WHERE DOES LONELY WOLF TAKE PLACE? The Lonely Wolf: London International Film Festival was reconceived by Adrian Perez in 2020 after an inactive period, as his response for the need of a modern film festival fit for the global age. Lonely Wolf hosts 4 online seasonal competition rounds, followed by an annual week-long film festival event hosted in some of the most impressive cultural venues in London (the St Pancras Clock Tower already a confirmed venue). WHY IS IT CALLED "LONELY WOLF"? ​ WHAT MAKES LONELY WOLF? "Why did I create Lonely Wolf? Because as a former filmmaker myself, I was lacking an online film festival that truly engages with its filmmakers and provides a positive experience for all regardless of your status in the competition. Lonely Wolf’s concrete pillars are its community of filmmakers and the experience we create for them. ​ I also recognised the need for a hybrid forward-thinking festival; one that retains its carefully-curated exhibited programme through its traditionalist annual big-scale film festival and week-long cultural event, whilst champions the online film festival arena, currently saturated by below-the-radar online film festivals." -Founder and CEO Adrian Perez Founder and CEO Adrian Perez keeps his focus on those filmmakers who don’t top the competition as much as on those who do. Lonely Wolf came into being for the very ideal that "no wolf gets left behind"; Adrian's mission for Lonely Wolf is that it pushes beyond its principal faculties of an aspirational creative contest and carefully-curated programme, to providing a forever home and educational resource for filmmakers across the globe. Hence the name "Lonely Wolf", renowned for granting filmmakers the rare opportunity to watch all the best films of the competition from the comfort of their home, via its members-only digital cinema; which is also accessed by film buyers and the wider industry. Lonely Wolf has set itself up to ensure every filmmaker doesn't walk away from the competition merely checking a published list of results, but see themselves nurturing their growth and passion for the craft of filmmaking in the process. Lonely Wolf is most renowned for its mystical "wolfpack" community spirit, in the form of filmmakers' constant engagement with and affinity for the brand, through their UGC content and sendings of celebratory howls via social media. Every filmmaker upon entering the competition is invited into the festival's secret "wolfpack" group, which includes some renowned Emmy and BAFTA award-winning members. Here’s a film festival championing the online arena for managing to create the buzz and networking opportunities only annual venue-held festivals are capable of. Your online networking at Lonely Wolf can take you from meeting like-minded passionate filmmakers and potential collaborators; to meeting your next investor or having your film exposed to a potential film buyer who will grant you a distribution deal; to making friends for life. Lonely Wolf is perfect: it’s most prestigious for hosting its annual week-long carefully curated programme and cultural event in some of the most spectacular cultural venues in London (the St Pancras Clock Tower already a confirmed venue); but then it’s also fit for the global age in that it recognises filmmakers’ desire to skip the year-long wait for their films’ results--so we simultaneously host 4 online seasonal competition rounds. ​ Why seasonal and not monthly? Because it’s a better balance this way. Lonely Wolf’s online competition rounds run frequently but not so frequently they’re an easy laurel giveaway; each of Lonely Wolf’s rounds see you up against an average of 1K+ worldwide films; you’re up for a fight without an excruciatingly long wait for results. It’s a much more worthwhile competition and fulfilling experience. Lonely Wolf: London International Film Festival WHERE DOES LONELY WOLF TAKE PLACE? The Lonely Wolf: London International Film Festival was reconceived by Adrian Perez in 2020 after an inactive period, as his response for the need of a modern film festival fit for the global age. Lonely Wolf hosts 4 online seasonal competition rounds, followed by an annual week-long film festival event hosted in some of the most impressive cultural venues in London (the St Pancras Clock Tower already a confirmed venue). WHY IS IT CALLED "LONELY WOLF"? WHAT MAKES LONELY WOLF? "Why did I create Lonely Wolf? Because as a former filmmaker myself, I was lacking an online film festival that truly engages with its filmmakers and provides a positive experience for all regardless of your status in the competition. Lonely Wolf’s concrete pillars are its community of filmmakers and the experience we create for them. I also recognised the need for a hybrid forward-thinking festival; one that retains its carefully-curated exhibited programme through its traditionalist annual big-scale film festival and week-long cultural event, whilst champions the online film festival arena, currently saturated by below-the-radar online film festivals." -Founder and CEO Adrian Perez Founder and CEO Adrian Perez keeps his focus on those filmmakers who don’t top the competition as much as on those who do. Lonely Wolf came into being for the very ideal that "no wolf gets left behind"; Adrian's mission for Lonely Wolf is that it pushes beyond its principal faculties of an aspirational creative contest and carefully-curated programme, to providing a forever home and educational resource for filmmakers across the globe. Hence the name "Lonely Wolf", renowned for granting filmmakers the rare opportunity to watch all the best films of the competition from the comfort of their home, via its members-only digital cinema; which is also accessed by film buyers and the wider industry. Lonely Wolf has set itself up to ensure every filmmaker doesn't walk away from the competition merely checking a published list of results, but see themselves nurturing their growth and passion for the craft of filmmaking in the process. Lonely Wolf is most renowned for its mystical "wolfpack" community spirit, in the form of filmmakers' constant engagement with and affinity for the brand, through their UGC content and sendings of celebratory howls via social media. Every filmmaker upon entering the competition is invited into the festival's secret "wolfpack" group, which includes some renowned Emmy and BAFTA award-winning members. Here’s a film festival championing the online arena for managing to create the buzz and networking opportunities only annual venue-held festivals are capable of. Your online networking at Lonely Wolf can take you from meeting like-minded passionate filmmakers and potential collaborators; to meeting your next investor or having your film exposed to a potential film buyer who will grant you a distribution deal; to making friends for life. Lonely Wolf is perfect: it’s most prestigious for hosting its annual week-long carefully curated programme and cultural event in some of the most spectacular cultural venues in London (the St Pancras Clock Tower already a confirmed venue); but then it’s also fit for the global age in that it recognises filmmakers’ desire to skip the year-long wait for their films’ results--so we simultaneously host 4 online seasonal competition rounds. Why seasonal and not monthly? Because it’s a better balance this way. Lonely Wolf’s online competition rounds run frequently but not so frequently they’re an easy laurel giveaway; each of Lonely Wolf’s rounds see you up against an average of 1K+ worldwide films; you’re up for a fight without an excruciatingly long wait for results. It’s a much more worthwhile competition and fulfilling experience. SEE MORE FILM FESTIVALS

We are Emerging Filmmakers Night aka EFN - a fresh online film festival combining high quality short film programs with interactive director Q&A. We value inclusivity, equal representation, and developing voices of emerging talent. EFN Film Festival We are Emerging Filmmakers Night aka EFN - a fresh online film festival combining high quality short film programs with interactive director Q&A. We value inclusivity, equal representation, and developing voices of emerging talent. SEE MORE FILM FESTIVALS

Film news - First Cow on Mubi 9th July 2021. Find out more at UK Film Review. First Cow on Mubi 9th July 2021 Chris Olson Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 12:35:00 PM GMT+1 FIRST COW ON MUBI FROM 9 JULY 2021 DIRECTED BY KELLY REICHARDT WRITTEN BY JON RAYMOND & KELLY REICHARDT STARRING JOHN MAGARO, ORION LEE, TOBY JONES, AND EWEN BREMNER MUBI , the global distributor and curated film streaming service, has announced that Kelly Reichardt’s critically acclaimed First Cow will be available to stream exclusively on the platform in the UK from 9 July , following MUBI’s UK theatrical release of the film on May 28. Award-winning director Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff, Wendy and Lucy ) returns with the eagerly awaited First Cow , a gripping and glorious story of friendship and petty crime in the Old West. A taciturn loner and skilled cook (John Magaro) has travelled west and joined a group of fur trappers in Oregon Territory, though he only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant (Orion Lee) also seeking his fortune. Soon the two collaborate on a successful but precarious cake-making business, the longevity of which is reliant upon the clandestine participation of a wealthy landowner’s prized milking cow – the very first, and only, in the territory. With this simple premise, Reichardt paints an authentic portrait of harsh frontier life in the early nineteenth century, depicting the immense, unsettling quietude of rural America and interrogating the very foundations on which the country was built. Following its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, First Cow screened at the Locarno Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and competed for the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival. It won Best Film at the 2020 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, and last month was nominated for three Film Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature and Best Director. Combining sumptuous cinematography with a gently melancholic tale of pilfered dairy, sweet cakes and old-fashioned camaraderie, First Cow is the celebrated magnum opus of one of cinema’s most vital independent filmmakers. First Cow will be released by MUBI in UK cinemas on May 28 , and will be available to stream exclusively on MUBI starting 9 July The King's Man UK Home Release Date Announced The Latest King’s Man Film Will be Available on Digital February 9 and 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ and DVD on February 21. Read Now BFI Future Film Festival announces 2022 Awards Jury and full programme Find out who the jury is for the 2022 BFI Future Film Festival. Read Now The Wonderful: Stories From The Space Station UK Release Date The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station is a Dog Star Films production in association with Fisheye Films. Directed by Clare Lewins (I Am Ali, Kareem: Minority of One, The Lost Tapes of Memphis.). Read Now Redemption of a Rogue UK Cinema Release Date Read Now Cryptozoo Coming to Mubi This October Having made a splash at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, filmmaker Dash Shaw's upcoming fantasy animation Cryptozoo is a highly anticipated film coming to Mubi later this year. Read Now Another Round UK DVD And Blu-Ray Release Date Announced Following its acclaimed cinema release, STUDIOCANAL are excited to announce the release of Thomas Vinterberg’s intoxicating Oscar winner, ANOTHER ROUND, starring Mads Mikkelsen, on early EST 24th September 2021 and DVD, Blu-ray and Digital on 27th September 2021. Read Now Marvel Studios Announces Black Widow DVD and Blu-Ray UK Release Date Marvel Studios Announces Black Widow To Land Early On Digital (August 10th) and 4K, Blu-Ray and DVD September 13th. Read Now My Little Sister Gets October UK Release Date My Little Sister is due for a cinema release in the UK, on Friday 8th October 2021. Read Now Grimmfest Reveals Line-Up for 2021 Film Festival After a year of “home invasions” in the form of virtual screenings and online events, this October sees Grimmfest returning to the cinema at last. Read Now Helen Mirren Narrates Powerful Documentary Escape From Extinction Kaleidoscope Entertainment presents Escape From Extinction, a powerful feature documentary narrated by Academy Award winner Dame Helen Mirren, coming to selected cinemas from 17th September celebrating ‘Great Big Green Week’ (18-26 September). Read Now Supernova UK DVD and Blu-Ray Release Date Following critical acclaim and standout performances, STUDIOCANAL are excited to announce the release of the heartbreaking British love story SUPERNOVA, arriving on EST 24th September 2021 and DVD and Blu-ray on 27th September 2021. Read Now The Djinn UK Release Date The story follows a mute twelve-year-old, Dylan Jacobs, as he discovers a mysterious book of spells inside his new apartment. Read Now Come Play UK Digital Release Date Jacob Chase’s directorial debut feature COME PLAY tells the story of Oliver, a solitary autistic boy who comes across a creepy children’s story on his new tablet. Read Now 15m Giant Starfish in Leicester Square Ahead of UK Release of The Suicide Squad British actor Peter Capaldi (BBC’s Doctor Who, World War Z) ‒ who stars in THE SUICIDE SQUAD alongside Margot Robbie, Idris Elba and John Cena as genius scientist ‘Thinker’, was bravely photographed with the imposing creature Starro in London’s Leicester Square earlier today in celebration of the film’s UK release this coming Friday. Read Now West Side Story In Cinemas December 2021 From acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, the 2021 remake of West Side Story will be coming to cinemas in December 2021. Read Now The Last Job UK Digital and DVD Release Date Screen icon Richard Dreyfuss takes on The Last Job in a brand new, all-action thriller, that stars Modern Family’s Mira Sorvino as his daughter. This rip-roaring gangster movie hits the UK on DVD and digital this August from 101 Films. Read Now Rise of the Footsoldier Origins UK Cinema Release The eagerly-awaited RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER: ORIGINS, starring legendary leading man Vinnie Jones, is showing exclusively in cinemas from September 3, courtesy of Signature Entertainment. Read Now Random Acts of Violence UK DVD and Blu-ray Release Date Jay Baruchel writes, directs and stars in his horror debut Random Acts of Violence, which makes its UK Blu-ray debut from Acorn Media International in conjunction with Shudder, following its success on the streaming service. Read Now Spirited Away 20th Anniversary Special Edition SPIRITED AWAY COLLECTOR’S BOXSET WITH DVD & BLU-RAY DOUBLEPLAY AVAILABLE 27 SEPTEMBER 2021 Read Now A New World Order Premieres in UK 23 August Black Mirror meets A Quiet Place in gripping sci-fi thriller A New World Order from director Daniel Raboldt in his feature debut, which gets its UK premiere on DVD and digital 23 August 2021 from Reel 2 Reel Films. Read Now

Tori Hanes writes movie reviews for UK Film Critic. As one of the talented UK film critics, find out more here. Tori Hanes Tori Hanes is a film critic who writes for UK Film Review. Be sure to check out Tori's film reviews on the website and remember to follow UK Film Review on social media to stay up to date with all the latest movie reviews, news, and film podcast episodes. Read Latest Film Reviews Chantilly Bridge Read Film Reviews Tori Hanes The Donor Party Read Film Reviews Tori Hanes

The Last Bus. UK CINEMA RELEASE DATE Friday 27th August. . Brand new film trailers. The Last Bus Trailer John O'Groats, Scotland: An elderly man, Tom (Spall), whose wife has just passed away uses only local buses on a nostalgic trip to carry her ashes all the way across the UK to Land's End, where they originally met, using his free bus pass. Unbeknownst to Tom, his journey begins to capture the imagination of the local people that he comes across and, ultimately, becomes a nationwide story. The Last Bus UK CINEMA RELEASE DATE Friday 27th August Paper Tiger The Paper Tiger trailer suggests a searing, deeply moving examination of ambition, guilt, and the toxic pursuit of the American Dream. Ink The newly dropped trailer for Ink confirms those expectations, delivering a relentless, kinetic glimpse into Fleet Street's most disruptive era. The Social Reckoning Seeing the first teaser trailer drop for its spiritual companion piece, The Social Reckoning, sent an absolute chill down my spine. Focker-in-Law If the film can sustain the frantic, competitive energy displayed in this preview, Focker-In-Law might just be the rarest of cinematic beasts: a comedy sequel that actually manages to justify its own existence. We are officially on high alert. Heart of the Beast Heart of the Beast looks like a gripping, tear-jerking cinematic triumph that will resonate with action fans and animal lovers alike. We will definitely be front and centre with our popcorn when this one hits the big screen! Klara and the Sun Klara and the Sun looks like a heart-wrenching, beautifully acted triumph that will linger in the mind long after the curtains close. Power Ballad What has us incredibly excited about Power Ballad is the dynamic friction between its two leads. Paul Rudd seems perfectly cast as the rugged, everyday musician who just wanted a shot at the big time, acknowledging with a heavy heart that having his name on a song of that magnitude would have completely changed his life. The Debut UK Film Review hasn't yet seen the final curtain rise on this one, but if the film matches the sheer dramatic potency of its trailer, The Debut is set to be a staggering, must-see cinematic triumph. One Night Only One Night Only looks to be a sharp, subversively funny, and emotionally resonant look at how we connect when time is running out. It takes a wild, satirical premise and uses it to explore a timeless question: Who would you choose if you only had one night? Supergirl As we look toward the 2026 release, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow stands as a testament to the new direction of DC Studios. Masters of the Universe With the arrival of the first trailer for the 2026 reboot of Masters of the Universe, the cinematic landscape prepares for a collision of sword, sorcery, and surprisingly, suburban Earth. Wild Foxes Dune: Part Three Picking up roughly seventeen years after the seismic events of Part Two, the trailer immediately signals a shift in tone. While the first film was an act of world-building and the second a visceral war epic, Dune: Part Three—an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah—looks to be a far more claustrophobic and tense affair. In The Grey Scary Movie 6 The horror-comedy world is officially being turned upside down as the first trailer for Scary Movie 6 has finally arrived, marking a monumental return for the franchise that defined a generation of parody cinema. Empire of Lies Empire of Lies arrives in UK cinemas and on digital platforms on 27th March. Undertone Undertone is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on Friday, March 13th, 2025. If the trailer is anything to go by, we suggest you keep the lights on and perhaps think twice before pressing play on your next favourite podcast. 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.

The nightmare continues at Camp Nightwing. Watch FEAR STREET PART 2: 1978 this Friday.. Brand new film trailers. Fear Street Part 2 - 1978 Trailer The nightmare continues at Camp Nightwing. Watch FEAR STREET PART 2: 1978 this Friday. Shadyside, 1978. School’s out for summer and the activities at Camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider is possessed with the urge to kill, the fun in the sun becomes a gruesome fight for survival. ADIE SINK as Christine “Ziggy” Berman, EMILY RUDD as Cindy Berman, RYAN SIMPKINS as Alice, McCABE SLYE as Tommy Slater, TED SUTHERLAND as Young Nick Goode, JORDANA SPIRO as Nurse Mary Lane, GILLIAN JACOBS as C. Berman/Adult Ziggy, KIANA MADEIRA as Deena, BENJAMIN FLORES JR. as Josh, ASHLEY ZUKERMAN as Sheriff Nick Goode, OLIVIA SCOTT WELCH as Sam Fraser, CHIARA AURELIA as Sheila, JORDYN DiNATALE as Ruby Lane Find out more about Fear Street Part 2: 1978 Here - www.netflix.com/FearStreet Paper Tiger The Paper Tiger trailer suggests a searing, deeply moving examination of ambition, guilt, and the toxic pursuit of the American Dream. Ink The newly dropped trailer for Ink confirms those expectations, delivering a relentless, kinetic glimpse into Fleet Street's most disruptive era. The Social Reckoning Seeing the first teaser trailer drop for its spiritual companion piece, The Social Reckoning, sent an absolute chill down my spine. Focker-in-Law If the film can sustain the frantic, competitive energy displayed in this preview, Focker-In-Law might just be the rarest of cinematic beasts: a comedy sequel that actually manages to justify its own existence. We are officially on high alert. Heart of the Beast Heart of the Beast looks like a gripping, tear-jerking cinematic triumph that will resonate with action fans and animal lovers alike. We will definitely be front and centre with our popcorn when this one hits the big screen! Klara and the Sun Klara and the Sun looks like a heart-wrenching, beautifully acted triumph that will linger in the mind long after the curtains close. Power Ballad What has us incredibly excited about Power Ballad is the dynamic friction between its two leads. Paul Rudd seems perfectly cast as the rugged, everyday musician who just wanted a shot at the big time, acknowledging with a heavy heart that having his name on a song of that magnitude would have completely changed his life. The Debut UK Film Review hasn't yet seen the final curtain rise on this one, but if the film matches the sheer dramatic potency of its trailer, The Debut is set to be a staggering, must-see cinematic triumph. One Night Only One Night Only looks to be a sharp, subversively funny, and emotionally resonant look at how we connect when time is running out. It takes a wild, satirical premise and uses it to explore a timeless question: Who would you choose if you only had one night? Supergirl As we look toward the 2026 release, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow stands as a testament to the new direction of DC Studios. Masters of the Universe With the arrival of the first trailer for the 2026 reboot of Masters of the Universe, the cinematic landscape prepares for a collision of sword, sorcery, and surprisingly, suburban Earth. Wild Foxes Dune: Part Three Picking up roughly seventeen years after the seismic events of Part Two, the trailer immediately signals a shift in tone. While the first film was an act of world-building and the second a visceral war epic, Dune: Part Three—an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah—looks to be a far more claustrophobic and tense affair. In The Grey Scary Movie 6 The horror-comedy world is officially being turned upside down as the first trailer for Scary Movie 6 has finally arrived, marking a monumental return for the franchise that defined a generation of parody cinema. Empire of Lies Empire of Lies arrives in UK cinemas and on digital platforms on 27th March. Undertone Undertone is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on Friday, March 13th, 2025. If the trailer is anything to go by, we suggest you keep the lights on and perhaps think twice before pressing play on your next favourite podcast. 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.

Read the film podcast transcript from the episode titled Gladiator 2, Juror #2 and Paddington 3 - UK Film Club Episode 21 on UK Film Club part of the UK Film Review Podcast. < Back Gladiator 2, Juror #2 and Paddington 3 - UK Film Club Episode 21 Listen to This Episode UK Film Club 00:00:00.69 Chris Olson Yeah, I think my move into children's books isn't far away. you know I think i'll be I'll be there soon. 00:00:04.98 Brian Penn I know. Yeah, I know. That inspiration is close at home. Make the most of it, Chris. 00:00:10.56 Chris Olson Absolutely. But have you been? 00:00:11.65 Brian Penn Yeah, I've been very well. 00:00:12.00 Chris Olson You been all right? 00:00:13.78 Brian Penn Thank you. You know, 00:00:15.01 Chris Olson Yeah, very well. I didn't blow away with the storm, so that was good. 00:00:18.31 Brian Penn well, where I am, we could have waited very lightly. Bit of wind, a bit of rain, you know, nothing to write home about really. So we were lucky compared to some. That's for sure. 00:00:28.28 Chris Olson Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't too bad out here in Kent. 00:00:30.70 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:00:31.14 Chris Olson It was all right. um Oh, yeah, we don't. 00:00:32.88 Brian Penn We're sport living in the in the southeast, I think, really, aren't we? Weather ways, you know? 00:00:38.34 Chris Olson At the moment, we don't tend to get the the crazy weather, do we? 00:00:41.52 Brian Penn No, no. So I think we're very fortunate and we can feel very, very, very sorry for those who are affected. But, you know, thank you lucky stars that but we live in a very mild climate, I guess. 00:00:55.47 Chris Olson Absolutely. and Yeah, I mean, 00:00:56.46 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:00:58.80 Chris Olson Where are we now? It's the penultimate episode of the year, I would say. 00:01:05.00 Brian Penn Right. Okay. Yeah. 00:01:06.72 Chris Olson Well, in theory, we'll do one more in December, in theory. 00:01:10.11 Brian Penn All right. Yeah. 00:01:13.12 Chris Olson So yeah, that would be, that's a lot of episodes this year. 00:01:16.65 Brian Penn and I know. Well, when you add in the, uh, the indie specials as well, it's been a busy time, isn't it really? 00:01:21.06 Chris Olson yeah Busy time, we've got some Christmas films on this show. 00:01:26.45 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:01:27.16 Chris Olson um yeah no it's been a fabulous year thank you very much brian for all you've done all the hard work um but yeah i mean we'll kick it off because this is a 21 episode 21 officially of the uk film review podcast uh well uk film club and we've as brian said here we've had a few indie specials mixed in there which were just indies i think we have on it this month actually should but 00:01:31.80 Brian Penn Pleasure, pleasure, no worries. 00:01:56.68 Chris Olson On this episode, we're back to normal scheduling. We've got cinema releases, we've got a streaming film, we've got indie films that have been sent to us, and we've got a nostalgia pic, which is one of my absolute all-time favourite Christmas films. 00:02:00.79 Brian Penn yeah Yeah. 00:02:11.43 Brian Penn Oh, yeah. I know. I know. It's a jam, isn't it? I can't wait to talk about that one. 00:02:15.88 Chris Olson Absolutely. Yeah, I've been waiting years to talk to Brian about this film. 00:02:20.17 Brian Penn it but Yeah. 00:02:21.43 Chris Olson So here we go. But first up, as always, is the cinema releases. So these are films that Brian has very kindly gone to the cinema and watched. 00:02:30.83 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:02:31.22 Chris Olson And yeah, he reviews them on this portion of the show. First up, Ridley Scott's back with another gladiator. 00:02:40.50 Brian Penn yeah oh yes yes rudy scott is back and gladius is back so again rudy scott filmed starring paul mezcal pedro pascal denzel washington and connie nelson now the story moves on one generation maximus decimus meridius had a son lucious who, for his own safety, escaped to Numidia as a boy. The land is subsequently conquered by Roman forces commanded by General Acacius. Lucius is enslaved, but Macrinus, the master of gladiator, sees potential. He quietly makes a name for himself, but stormclowns are gathering in the Roman Empire. Joint Emperors Gita and Caracalla have their rivals and knives are being sharpened behind their backs. 00:03:30.16 Brian Penn So this is fantastic entertainment. 00:03:33.85 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:03:34.14 Brian Penn For pure action, it doesn't get much better than this. The combat sequences are jaw-droppingly good. I won't describe them here. It needs to be seen without any prompts or tips. 00:03:45.01 Brian Penn So that's all I'll say. Having said all of that, it's not for everyone. It's violent, bloodthirsty and brutal. But it's an authentic portrayal of life in the Roman Empire. 00:03:57.98 Brian Penn I mean, after all, Christians were fed to the lions for entertainment. But occasionally, they put a sword in in their hand and became gladiators and they had a chance. But this is top-notch entertainment. You can't really go wrong with this. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. And Ridley Scott is already working on the script for Gladiator 3 already. So we won't have to wait 24 years for the next one. Let's put it that way. 00:04:24.34 Chris Olson well it's interesting isn't it that they've already got that in the pipeline it's happened quite a lot with these 00:04:28.32 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:04:30.40 Chris Olson reboots and sequels that have you coming from classic films. 00:04:31.64 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:04:33.84 Chris Olson I think it's because these studios have realized the built-in audiences for these films are pretty much the only way to go, right? For cinema releases, we need it's very unlikely now for news stories to come out and dominate, unless they're attached to like the Marvel universe or something like that. 00:04:42.19 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:04:51.59 Brian Penn Yeah. yeah 00:04:53.03 Chris Olson So it's interesting that these, and it's also, because obviously directing, There isn't so much in terms of limitation, like acting, there's definitely a limitation towards yeah what they can get away with. 00:05:04.00 Brian Penn Hmm. Yeah. 00:05:06.18 Chris Olson ah But with the directing, you know, we see filmmakers going to a ripe old age. And, you know, I think it's great that Ridley Scott is still there. 00:05:11.55 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:05:14.69 Chris Olson but Obviously a different cast this time and ah but some great, you know, fresh talent plus Denzel Washington. 00:05:17.11 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:05:20.65 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:05:21.82 Chris Olson I've heard very good things about Denzel in this film. Is he good? 00:05:24.82 Brian Penn I think he's very good. Denzel's always good value. You always put some a shift. I can't I can't recall about Denzel Washington film. 00:05:32.69 Chris Olson no No, there isn't one. 00:05:33.02 Brian Penn You know, 00:05:33.65 Chris Olson There isn't one. We looked we did an episode on it. 00:05:34.45 Brian Penn you know 00:05:35.73 Chris Olson I did I did one back Yeah, that was good episode that you know what that was one of those episodes where we have to watch these films when we go I'll go back and watch as many good I just enjoyed every minute if it was like, oh, this is these are all great Yeah 00:05:35.78 Brian Penn ah Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. i 00:05:42.68 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know, I know, I know. The thing is, when you think about it, it took him a while to break through big, you know, in a major way. He was probably mid to late thirties before he became a major player. But he chose his films well, Denzel Washington. And he's done that this time as well. You know, he's just good. He's totally convincing in every role. You know, you buy into it. He's good. It's a great cast anyway. But the visuals are just stunning. 00:06:14.59 Brian Penn As I say, yeah it's it's really a question of whether you're into it or not. You know, it's it's a strong storyline. you but You would call it an action movie, I guess. You would you couldn't call it anything else. But everyone wants the socks off. It's a great production. Ridley Scott is 86 years old now. And he's still going strong. I mean, it's so it's a strain to direct any film when you're half that age, let alone 86. 00:06:42.40 Chris Olson I was gonna say, I'm 36 and I can barely get this podcast to work. you know so It tests me, so yeah, and it hats off. 00:06:48.82 Brian Penn but But, you know, I mean, I love Ridley Scott because he dares to do things that are different and there aren't many directors that try different things. And as far as I know, I mean, I'll stand corrected on this. 00:07:01.55 Brian Penn I think this is the first sequel he's ever directed of anything. 00:07:04.42 Chris Olson Ooh, that's an interesting point. 00:07:05.97 Brian Penn I think so. I'm not sure. 00:07:07.70 Chris Olson I'm going to be honest. 00:07:07.73 Brian Penn I should have checked before we came on out. 00:07:09.11 Chris Olson Well, I'll be honest listeners. I can't be able to check. So please look and let us know because I'll probably get it wrong anyway. 00:07:12.57 Brian Penn but 00:07:15.11 Chris Olson i'll To be fair, AI probably tell me when, if I do that. 00:07:17.66 Brian Penn It should do, yeah, it should do. If it behaves itself and you ask it nicely. 00:07:20.70 Chris Olson Yeah. Yeah. 00:07:24.33 Brian Penn But yeah, so as I say, great a great piece of filmmaking, undoubtedly. But if you can get your head around the violence, and it is pretty graphic, 00:07:35.17 Brian Penn but it would be it would be it's it's portraying a a very violent era you know so you you kind of expect it and you you you've got to give it that allowance that it's not good choices they're telling it like it was oh yeah of course yeah it didn't have a two in this light although did it that's the thing 00:07:36.69 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:07:50.42 Chris Olson So alien they're saying, cause he did Prometheus technically. So technically. No, and and I feel Prometheus is quite a different film, to be honest. 00:08:02.43 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah, um okay, okay, so, yeah. 00:08:02.84 Chris Olson But anyway, yeah well where does this how well, how does this hold up against the original Gladiator, though? Because the original is an absolute classic, right? 00:08:11.63 Brian Penn Yeah, it's, yeah, of course, Oliver Rivers and Richard Harris. 00:08:11.79 Chris Olson Russell Crowe and all that. 00:08:15.97 Brian Penn I mean, you had some genuine superstar actors in the first gladiator movie. That's not to say that the cast this time isn't great, they are, but I don't know, I think, I think, the first gladiator movie just about shows it for me. 00:08:32.11 Brian Penn Because you you had the freshness of the idea, but this is good I mean, you know, I'm looking forward to gladiator 3, you know, I'm not a huge fan of sequels, but and I Know whenever as good as this bring it on bring it on Yeah, yeah, I I've definitely a thumbs up. 00:08:32.35 Chris Olson ah 00:08:34.87 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:08:42.20 Chris Olson No, and that is high praise indeed. Well, you can't see our thumbs, but Brian's doing that whole thing where he hovers his thumb and it's a thumbs up for this one. 00:08:55.00 Brian Penn Yeah, it's not even hovering. 00:08:55.44 Chris Olson them 00:08:55.96 Brian Penn Yeah 00:08:56.65 Chris Olson even ho 00:08:56.88 Brian Penn so 00:08:57.62 Chris Olson ah But yeah, if you've seen, oh, actually, someone may have seen Gladiator. Let's check the old listener reviews. So these are people that have sent in very kindly their reviews, and I know someone did. 00:09:05.41 Brian Penn Ah, OK. 00:09:07.81 Chris Olson So Sean, Sean Baguley, I'm almost definitely pronouncing that wrong. 00:09:14.85 Brian Penn All right. 00:09:14.91 Chris Olson Sean Baguley, B-A-G-U-L-E-Y. I'm so sorry, Sean. and Yeah. 00:09:19.81 Brian Penn It was a good effort, Chris, I'm sure. 00:09:21.47 Chris Olson I don't know if it was. Sean gives it three out of five, so not a massive fan. 00:09:24.89 Brian Penn um Oh, no. 00:09:27.87 Chris Olson ah 00:09:28.35 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:09:29.47 Chris Olson From the beginning, we are tuned right back into the original Ridley Scott, using it as a support to try and get this film off the ground running. Again, you can understand why he would want to use Gladiator as a springboard, but in doing so, it loses a missing piece, which makes you his story great originality. 00:09:45.59 Chris Olson So something that we have mentioned, obviously it is a sequel, they are visiting the same world. 00:09:47.40 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:09:51.02 Chris Olson Denzel Washington does what he does best whilst playing Macruness, but doesn't give a level of performance i would argue he gave us in fences for example so that's interesting 00:10:02.02 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:10:02.28 Chris Olson um Yeah, I mean, that's a very good review, Shaun, you've gone on through a lot. 00:10:07.64 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:10:07.79 Chris Olson It's really the end bit there. An enjoyable ride, you don't find yourself checking your watch for how long was left but is but it's without any story depth or real meaning to get involved with the characters. 00:10:12.38 Brian Penn Oh, no, absolutely not. 00:10:17.92 Chris Olson And by the time the ride comes to an end, the dream that is Rome can be whatever. I mean, that is very poetic at the end, I love it. 00:10:26.16 Brian Penn Yeah, well, yeah, of course. 00:10:26.32 Chris Olson But yeah, thank you, Shaun, for the review. And obviously, um 00:10:28.18 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:10:30.37 Chris Olson all opinions are welcome, which is fabulous. 00:10:31.53 Brian Penn Of course so, yeah. 00:10:32.09 Chris Olson you know We aren't gonna put you to the lions, not not yet anyway, not until I'm in charge. 00:10:33.97 Brian Penn No, no, absolutely not. No, no, no, no, not at all. 00:10:37.51 Chris Olson When I'm fully in charge, then maybe. But yeah, Gladiator 2 at the cinemas. 00:10:40.07 Brian Penn But, yeah. 00:10:41.91 Chris Olson I mean, it's gonna do good business, um I think. 00:10:44.76 Brian Penn Oh, I'm sure. ah um I'm sure that's ah that's a banker, really, I think. 00:10:49.24 Chris Olson yeah Another film likely gonna bank is Paddington. 00:10:50.59 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:10:54.94 Brian Penn Oh, dear old Paddington. 00:10:57.29 Chris Olson Paddington 2. 00:10:57.31 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah. 00:10:59.21 Chris Olson Oh, no, sorry, 3. We're on 3, aren't we? 00:11:00.28 Brian Penn History, this is Paddington Goes to Peru, right? 00:11:01.28 Chris Olson It's 3. goes to perun 00:11:03.76 Brian Penn So, okay, yeah. So, directed by Dougal Wilson, starring Hugh Bonneville, Emily Walsomer, Judy Walters, Anseli Banderas, Olivia Colman and the voice of Ben Whishaw as Panerson himself. So, Panerson goes back to his roots where he decides to visit Aunt Lucy with the Brown family in her descendants. She now lives in her home for roots on her bears. 00:11:29.91 Chris Olson Mm hmm. 00:11:30.97 Brian Penn Run by nuns, strangely enough. However, they seem to discover Aunt Lucia's mysteriously gone missing. They aim to find her and go on a trek through the Amazon rainforest with the help of Hunter Cabot, an explorer of some renown. 00:11:45.60 Brian Penn Now this is great fun, fantastic fun, charming, funny, and it's actually turned Paddington into an action hero, something you think was impossible really, but racing through the jungle, avoiding all kinds of pitfalls armed with just an umbrella, it has the feel of Indiana Jones about it in some ways. 00:12:04.50 Brian Penn but you know this this maintains the the standard again we're talking about sequels aren't we right but this maintains the standard it it's very consistent there's some nice cameos there but this is a great family movie for me it works so well and it's and parson is just so cute it's it's it's just not fair you know that this bear who just gives you that anyone this iron stare but they've not they've not um they've not shown proper manners 00:12:37.09 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:12:37.60 Brian Penn it is It's a lovely film and a good film for the holidays to take the kids to go and see, definitely. um But yeah, look, what can you say? It's great entertainment. The actors are perfect. They enjoy the the roles they play. And Ben Whishaw manages to put a significant amount of himself into the character, even though you've only got his voice there. you know I think that's not easy for an actor to do, but he he manages it. 00:13:07.11 Brian Penn You know, and so he puts personality into the character whilst not even being on screen, which I think is a difficult one, but... 00:13:12.84 Chris Olson Have you um seen the first two? 00:13:14.56 Brian Penn Yeah, I have, yeah. 00:13:15.94 Chris Olson Yeah, they I mean they're all good aren't they? I think they've just got a good standard and you know that like you said I think the cast plays a big part in it because it's got that fabulous charm to it with all these big names playing sort of not silly characters but you know I mean they kind of got 00:13:17.72 Brian Penn Oh, good, yeah. Yeah. 00:13:24.90 Brian Penn yeah 00:13:29.30 Brian Penn Sunken chic, sunken chic. 00:13:30.19 Chris Olson But yeah, it's it's fun. And yeah, I think films like this are great, especially, you know, this time of year, taking kids to the cinema, because it's whether it's a bit rubbish. 00:13:32.63 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:13:40.44 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:13:41.53 Chris Olson And I think Paddington, Peru is going to fill that mark brilliantly. 00:13:44.08 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:13:44.83 Chris Olson And it's, as far as I'm aware, it's not a Christmas film. So it's sort of doesn't have that limitation to it. 00:13:48.85 Brian Penn No. 00:13:51.23 Brian Penn No. 00:13:51.32 Chris Olson So yeah, no that's really interesting. 00:13:52.44 Brian Penn Yeah. So, yeah, but it's it's a lovely film. You you can't really. Of course, all films have faults, I guess. yeah I was going to say it's a perfect film, but nothing's perfect. But it's perfect for the market. 00:14:04.48 Brian Penn It's aiming at. I think that's what I'm alluding to there. 00:14:09.30 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:14:09.30 Brian Penn you know they They know who the market is, they know who's going to watch this sort of film. And it's been released at just the right time for the holiday season as well. you know Kids ah will be breaking up soon, won't they? They'll be going off on Christmas holidays and they'll be at home. ah So they pitched it just right. Late November, early December, the kids will be off on Christmas holidays. 00:14:33.49 Brian Penn that'd be one of the first ports of call but but it is it's a really really lovely film you know no probably best not really no best not no 00:14:35.78 Chris Olson Yeah, perfect. 00:14:40.17 Chris Olson because you can't take them to see Gladiator too. You're not allowed. The old authorities get quite hot on that, don't they? 00:14:49.58 Brian Penn Well, yeah, I know. I tend to wonder what difference the ratings make these days because films can be accessed from so many different channels currently and platforms. And in my my own sort of, in my own perception, it almost feels like um but they become redundant, you know, because that's just the way of controlling what what people see, making sure it's right. I mean, we're talking about kids, aren't we, really? 00:15:18.68 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:15:19.40 Brian Penn And I'm not so of so sure it always achieves that anymore because of the way we access films has changed over the years. But no. 00:15:28.17 Chris Olson It definitely has. I know as a parent I know that I will heavily rely on their certification. So I know that the guidance is always, I'll try and watch it first so you'll know whether you're a child, but that's so almost impossible. 00:15:35.35 Brian Penn one 00:15:39.47 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:15:42.48 Chris Olson Like to go, I mean, just to get to the cinema with the kids is hard enough, let alone to go without the kids. 00:15:46.29 Brian Penn Well, yeah, yeah and I know. 00:15:47.81 Chris Olson And I'm not going to go and sit through Paddington by myself to then come back with the family. 00:15:52.08 Brian Penn No, that's right. Yeah, don't say it again, yeah. 00:15:53.56 Chris Olson So Yeah, it's it's interesting. But I mean, I i think they're very important. I think sometimes they're wrong. Like I've been on, I've watched films with my kids that are on Netflix, it says PG. 00:16:04.85 Chris Olson And I'm like, this is not a PG. And I've looked it up on the BBFC and it's different. 00:16:06.37 Brian Penn Yeah, I know. 00:16:08.73 Chris Olson So I think it's it's important that they have those standards and that they do 00:16:08.95 Brian Penn I know. 00:16:12.33 Brian Penn Yeah, they they should be there. Of course, they they need to be there and they serve an important function. But ah as you say, the race things are kind of inseparational. It's just opinions, isn't it, in the end? 00:16:23.78 Chris Olson Well, also you'll you'll have, ah so some people, even if they're of age, they might not like films that have certain distressing elements in them. 00:16:23.93 Brian Penn us 00:16:28.39 Brian Penn a 00:16:32.41 Chris Olson So for example, actually my my six-year-old is probably more scared of things than my three-year-old. 00:16:32.46 Brian Penn Yeah. Hmm. 00:16:39.15 Chris Olson My three-year-old is kind of like, oh, it doesn't have any context, right? She's like, oh, it's fine. It doesn't doesn't doesn't care. 00:16:42.95 Brian Penn Yeah, that's my fear, my fear, yeah. 00:16:45.28 Chris Olson yeah Whereas my six-year-old is more like, oh, that could be in my bedroom. you know That could be hiding under my bed. 00:16:49.09 Brian Penn Yeah, I know. 00:16:50.25 Chris Olson she's She's a bit more sort of like with it. um 00:16:52.65 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah. 00:16:53.87 Chris Olson And then also, yeah, yeah I don't know, absolutely fearless toddlers. And then, you know, I'm scared of stuff. You know, it's a nightmare, but um yeah, it's interesting. 00:17:01.96 Brian Penn Yeah, and I know. 00:17:04.20 Chris Olson I think, do you do you have a film from your childhood, Brian, that absolutely scared you? Was there something you watched way too young and... 00:17:11.23 Brian Penn um Oh, that's a good question. i i up Sorry, after you. 00:17:15.09 Chris Olson No, I was gonna give you a bit of breathing time by telling you mine, which... 00:17:19.85 Brian Penn Oh God, let's tell me yours. 00:17:20.86 Chris Olson Yes, so mine was Goodfellas. 00:17:22.91 Brian Penn Oh really? 00:17:24.22 Chris Olson Well, I'd walked in on my dad watching it and I i must have been about 10, 10 or 11. 00:17:25.15 Brian Penn Nah. 00:17:28.29 Brian Penn Nah. 00:17:31.51 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:17:32.49 Chris Olson And it was the scene with the baseball bats and the they're beating this guy in a shallow grave. 00:17:36.83 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah, yeah. 00:17:38.68 Chris Olson and I walked in and I think my dad didn't quite know what to do like did he did he make a deal of it or did he kind of sort of just let it play out and if for he let it play it out and I kind of was absolutely just watching this happen and it was like oh my god and I yeah I struggled with that one. 00:17:52.04 Brian Penn yeah I know, and it's strange what it does here, isn't it? But we can also become anaesthetized to violence. I think the films that really made an impression on me when I was younger were probably the horror films, like the really big horror films, like, for example, ah The Wicker Man, the original version with Christopher Lee. 00:18:09.75 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:18:12.87 Brian Penn That was amazing, and it was terrifying. And I can remember not being able to get to sleep, having seen that film. But as I've grown up, I've become less shocked by horror movies, for example. I've often said the horror movies don't work for me anymore. But when I was young enough to be captured by my own imagination, it was The Wicker Man. i think And it's still frightening, The Wicker Man, the original one from 73 with Edward Woodward. 00:18:42.13 Brian Penn is really, really scary. I think that was probably the one film that stands out for my childhood, that when I saw it, that had that kind of impression on me. 00:18:47.01 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:18:51.11 Brian Penn So yeah, it's it's interesting how these films still stand out. But um yeah. 00:18:58.07 Chris Olson Especially, yeah, well made horror, but I mean, Paddington and Peru, not a well made horror, to be honest, but a well made family film. 00:19:00.20 Brian Penn but yeah No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, a well-made, foamy film. Yeah, you've nailed it there, I think. 00:19:07.91 Chris Olson If you enjoy it, or if you don't, let us know send us your reviews or comment on this podcast if you're listening on a platform where you can do so. 00:19:07.91 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:19:11.80 Brian Penn ye 00:19:16.70 Chris Olson And we'd love to hear from you. 00:19:17.78 Brian Penn Yep. 00:19:18.23 Chris Olson We're moving on to the last film in the cinema releases, which is Jura number two. And I'm interested in this because this is another, shall we say, experienced director, I'm trying not to use the word old, the Clint Eastwood directing 00:19:26.32 Brian Penn Yes. Nice. thanks so yeah yeah So this stars Nicholas Holtz, Sonny Collette and JK Simmons. In a nutshell, juror number two is Justin Kemp, a member of the jury trying the case of a man who's on trial for the murder of his girlfriend. However, he has information that proves the defendant is innocent, but just ends up against 11 jurors who are convinced he's guilty. Now, 00:20:00.69 Brian Penn If you've ever seen the film, 12 Angry Men, which in my opinion is one of the greatest films ever made, in black and white, 1957, directed by Sadie Lumatz, starring Henry Fonda, amongst many others. 00:20:05.35 Chris Olson Yep. Amazing film. I love that film. 00:20:16.62 Brian Penn That's really the template for jury number two. Although there is a twist that you will have to discover when you see it. This is a really strong, well-contained thriller. 00:20:27.68 Brian Penn It drips with tension and atmosphere. The storyline is totally realistic. You look at it and think, yeah, this could happen. So it presents the audience with a genuine moral dilemma. What would you do if you were in his shoes? The cast is excellent. Sonny Collette as the DA is very good. JK Simmons always good value you as a coach. What I find surprising, though, is the um the attitude of Warner Brothers. 00:20:54.05 Brian Penn They've given it a fairly limited release in the USA. It's got good coverage in the UK, by the way, but not in ah in America. And for some strange reason, they aren't promoting it, which could harm its chances of an Oscar. And it is a Clint Eastwood film. And at the age of 94, it's probably going to be his last film. So there's adiculos. But I'm amazed that Warner's haven't given it more space, more prominence than they normally would do. Because this is a very, very good film. 00:21:24.00 Brian Penn And I think it's a missed opportunity if they don't give it a stronger showcase than they are. But a great thriller, excellent thriller. 00:21:32.56 Chris Olson Yeah, I mean, I love Clint Eastwood films anyway. And this, I also love courtroom dramas, all that stuff. 00:21:35.50 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:21:38.00 Brian Penn Oh, I do as well. Yeah. 00:21:39.00 Chris Olson I love a legal thriller. 00:21:39.08 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:21:40.12 Chris Olson It just, yeah, it just gets me going. 00:21:40.27 Brian Penn yeah 00:21:42.95 Chris Olson And when something like this comes out, it's the sort of film that can stand up just on its credentials alone. I'll look at that list of things going on and think, yep, I need to see this. 00:21:52.12 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:21:53.40 Chris Olson I absolutely need to see this. 00:21:53.78 Brian Penn yeah yeah Yeah, it's definitely your kind of film, Chris, really, in that way. 00:21:56.60 Chris Olson I love it. 00:21:57.89 Brian Penn I love courtroom dramas. There's an inbuilt drama by itself. In fact, it's in courtroom. You have that degree of formality. You've got advocates on both sides. 00:22:08.44 Brian Penn You've you've got the jurors. They're under pressure. You've got the defendant under pressure. All passes to those proceedings are stressed out. They're under pressure. And that's what you what you plug into. 00:22:20.72 Brian Penn It's a really, really good film. And um if that is the last one Clint Eastwood makes, because as I said at the age of 94, you were talking about Ridley Scott just now, weren't we? 00:22:32.89 Brian Penn 86. 00:22:33.12 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:22:33.53 Brian Penn But, you know, ah I'd be surprised if Clint makes, directs another film now at the age of 94, but it's got a hell of a track record for making films, directing them and starring them. 00:22:42.07 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:22:47.69 Brian Penn Really a strong back hassling. And I just wonder, though, where where the next Clint East was coming from, somebody who could fill his shoes and directs as well, because I don't think there are many acts like him around today. Not really. 00:23:04.88 Chris Olson Yeah, he's got that element of being from the old school, but still very relevant in the new school. I think that's sometimes what happens to a lot of actors is they're in one side or the other, but he's he' still become so relevant in a lot of his more modern films and acting in as well. 00:23:10.89 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. yeah 00:23:22.48 Brian Penn yeah 00:23:25.66 Chris Olson So like Gran Torino, he's directing and he's acting in it, but with that was a great film. 00:23:28.21 Brian Penn That was good. That was great. That was great. 00:23:30.71 Chris Olson um 00:23:31.13 Brian Penn I love that. Yeah. 00:23:32.30 Chris Olson And yeah, I mean, my favourite out Clint Eastwood film, if I may, is it's Unforgiven. I love that film. I think that is, that's the type of film, if it's on, I will just stop whatever I'm doing, even if I'm, I don't know, driving a car. 00:23:41.24 Brian Penn Oh, fantastic. Yeah. 00:23:49.81 Chris Olson I'm not sure why I would be driving and watching the film, but I would, I would just stop and just watch that film. 00:23:50.15 Brian Penn Well, I was going to say, yeah. 00:23:54.75 Chris Olson And I just, it's an absolute all time classic. 00:23:54.91 Brian Penn i mean Yeah. 00:23:58.13 Brian Penn It really ah reactivated the Western, didn't it? Because the Western, the classic Western movie as we know it, died for a long time. It it just disappeared, didn't it, really? 00:24:09.36 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:24:10.16 Brian Penn But The Unforgiven was a film that brought Western's backs to life. And I think it deserves so much credit for doing that, really, because Westerns ah are a fantastic genre ah that I grew up watching. My dad was a massive Western fan of Westerns. You know, my brothers were as well, and still are. You know, but um it's a genre that that belongs in cinema. And The Unforgiven brings it back. I suppose, really, my favorite paintings would fill. 00:24:42.81 Brian Penn I mean, there are so many to choose from really, but I think it would be the first Dirty Harry film for me. 00:24:48.39 Chris Olson Mmm. 00:24:50.40 Brian Penn It kind of spawned so many imitations, know that type of cop that's got a rough edge, but he's basically a good guy, trying trying to deal with the bad guys. 00:25:04.46 Brian Penn That character's really strong. and um endures for me and the the follow-up film Southern Impacts was a great film as well and a great catch line a great tagline from those films go ahead make my day I mean yeah no I know but this is it so it was very influential for that type of film and as you say it's becoming grain that and he's as you say Clint Eastwood is 00:25:19.43 Chris Olson yeah I mean, that has yeah embedded itself into popular culture so much that yeah you forget where it started from sometimes. 00:25:36.93 Brian Penn He represents movie history. He represents the past and still represents the present. So as I say, it's a shame that this might be his last film. I don't think he's going to act anymore, that's for sure. 00:25:52.45 Chris Olson Hmm, well, does he feel lucky punk? 00:25:54.08 Brian Penn But do you feel lucky? 00:25:55.32 Chris Olson That's the question. Does he feel lucky? 00:25:56.96 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:25:57.82 Chris Olson Because which film, Brian, we've got Gladiator 2, we've got Paddington Peru, we've got Dura 2, and and they they kind of, they all rhyme. 00:25:59.58 Brian Penn Yeah. Oh, yeah. They were right. 00:26:05.25 Chris Olson What's going on there? 00:26:06.32 Brian Penn Have we managed that? Have I managed to pick three films that are right? 00:26:07.61 Chris Olson but And which one is film of the month? 00:26:11.66 Brian Penn It's a tough one because they're they're all great films. They're all worth going to see at the cinema. 00:26:17.38 Chris Olson I'm going to punk. My guess is going to be Gladiator 2. 00:26:21.56 Brian Penn Yeah, I think I think it shows it because just for pure spectacle, adrenaline, excitement, you know, it is bad. 00:26:22.15 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:26:31.86 Brian Penn Yeah. So that's that's the big. fit It's one of the films of the year and not only the film of the month. But, you know, passing goes to Peru during number two could have been films of the month in in a previous month. 00:26:45.63 Brian Penn They're all very good films. 00:26:46.06 Chris Olson Oh, that's good. 00:26:46.87 Brian Penn I think over overall though, I think it's been, and I don't think it's been a vintage year for the films, but it's been a solid year. There have been some really good films, mate. But yeah, so i definitely gladiator too. 00:27:00.81 Chris Olson There you go, Film of the Month, Gladiator 2. Another big thumbs up, no wobbly thumb, it's just it's just good. 00:27:05.03 Brian Penn No, we'll be fine, man. Yeah. 00:27:07.38 Chris Olson Now moving on from the cinema releases, we now move to the streaming pic and we've gone festive. 00:27:14.51 Brian Penn Mm. 00:27:14.95 Chris Olson This is a rom-com, I'm gonna go rom-com, yeah. 00:27:20.51 Brian Penn Yeah, I guess so, really. Yeah. 00:27:21.94 Chris Olson chris Christmas rom-com, a crim-con, I'm not sure how that works. 00:27:22.19 Brian Penn Wrong call. Yeah. Yeah. A criminal. Yeah, I like that. 00:27:27.18 Chris Olson Crim-con, hey, i'm I'm coining new terms as we go along. 00:27:30.08 Brian Penn Yeah, all right. Hey, what the hell? 00:27:31.24 Chris Olson A crim-con. 00:27:32.28 Brian Penn Let's remember that one. 00:27:32.36 Chris Olson um yeah Meet me next Christmas on Netflix, directed by a Rusty Kundeaf. 00:27:37.57 Brian Penn Yeah, 00:27:42.32 Chris Olson Almost definitely pronouncing that wrong. 00:27:43.99 Brian Penn the 00:27:44.13 Chris Olson and yeah and you Did you get round to seeing this one, Brian? 00:27:45.12 Brian Penn yeah maybe. Yeah, I did. Yeah, I saw it. 00:27:49.75 Chris Olson um you're You're so good, aren't you? 00:27:49.85 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:27:51.59 Chris Olson You're so good at keeping up with everything. 00:27:53.28 Brian Penn Well, yeah, I did my best. I used to do my best, you know. 00:27:55.23 Chris Olson to of nurse Yeah, I mean, you go. 00:27:57.50 Brian Penn So, should we describe the storyline here? All right. 00:28:04.22 Chris Olson you go 00:28:04.34 Brian Penn All right, let me try the story out for science. Whilst waiting for a delayed flight on Christmas Eve, Laila makes a connection with fellow traveler James. 00:28:16.40 Brian Penn Whilst there's an instant attraction, Laila rebuffs him as she's already in a relationship. However, they resolved to meet next Christmas Eve at the Pentatonix concert if things change. She's later convinced that James is the one and fate will lead us to him once again. But the race is on to find a ticket it for the gig and she employs Teddy, an underperforming concierge to seal the deal. So for me, this film is nice enough 00:28:47.68 Brian Penn But for a film that purports to deal with fate, which I think is really up at its center, it kind of misses the point for me. You know, I'm a romantic, Chris. I believe in destiny, that fate puts us in a certain place at a certain time. 00:29:01.50 Brian Penn But seven minutes in, you know exactly what's going to going to happen. 00:29:04.17 Chris Olson hey yeah 00:29:04.55 Brian Penn And that's not fate. That's not fate. It's a foregone conclusion. So whilst it as it has its moments, I think ah Christina Milian is a charming lead, likeable, 00:29:18.02 Brian Penn It falls down a bit. It falls out a bit crisp for me. 00:29:21.97 Chris Olson Yeah, first off, can I just say Brian, I don't think you get enough praise on your synopses. 00:29:24.17 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:29:26.99 Chris Olson You're very good at a concise few, you know, not too much. 00:29:28.07 Chris Olson heh 00:29:29.75 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:29:31.69 Chris Olson You don't give away too much. heh heh 00:29:32.59 Brian Penn I try not to. 00:29:32.91 Chris Olson You keep everything very, that was excellent. 00:29:35.09 Brian Penn Thank you. 00:29:35.21 Chris Olson I was listening to that thinking there's no way I could have done that that well. 00:29:37.98 Brian Penn but 00:29:38.29 Chris Olson I would have waffled on for like five minutes. 00:29:40.42 Brian Penn Well, but see to me, when you look at what we're what we're presenting here, it's it's an outline of the film. 00:29:41.04 Chris Olson so 00:29:47.55 Brian Penn People listening are going to think, right, what's this film about? Who's in it? Is it any good? you know But when you describe the storyline, I think it's knowing when to stop, isn't it? It's knowing when to say, right, this is as much as you're going to get. 00:29:57.49 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:30:00.41 Brian Penn right you You know enough now. 00:30:01.14 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:30:03.40 Brian Penn The rest you need to see when you when you when you watch the film. you know So what do you think of it, though? 00:30:07.73 Chris Olson um So, everyone knows, I'm a big Christmas fan, they know this. 00:30:12.24 Brian Penn then Yeah. 00:30:12.94 Chris Olson i I've reviewed lots of Christmas films on UK Film Review and on this podcast, and as a genre, I put it right up there, I love it. 00:30:15.42 Brian Penn i don't know 00:30:21.34 Chris Olson Now, this I say would fall straight into the, it's what we always used to call the TV Christmas movie, it was sort of, it's in that realm, it's not not worthy of cinema release, I'll be honest. 00:30:28.40 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:30:32.50 Brian Penn Nah. not yeah 00:30:34.53 Chris Olson Even though with any Christmas film, you've got spectacle, you've got colour, you've got vibrancy. It's one of these films that's just, it's formulaic. 00:30:45.13 Chris Olson It's basically moving the characters from one place to another. 00:30:47.53 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:30:47.61 Chris Olson As you say, you know exactly where they're all going to end up. 00:30:50.27 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:30:50.75 Chris Olson And I think along the way in this film, what they tried to do was give you enough barking mad side characters to make you kind of not question what was going on with the central dynamic, which was very, very obvious. 00:31:00.03 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:31:02.82 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:31:05.26 Chris Olson But you're thought you presented with a really strange couple or and ah a performance, shall we say, at one point. 00:31:09.07 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:31:12.98 Chris Olson And it's it's all meant to sort of distract you from the reality that actually you know where this is all going. 00:31:15.68 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. yeah 00:31:18.27 Chris Olson I think it's ah you could shave 20 minutes off this very easily. You didn't need it to be quite as long as it was. 00:31:22.87 Brian Penn you know Yeah. 00:31:25.79 Chris Olson that all being said I think it has its heart in the right place I don't think because sometimes I watch these movies and I'm like you didn't even try you didn't even try to sort of make it and say I thought that I like the addition of the the actual pentatonix characters or or signals they're actually in the film I think that was 00:31:29.17 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:31:33.13 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:31:38.83 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. I did well. I think I did quite well with that, actually. 00:31:43.17 Chris Olson Yeah, that was a fun little addition. 00:31:45.33 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:31:45.99 Chris Olson I think the the chemistry between the leads was great. I sort of enjoyed that, I bought into it. And as you see, I think Christina Miliana is brilliant. I thought she was she really did hold up the film. 00:31:56.87 Chris Olson but yeah If you took her out and put someone else in there who didn't know what they were doing, this would have really felt flat. 00:31:58.67 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:32:02.92 Chris Olson But as it is, it's watchable. It's a three-star film. It really is. 00:32:06.15 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:32:06.80 Chris Olson It's the definition of a three-star film. 00:32:08.94 Brian Penn Yeah, I think so. I think you're right. It's it's a pleasant way to pass an hour and 40 minutes. And it is TV film territory. 00:32:14.65 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:32:17.76 Brian Penn I can see why it's gone straight onto Netflix. But, you know, it's um it a nice film. so Just sit down, unwind a little bit. You know, it's quite light. Doesn't demand too much of you. 00:32:30.54 Brian Penn You know, so it all works. And in some ways it becomes almost like a promo video for Pentatonix as well. 00:32:36.01 Chris Olson Oh, yeah. 00:32:36.80 Brian Penn yeah The acapella group, because like they they stand out really well. um So it's kind of, it does that, it's got that going on as well. But a very nice film, but you know, lacks, I think lacks the weight to be a great Christmas movie. 00:32:54.06 Chris Olson Yeah, it doesn't it doesn't land in that territory at all, but it's gonna be around and people can check it out. 00:32:54.38 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. yeah 00:33:00.97 Brian Penn yeah 00:33:01.15 Chris Olson It's on Netflix and it's called Meet Me Next Christmas. You will guess the plot within 10 minutes and that's fine. 00:33:09.14 Brian Penn Oh, yeah. Easy. Easy. 00:33:11.46 Chris Olson But don't worry, we've got another Christmas film coming up, which is possibly one of the greatest films ever made. 00:33:14.42 Brian Penn it 00:33:16.49 Chris Olson So don't worry, listeners. 00:33:17.28 Brian Penn and 00:33:18.79 Chris Olson Dear listener, don't worry. We are moving on to the indie film section of our show, which is where we review a selection of movies that have been sent to us. 00:33:24.87 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:33:28.29 Chris Olson They've been said specifically said, can you review the film? Yes, indeed we can. We're gonna review them now. The first film is an indie feature film, which we reviewed several years ago. 00:33:39.92 Chris Olson The title is The Misadventures of Mistress Man Eater. I had to look that up several times because i've I've done a few promos for this episode and I've already messed them all up. 00:33:48.98 Brian Penn All right. I know. 00:33:50.55 Chris Olson I had to keep going back. 00:33:52.22 Brian Penn Easy done. 00:33:52.44 Chris Olson But yes, ah The Misadventures of Mistress Man Eater. If you say that eight times, I think you go crazy, but I'm not sure. um Directed by CJ Julienis and written by Larissa Julienis, who is also in the film. 00:34:02.88 Brian Penn yeah 00:34:09.07 Chris Olson it yeah I mean, as plotlines go, I'm going to say some words soon that should never really be together for the synopsis of a film. 00:34:19.87 Brian Penn okay 00:34:20.00 Chris Olson So we have an art historian who has turned dominatrix in her post-college life, um who is in debt with a loan shark and must repay this by 00:34:24.65 Brian Penn yeah 00:34:35.05 Chris Olson well we trying to win the attention of a local priest who has the name Dracula I think and essentially the film comes up will she seduce this guy and manage to repay her debt 00:34:42.49 Brian Penn Okay. Hmm. 00:34:51.66 Chris Olson Or will she fall for him? And yeah, it's a very strange premise with lots of different character themes being thrown into one thing. 00:34:56.81 Brian Penn and 00:35:00.48 Chris Olson It's almost like they've sort of got a ball of characters and gone, ah okay, a dominatrix, a priest, and an art historian walk into a bar. 00:35:00.85 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:35:03.34 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. but Sounds like a gag, doesn't it, to start with. 00:35:07.21 Chris Olson And yeah, it absolutely does. 00:35:10.61 Brian Penn you 00:35:11.10 Chris Olson and It's one of those films that is more serious than you think. Like you're watching it thinking, oh, they're going to be taking the absolute Mick here. But then when you start watching, you realize, oh, no, actually, they're telling a natural story here. 00:35:20.55 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:35:24.24 Chris Olson And there's some depth there. There's some character development. What did you think of this one, Brian? 00:35:28.50 Brian Penn Well, it's an interesting one. It's original. I kind of like the set up because you're throwing in all these disparate characters ah in together into a kind of a mix. 00:35:39.59 Brian Penn But they're mixing good ideas in to watch, but it should be a strong plot. But in some ways, I think it loses its way. You know, this leans this seems to leave more towards comedy than anything else. 00:35:54.07 Chris Olson Mm. 00:35:54.09 Brian Penn You know, it's more comedy than it is thriller, you know, and ah if you are going to go down the comedy route, which it seemed to be more than it was going down the sort of serious thriller route, then you need a much stronger script. It's got to be sharp and funny and you see glimpses of it, but it's not really getting there. Give this to a top screenwriter and it could be a massive hit because it is different, it is weird and it's unusual, but it just kind of lacks that precision that 00:36:27.61 Brian Penn clear direction of where where this film's going, where you're sending it. 00:36:31.50 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:36:31.71 Brian Penn And ah that's what I think it's missing. um But it has real potential. They rely on the risk of Julianus a bit too much. Very attractive, charming, photogenic, but the film needs a bit more than that. 00:36:46.49 Brian Penn And whilst I think there are lots of good ideas floating around there, it' They've not but they not brought all those strands together properly, or well enough for me. But this's there's something there, but it just needs to be shakes better. 00:37:01.04 Chris Olson Yeah, I agree. The story is a bit convoluted and they could have done with maybe chopping out numerous scenes that didn't really aid the plot for me. 00:37:09.29 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:37:11.73 Brian Penn No. Yeah. 00:37:12.67 Chris Olson I liked the the development of the relationship between our main character and the priest. I thought that actually was quite genuine. 00:37:19.25 Brian Penn Mm. 00:37:20.97 Chris Olson It felt quite well-earned and there was depth there to what was going on. 00:37:22.05 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:37:27.67 Chris Olson And I say, I think it does definitely have strong comedy elements. For me, that wasn't what I bought into. 00:37:31.75 Brian Penn yeah 00:37:34.40 Chris Olson I actually bought more into the drama side of it. I liked what was going on with them. 00:37:36.94 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:37:38.80 Chris Olson I liked this sort of sense of 00:37:38.94 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:37:41.45 Chris Olson they were complicated characters with strange backgrounds as to why they ended up where they ended up, because both of them have got a history. 00:37:47.87 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:37:49.59 Chris Olson And I thought that was a really clever idea. 00:37:49.92 Brian Penn yeah 00:37:52.89 Chris Olson And then being put under this pressure, this time pressure of having to fulfill some kind of debt, it made the tension rise. But I think it gets lost along the way with lots of different gags and little things that didn't quite pan out the way they maybe should have done. 00:38:03.73 Brian Penn Yeah. you know Yeah. I 00:38:09.76 Chris Olson And yeah it felt a little bit wayward by the time i sort of finished it i thought okay yeah i think i liked a good amount of that but there was a lot of that i felt could have just you know been stripped away 00:38:20.16 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. and i I mean, it wasn't, I mean, we often speak about the length of films, don't we? But I think it is relevant to the viewing experience. And this film is one hour fifty one. 00:38:31.53 Brian Penn And I think you're right. You said 20 minutes. I think if they were taking 20 minutes off it, it would have been a lot better, would have been a lot more lean, efficient and would make the the plossing a lot a lot easier to follow as well. 00:38:40.62 Chris Olson a 00:38:46.76 Brian Penn But, you know, 00:38:46.80 Chris Olson Yeah, and and I think some of that was given to side characters that didn't really need it. They they had ah were leaning into sort of this mellow drama with certain characters that felt, whoa, you're you're sort of losing it here. 00:38:58.60 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. 00:39:01.72 Chris Olson It's going off the rails a little bit. 00:39:03.00 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:39:03.28 Chris Olson like Get back to the main characters. 00:39:04.61 Brian Penn I know. 00:39:05.12 Chris Olson Get back to what they're doing. 00:39:05.34 Brian Penn I know. Yeah. 00:39:06.92 Chris Olson and Yeah I tell you what I did like I liked her relationship with her friend she's got this like gay best friend that was really quite sassy and I thought that was fun. 00:39:13.76 Brian Penn yeah Yeah. Yeah. 00:39:15.81 Chris Olson I like the fact that her ringtone is people moaning it's like her customers is a dominatrix it's them moaning I thought that is brilliant it took me a while to work out what that was and I thought why am I watching? 00:39:17.86 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:39:21.94 Brian Penn hello yeah No. yeah i knowing and i 00:39:25.96 Chris Olson ah Yeah, it's just got this kind of quirky charm to it at times. 00:39:30.11 Brian Penn if 00:39:30.35 Chris Olson And I thought, do you know what? 00:39:31.56 Brian Penn but 00:39:31.79 Chris Olson that it's As you said, it's it's original. It's a bit different. I've not seen anything really like this. 00:39:36.67 Brian Penn no 00:39:37.35 Chris Olson I think it could be sharper. I think there could be elements that just kind of work a bit better. 00:39:39.01 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:39:41.60 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:39:41.65 Chris Olson But as it is, it's got that indie feel to it that is going to appeal to people that they are watching something that is not mainstream. 00:39:45.75 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:39:50.18 Chris Olson It's just a little bit unique. 00:39:50.50 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:39:52.01 Chris Olson And yeah, enjoy it for its sort of delightfulness. 00:39:54.05 Brian Penn Yeah, but it's it's got a lot going for it, but it just needs tidying up more. ah You know, but hey, it's it's good. You know, it's good enough to watch and and sort of get something from it. 00:40:08.39 Brian Penn You gain something from it. You know, that's the important thing. 00:40:12.00 Chris Olson absolutely 00:40:12.87 Brian Penn and Like I say, yeah things can always be improved. Things can always be better. sir But you think a film like this has got so much potential. You can do so much with it, with a clearer focus. But, you know, maybe that's the essence of in indie filmmaking in some ways, is that they collect together these ideas and just throw it out there, see what happens. It's good, good effort though. 00:40:38.29 Chris Olson And so the film is called The Misadventures of Mistress Manita. I'm not sure I'm allowed to say it anymore if I might break some kind of rule. 00:40:43.50 Brian Penn no 00:40:45.79 Chris Olson The film is available to rent on Prime Video, I believe, and there's some other places. It may also be available on YouTube, which is where we kind of watched it. So if you are able to check it out and let us know what you think, I'm sure the filmmakers would love to hear your opinions. 00:40:53.92 Brian Penn ye 00:41:00.23 Chris Olson And yeah, it's 2020 film, so... Yeah, let us know. We're moving on now to a film I reviewed on the website called Orango, and we have a clip which I will play right now. 00:41:06.47 Brian Penn Oh, know nice. 00:41:38.17 Brian Penn yeah 00:42:22.07 Chris Olson Brilliant clip ah from the film. Really gives you a taste of what Orango is like, your terms of atmosphere and tone. It has this quasi-documentary feel. And as we heard in there, the character of Eni played by Staniel Ferreira, who travels back to West Africa after living in the West for 17 years. 00:42:46.56 Chris Olson to find out more about who his family were, his mother, his father. His mother actually passed away, which is sort of the reason for his journey back. The first part of the film is him traveling to see his father and his hometown and to reconnect there, get answers to the questions that have been swirling around his sense of identity. Then I won't ruin that bit, but I will just say that the second part of the film, then he moves on to travel to find out more about his mother's family who live in Orango and to research more about the land of their ancestors. 00:43:30.15 Chris Olson It's a really fascinating film. I found it, I was watching it and constantly questioning, is this a documentary or is this a film? Because it was so blurring the lines. I think there is an element of autobiography about this. 00:43:44.91 Chris Olson And the writer who is in the film, Staniel Ferreira, who co-writes with Samuel K. 00:43:45.12 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:43:52.10 Chris Olson Forrest, who directs, they are, I think consciously, bringing in all these actual real people to do real scenes that are actually related to Staniel and it's meant to kind of confuse you at this sense of identity and sense of someone's past trying to look into that but in this in the and this sort of frame of a fictionalized movie which that was a very strange experience for me I think that put me in this state of very much engaged because I was like I'm not quite sure whether this is a documentary or not and that was ah just one of the things that made it fascinating I think obviously a country like Africa with its beautiful landscapes and all the different 00:44:24.51 Brian Penn Yeah. Hello. Yeah. 00:44:38.64 Chris Olson sunsets and things that we get given. It looks and feels so cinematic. It's got a brilliant vibe to it. 00:44:42.97 Brian Penn Hey. 00:44:45.11 Chris Olson And it's emotional. It's just really cut steep at times. What did you think of Arango, Brian? 00:44:50.98 Brian Penn Yeah, I found it powerful and grossing and moving, but actually confusing in places because, you know, you touched on it in your review, in the review that you wrote, where it says it's based on a true story, but it seems the brother, sister and father are telling their own story. 00:45:09.50 Brian Penn you know, they're not acting apart, which is what it suggests. um They're all related anyway, aren't they? Even though they've got different names in the film. Because, you know, there was one conversation between father and son, which to me wasn't acting at all. 00:45:26.06 Brian Penn That felt like a complete documentary where they were eavesdropping on a ah quite a heated conversation between father and son. 00:45:33.22 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:45:33.94 Brian Penn um So I'm not sure why they did that. Was that deliberate to keep you guessing? Why not badge it as a documentary? I mean, it's very good. As I say, very powerful. It holds your attention. You can't take your eyes off it. you know This brother and sister retracing the roots you know um in memory of their mother going back to their homeland to discover where they came from. you know it's It's an incredibly moving account. 00:46:05.16 Brian Penn ah they'd been ah He'd been away for 17 years and they went back. And that in itself is fascinating. ah That need of not wanting to know who you are and where you came from. um So, excellent, very good. But i'm I'm still kind of unsettled by this kind of balance between a documentary and a and film. Aside from that, it's really good. 00:46:31.74 Chris Olson Yeah, you mentioned that scene where he confronts his father and the camera just doesn't quite actually make it into the scene and it's sort of easier from the outside. 00:46:34.60 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:46:40.66 Chris Olson And that's what gave me a feel of, okay, I think this is where the tension between blurring the two sides is coming in because on the one hand, it's a really good cinematic device to keep us on the outside, but on the other side, it's like, okay, yeah, but we're now not really seeing what's going on other than 00:46:48.46 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:46:52.63 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:46:58.85 Chris Olson yeah getting a gist of what's happening. 00:46:58.98 Brian Penn Yeah. yeah 00:47:01.57 Chris Olson I actually found i found it worked for me. I really liked that idea. and um I think the use of or authentic African feels to things like there's this cinematography that I talked about, the the score, it had a real essence to it of someone's journey back to their homeland that was done in a way that felt honest and authentic even with this slightly confusing mix of genres that i yeah i found it really really interesting and powerful i love when i watch something and i kind of don't quite know how i feel about it until the end and i definitely felt that way here i think 00:47:30.43 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:47:40.38 Brian Penn but no Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:47:44.20 Chris Olson there are parts to the film that work better than others. 00:47:46.11 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:47:47.89 Chris Olson There's some bits which feel more like, okay, yeah, that's footage that they've gained from characters that are maybe trying to give an insight, but it's not really that valuable to say a storyline. 00:47:59.66 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:47:59.88 Chris Olson um But then other bits of the work really, really strong, really enjoyed them. It's yeah, for me, it was one of those films that meant I got a story, but also an experience at the same time. 00:48:14.37 Chris Olson I kind of came away, it was like a cinematic experience. 00:48:14.85 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. That's a good way of explaining it really, yeah. 00:48:17.23 Chris Olson I come away and go, yeah, that I felt, okay, well, I've seen something very ambitious, very different. 00:48:18.98 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:48:22.39 Chris Olson And I think saying that it's based on a true story just immediately sets you up in that sense of, okay, well then it's definitely not a true story right because that's what all the films do right now they say based on a true story when they're not it's like or they are but they're we're watching a very fictionalized version i liked his his voice as the narration i thought that was really powerful he's got a really deep voice and it kind of sucks you into like what was going through yeah yeah with his with with what's going on with him and what's in his mind he's got a lot of anxiety about 00:48:43.61 Brian Penn Yeah. Yeah. It's nice, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. 00:48:55.11 Chris Olson his family members and who he is and how it's affected him. I felt that there could have been more of that in terms of maybe extra characters or things that are going on around him because 00:49:08.39 Brian Penn Hmm. 00:49:10.92 Chris Olson He travels with his sister and we don't really get a lot from her. We don't get much of an information about what's going on with her and what her deal is. 00:49:18.71 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:49:20.85 Chris Olson But I felt that obviously it's very much Ennies film. But as it is, I think a lot of people will connect with this. I think they're going to feel the 00:49:30.51 Brian Penn Yeah, definitely. 00:49:32.16 Chris Olson burning sense of who someone can yeah who someone feels they are as an adult by going back to where they come from and trying to find out more, especially yeah people who've got estrangement from parents and things like that, that it worked for me on a lot of levels. 00:49:32.86 Brian Penn no right 00:49:48.25 Chris Olson I do agree it's not going to be for everyone. I know a lot of people are going to struggle with that mix of being quasi-documentary. 00:49:50.71 Brian Penn and Yeah. 00:49:56.94 Chris Olson But I think if you go in maybe knowing that, that might help. It's one of those few occasions where actually a little bit of knowing what's going on might assist you. And yeah, I think Samuel K's forest direction is brilliant. 00:50:08.73 Chris Olson he He really knows how to shake the scenes and guide. 00:50:11.11 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:50:12.02 Chris Olson He also knows when to not say something, which is so crucial, especially in documentary filmmaking, when not to say something, you know? 00:50:17.82 Brian Penn Well, yeah, silence silence can work just as well as noise, as dialogue, cancer if you use it in the right way. 00:50:23.80 Chris Olson Hmm. 00:50:25.64 Brian Penn And you can you can say a lot more by buy remaining silent. So to appreciate how silence works within a film like this is really important. 00:50:35.93 Brian Penn So he's done that well. 00:50:37.45 Chris Olson Yeah, and it's that. use of silence plus the sunsets and the changing of the time which allows that introspection I think as an audience member you're watching this and you're being told whether you understand that or not that is now is a time for you to contemplate what you've just seen and to sort of digest it before we move on and I thought that was really cleverly done it was done in a way that was smartly handled so yeah I like i thought that was great I really enjoyed it and 00:51:03.89 Brian Penn Yeah. It's good. It's very good. 00:51:08.90 Chris Olson I reviewed it on the website, if you haven't read the review yet, and I also did a video review, which you can watch on our YouTube channel. I may say different things to which I've just said, who knows? 00:51:19.22 Chris Olson you know I did that yeah a few weeks ago, so I may have changed, but yeah, I definitely enjoyed it, and I thought it was a very interesting film. 00:51:19.41 Brian Penn yeah'm like Yeah. No. No, it was good. Very good. 00:51:29.22 Chris Olson I don't believe it's available online, unfortunately, at the moment, which is always a bit upsetting, I find when, you know, we we say such lovely things about these films and then they can't watch them, but they come to us first. 00:51:38.38 Brian Penn and I know, I know. Look, yeah. 00:51:42.62 Chris Olson You know, that's the way they roll. 00:51:43.56 Brian Penn Yeah, see, we we break the ground, don't we? 00:51:46.00 Chris Olson We do. 00:51:46.13 Brian Penn You know, we saw people how good it is and just gotta find it after that. 00:51:50.38 Chris Olson Yep. Good luck. The film does have an Instagram page which is at mother earth films dot orango so it's O-R-A-N-G-O and yeah if you search online you will find it very very easily and yeah I recommend staying up to date with it it's an interesting piece and it's interesting to see what people might make of it from that filmmaking experience side of things you know to watch something where it is blurring the lines a little bit 00:52:21.60 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah. 00:52:22.52 Chris Olson So yeah, a very interesting one to watch. 00:52:24.27 Brian Penn and Good stuff. 00:52:26.29 Chris Olson Good stuff. 00:52:26.31 Brian Penn phone Good stuff. 00:52:28.07 Chris Olson Moving on to our last film of the indie section before we move to our nostalgia pick is a short film, which I also reviewed. 00:52:34.65 Brian Penn You have, haven't you? 00:52:35.70 Chris Olson I've been busy this month, Brian. 00:52:37.46 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:52:37.72 Chris Olson I have. I've been, I'm trying to get onto Santa's good list. 00:52:41.21 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah. 00:52:42.23 Chris Olson Finally. 00:52:43.01 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:52:44.68 Chris Olson Yeah. Short film, A Place to Fall Down. And I am very pleased to say we have a clip. 00:52:50.89 Brian Penn Awness. 00:53:55.93 Chris Olson So interesting clip, if you've seen the film, if you haven't seen the film, it's probably going to be quite baffling because that's not our main character or anything. 00:53:57.79 Brian Penn Hmm. Hmm. 00:54:04.06 Brian Penn nine 00:54:04.50 Chris Olson Essentially, actually, b Brian, did you want to take the synopsis on this? Because I've reviewed this, so I'll let you give your lovely, yeah brilliantly eloquent synopsis. 00:54:07.44 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:54:10.10 Brian Penn long i Oh, I'll do my best, Chris. So this is a story of a man, Jose, who is experiencing deep grief. He's lost his wife, but he works as a top mechanic, ah has an assistant who hasn't shown up for work, so he's left with his own company and surrounded by his own faults. The script itself is reduced to text and telephone conversations with customers and his daughter, Charlotte. I think this is so good. 00:54:39.79 Brian Penn This is so, so good. 00:54:41.68 Chris Olson Mm. 00:54:41.99 Brian Penn its There's minimal dialogue, but it seems appropriate somehow because grief is is something we can't articulate because the words don't exist. They've not been invented. You're feeling something so deep and so profound. 00:54:55.83 Brian Penn You can't put it into words and that's what comes through in this film. it like I mean, you that you came up with a really good analogy in your review because you You mentioned the fact that he's a great mechanic and he looks around and he can fix things around him, but he can't fix his own grief because it runs its course. 00:55:15.34 Brian Penn And what comes in between is what you see on the film, bewilderment, shock, despair, but essentially a determination that he's going to get through it. 00:55:27.42 Brian Penn I think it's brilliant. It's so good what it does. But part of the reason why it's so brilliant is because they don't pack it with dialogue. You know, the clip the clip that you just played 00:55:36.03 Chris Olson Yeah. 00:55:38.74 Brian Penn was the was a bit like a kind of a self-help tape you kept on listening to. um That kind of sets it up well and it just makes some very basic, straightforward and profound statements about grief and loss and how we cope with grief and loss and and how there is a way through it in the end. So I think it's a damn good piece of filmmaking. 00:56:03.33 Chris Olson Yeah, it looks and feels great. It's got such a good tone to it. yeah The filmmaking side of things is is on point, absolutely. I like the minimalism to it as well. 00:56:13.72 Chris Olson The dialogue is meant to be sparse. you know Anyone who's dealt with grief and gone through loss, especially on a very close level, you'll understand how often there isn't words to say. 00:56:27.56 Chris Olson There's not things that you can just talk about and talk around it. 00:56:30.10 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:56:30.70 Chris Olson that it's more of ah 00:56:31.14 Brian Penn Mm. 00:56:32.32 Chris Olson yeah feeling and I like the way the central actor, yeah the character being played here by um Clifton Collins Jr yeah knows how to do the physical side of this performance. 00:56:38.14 Brian Penn Mm. 00:56:47.04 Chris Olson It's a difficult performance to give if you don't understand it and he does really really well to convey what's going on inside because he just seems lost you know he's in you amongst all these this labyrinth of cars and he's sort of just by himself completely isolated with his own thoughts and he is lost and he's he's hoping for a lifeline he's hoping for something to come through that's going to break through this wall of grief that he's feeling and 00:56:58.67 Brian Penn and Yeah. 00:57:08.95 Brian Penn you know Yeah. 00:57:17.50 Chris Olson something does, you know, not to give it away, but something does. And I think that's the real essence of this film. And it does have this post COVID quality to it of, you know, we all went through a lot in that time, there was a lot of loss, everyone was touched by it, whether it was directly or indirectly. And the filmmakers here have dealt with that subject brilliantly. They've given it a lot of time and attention to make sure that it's dealt with in a way that felt sincere, 00:57:47.80 Chris Olson but didn't fail didn't feel like it was overly explained. yeah it was almost It gave the audience you enough credit to know that they were going to keep up with this and not get bored, not need lots of exposition and lots of reasoning. we are We understand enough about the character by the end of the film. We understand what happened to him and and yeah why he's where he is. 00:58:08.63 Chris Olson But it is a film that treated its audience with more intelligence than another filmmaker may have done. And I think it's got a lot going for it. It's a lot here that would actually entertain audiences. You emotionally connect with that character very early on. And that's crucial. I think it is quite a lot down to the performance. And I think when filmmakers do try and serve up something that it does have this very strong element of sadness and sorrow and somberness. 00:58:40.62 Brian Penn Mm. 00:58:42.61 Chris Olson You know, you're gonna be tempted to throw in some lighthearted stuff. And I don't think they do that. I think they keep to their line well. They know the story of what it is. 00:58:51.34 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:58:51.63 Chris Olson They're written and directed by Dwayne Hanson Fernandez. 00:58:52.98 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:58:53.96 Chris Olson And yeah, brilliant job of sticking to your guns and going, you know what? Actually, we're gonna tell this story the way it was meant to be told because he is a tragic character, you know? 00:59:00.95 Brian Penn But, uh... Yeah, yes. I mean, I think it's really impressive in in every respect and it doesn't bombard you with lots of information. It doesn't pack the film with too much dialogue. As you say, they they give the audience credit. They write the issue and the audience are intelligent enough to understand what's happening. 00:59:24.05 Brian Penn What's happened to this character? What is feeling? But it's done without too much dialogue because you don't need it. Because I would always like saying that but grief cannot be easily explained in and dialogue. It can't. It's a feeling. And they're portraying those feelings visually by expressions and mannerisms and body language. But it gets there. It it makes the point so well. It's very well done. 00:59:54.78 Chris Olson Yeah, it's just got a really well thought out structure to it as well. 00:59:56.94 Brian Penn Yeah. 00:59:57.93 Chris Olson I mentioned a review about you and you mentioned it as well, being surrounded by broken cars and his job is to fix them. 01:00:03.31 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:00:04.61 Chris Olson And yet, you know, he seems completely broken himself. 01:00:04.99 Brian Penn Yeah. Hmm. 01:00:07.63 Chris Olson A lot of people are going to resonate with that. A lot of people are going to yeah see, if not themselves and someone they know definitely that's gone through that. 01:00:09.61 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:00:13.28 Brian Penn Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. 01:00:15.12 Chris Olson So yeah definitely check it out if you can. 01:00:16.97 Brian Penn Hmm. 01:00:17.00 Chris Olson It was password protected this film A Place to Fall Down it's called. There is an Instagram page which they've got a lovely profile because it's at A Place to Fall Down which is really handy to say you know that's logical. 01:00:28.50 Brian Penn Logical? Yeah. 01:00:29.89 Chris Olson You can find that and we yeah will tag them when we post the review and things like that. 01:00:30.30 Brian Penn Logical. Yeah. 01:00:35.11 Chris Olson my review is on the website and my video review again is on the youtube channel i am just on fire this month it's just you know i don't know um i mean do you know what it is i've been such a bad guy all year i've got a lot to make up for you know i've said some horrible things uh yeah that's the way we go um and yeah ah do check it out the trailer is also on our um 01:00:39.74 Brian Penn Wow. You're on fire. Yeah, I know. What? You can make it up, Graham. you You're smashing it, Chris. Don't worry. Yeah, I'm absolutely smashing it. Yeah. 01:01:04.24 Chris Olson review page of the film so if you search for it it'll probably come up and if not IMDB page there's a link there to the review so yeah you've got no excuse not to go and find out more about a place to fall down because it was very very good um we're moving on now too i'm just going to leave a little pause because it just needs a pause 01:01:24.92 Brian Penn right okay well then Yeah. 01:01:27.78 Chris Olson one of the best Christmas films ever, if not the best Christmas film. And I say that knowing that there are some incredible films out there. No, it's not Muppets. 01:01:38.31 Chris Olson That's up there, but it's not Muppets. No, it's not Love, actually. It is Arthur Christmas, the animated film from 2011 that is quite simply a masterpiece. 01:01:44.08 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:01:50.05 Brian Penn right 01:01:50.53 Chris Olson And I won't hear anything else. Actually, we should just stop the podcast because I don't want to hear anything else. 01:01:54.15 Brian Penn well yeah ah Well, I've got to tell you Chris, I hadn't seen this film since it came out. 01:01:55.40 Chris Olson It's just a amazing. 01:02:00.75 Brian Penn so Honestly, ill I saw it once, and when we when we decided to review this film for the podcast, I watched it for the first time in what, 12 years, and it's still brilliant. 01:02:16.02 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:02:16.34 Brian Penn You know, it doesn't diminish one iota. It's so bright and clever and offensive. 01:02:23.24 Chris Olson Do you know what I would say, and I say this with experience, this film keeps on giving. 01:02:28.72 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:02:28.76 Chris Olson I have watched this film, I am not kidding you because my kids love it. We've watched this film, I must say, I reckon about 50 times. And I'm i'm not um not exaggerating it, I think 50 times. 01:02:40.00 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:02:40.14 Chris Olson and every time i see something some little detail that's new they'll do there'll be a little thing on the screen or something a character says and it is genius because it's an argman film right and those guys know how to make fabulous comedies it's so so well read and it's got british charm splashed all over it you've got a fabulous cast if you don't know the story so the story is arthur is 01:02:42.95 Brian Penn I know. 01:02:52.28 Brian Penn Yeah. I know what they're doing, don't they? Yeah, ah no and I 01:03:08.11 Chris Olson the son of Santa Claus, one of the sons of Santa Claus and he lives at the North Pole but he's a little bit useless. 01:03:10.74 Brian Penn Hmm. 01:03:15.33 Chris Olson ah that's a It's harsh but that's fair and after Christmas night Santa gets back and realizes they missed a child. 01:03:15.66 Brian Penn Hmm. Yeah. 01:03:22.26 Brian Penn Hmm. 01:03:25.54 Chris Olson Arthur is absolutely distraught because he loves Christmas, he loves the whole premise of everything, he's Santa's biggest champion and 01:03:28.36 Brian Penn Hmm. 01:03:34.01 Chris Olson Santa and his other son, Steve, sort of run the show. They sort of say, oh, nothing can really be done about it. You know, it's just one child. Let's just yeah go to sleep and ignore it. 01:03:42.05 Brian Penn and yeah 01:03:43.50 Chris Olson But Arthur can't. And Arthur, with the help of his slightly wayward grandfather, known as Grand Santa, brilliantly played by Bill Nighy, 01:03:51.63 Brian Penn grandentsor money 01:03:54.28 Chris Olson um go on this adventure along with an elf to deliver this present to the child and the whole film just has got so many minute details in it it's been littered with all these references and jokes and things 01:04:06.01 Brian Penn Yeah, yeah, yeah, 01:04:11.73 Chris Olson ah you you miss them you need to watch it so many times this film and it's so so good and it doesn't as you said doesn't diminish i i'll watch this non-stop it just is such a good film yeah not least because of the amazing cast you've got bill nighy as we've said you're james mackivoy in the lead role 01:04:14.94 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:04:21.44 Brian Penn yeah hu ahhi jeen Yeah. 01:04:29.21 Chris Olson You got Jim Broad, Ben, Hugh Laurie, yeah, Imelda Staunton, Asta Jensen. and and And also, I had to pick this up, but ah one of my very previous watches of this film, but Laura Linney does the computer voice. 01:04:41.13 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:04:43.59 Brian Penn ah nine and 01:04:44.24 Chris Olson She does, you know, it's a bit where I think it's Steve, who was he says, oh, come on, guys, time to pick this up. 01:04:44.97 Brian Penn yeah 01:04:50.97 Chris Olson And then she's like this automated voice. 01:04:51.32 Brian Penn yeah 01:04:53.13 Chris Olson She goes, so picking this up, people. 01:04:54.98 Brian Penn i like 01:04:57.14 Chris Olson Oh, it's just brilliant. 01:04:58.51 Brian Penn it ah 01:04:59.33 Chris Olson Absolutely. 01:04:59.65 Brian Penn the It's beautiful. It's just a wonderful film. It really is. But what I really love about it, though, is the ah concepts and the design of the film. you know The fact that they said, right, we're going to make Santa Claus ah ah in the guise of a ah military-style R.E.S. 01:05:22.21 Brian Penn type pilot. I mean, he was wearing a red beret, wasn't he? he red He wears a red beret. 01:05:25.09 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:05:27.03 Brian Penn And all the elves, they're like an S.E.S. platoon, the way they work, aren't they? They're really super efficient, really clinical. 01:05:31.17 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:05:33.93 Brian Penn And I love the fact that they said, right, Sansa's real name is Malcolm, right? He's married to Margaret, and he's got two sons, Arthur and Steve. 01:05:44.51 Brian Penn It just kind of brings it back down so straight back down to earth again, you know, so it's freaking you a kind of a fable, a fantasy, but then it brings it back down to reality again, which I think is brilliant. And they, you know, Santa is supposed to retire after sense emissions. And that again, you have the military association, the e association association with the or RAF, where they do a certain number of missions and they step down. 01:06:12.94 Brian Penn And I love Grant Sandster as well. I'll sort it out. I'll do it the old fashioned way. I love all that. it's so much As you say, there's so much going on there. And there's always something you miss. And that's the sign of a great film where you watch it and you're going to miss something somewhere. There's so much detail there that you're not going to appreciate first time around. There'll be something new. As you say, it keeps on giving. 01:06:38.62 Brian Penn But I loved it. I thought it was great. And Santa's got a spaceship that looks like Thunderbird 5 to me. I love that as well. There's so much to love about this film. It really is. I'm not a huge fan of modern animation as such. It's all right. It's OK. But I'm a bit of a traditionalist. But argument are the exception. They do something entirely new and entirely different. 01:07:05.45 Brian Penn um and anything that comes out of the oven stable is going to be good. But this, I don't actually guys want to say this is the best thing they've ever done. 01:07:13.55 Chris Olson Oh yeah I mean that's high plaudits they've done some great films but this is enduring it's so so good and there's so much to it 01:07:14.91 Brian Penn Isn't it? Yeah. 01:07:24.68 Chris Olson that you appreciate all those details and it's it's very applicable to anyone. 01:07:27.21 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:07:28.65 Chris Olson you it certainly It reaches any kind of audience that is going to enjoy movies for whatever, you commonly got action, Christmas, you got everything. 01:07:34.58 Brian Penn yeah 01:07:37.90 Chris Olson And what I love about it is it has the right balance of all its elements because it is doing a lot, it is frenetic, you' you'll watch it and it's kind of exhausting sometimes because it's got so much going on. But the balance is there between having that heart, you've got Arthur who's, he's a bit of a mess up, he keeps screwing things up and he's really scared and he needs to kind of overcome his fear. So you've got this little layer of theme there to gravitate towards, but it's also just loads of fun, loads of high jinks and, 01:08:10.25 Chris Olson characters doing wacky things and ah yeah for me you don't get more perfect of a christmas film than after christmas it just is yeah so after christmas is up there that's what we are giving our holiday ah focus on you know it's on amazon prime isn't it i think that's where i made you watch it brian 01:08:26.47 Brian Penn hmm yeah 01:08:35.05 Brian Penn Yeah, Amazon Prime, yeah. now you didn' tonight Well, I mean, Chris, time and time and again, you you bring me back to a film that I've completely forgotten about or have missed or I haven't seen in years. 01:08:37.12 Chris Olson um 01:08:47.47 Brian Penn So you're making me watch a classic, which is what but we need. 01:08:50.49 Chris Olson Yeah. 01:08:52.99 Brian Penn We need to see something like that. And I think it's at the very top end of any Christmas film chart. It's definitely top three. 01:09:04.83 Chris Olson ah For me, it's it's just, yeah, fabulous. Don't get me wrong, I've i've got a strong place in my heart for films like Home Alone and Muppet's Christmas Carol, but for this, it just ticks all the boxes. 01:09:15.63 Chris Olson And let us know what you think. 01:09:15.67 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:09:17.08 Chris Olson If you've seen and loved Arthur Christmas, if you don't like Arthur Christmas, do not write in. 01:09:17.64 Brian Penn Mmm. 01:09:21.92 Chris Olson I don't say that very often, but but do not send anything in. 01:09:22.00 Brian Penn No, no, don't sell us. Yeah. 01:09:24.99 Chris Olson I won't read it. I will delete it. 01:09:26.06 Brian Penn No, no, no. 01:09:27.39 Chris Olson um Yeah, I can't handle that. So, 01:09:29.97 Brian Penn It's not going to happen. 01:09:31.27 Chris Olson Yeah, and find yourself very quickly on the naughty list. 01:09:34.41 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:09:34.88 Chris Olson How dare you? 01:09:36.13 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:09:36.31 Chris Olson So um yeah, that's your lot ah for this episode. Thank you so much for being with us. We've been through an absolute onslaught of films. Brian has been very busy at cinema. 01:09:46.82 Chris Olson We had loads of indie films and we watched a couple of Christmas flicks. So what else can you ask for? 01:09:49.99 Brian Penn no Can't be bad. 01:09:53.32 Chris Olson We'll be back, hopefully, with one more episode before the end of the year. And if not, we'll see you in the new year. ah But we're go to um yeah we're going to thank everyone for for listening, for sending your films in. 01:10:00.85 Brian Penn Yeah. 01:10:05.20 Chris Olson Thank you, Brian, for all your lovely hard work and going to the cinema. 01:10:07.21 Brian Penn like 01:10:08.68 Chris Olson And yeah, we'll see you again next time. Previous Next

Will Girling writes movie reviews for UK Film Critic. As one of the talented UK film critics, find out more here. Will Girling A European Literature graduate dedicated to grappling with the written word and exploring the latest trends in contemporary cinema. After a stint working for a business magazine gave me my first taste of publishing my words, I’m grateful to UK Film Review for giving me the chance to write about something I’m really passionate about: film. With an eye and an ear for the unusual, I enjoy movies that go beyond plot or characterization and instead defy genre constraints by exploiting that sweet combination of images and sound that only cinema can achieve. From Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England (2013) to Gaspar Noe’s Enter the Void (2009), Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain (1973), or Luis Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou, I’m always excited by eccentric movies that provoke thought or provide an experience unlike any other. My favourite films of all time include: Easy Rider (1968), The Wicker Man (1973), and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Read Latest Film Reviews

Happening in-person for the first time since 2019, Bristol’s largest international film festival returns to Watershed with a packed programme of short film, animation and virtual reality. Pass-holders will gain access to exclusive industry talks and workshops, as well as an exciting line-up of evening events. Celebrating their 28th festival edition, Encounters has provided an international platform for new and emerging talent in filmmaking for over 25 years. This year’s line-up features titles drawn from 41 countries around the world, delivering extraordinary and original storytelling across a multitude of genres. The International Competition is a gateway to the world’s most prestigious awards– filmmakers who screen their shorts at Encounters can go on to win the Academy Awards® the BAFTAs and the European Film Awards. See them here first. The Encounters Film Festival 2022 dates are: 27/09/22 - 2/10/2022 Encounters Film Festival Happening in-person for the first time since 2019, Bristol’s largest international film festival returns to Watershed with a packed programme of short film, animation and virtual reality. Pass-holders will gain access to exclusive industry talks and workshops, as well as an exciting line-up of evening events. Celebrating their 28th festival edition, Encounters has provided an international platform for new and emerging talent in filmmaking for over 25 years. This year’s line-up features titles drawn from 41 countries around the world, delivering extraordinary and original storytelling across a multitude of genres. The International Competition is a gateway to the world’s most prestigious awards– filmmakers who screen their shorts at Encounters can go on to win the Academy Awards® the BAFTAs and the European Film Awards. See them here first. The Encounters Film Festival 2022 dates are: 27/09/22 - 2/10/2022 SEE MORE FILM FESTIVALS

Offering a perceptive and thoroughly absorbing spotlight on important issues, THE SURROGATE is not to be missed when it comes to cinemas on Friday July 9th.. Brand new film trailers. The Surrogate Trailer New UK Trailer for The Surrogate A sensitive insight into the complex issues surrounding surrogacy, THE SURROGATE follows Jess Harris (Jasmine Batchelor , “The Good Fight ”), a 29-year-old web designer, who is excited to be the surrogate and egg-donor for her best friend Josh (Chris Perfetti , “Looking ”) and his husband Aaron (Sullivan Jones , “Halston ”, “Slave Play ”). Twelve weeks into the pregnancy, a prenatal test comes back with unexpected results that pose a moral dilemma. As they all consider the best course of action, the relationship between the three friends is put to the test. The film received wide critical acclaim during its programming at numerous film festivals around the world, including SXSW 2020, São Paulo International Film Festival, and Gotham Film Festival. Earlier this year Jasmine Batchelor was nominated for a Breakthrough Actor award at the IFP Gotham Awards. Writer and director Jeremy Hersh has received widespread praise for his smart moral drama, with its approach to conflicting and deeply problematic dilemmas. Offering a perceptive and thoroughly absorbing spotlight on important issues, THE SURROGATE is not to be missed when it comes to cinemas on Friday July 9th . THE SURROGATE WILL BE RELEASING IN CINEMAS FROM JULY 9TH Paper Tiger The Paper Tiger trailer suggests a searing, deeply moving examination of ambition, guilt, and the toxic pursuit of the American Dream. Ink The newly dropped trailer for Ink confirms those expectations, delivering a relentless, kinetic glimpse into Fleet Street's most disruptive era. The Social Reckoning Seeing the first teaser trailer drop for its spiritual companion piece, The Social Reckoning, sent an absolute chill down my spine. Focker-in-Law If the film can sustain the frantic, competitive energy displayed in this preview, Focker-In-Law might just be the rarest of cinematic beasts: a comedy sequel that actually manages to justify its own existence. We are officially on high alert. Heart of the Beast Heart of the Beast looks like a gripping, tear-jerking cinematic triumph that will resonate with action fans and animal lovers alike. We will definitely be front and centre with our popcorn when this one hits the big screen! Klara and the Sun Klara and the Sun looks like a heart-wrenching, beautifully acted triumph that will linger in the mind long after the curtains close. Power Ballad What has us incredibly excited about Power Ballad is the dynamic friction between its two leads. Paul Rudd seems perfectly cast as the rugged, everyday musician who just wanted a shot at the big time, acknowledging with a heavy heart that having his name on a song of that magnitude would have completely changed his life. The Debut UK Film Review hasn't yet seen the final curtain rise on this one, but if the film matches the sheer dramatic potency of its trailer, The Debut is set to be a staggering, must-see cinematic triumph. One Night Only One Night Only looks to be a sharp, subversively funny, and emotionally resonant look at how we connect when time is running out. It takes a wild, satirical premise and uses it to explore a timeless question: Who would you choose if you only had one night? Supergirl As we look toward the 2026 release, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow stands as a testament to the new direction of DC Studios. Masters of the Universe With the arrival of the first trailer for the 2026 reboot of Masters of the Universe, the cinematic landscape prepares for a collision of sword, sorcery, and surprisingly, suburban Earth. Wild Foxes Dune: Part Three Picking up roughly seventeen years after the seismic events of Part Two, the trailer immediately signals a shift in tone. While the first film was an act of world-building and the second a visceral war epic, Dune: Part Three—an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah—looks to be a far more claustrophobic and tense affair. In The Grey Scary Movie 6 The horror-comedy world is officially being turned upside down as the first trailer for Scary Movie 6 has finally arrived, marking a monumental return for the franchise that defined a generation of parody cinema. Empire of Lies Empire of Lies arrives in UK cinemas and on digital platforms on 27th March. Undertone Undertone is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on Friday, March 13th, 2025. If the trailer is anything to go by, we suggest you keep the lights on and perhaps think twice before pressing play on your next favourite podcast. 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.

Darkland Distribution has shared a brand new teaser trailer and poster for their upcoming British elevated horror, Shepherd. It has also been confirmed that the film will be released in UK and Irish cinemas from 5th November.. Brand new film trailers. Shepherd 2021 Teaser Trailer Brand new teaser trailer & poster for chilling elevated British horror Set for UK/EIRE Theatrical Release on 5th November Starring Tom Hughes, Kate Dickie, Gaia Weiss & Greta Scacchi Darkland Distribution has shared a brand new teaser trailer and poster for their upcoming British elevated horror, Shepherd. It has also been confirmed that the film will be released in UK and Irish cinemas from 5th November. Shepherd stars Tom Hughes (Red Joan , Victoria ), Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones , The Witch ), Gaia Weiss (Vikings , Medici ) & Greta Scacchi (The Player ). Running from grief after the mysterious death of his wife, Eric Black takes a job as a shepherd. Trapped alone on a majestic weather-beaten island with an ominous secret. One mans sudden, spiralling madness meets a vengeful supernatural force. What starts as the perfect wind-swept escape becomes a race to save his sanity and his life. Shepherd will be released in UK cinemas on November 5th 2021. Paper Tiger The Paper Tiger trailer suggests a searing, deeply moving examination of ambition, guilt, and the toxic pursuit of the American Dream. Ink The newly dropped trailer for Ink confirms those expectations, delivering a relentless, kinetic glimpse into Fleet Street's most disruptive era. The Social Reckoning Seeing the first teaser trailer drop for its spiritual companion piece, The Social Reckoning, sent an absolute chill down my spine. Focker-in-Law If the film can sustain the frantic, competitive energy displayed in this preview, Focker-In-Law might just be the rarest of cinematic beasts: a comedy sequel that actually manages to justify its own existence. We are officially on high alert. Heart of the Beast Heart of the Beast looks like a gripping, tear-jerking cinematic triumph that will resonate with action fans and animal lovers alike. We will definitely be front and centre with our popcorn when this one hits the big screen! Klara and the Sun Klara and the Sun looks like a heart-wrenching, beautifully acted triumph that will linger in the mind long after the curtains close. Power Ballad What has us incredibly excited about Power Ballad is the dynamic friction between its two leads. Paul Rudd seems perfectly cast as the rugged, everyday musician who just wanted a shot at the big time, acknowledging with a heavy heart that having his name on a song of that magnitude would have completely changed his life. The Debut UK Film Review hasn't yet seen the final curtain rise on this one, but if the film matches the sheer dramatic potency of its trailer, The Debut is set to be a staggering, must-see cinematic triumph. One Night Only One Night Only looks to be a sharp, subversively funny, and emotionally resonant look at how we connect when time is running out. It takes a wild, satirical premise and uses it to explore a timeless question: Who would you choose if you only had one night? Supergirl As we look toward the 2026 release, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow stands as a testament to the new direction of DC Studios. Masters of the Universe With the arrival of the first trailer for the 2026 reboot of Masters of the Universe, the cinematic landscape prepares for a collision of sword, sorcery, and surprisingly, suburban Earth. Wild Foxes Dune: Part Three Picking up roughly seventeen years after the seismic events of Part Two, the trailer immediately signals a shift in tone. While the first film was an act of world-building and the second a visceral war epic, Dune: Part Three—an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah—looks to be a far more claustrophobic and tense affair. In The Grey Scary Movie 6 The horror-comedy world is officially being turned upside down as the first trailer for Scary Movie 6 has finally arrived, marking a monumental return for the franchise that defined a generation of parody cinema. Empire of Lies Empire of Lies arrives in UK cinemas and on digital platforms on 27th March. Undertone Undertone is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on Friday, March 13th, 2025. If the trailer is anything to go by, we suggest you keep the lights on and perhaps think twice before pressing play on your next favourite podcast. 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.

Mosquito State was produced by Rymsza and Alyssa Swanzey for Royal Road Entertainment and Włodzimierz Niderhaus for WFDiF.. Brand new film trailers. Mosquito State Trailer MOSQUITO STATE A film by FILIP JAN RYMSZA Starring BEAU KNAPP, CHARLOTTE VEGA, JACK KESY and OLIVIER MARTINEZ AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON SHUDDER, 26TH AUGUST From director Filip Jan Rymsza and co-written by Rymsza and Mario Zermeno , the masterful allegorical psycho-thriller Mosquito State is available exclusively on Shudder from 26th August 2021. An official selection of the Venice Film Festival in 2020, Mosquito State was awarded the Bisato d’Oro for Best Cinematography as well as Best Special Effects at the Sitges Film Festival 2020. On the eve of the 2007 financial crisis, in an austere penthouse overlooking Central Park, isolated and obsessive Wall Street data analyst Richard Boca (Beau Knapp ) sees ominous patterns: His computer models are behaving erratically, as are the swarms of mosquitos breeding in his apartment, an infestation that attends his psychological meltdown. On Wall Street, they’re called “quants”—the intense data analysts whose mathematical prowess can make the difference between a fortune and a flop. Consumed with his work, Richard doesn’t often stray from his office or apartment. But when Richard decides to go to a company party, hosted by his ruthless boss (Olivier Martinez), he makes two acquaintances: the mysterious Lena (Charlotte Vega) and one pesky mosquito, both of which take root in his mind, altering his existence in profound ways. Finding common ground between Franz Kafka, David Cronenberg and Mary Harron’s American Psycho , director-screenwriter Filip Jan Rymsza emerges with a new kind of body horror, set during a single week of an exquisitely rendered pre-crash 2007 replete with signs of socio-political and economic rot. A hypnotic plunge into the fragile mentality of an individual who can see patterns long before the rest of us. In addition to Knapp (The Good Lord Bird , Seven Seconds ), the film stars Charlotte Vega (Wrong Turn , American Assassin ), Jack Kesy (The Outpost, Deadpool 2 ), and Olivier Martinez (Unfaithful , Before Night Falls ). Mosquito State was produced by Rymsza and Alyssa Swanzey for Royal Road Entertainment and Włodzimierz Niderhaus for WFDiF. MOSQUITO STATE arrives on SHUDDER on 26 August 2021 Paper Tiger The Paper Tiger trailer suggests a searing, deeply moving examination of ambition, guilt, and the toxic pursuit of the American Dream. 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