UK Film Club 20a - Indie Special

00:00:00.92
Chris Olson
It's definitely yeah that season though, isn't it? Where suddenly everyone gets ill and you have to go off and blow your nose and that's fine.

00:00:05.19
Brian Penn
yeah ah that's right that's right clear the old tubes out you know you can't go wrong can you really um i always think to myself though it doesn't make any sense that people get ill during the winter because all the germs should be killed off shouldn't they because it's colder yeah

00:00:19.91
Chris Olson
Yeah, it's interesting actually. I don't know what it's about.

00:00:23.76
Brian Penn
it's a it's a medical conundrum um not one that we need to worry too much about though because we're film reviewers aren't we not medical reviewers

00:00:23.83
Chris Olson
There must be a reason.

00:00:32.56
Chris Olson
yeah Yeah, not yet. you know what you know We never know what we have to branch into.

00:00:35.35
Brian Penn
but not yeah yeah you mean know well yeah these must have all that yeah yeah yeah yeah of course i think some films require more research and others i think it depends what they are uh but

00:00:38.85
Chris Olson
you Suddenly, you have to... What's interesting is when you watch some of these movies, you sort of have to do a bit of research into something. You learn quite a lot. you know Suddenly, you kind of go down the rabbit hole of finding things out.

00:00:52.05
Chris Olson
ah I mean, if it helps write the review, it's good, but it also expands your knowledge.

00:01:04.43
Brian Penn
you know you think oh god i better do some research on this and then you think no i want to wing it i want to see how how it hits me face on you know which can be a good thing sometimes not such a good thing i don't know but yeah yeah um i think it depends i think i

00:01:16.76
Chris Olson
i in Yeah, I think it's interesting. I mean, when you watch a film, and just like typically, do you like to go in blind or do you prefer to have some knowledge of what you're walking into?

00:01:32.98
Brian Penn
I prefer not to know, actually.

00:01:34.97
Chris Olson
Hmm.

00:01:36.18
Brian Penn
I think you can be too wise. I mean, there are spoilers out there, aren't they? I mean, the for the big releases, you could get chats from a verse, couldn't you, before you even see the film. And I'm sure there are some people that do that.

00:01:47.63
Brian Penn
But I veer more towards not knowing. um But sometimes I think if you just read the brief synopsis of broadly what a film's about, you think, um I need to know a bit more, otherwise I'll be totally confused.

00:02:02.40
Brian Penn
But then again, it could make you even more confused than you would have been.

00:02:05.85
Chris Olson
Yeah, I definitely think there's an element of... going in blind to to allow yourself to completely ah reflect on the art that you've seen without any preconception because I think when I've read reviews or someone's recommended a film you can't help but be shaped by something they've said or even just the way they've said it um especially

00:02:17.13
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:02:29.01
Chris Olson
if it's a like a friend or someone that you know and they've said oh you should go to this film and they've recommended it or they've told you to stay away from a film it's almost like a challenge to the relationship right if you come away and disagree with what they've said um

00:02:36.72
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:02:41.82
Brian Penn
I know, I know. But we do tend to get carried along by what those closest to us say. And we are influenced by some people more than others, aren't we? And that's, I suppose, is the root of what film critics do and also theatre critics and anyone else, TV critics.

00:03:02.18
Brian Penn
you know that's delivering opinion but you are kind of swaying it depends who they are what the publication is who that person is how well you know them and they almost acts like a guarantee doesn't it you say oh well they must be right yeah you know you know

00:03:17.04
Chris Olson
yeah I mean, we don't claim to be right. We have our opinions and we we hope that people just enjoy them.

00:03:21.02
Brian Penn
um

00:03:24.26
Chris Olson
And also on this show, if you're new to UK Film Club, you might be wondering, oh, what am I in store for? um This is a special episode because we're going to be reviewing just indie films.

00:03:35.02
Chris Olson
And a lot of these are not available. um They're not out yet, or it's very hard to to watch them. So our job sometimes is to just shine a light on them to help you sort of make you want to go and watch it.

00:03:46.52
Chris Olson
um We do our best to avoid spoilers, but they are sometimes even just talking a little bit about a film is a spoiler in some senses. So yeah, if they're, you know, if that's not your bag, if you'd rather go in completely blind to any film you ever see, ah maybe just look at the description of this episode and look up the names of the films, because typically, you know, anything that review is always worth

00:03:56.88
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:04:04.38
Brian Penn
yeah

00:04:11.25
Chris Olson
checking out in most cases so yeah but everyone else stay here listen and because we have a jam-packed indie special show because they were coming thick and fast we were getting so many submissions that we've decided to put on an extra show and this is our bumper crop we've got seven in this episode

00:04:30.02
Brian Penn
Is that a record for us, Chris?

00:04:30.39
Chris Olson
um it is of indies yeah it's our biggest indie show that we've done and i've also got clips of all of them to play during the show which is that's also a first i am well it's getting near christmas and this is it really this is all you get

00:04:34.20
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:04:40.56
Brian Penn
Wow. You are spoiling us now, aren't you? ah yeah This is your presence to us, isn't it?

00:04:49.97
Chris Olson
Yeah. um But yeah, if this is your first a time to film club, we normally do cinematic releases at the beginning and a streaming pic and a nostalgia pic as well, which is a film from the past that will be in our regular slotted show at the end of the month. So it's always the last Thursday of the month.

00:05:08.07
Chris Olson
But this is an extra show that we're putting in this month just to make sure we give enough time to these indie films, which gets sent to us. and These filmmakers have actually specifically asked us to take a look at their film and review it.

00:05:19.07
Chris Olson
And that's what we're going to do in this episode. And all of these, I believe, yes, they've all been reviewed on the UK Film Review website. So do check out those reviews.

00:05:29.11
Chris Olson
Some are actually even by me and there's other critics there.

00:05:31.19
Brian Penn
yeah He's very good you know by the way aren't you?

00:05:32.67
Chris Olson
So

00:05:35.25
Chris Olson
Yeah, well, we do try.

00:05:35.81
Brian Penn
You're too modest though aren't you?

00:05:37.66
Chris Olson
Too modest. um I'm not really. I'm i'm stroking my ego as as we speak. But yeah, we're going to um we're gonna kick things off with a short film called Betrayed.

00:05:48.20
Chris Olson
And I'm gonna play a clip first.

00:05:48.53
Brian Penn
and

00:05:49.93
Chris Olson
Here we go.

00:06:34.60
Chris Olson
Ooh, explosives.

00:06:35.80
Brian Penn
Yeah, it is, isn't it?

00:06:37.11
Chris Olson
I should have warned people, by the way, some of these clips have got swear again.

00:06:41.18
Brian Penn
You might need your beeper at some point, then.

00:06:42.72
Chris Olson
Yeah, apologies if you've got delicate ears.

00:06:44.23
Brian Penn
ah

00:06:45.21
Chris Olson
um But yes, betrayed short film.

00:06:48.72
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:06:50.22
Chris Olson
Do you want to go with this one, Brian?

00:06:51.38
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, sure, sure.

00:06:51.52
Chris Olson
Give the old synopsis a rundown?

00:06:53.67
Brian Penn
um So is he the main character has a unique talent, the ability to foresee what hasn't happened yet, power to see into the future? What influence could she wield?

00:07:06.15
Brian Penn
However, there are many that wants control and exploit this gift. Is his father Sam sets out to protect his daughter, but is seen confronted by mysterious forces who allegedly wants the world to benefit.

00:07:20.60
Brian Penn
There is a flashback to three years earlier, which puts the story in a bit more context. But Chris, we don't want to give away too much of the plot, do we? After all, we want to do enough to hook people in.

00:07:29.89
Chris Olson
no not at all

00:07:32.41
Brian Penn
And I hope I've done that. um um but But it's to be continued. The very last frame is to be continued and it's called Isabel.

00:07:45.34
Brian Penn
Really, Chris, this isn't fair. They shouldn't leave us hanging like that. ah They have to let us review the sequel when it comes out.

00:07:51.59
Chris Olson
No,

00:07:53.43
Brian Penn
um This is actually a sequel I'd like to really like to see.

00:07:56.21
Chris Olson
not at all.

00:07:57.48
Brian Penn
I think it's really good. I think it's very tense. it's It focuses your attention. ah It gives you enough detail to make you curious, but holds a lot back. Right. And I presume this will be for the the second part. Uh, but I was really, really impressed by this piece. It's a very sparsely shot. Um, got a great feel to it. Um, really, really good drama contained it in a short time span and just makes you want more and more. Um,

00:08:34.78
Brian Penn
I think it is very good. And the director, Ewan Gorman, I think it is, and Dagmar Shriban. I do apologise if I pronounced that wrong. ah But by very promising directors, it is good. Very, very good.

00:08:53.01
Chris Olson
Yeah, it definitely um had that hallmark of what we call this sort of proof of concept. ah So this could either extend into a feature-length film happily. It could, like you say, be a sequel, just you know more of this, more short films or a web series or something like that, where it just keeps going because I think they've hit on a really good idea here. um So the idea was written by Caitlin Cameron.

00:09:19.19
Chris Olson
Philip Palmorek and Jay Shuri. Caitlin Cameron is in the film actually and I think that idea is it really, really strong. um It's not something that's necessarily completely original, like we've seen lots of stories where people have gifts and yeah the powers that be want to exploit them but I think it was done in a really compelling way.

00:09:35.36
Brian Penn
yeah

00:09:41.49
Chris Olson
It felt really, it felt that sort of, um it had that energy about it that was

00:09:46.25
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:09:47.33
Chris Olson
It was like frenetic and it was frizzing and you're watching it going, all these characters are absolutely on edge. There's so much like palpable tension here that you just don't really know which way it's going to go.

00:09:53.11
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:09:55.35
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:09:57.47
Chris Olson
I particularly like the performance of the dad. I thought he was really good, um very, very strong, had that like emotional core of wanting to protect his daughter, but also being caught up with the yeah these people that are basically interrogating him.

00:10:01.84
Brian Penn
yeah

00:10:05.72
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:10:09.33
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. That's the bottom of our thing, isn't it?

00:10:13.31
Chris Olson
um Yeah, really good performance there. And you need that in in something like this.

00:10:18.20
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:10:19.41
Chris Olson
um But yeah, I think if you were judging it just on it being a short film, you could feel a little bit underserved in terms of it being like, well, is that it? Like, but obviously we know it's not, we know there's more, but what we have seen is very, very good.

00:10:30.02
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:10:33.77
Chris Olson
I liked that it used sort of simple locations as well, but but enough to keep it moving.

00:10:33.90
Brian Penn
Very good.

00:10:37.32
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:10:39.31
Chris Olson
It wasn't like just one room, which it could have easily been.

00:10:39.87
Brian Penn
you Yeah.

00:10:42.22
Chris Olson
They did a a few places um really, really well.

00:10:42.36
Brian Penn
I mean, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think it. The simplicity of making an indie film is one of its strengths, really, is that they do keep it simple.

00:10:56.41
Brian Penn
It's not over elaborate. And it's not, as you rightly pointed out, it's a well-worn storyline about someone that can see into the future. It's a well-worn story, but they're kind of doing it in a slightly different way.

00:11:10.20
Brian Penn
um And that's because what makes it good is is the amount of it's what they don't tell you as much as what they do tell you.

00:11:10.61
Chris Olson
Mm.

00:11:17.26
Brian Penn
and Maybe this will be a series of short short features, but this is a very good start, I think.

00:11:24.03
Chris Olson
Yeah, I think it's that sense of ah potential here. There's a lot of potential of what you could do with it.

00:11:30.35
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:11:32.42
Chris Olson
And they've they've handled this bit really, really well because the filmmaking is strong. I think that's the core because you could see someone sort of fumbling this idea a little bit.

00:11:37.93
Brian Penn
and Yeah.

00:11:42.61
Chris Olson
um Yeah, no, i really there's like a soft piano score in the background. I made a note of that.

00:11:47.14
Brian Penn
yeah

00:11:47.88
Chris Olson
like I was really enjoying the atmosphere that was being created. It was really tense and mysterious. I know ah Chris Beatt reviewed it on the website and he really liked it. He gave it four stars. and yeah Go check out his review because he also did a video review so you can watch that and um you sort hear from Chris directly.

00:12:01.37
Brian Penn
Oh, fantastic.

00:12:05.16
Chris Olson
and

00:12:05.17
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:12:06.33
Chris Olson
and ah Yeah, again, just talking about this idea of it being proof of something much bigger that could come.

00:12:11.88
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:12:13.28
Chris Olson
um But as it is, there are some really powerful scenes. there's this We've not really talked about the latter section, probably won't go into it. There's a latter section because Izzy becomes a bit reckless and ends up sort of out and about.

00:12:26.47
Chris Olson
And yeah, she um gets herself into a situation which is quite traumatic, quite disturbing.

00:12:30.00
Brian Penn
um Yeah.

00:12:32.55
Chris Olson
um And that for me as well, was ah showing the intentions of the filmmakers to not, yeah because you could create a story about someone with a gift and it'd be fairly kind of, okay, well, that's enough.

00:12:39.27
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:12:43.64
Chris Olson
That's enough story there.

00:12:44.67
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:12:45.04
Chris Olson
But they actually went quite harrowing there. They went somewhere were quite dark.

00:12:47.44
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:12:47.86
Chris Olson
And I thought, oh, that's actually interesting. you Are you prepared to go and do that sort of story? um And they did.

00:12:53.57
Brian Penn
and

00:12:54.76
Chris Olson
So yeah, I feel fair play to them. um Really yeah ambitious.

00:12:57.62
Brian Penn
yeah

00:13:00.65
Chris Olson
um

00:13:00.76
Brian Penn
I'm looking forward to the next part. but and Yeah,

00:13:02.26
Chris Olson
I know, you i because you sent me a message, didn't you?

00:13:05.07
Brian Penn
and

00:13:05.10
Chris Olson
You said, if we got the other part, I was like, no, know I've not got it.

00:13:06.32
Brian Penn
yeah I know. I know. It's tormenting us. But look, that proves though, doesn't it? How well it works. Right.

00:13:15.38
Chris Olson
Hmm.

00:13:15.92
Brian Penn
As you say, if it had been, if that had been the, the only part, you would have been, as you say, you would have been underserved that you would have thought, well, that's, that's not what we were expecting.

00:13:28.37
Brian Penn
But

00:13:28.54
Chris Olson
Hmm.

00:13:29.24
Brian Penn
where they're holding back more. So, you know, more is coming later. Well, that's good. That's all good. um So yeah, good stuff. That's it.

00:13:38.02
Chris Olson
I'm normally more prepared than this, but I'm going to just quickly look up to see if we did get any information about it ah being available because we watched it on a screening link, I believe.

00:13:43.70
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:13:52.24
Chris Olson
um But do you remember, do you remember happening if it was public?

00:13:57.94
Brian Penn
I don't think it was.

00:13:59.45
Chris Olson
I feel like it was unlisted.

00:14:00.66
Brian Penn
Yeah, I think it was.

00:14:01.27
Chris Olson
um But yeah, it's worth, if you can, seek it out. um when When it becomes available, if it isn't already, then yeah, it was on YouTube, was when we saw it.

00:14:13.91
Chris Olson
And yeah, it was really, really good. um

00:14:17.09
Brian Penn
matt

00:14:19.54
Chris Olson
Yeah, I mean, one thing was, I think ah Chris picked out in his review just about the performances, and I know it picked out that I particularly liked Dad. How did you feel about some of the other characters?

00:14:27.94
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:14:32.77
Brian Penn
I don't think you really saw enough of them, to be honest. I think that this first part was more about the the father and the daughter, I think, wasn't it?

00:14:40.57
Chris Olson
Hmm.

00:14:41.05
Brian Penn
The fact that he's trying to protect her, keep her safe, to find out more about the people that are pursuing her. And i so what I suspect is that the other characters, they're more like ah very brief cameos, aren't they?

00:14:56.51
Brian Penn
I think they will come more into the fore as the story unfolds. So I don't think this, I think it's done that way because they're holding more back about those characters. I always sense they're holding more back. So I don't think, I think there's more to come with the other characters. But I mean, they, they, they fulfilled their role, their particular roles really well. And that the, they're all, they're all part of a mosaic really aren't they in the story. and I'd expect them to become more prominent as the story wears on.

00:15:30.12
Chris Olson
Yeah, I think so too. I think there's there's a lot of room there to develop them further and the stories as as to how they got to where they are and what happened.

00:15:31.66
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:15:37.53
Brian Penn
yeah

00:15:38.80
Chris Olson
um Yeah, I've just had a quick look and you are able to watch it actually. If you go to jqsfilms.co.uk and that is the company that made the film. I'm not sending you to some dodgy website, that is.

00:15:47.23
Brian Penn
oh Yeah, be careful.

00:15:50.38
Chris Olson
um And you'll see they've actually got um the film on their homepage. You can

00:15:55.75
Brian Penn
Ah, excellent.

00:15:56.31
Chris Olson
and it's a YouTube embed. I think I sent you the YouTube link, Ryan, which is why you thought it was there.

00:15:59.07
Brian Penn
Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

00:16:00.63
Chris Olson
But yeah, it's on there. So yeah, fabulous.

00:16:02.33
Brian Penn
Ah, fantastic.

00:16:03.01
Chris Olson
you can um Everyone can check it out.

00:16:03.94
Brian Penn
Good stuff. Yeah, watch it.

00:16:05.14
Chris Olson
And do give them a follow. um there are There's a whole bunch of Instagram

00:16:08.24
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:16:11.76
Chris Olson
um profiles that you can follow. But if you were to follow ShureiJ, S-H-U-R-E-Y-J-A-Y, I'm sure from that profile, you'd be able to find all the others.

00:16:26.44
Chris Olson
There's lots of others. If not, there's Betrayed, a short film on Facebook and also a Twitter profile, Betrayed, JQS film. So, I mean, I've just signposted you to everything there.

00:16:38.30
Chris Olson
You've got no excuse listener.

00:16:40.35
Brian Penn
so The world is that right?

00:16:40.66
Chris Olson
You must go, yeah.

00:16:41.99
Brian Penn
The world is your western now. Now you know.

00:16:43.40
Chris Olson
and how often do we get everything you know you've got Chris Buick doing a video review of it you've got us chatting on here and you can go and watch it so there you go the full package that's what we call it so monday um okay so that was betrayed moving on to another short film now animated film called Little T and again i have a clip

00:16:47.75
Brian Penn
I know it. Yeah. What more could you ask for? The full monsoon.

00:17:05.33
Brian Penn
Oh lovely.

00:17:44.82
Chris Olson
That last little bit just really reminded of me of my daughter.

00:17:46.31
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:17:47.51
Chris Olson
She does that please.

00:17:48.00
Brian Penn
Sweet. Sweet, isn't it? ah

00:17:50.99
Chris Olson
um Yeah, so animated film ah from filmmaker Masha Ellsworth and little T. um is the story of a woman going for a interview ah alexis sch superintendent an interview interview at an architect firm, but she is being plagued by critical voices, as you heard in that clip.

00:18:19.80
Chris Olson
um It's a really vibrant, strong animated film. um And as we see Alexis sort of making her way through this experience going towards her interview, it's all about whether or not this will be able to overcome these critical voices that she's got one is a very so critical character and one is more of her like in a child and yeah she's got to be able to sort of confront these in order to sort of move on and yeah I mean in such a very short film it's it's not wrong at all this one um there's a lot going on here what did you think a little tea Brian?

00:18:55.27
Brian Penn
um

00:18:58.06
Brian Penn
I really liked it. I think this is great. You know, the um ah core of this story really, it's about the the internal ah push and pull, you know, the angel and the devil positive versus a negative, you know,

00:19:15.37
Brian Penn
The inner child you could say has no fear and is endlessly optimistic. The inner critic is cynical and destructive, sowing the seeds of doubt. That's inside all of us. And to put all of that into a scenario where which where she's going for an interview and all those insecurities come tumbling out. And it's so real, isn't it? We've all gone for interviews where we're racked by uncertainty and the positive voice is fighting with the negative voice.

00:19:44.88
Brian Penn
and you come out of the interview thinking, how did that go? Was that okay? They smiled, they nodded, you you cling onto crumbs of comfort, but you've got these voices inside of you, contradicting each other. I think it's beautiful. I think it's so well put together. And as you say, a hell of a lot going on really, but it says a lot about the the the stresses and the anxieties we all go through, even the most confident of people go through this type of thing. So I think it's so well observed.

00:20:15.67
Brian Penn
It really is.

00:20:15.86
Chris Olson
I think it's brilliant choice of moment as well in someone's life, which is that interview, because you know, growing up, it's all about what do you want to be when you're older, you know, you have these dreams, you have these aspirations.

00:20:20.52
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:20:26.89
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:20:29.71
Brian Penn
yeah

00:20:29.86
Chris Olson
And then when you actually hit adulthood, you've gone through some stuff already to get to this point, you that you then have all this anxiety and this worry, all these nerves, like I can, I can

00:20:33.67
Brian Penn
Yeah. yeah

00:20:40.65
Chris Olson
really remember being such a bag of nerves going for interviews, even for jobs I didn't even really want, like let alone ones that I might want.

00:20:44.75
Brian Penn
Yeah. ah I know. I know.

00:20:48.37
Chris Olson
um And yeah it's such an interesting choice of moment in someone's life to have depicted here, to be able to confront those two completely opposing

00:20:48.46
Brian Penn
Exactly. Yeah.

00:21:00.81
Chris Olson
things that, you know, live inside us, which is that inner child in and then the inner critic.

00:21:02.87
Brian Penn
Yeah. We've all got that album as well.

00:21:05.56
Chris Olson
Yeah, we've all got that sense of, of, you know, conflict and going on in our own minds.

00:21:05.80
Brian Penn
little Yeah.

00:21:11.30
Chris Olson
And I love the way that that was brought to life here is so vibrant, so colorful.

00:21:11.52
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:21:14.79
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:21:15.90
Chris Olson
It's, it's really, um yeah I mean, it's not the same as Pixar, but as in the same look, but it had the same tone as Pixar it kind of was like able to create a really professional really high standard of Pixar sort of feel.

00:21:16.01
Brian Penn
yeah

00:21:24.99
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:21:28.85
Brian Penn
Yeah, I think you're right. I think it does have a kind of a pixel look about it. Possibly not quite as much shine and polish, but you wouldn't expect it. But yeah, yeah.

00:21:37.39
Chris Olson
It was like it had the atmosphere of Pixar, but not necessarily that complete style.

00:21:41.30
Brian Penn
yeah But

00:21:42.19
Chris Olson
um Yeah.

00:21:43.23
Brian Penn
But in in some ways I like that though, because it's taken what's great about Pixar and done something a lot more natural with it, a bit less sterile.

00:21:54.53
Brian Penn
We've often spoken spoken about Pixar in the past, haven't we? We've both ah spoken about how sterile it can be, where it's so clean and so sharp that it lacks any kind of rough edges.

00:22:07.11
Brian Penn
And I like rough edges on films.

00:22:08.89
Chris Olson
Yeah.

00:22:09.62
Brian Penn
And this is what it what it gives you. But I think the standard of animation is really high though.

00:22:14.70
Chris Olson
I just thought it was great.

00:22:14.85
Brian Penn
but It's really high.

00:22:15.82
Chris Olson
Every sort of scene, every element, it just seemed to leap off the screen to me.

00:22:17.62
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:22:20.90
Brian Penn
yeah

00:22:21.16
Chris Olson
And I must, I mean, you hear it in the clip that we played, but a bit with the cupcake. My mouth was watering. I was watching it.

00:22:25.75
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:22:26.68
Chris Olson
I was like, this is an animated cupcake, but I am starving.

00:22:29.09
Brian Penn
yeah and know and I I know.

00:22:30.75
Chris Olson
It was so good.

00:22:32.53
Brian Penn
So I mean, yeah you assume though they're working on a very slight budget. All indie films do. All short films do. And it's only six minutes long. And to get that amount of detail in to provoke that much reaction between you and I, the fact that we've, we've hit on it and we thought, yeah, I get that. I understand it. You know, they plugged into a human emotion, something we all feel. And that's not easy to do, you know, in six minutes, but they do it and they do it in ah in a very simple way. But I think it's lovely. I think it's a lovely piece and deserves huge credit.

00:23:07.81
Chris Olson
Well, again, Chris Buick reviewed this one on the website. And as yeah we were talking earlier about um whether or not we researched films before we sort of watched them, and Chris being the absolute legend that he has had already researched Masha Ellsworth.

00:23:24.52
Brian Penn
Yeah, oh

00:23:24.62
Chris Olson
And funnily enough, she has worked at Pixar. and

00:23:29.70
Brian Penn
There you go, I never knew that yeah Yeah,

00:23:30.33
Chris Olson
lead technical director. So interesting that we were able to pick that up just from the tone of what we saw here. um But obviously, yeah, the fabulous effort.

00:23:41.60
Chris Olson
um I think that's what's really great about when you come across these films.

00:23:46.79
Brian Penn
yeah

00:23:46.80
Chris Olson
um I think this is one of two short films that she's directed. um But she's been involved, yeah, like I said, with some Pixar movies and things. So, yeah, I think I know for a fact there's a lot of fans out there of Pixar, both young and old.

00:24:03.31
Chris Olson
Yeah, it is. It's one of those genres that spans everyone.

00:24:04.02
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:24:06.04
Chris Olson
And this sits right up there for me.

00:24:06.12
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:24:08.95
Chris Olson
Yeah, I would see, I happily watch this on Disney Plus, you know, see it on the on the little reel and watch that.

00:24:12.37
Brian Penn
Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah. And you can also see this developing into a series of films, couldn't you as well? that deal with different aspects ah of growing up, for example, adolescence or whatever, you know, you think, yeah, this could work, they could they could expand that character. And, and ah portray her life as it develops, it it could turn into a ah very good series as well.

00:24:38.41
Chris Olson
Yeah, it did remind me a little bit of, in some ways, inside out, because I'd watched that recently, and funnily enough, obviously, a lot of connections there.

00:24:42.65
Brian Penn
ah Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah.

00:24:45.67
Chris Olson
But um but this was was slightly different, like because you had like an adult character who had so both going on at the same time.

00:24:46.14
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:24:50.02
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:24:52.24
Chris Olson
But yeah, no, it's like you say, you could see this being developed further.

00:24:56.05
Brian Penn
Yeah, definitely.

00:24:56.32
Chris Olson
um And yeah, more power to it if it is.

00:24:58.43
Brian Penn
yeah

00:24:58.79
Chris Olson
um Yeah, little t, it's called, and Yeah, i I just really love when we get these films that come across us and we sort of go, wow, I feel really lucky to have seen that.

00:25:09.26
Brian Penn
right Yeah. Yeah, it's a gem. And, you know, you have a great tone of phrase, Chris, when you say we're shining a light on hidden gems, and that is exactly what we're doing here. You know,

00:25:20.42
Brian Penn
that a film like this might not have got this kind of light shine on it at all. So we're doing something really worthwhile here. You know, we can review the big theatrical releases and they get all the um attention and publicity they they want.

00:25:37.94
Brian Penn
But a film like this doesn't get quite as much normally. So to quote your phrase, we're shining a light. Quite right.

00:25:47.50
Chris Olson
and And the film itself does that as well.

00:25:47.74
Brian Penn
saying

00:25:49.81
Chris Olson
It's interesting that the film's title, Little T, we are referring to little trauma, ah traumatic experiences and yeah, sort of,

00:25:53.66
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:26:00.91
Chris Olson
not really, really severe stuff, but stuff that can still yeah um affect you.

00:26:04.14
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:26:05.95
Chris Olson
and i think

00:26:06.47
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:26:06.91
Chris Olson
That's, again, ah the power of this sort of thing. And something that Pixar did really well, like picking up on these heavy themes, but dealing with them really, really coherently and in a way that's accessible for everyone.

00:26:13.52
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:26:16.12
Chris Olson
Yeah, I think that's really, really powerful.

00:26:16.66
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:26:18.53
Chris Olson
umm If you want to find out more about the film, Little T, it's not available currently. This was definitely was password protected, but Masher has an Instagram. So Instagram dot.com slash Masher, M-A-S-H-A underscore makes underscore movies.

00:26:34.79
Chris Olson
um Yeah. give them a follow and yeah, make sure you keep up to date what she's doing. Cause I think it's going to be fabulous seeing more and more work come out.

00:26:42.20
Brian Penn
Yeah. Hmm.

00:26:44.32
Chris Olson
Um, yeah, that was little tea, which was excellent.

00:26:47.18
Brian Penn
Hmm. Terrific.

00:26:48.68
Chris Olson
Uh, moving on to a feature length film, uh, this time and yeah, one you reviewed a long time ago, Brian stretch, stretch marks.

00:26:59.48
Brian Penn
Oh, stretch marks.

00:27:01.49
Chris Olson
You reviewed this in 2019.

00:27:01.64
Brian Penn
Yes.

00:27:05.31
Brian Penn
Do you know what? now this This is strange, Chris, because I was watching this film, I thought, have I seen this before?

00:27:12.14
Chris Olson
I've seen this before.

00:27:15.24
Brian Penn
But if it's 20, I know a lot from Google because I've written so much. I've done so many reviews now. I usually Google myself, but I didn't.

00:27:25.32
Brian Penn
I didn't go Google it. um no No wonder it seemed familiar, but if it was if it was 2019, God, five years ago.

00:27:33.57
Chris Olson
We've had a whole pandemic since then.

00:27:33.71
Brian Penn
Now. Yeah, yeah no God, that yeah that has shocked me.

00:27:39.95
Chris Olson
well let's Well, we'll put a clip on and yeah just while you gather yourself and then we'll we'll get into it.

00:27:40.09
Brian Penn
It really has. But.

00:27:44.92
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:27:46.19
Chris Olson
So here's a clip from Stretch Marks.

00:29:39.81
Chris Olson
Yeah, really interesting clip. And it does bring back the tone of the film a lot.

00:29:41.88
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:29:44.71
Chris Olson
um But yeah, no, a long time ago, you, were you reviewed stretch marks.

00:29:49.59
Brian Penn
Well, yeah.

00:29:49.82
Chris Olson
But interesting to see what you know, because obviously watching a film that far apart, like five years apart, be you very interested to see how you feel about it now, Brian.

00:29:54.15
Brian Penn
Yeah. Well, yeah, I know that. That's a good point, Chris. I was just reading, reading through my review from March 2019 reminded myself of what I wrote.

00:30:01.06
Chris Olson
Hmm.

00:30:05.61
Brian Penn
Now I gave it three stars back then. Now this is what's interesting, Chris, is that watching it back I think I would give it an extra star now which surprises me a bit because usually I think my my view of a film remains unchanged if I think it's good I'll say it's good you know if I think it's three stars it will stay as three stars but watching it again um I think I'd go for a four star rating for it because it's got so much depth I mean in my original review I actually said that

00:30:41.07
Brian Penn
um

00:30:43.69
Brian Penn
Yeah, they've delivered a watchable but ultimately low-key film that could have used more of a flourish. I don't think that's quite so important now, looking at it again. um You know, the the first five minutes of this film, you you buy into the car characters straight away. You know, the ah main character, you, Lyle, your sympathy is with him straight away. Totally. You know, he's overweight.

00:31:10.50
Brian Penn
he's got a steady job. He's living with bereavement. He's got a brother who's a bit of a Jim Bunny, who's slim, muscular, great physique, he has and all the things he's not. And he's got a mother that's uncommunicative. So and of course, there's the um the girl in the office that he fancies that likes him but doesn't like him in the way that he wants. And he starts to lose weight. And and he starts out 284 pounds and has a target weight that he wants to lose.

00:31:44.98
Brian Penn
um For me, the the key scenes in the film are between Lyle and his therapist.

00:31:51.24
Chris Olson
Mm.

00:31:51.98
Brian Penn
you know it's It's the most perceptive part of the story because he's confessing his deepest deepest thoughts. But the therapist is is gently um interrogating him saying, how do you really feel? How do you really feel about this? You know, are you happy when he gets within within five pounds of his target weight, he'll say he said to him, are you happy? Is that what you want? Or is all of this just a facade? In other words, is his weight really just ah a cover for something else that's wrong in his life? And that is what's very clever and perceptive about this film. So having read my ah original review,

00:32:37.94
Brian Penn
And have you seen it again? I would say, yep, I'd upgrade this to a four-star film because it's very naturalistic. It's very believable. we We all know somebody like Lyle, don't we? You know, somebody in the office, someone we live next door to, somebody in the pub, you know, basically a decent guy trying to live a better life. And that resonates much more now than it must have done with me back then.

00:33:05.96
Brian Penn
um

00:33:06.07
Chris Olson
Yeah and I think having a long time since that film you originally watched it you know you'd have seen a lot of indie films in that time it's interesting when you do have more of that to sort of reflect on but also yeah it's just sometimes I could watch a film a week apart and feel differently about it because it's just I'm coming to it with my own baggage and my own you know situations but what I did find was stretch marks I thought it was a really yeah

00:33:14.91
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:33:33.43
Chris Olson
accessible relatable story like you said it's something that I think people will either have felt themselves about their own image or know somebody that certainly feels that way and what I did find I found Lyle a little bit of a hard character to connect with

00:33:41.45
Brian Penn
Yeah. there

00:33:49.51
Chris Olson
like you said i found him in his therapy scenes they were bits where i thought okay he's being quite open he's being sort of real and okay yeah but then there were scenes where he's with his family or even with his friend where i don't know i found his behavior quite off like he was sort of he was anti-social and

00:34:02.50
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:34:07.21
Brian Penn
yeah

00:34:10.23
Chris Olson
he didn't make very good choices and it was quite hard to sort of like him at times and that I did find because it was a difficult film to watch where he is the main character for all of it that yeah you do kind of need to connect a lot with him and that's not to say I felt that way for the whole film it was just there were bits where I was like okay like he's not you know he's here but you know I also understand that it's part of like

00:34:11.82
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:34:14.44
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:34:22.04
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:34:25.14
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:34:32.24
Brian Penn
Yeah. a but Yeah.

00:34:36.29
Chris Olson
his character's suffering, you know, that he's going through these, that maybe he is doing things that are not necessarily that likeable.

00:34:40.90
Brian Penn
Yeah. yeah

00:34:42.37
Chris Olson
um But yeah, no, it was it was a rich film. um I found the exploration of his relationships, how they were being affected not just by ah his plans to lose weight, but also by the grief, like you mentioned, their dad is this character that sort of been mysteriously mentioned that yeah he's passed away and

00:35:02.12
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:35:02.70
Chris Olson
there's a few comments that are thrown around, sort of making it seem a little bit, okay, what what happened? like you And they don't really give you everything on it.

00:35:07.33
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:35:08.90
Chris Olson
And I think that was a really good i way of drawing you into this family's situation.

00:35:08.99
Brian Penn
Nice.

00:35:14.36
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:35:16.02
Chris Olson
um But I also found there like There was that bit, there was the therapy bits, but there was quite ah a lot of the film where there wasn't much conflict.

00:35:27.26
Chris Olson
It was just him trying to lose weight. it was And that went on for a lot of a lot of the time, which something which could have pretty much been a montage, right?

00:35:30.61
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:35:35.08
Chris Olson
It could have been, all right, yeah.

00:35:35.50
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:35:36.71
Chris Olson
And it was like, okay, he's lost a bit of weight. And then we go off again and have more scenes of him cutting out and cutting down and then weighing himself a again.

00:35:41.91
Brian Penn
yeah

00:35:44.09
Chris Olson
And it kind of, it felt a little bit repetitive at times to me.

00:35:46.32
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:35:47.44
Chris Olson
um

00:35:47.94
Brian Penn
Yeah. But I think that's may have been deliberate, though, on the filmmakers part, because for anyone trying to lose weight, there is an element of reposition that you follow the same ah line of action, the same train of thought.

00:36:02.34
Chris Olson
Yeah.

00:36:02.74
Brian Penn
know You cook the same things, you eat the same things, you exercise, it is repetition in order to reach a goal and a target. And for me, um it's getting a point across about somebody who is obese and trying to lose weight, but it's it's not a riveting watch at times.

00:36:22.96
Brian Penn
um But what I found interesting about it was, yeah, you're right, it was very defensive when he was taught when he was communicating with people that weren't his therapist. Right. And what a lot of what you saw was underneath the surface.

00:36:36.45
Brian Penn
Right. But again, I think that makes the story more compelling. Right. It makes you it provokes a feeling and opinion.

00:36:47.89
Brian Penn
You think why does he do that? Why is he doing it? Why won't he be more open with the people closest to him? You know, he didn't treat his best friend particularly well, did he really either?

00:36:57.00
Chris Olson
No, I found yeah that relationship a little bit toxic, but both ways.

00:36:59.90
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:37:00.16
Chris Olson
They were both a bit horrible to each other at times.

00:37:01.50
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:37:02.98
Chris Olson
And I think that is indicative of someone yeah who's not in the best place themselves, that they then do have these toxic relationships because they can't yeah be honest and be open and be, frankly, happy, to be honest.

00:37:03.33
Brian Penn
but Yeah. Yeah.

00:37:15.03
Chris Olson
And the fact that

00:37:15.51
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:37:17.25
Chris Olson
he gets ah obsessed with the regimes and the supplements and he ends up hurting himself, like trying to push his training and and things like that.

00:37:21.86
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:37:26.02
Chris Olson
um And then his life starts to sort of almost his life starts to fall apart, but he's so focused on the scales.

00:37:30.61
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:37:32.33
Chris Olson
that He doesn't really sort of notice it happening that that was like compelling. I liked watching that. I thought, OK, well, at least we're watching this spiral.

00:37:42.39
Chris Olson
And and it felt authentic it felt like something that was very believable and um but it's a very heavy film i found like i mean excuse the pun that it's very heavy film and um i felt it needed more levity it needed a bit more jokey bits to make him more likeable even if it was just small um because a lot of it was quite serious and i think someone watching stretch marks

00:37:46.77
Brian Penn
no Yeah. Yeah.

00:37:51.27
Brian Penn
yeah

00:37:53.87
Brian Penn
hey

00:37:59.36
Brian Penn
and

00:38:05.64
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:38:08.67
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:38:11.28
Chris Olson
You're going to resonate with the drama and you'll probably resonate with the but filmmaking techniques if you're on board with that.

00:38:13.73
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:38:16.02
Brian Penn
yeah

00:38:17.13
Chris Olson
But I do think that a larger audience may struggle.

00:38:20.57
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:38:20.62
Chris Olson
If you don't like Lyle, there's not much else to stick around for.

00:38:21.08
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:38:24.19
Brian Penn
No, I know. I know it does need some some levity. I would agree with you there. ah But I think it portrays ah very real picture of what it what it feels like to be overweight and how it holds people back and how it stops them leading the best life that they can ah but what it it it does like that kind of positivity because but even when he starts to lose weight you think he would cheer up a little bit but yeah did you notice that even that when he was losing weight he didn't he wasn't any happier at all which is why I think the sessions with a therapist was so revealing

00:38:57.69
Chris Olson
No.

00:39:02.31
Brian Penn
Told you more about his character than anything else, really. Because he kept on saying, well are you happy? What do you really want? How is this helping you? and Physically, you're helping yourself. But what about your emotional well-being? Is it making you a more positive person? um And it gradually builds towards that point where he forces the issue with the um this gorgeous girl in the office, um who is who he likes. um And yeah, but a very interesting study. I mean, I suppose really the real test is someone if somebody watches that he's really been through it. And how real does it feel to them? So, you know, someone who was overweight and lost weight. And they look at this film, I think, well, how real realistic is it? Everyone's story is different. like Everyone has a different perception of health.

00:40:03.23
Brian Penn
and fatality and being fit and doing things that we should should be doing to make us healthier. But that's the true test of a film like this, isn't it?

00:40:14.15
Brian Penn
You know, let somebody say he's been through it. And would they understand that, you know,

00:40:18.03
Chris Olson
Yeah. And if you want to watch it, um I think it is actually available. I'm not 100% sure. But ah if you go to Vimeo um and search for stretch marks, it's from Cat Rock Creatives.

00:40:30.33
Chris Olson
It's about an hour and a half film. And it's written, directed by Gregory Rocco. ah So yeah, check it out. John Larkin is ah the star, as well. And um if you do get to watch it, it'd be interesting to get some opinions on stretch marks.

00:40:43.72
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:40:44.47
Chris Olson
So send them in and if you decide to check it out because I do think you like Brian watching it a couple of times and myself watching it is definitely a film that can get you talking and can you spark some interesting conversations.

00:40:55.88
Brian Penn
Yeah, I think I think that's probably the the strongest element of the film is that it does provide a wider conversation. um You know, and that's why I would have given it having seen it again, five years later.

00:41:12.37
Brian Penn
Um, I, I, I think I'd squeeze another star into that racing because it is such a strong talking point.

00:41:16.78
Chris Olson
Well, we'll review it again in five years and you might give it five stars then.

00:41:20.76
Brian Penn
I know you never know.

00:41:21.27
Chris Olson
you know We'll come back to it in 2029.

00:41:22.10
Brian Penn
Do you never come back to five years? Yeah.

00:41:26.33
Chris Olson
um Moving on to a short film, a fan-made film ah called A Train New Beginnings. And I'm gonna play a clip. um This clip does have some swearing in, if I remember correctly.

00:41:37.70
Brian Penn
Oh right,

00:41:37.80
Chris Olson
And I also think the sound goes up and down. So do don't turn your headphones up.

00:41:43.12
Brian Penn
there you go, you've been warned

00:42:46.05
Chris Olson
Yeah, I'm glad I warned people there because it was quite a ah splatter um if you if you hear that.

00:42:48.05
Brian Penn
yeah no i can't i can't say i did no to be honest um oh well there you go you got the four

00:42:51.90
Chris Olson
um So A Train New Beginnings fans of the TV show The Boys will recognize the name. Brian, had you heard of The Boys before seeing this?

00:43:05.05
Chris Olson
So ah I'll take the lead on this because I had seen The Boys. um And anyway anyone who is a fan of The Phantom Zone, one of our other shows on the UK Film Review podcast, they i I think they did a whole episode on The Boys. So yeah, you can check that out.

00:43:23.84
Chris Olson
um But yeah, The Boys is a graphic novel. It's been turned into a TV show. I haven't read the graphic novel, but I have seen the TV show and the spin-off, which was Generation B. um And A-Train is a superhero, one of Vought, the seven that are the ah ah sort of most popular superheroes, but they're not particularly nice. The seven, they are actually um well they're anti-heroes and they have a lot of um corporate kind of dealings and it's all kind of they are then um they then face off with the boys the boys are a separate group who decided to sort of try and but take them down uh the seven but a train is is one of the seven and yeah this essentially

00:44:05.61
Brian Penn
Hmm.

00:44:11.21
Chris Olson
is it was a fan-made film and it spins off slightly that it's as if A-Train gets thrown out of the seven decides to start his own ah career where he becomes a rapper ah um which is in this 20-minute film they do pack in quite a lot of storyline into that.

00:44:31.26
Chris Olson
um Well, they pack a lot of footage of him being a rapper ah into that.

00:44:32.93
Brian Penn
Hmm, cool.

00:44:35.77
Chris Olson
And um the clip that you heard was yeah um with Homelander ah kicking him out. And yeah, it it goes from there. um It's written and directed by Chris Carthon, who also stars in the film.

00:44:49.97
Chris Olson
And yeah, what did you think of this as someone who hadn't seen The Boys, Brian?

00:44:55.09
Brian Penn
um I think it's really good fun. I really enjoyed this. Anything that pokes fun at Marvel, which it does, you know, just viewing this particular piece is poking fun at the Marvel strike DC, DC Comics film franchise. Anything that does that anything that deflates that balloon a little bit is fine by me. I love the idea of a a superhero who gets benched because when he does something wrong, let's put it that but way.

00:45:24.15
Brian Penn
And then he reinvents himself as a rapper. And what's the song called that he releases? Mr. Ron Through Your Girlfriend.

00:45:31.38
Chris Olson
Yeah, which which is indicative of what got him thrown out of his seven.

00:45:31.63
Brian Penn
ah

00:45:34.75
Brian Penn
Yeah. And he gets so many streams and competes with Taylor Swift and Beyonce. I loved it. i think it was I thought it was great fun. I think it's very likeable. It looks like a fan-made film as well. And there's nothing wrong with that. um But I um really enjoyed it. i mean it's It's just, that it's good it's a giggle. It's good fun. And it, um, it it gets the thumbs up from me. Definitely.

00:46:01.32
Chris Olson
Yeah, I think that essence is there. They definitely captured that sort of rogue, punkish sort of feel that the boys has as well, which is, yes, we've got superheroes, but they are not likable and they are.

00:46:16.17
Chris Olson
They've all got their own agenda. They do things to sort of subvert the other. um Some of the special effects actually were quite quite good. We've got the laser eyes and we've got things happening, which for a fan-made film was pretty impressive.

00:46:26.75
Brian Penn
and know but

00:46:30.38
Brian Penn
yeah

00:46:31.16
Chris Olson
I actually thought

00:46:31.55
Brian Penn
at point

00:46:33.03
Chris Olson
The music videos were the strongest part. They had this music video that A-Train makes and it was really good. Actually, the production of it, it looked like a proper R&B video.

00:46:42.89
Brian Penn
yeah Well, yeah, I was quite impressed with it actually in that way.

00:46:44.59
Chris Olson
I was like, this is great. um the Yeah. and And the sound design of it was really good. um The initial scene with the ah seven, I think some of that dialogue was a little bit clunky.

00:46:56.02
Chris Olson
It felt like maybe not everyone there was as comfortable ah reading lines and things.

00:47:01.16
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:47:01.24
Chris Olson
But um again, I think it was like, if you go in knowing it's a fan film, then you actually get quite a good return on that.

00:47:10.67
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:47:11.75
Chris Olson
But, you know,

00:47:11.86
Brian Penn
Well, you make allowances, don't you really? When when you're not, when you know what the limitations are on a particular film, the way it's being made and you know what resources are available to them, then you kind of take that, all of that on board, don't you really?

00:47:24.47
Brian Penn
And when you, when you um score a film, when you mark a film like this, you you do so knowing what what the parameters are in which they're working, which is only fair, isn't it? And I think you enjoy it more when you know what that's what they're working with.

00:47:40.65
Chris Olson
Yeah, and I don't know if the plan is to do more because I found as someone I've seen the boys and stuff I was I was I was waiting for something more to happen because he goes off and has disruptor and yeah he does really well and he's doing well in the charts but not really much else happened and I thought Where's the peril?

00:48:00.69
Chris Olson
Where's the reckoning? Where's the characters coming to sort of, you know, face off with him?

00:48:04.29
Brian Penn
Okay.

00:48:05.36
Chris Olson
It didn't really go anywhere. And I was waiting for that. So I did feel that if you watch this on its own completely, you know, as it is, it's like it's fine. And it's fun. But it doesn't necessarily go anywhere by the time you finish.

00:48:16.95
Brian Penn
It's like Finale, isn't it? There's no climax.

00:48:18.58
Chris Olson
No, so it did feel like it needed something. Although, if you do stick around right to the very end, there's an outtake, which was very funny.

00:48:26.57
Brian Penn
Oh, yeah.

00:48:28.78
Chris Olson
ah um It was just after the credits.

00:48:31.19
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:48:33.57
Chris Olson
But yeah, no, I felt like it was a... A strong fan film. It was flawed. Don't get me wrong. I think there was some sound issues and like I said the think the earlier performances weren't great. But I think there's a lot of potential here.

00:48:42.68
Brian Penn
um and Yeah.

00:48:44.32
Chris Olson
There is also there's a built in audience that people already love the boys and like you say, people that are. Maybe they've got superhero fatigue and want something that's still in that arena.

00:48:52.19
Brian Penn
we Yeah. well, yeah, exactly.

00:48:54.89
Chris Olson
This kind of works really well. It has that same spirit that a lot of people really enjoy. And also, I just love the fact that it just shows what someone can do you just with something a passion project that they love.

00:49:05.19
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:49:06.95
Chris Olson
um It does come up very early on with lots and lots of warnings about, look, we're not affiliated with all these other people.

00:49:11.57
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. they got made that clear of't though Yeah.

00:49:12.59
Chris Olson
sot Don't come and sue us, um which I thought was really funny.

00:49:14.63
Brian Penn
yeah know yeah

00:49:16.73
Chris Olson
um But yeah, I think there'll be people out there, especially if you are a fan of the boys, you're going to get a big and kick out of that.

00:49:24.71
Brian Penn
yeah It's good fun. And Chris, you've diagnosed my condition. Superhero fatigue.

00:49:29.54
Chris Olson
Oh, yeah, I mean, I'd love to say I came up with that. But yeah, it's definitely something that's been around for a while.

00:49:33.19
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:49:34.77
Chris Olson
But um yeah, superhero fatigue.

00:49:34.92
Brian Penn
Right. That's exactly what I've got. It's good. It's good fun. It's good fun. It's rough and ready but you take it for what it is.

00:49:43.68
Chris Olson
Um, so yeah, it's, um, a train new beginnings and there are, there's an Instagram profile for it, which is at a train fan movie or one word. Um, and the film link we got given was a YouTube one, but let me just see.

00:50:01.55
Chris Olson
If it is I think it's public. Yeah, so I think you can look this up chris carthon's, uh, youtube youtube channel Um, and if you search a train new beginnings, uh fan-made film you'll you'll probably find it Um, yeah, it's only 20 minutes. I think it's worth your time. If you're a fan of this sort of thing, um, definitely Check it out and also head to the website. You can read jason's review. Jason loved it. He gave it five stars. Um, so yeah, I think you can appreciate it for what it is. Enjoy yourself. And yeah, for me, I felt like they could have done a bit more with it. But as it is, it's a lot of fun. So yeah, that's a train new beginnings, we are going to be moving on now to an indie feature film called continuance.

00:51:42.83
Chris Olson
So, indie film, continuance, feature length. Do you want to give the rundown this one, Brian?

00:51:48.80
Brian Penn
Yeah, sure. So, Continuance, it's written and directed by Tony Olmos, starring and Tony got, Gordakas, Laura Zuki, and Teresa Suarez. Continuance tells the story of Jordan Cassel, a lawyer with an obsessive personality. He lives with his wife Lynn and their housekeeper Lupe, who soon lives up to her name.

00:52:12.26
Brian Penn
ah CCTV reveals their dark and terrifying activities as they capture unsuspecting strangers in a tangled web. Now this is an accomplished, well-crafted piece, but I suspect it has narrow appeal. It feels very niche to me. There isn't much in the way of a storyline, just my my feet feel there, but the the visuals take care of any shortcomings from that score. Not pleasant viewing, but it's not meant to be. It's horror.

00:52:40.98
Brian Penn
It's definitely one of horror fans and we're going to a ah following in that community for sure, but very effective filmmaking, very dark, disturbing, but that's what it means to be and that's what it does. So very effective, very well done.

00:52:59.26
Chris Olson
Yeah it's an interesting film this one because it felt like a bit of an odd mix because you've got this horror storyline ah with what they're doing at the house but then you've got also got this sort of like prepper's story where they're sort of preparing to lock themselves in and ah be away from the rest of the world.

00:53:18.63
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:53:19.02
Chris Olson
um Yeah and also there's a strange dynamic because you've got the the main character the lawyer who's really eccentric and really odd and weird um and his wife who's like a new agey kind of healer type woman and then you've got their very odd helper Lupi who's yeah really

00:53:42.75
Brian Penn
luy man

00:53:43.92
Chris Olson
really strange and quite dark. and So it was a weird dynamic. I like the idea of that. It sort of was that you didn't really know what you were getting there and it was quite exciting to see what was going to happen.

00:53:51.07
Brian Penn
yeah

00:53:56.71
Chris Olson
i'm But yeah, it it was definitely something that I hadn't, I thought we were talking earlier, I didn't go in reading anything about this. And when I started watching it, it was not at all what I thought it would be.

00:54:09.16
Chris Olson
um You couldn't really predict

00:54:09.98
Brian Penn
What did you think it would be? What did you think it would be then?

00:54:12.07
Chris Olson
Because it's a continuant and I thought that's like a legal term and he's a lawyer and I was like, okay, but it's really not about that.

00:54:14.74
Brian Penn
Obviously, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I get it. Yeah, I see your main.

00:54:22.64
Chris Olson
And yeah, it's got this sort of psychotic atmosphere atmosphere the whole time.

00:54:22.73
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:54:29.08
Chris Olson
um It's really made it feel unpredictable. um I got kind of American psycho vibes from it in in that sense there's a bit where he yeah yeah he's he's quite weird and I think he sort of gets upset about the homeless at one point and yeah he's really odd um with but this character in the diner and he gets very sort of yeah strong with him that yeah that I think had a good resonance with it that it was that vibe that that tone of film that

00:54:36.51
Brian Penn
Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Shakes a bit, isn't it? For sure. and

00:54:53.83
Brian Penn
yeah

00:55:02.51
Chris Olson
is exploring a very dark eccentric kind of character ah who's also yeah got these side characters that are equally as well not i suppose the the partners she's not really unhinged but she's different she's a bit strange and you don't really know where it's going to go um yeah

00:55:16.90
Brian Penn
Yeah. Well. Yeah, I think it's safe to say all three characters are eccentric, aren't they? Unconventional. That's probably the safest way of describing them.

00:55:26.94
Chris Olson
Um, but yeah, I found that I thought the performances were okay. I wasn't too sold on, on the lead character. Um, the main guy, uh, Tony Coradecas plays.

00:55:37.36
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:55:38.70
Chris Olson
Um, I felt the narration in particular was a little bit crowbarred in, um, like he's reading or yeah why he's doing what he's doing.

00:55:49.28
Chris Olson
And I felt. that sort of removed some of the mystery from the film as to who he was, what he was doing.

00:55:53.39
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:55:56.71
Chris Olson
And I i don't know, narration's always a weird one. Like sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but I didn't find it worked in this case for me. um And also this sort of special effects that they used, like when Lynn's doing her healing sessions and there's like a lightning and stuff.

00:56:14.23
Chris Olson
And um yeah, it felt a bit like, oh, okay, that's a bit weird.

00:56:14.41
Brian Penn
Yeah. that

00:56:18.64
Chris Olson
um But

00:56:18.69
Brian Penn
yeah But yeah, I know i know what you yeah and' what you mean about narration though.

00:56:20.92
Chris Olson
yeah

00:56:23.81
Brian Penn
Sometimes it adds to the plot, sometimes it takes too much away from it. Because really, any sort of narration on any film, it's really ah it's a bit like breaking the fourth wall, isn't it?

00:56:35.18
Brian Penn
Is that you're inviting the viewers and you're making the viewer or the audience your confidence.

00:56:37.74
Chris Olson
Yeah. Hmm.

00:56:42.23
Brian Penn
And I'm not sure that that quite works in this context, but it's a very interesting film though.

00:56:46.31
Chris Olson
and mean We do get insight into him. He does sort of explain things like his need for control and how he likes things a certain way, but they're also that starts to crumble later on.

00:56:49.95
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

00:56:59.84
Chris Olson
He starts to sort of become quite disturbed and that's then reflected with the crumbling of the society outside. There's a really weird scene where he goes out with a rifle and there's this these group of kids that are outside and they're also they've also got rifles and I felt that that needed a bit more exploring.

00:57:17.56
Chris Olson
It's kind of like, oh, hold on, like this whole like end of the world type society that's going on was really interesting, but we're getting given this sort of murder mystery sort of thing on the inside.

00:57:18.20
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:57:21.19
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:57:25.81
Brian Penn
Yeah. Well, I suppose really, it's a question of what you you found most intriguing is what was going on inside and what was going on outside.

00:57:33.64
Chris Olson
Mmm.

00:57:34.00
Brian Penn
And I what was outside was more peripheral, wasn't it really, but it may have given it more, um more depth if if we did see more of what was going on outside to give it more of a more of a contrast.

00:57:46.67
Brian Penn
I think the goal that played loopy was good. i

00:57:49.30
Chris Olson
Yeah, I thought she was a stronger performance and and she was having a bit of fun as well.

00:57:51.74
Brian Penn
too Yeah, she was good.

00:57:56.19
Chris Olson
It was sort of moments where you could see she was sort of having fun with this film and you sort of felt that energy coming through um because yeah, it's quite it can be quite dark and heavy otherwise.

00:58:01.82
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, that's right. I think most horror movies will will inject some some humor. You have to do that. Because I think horror can be can and should be very tongue in cheek. You know, it should be taken for the that kind of slightly comedic um element. I think horror that takes itself too seriously. A lot of the time can can miss the point. You know, ah but yeah, it's a good effort. Very interesting.

00:58:35.18
Chris Olson
Yeah, I think films like this are really great. i love Horror in particular is a genre that people get a kick out of it for different reasons, and they they attach things to different reasons.

00:58:48.24
Chris Olson
And for me, the thing that kept me watching was that unpredictability but between those three characters, that dynamic.

00:58:54.53
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:58:55.95
Chris Olson
like said theres There's a mystery going on behind what they're doing and why they're doing it and and what's going on.

00:59:01.92
Brian Penn
Yeah. yeah

00:59:03.86
Chris Olson
That for me was why I watched it. um ah But I think other people might find different aspects that they enjoy here um because it's a feature length, so there's always a little bit more to go on.

00:59:09.98
Brian Penn
Yeah.

00:59:15.29
Chris Olson
But I also think that they've put a lot in there. It's a well-packed film, if you know what I mean.

00:59:21.25
Brian Penn
yeah they left it all all on there aren't they that's for sure yeah um have you noticed though that the number of indie features that we review that are horror based no it seems to be more it seems to be better represented than any other genre in in the but indie film making I wonder why that is or is it just coincidence

00:59:23.84
Chris Olson
Hmm.

00:59:33.01
Chris Olson
Yeah.

00:59:41.09
Chris Olson
Well, I think... it lends itself right to the budget. So I think sometimes even scary films with no budget like Blair Witch Project can be really scary, right?

00:59:53.95
Chris Olson
Whereas if you're trying to make, I don't know, a James Bond thriller, it's quite hard to sort of make it look good with a low budget.

00:59:54.37
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:00:01.43
Chris Olson
So there's that. And often horror films, I don't know, like locations, you could film it in the woods, you could film it anywhere, right? It could be anywhere that's just dark and scary.

01:00:11.27
Brian Penn
So it lenses.

01:00:11.35
Chris Olson
um

01:00:12.03
Brian Penn
So yeah, that's a good point. So it lends itself more too.

01:00:13.30
Chris Olson
So there's this that.

01:00:15.51
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:00:15.60
Chris Olson
But I also think that you know ah lot for a lot of people, those are the stories that they found the most compelling. When you were younger, you got told a a scary story. It sticks with you.

01:00:24.05
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah.

01:00:24.51
Chris Olson
And yeah you want to do that. Because like we've said before, you me and you were not necessarily the biggest fans of horror. But we like it when it's done well.

01:00:32.90
Brian Penn
Yeah, that's right.

01:00:33.63
Chris Olson
But I do know a lot of people that love horror, it's that feeling like that they get. They don't get that from other genres.

01:00:38.47
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah, that's right, yeah.

01:00:39.11
Chris Olson
It's that feeling of being scared, which they love. um But yeah, I mean, continuance was a password protected link, so we don't have um the actual ah film available as far as I'm aware.

01:00:52.62
Chris Olson
as's an Instagram ah page, I believe, instagram dot.com at itchy the scratcher ah underscores between the words.

01:01:03.02
Brian Penn
Of course, actually, yeah

01:01:04.16
Chris Olson
um So yeah, if you want to, you can look that up um and follow and follow some more details. They often let you know yeah when the film's coming out and where you can see it. ah Go to the site, you can read Jason's review from October.

01:01:15.57
Brian Penn
yeah.

01:01:17.59
Chris Olson
um And yeah, he he picked up some really interesting parts of the film too. he was talking about this sort of idea of misanthropy and some other stuff. So yeah, yeah well done to Tony Olmos and the cast.

01:01:29.48
Chris Olson
I think yeah it's a really interesting film, lots there to unpick.

01:01:29.66
Brian Penn
yeah

01:01:33.55
Chris Olson
And yeah, I look forward to hearing some um reviews of that.

01:01:38.06
Brian Penn
Yeah, definitely.

01:01:39.19
Chris Olson
Moving on, one I reviewed very recently to us recording this ah the show, um which is the indie film Death, which is D-E-A-T-H, Death, by the way.

01:01:53.09
Chris Olson
It's getting confused.

01:01:53.78
Brian Penn
um

01:01:55.00
Chris Olson
ah Written and directed by Anmol Mishra.

01:01:55.29
Brian Penn
ah right okay yeah

01:01:58.50
Chris Olson
now Australian art house film with horror inflections is kind of how I would describe this to anyone yeah looking up death and it starts out with this character Sabrina she's in a bathtub and it's looking pretty yeah pretty dire for her let's just say that

01:02:20.32
Brian Penn
Not right.

01:02:22.16
Chris Olson
and Not great.

01:02:22.20
Brian Penn
Not right.

01:02:22.76
Chris Olson
um The film then kind of moves backwards and we see what led up directly to that bathtub scene and then we jump in from further back and we meet ah Sabrina's friends and also her boyfriend Romeo.

01:02:23.10
Brian Penn
not

01:02:36.91
Chris Olson
um her friends Wendy and her boyfriend Maza they all have this dinner party and we learn that Sabrina so obviously she's got a boyfriend and the boyfriend had proposed at one point but also her and Wendy have a slight um romantic history, shall we say.

01:02:56.74
Chris Olson
um And yeah, it's all kind of working towards this idea of how did we get to this opening scene?

01:02:57.75
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:03:04.42
Chris Olson
What is that? ah Why did we get here? Yeah, it's it's a really interesting mix. I think films that try and combined well first off art house is already gonna alienate um a massive part of your of your audience and ah a lot of people were throwing around the phrase lynchian when they were talking about this film and i was like i'm not sure i would have said lynchian but i get i get the idea that maybe it's because it's unconventional um and it's it's doing something a little bit different but for me with death it was um it was a and i i did a video review for this um which you can watch on our youtube channel

01:03:19.76
Brian Penn
Yeah, like I was saying, yeah. and time ah

01:03:27.14
Brian Penn
Hmm. No, not really. Yeah. Yeah.

01:03:44.50
Chris Olson
that I talked about, I thought it was a bit of an uncomfortable mix of ah the horror stuff with the sort of silly comedy stuff. ah How did you feel about death, Brian?

01:03:57.07
Brian Penn
Well, look, it's well acted. I liked it, but I did struggle to follow it at times.

01:04:02.95
Chris Olson
Oh yeah, it's absolutely bonkers, isn't it?

01:04:04.83
Brian Penn
Yeah, it is. But I'm sure that's deliberate. That's the intention, isn't it? The premise is intriguing. you know It's portraying the final faults and memories of someone before they die. But to me, they didn't fill that space with a clear narrative.

01:04:19.96
Brian Penn
Now, I think, as I said, that's deliberate to challenge the audience. But I think there's a limit to the amount of confusion they portray on screen. They have to rationalize at some point. um Was it a dream? Was it real? um But it's job done for the filmmaker because it's it's taking you to that point of thinking, right, you're scratching your head, you're not sure what it's about. But you know there's lots of interesting things going on there. the um That kind of mix between horror and comedy slaps the cool most

01:04:53.38
Brian Penn
you know, doesn't always come off. I could see what they were trying to do. You know, the master was one of the characters that fascinated me. You know, he had a cigar that you never lit.

01:05:04.24
Chris Olson
Huh.

01:05:05.60
Brian Penn
And one of the characters that actually said that to them, they should really have explained that I was really, really curious about that. But look, you know, as I say, the premise is fine.

01:05:18.35
Brian Penn
I like the setup, the storyline, basic storyline is good. um but it's not what I was necessarily expecting but you know it does the job and that's you know it's got they've got it across the line but you know there's always parts of a film like this that you could find quite annoying and parts you quite enjoy you know

01:05:39.17
Chris Olson
yeah it's it's the start that Yeah, I think annoying was sort maybe a bit harsh, but I think the it's the that tonal yeah polarity that for me was really...

01:05:49.66
Chris Olson
oh so you got that I loved the horror a bit actually. I thought that was just really striking, really interesting. But if I play you the clip, um it's a scene where Wendy and Mazda are talking and it's kind of this will give you the idea of what we mean by that sort of silliness.

01:06:03.74
Chris Olson
So this is a clip from the film.

01:06:04.62
Brian Penn
Mm.

01:07:06.84
Chris Olson
i say

01:07:07.89
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:07:07.93
Chris Olson
he

01:07:08.09
Brian Penn
All right. I'll take it back, Chris. I forgot about that line about the chickens. That's actually quite good. Yeah. and Yeah. Yeah. but It's it's definitely got something, isn't it?

01:07:18.49
Brian Penn
For sure.

01:07:19.66
Chris Olson
But I think that clip really does, it shows you how like silly it gets, how yeah that tone gets to real.

01:07:25.85
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:07:29.05
Chris Olson
like In my review, I talked about this like idea of stoner comedy. It was this sort of like, we're having a scene just for the laughs here, jokes and a lot of...

01:07:42.54
Chris Olson
people would enjoy that it would enjoy that as like as a comedy film but when it's been put in the same sphere the same time frame as a horror film with a really sort of interesting and serious arthouse kind of vibe for me i felt that that comedy was going to let it down a bit and i think people would struggle to like both sides and both aspects i could be completely wrong i could find that you know maybe people absolutely love that but for me with death i thought i felt that tonally it was a challenge but i did enjoy a lot of it a lot of the aspects like i said the performances are really good the um the two lead actresses um who i'll give a shout out to samara gold pizar and lauren johnson

01:08:26.57
Chris Olson
So Marigold plays Sabrina and Lauren Johnson plays Wendy. um Yeah, really good performances, ah really ah strong acting skills going on. They do some really daring scenes. And yeah, I thought that paid off for that side of it. But for me, they could have chopped out quite a lot of the funny stuff and the goofy stuff and still been left with ah a more interesting film. um But yeah, that was death.

01:08:56.07
Chris Olson
So yeah, death let me see if we've got anything on that. I don't believe it's out. So I think we watched it on a film freeway link, which is the sort of festival link. But I think maybe when I went to the website, there was some stuff.

01:09:14.05
Chris Olson
um Yeah, so. Let me just check that out.

01:09:19.73
Brian Penn
Hmm.

01:09:21.14
Chris Olson
Talk amongst yourselves. who It's from Prossia Media um and they have a website.

01:09:22.46
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:09:28.30
Chris Olson
If you go to prosya.com, there's some really useful information on there. I think there are some links to where you might be able to see it. Sometimes with these films, they are you ah region specific. I feel like when I looked at those before, there's like a Google one and Apple one. I think they are US links, so might not be ah available for UK viewers. But yeah, um if not, go to Instagram, Prossia Media, P-R-O-S-Y-A, media, all one word, and follow them. And you'll be able to find out when you can watch death because, yeah, fans of art house, fans of...

01:10:04.57
Chris Olson
ah yeah wacky combinations, I think you'd be in your element. I don't think it's a film that'll be for everyone.

01:10:08.78
Brian Penn
Yeah?

01:10:10.22
Chris Olson
and I think that ah the bits that are strong do get kind of outweighed slightly by the things that aren't as strong for me.

01:10:10.65
Brian Penn
Nice.

01:10:18.23
Chris Olson
But like I said before, I think the performances were great.

01:10:18.35
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:10:20.51
Chris Olson
The horror stuff was really good. And I always like a film that does yeah at least try and be original, try and challenge itself.

01:10:22.68
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:10:26.85
Brian Penn
Yeah, of course. Yeah. look I mean, we've often said in the past, haven't we, that if you, you have to dare to be different in filmmaking and not play too safe. So they've done that. They've like done something different and they did ah deserve a lot of credit for it.

01:10:42.53
Chris Olson
so ah Moving on to our final indie film, a short film called OK Not OK.

01:10:48.50
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:10:48.63
Chris Olson
um And I'm going to play a clip for this first.

01:11:23.78
Chris Olson
So absolutely baffling clip there for you to to try and um unpack.

01:11:27.50
Brian Penn
ah Yeah, well, yeah, it's a little bit.

01:11:30.85
Chris Olson
But um written and directed by Padi Sohatta and yeah, starring Beyvari Manohara and Jay Taylor. it is set in, oh, so as we could say, a sci-fi future, ah I think that's what I say, where it's possible to have an AI robot, um essentially, who you can have a relationship with as long as you can afford the subscription.

01:11:46.41
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah.

01:11:57.73
Chris Olson
um And yeah, our lead character, she has one, ah Loretta, she has a boyfriend, um but, yeah struggles to maintain the payments and her lifestyle, all the while becoming quite deeply entrenched romantically with her her robot boyfriend. um The whole film is shot on this static shot of sort of a would youco It's not quite a long shot, is it a mid shot?

01:12:27.15
Chris Olson
I would say it's a mid shot.

01:12:28.46
Brian Penn
Yeah, yeah.

01:12:28.99
Chris Olson
Mid shot, but they they're very much due. The whole the whole pulp apartment is in focus and the the backgrounds keep changing quite quickly and the colour keeps changing.

01:12:39.37
Chris Olson
It felt a little bit like an IKEA advert actually at one point. I was like, oh, they're swapping.

01:12:42.20
Brian Penn
cra Maybe started out so you don't know.

01:12:44.64
Chris Olson
yeah Yeah, it could double up. um But yeah, we've basically seen the insight into this relationship as she's yeah with this this robot, who looks like a human, by the way, doesn't look like a robot.

01:12:56.60
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:12:57.19
Chris Olson
um And yeah, it essentially has problems with it. um And we see how that affects her. um It's absolutely hilarious at times.

01:13:07.75
Brian Penn
and Yeah.

01:13:07.78
Chris Olson
I thought it was really funny. The bit where she's on the customer service call with the Indian call center.

01:13:11.67
Brian Penn
Yeah. and Yeah.

01:13:13.28
Chris Olson
And he says something like, oh and oh, if you want me to be more polite, that's premium.

01:13:16.56
Brian Penn
Yeah. yeah Get a premium, get a new premium love package.

01:13:21.33
Chris Olson
Good.

01:13:22.83
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:13:23.06
Chris Olson
um Yeah, what do you think, bro?

01:13:23.70
Brian Penn
Right. Yeah. You know what? Yeah. I thought this was really good. In some ways, this is a classic short indie feature. It's basically set in one room, isn't it? Very rich dialogue, strong characters, you know,

01:13:37.80
Brian Penn
And really, it's set in the future, but it says a lot about what life could be like in the future, couldn't it?

01:13:45.78
Chris Olson
Not that far future as well, I think, yeah.

01:13:47.30
Brian Penn
Well, yeah, and I know. But where we're reduced to a series of virtual transactions. um And so it's speaking a lot of truth and it's very perceptive.

01:13:57.99
Brian Penn
It's very cleverly done. um As you say, it's very funny when they're on the lines of the customer services advisor. um you know Very, very good.

01:14:09.37
Brian Penn
And again, no, it's original. I've not seen anything like this before. If you, you know, I'm in that way.

01:14:14.85
Chris Olson
The only thing it reminded me of was, not that way, I've seen things like humans, it reminded me of the TV show where they have these like, ah yeah, robots that you can buy to sort of look after your house.

01:14:22.01
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:14:26.41
Chris Olson
And it's a really good show actually humans. But this was done in a way that felt fresh, it felt original in in its own right.

01:14:32.66
Brian Penn
yeah

01:14:34.34
Chris Olson
It was, what I loved about it was this, um the whole thing had a pace to it that felt like an advert it felt like it was trying to sort of have that high octane energy but then at the core of it you've got this character who's deeply embedded in this situation there's all this stuff going on outside the window and it sounds like riots or gunshots and things like that but inside her flat is just changing lights and it's all quick fire it's all very very rapid that

01:14:43.55
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:14:59.22
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:15:06.40
Chris Olson
it reminded me of what it sort of felt like it reflected how our society has become. We are very reliant on technology and how capitalism takes over all these things eventually and it will monetize even someone's lifestyle.

01:15:12.01
Brian Penn
yeah

01:15:16.71
Brian Penn
Yeah. Yeah.

01:15:22.37
Chris Olson
um And yeah, the fact that she was like a hermit almost ah by herself with this robot, it felt it felt very like it felt tragic.

01:15:22.70
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:15:27.98
Brian Penn
yeah but I know.

01:15:32.76
Chris Olson
but funny at the same time and how they've pulled that off is actually very impressive.

01:15:32.77
Brian Penn
I know.

01:15:37.73
Brian Penn
No, no, it is. I think it's very innovative and says a lot about the way The way things are going in in the way we we rely on sort of convenience and reinforce routine and habit. With this virtual boyfriend, she's watching TV, playing games, chess, eating together, discussing the meaning of life. But there's that disconnect between us and other human beings. It's solitary. And it's a frightening sort of vision in some ways. and

01:16:14.39
Brian Penn
You know, it does make make you wonder how far away we are from it and how we we need to guard out against it as well.

01:16:20.60
Chris Olson
And I think the tone of the film stops you from realizing how much despair there is going on here. I think that it is using these methods to keep you in a sense of like, this is really vibrant, really playful, really fun.

01:16:37.14
Chris Olson
And then you're sort of, as over time, you kind of realize that, Wait well wait wait a minute, actually, this is actually quite a sad story.

01:16:37.23
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:16:42.10
Chris Olson
like This is actually, yeah, it hits you really hard and you don't actually understand until maybe a bit later.

01:16:42.57
Brian Penn
Yeah, it's quite serious really, isn't it? Yeah. I know.

01:16:47.24
Chris Olson
And I think part of that is, yeah, due to the way they filmed it, it's got very high production values, it looks great.

01:16:47.94
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:16:51.99
Brian Penn
Yeah, you're right.

01:16:52.91
Chris Olson
um And it's also, yeah, the way that they've combined those elements to reflect the way that we're all being conditioned, the way that we're all experiencing life now.

01:17:02.63
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:17:03.96
Chris Olson
I think it's a really strong film. um Yeah, I could easily see this doing, very well on the festival circuits and and things like that.

01:17:14.42
Brian Penn
Yeah, definitely.

01:17:14.48
Chris Olson
um And yeah, i'd I'd be happy to watch more films from Pardip Sahota.

01:17:15.33
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:17:19.59
Brian Penn
Yeah, it.

01:17:20.64
Chris Olson
Really good.

01:17:21.66
Brian Penn
Yeah, it's a natural standout. I mean, very rare. Do you see something innovative? I know you mentioned hum the humans TV show, but um it's not something you see very often.

01:17:32.05
Brian Penn
And it's it almost feels like an indictment of the way we are being conditioned by convenience by AI.

01:17:34.04
Chris Olson
Hmm.

01:17:41.48
Brian Penn
And that's the way it's going. and You think god we need to We need to put the brakes on really. Um, but yeah,

01:18:00.31
Chris Olson
Yeah, no interesting, really interesting film.

01:18:03.29
Brian Penn
definitely. I mean, it's going to strike a chord because you know, the, the, the facts is that we, we do live a very fast life, a very hectic life. That's.

01:18:14.02
Brian Penn
ruled by rooting and habit and convenience. And that's what it's plugging into. And it's it's almost a frightening vision, but it gets it out there. It's important to have this as a serious study of modern living, future living.

01:18:29.74
Chris Olson
So OK Not OK is not available in lineably. I think it is actually in the festival circuit. They sent some notes about it having its premiere at the Leeds International Film Festival.

01:18:41.05
Chris Olson
and Yeah, so do stay tuned for them. The film itself has its own Instagram profile, which is okay dot not okay underscore short film.

01:18:52.05
Chris Olson
So yeah, you might want to make a note of that.

01:18:54.29
Brian Penn
Mm-hmm.

01:18:54.78
Chris Olson
But definitely worth looking out for and and checking out and following because for me, when I see films like this, I'm always intrigued always think, right, okay, I need to see the next film that they make.

01:19:05.36
Chris Olson
I need to see the next yeah one that they take on because I think there's a lot of potential here.

01:19:05.91
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:19:09.27
Brian Penn
Yeah, but they put a marker down, haven't they, really, with a film like this. So, yeah, I'm very impressed.

01:19:15.07
Chris Olson
And that's your lot of indie films.

01:19:16.97
Brian Penn
Mm.

01:19:17.23
Chris Olson
um We've covered seven films in this episode. And yeah, hopefully um some of them have piqued your interest.

01:19:20.63
Brian Penn
Well.

01:19:24.95
Chris Olson
You're gonna check them out. Some are are available online, some are not, but do follow everyone that we've mentioned, especially if we've mentioned their Instagram ah profile, because it's great to be able to, as we say, shine a light on these um these ah very talented filmmakers from across the world.

01:19:36.12
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:19:40.02
Brian Penn
Yeah. Big thumbs up to all the directors and all the creatives involved in these films. The standard is incredibly high. I'm very impressed.

01:19:47.62
Chris Olson
keeps keeps getting better and better.

01:19:49.30
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:19:49.59
Chris Olson
um Or maybe we just become more appreciative, like you have in your five years, you know, since you reviewed.

01:19:49.95
Brian Penn
Yeah.

01:19:53.62
Brian Penn
ah we As I say, that extra star that, yeah, yeah we're all growing, aren't we?

01:19:55.53
Chris Olson
Yeah, maybe it's that. Maybe you've grown.

01:19:59.93
Brian Penn
yeah Which is all good. Yeah. No, really good. Very impressed.

01:20:03.82
Chris Olson
But yeah, thank you for joining us on this episode of UK Film Club, an indie special this time. And we'll be back again a couple of weeks with our ah regular episode where we'll have, actually we'll have some more indie films in that because we had so many.

01:20:16.73
Chris Olson
but We've got even more to do in there, but we'll also be reviewing some cinema releases and actually a couple of Christmas films, would you believe?

01:20:19.36
Brian Penn
its no Yeah.

01:20:25.30
Brian Penn
yeah

01:20:25.84
Chris Olson
Yeah, not long now.

01:20:26.62
Brian Penn
Looking forward to that. Getting the jingle jingle spirit.

01:20:27.95
Chris Olson
Jingle, jingle.

01:20:30.23
Brian Penn
Yeah. All right.

01:20:31.53
Chris Olson
But yeah, thank you all again for listening.

01:20:34.36
Brian Penn
Bye for now.