Excuse the Intermission
Alex, and Max take you on a journey through film with this discussion podcast about movies.
Excuse the Intermission
ETI Movie News: Robert Redford's Legacy, Studio Shifting and Previewing the Gig Harbor Film Festival
The landscape of Hollywood is shifting before our eyes. From massive studio consolidations to the passing of icons, Alex and Max dive deep into what these changes mean for the future of cinema.
Following a month-long hiatus, the hosts catch up on industry news that could fundamentally alter how movies reach audiences. Skydance's acquisition of Paramount and potential bid for Warner Brothers raises urgent questions: What happens when streaming giants own historic studios? Will theatrical releases survive? The conversation explores how these corporate maneuvers might impact everything from filmmaker careers to streaming libraries.
The recent passing of Robert Redford prompts a heartfelt reflection on his immeasurable contributions to American cinema. From his unforgettable performances in classics like "All the President's Men" to founding the Sundance Film Festival, Redford's legacy as actor, director, and independent film champion transcends generations. The hosts share personal connections to his work, including the rarely discussed late-career gem "All Is Lost."
With fall festival season underway, excitement builds around potential Oscar contenders. Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" has Hollywood buzzing, with sold-out 70mm screenings and whispers this might finally be his year for directing recognition. Meanwhile, the Gig Harbor Film Festival prepares to showcase everything from documentaries about librarians fighting censorship to films featuring local talent.
Between discussions of recent watches like "Lurker" and "Splitsville," the hosts contemplate how streaming has transformed audience relationships with media – drawing parallels to similar shifts in the music industry years earlier. Has Letterboxd's rating system changed how we evaluate films? Are we seeing the beginning of the end for certain viewing experiences?
Whether you're a film industry insider or simply love movies, this episode offers thoughtful analysis of cinema's evolving landscape from two passionate, knowledgeable voices who remind us why movies still matter.
how's it? I'm alex mccauley and I'm max fosberg, and this is excuse the intermission a discussion show surrounding all sorts of stuff. Max and I are back after about a month off, and so we have a lot to get to some festival news, some recent watches, some current events in the movie world and, of course, a film festival preview. All that coming up on the other side of this short break this episode is presented in partnership with the gig harbor film festival.
Speaker 2:The gig harbor film festival will take place september 25th through the 28th in beautiful gig harbor was Washington.
Speaker 1:Hosted at the Galaxy Uptown Theater, this year's festival will feature 90 wildly rich films from across an array of genres. The lineup includes filmmakers from 11 different countries, ranging from the United States and Canada to the Philippines and Vietnam.
Speaker 2:The opening night centerpiece is September 25th at 6 30 pm. The film is Bob Mackie Naked Illusion. We are excited to host Bob Mackie and producer Joe McFate for a Q&A session following the screening. There are 11 blocks total, including animation, washington-made short films and scintillating feature films. Our own Jeremy Kent Jackson, gig Harbor resident actor and Gig Harbor Film Festival board member, will be featured in Gunslingers, which is screening Saturday night, also starring Nicolas Cage, Stephen Dorff and Heather.
Speaker 1:Graham. This year's attendees will enjoy exclusive premiere screenings, q&a sessions following the film blocks and, for VIP pass holders, an all immersive, all access experience, including parties and events throughout the four days. Digital programs are available now via the film festivals website and for more information on scheduling, vip passes and general admission tickets, please head over to wwwgigharborfilmorg, and you can also follow the festival on Instagram at gig harbor film. All right, max, it's great to be back. We've had the start of September. I'm back to work. You're down there in between projects, maybe working on projects. A lot has happened. You're staying busy. The podcast, unfortunately, has taken a backseat, but we're bringing it back. It's that time of year a lot of juice heading into this fall season. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I'm doing well, I think, yeah, I was. I was starting to really miss getting on the mics, but you know, august is usually kind of kind of that time right to take and and kind of step, step away for a little bit but we've got. I mean, we're just kind of running through the show here before we started and there's a lot, of, a lot of things we can, we can comment on, at the very least you're right, august is like the dog days of summer.
Speaker 1:You can get some fun releases and there definitely have been some, I would say, entertaining movies to come out over the last three or four weeks. You know, the the Conjuring sequel latest installment did really good business. I know you were really pushing for a caught stealing pod. I'm sorry to let you down. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Aronofsky, my best friend.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And so, coming back now, though, now that that time of year has sort of passed and we get to look forward to things like a new paul thomas anderson movie, we get to look forward to a new safty brothers film, we can see the reactions of something like is it the smashing machine? Is that the new dwayne johnson film? Yes, and so there's. There's a lot of stuff now that we've had time to kind of digest some not so happy news, I would say, in in the movie world, which we'll get to here in a little bit, the passing of a legend. But now is the right time, I feel like, to come back to breathe some life into the pod and to get the ball rolling towards awards season.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah, we're revving up. It's fall, it's fall award season, baby. The race for the Oscars begins to take shape right now, do you?
Speaker 1:think, before we really get to what we have been able to sort of gleam from the last month's worth of news, do you think there's been anything that has already been released this year that is going to contend heavily has?
Speaker 2:already been released this year that is going to contend heavily Released, not well, I mean, listen, I think Sinners is still in the running here, you know, coming out back in March, I think. Still it's like one of the stronger films that you know made a huge impact at the box office this year. It would be very smart of the Oscars to have it nominated at least for best picture, if not also best director.
Speaker 1:So you were able to go to a like a speaking engagement of ryan coogler's, weren't you?
Speaker 2:yeah, so it was actually for it was for sev, who is his friend and producer, producing partner. They own the production company proximity and it and it was at the Armenian Film Festival down here and Sev is Armenian, so they were electing him as the first member of the Armenian Movie Hall of Fame and Ryan was there to moderate the Q&A and so they went through kind of Sev's gosh. I wish I could remember his last name. I'm so sorry, but Sev's career and Rise and him meeting Ryan and then all the films they worked on, which was Brubel Station to Sinners. Of course Sev has also produced other films, like I can't remember if you watched.
Speaker 1:Do you have ohanian?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah. Ohanian has also produced other films like searching. Did you ever watch searching and its sequel?
Speaker 1:missing those are like you know what's actually funny?
Speaker 2:I saw missing but not searching okay, yeah during during uh covid yeah, yeah, so those movies are like his, his production, you know, or as a producer on his own. But yeah, it was really cool, it was great. I was, you know, four rows from the front. I could have reached out, I could have rushed the stage and maybe touched frank gouger's ankle if I wanted to.
Speaker 1:Gotten on a list.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I also actually at that ceremony I also got to meet Karen. Oh gosh, what is his last name? He was in Onora. He was like the boss in Onora who runs around searching for Mikey Madsensen's character. You know, he like starts as like. I think he's like in a church when they call him and like yeah, giving a baptism.
Speaker 1:And then he yeah, I'm call, just incredible stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that actor was there. It was cool to meet him. But, yeah, where were we going with that?
Speaker 1:no, I was just yeah because yeah because it doesn't really feel like this year has and not that this has become completely commonplace, I would say, but we're seeing it more and more now. You know in the 21st century that a film like Everything, everywhere, all at Once comes out between the months of March and June and kind of cements itself into that consensus. Top 10, maybe even top five, like this movie is going to hang around all year and contend for best picture.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I totally agree. Released widely but has had its premiere here in hollywood, has has the town of la buzzing, whereas you you kind of like introduce yourself as, like, hi, my name is max. Yes, I have a ticket to 70 millimeter in vista vision of one battle after another on friday at 11 pm. I will see it the first weekend. Yeah, so that film is, I mean, got everyone's hair on fire down here and it seems to the consensus, seems to think, that this is the year that Paul Thomas Anderson will be recognized, awarded, whether it's Best Picture or Best Director. I think is what the main thing is, what they want.
Speaker 2:Also, benicio and Leo are getting a lot of praise for their performances in this film. There's also I don't know any of the names, but there are people who show up in this film that you have no idea are in the movie. So that's been, that's been a very kind of exciting buzz down here to to witness, you know, up close. Yeah, so I think you know after next weekend when that movie goes wide, which, again, you know and we were going to talk about this during the festivals section, but, like one battle after another, did not premiere at any sort of festival, which I think always, I think maybe sometimes can be a tell that like oh, this is, this is a, a, a front runner, this is a a really good movie. It doesn't need to go to Venice or can or Sundance or any of these other or tell you, tell you, ride to, to, to drum up. You know excitement or business. We feel confident enough that we can just drop this all at once.
Speaker 1:It's going to open, no matter what it does. Yeah, it doesn't need anything else. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no matter what, it doesn't, doesn't need anything else. Yeah, yeah, and man, I I tell you what, and and again. Like the whole vista vision, 70 millimeter on film, like the whole package of this movie is, is really crazy. You know tarantino's theater, the vista, which I, I live about, you know, 15 minute walk from I. I think I've got tickets for that theater the second week because tickets went on sale at like 9am one day and websites were crashing. You couldn't find a seat. Everything sold out so incredibly quick.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it's, it's cool, I feel. I feel like that movie is going to make a huge, huge statement here next weekend and then. So then, if you have that and you have Sinners, right, everything else, I feel like a little bit up in the air, right, I don't know how strong this year is actually going to be for the best picture. You know nominations, you know I. You can have something like weapons, which was historically a fantastic poll at the box office. It's, it's gotten really good critical love from that movie you could also have.
Speaker 2:You know there's also focus features has a film by Bradley Cooper coming out in a couple of months called is this thing on? You know there's also focus features has a film by bradley cooper coming out in a couple of months called is this thing on. You know and people are talking about that cooper seems to always kind of be in the mix in the oscars when he releases a movie and that could be kind of the you know smaller studio or you know indie darling. And then you have other films like rental family hamnet, from a from another director who's already won the huge prizes, from Chloe Zhao. So yeah, I think it's going to be a really interesting year, and I think I say that almost every year, but it's always interesting. But I can't wait to see how it shapes up.
Speaker 1:I do also think that a few films like Die my Love from Lin Ramsey could come out and surprise people with, perhaps, how well liked they are. Does that necessarily equate to awards body success? We will see. And I wonder if the inverse will be true about one battle after another. And that's not to say that I'm at all skeptical of that film, but as I'm slowly just starting to see more you know, tv spots during nfl games and social media feeding me trailers and I'm starting through just yeah, kind of that osmosis to understand like, oh, this is kind of like an action, revenge movie maybe, and I had like no idea that that was really the, the vibes of the film. I'm I'm wondering, okay, if this is the one that pta ends up getting recognized for, will the real heads feel like you know, this is nowhere, and not that anything could necessarily touch something, like there will be blood or magnolia, but like, will this be the right film? Quote unquote I mean another, yeah, yeah I.
Speaker 2:I think it's also really interesting that this is the first time pta is making a film in modern times since Punch Drunk Love, right he's lived in the past.
Speaker 2:For the past, you know, for since that movie, which was almost 20 years ago. So I think that's really interesting. It seems to me, from what I've seen from spots and whatnot, like it's got some sort of political leaning or or taste to it. You know cause it's it's got some sort of political leaning or or taste to it. You know because it's it's about, you know, revolutionary, revolutionary group, and and then you got sean penn, who's representing the, the government, and hunting these people down. So I it's, I can't wait. I I mean, have we ever seen paul thomas anderson do a traditional action movie?
Speaker 2:no no, and so you know that it's something new from him, which I think he's always trying like new things he never like, even though, again, like he's done a bunch of period pieces or you know stories in the past, but like everything kind of feels very singular and different from movie to movie. So, yeah, I'm just really excited and maybe, if this goes over really well, maybe he, you know, goes to horror next. I think we always talk about people like him, or Christopher Nolan, or even Tarantino to a certain extent, like you know he's.
Speaker 1:He's one of those filmmakers, a lot like a few of the other names you just mentioned, that likes to show us flashes of certain sequences and like show us a certain pitch or like, oh, I didn't know, you had that in your playbook for like 10 minutes of one of their movies you know. You can think about, like the oil rig, the Derek exploding and catching on fire in there Will Be Blood, the oil rig, the Derek exploding and catching on fire in there Will Be Blood, and that's one of the most propulsive action sequences that I can remember seeing on film. True, is the entire movie at that pace or in that tone? No, right. And so to think, wow, we could get a whole movie that feels like how that scene feels is really exciting, like how that scene feels is really exciting.
Speaker 2:I just I know it's going to or I hope it's going to blow just our hair back All right, so what do you want to talk about next year?
Speaker 1:We have a lot that's kind of all over the board here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's start out with. So Skydance bought Paramount.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Skydance is owned by the Ellison family. They were a production company that you know. They've done the Star Trek movies, the Mission Impossible movies. The Ellisons have now bought Paramount.
Speaker 1:A very memorable. You know production companies kind of, I feel like ride and dive from their public perception of the opener Right. Their public perception of the opener right.
Speaker 1:like people remember, you know, like I think people of our age will always remember, like the platinum dunes, the michael bay production company right because the platinum dunes sweeping shot over the sand dunes played before, like every single 2000s horror remake, right, and so you're kind of just like I don't know what platinum dunes does, but I know that name because of the thing. Skydance has a very similar one, where it's kind of like the rim of the, the, it's like of a planet maybe it's the earth and right the sun is on fire. Yes, very memorable yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So skydance purchased paramount. That deal is going through, and now they've just announced this past week that they are going to make a bid to buy WB as well Warner Brothers. So then that would give them two storied studios underneath their umbrella. Now, big studios have been bought and sold since their inception. Right, this happens all the time, but this is kind of a a little bit of a different time for this. Just because it's it's they're gathering resources.
Speaker 1:Right, because with the studio comes filmmakers. So like, if you buy, if you go out and buy wb, you're basically buying you're getting greta gerwig yep, well, yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah exactly.
Speaker 2:Greta Gerwig Coogler. I mean, for a long time Nolan only made movies with WB Clint Eastwood. You know, god forbid we get another one from him.
Speaker 1:But he has been Famously worked with WB his entire career.
Speaker 2:Yeah, his entire career, so yeah, so that's really interesting. It has also been reported now that Netflix is going to try and get into this bidding more as well, which would be really interesting to also like. What does this do to the streaming sites, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Paramount plus HBO max, you know, because all of that would become one, you know, and eventually does it just become a huge mega streamer, which just sounds overwhelming and also kind of scary too, because I feel like those libraries they're going to thin out those libraries if you go the streaming route, Because you just can't have that much programming on one thing.
Speaker 1:Especially if you're going to bring television into it and then you decide what we're keeping, what we're not keeping totally. What business decisions have to be made? Do we? You know, like we were just having a conversation with our buddies last night about south park? South park right now lives on paramount plus and, with increased levels of censorship happening, what's the future of that right?
Speaker 2:right, right. So yeah, that's kind of interesting. Interesting little tidbit we had Also and again, like if Netflix think if Netflix comes in and buys WB, I mean WB has had a historic year at the box office.
Speaker 2:So, if Netflix comes in and buys that studio, I mean that you can say, like, takes them out of the theater game, you know, for the foreseeable future, as long as they're owned by Netflix, because Netflix continues to refuse to put movies in theaters and you know, brands would go to Netflix and flood that and then also like, then you have, like, netflix original.
Speaker 2:It would be just, it would be a shit show. So I think, if I had to choose one out of the two, I would rather see Skydance go get WB as well, because David Ellison the son of Larry Ellison, who owns Skydance, who is kind of heading this, this merger, and then also trying to buy wb he is, you know, he's a movie lover, he's a movie guy. He's come out and said that he believes in theatrical. Paramount movies will still have a theatrical run, even though they have a streaming service. And then also also Skydance. You know Skydance that's how he's made his money is producing big movies like Star Trek and Impossible, the house that Tom built, the house that Tom built, yeah, so I don't know really interesting stuff that you know, for the deep nerds in the business, you know.
Speaker 1:It also is concerning too, though, though, because like jobs as well, right, like anytime I was just going to bring that up too is the more that this not necessarily smaller studios, but the more consolidation that happens yeah just the less places to work there are yeah, yeah, and so that's a little concerning as well, but but yeah, so we'll have to monitor what happens here and also what would happen with the studio land too.
Speaker 2:Wb is a huge studio lot up in Burbank and is like an iconic piece of this area, and so would that go away? Would the Paramount studio, which is 10 minutes from like? Would would that go away with the paramount studio, which you know is 10 minutes from me? Would that go away? That's again another huge iconic piece of of the the visual look of la right. So I don't know, it's it's it's interesting times to see what happens there all right.
Speaker 1:So we'll go from that to something even more somber than the, than the buying of studios and and that's the passing of robert redford, a screen icon and also an accomplished director, just one of the most, I would, I would say, recognizable faces to a certain generation. Probably we were probably the last generation, I think, that knew him as a screen legend. I would say so. It does feel like the changing of a guard, the changing of the guard a little bit in that sense.
Speaker 1:You know, I would put him in the same class as, like the aforementioned clintwood, someone like that who was an actor, a filmmaker, someone who really allowed people in the 20th century to grow up with him through his movies and his performances in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. You know anybody from that generation. If you were born kind of post-World War II, robert Redford, chances are had something to do with one of your favorite movies. So what was your relationship to his films? Knowing that he was someone maybe more from our parents' generation but definitely still made movies that I think impacted you and I and millennials and had a lot to do with, I think, the way that some of our biggest movie stars now carry themselves.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean cool, he was just like the coolest guy. You know I I didn't really know about it, you know, until you get older and whatnot and really start to study and read and all this stuff. You know he, he really was a pioneer as far as an actor turned to to director. I mean the first movie he directs ordinary people, goes out and wins the best picture at the oscars that year. He and clint eastwood, as you mentioned, like I kind of I think, are like the two pioneers, which then you know gen x and and millennials. You know they grow X and millennials, you know they grow up knowing that. And then I feel like someone like Bradley Cooper has been super influenced by Robert Redford.
Speaker 1:I would say George Clooney.
Speaker 2:Yeah, george Clooney, jordan Peele, right, like I mean, yeah, a lot of these people really look up to Robert Redford and he was, I mean he was a total stud sex symbol. My mom was, you know, huge on him, even Kaylee, you know, when we heard the news, you know, she kind of just like pulled up some pictures of him and just stared at him for a while, the very beautiful man, but also like a good actor. I think my first it was probably Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but it also might have been All the President's Men.
Speaker 1:That was mine yeah.
Speaker 2:And All the President's Men. Funny enough, I just rewatched that movie a couple months ago because Kaylee had never seen it. But yeah, all the President's Men is an extremely important movie. I think it was like it might have been high school, like a junior project. All the President's Men was like part of my presentation because I was talking about film and how it shapes the culture and when it, you know it really looks at what's going on in the world and, you know, shows a mirror to us and blah, blah blah.
Speaker 1:I did the exact same project, I think either sophomore or junior year, and I remember the three films that I talked about was the woodstock documentary to kill a mockingbird and all the president's men as far as cultural impact I did all the president's men, malcolm x and apocalypse now there we go weird, weird that we're here 20 years later, right?
Speaker 2:so, yeah, redford was just incredibly important. I actually again and I think we're going to go on a little bit of a run of redford films here at my place, because we went up to vidiot's the day that he passed away and we got three, three days of the condor, which I haven't seen in a long time. I'm very excited to watch re-watch. But yeah, man, redford was just like and and and he loved independent filmmaking. Right, he founded sundance and you know, I think it's only right that this next year will be the first year sundance is leaving park city and that robert redford has also left park city. So yeah, it is.
Speaker 2:It is definitely a passing passing of a of an era, a huge bucket of wind. He was 89 years old, he was. He died in utah, at in sundance, or at in sundance, at park city, as surrounded by his loved ones. It sounds like it was very peaceful. But, yeah, man, just one of the greatest of all times and and a guy who, who also was like he was, just, he was ageless and timeless, right, like he could have worked. If he came up in the 2000s he would have worked. If he came up in the 1930s he would have worked, you know, if he was just coming up now, he he would work, just just a pioneer of of film and a four quadrant guy.
Speaker 2:You know, directing, activism, directing, and it just, yeah, just a legend what was your what? Was your relationship with, with with redford?
Speaker 1:so all the president's men, having done that project sometime in high school I think, then really turned me on to kind of that torch passing run of films that he had in the early 2000s with people like brad pitt and the film spy game. So I remember watching spy game, renting that at home with the family and watching that one. He came out with another movie it's a little bit later I'll get to but the last castle was one also too. That I mean. Now these are lesser robert redford films, but these, these are like the kind of that grizzled, you know aging hollywood leading man kind of movies that I first came to him in and then it wasn't until much later that I see something like a river runs through it and I started to understand like the classical nature of him as a movie star and I think why he was so endearing to the people a generation or two before us is because he to them was like the next person to fall into the lineage of like a gregory peck or a.
Speaker 1:You know I'm thinking robert mitchell yeah, robert mitchell carrie grant, I think probably is maybe one that people would relate to the most from from like the thirties, forties and fifties, and so I think he's just a very, very important figure. Obviously, you know, I was looking at my letterboxd stats on him. The most recent movie of his that I watched is actually an Adrian line film and it is like an erotic. It's not an erotic thriller, more of an erotic drama, as most adrian line films are. They fall into one of those two categories. Find indecent proposal at vidiots.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you haven't watched that one. A really interesting movie where he plays this billionaire and approaches woody harrelson and demi more Moore in Vegas and Woody Harrelson's kind of down on his luck and he he tells him I'll give you a million dollars if I can spend the night with your wife and it just creates this insane strife between Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore and of course he's just being as charming as can possibly be. Me more looks great in the film. The one movie that I I don't know which robert redford movies people have really been revisiting or maybe even trying to reclaim here now postpartum, but the film all is lost. Are you familiar with this movie? I love that film.
Speaker 1:I love this movie too, and I'm not surprised at all that that you probably, probably his best late game.
Speaker 2:You know acting performance, right? I mean, yeah, it doesn't.
Speaker 1:It doesn't even say this is like this is words. No, it's. It's like LeBron versus the Pistons it you know it's.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's doing everything. And I I think I was actually just reading about that film. That script was something like 48 pages or something like that. Yeah, and and. Again, that that was a by a you know a director who I don't think was very well known and somehow got the script to redford and and redford championed it and and was like, yeah, let's make this like. This is a experiment, like the. This is independent film, this is what the pushing the art form is all about.
Speaker 1:But yeah, all is lost is fantastic if so so that director is jc shandor, and so, without all is lost, guess what we don't get? We don't what we don't get. We don't get Triple Frontier, because he also directed that film.
Speaker 2:God, man of many talents, six degrees of Robert Redford I wish.
Speaker 1:Redford was in.
Speaker 2:What if Redford was like the guy in the chair? Would love that.
Speaker 1:Oh, I would love that I'm just kind of looking through his other movies here. Oh, I would love that I'm just kind of looking through his other movies here. You know I said that he might not have that long standing of a relationship with the generations under us. However, news to me, he's in Captain America, the Winter Soldier and also in Endgame, and so I had no idea he's an MCU guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's a, he's a bureaucrat, you know, like head of some special agency. He, he shows up.
Speaker 1:I hope he had four days on set and got paid 15 million.
Speaker 2:I'm sure he got the bag. But even if he did it like you know, yeah, you know he, he's in superhero movies too. But yeah, man redford was amazing. I, I can't wait. You know, it's so funny too, because kaylee, kaylee really loves him and has certain movies that she loves that I've never seen.
Speaker 2:So first we're doing three days of the condor and then I know she wants to show me the movie he did with barbara streisand the way we were, I think it's called which of course is just like some rom-com, like just lovey-dovey stuff which I can't wait to dive into that's great, that's awesome, um, so, so rip robert redford.
Speaker 1:I think I might have said postpartum earlier, when I meant to say posthumous he's. He's definitely not doing anything postpartum um, so just to clear that, okay. So then, as we've been on our little hiatus here, what, what? Have you been watching any reruns recently? Any any new films that you've made it out to the theaters that you want to give a shout out to?
Speaker 2:you know I went, saw the long walk that was yesterday morning. Quick little side story was excited to go to a regal that was close by, because I haven't been to a regal in a very long time. They had a 10 20 showing which is just like one of my favorite show times, so I was excited to go I went on friday, you just feel like this is how. Why don't I?
Speaker 2:start every week in this way exactly so I drive to the theater, you know, I get there, like you know, probably right around 10 20, and as I'm walking up to the theater, there's a bunch of people standing outside of the theater and I'm like oh, this can't be good. And I walk up and everyone's like yeah, no one's here, the doors are locked and we haven't seen an employee in. Some people are like I've had tickets for 10 am, like people were starting to get angry. Luckily I hadn't bought my tickets already. But you know what? That's why I don't go to Regal. That's why I don't go to Regal. That's why I don't go to regal. You know, I don't know why you do that regal. I don't know whatever happened there. I I ended up audibling and going to an amc and, uh, saw the movie in a great theater over in burbank. But it's too bad regal is. You know that that three screen and get carver was a regal.
Speaker 2:Right, it was there's still one other regal operating here in the south puget sound area, right, it's like, I think it's like a 15 screen theater, which is insane to me yeah, I think I remember going to that theater for it was like one of the jurassic park or jurassic world movies. But yeah, man, just really disappointed in regal. Come on, you can do better do we think? Do we think it's because we're hiring kids in high school to to on a friday on a friday, though, they would be in school, right, like I mean, fair enough, these got to be post high school kids, fair enough.
Speaker 1:Not that that gives them too much more leeway to being.
Speaker 2:You know, I mean I hope everyone's okay, right, if it doesn't show up to yes in the doors, that's that's tough it's a tough beat, but yeah it was. Yeah, it was just a tough beat for regal, so maybe one day I'll go back. So the long walk, yeah, even keen adaptation, I think you know it's interesting. Mark hamill once again shows up in a steven keen adaptation and does a weird voice.
Speaker 2:That guy you know, god bless on a dolly, the entire movie dolly, or or we're like walking, I mean, we're constantly moving, which is cool to a certain amount, but like not a lot. Not a lot happens, right.
Speaker 1:Right, I just didn't know if that was. I mean, I guess that is one of the defining. I don't want to call it a gimmick, but like one of the defining features of the film. Right, like you kind of know that going in is that we're just walking with these guys the entire time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it explains it like in the beginning that like there was a war and now every year America chooses 50 people from like different states, from all the 50 different states. They come to one place and they walk until there is only one person left and you have like these little watches on that like tracks your speed and if you get below I think it's like three miles per hour, you get three warnings until you just get shot in the head. Incredibly dark movie, dark premise, right, a little little like you might, little hunger games ish little hunger games is a little maze runnery like, like it's, it's kind of.
Speaker 2:why a ish?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Especially yeah. That's a lot of like we're volunteering for tribute here to be like the representative from Minnesota. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah and yeah, I think the thing that I I just I really liked about this movie is that Cooper Hoffman is just, he's really good, cool, and he looks just like our buddy ryan sandberg. It's really fucking odd to watch movies with him in it, especially as he's continuing to grow up like he. But yeah, he's just really good. And david is it justice, I believe who was in alien romulus? He was really really fucking good too. You know, some of the other kids are are okay. A lot of people are doing interesting accents because they want to be like different people from different states. But you know, it is very gruesome.
Speaker 2:It's david jocelyn, jocelyn, yeah, yeah yeah, he's really, really, really great and he was kind of one of the favorite things from from alien romulus for me. But yeah, he's, he's really good, cooper hoffman's really good and yeah, I, I thought it was a pretty entertaining movie. Yeah, you know, as as like post-apocalyptic ya stuff goes, sure, I give it a thumbs up and, like you know, I, I don't know if you have to rush out to the theater to see it, but I would definitely check it out when it comes available. What else have I seen? I did go see the conjuring the last rights. It's the last one, right?
Speaker 1:well, until a nun movie or another annabelle movie comes out and we continue the warren expanded universe.
Speaker 2:We can't, we can't. We gotta stop with the warrens. We gotta they are at. They are so goofy at this point. I love patrick wilson, he's a scream king. I love vera from here, from we go, but like they are out of their mind now and like and they've become such like, how many vacation homes do you think the two of them combined have because of this franchise?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I hope it's 12. Each. But yeah, this movie is and I think you know I haven't revisited the third one, but I remember you and I both being like down on that one and I think it was because it took so long to get going. And this one has the same pacing problems. We spend so much time just sitting around with the Warrens and them debating if they're going to take a case or not, until they finally do, and then like these movies have inexplicably gotten longer and I know that's just a problem with movies.
Speaker 1:In 2025, I think we're maybe starting to see a little bit of a regression in some of our mid-budget dramas. You know, like we're not making. There's a movie that I'm going to talk about here in a minute and, like I would say, maybe six years ago, this movie's probably two hours and ten minutes long. There's just no need for that. Yeah, some of these quote-unquote like prestige horror films that are from a, that are from a franchise, in that we feel like need to have equal amount story with like a capital s well it's in comparison to the scares movie in this, in this series and you actually have doing way too
Speaker 2:much in your. We want more plot, yeah, but like you don't even care, it's never really. The demons in this are never really defined. There's some like they have a little bit of like mission impossible final reckoning uh, you know, juice with it where they try to connect it back to the rest of the to ai, oh, no, to ai, you know, and it's just kind of like random.
Speaker 2:Like annabelle, you know we love annabelle, but like she shows up and I don't know if she was like a projection that was able the demon was able to do, or if this is the same demon, but she like shows up randomly for like one scare and then, and then you never see her again and she's, you know, in the box at the end of the movie, like she ever gets taken out of that box. And then also the house the haunted house is inhabited by eight different people which I couldn't tell you anybody's name. I don't know why grandma and grandpa have to be in this house, and mom and dad I don't think you even see the dad's face until like 35 minutes into the movie. He's always just kind of like out of shot, which I thought was like intentional at first, and then I was like wait, what actor is that, that actor who, what actor is this? And? And then it just turns out to be no one. You know what what years?
Speaker 2:is taking place, 1986 89 okay, somewhere around then. Yeah, miss Warren, her fucking the. The outfits have gone full Victorian now with the next yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, ed Warren doesn't feel like it probably matches the eighties.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it doesn't, doesn't feel right for the time.
Speaker 1:I do think I saw something that said like a distant relative of the Warrens or maybe a cousin or who, I don't know whoever, but they were like there's nothing factual in this movie, this new film.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, and and again. Like Patrick Wilson is supposed to be Ed Warren as an old man who's eaten too much lasagna and has heart problems, but he's Patrick Wilson. Like he's, he looks he could play Superman tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, go, go, go kick the tires on Russell Crowe, just like switch, switch actors on us. Yeah Right.
Speaker 2:Or give him a fat suit or something. Yeah, yeah, and so that's odd. And then, like Judy, you know, there Judy is now in her twenties she's met a boy named Tony. They seem that I think if there will be another movie, it will be the Judy and Tony story, which I don't even know if that's real, because they were goofy and like I don't know it just.
Speaker 1:I think you do not care. We, just at this point, we do not care.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's just like just hold to Conjuring one, conjuring two, because those movies are just fantastic and the back half of this this four, four movie series just has has been a huge letdown.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's too bad. I saw a film that I was a bit skeptical on. I saw a film that I was a bit skeptical on, I will admit, based off of the preview that I ended up liking a lot, and it's called lurker. This is from first time feature film director, alex Russell. It's a movie release and I think that's why I was skeptical going in, because I feel like whether it's something that goes straight to their streaming service or a film like passages that I did really like from a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1:But it just feels like this kind of movie gets made by movie at least once a year, where it's like a medium to high stakes kind of like social drama thriller about unhealthy relationships.
Speaker 1:And I just thought to myself I've seen this movie before and now in watching the film there are definitely beats that you can predict and that are going to feel real familiar, that you can predict and they can that are going to feel real familiar. That's also not to say that it isn't very well written, because you don't know how far this lurker, slash, stalker character is going to go, and I really enjoyed that about it. The the quick gist is that it takes place in los angeles and this, this kind of like just loser type guy who doesn't really have a whole lot going on. He works in like a trendy clothing store or whatever, downtown los angeles, played by theodore pelerian his name, his name's Matthew in the film and then he gets a chance encounter with this budding pop star named Oliver, played by Archie Mattawake who's awesome, who is in Saltburn, midsommar, bo's Afraid Gran Turismo. He's like the main guy in Gran Turismo.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:And so he's really kind of turning into, I think, a face and a name to watch here in hollywood. And so he he has this chance encounter with him at the clothing store and, like any good sociopath in in a film, he takes that one opportunity and you can tell that he's been waiting for this moment and he pounces at the opportunity to like get in his good graces. He gets invited to a show that's at this club and pretty rapidly works his way into his inner circle through manipulation, through a lot of premeditated actions on how to kind of like use the people who are already in the friend group as chess pawns against each other, and so it is a really fun exercise in manipulation in the way that something like maybe the talented mr ripley is, or that. You know, I didn't really like the film salt burn, but something like salt burn is like it. It would work in a film festival where you're showing a bunch of just like kind of stalker ish kind of movies.
Speaker 1:The thing that I really liked about this one is that at the end of the second act there's a turn that takes place that you expect to take place, but then this, this struggle for power and the leverage that has been created just kind of hangs with you. And then the third act of the film is everybody navigating this really uncomfortable circumstance and the way that the power dynamics have shifted, and then the film finally comes to what I would say is a really interesting conclusion, where you kind of have to ask yourself whose reality is this now? And and so this movie caught me by surprise what's that little fight club of a little bit where you're, where you? For just the one scene too, you're kind of like has is? You know, is this what is like? Is this an epilogue kind of scene like from the grave? Is this like our fantasy? Is this actually how things have worked out? You know, like, just again, like, whose reality are we seeing here? Um, at the end of the film, so it was really effective. I mean a really really exciting soundtrack and score to the film too. They just like really propels you through some of the more intense scenes. Really good subtle camera work that is really instrumental in building some of the tension.
Speaker 1:And so I'm not sure when this is going to hit the streaming service, and I actually just canceled my movie subscription because I just haven't been watching it at all over the past couple of months, but I'm not sure when it's going to hit the streaming service. It's probably out of most theaters by now. I can't imagine it's going to have, you know, like I saw two weeks ago now I don't think it's going to have like a four week or six week run at most art house theaters that are trying to turn movies over fairly quickly. But Lurker, it's in my top 10 for the year now I think it's sitting like right at seven. So that was a nice little surprise that I caught at the end of summer hell, yeah, hell yeah.
Speaker 2:Another one that I just remembered I saw that is also in my top 10, I believe, from neon. It's a comedy, dark comedy, called splitsville oh yes, I'm so glad you brought this up. Yeah, this is by michael angelo cavino, but but more importantly, max likes a dakota johnson movie.
Speaker 1:Everybody he did it he did it.
Speaker 2:I, dakota is fantastic in this movie. I think she's really good and I don't even know, I can't. I can't explain, I can't even explain what came over me. But, like I, I enjoyed her in this film and she was just perfectly cast. And but yeah, it's about. It's about two, two couples who are kind of going through the ups and downs of marriage and relationships. One couple's getting a divorce, the other couple is supposedly in an open relationship so people start sleeping with each other and creates a wedge within this friend group.
Speaker 2:And pretty sharp, pretty funny writing throughout. The performances are all really good. Michelangelo Covino also is one of the lead actors, so he directs this film and acts in it. Nicholas Braun shows up for a great little. You know, five minutes, a hundred mile fastball, but the I mean the thing I really took away from it is Kyle Marvin, who I've never seen before and he is the lead character in this as Carrie Hilarious. This guy is so good Excellent comedic timing, great physical comedy and just like is kind of a dope, but also like the sweetest person in the world that you, that you root for at every turn. But yeah, dakota johnson is like the biggest name in this film as julie, and yeah she's, she's really good, she's really good in it is she, the woman who's part of the couple that's getting a divorce, or so her, so Julie and Paul, michael Angelo Covino.
Speaker 2:They are in this open, they're in this relationship or marriage that supposedly is open, okay, and and they try to be like I love cause it kind of like makes fun of like those people that are like, oh yeah, we don't get jealous, we're elevated above any of that stuff. But really, once layers start getting pulled apart, it's just like, oh actually, no, you're just people Like the rest of us, you're not anything special. And then Kyle Morgan and Adria Adjorna.
Speaker 1:Oh Lord, yeah, speaking of Triple.
Speaker 2:Frontier, anything special. And then kyle morgan and adria ajorna oh, oh, lord, speaking triple. Yeah, speaking in triple frontier. Yes, that's right they are are currently getting a divorce in the film. But yeah, man, there's is some really great filmmaking techniques too. There's a there's a sequence in the film where, like, a character is moving through a house, and in one shot, in real time I think, as they're moving from room to room, time is passing and you can see that once you exit the living room, someone runs in and changes the look or whatever, and then they come back into the living room and it's a different place. I think. A really solid adult comedy indie feature there. So go try and find that in your local theaters.
Speaker 1:Very nice find that in in your local theaters very nice. All right, so speaking of your local theaters, you have anything else before?
Speaker 2:I give a quick little ghff pre. No, no, I'm, I'm.
Speaker 1:This is really this is a moment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm wrestling with this because I'm yeah, go ahead, gh, it's, it's film. Not only is it film festival for big festivals, it is ETI's film festival season, as well, this is yeah. Up there in the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker 1:So Max will still be, you know, helping out when and where he can, oftentimes at these local film festivals. We will arrange video calls with some of the filmmakers to do Q&'s. That don't always happen before the film festival, some of them just end up taking place after the fact, and that could also be the the case for the upcoming tacoma film festival, which will be in october. We're not previewing that now, but just because max is in los angeles doesn't mean that he still can't hop on a zoom call. You know, watch, help watch, help watch some of the films on Film Freeway or something like that beforehand. So fret not, max will still be involved this year, but obviously from a distance. When it comes to the in-person stuff, I will be handling that on my own this year. And that starts this upcoming weekend.
Speaker 1:And so the Gig Harbor film festival kicks off it's opening night with a film bob mackie colon naked illusion. So this is a documentary film about this six decade career of legendary costume designer, bob mackie. Bob mackie's been nominated for nine Emmy Awards, three Oscar nominations, has won a Tony really accomplished costume designer who has come up with some of the most iconic looks for folks like Cher, elton John, carol Burnett, tina Turner, miley Cyrus more recently, and so really excited to see a documentary. You know one that we always like movies made about movies, especially when they're documentaries, but they really dive into some of the different craft areas of a film that you don't always see, get highlighted, and there's going to be q a afterwards with bob and one of the producers of the film what's that, mr mackie?
Speaker 2:that Mr Mackey's going to be there.
Speaker 1:Mr Mackey will be there. There's been an ask of all of those in attendance. If you are local and you have your film festival passes to the Gig Harbor Film Festival. This is a movie about costume design, so guess what? We're dressing up for opening night. I don't have my outfit picked out yet, but we're going go, we're gonna go all out for this. This will be a couple other just films that I want to give a shout out to, to preview a little bit and some of the short film blocks here.
Speaker 1:There's a movie from director kim snyder called the librarians. That's getting a lot of buzz around, like the mid-tier festival circuit. I looked it up on letterboxd and it's got a high rating. The reviews are all very positive. Documentary about librarians across the country who are combating book banning and trying to keep books in libraries and really kind of and really kind of taking on again I mentioned this earlier but like in 2025, this world that we live in, the administration that we're under this unprecedented level of censorship, and it's really focusing, apparently, this movie on libraries in schools in Florida and in Texas, so two very, I would say, polarizing states to set a film like this and to focus a film like this on. I know that the librarian at our at the school that I work at, has already been contacted about coming to the film, attending this, this screening, and so I think that this is a thing as this movie travels around the country and plays these different film festivals, they want librarians at this, at this screening, and not just librarians that work in schools but in public libraries, and so really, really excited to see the turnout for this and what the q? A may bring and the kind of conversations that can come from a film like this, and so really looking forward to the movie, the librarians and then a couple short film blocks here.
Speaker 1:There's a short film block called it's All Relative. This is going to be Friday 3.45 pm and then Saturday 8.15 pm. There's one film in particular here that I'm really looking forward to. It's called Liz Lays an Egg, and one of the stars of this is a gig harbor native, a local, lindsey larose, and she is, I think, just a couple of years younger than us, lives down there in los angeles with umax but has been really involved in in movie making basically since she left gig harbor and what showed up in like the divergence series in a handful of just like kind of little smaller roles and stuff like that, and so excited to finally see something of hers on the big screen. I think the filmmaker is going to be in attendance for that one as well, so hopefully be fun to get an interview. Talk to some local people about one of their films finally playing in Gig Harbor there's another locally sourced block of short films Washington made shorts that are Friday three 45.
Speaker 1:Saturday nine AM, nine AM. This has a couple of ETI returning alums to the block and so, like our guy Tommy Heffernan and and then our girl Rachel Taggart, who we've interviewed, both of them on the show before they each have phones in this block Tommy's movie is called Body Buddies and then Rachel's film is called the Stranger. So really excited to see what they have up their sleeve. This upcoming year we have, you know, the Gig Harbor and Max, you know this the Gig Harbor Film Festival and the guys who run it, pam the director, she's amazing. They've always really wanted to kind of push the envelope with their late night block of screenings and it's always got a fun twist to it, a different name to it. This year it's OMG, with a couple of exclamation points on the end of it. So this will be Friday at 8.15, saturday at 8.15. Eight films in the block with six filmmakers slotted to be in attendance for Q&As. After the fact, I'm sure we'll have our good buddy, derek Schneider, with me to do some of those interviews throughout the weekend with those filmmakers and to attend that screening. So always excited to see what those films have in store. There's usually a lively crowd in attendance as well for those. And then I myself I will be doing a few Q and A's live in theater. So if you want to come out, say hi, hang out, catch a few movies and then watch me moderate some stuff. Afterwards. I will be doing the Q and A's for the rad batch of short films. That's Friday at one 30 and then Saturday at 6 PM, so I'm really excited for that. At 1 30 and then saturday at 6 pm, so I'm really excited for that. And then this one you know this one's going to be heavy. This one, I think, is going to really pull in my heartstrings and so I'm definitely going to need to watch this film before next weekend, before saturday at 11 15 am, so that I so that I hopefully can already unpack some of the stuff that I'm sure we're going to see on screen here.
Speaker 1:This is called Zazazlo K-427. This is a documentary film about the longest tenured bomb sniffing dog to ever serve in the US Army. So this is a returning Gig Harbor Film Festival alumni, the filmmaker And'm. I'm really looking forward to this documentary. You know, military exposés are all always pretty intense, I would say, given the subject matter of serving and combat and everything like that. And then you throw a dog into the mix and I'm just like I'm. We could all be a mess at the end of this film. I have no idea where, which direction it's going to go. I'm sure it's an amazing story, though, of of just courage and service and and friendship and loyalty and everything that goes with being a service dog. And then you think about the high pressure situation, being a bomb sniffing dog that served in the U S army longer than any other bomb sniffing dog. So really honored, honestly, to be be doing the q a for that one afterwards. Hell yeah, man that's so exciting.
Speaker 2:I'm so bummed. I'm not going to be there in person the, the juice is back.
Speaker 1:That's why I'm so happy we're doing this pod now. We're taking a little break because you know I've been re-watching a lot of stuff but it's kind of lost some steam as far as like logging everything on letterboxd. I've been watching tv. I've been watching. I've been watching a lot of sports.
Speaker 1:Like this is the time of year where I just watch a lot of sports and listen to a lot of podcasts about fucking fantasy football and like doing other stuff, you know a quick aside alien earth where you at first episode watch no way watch the first episode loved it and then just it's fallen by the wayside, like so many other things, wow I I I don't know, I'm, I'm you might ask me this question too, and I was like I'm gonna have to be honest when he does it's it's must watch tv for me, but I'm not sure if I like it interesting I I'm, I'm, I'm tuning in every week, you know every wednesday.
Speaker 2:I'm just hey, it's time for alien earth, let's sit down, let's watch it, but I can't decide if I'm really enjoying it. Yeah, there's definitely xenomorphs. There's definitely xenomorphs in this. That's a really cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know. It's one of those that I feel like if I get too far behind on then I just have to wait and do like the binge once the season's over. Yeah, you know, I'm making time for for south park every week when those episodes come out. I'm doing a rewatch of game of thrones, which has honestly been so rewarding and in in some of my free time, so that's been really fun. But yeah, as far as some of the new stuff that I know I should be watching, everyone says this new show on HBO with Mark Ruffalo is amazing.
Speaker 2:I mean, the first episode came out last Sunday. We sat and watched it and we were blown away.
Speaker 1:Or is it two?
Speaker 2:episodes now, and maybe it's two. I think it's two.
Speaker 1:I'm hearing people say that it's like one of the best crime dramas that HBO's released since True Detective, season one, which again you know it's like clickbait that is the blurb on the poster. Yeah, that's the clickbait, for sure.
Speaker 2:Let's calm down everybody. Okay, let's wait and see where it goes. I think it's really really great. I think it's really really great. Mark Ruffalo is like. He like gained a lot of weight and is really fat and is really funny when he's walking around, because he's just a tired old fat man who doesn't want to be. He doesn't want to be in the FBI.
Speaker 1:He wanted to be a priest, and so why does every role today sound like Russell Crowe should be playing?
Speaker 2:So he's. He's really funny in it and the way he moves and stuff. I'm so annoyed all the time.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I think it's great.
Speaker 2:It's well made, very well made.
Speaker 1:Nice, all right, anything. So the last thing I think that we can touch on here neither of us have seen this film. It just released yesterday, the time of this recording. Max and I are doing this like Saturday afternoon here, september 20th. Him came out yesterday and we were. We were kind of talking before we came on about. I don't think that this is going to necessarily be the beginning of the end for Jordan Peele. It's not a Jordan Peele directed film, however. It is Monkey Paw Productions, his production company.
Speaker 1:This movie had a lot of promotional buzz. I don't know if there was necessarily any critical buzz surrounding this film before it came out, but Jordan Peele movies, whether they're produced, written or directed by him, have historically always opened well, even some of the quote-unquote lesser efforts from monkey paw productions. I know some people are like completely out on the candy man remake. I really enjoyed the candy man remake. That film still opened with a low 80s on rotten tomato. Got the quote-unquote certified fresh label, the lowest film of his keanu, one of the first movies that he was ever really attached to. High 70s that had been the previous low for a jordan peele film. Him opens sub 30 percent on rotten tomatoes. Let's just speculate for a couple of minutes here before we sign off. Why do you think that is?
Speaker 2:I don't know, maybe a sports horror movie just doesn't work maybe you think it's too.
Speaker 1:I this. I hate that. I'm about to say this. Do we think it could be too woke? Too much about nfl concussions causing visions, causing this, causing that.
Speaker 2:I hope not. I think maybe I don't know the things I've heard is that it is almost kind of a carbon copy of something like Black Swan, which we should love it. But I think, maybe because of that and the Marlon Wayans of it all, with another really interesting yeah. You know, we haven't seen him do this since. Requiem for a dream, I think. Maybe it's just it. Maybe it's just falling on on deaf eyes, right Like, or deaf ears both eyes that like deaf eyes and deaf eyes.
Speaker 2:Maybe it's all. It's all style, no substance. Sure, yeah, because I I've also heard that like visually it's really cool, like it's it's very much in that aronofsky or Nicholas winding remp whatever the hell his name is Watch yourself. Style as far as visuals go, but that the story, the characters, that stuff is pretty empty calories.
Speaker 1:I'm wondering if I think that there's a certain percentage of people where whether it's someone like Jordan Peele, whether it's someone at another studio, and when a project like this gets greenlit they just underestimate the crossover interest between people who might actually really like a gritty horror movie mixed with current NFL professional football social commentary, if that makes sense. That sounds right up my alley, because I love horror movies, I love sports and I think that, in theory, that in theory studios would think a lot of other people also fit into that demographic.
Speaker 1:Well, but I think a lot of people who watch nfl football actually just want to turn a game off and go watch chicago fire. Totally, you know, and I was just gonna say people who like the n.
Speaker 2:I think you are an exception. I think people who like the NFL and sports are usually not horror people, because horror is their sport right, right.
Speaker 1:That's how they escape.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. Listen, I'll see it at some point, but yeah, I don't know why. It's's also like, who's the director on it? Is it like a first-time filmmaker? You know the the main actor is someone I didn't recognize. I mean, really, marlon wayans is the only person I know who's in this film I guess right I, yes, julia fox.
Speaker 1:and also I mean, you're just kind of selling it on the, the fact that it's a Jordan Peele production. Right, right, right, yeah. The the director's Justin tipping. I'm unfamiliar with the other three feature films that he's directed. I don't even actually know if these are feature films, but his other three credits on letterbox, maybe he's done TV, tv.
Speaker 2:Well as most things that come out and do bad at first. In five, seven years it will be reclaimed and become a cult classic.
Speaker 1:I would love to hear some NFL players interviewed about the film and maybe their thoughts on it.
Speaker 2:I wonder if NFL players are even interested in going Do. Nfl players watch horror movies. Yeah, I don't know that's a good call. They play horror movies.
Speaker 1:I love when letterbox letterbox has just gotten so out of control in the best way possible that, like their instagram page when it was like the stanley cup finals are interviewing like the florida panthers about what their favorite movies are and you can totally tell that the whole team must have just had like a team dinner or a team bonding night where everybody watched old school because, like 80% of the people they interview are like old school Talladega nights. You know, they're just like naming Will Ferrell movies.
Speaker 2:You know, I was talking to a producer the other day and he truly believes Letterboxd. I was talking to a producer the other day and he truly believes letterbox has been a huge detriment to movie culture and to movies in general. And like movies getting made, getting made, that's great. Letterbox has really, has really gamified it, gamified it and like movies just can't be movies anymore.
Speaker 1:Everything has to be a five-star classic right yeah, you have to have a take on it yeah, yeah, so I don't know interesting to think about I did see something, um, and I don't know if letterboxd was necessarily cited in the reasoning for the post, but a real hot post on the reddit movies subreddit the other day was asking about grading and how. Users on reddit right. But but I think when you're referring to how do you grade a movie, one can assume now that we're talking about like letterbox scores and it was the conversation that you and I have had for the better part of three, four or five years now where like, does five out of ten, does two and a half stars equal a good movie that you recommend? Or do you grade more literally and if it's a good movie, that's fine. Do you go the traditional grade school route and then give it a seven out of 10 or a three and a half stars Because you're like, yeah, it's a C, it's average, you know, and the responses were so divisive and all over the place.
Speaker 1:And it just speaks to what you're talking about, where everything has to be on a scale graded. It either has to be the best or the worst, it can't just be fine, it can't just be down the middle. So it's interesting. You know everything, everything has a shelf life. Why, I wonder, if we are closer to the beginning or the end of letterboxes popularity.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, I don't know, I have no idea.
Speaker 1:We'll just continue logging.
Speaker 2:We'll continue logging and listen. I I've even like started to just kind of like just throw stars up and then like I'm not writing anything, yeah, or it takes me a couple of days to write something, but yeah, I don't know, cause you know again, if you're watching it's so true, like a two and a half star movie. You know is that it was fine, it was entertaining, but like I'm never gonna watch it again.
Speaker 1:So then I actually should that be more of a like a sick, so like a three-star movie, I don't know is the subjective nature of that of it can really and I don't know if maybe this was something that the producer was talking to you about but the subjective nature of how things are graded on a platform like letterbox can have such a lasting impact on whether or not someone ends up watching that movie or not.
Speaker 1:Because if you have a lot of people who are giving it two and a half stars but they actually like the movie and they would give it a soft recommendation, but the way they grade is two and a half stars, and then you know, kind of like the little the bell curve of the film is just sitting there like two, three or two, five. If I click on that movie and I do a quick scroll and I get down to that and I see that I'm going to be a lot less inclined to fire that movie up If I think consensus is a two, five versus if I see consensus is like a three, four.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, before yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't know letterbox, all right, any anything else. It's. It's been a while. Anything else we got to get out, any it's just, I don't know any other takes. I feel like I had a good music take the other day that it was just like a shower.
Speaker 1:Thought it's not going to come to me right here in the moment, but I was like this would be this. I know this would be a great, just like thing to get out, just to purge, just a thought, purge on eti and and oh you know what. I actually do remember it now and it sort of has to do with streaming, because it was a music streaming thought should have brought it up earlier when we were doing the movie streaming conversation. It would have made more sense then, okay, so so this was my thought about music, especially in because this was sort of like in response to.
Speaker 1:I saw the Coachella lineup that released earlier this week and, aside from the headliners and a couple of people on like the second and the third line for each row, I was just like I know nobody on here, oh God, made me feel pretty detached.
Speaker 1:But then it made me think about how well, you don't like that's fine, because everything is streaming now, when it comes to music and you just get recommended artists via your Spotify likes or however, the algorithm works Right and so I'm sure, like when they do the live stream on YouTube and it's couch cella and I'm watching it, I'm going to enjoy it, just like how I think in this day and age, a movie doesn't necessarily need to open in theaters. It can be an Amazon original, it can be whatever and I can fire it up. I'm watching the Thursday night football game last week and they're like you know, from the world of whatever. This like high level special ops, combat, military operation is yes, dude, yes, and I'm like this is like finding the hidden gem. This could be like finding the hidden gem you know know, on like that third most popular stage at coachella, friday at three o'clock or whatever.
Speaker 1:It's just like this movie with chris pratt and taylor kitch on fucking amazon prime kind of looks badass um and and we've talked about this, you know, garbage crime, all these other things, like sometimes these diamonds yeah, they just pop up, right. So it happens with movies, it happens with music, but I was, I was thinking about it in a music sense the other day, because when we grew up, for an artist to be successful so think about like an actor or a director, you know, for them to be successful, like in the nineties and early two thousands, your movie had to open big in the theater and it had to do well at home on video. Same with music. You had to be able to sell records, you had to be able to sell cds, cassette tapes, whatever it was, and then you also had to be able to, like, have a music video, to have some sort of music video was the thing Right, like that was.
Speaker 2:You would put that out first. That is people excited?
Speaker 1:for the whole CD. You're singles, right, yeah, and then I think we should have. This was like the big shower thought. Was it like we should have seen this coming in movies with streaming? Because we saw it happen with music prior, like five years prior, I would say In 2000,. Like when we were freshly 21, and it's like 2011 to 2014.
Speaker 1:And I think about the music that I listened to then and how none, especially like the hip-hop and the rap music stuff that is explicit they can't be played on the radio.
Speaker 1:Indie bands I don't think they suffered from this or I, I guess, benefited from this as much, because their music is always going to be more radio friendly, I suppose, when radio is still a big thing.
Speaker 1:But, like in the early 2010s, hip hop artists especially like I was re-listening to the Carter four the other day and I'm like I know so many of these songs and could just listen to them back to back to back to back in little Wayne never had to worry about these songs playing on the radio, because they realized all of a sudden, everyone's just streaming these, everyone's listening to him on their phones and this is the place that count now, right, and so that's where we're at now where it's just like again, no one cares about box office outside of a couple major studios with 10 of their releases each year, because if those hit, if those work, then we can make all these other things. And if it's a taylor kitch movie on amazon prime that people watch after the bills dolphins, then we've done our job. And and I'm like I don't know, that was my big shower thought the other day is that the streaming change in music. It just preceded everything that we're dealing with now in movies.
Speaker 2:Totally. But then you have people like PTA, who is making it a thing to.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're not going to like this. You're not going to like this.
Speaker 2:Go see his film on 70mm in VistaVision even though there's only four theaters in the country that can do that.
Speaker 1:So you're really not going to like this. But then is Taylor Swift like the Paul Thomas Anderson of music.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I guess because, because there are some of those.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:We're going on tour and I'm still doing music videos.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I'm putting out, I'm putting out this record, but then and it's an event. Yeah, but I'm not putting it on Spotify or something like that, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, she's. Hey, listen, the devil has many followers. All right, taylor Swift. T Swifty is. Yeah, she's a powerhouse.
Speaker 1:What do you make? What do you make of her hiding behind a wall before the Chiefs game the other day? Did you see a video of this? No, I didn't see that. There's like a moving wall. Is she trying not to be? Now that we're engaged to Kelsey, are we trying not to be as visible at games? Do you think she's heard the outcry that she's ruining the NFL? I don't know. Super interesting, I'm just like once again, again.
Speaker 2:How long do you think those two will be married?
Speaker 1:who? Um, I would give it, here we go, here we go. I can't necessarily put a time or a number on this, because over under it's undetermined how much more of travis kelsey's playing career we have, but I would say less than five years after he retires yeah, yeah because, I don't know, I mean, like what do we? What? Once? Once he's just her husband. What do we do?
Speaker 2:yeah, I don't know. Well, he's like hosting game shows and shit is it?
Speaker 1:I listen, I think the answer to that question is yes the things that are happening on the fox channel that I'm so happy, I don't know about, aside from three months out of the year when I watch nfl I don't even watch pre-game stuff anymore.
Speaker 1:I can't listen, but like the commercials and I get it because like Red Zone's great, you don't see commercials on Red Zone either but like I was watching I think it was the Seahawks Steelers game last weekend which was a Fox broadcast, and I just watched that entire game. I wasn't watching Red Zone, I just stayed on that one channel, so I got fed a shit ton of Fox commercials. These game shows are, like they are the most dystopian, depressing, just like cringe shit I've ever seen as far as what we are exploiting other humans to do on tv we're there, man and it's hosted by, like, aaron andrews and rob low like.
Speaker 2:I don't know how we got to this point I mean, let's listen that I've been working and I'm not gonna say the name of the channel, but I've been working for a youtube channel okay, I love this love this and I'm telling you, dude, it is, it is literal brain rot of what what we are filming, like it is.
Speaker 2:I cannot believe that this youtube channel has 33 million subscribers. Wow, and, and, like you know, I've been, I've been to the the mansion, yeah, yeah, I, you know, I, I, I go up to these, these huge studio warehouses that are owned by this channel to work, and, and there's a half court, basketball court.
Speaker 1:That's yeah, it's like rob deer decks fantasy factory.
Speaker 2:It's crazy dude, and it's, it's every there are. So, yeah, there are people who watch those game shows, but they are probably also the same people who watch this channel I've been working for, because it is cringe, like what are we doing? This is such a, this is just bad. This is just bad stuff to put out. But you know happy, know happy for the job, I guess.
Speaker 1:You know it's a really fun thing to do and I know we're just completely vamping now here, but like so, when I watch professional pickleball, I watch it on Pickleball TV, which is its own channel on the Roku TV app. So I have two Roku TVs and so I just fire that up.
Speaker 1:Roku tv is the most 90s feeling cable television experience that you can possibly have because, you can just channel surf through the roku channel app and you will get like a 90s anime channel that just like shows that. And now commercials are weird, because it's like you get commercials for, you know, like downy paper towels or whatever, or or like sunny delight or whatever, but you get commercials for other roku channel programming and so it kind of feels like you're watching the disney channel. You know, like you would watch the disney channel back in the day and would only be commercials for other like disney channel things just channel surfing through that. And there's like a tyler perry channel. There's just like all these random channels that either show like old bob barker, the price is right, games, old ma, maury, jerry Springer, I don't know, but I'm like it's the kind of shit, though that we watched at nine years old when you're homesick from school.
Speaker 2:I actually just learned this morning. I was fed on the algorithm that Maury Popovich has like a podcast Popovich Popovich, popovich, popovich, yeah, popovich Pop, maury, yeah great, has like a podcast and like a a huge following on Instagram and does Tik TOK, reels and like, yeah, dude, it's, it's, it's weird.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure judge Judy was like sideline during a chargers game last weekend or something, and these like 22 year old guys are like that's judge judy right there. So part part of me is just like some things live forever, right. Uh yeah, and and we have pop culture to thank for that. We have, you know, you just never know, I guess what's gonna hit. It might be the shitty game show on fox hosted by rob low you never know who knows, rob low can can make that that shitty game show in in la.
Speaker 2:Now he doesn't have to go to ireland anymore, so thank god for that.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's good to be back on the mic with you, man. All right, so, uh, we will be back very shortly. I will be giving a film festival report from the gig harbor film festival. Throughout the next I would say probably 10 days, watch for maybe one or two episodes to drop after another same yes yes, gig harbor.
Speaker 2:I wonder if Gig Harbor is going to be fucking crazy because it's at the theater right.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's right, I mean. I can remember last year it was the, now not to say that you know the. The hype is the same for the for similar demographics here. But, like last year, you and I, in between some screenings of film festival shows, we walked into the wild robot for like 30 minutes or whatever. If I have a little lull in my schedule, great opportunity to to mosey on in and see if I can, you know, spare two and a half hours to watch it, because I can't wait.
Speaker 2:I mean that in the best way possible I'm sure it's 150 minutes long, yeah well, I no, I mean it. I think it's true that, yeah, we can't wait I can't wait again. Like every show at from like 12 pm to 7 pm, we're sold out here in la.
Speaker 1:I'm going to an 11 pm, wow, on friday now I'm sure I know we've talked to, perhaps, maybe, marcus Baker, good friend of the show, about coming back on talking about it. So so be on the lookout for one battle after. Is it the?
Speaker 2:other Another.
Speaker 1:Review episode. Here on the pod I will be breaking down the gay Harvard film festival. So a lot to look forward to here next couple of weeks. Well, so until then, I just don't want this episode to end. We're having too much fun, I know, I know well let's say let's, let's get on the sticks after this I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I got a couple hours until pickleball, all right, so until next time, please follow. Excuse the intermission on instagram and letterboxd to track the shows and the movies and everything else that we're talking about in between pods, and we'll talk to you next time on ETI, where movies still matter. Thank you.
