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Alex Crisp writes movie reviews for UK Film Critic. As one of the talented UK film critics, find out more here. Alex Crisp Alex Crisp is a writer for UK Film Review. Follow On Twitter Read My Film Reviews

Shrubaboti Bose writes movie reviews for UK Film Critic. As one of the talented UK film critics, find out more here. Shrubaboti Bose I’m a postgraduate student of Jadavpur University (India), currently doing my Masters in English Literature. I want to continue my further studies in the field of academic research. I love reading novels and I often write short stories or memoirs in my free time. You can check out my work on Instagram or WordPress, using the links attached below. I grew up watching films, one of my fondest childhood memory is that of sitting with my parents to watch a film together. Without even realizing it, I became a cinephile. Shortly after I figured that being a film critic would allow me to write about films, something I immensely enjoyed, I started writing articles for online websites. Recently, I got selected for a workshop organized by the MAMI Film Festival and it gave me valuable insights. It’s always been very difficult for me to choose favourites, but if I were to name a few, Seven Samurai by Kurosawa, Charulata by Satyajit Ray, In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar Wai, Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen and Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders are some of the films I never get tired of watching. I’m really glad to be a part of the contributing team under UK Film Review because it provides me an opportunity to discover a diverse variety of short indie films, a genre that I hadn’t explored much before and I’m happy to extend my support to its motto of helping indie filmmakers. You can also see more of my writing here: shrubaboti.wordpress.com Follow On Twitter Read My Film Reviews

Trailer starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Brand new film trailers. The Courier The Courier trailer starring Benedict Cumberbatch. From Lionsgate. Coming to Cinemas on March 19, 2021. THE COURIER is a true-life spy thriller, the story of an unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. At the behest of the UK's MI6 and a CIA operative (Rachel Brosnahan), he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch Merab Ninidze Rachel Brosnahan Jessie Buckley Directed by Dominic Cooke Read our The Courier Film Review . The Moment The Land of Sometimes Twins Alfie and Elise find a magical Wish Watch on Christmas Eve and are swept by the Wish Collector into the musical Land of Sometimes, where they learn that wishes have consequences. Avengers: Doomsday Fans are elated at the release of the first teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. Set for a theatrical release on 18th December 2026, find out more here. Greenland 2: Migration Now, the first official trailer for the sequel, Greenland 2: Migration, has landed, promising to take that survivalist tension into even more treacherous territory. Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Official Trailer. Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up will be in UK & Irish cinemas from 13th February 2026. Mother Mary Ultimately, the Mother Mary trailer establishes a compelling promise: a film that uses the theatricality of the music industry to explore something primal about identity and obsession. Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come In the trailer for Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come establishes a new, thrilling chapter. It’s a sequel that dares to go bigger, transforming a single family’s twisted tradition into a full-scale, world-controlling bloodsport. Shelter People We Meet On Vacation People We Meet On Vacation looks set to be a thoroughly British affair in its tone and appeal—a charming, heartfelt escape, promising both belly laughs and a good cry. Doctor Plague Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery This first glimpse of Wake Up Dead Man isn’t just a trailer; it’s a brilliant statement of intent. The film looks primed to be a festive treat for audiences looking for a compelling, cleverly constructed mystery. Michael Michael is set to arrive in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on the 24th of April 2026, and based on this compelling first look, the world will indeed be waiting. The Carpenter's Son We anticipate that The Carpenter's Son will be less of a retelling and more of a deeply disquieting examination of power, temptation, and the human cost of being chosen. It arrives on 21st November. Eternity Eternity looks set to be a sophisticated, imaginative film that avoids the usual genre clichés by grounding its absurd plot in stellar performances. Kontinental '25 The promotional material and critical buzz surrounding Kontinental ’25 confirm that the winner of the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Screenplay is not only back, but operating at a fever pitch of urgency and daring. Anniversary Kenny Dalglish It's rare for a documentary trailer to stir the soul quite as effectively as the first look at Kenny Dalglish, the upcoming feature focusing on the life and legacy of one of British football's most revered and complex figures. Is This Thing On? Searchlight Pictures has premiered the teaser trailer for Is This Thing On?, and it suggests we are in for a sharp, melancholic comedy that mines the humour and heartbreak of mid-life crisis through the lens of stand-up. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere The first official trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the biopic chronicling the turbulent creation of the 1982 masterpiece Nebraska, has landed. The Bride The latest tease for The Bride, the highly anticipated 2026 offering from Maggie Gyllenhaal, has dropped, and if this brief glimpse is anything to go by, British cinema-goers should prepare themselves for a truly spectacular and unsettling cinematic experience.

Help from filmmaker Blake Ridder releases official trailer. Watch the trailer for Help from filmmaker Blake Ridder.. Brand new film trailers. Help Official Trailer Help from filmmaker Blake Ridder releases official trailer Ridder Films, in association with Executive Producer Lucas A. Ferrara, have shared the new trailer and poster for their award-winning psychological thriller HELP, which will be available on digital download in the UK, USA and Canada from the 15th February (14th February on UK iTunes). HELP was filmed over just 12 days. Due to UK lockdown restrictions, only 20 cast and crew members were involved. HELP is a testament to producing high-quality films during such a turbulent time. A young woman's life turns chaotic when she uncovers a deadly secret about her friend...A painful break up prompts Grace to visit her friend Liv who is living in the idyllic English countryside with her boyfriend Edward and his dog Polly. The trio start the weekend in high spirits but soon turns into chaos, as well-kept secrets are exposed and the friends come to see each other in a whole new light. Everyone has a secret... HELP boasts an impressive cast of promising actors of Louis James (The English Teacher, A Simple Robbery), Emily Redpath (Romeo and Juliet, Casualty), Sarah Alexandra Marks (Glamour, Psychosis) and including a cameo performance from iconic boyband Blue's very own Duncan James! With a plot as dark as HELP’s, you might not expect to see former boyband member Duncan James' cameo, but the unlikely pairing came about organically. “I met Louis whilst filming in Liverpool, a mutual friend introduced us, and we immediately struck up a friendship” , explains James. “His passion was palpable and there was a lot of mutual respect. I watched his performance in a few of Ridder’s short films, such as ‘The English Teacher’ and ‘A Simple Robbery’ and thought he was great, so I wanted to support him and be involved in his next project” . Read our Help film review . The Moment The Land of Sometimes Twins Alfie and Elise find a magical Wish Watch on Christmas Eve and are swept by the Wish Collector into the musical Land of Sometimes, where they learn that wishes have consequences. Avengers: Doomsday Fans are elated at the release of the first teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. Set for a theatrical release on 18th December 2026, find out more here. Greenland 2: Migration Now, the first official trailer for the sequel, Greenland 2: Migration, has landed, promising to take that survivalist tension into even more treacherous territory. Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Official Trailer. Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up will be in UK & Irish cinemas from 13th February 2026. Mother Mary Ultimately, the Mother Mary trailer establishes a compelling promise: a film that uses the theatricality of the music industry to explore something primal about identity and obsession. Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come In the trailer for Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come establishes a new, thrilling chapter. It’s a sequel that dares to go bigger, transforming a single family’s twisted tradition into a full-scale, world-controlling bloodsport. Shelter People We Meet On Vacation People We Meet On Vacation looks set to be a thoroughly British affair in its tone and appeal—a charming, heartfelt escape, promising both belly laughs and a good cry. Doctor Plague Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery This first glimpse of Wake Up Dead Man isn’t just a trailer; it’s a brilliant statement of intent. The film looks primed to be a festive treat for audiences looking for a compelling, cleverly constructed mystery. Michael Michael is set to arrive in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on the 24th of April 2026, and based on this compelling first look, the world will indeed be waiting. The Carpenter's Son We anticipate that The Carpenter's Son will be less of a retelling and more of a deeply disquieting examination of power, temptation, and the human cost of being chosen. It arrives on 21st November. Eternity Eternity looks set to be a sophisticated, imaginative film that avoids the usual genre clichés by grounding its absurd plot in stellar performances. Kontinental '25 The promotional material and critical buzz surrounding Kontinental ’25 confirm that the winner of the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Screenplay is not only back, but operating at a fever pitch of urgency and daring. Anniversary Kenny Dalglish It's rare for a documentary trailer to stir the soul quite as effectively as the first look at Kenny Dalglish, the upcoming feature focusing on the life and legacy of one of British football's most revered and complex figures. Is This Thing On? Searchlight Pictures has premiered the teaser trailer for Is This Thing On?, and it suggests we are in for a sharp, melancholic comedy that mines the humour and heartbreak of mid-life crisis through the lens of stand-up. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere The first official trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the biopic chronicling the turbulent creation of the 1982 masterpiece Nebraska, has landed. The Bride The latest tease for The Bride, the highly anticipated 2026 offering from Maggie Gyllenhaal, has dropped, and if this brief glimpse is anything to go by, British cinema-goers should prepare themselves for a truly spectacular and unsettling cinematic experience.

tick, tick…BOOM! will launch globally on Netflix and in select cinemas this Autumn. Brand new film trailers. Tick Tick Boom Teaser Trailer tick, tick…BOOM! Teaser Trailer Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda makes his feature directorial debut with tick, tick…BOOM!, an adaptation of the autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, who revolutionized theatre as the creator of Rent. The film follows Jon (Academy Award nominee and Tony Award winner Andrew Garfield), a young theatre composer who’s waiting tables at a New York City diner in 1990 while writing what he hopes will be the next great American musical. Days before he’s due to showcase his work in a make-or-break performance, Jon is feeling the pressure from everywhere: from his girlfriend Susan, who dreams of an artistic life beyond New York City; from his friend Michael, who has moved on from his dream to a life of financial security; amidst an artistic community being ravaged by the AIDS epidemic. With the clock ticking, Jon is at a crossroads and faces the question everyone must reckon with: What are we meant to do with the time we have? tick, tick…BOOM! stars Academy Award nominee & Tony Award winner Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Tony Award nominee Robin de Jesús, Tony Award nominee Joshua Henry, MJ Rodriguez, Emmy Award winner Bradley Whitford, Tariq Trotter, with Emmy and Tony Award winner Judith Light, and Vanessa Hudgens. The film is written by Tony Award winner Steven Levenson, and produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard for Imagine Entertainment, Julie Oh, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. tick, tick…BOOM! will launch globally on Netflix and in select cinemas this Autumn The Moment The Land of Sometimes Twins Alfie and Elise find a magical Wish Watch on Christmas Eve and are swept by the Wish Collector into the musical Land of Sometimes, where they learn that wishes have consequences. Avengers: Doomsday Fans are elated at the release of the first teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. Set for a theatrical release on 18th December 2026, find out more here. Greenland 2: Migration Now, the first official trailer for the sequel, Greenland 2: Migration, has landed, promising to take that survivalist tension into even more treacherous territory. Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Official Trailer. Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up will be in UK & Irish cinemas from 13th February 2026. Mother Mary Ultimately, the Mother Mary trailer establishes a compelling promise: a film that uses the theatricality of the music industry to explore something primal about identity and obsession. Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come In the trailer for Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come establishes a new, thrilling chapter. It’s a sequel that dares to go bigger, transforming a single family’s twisted tradition into a full-scale, world-controlling bloodsport. Shelter People We Meet On Vacation People We Meet On Vacation looks set to be a thoroughly British affair in its tone and appeal—a charming, heartfelt escape, promising both belly laughs and a good cry. Doctor Plague Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery This first glimpse of Wake Up Dead Man isn’t just a trailer; it’s a brilliant statement of intent. The film looks primed to be a festive treat for audiences looking for a compelling, cleverly constructed mystery. Michael Michael is set to arrive in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on the 24th of April 2026, and based on this compelling first look, the world will indeed be waiting. The Carpenter's Son We anticipate that The Carpenter's Son will be less of a retelling and more of a deeply disquieting examination of power, temptation, and the human cost of being chosen. It arrives on 21st November. Eternity Eternity looks set to be a sophisticated, imaginative film that avoids the usual genre clichés by grounding its absurd plot in stellar performances. Kontinental '25 The promotional material and critical buzz surrounding Kontinental ’25 confirm that the winner of the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Screenplay is not only back, but operating at a fever pitch of urgency and daring. Anniversary Kenny Dalglish It's rare for a documentary trailer to stir the soul quite as effectively as the first look at Kenny Dalglish, the upcoming feature focusing on the life and legacy of one of British football's most revered and complex figures. Is This Thing On? Searchlight Pictures has premiered the teaser trailer for Is This Thing On?, and it suggests we are in for a sharp, melancholic comedy that mines the humour and heartbreak of mid-life crisis through the lens of stand-up. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere The first official trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the biopic chronicling the turbulent creation of the 1982 masterpiece Nebraska, has landed. The Bride The latest tease for The Bride, the highly anticipated 2026 offering from Maggie Gyllenhaal, has dropped, and if this brief glimpse is anything to go by, British cinema-goers should prepare themselves for a truly spectacular and unsettling cinematic experience.

Cry Macho Official Trailer Released by Warner Bros. Starring (and directed by) Clint Eastwood, Cry Macho is due for cinematic release in November 2021.. Brand new film trailers. Cry Macho Official Trailer Cry Macho Official Trailer Released by Warner Bros. Starring (and directed by) Clint Eastwood, Cry Macho is due for cinematic release in November 2021. Eastwood plays a character called Miko, a one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder who takes a job to bring a man's young son home and away from his alcoholic mom. On their journey, the horseman finds redemption by teaching the boy what it means to be a good man. Based on a screenplay by Nick Schenk and N. Richard Nash, Cry Macho looks to be a return to the Western genre for Client Eastwood. The film also stars Dwight Yoakam and Fernanda Urrejola. If you enjoyed the Cry Macho Official Trailer , let us know on social and share. The Moment The Land of Sometimes Twins Alfie and Elise find a magical Wish Watch on Christmas Eve and are swept by the Wish Collector into the musical Land of Sometimes, where they learn that wishes have consequences. Avengers: Doomsday Fans are elated at the release of the first teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. Set for a theatrical release on 18th December 2026, find out more here. Greenland 2: Migration Now, the first official trailer for the sequel, Greenland 2: Migration, has landed, promising to take that survivalist tension into even more treacherous territory. Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Official Trailer. Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up will be in UK & Irish cinemas from 13th February 2026. Mother Mary Ultimately, the Mother Mary trailer establishes a compelling promise: a film that uses the theatricality of the music industry to explore something primal about identity and obsession. Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come In the trailer for Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come establishes a new, thrilling chapter. It’s a sequel that dares to go bigger, transforming a single family’s twisted tradition into a full-scale, world-controlling bloodsport. Shelter People We Meet On Vacation People We Meet On Vacation looks set to be a thoroughly British affair in its tone and appeal—a charming, heartfelt escape, promising both belly laughs and a good cry. Doctor Plague Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery This first glimpse of Wake Up Dead Man isn’t just a trailer; it’s a brilliant statement of intent. The film looks primed to be a festive treat for audiences looking for a compelling, cleverly constructed mystery. Michael Michael is set to arrive in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on the 24th of April 2026, and based on this compelling first look, the world will indeed be waiting. The Carpenter's Son We anticipate that The Carpenter's Son will be less of a retelling and more of a deeply disquieting examination of power, temptation, and the human cost of being chosen. It arrives on 21st November. Eternity Eternity looks set to be a sophisticated, imaginative film that avoids the usual genre clichés by grounding its absurd plot in stellar performances. Kontinental '25 The promotional material and critical buzz surrounding Kontinental ’25 confirm that the winner of the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Screenplay is not only back, but operating at a fever pitch of urgency and daring. Anniversary Kenny Dalglish It's rare for a documentary trailer to stir the soul quite as effectively as the first look at Kenny Dalglish, the upcoming feature focusing on the life and legacy of one of British football's most revered and complex figures. Is This Thing On? Searchlight Pictures has premiered the teaser trailer for Is This Thing On?, and it suggests we are in for a sharp, melancholic comedy that mines the humour and heartbreak of mid-life crisis through the lens of stand-up. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere The first official trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the biopic chronicling the turbulent creation of the 1982 masterpiece Nebraska, has landed. The Bride The latest tease for The Bride, the highly anticipated 2026 offering from Maggie Gyllenhaal, has dropped, and if this brief glimpse is anything to go by, British cinema-goers should prepare themselves for a truly spectacular and unsettling cinematic experience.

Directed by Andy Serkis, screenplay by Kelly Marcel, and story by Tom Hardy. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is due to release in cinemas September 15th 2021. . Brand new film trailers. Venom Let There Be Carnage Trailer Venom: Let There By Carnage Official Trailer Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of MARVEL's greatest and most complex characters. Directed by Andy Serkis, the film also stars Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, in the role of the villain Cletus Kasady/Carnage. Directed by Andy Serkis, screenplay by Kelly Marcel, and story by Tom Hardy. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is due to release in cinemas September 15th 2021. Read our Venom film review to find out what we thought of the first film. The Moment The Land of Sometimes Twins Alfie and Elise find a magical Wish Watch on Christmas Eve and are swept by the Wish Collector into the musical Land of Sometimes, where they learn that wishes have consequences. Avengers: Doomsday Fans are elated at the release of the first teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. Set for a theatrical release on 18th December 2026, find out more here. Greenland 2: Migration Now, the first official trailer for the sequel, Greenland 2: Migration, has landed, promising to take that survivalist tension into even more treacherous territory. Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Official Trailer. Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up will be in UK & Irish cinemas from 13th February 2026. Mother Mary Ultimately, the Mother Mary trailer establishes a compelling promise: a film that uses the theatricality of the music industry to explore something primal about identity and obsession. Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come In the trailer for Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come establishes a new, thrilling chapter. It’s a sequel that dares to go bigger, transforming a single family’s twisted tradition into a full-scale, world-controlling bloodsport. Shelter People We Meet On Vacation People We Meet On Vacation looks set to be a thoroughly British affair in its tone and appeal—a charming, heartfelt escape, promising both belly laughs and a good cry. Doctor Plague Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery This first glimpse of Wake Up Dead Man isn’t just a trailer; it’s a brilliant statement of intent. The film looks primed to be a festive treat for audiences looking for a compelling, cleverly constructed mystery. Michael Michael is set to arrive in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on the 24th of April 2026, and based on this compelling first look, the world will indeed be waiting. The Carpenter's Son We anticipate that The Carpenter's Son will be less of a retelling and more of a deeply disquieting examination of power, temptation, and the human cost of being chosen. It arrives on 21st November. Eternity Eternity looks set to be a sophisticated, imaginative film that avoids the usual genre clichés by grounding its absurd plot in stellar performances. Kontinental '25 The promotional material and critical buzz surrounding Kontinental ’25 confirm that the winner of the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Screenplay is not only back, but operating at a fever pitch of urgency and daring. Anniversary Kenny Dalglish It's rare for a documentary trailer to stir the soul quite as effectively as the first look at Kenny Dalglish, the upcoming feature focusing on the life and legacy of one of British football's most revered and complex figures. Is This Thing On? Searchlight Pictures has premiered the teaser trailer for Is This Thing On?, and it suggests we are in for a sharp, melancholic comedy that mines the humour and heartbreak of mid-life crisis through the lens of stand-up. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere The first official trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the biopic chronicling the turbulent creation of the 1982 masterpiece Nebraska, has landed. The Bride The latest tease for The Bride, the highly anticipated 2026 offering from Maggie Gyllenhaal, has dropped, and if this brief glimpse is anything to go by, British cinema-goers should prepare themselves for a truly spectacular and unsettling cinematic experience.

In A Boy Called Christmas, an ordinary young boy called Nikolas sets out on an extraordinary adventure into the snowy north in search of his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of the elves, Elfhelm.. Brand new film trailers. A Boy Called Christmas Trailer On Sky Cinema and in cinemas across the UK & Ireland from 26 November Christmas comes early with the launch of the main trailer for Gil Kenan ’s (Monster House, Ghostbusters: Afterlife ) live-action magical adventure A Boy Called Christmas , a Sky Original . The film boasts an incredible ensemble cast including newcomer Henry Lawfull as protagonist, Nikolas, Toby Jones (Infamous , Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ), Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water , Paddington 1 & 2 ), Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, Wonder Woman 1984 ), Michiel Huisman (The Haunting of Hill House, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), Zoe Colletti (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), Stephen Merchant (Jojo Rabbit, Fighting With My Family, Logan ) Jim Broadbent (Paddington 1 & 2, The Iron Lady ) and Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey, Harry Potter ) and Indica Watson (Gold Digger, Radioactive). In A Boy Called Christmas , an ordinary young boy called Nikolas sets out on an extraordinary adventure into the snowy north in search of his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of the elves, Elfhelm. Taking with him a headstrong reindeer called Blitzen and a loyal pet mouse, Nikolas soon meets his destiny in this magical, comic and endearing story that proves nothing is impossible… Ol Parker (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ) and Gil Kenan adapted the screenplay from the bestselling book by Matt Haig , the first of 5 books in the acclaimed series, all of which are published by Canongate Books. The film is produced by STUDIOCANAL with Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin of BAFTA and Academy Award® winning Blueprint Pictures. The film will be released on Sky Cinema, on streaming service NOW and in cinemas on 26 November. The Moment The Land of Sometimes Twins Alfie and Elise find a magical Wish Watch on Christmas Eve and are swept by the Wish Collector into the musical Land of Sometimes, where they learn that wishes have consequences. Avengers: Doomsday Fans are elated at the release of the first teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. Set for a theatrical release on 18th December 2026, find out more here. Greenland 2: Migration Now, the first official trailer for the sequel, Greenland 2: Migration, has landed, promising to take that survivalist tension into even more treacherous territory. Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Official Trailer. Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up will be in UK & Irish cinemas from 13th February 2026. Mother Mary Ultimately, the Mother Mary trailer establishes a compelling promise: a film that uses the theatricality of the music industry to explore something primal about identity and obsession. Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come In the trailer for Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come establishes a new, thrilling chapter. It’s a sequel that dares to go bigger, transforming a single family’s twisted tradition into a full-scale, world-controlling bloodsport. Shelter People We Meet On Vacation People We Meet On Vacation looks set to be a thoroughly British affair in its tone and appeal—a charming, heartfelt escape, promising both belly laughs and a good cry. Doctor Plague Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery This first glimpse of Wake Up Dead Man isn’t just a trailer; it’s a brilliant statement of intent. The film looks primed to be a festive treat for audiences looking for a compelling, cleverly constructed mystery. Michael Michael is set to arrive in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on the 24th of April 2026, and based on this compelling first look, the world will indeed be waiting. The Carpenter's Son We anticipate that The Carpenter's Son will be less of a retelling and more of a deeply disquieting examination of power, temptation, and the human cost of being chosen. It arrives on 21st November. Eternity Eternity looks set to be a sophisticated, imaginative film that avoids the usual genre clichés by grounding its absurd plot in stellar performances. Kontinental '25 The promotional material and critical buzz surrounding Kontinental ’25 confirm that the winner of the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Screenplay is not only back, but operating at a fever pitch of urgency and daring. Anniversary Kenny Dalglish It's rare for a documentary trailer to stir the soul quite as effectively as the first look at Kenny Dalglish, the upcoming feature focusing on the life and legacy of one of British football's most revered and complex figures. Is This Thing On? Searchlight Pictures has premiered the teaser trailer for Is This Thing On?, and it suggests we are in for a sharp, melancholic comedy that mines the humour and heartbreak of mid-life crisis through the lens of stand-up. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere The first official trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the biopic chronicling the turbulent creation of the 1982 masterpiece Nebraska, has landed. The Bride The latest tease for The Bride, the highly anticipated 2026 offering from Maggie Gyllenhaal, has dropped, and if this brief glimpse is anything to go by, British cinema-goers should prepare themselves for a truly spectacular and unsettling cinematic experience.

Vivo follows a one-of-kind kinkajou (aka a rainforest “honey bear,” voiced by Miranda), who spends his days playing music to the crowds in a lively square with his beloved owner Andrés (Buena Vista Social Club’s Juan de Marcos).. Brand new film trailers. Vivo Official Trailer Vivo Official Netflix Film Trailer Released From Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation — the studio that brought you Oscar winner Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and this year's critically acclaimed blockbuster The Mitchells vs. The Machines — comes Vivo , an animated musical adventure featuring all-new songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony, Grammy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of Hamilton and In the Heights . Vivo follows a one-of-kind kinkajou (aka a rainforest “honey bear,” voiced by Miranda), who spends his days playing music to the crowds in a lively square with his beloved owner Andrés (Buena Vista Social Club’s Juan de Marcos). Though they may not speak the same language, Vivo and Andrés are the perfect duo through their common love of music. But when tragedy strikes shortly after Andrés receives a letter from the famous Marta Sandoval (three-time Grammy-winning Latin pop legend Gloria Estefan), inviting her old partner to her farewell concert with the hope of reconnecting, it’s up to Vivo to deliver a message that Andrés never could: A love letter to Marta, written long ago, in the form of a song. Yet in order to get to Marta, who lives a world apart, Vivo will need the help of Gabi (newcomer Ynairaly Simo) – an energetic tween who bounces to the beat of her own offbeat drum to fulfill his owner’s wishes. Also featuring the voices of Zoe Saldaña (Guardians of the Galaxy ) as Gabi’s mother, Rosa; Michael Rooker as a villainous Everglades python, Lutador; Brian Tyree Henry and Nicole Byer as a pair of star-crossed spoonbills; and Katie Lowes, Olivia Trujillo, and Lidya Jewett as a trio of well-meaning but overzealous scout troops, VIVO is an exhilarating story about gathering your courage, finding family in unlikely friends, and the belief that music can open you to new worlds. The film is directed by Oscar nominee Kirk DeMicco (The Croods ), co-directed by Brandon Jeffords (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2) , written by Quiara Alegria Hudes (In the Heights ), produced by Lisa Stewart (Monsters vs. Aliens ), Michelle Wong (Hotel Transylvania 2 ) and Oscar winner Rich Moore (Zootopia ), with visual consultation by Oscar winning cinematographer Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049 ). Serving as the film’s composer and executive music producer is Tony and Grammy award-winner Alex Lacamoire (The Greatest Showman ), and the film is executive produced by Miranda, Golden Globe winner Laurence Mark (Dreamgirls ), and Louis Koo Tin Lok (The Mitchells vs. The Machines ). Vivi is in select UK cinemas on 30th July and on Netflix on 6th August. The Moment The Land of Sometimes Twins Alfie and Elise find a magical Wish Watch on Christmas Eve and are swept by the Wish Collector into the musical Land of Sometimes, where they learn that wishes have consequences. Avengers: Doomsday Fans are elated at the release of the first teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. Set for a theatrical release on 18th December 2026, find out more here. Greenland 2: Migration Now, the first official trailer for the sequel, Greenland 2: Migration, has landed, promising to take that survivalist tension into even more treacherous territory. Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up Official Trailer. Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up will be in UK & Irish cinemas from 13th February 2026. Mother Mary Ultimately, the Mother Mary trailer establishes a compelling promise: a film that uses the theatricality of the music industry to explore something primal about identity and obsession. Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come In the trailer for Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come establishes a new, thrilling chapter. It’s a sequel that dares to go bigger, transforming a single family’s twisted tradition into a full-scale, world-controlling bloodsport. Shelter People We Meet On Vacation People We Meet On Vacation looks set to be a thoroughly British affair in its tone and appeal—a charming, heartfelt escape, promising both belly laughs and a good cry. Doctor Plague Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery This first glimpse of Wake Up Dead Man isn’t just a trailer; it’s a brilliant statement of intent. The film looks primed to be a festive treat for audiences looking for a compelling, cleverly constructed mystery. Michael Michael is set to arrive in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on the 24th of April 2026, and based on this compelling first look, the world will indeed be waiting. The Carpenter's Son We anticipate that The Carpenter's Son will be less of a retelling and more of a deeply disquieting examination of power, temptation, and the human cost of being chosen. It arrives on 21st November. Eternity Eternity looks set to be a sophisticated, imaginative film that avoids the usual genre clichés by grounding its absurd plot in stellar performances. Kontinental '25 The promotional material and critical buzz surrounding Kontinental ’25 confirm that the winner of the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Screenplay is not only back, but operating at a fever pitch of urgency and daring. Anniversary Kenny Dalglish It's rare for a documentary trailer to stir the soul quite as effectively as the first look at Kenny Dalglish, the upcoming feature focusing on the life and legacy of one of British football's most revered and complex figures. Is This Thing On? Searchlight Pictures has premiered the teaser trailer for Is This Thing On?, and it suggests we are in for a sharp, melancholic comedy that mines the humour and heartbreak of mid-life crisis through the lens of stand-up. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere The first official trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the biopic chronicling the turbulent creation of the 1982 masterpiece Nebraska, has landed. The Bride The latest tease for The Bride, the highly anticipated 2026 offering from Maggie Gyllenhaal, has dropped, and if this brief glimpse is anything to go by, British cinema-goers should prepare themselves for a truly spectacular and unsettling cinematic experience.

Read the film podcast transcript from the episode titled Conclave - Rumours - Red One - Moana 2 - That Christmas - UK Film Club Ep 22 on UK Film Club part of the UK Film Review Podcast. < Back Conclave - Rumours - Red One - Moana 2 - That Christmas - UK Film Club Ep 22 Listen to This Episode UK Film Club 00:00:00.01 Brian Penn to catch what I've had, you know. 00:00:01.89 Chris Olson You don't want to give our listeners something you know through their headphones, you know something like that. 00:00:07.79 Brian Penn you? You'll never be sure about these things, but I'm over the worst, but there is a lot of it about, as they say. 00:00:14.40 Chris Olson Yeah, absolutely. It's that time of year. um yeah Everyone's got Christmas cheer, but we've also got the Christmas sniffles. 00:00:22.01 Brian Penn and I know, I know. Well, up the weather's colder, isn't it? I mean, you think all these germs would be killed by the by the cold weather, but it's sometimes the opposite, isn't it? You know, you're almost more vulnerable in a way, but there you are, soldier on, you know, these things, all these things are a sense of choice. 00:00:39.65 Chris Olson Yeah, it's funny, because everyone's watching Christmas films, but it could also be a period where you could be watching, you know, like Contagion or something like that, you know, films about disease passing on. 00:00:49.81 Brian Penn Yeah. No. 00:00:52.05 Chris Olson um There was, I'm trying to remember that film, there was a film, I think we reviewed it, didn't we with them? 00:00:53.13 Brian Penn Well, I don't. Yeah. Carry on. Sorry. 00:01:01.09 Chris Olson Then to Washington, where there's like a disease like or like a sinister thing that keeps getting passed from person to person, it touches someone. 00:01:08.30 Brian Penn Oh, yeah, yeah. 00:01:09.94 Chris Olson I'm trying to remember what it's called. But that's a bit what this season's like, isn't it? You sort of go anywhere near someone and you get that evil thing, you know? 00:01:14.43 Brian Penn Yeah, I know. Yeah, I know. But, you know, Christmas time, everyone's out, aren't they? Everyone's meeting been up with friends and family, catching up with each other. So you've got more people in one place, haven't you? So you kind of expect it. but I mean, you're just talking now about the number of Christmas movies that that we're watching at the moment. I don't know whether it's my imagination, but there seems to be more Christmas movies on general release now than in previous years. I just wonder whether, as a genre, it's it's back with Avengers on the big screen. 00:01:43.67 Chris Olson I think so. I think it lends itself very nicely to the streaming idea because a lot of those naff Christmas films that used to end up on like the Hallmark Channel or Channel 5 or something, they are perfect fodder for streaming that want to buy up films cheap. 00:01:49.20 Brian Penn yeah 00:01:59.41 Brian Penn yeah Yeah. 00:02:02.22 Chris Olson Like we reviewed that one on the last episode and it was okay but 00:02:04.45 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:02:07.22 Chris Olson it felt like yeah yeah they didn't have massive names in it, and it was it was fairly contained. 00:02:09.69 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:02:14.00 Chris Olson So I think they're quite a good thing to run out. And also, I think with Christmas films, they get lots of multi-plays, right? You will watch it maybe this year, maybe next year, maybe the year after. 00:02:22.30 Brian Penn yeah yeah 00:02:24.53 Chris Olson Whereas like a great thriller, you might only play that thriller once. 00:02:24.87 Brian Penn yeah 00:02:28.83 Brian Penn I know, I know. They have that perennial appeal, don't they? 00:02:31.62 Chris Olson Mm. 00:02:32.25 Brian Penn I mean, Christmas is significant for all of us, isn't it? There are some people that hate Christmas. There are all kinds of valid reasons, but personally, I love Christmas, everything associated with it. 00:02:36.89 Chris Olson Mm. 00:02:41.05 Chris Olson Mm. 00:02:41.55 Brian Penn But it is a very sentimental time, isn't it? It's a time for reminiscing and taking stock, isn't it? right 00:02:47.35 Chris Olson Yeah and I think also it's that time of year that the you throw caution to the wind slightly you know you indulge and that comes through in the movies as well. I think we can be very forgiving of Christmas movies whereas we wouldn't necessarily be that forgiving if they were presented as a normal mainstream cinema release for example and And yeah, I think it depends on your approach and your feelings. Yeah, you are right. A lot of people don't like Christmas. And don't worry, listeners. Dear listener, if you are listening to this, there are plenty of films in this episode that are not Christmas christmas related. There's only a couple that are actually, to be honest. 00:03:23.82 Chris Olson um And if you are a brand new listener to the UK Film Club podcast, I'm Chris, Brian is my co-host, and we review all manner of films, including Chris. 00:03:37.78 Brian Penn yeah 00:03:38.52 Chris Olson i mean We probably do it a bit more than we should, but we also a review 00:03:42.12 Brian Penn He likes it. Oh don't we be honest, we like it. 00:03:44.36 Chris Olson love it. We love it. um But we also review cinema releases, streaming films, indie films and what we call our nostalgia pick, which is a film from the past. 00:03:47.76 Brian Penn Some monster isn't it really? 00:03:55.19 Chris Olson And this one is an absolute classic on the episode today. I mean, yeah, you just can't get away from that movie at Christmas, but we're not going to start there. 00:04:04.96 Brian Penn a know 00:04:07.66 Chris Olson We're going to start at the beginning because that's where everyone starts, really, unless you're Christopher Nolan. 00:04:10.43 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:04:13.32 Chris Olson We're going to start at the beginning, um which is with a release in the cinemas currently. 00:04:14.36 Brian Penn I like it. 00:04:20.81 Chris Olson It's a PG, but I will say this might not be for younger viewers. The film is called Conclave starring Ralph Fiennes. 00:04:26.92 Brian Penn Oh, yeah. 00:04:29.02 Chris Olson Over to you, Brian. 00:04:30.70 Brian Penn Yeah. So Conclave, directed by Eber Burger, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow. So let's set the scene. The Pope has just died and Cardinal Lawrence has a task of leading the process to select the new Pope. The Cardinal was jockey for for position as alliances are formed and broken. Bellini is the liberal reforming candidate. Tremblay, a moderate conservative. Adeyemi, a modernist. And Tradesco, a reactionary with premise of views of the church and its role in the world. As successive rounds of voting 00:05:09.69 Brian Penn fail to produce an overall winner deep rooted secrets begin to unravel so that's that's the story in a nutshell um this is real quality it's a very very good film but threat might not be for everyone as you say not necessarily particularly suitable for for young kids i mean it's a 15 i think isn't it i think you mentioned 00:05:23.65 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:05:34.24 Chris Olson Well, it says PG on IM2. 00:05:36.61 Brian Penn um pj ago i fifteen 00:05:37.47 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:05:38.56 Brian Penn oh i beg you but 00:05:39.12 Chris Olson Oh, wow. That's a big difference. 00:05:40.75 Brian Penn Yeah, that is a big difference, isn't it? I don't know what made me think, you see, that's how my perception has changed over the years. I almost don't recognise the ratings there. It's a quality film. It deals with the mistakes surrounding the Roman Catholic Church. It shows that Godliness doesn't always bring out the best in people. And also it shows that we're all human and have the same weaknesses. Great cast, as I say, Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Suchi, John Lithgow, you can't go wrong. The imagery is amazing. 00:06:10.27 Brian Penn I think the the way they capture the process, which is still shrouded in mystery. We all know about the comic label and the way it works. We all know about the um white smoke and the puff of black smoke. We know how all that works, but this gives gives you ah some insight. I'm not sure how accurate it is. They're much of its dramatic license, but I think it sheds light oh on what can happen, what can be at play. 00:06:39.16 Brian Penn and what comes to light because people are only human after all so very serious subject matter it's not a comedy it's it's a drama it's a thriller so it might explain why it's got a PG racing but to me they're very fine lines you've got to draw the line somewhere I guess but it's a good film it's a very good film just very well made beautiful to look at Rome looks great how could you not make look Rome look great. you know ah but yeah Good film. Very good film. 00:07:13.69 Chris Olson Well, I mean, it's the sort of movie that I would definitely pop on, you know, if I'm seeing something like that, especially with Ralph Fiennes in the yeah lead role, it's going to appeal. 00:07:24.66 Chris Olson But is it is it cinema worthy, Brian? 00:07:27.37 Brian Penn I think it is, in my opinion. 00:07:28.78 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:07:29.65 Brian Penn It does have that cinematic look about it. I think we know, don't we, that some films are built for the small screen. i it often makes more sense when films go straight to stream. 00:07:41.05 Brian Penn But it's a very fine line, but I feel that Conclave works well on the bigger screen. So I think they were right to do that. Although I'm not sure how much longer it'll be running on the big screen. 00:07:51.90 Brian Penn you know the there were very There were relatively few showings. 00:07:51.99 Chris Olson e 00:07:54.43 Brian Penn I mean, if you if you check out your local multiplex, whereas there might be 11 or 12 showings of, say, Paddington, for example, a day, a film like Conclave will get three or four, if that. 00:08:07.83 Brian Penn So, you know, it's shelf life as a theatrical release, it's very short and it will go onto stream very quickly, but that's the name of the game, isn't it? It's about where they get their exes back, isn't it? 00:08:16.93 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:08:18.99 Brian Penn So, but I know, I think, in answer to your question, I think it does deserve to be seen on the big screen. 00:08:19.97 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:08:24.73 Chris Olson Is it, would you say it's awards fodder? Do you think it's punting for some Oscars? 00:08:30.05 Brian Penn Probably not, probably not. 00:08:31.26 Chris Olson No. 00:08:32.40 Brian Penn it's It's very consistent. What you get is what you see. um such fine accents but i don't really see this as the type of film that will get many nominations would be recognised by the academy mean because i think it deals with with a vague vaguely dangerous subject a very touchy subject and that might be the reason why they avoid it now every film gets an award of some description if you look up a film online it will say one 11 awards one 00:09:06.16 Brian Penn or nominated for 63 awards but you know it could be the I don't know the it could be the the uh the Lisbon film festivals nominated for an award if you know what I mean no disrespect to to Lisbon and Portugal but you know you know every film gets an award somewhere they try and make the most of that but when we're talking about major gongs we're talking about the Oscars we're talking about BAFTA's Golden Globes they're the biggest aren't they and I can't see them getting that although 00:09:17.60 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:09:32.35 Chris Olson yeah 00:09:35.71 Brian Penn The screenplays, brilliant. The screenplays, excellent. It's very literal and very very easy to watch, I feel. 00:09:43.57 Chris Olson Yeah Hmm it feels like one of those films like when I so I've seen the trade and I've seen an obviously bits about it and you're reviewing things and I think that that's the sort of film they go for sometimes is they like that sort of classic storytelling, something a bit niche. 00:09:57.25 Brian Penn and Yeah. 00:09:58.89 Chris Olson They obviously they hate franchises and all that sort of stuff, um unless it's the sort of more technical awards. 00:10:01.59 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:10:06.39 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:10:06.54 Chris Olson But yeah ah oh yeah, I was just interested because it just had that vibe about it. But no well, yeah, who knows? 00:10:11.97 Brian Penn well I think it'd be great if it did if it did get nominated for a bigger wall, but I think it's a very sensitive subject, isn't it? 00:10:20.34 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:10:20.48 Brian Penn Anything to do with religion is. The Academy, um ah the BAFTAs, sent us to stray away from controversy. um I don't know, but I'd be delighted if it got something, because it's It's one of the best films of the year, ah in my opinion. Yeah, 00:10:39.57 Chris Olson Wow, okay. Well, Conclave, let us know if you've seen it, share your reviews. We'd love to hear them. We are moving on to another film, which I believe is on streaming at the same time as cinema. um Brian probably got know more about this, ah which is Red One. 00:10:57.43 Brian Penn yeah right, okay. You're right, it already already is streaming, but you can still see it at the cinema. um Sometimes you you just get overtaken, don't you, by the speed of processing that they put a film out there right straight to streaming. So this film is is directed by Zach Kastad starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, JK Simmons and Lucy Liu. So are you sitting comfortably? I'll begin. it's It's three days before Christmas and Santa Claus is gearing up for his busiest night of the year. 00:11:32.62 Brian Penn But he said a security cow was soon enough. After 300 years on the job, he's grown tired of so many adults being on the naughty list. But things get serious when Sansa is kidnapped by dark forces. They are in to drain his positive energy and punish anyone, not just those on the naughty list. But Zoe, head of security in the mythological world, has a plan. She she ensnares IT hacker Jack. 00:12:01.82 Brian Penn to find Sansa. He forms an unlikely partnership with Cal, but can they really say Christmas? So this will not, I'll be honest with you here, Chris, right? 00:12:12.27 Brian Penn This will not go down as a great Christmas movie. 00:12:15.45 Chris Olson No. 00:12:15.70 Brian Penn No, no, I don't think so. Not really. You'll need the odd chariot too, before you watch it. Let's put it that way. But it's, again, it's a phrase I often come back to. It's all good fun. It's harmless enough. 00:12:26.57 Brian Penn The special effects are brilliant. But again, as we said before, it's almost a standard feature of any film now that the effects are going to be good. So we, we cease to be impressed by that. 00:12:38.20 Brian Penn The plot goes a bit, a lot deeper than is necessary. Santa Claus is a simple, simple tell. It doesn't need any elaboration. So that kind of exposes a weakness. 00:12:48.74 Brian Penn Otherwise it's an okay kind of Christmas movie. I could be more brutal, but hey, seems to be good will and You're right though. It's, ah I think it's available to rent or buy on stream. 00:13:01.24 Chris Olson Well, it's been coming up on my Amazon Firestick thing. And I was like, oh, and I think what happens is often these streaming platforms are putting money behind the movies, right, to say that you can have a bit of a small window at cinema, but then it's coming straight over to the streaming platform. 00:13:16.93 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah. 00:13:18.25 Chris Olson And I think they have to go to the cinema if they want to ah get anywhere near an award, because I think the awards are very funny about that. 00:13:23.67 Brian Penn That's right. Yeah, yeah. 00:13:25.38 Chris Olson But that will probably change, to be honest, the way that things are going. 00:13:28.24 Brian Penn They'll change the rules, won't they? 00:13:28.95 Chris Olson ah you do 00:13:30.10 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:13:30.84 Chris Olson This, I mean, in fairness, this felt like, OK, yeah, you've got big names. It's a big cinema film. Put it at the cinema. There's no there's no harm in that. I think people they want to go watch a Christmas flick. It's fine. 00:13:40.68 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:13:40.94 Chris Olson um But I've not seen it. So yeah it doesn't sound like it's going to um stick around in the in the year upon year of Christmas movies. 00:13:50.03 Brian Penn Probably not. 00:13:50.10 Chris Olson You know. 00:13:50.79 Brian Penn No, it would do good business on stream. I'm sure it will, but it's not a safe, not one that's going to resonate that deeply. But you know, the unlike Dwayne Johnson, I think he has no pretensions about what he is and what he does. 00:14:02.53 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:14:04.29 Brian Penn He knows what his position is. He's not an actor. He's an action hero, more or less. And that kind of fits, this film fits his criteria, if you like. And J.K. Simmons is always good for you. Lucy Liu's very good. Chris Evans, you know, they all put in a decent shift. They all do work very well with it. But as I say, it's it's kind of like, yeah, okay, that's good. and But you say next, you know. 00:14:31.58 Chris Olson Mmm, it's like one of those throwaway gifts you get from under the present into the tree. Just okay cool Yeah, yeah, don't give me this next year Brian. 00:14:35.88 Brian Penn Yeah, and you would get it the following year. 00:14:41.10 Chris Olson All right. Don't say hey Chris. I've got a great recommendation for you um I mean, it doesn't sound that bad to be fair. We've had 00:14:47.11 Brian Penn no it's all right it's okay it's okay but i mean if you match it against similar efforts then it doesn't score very highly really but um you know you take it for what it is um you know it ticks all the boxes for a christmas movie but you you know you have to suspend your disbelief a little bit as with most films but it does the job it's it's a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours 00:15:13.43 Chris Olson you go. I don't think that's good enough for the poster. Moving on to... 00:15:16.43 Brian Penn No, I don't think it is. We're not going to make it onto the poster, are we? 00:15:19.14 Chris Olson No, they don't often put us on them, I'll be honest. 00:15:19.41 Brian Penn We're not going to be close, are we there? 00:15:22.37 Chris Olson um next Next movie is is a cinema release, and it's called Rumours, and I know nothing about this film, so I'm intrigued. 00:15:23.07 Brian Penn ah 00:15:31.09 Brian Penn Well, this is a big surprise for me. I was, as you know, always thrash around to find some good films to review for the podcast. And I was kind of running short. I'm trying to think of films that we hold over to the next edition. 00:15:45.63 Brian Penn and films that we can cover now. And I saw this film, and I thought, well, that sounds interesting. Let's give that a go. And I'm glad I did, actually. um This is directed by Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, and and Guy Madden, starring Kate Blanchett and Charles Dance. 00:16:01.59 Brian Penn So the leaders of G7 meet in a remote location to draft a statement on global change. However, they become lost in the woods. As they make their way back to civilization, they are confronted by dark forces. 00:16:11.52 Chris Olson . . . . 00:16:15.52 Brian Penn that threaten their very existence. Now, this has to be the strangest and most compelling film I've seen for a fair while. um It's loaded with symbolism. 00:16:26.27 Brian Penn The notion that leaders of the world's seven greatest democracies are lost in the woods, trying to get their bearings, but also under mortal threat from an unseen enemy, that kind of rings true. 00:16:37.27 Brian Penn you know Where we are globally, you know when you look at all the strife and trouble there is in the world, we look to our political leaders to lead us out. 00:16:37.36 Chris Olson . . . 00:16:45.51 Brian Penn of the woods, don't we? So I think the symbolism is very strong and very cleverly done. But there are certain scenes in the in the film where you go, what? Where did that come from? It's that type of thing. Alicia Vikander plays Celestine, the the president of the EU Commission, who turns up probably halfway through the film, speaking a language none of them understand. And they're all sort of saying, oh, is it Serbo-Croat? Is it Creole? And they're trying to work out out what language she's speaking. 00:17:14.22 Brian Penn They realize it's Swedish and they, well, I'm not going to give it, give it a away, but it's, it's just surreal, but I think it's a very good film and I can understand why Kate Blanchett was attracted to it because it's different. 00:17:29.58 Brian Penn It's unusual. 00:17:29.92 Chris Olson I was going to say it doesn't feel like her normal wheelhouse, does it? 00:17:32.57 Brian Penn i 00:17:32.80 Chris Olson It feels something big. 00:17:32.97 Brian Penn She's probably why she likes it, you know, um, but it's really good though. 00:17:34.95 Chris Olson oh 00:17:37.71 Brian Penn Really good. Again, a bit like bread one. ah it will have a very limited cinema release. 00:17:45.78 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:17:46.70 Brian Penn Strangely enough, I think this film probably works as well on a small screen as it does on a big screen. So it could explain why it's got such a ah limited run on theatrical release, but catch it if you can, because it is very good, very challenging, different, quirky, unusual. 00:18:05.21 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:18:09.77 Brian Penn You know, I mean, As good as most of the films are that we review, ah there're are you know there much of a muchness, salt a really. There's very little in the way of true originality. And I'm not just talking about sequels, but there are variations on a common theme. You don't mind that as long as they're entertaining and they're well-made. But this is different. I've not seen anything like this before. So it deserves a lot of credit for that. And it's quite bold as well. 00:18:37.54 Chris Olson Wow. I mean, like I said, hadn't heard about it. And when you look at the cast, you think, wow. And yeah, from your review, it does sound like that sort of film one should check out. 00:18:43.03 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:18:47.16 Chris Olson It's got a very unsettled rating on IMDB. It's 5.1 out of 10. So I think a lot of people are not liking it as much as loving it. 00:18:52.38 Brian Penn yeah Yeah. Yeah. 00:18:55.90 Chris Olson So it's probably one of those sort of very divisive pieces. um yeah 00:18:59.56 Brian Penn Yeah, that doesn't surprise me really. It's that kind of film. You know, people will either get it or they don't. I mean, I straight away, again, that's not me you know, I could be reading something into a totally false, but the symbolism was there. The implication was clear to me is that this, this is representative of the position the world's leaders are in. And maybe it's not that at all, but to me, that seems to be the point it's making and it's very well done. 00:19:29.58 Chris Olson Well, as I always say, all opinions are valid. 00:19:32.55 Brian Penn Yeah, of course not. 00:19:33.31 Chris Olson So let us know your opinion of rumors if you get to see it. 00:19:35.20 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:19:36.87 Chris Olson And we'd love to hear it. That'd be great. 00:19:38.33 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:19:38.99 Chris Olson Listeners of the podcast, rejoice. A christmas Christmas miracle has happened. I have made it to the cinema again once this year. 00:19:48.83 Brian Penn Yeah, I was going to say, it's the first time this year, is it? 00:19:49.33 Chris Olson um i I think so. No, we went, didn't we? We went to see um Fast and Furious. 00:19:55.41 Brian Penn I don't know. 00:19:56.72 Chris Olson um But yeah, I've not gone a lot and listeners will know. ah Yeah. 00:20:00.15 Brian Penn You've got kids, um yeah I mean, it's fair. 00:20:02.66 Chris Olson I've got kids, which was the only reason I was able to get to this because I saw Moana 2. 00:20:07.83 Brian Penn Ah. 00:20:07.98 Chris Olson And my kids are big fans of the first Moana film. We reviewed the film with Rain Johnson in earlier, so he's back in this film. um And yeah, it's a Disney princess, although she's not a princess, but it's kind of like a running joke in the film movie. 00:20:25.63 Chris Olson So um if you know, The gist of the first one, you'll know exactly what's going to go down in the second one. They stick very much to the formula of the animated musical. 00:20:38.27 Chris Olson And yeah, I actually i enjoyed it a lot more than some of the other critics out there have been. The the gist is that Moana is now i so the the chief of her village. 00:20:49.69 Chris Olson She's a wayfinder, but she's now trying to find her ancestors, yeah people that have been estranged across the oceans. And that's just generally the gist. 00:21:00.97 Chris Olson I don't think it's going much deeper into it than that. 00:21:01.73 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:21:03.53 Chris Olson I think it lacks the, as a lot of these musical sequels do, it lacks the same punch that the songs from the first film had. I think that happens a lot with the the very catchy songs like, say, Frozen. 00:21:10.83 Brian Penn ah Yeah. 00:21:15.78 Chris Olson They're very, very catchy. They try and do it again. And it's not quite got the same you know ah appeal. But they are pretty good. And you can always be sure with a Disney animated film like this that you're in safe hands animation wise. 00:21:28.39 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:21:28.81 Chris Olson You know, they're excellent. There's plenty of bits to laugh at. 00:21:31.10 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:21:33.22 Chris Olson There's plenty of scary bits. I took my three-year-old and seven-year-old, well, she was six then, she's only just had her birthday, but yeah, to it. And I mean, yeah, well, thank you very much. 00:21:44.12 Chris Olson They um they made it through the whole film. I was very proud of them. Didn't go out once. I think it's because they're my kids. I don't let them go out. I'm like, no, you will sit and you will watch the whole film. No, they were very good. 00:21:55.19 Chris Olson And it was a few scary bits, but generally it was fine. But yeah, no. Very good cinema film. If you've got the kids, you know, you want something to watch on the big screen, I thoroughly recommend it. 00:22:06.18 Chris Olson If you like the first one, it's very much in the same wheelhouse. um Just lost a little bit of that spark, which is inevitable with these sort of movies, I think. But yeah, Moana too. 00:22:14.62 Brian Penn ah think yeah ah I mean, I've not seen it yet, but um I've only seen trailers and so on. But I saw the first one a fair while ago, to be honest. 00:22:21.85 Chris Olson Have you seen the first one? 00:22:25.75 Brian Penn But you know um no I think this is the um this is the eternal issue that you have with follow-up films, isn't it? 00:22:26.46 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:22:35.37 Brian Penn Particularly where they're driven by the songs, aren't they? you know You know the animation is going to be good, as you say with Walt Disney. You're in good hands, you know that. um but But the songs have got to be good. They've got to work. And if they're not as strong as they were, then that that's an issue, isn't it? 00:23:04.17 Chris Olson right go but 00:23:05.59 Brian Penn Yeah, so it looks and looks really good. I mean, the there's always a consistency there, isn't there? There's very little, I feel you can criticize that severely with Walt Disney. It's what they do. you know The techniques have evolved over the years, style of animations changed. They have a certain type of song that they use. you know So in some ways they're using a formula, but I don't think there's ever been a bad Walt Disney animated feature. Some are better than others. I think that's the that's the bottom line, isn't it really? 00:23:40.02 Chris Olson Yeah and you definitely get your money's worth for something like Moana too. um So i yeah'd I'd recommend it because I liked it more than other critics out there. I found it kept its vibe enough because the best example I can give is really Frozen because Frozen 00:23:53.27 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:23:57.85 Chris Olson number two. And I felt that the drop in quality was quite big with that. 00:23:58.99 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:02.16 Chris Olson It was like, oh, they they really didn't have a story here for that second one. 00:24:02.84 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:05.13 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:05.97 Chris Olson Whereas here, more I think the story is decent enough. 00:24:09.24 Brian Penn yeah 00:24:09.28 Chris Olson And the characters are also well rounded. They've got plenty to them. The dynamic between um Yeah, the Moana character, ah and I've forgotten Dwayne Johnson's name, Maui. 00:24:22.68 Brian Penn no 00:24:22.75 Chris Olson It's a really good dynamic. and It's a bit of a shame for quite a lot of the film. They're not together. He's he's somewhere else. I won't spoil it, but once they are together, it's it's really, really good. But yeah, let us know. 00:24:32.22 Brian Penn Sorry Chris, how long was the film? How long was it last for? 00:24:36.47 Chris Olson Out of 40, that one. 00:24:38.66 Brian Penn Now that sounds a bit on the long side, were your kids okay with it? 00:24:41.06 Chris Olson With kids, yeah. 00:24:44.92 Chris Olson Yeah, they made it through. Obviously with that, especially with an animated film, there's a lot of credits. So it's probably more like hour 30, hour 35. 00:24:53.62 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:55.10 Chris Olson But no, it holds up. I would say there's not much you could trim from it. You probably could, but it's not, yeah, I didn't sit there thinking, oh God, this is going on a bit. 00:25:05.76 Brian Penn so 00:25:06.46 Chris Olson No, it kept, I feel sometimes these animated films, they start running for two hours and you think, no, you can't, that's too long. 00:25:11.29 Brian Penn I think an hour and a half is probably about an hour full so you could straight stretch it to an hour full, see that just about works. 00:25:21.09 Chris Olson yeah 00:25:21.56 Brian Penn ah I don't, you know, any longer than that, I think you're you're in trouble really. But you make an interesting point though about the opening and closing credits, because I think the pre publicity blurb kind of lies to us Chris, they lie to us. 00:25:35.74 Brian Penn They say a film's two hours 11 minutes and it ends up at one hour 59, because the closing site was going on for about 10 minutes. 00:25:40.00 Chris Olson Yeah. Okay. 00:25:43.80 Brian Penn um You know, and you think, well, I should just say that this is the opening frame, this is the closing frame. look Who stays for the closing credits anyway? 00:25:54.79 Chris Olson Well, what I'd like would be for cinemas to actually tell you when the film is going to start because we sat through 30 minutes of adverts, not trailers, adverts, before we didn't get to the trailers. 00:26:06.73 Brian Penn and and I I Yeah. 00:26:08.34 Chris Olson And I'm like, my kid has been in a seat now for 45 minutes. I'm pushing my luck as it is, um but they were transfixed. It was. my youngest's first time to the cinema so she was very much kind of like bewildered by the size of the screen and my oldest has only ever been to see Paw Patrol which she also she really enjoyed that but with this I think there was a lot more energy and you know Disney know how to hold a kid's attention I think so oh yeah they're fine um but yeah no let's know if you've seen one or two I've not heard many listen reviews I've seen create reviews um we're staying in the animated 00:26:19.31 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:26:23.25 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ah like Yeah. 00:26:35.63 Brian Penn yeah 00:26:39.91 Brian Penn yeah 00:26:47.08 Chris Olson realm and fans of this show, fans of the podcast just in general will know we're all big fans at UK Film Review of Richard Curtis. um He has written some of the best movies and even our spin-off show with Amber and Joyce is actually kind of named after the film we're going to read later. 00:27:04.81 Brian Penn absolutely 00:27:12.84 Chris Olson Their show is called Gay Actually. um So obviously we should go with Love Actually. 00:27:14.61 Brian Penn and 00:27:17.31 Chris Olson and We thought this year we couldn't miss the chance to review his latest movie because it's come out in December and it's a Christmas film and it's on Netflix so no one has any excuse not to see it. 00:27:24.05 Brian Penn Mmm. Yeah. yeah 00:27:31.09 Chris Olson It is called That Christmas and I was so excited for this I must say I was really really buzzing. 00:27:37.15 Brian Penn yeah 00:27:38.56 Chris Olson Brian did you have that same anticipation or were you not quite as mad as I am? 00:27:41.16 Brian Penn yeah No, no, no, no. Anything we Richard Curtis in is going to work for me straight away. But as as I've always said about when you're a big fan of someone, of a writer, an actor, a director, you tend to set the bar very high and you expect something special every time. 00:27:56.63 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:27:59.00 Brian Penn So, yeah, but I was always excited to see a new Richard Coates this fall. 00:28:03.75 Chris Olson And he's not done an animated film before and It's the perfect timing for that. We were talking earlier about yeah how platforms can release these movies. 00:28:15.21 Chris Olson But when it comes to animated Christmas films, that's a genre upon itself. We reviewed After Christmas in the last episode, which is still probably my favourite Christmas film of all time. 00:28:20.68 Brian Penn Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. 00:28:27.05 Chris Olson and I feel this is in that league. It's in that league with those type of movies. 00:28:31.98 Brian Penn yeah 00:28:33.71 Chris Olson You know, the snowman and stuff like that, which if you think it will become an enduring classic that Christmas. 00:28:39.14 Brian Penn I think in silent will do. I think the the gold standard for animated Christmas features will always be after Christmas. 00:28:47.31 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:28:47.95 Brian Penn That's the standard against which you would judge any any animated feature. And it's it's it's it's close, but probably not quite as good. They're very good though. 00:28:59.12 Chris Olson No, no, it's not. I mean, do if you've not seen it, the the gist is that Santa is stuck in a snowed storm. um The whole film kind of takes place in this small town yeah on the coast in the UK. Wellington, is that Wellington on sea? 00:29:16.30 Chris Olson And yeah, this this snowstorm also wreaks havoc with the the locals, families get separated. There's a snow day at school and um one child's mother, who's a nurse, has to go to work instead. 00:29:30.55 Chris Olson And he gets it's like i have home alone day, but he has to go to school. It's quite hard to wrap this up in a narrative because there's so many little subplots. 00:29:36.94 Brian Penn know. 00:29:38.26 Chris Olson But generally, it's a all things go on in one town. 00:29:38.46 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:29:42.10 Chris Olson And it kind of does follow that love, actually, sort of 00:29:42.56 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:29:44.98 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:29:45.03 Chris Olson uh multi-plot line structure which I actually at first it wasn't working for me I'll be honest so I started watching it and I started to feel a bit like oh oh this isn't working for me I'm not sure on this and it wasn't until about halfway through the film that I was like oh no no no this is good I'm happy now that I'm actually I'm in this because the latter part of the film is very very good but it is I would say it it's lacking the same 00:29:57.89 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:03.33 Brian Penn Yeah. yeah 00:30:08.36 Brian Penn yeah 00:30:14.70 Chris Olson magical charm that Arthur Christmas had, which just, but it was just full on laughs, lovely, lovely jokes, great animation. 00:30:17.36 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:21.91 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:23.23 Chris Olson With this, I think it did take a little bit more time to get going. 00:30:26.92 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:26.98 Chris Olson And I don't think the story is is as strong as Arthur Christmas. 00:30:32.25 Brian Penn it's It's very cosy, isn't it? It's what I'd call a cosy film. 00:30:35.84 Chris Olson Oh yeah. 00:30:35.85 Brian Penn play and so It's pleasant to watch. It's really nice. You don't necessarily see the the Richard Curtis touches that you'd expect. But then again, It's a children's story, isn't it? 00:30:46.05 Brian Penn so And it's based on books that you wrote for children, so you wouldn't. 00:30:46.41 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:30:50.27 Brian Penn But I suppose in my own mind, I was expecting it to have that same flair, if you like, but it couldn't. So if you just accept that it's not going to be anything like he's done before, this is a new avenue for him, isn't it? 00:31:04.36 Brian Penn But I think it's very sweet and it's endearing and the characters are very likable. The actors involved, I think, do a fantastic job. I always think voicing a cartoon character and an animated character so it is in some ways more difficult than playing somebody live on screen, because you have to inject that much more life into a voice, don't you, to to make it land properly. But Brian Cox is great as Sansa, Jodie Whittaker's great. um And it's it's so nicely done. But i think I think what I'd say is it's a grower. It's a grower. It grows on you more. 00:31:44.61 Brian Penn The more you think about it, the more you look at it. You think, yeah, this this kind of works. And I think what it does though, is that it portrays a view of life that sadly doesn't exist anymore. You know, that sense of community spirit, everyone knows everyone, everyone's mingling together, everyone looks out for everyone. If only it could be like that now, but I don't think it is. Times have changed, times have moved on, but there's no harm in wishing It was like that, I guess, but that's probably a, it's only weak spot is that you only wish it could be like that, but it, but it isn't, but it's no harm in dreaming. is So I guess. 00:32:24.30 Chris Olson Yeah, I think it had that sense of, he's done that in other films. you You watch stuff like Even Love Actually, About Time, which I absolutely love, for love that movie. 00:32:32.94 Brian Penn I love that. Yeah. 00:32:34.36 Chris Olson When he was involved, obviously, Victor of Dibley and stuff like that, which is very, it's got this rose-tinted view of English life that I think viewers just absolutely eat it up. 00:32:37.64 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:32:42.51 Brian Penn Yeah, right. 00:32:45.92 Chris Olson They love it. 00:32:46.59 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:32:46.96 Chris Olson And what I think you touched on in in your review there, that I feel with this movie, It was missing the cheekiness. He writes some really cheeky stuff. 00:32:56.34 Brian Penn Yeah, it's clever, isn't it? 00:32:57.58 Chris Olson And it's he gets it's like it's naughty, but in it's done in a way that, yeah, it's not offensive. 00:32:59.94 Brian Penn Yeah, it's clever. 00:33:03.66 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah. 00:33:03.72 Chris Olson It's not crude. And it's not like, oh, that's going to upset someone. 00:33:06.76 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:33:06.88 Chris Olson It's more like, oh, my god, I can't believe they're getting away with that. 00:33:08.92 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:33:09.53 Chris Olson um It didn't have any of that. It felt a lot more tame. And it really did feel like it was aimed at a much younger audience, which is absolutely fine. 00:33:13.54 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:33:17.45 Chris Olson I've got young kids. 00:33:17.74 Brian Penn yeah 00:33:18.29 Chris Olson theyve They both watched. 00:33:19.26 Brian Penn All right. 00:33:19.45 Chris Olson they've They've seen it, and they really liked it. um So I think you're right. I think it will kind of, I think it will stick around. It'll be a film that people will stick back on. But on first viewing, it wasn't a complete revelation to me. 00:33:33.91 Chris Olson It wasn't like, oh, wow, finally it's arrived. If anything, it made me think, do you know what? I want to go watch Love Actually, or I want to go watch one of his other movies that was a bit more cheeky, a bit more naughty. 00:33:43.23 Brian Penn well but Yeah, but the thing is though, I think we're just not used to seeing Richard Curtis right in that way. We've never seen anything like this before. 00:33:53.27 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:33:55.57 Brian Penn So we're used to seeing Knossing Hill, Four Winds and the Funeral Love actually about sign. It's it's a completely different type of writing. It's very it a very sophisticated humour. 00:34:07.88 Brian Penn um you know As I as to say, I think we need to get accustomed to Richard Curtis is writing in a certain way because we're we're not used to it. I think that's. 00:34:18.03 Chris Olson And it was good. I can't deny it was good. I liked that the animation was amazing. I thought it was brilliant. 00:34:22.97 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah. 00:34:23.91 Chris Olson um And I think there are jokes there. Also, it probably does have that and after Christmas appeal that on a rewatch, there'll be jokes that maybe we missed. 00:34:36.46 Chris Olson And so I've only seen it once. 00:34:36.60 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:34:37.82 Chris Olson And I've seen bits of it when my kids were watching it. But I think I will 100% give it another go, because I reckon there'll be bits in there that I go, oh, that's clever. Oh, well done there. 00:34:48.86 Brian Penn yeah 00:34:49.30 Chris Olson you know 00:34:50.21 Brian Penn With Richard Curtis, you go back and watch it again, there'll be something that you've missed the first time around. And it doesn't matter, any times you watch it, there will always be something you miss, something very subtle. 00:35:02.17 Brian Penn And it might just be an expression following a a throat throwaway line, but it's gold. It's and just a nugget, isn't it? You think, oh, I never noticed that. 00:35:12.15 Chris Olson Absolutely. 00:35:13.08 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:35:13.13 Chris Olson Well, listeners stay tuned because we're going to actually review Love Actually at the end of this episode. 00:35:17.69 Brian Penn yeah 00:35:18.77 Chris Olson That's how nostalgia picked this month. But we're moving on now to the indie film section of our show, which is where we review selection of movies that have been sent to us for us to review. 00:35:29.84 Chris Olson And the filmmakers have actually requested it, as opposed to Richard Curtis, who didn't ask us to lend our thoughts to his movie. 00:35:36.07 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:35:36.51 Chris Olson And with... 00:35:36.75 Brian Penn You know what, if he's listening, I mean, happily review this film if you ask this. 00:35:38.54 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:35:41.86 Chris Olson Yeah, come on, Richie, come on, come on the show. 00:35:43.36 Brian Penn Yeah. Come on, Sean. 00:35:45.02 Chris Olson um Yes, very, very honored to to have this selection of indie films to review this month, the first one of which called Opportunity. We have a clip, I believe, but it's from the filmmakers, one of the stars of the show. 00:35:55.64 Brian Penn Oh wow. 00:35:59.16 Chris Olson So here is one of the actors talking about the movie. 00:36:49.08 Chris Olson So that was ah Donny, ah well, the character of Donny Hatcher, but played by Quinn Akile, talking about the movie Opportunity, as he says, written and directed by Rusty Rael. 00:37:01.42 Chris Olson I reviewed this on the site and I think I may have done it elsewhere. But Brian, why don't you give us the rundown on Opportunity to get your words on this one? 00:37:08.71 Brian Penn Yeah. Okay. All right. Okay, though. um So Patrick who is a man living in his farm, trying to sort his life out. Having been rejected by the banks, he was also a loan shop to help him purchase a home. ah But it becomes indebted to his finances in a dangerous favor that sees him and his gullible friend, Donny, sucked into all kinds of trouble. Now, I think it's interesting, the clip that you played just now, because um 00:37:39.64 Brian Penn He touched on the idea of the underdog, basically. And we're all underdogs of one description or another, aren't we, in life? We're all trying to get ahead, aren't we? And I really enjoyed this film, actually. There's a lot going on there. Sometimes the character's motivation is difficult to understand. I mean, why does Donny hang out with this guy? i mean But then again, that's friendship, though, isn't it? And you you do help a friend out. 00:38:05.52 Brian Penn um but You know, you spend your disbelief. It's pretty raw and basic, but in some ways that's its charm. But it it kind of works. 00:38:16.27 Brian Penn It could do with a bit more polish, I think. But that'll do for me. It's good enough, you know. 00:38:22.21 Chris Olson I think when I did my review, I mentioned, because you talk about Donnie there, like, why is he friends with Patrick, that part of the appeal, I think, for anyone watching this movie is if you enjoy a good bromance, like the the the two of them are inseparable at times. 00:38:27.66 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:38:33.37 Brian Penn Oh, yeah. Yeah. 00:38:37.05 Chris Olson And, you know, much to the chagrin of Donnie's girlfriend, that I think 00:38:40.62 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:38:43.15 Chris Olson That element is quite the bedrock of opportunity. I think it is the is the film because if you don't have that central friendship and that central dynamic, it is just kind of chaos really. 00:38:56.24 Chris Olson A lot of it is just happening. 00:38:56.82 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:38:57.82 Chris Olson And yeah, I agree. It is rough around the edges. The part parts of the film you can go, yeah, they've had to, that's had to just do, you know, they've they've they've moved on and that's fine. 00:39:06.94 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:39:09.49 Chris Olson I never judge a movie if it's something that they could have avoided. I think there are certain scenes where I think they could have maybe done another take. I feel like okay the dialogue maybe wasn't quite on or um yeah there's a fuse. 00:39:17.78 Brian Penn then Yeah. 00:39:23.63 Chris Olson issues, technical, yeah so maybe go back and do it again. But it's ah generally, I thought they did very well and actually managed to pull off a full length film that felt cared for. 00:39:27.09 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:39:35.31 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:39:38.21 Chris Olson i felt like you know what they And they were making a point as well, talking about how life is now for people, um difficulty is to even get on the housing ladder and even people that have you made all the right decisions in life can still end up at the bottom of the pile because of just this sort of unfairness of it all really and that seems to it seems to be these characters are railing against that 00:39:44.48 Brian Penn yeah 00:39:52.48 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:40:02.69 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:40:03.42 Chris Olson it It felt a bit at times, like a Seth Rogen film was like, okay, that the the kind of bit wacky bits only doing things that the rest of us sort of think are a bit silly. 00:40:08.03 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:40:13.92 Chris Olson um But it I said it, again, in my room i it had a makeshift charm to it. And that I found was was endearing. um It was endearing and I think if you're on board with it, if you like twists and turns, you know, all over the place and there are some good action sequences in it as well. 00:40:33.27 Brian Penn yeah they 00:40:33.99 Chris Olson There's some stuff that was impressively filmed that it's got that 00:40:34.17 Brian Penn um yeah 00:40:40.23 Chris Olson cultish comedy kind of ah category to it. I can imagine that falling into a ah the lapse of of fans of comedy. Oh, have you seen this? Because they'll be really proud that they've seen it and other people won't necessarily have seen it. 00:40:51.48 Brian Penn yeah wait yeah In the context ah of it being an indie feature, and we know the constraints that they're working with it, 00:40:53.21 Chris Olson And yeah, I can imagine them getting a big kick out of that. 00:41:03.22 Brian Penn you never felt at any point that an hour and a half was too long. Because with some indie features, when it goes to feature length format, you do think but some films, oh, this is going on a bit too long, right? 00:41:15.30 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:41:15.36 Brian Penn But yeah and I never thought that with this film. And there's lots of good stuff going on there. I mean, there were sort of of, seizing, how can you put it, you know, Patrick seems that they both seem really interesting characters, but At one point Patrick started to describe the life he used to have when he said that I used to have a home, I used to own six digits a year. I thought I'd love to hear more about that. So the lack of a backstory or ah a sufficient backstory, that was intriguing to me. ah But again, you've only got limited resources and limited time, but they do really well with it overall. 00:41:57.98 Chris Olson Yeah, they the banter between two of them is really good. The characters are pretty fleshed out. As you said there, they give you... bits about each. I liked that you had the other element of like Donnie's girlfriend because I think otherwise it would just become oh are these two just messing around with the camera. Like I felt that they did have some characters in there for a reason and she's great actually. She's the way she hates Patrick is just brilliant. I love watching that. um But there are times where you're kind of going 00:42:30.74 Chris Olson Oh, it would have been nice if that made a bit more sense like because I think maybe they're running with a joke a bit longer than they should. or There's a bit where Patrick Yeah, they're going to go and do this thing. 00:42:46.11 Chris Olson They're going to go and ah try and make some money for the loan shark or or steal something for the loan shark. And he's like really against it. He's like, no no, we're not going to do that. And Don is like, oh, no, you should do it. And then the next scene, Patrick's just really up for it. 00:42:58.23 Chris Olson He seems to have forgotten that he was really against it. 00:43:00.88 Brian Penn Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah 00:43:00.99 Chris Olson And I felt that there was a bit of a. a lack of clarity in terms of what they were doing at times but that being said I think that is still part of its charm it's almost like it's unpredictable and it's a bit punkish it's got a punk spirit to it of like well you know you're coming along for the ride and you've got no idea where this is going it's not linear by any means and I like that they've got these modern twists you know they're talking about like crypto wallets and stuff like that but they' were also they're also sticking really with this kind of like buddy film of like a almost like a road trip film kind of and I thought I thought it worked in for the most part if you add most of parts together it works yeah 00:43:32.94 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:43:40.90 Brian Penn Yeah. I think you mentioned the girlfriend. and You don't realize how important she is to the story because she acts as a counterbalance, doesn't she really? That's something that kind of levels that relationship up between Donny and Patrick. So I think she's really important. It introduces some balance between all the characters. 00:43:59.83 Chris Olson Yeah, absolutely. ah good Good performances. It's always difficult with a feature-length comedy, I think. And the dynamic between John Waters and Quinn Achilles is really good. So yeah, if you can see it, I'd recommend finding it. I don't think it's out yet. I believe it is on a password protected link was how we watched it. 00:44:27.23 Chris Olson But yeah, if you can, I'd really yeah strongly recommend trying to see it. 00:44:31.71 Brian Penn it's hard yeah absolutely. 00:44:34.86 Chris Olson just see if you've got any information about the film. There's ah there' a website, opportunity-the-movie.com. I've not been on that. okay so I'm not going to click open right now, but it might be it might be the right one. 00:44:47.83 Brian Penn ah know one my Yeah. 00:44:49.32 Chris Olson um I think we've tagged the film as well um on our Instagram, opportunity-the-movie. so You should be able to find it. um If not, Let us know. We'll point you in the best direction that we can. 00:45:01.39 Chris Olson But it's directed by a Rusty Rail and Rail has been R-E-H-L. um Yeah, really, really interesting movie. 00:45:08.57 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. well wil 00:45:09.65 Chris Olson moving yeah Moving on now to a short film which Jason reviewed earlier in the month called Perform. And for this one, I do have a clip from the movie. 00:45:20.48 Chris Olson Here we go. 00:45:21.23 Brian Penn spoiling us he spoil 00:45:22.65 Chris Olson Merry Christmas. 00:45:47.04 Brian Penn You're spoiling us. You're spoiling us. 00:46:11.70 Chris Olson Every time I hear that actor's voice, I'm like, is that Jack Lemmon? It sounds like Jack Lemmon, which is ah John Alan Russo, who stars in Fareed Kiron's short film Perform, and Russo plays Daniel, who's an actor auditioning for a part. 00:46:16.53 Brian Penn Yeah, actually, I never thought of that. Yeah, you're right. 00:46:22.54 Brian Penn yeah 00:46:32.02 Chris Olson The audition process seems to be causing him quite a lot of distress as the lines between him and his character start to blur. um He is also engaging with Jane, who we hear in that clip, who's a young actress. She's trying to also get a role in the movie and the whole film takes on this sort of psychological edge as the intensity of Daniel's predicament becomes more clear, and the character that they mention in that clip is the role that he's going for, starts to have its own kind of evil presence within the movie. 00:47:08.96 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:47:13.03 Chris Olson um Very strong filmmaking this. I love a movie like this. 00:47:16.69 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:47:17.45 Chris Olson When I see a short film like this, you probably did the same. You kind of kick back your feet a little bit and go, hi okay, yeah, 00:47:23.08 Brian Penn yeah 00:47:23.82 Chris Olson we're in We're in good hands now. And I know we've we've reviewed Fareed Karam before. 00:47:25.38 Brian Penn yeah 00:47:28.57 Chris Olson and So there's always that sense of like when you get a short filmmaker that's done something good that we liked, I kind of go, OK, well, this should be this should be good. um But with this, I was like, yeah, this is really good. 00:47:39.86 Chris Olson really good stuff. We reviewed Undertow, I think, before. 00:47:43.05 Brian Penn oh away okay yeah that was good as well wasn't it yeah yeah 00:47:43.21 Chris Olson um yeah that was yeah Then we've reviewed that on the podcast. Go back and listen to our review of that because it was very, very good. This, I think, is a little bit better. I thought I enjoyed this even more. 00:47:54.63 Chris Olson um not least because of Russo's performance. As I said, he reminded me of Jack Lemmon and I loved the sort of desperation in his character as he was struggling to sort of see what was happening to him throughout this auditioning process. I thought it was brilliant. 00:48:11.77 Brian Penn I absolutely love this. I think it was brilliant. Very intense. The way they use light and shade is excellent. 00:48:18.99 Chris Olson Mmm, yeah. 00:48:19.95 Brian Penn Quite claustrophobic as well. But that's the intention. That's the way it's meant to be. So accomplished. You know, the greatest compliment I could pay this short feature is that it doesn't feel like a short film. 00:48:31.97 Brian Penn It feels like a trailer for a feature film. It's got that shine to it. And I think it's brilliant. I think it's one of the best short features. and um When we talk about short features, let's restrict it to say 15 minutes and below. 00:48:49.06 Brian Penn In terms of that criteria, it's one of the best we've reviewed, Chris. It's so good. 00:48:55.34 Chris Olson Definitely this year. yeah yeah We've reviewed quite a few on this podcast this year. 00:48:56.40 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:48:58.90 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:48:59.18 Chris Olson And I i was going to do that. I was going to do some kind of sort of nominations for best films and things. But if anything, I don't want to undermine the other filmmakers that we review. 00:49:09.74 Chris Olson and We will review a lot of great movies. But when you see something like perform, it really stands out. For me, I felt like he said, oh, yeah, this will this would be sort of something I would go out of my way to recommend to someone. 00:49:19.83 Chris Olson So you should watch that. um And I loved that it was you know different aspect ratio, sort of harking back to sort of old cinema, black and white, like say they use that brilliantly. 00:49:31.93 Chris Olson The sound design is just intense beyond belief that when the alarm bells are going off at one point and it's like, okay, i am I'm distressed now. 00:49:43.41 Chris Olson I'm really distressed because this character is becoming more and more unhinged. 00:49:44.44 Brian Penn yeah 00:49:47.30 Chris Olson It's getting more and more intense. 00:49:47.62 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:49:48.97 Chris Olson And I think that the filmmakers really knew what they were doing here. They keep you perfectly poised throughout and you come out of it feeling completely unnerved. 00:50:00.94 Brian Penn Yeah. I think it's got such a film noir about it as well. 00:50:04.65 Chris Olson m Yeah, definitely. 00:50:05.40 Brian Penn It's very reminiscent of that style, that approach to to making films black and white, very stark, very foreboding, very inseminating. All the indie films we review are good. I've never seen a bad one. They're all good. But sometimes here and there, one seems to stand out a bit more than others. 00:50:25.61 Chris Olson We definitely have seen some bad ones. Brian is just being nice. um On the podcast we get some good ones though, I must say. 00:50:29.29 Brian Penn west 00:50:32.24 Chris Olson um But I think you're right. Yeah, it was like the film noir, but also slightly, I had this sort of ferocious sci-fi feel to it because it was like, we don't know what's going on. 00:50:43.35 Chris Olson It felt like a bit otherworldly. And I was like, this could be that you know and like you said it does feel like it could be a proof of concept for something much much bigger i hope it is and i know we say this about a lot of short films but this i would certainly be happy to see a full leg version 00:50:52.19 Brian Penn yeah yeah yeah 00:50:59.82 Brian Penn I also wonder though if actors watch this film and it strikes a chord with them and they think oh actually that reminds me of something you know and I'd be fascinated to know if it does strike a chord with some actors when they audition for parts and people they come into contact with. 00:51:20.01 Chris Olson Well, yeah, something Jason picked up on in his review talking about, obviously, it's going through a lot of psychological ideas, but also, yes, is it reflecting more about the state of the acting business and what that does to people? 00:51:26.56 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:51:33.85 Chris Olson You know, there's been some horrific stories in the past about actors that have gone too deep into the character or yeah have ended up on medication and worse because of roles that they've gone for and even ones they've got. 00:51:35.64 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:51:39.03 Brian Penn yeah 00:51:45.51 Chris Olson the element of that fear of of being someone else too much in losing yourself. I think that is definitely going to strike a chord with people 100%. 00:51:55.00 Brian Penn Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, there's lot there so elements of method acting that it it was and probably still is to a certain extent still a very popular technique for actors. But it always reminds me of a story of um Dustin Hoffman and Lawrence Olivier. They were on the set of Marathon Man. This is mid 70s. And Dustin Hoffman being a school of being part of the school of methanaxy. We're sitting in the corner of a studio, smacking himself around the face, you know, trying to psych himself up. And Olivier looks at him and he says, Dustin, Dustin, why don't you try acting? It's a lot simpler. And it does make you wonder whether actors go too far, because it's not acting at all, is it? If you're living the part, then you're not acting, are you? 00:52:47.42 Brian Penn um but that's 00:52:48.63 Chris Olson that's how i get That's how I get psyched for the podcast. I sit there and I slap my face and I really get into it. 00:52:51.80 Brian Penn Oh, isn't it? Yeah, good yeah, yeah. 00:52:55.61 Chris Olson Trouble is I'm quite i'm a bit of a wimp, so I stop pretty quickly. 00:52:59.43 Brian Penn Yeah, you don't slap yourself too hard, do you? 00:53:00.84 Chris Olson Yeah, not too. 00:53:01.32 Brian Penn More like a tap, a gentle tap. 00:53:02.50 Chris Olson yeah um 00:53:03.64 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:53:04.76 Chris Olson But yeah, no, um we also reviewed Overshadow, by the way. So um go have a read of Patrick's review um um on na i am that. That's a really good film. the This one, performed for me, has really stood out, really stood out. And I love when we get to see the progression and the evolution of a filmmaker. So I feel very honored to have reviewed this. um It was It was on a ah Vimeo link and it didn't have a password. 00:53:34.93 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:53:36.93 Chris Olson So I think this might be available. 00:53:39.99 Brian Penn No. 00:53:40.35 Chris Olson um But I'm not going to give it out. I'm not going to share it because I've not been told I can do that. But if you go to Vimeo and have a look, yeah look for Fareed Kiron, which is K-A-I-R-O-N. 00:53:50.83 Chris Olson Look for his film called Perform. You might be able to see it. um If not, there's an Instagram for Fareed, which is at Fareed Kiron, F-A-R-E-E-D-K-I-R-O-R-O-N. 00:54:02.67 Chris Olson Sorry, I lost my way halfway through his name. 00:54:04.93 Brian Penn Oh, another feeling. 00:54:05.42 Chris Olson reggies for that But it's late and um it's Christmas. So yeah, Perform. 00:54:09.19 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:54:10.68 Chris Olson Very, very good. Well done to all involved. 00:54:11.61 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:54:12.60 Chris Olson And I still think he sounds like Jack Lemmon, which is no bad thing. 00:54:14.83 Brian Penn That's a 00:54:16.24 Chris Olson I love Jack Lemmon. 00:54:18.25 Brian Penn bad thing, really. 00:54:18.31 Chris Olson Glenn Ross is one of the greatest films ever made. 00:54:19.21 Brian Penn That's a bad thing. Yeah, oh. 00:54:21.55 Chris Olson So, yeah. 00:54:22.82 Brian Penn Oh, tell me about it. That's fantastic. 00:54:24.45 Chris Olson We haven't done that yet. Have we on the old nostalgia? 00:54:26.24 Brian Penn No, not that we are. 00:54:26.73 Chris Olson We've got to get that on the list. 00:54:27.31 Brian Penn No. Yeah. 00:54:28.95 Chris Olson um This next film is an indie film that was sent to us, but it also had a cinematic release. Unfortunately, Brian didn't get to see this one because the link we had expired and there's been some technical issues. 00:54:39.78 Chris Olson but I'm going to talk about it because I have reviewed it and I've reviewed it on the website. 00:54:41.29 Brian Penn ah 00:54:43.94 Chris Olson It's called Ball Street and it had a very short run at the Ritzy Cinema in London if anyone got to see it and I think it might be playing a few sort of select cinemas in the UK but it's an American piece written and directed by Lynne Dowell. 00:55:01.39 Chris Olson It stars 00:55:02.63 Brian Penn Okay. 00:55:02.71 Chris Olson ah Melinda Hale as Luesta Gibbs, small-town lawyer, must take on the case of her life when her estranged father turns up dead. 00:55:06.97 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:55:10.56 Chris Olson The passing of her dad brings uncertainty surrounding their family home, which she shares with her grandmother, Mrs. Big Gal, who is absolutely brilliantly played by Loretta Devone. 00:55:22.31 Chris Olson But then her biological sister Kendra returns and she's also a lawyer but with a Harvard background and she's come to take what she feels is rightfully hers. It's a legal drama with, it's peppered with comedy, but largely it is, I would say it's a drama. 00:55:40.19 Chris Olson um Set in Southern America, it's got that lovely, you know, that's that those accents, you know what I mean? you they're they're eating They're eating all the really good food, and that's how I feel yeah the Southern America is. 00:55:47.32 Brian Penn yeah 00:55:49.67 Brian Penn and Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:55:53.04 Chris Olson It's got that charm in spades. But there's this legal drama going on um as this sort of underdog, Luesta, hopes to take on the the big rich family plus the town mayor and lots of corruption that's going on because of the construction business. She's trying to protect her family home from these people, but there is lots of questions about her inheritance, about her family home, how she came to own it. 00:56:22.88 Chris Olson And yes, I won't go into too much because I think there's too much that could be spoiled here. the So, Bald Street is one of those films that knows exactly the tone that it's going for. 00:56:36.47 Chris Olson It feels like almost is a slightly lighthearted, but it knows that it's fairly serious. It knows that it's going through some pretty serious topics. You know, you've got things like racial injustice in there, inheritance, 00:56:45.98 Brian Penn Mm. 00:56:49.32 Chris Olson um family feuds it it goes over a few a few decades almost centuries actually in terms of how this happens and it's talking about this idea of land ownership and how that is still a massive you know talking point and issue in especially American society, yeah where black families, black people were never able to own land. And even when they were able to get some, they still never properly owned it because they didn't have the deeds to that property, because that still would be necessarily held with the original land owners and things like that. And it's really delving into that idea of displacement and 00:57:33.31 Chris Olson whether they have a place in these societies and how they can prove it from a legal perspective. It's very strong. this It's is' a bit of a tearjerker. There's quite a lot of um emotional moments. 00:57:46.73 Chris Olson I think it did slip into melodrama quite a few times. 00:57:47.06 Brian Penn Is it on? 00:57:52.56 Chris Olson You all right there, Brian? 00:57:55.78 Brian Penn Yep. Hello. 00:57:58.50 Chris Olson So yeah, apart from some melodramatic performance moments which it gave it kind of a TV sort of feel. Largely I could see this as a nice alternative to probably what's at a lot of cinemas right now. I think it's got a good so i production value to it. It doesn't feel like, ah it's not really an indie film to be honest, it feels more like a studio film, um but it's got characters in there, actors in there that are very much, you should have more of a light shine on them. I think it's it's great that they're doing that and Lindau really knows how to um 00:58:33.63 Chris Olson to evoke that sentiment from the scenes that she knows how to sort of play around with her characters and and how you're connecting to them. Yeah, really interesting piece. I'm very, yeah, feel very honored to have seen that one. 00:58:46.34 Brian Penn Yeah, it sounds great, Chris. I mean, my kind of film. I love legal dramas, absolutely love them. 00:58:49.89 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:58:52.51 Brian Penn Because, you know, anything goes to court. You put anything into a courtroom, you've got that true dramaticqui dramatic dramatic element cranks up to the max, haven't you really? 00:59:04.41 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:59:04.66 Brian Penn um But it's again, you said it it kind of drifted in some melodrama points. I think that's very easy done, isn't it? But it is sounds like a 00:59:12.40 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:59:15.63 Brian Penn It sounds like a ah big movie story, doesn't it? 00:59:18.97 Chris Olson What I liked about it was it's telling a story that is fairly new and unique. It doesn't feel like anything I've seen before in terms of the actual plot. the That's quite rare now. 00:59:30.91 Chris Olson yeah Normally films, yeah we've seen those films, like you were talking about Conclave earlier. 00:59:31.54 Brian Penn yeah 00:59:35.47 Chris Olson it's like I feel like I've seen that film. 00:59:35.95 Brian Penn yeah 00:59:36.99 Chris Olson I feel like I've seen movies talk about that before. 00:59:39.14 Brian Penn yeah 00:59:39.41 Chris Olson plenty of times. Not saying that takes away anything from the movie, I'm sure it's great, but I'm not saying it's the most original story. 00:59:42.52 Brian Penn like and so 00:59:46.33 Chris Olson With this, I felt that they were doing something that felt like it needed to be told, it needed to have that story raised. 00:59:50.01 Brian Penn oh Yeah. 00:59:51.17 Chris Olson And yeah, the yeah the film's called Bull Street, um which I can't spoil, there's a reason um that the film is called that. um and it's to do with the the location that they're in, but it's it's important. 01:00:04.70 Chris Olson The movie has its own own website, to which is called ballstreetmovie.com, all one word. They're on Facebook, at Ball Street Movie, Instagram, same again, and X, if you still use X, um which is what used to be Twitter. 01:00:21.65 Chris Olson um Yeah, Bull Street, also the trailer is on our website. So if you go and read my review, and you can see what I said there, you can also watch the trailer, get an idea for the movie. ah seth It had a very short window at the Ritzy Cinema, and I don't know if it was going to do any others. 01:00:39.38 Chris Olson But yeah, check out if you can. 01:00:40.80 Brian Penn Yes, that's right. 01:00:43.40 Chris Olson Moving on to our last indie film, um and this is another short film. this This had potentially the biggest shockwave sent through me in a long time. The reason being is our critic, William Hemingway, one of our harshest critics, I have to be honest, he is a brilliant writer. He absolutely is. But he he suffers no fools, that guy. um He gave this five stars. And I was like, I have to see this movie. 01:01:15.12 Chris Olson ah I'm so glad I was able to. um Yeah, short film directed by Cindy Lee. It was set in South Africa during COVID, the tourists have all gone. But the fight goes on for the rangers that live there protecting the rhinos from the um absolutely maddening ah theft of their horns, the brutal theft of their horns. 01:01:41.23 Chris Olson um A young girl who lives nearby ends up riding along with one of the rangers whilst they look out for one of the rhinos and unfortunately poachers arrive and nastiness ensues. 01:01:56.76 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:01:57.12 Chris Olson It is absolutely incredible. ah We talked about how good perform was earlier, but this also stands toe-to-toe as one of the best shorts we've watched. 01:02:00.13 Brian Penn yeah 01:02:02.93 Brian Penn Yeah. ah yeah yeah 01:02:06.54 Chris Olson I finished watching this and I had let out a sigh of just like, oh my god, like that kept me on tenterhooks the whole time. 01:02:13.18 Brian Penn yeah yeah yeah 01:02:15.02 Chris Olson So good, so good. 01:02:16.54 Brian Penn It's beautiful. There's another way of describing it. You film the open plains of South Africa. It's hard to get it wrong, but it tells the story strongly and effectively. Why should beautiful animals be slaughtered for them? 01:02:36.48 Brian Penn Sorry, Chris. 01:02:37.71 Chris Olson but so Sounds like you fell off the table there. 01:02:37.88 Brian Penn Earphones fell off. Sorry about that. Do you want to put a pause in? 01:02:44.48 Chris Olson Oh no, let me put a pause in 102. 01:02:48.05 Brian Penn I think it's absolutely beautiful. A stunning film. You know, you you could say ah filming the the wild and open plains of South Africa, it's hard to get it wrong, but it tells the story strongly and effectively. Why would beautiful animals be slaughtered for their rhino holes? For me, the most telling line is you know, rhino horns mean more to rhinos than humans. 01:03:09.60 Brian Penn That really says it all, doesn't it? You know, and it, it's tragic, those closing, closing titles where they just delivered a few stats, because this is really part documentary and part dramatization, isn't it? 01:03:11.56 Chris Olson Hmm Yeah No, it's it's bonkers and I think that's what it's like the desperation of people and the people that are 01:03:21.59 Brian Penn And the figures are absolutely shocking. When you look at the number of rhinos that have been killed, the number of rangers that have been murdered, it is absolutely shocking. And it makes no sense whatsoever, does it really? 01:03:41.51 Chris Olson manipulating this industry, for want of a better word, they are true villains, you know, the the people that rock up, but there's also people that are doing it um and not to give away any spoilers, but they're doing it because they're also in a desperate place, not necessarily that they want to be part of this world, but they're doing it because there's no other alternative or they see there's no alternative. 01:04:03.44 Chris Olson But it is absolutely horrific and 01:04:05.14 Brian Penn yeah yeah 01:04:05.87 Chris Olson like you say it is part documentary and if you stick around to the end you'll see a bit more as to why and when they told the the human effect of it I mean the the animal I think that's absolutely horrendous it's already just ah an abomination. 01:04:20.42 Chris Olson But the fact that that that humans are all dying over this, that to me was like, okay, is this goinging how is this going on? Like, how has it not been stopped? um Yeah, it was just so affecting. 01:04:31.75 Chris Olson It was so traumatizing to watch that you come away and you cannot help but have been thoroughly moved by this movie. 01:04:39.21 Brian Penn no and As say, it's stunning and it's beautiful. and you might you You wonder what the world is coming to. You'd expect this sort of thing to have happened 100 years ago or 200 years ago. You don't expect this sort of thing to be happening today, you know so far into the 21st century, that there's still a trade for RhinoHawk. 01:05:01.41 Brian Penn But I mean, one thing, it does end on a on a slightly positive note because Tandy, the white rhino that was ah that was attacked and robbed of its all, it actually recovered. 01:05:16.01 Brian Penn So that's kind of a a half-happy ending, but it's it's ah it's just one story, isn't it? For every rhino, they say how many are being slaughtered, and it's awful. 01:05:26.10 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:05:26.99 Brian Penn It's just terrible. And it's the type of film that needs to be seen. people need to be made aware of it. But I just get the feeling that there's not a strong enough will at official level to really do anything about it. 01:05:40.19 Brian Penn Because you want to still be going on. and Yeah, it's like the wild west, isn't it? 01:05:42.94 Chris Olson Yeah, it feels kind of lawless, doesn't it? It feels like, yeah. um But great performances, even, i you know, sometimes I do feel sorry for child actors having to get into something. 01:05:57.23 Chris Olson yeah But a role like this is very, very difficult. um But she was great. 01:06:00.17 Brian Penn She was good, wasn't she? 01:06:01.81 Chris Olson Yeah, really, really powerful performance. And yeah, I think. For me, it's one of those films that ticks so many boxes because it's not just in an amazing film, amazing story, great performances, but it's also, it's such an important message. 01:06:16.19 Chris Olson It's such an important film that needs to be seen. And not done in a way that's just gone, oh, okay, well, we know the film is gonna be good because we're talking about something really important that everyone's gonna agree with. 01:06:24.90 Brian Penn Yeah, of course 01:06:26.52 Chris Olson It's like, no, no, no, we've still gone and made an amazing film. It's a knockout film. Even if you, you know, even but if for some reason you've got no heart whatsoever and don't care at all about these rhinos. 01:06:30.48 Brian Penn it is. 01:06:35.69 Brian Penn Well, yeah. 01:06:36.44 Chris Olson that you still say this is an amazing movie, like the way they filmed it and the way they've done it. 01:06:39.27 Brian Penn Yeah, it's incredibly emotional well shot, well accessed. You couldn't ask anymore, really. 01:06:44.28 Chris Olson No, you really, really can't. And ah again, sore so privileged to have been able to see it. 01:06:48.90 Brian Penn Yeah, absolutely. 01:06:49.31 Chris Olson For me, it was just incredible. um It was password protected, this one, and still is, as of this podcast. So you can't see it, unfortunately, at the moment. um But if you go to Instagram at the last stranger last Ranger film, um you'll be able to find it. It's on Kindred Films. And yeah, there is also a trailer on the review that I did, ah sorry, um that William did all on the website, um which you can watch at your leisure and get a sense of the movie. 01:07:24.13 Chris Olson but definitely follow them if you can and stay tuned for when you can watch it and then go watch it at least 10 times because for me I think it was just incredible um yeah really really good and yeah it just goes to show that William he's harsh but he's often right you know I know i know filmmakers don't want to hear it but sometimes he is 01:07:30.82 Brian Penn Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. 01:07:40.18 Brian Penn Well, we're price, we're price indeed. 01:07:46.08 Chris Olson Yeah, I mean, yeah, I feel generally, myself and Brian, we're we're pretty um positive about most movies, and some critics aren't, some yeah they they say what they feel and they're their opinions, as I said before, very valid. 01:07:59.76 Chris Olson um And audiences will always have different opinions on movies. 01:08:03.97 Brian Penn um 01:08:04.89 Chris Olson But when it's something like this, it feels very much shared amongst the critic circle of, you know, this is a great short film. It is often because it is. 01:08:14.87 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:08:15.41 Chris Olson So speaking of great films, we're moving on to the final review of this episode, our nostalgia pick. 01:08:17.07 Brian Penn Mm. 01:08:21.93 Chris Olson And as you may already know, it is love actually written and directed by Richard Curtis. One of the few films he's actually directed, because you always forget, yeah he he often doesn't direct, right? 01:08:31.59 Brian Penn i Yeah. 01:08:33.54 Chris Olson He just writes the great, great script. But with this um and a few others, ah about time he he directed a couple of music videos and stuff um yeah love actually is one of his babies and yeah this is 01:08:45.04 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:08:51.56 Chris Olson completely cheeky comedy um as i was talking about earlier you that maybe that christmas doesn't really have that vibe you can't help but notice with something like love actually soon as it starts it sets its stall out very quickly of saying this isn't going to be the sort of schmoozy film that you might have thought just from the title you get ah bill nighy effing and jeffing very quickly you get full frontal nudity you get you get you get your works in this movie it's great 01:09:10.08 Brian Penn yeah yeah 01:09:13.76 Brian Penn yeah la yeah 01:09:20.73 Brian Penn yeah hello It's like an antidote though, isn't it? To the yeah emotional aspects ah of the story. 01:09:23.70 Chris Olson Oh yeah. 01:09:27.14 Brian Penn um To me, it's a classic insoluble piece, isn't it? 01:09:30.43 Chris Olson Mmm, yeah. 01:09:31.62 Brian Penn You've got these eight intellect couples, and it's really about the ups and downs of being in love, falling out of love, staying in love, isn't it, really? um When it comes to affairs of the heart, there is nobody better in which a curse is. 01:09:47.25 Brian Penn He understands the human condition. you know He can make you laugh, but he will make you cry in a matter of minutes. Now, that's a rare talent for any screenwriter, and he is more of a screenwriter than a director. um But that's a rare talent. And when you think that each of the characters probably don't have any longer than 15 minutes on screen in total, possibly Hugh Grant's on screen for a bit longer. ah But it's difficult to say who the star of this film really is, because they all get good lines. But there are great scenes. You know, to me, great films always have one standout scene, right? 01:10:27.05 Brian Penn love actually has about eight and nine. So that's that you just, you just play back to yourself but after you watched it and you think that is damn good to be able to do that. 01:10:29.38 Chris Olson yeah 01:10:33.72 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:10:38.40 Brian Penn And that doesn't matter how many times you watch it, it still hits home. You know, that's a rare, rare talent. 01:10:47.54 Chris Olson I think you're right. I think you are right about the multitude of it incredible sequences that have been put into a film that could have easily just sort of thrown away a load of wish washy stuff that there are bits as well that are genuinely traumatic. 01:10:58.43 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:11:03.25 Chris Olson ah the The scenes with Laura Linney and her brother, um that they're some of the most powerful scenes and they're just they're just put in there as just to say, okay, ah chew on this and you go 01:11:04.31 Brian Penn Yeah. Oh yeah, hello. Yeah. 01:11:15.42 Chris Olson right oh god oh wow and then Alan Rickman's scenes you know with an Emma Thompson when she does her breakdown but it just it just keeps hitting you it's so it's not all positive and fluffy and you know schmaltzy yeah 01:11:16.97 Brian Penn yeah Hello. 01:11:25.66 Brian Penn um 01:11:28.36 Brian Penn But that is life though, isn't it Chris? It's up and down, isn't it? One of the standouts, one of many standouts is Emma Thompson's character discovering that the bracelet wasn't, not the bracelet, the necklace wasn't for her. 01:11:43.76 Brian Penn Oh, were you crying for her? 01:11:45.78 Chris Olson Oh, yeah, it's when she goes upstairs and she puts on Joni Mitchell and it just absolutely knocks you for 10 days. 01:11:46.64 Brian Penn You were, weren't you? 01:11:49.86 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:11:53.03 Chris Olson And I think what I love about Richard Curtis in his writing is he never forgets to do the depth. He could easily just do the funny, right? He could just do the funny and it would be cheeky and it would be funny. 01:12:05.37 Chris Olson But he always puts in the pathos to balance it. 01:12:07.60 Brian Penn Yeah, 01:12:08.03 Chris Olson He always remembers to go. And I think with love, actually, it's often more in that realm. It's more in that sense of and then And he does it in a way that doesn't feel too heavy. 01:12:18.17 Chris Olson like yeah Even Liam Neeson's character lost his wife. They have a funeral, but it's like funny. 01:12:21.66 Brian Penn ah 01:12:23.74 Chris Olson And then, you like I said, Laura Lilly's character, it's still kind of a little bit of a joke. there's There's lots in this film to pull at your heartstrings in different ways. And I love it. 01:12:34.38 Chris Olson I think it's done so well. And it grows on you as well, because I find that 01:12:37.35 Brian Penn and are 01:12:38.35 Chris Olson As you watch it year on year, you probably find different parts of it ah maybe speaking a bit more to you than they were the last time you watched it. 01:12:38.50 Brian Penn it yeah 01:12:45.22 Brian Penn yeah Well, we we were talking earlier on that there's always something new to discover in a Richard Curtis film. And when I watched it, something I never picked up on, I never noticed it before, um where Hugh Grant's character is realised that he's falling in love with his PA, played by Martin McCutcheon. He looks up at the portrait of Margaret Thatcher, 01:13:07.64 Brian Penn And he said, did you ever have this problem? And he goes, what you did, you saucy little minx. The great little lines that he puts in, and you don't necessarily notice them. 01:13:13.17 Chris Olson yeah 01:13:17.06 Brian Penn First time around, and it might take you three or four goes to notice it. Or if you didn't notice them, you very quickly forget them. But there's, again, like like we said earlier on, there are nuggets that you think, oh god, I never realized, forgot about that. 01:13:30.71 Chris Olson Yeah, and I think that's what like allows certain Christmas films to live on is if they do have that 01:13:30.73 Brian Penn um 01:13:37.63 Chris Olson longer shelf life of going oh hey you probably aren't going to see all of this on the first watch but because it's a comedy you're probably more likely to put it back on because it's a christmas film you've got a reason to put it on and that's where this movie really shines out i i mean there are better christmas films don't get me wrong but i think love actually is a is a big contender for a lot of people as one of their favorites 01:13:46.07 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 01:13:59.47 Brian Penn Yeah, it probably is. It probably is. But you can see why though, can't you? Because it strikes a chord in people. There's nothing, there's got to be something in that film that you identify with. You know, um, Andrew Lincoln's character. 01:14:11.03 Brian Penn I talk about Andrew Lincoln's character because I artist said can't remember the character's name, but you know the fact that um he's mad in love with his best friend's girlfriend, then he he's best man at the wedding and he can't say no and he's tortured by it. 01:14:15.73 Chris Olson he he he 01:14:27.98 Brian Penn And the only way he can cope with it, the only way he can protect himself is to not so much hate her, but be cold-sauce her. but You know, you you what you want to sort of say to him, look just tell her how you feel, then walk away. 01:14:42.22 Brian Penn And he does that, doesn't he? With with with the ah Bob Dylan pastiche, with the cue cards. and I think it was a brilliant scene and brilliantly conceived. 01:14:48.76 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:14:53.11 Brian Penn They're real situations, aren't they? That we can all identify with. You know, we all know someone like that. um it's It's life and it's amazing. 01:15:04.73 Brian Penn There was talk of Richard Curtis retiring, wasn't there? 01:15:08.84 Chris Olson Yeah, I felt he he disappeared for quite a while um and certainly wasn't doing anything high profile. 01:15:11.54 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:15:15.41 Chris Olson ah Then this year comes out with that film. He did the Beatles film a couple of years ago ah yesterday, which I thought was only okay. 01:15:22.42 Brian Penn Oh, yesterday. 01:15:25.39 Chris Olson I didn't love that one. 01:15:25.98 Brian Penn Yeah. I wasn't keen to be honest. I mean, um I'm a massive Beatles fan. And what really, small way for me was that I can't imagine a world without the Beatles. Right. 01:15:35.11 Chris Olson Hmm. 01:15:35.34 Brian Penn I'm a massive Beatles fan. And it kind of, under my eye, I respected the concepts. the thinking behind it. But for that reason, it didn't really, it's just okay, it didn't really hit home, but you compare it to Love Actually, Notting Hill, A Foreignism and Funeral. 01:15:53.60 Brian Penn It's not in the same league in that way. 01:15:55.98 Chris Olson no yeah about time is is up there as one of the best films for me i love that film and i again one of those movies i'll go back to it again and again again i must assume that film about 100 times now and i think the 01:15:56.04 Brian Penn About time, about time was a great film. 01:16:05.67 Brian Penn and 01:16:11.52 Chris Olson Because for me, often people talk about the the greatest films. yeah Oh, Chris, what's the greatest film you've watched? But the way I measure films is would I go back and watch it again? 01:16:19.64 Brian Penn yeah 01:16:20.06 Chris Olson um Because like I've seen some technically amazing movies, and they've yeah absolutely floored me. 01:16:20.26 Brian Penn yeah 01:16:26.64 Chris Olson But I never want to watch them again. 01:16:26.71 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:28.08 Chris Olson i go I don't want to watch that again. i Do you know what? That first experience was all I'll ever need of that movie. 01:16:33.22 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:33.60 Chris Olson um Because sometimes you go back again, and it's not the same. But with Richard Curtis movies, they're very often better on another watch. 01:16:40.60 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:40.77 Chris Olson You watch it again. Oh, I'm getting more out of this now. 01:16:42.30 Brian Penn Hello. 01:16:42.97 Chris Olson I'm getting more out of this now. 01:16:43.60 Brian Penn Hello. Yeah. 01:16:44.71 Chris Olson um And I think that's incredible. 01:16:45.21 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:46.32 Chris Olson You can do that with your art. You can make art that gets people to react differently and to feel more from it. I think that's brilliant. And love actually definitely stands up. 01:16:54.70 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:56.58 Chris Olson It will be interesting to see if this time next year we said the same things about that Christmas. um 01:17:02.44 Brian Penn Yeah. Well, it's it's it would have had a year to bed in. 01:17:05.82 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:17:06.06 Brian Penn like I guess. It have built up and following, wouldn't it? 01:17:07.64 Chris Olson cause um 01:17:09.11 Brian Penn I guess. 01:17:09.86 Chris Olson I'm due to watch it again. I'll be watching it again on Christmas Eve because my mother-in-law hasn't seen it and she's asked if we can all sit around and watch it. 01:17:15.05 Brian Penn um 01:17:16.58 Chris Olson So I'm going to watch it at least twice. um Plus all the little bits that I watch as and when my kids are so got it on and I come in in and out of the room. But like I said, I liked it but it didn't It didn't grab me massively. 01:17:30.28 Chris Olson But I actually vaguely remember not loving Love Actually. I'm sorry if I'm using the words too much because it's the same words. But I didn't love Love Actually the first time I saw it. 01:17:39.56 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:17:40.91 Chris Olson But I think now I think I do. I think I think it's one of those movies. um I'll happily watch that every year. um I think it's a very good Christmas movie. 01:17:46.70 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's to me, it's part of the landscape of Christmas, isn't it it? It seems to me that there are certain films you watch every year at Christmas. You watch A Christmas Carol. It's a wonderful life. And you watch um Love Actually. 01:18:06.19 Brian Penn the holiday. you know that Their films that are on my list, they always are at some point. 01:18:08.13 Chris Olson ye Yup. 01:18:12.09 Brian Penn And it's all much traditional. and you know Christmas is about tradition, isn't it? 01:18:17.82 Chris Olson Muppet's Christmas Cowl, I think for me. 01:18:19.18 Brian Penn Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah. 01:18:20.56 Chris Olson That's absolutely brilliant. 01:18:20.85 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:18:21.48 Chris Olson Which is actually the definitive Christmas Cowl for me, I think. 01:18:24.51 Brian Penn I haven't seen that for ages. I've got to see that again. See, one thing you you do, Chris, is when you pick a ah film from the nostalgia slot, it's often a film that I haven't seen since it came out. 01:18:26.98 Chris Olson Oh, I see. 01:18:35.10 Brian Penn plugs into the point you were making about seeing a film once and you think, yeah, that's enough. I've kind of got that. I'm not thinking about it again, even though it is a really good film, but it it sometimes takes a trigger to make you watch it again. 01:18:49.37 Brian Penn But certainly films like Love actually just do it over and over again. 01:18:49.46 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:18:54.82 Brian Penn It really does. 01:18:55.22 Chris Olson Well, we'll be back in the new year so you can watch some more films again. I'll make you watch lots of new films and and old films. 01:19:01.22 Brian Penn Yeah. Looking forward to it already. 01:19:03.16 Chris Olson um Thank you everyone for an amazing year. UK Film Club continues to grow stronger and stronger. And the the The format is pretty much staying the same. 01:19:17.00 Chris Olson We're going to keep reviewing cinema films, indie films, streaming films. But if there are any that you want us to review in 2025, let us know any particular movies that you're looking out for. Feel free to drop a comment on our socials or get in touch. 01:19:30.35 Chris Olson um Also, filmmakers keep sending us your movies. We love to review them. 01:19:34.19 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:19:35.29 Chris Olson We've already got some lined up for January. 01:19:35.42 Brian Penn Cool, man. 01:19:37.18 Chris Olson We don't stop, Brian. No stopping. 01:19:38.82 Brian Penn Oh, nice, nice. 01:19:39.85 Chris Olson No stopping. No one gets off this train. and um Yes, lovely to have reviewed two Richard Curtis movies in one sitting. That is enough to make anyone full, I think. 01:19:51.98 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:19:52.13 Chris Olson If you've made it to the end of this podcast, congratulations, you get a gold star. 01:19:55.53 Brian Penn but 01:19:57.58 Chris Olson ah Brian will be sending out the gold stars in due course. 01:19:58.12 Brian Penn Yeah, leave that. 01:20:03.49 Chris Olson Thank you, Brian, to for for everything, but also specifically for seeing the films this month, your cinema trips and everything like that. 01:20:07.44 Brian Penn Film of the month, Conclave. 01:20:09.33 Chris Olson What was Film of the Month, by the way? 01:20:12.69 Chris Olson Conclave. yeah um Yeah, we've been the UK Film Club and yeah, we'll see you again in 2025. 01:20:14.00 Brian Penn Good season to you all. Previous Next

Read the film podcast transcript from the episode titled F1 - Jurassic World Rebirth - Superman - UK Film Club Ep 29 on UK Film Club part of the UK Film Review Podcast. < Back F1 - Jurassic World Rebirth - Superman - UK Film Club Ep 29 Listen to This Episode UK Film Club 00:00:00.00 Chris Olson on a bit earlier no ive it's the summer holidays I think the yeah the kids are tired they think well let's go to bed and I'm like okay fine go for it yeah finally it's cooling down a little bit though finally 00:00:00.98 Brian Penn That's alright, you caught me unawares there, wasn't ready for that. We're not in a way this early. Very... 00:00:08.56 Brian Penn Ah, right. 00:00:11.58 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:00:14.16 Brian Penn Yeah, see the hot weather's worn them out bit, hasn't it, eh? Well, it's just as well we don't live in Turkey, isn't it? I mean, I heard they recorded a temperature of 50 Celsius. 50 Celsius. 00:00:26.54 Brian Penn fifty sosers 00:00:26.75 Chris Olson it's just too much that's just too much 00:00:29.26 Brian Penn That's about 123 Fahrenheit. That is crazy, isn't it? 00:00:32.86 Chris Olson yeah 00:00:34.58 Brian Penn Makes you glad we're living in such a damp, usually damp, mild climate, doesn't it, eh? 00:00:39.93 Chris Olson It does. It puts us all in a bad mood, but we're not hot. 00:00:42.73 Brian Penn um no Yeah, I know. We're not wired that way. We're not wired for those sort of temperatures. um You know, i'm nice sunny weather, warm weather, her fine. Bit of a breeze. You know, that's all right. The only the only weather extremes of weather I really dislike, though, is snow. Snow's the worst. 00:00:59.96 Chris Olson Yeah, snow's one of those things that I'm I love it in theory. And then when I see it, I get very quickly of awed by It's oh, wow, that's amazing. But then by day two, you're like, I'm done with this. 00:01:11.37 Chris Olson Please get rid of it. 00:01:11.64 Brian Penn and I know. 00:01:12.41 Chris Olson Don't leave it around here with this slushy mess getting in the way. 00:01:13.42 Brian Penn Yeah. know. Visually, it's lovely. It's lovely to look at but you try going out in it, then if it freezes open, and it gets icy. So I don't think we like extremes of weather, theyre do we, in Britain? Because we don't normally get it. 00:01:28.02 Brian Penn But, you know, ah you got money if you want to paralyze this country, just lob a snowball at us. That works better than anything, really. 00:01:34.12 Chris Olson But then if you've ah if you took away the weather, we'd have nothing to talk about. 00:01:38.10 Brian Penn I know, exactly. 00:01:38.36 Chris Olson Be honest. like We talk about movies all day long, but the weather really is what connects everyone. 00:01:39.76 Brian Penn Yeah. I know. know. I know. It's a staple part of our conversation, isn't it? You know, people live in California never talk about the weather because it doesn't change out there. 00:01:52.00 Brian Penn You know, but we we it's an art form to us, isn't it? Because it's so changeable. 00:01:57.90 Chris Olson you know That's not really been done, has it? like We get lots of films about the... 00:02:00.21 Brian Penn What's that? 00:02:02.31 Chris Olson um crazy weather or like extremes, you know like flooding or hurricanes and that sort of stuff. 00:02:04.57 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:02:07.18 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:02:08.82 Chris Olson But like, just have a film about the monotony of the British weather. Like just, and it's just that how it drives people mad and it's like, you know surrounds everyone's conversations. 00:02:17.26 Brian Penn Yeah. well 00:02:19.44 Chris Olson like I feel like that could be a good film. 00:02:21.39 Brian Penn yeah Well, you know what would make a very good film? There is a play called Pressure, and it's about the the build-ups of the D-Day landings and the meteorologists that were arguing amongst themselves about the best time to go. 00:02:29.49 Chris Olson right. 00:02:33.65 Brian Penn right And I've seen the play on stage. It would make a brilliant film. Excellent film, because you've got the British meteorologist who understands British weather conditions, and the american East American counterparts He said, well, what's the problem? Let's go tomorrow or go the day after. And the British meteorologist is saying, you don't understand, do You've never sat on a British beach in your entire life. But it could be sunny one minute, then it could be driving rain and hailstones the next. 00:02:59.55 Brian Penn So I think we have a great film that are waiting to be made, David. David, Chris, Jack, f Fred. 00:03:03.78 Chris Olson Wait to be made the British weather. 00:03:06.36 Brian Penn Sorry, it's been a long day. 00:03:09.12 Chris Olson So, uh, anyone listening, if you'd like to see our film, uh, about British weather, do send us in your like suggestions for the name. 00:03:14.16 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:03:16.81 Chris Olson I, cause I'm, I bet you there's some good puns out there. I can't think of any off the top of my head. um but I would, I would accept some of the very best. 00:03:21.42 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:03:24.04 Chris Olson Um, and I'll read them out. 00:03:25.71 Brian Penn We need a good title. 00:03:26.12 Chris Olson Um, Yeah, it has to be good title. 00:03:27.23 Brian Penn A good title. 00:03:28.37 Chris Olson And if you want to cast the film as well, I'm open to that. 00:03:28.75 Brian Penn Let's draw us down. 00:03:30.85 Chris Olson I think there's you some... It has to be British actors. I'm sorry, i'm going to pull that card. The reason being is anything else is unacceptable when it comes to the British weather. Like Brian just you intimated, only we know it truly in depth. 00:03:39.94 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:03:42.68 Brian Penn don't know. We get it. We get it, don't we? 00:03:44.75 Chris Olson We get it. 00:03:45.12 Brian Penn We understand. Yes. 00:03:46.72 Chris Olson What we also get is movies, generally. 00:03:48.41 Brian Penn Yes. 00:03:48.85 Chris Olson And this is a UK Film Club. If this is your first time, welcome. And on our show, we review all types of movies. So we review some of the cinema currently. We review something from the indie yeah sorry the streaming platforms and also indie films that get sent to us. 00:04:05.72 Chris Olson And we also finish up with what's called our Nostalgia Pick, which is a film from the past. 00:04:08.98 Brian Penn Yeah, 00:04:11.43 Chris Olson And I'm happy to say again, I've managed to do it where I've linked it to something in the cinema. So there we go. 00:04:16.46 Brian Penn you have. 00:04:17.88 Chris Olson i mean, it shouldn't really be that difficult, but yeah I find things challenging these days. 00:04:18.00 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:04:22.39 Chris Olson um But we found an absolute classic and we won't go yeah we' spoil it just yet, but stay tuned for our nostalgia review. 00:04:22.52 Brian Penn Yeah. Yes. yeah 00:04:29.48 Brian Penn yes 00:04:30.26 Chris Olson You're going to love it. um But first up, we so always start with the films at the cinema. And as it is this summer, ah you kids are off. It's time to hit the cinema. So we're hoping for some absolute you know smash hits here. 00:04:44.78 Chris Olson um So Brian's going to take us through the selection that he's seen recently, starting with F1, the movie. 00:04:50.03 Brian Penn um Oh, yes. F1 the movie. All right, let's bear with me a second. Oh, there we are. Right. Okay, then. 00:04:59.76 Chris Olson That was not a speedy start. you know to to To bring on the whole like idea of Formula 1 and you kind of did a little full start there, it's brilliant. 00:05:01.37 Brian Penn No, it wasn't. I know. I know. ah ah lost I lost my place for a second. 00:05:07.01 Chris Olson You're 00:05:08.62 Brian Penn Right, I'm back now. I'm back in the room. 00:05:09.98 Chris Olson back. 00:05:10.99 Brian Penn Right, okay. So directed by Joseph Kaczynski, starring Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, and Javier Bardem. Back in the 90s, Sonny Hayes was Formula One's most promising driver until a near-facial crash ended his career. 00:05:26.86 Brian Penn Since then, he's underliving as a driver for hire. He dreams of the glory that eluded him and now struggles with the gambling habit. But salvation arrives in the shape of former teammate Ruben Cervantes, who now runs a struggling Formula One team. 00:05:41.49 Brian Penn He convinces Sonny to rejoin the big time. Driving alongside him is hotshot British driver Joshua Pearce. But how will they cope as teammates? Now, this is a classic rookie and veteran storyline. 00:05:54.38 Brian Penn You've got the older man who sees something of himself and the new kid on the block. It's everything you want want it to be. Exciting, adrenaline-filled, lots of action. It's co-produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, so you kind of know what you're getting. This is the man who brought us Top Gun, amongst many others. 00:06:11.41 Brian Penn Lewis Hamilton is also a co-producer. So he adds a degree of authenticity, so it seems that much more real. And, you know, Brad Pitt still kicks it as a leading man, Chris. 00:06:23.60 Brian Penn He's 61, 62, going on 62. 00:06:26.67 Chris Olson Is he really? 62? 00:06:27.82 Brian Penn Yeah, know. 00:06:28.23 Chris Olson Wow. 00:06:29.10 Brian Penn It'll be 62 in December, I checked earlier on. 00:06:29.17 Chris Olson He 00:06:31.54 Brian Penn And he's not looking bad on it, is he, really? Can you think about it? 00:06:33.44 Chris Olson he never does. um i I consider myself a heterosexual, but he is always fabulous looking. 00:06:34.80 Brian Penn yeah 00:06:39.85 Chris Olson Always. 00:06:41.29 Brian Penn ah You know, yeah you've got to hand it to him. I mean, in the storyline, his character can't be more than 50. You know, if he was an up-and-coming Formula One driver in the 90s, you wouldn't think he'd be more than 50 now. But, I mean, I suppose that could be where where the credibility of this story shakes a little bit, mumbles little bit, because he'd be 50 now. How many 50-year-olds do you get? 00:07:04.45 Brian Penn in Formula One. I don't think you get that now. But, you know, that's a minor quibble. He still looks the part, Chris, and I think that is so difficult for a leading actor as they get older, where they don't necessarily play those roles and they move into more character-based roles. 00:07:20.01 Brian Penn But he still does it. He still kicks it and it gives all of us hope, doesn't it, really? But, you know, nonetheless for that, you know, when you look at, when you think about summer blockbusters, great films at the movies during the summer, this is right out there. 00:07:34.98 Brian Penn It's a very, very entertaining film. Visually, it's great. It's just so exciting to watch. um So, yeah, I like it. i like it a lot. 00:07:43.15 Chris Olson I mean, racing films as a genre are synonymous with cinema spectacle. 00:07:49.10 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:07:49.36 Chris Olson I think they're always, you don't have to go too much into detail before you realise, yeah, it's a film for the cinema because of you the absolute yeah adrenaline, the the editing, the sound. 00:07:55.71 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:07:59.34 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:08:00.54 Chris Olson I remember seeing, always talk about this film, but right ah so Rush, I saw Rush 00:08:01.14 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:08:03.87 Brian Penn Oh, Rush is great. Yeah, I love Rush. 00:08:05.06 Chris Olson in the cinema, um I think it was in the Dolby cinema, and it was absolutely amazing, just the feel of that film. It was like a ah sensory overload. 00:08:12.80 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:08:13.00 Chris Olson um But there's been some incredible yeah racing movies. talk about like Ford versus Ferrari, not that old. 00:08:18.80 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:08:19.52 Chris Olson you've You also reviewed Ferrari not that long ago um on the pod. 00:08:22.41 Brian Penn yeah but 00:08:24.06 Chris Olson And it's it's a it's kind of like boxing. 00:08:24.67 Brian Penn yeah 00:08:26.97 Chris Olson like Boxing has got a load of really good films in that genre, and I think racing does too. 00:08:29.93 Brian Penn yeah but 00:08:31.69 Chris Olson Where does this sort of sit in that list? 00:08:32.14 Brian Penn yeah 00:08:34.56 Brian Penn I would put it fairly high up. You know, some people might look at this and say it's it's very sort kind of brash and loud and doesn't quite match something like Ferrari ah or Ford versus the thing with Christian Bowing. 00:08:53.37 Chris Olson Yeah, Ford versus Ferrari, wasn't it? 00:08:54.60 Brian Penn Ferrari, yeah, that's it. 00:08:54.69 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:08:56.25 Brian Penn ah that I mean, if you go back further than that, you could talk about Grand Prix as well with James Garner, which was a great film. 00:09:01.11 Chris Olson Mm. 00:09:02.77 Brian Penn That was back in the sixty But it I think it it's more towards the top than it is to the middle or the bottom ah of that pecking order, if you like. you know um So, yeah, i think I think it's good. It works. you know But motor racing lends itself very well to the big screen, doesn't it? 00:09:20.95 Chris Olson Mm. 00:09:21.23 Brian Penn You don't have to try very hard to make Formula One look sexy on screen because it just is. right You know, compare it to other sports. I mean, you mentioned boxing. that That's a natural subject for for movie makers. 00:09:34.28 Brian Penn But you look at and ah another mass spectator sport like football, it doesn't work nearly as well. And it's not easy to explain why, but motor racing does have that kind of adrenaline feel, pump action feel to it. 00:09:48.28 Brian Penn And you don't need to do a lot to it. You know, you can almost train a camera on onto a Formula One circuit and you've got it. It's there. You know, the drama's there already. 00:10:00.15 Brian Penn And what they've done with this film is that they've, They've packed a familiar story around around the film itself. Something that you know, you get it, and it's master and it's sorcerer and apprentice, isn't it? 00:10:14.58 Brian Penn You've got the the old hand with the young kid, you know, and how they how they may or may not work together. I'm going to give anything away because you've got to go and see the film to find out. But, um you know, really enjoyed it. 00:10:27.51 Brian Penn It's really, really good fun. um 00:10:29.53 Chris Olson there you go i mean yeah i mean anything like that um always brings people in think it's a good option for people this summer the sound of it um if you see f1 the movie do send us in your reviews or just put a comment on our social posts for this podcast it's always good to see what other people thought of it um 00:10:30.35 Brian Penn yeah 00:10:34.76 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:10:45.12 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:10:48.35 Chris Olson Yeah, no, it's one of those films I of would always try and look out for. i always find it funny with racing movies, though. There's always this one thing which they always do, or almost always do, which is they'll be going along, and then they're like, you whoever's their competitor will be coming up close behind them. 00:10:59.41 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah. yeah 00:11:03.71 Chris Olson And then they'll suddenly go, all right, well, now I'm going to put the foot down to the floor. And I'm like, why were you not driving with the foot to the floor before? 00:11:07.90 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:11:11.14 Brian Penn yeah 00:11:11.38 Chris Olson Like, what were you why were you sort of half-arsing 00:11:11.91 Brian Penn Yeah. and 00:11:14.21 Chris Olson Just dawdling. 00:11:14.28 Brian Penn Yeah. So you're dawdling, aren't you? You're literally dawdling. 00:11:16.77 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:11:17.13 Brian Penn Now you put the pedals to the metal all of a sudden. Yeah, I know. 00:11:18.96 Chris Olson yes and yeah i Yeah, I'm not, a ah maybe yeah maybe Lewis Hamilton would explain this to us because I don't know why, um but maybe it is a thing. 00:11:24.15 Brian Penn Yeah. yeah 00:11:27.65 Chris Olson But that feels like a cinema thing rather than a racing thing. 00:11:27.79 Brian Penn Yeah. I think so. I think that's for for dramatic effects. And it is almost like a Artistic license, isn't it? It's just something like that they throw in to to give it to add to the tension. 00:11:41.37 Brian Penn But you know you've got all these great machines whizzing around the track. And of course, you watch Formula One for real, or if you was at a Formula One circuit actually there, that's frustrating in itself because you just see a car whizz around, cars whizz around, that's it, they're gone. got to wait for come around again. that's Well, on screen, you know you can you can follow it all the way. um So, and also, of the three films that we're looking at on general release, it's that it's been out the longest out of the three, but it's still going great guns in the cinema. 00:12:10.96 Chris Olson oh 00:12:11.90 Brian Penn You know, which is good to see as well. 00:12:14.05 Chris Olson Doing good business. It's put its foot to the floor. That's what it's done. 00:12:16.51 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:12:17.05 Chris Olson yeah Look what I did there. I brought it back. How nice. 00:12:19.68 Brian Penn I know. 00:12:21.00 Chris Olson If only the whole show was that smooth. 00:12:21.52 Brian Penn I know. 00:12:24.08 Chris Olson um 00:12:24.21 Brian Penn We try, it we try, don't we? 00:12:26.29 Chris Olson Brian, it's meant today that we're reviewing three films, so we're going to move on to the second of the cinema releases. And I won't do the soundtrack, which I like to often do when I'm with friends, um because it is absolutely iconic. But I believe they took the soundtrack off this installment of the franchise. Brian be able to correct me on that. 00:12:44.63 Chris Olson um But we're going to be looking at Jurassic World Rebirth next. 00:12:48.25 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah, they they you're right. They did too they did fiddle with with the ah with the soundtrack, but i don't think you necessarily notice it quite as much. 00:12:57.11 Chris Olson Well, it's just I heard this might be absolute rubbish, but I heard that Spielberg wanted certain things removed from this film or or or wasn't happy for certain things to be included. 00:12:58.49 Brian Penn Strangely. Yep. 00:13:06.43 Chris Olson i don't know if that's true. 00:13:06.81 Brian Penn yeah Yeah, I've heard this heard the same thing, but I think that's probably born out the fact he wants the film to stand by and sta on its own. You know, because even though Spielberg is executive producer, it's still got Spielberg's paw prints all over it you know yeah If you didn't know any different, you'd swear it was a Spielberg film or directed by Spielberg. So I think where that's coming from, I'm speculating here, but I think Spielberg's anxious for it to be to be ah not necessarily a Spielberg film. 00:13:37.35 Brian Penn but a Gareth Edwards film who directed it. ah That's what I think is behind it. As I say, I'm speculating. But yeah, you're right. he what He was tinkering a little bit, um particularly when you know it's the latest installment in the franchise. 00:13:50.62 Brian Penn um Perhaps they're trying to give it more of a standalone film, but there you are. um So it stars Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, and Rupert Friend. 00:14:04.82 Brian Penn So as I just mentioned, this is the seventh installment of the Jurassic Park franchise. The story begins in 2009 on a dinosaur research lab on the island of St. Hubert in the Atlantic. 00:14:17.92 Brian Penn The lab creates hybrid dinosaurs in a desperate bid to generate more interest. However, the creatures escape and the island is abandoned. 17 years later, pharmaceutical rep Martin Krebs recruits ex-soldier Zora Bennett. 00:14:32.53 Brian Penn Their mission is to return to the island. and collect blood samples from the three largest surviving dinosaurs. They believe this holds the key to the written to the treatment of heart disease. 00:14:44.23 Brian Penn This is great filmmaking, Chris. 00:14:46.75 Chris Olson Ooh. 00:14:46.86 Brian Penn Really is outstanding. They've reinvigorated the Jurassic brand, which I didn't think was possible. you know If you look back at the sequels that followed the first film, you kind of knew what to to expect, roughly, generally. 00:15:00.80 Brian Penn This type of film relies on its ability to surprise the audience. And they managed to do that in spades. You know, at one point, sitting in my seat in my local multiplex, watching this film, I actually ducked in one scene. 00:15:16.68 Brian Penn and like Oh no, look, look, look out. You know, literally, that's what I was doing. And it's not often a film does that to me, where I get that engrossed in it and that involved in it, that it made me duck. You know, I'm always shouting out, look out, careful. 00:15:31.57 Brian Penn um But that's that's how good it I think it is. um And it's interesting because you look at the the subject matter, the storyline they're developing here is that, you know, they they were experimenting with crossbreeding with dinosaurs. 00:15:51.38 Brian Penn And they came up with what effectively became a mutant that's on this island that nobody ever visited, but they've gone back for a reason to further medical science. And some of the things that are, 00:16:03.51 Brian Penn i've kind of shifted into conventional horror in my opinion now um whereas before I never thought Jurassic Jurassic Park, Jurassic World was ever really a conventional horror movie not in that way but now I think it's done it it's it's kind of it's stepped into the horror genre as well as the adventure action genre um and it's brilliant it's really really good and it's got Scarlett Johansson in it Chris you know and any film Scarlett Johansson is alright by me 00:16:31.71 Chris Olson Yeah, I mean, she's great. And i think it's interesting that she's gone back into a franchise yeah of the after all the Marvel stuff. um 00:16:38.70 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:16:39.93 Chris Olson Whether or not she'll do more, I don't know. But I think this in particular, this franchise was reinvigorated when they did the Chris Pratt one. 00:16:49.70 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:16:49.81 Chris Olson um But I think it started to show diminishing returns again. 00:16:52.45 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:16:52.95 Chris Olson so it's interesting they of rebirth. They bring again. think... 00:16:56.25 Brian Penn Well, yeah. 00:16:57.10 Chris Olson and i think It does have a lot of longevity. It's something that a lot of people enjoy, um the idea of it anyway. 00:17:04.21 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:17:04.52 Chris Olson And often the execution can be really cool. Like you your reaction to it, your visceral reaction in the cinema to it shows that there is something something primeval about it, obviously. 00:17:11.98 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:17:16.08 Chris Olson But also the filmmakers know that they've got us in their palms. We go, all right, let's yeah give them something that's going to really... 00:17:23.26 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:17:23.55 Chris Olson g him up um finally so it's when you mentioned about the fact that you reacted in the cinema you said something out loud reminded me of the funny time um we went as a family as me my brother my mom and dad to watch the dark night uh at the cinema so we're going back quite a few years ago my mom is notorious for doing two things in films one falling asleep and two saying things out loud because she just doesn't really have like much of a filter so something happened in the film i think it's when um 00:17:27.59 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:17:35.82 Brian Penn Alright, okay. Yeah. Yeah. 00:17:45.49 Brian Penn but yeah. 00:17:51.74 Chris Olson ah the yeah the Joker sets fire to all the money. i think that there's a scene where he sets fire to all the money. And my mum just out loud just went, oh, they won't like that. 00:18:02.66 Brian Penn I 00:18:02.70 Chris Olson Just burst out. It was like, no one laughed either. Everyone just was like, oh my God, she's mad. 00:18:06.08 Brian Penn don't know. 00:18:07.14 Chris Olson Like, what why is she saying this? 00:18:07.68 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:18:08.96 Chris Olson But yeah, was just wondering, you know, with you reacting to all these dinosaurs, whether you was there any reaction to you or was everyone else doing it as well? 00:18:09.08 Brian Penn Well, 00:18:13.20 Brian Penn yeah. Well, yeah. home not Yeah, I think other people were as well. yeah you wouldn't necessarily say there was this huge roar that went up, but I did hear other reactions as well. 00:18:24.67 Brian Penn I don't know whether anyone noticed what I was saying or what I was doing, but I think it was quite quite busy. you know i'd i'd say it was the auditorium was maybe 90% full. 00:18:35.83 Brian Penn you know It was quite pretty full up. 00:18:37.81 Chris Olson Good business, we call it. Doing good business. That's we like. 00:18:39.85 Brian Penn Oh, yeah, absolutely. absolutely Yeah, and I can believe that as well, and it deserves to. These are the sort of films that bring us out of the bring us out of our holes, Chris, bring us out of our homes and take us into the cinema. 00:18:51.41 Brian Penn This is what you want to see. You want to see that something that's different. You want the wow factor. So, you know, deeply impressed by it all. and to so 00:18:59.67 Chris Olson Deep impressed. 00:19:01.36 Brian Penn But to call it, and to subtitle it Rebirth, it's really appropriate because the storyline is about rebirth. but it so But it's also about rebranding, resetting the brand. Because, you know... 00:19:14.33 Brian Penn what The great thing about a franchise is that you can serve up the same or similar entertainment knowing it's still going to sell, right? But you've also got that challenge of making it fresh and new because it's easy to fall into a trap of just doing the same thing, you know, over and over again. And you know it works. We know it works. 00:19:34.19 Brian Penn You give people what they want. But you also challenge people as well because you're giving them something slightly different. And know as I said earlier on, I think it's very difficult. to be that original when you've got a franchise because it's too safe to keep to a formula but as I say when you see it and you see what they've done and you see how they've refined and developed the st structurets the traditional structure of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World they've done something really really clever with it and I like ah really like that yeah 00:20:03.94 Chris Olson Well, we're on to some winners already. and And I've got good feelings about this ah this third one as well, because it's doing interesting business. 00:20:11.44 Brian Penn yeah 00:20:11.58 Chris Olson um A new iteration of Superman, directed by James Gunn. on, Brian. Tell us. 00:20:17.13 Brian Penn ah can Okay then. So it stars David Curran Sweat, ah Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Holt. So the storyline. We begin with the premise that Superman is the most loved and powerful superhero on Earth. 00:20:31.21 Brian Penn However, his popularity is in jeopardy following his mission to stop the nation of Baravia invading Jahangpur and warns Baravian president Vasil Gokos to leave Yohangor alone. 00:20:47.02 Brian Penn um 00:20:47.93 Chris Olson You're doing well, Brian. Keep going. These names are absolutely kicking your in the bat, aren't they? 00:20:49.33 Brian Penn know, I know, this is, I know, knew I was going to struggle with all of this. Why don't they give us simple titles that we can remember? 00:20:58.38 Chris Olson Just change them. 00:20:58.76 Brian Penn Anyway, I know, I know, no one's going to notice, yeah. 00:20:59.06 Chris Olson I won't know. Just go, it's Bob and Fred. 00:21:02.68 Brian Penn After losing a battle for the first time, Superman is saved by Krypto the Superdog. He later seeks refuge in his fortress of solitude in Antarctica. Solar radiation is used to heal him. 00:21:13.61 Brian Penn However, billionaire Lex Luthor is waiting in the wings and launches a monster on Metropolis as a distraction. But can Superman rise to the challenge? It's a thoroughly enjoyable film. 00:21:27.02 Brian Penn As you'd expect, the visuals are stunning. The set pieces are amazing. I think it's difficult to get Superman wrong, really. It's such a strong story. Superman is deeply ingrained in popular culture. 00:21:38.73 Brian Penn We've grown up with it and has a familiarity that gives us comfort and reassurance. if it has a weak spot and it's not that much of a weak spot, but I feel I need to point it out. Um, it's crypto, the super dog, because it's, it's all CGI based, right? 00:21:54.82 Chris Olson Careful here, Brian. You're going to annoy the dog lovers. Careful. 00:21:57.67 Brian Penn Yeah, I know. 00:21:58.25 Chris Olson Oh, 00:21:58.34 Brian Penn ah But, but I'll say why I wouldn't, I'll say why I wouldn't because the dog, it's all CGI based, but the dog almost puts the human characters in the shade. The dog is absolutely brilliant in it. 00:22:09.46 Chris Olson oh okay, cool. You like the dog. 00:22:10.66 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:22:10.89 Chris Olson Phew, because I literally thought we're going to get letters, Brian. 00:22:11.66 Brian Penn The, 00:22:13.22 Chris Olson If you don't like this dog, jeez. 00:22:13.82 Brian Penn well but The dog is fantastic, but it's it's all CGI generated. Now, apparently they used a real dog on set, so they got the actors' reactions right. 00:22:24.70 Brian Penn But pretty much what you see on screen is CGI generated. And it's amazing, Chris, right? And it's getting to a point now where you literally can't tell that it's CGI. 00:22:35.64 Brian Penn You know, certain scenes you think, ah, I can see that CGI. But most of the time it looks real. And it's almost distracting because when the crypto is not on screen, you're thinking to yourself, I want to see crypto again. 00:22:50.43 Brian Penn I want crypto. I want to see crypto. And to me, I find that a bit of a distraction because because it is about Superman. It's about what he can do and what he can achieve and what he overcomes. 00:23:02.12 Brian Penn And this is the beauty of the story that we know so well. And it's good overcoming evil, isn't it? But Crypto the Superdog steals the show. um which could have a detrimental effect. I mean, maybe I'm being too picky, but it it' so it's a very, very good film, very enjoyable. 00:23:20.87 Brian Penn And you know what what else, Chris, about any Superman film? Each one feels like the first one to me. You know, it has that standalone feel. You enjoy it as much. 00:23:31.64 Brian Penn You don't get judgmental about various Superman films. I mean, know I can think of when I first saw Superman with Christopher Reeve in. And I enjoyed that just as much, but it stands on its own. 00:23:43.47 Brian Penn And it's it simply a different version of the same story. So you don't feel when you don't necessarily recognise a franchise and a never-ending list of Superman films. like There must be loads. 00:23:56.37 Brian Penn How many Superman movies have been made? 00:23:58.41 Chris Olson Oh, you need to ask Ian, really, don't you, from the ph Phantom Zone. 00:23:58.55 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 30 or 40? 00:24:01.57 Chris Olson He he loves Superman. and 00:24:03.11 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:03.73 Chris Olson I think they've done an episode. 00:24:03.93 Brian Penn thatsly 00:24:05.55 Chris Olson Well, there was the franchise that we saw recently, wasn't there? trouble he He turns up in some films as well. like in the Yeah, I wouldn't know, but a lot. 00:24:12.14 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:15.74 Chris Olson i 00:24:16.02 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:16.38 Chris Olson More than enough. And especially if you include like animated stuff as well. 00:24:19.34 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:19.38 Chris Olson He's in all that stuff. 00:24:20.41 Brian Penn yeah I mean, the thing is you also got ah Superman versus Batman, that film as well, which... 00:24:25.65 Chris Olson Yeah, there was a Man of Steel, which then led to that. 00:24:27.25 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:28.27 Chris Olson Then there was, I think he was in the Justice League and all this sort of stuff. 00:24:31.27 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:31.53 Chris Olson But yeah, go listen to Phantom Zone if you love all that. 00:24:32.11 Brian Penn So... Yeah. 00:24:34.64 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:34.77 Chris Olson You know, Chris and Ian and the gang, they love all this. 00:24:37.13 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:24:37.59 Chris Olson sound like I'm 400 old, I, yeah, not, 00:24:37.81 Brian Penn Yeah, I know. 00:24:40.85 Brian Penn Well... 00:24:41.75 Chris Olson no 00:24:41.84 Brian Penn i'm you You know, Chris, i'm not I'm not a massive fan of Marvel and DC because of the way they make films. is so It's so calculating, really. And I don't feel it always does justice to the comics because that's where it comes from, right? 00:24:56.02 Brian Penn And the comics are just unsurpassable. The films are never going to going to match up to the comic strips, the original stories. And to me, they don't always take care of the of the legacy, if you like. 00:25:09.33 Brian Penn But I really enjoyed this. I i really did enjoy it. It was great fun to watch. And, you know, which is unusual for me because, i you know, with any Marvel DC film, oh I will pick it apart and say, oh, no, it's the same old, same old. But this was great. I really enjoyed it. 00:25:27.03 Chris Olson Well, this is the awkward bit though, because I normally yeah have a good inkling as to what you're going to pick as your film of the month for the cinema releases. 00:25:33.45 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:25:33.47 Chris Olson And I don't know which way you're going to go. 00:25:35.57 Brian Penn Well, yeah. I mean, usually, 00:25:36.91 Chris Olson what's film of the month, Brian? 00:25:38.27 Brian Penn well Well, I mean, usually one jumps out at me, one's obvious, but this time it's not. I think probably for the first time ever, it's actually not easy to pick one. 00:25:49.52 Brian Penn But of course I've got to, haven't I, really? And that would have to be Jurassic World Rebirth, just about. 00:25:56.92 Chris Olson Oh, wow. 00:25:58.35 Brian Penn Just about. 00:25:59.36 Chris Olson If you'd have told me that before, I'd have said no way. 00:25:59.38 Brian Penn It's very 00:26:02.40 Chris Olson Brian is not a fan of sequels. He wants like you know the original stories. 00:26:05.94 Brian Penn and 00:26:06.76 Chris Olson So, wow, that must have been an impressive film for you. 00:26:06.86 Brian Penn Yeah, exactly, yeah. but But for the reasons I've described, because because it's it's done something new to refresh the brand, the franchise, because it's too, you know, you find a formula that works, you stick to it, don't you? 00:26:22.22 Brian Penn If you're a filmmaker, you think it's making money. People want it. Why not? Why change anything? But they've got to a stage where they think, right, now we're going to try something different. but gonna We're going to throw a curveball at the audience, you know, and so and so see if they like it. Now, I i think this is, 00:26:39.70 Brian Penn just the job when it comes to breaking a mould within a franchise. Carry on with it, but you do something new with it. so And that's why it's Film of the Month. 00:26:48.56 Chris Olson Film of the month. There you go. um Listeners, don't switch off because we've still got way more to go through. 00:26:53.61 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:26:55.07 Chris Olson Some people realise they think we only review films at cinema. No, no, no We review loads of films. 00:26:58.87 Brian Penn No. 00:27:00.05 Chris Olson Don't switch off. 00:27:00.13 Brian Penn Yeah, we do. 00:27:01.36 Chris Olson And the next one is available on Netflix. 00:27:01.39 Brian Penn No. 00:27:04.43 Chris Olson It's our streaming pick of the month. That doesn't mean that we like it. It's just what we've picked. um And this film is a sequel. It's The Old Guard 2 starring Charlize Theron as the central character of Andy, um who we met in the first film. It turns out she's immortal. 00:27:22.80 Chris Olson um But left at the end of that film, she is not. 00:27:23.97 Brian Penn Mm. 00:27:26.31 Chris Olson yeah She's no longer immortal, which was a bit of an interesting twist. 00:27:27.63 Brian Penn No. 00:27:31.35 Chris Olson It gets kind of played about in this second film um where she's back um in with the gang and they are kicking ass whilst living in exile, basically. 00:27:42.36 Chris Olson um But the emergence of a long buried character sets them on a path to threaten the peace that they so much enjoy. Yeah. 00:27:51.37 Brian Penn Mm. 00:27:52.62 Chris Olson Yeah, it's it's a one of these sort of fantasy films that to say too much about it would just spoil it because there's only a few twists and turns in there and it would sort of ruin it, I think, if you haven't seen it. 00:27:58.62 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:28:04.87 Chris Olson I definitely think you need to see the first one. If you haven't seen that, I would watch The Old Guard first. I quite enjoyed that. I thought it was quite good. With The Old Guard 2, going to ask Brian his opinion first before I give mine. 00:28:18.10 Chris Olson Go for it, Brian. 00:28:19.70 Brian Penn Right. Well, look, it's very well done. Again, it's the C word for me. It's competent, right? 00:28:27.15 Chris Olson Oh, not that C word. Right. 00:28:28.00 Brian Penn oh No, no, not that sort of word. 00:28:28.04 Chris Olson A different... Gosh. 00:28:30.18 Brian Penn I've caught you twice now. 00:28:30.35 Chris Olson Whoa. 00:28:31.49 Brian Penn did that you once before, didn't 00:28:31.82 Chris Olson You have, yeah. 00:28:33.51 Brian Penn Yeah, but it's competent, right? And that that could be a ah kind of a negative or a positive thing, right? Insofar that I don't think it's taking any chances of a film like this. I think the first one was better than the second one. 00:28:47.01 Brian Penn um But this kind of goes by the numbers a a little bit, right? um I don't feel the characters are that strong. Apart from Andy, you don't you don't feel the characters stand out quite as much as you think they would. 00:28:59.86 Brian Penn you know that So it could do with with a bit more character building, building the characters up a bit more. um Again, it's look it's a familiar theme, isn't it? you know it It's about keeping humanity safe and ah using that. 00:29:15.78 Brian Penn mean, it's almost like a superpower, isn't it, being a morsel? 00:29:18.77 Chris Olson Yeah, I thought it felt like Netflix is trying to start at like a little franchise, you know trying to create... 00:29:18.86 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:29:24.08 Brian Penn yeah 00:29:25.47 Chris Olson I think it's based on some graphic novels. and 00:29:28.00 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:29:28.90 Chris Olson And considering that, i didn't I felt the same as you. It wasn't fully fleshed out in terms of the characters. 00:29:34.79 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:29:35.45 Chris Olson There's a lot of skimming along. I've just got, okay, this is that person, right, fine. We're just sort of given to accept it. um I think the villains are... 00:29:47.83 Chris Olson and and this is quite typical of this genre, the villains are quite melodramatic. um Like it has kind of like the mummy vibes. 00:29:51.88 Brian Penn yeah and 00:29:55.07 Chris Olson It feels a bit like that, but not as... 00:29:55.33 Brian Penn yeah 00:29:56.94 Chris Olson I love the mummy. The mummy's a great film, but it... 00:29:58.85 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:29:59.52 Chris Olson yeah the The original, by the way, not the one with Tom Cruise. i 00:30:02.75 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:03.44 Chris Olson But this this has that sort of like, oh, yeah, we're we're jet setting, we're going across the yeah the globe and they're fighting crazy you know things from the past. um 00:30:13.23 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:14.28 Chris Olson But it also has... Almost like a sort of spy thriller-esque to it, le with the sort of beings that are trying to sort stop everything. um 00:30:23.26 Brian Penn yeah 00:30:23.89 Chris Olson It's clunky. I think you can't get away from it being clunky. And they are riding a lot, I think, on Charlize Theron sort of bringing that star power to it. 00:30:34.00 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:34.39 Chris Olson If this was just a group of no ones... 00:30:36.86 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:36.90 Chris Olson ah Sorry, not no ones, but unknowns, I should say. 00:30:38.27 Brian Penn Yeah, no, I'm not student. 00:30:38.85 Chris Olson um It would feel like, do we need to watch this? 00:30:39.67 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:42.17 Chris Olson And I always think Charlie Stone picks some amazing movies. 00:30:42.53 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:46.47 Chris Olson um I don't think this is one of them. 00:30:46.63 Brian Penn Yeah. No. 00:30:48.57 Chris Olson The first one was more watchable. This I found I didn't 00:30:50.74 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:54.60 Chris Olson sort of feel it was slow I didn't sort of feel oh gosh oh when will this end I was more like it finished I kind of went okay and just just didn't think about it ever again until right now and I think the um i think that says a lot really 00:30:58.75 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:31:01.31 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:31:04.86 Brian Penn yeah 00:31:07.49 Brian Penn Yeah, you didn't feel any any real pangs, did you, when it ended? You think, oh, okay, that's fine, you know. 00:31:10.63 Chris Olson no i liked the banter between the group i thought that was fun i liked that it did have a sort of fast pace like they were moving around a lot and that kept things moving there's an opening scene where they're sort of in this mansion and everything's kicking off that was really well done there's lots of great stunts but i think you need so much more than that now with audiences like you know you talked earlier about f1 the movie that 00:31:14.76 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:31:21.44 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:31:26.08 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:31:31.65 Brian Penn yeah 00:31:34.86 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:31:35.34 Chris Olson We've seen that before. I've seen that being done. 00:31:36.87 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:31:37.10 Chris Olson But when you've got a heartfelt story and something that you can connect to, I don't feel that I really connected to anyone in this. Not even Andy, the main sort of character. 00:31:45.55 Brian Penn Yeah. i mean I mean, it does it does the job. The fact they've they've made a second film, it must have done well enough. you know it's 00:31:52.52 Chris Olson I don't know with Netflix. They seem to cancel the things that are popular and then they they keep the things that no one wants. 00:31:54.13 Brian Penn Well, yeah. Yeah, they're just contrary, aren't they? But I think there's great potential there for this story. 00:32:00.04 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:32:02.15 Brian Penn I mean, The basic premise for the story is that you've got these eternal warriors who who are immortal, who survive through the centuries. So there's all kinds of possibilities there. 00:32:12.94 Brian Penn You could take them back in time and put them, I don't know, and put them ah on the centre of the battlefield at Waterloo, for example, or something. 00:32:19.62 Chris Olson yeah 00:32:20.33 Brian Penn You know, there's so much you could do. So it's a very good idea that hasn't been unpacked properly. You know, they've just sort of gone for the juggler, think, right, this is this is the market we want to hit. 00:32:32.85 Brian Penn Right, so, ah yeah, yeah, yeah, 00:32:34.13 Chris Olson I think you're right as well in that sense because that premise, that concept of like, you've got these warriors that just, know, they could have been anywhere across the timeline. But to stick them in a modern timeline kind of feels a bit like pointless. 00:32:47.50 Brian Penn well, yeah, no, 00:32:47.91 Chris Olson It's like, why are we not given something a little bit more interesting? um'm I suppose there's no threat, I guess, if you know they're going to survive, but you wouldn't know necessarily because these aren't key figures. 00:32:56.72 Brian Penn yeah 00:32:57.22 Chris Olson It's more they're just... 00:32:57.48 Brian Penn um 00:32:58.56 Chris Olson superheroes but yeah The Old Guard 2 felt to me like the type of film that was okay enough as a concept but it's not been executed in a way that's been anything brilliant it's it's fine and it's sturdy but it's not and anything brilliant and I think once you sort of 00:33:13.09 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:33:18.09 Chris Olson settle into the film, you go, okay, right, it's not going to go any further than this. It's just, this is all we're getting. And you kind of thought that because Charlize Theron was in it, that there was going to be something else, but it never gets there. 00:33:29.84 Chris Olson It never gets to the point where you go, oh, that's why she's done it. 00:33:30.46 Brian Penn Yeah. yeah Yeah, I know. 00:33:33.38 Chris Olson and and 00:33:33.89 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:33:34.07 Chris Olson yeah No, no, it is just just probably for the money. 00:33:37.04 Brian Penn Yeah, that's fair enough, you know. 00:33:37.12 Chris Olson um And that's absolutely fine. Don't okay rob yeah get wrong. Get paid. That's fine. yeah Make your next indie film. 00:33:41.47 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah. 00:33:42.66 Chris Olson Speaking of indie films, we're going on to indie films now. 00:33:44.21 Brian Penn Uh-huh. That's a good link, Chris. 00:33:46.24 Chris Olson i'm That segue, that was brilliant. 00:33:48.14 Brian Penn Yeah, segue, yeah. 00:33:48.43 Chris Olson That so smooth. 00:33:49.77 Brian Penn Oh, 00:33:49.93 Chris Olson um This is a section where we review films that have been actually sent to us specifically. They've said, please review our film. um And I'm very say that for the first film, we have a clip. 00:34:01.35 Chris Olson This is from the indie film called Tiny Little Voices. 00:34:01.74 Brian Penn wow. 00:34:05.50 Chris Olson Here we go. 00:34:32.97 Brian Penn Hello? Hello? 00:35:14.78 Chris Olson So there you go. Sorry, I was getting really into that. was so oh yeah, it's we're watching the film again. 00:35:17.92 Brian Penn And 00:35:18.62 Chris Olson um 00:35:18.72 Brian Penn yeah 00:35:19.60 Chris Olson So Tiny Little Voices, are possibly and one of an early films in what's going to be a new genre, which is post-pandemic films you and stories. 00:35:29.61 Brian Penn and 00:35:30.94 Chris Olson um It is set on the sort of tail end of the pandemic when things are reopening again. And we have two characters who... cross paths, ah both of whom have now got serious issues with germs and touching people and being near people and yeah this whole reopening of society. 00:35:50.87 Chris Olson And they happen to sort um find their way to each other. um And as you heard in that clip... calamity ensues there's lots of ah comedic set pieces going on and essentially it's about how these two people navigate this journey out of lockdown and back into society um and you know trying to sort of re-acclimatize themselves with that um what do you think of tiny little voices brian it's fun isn't it 00:36:18.27 Brian Penn I really liked i think it. was I think it was well acted, great scripts. At times it was very, very funny. you know when The idea that you've got all these inanimate objects speaking to her, and it plugs into Many people's insecurities surrounding COVID that when it ended, when the lockdown finished, they had to come out of that cocoon again, didn't they? And it suited some people to have the protection of being enclosed and being indoors. 00:36:46.38 Brian Penn For someone living on their own, you could see how that behaviour could escalate. But I think the idea that a toothbrush or a tap could be speaking to her and then a friend drags her out into the park, onto Clapham Comet, 00:37:02.99 Brian Penn And, you know, there was a duck that was walking past and it said to her, I want to talk to you about foie gras. I mean, I just think it's so clever. 00:37:09.43 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:37:12.48 Brian Penn It's it's so original to do that. But it it's kind of illustrating what what can happen to someone when they go to extremes and what um and being in clothes for so long can do. 00:37:24.72 Brian Penn Because being made to stay in and not go out changes people's mindsets. I mean, most people cut an itch to get out after COVID finish, could they? 00:37:33.82 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:37:34.00 Brian Penn right But some people became cocooned by it. And this is what the the central character is is really about, isn't it? It's trying to live a normal life again. 00:37:45.00 Brian Penn But at the same time, it weaves in a ah surprising romance, doesn't it, really? A relationship developing between two people that are very similar and have the same fears, haven't they, about COVID. 00:37:55.46 Chris Olson Yeah, I think that yeah that's what sort of cements it for me, um was that there was this strong storyline behind it. Because on the one hand, yes, you have this character that is hearing things, and that could have just been the film, right? It could have been, she's struggling to get past all this, what's going on, and she hears his voices. 00:38:14.64 Chris Olson and But actually... both characters are equally as yeah troubled by what's going on and they both have their own situations. 00:38:22.65 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:38:25.02 Chris Olson um And I think, so I'm not going into too much it, so I don't spoil it by the way. 00:38:29.60 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:38:30.11 Chris Olson umm And I think the film touching on how, impactful the the pandemic was on people across the board. 00:38:36.75 Brian Penn yeah 00:38:37.12 Chris Olson Like said, whether people were desperate to get back, that had an impact, or whether they were desperate to stay back inside. 00:38:42.78 Brian Penn know 00:38:43.02 Chris Olson um I love the quick editing between the voices talking. that 00:38:47.67 Brian Penn yeah 00:38:48.14 Chris Olson It wasn't like, oh, you've just got this like one bar of soap talking, right? It's like, no, there's lots of little things all happening all the time. 00:38:53.52 Brian Penn I know. Well done. 00:38:55.23 Chris Olson And it felt like it was claustrophobic for her. 00:38:55.57 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:38:58.11 Chris Olson It felt like a cacophony of noise. 00:38:58.11 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:39:00.72 Chris Olson I love that. 00:39:00.79 Brian Penn know. 00:39:01.85 Chris Olson ah The sound design and the music is really great. It's got a lighthearted atmosphere for the audience. The whole feel of the film feels... so uplifting it feels like it's uplifting even though it's actually turning quite a sort of sad story really about how this is impacting people it's done in a way that's fun it's it's bright you're gonna watch it and come away feeling a little bit sort of warmed by it and I think the lead uh she's great she has such a great straight uh you know um Thornton Rice um which plays Anna I I thought she was 00:39:24.19 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:39:28.48 Brian Penn Yeah. yeah this yeah yeah 00:39:35.37 Chris Olson break She was really great at handling both sides to that role, where she's got this sort of you know more anxiety-riddled person, but also someone that is trying to reacclimate and trying sort of help other people. um I thought it worked really, really well. 00:39:50.52 Chris Olson My only real criticism with it, and this is not going to shock anyone, is I think it's too long. I think it's about two hours. 00:39:57.53 Brian Penn Yeah, and I know. 00:39:58.81 Chris Olson And I just... I think... I'd be very surprised to see a list of films that are hilarious for two hours. 00:40:05.66 Brian Penn Yeah, I know. 00:40:05.92 Chris Olson I just don't think it's possible because you run out of steam um unless you're doing something that is just absolutely incredible. 00:40:13.59 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:40:15.04 Chris Olson I think it's baggy at times. 00:40:15.17 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:40:16.60 Chris Olson There's scenes that kind of go on. 00:40:16.78 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:40:17.80 Chris Olson It needed a much, much stronger edit um because it goes off on tangents. and I think, unfortunately, that does. 00:40:25.19 Brian Penn yeah 00:40:25.39 Chris Olson I think some people may come away feeling a little bit like they found it funny and uplifting and great, but they also feel it overstayed its welcome a little bit. 00:40:31.14 Brian Penn Yeah, I agree. 00:40:32.72 Chris Olson like COVID. 00:40:33.11 Brian Penn Well, yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah very good. I hadn't thought of it that way. But yeah, I think you're right. Look, we often talk about the running length of films, don't we? And i think yeah I think it's something that needs to be considered because it's part of the viewing experience, isn't it? 00:40:48.11 Brian Penn So if you're going to sit down for two hours and watch a film, you want the filmmaker to use the time well. This type of film, I think... what't doesn't work as well as it should do because it's too long and it is just ah think it's just a touch under two hours but this could have been a brilliant 90 minute film 00:41:07.42 Chris Olson Yeah, I think it, because I tell you who can do it, and this is something which I wanted to bring up in this review, is Richard Curtis, right? Richard Curtis can do a two-hour comedy film because often his have got enough, his his focus is so much more on the romance aspect 00:41:17.53 Brian Penn yeah yeah yeah 00:41:24.34 Chris Olson and the comedy is just always there that it's like you're you're really swept up in the romance of it and this had Richard Curtis vibes I will give it that you had the yeah the the lovely use of like locations yeah there's a brilliant bit in Borough Market where they sort of get food that's really great and it did have that sort of like 00:41:33.21 Brian Penn Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, a little bit, yeah. 00:41:38.29 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:41:41.17 Brian Penn Yeah. Mm-hmm. 00:41:46.48 Chris Olson quirky characters going through something interesting i think it's a little bit more high concept than maybe that um but the the execution of it like i said it felt like someone doing a good attempt at a richard curtis film it's it's clearly not in the same league but it's the it's in the right direction you're in the right path know if you want to get to that level i think you do need a stronger edit you need to yeah trim that down get it get rid of the baggy stuff 00:41:52.26 Brian Penn Mm-hmm. 00:42:01.54 Brian Penn yeah 00:42:04.44 Brian Penn Yeah. i yeah 00:42:11.46 Chris Olson or put stuff in there that is more meaningful, that is going to sort yeah cope better. 00:42:13.94 Brian Penn Yeah. yeah 00:42:15.67 Chris Olson um 00:42:15.83 Brian Penn and Yeah. 00:42:16.60 Chris Olson But yeah, no, of I love it when I get a film that's a comedy film that actually makes me laugh. This genuinely made me laugh. 00:42:23.48 Brian Penn yeah 00:42:23.94 Chris Olson um I would yeah strongly recommend it. 00:42:26.63 Brian Penn And I've not seen a film that that deals with the subjects in that way where the central character literally can have conversations with inanimate objects. 00:42:38.06 Brian Penn I've not seen it deal with COVID, the issue of COVID dealt with in that way. And it's a new way of approaching it. But they do it, you know, they handle the the kind of the serious aspects of it, the psychological aspects of it. 00:42:50.60 Brian Penn But they also inject moments of humor. And that's what life is, isn't it? It's a series of dramas with moments of light relief. And that's That's the Richard Curtis way, isn't it, of doing it? 00:43:02.55 Brian Penn So if you're to be influenced by anyone, be influenced by the best. And, you know, there are kind of elements, ah chinks of light that you think, oh, yeah, that is a kind of Richard Curtis thing to do, where you're filling the screen with quirky characters who are very likable and quite endearing, but are real at the same time. 00:43:22.69 Brian Penn You know, and that's what Richard Curtis can do. So there's no harm in being influenced by someone who's good. 00:43:26.55 Chris Olson Yeah, and it has it has its own sort of freshness to it as well. 00:43:29.31 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:43:29.61 Chris Olson There was like, you know, it's tapping into LGBTQ plus themes. There are the post-pandemic elements being dealt with really, really well. 00:43:35.75 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:43:39.81 Chris Olson I don't think it's, you know 00:43:39.91 Brian Penn ye 00:43:41.87 Chris Olson trying to do that solely but it comes across the way actually you know what you've you've been influenced here whether you whether you like it or not and i think it's a good thing the film itself uh tiny little voices is available currently to watch on amazon prime so if you're in the uk and you've got prime you can watch it for free which is great so you can go and watch it let us know if you thought it was too long old video and also yeah anything else yeah there's 00:43:48.49 Brian Penn Yeah. ah yeah 00:44:03.18 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:44:05.45 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:44:06.33 Chris Olson It has an Instagram page at tiny little voices and we've reviewed it on the website. I believe it was James Leroy. Yeah. James Leroy reviewed it. A terrific critic. 00:44:17.53 Chris Olson um He wrote a fabulous review to go read that. 00:44:21.57 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:44:21.69 Chris Olson And on his review is the trailer. So if you're not quite sold on whether you want to watch it, you can also watch the trailer. I don't know. I can do any more plugging for that film. That was, I covered my bases surely pretty much there. 00:44:29.94 Brian Penn No. I think so, yeah. Yeah. 00:44:33.71 Chris Olson Um, 00:44:33.76 Brian Penn That's done it. Yeah. 00:44:35.28 Chris Olson Moving on to a short film, and also reviewed on the website by James Leroy. This is from filmmaker Michael Cook, who writes, directs and stars in the short film Up Down. 00:44:47.07 Chris Olson Sadly, I don't have a clip for this. um It's a fairly short film, and... um It doesn't necessarily need us to play a clip from it. 00:44:55.67 Brian Penn yeah 00:44:55.70 Chris Olson yeah If you have time, definitely go read James' review. He's done a fabulous review on the website. 00:45:01.00 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:45:01.01 Chris Olson um But Up Down sees a character essentially in limbo. 00:45:01.15 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:45:05.66 Chris Olson Something's happened and he finds himself in... the purgatory or somewhere purgatory adjacent. um And we see him go through a sort of very interesting looking ah space. 00:45:19.97 Chris Olson It starts to feel quite ethereal. And then he ends up in a chat with an angel, ah basically where they're going to decide where he goes next. 00:45:26.01 Brian Penn yeah 00:45:29.78 Chris Olson Does he go up or down? 00:45:29.82 Brian Penn Yeah. Mm. 00:45:31.41 Chris Olson Or does he stay where is? 00:45:33.04 Brian Penn Well, yeah. 00:45:33.24 Chris Olson And... and Michael Cook's made some really great short films. um I think this is a fantastic short. It's slick production, has this really like dark and meaty atmosphere that you're in throughout. 00:45:48.12 Chris Olson And obviously playing on a very common theme of yeah what happens to us when we die? yeah Have I been a good person? 00:45:56.43 Brian Penn Mm. 00:45:57.33 Chris Olson yeah How will I be judged? And it's yeah it's pulling that off. Cook himself is actually great in the lead. um And also Hunter Bishop as the angel. But Brian, what do you think of up-down? 00:46:09.71 Chris Olson Do you like it? 00:46:10.07 Brian Penn Oh, this is good. I like this. This is really good. You know, the thing is, straight away, it sets his stall out. very um mean, it's a short film anyway, so it can't hang about. But you know straight away where it's headed, what it's about. 00:46:22.64 Brian Penn You know, you've you've got the guy at the center of this story who's really in a waiting room. He's halfway between heaven and hell, isn't he? Right? He's talking to the angel and he's saying, why am I here? What's happened? 00:46:35.86 Brian Penn What's happened? He said, talk to me, man. Tell me about yourself, man. But why? yeah i it it's ah it's a fascinating sort of exchange and it's done very quickly. But you can see exactly what his anxieties are. 00:46:48.07 Brian Penn And he's it's sort like the angel saying, well, tell me where you think you belong. You know, do you belong down there or up there? You know, I think that is so clever. It's such a kind of ah it's lateral thinking, isn't it? 00:47:01.64 Brian Penn You think, this is this is someone who's caught between two worlds. 00:47:01.75 Chris Olson Mm-hmm. 00:47:07.44 Brian Penn You know, think it's excellent. I think it's, I love the simplicity of it. You know, one word I always use when I describe a film, if it's good, I say, ah love the simplicity of it, right? it's It's presenting you with with a ah simple premise, right? 00:47:23.36 Brian Penn This man, by the look of it, is about to meet his maker, right? But this commanding angel is saying to him, We're not sure where you belong. What have you done in your life? 00:47:34.86 Brian Penn Explain to us. Tell us about your life. Tell us what you've done. And that, I think, is so such a clever way of presenting a story and doing it very quickly as well. 00:47:45.90 Brian Penn So... 00:47:45.99 Chris Olson but i I've seen films as well where they've done this like idea. I think James even mentions a couple of films where you have this sort of idea of meeting your maker or or whatever it is and and being judged. 00:47:58.47 Chris Olson And often they can come down on two sides. I think it can be quite schmaltzy and it's very sort of like... 00:48:03.74 Brian Penn Yeah, 00:48:04.94 Chris Olson yeah almost nostalgic looking back on your life, or it can be very kind of like suspenseful. And I think this falls in the latter camp. 00:48:11.36 Brian Penn I was gonna say, yeah. 00:48:13.09 Chris Olson You know, the sound designs, it gives it sort really thrillery kind of feel. 00:48:14.52 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:48:17.78 Chris Olson It's so pulsating at times. 00:48:19.67 Brian Penn yeah 00:48:19.77 Chris Olson It's very, you know, you're in a state of unease for a lot of this. um And I think, you when you get given John's memories, it's like the emotional core of the film. 00:48:30.25 Brian Penn yeah 00:48:30.52 Chris Olson That really worked well because we connect to that character. The thing I found with it was it felt a little rushed, which was interesting because yeah when it's a short film, there's always that potential. 00:48:40.32 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:48:43.12 Chris Olson But I think here they gave a lot of time for him waiting to see the angel. 00:48:43.38 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:48:48.42 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:48:48.87 Chris Olson ah which was great because it added mysteries. Okay. What's going on here? And it felt, um, you know, that felt kind of arty. 00:48:56.04 Brian Penn yeah 00:48:56.60 Chris Olson And then we get this scene where it's very dialogue driven, um, but it's not that long. 00:48:56.65 Brian Penn yeah 00:48:59.56 Brian Penn yeah 00:49:01.30 Chris Olson And it felt like, Oh, okay. 00:49:01.41 Brian Penn yeah 00:49:02.30 Chris Olson But we just got going. Like you gave us all that waiting time. 00:49:03.68 Brian Penn yeah 00:49:04.78 Chris Olson And then suddenly like that scene was very, very quick. 00:49:06.06 Brian Penn yeah 00:49:07.61 Chris Olson Um, I don't know if that was down to any kind of budgetary reasons or if that's just what they wanted to do. 00:49:12.87 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:49:12.89 Chris Olson Um, but I, I, I suppose it's a good thing, really. I just wanted more of it. um i just thought it did feel a little bit rushed. 00:49:17.95 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:49:20.15 Chris Olson And I think you would likely come away pondering the themes that it's going to bring up. It brings up lots of about religion, beliefs, mythology. 00:49:26.07 Brian Penn Yeah. no 00:49:29.25 Chris Olson So it's got a big, wide appeal. But I think you're going to either come away feeling you're going to ponder about those themes, or you're going to come away feeling a little bit like, oh, was that it? like Was there not more? Like, I wanted more from that. 00:49:39.10 Brian Penn yeah 00:49:39.12 Chris Olson ah 00:49:40.07 Brian Penn yeah 00:49:40.18 Chris Olson So, yeah, depending on which side you land, I think will determine how much you enjoy the film. 00:49:43.00 Brian Penn and um I mean, I i would say ah I came away wanting more. Whenever I see a short film, flat if I finish the film and I think, you know, that feels a bit like a trailer, right? If I think that it feels like a trailer, there's kind of feature-length potential there. And that tells me I want to see more. 00:50:04.12 Brian Penn But with some short films, you think that's it, it's done sort of thing, you know. But that has something more to it. There's there's there's more... it's more It's much meatier because of the way it's been filmed. 00:50:14.71 Brian Penn And I take your point about it being rushed, but I suppose that in a 10-minute time frame, right, they, as I said earlier on, they can't necessarily hang about. 00:50:25.40 Brian Penn But I think that is probably integral to the story they're telling, is that this man at the centre of the story is trying to justify his place in the afterlife. 00:50:37.92 Brian Penn You know, is it going to be down there or is it going to be up there? So, in some ways it is a rush. He wants to justify himself. So I think that's part, that I think that was intentional myself. 00:50:50.13 Chris Olson Yeah, and absolutely. yeah I think you someone like this filmmaker, Michael Cook, he's done enough films now to not yeah rush what he wants. 00:51:00.15 Chris Olson But sometimes it can be you things outside their control, you know, actors had limited days or whatever it is. 00:51:00.36 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:51:05.84 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:51:06.44 Chris Olson um i just All I can say is how I felt like when I left. I was like, oh, okay, that's a shame that that's finished. 00:51:11.33 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:51:12.19 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:51:12.63 Brian Penn No, no. Yeah. 00:51:13.75 Chris Olson But yeah, as I said, I think it's a good thing, really. So the film's called Up Down, and Michael Cook has an Instagram, which is Michael underscore Cook with an E ah underscore official. 00:51:16.70 Brian Penn yeah 00:51:24.88 Chris Olson um You can also probably find him on our socials where we've tagged the film and XYZ. ah Go read ah James's review. He also really enjoyed the film and he had some very eloquent things to say. 00:51:35.96 Chris Olson And yeah, let us know if you get to see it. I think the film we were given was unlisted on YouTube, so it's not available far as I'm aware. But that may change because often when it's on a YouTube link, it might mean they just make it public. So stay tuned. 00:51:50.25 Chris Olson Moving on now to a documentary um from filmmaker Solon Solomon ah called Migrating Fears. And in what I think is possibly a very first, I have a theme tune song for a documentary. 00:52:03.59 Brian Penn Oh, ah okay, yeah. 00:52:05.04 Chris Olson um I'm going to play a bit of it. 00:52:05.88 Brian Penn and 00:52:06.56 Chris Olson i'm not trying to play a bit it. I'll play a bit of it now. 00:53:22.65 Chris Olson It's very rare that we get to play music on the show. I was swaying there a little bit with it. 00:53:25.22 Brian Penn Yeah. and I liked it, actually. 00:53:27.43 Chris Olson Yeah, it's got a bit of tune. 00:53:28.10 Brian Penn i And Solon Solomon, I think he wrote the song as well, didn't he? 00:53:32.11 Chris Olson He did, yeah. so I asked him for a and clip from the film, like I do for everyone, and he said he didn't really have a clip, but he liked the the some of the songs to be played out because, as say, he wrote it ah for the film. 00:53:32.94 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:53:36.45 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:53:42.90 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:53:44.29 Chris Olson It's um very unusual for a documentary to have a song, but hey, it's all gravy. um 00:53:49.76 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:53:50.65 Chris Olson Migrating Fears is a documentary all about the fear ah in the UK surrounding immigration and... obviously a hot topic right now. 00:54:01.52 Chris Olson it it feels like it's always a hot topic, to be honest. 00:54:03.16 Brian Penn yeah 00:54:03.51 Chris Olson I don't think you'd ever find a year where we went, oh no, no one cared about it that year. 00:54:04.46 Brian Penn yeah aye Yeah, know. 00:54:07.67 Chris Olson um um But yeah, it's ah it' it's a documentary about that and it's got the, it opens with that song and a lot of the film has, well, a lot of the opening of the film has, the filmmaker Solon actually talking about people that he's going to make this documentary, and he interviews people about that. 00:54:26.09 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:54:27.39 Chris Olson And then later on, we get more of a kind of traditional talking head kind of approach to people in the fields, talking about various aspects. 00:54:31.65 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:54:35.81 Chris Olson Lots of things come up, such as Brexit and you so housing and and and all these things. Talking... 00:54:41.81 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:54:43.11 Chris Olson i'm not to I'm not displaying, I think you should watch this film. It's actually very, very interesting. 00:54:46.66 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:54:48.01 Chris Olson I've got a lot it because he's talking not just about what's happening right now. 00:54:48.42 Brian Penn No. 00:54:50.88 Chris Olson It's talking about England's kind of historic attitudes to migration and and how that has changed. And the fact that obviously we're an island, there's always been lots of, fear about yeah people coming over, um but also how important migration has been to the success of the country. um And yeah, it goes through about that. 00:55:12.00 Chris Olson There's some really, really powerful bits, like asylum seekers and refugees giving their kind of powerful stories. What did you think of migrating fears, Brian? 00:55:19.12 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:55:21.12 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:55:21.57 Brian Penn Very interesting. You know, it provides a an excellent posted history of migrations to the UK. And it hits all the right marks because it touches on colonialism, the empire, hugenitis, fleeing persecution, wind rush, Russian Jews, fleeing persecution. You know, it does all of that really well. 00:55:42.08 Brian Penn But for me, it only really gets going about halfway through. 00:55:46.07 Chris Olson Yep. 00:55:46.17 Brian Penn when it becomes more of a conventional talking heads documentary, as you just alluded to um when I start interviewing politicians like Margaret Hodge and Lord Alton and Lord Lilly, then you get, you know, as a viewer, you get more clarity in what the issues are. um Not easy to reach any conclusions where, where ah migration is concerned. 00:56:07.31 Brian Penn Cause as you say, it's, it's always going to be a hot potato. It always has been. It always will be, you know, there are so many moving parts, aren't they, to, to the, the issue. um So i don't think it's easy to tie it up, really, but but it it kind of opens the viewer's mind to what the history is and how important immigration has been to the UK. And in fact, to every country when you think about it, ah but particularly to ourselves. I mean, we're all immigrants, aren't we? 00:56:38.42 Brian Penn You know, i mean, even, you know, the ancient Britons were descended from the Norsemen and the Picts and the Anglo-Saxons. So we're all ultimately immigrants and we're all building blocks as part of one great nationality. 00:56:54.05 Brian Penn That's what I get from it, you know. So i think in that way, it's very interesting. But, you know, the problem with a documentary of this kind is that you can't really draw it any proper any real conclusions because it's still ongoing, if you see what I'm saying, you know. 00:57:11.13 Chris Olson Yeah, I think, you and the best documentaries, they're not there to sort of provide a final answer to anything. 00:57:14.76 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:57:16.30 Chris Olson It's more just shining a light. And I 100% agree. Listeners, you won't know this, but me and Brian don't actually confer before we go on the podcast. We just come on here and and say what we think. 00:57:23.47 Brian Penn Yeah. not yeah yeah 00:57:26.53 Chris Olson And I thought he was just nodding along to Brian's movie because like, yeah, felt the exact same way, which was... the first half of the film, or at least the first section, is ah Solomon actually in the film. 00:57:37.68 Chris Olson He's in the film a lot, and they're creating these kind of almost like fictional scenes of him talking about setting up the documentary and what he's going to do and making a film. 00:57:38.53 Brian Penn yeah 00:57:42.10 Brian Penn yeah yeah Yeah. Yeah. 00:57:46.07 Chris Olson And you have that song playing as well, which I think isolated the song is fine, but over the top of the documentary, is very heavy-handed. 00:57:48.22 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:57:53.92 Chris Olson and It comes across... 00:57:54.18 Brian Penn yeah 00:57:55.65 Chris Olson like a big punch in the face um to to sort of try and get your attention. And I think that is the biggest misstep of this film, unfortunately. 00:58:03.92 Brian Penn and 00:58:04.43 Chris Olson I think it is that the filmmaker put too much of himself into the movie and didn't let the good stuff which was there just have more breathing room. 00:58:08.13 Brian Penn yeah and 00:58:11.38 Brian Penn yeah 00:58:13.16 Chris Olson Because as Brian said... 00:58:13.41 Brian Penn yeah 00:58:14.27 Chris Olson A lot of the talking head stuff was very fascinating. A lot of the, there was like archive footage. 00:58:17.08 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:58:19.42 Chris Olson There was a bit of animation at one point. 00:58:21.40 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:58:21.44 Chris Olson That stuff worked really well. I think that that was a great movie. 00:58:22.95 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:58:24.64 Chris Olson And I think that yeah the strength of Migrating Fears is the the yeah the history and the evidence and the you know the stuff that we're talking about and raising really sort of potent themes in a way that is quite, 00:58:32.01 Brian Penn yeah 00:58:35.78 Brian Penn yeah 00:58:37.79 Chris Olson disarming I think it's not trying to be volatile or hostile. It's not trying to point loads of fingers everywhere. 00:58:42.17 Brian Penn yeah 00:58:43.77 Chris Olson I think it's sort of raising interesting aspects. I think it is largely a positive story about migration. 00:58:48.97 Brian Penn yeah 00:58:49.37 Chris Olson um I think that's fair to say. 00:58:51.11 Brian Penn yeah 00:58:51.30 Chris Olson But that's when it's at its best, when it's doing that stuff. I think it needs to learn from that and go, OK, right, yeah that works. 00:58:56.65 Brian Penn yeah 00:58:58.05 Chris Olson If you're going to do a story, a film like this again, it needs to be less about the person making it and more about the subject matter. 00:59:04.28 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:59:05.41 Chris Olson and because it seems well-intentioned just at times it's awkward and it's dry and it's like right okay but can we get back to like the stuff about why we're here yeah 00:59:05.46 Brian Penn ah Yeah. yeah 00:59:12.74 Brian Penn yeah Yeah. I mean, the at the beginning, the conversations he had with the yeah the Tasmanian lady at the beginning where they were chatting, That put him in a position where he had to act. 00:59:23.52 Brian Penn And with a great respect, he's not an actor. You know, he's yeah he's a lawyer, he's an academic, he's a lecturer, and he's very well qualified and very good at it, obviously. 00:59:26.04 Chris Olson it was cringe-worthy I have to be honest yeah 00:59:33.29 Brian Penn like But it may it put him in a position where he had to act. And that's you can tell that's not his fault, though. right And it would have been better, I think, to have started off with with a conventional documentary format, which is what they got into a bit later. 00:59:50.14 Brian Penn But even so, nothing wrong with the content. The content's fine. 00:59:54.98 Chris Olson And I think if you're going to inject yourself into a film, yeah if you want to do that, if there's a reason for you to do that, if you're a historian, yeah you want to bring your... 00:59:55.26 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:00:03.52 Chris Olson Maybe you've written a book. yeah whatever Whatever it is, maybe you want to bring attention to it. 01:00:05.75 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:00:06.80 Chris Olson I think there's other ways of doing it. I don't think you need to do it in that way where it feels like, you say, it's he's clearly not that comfortable even doing it. 01:00:08.37 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:00:14.40 Brian Penn a 01:00:14.56 Chris Olson It felt but how quite awkward. And this is one of the things that I don't like in a lot of films when people are the director and the writer and they're the star, it can be very dangerous. 01:00:16.98 Brian Penn yeah 01:00:22.58 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 01:00:24.90 Chris Olson I mean, unlike ah the Michael Cook film we talked about Up Down, I thought his performance was great. 01:00:25.64 Brian Penn and Yeah. 01:00:30.06 Chris Olson And even though he's the one yeah with the big credits, 01:00:32.89 Brian Penn yeah 01:00:33.37 Chris Olson It's fine. Someone must have said to him, you know, giving him notes, giving him, OK, this needs this, you need that. I think here that didn't happen. I don't think there was any kind of like feedback going on. This is actually quite awkward um because and i what i think it's a big shame. 01:00:48.39 Chris Olson I'm glad we're able to review migrating fears is because a lot of people are probably going to give up after that first section and go, oh what's going on here? 01:00:50.19 Brian Penn yeah 01:00:55.38 Brian Penn yeah 01:00:55.79 Chris Olson it's Obviously, we we're going to watch the whole thing. And the second half is so great. It's really interesting. 01:01:00.52 Brian Penn yeah 01:01:01.35 Chris Olson There's lots of things to come away. Of of all the films, the indie films we reviewed, I wrote more notes about this one than I did about anything else because I was like oh, that's fascinating. 01:01:07.65 Brian Penn yeah yeah no but it it gets it gets its point across eventually but as you say i mean you 01:01:08.39 Chris Olson know That's interesting. you know I think the content there is really, really great. I just think the execution at times was poorly chosen. That's all. 01:01:22.93 Brian Penn the film The film lasts for, what, an hour, one hour, 12 minutes or something like that, isn't it? 01:01:26.89 Chris Olson Something like that, yeah. 01:01:27.76 Brian Penn Yeah. And because of the way it starts, you know, it may not hold people's interest, right? So they should have got into the meat of the the matter a lot sooner. 01:01:42.35 Brian Penn And they could have probably done without that that opening segment. That could have been just a more conventional, you approach to making a documentary and just to set out with just some talking head interviews to begin with as well because that's what it is. It's it's a serious documentary, isn't it? 01:02:02.84 Chris Olson Absolutely. um 01:02:03.86 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:02:04.52 Chris Olson The film Migrating Fears, I believe, is available on Fawesome TV, which is F-A-W-E-S-O-M-E.TV. 01:02:10.89 Brian Penn Hmm. 01:02:13.16 Chris Olson ah Whether or not it stays on there or not, I'm not sure. um I've not heard of that platform really before. 01:02:16.15 Brian Penn Hmm. 01:02:17.93 Chris Olson It was fine to watch this when when I watched it. 01:02:18.39 Brian Penn Hmm. 01:02:20.41 Chris Olson So yeah, if you can go and see it, as said, and it raises loads of interesting things. I think if you're 01:02:26.85 Brian Penn Yeah, 01:02:26.99 Chris Olson someone that has an interest in English history, in politics, yeah obviously see all that stuff. I think there's so much great content there. 01:02:33.98 Brian Penn yeah definitely. Hmm. 01:02:34.42 Chris Olson i'm 01:02:34.45 Brian Penn Hmm. 01:02:35.11 Chris Olson Yeah, and let us know if you do watch it. And also, Jason reviewed it, i think, on the website. Yeah, so go and read Jason's review. He's very positive about it. He he really likes that that sort of stuff. So, yeah, good stuff. 01:02:46.49 Brian Penn and 01:02:46.50 Chris Olson um Also, let me just check if there's any socials. Yeah, I don't think there was actually any social media for this. So, yeah, probably just look at that foursome TV if you do want to find out more. 01:02:56.71 Brian Penn Mmm. 01:02:57.69 Chris Olson Moving on to an indie feature film from Sayun Jiang called Nictophobia. um Chris Buick reviewed this on the on the website if you want to read that. 01:03:08.20 Chris Olson And yeah, it's an experimental feature. um Lots of interesting use of black and white colour here, but it's all primarily about the central character of Liz, who has a ah fear of the dark and her whole attempts to try and get to sleep something I sympathize with massively as the father of two children uh two young children I must say and yeah it has a very kind of dreamlike quality to it um there's sort strange scenes and visuals and like I color like colors popping out sometimes uh what did you think of this Brian? 01:03:28.02 Brian Penn yeah 01:03:42.78 Brian Penn I liked it. I thought it was very good. You know, the you can't argue with the artistic integrity of this film. There's not much in the way of a script, is there, for really honest. So it's all visuals. But they were very arresting sites. And we can all relate to someone, know, 01:03:58.49 Brian Penn I'll be honest with you, Chris. I never knew that nyctophobia was a fear of darkness. I know about a fear of darkness, but I never knew it was called nyctophobia. 01:04:07.01 Chris Olson There you go 01:04:07.22 Brian Penn I never knew that. God, I'm ignorant, aren't I? But there you go. Anyway, so I've learned something I've learned, right? um But the sequencing with was excellent. Now, we were talking about the length of tiny little voices, weren't we, that it was two hours long and a little bit too long. 01:04:23.33 Brian Penn And this is 90 minutes. And The first thing I thought was, how are they going to sustain visuals for 90 minutes and keep you interested? But they do. I think they it it keeps you engaged, which I think is quite an achievement because the imagery is quite powerful. And I love the different sections. you know i mean, you imagine that these are, you know she's trying to fall off. She's trying to get to sleep. 01:04:47.53 Brian Penn And the metronome, she's trying all kinds of techniques to get her off to sleep with the metronome and all the rest of it. right But this is her. I think, trying to focus and concentrate and relax and finally fall off to sleep. 01:05:01.82 Brian Penn But there were some quite interesting images there. a love the disco section as well. 01:05:05.36 Chris Olson Yeah, 01:05:05.53 Brian Penn and That was really well done. I like that. But other parts of it were quite alarming, particularly with with the clowns as well. 01:05:14.34 Chris Olson yeah I think it's playing on some of the sort of like classic themes of like nightmares and horror, right? 01:05:21.49 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:05:21.88 Chris Olson So it's like that whole idea of yeah clowns. I've got a place that everyone hates, right? and And I think it's that sort of... 01:05:28.49 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 01:05:30.45 Chris Olson um yeah's going through the idea of like how people try and get to sleep and some of the reasons why they maybe they can't. 01:05:37.49 Brian Penn yeah 01:05:37.63 Chris Olson um I think it's got that kind of universal appeal because it is a bit of a of an art piece. 01:05:41.09 Brian Penn and Yeah. 01:05:43.27 Chris Olson And it's quite, let's say the visuals are so arresting and and so is everything to it. 01:05:47.69 Brian Penn Oh, really? um 01:05:48.83 Chris Olson Like the score and the sound, it's got a very chilling kind of atmosphere throughout. 01:05:49.21 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:05:53.71 Chris Olson And I think people are going to connect with that on a level of, okay, this is something based that everyone has to go through. The idea that you're being tormented almost, you you can't sleep. um I think there's certain scenes which go on a bit longer than they need to. 01:06:09.03 Chris Olson There's a scene where she sings, i think there's a song, idea. 01:06:09.44 Brian Penn e 01:06:13.39 Brian Penn Yeah, that jazz thing, wasn't it? 01:06:13.46 Chris Olson ah 01:06:15.15 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. yes 01:06:16.06 Chris Olson i think they sort of... and then Actually, you mentioned the disco scene, but I i thought that actually was great, but it again, went on too long. as ah We need to move on now. 01:06:22.47 Brian Penn yeah 01:06:24.28 Chris Olson i umm 01:06:24.37 Brian Penn yeah 01:06:25.32 Chris Olson Because... there there was a lot of potency to the scenes and it felt like oh, wow, that's really interesting. But I think by moving on a bit quicker, you keep that going, you keep that intrigue going. 01:06:35.92 Chris Olson Whereas I think once it started to labour a bit longer, there was a sense of, like okay, yeah now I actually feel like I am getting in that. 01:06:36.33 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:06:43.19 Chris Olson And I think it's probably done purposefully like to try and elicit, okay, yeah, I've got a reaction from you because... 01:06:47.08 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:06:50.57 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:06:50.75 Chris Olson you know you're meant to find that maybe a bit tedious or you're meant to find that frustrating, you know like the character does. 01:06:54.60 Brian Penn But. Yeah. 01:06:57.04 Chris Olson But from a viewing point of view, I don't think it's necessarily going to be i'm as thrilling. 01:06:59.18 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:07:01.30 Chris Olson I think it loses momentum ah because of that. 01:07:03.31 Brian Penn yeah 01:07:04.12 Chris Olson But fans of horror and experimental cinema, you're going to love this. 01:07:05.45 Brian Penn Yeah. um Yeah. 01:07:07.77 Chris Olson It's got like this nightmarish chaos to it that is going to be enthralling. 01:07:08.16 Brian Penn Yeah. yeah 01:07:13.81 Brian Penn No, it is. Look, it's very well put together. it's for You know, all the in the indies that we've reviewed on this particular show, like all the shows we do, you know, are all very good. They're very well put together. 01:07:25.39 Brian Penn Bearing in mind they have a limited budget and they almost they're they're indie films that don't seem to have an indie budget. then you know, they look like They've had more money to spend than they've really got. And that's a skill in itself, isn't it? 01:07:37.84 Brian Penn It's to make it look like it's a big budget film when it's not. um But it with regard to the timing of of different scenes, and they go on for a bit too long, you're right, they do. 01:07:49.58 Brian Penn I think they do go on for too long. But this is where you have time available. You think, if you're a filmmaker, if you're director, you think, how do I fill that time? How do I fill that space? I mean, am I filling that space for the sake of it? 01:08:02.13 Brian Penn and making a scene longer than it should be? Or am I putting something integral in there that gives more meaning to the story? It's all about the narrative. And if it's not doing anything for the story, then it shouldn't be in there. 01:08:14.11 Brian Penn Again, it's down to editing, isn't it? 01:08:16.60 Chris Olson And I think there's definitely, yeah, definitely. edit seen this is is We've mentioned it, I think, for most of the films tonight. 01:08:22.10 Brian Penn Oh, yeah. 01:08:22.69 Chris Olson It is a sense of, often with indie films, they're more susceptible to this because there are less people involved. And it's often, know, it's a balance, right? Because some of the big studio films, 01:08:34.83 Chris Olson yeah the execs come in and they do their tampering and and tinkering and they cut and they spoil just as you much as the opposite happens. 01:08:39.59 Brian Penn Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. 01:08:43.25 Chris Olson But think with indie films, often because they are sometimes the products completely of the filmmaker, yeah whoever wrote the story or directed it, if they're that ah one person thing, they're going to leave it as like untouched as possible because that's their vision for it And that's absolutely fine. 01:08:59.75 Chris Olson I think sometimes the reason why film works really well is because it's a collaborative effort, because there are often, you know, many, many ah people there. 01:09:04.56 Brian Penn and 01:09:07.40 Chris Olson And the editing is such an unsung hero of filmmaking because that's the shaping of the story, right? 01:09:11.32 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:09:15.22 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:09:15.28 Chris Olson That's the, okay, but how do we get from the beginning to the end in the best possible journey that's going to get the best possible reaction for the most amount of people? 01:09:21.41 Brian Penn Yeah. yeah 01:09:23.47 Chris Olson um If that is your ambition, it might not be. And I think with experimental cinema, there is definitely a case that sometimes filmmakers are just doing something to make a point or they're doing something to see, you know, test endurance or whatever it is. 01:09:35.41 Brian Penn yeah 01:09:36.37 Chris Olson ah ah And that's absolutely fine too. and Because like I said here, they are playing on things which people ah going to connect to in a sort of cliche way of like, okay, so we've got clowns, we mentioned you exams, I think one point she's just sitting in exam, they're singing in public. 01:09:44.70 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 01:09:49.57 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah, that 01:09:52.81 Chris Olson These things yeah that are playing on the human condition, yeah these things which are typically worrying. 01:09:56.29 Brian Penn was and 01:09:59.71 Chris Olson I think that there's a strong possibility that there's a reason why these films, these scenes are a bit longer. Um, I just want to also mention there's a really cool scene where she's playing Tetris in the air and that was brilliant. 01:10:11.69 Chris Olson I really enjoyed that scene. 01:10:12.09 Brian Penn yeah yeah that was 01:10:13.35 Chris Olson Um, it was so smart and was so clever. 01:10:16.08 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:10:16.19 Chris Olson um it's just, it's little things like that, which show me this filmmaker has a lot of promise. And I think I'm right in saying their debut. 01:10:21.60 Brian Penn Yeah, definitely. um Absolutely. 01:10:24.88 Chris Olson So say you and John, um, Yeah, massive congratulations. 01:10:29.16 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:10:29.58 Chris Olson I think it's it's got... 01:10:29.83 Brian Penn Yeah, that's 01:10:31.65 Chris Olson Actually, might not be a debut, but if it's if it is either way, it's very impressive. 01:10:34.29 Brian Penn good. 01:10:37.74 Chris Olson I don't think it's for everyone. 01:10:38.57 Brian Penn And 01:10:39.18 Chris Olson This is absolutely a Marmite type of film. I don't think everyone's going watch and go, oh yeah, i loved it. But I think for those who enjoy a bit more of a challenging piece of cinema, it's there. 01:10:49.38 Chris Olson But it would also have a connection for a lot of people in terms of you know tapping into your fears and sleepless nights and things like that. 01:10:55.39 Brian Penn and think we can all relate to it. I mean, you know, we've all had issues with sleep over the years, haven't we, for one reason or another. 01:11:04.79 Chris Olson I've had an issue with clowns and not to mention my mother twice in one episode, but I'm going to, is that she in our house when were growing up had this artwork on the wall, which was clowns. 01:11:14.31 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:11:15.05 Chris Olson These they were clowns, right? 01:11:16.82 Brian Penn yeah 01:11:17.32 Chris Olson i And it was meant to be like arty, but they were terrifying, honestly. And one night i remember my brother saying, oh should should we see if we can get them removed from your room? I was like, ah yes, please. 01:11:27.67 Chris Olson Like, I don't know why they're there. 01:11:28.04 Brian Penn hu 01:11:29.35 Chris Olson Why are they here? There's no connection. and they were like, oh i didn't think you'd find that scary. It's like, It's terrifying. Why would you put clowns on the wall? 01:11:34.33 Brian Penn and I wonder why that is, though, that clowns can be quite scary. 01:11:36.35 Chris Olson Mad. 01:11:40.03 Brian Penn I mean, they they should be happy characters, shouldn't they? They make people smile. 01:11:44.82 Chris Olson Yeah, Stephen King ruined it all, really, didn't he? 01:11:47.80 Brian Penn it's got thought It's got a lot to answer for, hasn't it? 01:11:49.24 Chris Olson He's got a lot to answer. for And not just that. 01:11:51.46 Brian Penn I know. 01:11:51.62 Chris Olson and But don't get me started. 01:11:51.72 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:11:52.91 Chris Olson No, I love Stephen King. So Nyctophobia is available on Plex TV, um which is where we watched it. ah It's a free platform. So absolutely yeah hats off to filmmakers putting their films there. 01:12:05.95 Chris Olson One thing that viewers will have to be aware of is you will have to put up with quite a lot of adverts. 01:12:06.30 Brian Penn ye 01:12:10.88 Brian Penn Oh, yeah. 01:12:10.94 Chris Olson They kick in like every 10 minutes. 01:12:11.76 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:12:12.90 Chris Olson it's like, oh, here we go 01:12:13.13 Brian Penn I know. I meant some internet earlier on yeah 01:12:14.85 Chris Olson And they tell you that it says like six adverts or something. like, all right, go make cup of tea then. 01:12:17.75 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:12:19.29 Chris Olson Come back. 01:12:19.57 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:12:20.53 Chris Olson And i think I think with a film like this, it totally disturbed the momentum. 01:12:20.59 Brian Penn You can't fast forward it either, can you? You can't. 01:12:25.44 Chris Olson And I know why filmmakers do. 01:12:25.71 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:12:27.00 Chris Olson i'm not absolutely I'm not having a go at them at all. I know what they have to do to survive. 01:12:28.98 Brian Penn No. 01:12:30.56 Chris Olson It's just absolutely... 01:12:30.87 Brian Penn That's the commercial reality, isn't it, really? 01:12:32.12 Chris Olson It is. It really is. 01:12:32.47 Brian Penn like 01:12:33.50 Chris Olson But if this was available on like YouTube or something without ads, I would say go there. 01:12:36.89 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:12:37.48 Chris Olson But it's... yeah 01:12:38.08 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:12:38.63 Chris Olson go Go watch this and you support the film because they'll hopefully get a bit of money from it. and 01:12:42.22 Brian Penn yeah 01:12:42.85 Chris Olson But yeah, just be aware there's ads. The film also has an Instagram profile, which is film underscore nyctophobia. And you can read our review, which was done by Chris Buick on the website ah by going there. 01:12:55.27 Chris Olson And yeah, why not do it? Unless you're scared of clowns. 01:12:59.35 Brian Penn ah Yeah, yeah, right, exactly. 01:13:02.12 Chris Olson ah Which most people are. 01:13:04.22 Brian Penn Nice people are, yeah, and I know. 01:13:05.05 Chris Olson Most people aren't, Mum. God. 01:13:06.67 Brian Penn Universal, isn't it, really? 01:13:07.64 Chris Olson yeah 01:13:08.52 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:13:08.93 Chris Olson um Other things that are universal are our love of dinosaur films, which is if you're wondering what our nostalgia pick is. 01:13:13.57 Brian Penn Oh, yes. Yeah. 01:13:16.98 Chris Olson and da a um I'm not to do any more than that case we get sued. 01:13:19.50 Brian Penn yeah 01:13:22.56 Chris Olson um 01:13:22.63 Brian Penn yeah Yeah, you never know, do 01:13:23.87 Chris Olson You never know. they haven't got enough money, have they, these people? 01:13:26.82 Brian Penn No, of course not. 01:13:27.34 Chris Olson um 01:13:27.56 Brian Penn don't know how they get by, do you? 01:13:29.37 Chris Olson Yeah, very difficult. 01:13:30.24 Brian Penn do they manage? 01:13:31.56 Chris Olson and Jurassic Park, a classic film from 1993, currently available to watch on ITV. 01:13:34.72 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:13:36.94 Chris Olson i'm not sure if it's still available there. um We are not affiliated with any of these platforms, by the way. and We just give them a shout out. um If you don't know what Jurassic Park is about, And that I, before I would be kind of sort of, how could you not? 01:13:50.97 Chris Olson Um, but actually I realized that is a long time ago, isn't it? 01:13:53.83 Brian Penn Oh, it nice to see it. 01:13:54.39 Chris Olson That's a very long time ago. um 01:13:56.09 Brian Penn I didn't think it was long ago actually, to be honest. 01:13:58.04 Chris Olson Yeah, it's a Steven Spielberg film, and it's about ah this creation of an island park where they have been able to bring back cloned versions of dinosaurs and using it mosquitoes in magma, I think. 01:14:15.43 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah, inamba, what's that? 01:14:16.23 Chris Olson Yeah, the blood. So yeah that was it yeah so they suck the blood of dinosaurs. 01:14:18.57 Brian Penn Inamba, yeah. 01:14:20.54 Chris Olson They're preserved in the magma. 01:14:20.78 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:14:21.78 Chris Olson They were able to bring them back. 01:14:22.77 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:14:23.13 Chris Olson And basically they have to bring in um a few experts in the field to sign off on the safety of the park because the investors are getting a bit skittish after someone is grisly eaten near the beginning of the film. 01:14:28.74 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:14:36.31 Brian Penn a yeah 01:14:38.02 Chris Olson um Sam Neill and Laura Dern star as two of those people coming, as well as... the absolute classic legend that is Jeff Goldblum rocking up in what is, this is for me definitive Jeff Goldblum because this was, I think the first film I saw him in and became aware of him. 01:14:46.91 Brian Penn He 01:14:51.70 Brian Penn was great, wasn't he? 01:14:55.33 Chris Olson And then it was independence day. I think later that I saw him in, but it's got incredible class. 01:14:57.50 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 01:14:59.83 Chris Olson You've got Richard Attenborough, who's the park owner. um 01:15:02.89 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:15:03.99 Chris Olson Even Samuel Jackson is in this film. 01:15:05.40 Brian Penn yeah he turns like He's in the control centre, isn't he, Samuel Jasmin? 01:15:07.70 Chris Olson he's i mean When I saw him, was like, oh my gosh, how did you not get a bigger role in this? 01:15:09.66 Brian Penn Yeah. and I know. 01:15:12.09 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:15:12.95 Brian Penn But, I mean, 01:15:13.05 Chris Olson um yeah 01:15:14.08 Brian Penn You can't imagine him not being a star, can you, Samuel Jackson? 01:15:16.33 Chris Olson No. 01:15:16.64 Brian Penn You can't imagine him just being a a support, which is all he was in this film at the time. 01:15:21.69 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:15:22.43 Brian Penn You know, and he he was it was kind of on the fringes for so long, wasn't he? He was like Denzel Washington. You know, you catch him on the fringes and there'd be films here and there. But I think soon after this, he broke really big, didn't he? 01:15:35.63 Chris Olson Well, interesting, something like Sam Neill, right? 01:15:35.76 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:15:37.56 Chris Olson He was this big person in this film, right? But I don't think he became such a big star after this. 01:15:41.03 Brian Penn Hmm. 01:15:43.93 Brian Penn No, not really. 01:15:44.08 Chris Olson i don't yeah I've seen him in a few things, but nothing kind of major. 01:15:46.37 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:15:47.76 Chris Olson um Obviously, they brought him back for the when they rebooted it, but... 01:15:50.89 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:15:51.21 Chris Olson um Yeah, matt incredible cast. But I think one thing about Jurassic Park, which is why I would be surprised if not at least seen or heard something, simply because of the magnitude of merchandise that's available. 01:16:04.53 Brian Penn Oh, yeah, I know. 01:16:04.59 Chris Olson Jurassic Park is on T-shirts, on everything. 01:16:06.59 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:06.82 Chris Olson um You know, that that classic red and black logo and with the words across mouth. 01:16:10.56 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:12.10 Chris Olson It is just everywhere. And one thing I think back to with this film... 01:16:13.80 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:17.20 Chris Olson is this was probably the first cinematic experience I had where I was absolutely changed by it because I was quite young when this came out and I went to see it with my family and I remember being utterly, utterly terrified. 01:16:28.43 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:32.79 Chris Olson Like you were saying about the your your reaction to the new one. 01:16:32.89 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:35.70 Brian Penn know. 01:16:35.88 Chris Olson you and you're You're an older man. 01:16:36.34 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:37.84 Chris Olson It's like, you're not yeah i I must have been about... 01:16:38.28 Brian Penn I know. 01:16:40.80 Chris Olson seven I think or something when this came out and or not even that and I was utter I mean I was way too young to see this to be honest but it absolutely terrified me and I watching it back and you you talked about this a bit earlier about whether ah yeah the new film broke us into that horror genre but for me this absolutely was a horror film because of just the age I saw it but also when you watch it does there's a lot of scenes that are scary you know yeah the trembling cup of water and 01:16:41.60 Brian Penn yeah i 01:16:47.80 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:51.04 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:54.87 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:16:57.39 Brian Penn know. know. Yeah. 01:17:00.71 Brian Penn yeah 01:17:05.72 Brian Penn sad 01:17:09.31 Brian Penn ah no 01:17:09.75 Chris Olson um all this stuff. 01:17:10.02 Brian Penn and i 01:17:10.93 Chris Olson It is just brilliant. And I think it's one of those films, it's pure cinema. like you You go to see this in a cinema, it's it's it's exactly what you want to see. 01:17:22.33 Chris Olson The big spectacle, great characters, it's funny, it's scary, it's heartwarming. 01:17:22.35 Brian Penn Yeah. i mean 01:17:27.60 Chris Olson Even though you've got these two kids that they end up having to look after, it creates that heart, that moment of peril. 01:17:28.00 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:17:31.08 Brian Penn Yeah. Well, yeah. 01:17:33.29 Chris Olson you they they They're suddenly thrust into this role of guardians, looking after these kids amongst all these incredible... 01:17:37.95 Brian Penn I know. and yeah um 01:17:39.74 Chris Olson ah yeah And practical effects, right? And loads of practical effects. 01:17:43.31 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:17:43.46 Chris Olson It's just brilliant. It's jaw-droppingly brilliant still. 01:17:44.81 Brian Penn I know. It's a classic for me. It's a modern classic and it changed all the rules, you know, It shifted the goalposts. showed filmmakers what's possible, what you can achieve because there'd been nothing like it before Jurassic Park. 01:18:01.12 Brian Penn And I've related this story before on the podcast, but I want to mention it again because when I 01:18:13.55 Chris Olson All right, you cut off there, mate. 01:18:16.60 Brian Penn yeah, so I have to relate this ah story that I've that I've told before on the podcast about when I first saw Jurassic Park when it came out in 93. It was one of only two occasions when I was part of a cinema audience that was a sellout. 01:18:30.66 Brian Penn Every single seat was taken. Every single one. And it's a rare thing, particularly when you've got multiplexes, because there are so many times you can go now. But it was a full house. And the the effects were so jaw-dropping that people were screaming in the audience. 01:18:46.35 Brian Penn People were shouting and screaming at the screen. Just ah in a similar to how I described earlier on when I when i said I darts, this was more magnified than everyone was doing it because people had never seen anything like it before. you know It was so different and so exciting to watch. and this is When Spielberg talks about popcorn movies, a great popcorn movie, this this is this is it. This is the bomb, isn't it? 01:19:13.67 Brian Penn This is what you're looking for. It's something that's jaw-droppingly good. And One thing that struck me, when I watched it again for for this review we're doing here, um I am why and never realised how good the script was. you know Because you're looking at the visuals, and you know the script is really clever. It's very smart. 01:19:33.92 Brian Penn Because ah Jeff Goldblum's character, I think it's Ian Malcolm, he's having an argument with Hammond, the character played by Richard Attenborough, the guy who set it all up. 01:19:45.70 Brian Penn And he's saying, look, What you're doing here takes no discipline. You're standing on the shoulders of giants. You're so impressed by what you've done, you haven't stopped to think about whether you should. you know And Hammond says, well, if I created an island of condors, you'd have nothing to say. 01:20:02.27 Brian Penn And that raises important questions about nature and the ecosystem. you know With the technology available, is it right that we manipulate nature in this way? So it was raising lots of interesting questions about nature about the environment and what we're able to do. 01:20:19.41 Brian Penn But that kind of got lost for me anyway. But so you've got a very intelligent script that's been written there, but you don't necessarily notice it. 01:20:27.23 Chris Olson I think that's the thing with this film. like Having watched it in very different parts of my life, like going from one of my earliest, possibly, no, probably wasn't the first film I saw at the cinema, but definitely one of the earliest ones, i certainly that i remember, to now watching it you know as yeah ah podcast host in my late 30s is like, 01:20:33.75 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:20:38.84 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:20:45.71 Chris Olson is like 01:20:45.89 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:20:47.15 Chris Olson It's such an incredible film. It's so layered and there's so many aspects that you can enjoy. that i must have It must have been one of those films that you know when parents go to the cinema with their kids, like, oh God, that was a brilliant film to watch. 01:20:56.19 Brian Penn Yeah. i 01:20:57.89 Chris Olson it you actually read yeah Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it because there's so much here. 01:20:59.85 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:21:01.41 Chris Olson And you take different things from it. you and yeah It's pinning on lots of themes because of our environmental impact, right? Not just yeah good and bad, yeah we science and what we do and all those things. 01:21:10.89 Brian Penn yeah 01:21:15.17 Chris Olson But it's also that primeval link that we have to these ancestors who used to be the dominant force. 01:21:19.38 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:21:21.46 Chris Olson It's got so much relevance. Like it's always got relevance. I think that's why it spawns so many more films because it's a story that can just keep being told and and slightly tweaked. to make it more relevant to a modern an audience. 01:21:32.64 Chris Olson But I think the spectacle of it, the film it gives me most kind of connection to is probably Jaws. 01:21:32.95 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:21:39.63 Chris Olson Cause obviously similar for a lot of obvious reasons, but it, yeah, in terms of the actual, 01:21:39.81 Brian Penn Hmm. 01:21:44.03 Brian Penn Some of the vibe, isn't it? Yeah. 01:21:48.63 Chris Olson ah physical predators that we're seeing in the film and the way that they're delivered elicits such a stark reaction from audiences. It creates that whoa moment and that is magic. 01:21:59.13 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 01:22:03.90 Chris Olson That is cinema magic and I think that, like you said, that's why the filmmakers look up to this sort of film. 01:22:07.68 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:22:08.88 Chris Olson Their score helps. I mean, that score is absolutely incredible. 01:22:10.49 Brian Penn who 01:22:12.75 Chris Olson um The cast is brilliant. talked about that. I think It's a film that is like, if you're going to do the, when people hold up the scoreboards at like a recital, it's like 10, 10, 10, like everything is just on the money here. 01:22:25.10 Brian Penn yeah i'm like and i 01:22:27.53 Chris Olson Yeah, it's absolutely perfect. 01:22:29.07 Brian Penn It's an amazing film and its power doesn't diminish at all. Even though we've seen six Jurassic films since then, it's powerful. It still carries that punch. Even though I would imagine that how many people have seen that film at some point in the last 32 years, it's still got that punch. It still doesn't diminish in its impacts. 01:22:53.74 Brian Penn And you realise what a genius, I mean, genius Steven Spielberg is. Really incredible. You know, and I mean, going back to one of your earlier points, though, that, you know, it's quite endearing, quite heartwarming. You know, the characters played by Sam Neill and Laura Dern. 01:23:10.73 Brian Penn They're a married couple. And yeah you notice how they kept on getting trapped with these two kids and she wants to have kids and he doesn't. 01:23:17.25 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:23:17.87 Brian Penn They're being put in a position where he has to look after kids and he he and he starts to de develop up kind of a parental instinct then because he thinks, oh, well maybe, yeah. So that's... It's got a human side as well. 01:23:30.08 Brian Penn you know the And that's quite endearing. And it's clever to mix it in with all the action. Because you you could just look upon it as an action movie. So it's it's as you say, it's multi-layered. It's got so much going on there. 01:23:41.19 Brian Penn And the seeing it once, you don't always catch all the nuances. and Which is why I picked up on the the ecological debate in the script, which you wouldn't necessarily get first time around. 01:23:53.83 Chris Olson Absolutely. And that's why we revisit these films, um these nostalgia picks. 01:23:57.33 Brian Penn Exactly. Yeah. 01:23:59.79 Chris Olson And yeah, that was a really good one. and and I thoroughly enjoyed going back to that. and And after you giving the new one, Film of the Month, that has really, really made me want to go see that. um 01:24:09.37 Brian Penn you love it. 01:24:10.11 Chris Olson Rebirth. 01:24:10.18 Brian Penn You will love it. You will love it. 01:24:12.43 Chris Olson So, yeah, that's been our episode ah for this month. Thoroughly entertaining and very varied. yeah We've reviewed films across the spectrum. I hope you enjoyed them. And big thank you to the filmmakers who send us their movies, as always. 01:24:26.36 Chris Olson Big thank you to Brian for going to the cinema, braving the outdoor world in this post-pandemic life that we have. 01:24:31.43 Brian Penn Yeah, know, yeah. Yeah, I'm a brave little soldier, aren't I, really? 01:24:33.45 Chris Olson um You know... You are really. 01:24:36.32 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:24:36.44 Chris Olson um But I don't like to sort of brag about it really for you too much. I don't want you getting a big head. I don't want you feeling that, you know, because otherwise, you know, the demands will start, you know, nightmare. 01:24:45.56 Brian Penn I've got to keep my feet on the ground, I, really? Yeah. 01:24:47.82 Chris Olson um Thank you to everyone um for listening. If you've made it this far, congratulations. You've stuck with us. You know, we talked earlier about running times, but, you know often we run our mouths way too long. 01:24:56.85 Brian Penn Yeah. ah Yeah. 01:24:59.19 Chris Olson um So, yeah, if you made it this far, thank you. And we'll see you again in August. 01:25:04.59 Brian Penn Bye for now. Previous Next

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