, Mike Fiest, Joshua, I think I can say one of my favorites so far of the year. Surprising, heart thumping, sexy, everything you sort of want in a movie so go challengers. Yeah, go challengers, my favorite film of the year so far. Also, yeah, I think it's incredible. I think it's, it's, it's one of the two movies that stuck in my head the most this year. Just because of it's, it's the sure audacity of the filmmaking, you know, I'd be curious to hear what your husband thought about it. Because just from the editing standpoint and the way the cinematography and the evidently the use of visual effects and the score and every in the costuming and the way in which the characters are positioned, especially in the photo I have behind me today, which is on that bed and how everything, the sneaky, the sneaky humor, the sexiness, the rawness, the way in which every, again, the way like in the saunacing, the way in which both of these men are stripped down, should I say, and how we present themselves in how they're all very complex and fascinating three dimensional characters, you know, yeah, their relationship is fascinating. But also how seldom we see raw ambition in a woman in this way and the consequences of that. And it's fascinating. I totally agree. And I think that I think that she that's it's in Diaspress performance. I think that Feist is incredible in super slimy and yet vulnerable and wormy and just an absolute little twink in the bedroom. And I think then Josh O'Connor is incredibly sexy and very almost mustache twirly at times too, but very vulnerable and insecure. Yeah, it's wild, the sort of range that all these characters go on in a two hour movie. And yeah, so it's it's slowly might be becoming Luca's best movie for me. Like I I mean, I love Suspirian called me by I already said that on our show. This is his best movie for me. You think that this is his best movie? Yeah. And then he has queer coming out later this year, which only makes my anticipation for that film, which is supposed to be like, again, this three hour movie that he's he's said that is an ode to pal and press burger with tons of hot sex. And I'm like, okay, cool. Let's do it. Daniel, let's do it, Luca. See your year, buddy, but but yes, challenges is the movie so far to beat this year. After that. I don't know why I wrote this. Well, did I have something to say about this? Yeah. I mean, here's an example of a bad movie that's just bad, not unlike Madam Webb, and that was unfrosted. We'll just move on from that one, but I never watched it. And I never will don't don't. But I'm going to run through quickly a couple of the titles I saw at Cannes, but I talked about those at length on different shows. So I won't go into them. But my favorites from there were the substance, the Demi Moore body horror film about aging, which is absolutely bonkers bananas than the one of the most gore filled movies I've ever seen. I'm so looking forward to talking to you about that one, Ryan, when it comes. Lots of people didn't like it. Elia Perez is going to be a huge hit on Netflix coming up, the amazing Carla Sofia Gascon as a trans narco troficante on the run. Selena Gomez will be there. I've talked about Megalopolis with Coppola. Here's also kind of a bad movie, but that really was heartwarming for me. And I could really feel Coppola in it. And I was taken by it. And Jesse Plemens, his second best of the year after talking about Civil War in Latin most kinds of kindness, which I know lots of people didn't like, but I still found super interesting and just a few of the ones that it can. Are you looking for a podcast where you can learn about the juiciest historical events in people? But it really feels like you're just gossiping with your girlfriends over a glass of wine or two? Well, that's why we created right answers mostly for what you didn't learn in history class, but you really wanted to. I'm your host Claire Donald and I'm Tess Belomo. Join us every Monday as we dive into the most iconic people and events and get ready to laugh along the way. We covered all from Titanic to Chris Jenner, Studio 54, Marie Antoinette, even Colts and crimes such as Charles Manson and Jonestown every Monday wherever you listen to your podcast because history is just gossip. Follow us at right answers mostly for more. One of the things I want to talk to you about is that I'm sort of kind of wondering why the big releases aren't on our list here this year. I do have one big release and it is from the month of May, but and I can talk about that here in a minute. I think that that is the byproduct of one one. I mean, we did. I did just you and I just mentioned that Dune is kind of a disappointment first and I like the first Dune. So it wasn't like it was a disappointment to me, but the blockbuster this year have just not been up to par with what we usually expect and I think this is also a byproduct of the strike and the sort of movies that we're left with. And I mean, like I had a fun time with the nice or the what was it, the fall guy, almost at the nice guy, the fall guy, but but upon reflection, I'm like, yeah, it's not like one of the best movies of the year. It was that was the death and I will admit this. I'm not like other people. I was I was caught up in the moment because it's out by we really hadn't had really any good movies yet and it was like the day or two after the Oscars and Gosling literally set across the aisle for me. And I had a good time with it. Like I wasn't expecting the sun and the moon and I think that's the other thing too. That's the other thing too is people have been expecting the sun and the moon with these blockbusters and it's like, no, you they're they're supposed to just be popcorn entertainment. They're not supposed to be, I mean, they can be. I think that we are all been spoiled by Barb andheimer, which are thought provoking, challenging, epic storytelling, both of them. And then you had a mission impossible movie surrounding that. So it's like, we were very spoiled last year. We're going to be very spoiled in retrospect of thinking about the great movies that came out last year, just opposed to the movies that came out this year. So we have to kind of every year is his own thing, find your pleasure, maybe some years just not in the big films. And that's okay. And box office wise, a lot of them, not fall guy, but twisters and Deadpool and all those are going really well. So plan of the apes, like you mentioned, you know, inside out, people are going to these movies and they're seeing them. So they're having, you know, general audiences are doing okay, actually. It's maybe the it's maybe the critical consensus is going like, we're in an existential crisis and it's like, no, you're not just go find some damn movies that you're, you know, and they're out there. You can get them or just wait till the fall. And that's okay. Because there's going to be a ton of movies in the fall that general audiences are going to give a shit about. And then we're going to be like, yeah, give me all these movies. The general audience is not going to see no offense. See the substance. You and I are super interested in seeing a movie like that, you know, it'll be fascinating and see what the numbers are for Amelia Perez, a movie I'm dying to see, we're going to talk about megalopolis. We're going to talk about gladiator, which is a great crossover event. We'll probably, I don't know if we'll talk about it, but a lot of people will talk about wicked and I'll talk about, you know, a bunch of films that'll be big and also, you know, we'll talk about all the movies that are small. But I think right now, the first half of the year for you and me, they just have been dominated by the small films, except I think in one particular case, and you saw it at Cannes and I saw it in May, and that was Furiosa, a man, Max Saga, which I, I, you know this, I'm not a fan of prequels, I find them to be just a money grab, cash grab, a kind of disgusting enterprise, but George Miller made a movie and George Miller is not making movies for really anyone other than George Miller, and I kind of respect the hell out of that. He takes, you know, one of the great films of our lifetime in Fury Road and expands the backstory of one of the great heroes that we've had in giving this rich, beautiful, luscious world, new contextualities. I think Chris Hemsworth is one of the performances of the year. He is insanely good in this movie, more of this, please, less than war, and I think it's a movie that looks ten times better from a cinematography and visual perspective than Dune Part 2, and it's got all the great action that you want in it. A kickass ending, Anya's amazing, like, there are nits to pick with it for sure, because it's like, how do you, you know, when you start doing stuff like this, then you, even with somebody that's attached to it, it can, it can, like, not all the threads loosely fit in. But as an experience, it was the biggest surprise of the year of how much I loved it. And so the first hour with the child is particularly moving and edible for eyes. Something to say, yeah, yeah, I mean, Miller will never touch a Mad Max movie ever again because it doesn't make any money, but I don't care how much we got it. Go ahead, next one or if you have one or not. Well I want to talk about, I mean, May was a big month of movies, and I think that one that was at Sundance, it was the big Sundance film, and it's a movie, Christina, I don't know if you've caught up with it. We've not talked about it, but James Scholenburg's, I saw the TV glow. I haven't. Okay, you have to see it, you have to have a, just maybe not an episode, but a conversation about this down the road, because I think it is actually the most fascinating movie of the year. Challengers is the best movie of the year, but the most fascinating movie of the year is I saw the TV glow, because it's telling, it's making the audience take whatever they feel from it. It's very much like, I hate using the word lynchian, but because I think that that kind of devalues what lynch does. But what lynch's movies do is a lot, what this movie did, which is that there's a lot of interpretations to come from it, and there's not really a wrong interpretation from it. But it is a trans allegory, and it is also a movie about how we consume media, and how generationally, particularly our generation, and Buffy, and things that really changed way of seeing ourselves, particularly if we were in bad places and what media, I mean, I haven't seen the movie, but I've heard so many good things about that. Well, it's also too, it speaks to, I think, the loneliness and isolation, it feels also by minorities is following a white girl and a black kid, and to me, there's so much there to this movie too, because it's like, well, then, of course, instead of having friends, they cling on to and literally tattoo themselves to the pop culture that is there and use it as a blanket to hide their insecurities or their frustrations or their loneliness in the world. So I think it's a profound film. This one, I'll never watch again, because it is actually terrifying. It's a terrifying movie to think about, because of just then what it says about you. And I was thinking about this movie days after I was done with it. I'm still thinking about it. Maybe I am lying, maybe I will watch it again, because it is a really fascinating film, structurally some of those screenplay is a little repetitive, but I think that that's kind of the point. And it's got one of the best final five minutes in a movie this year period, the ending of this movie is that's a conversation with it itself, really, when you're new. Good. Let's have that one. I'll let you know when I've seen it. Okay. I want to mention Hitman, Glenn Powell's Domination of the Year, this is the best one. You said Glenn Powell and Dominate, and then I stopped and my mind went, I went to a place that the listeners don't want to hear, so there you go. But you agree with that one, right? Not much to say other than, I mean, it's another very sexy movie. And it's not as complex or as challenged, but it's a good time, but it's a damn good time and it just reminds you of like, out of sight and Soderbergh and link later, having the ability to just get two people in a room and make it a sexy, sexy time. Yeah. And Glenn Powell's a goddamn movie star. There's no question about it. Twisters isn't on my list, although I had a really good time on it. I think it's a good, fun movie to go to, but he is just, I mean, he's such a movie star every day, how he fills the screen, how he does his press junkets and he men brisket the dog and his parents with the signage and everything is just, it's like, it's like. It's Glenn Powell's world and we're lucky to be living in it. Perfect. I mean, the producers and many people must be like, oh, cheering all the way to the red car. I think Hollywood is. Yeah. We need a guy like this. Like he's the, he's essentially the guy next door and everybody wants to be with him. He's good choices now. Make choices. Yeah. Well, I mean, he's, he's got, I think the Edgar Wright movie is his next movie or something like that. So, you know, and the, I think they're remaking Running Man or something. I don't know. It'll be, it'll be fascinating to see what he does next. He's got, he's got audience cash aid and make whatever he wants. So I would hope it's more original work rather than just remake sequel sludge, you know what I have two more to mention the fur on my list. So you take whatever you have. I have, I have, I have, I guess, four left, but I'll, I'll quickly go through two of them right now. So Razukei, Hamaguchi, follow up to drive my car, which is evil does not exist. I don't know if you caught up with this last year. Another just fascinating left turn, like in the three hour movie with Uncle Vanya. And now he's making like a movie about the dangers of the environment through, through corporations and, and how it feels very malic-esque and it feels like a really interesting kind of connection to the new world. And it's super patient and it's got again another ending that will lead to a lot of conversation and he's a visual stylist for his generation now. The movie is incredibly beautiful. It's also extremely cynical, which his movie before is kind of patient and tender and, and mournful. And this is cynical and angry at his, at the companies within his own country. And so I, I think it's a fascinating film, you know, about this, you know, this village that's sort of inhabited or wants to be purchased by this sort of giant conglomerate and the sort of interconnections of how that deal is made to then leading to some very dangerous and violent turns. It's, it's really a fascinating movie, but it's also extremely patient at times two. I know I've said that, but he is a patient filmmaker and it's slow, burn thriller that kind of just builds up to this end and you're like, Jesus. And then it's, it ends and you're like, I could have gone another two hours. Like, that's the kind of brilliance of it. It's that he's, but he's, I think that that's the point. It kind of leaves you wanting more, but at least you should then start talking about these issues. So that's a really fascinating film. I saw that at Toronto last year and it came out in limited theaters in May, a movie I saw at South by that was at Sundance. That's just hit it hit theaters recently was Coast Light. And if you don't know what ghost light is about, it is essentially a movie about this, this family who are grieving the loss of their son and instructed by Alex Thompson and Kelly O'Sullivan, who did St. Francis and they're grieving their son and the father is, who is ahead of a construction site. He is let go from his job because they're grieving their son and he finds this local theater troupe as doing a production of Romeo and Juliet and solely, but surely the family kind of revolves around this, this group and it uses it as a healing method to, to move on and become a family again, absolutely one of just the best films of the year, Keith Cuffler, who is the lead actor who plays Dan in it is wonderful, it's Tara Mallon and Catherine Cuffler are the people that play both his wife Sharon and his daughter Daisy. They're actually a real-life family. They were the real-life family of actors and they're incredible all on this movie and so it was Delia De Leon who plays kind of the lead actress and the director of this theater troupe and so, yeah, I just, I've heard so much about this a few weeks ago and I, it's a great one too with Sing Sing, you know, I don't know if you've seen Sing Sing. I have, that's what one of the, there you go, yeah, Sing Sing, we can talk about that right now and we also about rehabilitation through art and theater about a group of prisoners based on a true story, also with the 13 cast members who were our actually former prisoners who went through this theater rehabilitation program and it's a beautiful little movie starring Coleman Domingo about this group of prisoners and when they put up this theater program and at the maximum security prison, Sing Sing really, really liked that really loved Coleman Domingo's performance, he's just killing it with every project he's doing even in movies that were less successful, he kills it so that was amazing and my other smaller movie of the summer that I really enjoyed was Thelma, starring 94 year old June squid, the action star of, she should be on the Fury Road, she should, I mean just a funny small little movie about a grandmother who gets scammed by someone pretending to be her grandson and she is not letting that go, she's getting that money back and it becomes this scooter chase for vengeance where June Squib did all her own stunts, there's all these reference, yeah, she did all the scooter stunts, she did, she talked about it in my interview there, she did all these bed rolls and she talks about, there's all these references to Tom Cruise and Mission Impossible, Tom Cruise allowed this movie to use, to talk about it, use some clips from the film and she talks about him and it's also just a small family movie about aging and the limitations and what their family worries about but it's a really, really cute family at the center with one of my favorites who should be used in every movie, Parker Posey, as her daughter and it's just a fun time, I hope she gets an Oscar nomination because this is her in this amazing career she's had, character actor and in, you know, she was Oscar nominated for Nebraska but she gets her first lead role at age 94, well I gotta give it a look then, it's, I know it's on VOD, I haven't seen it, everyone's telling me how much fun they're having with it and well I'm excited to check it out, it'll be on the top of the list. Last one I want to talk about is the movie that just came out a couple of weeks ago in July but it's Luke Guilford's National Anthem which is just this kind of beautiful queer coming of age story about a boy named Dylan played by Charlie Plummer who's kind of working every other job because his mom is inconsistent and he has to take care of his brother, he gets picked up and taken to this ranch where it is surrounded by a community of queer ranchers and rodeo performers and he falls in love with this girl played by Eve Woodling named Sky and sort of kind of gets caught in a love triangle but also it's coming of age and there's horseback riding and then there's rodeos and there's drag and everything and it is this all encompassing sort of blossoming for Dylan and Luke Guilford is mostly known as a photographer and if you remember the Jeremy Allen White Jim photos that came out so a couple like last year and the Kristen Stewart, Katie O'Brien photo shoot that they had earlier this year after love by splitting came out he's the photographer of those photos but this is a large part of been a project that he's been working on for such a long time he had a book about a hundred or so pages and rodeo life has been a part of his life for so you know since he was a kid and this is sort of along with that book in this movie a reclamation and a reclaiming of the queer identity within rodeo culture which has been mostly dominated by conservatives and homophobic individuals and so that's his hope that you know that to be able to kind of reclaim their version of American their place in this and I think that he does that effectively as well as also showcase a beautiful coming of age story that we rarely get to see with such vibrancy and rawness and sexuality that is explored without feeling like it is being like pointed out or mentioned it's just fact and it's a very warm beautiful film it's also one of the best looking films of the year the cinema and that's not surprising considering he's a photographer but the cinematography in this movie is breathtaking and so yeah I highly recommend it and then when you see the film I recommend going and checking out my interview with with Guilford who's was more than more than generous with his time with me and and yeah he was he was amazing I can't wait to check that out another film that just kind of carried over from South by the year before but it was one that just it went from like every single festival just trying to build up a voice and so I'm happy for it good group of movies we've talked about I mean even though it may not be last year's menu it just feels like we still had a lot of things to recommend and we had a good time at the movies so and I'm we are going to have a show coming up Ryan where we talk about what we want to see in the fall we have so many interesting things to talk about but here at the end I want to do a little quick fire challenge with you I want to I've picked out five movies that have trailers already so that's the rule so if you haven't seen any of these trailers we'll we'll skip it but I just want your quick reaction to the trailer and if you're looking forward to the film and and these are all coming sometime in the fall one or two of these may be after Christmas I'm not sure exactly the reduced date so gladiator let's go let's go you got Denzel Washington smiling in a toga so loud as I'm gonna be in my loud right now I'm sorry you got Paul Musko looking like a snack you got Pedro being a bad guy you got Joseph Quinn doing it already once you got no sharks in the mausoleum floor what are we talking about we're talking about gladiator two baby it looks so good oh my god I was like so skeptical of this movie but anytime somebody talks about gladiator - I'm like are we talking about the like most anticipated movie of the year are we talking about literally a rhino also in the Colosseum we're not talking about that like oh it looks so good and I don't care I don't care if it's just the new the the movie all over again from the original the best picture winner like it looks like Ridley's got the sauce and I'm and I'm all there for it and coming off the Tony Scott movie series that we've been doing over at awards watching myself and Jay I'm just like I'm ready I'm so zoned in and like Denzel just looks like he is having the funnest time and he's the greatest actor that we have so it's yeah do that answer your question yes I could not agree more like and also anybody that hates that trailer literally go touch grass like what are you what are you doing like that's a perfect trailer I'm sorry wicked listen I've never been a fan of wicked as a musical I always thought it was kind of just like I thought it was a good first act and I think the second act is actually kind of terrible when it starts like trying to recreate and I get that that's what the book is but it's like it's really trying to there's a difference when you're in a book and a difference when you're on stage and a difference now when you're doing a movie and you're going to kind of recontextualize one of the greatest movies of all time in the Wizard of Oz the movie looks awful from a CGI standpoint I'm I'm totally all for Cynthia Rivo who's one of our great talents that we have but this movie has a fundamental casting problem and that's Ariana Grande who looks like just absolutely abysmal from what we've seen so far and if she's supposed to be this generations Kristin Chenoweth who is an extraordinary talent then they've failed on every level the CGI just looks so awful too and there's that Netflix sort of shine sheen to it of a streamer platform it just yeah from the vibrancy of in the heights to this you know John and Jude like no this looks like a bad music video and so I'm going to gladiator and gladiator only opening weekend and if that makes me sound like a dick or it makes me sound like I'm not you know supporting you know I'm not doing the double feature of what is the click it glicked or click it or whatever they have their comments like so also we got Kristin I don't know what you think about this I actually want to know what you think about this do you think people are way too desperate to try to recreate barbenheimer that we're just putting two movie titles together like it seems really desperate doesn't it yeah it's not going to happen with these two I mean barbenheimer is not going to have it's like that might just be the only time it's ever happened yeah it feels like it feels so you can't manufacture that what happened with that also no offense but I'm wicked it's just not at this point Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwick are better directors than John M - and Ridley Scott yeah at this point I'm not maybe not overall with Ridley's filmography but like but the last few things he's done I've seen Napoleon I know I know I could be disappointed in this so all right Beetlejuice Beetlejuice come on what are we doing like Tim Burton it's okay you can stop making movies what was it I was talking with I was talking with one of our contributors Karen Peterson she's looking forward to the film it's gonna be a massive hit it's gonna be I think a big hit yeah you're right and it's opening Venice and she's looking forward to it because her reasoning was well Keaton wouldn't have done this if they didn't have something good because he's very precious about that I also told her I was like he also did the flash so it's it's not like it's not like he's you know you know not like everybody else in Hollywood and looking to get checks Robert Downey Jr. so I mostly kind of curious from one aspect it's one of my wife's favorite movies and the original so much so she literally just bought the 4k she does not buy physical media it she does not buy any movies because she just expects me to kind of do it because I do and she saw the trailer and she's just like I am more nervous about that movie and then just about anything in the last five years and so it could literally if it breaks my wife I'll never forgive Tim Burton ever again so but I'm hoping the trailer delivers what you think it movie is gonna be I mean basically nostalgia and and I hope it's good because I mean Burton was one of those like childhood directors that you kind of grew up with and he was he was inventive and he was dark and it was like you know he had a very very tell almost like he's given the energy that Guillermo del Toro has now where he's taking you into these fantastic visions of his own world and he stopped doing that for such a long time because he's made crap and so but it's smart to get the whole Wednesday kid crowd in there with Martega who are used to the dark kind of Willem defos your bad guy you know Justin throw like a snack like it's it's it's smart I don't know if it'll work but it's it's a smart tactic we'll hear about it soon all right Clooney and Pitt in wolves terrible title wolves just call it wolves whoa I start by saying yeah this was such a terrible tree this is a bad trailer visible um I like but I like Clooney and Pitt in movies well Clooney and Pitt great but I mean Pitt are good like they're phoning it in with the buddy non buddy John Watts described it as to Michael Clayton's which which is like that's giving it too much credit that's probably giving it too much credit also Christina knows like Michael Clayton's one of my guilty pleasure movies and so when you said that my alarm went like what then I realized oh it's for wolves and also then I I did find out from Karen and shout out to Karen again she was telling me I think it's a play on the wolf character in Pulp Fiction and that they're the cleanup guys get it and so that's wolves and so then when she said that I went nothing no no and the whole trailer with the they have like one guy who he keeps getting knocked out and then running around in his underwear and I do think though it could be a little bit of a hit though I do think people with the older audiences see them I want to see them I mean yeah who doesn't want to see movie stars up on the big screen that's the thing we complain about whether or not like I mean Cooney and Julie Roberts made that rom-com where they were like oh that was huge yeah yeah and it wasn't a very good movie but it made money you know I mean so I think rom-com says a bigger another audience I don't know for sure I mean I don't know how it's gonna go but I just thought the trailer was just phoning it in every sense of the word okay last one talking about big movie stars on the screen and big rocks are a complete unknown oh I didn't think that that's where you're going oh you really want my take on this I do this is Timothy Chalamet is Bob Dylan this is my just came out last week this is my second least most anticipated movie of the year oh what's the first here oh god it's a mackels thanks listen I could talk about that movie and how that movie is so stupid the idea of the premise to the listeners okay so the premise is that it is a oh just even describing it makes me angry Christina it is a movie set where essentially like Robert's and I guess it didn't direct anything and the camera is just a post in this one corner of this house and it looks like through the trailer we're getting tree of life Malek ask sort of from the creation of time from this angle all the way through the dinosaurs and every literally in the trailer and how this is the whole film yeah and it's one location of how this place was built and then it then mostly follows this family which is Tom Hanks and Robin Wright and they're using the they're doing the CGI Beowulf crap that you know Zemeckis has been obsessed with for the last 20 years and that's where the whole framing device is now is through this like this family story through that one goddamn angle the entire time it is the angle that bothers me immensely the idea that it's in a corner there's like a shot of Robin and right walking literally up being like oh so this is what our house is nobody looks at a corner in their house and goes this is what our house is it's stupid it's dumb like what are you doing like I understand if you want to make it all set like a play in this one living room you can do that that's that's actually a really good idea for Zemeckis just kind of strip it down just make it about like a sort of two act play in this in this in this room and you can use the camera you can swirl it around if you want whatever but the idea of like the one time he has an idea to strip it all back he can't help himself but to put a crap ton of CGI and a stupid camera that's what I'm worried about because his use of it's like that uncanny valley kind of stuff right valley I saw one picture did not but I mean one picture this early you never know but that that all right and your second least anticipated is is Timmy as Bob listen I love Bob Dylan I love I'm not there oh and we don't need this movie in this movie this movie should not exist and the reason why it's what about the trailer but the movie shouldn't exist because the trailer confirmed everything that I feared because James mangled made walked a line in which it was a very successful film but guess what that all right I did like walked a line it is a good movie it's not a great movie but it's it's good for what it is it did spawn the best parody ever exactly it spawned the best parody which also if you go back to watch walk hard a dewy cock story which is phenomenal it also makes fun of Bob Dylan in that movie so the irony that this guy has the cojones to literally go and make a Bob Dylan movie after his last time he made a biopic like this he got eviscerated for it I cannot wait for walk hard too like that is the movie I am dying to see but more importantly shallow me sounds like he's still doing his Wonka singing more than a Bob Dylan Ed Norton's forehead looks atrocious the wigs look bad the cost is a secret it's all set within honestly the most boring aspect of Bob Dylan's career which is the early parts I'm not sure I'm I quite dislike it as much as you but I have to say that the the framing of the screenplay of that it's not much happening there it's basically what his the beginnings and a couple women and it's the first 20 minutes of I'm not there done in a two-hour format and that's the thing about that movie in Haines was extremely experimental and yeah that's that's experimental as Bob Dylan is himself exactly this is missing this is missing he got he got he got he I'm not I don't want to say this but I'm going to he got a really old Bob Dylan like it almost feels like you just elder abuse to get like the to get the saying for it because like Dylan if you read about it Mangle said well he didn't really want to do this and then I had to explain it to him and he's just like all right sure it's like you just like you know like you you you pressured him and you pressured him to you're like just make the damn movie I don't give a shit and I don't know I mean I like shalomay a lot you know that I'm a defender of him and I think he makes interesting choices I just don't see him as Bob Dylan I think it's do you think it's an interesting risk he's taking resist just a vanity project or what I mean well it's not a vanity project because mangled isn't the kind of a tour director that could make a vanity project I don't think I mean he just had dial destiny for Christ sake any any you know he he obliterated my hopes and dreams of Indiana Jones so like so congratulations you're going to destroy another American Echo but no I think from shalomay I mean why wouldn't you want to play an artist that's so instrumental and unique to American culture because it can go so wrong but the but the problem I have with this is like I'm much more interested in the idea that Luca Guadadino has had for years about making a film about blood on the tracks which is a movie later in or I'm sorry a album that's later in Bob Dylan's life and kind of making a movie centered around that I would have loved to see that with shalomay. But the first Springsteen movie which is apparently about Nebraska? Yeah I'm worried about I'm actually interested in that too because that's not from I mean like this just feels like the first to bring it back to Dune it feels like the first chapter in the Bob Dylan Sagas that we're getting here and it's and I get that it's going to be in the summer but I thought the trailer was kind of an abomination and like the worst tendencies of a genre that has to realize that you need to do interesting things rather than cradle to an eventual grave and like and then him singing the one song and then not thinking that the audience is smart enough to understand that your your title is from a Rolling Stone so you have to play the opening riff of like a Rolling Stone in it like it isn't insulting trailer from the perspective of a Bob Dylan fan a music fan than a film fan but they want to get everyone else in yeah but like come on who's going to go see a Bob Dylan movie at Christmas Tim Timmy fans I guess like the Wonka fans like they've set aside the chocolate and picking up the harmonica's like what are we doing here like it's like you know what I mean like I he's he is one of the more I'm going to say that to my non-9 year old who is a Wonka give me that chocolate picture harmonic Mr. Tamarene man he's actually grown up with a lot of Bob Dylan on the well what did they think did he see it did he what did he think of it the trailer yeah did he watch the truth no Benjamin the 9-0 no he hasn't seen it but I'm now I'm definitely going to what did you think of it I thought it was disappointing in the sense of how basic ass biopic it felt it it's really hard to follow the experimental um Haynes movie someone wrote on Twitter that you can't make a movie about Bob Dylan because Bob Dylan himself is a character that Zimmerman created and and it's there's some truth to that that you have to bring something else into a biopic like this that it just felt like um basic I wasn't sure if I was I'm not sure if I'm offended by Timmy's singing I don't think it's bad I just don't think it's Bob Dylan like that's the that's the thing it's like I don't think he's a bad singer I just think like it's it's like me trying to do Bob Dylan every highway you know I mean like that's what it like it that you know it's a hard you know I mean like it like scene where the whole yeah and the whole family turns around and looks at him singing I mean there's something so he's like that's that's it's so like it's so doing Cox right or it's like it's like don't worry guys I've got the greatest song ever written you know and then Q blowing in the wind you know I mean like it's it's it's shit like that that drives me nuts it's why I didn't like that's why I didn't like Elvis that's why I don't I don't like these musical biopics because it's just like it's at this sort of masturbatory wink to the audience and it's like man we are much smarter than this it's it's the Marvel kind of problem too like they're both in this way just like trying to give the audience these memberberries while instead of actually like doing something interesting with the time and setting like the other movie that I was thinking about a lot also that is the mirror and shadow of and is a great actual movie that leans into the era of Dylan which is inside Lewyn Davis by the Coen brothers and talk about a movie that looks incredible and is also talking about the literal hard road it is to be a folk singer during this time and the fact that what Dylan did was open up a world post his introduction at the gaslight and it yeah that that family scene is that was the way it's like I think you've got something it's like it was like I wanted to punch the sky when I saw that it's the opposite of Gladiator where I'm like pumped it was where I was concerned and apparently like this movie is pretty ready to go and it was filming like I felt like last week it I think it's going to be a rushed job I think it's going to be a little bit of a bit of a tonal mess it seems like there's going to be a couple love stories in there as well too with like jumbias and and it's like god damn it just what are we doing here and and the problem with also shadow me too is that it feels as if he like a lot of actors this generation have lived in the iPhone generation and lived in a generation where I think they idolize the greatest hits of Bob Dylan but don't understand the like the hard road and the deep cuts and it like the Wikipedia-ness of this is not who Bob Dylan is if you want to see a Bob Dylan movie like Christie has said that understands the tone and the complexity within the different eras of Dylan I'm not there is is is that movie and it's because Haines Haines is able to Haines is an artist and James Mangle is a for lack of a better word he is a commercial gun for hire and so well on that note Ryan get off my lawn McQuaid get off my lawn you Wikipedia our telephone users this was fun and we have a lot to look for I can't wait to talk to you about these movies when they come out we're gonna have some great episodes I'm booking you number one for Gladiator hell yeah that's gonna be so much fun Kristina I have one I have one more thing before we wrap up yeah and this is a this is a this circles back to the Olympics but it goes back to a conversation that we had before the costume went about Sling Dion I just wanted to get your overall reaction to her performance at the opening night ceremony at at the Olympics well after our conversation and after really sort of watching that documentary to have a conversation and and really thinking about her career in preparing with you and everything I mean I cried so much I had no idea that she was going to be able to pull that off after seeing those last 15 minutes of that documentary which was so raw and powerful and heartbreaking and and you understood how much it's not that music and singing is just important to her it is her and there she is standing in the rain belting this out and and it meant so much more than just the Olympics and just her and just an artist they've flown in and given an appearance fee you know I thought that was amazing what did you think I thought it was um I thought it was incredible it was one just a really great opening ceremony in anybody that didn't like it can kick rocks but it's politically and socially speaking but I thought one I was already crying just because I thought the French handled the sort of passing of the baton and having like previous like when they heads the dawn pass it to Nadal and the dolls on this poet Carl Lewis and Serena Williams and Merg and you know and and other past Olympian champions from around the world and then they handed off to one of my favorite French athletes which is Tony Parker because he was a San Antonio spirit for so many years and he got to carry as one of the torchbearers to the to the cauldron and you're just like oh my god this is super beautiful and it's not just about an individual it's about the collective uh athletes of France and it makes you really hopeful that we can do something like that in four years in Los Angeles when we host the games but then yeah everyone there is already just talking traffic so yeah exactly right we're already closing down highways to get people in there or as Timothy Shalemay would say highways anyway um but yeah and then I saw her perform and I goosebumps just just I and and yeah I mean beyond just the documentary knowing the the people she's lost then to lose her voice and lose and have that when we talked about in that conversation this frightfulness to perform because she is an ultra perfectionist to then deliver a perfect performance and then make I think on the today show uh the declaration that she will be back to touring one way or another whether it's at limited dates or whatnot um it was super inspiring and it fit perfectly honestly with the spirit of the Olympics uh I'm usually not very a very patriotic person because our country is extremely flawed here in the United States but the Olympics is the one time every four years or every two years I guess if you also count the winner Olympics when I get very very excited and I get very very like USA USA because it's like it's a very hopeful time right uh especially in a tumultuous political season and I just thought her up there she looks so elegant yeah I think I think everybody knew too the reaction from the audience it's like yeah this is unbelievable I was like Kelly Clarkson I was in tears Ryan tell everyone where they can read your stuff and what you have going on you can find on my work at awardswatch.com we have the awards watch podcast that releases every Monday in director watch we're slowly but surely wrapping up our Tony Scott movie series and we have a new one coming up soon I'm really excited about the series we've already been kind of doing uh some uh some films for that one but uh or some uh episodes already for the for that and those have been really good conversations so look for that all at awardswatch.com look for us talking about tell you Ryan in less than a month yes we'll be back soon because we're gonna be talking about that and um we get to see a lot of hopefully good movies um and have some conversations about those so I'm excited about it see you next time Ryan bye hello and welcome to guilty greenie I feel like we should start off the show by saying it's nearly impossible to be a hundred percent sustainable given the current world we live in. How do you eat elephant one bite at a time not a great analogy for a visionary but you know we're time sustainability maybe not the best analogy should I eat the elephant is the first role of the guilty greenie there's your first challenge of the week avoid elephants what they used to call frugal is now considered sustainable that's such an our home moment frugal to sustainable you can save money and help the planet that's going to be our new tagline for sure you can find guilty greenie on apple podcast or whichever podcast platform you prefer and join us in tackling the guilty greenie challenges until then stay curiously green (gentle music)
Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch) joins Christina to countdown their favorite movies of 2024 so far. A great mix! From Challengers to Hit Man and so many more. Plus the latest movie news, Horizon Part 2 heading to the Venice Film Festival, who will host the Oscars after Kimmel and Mulaney pass up the offer, Chalamet as Bob Dylan and much more!
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