Trap - Deadpool & Wolverine - Daughters - UK Film Club Ep 18

00:00:00.94
ukfilmreview
Hey Brian.

00:00:02.95
Brian Penn
ah how you doing

00:00:03.87
ukfilmreview
I'm good. Thank you. How are you?

00:00:06.17
Brian Penn
I'm very good. You know, can't be bad for a Tuesday evening, you know, hump of the week tomorrow. Assume that it will be Wednesday, tomorrow, summer in the world where everyone's, everyone's listening, you know.

00:00:11.77
ukfilmreview
and

00:00:18.40
ukfilmreview
That's true, yeah, I mean, giving away the the game, you know, we're but recording on a Tuesday night.

00:00:24.09
Brian Penn
Yeah. I know. I know.

00:00:25.20
ukfilmreview
Yeah, people think we just wait for that, you know, Thursday morning, 8am, and then we we do it, but yeah.

00:00:30.78
Brian Penn
Yeah, I know. The myth is soon exploded, isn't it? There you go.

00:00:35.71
ukfilmreview
Wow, so it should be, we can't keep up these pretense, it's so much work, you know, we have to, we have lives to run.

00:00:39.72
Brian Penn
That's hard work being that dynamic, isn't it? And that invents it all the time.

00:00:45.39
ukfilmreview
Oh, 100%. I mean, and I do delegate most of that, but you know, I do some every so often.

00:00:46.40
Brian Penn
Isn't it?

00:00:50.41
ukfilmreview
So yeah, no, fabulous, fabulous.

00:00:51.41
Brian Penn
the

00:00:53.13
ukfilmreview
um But yeah, summer is almost over, I guess. And film has been, it's not been that memorable as a summer.

00:01:03.66
Brian Penn
No.

00:01:04.14
ukfilmreview
I wouldn't say they aren't though, are they? I don't think summer is really that kind of time for great cinema.

00:01:07.34
Brian Penn
No.

00:01:10.14
ukfilmreview
It's normally that sort of pre Oscars bit where you get all the really good films.

00:01:13.58
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah, I think, yeah, this summer's been very quiet, relatively speaking, compared to last year when we had Oppenheimer and we had Mission Impossible and Indiana Jones and Barbie, of course, it was a huge summer in comparison, but you don't always get them. There's some ebbs and flows and I still think we're still coming out of that post COVID period where we're, we're finally back to an output that we would recognize, you know?

00:01:41.76
Brian Penn
Um, but I think that's something to be expected really, but ah peaks and troughs really, I think it's going to pick up towards Christmas, which it normally does.

00:01:42.15
ukfilmreview
yeah well

00:01:50.77
Brian Penn
But yeah, we we're at the, we're at the tender mercies of filmmakers, aren't we? really

00:01:56.53
ukfilmreview
We are. um Luckily for us, we get sent some films and also you've very kindly gone to watch the ones that are still at the cinema this month.

00:02:00.86
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:02:06.21
ukfilmreview
um If this is your first time to UK Film Club, ah welcome, welcome, welcome all. And um we hope you are a film fan because otherwise this is going to be a very long episode for you.

00:02:16.12
Brian Penn
I know.

00:02:18.18
ukfilmreview
um We're part of the UK Film Review podcast and there's plenty of other shows that you can go listen to as well as part of that. But Ours is a show that covers all manner of film.

00:02:31.36
ukfilmreview
Brian has gone to see the latest cinema releases. um We've both watched a ah Netflix film, a Netflix documentary for this this month's episode.

00:02:42.34
ukfilmreview
And we also have a big selection of indie and short films that have been sent to us by

00:02:46.53
Brian Penn
a

00:02:48.32
ukfilmreview
aspiring filmmakers that we're going to review. And we'll also be taking a look back at a classic movie, this one from 1979. Yeah, I'm not sure I should give away the title.

00:02:59.87
ukfilmreview
I mean, most people read the description if they really want to know.

00:03:01.80
Brian Penn
Yeah, I know. I know.

00:03:02.99
ukfilmreview
um Yeah, I leave it as a just as a little mystery yeah that that

00:03:03.08
Brian Penn
and know let's let's Let's wait a little. smile

00:03:08.23
Brian Penn
but Let's leave it hanging just for a bit, shall we?

00:03:10.39
ukfilmreview
Yeah, what is the nostalgia pic everyone's thinking?

00:03:12.50
Brian Penn
Yeah. yeah

00:03:14.28
ukfilmreview
That'll be later on in the episode. ah But yeah, first and foremost, we're going to head to the big screen. So these are movies that are or should be at the cinema if you're listening to this when it gets released.

00:03:26.25
ukfilmreview
um Some stay longer than the episodes are out. Some don't last very long. So, you know, hopefully you are able to see these movies. um But this one was a big one. The first one that we're going to review.

00:03:37.70
ukfilmreview
And um I don't think it really needs much of an introduction, but it's Deadpool and Wolverine.

00:03:42.43
Brian Penn
well yeah Well, this one is going to last a while, I would have thought, Chris.

00:03:47.31
ukfilmreview
Yes, it's got to be one of the biggest movies of the summer, right?

00:03:50.06
Brian Penn
It's got to be around for a while. Directed by Sean Levy, starring Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Matthew McFadgin, Emma Corrin and Marina Bakkerin. So, Wade Wilson is seemingly retired and working as a car salesman. He stays as the morally challenged Deadpool are seemingly behind him. However, he's captured by the time-variance authority and Mr Paradox reveals that Wade's timeline is close to extinction. He travels the multiverse to find a variant of Wolverine to save his own timeline.

00:04:20.21
Brian Penn
The duo reluctantly team up to defeat Mr. Paradox. Now, not much of a storyline, really. Once you put a Marvel story on screen, it seems less important. It boils down to heroes and villains. You cheer the heroes, you boo the villains. It's all visuals now. It's great fun. Very entertaining. Some good guys. Pokes fun at the genre, which I like. Essentially, it's a buddy movie. Wolverine's the straight man, and Deadpool's the funny one. Jobs are good and really.

00:04:49.04
Brian Penn
It might disappoint the aficionados. I spoke to a friend recently ah who's a huge Marvel fan, and he was very disappointed with it. But when you love something that much, you set the bar very high, which means you're more likely to be disappointed. But I speak as a mainstream film fan, and it's comfortably film of the month. But it doesn't have a lot of competition at the moment. It has to be said. But it's a good film. It works. What can you say?

00:05:20.27
ukfilmreview
Well, I mean, i I'm a fan of Deadpool as a character. I like Ryan Reynolds' version of him. um yeah the The very first film well the first film that came out in the Deadpool series was really good.

00:05:32.83
ukfilmreview
I found the second one a little bit wanting. It wasn't quite hitting the same heights as that first one. I think because of the shock value gone, the yeah they found the format, right?

00:05:40.70
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:05:42.83
ukfilmreview
And they kind of went, yeah, we're going to do more of that.

00:05:44.05
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:05:45.04
ukfilmreview
And when I heard about this, I kind of thought, OK, actually, this is probably a good direction to go in because

00:05:45.20
Brian Penn
yeah

00:05:50.20
ukfilmreview
wo yeah wolverine has such a massive legacy cinematically that there's a lot to um bring in there but then there was also that for me there's this danger of messing with that right because i'm not sure have you seen logan

00:05:54.11
Brian Penn
Oh, yeah.

00:06:04.07
Brian Penn
No, I haven't actually.

00:06:05.44
ukfilmreview
So that was an absolutely immense film to finish on.

00:06:05.55
Brian Penn
No.

00:06:09.56
ukfilmreview
It was such a great, you know, moving piece.

00:06:10.60
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:06:12.61
ukfilmreview
it was It was brilliant. And then when I heard, oh, he's coming back for this, I kind of thought, um okay, you know, that feels that maybe you're disrupting that slightly.

00:06:14.24
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:06:20.01
ukfilmreview
But then I also feel, This is exactly what Marvel need, right? It's something a little bit more of a twist.

00:06:24.35
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:06:25.94
ukfilmreview
It's got a bit more kick to it than all this sort of splurge of lukewarm films they've been putting out since ah Endgame.

00:06:27.71
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:06:31.71
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:06:34.04
ukfilmreview
So yeah, i mean I'm glad to hear that it's it's hitting all right with you, Brian.

00:06:38.33
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, yeah, film them up very easily.

00:06:38.54
ukfilmreview
Film of the month.

00:06:41.43
Brian Penn
And I just like what Ryan Reynolds does with Deadpool because he's very kind of sarcastic and edgy, ever so slightly camp in the way he delivers lines. And it just sends up the genre, sends up the character really well.

00:06:54.16
Brian Penn
You're not meant to take it too seriously. I suppose you could say Marvel isn't meant to be taking that seriously generally. But this makes a point ah of delivering some really good in jokes. But you know what, Chris, it's making serious money.

00:07:07.99
Brian Penn
Apparently, it cost $200 million dollars to make. And since it was really it was released at the end of July, and it's made currently, allegedly apparently, 1.2 billion at the box office, which is just absolutely mind-boggling. You just can't imagine. It could it could do that well, but it but it is good. It works. What can you say? They're very good at at making this kind of film, Marvel. It's as simple as that.

00:07:37.58
Brian Penn
um Obviously, that's going to tail off a bit, isn't it? Give it a you know a couple of months down the line, it will be it will tail off. But this could run run until November very easily on general release.

00:07:47.83
ukfilmreview
I think you know because actually listeners, we we haven't got masses of cinema films to review this month and I think that is potentially a bit of the reason why this film is grossing so much is because it's just landed in that lovely sweet spot of

00:08:02.33
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:08:03.22
ukfilmreview
it's summer holidays so there are a lot of people off um on holiday xyz and you know potentially want to go to the cinema and it's a 15 so there is a good amount of you know catchment there um it's not an 18 that would isolate that so there's not much else going on yeah maybe it's just it's just here they're not because from what i've heard

00:08:16.08
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:08:25.41
ukfilmreview
And I've kind of what you've said in your review is that it's not by any means the greatest Marvel film has ever been made.

00:08:27.70
Brian Penn
yeah

00:08:31.38
Brian Penn
Nine.

00:08:32.11
ukfilmreview
It's more just, it it does what it needs to do.

00:08:32.28
Brian Penn
Nine.

00:08:34.15
ukfilmreview
it It knows the formula and it's just kind of running with it a bit more.

00:08:34.54
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:08:37.54
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:08:37.62
ukfilmreview
And yeah, well fair play to them. Love it.

00:08:40.79
Brian Penn
Yeah, and I know.

00:08:40.82
ukfilmreview
Don't mind it.

00:08:41.83
Brian Penn
No, I mean, I'd happily endorse it and go and say it again, you know, because it's sense assignment, it's sense assigning, it's good fun. But as I say, the purists might pick it apart a bit.

00:08:51.99
Brian Penn
But when you're, when you're so into it, you kind of do, because you expect something more from it.

00:08:52.10
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:08:57.44
Brian Penn
But I think that's probably where it's good for me to watch it as not a huge fan. But just ah as a film fan, generally, I can look at it and be quite objective and i can say, yeah, that's good.

00:09:08.32
Brian Penn
That works.

00:09:09.34
ukfilmreview
Well, funny enough, we have a listener of review, which is lovely.

00:09:13.22
Brian Penn
Lovely. play

00:09:13.93
ukfilmreview
Thank you to everyone who sends in the reviews.

00:09:14.13
Brian Penn
no

00:09:15.69
ukfilmreview
We have an absolute gamut. Is that the right word? of ah Yeah, it'll do.

00:09:19.53
Brian Penn
That's a good word. That'll do. That'll do.

00:09:21.50
ukfilmreview
It might be wrong. word Gamut of of reviews from listeners this month.

00:09:23.12
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:09:25.73
ukfilmreview
um Thank you to everyone who sends them in. I do try and get to them all. And and one from James Marshall here, who reviewed Deadpool and Wolverine, and he gave it four out of five. So you know we already know he's a fan. um While many could perceive Hugh Jackman's return as a cynical cash grab, his chemistry with Ryan Reynolds is something Marvel fans have been waiting for since the disappointing execution in X-Men Origins Wolverine 2009.

00:09:53.23
ukfilmreview
In their latest offering, this double act takes the comedic rivalry of 48 Hours and Lethal Weapon and filters it through a visceral lens of ultraviolet profanity. There is also the question of how the legacy of Jackman's original run would be respected after his character's sentimental sacrifice in the climax of Logan.

00:10:05.61
Brian Penn
Hmm. Hmm.

00:10:11.43
ukfilmreview
a question which is answered with tongue-in violently in cheek from the opening scene. The previous Deadpool films have set a precedent for their introductory scenes using slow motion fights, sight gags and sarcastic commentary and Deadpool Wolverine is no different from this potentially gratuitous sequence. The audience knows exactly what they're in for in terms of tone and self-awareness Even if it does trade, good taste for trademark crass.

00:10:35.03
ukfilmreview
If you like the previous Deadpool films and Spider-Man No Way Home, you'll love this. I did cut a big section out of the review. I tend to have to be a bit more concise with the reviews, guys. But James, thank you very much, James Marshall, for that was a terrific review.

00:10:48.51
ukfilmreview
And yeah, it seems to be echoing a lot of your points, Deborah.

00:10:48.70
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:10:51.44
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. And I like the analogy with Lethal Weapon as well. It kind of, you know, I think there is a strong, obviously there's a strong element of, of buddy, you know, that kind of, that kind of a interplay between the two main characters, but it is there.

00:10:54.67
ukfilmreview
Mmm.

00:11:04.66
Brian Penn
And Inevitably, it's going to lead to a slew. There's another new word that we haven't used before. A slew.

00:11:10.47
ukfilmreview
Sloob.

00:11:11.54
Brian Penn
A slew of Deadpool and Wolverine films.

00:11:11.78
ukfilmreview
Lovely.

00:11:15.18
Brian Penn
But if they're as good as this, I won't complain. But you know the pressure's on to come up with something new and do do what they've always done in a slightly different way. you know And I sense they're repackaging, putting something out again.

00:11:27.59
Brian Penn
But you know they've got it right this time for me.

00:11:31.74
ukfilmreview
If you go, I mean, you can put that on the poster. They've got it right this time.

00:11:34.57
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:11:35.77
ukfilmreview
Okay, now, I didn't know about this film, um which I'm surprised at, because I tend to know about the filmmaker quite well.

00:11:42.44
Brian Penn
and

00:11:42.68
ukfilmreview
ah Currently in theaters, M. Night Shyamalan's Trap, starring Josh Hartnett.

00:11:48.95
Brian Penn
Yes, now I was I was floundering slightly trying to find another film ah that merits review on the podcast because so as we've just mentioned there isn't a hell of a lot around but there was this film Trap. Now let's look at the storyline. ah Cooper takes daughter Riley to watch Lady Raven play life.

00:12:11.48
Brian Penn
However, the hottest gig in town is actually a trap to capture a serial killer known as the Butcher. As the net slowly closing it closes in, Cooper and Riley are at the very centre of the action. Now, to me, this is a film with two halves. The first half is ridiculous. It's full of cliches and socially contrived. The second half throws a curveball at you and takes a story in a completely different direction. Up until that point, it feels like a predictable and routine thriller.

00:12:40.96
Brian Penn
but I was pleasantly surprised by that change in direction, which I wasn't expecting.

00:12:46.80
Brian Penn
I wouldn't give the first half of the film one star if I was writing a review on it, and the second half, four stars.

00:12:52.23
ukfilmreview
wow

00:12:54.76
Brian Penn
Then it averages out three stars, but there's something vaguely ridiculous about it, but the twist halfway through, and I feel it is a twist. It depends how fussy you are with your twists and turns in a plot, but I liked it.

00:13:08.18
Brian Penn
I think it was great fun.

00:13:09.03
ukfilmreview
Wow.

00:13:09.97
Brian Penn
second half rather than the first half time.

00:13:13.77
ukfilmreview
Wow. i mean It's interesting because you do get that sometimes with films and it's often it's the other way around, right? The first half is really good and it kind of doesn't quite keep the momentum and drops off.

00:13:22.06
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:13:24.91
ukfilmreview
But when you get a film that is suddenly much better in the second half, of you're like, ah, so glad I stuck with that.

00:13:28.47
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:13:29.69
ukfilmreview
um But I mean,

00:13:29.75
Brian Penn
and yeah

00:13:33.22
ukfilmreview
Shyamalan is a filmmaker, he yeah he's well versed now in what viewers are looking for. and and what what yeah So you do kind of feel that maybe with him, he is experimenting with that.

00:13:39.43
Brian Penn
yeah

00:13:45.19
ukfilmreview
And also certain filmmakers, kind of like, um like you know, some people like that, they know that the audience is coming with expectation.

00:13:55.68
ukfilmreview
It's not like an unknown filmmaker that you've got no attachment to.

00:13:57.79
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:13:58.00
ukfilmreview
Like they know with Shyamalan, he's so controversial, like he's either like, great hits, stories have big misses, and I think people are going to come to the cinema kind of, oh, all right, it's a miss.

00:14:04.52
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:14:08.63
ukfilmreview
And then maybe it does sort of suddenly ramp up because he sort of knows he's playing with that.

00:14:11.10
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:14:12.53
ukfilmreview
Yeah, probably I'm just speculating here, but maybe that's kind of an interesting point.

00:14:14.42
Brian Penn
Yeah. But it, as I say, its it it's skillful filmmaking, ah because if you If you applied logic, it's like any film really. If you applied logic to the storyline, to the plot, you could pick this apart very easily because it's set during a ah like a concert, a big gig. And Josh Hartnett's character, sir Cooper, is wandering around backstage whenever it suits, whenever the the mood takes him. And he leaves his 14-year-old daughter in the crowd to go off and do what he needs to do. I'm not gonna give away too much to the plot.

00:14:49.82
Brian Penn
ah But you could pick it apart very easily. you know A lot of it, you could think to yourself, no, that's not right. That wouldn't happen. But but you know if you if you omit the logic, just take it for what it is, and pick the film up halfway through. I think it's good fun. It it challenges you a bit. It does keep you more on the edge of your seat, or maybe not on your edge of your seat, maybe in the middle of your seat, rather than you sitting back in the seat. But I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it.

00:15:20.79
Brian Penn
It's the type of film I'm surprised got a theatrical release. It's the type of film I thought might've gone straight onto stream. It looks like the type of thing that Amazon Prime or Netflix or one one of the you know premium service providers would go for. but And I don't think it will be on for very long. So if if people want to see it on the big screen, they they've got to do it soonish. But entertaining, good fun to watch.

00:15:47.11
ukfilmreview
Okay. Well, actually, if I don't know if I looked through my ah list of listeners reviews and I had actually missed this one, but we have one from on early, um, who went to see trap. So I will just read as a section of his review because it's a big part of his review where he talks about some issues he had getting into the cinema.

00:15:57.45
Brian Penn
All right. Yeah.

00:16:04.88
ukfilmreview
So I'm going to just skip through some of those, that but I do feel that actually would be a very funny story.

00:16:05.65
Brian Penn
Oh, OK. Right. Yeah.

00:16:09.34
ukfilmreview
Um,

00:16:09.38
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:16:10.53
ukfilmreview
they beilla So, he gave it five stars, would you believe?

00:16:14.34
Brian Penn
Oh, wow.

00:16:15.23
ukfilmreview
Five stars.

00:16:16.24
Brian Penn
Wow.

00:16:17.18
ukfilmreview
um But the review itself ah is... I don't think it's it's fully on. It's early doors. I did wonder if Josh Hartnett's butcher needed to be a killer for this storyline to work.

00:16:30.25
ukfilmreview
The show seemed tedious enough that any parent could watch it and identify with the desire to escape your child's preferred activity. My biggest gripe with the movie was probably how many times the father and daughter leave the show during the performance.

00:16:42.89
ukfilmreview
But as the plot got thicker than treacle, I found myself easing more into the lunacy and embracing the nonsense ah reminiscent of audiences at 2008's Take Him. The film flew by and my exhilarated son was in snare, reminding me how important it is to break rules sometimes and made me nostalgic for going to cinema.

00:16:59.80
ukfilmreview
I think this is going back to talk about him getting into the the the cinema.

00:17:02.36
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:17:03.30
ukfilmreview
um do do I didn't want to leave.

00:17:06.31
Brian Penn
Well,

00:17:06.93
ukfilmreview
He felt really excited.

00:17:09.77
Brian Penn
Yeah, we all get that feeling sometimes in the movies, don't we? Yeah, it's says it's it's fair enough. I mean, I would never have given it five stars. I think our written review on the website gave it two, I think. I'm not sure. I think it it got two. I think it was George Wolfe, I think. George gave it two. I don't think that's quite fair. I mean, it's all about perceptions and where you sit. But it's interesting, though, that review you've just read out,

00:17:36.08
Brian Penn
did kind of home in on the fact that they were just slipping in and out of the gig. They both were. He was doing it more often. But you think, ah no, I mean, with the manic security, I mean, i mean if you look at WhatsApp, what happened to to ah Taylor Swift in Vienna recently, where they had to postpone a couple of gigs because of the obvious threats to our safety that were being made.

00:17:58.41
Brian Penn
you know I don't think it's possible to to do that, to wander around without being challenged at all.

00:18:02.77
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:18:04.72
Brian Penn
They kind of were. but they made it look easy. is so So you could do it whenever you felt like it. And you could just say, you're looking for the toilet and you got lost. you know and um But yeah, that side of it, you you take on bull.

00:18:18.21
Brian Penn
But you know it's it kind of kind of grips you it grips you once it gets going, because it takes you to a point in the plot where that you weren't expecting to be at.

00:18:29.79
Brian Penn
And I like that. At least it does something. It redeemed itself ah towards the end of the film.

00:18:33.75
ukfilmreview
Well, one of those ones I thought it'll be on and I'll kind of go, do you know what?

00:18:35.17
Brian Penn
so

00:18:38.93
ukfilmreview
I will just check that out. and But yeah, thank you on for your um your review and thank you Brian for letting us know about Trap. We had another listener review from a film we reviewed last month, which was Twisters.

00:18:47.37
Brian Penn
and so

00:18:51.95
Brian Penn
Oh, right.

00:18:52.04
ukfilmreview
um So I will just read this ah little bit from Daniel Ashby, who gave the film three stars. There are many films from past decades which have received long anticipated sequels. I wouldn't say that Twister is one of them. Although a box office success and a disaster film loved by many, it's not as if fans were crying out for a follow up.

00:19:11.47
ukfilmreview
For one thing, it's not really needed. The original 1996 film ah didn't set itself up for another film and there is only so far you can take the concept of storm chasing, or so it would seem. Enter Twisters, the 2024 sequel nobody asked for but we still got anyway.

00:19:26.48
Brian Penn
yeah

00:19:26.67
ukfilmreview
in In the film's defence, it's more of a spin-off, brackets, pun very much intended, love it, Daniel, fabulous, ah than a direct sequel.

00:19:30.12
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:19:35.62
ukfilmreview
Although there are few small nods to the original, there are no cameos and returning characters from the first, unless you include Tornado, data collecting device, Dorothy, of course, which I was glad to see Dorothy you came back.

00:19:44.12
Brian Penn
hundred Yeah, that's true.

00:19:46.76
ukfilmreview
um The dialogue is pretty bad throughout, and apart from main character Kate, And to some extent, Tyler, the character development is pretty much non-existent. However, there is something undeniably a little enjoyable about how, for the most part, Twisters is a straightforward, no-nonsense, silly action film and doesn't try to hide it. This is important to note because the same can be applied when discussing the first film.

00:20:09.50
ukfilmreview
Twister is an enjoyable fun roller coaster ride with equally as cheesy lines and only a smattering of character development for Hella Hunt's character Joe. Furthermore, it sort of feels like an appropriate legacy sequel as the original Twister had its fair share of problems as well.

00:20:23.08
ukfilmreview
Yeah, I think that kind of aligns very well with what you said last month about Twisters.

00:20:25.90
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, I think that's what we were more or less discussing that there is this kind of dilemma with Twisters is that so much time has elapsed, you wonder whether it's a sequel, a remake or whatever. So I think with regards to character development, I think developing characters in a film like that is a bonus if you get it, but you don't necessarily notice it if it's not there.

00:20:46.32
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:20:49.42
Brian Penn
You know, because the emphasis is on strong the issue visuals and effects, but still a good film. But yeah, I think that more or less bears out what we were discussing. So yeah.

00:20:58.69
ukfilmreview
Yeah, happy that. Thank you again for the review, Daniel. and Moving away from cinema releases to our streaming pick. This is a film that's available on a streaming service, typically in Netflix, ah because I am lazy and I just find those.

00:21:13.53
ukfilmreview
um But this, I was really glad to find this. This is terrific.

00:21:16.60
Brian Penn
Yeah, this is ah this is a gem, Chris, that you found here.

00:21:19.93
ukfilmreview
Oh, absolute jam. It's a documentary you called Daughters. And it came out ah in August, I believe. And yeah, um fabulous piece.

00:21:32.51
ukfilmreview
It's got some quite big names attached at the back end. But the actual directors are Angela Patton and Natalie Ray. um And it explores this program that's running in the US where inmates at a prison are able to ah attend a dance with their daughters who are obviously on the outside ah for one evening or one day where they come into the prison and they actually have a dance, kind of like a prom.

00:22:01.47
Brian Penn
and you Yeah.

00:22:02.35
ukfilmreview
ah they they dress up, they have all the sort of things, their pictures taken and things like that. that um And we see the sort of, there's like about a 12 week program, I think that the fathers have to go into where they're having this kind of like, ah group therapy um about being a dad, being a role model and all these things. So we see that and then we see the actual dance and then we see the kind of aftermath of that and how it's really impacted them and yeah what that did. um It was just,

00:22:32.75
ukfilmreview
Phenomenal it was so emotional. I say this is a yeah a father of two girls and that I was couldn't help but be moved but I think also there When you have a sensitive subject like this when there's a lot of things going on It could easily have gone wrong could easily have not been a very powerful documentary, but I thought it was absolutely brilliant What do you think I'm guessing you like to burn because you said it's a gem, but you tell me I

00:22:37.10
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:22:50.58
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:22:55.73
Brian Penn
yeah is a gem. I mean, this is the type of thing I might have missed, Chris, if you hadn't have alerted me to it. Because you know, when you're you're looking, you're looking, you're kind of spooling through all all these films, documentaries that are on, and you can quite easily miss this very, you know, you know, because there's so much on there.

00:23:10.70
ukfilmreview
Oh yeah.

00:23:13.66
Brian Penn
But I think this is absolutely riveting. It really is, you know, the idea that you can um invite daughters into a prison, and to spend the afternoon with their fathers, to rebuild their relationship, or reinforce it, or help them back to a point where they're communicating, they're actually talking again. And some of the tools, I mean, they they focused on four couples, didn't they? Because there was Aubrey and Keith, Joan and Frank, Rosiah and Alonzo, and Keith and Aubrey. Sorry, no, it's the other one. Rosiah and Alonzo, Joan and Frank,

00:23:53.05
Brian Penn
ah Santana and Mark, that was the other couple.

00:23:57.41
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:23:58.06
Brian Penn
ah But Aubrey was the one that that really ran his resume because she was so young.

00:24:03.22
ukfilmreview
She starts the film is actually she kind of opens the film and she's just little like, she must be about five I think at the time.

00:24:03.40
Brian Penn
She was like.

00:24:05.76
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:24:09.26
Brian Penn
She was she was five, but she seemed to display a maturity beyond the years.

00:24:09.56
ukfilmreview
Oh, yeah.

00:24:14.83
Brian Penn
And the film jumps forward three years, doesn't it?

00:24:17.87
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:24:17.96
Brian Penn
That once the um once the date with dad finishes, they They trace the the following three years and and you you see what happens to those four couples, if you like.

00:24:30.54
Brian Penn
And um it's incredibly moving. What I think was very clever though, was that they deliberately omitted details of their offenses, why they were in prison in the first place.

00:24:40.49
ukfilmreview
Mmm, yeah.

00:24:41.41
Brian Penn
But you got to learn um the sentences they they were under as the film wears on. And that obviously had an impact on how their relationship develops from there onwards. And the fact they're wearing these are orange boiler suits, it leads me to believe it's, it must be a maximum security person as well that they're in. So they must have been in, they must be serving slime for something fairly serious. ah But they sort of kept away from that because they showed them more as human beings. I think it's an amazing piece of filmmaking and you do invest in these people though, because they're real.

00:25:17.69
Brian Penn
You know, these aren't characters on the screen, are they?

00:25:17.71
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:25:20.14
Brian Penn
um They're not actors, they're real people, but they're separated by their father's incarceration. What I thought was was really interesting there was the um the coach, I think his name was Chad, the one who was coaching him through the process.

00:25:34.27
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:25:37.05
Brian Penn
And I always look for one killer line in any film, in any documentary, it's the one line that really sort of sums it all up. And he said at one point to them, he said, um If you don't define yourself, the world will.

00:25:51.06
Brian Penn
And that really sums up what the prison system is there for. That if you're a law-abiding citizen, you you follow the law, you define yourself, you decide what happens. But if you break the rules, you go into prison, then someone else defines your life.

00:26:05.88
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:26:06.15
Brian Penn
it's it's It's the prison system, it's the parole system, it's the state that defines your existence. And that is such a perceptive message to get across to them, isn't it really? the Um, they're, they're in prison for a reason, but they're seeing the impacts of that separation that they're, they're losing in contact with their children. You know, I think we more or less accept that the relationship with the mothers is in a certain place and it can get no better, but they can salvage the relationship with their daughters. And they're, they're all, as I say, they're all quite young, but Aubrey is the one that really resonates and Keith who's a father, but that's an amazing piece of filmmaking and you almost want

00:26:47.66
Brian Penn
you must want to see something more. you You want to you must want to see a recap. You want to see an update. I do anyway, just to see what's happening to them. And maybe that will come at some point.

00:26:59.30
ukfilmreview
Yeah, you're right. I think there's that sense of you get very invested in their journey and also them shying away from the actual details of what these people have done.

00:27:12.08
ukfilmreview
I think it helps in one sense because it doesn't alienate us as the audience to suddenly be like, oh, can we root for these people, you know, if they've been convicted of like violent crimes or something.

00:27:20.39
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:27:23.48
ukfilmreview
And also it doesn't muddy the waters in terms of like, look actually, the clue is in the title.

00:27:23.65
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:27:29.41
ukfilmreview
The film is actually about the daughters, really. It's about these are the victims, right?

00:27:32.20
Brian Penn
yeah

00:27:34.23
ukfilmreview
These are the people that are going to be left without a role model, without a male presence.

00:27:34.49
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:27:38.77
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:27:39.25
ukfilmreview
um ah lot Quite a bit of the film talks about how the the prison system has taken away things like touch visits. So you can't, like, they can't hug their dads.

00:27:46.91
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:27:48.66
ukfilmreview
They have to talk.

00:27:48.82
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:27:49.69
ukfilmreview
A lot of them as well are saying, oh, we have to talk online. They don't even get to go in and see them physically.

00:27:52.34
Brian Penn
Yeah, I know.

00:27:53.97
ukfilmreview
and and that that removal, that disconnect about how...

00:27:58.61
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:27:59.40
ukfilmreview
yeah Well, first off, tragic, but also I think one of the points the film is making is if you look at this programme they've got running, it rehabilitates people.

00:28:09.83
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:28:11.35
ukfilmreview
There was like quite a lot to talk about and there were some stats at the end talking about yeah people that have done gone through this programme haven't re-offended.

00:28:16.58
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:28:20.05
Brian Penn
Nice flat set.

00:28:20.93
ukfilmreview
even Yeah, a huge percentage.

00:28:22.11
Brian Penn
ninety five the percent apparently

00:28:23.58
ukfilmreview
And it was like the idea of actually, you know, them having this big, you know, emotional therapy session every week, you know, with Chad and all the other dads, they were talking, a lot of them talked about that how they like opened up, they were crying, they were doing things, then suddenly it was like,

00:28:23.86
Brian Penn
yeah

00:28:38.56
Brian Penn
yeah

00:28:41.71
ukfilmreview
ah totally different viewpoint and also getting them to own up to the fact that actually you guys are fathers.

00:28:43.27
Brian Penn
yeah

00:28:47.64
ukfilmreview
You're you're different people. you Those people need you.

00:28:49.73
Brian Penn
Nice to call it the Senate apparently.

00:28:49.84
ukfilmreview
They're counting on you. um I love that.

00:28:51.37
Brian Penn
and

00:28:52.80
ukfilmreview
I thought it was it was a really, really good um message to send out.

00:28:57.08
Brian Penn
Yeah, I mean, I i think you've hit on hit the nail on the head when you say that um we don't know what they've done, so we don't judge them.

00:29:04.99
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:29:05.09
Brian Penn
We see them as human beings. You know, circumstances have put them in prison. So you it's more about the daughters. I do wonder though, now I'm curious. I'm so curious about this because I wonder if there's a similar program for for dads and sons.

00:29:20.77
ukfilmreview
Maybe, yeah. I mean, because I think this was ah it kind of stemmed, so one of the directors, Angela Patton, stemmed from the like the girls in an area asked for it, right? They asked the sheriff, can we see our dads and have a dance?

00:29:33.02
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:29:34.20
ukfilmreview
Because they couldn't go to the to the local one or something like that.

00:29:37.34
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:29:37.86
ukfilmreview
And then he kind of created that idea. And yeah, I thought that too. I also thought,

00:29:43.82
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:29:44.80
ukfilmreview
im almost all, I think pretty much all, almost all the and inmates and the children were African Americans, people of color at least, that there's that factor in there as well.

00:29:48.90
Brian Penn
Yep. Yep.

00:29:58.47
ukfilmreview
you Is that something that's been arranged? Because I think Angela Patton is always working a lot with young black women trying to sort of empower them and and things like that.

00:30:06.08
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:30:07.74
ukfilmreview
So these programs, I think they've they've got a lot to them. There's a lot of yeah ideas that they're trying to sort of pursue.

00:30:11.45
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:30:14.37
ukfilmreview
But yeah, no, I think, because i'm I'm always riveted by prison-based cinema. Even if it is documentary or if it is yeah fiction, I think prison has such a fabulous set.

00:30:22.54
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:30:29.04
ukfilmreview
It's got everything you need there, right?

00:30:30.27
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:30:30.52
ukfilmreview
So it's all it's already built in to make it feel dangerous.

00:30:32.81
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:30:33.68
ukfilmreview
It makes it feel, you know, the characters are really interesting.

00:30:34.47
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:30:37.01
ukfilmreview
And with this, you just couldn't help but just become completely glued into what was going on.

00:30:42.79
Brian Penn
Yeah, absolutely.

00:30:43.79
ukfilmreview
um Yeah, really good.

00:30:46.86
Brian Penn
Well chosen, Chris.

00:30:46.97
ukfilmreview
really well it happens sometimes doesn't it um but yeah i strongly recommend it daughters on netflix um i think it did get a bit of press there was some strong reviews going around and yeah i think it would like you said it's an easy one to miss easy one sort of i didn't even see it pop up and because the um

00:30:47.82
Brian Penn
Well done.

00:30:52.07
Brian Penn
Yeah,

00:31:03.48
Brian Penn
it is. I know. ah yeah

00:31:08.11
ukfilmreview
the concept of it I don't think obviously comes across that strongly in whereas if they called it you know not saying this would be the title but daddy daughter dance in prison you kind of would be like oh I know what that is um but something like daughters is quite vague even though there's like a girl on the chain link fence as the poster which is great um ah hopefully we can shine light on that because I think it deserves a watch so yeah and

00:31:16.72
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah

00:31:29.51
Brian Penn
Yeah. It's very good.

00:31:31.37
ukfilmreview
anyone listening um a little tip you know review it it go to the website review it and i'll probably read it out next month if i can um daughters uh yeah we're moving now to our selection of indie and short films these are films that

00:31:34.77
Brian Penn
Yeah. but ah Yeah.

00:31:46.55
ukfilmreview
filmmakers have sent us to review, and whether that's through the website, or we've now actually opened it back up on Film Freeway, ah so that filmmakers can get a chance to have the podcast review.

00:31:48.06
Brian Penn
Oh,

00:31:57.08
ukfilmreview
And we've got a big selection today, which is why we've got less, ah well, one of the reasons we've got less cinema releases. We're going to start with a short film from David Bradberg, who is the writer director of My Best Nut, and I am going to play a clip

00:32:13.63
Brian Penn
wow.

00:33:24.70
ukfilmreview
so yeah gives you a lovely ah taste of that film actually you really do understand the vibe of the film it's a about 30 minutes I think I remember um and the character Jude is actually played by ah an actor called a Jude Rush ah is in hospital ah suffering from testicular cancer having treatment ah but also

00:33:25.61
Brian Penn
You know.

00:33:50.17
ukfilmreview
doing his best to be a big presence in what is normally a very sort of dark and tragic kind of place. um He's full of life, full of comedy, loves cheering up everyone and being quite inappropriate at times um but in in a very lovable ah kind of way.

00:34:05.31
Brian Penn
aye Yeah. Yeah.

00:34:08.73
ukfilmreview
and is loads of laughs. He also then tries to inspire the the per the person in the room 312 is having, meant to be having a knee therapy, ah physical therapy, and is very much down in the dumps about his situation and Jude goes and tries to sort of win him over. And that's that's essentially the film. What did you think of My Best Nut, Brian?

00:34:37.32
Brian Penn
um I thought it was beautiful, crushing, crushing the side, deeply moving.

00:34:39.81
ukfilmreview
Oh.

00:34:43.26
Brian Penn
The idea that you can have someone with a condition like that, sitting on a council ward, who raises people's spirits. I think every hospital ward needs someone like Jude.

00:34:52.73
ukfilmreview
Yep.

00:34:55.61
Brian Penn
You know, um I sat with my dad during chemotherapy as all my family did, trying to keep his spirits up. And as I say, It captures something so important in life that, you know, when people are at a very low step, something or someone can can give them a boost. And Drew does that. the I think the only drawback to this is the nature of the story makes the outcome predictable. Within two minutes of the film beginning, you kind of know how it's going to end. But there's something so it so beautifully observed and beautifully done. The shot of the teardrop falling onto the word deceased.

00:35:35.49
ukfilmreview
Oh yeah.

00:35:35.56
Brian Penn
And then it smudges. Isn't that fantastic? That is almost poetry on screen. So um whilst it is very sad, it delivers an important message that when someone's going through the very worst time in their life, that it is possible to see a brighter side of things just for a short time. And there was some lovely scenes in the film where he's playing with children, isn't it he? He's in the children's world and he's drawing with them. and It's so moving.

00:36:06.06
Brian Penn
It's sweet and it's moving and it's it's a lovely it's a lovely piece. I'm really impressed with it.

00:36:13.04
ukfilmreview
Yeah, I think you're right. I think you do kind of get an idea where it's going and you you get the sense that it's not a film that's trying to keep you guessing anyway. I think it's more about observing this character, observing their presence and the impact. I think what I loved about the film was, yes, you've got this central character that is quirky and lovable and very kind of glib at times that there's also good supporting characters.

00:36:42.00
ukfilmreview
So like the nurse who we hear in that clip, she's really good.

00:36:44.46
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:36:45.33
ukfilmreview
um the The two guys that he has ah treatment with, I think they're really funny.

00:36:51.10
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:36:51.45
ukfilmreview
there's There's a lot in the film that could have not been there.

00:36:51.81
Brian Penn
yeah

00:36:54.83
ukfilmreview
And I think

00:36:55.26
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:36:56.73
ukfilmreview
that is testament to the overall result that I came away from feeling actually quite fulfilled by it.

00:37:00.12
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:37:03.15
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:37:03.39
ukfilmreview
I was like, actually, do you know what? I feel like I've watched a really good piece there. Everything worked for me.

00:37:08.15
Brian Penn
yeah

00:37:08.67
ukfilmreview
The only thing I did find sometimes, some of the lines they felt a little bit preachy and in they, yes you know, you're watching something and you're like, this feels like it's been written.

00:37:15.86
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:37:19.77
ukfilmreview
It doesn't feel off the cuff from the character.

00:37:21.90
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:37:22.01
ukfilmreview
It feels like it's been written down and they're reading it that that did come across slightly.

00:37:22.77
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:37:26.72
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:37:26.81
ukfilmreview
But I think because it wanted to tell that it wanted to, as you say, you know, people have gone through this. ive I find myself, I spent a long time in hospital with my dad. It wasn't chemotherapy, but it was a lot of other things um for about two years.

00:37:35.24
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:37:38.50
ukfilmreview
And Yeah, you just, everyone can resonate with that. And even if you've not been in that setting, you can certainly imagine yourself being in it.

00:37:42.19
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, of course.

00:37:46.41
ukfilmreview
the I think there's ah there's a human element there that everyone will connect to. Yeah, very easy to access film.

00:37:51.29
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:37:53.67
ukfilmreview
It's also very well made.

00:37:53.95
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:37:54.99
ukfilmreview
It's got this lovely kind of brightness to it. It doesn't feel like it's trying to mess around with the tone and and play you up and down.

00:37:57.56
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:38:02.69
ukfilmreview
It kind of feels like it was like, no, you know actually this is a vibrant piece. It's very sort of easy to get into. um

00:38:08.48
Brian Penn
Yeah. i mean

00:38:09.37
ukfilmreview
And i did I came away from it, just like I said, i felt i know I just feel really glad I've watched it.

00:38:13.88
Brian Penn
yeah

00:38:13.89
ukfilmreview
I've been moved, I've i've laughed, I've cried.

00:38:15.34
Brian Penn
yeah Yeah, I know.

00:38:16.61
ukfilmreview
It's all you could really ask for.

00:38:17.81
Brian Penn
This is it. And it gets in a very limited timeframe. And it does it very well. It's self-contained. And with a lot of short films, you often don't get that kind of end-to-end feel.

00:38:28.75
Brian Penn
Because by the end of the piece, you see what effects Jude has had on everyone around him. You know, from the nurses that were treating them, from his co-patients, from the guy who had the problem with his knee.

00:38:41.99
Brian Penn
He had an effect on all of them. So you saw the effects he had on people's lives in that short space of time so yeah very well done very well done enjoyed it a lot yeah

00:38:47.09
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:38:53.66
ukfilmreview
Excellent. My best note, as I say, written and directed by David Bradburn, it's not available as far as I'm aware. um At the time of recording this, I don't have any information about that.

00:39:06.17
Brian Penn
um

00:39:07.01
ukfilmreview
um But do you seek it out? I'm pretty sure. We reviewed it on the website as well. So go check that out. And yeah, and it's ah it's a strong recommendation from Brian and myself.

00:39:20.98
ukfilmreview
um Next up, short film that we reviewed in 2021. If you can imagine going back that far.

00:39:27.71
Brian Penn
um That far, right?

00:39:29.06
ukfilmreview
I mean, my goodness.

00:39:30.89
Brian Penn
Three years.

00:39:31.13
ukfilmreview
um Yeah, but and the director Farid Karan asked us to ah review it on the podcast, ah his short film called Undertow, which, again, I have a clip, so let's do it.

00:39:42.41
Brian Penn
Wow. You're spoiling us, aren't you?

00:39:44.30
ukfilmreview
I'm spoiling you.

00:39:45.36
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:40:47.42
ukfilmreview
So Undertow, as I said, directed by Farid Khairan, starring Mark Peter Simpson there, ah who here, Paige Heater and Bryony Perdue. It's a film that's almost in two parts. um So yeah, the first part of the film, he's talking on the phone to his daughter who's living in New York, and he's in Paris, I think. And you can kind of sense there's like a,

00:41:15.52
ukfilmreview
estrangement there, things aren't quite, you know, perfect.

00:41:17.19
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:41:21.02
ukfilmreview
And yeah, so there's those sort of elements. And then later, he comes across this other character, Ella, Ella, yeah, he meets Ella, who's like a dancer, and she's a bit more kind of, you know, they have this very open chat.

00:41:30.16
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:41:36.47
ukfilmreview
which you you hear a bit there.

00:41:36.53
Brian Penn
um

00:41:39.65
ukfilmreview
Apologies about that, I should have said, I was just swearing early on in that clip. um That probably caught a few of you by surprise.

00:41:45.42
Brian Penn
yeah Yeah.

00:41:46.32
ukfilmreview
But I think it was a good clip to play. I think it's very ah ah useful to sort of hear that tone. You can hear the the score in the background giving you that sense of tone.

00:41:51.28
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:41:53.84
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:41:55.11
ukfilmreview
What do you think of Undertow, Brian?

00:41:56.86
Brian Penn
I liked it. And also that could be part place carried the best line of all. I've got more baggage than terminal five, but he cried. I think that's a good line though. Yeah. I look i like this. It's a very tight dark cell and it's kind of focusing on a fracture relationship, isn't it? Between father and daughter, but then it kind of tags on this, this separate relationship between foster and Ella and they discuss their, their outlook on life. And it shows how the that rapport gradually develops.

00:42:28.23
Brian Penn
I like ah like the approach to the relationship between the father and the daughter because you never see the daughter on screen, do you? You just hear her talking, which is ah an interesting way of approaching it because that crispness in the in the dialogue becomes it.

00:42:39.32
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:42:43.34
Brian Penn
You heighten it more by like not having one person on screen somehow, but um it was really really good. the The characters were very well drawn and it's good.

00:42:54.29
Brian Penn
It's very slick. It has that's a nice kind of style to it. So yeah, I think there's real promise there. ah And you you kind of want to want to see more. That's so always the test of any short film, isn't it? You think, would I like to see more of this? The answer is yes, you would. Because and if it leaves you wanting more and being more curious about the characters, then it's obviously works. But yeah, I liked it a lot.

00:43:20.65
ukfilmreview
Yeah, I think you're right about Undertow. It definitely has that sense of this could be, yeah you you could be of just being given two scenes from a much bigger film here and it still kind of, it works as a short film, but yeah I think there are certainly massive patches where you can kind of go, all right, well, let's let's find out more about this character's bit.

00:43:28.42
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:43:38.05
ukfilmreview
I think, the film itself um looks great. There's like this scene that he's walking through the streets of Paris and it just looked really dramatic.

00:43:45.20
Brian Penn
yeah Oh

00:43:46.64
ukfilmreview
It really captured that that tone um really, really well.

00:43:49.70
Brian Penn
yeah.

00:43:50.97
ukfilmreview
I liked the the way that that was filmed. There's um theres also this really interesting part actually where he's walking that this sort of soundscape got almost like ethereal it sort of sounded a bit angelic but then it's kind of getting it was getting interrupted by the noise of the traffic the traffic was kind of competing with this like angelic soundtrack and suddenly it all sort of stops because he's looking at the birds and the birdsong kind of comes in it was just something whether or not um um everything is intentional but whether or not it it was meant to have that impact on me because like he said and like you picked out with that line about the baggage i think the the film

00:44:02.35
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:44:19.04
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Hmm.

00:44:27.69
ukfilmreview
is really you know has a big depth to it there's a depth you're talking about i think even if you look up the film what the filmmakers kind of wanted to do is it wanted to sort of look at childhood trauma because you can tell we find out that his dad was a policeman and so was his grandfather and you know he's oh he's got hints that he's not wasn't the nicest of dads maybe or or whatever that you know what we passed down to our children what we kind of

00:44:31.38
Brian Penn
yeah oh and

00:44:44.16
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:44:49.62
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:44:54.78
ukfilmreview
just naturally inflict upon them, then stays with them, much like that kind of coalescing of the the ethereal soundscape with the traffic. It was almost like you could never really escape the legacy of what what he's been given and also what he's done.

00:45:07.20
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:45:10.81
ukfilmreview
um But yeah, no, I definitely think there could have been... something else, there could be a lot more story there.

00:45:14.83
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:45:16.07
ukfilmreview
But what I was given, I was i was really enjoying.

00:45:16.22
Brian Penn
yeah

00:45:18.98
Brian Penn
yeah

00:45:18.99
ukfilmreview
um Yeah, no, I think some of the lines were um really well delivered. I felt that his performance was really good. Like once he got with Ella, I think that was like a much stronger scene.

00:45:30.80
ukfilmreview
I think the bit where he's on the phone wasn't quite as strong as when he had the chemistry of someone to sort of act with. Did you find that?

00:45:37.18
Brian Penn
Yeah, I think well, that's always a challenge for any actor, isn't it? It's when you're just talking to someone on the on the phone.

00:45:40.14
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:45:42.10
Brian Penn
I mean, most acting is done with the eyes, isn't it? It's done through eye contact.

00:45:45.29
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:45:47.00
Brian Penn
So it's gonna, you know, when you've got two actors face to face, it's going to be a lot simpler, ah more effective, it gets across, but they still make the telephone conversations work with between the father and the dulcet, which I think is interesting.

00:45:56.10
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:45:59.71
Brian Penn
But it's never as easy. I think you, you can portray ah dialogue between two people, but it's always going to be easier, easier on the eye, easier to watch.

00:46:15.10
Brian Penn
You know, when you got both from there on screen, but I think it makes them more challenging, but they still get, you still get something of the the strained relationship between Foster and it's Judy, isn't it? I think you still saw, but yeah, ah but I also like the, ah the way they use sound, you know, the way,

00:46:26.50
ukfilmreview
It.

00:46:31.42
Brian Penn
ah traffic or life, you know, the noise traffic is really life, interfering with his own thoughts and peace of mind. So it's getting sort of subliminal messages across there as well.

00:46:44.30
Brian Penn
So there's a lot going on there that you if you think about it, you pick up on it. He's achieving a hell of a lot.

00:46:50.47
ukfilmreview
Yeah and that reminded me as well actually yeah there's a scene with um so not sound but lighting there's a scene where Ella is talking about her experience and there's like her story or still what happened to her and this lighting on her face is just absolutely brilliant it really looks kind of like

00:47:01.34
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:47:06.85
ukfilmreview
almost like a campfire, like a cat yeah but she's sitting in a stairwell.

00:47:08.50
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:47:10.36
ukfilmreview
And the impact of that, it was really subtle, but I found it just so visually striking.

00:47:15.26
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:47:16.74
ukfilmreview
I thought that was great. And I think the film has those moments. There's lots of those moments where you kind of, they've really thought about how they're going to frame this. They've really thought about how they're going to depict this.

00:47:23.27
Brian Penn
yeah

00:47:25.84
ukfilmreview
um And It's one of those films that the drama isn't just laid out for you. It's not kind of, oh, this is what's happened and this is what's going on and this is how you should feel about it.

00:47:36.93
ukfilmreview
It's more like you're given bits, but you're also almost capturing the essence of the film. You're absorbing the all the elements to kind of create your own atmosphere.

00:47:41.99
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, and yeah, it makes you work a bit harder. And I don't mind that, you know, you know, you, a lot of the time you you can watch a film and you you don't have to think too hard about what's going on.

00:47:49.01
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:47:57.18
Brian Penn
But this is a film that kind of challenges you a bit more and makes you work a bit more to work out what the dynamics are between the characters. And I like that. I like a film that makes you think a bit and makes you work a bit harder for your entertainment. So he deserves an an extra, an extra style for that, for making us think and making us work a bit harder. That's good.

00:48:17.99
ukfilmreview
There you go. ah Yeah, there's a short film called Undertow. I'm just going to do a quick check ah because I think the link may have been public.

00:48:22.97
Brian Penn
the

00:48:26.39
ukfilmreview
um It was, yeah, over two years ago. I'm not sure if it is. I'm not going to share it just in case.

00:48:34.36
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:48:34.55
ukfilmreview
that is the That's not good for my yeah

00:48:37.43
Brian Penn
No.

00:48:37.55
ukfilmreview
for my sanity if i I share someone's private link. But if it is available yet, we watched it on Vimeo, ah the platform. So if you go to Vimeo, you search for read Chiron, look for Undertow.

00:48:52.10
ukfilmreview
You might be able to find it, but I'm not going to share it just in case. um And also go and read Jason's review from 2021.

00:48:58.73
Brian Penn
yes

00:49:00.07
ukfilmreview
He also really enjoyed it. So yeah. That is Undertow. Moving now to an indie feature film, which I reviewed. and I reviewed this actually on the on our YouTube channel.

00:49:11.97
ukfilmreview
We have a YouTube channel, Brian.

00:49:12.64
Brian Penn
No, but yeah.

00:49:13.40
ukfilmreview
I'm not sure if you're aware. and We have a YouTube channel.

00:49:15.17
Brian Penn
No, no, no, I do know. Yeah, and i tell I know.

00:49:17.29
ukfilmreview
yeah um and yeah I reviewed the film and I knew I was going to review it on the podcast, so i' kind I'm covering all the bases here.

00:49:17.97
Brian Penn
yeah

00:49:23.98
ukfilmreview
but so when we let you You take this one, Brian, what's the xenophobe about?

00:49:26.94
Brian Penn
Xenophobe. So this follows, well, this is directed by Penny Colors and Hal Dace starring Svetlana Tulasi, Andrew Smith and Helena Sullivan. This follows a space mission on a six year voyage.

00:49:40.93
Brian Penn
to a planet called Jilis. They encounter an armed response, but manage to communicate with the inhabitants. However, they return to Earth to discover that 60 years have passed in their absence. The world is a very different place where countries no longer exist, and people live on a substance called zirksalvin. They're soon faced with a decision as to whether they stay or return to the planet they've just discovered. So that's my reading of it.

00:50:09.91
Brian Penn
um I think this film personally is ambitious. it's It tries hard, but I don't think the budget quite matches the ambition. you know But it is a sci-fi story about space travel and the visuals, the graphics let the story down a little bit for me. um They were pretty basic. um You could say that there are limitations on any independent film, but I think for a story like this, for it to be properly supported, you need the budget for it. And whilst they explored some interesting ideas, I found that the second half of the film more in enticing, and more engaging than the first half. But I think the the ah the special effects don't help it because they're not quite as strong as they should be for a story like this. I mean, if you compare it to the last film we've just discussed, under like

00:51:08.99
Brian Penn
That film doesn't need any special effects. It's all about the characters. This film, it's it's about the visuals. It's about what you see. It's about what your imagination should be seeing. And I just don't think the visuals are strong enough. Although, as I say, they do explore some really interesting ideas, but it doesn't get there soon enough. It's probably a bit on the long side. It's one of my hobby horses for us both, I think, isn't it? But the length of the film is really significant here.

00:51:37.51
Brian Penn
and It probably would have been better if it was maybe half an hour shorter, but I think that's the one whilst it's ambitious and it tries to achieve a lot. It it kind of, it sets too much. It's too much of an answer for it to climb with what they've got available on screen, but it's a good effort. like

00:51:56.67
ukfilmreview
Yeah, I absolutely get so yeah anxious about giving a review like this. and It's not at all from the place of like, um wanting to put the boot in by any means.

00:52:08.21
ukfilmreview
yeah an Ambitious is definitely the right word. It's ah it's a big film, but I actually you also think it's two big films. It's a big film like on the space mission, the first half, and then it's another big film where they come back and realise, oh, everything's changed.

00:52:19.16
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:52:22.96
ukfilmreview
i I think in my my video review, I said, I don't think you needed the first part. ah don't I'm the same as you.

00:52:28.65
Brian Penn
no

00:52:29.37
ukfilmreview
I think the second half is far more interesting.

00:52:32.02
Brian Penn
yeah

00:52:32.15
ukfilmreview
the idea that they've come back to Earth and things have changed, as opposed to them going on this mission, which there was a lot of scenes of things on the ship just kind of being shippy, if you know what I mean?

00:52:35.52
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:52:43.86
ukfilmreview
It was like, okay, um where are we going with this?

00:52:44.07
Brian Penn
um Yeah.

00:52:46.70
ukfilmreview
Like, what's actually happening?

00:52:47.72
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:52:48.10
ukfilmreview
And like you said, if you're going to do that, you need to have the visual awe of going, wow, that's amazing.

00:52:53.41
Brian Penn
the and i Yeah.

00:52:54.97
ukfilmreview
Not just kind of it looked like laughing and like okay you guys have created like ah some sets and stuff and that's cool but i'm not believing you i'm not absorbed into this so now i'm just kind of waiting for it to get somewhere so i think that first section didn't wasn't needed and the second section was almost kind of then hampered by that it was like actually if you took all the budget and all the effort and all the resources from that first section you could have made the second section really really good but

00:53:00.90
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:53:06.34
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:53:17.75
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:53:22.00
ukfilmreview
Sometimes, you know, obviously this is our opinion as a neutral audience member looking at it and saying, did I enjoy it or not?

00:53:25.93
Brian Penn
yeah

00:53:28.17
ukfilmreview
And I think that's crucial because i I get a lot of emails, as everyone can imagine, you know, people saying, you know, you've said this about my film, you said, you know, which often it's not me.

00:53:33.27
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. yeah

00:53:38.63
ukfilmreview
And the one thing that filmmakers do um need to think about is, it's that the result of the film is the only thing that matters. It's not about how long it took you, how many hours you did it, how long you've been working on it, how many favors you had to call in, because the audience isn't gonna know that.

00:53:55.50
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:53:58.14
ukfilmreview
yeah we We may know it, because maybe you've told us, maybe you've sent us the production notes or something, but an audience member isn't, and that's how we try and review it, you know just from a purely neutral point of view of saying, look, you if I was brand new, watch this, did I enjoy it?

00:53:58.40
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah

00:54:11.82
ukfilmreview
um And i with the xenophobes, I look at it, I did enjoy it, I actually did, there's lots of bits I did enjoy but I can't wholeheartedly recommend it because I can imagine a lot of people getting hung up on that very slow first hour and the sort of second hour not being quite up to what it needs to be.

00:54:26.87
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:54:30.69
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:54:30.70
ukfilmreview
It's overstretched and what I'd love to see, I actually think this is one of those films either would have worked yes as a feature which was just about that second half that's around about like an hour and a half max or it actually would even work as more like a web series where you've had like a few episodes um and then you could really get into it but also do want to shout out um yeah the the ah filmmakers I think they've done very well for a lot of it.

00:54:42.34
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:54:46.64
Brian Penn
Yeah. good

00:54:58.13
ukfilmreview
Svetlana Toulasi in the lead role she actually does pretty well and I think there's some sort of there's ah There's a bit of banter that goes on between some of the characters and stuff.

00:55:04.67
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:55:07.42
ukfilmreview
I think people are in joy. I can imagine also a lot of the people that are involved in the film will watch it with their families and friends and now they'll love it because they'll connect with the people in it.

00:55:09.04
Brian Penn
yeah

00:55:13.61
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:55:16.08
ukfilmreview
um But as a neutral ah viewer, I can't say that I was one of them.

00:55:18.30
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:55:20.68
ukfilmreview
um Yeah.

00:55:20.75
Brian Penn
Yeah. I found that um ah found the second half of the story of the film really intriguing and there is a good film there in there but it needs to be moulded and shaped in a different way and as you said earlier on that if they had of um not used the first part of the film they wouldn't have been so reliant on um graphics and visuals you know they could have filmed the second half of the film without so much need to

00:55:44.96
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

00:55:52.30
Brian Penn
look at special effects or consider what special effects they can use or can't use. It wouldn't have mattered as much and it would have been a much better film. So i I would stand by that point that it's an intriguing idea but the second half is more important, and more significant than the first half. So they've got a good film in there. It's a question of just drawing it out more, seizing it out more. I don't doubt for one second the amount of time and effort that's gone into a film like this because it is ambitious.

00:56:20.24
Brian Penn
There's no reason why you can't be ambitious, but it depends what you what your limitations are and what you're working with and what the story is as well. You know, and this would demand something a bit more than they had available, but I think it's a good effort.

00:56:35.12
ukfilmreview
Also, I think, you yeah, you you've touched on that really well, which is that, you know, it's a story in there that the editing is often so crucial.

00:56:35.18
Brian Penn
Having said all that.

00:56:44.80
ukfilmreview
And when filmmakers have maybe spent a lot of time, maybe a lot of their own money or something like creating a film, they don't want to cut things out, they don't want to edit stuff, but you do need to be harsh.

00:56:44.83
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:56:50.02
Brian Penn
Yeah? All right. No, let's try.

00:56:55.36
ukfilmreview
That's where the story really gets shaped, is that edit, you know, to go, look, is this,

00:56:55.52
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:56:59.80
ukfilmreview
Is this making sense to a new audience? Because all of us have been with the film, you know, since it was a script, you know, everyone else, it does this kind of work.

00:57:05.04
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:57:06.85
ukfilmreview
um So yeah, more of that kind of um self editing is crucial.

00:57:09.35
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:57:11.40
ukfilmreview
But I don't think um it's it's a bad film.

00:57:11.57
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:57:16.12
ukfilmreview
I think it's it's a long film.

00:57:16.44
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:57:17.76
ukfilmreview
And I think that there's bits there that would just need attention. um It's not available to watch though, but currently.

00:57:22.22
Brian Penn
ah yeah I mean, one last point I'd make, though, just pick up on your point about the editing. You would you would have to say the same thing about every film that's made, even films with huge budgets, big Hollywood movies.

00:57:35.71
ukfilmreview
Oh yeah.

00:57:36.13
Brian Penn
You know, the editing is crucial with any film and there are things that you should include and things that you don't need, things that are going to be what might be seen as self-indulgent. And that that happens with all movies, all films like that.

00:57:49.05
Brian Penn
So this particular film is no different. And it has to be treated in the same way that you have to be, you have to be brutal. You have to get the razor blades out and get rid of things that don't work.

00:58:00.55
Brian Penn
And it's the editing that can save, save films. And it is strange really is that with some big movies, you you see the, ah the original cut come out years afterwards, don't you?

00:58:11.44
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

00:58:11.66
Brian Penn
And you, and you can see a lot of the time you can see why it was edited in the way it was originally. So there's a kind of a lesson there for all filmmakers, I guess.

00:58:20.54
ukfilmreview
Absolutely. So as I was just mentioning, Xenophobe's not available. We had a password protected link. um But yes, do search out. Watch my video on YouTube or on our website.

00:58:30.60
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:58:31.29
ukfilmreview
um Yeah, check it out. um And another one I reviewed next. I reviewed this.

00:58:36.25
Brian Penn
Yeah. You've been busy, haven't you? Yeah.

00:58:38.00
ukfilmreview
I've been very busy. Do you know what?

00:58:39.02
Brian Penn
there Yeah.

00:58:39.16
ukfilmreview
August was a very busy month and I had to step in quite a bit. A lot of the writers decided to decide to go on holiday. How dare they?

00:58:47.84
Brian Penn
ah Some inconsiderate, aren't they?

00:58:49.55
ukfilmreview
How dare they?

00:58:50.42
Brian Penn
Some inconsiderate.

00:58:50.51
ukfilmreview
um But I was very lucky. i was I meant I was able to watch more of the movies and and actually review them, which I don't always get to do in my busy life these days. so this was And this next film was a particular highlight, I must say.

00:59:02.04
ukfilmreview
um The highest Brazil, and I have a clip.

00:59:04.87
Brian Penn
Wow.

00:59:07.54
ukfilmreview
Here we go.

01:00:18.68
Brian Penn
Well, yeah but if that doesn't draw people in, Chris, nothing will.

01:00:19.37
ukfilmreview
yeah I mean, eccentric doesn't even cover it. it's ah well um This has got to be one of the best features I've seen this this year. um Absolutely loved it. Really directed by Jeremy Cole, the highest Brazil stars, Gerst Ornton in that lead role of Seamus, who we hear at the end of the clip.

01:00:44.68
ukfilmreview
um He is talking to Brendan, played by Stephen Doring, who is this kind of charismatic ah character who almost cultivates a little bit of a cult.

01:00:57.79
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:00:58.80
ukfilmreview
The, ah yeah, Seamus is a kind of down on his looks. Fisherman, ah he's got a sort of very ah faltering relationship with his partner Kathleen, played by Jennifer Breslin.

01:01:02.77
Brian Penn
That was

01:01:09.79
ukfilmreview
And yeah, he seems a bit lost, almost, yeah, Fisherman lost at sea, maybe.

01:01:15.02
Brian Penn
very good.

01:01:15.08
ukfilmreview
um There we go.

01:01:16.67
Brian Penn
Very good.

01:01:16.70
ukfilmreview
um And yeah, he sees this flyer for Brendan. It comes through and he's a bit intrigued. He's not quite sure why, but he kind of turns up to this abandoned shopping mall where Brendan is sitting with a few other characters that you heard in that clip ah surrounded by and chairs.

01:01:35.29
ukfilmreview
And they're talking about this lost island just off the coast of Ireland called the highest Brazil. where basically yeah all your dreams will come true.

01:01:44.44
Brian Penn
Hmm.

01:01:46.42
ukfilmreview
It's a maiden serving you tankards of beer and all this sort of stuff.

01:01:50.70
Brian Penn
Hmm.

01:01:51.95
ukfilmreview
And as you heard, you have free love, basically saying you everything that you've not got in your real life.

01:01:54.13
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:01:57.08
Brian Penn
No.

01:01:57.78
ukfilmreview
yeah He can get you there. um And that is the sort of concept um But there's so much there in the film. There's a lot going on.

01:02:08.75
ukfilmreview
The characters, at times it's dark, ah but other times it's very funny. You know, Seamus himself is a very eccentric character. He's got a lot of sort of personal weirdness, I guess, about him.

01:02:19.23
Brian Penn
yeah

01:02:22.72
Brian Penn
Yeah, lets and ah yeah.

01:02:22.86
ukfilmreview
um and we And we find out why. What do you think of this, Brian? Because it's a weird one, right?

01:02:28.47
Brian Penn
I really enjoyed it. It takes a while to get into really because yeah, it is definitely a slow burn.

01:02:31.24
ukfilmreview
Oh, it's a slow burn for sure, yeah.

01:02:34.02
Brian Penn
You got to be patient. You got to give the You've got to give it a chance. You've got to give the characters a chance to breathe. it And if you do, it's very eccentric. It's weird and it's wonderful.

01:02:44.80
Brian Penn
You've got all these fascinating characters that ah just seem to be looking for the ah key to life, don't they really? But they've got to a point in their own lives where they've hit a brick wall.

01:02:57.68
Brian Penn
And it just seems to be that he might he might show them. It's Brendan, isn't it? He's the leader.

01:03:05.07
ukfilmreview
The leader, yeah.

01:03:05.96
Brian Penn
the leader, he might just show them the way out.

01:03:06.04
ukfilmreview
yeah

01:03:08.58
Brian Penn
And if they find it in a deserted shopping mall, which I think is an interesting place to support that initial meeting, then so be it. But I don't know, how many times have we reviewed an Irish film, Chris, on the indie section?

01:03:21.70
ukfilmreview
it's not as often as i' It's not as often as I'd like, because they're often very good.

01:03:24.20
Brian Penn
Yeah, but they're always good though, aren't they?

01:03:27.10
ukfilmreview
They are, yeah.

01:03:27.52
Brian Penn
There's a great consistency in the, you'd have to call it the Irish independent film industry because whenever we see them, They're very, very good. They're very consistent. But of course, the Irish do have that skill linguistic skill, don't know the way that they can project the way they use the language. It's beautiful the way they do it. And you see this on show in this film as well. I thought i think it's great. it you You've got to take time with it. You've got to be patient with it. And it doesn't you don't get the ah the the sort of the burst of entertainment from it.

01:04:04.22
Brian Penn
until you get into it properly. But I think the characters are so engaging and endearing. And I think Seamus is great. and I think his wife's great. It's just something very sort of ah comedic and anarchic underneath the surface. And it's very laid back. But I think it's great. I think it's great for him. I really do.

01:04:24.98
ukfilmreview
Yeah, I said in my review and that it probably will alienate a lot of people. yeah If you're not into this type of filmmaking and storytelling, which is essentially sort of absurdist, dark filmmaking that, yeah, you could immediately get turned off by this.

01:04:36.38
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:04:40.23
ukfilmreview
And I think that's fine. yeah People will be yeah okay with missing out on this if it's not their type of vibe.

01:04:43.43
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:04:46.48
ukfilmreview
But those who do like this sort of film, if you're a fan of things like Yorgos Lanthimos, then I think you're going to kind of come at this with a, oh, this is interesting. This is different. It's dark and it's weird and it's funny.

01:04:55.92
Brian Penn
yeah

01:04:57.74
ukfilmreview
um And it's also very moving at times. There's lots of, because you're with the characters for enough time and they they build you up enough in enough way that you do start to sort of root for shameless and the other characters, to be honest.

01:05:14.55
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:05:14.71
ukfilmreview
yeah they They all have a kind of an interesting element to them, that you get to the point where you are connected to this film. You're not just kind of, go oh, this is strange, isn't it? It's like, no, no, I was i was in i was in for the fall, right?

01:05:24.08
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:05:26.30
ukfilmreview
I was really yeah wanting to find out where this was going to go.

01:05:28.60
Brian Penn
yeah

01:05:29.81
ukfilmreview
And the also, you mentioned the island. I'm assuming it's filmed in Ireland because it looked absolutely stunning. you know There's lots of great locations being used.

01:05:37.57
Brian Penn
Well, yeah, yeah.

01:05:39.79
ukfilmreview
um Not so much the shopping mall, but I think the shopping mall was, yeah maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I love this.

01:05:42.09
Brian Penn
Nah.

01:05:46.08
ukfilmreview
is the idea that maybe ah capitalism has failed these people. yeah that's the the yeah and that's yeah it's like Because it looks kind of empty.

01:05:50.20
Brian Penn
Yeah, it could be. Could be, yeah.

01:05:53.18
ukfilmreview
right There's not really anything going on.

01:05:53.91
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah.

01:05:54.66
ukfilmreview
it's There's no one there. And capitalism has failed these people. And yeah he's promising another life, something a different way of life anyway.

01:06:00.18
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah.

01:06:01.90
ukfilmreview
And he challenges them. He makes them kind of you follow him, but yeah yeah do things. Actually, I think, again, in my review, I mentioned about one of the I think the happiest time that we see Seamus in the whole film is when Brendan gets him to drive the car blindfolded, and it's that sense of like when he lets go, when he fully yeah submits to this programme that shame but Brendan's running,

01:06:25.11
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:06:28.17
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:06:30.92
ukfilmreview
Seamus does become free. He does actually reach this kind of peak of, rat he looks happy.

01:06:35.62
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:06:36.85
ukfilmreview
He looks like he's yeah in a good place, but it's not necessarily sustainable.

01:06:37.78
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:06:41.58
ukfilmreview
And also you've got a question, Brendan's motives, what's Brendan really doing?

01:06:42.23
Brian Penn
and Yeah.

01:06:45.06
ukfilmreview
Is he is he full of it kind of thing? um

01:06:48.07
Brian Penn
Yeah. yeah

01:06:49.43
ukfilmreview
But I just, you know when you've watched a film, you come by and you go, oh, that was great. I really enjoyed that and I would highly recommend it.

01:06:56.85
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:06:58.20
ukfilmreview
Also, it's a feature length. And as we've discussed with the previous film, The Xenophobes, making a feature length film is very difficult.

01:07:02.17
Brian Penn
That

01:07:06.22
ukfilmreview
while Whilst I would say, you know, look, yeah i I get to watch some amazing short films and I'm very, very privileged to do that.

01:07:06.30
Brian Penn
is, yeah.

01:07:13.97
ukfilmreview
The challenge of making something yeah over 50 minutes, over an hour, over an hour and a half, that is all really good, that you you yeah you leave the viewer feeling so satisfied with that, is is incredibly hard.

01:07:24.73
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:07:28.02
ukfilmreview
And the highest Brazil, I think, does this in absolute spades.

01:07:28.04
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:07:33.81
ukfilmreview
The whole cast are great. The filmmaking is all on point. I think there's lots and lots of bits that you're just going to love. um Yeah, it's just ah he's a bit of a slow burner, but I think that's fine for me.

01:07:44.54
Brian Penn
Yeah. I think, yeah, you need to be patient with it. You need to have an open mind and let the characters to develop and you know, it it wouldn't suit everyone. it, obviously about same goes for all films, really, it's, it's not going to be a universal thing. But that's the beauty of filmmaking is that it appeals to someone or others. But you know, I get a lot from that because I like strong characterizations and you have got them here. You know, strong characters that that carries any film for me. um So yeah, I liked it. I enjoyed it.

01:08:20.25
ukfilmreview
and And you may be thinking, is this it? Which is actually a call back to the film, by the way. All listeners are probably thinking, what's he doing?

01:08:26.89
Brian Penn
yeah Yeah.

01:08:27.64
ukfilmreview
But yeah, there's a bit which is, I think that's on the poster actually, where that sort of ties in.

01:08:30.49
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:08:31.08
ukfilmreview
Is this it?

01:08:31.37
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:08:31.72
ukfilmreview
But no, it's not it. We're going to review another indie film.

01:08:34.33
Brian Penn
Another one.

01:08:35.17
ukfilmreview
ah But yeah, The Highest Brazil, um not available.

01:08:35.41
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:08:38.93
ukfilmreview
I think we had a password link. And I last I checked, I think he was doing the sort of runs of festivals and things. So Yeah, maybe you're attending a festival, check it out. and If not, circle back and find it as soon as it comes out.

01:08:54.19
ukfilmreview
Moving on now to a Bengalese short film called City of Oz. We have a trailer clip, which I'm going to play.

01:08:59.93
Brian Penn
another one another one

01:09:01.62
ukfilmreview
It is in the original language, but I think it's good to get a sense of tone and atmosphere from the film. So I'm going to play the clip now.

01:10:37.34
ukfilmreview
So yeah, thank you for listening to the clip. I think it's really important to have a sense of what what films but naturally so many parts of that clip that you can pick out in terms of the film.

01:10:48.97
ukfilmreview
So first off, you've got that kind of yeah, it's a it's a sinister ish kind of film. um The character that you hear at the end is the sort of boy narrator.

01:10:54.43
Brian Penn
Yeah, no faces on.

01:10:59.23
ukfilmreview
um And also that score, right? That sort of pulsing synth score really does sum up the kind of vibe of City of Oz.

01:11:02.67
Brian Penn
ah Yeah. Yeah.

01:11:09.91
ukfilmreview
Yeah, it's a short horror film written, directed by Sadiq Ahmed. And at the beginning of the film, they give this morning, or not morning, like a message saying that the the film was yeah shot over like three nights in a small village and that the filmmakers were on hallucin?

01:11:19.64
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:11:27.99
ukfilmreview
I think, or something.

01:11:29.30
Brian Penn
yeah

01:11:29.55
ukfilmreview
um Something along those lines, yeah, and they kind of sort of pieced it all together.

01:11:30.32
Brian Penn
Something along those lines anyway. Yeah.

01:11:34.58
ukfilmreview
um It didn't really feel that way to me. It felt more that actually had so they had an idea of structure of what they were going to film, and it was like a story.

01:11:39.97
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:11:40.85
ukfilmreview
um But it is quite unusual. It's a bit of a strange story. So you have this ah this character, this boy, Tanjoo trying to find his mother across this dark and very strange city and is out during the night navigating the the way but comes across lots and lots of different sort of scary characters really. And then there's this other character called Diddy who is collecting children for sort of her own reasons and

01:12:13.73
ukfilmreview
with the help of a character called Michal, who's also a bit weird, a bit strange.

01:12:18.85
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:12:19.08
ukfilmreview
um And he's essentially going to probably run into Tanju in the streets.

01:12:19.60
Brian Penn
yeah

01:12:25.82
ukfilmreview
That's kind of, but I don't want to give away too much of the film, because I think it is a bit of one of those ones, you kind of need to see it to believe it really.

01:12:27.54
Brian Penn
No.

01:12:31.13
ukfilmreview
um What do you think of City of Oz, Brian?

01:12:34.09
Brian Penn
It's, I mean, as a horror film, a horror short film, um it's very effective.

01:12:41.15
ukfilmreview
Hmm.

01:12:41.45
Brian Penn
I think it's, it's actually quite scary and intimidating, isn't it?

01:12:45.10
ukfilmreview
It's very, yeah ah the atmosphere of it is that absolutely palpable.

01:12:47.92
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. And I, what I would say about it though, is that it's all filmed at night. And if you film anything at night, you're going to heighten the tension even more. But I think in some ways by not filming any, any part of it in daylight,

01:13:04.03
Brian Penn
it loses sort of, you know, literal light and metaphorical light. It does, it kind of keeps the story enclosed too much for me. So it would have been interesting to have seen part of it sold during the day or seen it during daylight, because obviously this, this environment, this twilight world that Sanji the boy is caught in, he's looking for his mother, um you know, that,

01:13:31.37
Brian Penn
It can't all be a night, so I would like to see part of it in in daylight. And then you you you see more of the story to me anyway, because it is about visuals as much as anything else. And there are characters like Didi and Michal are very, very sinister characters, aren't they? Scary characters, they really are. um I think the the music really adds to the tension as well. It's a very effective piece of filmmaking. Within that genre of horror,

01:14:00.89
Brian Penn
it's really works well it's scary but you know it's not an easy watch for me yeah that's a good word yeah yeah

01:14:06.96
ukfilmreview
I think in my review I picked out that it was quite exhausting um yeah because you you you really pushed through a lot of these sequences and they are quite strange and um the sort of hallucinogenic element did spill into the the filmmaking like it kind of looked trippy at times and it was a bit sort of like hazy and vague and what I would say is as from a horror experience and I say this as someone I think I've said this many times in the podcast I wouldn't call myself like a horror aficionado it's not something that I would classify however I do like horror films I like especially like good horror films

01:14:26.64
Brian Penn
yeah

01:14:35.85
Brian Penn
No

01:14:42.47
ukfilmreview
And I think this is one, I think it creates an experience that is horrific, but if that sounds that sounds like I'm being glib. I'm not. it That it is, you you are set in an absolutely bizarre and terrifying world and you are pushed through it and at this sort of pace that you kind of feel, oh gosh, that was that was actually hair rising.

01:15:03.45
ukfilmreview
You know you get you feel you feel chilled by watching it.

01:15:03.97
Brian Penn
Yeah. ah alright Yeah.

01:15:07.70
ukfilmreview
I think the sort of relentlessness of that, Once it wears off, you kind of look back and go, wait wait a minute, what was the actual story? Like what was really going on?

01:15:16.34
Brian Penn
yeah ah Yeah.

01:15:17.49
ukfilmreview
There's a bit of confusion there, I think.

01:15:19.35
Brian Penn
Yeah. This is what I was saying about introducing some daylight into the story because it, yeah, buts that gives you a respite.

01:15:23.74
ukfilmreview
Yeah, yeah, there's no respite, is there?

01:15:27.57
Brian Penn
It gives you time to think about the story and and where it's going. But where it's all in darkness, you think, Oh God, this is really You feel quite claustrophobic, but but it's it's an effective piece of filmmaking for what it is.

01:15:39.39
Brian Penn
But I don't think they let the story breathe as well as they could do, because they're trying to scare, they're trying to shock, and does they do that.

01:15:51.21
Brian Penn
It is very gripping. But I think from the the viewer's point of view, um it it couldt they could have eased up a little bit. They could have worked some some ah some phases where it it would have lined up a little bit and it make it easier to follow but very good though for what it is what it does

01:16:10.69
ukfilmreview
And yeah we talked earlier about yeah filmmakers being ambitious and yeah if the this is definitely one where they they said outright, they didn't have much budget, they didn't have much time, yeah they didn't have like three nights and to only get that, yeah you put together the film that you can. I just think often it's much like the xenophobes review that you may have needed more time in the edit to to make it, you know, that sort of, you know, have a think about how's your audience going to get through this. And also, what scenes are you shooting? Because I appreciate here, maybe it was more of an experiment, maybe they were kind of like, oh, look, let's just see what happens. And that's fine. But

01:16:51.28
ukfilmreview
If you're not going to have that attention to kind of go, look, this is what might be needed here. This is the scene that might be needed here to establish certain things, because at the end of the day, it is storytelling.

01:17:01.58
ukfilmreview
We do want that.

01:17:02.28
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:17:02.38
ukfilmreview
yeah You want that story to come across.

01:17:03.42
Brian Penn
Hmm.

01:17:05.47
ukfilmreview
But By and large, it was an effective horror film, really enjoyed the experience of it. And yeah, it's it stuck with me for long after I viewed it, I must say.

01:17:17.00
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:17:17.07
ukfilmreview
um I reviewed it again on the YouTube channel, so you can check that out. Or you can read my review at UK Film Review, City of Oz.

01:17:23.66
Brian Penn
Yep.

01:17:25.13
ukfilmreview
There is a trailer that's meant to be on the review, but it's passed by Protector. I don't know if they're going to release that um anytime soon, but hopefully they will. ah But yeah, no, really enjoyed it. um And yeah, written, directed by Sadiq Ahmed.

01:17:35.41
Brian Penn
yep

01:17:37.84
ukfilmreview
Well done, everyone involved on City city of Oz.

01:17:39.63
Brian Penn
Um, it, it works.

01:17:42.77
ukfilmreview
It works.

01:17:43.55
Brian Penn
It works.

01:17:43.68
ukfilmreview
Put that on a poster.

01:17:44.80
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:17:45.14
ukfilmreview
um Now, that is the last short Andy Lee film, but we're not done with you yet, listeners.

01:17:51.75
Brian Penn
Wow.

01:17:52.15
ukfilmreview
So stick around because we're travelling back in time. We're going to 1979.

01:17:57.81
Brian Penn
wow

01:17:58.02
ukfilmreview
um Ridley Scott's classic. I mean, you don't get much more classic sci-fi than Alien, do you?

01:18:02.98
Brian Penn
No, no, no, no.

01:18:05.66
ukfilmreview
It is the absolute, or I'm not gonna say peak, but it's one of the peaks of this type of filmmaking.

01:18:11.15
Brian Penn
it

01:18:13.63
ukfilmreview
It's the daddy, it is the daddy.

01:18:13.69
Brian Penn
It's the daddy, isn't it? It's the daddy and so on so many levels. and you know Look, it's Ridley Scott. I love Ridley Scott as a director. Anyway, I don't think he's ever made a bad film. He's always trying something different. um And I think it's it's good that we review this film now because the the new Aliens film, Romulus, is coming out, which has come out, which we'll will review on the next podcast.

01:18:40.84
ukfilmreview
I already have a review of it, Brian. I don't know.

01:18:43.30
Brian Penn
i Who have you?

01:18:43.76
ukfilmreview
I don't know what you've been up to, but I've got a listener review. So I'm going to read, I'll read that up shortly, but no, you carry on on alien.

01:18:50.52
Brian Penn
Yeah. So, look, I mean, look, you've got a great director, sir great cast as well. Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Tom Scarritt, Jaffa Costo. Fantastic cast. And it's look it's it's a simple storyline when you think about it. I mean, set sometime in the future, a commercial spaceship called Nostromo is on its way home.

01:19:12.54
Brian Penn
and they receive an instruction to investigate an unidentified craft, but they unwittingly bring back a mysterious and dangerous creature. And we all know what the tagline was, don't we, from that film? In space, no one can hear you scream. That ranks that ranks with Jaws, doesn't it? Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water. ah So it had a classic tagline, but the it's difficult to fool. I think When, when I watched it in preparation for, for this podcast, I hadn't watched it in a few years, to be honest.

01:19:46.46
Brian Penn
I'd i'd watch the, uh, the follow-ups, the sequels fairly often, but the original I hadn't seen in a long while, but it's still shocking. It's still grips you. Even though you know where the scary bits are coming, you still flinch.

01:19:59.45
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

01:20:01.24
Brian Penn
You still flinch when it happens, you know, and you know, where that ability to shock never diminishes. It's still there. It shows you what a great film it was. It still is.

01:20:12.59
ukfilmreview
Yeah, that's what I think is the crucial pie, it still is. It still is a film that is absolutely just bursting at the seams with great filmmaking.

01:20:21.07
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:20:22.64
ukfilmreview
And it comes down to really, yeah it's a great story and it's told really, really well that it's just lives up, you know lives on.

01:20:25.96
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:20:30.81
ukfilmreview
um I watched this, this was one of the films that was on, I don't know if I've mentioned this on the podcast before, but when I was at uni, I set myself this challenge of like 50 films.

01:20:41.96
ukfilmreview
I've got to see them because everyone talks about them. And I've never, you know, I've never seen all these films.

01:20:44.76
Brian Penn
ah how the Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:20:46.78
ukfilmreview
and You know, it's like you're in a conversation and everyone's going, oh, yeah, it's like this film.

01:20:50.81
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:20:51.04
ukfilmreview
You're like, I haven't seen that. An alien alien was one of them. Alien was one of these films that I was like, funny enough, I'd seen it parodied a lot because obviously the bursting out the stomach thing and all that sort of stuff.

01:20:59.32
Brian Penn
ah Yeah, yeah.

01:21:03.12
ukfilmreview
And the the tagline, even the tagline, yeah it's been done in popular culture loads, but I hadn't seen the actual film.

01:21:06.63
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

01:21:09.29
ukfilmreview
But when I watched it, I was just in awe of it. I thought this is just brilliant.

01:21:12.85
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:21:14.10
ukfilmreview
What I love about it is just that claustrophobic setting. They never let you out and you're constantly just terrified.

01:21:18.64
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:21:21.93
ukfilmreview
I think that you can't help but come away from that film and and be kind of gripped by the tense ah ferocity of it really.

01:21:25.06
Brian Penn
Hmm.

01:21:31.25
ukfilmreview
It's one of those films. and having a chance to revisit it like we do with Film Club, we kind of say that actually we'll go back and watch something. It just reminds me that actually even a film that came out in 1979 can still play so well that it is a great reminder because sometimes you watch a film and kind of go like a newer film that you sort of say

01:21:45.84
Brian Penn
a Yeah.

01:21:53.78
ukfilmreview
Okay, you know, why am I not vibing with this? I mean, is it me or is it the film?

01:21:57.15
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:21:58.90
ukfilmreview
It's like, no, no, it's the film because actually films can be great. They can be alien. You know, they can be that great or they can not be.

01:22:04.77
Brian Penn
and Yeah. Yeah.

01:22:07.44
ukfilmreview
And I think that that is a testament to Ridley Scott and everything. Sigourney Weaver, she's absolutely brilliant in it.

01:22:14.54
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:22:15.24
ukfilmreview
Great performance. It's just insane.

01:22:16.51
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:22:19.00
ukfilmreview
Yeah, I think it's amazing.

01:22:19.70
Brian Penn
And yeah, in home as well as the, I think he's great what he does.

01:22:22.66
ukfilmreview
Yeah.

01:22:25.41
Brian Penn
I just think it's that's such a difficult part to play though. Somebody who's ostensibly human, but he's actually a robot as as we discover.

01:22:36.14
Brian Penn
that's That's difficult to play, but he does it so well. Great voice as well. and Fantastic voice. I mean, I come back to the director again. I mean, when you've got all the ingredients, set with with Alien, you've got a great story, you've got a great director and a great cast, and even the the special effects, even though they're 45 years old, they still kind of hold up okay.

01:23:00.30
Brian Penn
It'd be interesting to see, to compare that with the new Aliens film, just this just to look at that kind of gap, 45 years, what you look at the way new technologies move forward in films.

01:23:05.64
ukfilmreview
Hmm Oh my goodness, what a huge question Ryan what I mean I

01:23:11.89
Brian Penn
um What would your favourite Ridley Scott film be?

01:23:18.38
Brian Penn
I know, I know. You know me do it to me, I thought I'd do it to you.

01:23:21.38
ukfilmreview
I do, yeah, I love to do it too.

01:23:22.38
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:23:25.24
ukfilmreview
Well, because aliens up there, I would automatically kind of put that up there.

01:23:27.42
Brian Penn
Yeah, it will be. Yeah.

01:23:30.48
ukfilmreview
Oh my goodness, this is one of those things, because funny enough, weirdly enough, he's one of those directors that, have we done a show on him?

01:23:36.74
Brian Penn
Hmm.

01:23:40.34
ukfilmreview
Did we do a really Scott shot?

01:23:41.62
Brian Penn
no i don't think i don't think we did maybe we should actually yeah yeah well well well yeah yeah bla blade runner black um black hort down i think i'd put in there uh thalmora louise which

01:23:41.80
ukfilmreview
I feel like we did. We didn't. And they're redoing Gladiator. So I know that was kind of, I liked the original, but I wouldn't, I'm not sure if I put that in my top ones. What about you, Brian? Oh, Blade Runner, I guess.

01:24:06.29
ukfilmreview
Oh, yeah. Do you know what? I've only watched that like briefly once, and I think I missed a few bits. I must go back and watch that.

01:24:13.03
Brian Penn
is actually a very good film. You see, but the thing with Ridley Scott, though, is that he he does make films that are different. He's like Spielberg.

01:24:20.83
ukfilmreview
Mm.

01:24:20.95
Brian Penn
He won't necessarily stick to the same genre. I mean, look at Scorsese, for example, he will he will stick to familiar territory. He plays safe really in that way, even though he's a fantastic filmmaker.

01:24:31.35
Brian Penn
But Ridley Scott will try will be bold and try things that are different. All right, he's making he's done a couple of versions of Blade run. He's got the new gladiator movie suit coming out.

01:24:42.76
Brian Penn
But that was a different kingdom of heaven I thought I thought was an underrated film about the Crusades. um So it does make Napoleon as well, which we reviewed on this show.

01:24:54.91
Brian Penn
So but I ah think in some way, sorry, go on.

01:24:56.19
ukfilmreview
I thought, yeah, no, you're right. Like there's, he has actually, he's had a couple of films that have been underrated actually.

01:25:03.50
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:25:03.66
ukfilmreview
um I think American Gangster is underrated. I think that's a really good, um you know, gangster movie.

01:25:06.58
Brian Penn
Yeah. Hmm.

01:25:10.77
ukfilmreview
And he has, to I didn't mind Robin Hood. His Robin Hood was okay.

01:25:15.55
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:25:15.55
ukfilmreview
um The Martian, I think the Martian is great. I wasn't a big fan of Exodus, Gods and Kings. I did find that a bit meir.

01:25:24.21
Brian Penn
Yeah, it could be a bit heavy going, like kind but yeah.

01:25:25.80
ukfilmreview
Yeah. But no, it's interesting that actually, you know, like I say, you look back actually on his his list of movies, he's done a lot of different things.

01:25:33.67
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:25:33.88
ukfilmreview
It's not like this. Oh, yeah, he's that filmmaker. So it's all over the place.

01:25:35.97
Brian Penn
Yeah. It's eclectic. and And that's such a rare thing for filmmakers because I always feel that directors have typecast in the same way most actors are. And that's no bad thing necessarily, because if if they do something that they know, they stick to it.

01:25:52.80
Brian Penn
It sticks to what you're good at. There's nothing wrong with that. But I like directors who take chances. And that's an example of a director that will take a chance and try something different.

01:26:03.70
ukfilmreview
Well there you go.

01:26:03.88
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:26:05.85
ukfilmreview
um Well the film in question Alien was because the new film Alien Romulus is coming out or is out as of listening now and Tom Turner sent in a listen review.

01:26:20.98
ukfilmreview
He's already watched it or he's making it up, not sure, could be both.

01:26:25.10
Brian Penn
You never know.

01:26:25.42
ukfilmreview
i But he gives it 3 out of 5, so let's have a read.

01:26:29.50
Brian Penn
oh

01:26:34.56
ukfilmreview
Firstly, Spainly and Johnson give good performances. Spainly takes up the Ripley 2.0 slot. Make that Ripley 3 or 4 or 5.

01:26:42.84
Brian Penn
Yeah, it's like,

01:26:43.37
ukfilmreview
and Regardless, Spain brings great action hero energy and a decisive and strong lead, assimilating caring and empathy with kick-ass and sleeveless t-shirts. Likewise, Johnson gives his synthetic Allen as much range as a synthetic could have, considering they are usually cold and vicious and blunt.

01:27:01.94
ukfilmreview
This is a different take on the calculated messiah complex of David from the previous two Alien-Alien adjacent to films. With this, Romulus is a big direction change from the philosophical aspirations of Ridley Scott's previous two entries. Further, there are some new interesting ideas for fans of the Alien universe and its lore in Romulus.

01:27:22.34
ukfilmreview
Alien life cycles, appropriate approaches to acidic blood and facehugglers all get a refreshing and interesting new spin. Alvarez throws this red meat to the Alien Universe fans who spend countless hours watching or explaining videos online. Similarly, fans of Alien Isolation, the video game, will have a certain ah but i'm sorry we'll have a few morsels of cinematic red meat to chew on too.

01:27:45.37
ukfilmreview
where the set design and certain retro-futuristic objects are incredibly reminiscent of the cult classic games design. So I think, yeah i i again, I always cut reviews down just so because I'm reading them out.

01:27:55.85
ukfilmreview
I don't want to read the whole review up. But ah Tom, thank you for sending that in.

01:27:57.56
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:27:59.86
ukfilmreview
um Good to see that he's maybe capitalized on the so idea of it being a three-star film. because there's lots of fanservice going on maybe and yeah but but but not to be you dismissed this as you know not worthy.

01:28:06.48
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:28:09.27
Brian Penn
Yeah. goodby

01:28:15.62
Brian Penn
um

01:28:16.23
ukfilmreview
I've seen a few reviews, early reviews of Romulus and it was getting kind of mixed I would say. Have you seen any Brian?

01:28:24.04
Brian Penn
ah I've seen one or two, but they're not, they're not universal in their praise necessarily. But I mean, you always get mixed with reviews. How many films do get a universal thumbs up? You know, how many films get a, would average a four style? If you go onto Rotten Smiles, that gives you a good indication of what, what the reviews are like. But the ones I've seen, you know,

01:28:45.57
Brian Penn
that it's not great, it's not bad, but they're they're always the most difficult films to review, the ones that are just okay. can see Because kind of like, you can you can write pages about films that you loved, and similarly, you could write pages about films that you hated, because you explain the reasons why.

01:28:52.71
ukfilmreview
Absolutely.

01:29:04.23
Brian Penn
But when something's just okay, when it's in three-star territory, then that's more difficult to sum up, because what do you say about it? It's not bad, it's not great, but it's just kind of, yeah, you know. um so yeah but i've not i don't think the the reviews last thing so far haven't been brilliant but not bad it's kind of like it it's middling isn't it yes yeah and i like the phrase i like the phrase cinematic red meat as well i like that i wonder if it yeah i was going to say what if they let us use that you know yeah i thought someone

01:29:25.90
ukfilmreview
Well, we'll wait with bated breath to find out what you say about it next month, Brian. Yeah, yeah, we used that a couple times in that review, so I'll be stealing that.

01:29:39.66
ukfilmreview
Wow, yeah, I'm sure Tom won't mind. I mean, actually, you've submitted it through the website, so it's mine now.

01:29:44.41
Brian Penn
Yes, it's yours. Yeah.

01:29:46.03
ukfilmreview
ah But no thank you again to everyone who sent in reviews.

01:29:46.75
Brian Penn
Good point. Yeah.

01:29:50.58
ukfilmreview
um I will try and read a selection of them at the end of this. um I won't keep Brian around, but we'll we'll just read a few more out and because we had so many this month.

01:30:00.86
ukfilmreview
I feel bad that we don't read more of them out, so I'll do my best to get through some. um But for now, thank you for listening. Thank you for being here, Brian, as ever. um

01:30:09.05
Brian Penn
Pleasure.

01:30:09.82
ukfilmreview
on fire I'd say tonight on fire absolutely on fire thank you so much you have to say that but thank you thank you so much because I can cut you off ah thank you for listening um if you are still listening if you're not well thank you anyway and thank you to all the filmmakers who sent their movies in and yeah ah we'll see you again next month and stay cool stay classy

01:30:11.17
Brian Penn
Oh, thank you. Thank you. So you by the way, so you by the way. Both on fire. Yes. I mean, yeah, of course I mean it, you know what I mean.

01:30:34.95
Brian Penn
Yeah, bye for now.