Furiosa - The Bikeriders - Bad Boys: Ride or Die - UK Film Club Episode 16

00:00:00.04
ukfilmreview
It's a bit worrying at the same time, isn't it? When you when it starts a bit too perfect, I think...

00:00:03.87
Brian Penn
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I know. I know. you You suddenly got perfection when you didn't expect it.

00:00:08.84
ukfilmreview
like Yeah, yeah.

00:00:10.64
Brian Penn
It's a bit worrying that is that you think it's too much is going right. But I don't want to speak too soon. so Yeah.

00:00:15.11
ukfilmreview
No, that's what I'm worried about. I feel that it's going to drop out at any moment, you know, and it'll be one of those shows, but I hope not because, you know, we've got a packed one this time.

00:00:24.96
Brian Penn
We have, haven't we? Yeah.

00:00:26.79
ukfilmreview
Absolutely packed but you you are your you're deeper voiced in this show.

00:00:26.80
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:00:30.99
ukfilmreview
What's going on?

00:00:31.02
Brian Penn
yeah slightly huskier. Yeah, I've gone down with a bit of a bonk, um, better than I was this morning, but such is my dedication to the calls, Chris. I had a bit of a kip this afternoon, which kind of got me through the worst of it. And I'm ready, but you know, um, I've just sound a bit huskier than usual perhaps.

00:00:44.51
ukfilmreview
Bless you Yeah, I mean you say huskier I say sexier I just think look look, you know

00:00:51.63
Brian Penn
Oh, well that's all right. That's all right. I didn't want to say that, but I'm glad you mentioned it, not me.

00:00:54.51
ukfilmreview
so how

00:00:56.43
Brian Penn
So that's good. That's good. Yeah.

00:01:00.20
ukfilmreview
yeah so i Listeners, I'm letting you behind the curtain slightly here. I record often at my ah dining room table. Me and Brian do this remotely and I'm at my dining room table and I just stepped on something very cold and I thought, I wonder what that is? It is a piece of tomato that my daughter has um thrown on the floor.

00:01:16.39
Brian Penn
oh lovely lovely yeah of course ah above and beyond the cooler juice here it's like something yeah yeah

00:01:17.53
ukfilmreview
so it's yeah i mean the thing like you know b Brian's here through what sounds like the plague and I'm here with tomato on my feet. So look, we really do try and go above and beyond where we can.

00:01:33.25
ukfilmreview
um Exactly. and So if this is your ah first time to UK Film Club, welcome, welcome all. And um we will be talking about every manner of film in this episode.

00:01:46.97
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:01:47.24
ukfilmreview
We've got some of the latest blockbusters, the heavy hitters at the cinema. We've got a streaming pic, which is a film that was on Netflix this month, depending on when you're listening to this.

00:01:55.17
Brian Penn
Mm

00:01:58.65
ukfilmreview
um And we've also got a big selection of Indian short films to get through tonight, um which we're very, very lucky to get.

00:02:04.13
Brian Penn
-hmm.

00:02:07.86
ukfilmreview
We've also got um what we call our nostalgia pic and that is a film from the past and alongside all of that this month is quite a unique month because we've had quite a few listener reviews sent in.

00:02:21.38
Brian Penn
Nice.

00:02:22.75
ukfilmreview
um We recently changed the website because a lot of people asked to write for the site and whilst we'd love to take on everyone as a writer aid we don't always have ah the the amount of capacity to do that but we've made a space within this show but to at least read out some of the best submissions that we get and some of the best um reviews that we are receiving and we're very thankful and not able to read all of them out. and we did We did suddenly get quite a lot um but I'm going to do my best to get through a a good batch of them later in the show.

00:02:49.90
Brian Penn
Nice.

00:02:51.29
ukfilmreview
um And now I don't have a clip of any of the um theatrical films this month, sadly, but what we will do is just get Brian to drum up all of his energy, every single bit of energy that he's got left, so that he is so you're completely spent after this.

00:02:59.72
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:03:07.34
Brian Penn
Do my best, yeah.

00:03:11.14
ukfilmreview
I don't want you like yeah even able to walk.

00:03:12.00
Brian Penn
Yep.

00:03:13.81
ukfilmreview
um Because we're we're heading now to the world of the Mad Max franchise. We're going to go with George Miller's Furiosa, which was out earlier. Well, when was it out Brian? When did it actually come out?

00:03:27.16
Brian Penn
And the mate, it came out.

00:03:28.70
ukfilmreview
End of May, we're in June now. That's still relevant. We still love to see these films, all right. um ah But yeah, Furiosa, obviously, sequel to the Tom Hardy Mad Max, Fury Road. What happened with this then, Brian? Is it something we should care about?

00:03:46.06
Brian Penn
Yeah, I think so. I think so. I think we can all care about this one. It's but's the latest instalment of the franchise. Again, as you say, director like George Miller, starring Agnes Tyler Joy and Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke, who look almost unrecognizable with their costumes and makeup. It's odd. um So what's it all about? um it's basic Basically, it's the backstory of Furiosa before she and Mad Max met. Furiosa has been kidnapped from the green place of many mothers. They come under the control of a great biker hold led by the warlord Dementus.

00:04:21.61
Brian Penn
Great name, Dementus.

00:04:22.78
ukfilmreview
Hahaha.

00:04:25.44
Brian Penn
Traveling through the wasteland, they reach the citadel. Ruled by the Immorsun Joe. um as the As the big boy snuck it out, Furiosa fights for survival. um Great stunts. It's almost a given, isn't it, really? There's one scene where Furiosa is with Pretoria and Jack, and they're driving this big rig like a tanker full of full of vegetables, um because he's become a in this in this world, it's become a ah black market item, literally.

00:04:59.37
Brian Penn
and the It gets attacked whilst they're they're trying to get through it through. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. The staging is incredible. you know I mean, we we reviewed the fall guy, didn't we, recently? um Which is all about stunts.

00:05:13.84
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:05:15.80
Brian Penn
But I think this one edges out the fall guy. The stunts are amazing.

00:05:18.51
ukfilmreview
Wow.

00:05:19.20
Brian Penn
And if you can see a stunt that you can honestly say, I haven't seen this before, they're jaw-dropping. They really are. yeah I don't honestly don't know how much of that's CGI, computer-generated. I suspect most of it's real. But very entertaining film, you know what you're guessing. And I sense it's probably more for fans than the casual observer. But very good film, six order boxes. And it's entertaining. If you like that type of film, you know, it's, it doesn't, it doesn't challenge the intellect very much, I don't feel. But that's not what a film's about, really. It's action, isn't it? Adrenaline.

00:06:01.32
Brian Penn
And that's what you get there in Spades.

00:06:03.84
ukfilmreview
Yeah, they certainly seem to know what they were doing. When they did the Fury Road, it was like that spectacle kind of film and yeah, very light on narrative. And yeah, that like I said, I was blown away by the stunts from that film. I haven't seen the Fury Road. But the um the feedback that I've seen generally across the board um has been that it's been, yeah, very much that sort of

00:06:22.24
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:06:27.48
ukfilmreview
same same formula, same recipe again.

00:06:30.63
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:06:30.76
ukfilmreview
um One person did say it was slightly slower than the first film. um The first film was a bit more narcic.

00:06:35.30
Brian Penn
Right.

00:06:36.61
ukfilmreview
But yeah, generally, that's what the feedback has been. We actually did have, we had a listener review of this.

00:06:39.30
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:06:42.12
ukfilmreview
So I'll just ah just pop in now with ah Thomas Tobit's review.

00:06:42.73
Brian Penn
Right.

00:06:46.01
Brian Penn
Oh,

00:06:46.72
ukfilmreview
He gave Furios a four out of five.

00:06:49.51
Brian Penn
wow.

00:06:49.91
ukfilmreview
and this is his review, well part of his review I think. Having stole the show in Mad Max Fury Road 2015, it was only natural to see the origins of Furiosa herself, this time with new actress, is ah ah Alia Brown and Angela Tellerjoy play the titular warrior to an accurate degree naturally feeling like the character prior to Charlize Theron's portrayal. Fury Road to 2024 seamlessly translates the world and tone of Fury Road straight back into here whilst also feeling like a new experience altogether.

00:07:20.55
ukfilmreview
That unique world is expanded upon and giving more depth as well as the returning and new characters. Chris Hemsworth also stands out with his sadistic villainous performance. The action and practical effects continue to blow minds with so much anarchy and explosions thoroughly satisfying once more. Even its more quiet scenes, Furiosa is engaging you as you follow this journey leading into that 2015 film. It might not be as strong as it, but it is still a very strong action-adventure which delivers on most things you'd expect. I think that's a fabulous review. of

00:07:52.99
ukfilmreview
so

00:07:53.11
Brian Penn
Yeah, no, I think that more or less covers it. I mean, I'd agree with it generally.

00:07:56.98
ukfilmreview
yeah yeah

00:07:57.92
Brian Penn
Yeah, definitely. um Yeah, a good review. And as say I say, I generally go along with that. But I think the the thing with the man Max Shauna generally is that I don't think it's going to pull in many, as I say, many sort of floating ah support, if I can use that

00:08:16.61
ukfilmreview
No.

00:08:17.16
Brian Penn
It's got to be one for the fans, but I mean that it works. It's entertaining So that's what you're looking for really, isn't it?

00:08:25.75
ukfilmreview
It does feel like a kind of franchise that isn't going to be able to go off in weird and wonderful directions. Like, you know, it feels like they they've put this recipe together and it's sort of like, OK, well, that's going to that's going to work.

00:08:37.68
Brian Penn
Yeah Yeah, and I know

00:08:38.23
ukfilmreview
But you couldn't then go, like all right, yeah well well, the next one, we're going to sort of tell a sweeping love story with it. It's going to be nice and slow for her. But, hey, maybe there's someone out there that can do that, you know.

00:08:47.28
Brian Penn
yeah possibly maybe they're working on it now for a week now but it doesn't it doesn't strike you as a particularly dynamic franchise they know what's working what works and they're sticking to it and there's nothing wrong with that it makes money doesn't it it gets people into the cinemas and you can't really i'm not saying i would criticize it but you you can't sort of level and any kind of criticism about it because it it's popular people like it you've got to give people what they want and you know this is still going strong ah

00:09:00.57
ukfilmreview
Exactly.

00:09:17.40
Brian Penn
That's, as we said, that I'm not really sure where else it can go. And I think you're on a bit of hiding. So I think when you go for backstories, I mean, they could keep on going, couldn't they really?

00:09:27.11
ukfilmreview
Yeah, that's true to sort of each of the characters. We just find out more and more about them.

00:09:29.51
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:09:30.23
ukfilmreview
But um just chipping in quickly with ah another listener review just because it's relevant. So Alistair Thornton um wrote in with a review of Mad Max Fury Road. um

00:09:42.26
Brian Penn
All right.

00:09:42.52
ukfilmreview
which gave ah five out of five, and I'll just read a short extract from the review. Mad Max Fury Road's immersive authenticity, thanks to the power of practicality as opposed to falling back on fake feeling CGI, combined with the enthralling inhabitants of its unique universe make for something special.

00:09:56.07
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:10:00.49
ukfilmreview
And when enhanced by vividly visceral visuals, visuals, gosh, that's a brilliant phrase.

00:10:03.25
Brian Penn
Wow. What's it mean, sir?

00:10:07.02
ukfilmreview
Well done.

00:10:07.40
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:10:07.89
ukfilmreview
I mean absolutely tripped me up there.

00:10:09.07
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:10:10.85
ukfilmreview
Vividly visceral visuals and a striking stimulating soundscape. I see what you're doing here Alistair.

00:10:15.87
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:10:16.66
ukfilmreview
It becomes an epic that's aged like fine wine. Still as fresh and fiery as ever um after almost a decade. If you haven't done so yet now's as good a time as any to die historic on the Fury Road. But be warned, it's not for the faint of heart.

00:10:28.91
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:10:31.05
ukfilmreview
i am Yeah, interesting. Just because, obviously, I also mentioned about the um the use of practical effects as opposed to CGI. So I think that probably is still what they're going for here.

00:10:40.15
Brian Penn
That's a good good thing, really. I mean, you want you want it to be as natural as possible, don't you, really? I mean, you you don't want to see something that's completely computer-generated. I mean, such is the the pace of technological development in films. You could barely notice it now, but if they are using CGI, it looks real. And, but as long as you don't destroy the human side of it, that it's important to use real people as well. So, you know, it's that trade-off isn't there, but I mean, the standard's amazing. Absolutely amazing.

00:11:12.90
ukfilmreview
There you go, Furiosa. Yes, thank you to everyone who sent an in a review and the ones we read out.

00:11:17.30
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:11:18.60
ukfilmreview
Obviously, yeah thank you for excellent critics. We're going to move on to another film that is still at the cinemas and

00:11:23.51
Brian Penn
yeah

00:11:29.90
ukfilmreview
We reviewed the original film along the last month's podcast, Bad Boys, this time with the tagline, Ride or Die, um which is how I like to live my life actually, Brian.

00:11:32.69
Brian Penn
um Yeah.

00:11:40.65
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:11:40.94
ukfilmreview
um ah Yeah, very much so.

00:11:41.29
Brian Penn
On the edge. You're living on the edge, aren't you?

00:11:43.72
ukfilmreview
I mean, I stood on a tomato earlier and, you know, I just carried on.

00:11:43.83
Brian Penn
Yeah. I know. I know. You know, absolutely. Don't you? You really don't. Yeah. I know.

00:11:51.40
ukfilmreview
Bad Boys, Ride or Die, is this is this riding or is this dying? Hey, what about that for a segue?

00:11:56.19
Brian Penn
Yeah. It's good. Very good. I'm impressed. It's riding. It's definitely riding it. It's still, I mean, reassuringly, you know, it's still good. You know, the 30 years have passed between the first film and this film, and you think, oh, is it still going to work? Because they're 30 years older, they're 30 years bolder and 30 years faster. And, you know, it's, it's happening.

00:12:17.54
ukfilmreview
30 years older.

00:12:19.09
Brian Penn
Well, you know what I mean? That's all of us, Chris, doesn't it? Really?

00:12:21.75
ukfilmreview
It does, it does.

00:12:22.14
Brian Penn
Eventually.

00:12:22.96
ukfilmreview
We're all victims.

00:12:23.32
Brian Penn
Eventually. ah But, you know, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence still play really well together. It works. You know, the, um They're kind of the buddy, you know, elements of good cop, bad cop are still there and they play off each other so well, ah you know, on the face of it, a simple storyline. A stash of drugs is stolen from the police store room. So Lowry and Burnett are butnet i mean a race against time to save their department and the reputation of their dead captain. Now, when I say on the face of it straight forward, the story actually grows more intricate as you get into it.

00:12:58.82
Brian Penn
I'm not going to elaborate anymore because

00:13:00.42
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:13:01.34
Brian Penn
I think it makes a change for an action movie to have what I would call a strong storyline. And it kind of surprises you a bit. It throws in something that I wasn't expecting. Um, so yeah, look it's great fun. It's, it's great fun. It works. They're still good together. I mean, I do wonder though, whether there's going to be any more after this because I don't see where else they can go with it. But you know, like I say, um, they've, they proved the point. They proved it can still be done. still doing good business, you know, and ah that's, a my i I love seeing these films, you know, it's my kind of action movie, you know, you've got good stunts, good characters, some really funny throwaway lines, that that works for me. And and anything that bears the Don Simpson, Jerry Brockheimer, mostly, it's gonna be good for me. So um yeah, very good, very insane, very good film, really enjoyed it.

00:14:00.39
Brian Penn
And I would recommend it.

00:14:02.11
ukfilmreview
fabulous um yeah if you've seen bad boys ride or die feel free to send in your reviews and we'll try and read them out on next month's podcast as best we can um but yeah i'm I'm a fan of the franchise I'd seen a few clips of Will Smith filming this with his sort of is this new camera thing that was like going backwards and forwards yeah it's really cool it looked really impressive

00:14:16.95
Brian Penn
Yeah. All right. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think they were using, I know, I know what you're talking about there because I think they were using a drone. because there's a scene where they're in the nightclub, and it must be a drone that's kind of panning around the shop. Some really funny scenes there, where, um you know, Burnett, played by Martin Lawrence, still got a weak spot for sweet food, you know, shock that he's still there, right?

00:14:44.21
ukfilmreview
Hehehe.

00:14:47.22
Brian Penn
There's that kind of knock about conversation between the two of them, you know, when are you going to start cutting down, all that sort of thing? ah Because, you know, um Martin Lawrence who plays Burnett is the kind of so the married man who's settled. And Lowry is still essentially the playboy. But of course, the in the story that he does hook up with someone in one of the earlier films. so But it's that you still get that kind of vibe that Lowry is still fast and loose, still doing what he wants. And Lawrence, Martin Lawrence is the sensible one. you know But the um yeah, the photography.

00:15:25.85
Brian Penn
It's excellent. Really good. I think they must have been using a drone because there's a as I say, there's a scene in the nightclub where they're just panning around, doing doing it really quickly as well. I'm really impressed to see. So yeah, I've already enjoyed it. I liked it.

00:15:40.81
ukfilmreview
go Well, maybe we'll find out, maybe a listener will know if it was a drone. how Not sure of any drones in this film, but hey, we'll find out.

00:15:45.86
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:15:50.20
ukfilmreview
ah it A lot of anticipation around this release, actually. I've seen a lot of people were excited about our next film, The Bike Riders, um currently at cinemas. Yep. And from Jeff Nichols.

00:16:01.59
Brian Penn
Yep.

00:16:03.31
ukfilmreview
What about this one, Brian?

00:16:05.00
Brian Penn
I really enjoyed this.

00:16:06.33
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:16:06.47
Brian Penn
Um, yeah, this, this is, uh, it's loosely based on a true story. Um, as they so often are, um, this tells the story of a bike gang called the vandals from the sixties through to the early seventies. Uh, Johnny is leader of the vandals as their reputation grows in the Midwest. Uh, But he struggles to keep the young and moody Benny in lane. Cathy comes across the gang by chance and immediately falls for Benny the bad boy with fatalistic charm. What began as a bike riding club turns into something more sinister as Johnny has rivals for his leadership crown. So the story is told via a series of interviews with Cathy, one in the mid 60s and one in the early 70s. Some Hardy, as Johnny is excellent,

00:16:57.11
Brian Penn
The role I feel is modeled on the character that Marlon Brando played in the wild one back in the 50s. And they do name check the film as well. ah Austin Butler plays, well, he plays Austin Butler really. Quasi Elvis Presley with a bit more men, I guess. And Jodie Comer does a very good job. I think her accent's a little bit overcooked, to be honest, because it's pure brook food, right? I think, does that really belong in the, because they're in the Midwest. But anyway, that's me being picky. It's a very stylish film, great soundtrack, lots of testosterone flying around.

00:17:30.49
Brian Penn
If you can put up with that, it's the film of the month for me.

00:17:34.20
ukfilmreview
I thought so. It sounded like it was going that way.

00:17:35.50
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, definitely.

00:17:36.99
ukfilmreview
um and it's got that sort of feel of about, yeah, because obviously like Bad Boys, it's a sequel, Furiosa sequel, but this is something new, something original and yeah, obviously different as well for the, ah for the cinema.

00:17:44.30
Brian Penn
Yeah,

00:17:51.74
Brian Penn
yeah yeah, it is refreshing to see something something new. I mean, I, I mean, there have been biker films in the past. I mean, I just mentioned the wild one, but I don't think there have been many risks in recent years. And some hard hardy is just so good in the role. He looks hard and he sounds hard. So he looks like the kind of guy he's meant to be. Right. So brilliant casting there, really. But yeah, I really enjoyed it. It's really good. It is quite violent in places, but you know, you, you know what you're guessing really, I think that's pretty

00:18:25.85
Brian Penn
obviously in the beginning and brilliant soundtrack as well. Great kind of R and B 60 soundtracks. So which makes it even better, which goes goes up even more in my estimation when they put a a strong soundtrack on it. So, um, yeah, well, we'll see. Good story.

00:18:40.57
ukfilmreview
there you go film of the month everyone you heard it the bike riders um so yeah those are the cinema releases that we're covering uh this month thank you brian for going yeah especially now you you're not very well you probably picked up something from one of those cinemas didn't you yes yeah i've told you not to lick the seats all right

00:18:40.74
Brian Penn
So as well. Mmm. Yeah.

00:18:56.40
Brian Penn
I made one of them actually. Yeah, I made one of them. Yeah. ah no I know. I know. I'm trying to give it up. What can I do? You know.

00:19:06.88
ukfilmreview
We're moving now to what's called our streaming pic. So this is a film that was released on a streaming service, typically Netflix, because they're very good at telling us. And I was excited for this one. and This was a Richard Linklater film called Hitman. And I like Linklater, a fan of some of his other films.

00:19:21.10
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:19:24.94
ukfilmreview
And I'd seen this had got quite a lot of attention.

00:19:24.98
Brian Penn
yeah

00:19:28.68
ukfilmreview
And yeah, well, we'll get into the review now. But Brian, what did you think of Hitman?

00:19:34.64
Brian Penn
I really enjoyed it. It is a good film. It sounds preposterous. Again, it's it's a film that is basically based on a true story. Now, on the closing titles, they actually give you a rundown on what actually happened. So they kind of embellished it slightly. um But that is pretty much true. And it sounds ridiculous when you think about it. you You've got this guy, Gary, played by Gun Powell, who is a University Professor, he teaches philosophy and psychology.

00:20:07.29
Brian Penn
But in his spare time, he provides tech support for the local police department. Then he drifts into undercover work, right? And it just ends up falling for the one of his targets.

00:20:20.85
ukfilmreview
Hehe.

00:20:21.44
Brian Penn
um But look, you can't argue with the entertainment value. you know ah As you know, I do tend to pick things apart, really, particularly what where it It stretches credibility slightly, but it is essentially true. And how could that possibly happen? But it did, you know? And I liked it. I thought it was really good. Gunpowder was really good. And the girl that played the love interest was very good as well. His name totally escapes me at the moment. um but

00:20:52.15
Brian Penn
ah

00:20:53.33
ukfilmreview
which character it was.

00:20:56.41
Brian Penn
um

00:21:00.57
Brian Penn
ah Um, it's like, come and swing. Oh, hang on a minute. There it is. Um, yeah, it's, um, yeah. Um, I, Adrian Archona is very good as well. Um, so yeah, I like it. Um, it's, it's slightly original. I mean, one, one of the things that made me curious about the film though, is that the way he operated or the way they got him into ah operate, does open up open them up to accusations of entrapment.

00:21:31.26
Brian Penn
And trump um they do kind of partially deal with it, but not in the way I was hoping that they'd deal with it, because this actually happened.

00:21:32.28
ukfilmreview
That's what I thought, yeah.

00:21:40.38
Brian Penn
And I would have liked to have seen a bit more about how they dealt with that, you know because he's basically posing in a hitman as a hitman to draw people out. um It's amazing how many people want somebody killed, isn't it, really, when you think about it? um

00:21:56.39
ukfilmreview
yeah because they sort of say that he gets into these ah situations where like someone will report it to the police so they then set it up so it's almost like because they didn't like put an ad out saying oh like hire a hitman it's more like oh they've been notified so therefore it's like they're conducting and an undercover sting but i see i still agree i think there's certain things where it's like they could argue that they were leading it but then

00:22:13.55
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:22:21.91
ukfilmreview
Yeah there's a bit later where he does end up in court and there is like this showing that the fact that actually the judges and the the lawyers start to pick it apart slightly and their methods.

00:22:29.18
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, I'd actually quite like to see a documentary of Gary Johnson's just to compare it to the film. it's It's fine to embellish the truth. It's fine to tweak it here and there, I don't have a problem with that. But what I think is remarkable is that it is essentially true. And I think it's amazing, but you know, truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, isn't it?

00:22:56.75
ukfilmreview
Absolutely. I mean, I found it fun. There's lots of i different things going on in terms of like, I've not seen this sort of story done before. And and you know, you can imagine it being the sort of thing that pops up on a newspaper. and think Oh, that's so strange. You'd never think, you know, if they did a film with that, you wouldn't believe it.

00:23:11.18
Brian Penn
Yeah. I know that's right.

00:23:12.98
ukfilmreview
And

00:23:13.40
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:23:14.54
ukfilmreview
What I did find, it was too long. It was too long.

00:23:17.45
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:23:17.78
ukfilmreview
ah it As a comedy film with this sort of crime element, it was no need to be nearly two hours. i was They could shave half an hour of that quite easily.

00:23:28.62
Brian Penn
And yeah, I think you're right.

00:23:28.84
ukfilmreview
i

00:23:29.54
Brian Penn
And I think the, it's basically a one gag movie, isn't it really in some ways because they'd sell that gag, but they just returned to it and do it again. And that extra for half an hour, could ah it could have been a bit more, they could have been a bit more um forensic and and cut more often, it would have been a much better film. But I would never complain about a film like that, because it doesn't sustain you. And I think Glenn Powell's really good in in the role as well.

00:23:57.42
ukfilmreview
Yeah, I got.

00:23:57.46
Brian Penn
He plays it with it with a plumb, I think.

00:23:59.86
ukfilmreview
He was good, yeah. Actually, generally the acting was great. I didn't have a problem with that. I found they did too much of the same scene. It was like the same scene of like showing the next person that did it and the next person that did it.

00:24:11.55
Brian Penn
yeah

00:24:11.56
ukfilmreview
And you're kind of going, but I suppose yeah you needed an element of that to show how deep he kind of got into it.

00:24:15.46
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:24:16.94
ukfilmreview
But it was like, yeah, though they could easily cut a bit of that.

00:24:17.17
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:24:19.14
ukfilmreview
Also, I found we didn't really learn enough about our main character, Gary, until later. It was a long time before we actually really learned anything about him.

00:24:24.77
Brian Penn
Yeah. I know.

00:24:27.17
ukfilmreview
And I was like,

00:24:27.62
Brian Penn
yeah the yeah the Yeah.

00:24:28.38
ukfilmreview
who is this guy that yeah and and there was a nice theme running through which i sort of felt afterwards about this the idea about he had to live these two lives and become almost

00:24:30.59
Brian Penn
The reveal was delayed took too long, wasn't it? But yeah, I like it. Really good. It's the type of film you think to yourself, I'd love to play that role. It just so seems so much fun to play. You know, some films naturally get you that way. You think, yeah, I'd like to be part of this. I'd like to.

00:24:55.45
ukfilmreview
two different people. And I think that that's something that a lot of people do now, you know, that the live that we project and the life maybe that we actually have.

00:24:56.76
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:25:01.52
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:25:02.90
ukfilmreview
And I think that was like a nice thing to explore in a funny kind of crime way.

00:25:03.05
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:25:07.95
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:25:09.01
ukfilmreview
But yeah, no, it'd be interesting this to see the success of that sort of film. like so i I spoke to a few people and they said they turned it off. ah they they yeah They didn't make it through the film and yeah I found that quite telling.

00:25:17.66
Brian Penn
Really?

00:25:20.35
Brian Penn
Ooh, interesting.

00:25:22.72
ukfilmreview
I said, well, I had to watch it. I watched it to the end, but I'm glad I did.

00:25:24.88
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:25:26.24
ukfilmreview
I said, I'm glad I got to the end.

00:25:27.02
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:25:27.64
ukfilmreview
I enjoyed the journey altogether and I especially enjoyed the scenes where he had to

00:25:29.52
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:25:33.54
ukfilmreview
do two things at once like he's sort of trying to have a conversation that he's also trying to convince the cops that are listening in that he's doing it properly and that was really well done.

00:25:39.96
Brian Penn
yeah you know yeah and i Yeah.

00:25:43.08
ukfilmreview
I thought they sort of made a lot of that. Yeah.

00:25:45.73
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. It's good. It's good. It's like a saying, there's lots of nice touches there and it really shows what a good director, which a little nicer is. Um, cause he makes it credible. He makes it believable. That's very important when you're making any film, does it look credible? Is it possible? Could it happen? Well, we know it kind of happened, but to get over that kind of credibility factor is an achievement. And he does that really well, but no, I think I would have watched it. Even if we weren't reviewing it, I think I would have watched it all the way through. Um, You know, it's that kind of family. It draws you in, but you know, there are things they could have done with it differently, but that's always the way, isn't it?

00:26:23.30
Brian Penn
you know

00:26:24.42
ukfilmreview
go I mean, he's a he's known for making long films, to be fair. But anyway, Hitman out on Netflix, let us know if you watched it and liked it or didn't like it and why.

00:26:28.77
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:26:35.10
ukfilmreview
um Moving on now to our indie and short film section. ah Before we actually get into the films we're gonna review, we were contacted recently by and Mr. Dan Watt, who I've spoken to before and we've reviewed his short well he's sorry his documentary,

00:26:47.30
Brian Penn
oh

00:26:52.12
ukfilmreview
previously on the website called Everybody Dance. And as it's currently available on Prime UK, he sent us a lovely little clip which I'm going to play now, ah just talking about the film.

00:27:01.17
Brian Penn
well nice yeah

00:27:03.36
ukfilmreview
Here we go. Here's Dan.

00:27:42.89
ukfilmreview
go well Thank you Dan for getting in touch and for a lovely clip. It's always nice when filmmakers are able to talk about their own film because we I do a terrible job of it.

00:27:48.95
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:27:51.40
ukfilmreview
um And yeah, it's great. So yeah, check that out on Prime and let us know if you watch everybody dance.

00:27:59.55
Brian Penn
so it Sounds very aspirational as well, doesn't it?

00:28:01.95
ukfilmreview
<unk> It's got lovely themes.

00:28:02.19
Brian Penn
you know Yeah.

00:28:03.87
ukfilmreview
i've seen I see a lot around the film and it's got a lovely community about it, really great vibe with the people that are involved in things. So yeah, I can't go wrong with that sort of film.

00:28:11.04
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:28:13.74
Brian Penn
and Absolutely. and

00:28:15.38
ukfilmreview
Now, we're moving on to our reviews of indie films and short films. These are films that filmmakers sent us through the UK Film Review website, and we are very pleased to review them. It's always an absolute joy.

00:28:26.51
Brian Penn
hmm yeah yeah yeah none none no no

00:28:27.26
ukfilmreview
And this is where we really get into this nitty-gritty of the filmmakers on the front, I think. this is you These are the up-and-coming filmmakers, the ones that are really making the the want the films that they want to make. And proof of this is the first film we're going to review because How many Viking operas have you reviewed? You know, none until this moment, right? So we were we were sent Freitas and Goodrid from filmmaker Jeffrey Leiser. And yes, it's exactly that. It's a musical drama. ah It's in black and white, and it's all about yeah merchants and Vikings.

00:29:04.89
ukfilmreview
And yeah, it had been reviewed on the website as well. So you can read our review there. But yeah, it's a fascinating film. It really was something very, very different. And I'm going to put out from the beginning, I am not an opera fan. I don't enjoy opera, particularly.

00:29:22.56
Brian Penn
nine No, I'm not an opera fan.

00:29:23.93
ukfilmreview
How about you, Brian? Are you an opera fan?

00:29:26.50
Brian Penn
You know, one of my other hats is that I'm a theatre reviewer as well. So I do occasionally go to the opera, but I can't honestly say that I'm a fan.

00:29:33.49
ukfilmreview
No.

00:29:34.62
Brian Penn
It's the old cliche, you respect it as an art form, and that's I do respect it, but not a fan at all.

00:29:37.76
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:29:43.74
Brian Penn
I think this film is very ambitious and brave as well to tackle what some might call very dry subject matter and set it to an opera. It's sung through, so there's no spoken dialogue, but you know it kind of works. It's quite long, though. I think two hours of listening to a song through opera can be heavy going, but I think you need to get tuned into it a bit more. And once you do, you can appreciate it more.

00:30:14.93
Brian Penn
Opera fans will will obviously enjoy it more than you and I do, because it's just simply a matter of taste, isn't it?

00:30:18.48
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:30:21.85
Brian Penn
You know, there's no spoken dialogue and that's the way opera works. You know, everything is sung. You know, the um I think the score The score seems to be reminiscent of West Side Story. Nowhere one near as that kind of quality, but it kind of took tips from West Side Story in that really lush orchestral store. Um, doesn't have the dynamism of a lot of Bernstein, um, score, but it kind of, it makes the effort to give it some kind of gravitas. Um, and in that way, it's very good. It's very good.

00:30:59.49
ukfilmreview
Yeah, I liked the idea the of what the narrative was trying to do because I looked up in a bit more into to detail about the film and sort of based like around what's called the Vinland sagas.

00:31:13.93
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:31:14.22
ukfilmreview
um And this was this idea that potentially the Vikings could have traveled to the Americas in like the 13th century and not necessarily known that's what they were.

00:31:24.43
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:31:24.82
ukfilmreview
um And I love that idea, a big fan of like sort of American history.

00:31:27.10
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:31:28.64
ukfilmreview
So for me, that was a great sort of starting point.

00:31:29.84
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:31:31.46
ukfilmreview
And then you've got this ah situation where a character dies, Vlad, I think his name is, and and the sort of, sorry, Vald, the characters from that person's hometown

00:31:41.86
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:31:44.67
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:31:44.84
ukfilmreview
then decided to take upon us to go and find retribution and that's the kind of sort of basis of the story but there's lots of other twists and turns along the way and there's sort of two central well the titular characters um there's a lot that goes on between them it was and i find this with that's what i said from the outset i'm not a big fan of opera but but when i know what the story is and when i know kind of what the context is it does help a lot and i think with if you are going to go into freddis and goodred and and watch it

00:31:47.87
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:31:52.51
Brian Penn
yeah

00:31:58.15
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:32:07.38
Brian Penn
yeah

00:32:13.03
ukfilmreview
I can't remember quite how long it was. I think it was about two hours.

00:32:15.45
Brian Penn
sir hours Yeah.

00:32:16.26
ukfilmreview
two hours yeah the Knowing that stuff I feel would help. i feel like Knowing a bit more about like what the saga was about and things like that.

00:32:23.74
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:32:24.45
ukfilmreview
That would help. and yeah say The vocal performance is amazing. The yeah score is fabulous.

00:32:27.79
Brian Penn
yeah

00:32:30.29
ukfilmreview
They make good use of, I think it was all done on a set.

00:32:32.54
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:32:33.53
ukfilmreview
I believe it's because you've got like sort of backgrounds being used and things like that. And um in Patrick's review, so Patrick reviewed I think on the website, and he was talking about how it did feel a bit like classic Hollywood. It's got that sort of, you know, it felt like, oh, they sort of made the set and it's black and white.

00:32:45.65
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, kinda, yeah. Yeah.

00:32:50.95
ukfilmreview
um And I think that sort of was a nice feel to had to have.

00:32:54.41
Brian Penn
Yeah. It almost feels like a continuous shot though as well, doesn't it? It probably isn't.

00:32:59.32
ukfilmreview
Yeah, it carry on.

00:33:00.70
Brian Penn
But the editing's very good, because you really couldn't see. They must have stopped at some point. But you can't see it, so the editing's really good as well. It's got a lot going for it, but I think you're right though. You probably need to do a bit of homework. Do a bit of reading up. um and then you'll you'll get the essence of the story. And it's a fascinating it's a fascinating prospect that the Vikings might have got to America oh when they did. And that hasn't been explored enough on film. So I'd actually like to see a straight film about this story as well.

00:33:33.55
ukfilmreview
Yeah, that that's what I felt, you know, I think when I was watching this, and this this is true for a lot of these type of films, I remember watching a Sofia Coppola theatre, opera production a few years back, I remember feeling that it was kind of like, it's like a filmed performance, you know, it's like a performance, so and that's fine, you know, nothing wrong with that.

00:33:48.93
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:33:51.77
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:33:51.84
ukfilmreview
But when I'm interested in the the medium of film I do kind of look for it to be a bit more cinematic in terms of the storytelling and I think that there will be a limitation there for audiences that are looking for a film about this subject to to get it here.

00:34:00.89
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:34:07.31
ukfilmreview
One thing that was nice is that it was in the English language because often with operas they're not.

00:34:07.45
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:34:10.62
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:34:11.87
ukfilmreview
There's English language and there were subtitles so that really helped but thank you very much for that.

00:34:11.97
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. I know that was handy. Yeah. I know. I left those on. Yeah. Yeah.

00:34:17.57
ukfilmreview
yeah um

00:34:18.42
Brian Penn
That was really useful. Yeah. Um, but like, like I say, it's very good, but I think it's, it's probably one more for opera buffs. They will appreciate it more. But then again, you and I can appreciate it. It's, it's many qualities.

00:34:32.63
ukfilmreview
And I think you said earlier, and I agree, I think that the word is ambitious.

00:34:32.89
Brian Penn
um

00:34:35.75
ukfilmreview
I love the idea that this is ambitious. It's not going to be for everyone, absolutely not, but it's definitely ambitious and it will appeal to a ah niche of audience of say, well, look, yeah, I'm interested in the subject.

00:34:37.73
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:34:46.14
ukfilmreview
I'm interested in the the medium of ah opera on screen.

00:34:48.88
Brian Penn
Hmm

00:34:51.11
ukfilmreview
And yeah, I think that's why I love this sort of ah position that me and you have, Brian, being able to see something like this, which is so different and it is going to be challenging to an audience. Someone's going to watch that and go, well, okay, well, that was something I wasn't really even prepared for. It comes out, I believe, in July, July 7th.

00:35:07.54
Brian Penn
Yeah All right Hmm

00:35:11.42
ukfilmreview
I'm not sure where, but ah yeah, you can always feel free to drop us a line and we'll we'll do our best to sort of point you in the right direction. We have the review of the film on our website. Yeah, so Fradis and Goodrid. So Fradis is spelled F-R-E-Y-D-I-S and the I's got that sort of slant on it and Goodrid,

00:35:29.63
Brian Penn
Yep.

00:35:30.66
ukfilmreview
that g u d r i d just i'm spelling that one out just because if you are searching for it i don't i don't want you to miss it because um it is uh it's a unique film and i want people to be able to find that uh but yeah thank you very much but for sending that in uh we very much enjoyed watching it albeit not to our taste we can tell that it was very well made okay we are moving on now to a short film uh

00:35:34.51
Brian Penn
I know. Yeah, that's right.

00:35:41.42
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:35:48.67
Brian Penn
um Yeah, absolutely.

00:35:56.89
ukfilmreview
written and directed by filmmaker Usher Morgan, who I've seen quite a few of ah Morgan's films. I think you may have also read because he submitted some I think to the festival that we had.

00:36:07.76
Brian Penn
Oh, okay.

00:36:08.11
ukfilmreview
um' Yeah, I believe so. ah But this is so very different for him. i Very powerful, strong. It's a

00:36:15.55
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:36:16.45
ukfilmreview
It stars Katie Vincent, who I have definitely reviewed in previous films.

00:36:21.43
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:36:21.45
ukfilmreview
ah And she is a woman that suffers with agoraphobia.

00:36:27.01
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:36:27.91
ukfilmreview
So the ah yeah the fear of the outside and crowds and that sort of thing.

00:36:29.53
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:36:33.74
ukfilmreview
um Yeah it's a short thriller and it's very striking. There's a there's a sequence in it which happens twice which is where she's in the this sort of milky bath and her her mascara sort of runs into the milk and that

00:36:45.41
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:36:49.30
Brian Penn
Yeah. Oh, that's a good that's a good shot. Actually, that's a good thing.

00:36:51.42
ukfilmreview
really, really stood with me. And that on its own was sometimes that would have been enough, right?

00:36:54.19
Brian Penn
Yeah, really effective.

00:36:56.21
ukfilmreview
kind of right That's it.

00:36:56.91
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:36:57.21
ukfilmreview
That's a film. And it was so powerful, like the contrast of what was going on there. And yeah, that's that really that stood with to out to me. But what did you think of ah Homebound?

00:37:07.33
Brian Penn
Yeah, I thought it was very good. ah Casey Vincent is very great presence, very charismatic. And the subject matter, I mean, the fact that she's suffering from agoraphobia, they can sort of encase the storyline and they can make it very close because she can't bear to go outside. And it also studies the relationship between her as a patient and the therapist, which gradually turns very sort of sinister, doesn't it? um

00:37:36.53
ukfilmreview
Mm.

00:37:36.98
Brian Penn
and the therapy dog as well. It's an interesting sort of jump in the storyline. Cause that's, that's the dog that helps the control of fear of open spaces. But I thought it was very good. And and Casey Vincent is, ah in my opinion, a real prospect.

00:37:54.10
ukfilmreview
Oh, the the scene where she's by the front door trying to catch her breath.

00:37:58.19
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:37:58.53
ukfilmreview
she she She cannot get control of her breath.

00:38:00.89
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:38:01.17
ukfilmreview
And I was just absolutely gripped.

00:38:03.65
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:38:04.50
ukfilmreview
My face which was about three inches from the screen.

00:38:04.91
Brian Penn
I know.

00:38:06.74
ukfilmreview
I was like, what, is she gonna be okay?

00:38:06.78
Brian Penn
and I know. Yeah.

00:38:08.92
ukfilmreview
um Yeah, but I've seen her before in a few things and she is excellent.

00:38:09.01
Brian Penn
Yeah, I know.

00:38:12.02
ukfilmreview
And in this, I think it's a top performance.

00:38:14.92
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:38:15.22
ukfilmreview
There's there's loads of lovely, great bits in this film. There's a nice little montage of her when she's bonding with a dog. There's, they are the scenes of the therapist and they sort of um yeah'm not going to give too much away but it doesn't necessarily go right it should um that's really powerful the score really chilling um it really builds attention there's also what i liked there's a few scenes where they sort of

00:38:28.10
Brian Penn
Hmm. No, no fair to say. Yeah.

00:38:42.81
ukfilmreview
were focusing on the main character's face, and they're sort of blurring the background behind her. And it it made like her surroundings look really menacing. And that obviously trying to reflect the subject matter.

00:38:53.11
Brian Penn
yeah

00:38:54.31
ukfilmreview
And I thought that was a really brilliant touch, like, cinematically to to create that.

00:38:54.33
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:38:56.61
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:38:58.74
ukfilmreview
um Yeah, really good.

00:38:59.84
Brian Penn
Let's get, let's get all those touches into a short film. And we've always said that a short film has obviously bites the brain, which has limited time on screen.

00:39:02.35
ukfilmreview
Mm.

00:39:08.52
Brian Penn
And to do what they did and with that degree of cinematic quality is a rare thing. You've, you've literally got to, Make all your points in a very short space of time as a director. you know What do you want the characters to say? but What's the the audience reaction going to be? That's all very well thought out. It might be easier to do because it is a short film and you've got limited time and limited frames to get that message across, but it's very good, really chilling. I think chilling is a good way of describing it.

00:39:45.06
ukfilmreview
It felt chock-a-block as well. There was so much in there. I've probably said this before about Usher Morgan's films, but you could definitely have a feature length out of this. There's definitely a feature length there.

00:39:55.32
Brian Penn
Yeah, I think there is.

00:39:55.92
ukfilmreview
It works 100% as a short. It's absolutely terrific.

00:39:59.38
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:40:02.06
ukfilmreview
If someone said, would you see a feature of this character?

00:40:03.63
Brian Penn
Well, definitely.

00:40:04.92
ukfilmreview
I said, yes, absolutely.

00:40:06.51
Brian Penn
Yeah, definitely.

00:40:06.62
ukfilmreview
100%. um Yeah, really good. at The film, I believe, is it available on YouTube. You actually can watch Homebound.

00:40:13.59
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:40:14.71
ukfilmreview
If you look on YouTube for a channel called Dark Passage Films, be very careful about how you type that in. um Yeah, Dark Passage Films, that you um yeah find try and find the film.

00:40:21.62
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:40:26.58
ukfilmreview
um Yeah. Homebound is really good. It's about 20 minutes. And yeah, I thought it was excellent. Really powerful. Really stood. It sort of stuck with you after watching it. It was, uh, yeah, really strong fingers with you.

00:40:39.33
Brian Penn
ah link Yeah, Lingus, you know, it stays with you afterwards, doesn't it? that It's always a sign of a good shot.

00:40:45.15
ukfilmreview
Well, thank you for sending that in. And, uh, yeah, let us know if you do watch it. Anyone listening to this, uh, feel free to check it out and review that. We'd love to see it really would. Moving on now to a documentary called On the Ridge.

00:40:59.17
Brian Penn
Mm hmm.

00:41:00.27
ukfilmreview
And ah this is about a community in America called Pine Ridge, where Native Americans live, the Lakota tribe for its people. And the documentary is Attempting to approach the story of this this town this this place in a more positive light because I think there's been a lot of negativity around their community to do with Sort of poverty drug use lots of different things and this attempts to try and talk about what people are doing there to actually make make a difference and and inspire people and And actually, it was a but it really I love this sort of thing when it comes along, because it's something I didn't know anything about.

00:41:20.92
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:41:27.61
Brian Penn
um

00:41:33.67
Brian Penn
yeah

00:41:37.33
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:41:44.45
ukfilmreview
And now I feel like I feel really enriched. I've been able to watch all about these people and what they're doing. And yeah, it was yeah interesting. What do you think about On The Ridge, Brian?

00:41:52.58
Brian Penn
Yeah, and I like it. I think it's very moving. Um, it's, I mean, it's the count of Native American red Indians. And it's describing their efforts to preserve their language, culture, way of life, especially being corralled into reservations, which to modernize seems a wicked thing to do. and Without getting super political, you actually see what the evils of colonialism can do. you know So you see parallels with the Maoists in New Zealand and the Aborigines in Australia. And great characters as well.

00:42:24.73
Brian Penn
Robert Braveheart, Edward Breadnest. I just think it's brilliant.

00:42:28.48
ukfilmreview
Hehe.

00:42:29.32
Brian Penn
and What I also liked about it was the quotes from Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, you know, it gave it more historical context. So they're not just talking about the Dakota Shrine, although that's the main thrust of the story, but they're also throwing references to Reading in Sheets that would be widely known. It makes it more accessible. But I liked it and you know, you can, It's quite humbling to see them starting their own school, um trying to get their own get their children to know their history. know And it's very inspiring. Again, it's that word comes back to be inspirational. you know And it's it's very effective. I liked it.

00:43:20.10
ukfilmreview
It was a nice balance as well in the film because they were referencing their history, their legacy, of some of the most famous people in their community.

00:43:26.94
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:43:29.25
ukfilmreview
But then they're also like showing LGBTQ support groups and they're talking about yeah the things that are really relevant right now for them, ah the policy changes they're trying to get made in legislation.

00:43:35.05
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:43:42.92
ukfilmreview
and that was There was a lot there for people to, yeah, if you're part of that community to feel proud of. And there's a lot of things for people like us, you know, way away looking at this going, well, what a fascinating place to live.

00:43:48.73
Brian Penn
Yeah. Cool. Yeah.

00:43:54.75
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:43:55.53
ukfilmreview
And like you say, the characters are really interesting. These people that are going well out of their way to do something for their community really sort of, yeah, really fascinating.

00:44:02.05
Brian Penn
Yeah. All right. and i ah Yeah, it's it's i mean it's educational for me. I'm not sure for you as well because it's telling me things. It's telling us things we didn't know. So the educational element is really important man because it's just something I wasn't aware of. And films are good that make you wiser as a result. um You have this term infotainment, a cross between information and entertainment. And that's that's what I feel it is.

00:44:34.66
Brian Penn
It's enlightening and um it deserves more attention. I just wonder whether a film like this would just disappear really. It's too niche perhaps. It shouldn't be.

00:44:47.92
ukfilmreview
No, I think sometimes documentaries do struggle a little bit for attention but then they also can find a nice home. If you look online for sort of documentary film festivals, they're often a good place to to start and where something like this is quite accessible in terms of the content of it, it's not too

00:45:00.09
Brian Penn
Hmm. Yeah.

00:45:09.38
ukfilmreview
dark and heavy. it's quite actually It's actually quite light. I like the idea that it was a different approach. It was a positive approach. We weren't looking at something being kind of like sensational or anything like that.

00:45:15.02
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:45:18.22
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:45:18.64
ukfilmreview
It was more like, but you know actually, there are some really good things here. Let us tell our story. And I liked that. So yeah, this when when we watched it, I believe it was on their actual website.

00:45:29.91
Brian Penn
um

00:45:29.99
ukfilmreview
But I don't know if it was a, yeah, it was password protected. So people might not actually be able to find on the ridge. They have a website called 7x7productions, the it's like 7x7productions.com.

00:45:44.68
Brian Penn
Alright.

00:45:45.34
ukfilmreview
So if people do want to try and find out more about the film or see if they can see it, I recommend it. i like like

00:45:50.87
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:45:51.81
ukfilmreview
The idea that people are able to sort of get a glimpse of this very different world and yeah let us know if you are able to actually watch it.

00:45:54.63
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:45:59.49
ukfilmreview
It was one of those films where, like a documentary, where you start watching it and you think, okay, this is good. i And then you watch the whole thing. so's like The whole hour and a half's gone. You're like, oh, I've just watched that all. look where's it Where's the time gone? I feel that I was really, really immersed into that world that they were able to to show you.

00:46:13.58
Brian Penn
Yeah, I know, I know.

00:46:18.07
ukfilmreview
And I think because there were so many different points that they were cover covering different topics, it was really rich, really for varied.

00:46:20.64
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:46:24.68
Brian Penn
That's always a good sign when time passes quickly and then you think to yourself, it's over already. And there are some films like that because you you get so engrossed in in the and the story itself. So that's always an encouraging sign for me.

00:46:40.21
ukfilmreview
fabulous um so yeah let us know if you check out on the ridge and yeah do go and read the review that we've got on our website and let us know if you see it on to our next indie film and this one I believe I do have a clip for this is a feature film called someone dies

00:46:40.41
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:46:56.22
Brian Penn
Oh wow.

00:48:10.02
ukfilmreview
So I should have probably warned people that that clip was, uh, expletive, but I just thought the surprise was just too good to not throw at people.

00:48:14.91
Brian Penn
um I know I know but you know that there are so many c clips you could have used there and I love this it's just so off the wall wasn't it really you you know what ah what it reminded me of it reminded me it it reminded me a little bit of Quentin Serensono pulp fiction it you know I don't think it's quite as good as that you know the best one in the world but

00:48:17.97
ukfilmreview
who Yeah.

00:48:32.36
ukfilmreview
Oh yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah.

00:48:38.75
Brian Penn
You know, it can be no bad thing if the first thing that I think of, or maybe you think of, is like, this is pop fiction. You've got all these weird and wacky characters, um you know, with these really funny lines that are coming out, you know. You know, he ah he says to the private detective, you're you're you're inserting yourself into my domicile. And it's just this weird sort of sort of phrase. And I loved it. I thought it was great. Really, really enjoying it.

00:49:06.85
ukfilmreview
I think because so far all we've done is played that clip and said how much we enjoyed the film. I'm going to just give a quick rundown on the plot because and the best I can anyway, the best I can with the plot.

00:49:13.88
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:49:17.89
ukfilmreview
So we have a sort of a shady private investigator who basically bursts into the home of another strange guy and there's a woman there as well. He's trying to work out who's taken his daughter hostage. But what happens is a very unusual set of things, I guess, and we also are...

00:49:39.91
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah.

00:49:43.94
ukfilmreview
kind of become aware that no one seems to know what's going on. Each of the characters seems a bit befuddled about the other one being there.

00:49:47.54
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:49:51.23
ukfilmreview
And there is an element of sci-fi in this, not to give anything away.

00:49:52.05
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:49:56.18
ukfilmreview
And yeah, like I said, there's a lot of crime. there's ah There's a Russian landlord who turns up, who's very dangerous.

00:50:02.01
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah.

00:50:02.36
ukfilmreview
um And I mean, this might be a bit of a spoiler, but yeah, he gets chopped in half by the garbage disposal. um And the film kind of takes on this sort of new angle. now It was really funny, really different, very you unique. And like we said, there's hints of Tarantino there, but it's definitely not trying to be Tarantino in terms of the overall story, everything like that.

00:50:24.90
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:50:27.36
ukfilmreview
It was directed by Justin Petty, he co-wrote with Amy Anderson. And there's three or four sort of central performances that are excellent. They're all really good.

00:50:36.79
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:50:37.42
ukfilmreview
um Joseph Graham kind of pays the sort of main detective and yeah, really, Just batshit crazy, but I loved it.

00:50:46.13
Brian Penn
yeah

00:50:47.01
ukfilmreview
Really fun.

00:50:48.16
Brian Penn
Yeah, I mean look, great characters as well. They really stand out, they enjoy, they really do. And Jane, the girl, you know, what was key to her character is those big glasses that she wears.

00:51:00.23
ukfilmreview
And the dead pan.

00:51:00.31
Brian Penn
It just, yeah, I know, it's that kind of deadpan expression and that complete sort of nonsensical confusion, utter confusion reigns.

00:51:01.21
ukfilmreview
She was so dead pan. I loved it.

00:51:13.22
Brian Penn
And brilliant, I loved it. I really did, you know, it's It's not often, ah we could say that about an indie feature that I think it's good enough to be a theatrical release. I really do.

00:51:26.51
ukfilmreview
I'll tell you what, yeah know we we talked earlier about Hitman.

00:51:29.58
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:51:29.68
ukfilmreview
I would i would say this is better than Hitman. I would have watched this more than Hitman, yeah.

00:51:33.26
Brian Penn
Yeah, I think it is. Yeah, I think it is better. I mean, it doesn't have the polish of Hitman, does it?

00:51:38.86
ukfilmreview
No, oh no.

00:51:40.01
Brian Penn
You know, it's it's got, Hitman's got a kind of a sheen about it. But this is kind of raw. This is better. it's down and dirty. These are these are just cute characters and make you curious. um And you have a sense of wonder, but when you're watching these characters, and you wonder how the how the story is going go to turn out. So brilliant. Yeah.

00:52:02.95
ukfilmreview
really different, really interesting.

00:52:04.19
Brian Penn
yeah

00:52:06.14
ukfilmreview
There's ah definitely an element that you might get confused by it because it's hard to follow. But I think that's done on purpose because it becomes clearer later on why.

00:52:14.67
Brian Penn
Yeah, I think it is.

00:52:17.43
ukfilmreview
And also the three main characters that are in there, they're all confused as well.

00:52:17.75
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:52:22.49
ukfilmreview
And I think there's that sort of element.

00:52:22.94
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:52:24.40
ukfilmreview
If you get into that but aspect to it, it's just so much fun. It's such a such a good ride.

00:52:29.94
Brian Penn
Yeah. In a way, the the the cast join the audience, don't they? Because they're more or less saying that we're just as confused as you are, you know, bear with us, you know, we'll get there.

00:52:34.72
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:52:39.26
ukfilmreview
yeah and And it's smart as well because like it doesn't overstretch itself with locations.

00:52:39.70
Brian Penn
It's that sort of type of approach. But absolutely brilliant. I love that. It's, as I say, it It's really what you look for in a good comedy film. It is humorous. It's humor comedy, isn't it? Yeah.

00:52:58.12
ukfilmreview
I'm always looking out for that. It mainly stays within that apartment. There's a few sort of exterior shots of yeah he's on the phone. Some of the conversations he has on the phone with his wife, because obviously she's so he's trying to tell her that he's trying to find their daughter, but there's clearly not a happy ah relationship there.

00:53:09.40
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:53:11.94
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:53:14.82
Brian Penn
No, no, it's not.

00:53:15.37
ukfilmreview
and hes They were really funny. um

00:53:18.59
Brian Penn
ah

00:53:18.77
ukfilmreview
Yeah, really it's a really funny moments there.

00:53:20.95
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:53:21.00
ukfilmreview
But yeah, like I think they they've made it really smartly in terms of what resources they've had and what they were able to do. yeah i I'm not sure what the budget was, but I think it was brilliantly sort of conceived and then also executed, which often is not the case with these sort of films.

00:53:29.58
Brian Penn
Yeah. You see what they've also done there um is that they can say the story within one house suddenly really, it doesn't necessarily need to go outside. So There are no kind of budgetary implications there because it's all taking place in one, not one room, but one house, let's say. So that's a good move because it doesn't rely on different locations because it is contained within the house where they are.

00:53:59.85
ukfilmreview
yeah absolutely we um did receive an open link for that film but i've got a feeling it was password protected i'm just going to double check yeah no i think it was a festival cut um so i don't think it's available

00:54:02.14
Brian Penn
So that's good as well.

00:54:18.12
Brian Penn
yeah

00:54:23.06
ukfilmreview
publicly but the company, the the actual company that made it is called Hidden Gym Pictures so they probably have a website and obviously you know like everyone else you feel free to go to IMDb and and check out if they've added it to any streaming platform or anything like that over the coming weeks but do go read our review as well on our website of Someone Dies exclamation mark afterwards you must remember that you know.

00:54:37.66
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:54:46.85
Brian Penn
Yeah. The exclamation mark's really important there, isn't it?

00:54:49.39
ukfilmreview
Very important, yeah.

00:54:50.20
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:54:50.69
ukfilmreview
ah Apparently, I'm sorry, I'm coughing because it's funny.

00:54:51.24
Brian Penn
yeah

00:54:53.51
Brian Penn
ah

00:54:54.04
ukfilmreview
Apparently, the original or alternative and title, I don't know if they've done this as a joke, but on their IMDb page, the alternative if title is Dickhead. but

00:55:05.63
Brian Penn
It's probably a working slide, wasn't it?

00:55:05.69
ukfilmreview
ah Yeah.

00:55:07.21
Brian Penn
I mean, yeah, it kind of makes sense, doesn't it really? Yeah.

00:55:10.10
ukfilmreview
I mean, it's either that or it's or it's just a stab at me. You know, maybe they just knew I was going to read the page that far down, but you know, you never know.

00:55:13.33
Brian Penn
ah Well, Yeah, we're very thorough, aren't we? Nothing else.

00:55:19.82
ukfilmreview
So yeah, check out ah Someone Dies as and When You Can, and we're moving on to our last of the indie films before we move on to some other bits.

00:55:27.36
Brian Penn
Oh,

00:55:29.90
ukfilmreview
This is a short film called Second Thought, and I believe I have a clip from the filmmaker, who because it's a non-dialogue film, so the filmmaker has sent in a clip, so let's listen to that.

00:55:36.82
Brian Penn
oh well.

00:55:39.93
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:55:42.80
ukfilmreview
This shouldn't be as explative as the last one.

00:55:44.97
Brian Penn
No.

00:57:05.92
ukfilmreview
There you go. Thank you very much for sending in that clip. so I mean, it' it's it's almost like you've done too good a job there because now we've got to try and match the brilliant sort of speech you gave there about the film.

00:57:12.55
Brian Penn
Yeah. the Yeah.

00:57:17.98
ukfilmreview
This was an interesting one. It's nice to have managed to get this into Pride Month. And yeah, anyone listening to us, by the way, do make sure you are checking out the other show part of UK Film Review podcast, which is called Gay Actually.

00:57:23.00
Brian Penn
yeah

00:57:30.05
ukfilmreview
They also review a lot of LGBT plus films.

00:57:31.97
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:57:34.32
ukfilmreview
Yeah. Second thought, what did you think, Brian?

00:57:36.49
Brian Penn
I liked it. I was really impressed by this.

00:57:38.74
ukfilmreview
Very strong isn't it?

00:57:38.86
Brian Penn
It's almost, it's so almost like a sliding doors type of storyline, isn't it? Cause it looks like alternative scenarios, doesn't it? You know, the first scenario, these two guys may, they have what what amounts to a one night stand, but then the alternative is where they make an emotional connection first, you know, and then their relationship develops properly.

00:57:57.96
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:58:00.87
Brian Penn
Um, I like that. I like that. I love those kinds of alternative scenarios in any film. You know, Sliding Doors is one of my my favorite films in the 90s. And I always look for films it that deal with fates. You know, that we can't control every inch of our existence. And some things do happen for a reason. Some things don't happen for a reason. But here you've got an alternative story ah told in six minutes. You know, there's no dialogue. there's

00:58:31.95
Brian Penn
You've got, um, text messages that they put on screen, but that's really it, isn't it?

00:58:36.86
ukfilmreview
Hm.

00:58:37.08
Brian Penn
You know, and I think that's an outstanding job really to tell a story like that and be so concise, absolutely clear what it's getting at. You know, there's no, it's not ambiguity there. This is about the way relationships should develop. I mean, you know, if you make an emotional connection with someone as opposed to a purely physical connection, that relationship is more likely to last. That's what I get from it. um So very good. Really good.

00:59:09.21
ukfilmreview
I thought it was a really powerful modern way of telling this sort of story, which is going to be very relevant to a lot of people watching. Not so much for me.

00:59:16.77
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:59:17.64
ukfilmreview
I've been married for a long time. I'm not on these apps and things like that.

00:59:20.98
Brian Penn
No, no.

00:59:21.44
ukfilmreview
But but the um i like what I loved about these sort of the split screen they're using that is showing these two characters that were having their lives and yet were soon going to become so entangled in something that yeah it could either be you the complete

00:59:26.51
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:59:35.95
ukfilmreview
non-moment for them or like you know sort of mistake or it could be the absolute defining moment of their life yeah and that's what was really powerful about the film and i love the way that they hey handled that professionally and expertly there was a lovely upbeat sense of that the music was kicking in and really um it got it into a really energized kind of place very quickly and like i say if you're not relying on dialogue you know like when we reviewed Someone Dies you know the dialogue is doing a lot of the heavy lifting in that film because

00:59:38.03
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:59:52.72
Brian Penn
yeah

00:59:58.16
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:00:04.37
Brian Penn
Well, that's it, isn't it?

01:00:05.95
ukfilmreview
it's really really yeah with this it's far more relying on the visuals and this the the music to kind of get you immersed into and to care about what's going on with these two characters and you do you do kind of get drawn in to their potential blossoming relationship and i thought it was really great really strong

01:00:06.24
Brian Penn
That's what it's all about the dialogue.

01:00:17.68
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:00:27.35
Brian Penn
Yeah, it's a universal message because they don't rely on, I mean, they don't rely on spoken dialogue, not really. So, you know, even without the text messages that they featured, you could too do away with them, literally, and you could just rely on visuals to tell the story.

01:00:43.89
ukfilmreview
Mm.

01:00:44.43
Brian Penn
In my opinion, you could do that very easily. And that is good filmmaking. That's somebody who knows what he's doing. He does.

01:00:52.87
ukfilmreview
Yeah. And to want to tell a story about a certain aspect as well, like you mentioned, you know, the sort of the idea of not rushing sexual intimacy and creating a relationship that's actually going to last because it's based on something more, more tangible, more real.

01:01:08.76
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:01:08.83
ukfilmreview
I think that that was, again, we've seen, we've mentioned this about a few of the filmmakers today, but it's really ambitious. It's really, do you know what? We're going to tell a seven minute film, but it's going to really hit you about this.

01:01:15.65
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:01:18.85
ukfilmreview
And you kind of go, really?

01:01:19.43
Brian Penn
yeah

01:01:19.89
ukfilmreview
And it does.

01:01:20.46
Brian Penn
but not and

01:01:20.88
ukfilmreview
It really well made film.

01:01:22.65
Brian Penn
Well, you couldn't really get much shorter than that, could you really? I mean, most short films are like 15 minutes, aren't they normally? If you look at the films that we typically review on the indie side, the short films are about 15 minutes, aren't they?

01:01:29.41
ukfilmreview
Mm.

01:01:35.01
ukfilmreview
Yeah. I think you're in if you're if you want to yeah tell a a short story, it's that you have, yeah.

01:01:36.13
Brian Penn
Generally.

01:01:39.47
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:01:40.34
ukfilmreview
And I think also with this, there was the risk of not giving you enough time because you could actually tell this very quickly, right? You could probably just whiz through it and tell it very quickly, but you had to have enough time that the the stakes were high enough for us to care and kind of go, Oh, right.

01:01:48.30
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:01:55.58
Brian Penn
yeah

01:01:56.59
ukfilmreview
Yeah. Well, actually that could happen or that could happen. And obviously you're telling the same story almost twice.

01:02:00.93
Brian Penn
But you know straight away though what it's getting at you know it it's there straight away that oh okay I know where we are I know what's happening here and again because it's a short film they have to do that you know but it's very clear it becomes clear what the film's about where it's going what it's dealing with

01:02:01.75
ukfilmreview
ah Yeah. And it's it's interesting.

01:02:05.48
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

01:02:21.53
Brian Penn
ah you thought Oh, okay. Right. I get this. That's good. you know Yeah.

01:02:25.68
ukfilmreview
Fabulous, fabulous. Second thought is the ah name of the film. As I say, um ah you can always go to the IMD page if you need to. Directed by Jimmy Martin and Chris Stanley. and That was Chris who was on the yeah clip there.

01:02:40.73
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:02:42.84
ukfilmreview
I'm just seeing if there's anything about the film in terms of where they can see it. It was a YouTube link. I believe it's public. I might be wrong. Let me check.

01:02:52.48
Brian Penn
Oh, right.

01:02:53.78
ukfilmreview
Let me check.

01:02:58.93
ukfilmreview
this is a man looks up thing on computer you have to just wait and bear with me I'm sorry yeah no it's it's it's available online and um so the channel which is Stan Chris all or one word um yeah

01:03:03.06
Brian Penn
a

01:03:05.99
Brian Penn
and

01:03:12.45
ukfilmreview
which is obviously the the filmmaker. have Have a look on YouTube. We'll we'll do our best to signpost you to it as well. Feel free to get in touch. ah love Love to be able to send people to a film. It's always great to be on film.

01:03:23.08
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:03:23.69
ukfilmreview
Yeah, look, you know what? Go check it out and and do send us your reviews. Go to our website or type in yeah how to be a film critic.

01:03:28.07
Brian Penn
Yeah, absolutely.

01:03:31.34
ukfilmreview
UK, you'll find our website. And yeah, i send us your review of Second Thought. That'd be great.

01:03:36.57
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:03:37.49
ukfilmreview
And yeah, congrats to the filmmakers. Really, really great film.

01:03:39.02
Brian Penn
Yeah, very well done.

01:03:40.56
ukfilmreview
and happy pride month everyone.

01:03:42.27
Brian Penn
Yeah, of course.

01:03:43.06
ukfilmreview
Fabulous. Before we get into our nostalgia pick, I'm just going to go through a couple more of our you our listener reviews, people that have sent us ah some reviews of films they've seen. ah Mark Cage sent us a review of You Can't Run starring J.K.

01:03:57.96
Brian Penn
Hmm.

01:03:59.03
ukfilmreview
Simmons in a slick thriller and once again delivers an excellent performance. The character played by Simmons is reminiscent of his character Vern Schillinger in the acclaimed series Oz. Set mostly in a forest in Montana, Simmons is on a killing spree hunting for one teenage girl.

01:04:08.96
Brian Penn
Oh.

01:04:15.04
Brian Penn
Hmm.

01:04:15.16
ukfilmreview
It's well acted and well directed by mic ah so Michelle Schumacher, who happens to be J.K. Simmons' wife in real life.

01:04:22.41
Brian Penn
Oh.

01:04:22.45
ukfilmreview
his His daughter, Olivia Simmons, is also in the movie. The cast, although mostly unknown, deliver quality acting ah to this. The film is well-written and offers a lot of suspense, which will keep you on the edge of your seat. Highly recommend. That is available on Amazon Prime, I think, if you want to watch You Can't Run Forever. um But yeah, thank you, Mark, for your review.

01:04:39.82
Brian Penn
Yeah, sounds good.

01:04:42.28
ukfilmreview
Yeah, it's great this. This is like doing a lot of my homework for me.

01:04:44.45
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah.

01:04:44.50
ukfilmreview
I just go, oh yeah, I'll check that out. um Thomas Toba, who sent the review of Furiosa earlier, he also reviewed challenges for us.

01:04:47.22
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:04:52.18
ukfilmreview
I thought I'd read this because you because you reviewed this last month, I believe.

01:04:53.06
Brian Penn
All right.

01:04:55.99
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah, it was last month. Yeah. Yeah.

01:04:58.87
ukfilmreview
ah um I'm not going to read the whole thing, I'll just read a section of the review because obviously we've got some others to get through. ah to google Very few films will be able to top Challengers 24 with it being so carefully constructed to tap into some truly dark scenarios or the beauty of sport. It's dripping with style from that contagious soundtrack, immaculate costume design and jaw-dropping visuals. Yeah, thank you, Thomas, for that review. I know we reviewed read out your earlier one. um But yeah, he gave it five out of five challenges.

01:05:27.10
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:05:29.81
Brian Penn
Oh, I you see. I would have given it four probably, but I mean, five. Wow. That is high praise. Indeed. um I tend to rush on my five-star reviews.

01:05:41.16
ukfilmreview
Oh, yeah, I know you two.

01:05:41.36
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:05:42.52
ukfilmreview
You're very stingy with those, aren't you?

01:05:44.54
Brian Penn
I know. That way it means more when it gets there. I mean, obviously that review merited five stars in his view, which is fair enough.

01:05:54.01
ukfilmreview
It's all relevant.

01:05:54.15
Brian Penn
You know, but yeah, yeah. And it obviously might be the impression on it, you know, uh, thanks.

01:06:00.35
ukfilmreview
Well, the next film made an impression on me, but for all the wrong reasons. So this is this is an interesting one. On a previous episode, I let everyone know that I could not stand Eraserhead, the David Lynch film.

01:06:11.01
Brian Penn
Oh, yeah. um really seven

01:06:13.05
ukfilmreview
Now, Abhishek Sharma has sent in a five star review of Eraserhead.

01:06:14.93
Brian Penn
Wow.

01:06:19.35
ukfilmreview
So thank you for sending that.

01:06:20.05
Brian Penn
God, really?

01:06:21.40
ukfilmreview
um And ah again, not going to read the whole thing, but I'll just read the end bit, which said, ah Lynch has sent me the likes of Mulholland Drive and has created a sci-fi phenomenon for TV, Twin Peaks and other works. But nothing is drawn cinephiles to study and analyze as profoundly as a razor head for inspires budding filmmakers to sway away from the generic tropes of filmmaking. And actually, apologies if I'm saying the name wrong, but Abhishek I did a lovely review previously about it. It's a nice big thing about Eraserhead.

01:06:50.92
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:06:53.34
ukfilmreview
I've just pulled that out because I think it's an interesting point because I do think there's an element, a lot of filmmakers are drawn to Lynch for this sort of thing, doing something experimental, right?

01:06:55.88
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's like kind of direct. So though, David, initially,

01:07:06.49
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

01:07:06.52
Brian Penn
he He does feel like a director's director, doesn't he? And I can see why ah that review highlights that point, that he's a reference point for for aspiring that directors, but it certainly wasn't my favorite David Lynch film.

01:07:24.30
ukfilmreview
No.

01:07:24.71
Brian Penn
Mulholland Drive, I love that. Brilliant. Elephant Man. Fantastic. But I wasn't feeling it really, really.

01:07:30.72
ukfilmreview
I do. Oh, that's my favorite. I love, I love Elephant Man. That's a great film.

01:07:33.83
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:07:34.80
ukfilmreview
um Josie Lance sent in a four star review of Napoleon Ridley Scott's film, which you reviewed again on a previous episode.

01:07:41.53
Brian Penn
Yeah, that is, yeah.

01:07:43.20
ukfilmreview
You see how this is all tying together now. This is wonderful.

01:07:44.78
Brian Penn
Hell yeah, yeah, it is, yeah.

01:07:45.86
ukfilmreview
okay um Ridley Scott's retort to military historians who claimed his new epic Napoleon was an inaccurate portrayal of the former French emperor was very matter of factly, were you there?

01:07:59.94
Brian Penn
Yeah, well, yeah, yeah.

01:08:00.17
ukfilmreview
and what im what And whilst many have taken great offence to this comment and continued to degrade Scott's work and Wacking Phoenix's portrayal of Bonaparte, in essence it's true they weren't. Of course, like all creative works, the film has its flaws but very few don't when recreating historical events as those cinema aims to depict true incidences.

01:08:15.41
Brian Penn
the

01:08:19.12
Brian Penn
ah

01:08:19.29
ukfilmreview
ah Napoleon is always going to be a work of fiction that's been spruced up for audience entertainment.

01:08:24.33
Brian Penn
ah

01:08:25.34
ukfilmreview
My point being, don't go and watch it if you're expecting a documentary. Now, I agree with you, Josie.

01:08:29.39
Brian Penn
Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

01:08:31.24
ukfilmreview
Fabulous. I'm glad you said it.

01:08:31.91
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:08:32.48
ukfilmreview
Someone had to say it.

01:08:33.59
Brian Penn
Yeah. I mean, i so I said more or less the same thing in the review that I wrote and also the review we did on the podcast.

01:08:34.16
ukfilmreview
yeah

01:08:37.82
ukfilmreview
yeah

01:08:39.77
Brian Penn
But it's it's not a it's not a social document. It's not an historical document. It's a depiction of one of the great historic figures, Napoleon Bonaparte. And really, the way Brittany Scott approached the film was the right way of doing it, is that I'm not just going to fill it up with lots of battle scenes. I mean, he took part in 30 major campaigns. So where they might have taken the odd liberty or two, you know, they're a lighting on an area of Napoleon's life that it's more accessible, his relationship with Josephine. That's what we all know. That's what we're familiar with, but they still

01:09:14.85
Brian Penn
they still get in, you know, the big battles will slow.

01:09:17.69
ukfilmreview
I was going to say, actually, Josie did go on to say, it's no secret that Ridley Scott loves to indulge his audiences in mighty battle scenes and reminiscent of the opening scene to his 2000 picture gladiator, this epic was no different.

01:09:18.54
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:09:29.72
ukfilmreview
The battles are allowed to revel in their bloody nature. There's men drowning in their own blood and icy water, muddy, cold and wet environments, horses getting blown apart, and men charging from all directions carrying fierce bayonets.

01:09:32.89
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. and I know.

01:09:39.58
Brian Penn
I know it. Yeah.

01:09:43.01
ukfilmreview
I mean, sounds great.

01:09:43.37
Brian Penn
Yeah. Well, I mean, it's yeah it's it's something like what would have happened I mean it was a brutal era to live in wasn't it really I mean human well yeah of course we weren't there but I mean according to what I've read in the history books you see I think though that we're reviewing it as a film right not as an historical piece now if I was reviewing it from a purely historical perspective there might be ways you'd pick it apart but that's not it so

01:09:53.35
ukfilmreview
I wasn't there, remember? I wasn't there.

01:10:14.46
Brian Penn
i think it I think it is a bit, ah kind of a bit, I think it's wrong that people turn the noise up on it because they don't think it's historically accurate. Because some things you can't put on screen. You know, you need to cut corners somewhere. And to me, really, Scott can do no wrong. He's never made a bad film, as far as I'm concerned. And he makes films that are different as well.

01:10:38.29
ukfilmreview
So we had a review as well from Laura Dore of Halloween, the original 1978 film. Again, a five star review.

01:10:43.83
Brian Penn
Oh, yeah.

01:10:45.30
ukfilmreview
I think people are sending in some of their favorite movies, which is interesting. ah Laura writes, the original that would begin the ultimate franchise, but almost by complete fluke. John Carpenter's Halloween in 1978 was originally going to be part of an anthology, much like Tales from the Dark Side or Tales from the Crypt centring around Halloween. The mistake they made, if you will, was having the first two films focused around Michael Myers, a ghoulish, frightening yet believable protagonist then veering off completely and writing a quirky episode about killer masks and aliens.

01:11:18.57
ukfilmreview
So it's interesting, obviously, ah getting some of that backstory. um Another one of our podcast shows is called The Scream Test.

01:11:22.99
Brian Penn
the Yeah.

01:11:24.33
ukfilmreview
And um yeah, Rachel loves all this sort of stuff. So yeah, if you're a fan of horror films, um do go off and and listen to that as well.

01:11:27.64
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:11:30.02
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:11:31.50
ukfilmreview
But yeah, interesting, you know, Laura writing in about Halloween. She was a ah great review.

01:11:37.01
Brian Penn
o

01:11:37.05
ukfilmreview
I can't go into the full thing, but yeah, ah very well. And actually talking about the idea about horror franchises versus horror comedies, because often they're very different.

01:11:46.35
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:11:46.44
ukfilmreview
um We also had a review from Ryan Watson of a film called The Dead Don't Hurt, a new film directed by Viggo Mortensen, his second film.

01:11:54.53
Brian Penn
Uh, Oh, right. Yeah.

01:11:57.59
ukfilmreview
ah Ryan gives the film three stars. ah The true standout of this 1860s America set western though is female lead Vicky Crapes as Vivian. Perhaps shockingly then the film opens with Vivian passing away in bed as Mortensen's character Holger Olsen, not me, not me, ah comforter.

01:12:11.74
Brian Penn
Oh, yeah.

01:12:16.48
ukfilmreview
From here the film is told via extended flashback. It's interesting because we were talking about flashbacks and flash forwards with regards to challenges weren't we?

01:12:23.96
Brian Penn
yeah

01:12:25.58
ukfilmreview
Was that the film?

01:12:26.49
Brian Penn
Yeah. Oh, that's right.

01:12:27.10
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

01:12:27.49
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:12:28.44
ukfilmreview
And because in Ryan's review, he talks about that the experiment with the chronological the chronology ah gives the film sort of structural problems in the sense that we know where the film goes.

01:12:28.51
Brian Penn
yeah

01:12:40.89
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:12:41.13
ukfilmreview
um Yeah, it's an interesting idea, isn't it, that whether or not to...

01:12:43.51
Brian Penn
it Yeah, it's a common technique in films. We're used to seeing it, aren't we? But what I think was interesting about challenges was the the rapidity of flashbacks and flash forwards. You were almost didn't know where you were. because it it would literally be saying three years earlier, 20 minutes later, two days later, there's that type of thing, you think, right, okay, ah can I can ah can put up with that up to a point.

01:13:01.29
ukfilmreview
Hehehe.

01:13:08.23
Brian Penn
But flashbacks are a good way of telling a story as long as it's clear where you are and what you're doing and why you're doing it. what you know It has to be integral to the plot to say, right, we're gonna flashback here or we're gonna forward.

01:13:20.63
ukfilmreview
Well, thank you, Ryan, and to everyone that sent in their reviews of the films they've seen.

01:13:21.13
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:13:25.39
ukfilmreview
And, yeah, apologies to everyone that we didn't read out. ah We did get quite a lot of submissions, but we'll do our best to read the ones out that we can. We are now moving to our final film of the ah show. It's one of everyone's favourite sections of the site, where we go back to a film from the past, our nostalgia pick. and with the upcoming release and information and you know ah lots of viral clips to do with the new uh the new movie coming out uh Deadpool and Wolverine um which is our next month i believe is that 26 yep oh fingers crossed although i think it's out very late in the month so it might not be till august we'll see we'll see what we can chuck Brian it depends if Brian's still alive by then with his cold yeah

01:13:51.15
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:13:55.94
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. And we'll be be reviewing all the next podcast actually. Yeah. All right. Okay. Yeah. yeah

01:14:11.13
Brian Penn
yeah

01:14:12.52
ukfilmreview
Although, death is no excuse, Brian.

01:14:14.46
Brian Penn
and

01:14:14.48
ukfilmreview
Okay.

01:14:15.40
Brian Penn
<unk> just

01:14:15.60
ukfilmreview
um So we we journeyed all the way back to 2000 and watched the original X-Men film available on Disney+. plus There are other streaming platforms available. We are not affiliated with them. Well, not yet anyway, so they buy us out, hey?

01:14:29.15
Brian Penn
Yeah, you never know

01:14:31.02
ukfilmreview
The Brian Singer film. And yeah, if you don't know the story of X-Men, it is about a group of what's called mutants. So these are, People that have evolved ah to have superpowers or different abilities and the X-Men are under the sort of tutelage of Professor X in this film and in many of the films played by Patrick Stewart. And it's the the time where we also meet one mutant called Wolverine or Logan um played by Hugh Jackman.

01:14:59.18
Brian Penn
yeah

01:15:03.36
ukfilmreview
I mean, who else could play him? I think that's why he has to keep coming back, right? He can't let go of that role.

01:15:06.31
Brian Penn
Yeah, i know and i it's him, isn't it?

01:15:08.17
ukfilmreview
um

01:15:09.28
Brian Penn
No one else could play him, really.

01:15:11.25
ukfilmreview
But yeah, fabulous cast, we've got Halle Berry, we've got Storm, we've got Ian McKellen playing Magneto. Huge, you know, massive blockbuster movie. ah Yeah, interesting, obviously predating the sort of big MCU films that came after Iron Man. Going all the way back to 2000, you know, you're in the sort of vintage Batman kind of era really, you know, going back to you that sort of era.

01:15:34.21
Brian Penn
yeah and Well, the funny thing is, Chris, this is the first film we've reviewed on the nostalgia slot that I've not seen previously.

01:15:36.24
ukfilmreview
um What did you think of X-Men, Brian?

01:15:46.82
ukfilmreview
Ah, I did wonder.

01:15:47.45
Brian Penn
had to see yeah I hadn't seen it before. And, you know, I've got a kind of a very kind of laid back attitude towards Marvel and DC Comics. They're very good at what they do. But I've always kind of shied away from anything that's got too much hype attached to it. So I sat down and watched this film for the very first time. And I really liked it. I really, really liked it. What I particularly liked about it, though, was that it seems to get a lot closer to the original Marvel Comics.

01:16:19.38
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

01:16:19.39
Brian Penn
know ah Gradually, Marvel films have become very slick, smooth, and clinical, at least in my view anyway. But the inspiration has been lost somewhere along the way. But this kind of takes you back to the original comic strips that we read as kids.

01:16:33.22
ukfilmreview
Oh

01:16:33.65
Brian Penn
So I liked it because of that. And Hugh Jackman is just so good in the role as me as Logan. You know, Logan would make it.

01:16:40.10
ukfilmreview
yeah.

01:16:41.12
Brian Penn
Logan would make a really, really good bouncer wouldn't he in a nightclub or a pub wouldn't he really be no trouble with him with it. But yeah, look I really enjoyed it. I think the You've got a great cast, haven't you? really Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry and Hugh Chapman. You can't go wrong really with that. it's

01:16:59.92
ukfilmreview
Yeah, I mean, I think you're right about the ah staying closer to the comics because previously to this, I would have been sort of younger, younger ish, that I would have watched the I watched the TV show, there was an animated TV show.

01:17:09.59
Brian Penn
It's... Hmm.

01:17:16.45
ukfilmreview
And that's how I knew of the X-Men. I didn't really read the comics, but I watched the TV show. And then when this film came out, it was like, oh, you've got where yeah wolverine you've got cyclops you've got storm all these characters that i've seen i was like wow and they even kind of they make so a few references that is a bit where they talk about oh we should be in yellow jumpsuits or something like that because that was like the uniform that they wore in the show and it was like yeah it was a lovely uh sort of

01:17:28.05
Brian Penn
yeah

01:17:38.29
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:17:42.16
ukfilmreview
It felt like it was more connected to it, yeah, like you say, this the the source material.

01:17:45.89
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:17:46.08
ukfilmreview
And um yeah, obviously Brian Singer, fabulous director, is he does really well to it.

01:17:50.27
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:17:50.68
ukfilmreview
they The special effects have dated, you know, there's no doubt about that. And you're not going to be able to get away from that.

01:17:53.96
Brian Penn
Like, yeah, cool. so That's inevitable though, isn't it really? I mean, after Yeah, 24, 25 years, you know, it's gonna move on, isn't it? But I don't think it detracts from the entertainment value, you know, too much because I think it's just asking you to use your imagination a bit more. We've become very used to things being very slick. Again, it's the word I come back to, very slick and very clinical. We're used to seeing certain things in a certain way. But this is kind of back to basics for me. And um I'm really looking forward to seeing

01:18:28.28
Brian Penn
Wolverine with Deadpool because the the trailers look really funny.

01:18:30.56
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

01:18:34.00
Brian Penn
There's a lot of you theres a lot of humor in these characters and this gives it more of an edge, you know, not to take it all too seriously, you know, because it is a comic strip. most so

01:18:46.91
ukfilmreview
I am absolutely certain, and I've i've managed to plug every podcast show today, but i pray I would put money on the fact that are one of our other shows, The Phantom Zone, will also review ah the Deadpool Wolverine film.

01:18:58.81
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:19:02.17
ukfilmreview
um So yeah, do check them out, make sure you follow them.

01:19:02.52
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:19:05.17
ukfilmreview
and They do a show on this, ah ah an episode of this every month, but they also do their own podcasts, so you'll have to be on here or on there. But yeah, if you're a fan of comic books and and nerdy things, then they level that. um And I'm sure they've probably done an episode already on X-Men, because why wouldn't you? Fabulous.

01:19:25.03
Brian Penn
yeah

01:19:25.25
ukfilmreview
um But yeah, no, looking forward to that next month, hopefully. If not, it'll be in the August ah episode.

01:19:28.64
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:19:31.02
ukfilmreview
And yeah, we've got already a few indie films have been submitted for next month. So we're we're ahead of the curve already.

01:19:36.59
Brian Penn
Excellent. Yeah.

01:19:38.98
ukfilmreview
ah But yeah, thank you to everyone who listens to you Film Club as well as the podcast at large.

01:19:42.90
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:19:45.96
Brian Penn
Mm hmm.

01:19:46.48
ukfilmreview
It really does mean a lot to us. um Thank you for sending in your reviews. That's been amazing to see that coming through. Thank you to the filmmakers for sending us their films and to the ones who didn't send us off their films, but we reviewed them anyway. I hope that we weren't too harsh.

01:19:59.95
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:20:01.52
ukfilmreview
And yeah, so Brian, just a reminder, Film of the Month was bike riders.

01:20:04.26
Brian Penn
Bike riders, bike riders, steady comfortably.

01:20:08.12
ukfilmreview
yeah check it out let us know what you think if you watch it um yeah we'd love to love to hear your thoughts and yeah this has been the uk film review podcast uk film club with me chris and brian who desperately needs to get off and blow his nose poor guy um ah but yeah thank you for being with us yeah and we'll see you again next time

01:20:09.87
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:20:24.90
Brian Penn
and Yeah.

01:20:30.18
Brian Penn
Last video.