Excuse the Intermission
Alex and Max take you on a journey through film with this discussion podcast about movies.
Excuse the Intermission
Richard Linklater's Hitman and More May Cinema
What happens when the unseasonal rain and cold of the Pacific Northwest turns summer plans into theater-bound adventures? Join us as we explore the unexpected box office success stories of May 2024, from the surprise hit Garfield movie to the quirky Memorial Day release schedules. We'll also share our recent cinematic journey through Kansas and our newfound love for vintage theaters like Liberty Hall in Lawrence. Plus, get a sneak peek into our thoughts on the highly anticipated Bad Boys movie and its potential summer blockbuster glory.
Want to know which films made waves in May 2024? We've got you covered with our box office report highlighting "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" leading the pack with $133 million domestically. Dive into the performances of other top contenders like "The Fall Guy," John Krasinski’s "IF," and the unexpected re-release of "The Phantom Menace." We'll also tease our upcoming deep dive into "I Saw the TV Glow," comparing it to "We're All Going to the World's Fair" and how genre-blending can shape audience perceptions.
Richard Linklater fans, rejoice! We delve into his latest gem, "Hitman," starring the ever-versatile Glenn Powell and the magnetic Adria Arjona. Our conversations span from biographical dramas like the Flannery O'Connor film to the light-hearted charm of "The Idea of You." And don't miss our thoughts on the horror flick "Letterboxd Tarot," which exceeded our expectations and left us eagerly anticipating more in the genre. Plus, get ready for our longest-ever Letterboxd review and stay connected with us on Instagram for all our cinematic escapades. Tune in for a jam-packed episode brimming with movie magic and insightful chatter!
how's it?
Speaker 1:I'm alex macaulay and I'm max fosberg and this is excuse the intermission a discussion show surrounding some recent may releases. We are nearly halfway through 2024, but before we turn our attention to mid-year report cards, the summer blockbuster slate and all else that comes in the back half of the calendar, we have a handful of recent releases from the past month or so that we've yet to discuss, and so, on this episode, the two of us will spend a little time looking back at some noteworthy films from the month of May. That conversation up next on the other side of this break.
Speaker 2:This episode is brought to you by the Seattle Film Society. Is brought to you by the Seattle Film Society. The Seattle Film Society is a filmmaker-run project dedicated to organizing, cultivating and celebrating the region's filmmaking community Through screenings, educational opportunities and community initiatives. Seattle Film Society strives to be a centralizing force for Seattle-area filmmakers.
Speaker 1:Their monthly screening event, Locals Only, is held at 18th and Union in Seattle's Central District and spotlights local voices in independent filmmaking. Tickets start at $10 and are available at seattlefilmsocietycom.
Speaker 2:To keep up with the Seattle Film Society, be sure to check them out on Instagram or Letterboxd at Seattle Film Society or on their website, seattlefilmsocietycom.
Speaker 1:Come be a part of the next generation of Seattle filmmaking today. Okay, max. The calendar reads June, per usual around here in the Pacific Northwest. It doesn't look like June outside, but nonetheless here we are Unbelievable dude. Knocking on summer's door with like 50 degree weather and rain.
Speaker 2:It's disgusting. I'm at my wits end. I've been complaining about this for about a week now that the rain, the wind, the cold and it's June.
Speaker 1:Like flood advisory rain, unbelievable Wind advisories.
Speaker 2:What happened to global warming?
Speaker 1:Bring back global warming. Is that what I'm hearing? It is, I don't know. It's frustrating and yet it's become the new normal right. This happens in June, and then in September we still have sometimes 80-degree weather. So I don't know. Is that the trade that we're willing to make?
Speaker 2:I guess I'm so tired of it.
Speaker 1:It's the most upsetting part about it, and not really that this like affects our lives, but people just can't start their summers when they want to start their summers. Right, that's very true. Like listen to all the folks out there who are maybe thinking about planning a wedding in 2025.
Speaker 2:Don't do it. Don't do it in June, yeah, alternatively, it's great weather to get to the movie theater.
Speaker 1:You still. It still kind of feels like those dreary days still exist. They're still out there for you. If you want to just take a Sunday like a Sunday afternoon, and instead of feeling like you have to go to that barbecue or you have to take the kids to the beach or whatever, you can kind of still just go to the movie theater. You can go watch.
Speaker 2:If you can go watch the Garfield movie we didn't do that, but a lot of people did this- month Dude what I believe was if the box office leader this past weekend, also the last weekend of May, no major release.
Speaker 1:So strange, right, Because of the way the calendar fell this year Memorial Day weekend was the week prior and that of course Feriosa covered that, but then this past week, kind of this tweener week, right where it really strange, it was still kind of may, but it was also june, ripe for the taking, and nobody was really there, um, to fill it and the same, just kind of forecasting. Uh, and you know, looking forward to next week, bad boys, the fourth bad boys movie that was the fifth one. Well, is it the fifth one, gosh?
Speaker 1:no I think it's the fourth, it's the four, I think it's the fifth really I think I have bad boys for life that.
Speaker 2:I think that was four, right, I think that's three. Is that three? Yeah, I think this is I've got a pack at home, I believe, of all the bad boys movies, so I'll have to bad boys one, bad boys two.
Speaker 1:Those are iconic yeah, bad boys three. I've never seen. I own it. I've never seen.
Speaker 2:I own it. I've never seen it Same Okay, and so I think this is for okay.
Speaker 1:This is for but still, when you're like that's it and that's what's supposed to get us through, I don't know. I do have the may box office here. I just kind of want to get your reactions to that. It will. Traveling man, you just scouted some locations for your twisters.
Speaker 2:That'll be coming out yeah, I got to spend some. Uh, I got to spend a weekend in middle america yeah smack dab in the middle kansas, the great state of kansas, very swampy down there. Did you know that? I did not know that. I thought it was going to be cornfields or wheat fields, very yellow. I thought it would look like the eastern side of washington. It's like a jungle it's interesting there's, it's swampy.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of green, uh, a lot of birds. Saw a cardinal in real life. That was pretty cool. But uh, yeah, no, uh, kansas was great, uh, wonderful state, uh great town of lawrence kansas got out to a cool movie theater.
Speaker 1:It looked like. Maybe we'll hear more about that liberty hall.
Speaker 2:Uh, great, just like one of those theaters that like we visit, like those so many that we visited on our road trip last summer okay um, just a little two screen old, you know brick walls beautiful original seats still.
Speaker 1:Uh, no, they had upgraded, updated stuff, okay, yeah yes and no.
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:Maybe in the 90s they upgraded well and we found that too on our road trip last year right that a lot of these historic theaters, some of these vintage theaters they pick and choose what they want to renovate yeah, that's so sometimes it's like you know, now we have six recliners, yeah, in the back the theater, though, had had like a balcony it was.
Speaker 2:It was very cool that was great.
Speaker 1:And then summer quarter. Is that what we're into summer?
Speaker 2:quarter. Yeah, we're in day day two of summer quarter. It's already just jam packed.
Speaker 1:Um new ETI recording schedule, just for those out there who want to know we're going now meet on tuesdays to record, as opposed to mondays yeah, yeah, mondays, uh, yeah, I'm in.
Speaker 2:I'm in seattle till late on on mondays, and so tuesdays will be a little better for recording. Um, what else I I'm working as a ad here coming up in a couple weekends, very excited for that. I'm going to be making a lot more. We're making a lot of films this quarter, uh, at least looking at the curriculum. Uh, ahead, I had my first motion graphics class, let me tell you really dug that and dove in deep already.
Speaker 2:I just after one day. So, uh, I'm working on. What does that look like? Tell me a little bit more. Just like After Effects doing you know different, whether it's like some sort of animation. I think we're going to be working in 3D a little bit. We're working on title sequences. This first week I'm actually working on a little something for the pod.
Speaker 1:So that post-production, so that post-production yeah post-production, just like motion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, visual effects Cool, you know, not special effects, not practical stuff, but anything you can do on a computer. Very neat yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, cool. Well, listeners, I'm not doing shit. I'm sorry it's the end of the school year, we're trying not to burn out, but I the school year, we're trying not to burn out, um, but I will say there's light at the end of the tunnel. I can't wait for a summer of just nothing but like watching movies, going to movies can't wait for that.
Speaker 2:I did want to ask you about. Uh, I think we had one commercial on the show a couple weeks ago the newberry, the 92nd newberry film festival.
Speaker 1:That was a fun little marriage between you know education and film. That was really neat to be able to bring that event to Gig Harbor. Talk to a few people that we have yet to really expand upon, maybe where our relationships could go, but met some new people over in Gig Harbor that seem really into film wanting to get more involved.
Speaker 1:There's a new acting studio out there over in Gig Harbor, so going to try and strengthen those partnerships, going forward, looking forward to like the Gig Harbor Film Festival that's coming up. You know, we'll see. I would love to maybe do. There's no the Peninsula School District and maybe I shouldn't say that out loud the school district that I'm affiliated with. There's no summer school programs this year. I'm a little bummed about that.
Speaker 1:But maybe that opens the door for some sort of like film camp, maybe something I'm not going to say that ETI is going to start running classes or anything like that but not yet right Exactly. But like this might be a good summer to try to work on finding some partners moving forward. We have West Sound coming up, we have all these other little things happening right that sooner or later they're going to be here, so this is the time to start thinking about what they could look like.
Speaker 2:A couple of my peers and a professor got some films into West Sound. Very cool. West Sound's been on the. The name's been ringing in the halls of SFI, Very neat this this week. So, uh, it would be really cool to cover no favoritism now.
Speaker 1:Sorry, listeners.
Speaker 2:No, totally, totally, Uh, but uh, yeah, it'd be cool to cover that and maybe talk to some some of my peers.
Speaker 1:Definitely that's neat. Okay, so let's go back now. Let's look at May 2024 box office report. I have the top 10 pulled up here. Number one this past month was Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Total gross $133 million. So that's I believe these were domestic totals. So great job by the Planet of the Apes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, already on Disney Plus too, is it? Oh, yeah, oh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that total's done now. Yeah, I'm sure.
Speaker 2:And there it was. It was the banner up top $100 million.
Speaker 1:domestically, though, great $133,. You know to be official. Let's give it all of its flowers. Number two any guess?
Speaker 2:Gosh Challengers Fall Guy.
Speaker 1:The the fall guy, the fall guy. Yeah, 77 million domestically. Okay, okay, right behind that film, if short for imaginary friend, unbelievable krasinski man kind of doesn't miss when when are we going to start talking about krasinski? I mean, I guess we'll do it a little bit later here in the month of june when it comes to a quiet place day one, but like pretty solid filmmaker pretty dependable yeah, I gotta see.
Speaker 2:If haven't seen, if yet I've heard. I've heard some, some odd things about it okay, so 72 million domestic for that film.
Speaker 1:Third place, furiosa now. Uh, it's a little bit pigeonholed here. It's only had a few weeks to perform um, about 10 days to perform it at the may box office. 41 million. We know it's not doing well in terms of expectations, so strange it's.
Speaker 2:It's really weird that it like fell what it fell to third, the third spot, I believe this past week right.
Speaker 1:Just I don't know that's going to be one of the great question marks of the year, I feel like is why did furiosa not perform? Yeah, yeah, that's strange uh, behind that is the garfield movie. Then you have challengers that we're now just kind of like middling around 25 to 40 million for all of these. So challengers was 28 million, which is actually pretty solid because that was really an April release that is still continued to perform.
Speaker 1:You then have the strangers chapter one pulled in 25 million, tarot pulled in 17 million, and then Godzilla X Kong, the New Empire Jesus, which was a holdover from March.
Speaker 2:That thing's still in theaters.
Speaker 1:Yeah, making it ninth place, making $13 million. And then actually, the 10th most successful movie at the box office in the month of May is a re-release. Do you know what this might be?
Speaker 2:Phantom Menace the.
Speaker 1:Phantom Menace. Yeah, very interesting Right there too, at around 13 million.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, it's interesting the Phantom Menace, I feel like all those Star Wars prequels. We're kind of at the moment in time where, like the kids who grew up with those movies, are now the ones taking their young families, maybe, or yeah, going with those movies are now the ones taking their young families maybe, or yeah, going for nostalgia yeah, they and and they love them. You know, they, you know, they don't know anything else.
Speaker 1:So they're here. Is it darth maul who's in those movies?
Speaker 2:yeah darth, yeah the pointy head pointy head guy darth maul.
Speaker 1:Yeah, real punk I think he was like a character in tony hawk, pro skater. I think you could like cheat. You could put in a hack or something. Put in a cheat code.
Speaker 2:You get Darth Maul, that tracks Right, that tracks yeah.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I don't know, I don't again, we don't want Marvel movies and superhero movies to dominate the box office anymore, but this is what you're going to get when you don't have something like that coming out.
Speaker 2:Memorial day weekend it's kind of a week May.
Speaker 1:I think it is a really weak may.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like kingdom of the planet of the apes, a fine movie, but I don't know how I feel about that being top of the box office. Something like challengers is never going to be top of the box office, too bad. You're still starting to see that movie show up, though, on a lot of when it's now that it's June, you to June, you're going to get some of those mid-year report cards kind of best of so far, best of the first six months. Challengers is going to be at the top of a lot of those, I think so is.
Speaker 1:Dune. So are some of these other films, but yeah, something like Challengers, a more arthouse film, is not going to be at the top of the box office but still interesting to see it there.
Speaker 1:But just again, a lot of family films, a lot of genre pitchers and then the blockbuster ip that is out there kingdom of the planet of the apes, and furiosa still performing decently yeah, uh, I know we didn't really talk about looking forward on this episode, but I think june's gonna be a lot better I, next week is gonna be our most anticipated over the back half, and it's funny how some of these movies and I guess we can talk about it in the outro, but a lot of movies that we did not have on our initial like here's what I'm looking for in 2024, I think there's gonna be a lot of movies all of a sudden that have kind of just come out of nowhere. You know. All of a sudden they get a quick, they get distribution rights purchased at, whether it's Sundance at the very beginning of the year, or now coming out of Cannes and boom, we're gonna going to get some exciting movies, I think in the back half, and it starts with June. I do think you're right, but we're here to talk about some main movies, maybe some that we just listed here at the box office, maybe some that we haven't. The first one I want to talk about we teased this film a couple episodes ago it's.
Speaker 1:I Saw the TV Glow.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Both seen this movie. You this movie quite well. You had a pretty unique experience and how you got to see it. So let's discuss that movie a little bit kind of a divisive film, but but a film that I I hope doesn't go unnoticed. I don't really think it's. It had its moment, like on letterboxd as it was playing some film festivals. But whether this gets released to shutter or whether this gets like an hbo, um, or just, I guess, a max release, because janeburn, who did? We're all going to the world's fair. That film ended up on max and I think I had a little moment there. So how do you see this movie playing out? How did you respond to this movie?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know I I think this is a solid movie. I going into it I was expecting a little bit more of you. Know, it's got the a24 uh moniker on it.
Speaker 2:I was expecting more of a true horror film as was I, yeah um, it's much more of like a coming out drama, um which I I I thought it was executed pretty well. I was I was never like taken out of the film. I was never really bored with it. It does have some like scary imagery in it throughout, but yeah, I enjoyed it. I loved the look of it and the cinematography. I thought that was really character in a lot of movies, whether it was, you know, detective Pikachu or Dungeons and Dragons.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just didn't really get a chance to carry a film.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and actually you know, show some real acting chops. I have a little bit of a you know with the ending and maybe we should have spent some more time in that end time there and it does feel a little with like adult owen yeah, yeah, right, like I mean that that could have been. If you expand on that, that could have been like some more like really frightening stuff I think that could have become like bow is afraid almost yeah right, yeah it.
Speaker 2:You know it has a lot in common with bow and afraid bow is afraid. I feel like um, but you know it's really interesting that you know jane. Jane's a great filmmaker and someone who is kind of around our, our age.
Speaker 2:So, like this nostalgia for the 90s grew up with a lot of the same influences, right and it's definitely a period piece and I think it does a good job of doing that, but not like over overstepping the nostalgia line really. But yeah, I, I, I enjoyed it and again I you know I was able to Jane was at my screening, came out and they did a Q and a after, after the film, and so I think that does. That does give me a little bit of rose colored glasses, because I was able to hear the artists talk about the film and what it meant to them. Um, so yeah, I, I enjoyed it, though for you know, for something I was a little hesitant, I guess, going in. I found it pretty enjoyable.
Speaker 1:It's been hard for me not to compare this film to. It's been hard for me not to compare I Saw the TV Glow to we're All Going to the World's Fair. Just because I loved that, like I loved that movie. I thought that movie was really really good and was one of those movies that felt like a COVID movie, a pandemic movie, without being about that, because it was sort of this hybrid like handheld stuff, but then also a lot of time spent on screens and it just felt like a. Really that movie felt so poignant and so narrowly focused on this digital experience that we are all having. And now, maybe it's because I'm not necessarily the target demo for um, I saw the TV glow, but where I have a, where I kind of had some issues with the film, is that like there's plenty of movies where I haven't been the target demo and I've still responded to them, and so the movie to me I feel like for me it missed the mark a little bit in terms of trying to communicate the depth of this metaphor of memory, and not so much memory loss, but just the way that some people choose to remember things. Memory loss, but just the way that some people choose to remember things. And that's sort of the parallel that we have here between this TV show that these two young people are obsessing over and trying to use as sort of a way to communicate to not only themselves but each other their own identity. And I think that for me that metaphor was a little too just like on the nose and we didn't really get to explore that, their feelings. And now maybe for some people like I've read a ton of reviews on Letterboxd for this film for some people I think they thought that that metaphor and the way that the way that the film sort of like scratched the surface of not only identity but the trans experience by it so I'm not here to say that like no one should feel seen by it. Like I think that that's awesome, that that maybe the subtleties and the nuance of the filmmaking that Jane put into it was heard and felt by a lot of different people, and so I love that about it and I really appreciate that about it.
Speaker 1:But I think that just doing that sort of under the guise of this like not even so much elevated horror cause it not right. Like how you put it, it's sort of a coming out movie. It's sort of a coming of age movie. I just feel like if you want to maybe make a movie about that, just make a movie about that and not have it be this quasi elevated horror story, because then I feel like you're trying to do two different things at the same time and that's a little bit of a disservice to each of those two things, that you're trying to do two different things at the same time and that's a little bit of a disservice to each of those two things that you're trying to do. So that's just where the movie missed its mark a little bit for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you know Jane mentioned that, like Nick at night was like a huge influence on their you know, filmmaking kind of their vision with this one. And I think this does like speak a lot to that that type of programming back in the nineties, right Like the. You know it's so weird, nick, at night, the are you afraid of the dark Goosebumps even you know, and I I think, yeah, it, it so it is.
Speaker 2:It does feel a little like almost watered down, but I feel like that was kind of the intent to to do that and and not make it a straight up like scary, you know, frightening, film because that's ultimately, ultimately not the mission of the movie, right right, um, but yeah, yeah, I I kind of agree like it is always hard to split genres like that and and try and do everything, um, but ultimately I, I think I think, if you go in knowing that it, it is much more of a drama, a queer story drama, as opposed to a A24 horror. I think maybe your expectations will be different and you'll experience it differently.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with that, and I think that that's maybe what was so refreshing to me about we're All Going to the world's fair is because I came in completely blind to that film, and not that I came in with a ton of knowledge on this movie.
Speaker 1:But I just think that you do start to get those expectations right when you hear like 824, and now, this is a sophomore feature, it's a second film, we have a bigger budget, the trailer totally markets the film like it's going to be quote unquote, scary Totally. And so yeah, I do.
Speaker 2:I do think that maybe marketing and my own expectations, which that's on me, did the film, did my viewing experience a little bit of a disservice and you know, we've seen with some of our favorite, like you know, up and coming or modern filmmakers sophomore pictures are really hard, they're very difficult up and coming or modern filmmakers sophomore pictures are really hard, they're very difficult. Which? But that only means that the third movie that Jane makes is going to be probably something really spectacular.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree, definitely still have, like I know you've probably purchased them the, the, the Jane um Scobron ticket. I hope I'm pronouncing it right. It's at S C H and so you never. I never really am sure, but I'm pretty sure it's like Skobron or Shrobron. They're in the cart. Yeah, season tickets are in the cart, definitely.
Speaker 2:Also like where did they get that Fruitopia vending machine Right? Unbelievable, so cool, Just glowing Unbelievable.
Speaker 1:Like I poured seventh grade one of those. Um, yeah, really, really good with that. Um, okay, the next film hit man richard link.
Speaker 1:Later's latest, latest pitcher, um, glenn powell just doesn't miss the guy I, so I watched anyone, but you uh on the plane, oh okay and uh, I I was just thinking about that movie the other day because I watched a film here later that I'm going to talk about that. I'm like maybe this has a little bit in conversation with that. But just like the year of Glenn, yeah, I got to watch that. And then, did you know he also has like a Blue Angels documentary that he helped produce. That's on Amazon Prime right now. Of course he does Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, glenn's starting the run here, Hitman, you yeah, glenn, glenn's starting the run here. Uh, hitman, you know, and link later.
Speaker 2:It's so funny to go and like look at link later's filmography like he has been around he's in the class of, like the tarantino fincher soda berg you know class that was pta yeah, pta, robert rodriguez, of course, but I mean that that that class of of indie filmmakers from the 90s and he just continues, he just, and he always does whatever the fuck he wants. He's never. I think the biggest like mainstream thing he's ever done is school of rock, um, and you always forget that that's a richard linklater film yeah, yeah, uh, I'd also say boyhood is right there yeah, boyhood is up there. It definitely is most decorated right, like if he was going to win the oscar.
Speaker 2:That probably should have been the year that he wins or the film that he wins for um. But yeah, hitman is just, you're kind of like I sense.
Speaker 1:I sense us turning this into just a Linklater career pod which. I'm fine with that, if we want to.
Speaker 2:It's just like a run-of-the-mill, like 90s comedy action, or not even really action, just like comedy romantic comedy Kind of, romantic comedy kind of.
Speaker 1:But I get what you're saying, but crime a little bit Right, because you're like, is this like Get Shorty, what would this be a good double feature with Right.
Speaker 2:Totally, and it looks beautiful. I saw it on the big screen up in Seattle because Netflix, you know they run their movies for one week in two theaters.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we should say that I do think that this upcoming weekend probably will be taken over by this film, because this upcoming Saturday or this upcoming Friday, june 7th, is when it hits Netflix. Oh, okay, so this will be the banner movie, this will be the front page.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, just such an enjoyable film and just again like something you know, I know we say this all the time, but like a movie you just don't get anymore. Um, as far as like an adult comedy romance.
Speaker 1:So. So I wanted to ask you so because I we haven't talked to we, we saw this separately, we haven't really had a chance to talk about it. I I didn't want to spoil anything of going into your screening but I had kind of prefaced, I had prefaced your watch. Post my watch with this little tidbit of like it feels. It doesn't always feel like a richard linklater movie, no, but then there's. So do you agree with that?
Speaker 2:yeah, I, I think some of the uh, yeah, some of like the hijinks and the writing like doesn't really feel, link later.
Speaker 1:Cause it goes like screwball at times. Almost Totally, but some of the again there's other moments where you're like this is unequivocally Richard link later dialogue, yeah, dialogue, and and again.
Speaker 2:Like this, the cinematography in it it's. It's also shot Like there's so many like closeups and like odd angles in it throughout. I feel like as well.
Speaker 1:The way the camera kind of moved because it's such a dialogue driven film. Even though it is, there is like action in it. But you're right, there are a lot of conversations at tables where the camera is doing a lot of the work and creating action yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm thinking of like the first time Glenn Powell's character has to go into, this new role of the hit man.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and like just in that diner, like I was on the edge of my seat and I'm not expecting that, going into what I thought was going to be maybe, like you know, a three or two and a half star movie, the chemistry between adria arona arona and glenn powell off the charts, yeah, especially after watching anyone but you where sweeney's trying her sydney sweeney's trying her best in that film but, like it, for me it wasn't working like at all and glenn, is he?
Speaker 2:just, he really, he really is. It's so funny I think I was making fun of him a couple weeks ago because he's been inducted into the austin uh hall of film hall of fame already yeah but like this guy, especially in this movie, because he gets to do a lot of wacky characters.
Speaker 1:I mean he goes for it oh, and he has the agency to do it. Oh my god, and he's just so good.
Speaker 2:I you know I don't want to spoil anything for the listeners, but, like one of the characters, as soon as he comes on uh, where he like, takes on these personas as the hitman based on who he's going to bust. Yes, I was just like, oh my god, alex must have gone crazy when he saw this. I know which one you're talking about, because it's so spot on, yes, and like make make another one of those movies uh-huh.
Speaker 1:So that's something that I loved about the movie too, is that not knowing? Because, again, this is like richard linklater, glenn powell, the movie's called hitman, I'm in, don't need to know anymore. So I was unaware that. And now soft spoiler here, so just fast forward a couple of seconds, I guess, but like I was unaware that he's actually not a hitman in these movies.
Speaker 2:I thought that it means a different thing.
Speaker 1:It means a different thing. We'll just say that it means a different thing. And so I had to like kind of settle in in that realization, but only for like a split second. And then when I realized the direction that the story was going, I was so along, I was along for the ride. I was like this is great.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm not going to get what I thought I was going to get, but that's totally okay because, like, I'm in safe hands, glenn's obviously having a ton of fun link later you can tell that this is a story that he's probably wanted to write for a long time. Yeah, I thought it was really smart too. I put this in my review taking this story out of texas and setting it in new orleans in louisiana. Just really smart, just a subtle little change. But it gives it a different feel to all of his other pictures, so that you're not like, okay, this doesn't now feel like everybody wants some, or this doesn't feel like some of his other things that are just like Texas, texas, texas, right. And when you're dealing with with a story that involves a little bit of the macabre and and death, like New Orleans is just a fun, subtle little place to set a story like that, so I really appreciated that too. Who's our guy that's doing the most?
Speaker 2:with his berry pepper impersonation uh austin emilio I believe is his name.
Speaker 1:I need to go back and watch everybody wants some because I saw that he's in the cast for that too and I'm like where has this guy been?
Speaker 2:why is he not in every he's unbelievable he's so funny and he's really good and yeah, dude, he is playing barry pepper from the movie the the duane johnson vehicle snitch. Like it is spot on, like up to like their wardrobe, like that is and it feels intentional it's so funny. It's so funny. And you know again glen powell. You know he's very handsome man, so they try to like ugly him up uh-huh right, and that's, I think he's, he's, he's got brad pitt energy to me. Yes, we're like he.
Speaker 2:He wants to be a character actor, he wants he wants to wear denim shorts and high socks right yeah, he wants to be uglied up and then do these weird character movies, but he's also like he looks like a leading man.
Speaker 1:So where's this at right now for your like top? Is this in your top 10 of the year?
Speaker 2:I believe it is in the top 10. Let me double check that. Yeah, it's, it's. It's sitting right there at seven.
Speaker 1:Okay, I have it at nine right now and I cannot wait for this upcoming weekend to to read the discourse and to see what other people think about this movie because I think that there's there's one thing that that might kind of work against it and it's a little bit some of the the narration. I feel like that's always hit or miss for other people, but with a lot of the narration comes kind of this like psychology 101 jargon and some of that to me feels like not so Linklater, whereas his dialogue always is, and I think the dialogue in this movie is fantastic. But it's that narration piece where I'm like Linklater writing narration to me feels almost a little bit too spoon fed and I wonder if people are going to be like this movie thinks it's like smart quote unquote smarter than it is. One of those kind of deals. Did you pick up on any of that? Did anybody who else you've gotten to talk to about it?
Speaker 2:no, you know I didn't bump on that at all. Okay, the film is either, but I've just.
Speaker 2:It's something that when you're watching it feels sure you become aware of it I think the film is such a good time. You're having such a good time I I think hopefully people can like look past that or or not even like notice it really right, um, because you are just like you're so down for the. You know the quote unquote fun and games yes, of it right, like you want to be on every single like I guess, mission, guess, mission or or sting. Yes, that this guy is His like setups, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:They're really fun so hit man. Really really strongly recommend that everyone checks that out as soon as it hits Netflix this upcoming weekend. Okay, now we we each have a couple of separate ones that we've watched. Um, to cover as much ground as we can here, so what? What's the first one that you're going to talk about?
Speaker 2:Uh, I went and saw wild cat. Uh, this past weekend in Kansas at Liberty hall uh, fantastic little theater.
Speaker 2:Uh, wild cat is the story of Flannery O'Connor, um, who was a prolific short story writer in like the fifties and sixties, um, in the I believe, yeah, kind of East Coast. This is directed by Ethan Hawke starring Maya Hawke. It's a very like for literature nerds, people. They're going to love it. Like if, if you know who Flannery O'Connor is, if you're like really into books and literature, like you're going to eat it up. For me, personally, I it's a little slow, it's it's very like.
Speaker 2:It's actually like very sad Cause Flannery, if you don't know, flannery o'connor ends up having lupus and gets shut in at her mother's house, but that's where she does like all of her writing.
Speaker 2:Um, it also has a lot to talk about with like faith and because her, her family are that you know they're very hardcore christians, but she's like becoming an atheist and so she's trying to figure that angle out. What was really cool about it is that you know you have the real world story of Flannery O'Connor and it's not like a born to death of her, of her life, of her like being in college, starting to write, to like getting you know having to be locked up or not locked up but locked away in her mother's attic right with this disease, and so as, as you're moving through the real, real-time life story of her every now and then you're jumping into her short stories that she's writing and so then maya hawk is is like playing characters in these short stories and you know there are there are some odd choices made with that, but it does show maya hawk's range, uh, throughout the film you also get other like cool character actors.
Speaker 2:Like steve zahn shows up for a cup of coffee, you know laura linney is is in the whole movie as uh, as my hawk's mother and is in the short stories as well. Um, but yeah, short stories are really interesting because they're just I feel like they're because they're short, like they're extremely dramatic, extremely quick, right, and so like to see that ported over to film is really interesting. I will say, once you come out of the short stories I think there's like three or four throughout the movie that you go into you just want to go back into them, right, like the the real world stuff is just not as interesting as what's going on in these short novels. So, interesting film. You know not going to be on my top 10, but like glad I saw it and glad to see Ethan Hawke Directing, directing Maya Hawke in front of. I'm sure that was an amazing collaboration for them and just, yeah, kind of cool that you know this story got a film Very neat.
Speaker 1:I know it's playing at the grand cinema right now, locally here, um, in our area, so that'll be another interesting one to see, kind of how it's how it's received here. Uh, the film next home I want to talk about is the idea of you. I finally sat down and watched this Amazon Prime original. I guess it is. Maybe they just bought the rights to it. This is the new Michael Showalter film. Michael Showalter such an interesting filmmaker.
Speaker 1:I had a really fun time watching this movie, imagining the Michael Showalter character from what hot American summer growing up to be the person that ends up making this movie. Because this does not feel like the mic. In a way, it feels like the Michael Showalter that directed the big sick. And then, in another way, this feels like something completely different. This feels like so it's not ton and cheek, really it is, and it isn't okay. Okay, so like. The first thing I put in my Letterboxd review is like this is the whitish shit that I've seen all year, but now I think that's very intentional Like it does feel 60% like an SNL skit.
Speaker 1:And I feel like Anne Hathaway is in on it. She's in on the joke, but then there's also parts where she shows a lot of vulnerability. I think the story tries to show vulnerability, but then that's where, like, that's where I kind of stop and check out because I don't need the idea of you as a movie to teach me anything about romance and love and loss.
Speaker 1:Right, I need this movie to be a good time, and for a lot of it. It is like the meet cute takes place at Coachella and I think that that's very tongue in cheek. It's making fun of um kind of influencer culture, festival culture, um, how that's perceived online, which is much more it's much more dramatic than it actually is in real life. Like music, festivals are usually a pretty chill space where everyone is like kind of minding their own business and it's not as commercial as it seems from your couch when you're watching it at home. But, um, the the basic gist of the story is that anne hathaway ends up taking her daughter to coachella vip all access that was paid for by her ex-husband because he has to bail and go on a work trip, so she takes her daughter there to go see. This would be like if um, not so much like in sync, but if now, maybe one direction toward and it was kind of a reunion type of a deal a 10 year anniversary get the gang back together. So, um, these guys who were once in a boy band and super popular when, like Anne Hathaway's daughter was in middle school, they're in their early to mid twenties now. And so Anne Hathaway has a chance encounter with one of the members of this boy band, stumbles into his trailer. They have a meet, cute, that is really fun. It's fun, and they develop this friendship that quickly turns into a romance and that's all very fun too, and you can tell Anne Hathaway is having a great time.
Speaker 1:But but then, as almost every single romantic comedy does, during the turn, when things fall apart between the second and the third act, I'm just like completely checked out and I'm literally tempted to fast forward to just are we going to reconcile or not? And chances are we are so on and so forth in there. That's how I've chosen to spend my two hours. And it's fine, it's like it's. It's fine. Um, I've seen some people like rave that like this is the movie, like this, and maybe, um, anyone. But you like we're kind of trying to save the rom-com, maybe a little bit. Like it's, it's fine. Um, I gave it three and a half stars. So like I hate to just keep saying like it's good, it's solid, it's fine or whatever, but that's what it is. Um, there's some really funny. Like you know, there's an ex-wife or there's like a new girlfriend who is now in hathaway's um ex-husband's new partner and like she's wearing the big dumb hat you know there's like a pickleball joke so like it's very it it's self-aware right, like it Like it's.
Speaker 1:It's doing some things with with the comedy, with the script, but it also kind of feels like a chat bot wrote it. Um so so I don't know. I I had a. I had a decent enough time with it to where I wasn't mad that I spent two hours watching it in preparation for this pod. Um, I like it better than a lot of other things I've seen this year, but I don't think that it's like it's not going to be the wrong it's not top 10.
Speaker 1:It's not going to be the rom-com that saves rom-coms, but do you think, just like God bless Anne Hathaway Do you think it would have?
Speaker 2:done well in theater.
Speaker 1:No, this is this, this. No, this is a movie that feels like would have actually like and I think it did do really well as far as, like, I saw a lot of people logging in on Letterboxd. I saw a lot of people talking about it on Reddit, but this is the kind of movie that, like, had this come out during the pandemic, this would have crushed, crushed, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, whereas now it should. This is the kind of movie that. This is the kind of movie that if we got one of these once a week on a streamer, I'd be very happy about. You know, it's interesting. This past weekend we mentioned no new releases. Yeah, why not throw this movie and hitman just into theaters yeah, probably, they probably would have done game busters I, I think so, I think so yeah, that's. It's so strange. I don't know why people leave money on the table. They need to call me.
Speaker 1:That's a great marketing strategy too, because something like the idea of you, which has done really well online as far as like getting activity, getting people to know about, I think a lot of people know about this movie. Go put it in theaters and see what happens for two weeks. Yeah, Interesting.
Speaker 2:Um, okay, my other film that I've I've recently watched uh, just watched it this morning actually and Jim Henson idea man. It's a new documentary from Ron Howard. Never heard of him.
Speaker 1:Ron, another guy who just keeps working constantly, constantly working doing.
Speaker 2:You know he's very into documentaries right now.
Speaker 2:I think he did what he did a beatles documentary a couple years ago um, yeah, man, jim henson, uh the, the man behind the muppets, sesame street, dark crystal labyrinth uh, just a really fascinating look at a guy who died at 53 and worked. I mean, he worked 24 hours. He was. He is like the poster child for a workaholic. Um, but really, really interesting insight to him.
Speaker 2:Never wanted to like be in puppetry, didn't grow up with puppets. Like just saw an ad in a newspaper that a tv station was hiring a puppeteer so he went home, built a puppet at like age 17 and went and auditioned, got the gig and then from there his journey just like explodes. Um, he apparently is. He was. He really wanted to be an experimental filmmaker.
Speaker 2:There are experimental films out there that he made that I had no idea about, but they show a lot of this one called time piece. He was very obsessed with time and and like mortality. Um, really interesting stuff and really just heartbreaking that he died at 53 so early. Uh, he's survived by five children, uh, who all make appearances on on the. Uh, the doc and Frank Oz, you know, uh, one of his collaborators and someone you know that he and his wife Jane found at 17, uh like doing puppet shows at like a carnival or something like that. Um, who then goes on to be a great director, and of course you know the voice of Yoda and all that. Um, just a really pretty inspiring watch.
Speaker 1:Yeah, talk about creativity becoming the crucible of life. Oh my gosh and just opportunity.
Speaker 2:That's all he. That's all he did. All he all he focused on was was, yeah, creating, and you know, it's really also really interesting that, like you know, dark crystal and labyrinth were huge bombs huge bombs that broke him and so like again. Very sad that like he never got to know that like those are hailed as objects.
Speaker 1:a cult like phenomenon? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, and just always really interested in like technology and pushing forward as, as far as puppetry can go and like Sesame street is the longest running children's program in TV history. Yeah, a really really great doc. I love documentaries.
Speaker 1:You are a master documentary.
Speaker 2:Documentaries about movies or about filmmakers and yeah, jim Henson was just a one of one. What did you catch that on? That was on Disney Plus, ooh, okay.
Speaker 1:Plus.
Speaker 2:Plus, plus. So yeah, if you subscribe to the mouse or if you could steal it another way, go do that Our buddy Derek over on Silver Screams likes to say sail the high seas.
Speaker 1:I like that insinuation.
Speaker 2:I love that too. Yeah, all right, the last one.
Speaker 1:I want that too. Yeah, all right, my. The last one I want to talk about here is tarot, tarot is Fired up.
Speaker 2:tarot, I did.
Speaker 1:I did. I've yet to log it on. Letterboxd Tarot is fun.
Speaker 2:Let me just say I would I would guess a throwback to like early 2000s.
Speaker 1:It's exactly like watching a final destination movie, which now. I saw this trailer in the theater for some movie I don't know a month ago or something and thought I'm never going to see this. I'm going to watch this trailer while watching the movie.
Speaker 1:Now I had forgotten everything that I had seen in the trailer so I have no idea exactly how much of the story they they show, but the execution to this movie it's efficient, it is it's slick and it's it's pretty well crafted. Honestly, the directors are two, um, up and comer, up and coming directors, spencer Cohen and Anna Halberg. A director, a pair, a duo there, who only have one other film credited to them on letterbox right now, something called blink. I don't even know if that's a feature or a short film. However, tarot is pretty well constructed. Now, again, it does just feel like they are making a final destination movie, but the way in which they do it is fun like again.
Speaker 1:It's just like if I could get one of these a week for the rest of the year, yeah, be very happy. And if this ends up being like I feel like I've said this a few times about some scary movies this year Like if this ends up being my 15th favorite horror film of the year, that means it's a great year for scary movies. The first 20 minutes of this is all set up and it's just really. It's just by the book, but it's what you want. It's just like a group of good-looking young people who are in a house in this case an airbnb stumble upon an ed and lorraine warren type room, of course, in a basement, behind a keep out sign that has this deck of tarot cards in it. That is, that has been forsaken, that has been bound to this sorceress from like the 1700s, and they are the creepiest looking tarot cards you've ever seen. So, of course, what did these group of you? Gotta play them, yeah, you gotta play them. Um, and so the, the one girl who knows tarot, who has done tarot before, she, she plays them and she reads these people's, she gives them their readings. She's she's saying you know that? Oh, you know, it's based off astrological signs, and when you bring in astrology and tarot readings, like that's when things can be become the most accurate, and all this stuff so much like in a final destination movie where if you were going to cheat death, then death comes back to you.
Speaker 1:This film based on what your tarot reading was. That's like how you're going to end up dying. So if someone says like, oh, you need to watch out, you're climbing, you're climbing a social ladder too fast, like you better watch out for ladders in real life, or like if someone says, like you're going down the wrong tracks, you better stay away from some train tracks, that's the kind of stuff. So. So then it's, you get that 20 minute like soft opening, a cool title card, and then you have like a. You have an hour, an hour and five minutes left of your runtime and it's just like okay, so we're gonna get, we're just gonna get a kill every like 10 minutes. Then from here on out until we have our final showdown efficient, fun, easy, 90 minute runtime. It's unoriginal, it is pretty poorly written, but it's a good time. Good kills, great kills.
Speaker 1:I thought that this was rated R when I went back and looked it up this morning. It's PG-13. Never would have known, because the kills are gruesome. Really good Creative.
Speaker 1:That's amazing, creative kills, scary imagery, because the other fun thing not to spoil too much, but I think that this is in the trailers, that tarot cards that are all very creepily designed. They kind of come to life and that's the thing, so like if you drew the magician or you drew um, you know there's like the devil or death itself or some of these other things, like that's what's going to end up coming for you. That's, that's the vision that you're going to see, um, as you're being haunted by your tarot reading. So you ever done a tarot reading? I have once, once by an ex-girlfriend, and I can't remember what I got. I'm sure it was very poignant.
Speaker 2:My, my beautiful partner Kaylee, who I love very much, pulled out her tarot cards the other day, did a reading for me, Couldn't tell you, couldn't tell you what I got.
Speaker 1:So so the thing is you're not supposed to play someone else's deck, right, and that has a big thing. That has a lot to do within this movie, where that's where they just mess up in the first place is they're playing someone else's deck and the girl knows that, and that's the other thing too. Is that like it's just hitting all the horror tropes?
Speaker 1:where it's just like teenagers in this case they're like college students but like getting into trouble when they know they're getting into trouble and they can't avoid it. You know, um doing it for the content. It was great it was. It was not great, it was fun, it was. It was a fine time. Um again like we have a lot of fun stuff to come that will start to hype up going forward um here, especially when it comes to like genre films.
Speaker 2:But if tarot is behind, abigail, and abigail is behind something else, and something else is behind that.
Speaker 1:Like we're doing, we're doing good work here in 2024 for scary movies, um, okay, so that's gonna do it for us this week. We'll be back next time looking forward to our most anticipated releases still to come in 2024. And this is just kind of again where I just kind of wanted, like it's interesting. I feel like at the beginning of the year we we didn't know that Kinds of Kindness, something like that had no idea was going to be released this year. We didn't know that a lot of these other movies were going to end up.
Speaker 1:I didn't know that Osgood Perkins was making another movie this year so like I'm excited to get to talk about Long Legs Like good stuff coming.
Speaker 2:Hey Costner's coming too. I had no idea.
Speaker 1:Horizon was a thing, horizon baby, did we even get to?
Speaker 2:talk about.
Speaker 1:Twisters, twisters, yeah Right around the corner.
Speaker 2:I can't wait. We're going to be saved, don't worry, we'll get out of this way. Listen.
Speaker 1:I've been saved. Okay, I've watched the first Omen, now that it's on Hulu three times this week, that's amazing. This movie rips dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that movie fucking rocks.
Speaker 1:It's so good, it rocks so much. I think that when I first saw it in theaters and I was coming off Immaculate, I thought that Immaculate was more subtle and done on a lesser scale and I felt like that was the more effective film. I was so wrong. The First Omen is a. It's a superior film to immaculate and I think it's one of my.
Speaker 2:It is one of my favorite movies of 2024 as it stands right now, it still sits at my number two spot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good on you for having it up there from the jump, cause I've moved it ahead of immaculate, but it's still behind like challengers and dune for me but boy, is it good.
Speaker 2:It's special, it really is. I was. I was singing its praises in kansas. People were asking me, you know like, oh, what's, what's a really good movie? Horror movie. You know, there's some horror heads down there and I was just like seeing the first omen. They're like is that the one with the kid? And I was like, no, no, no, this is called the first omen yeah, and it is out, it's out there it's so.
Speaker 1:Turn the lights down, yeah, like light a candle or something started at seven o'clock or whatever 7 30 it's. It's such a good time I can't recommend it enough. I literally I think, I, I think that the third time that I watched it this week, I ended up writing the longest letterbox review that I've ever written about any movie ever.
Speaker 2:I can't wait to go check that out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a lot of words.
Speaker 2:It's probably like a thousand words.
Speaker 1:I'm not kidding.
Speaker 2:Okay, listeners.
Speaker 1:In the meantime, follow Excuses of the Intermission on Instagram to track what the two of us are watching, or wait, never mind. Follow us on Instagram and then follow us on Letterboxd to track what we're watching between episodes, and we will talk to you next time on ETI, where movies still matter.
