[MUSIC]
From Blanchek Productions, this is Critical Darlings.
A podcast about the movies everyone's talking about. One new release after another. [MUSIC] Please welcome your hosts, Richard Lawson, and Allison Blomor. [APPLAUSE]
Marie Barty, thank you for that introduction. It's great to hear your voice again. We're here with Producer Ben Frisch. Learning, and the three of us took four modifications. We've been traveling the world.
Because when you go to the Oscars, when you present as we did famously, you get a gift basket, and one of the gifts is like that crazy trip. It's the cruise, right, where you just like, you go around the world. Yeah, yeah. There was a murder mystery on the boat.
I thought there was a real murder accident. I don't know, it's like the really different first class. They have made it a real murder day, yeah, it's very triangle of sadness, kind of thing. Did you catch the bug? Yeah, unfortunately.
But we're back now. In sort of a new shape, our last season was talking about the Oscars and the best picture nominees, and that was really great. But now we can turn our gaze forward and look at new movies coming out, which is really exciting. And sometimes we'll talk about Oscars.
The movie we're talking about today, Project Elementary, has already been by some measure, slotted in people are like, well, it's got one of the 10 best picture spots to take in. I don't know if I agree with that fully, but... Yeah, I don't know.
“I feel like this movie's success is very heartening to me.”
Like it really was like a big hit. Like in a way, we were talking about in this year's Oscars, about the fact that we had to original, let's call it original, like based on a pension book that counts as original these days. But like two non kind of IP-related properties that were genuine cultural phenomenon,
that actually attracted large audiences and theaters and beyond, that were competing for best picture. And to have this movie, which is based on a book, but is not based on some giant franchise, it invents new things. Yes, to have that do as well as it did in the box office.
Yeah, it was like finally a win for Jeff. Five. He's been completely crushed. And for Lauren, and for Lauren, rising tide lifts all boats. Yes. But yeah, it was an undeniable, sizable hit.
It made $80 million, which means it is the largest theatrical opening
that Amazon MGM has ever had. And also like only like three non-sequel, non-franchised movies kind of post-COVID that have opened over $50 million dollars.
“So you'd almost beat Oppenheimer in that on that step?”
Yeah, yeah. And the other ones are F1. What did you say to him? And it ends with us. Oh, yeah. Well, which we're not well for everyone. 30 million of that was made for us.
Yeah, and I had written about the movie Projectile Mary in my newsletter premierparty.com, subscribe. And I ended my review-ish thing with like some doubt about its potential, because I, you know, the movie itself is something of a Hail Mary for very short.
I think it was $200 million dollars. It was a really expensive.
Yeah, which is more than you, you when I make it a year. So it's a lot of money. But I think something, and we'll get into the kind of the movie itself. But the tone of it, I guess what I'm sort of curious about is like, what is this sort of lesson of its success thus far? It's like, is it Ryan Gosling is finally a bankable movie star.
“And we're going to talk about that. But like, I think for me, it's the lesson is,”
well, how about you market your fucking movies? Yeah, they put out a trailer for the movie, a year in advance. And it was a really well-cut trailer that made me excited, even though on paper, there's a lot in that movie that I shouldn't have been excited about based on my taste. And, and, and, and, and it just rode that wave of momentum and built it to a really a win.
And I, and I, and I just think that like, obviously not every movie should the trailer should come out of year in advance. But for for for for more of them. Yeah, they're not by taste. You mean, you hate aliens? Yeah, Paul, extra-trial life, you're- I'm a xenophobic, but only in that sense. Yeah, but there's a lot out there, so I-
I'm a xenomorphic. I'm xenomorphic. Yeah, I feel like that is a great lesson. I feel like also making a movie that a family could go to, you know, a one-of-a-four quadrant movie. Yeah, like one that is family-friendly. And I do feel like ultimately the best possible audience
For this movie are like, brainy kids, uh, you know, like, like kind of nerdy.
Can more big Sandra, who will their fans? Of course, yeah. I mean, that's always built in.
“Parents would also enjoy this, you know, I think there are plenty of adults who have”
who went to see this and who've loved it. But also, I think the fact that it is genuinely family-friendly without feeling like something where you're accompanying children and are looking at your watch, you know, like this plays to adults and children equally. And I feel like that is something that we used to do a lot more and just do not anymore. And it has the staple of family films in the '80s, which is like a cute puppet alien.
It does. Yeah, like Mac and me, the class, like, yeah, Mac and me, uh, and then E.T. Which kind of ripped off Mac and me. Do you guys, how do you guys feel about the cute alien movie as just like a paradigm? I was talking about this with a friend the other night, um, because he and I are obsessed with that movie life. Have you ever seen that movie with Ryan Reynolds and Jake Jillon Holland? It's funny. You're like a cute alien movie. Let's talk about it.
“I know it's the polar opposite. Life is one of the most like despairing nightmarish movies.”
I've seen it in a long time. Yeah, it's like really great creative kills. Yeah. And as I've really logged into my brain. It's ending so bleak. I won't spoil it, because people really, it was really under scene at the time. It's really good movie.
When I think of an alien movie, that's like, all right, it's always about like this creature
trying to like destroy or maybe it's not even in a sort of gnarly alien sense, like the movie alien, but more like a global thing, like the invasion or whatever. And yeah, it is nice to be like to live with the idea for two plus hours of like, if we did make contact with another sentient species out there, like maybe they would be friendly and instantly want to be friends. It even a E.T. is like a little bit wary of Elliot and he of E.T. But in this movie, it's like,
no, they're instantly like we're pals. And we're going to be collaborators. And I think in these, you know, fraught times, that's, that's really great. Right? Yes, no, it is lovely and heartening. You know, they have discussions about relationships. They have discussions. Yeah, well, it is funny
that this species that is like, they don't see the way we see that just goes to like, like,
anatomically or so different. And yet, no, we're mononomists. Right. Don't worry. Yeah, don't worry. And also the rock that I'm with has lipstick and a bit of a bow.
“But no, but the kid thing is is, I think, I think, one of the sort of core points of it,”
which I went to go see it at my local like independent theater, cobbahil cinemas. And because I like to support them even though the seeds are terrible. And there was a popping speaker the whole time. And, and there was a family, maybe a couple of rows behind me. And I was getting progressively more annoyed because one of the older child was talking throughout the entire, I'm a whispering, but kind of stage whispering throughout the entire movie. But then I kind of gradually realized
I was like, oh, he's excitedly narrating the movie to his parents. Yeah. And that means he, I think he's like really engaged in it. And he clearly was like a big fan of the friendly rock alien. And, and that's lovely because I, yeah, there are just so few examples of something that, then the parent seemed engaged and the younger brother seemed engaged. And, and yeah, I just, I can't think of many movies outside of the animated space where that's true. So, I'm curious
for the two of you, what was your movie that you would have been narrating to your parents in the theater? Yeah, I think as a kid, I mean, I really didn't like what Merchant I read did with Ian Forster's work. And I was pretty vocal about that when I was younger. No, I would have probably been Alaska's aide, Indian Jones Alaska's aide. That, that, my mom took me to see that in the theater. I think I was six years old, seven years old. So, maybe not the best choice, but
that and I mean, honestly a little mermaid. Same year, eight to nine. Yeah. Where I, I, I really had a lot of sort of urgent ideas about what should be happening to the characters in that movie, what was happening to characters in that movie that I probably would as this child was in my screening of Projectile Mary. This kid was standing up. Like, couldn't even sit in a seat. He was so, like, worked up by it. That it probably would have been one of those two.
Uh, for me, this wasn't in theaters, but I do remember it. Like, as a child, I remember doing this, which was, um, watching a VHS of the Muppets take Manhattan and being so excited by it that I was like pointing at, yeah, like being like, especially like Miss Piggy who I loved. You know, like, being like, telling my parents like, what was happening on screen as if they were not in the room watching with me. Um, yeah, but I, I feel like that I have no idea how old I was,
but I just remember being so like thrilled by the development on screen and being like, I have to make sure people are watching this. Yeah. Did you have that with ET at all?
I was terrified of ET.
re-release in there. Like, I don't know what context this was when, but I did see it in theaters. And
I was always so afraid of looking at like, ET when he turns all pale and it's like, oh, God.
Oh, I, I, I, I, I, I saw that movie once as a kid. Yes, that was not one of my touchstone
“movies as a kid. I think partly because I was scared of him and he was gross and looked like”
an old grandma. Yeah. Although I do, to this day, I mean, ET dressed as the lady Rocky's wife is one of the best images cinemas ever created. Well, and the rumor is that she's going to be on drag race next week. Well, we can get into that off air, but there's some scandal I saw on Instagram. Yeah. Someone summoned it to story about it. Cherry, cherry pie did a story. There's a modern program. Yeah. If the program is being well, yeah. I also, like, it's not
always quite in the realm of the ET Alien, though. I, but like, I mean, the kind of
80s is like the Ewoks, you know, like the kind of, like, Cuddly toy merchandise above, like, cute, like physical being in the movie, right? They're usually puppets. Like, I love that. You know, I like the ways in which that evokes this other era of, like, big family-friendly
“blockbusters. And, and I think this movie does that while also feeling very,”
of this moment, as well. You know, like, it's, it is a kind of interesting mix of that more important, but also of, uh, I don't know, feeling very, like, it's a very, let's say, a stem forward movie. Uh, and not anyways, that feel like some studio note came around to be, like, uh, we should encourage kids to do stem. You know, like, it's very, like, science is very important, and key to the way this story operates. And can be fun and cool,
and, yeah. Right. No, it's really earnest about that. I mean, that was what I loved about the Martian, is that it was very much, like, earnest in its enthusiasm about, uh, science as a way to approach the world. If you know a certain set of things about, like, principles, you can use them in crazy situations to, to keep, you know, sustain yourself or, or do something, kind of miraculous. Yeah. Yeah. But I don't know. Like, the physicality of Rocky, the alien,
and this, I mean, as opposed to, say, something like, uh, Lilo and Stitch, the live action remake that they did recently, probably the most famous friendly alien thing outside of UT at this point, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But also, like, there is this kind of, like, uh, grotesque, uh, CGI, you know, like, like, the, like, the kind of, like, uh, abomination quality to, uh, the live action
“version that they did. So, I don't know. I mean, I think there is something really heartening about this,”
the kind of, like, tangibility. Well, it's a hoppy tree. A lot of Rocky's puppetry. And I think the, the voice that, that's playing through the computer for Gosseng's character, that voice is done by the puppeteer, um, which is like the kind of thing, again, I don't feel like we see enough of these days. It's usually just some sort of, yeah, CGI monster. If it was Chris Pratt, oh, and now you've been sad because that would be so good. Well, okay. Can we talk about Ryan Gosseng in this movie?
Yeah. Because, like, like, someone said that the performance he's during was Chris Pratt, ask, what does that mean, even really? No, I, I think it's supposed to be that you're having someone who is, like, now very, obviously, like, handsome, but, like, is playing kind of, like, goofy and comedic, still like they are still this kind of, like, more normal, okay. Right. Person, uh, even though they have, they are obviously not. Um, do you like him in this movie?
I feel like, like, this is, like, the, you know, everyone is like, like, this is maybe, like, proof that
he can finally, like, be a blockbuster star. I do like him in this movie because I think that it
he finds the sort of the right balance. There are two Ryan Gossengs in, in all of us, they're two, right? Yeah. Um, you know, there's, there's only God forgives, moody, Ryan Gosseng, and then there's, like, all turned up to high charm, like, crazy stupid love, Ryan Gosseng. And this is right somewhere in between those things, where he's, because I found the movie sort of, interestingly sad and sort of, doleful and, and, and, and, and, and to,
you know, I mean, it's just, that was suicide, you know, mission. So there's a sadness there. There's a loneliness there, but he also is clever and funny. And I think that for me, it performance wise for him, the thing that tripped me up was that, like, he's styled so nicely, like he has these expensive clothes. That's great. Here cut these great glasses. Um, I'm, I was surprised I haven't seen the terms sluddy little glasses about, because that was the Jonathan Bailey interesting
fact. Thank you. Um, but I think that, you know, that, the, the way he looks aside, which took me
Out a bit a little bit, I think it's my favorite performance of his in a while.
not, like, trying stuff out and it hasn't always worked lately. I was just thinking about the
gray man in 2022. Remember how that was going to be a whole franchise. It was going to a red phone just rang at on Santa Monica Boulevard or Santa Boulevard where the, the, of the Netflix, and, and it was Ted's Randall's picked it up and they said, sir, someone just said, I keep thinking about the gray man. It's the first time that's ever. It's that. Yeah, I mean, it is a movie that I have seen. Yeah, saying that I remember reviewed it. Nothing about really, I had to look at that and he's
crazy. Chris Evans is the villain. Are there wolves in it? On a dark. No, that's Liam Neeson, the gray. Oh, yeah. No, the gray. Yeah. No, the gray man. Yeah, the gray man is, like, the Russo brothers, it was like their Netflix movie. They were like, we are going to, like, bring this
whole, we're going to start a franchise at Netflix. It's going to be Netflix's blockbusters,
and it's about a guy who, I don't know, he's like an agent, you know, and then he kind of does stuff. It's just like incredibly, like, a lot of Netflix original movies that are attempts at blockbusters. There's something that feels like very weirdly synthetic about it where they spent a lot of money on it, but it feels like vaporware. They think they also touted that a lot of the stunts were done by the actors, but then all of those stunts are surrounded by so much CGI that it's like,
well, it doesn't really matter then. Yeah. And it's kind of, it's, it's shot in, I want to say,
“somewhere in kind of, in an Eastern European, they shot on location. Yeah. I think, yeah. But also,”
it was one of those locations that you often see, like, they sent, like, direct to VOD action movies, being said in it as well, because, like, you know, of like cheaper production or text breaks, whatever. So there is a quality about it that also made it. Like it could have been in the, in the market, it can. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah, it's basement there. The basement is fell all the, yeah, it's from Bulgaria. Yeah. Um, yeah. No, I mean, he, he has had such a weird career trajectory. And it's one that I feel like
part of the story is him almost at war with his own charm. Yes. You know, he bursts on to the scene with like, you know, drama is like the believer and half Nelson, which he's so good in. Yeah. He got an Oscar nomination for that. Kind of, yeah, which was like, you know, it was a little indie. Obviously, the notebook was in there as well. Yeah. Um, and then he, you know, he's building and building in Blue Valentine was huge for him. And I think one of the cruxiers of his career,
it's early career was 2011, because he had crazy stupid love, which, again, he's like, he is sexy in charming in that, but it's, it's, it's a little too, it's like, there's another awareness of, you like, you can't just play a handsome guy. Yeah. Because he's, he projects this kind of intelligence, this all the awareness. Right. He's playing like a self-aware handsome guy. He's a comment on a handsome guy. Right. Exactly. And then that same year he had drive, which is a movie I love
although I haven't seen it since 2011. So it doesn't like a key rhyme goes like key to a
thing. Because it's the complete other side of him, or it's basically he has like zero lines of
that movie practically. Yeah. Also that year, which really was the gray man of that year in
“terms of how much people talk about it is the idea of March. But like, but I think that year really”
encapsulates it's like, you have this one extreme of him where he's, you know, I mean, I don't know, did you ever watch breaker high that he was on? No, I did not. It was a teen sort of sitcom that he was on, I think it's Canadian. You know, that sort of charming side of things and then the taciturn man a few words thing. And then for the next basically decade, he toggles between those things more favoring the quiet stuff like, only God forgives and for later. Right. He is just kind of
like satide, the whole movie. Right. You're just dying for like some of that old charm. And then he'll give you a tease with like the nice guys or whatever, which is so, so good in. And I just feel like he's been very careful almost, I mean, maybe to a fault, yes, about like meeting out the sort of like Morgan Garrier side of him. Well, and then he made the fall guy in 2024, which I liked a lot, they don't feel like it quite, quite coherent, you know, but was supposed to be the movie that
introduced him in this way, where he was like playing both sensitive, but also this romantic hero, and also this action hero, like the totality of Gosling, right? Like action comedy, romantic lead Gosling. Yeah, the post Barbie, like, okay, he really revived his career with Barbie. He, you know, once again, reminded us that he's a great actor, we love him, whatever. What do I do with that now? And the fall guy, yeah, was supposed to be the sort of like planting the flag.
“But now, why do we think that the fall guy didn't work and project himary seems to be working?”
I think part of it was just the fall guy was not well marketed, and I think with the fall guy also tried to like marry, I think, to different almost like warring quadrants, which is to be,
It's like a real romantic comedy, right?
like movie production, meet cute, between these two people who, you know, are on set now, and are trying to kind of sort out their romantic differences. And then there's this whole like action comedy, outrageous set piece, you know, conspiracy, murder, thing going on. And you can just feel someone having pitch it to be like, no, like the guys will want to see it, and then their girlfriends will want to see it too, you know, like everyone's going to love this.
And it clearly like that message did not go out if it was a compelling one at all.
I just feel like it never kind of caught on it. The trailers for that movie were really confusing
is to what it was. And also, and it was based on IP, but it was a show that people don't
“really remember, and, and, and whereas Projectile Mary that book was pretty popular, right?”
Yeah. And I think it's been. And the marketing was very clear. It was a friendly alien movie, it was about saving the planet, which I think a lot of people are sort of consciously or not sort of invested in that narrative these days, you know, and, and they, and they laid, they led with its humor, yes, but also its emotional tenor, you know, which I think was smart to be like, this is going to make you feel things beyond just kind of excitement and, you know,
yeah. It is funny that Ryan Gaussing, like his kind of big breakout as a serious actor, was playing a teacher, albeit one who was addicted to smoking crack. And now, you know, here he is again. Is that why you took out of the notebook? Look, it was an important element. Is that, that's in the book, but it's not so much a movie. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a hint at that, you know, I think if you read between the lines. Right. And here he is again, you know,
teaching teaching middle schoolers and being the hottest middle school teacher you've ever seen in your life. Oh, we should mention, since I, I feel like I've not actually said this out loud, these are like the Martian Projectile Mary is based on a novel by Andy Weer, who was the, who is the child of like an electrical engineer and a physicist and was a computer programmer before he started writing the Martian started as like a web serial. He was publishing and then, you know,
like it was like became so popular that a publisher was like, I want to publish this in the whole. Um, I haven't read any of his books because I remember reading reviews of the Martian the book and they were like, it's just pages and pages of like technical science stuff and yeah,
“sort of seem daunting to me, but people seem to love that about his work. And I think that in the”
Martian they, it translates, I mean, I'm imagining really well because there's a lot of tech, you know, sciencey stuff in there. Maybe the in in Projectile Mary, there's a little bit of sort of Montagey like, and then science happens and I know some people were like what they wanted it a bit more dialed in on that front. But yeah, I mean, he does, I guess both of these would fall under the, I guess like general world of hard sci-fi, right, like various science-based sci-fi,
even though like the, both of them are set in a near future that is basically our future, right,
like it's, it's our like, it basically our world, like they're not meant to be as we think about sci-fi as like being distant, uh, they're not meant to be at all like they're, but they are very science-based, uh, like he clearly finds it really important as a writer to do a lot of research and to have this stuff be like really based on like actual scientific principles and details. I'm a little surprised that that that that Projectile Mary, the book was popular enough given that he is
so technical that, um, it would have given this sort of extra boost to this to this movie. So they also like, um, the Lord and Christopher Miller who directed, uh, the Projectile Mary were initially attached to, uh, adapts weird second novel, which is called Artemis and takes place
“on the moon, uh, and that didn't end up happening. I think that book was not as popular as the”
Marsha and or as Projectile Mary, because it has a girl's name in the time. It has a girl's name.
It is about a woman also. Oh, God. Yeah, uh, enough already. But, um, Projectile Mary is his third
book and they ended up, of course, uh, adapting that. Uh, he definitely has a solid following. I don't know how much you can kind of quantify that, but I was surprised by how many people I knew, uh, have ended up having read the book. So there's something there. Yeah, and Lord and Miller have a following. I think that was part, that's part of the, the success of this movie, uh, you know, they, you know, the Lego movie, um, 21 jumps treat, right?
And many two jumps treat, well, they also came from a background of animation, you know, um, the Claudia of the chance of meatballs, uh, they did, what was our, Clon High, right? The show, Clon High. Right, nothing bad of a happens to the kind of these, uh, yeah, my favorite intro. I, I don't know, they're really interesting because there was this stretch, especially during the kind of 21 jumps treat, 22 jumps treat era where it felt
like they were in that rare group of people of filmmakers who could work within the extremely commercial Hollywood system and turn out stuff that was good anyway. You know, like there's no
Way that 21 jumps treat should have been a good movie.
begin with, but they figured out how to make it a good idea. Yeah, and I think about the ending of 22 jumps treat all the time. You know, when they just do the montage of sequels that are getting like more and more like, uh, spiritually bankrupt, creatively bankrupt, um, and it's so funny, but at the same time you're like, sure, like you are aware of the fact that you can like very easily run out, right? Like any goodwill by just keeping these things going. But their innovation
or their inventiveness had run up against a wall because they were like fired from a star worse movie. Right. Right. So Lord of Miller, we're famously fired from solo, the, the Han Solo movie, um, you know, Kathleen Kennedy just did not like their voiciness, I guess. Like they were,
“they were doing, I think like doing some kind of like improv, like looseness, it clearly had a”
different feel and a very individual feel. Um, but yeah, they had like shot like 90% of that movie. They had like, it was, it was, unlike a lot of the other proposed Star Wars projects from various
kind of like distinctive filmmaking talents that have been announced. A lot of which never seemed
to get beyond the announcement phase. Like this was like well, well underway, uh, before they brought Ron Howard in. And his only, Howard's only contribution was who's like, he got to kill Tandy way for whatever reason. He was like, you gotta put, um, a colon in the title and then put like, uh, you know, uh, but yeah, like we should, we should find out the origin of his fucking name. That was Ron Howard. It's really important to film it. But yeah, like, uh, they, so, so it was really like, uh, you know,
taking the movie away from them and kind of like, in a way, yeah, sending away all of their particular work to help. Great. And where's our great? Um, everyone, everyone talks about that movie all the time. Although, thank god, Alden and Aaron Reich, one of the most talented actors of his generation who really was done bad by that whole mess. Um, it's coming back. I mean, weapons was big. And he's got stuff coming up. So good for him. They were among the
many, like, like filmmakers with distinctive voices and distinctive sensibilities who kind of were now to having a project, uh, as our worst project. And then that's our worst project went away. And in this case, it was one that had actually kind of like gotten down the line, you know, uh, yeah, wasn't like Josh Tranks movie that's right. Right, or. It's not going to be like, like, I don't know if there will ever happen. Uh, I don't know if it's even close. Uh, but yeah,
like, Kelly Wright writes is still going forward though, right. Yeah. It's going to be an incredible,
just like sat on a planet out there. Certainly worse. Yes. Just like in the just in the
“forest. Yeah, tuning with nature. Yeah. It's like old joy. But I love to watch. Honestly, do it,”
please. Think of how much cheaper it would be also. It's been for $4 million and make that movie just for for a few people. Um, but yeah, I mean, that feels so formative, right. Like they, if they had made that movie and become part of this like Disney, um, Disney world, like they would still presumably be working on other properties there. And instead, it feels like that just like kind of drove them away from Disney on the filmmaking side in general, right? Um, yeah. And
this is a movie, frankly, Disney could have used. 100% and it would fit squarely within their sort of parameters in terms of, you know, audience targeting and all that. Um, but I do think that Disney probably, I, I one thing that impressed me about Project Hell Mary was that it is Lord and Miller, I think, you know, not in a sort of overconfident way, but reaching for a new level of a film, like like there, there's an art fullness to the, to a lot of the way the movie shot and
“scored that, um, I, I think is kind of a leap up for them. Yeah, they also, they haven't directed”
something since 22th century, right? Um, like they have, uh, produced a lot of stuff. Yeah. Um, they produced and I think like we're very creatively involved in the spider-verse movies, which I
think are incredible, right? Um, yeah. And one of them was very vocal and Twitter about animated
movies, not being taken seriously. Yeah. That was filled with Lord, I think. It was, um, of best of the earliest. And they did Mitchell's versus the machines, which I really liked as well. Yeah, so, but like, they, um, they have not actually directed for like years and years. Yeah. So over a decade. So yeah, it definitely, I mean, compared to 22th century, which I like, yeah, but I mean, like, I just been like, even though it's something they've produced, like, I think stylistically this
movie, and, and, and tonally is just a little bit more, even though yes, it has that foreclosure in appeal. There, there, I was sort of taken by the, the sort of grown-up air of sadness and, and melancholy that kind of permeates the movie, especially in the flashback scenes in the, the Sandra Huller scenes before he go before he goes to space. Like, that is winchery and kind of bleak,
The the the biggest moment in that part of the film is Sandra Huller singing ...
fully this Harry Styles song about a dead friend. Like, it's just like, I, I, I just think that for, you know,
from everything is awesome in the Lego movie to this, that feels like an interesting evolution of them as storytellers. Sure. Also, uh, Sandra Huller, uh, I do enjoy that scene, but it has nothing obviously on her scene in Tony Erdman, which is like one of the greatest scenes of someone singing, singing a popular song of all time. Yeah, people should see that if they haven't seen it. Yeah, a great. Remember when that was going to be a Lena Dunham written remake, yes,
Kristen Wagan Jack Nicholson. I also think about that all the time. Yes, that's gone.
“Um, but you know, I think to your point, it's, I mean, it's a big space, space,”
Odyssey, you know, like it. I have the sequence in which they, uh, you can see it in the trailers a bit, like when they, they come to this planet, uh, that looks like this kind of like marble, right? Like,
it's got these incredible colors, uh, to the atmosphere around there. Uh, it is like beautifully
done. There's a lot of, it's, it's an action sequence ultimately, but it is also just filled with, like, visual awe. Yeah, it's more in line with this sort of eerie majesty of space that we see in like interstellar or, uh, first man or at Astra, sure, then with anything pop and cartoony, you know, it, it, it's about the lonely beauty of space, more than it is about the wizarding, you know, like Star Wars jet fighters or whatever they're called, you know, and, and I, I think that that,
that it's, it's, it's hardening to me that audiences seem to, and I mean, look, there is a lot of cutesy humor in it, maybe some might argue too much, you know, there is the sort of warm side of
the movie for sure, but that there is that other aspect to it and people still embrace today.
“I think it's really hardening to me. I mean, maybe also a little sad that we're all just in”
despondent enough mood that that seems like baseline to us. But yeah, no, I, I think it's a good point. And like this movie opens with, uh, Galsen's character realizing his two, like his crew members are dead, died, and, uh, while, while they've all been in kind of like, a coma, uh, traveling across. Let me see dead bodies very early in this four-quartering family-friendly movie, you know? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think one of the other things that, I mean, it speaks to that sense of
melancholy and desperation, but also to, I think the optimism that is, I think what is so appealing to people about Andy Werswerk, I mean, it's much more in the Martian, but like, as well, but is the idea of, like, these are a lot of smart people working together. You know, we don't really understand how the kind of like, organization that, that, uh, Senator Huller is like the head of national. Yeah, how that works. Yeah. But it is very much like, look at the nation's cooperating together,
“like, like, the governments of the world working together. That was all now. I think the United States”
would happily participate in such a thing. It's competence. It's important. It's important. It is convenient for it. And it is also like cooperation pouring in that way. You know, like it is this, this really, this, the kind of like heartfelt fantasy of being like, with times got really bad, we would all work together and pull our resources. But it would take a microorganism eating the son. I just, I'm trying to imagine, like, like, say, someone explaining this microorganism to our current
presidential regime as, uh, how that would go over and be understood, uh, because it requires a lot of explanation in the movie. And I don't know to be honest if it's enough explanation. Like, I, when, when he goes to the planet and sees the other ship, rocky ship, um, I thought for probably too long that the ship was from the sun eating aliens. I didn't realize that there were two aliens species in the movie. Yeah. You know, and I think maybe that could have been more clearly
dilinated or perhaps the little boy narrating the movie behind me was just trying to be from paying attention. But, um, yeah, but the, the, the, the sort of quote villain of the movie, you're right, is this sort of, it's not a character. It's just this kind of thing. It's like a natural intro, it's the interstellar disaster, right? Like it is. Yeah. It is an environment. And they're just trying to sustain themselves, like they're just free. Like they're, they're
bacteria. Yeah. Like space bacteria. They're in a space of species. Yes. Yeah. Um, one thing I want to mention, uh, as we kind of like move from the larger business mechanics into the movie itself, is like, uh, this movie was like actually initially greenlit by, uh, Mike Deluca and Pam Abdi, who, you know, have gone on to be at Warner Brothers and a responsible for sinners and responsible for one bottle after another. And the kind of like big year that Warner has had while it
also getting eaten by another, you know, maker corporation. But, uh, this movie does feel very much
In the vein of those recent like kind of like big swing taking chances on, uh...
potential material. Uh, and yeah, the version was a big hit. So there is like a kind of proven
next right there. But this is a weird movie. As you say, like there is like a very grown-up streak
“of melancholy going like running through it. Uh, uh, and I think there is a lot about the beginning”
of the movie that before we get a Q alien, you know, which is like, yes, someone waking up alone on a spaceship with two dead bodies and trying to figure out why he's there and realizing, oh my god, I'm like so far from earth, you know. I don't know, maybe I'm particularly affected by stories where people know they're going to die and they choose to do it anyway, kind of thing. But like, again, that's not something you would see. I mean, even in a Marvel movie where like,
spoiler, black widow, like sacrifices or self or whatever, like, yeah, but that it took
till the last goddamn movie for that time, you know, it was like, well, and also it's become clear
in those movies that nothing has to be permanent. It's somewhat, you know, like, if someone wants to come back, it's more a question of like contract negotiations and salary than it is, uh, a narrative
“choice. Right. No, exactly. And yeah, so I just think I think that, you know, taking a swing on this”
green lighting, a green to spend all that money when there are these, you know, these these obstacles that you cannot get rid of about like about what the story is, you know, it like as with this kind of, uh, this fantasy of international cooperation, there is this real, like, of course, people would choose to, uh, sacrifice themselves on behalf of the greater good. Right. And, um, because I don't even think we have an, I mean, not to get whatever, but, uh, like, the idea of a
greater good, I think is so to many of you, right now. I know, you know, like, it's something, yeah, like, I, I, we're in this moment of like, not just everyone out for themselves, but also, like, almost this kind of like, like power, people in power being like, I would choose to make the world worse or make more chaotic because it provides more opportunity for me personally, you know, like that, like, destruction is an opportunity. Um, and that, yes, this does feel like a counterweight.
And, and, and there, and that part, there's a part of me that's like, I'm not going to die in fucking space for half of you, I suppose. Like, we're, like, going out, you know, so yeah, I just think there is, oh, I, I like that, despite the film's chilliness and it's sadness, like, there is that,
“that's spirit. So, I, I enjoy him in this movie. I think he's, like, yes, it is a good”
interesting mix of him as, like, soulful actor and then also him as, like, kind of, like, goofy, charming presence. But I was just hyper aware of the fact that this character was clearly written to be like this every man, right? Like, he, he looks like every man. Yes, like, like, like, this character is like someone who had, like, a kind of, like, brilliant, renegade, you know, like, burst in academics and then kind of like, uh, was chased out and then just retreated into being a middle-school
teacher, something he clearly enjoys, but is like, sort of, uh, a way of hiding from the world, right? Like, and he writes his bike and he has no personal attachments and he is sort of like, he's in retreat. Yeah. And, and this, he is not the kind of character who is, like, heroically volunteering for a mission to go into space and save the world, right? Like, that's a whole idea. He is supposed to be, like, totally out of his normal context or anything he ever expected to do. And I did feel,
like, I have joked to people, like, this role seems written for, like, Josh Gad. I do not want to see a version of this movie that stars Josh Gad, but I do think that there is something lost in having someone, even in, like, the, like, movies or stylers, like, everyone is, like, so much more beautiful. Every time I do a Q&A with Rebecca Hall, which has been multiple times, I like, sit next to her and she's, like, the most, radiantly stunned. You're like, the Meg World guy in his chair. Right.
And then, I mean, I look at her and I'm like, you regularly get cast as, like, the plain, the plain alternative in romantic triangles and things like that. In, like, the BFG. Yeah, exactly. But, like, watching Ryan Gaussian in this movie, I was like, you're, you're a very handsome guy. You had, they have to write in, like, like, there was that part where he's trying, he has
amnesia and is trying to figure out why he's there. And he writes on the board, like, always muscles.
And I'm like, they had to include that to explain why he has Ryan Gaussian's body, you know. And, like, when he's kind of, like, bouncing around the spaceship, like, in that kind of slapstick fashion, like trying to, you know, like, frantically being like, where am I? What is going on? And, like, that would be funny if this were someone who had, like, a kind of, like, normal looking body, you know, is kind of, like, bouncing around the spaceship. Instead, it looks like someone who is, like,
really, kind of athletic. Like gymnast. Yeah. Doing it. I don't know. It's, I ended up writing something
About this.
Gaussian's relationship with Rachel, Rachel, like, Adam's back in the day. But I ended up writing
something about this for send help, uh, you know, which, uh, with Rachel, like, Adam's which came
“out a few months ago. The same, Amy movie, which I enjoyed. And I think she's delightful in. She's hilarious.”
But you're watching that movie being, like, she is supposed to be an invisible office drone, like, someone who, in her middle age, but also in her, like, total lack of glamour has become not just, like, sexually invisible and professionally invisible, but, like, just, like, someone that people don't even, like, look at, you know, and then she, you know, goes to, she looked, they, they end up stranded on this, on this island, and she, like, blossoms. And, like, you are Rachel McAdams, like,
even in the opening scenes, just because your character hasn't washed her hair for a bit. Does not mean you are still not looking like Rachel McAdams, like, the, the distance between being, like,
oh, you know, you are in your element now, and you have kind of, like, become, who you've always
meant to be? Like, you're still Rachel McAdams, like, you, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think, I look, obviously, as you said, like, beautiful people have been playing regular people in movies since movies began, but they take off the glasses at this. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But I do think that
“there are, there are instances where that works better than, you know, others. And I think in the”
case of Project Hill Mary and arguably sent help, like, with Hill Mary, like, it's the styling, they're, they're making him hotter. Like, they're, they're turning the volume up rather than down, yeah, where his haircut is, like, an expensive haircut. He's wearing, like, this beautiful Canadian Tuxedo, and, like, this cardigan sweater that I'm sure is, like, $3,000 at Bergdorf Goodman, or whatever. Like, these great, you know, little slutty little glasses, you know, like, I, you know,
and also there is the matter of cosmetic work. Yeah, I know that, like, it, I, I, I'm not always
ready to tune to that. Like, multiple other people brought it up to me. After I saw that maybe for the first time, I noticed it more in the red carpet photos of golfing. Yeah, I think there's a question of, like, when the filler settles, and when it doesn't, you know, whatever. But, like, the fact of the matter is, as a rain gossling is in his mid 40s, and in most traditional ideas of what that looks like, that's not what he looks like, you know, and, and I'm not,
I don't, I don't care what he does with his face necessarily, but like, I just think that the
“movie weirdly, I don't know why he's styled. Like, that, like, I think they could have dressed him up”
dorky or, and did something different with his hair, given him different glasses. Like, he looks like, ah, he has, he's someone's idea of a hot nerd. Yeah. And I also think that you know, the movie for me suffered, like, by, because we don't know enough about who he is. Like, I was talking to some, to a casting director about this actually, and they were saying that it's increasingly hard to cast things for actors over, over a certain age, because they just
don't look like regular people. Or, and they can't even be made to look like regular people. Yeah. You know, maybe the thinking with this was like, we'll just lean into it and just, like, you know, put them in nice clothes and everything. But, you know, I, but I think, but aside from how he looks like, I think I wanted more to hold on to with the character, and I think that I felt things in this movie. I was moved by aspects of it, but I think it would have
the impact for me would have been greater if I felt like there was a specific character that Gosling was playing, that the stakes were more sort of general, I guess, that personal. Yeah, like, with the Martian, which I think on balance, I prefer as a movie experience, which, but it's also, like, much more unabashedly, a movie for a grown-up audience. I think that then this is, and I don't want to ding the kind of family. What children hate, that's a good
suggestion. They do. They often say that. She just terribly with the 40 children and thanks, Randall. But I think, like, in that, like, the kind of cooperative aspects, you know, is like the, like, what powers that movie and allows you, in the fact that, like, these characters don't have a ton of backstory between, but aside, like, one of them liking disco. It doesn't matter whereas in this, you just have these two characters kind of, like, out there by themselves. And I think
the fact that they're so little in, in, in our main character's life and for, as far as texture, like, to the point where, like, his relationship with Sandra Huller, as, like, where does it feel a little flirty? And you're almost just, like, I don't know if that's just there because there's such a void around there, like, how much that's, like, built into what their dynamic is supposed to be, like, male. Yeah. Isn't this kind of part of what makes these sorts of movies so hard to execute,
and that your characters have to be both relatable and aspirational simultaneously? Yeah. And, and, and confident, like, incredibly confident in these worlds that, like, I don't know.
What you were just talking about, made me think of Marty Supreme and how, tha...
they put the, the acne on, right, in order to make him sort of less aspirational if anything. Yeah.
And I guess that just wouldn't have really worked here or, would have felt like a very different movie. Yeah. I mean, look, it's, it's, it's exactly that, that equation is really hard to get right, where it's like, you have to be able to project to yourself entirely onto this kind of hero character, but also you want someone who's distinct and has personality. I mean, I think, like, the best, like, Indiana Jones is a great character because, like, he's got his own sort of swagger in his
cool, and his, you know, his hang-ups, his characters, things, whatever, but he also, like, I think there are many, many people who are sort of like, he's regular enough. I could do that. That, that, that balance is really tricky to strike. I think for the most part in this, they like, it, it, it mostly works. I think I just, when the movie takes its swing into the emotional stuff, I, I think I needed him to be less of a sort of every man blank and, and more of like,
I need to know what, what was it stake for him personally? And I guess he does mention someone in the past, right, who died when the rock asks him about relate, like, her personal thing. Yeah, that's a good question.
“I do not remember. That's why. Well, the rocks, the rock, the rocky asks are you bound by the Christian”
test of the primitive marriage? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because the crew, they're Christian. I mean, that's obviously the texture of the movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't know. I mean, I, I, I, maybe I'm just using this as an excuse to sort of explain or a way to explain why the movie is a whole while I liked it didn't bull me over. I mean, on that note, like, let's talk about spoilers, right? Like, like, let's talk about that final reveal. I do feel like, yeah, the reason
this is movie did not entirely cohere for me. And it is like, I mean, I like a lot. Like, I think it's like, it's like, it is very emotionally generous. I think it's like really effective in terms of, like,
yeah, like the kind of realistic space stuff. And I like the alien, the final reveal that he never
signed up for this, that he is forced onto this. You know, that he was not a hero. Like, he did not say, like, put me on, put me in coach, like, I will take this sacrifice on, like, he gets kidnapped and drugged basically and tossed onto the, onto the ship because of an accident. I mean, he was essentially murdered. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like, like, Jennifer Lawrence and Panthers. Oh, yeah. The emotional impact of that should have been, like, enormous. It should
have kind of retroactively colored so much of our understanding of this guy and, like, him waking up alone and the pathos of that and also his ultimate kind of, like, journey towards making a sacrifice, right? Like, towards being like, I'm not going to go home. I'm going to help Rocky.
“But I feel like instead it feels a little underwhelming. And I don't know why. I think maybe it is”
because the movie can't quite portray him as, like, a kind of, like, cowardly, you know, like, as someone who's lived his life in fear. Yes. And I think that what, what that create, there's not enough of an arc for him. Because, yes, we do have this kind of late act that don't reveal where it's like, oh, God, like, cool. It's kind of an asshole. Yeah. Yeah. Like, but I get why she did it, like, kind of makes sense. And that, that her side of it is well articulated. But I think the
problem is, on the gossip side, yeah, I just don't think he has this sort of growth arc or the change arc that it could, it all happened in the past. But then he didn't even actually make a decision. It was made for him. So it makes him pretty passive in it. The parallel to that is the really lovely moment when he decides to be like, I'm going to go back. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that is executed in a way that's lovely. But yeah, like, it felt, I needed the counterbalance of that
to have it feel as devastating as some other people I know found it. Like, I was sitting as people who were like weeping through the last part of the, like, let movie. And I wanted that. And I didn't, I didn't get that. The trailer sort of promised that I got, I, like, the trailer almost, emotionally works on me better. The movie itself does. Yeah. I mean, I love sad space movies.
Like, I cried a lot in first man. I love adastra. I love movies in which men would travel across
“the galaxy rather than go to therapy. You know, like, I think that's a, it's a perfect setup.”
But yeah, in this case, I was like, I did feel like there was something that just didn't quite click together for me on the emotional side. I, I think Gosling is sort of innately sad. Yeah. No. It's sad eyes. This is thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know. That worked better for me than I visited for you. Yeah. No. I mean, like, I, like, I know people who were just wrecked by the whole final acts of this movie. Yeah. Yeah. I'm no, he is. He does have that sort of
melt that quality to him that he's worked really well in things like Blue Valentine or whatever. Well, I think, like, what's so great about Blue Valentine? Is that as a movie that is, like, all of the qualities that make him kind of like this quirky, outrageous dreamer romantic dreamer
Are also the things that ruin his marriage.
I understand why she falls in love with him. And I understand why she's so tired of him. And she
“need to leave him. And I think he's great at playing both those. Yeah. No. I mean, he's, he's a really,”
really good actor. And I think he sells a lot of this. I would also say that, you know, for a movie, the base on this book by this guy who's very technical minded, I think, not that I would have understood it if they really went into it. But like, they fudge a lot of the science in this in a way that the Martian is much more procedural. Yes. And that frustrated me eventually. Like toward the end of the movie when, oh, no, the things are eating through the whatever because they're resistant to
blank, but don't worry. I just created a thing, a new strain and the, say, wait, how the fuck would you do that? I don't, I don't need to see the exact process. But I think there's a lot of
just like magic wand waving in this that I think almost sort of does it in justice to why people
like this guy's novels. Yeah. I mean, one of the things I liked about the Martian is when he is just calculating how much food he can eat, you know, and like doing the hard math of like calories and survival. And just like that is not even like technical science. It is just like doing like when you actually have to be like, yeah, how can I keep my body going? Like like things like that,
“that precision is I think something that is really Seth C's movie is a part or this kind of like”
work and his voice a part. And yeah, it is a little fuzzier. I don't know. I mean, I like like this movie is obviously trying for something weirder in terms of the science. It's describing, yeah, with it. Yeah. So it's, it's much more speculative. It's not, yeah, it's not grounded in hard
science. But yeah, the spinning is yes, the gravity. All right. Yeah. I love that. I love orbital mechanics.
Yes. In movies. Um, the expanse. There's a lot of orbital mechanics and the tv show more in the books. Okay. There's a lot of stuff about just like how things fall through space is really cool. My partner loves the TV show. The expanse. Anyway, I was like, well, you have that in common with Jeff Bezos. The reason that show stayed on as long as I did this because he was a fan of it. He single handedly. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. He Jeff. Yeah. I didn't listen. Yeah. Hey. Hey.
But no, yeah, that kind of stuff is really interesting. And I, and I like that they, they don't have to overexplain. Like, okay, this is how you have like, simulate gravity on a spaceship. I just wanted a bit more in the, like, what is this thing that's eating that star, like, you know, that just felt a bit sort of day a six-mocketed by the end? Also, we haven't talked much about rocky. No, yeah. But I like rocky. I like rocky too. I, I mean, like, I appreciate the rocky is like cute,
but also a little off putting, you know, he's kind of gross. Yeah. Like he's got a spider thing. He's
“yeah. And he's got like no, you know, I think having no eyes that's like, and those weird little”
blue bits where you're like, that, oh, that feels like more like organic material, like, you know, and it's, it just reminds you that like, oh, this is a body. This is like a creature's but it's not just rocks that are animated. There's, yeah, there's an organism here. You know, yeah, I think they in general, they could have gone into more of like rockies world, you know, like, well, I guess we see it at the end and it turns out again, they're Christians who have
school, school. There's little, obviously, homosexual. A lot of them, school, yeah. Here's, kind of a, yeah, like a trad wire. They're men have rights. Yeah. It's, it's Utah is what you're saying. It's full of influencers. Yeah. Yeah. No, I just, I think that, you know, there could have been a bit more like, I just, not, not like, it's not an detriment to the movie. I was just curious. I just want to know. Yeah.
I mentioned at the top of the episode that I have seen from like real quote unquote awards, pundits, people who really do follow this stuff closely, report on it, that Projectile Mary, is reasonable, it's reasonable considered that that is a best picture contender at this point in, you know, given that there are 10 slots and all that and it's been a commercially anocritical hit. How serious do you think people should take that narrative? I think it kind of depends on the
rest of the year. I don't know. I don't think it would be a shocking inclusion. No. And I think because the Martian, the Martian, yeah, was nominated for a lot of things for Best Picture Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Production Design, Editing, like, I don't see it as a movie that would win, you know, you can see it as a kind of movie that would win maybe like craft nomination and things, but I also feel like coming off of last year, there is a sense in the Academy of like movies like
this are important to the future of the industry, right? And so they should be supported in some way and salute it in some way. And the fact that this movie did really well is connecting with people was really critically well reviewed. And yeah, is appealing to a wide audience. I think that those
Are things that will help it out, even if coming out in March is potentially ...
Yeah, essentially. I mean, I think I said this like early in the life of this podcast on an episode, but like all the movie has to do now is hold on. It's, it's in there. It's for all intents and purposes. It has one of the bit 10 Best Picture Slots. It just has to weather, you know, the storms
“of can and the fall festivals and whatever else is coming. And I think that given how much good”
will the movie has, given how happy it's made the industry, you know, on a various friends. Oh,
we finally have another confirmed movie star who isn't Timothy Shellimey, like, you know, because
Rossing was, you know, he wasn't really opening movies for a long time, you know, but even though he was getting things. Well, I mean, I definitely would tell you like it was watched by everyone on the planet, but you know, but what does that even mean? You know, but I do think that it has a lot going forward. It doesn't have the cultural, you know, significance of something like sinners, certainly, but it, yeah, I think there's a, I think it's not, it's not ridiculous to
think that that's a potential outcome for the movie. I mean, I do wonder if the success of this will make it franchiseed in some way if they will try and expand on it in other ways, because I mean, it is a huge hit and like that would be taken in wrong lessons. I know, but, you know, that ending of 22, I'm straight. Yeah, let's try and see what's going on. I mean, like, it's also, you know, Amazon is set up to potentially have a very weird year, you know, like Amazon's original movie output
is, as often been very weird, right? Like, it's split between things that get theatrical releases via MGM or Orion, I guess, and then, which is a relatively new thing. Yeah, and then, like, stuff that goes direct to streaming. Yeah. And often feels like it barely exists in people's minds.
Like, did you see the wrecking crew? I've never even heard of that. Yeah, that was an expensive movie.
Hey, dude, what is that? The wrecking crew is an original buddy cop action comedy. I was
“directed by Angel Manuel Soto. I think it was originally supposed to be maybe like a David Leech”
kind of realm action comedy. Yeah, really directly to Prime earlier this year, starring Dave Batista and Jason Mamoa sat on a wahoo. They're playing a strange half bar that brothers investigating the death of their father, big set pieces. There's a whole scene where there's a helicopter attacking them while they're driving on the highway around the, yeah, now that maybe I've seen a trailer for this. Yeah. That was a movie that came out. Oh, oh, oh, oh, what fun. Oh, yeah,
shelter for Christmas movie. That was, yeah, yeah. But that's a, that's a hallmark straight to Amazon
thing. Yes. But now they're trying to be a studio where that, like, does proper, you know,
theatrical releases. And they have before, they have, but now that they bought MGM and have that sort logo to put in front of movies, it feels like they're more legitimately trying to do it. But what what else is coming for them this year? To, we can't talk about Amazon without mentioning that uh, they're, they're one of their biggest releases this year so far has been Malania, right? Like this, like, weird disastrous, uh, he's Rocky's wife. So it's kind of like a side cool, not a prequel,
but, uh, yeah, like, you know, just like weird offering to the president. Well, I, I mean, I mentioned the expansive thing. I do wonder how I actually involved Bezos is in, like,
“programming. I think he does care about it. Like, he does care. But I think he has, like, his weird”
idea, like, he hasn't released his, like, precepts about like what he thinks make good programming. And it's like story driven. Things like that where you're like, that's really, Lauren's in it. Yeah. I mean, like, I feel like the Lord of the Rings, right? Like, that thing was kind of driven. That guy is building dollars. And that, like, seems to have very little, no one watches it. Who's he hasn't behind it. Yeah. But no, also this year, they released Mercy,
uh, that teamer Beck Bomber Tov's movie with a, uh, Rebecca Ferguson as an AI judge. Right. But that's his documentary. Like, Melania, it's not. Yeah. They, they, they really have, they, they are kind of covering all bases in terms of, like, big releases and, for the streaming slot. Prime 101, which I didn't see, but people like people like, I haven't seen it. Yeah. That's kind of like a, a heat-esque, you know, attempt at a thriller,
and probably this year. I mean, they're going to have to announce the new James Bond. Which they now own. Yes. Yes. And I think that, and they have now control over, more importantly, which is, right, probably ruin us. I mean, yeah. No, I, I mean, it's, it's going to, I mean, they're, they're, they're, quote, rumor are reports that he was trying to get Lauren Sanchez to be cast as, like, probably like more like a monica belucci
for a scene or two, not like the main bond girl. But like, they, they, they're going to have to announce it. They, and I just don't think, given the, sort of, temper of, of cultural discourse these days,
That nothing they do will be, make people happy, you know.
which is, like, confirmed as a director. It's like Kate the Nerds. They're like,
he or he or she or children. Yes. He or she or God. But yeah. I mean, it's the choosing of Bond that is
“going to be. Yeah. And there are people who are now, I think, firmly out of the running, like,”
Aaron Taylor Johnson signing on to do a gay Andre Assyman series. Like, that's like, I don't think they'd let Bond do that. I mean, maybe, I don't really what. I just find him kind of a boring pick for that. Also, like, I don't know. I mean, like, they're going to not do an adventurous pick, like, almost certainly, but like, I don't know, there will be boring. Yeah. It's going to be somebody we don't know. Like, there's, there's just, just go to Rada and just pick some, like, 25 roll out of the,
right. Also, you know, then you can sign the month for cheap for a long time. Exactly.
Um, they, so this year, they have the sheep detectives, my future favorite movie in which a bunch of talking sheep investigate the death of Hugh Jackman, the actual Hugh Jackman, he's playing himself in the movie. Um, oh, post divorce life has been hard. Yeah. You know, it's been hard for him. Yeah. Um, there's is God is, uh, which is just, uh, the trailer just looks really interestingly weird. Like, these two sisters going to kill their father, um, based on a play that I,
I don't know anything about. Jack Ryan Ghost War, John Grizzonski's career, Jack Watt Ryan continues in movie form. Oh, good. More. Yeah. A propaganda. Okay. Great. Uh,
“bastards of the universe, which, you know, I think on the town that was like the booby prize for”
their, their draft, you know, their, their box office draft was like, that was like given to somebody
as punishment. Um, fairly, that movie's going to take. Although, you know, I think that, like, straight man who that movie is, you know, sort of needs to rely on for box office, they're, they love the idea of you, the in half the way a movie, the Nicholas skeletons in, they've all, they, they watch red, right, and royal blue every weekend together. So they're really like, well, if it's Mickey Gads, they're like, I'm in, I'm sold. It feels like I can't tell how campy is going to end up
the fact that it's, it's like he's in our world, but then get sucked into it or back into it, like, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's, I don't like that. Yeah. We had a trailer for it. Oh, I want a trailer again. In, in front of, uh, Project Hail Mary, and I hadn't seen it any, anything about it before, and it's totally very confusing. Yeah. Yeah. I hope that Amazon takes the right lessons from the success of Project Hail Mary, because like, it, I don't want to root for
Amazon as a company, but if we're going to lose Warner Brothers as we know it, maybe they can step in and fill the void in a way. Like, as one falls, one rises, and yes, it's a part of a, one of the most evil companies ever invented, but still. Yeah. No, I feel like in the very least, they should pay some kind of toll by continuing to fund like big swings from filmmakers who have clear creative visions. Yeah. Yeah. They're also doing, and this is not until next year,
the Michael B. Jordan, the Thomas Crown affair. Yeah, which we talked a bit about last week, but, and, and I'm so hopeful for, uh, cautiously hopeful for, not because I doubt the talent involved, but I just, you know, it's hard to, to expand upon a past movie that's also really good.
“But yeah, I think that despite my issues with this movie, Project Hail Mary, I am very happy”
that it's around that it exists and that people seem to embrace it, and I, I hope that it serves as a lesson that like you can have a four quadrant thing that is a little bit emotionally complicated and offbeat and star-centric ruler, you know, things a few years ago they said couldn't be done. Well, she is a huge year coming up, too. She's got, well, she was in a movie at Berlin. She's in the movie from Pavel Pavlowski, uh, his new movie that's going to be it,
can I'm pretty sure, Venice, um, and then she's also in. She's in Digger. In Digger, yeah, so like, the biggest question mark of the year. Yeah, I mean, it's an injury to film. So presumably, as a woman, she is too long. But, but we'll see. Maybe it'll, she'll reprise her character from Project Hail Mary. Yeah, you know, it just seems again. Yeah. That would be lovely. And of course, Gosling has a star war star fighter, uh, you know, um, directed by Sean Levy.
Well, Sean Levy, so that's more of an art film. It's going to be the killer. It's just him and an Ewok walk through the woods, um, and it was surprising that they went for that. Speaking of star words, though, this is something that our, our, our, our executive opener, our executive producer, Griffin Newman brought this up to us. Does the success of Project Hail Mary, which is about a man and a cute little alien traversing space,
Undermined the potential success of the Mandalorian and Grogu, which is about...
alien traversing space that's coming in a couple months. I mean, it does feel like it really got into
that space first. Yeah. And I mean, Grogu has been around before since, yeah, Rocky is coming after
there is also like, and you may be, maybe that movie will be huge. But I do feel like there is something about being like, this is a TV property. And here is the movie version. It just feels so diminishes the movie, you know, like it joins the noble tradition of the Beverly Hill ability. It's movie or the many exiles movies. Yeah. Um, I don't know. I mean, Grogu is obviously very cute, uh, but he's been apparently difficult on set. He's been, you know, and there's a lot of rumors
that he's troubled because Kylie was friends with him before she started dating to me. And now they're three of them are sort of like hanging, hang out together. And it's just, yeah, it's, I mean,
I'm not like, I don't, I don't know. I met Grogu like once during the Toronto Film Festival
years ago. I don't know what he's like now, but I just have not heard good things. Yeah. And also his security guard in Brazil was horrible with that child. I mean, but he, he said that was not his personal security guard. He would say that, you know, I know. I feel like all I really want to talk about for that movie is Road at the Huts, who is the Huts. Yeah, talk to talk about him. I love Road at the Huts. I mean, oh, sorry. Talk about, I don't know what their friends are, but yeah. Yeah,
actually do, do Huts have gender? I was like, they like, they're like, they better.
“But Road at the Huts is, you know, Jabba's child, uh, I feel like actual. I think so. I think I”
read some of our also that Huts like can, uh, essentially reproduce, so they can just kind of like, maybe blob off, you know, a child. But fascinatingly, Road at the Huts has abs, and it's like ripped, and it's more special to me, Ellen White. Which raises also, like, I think a really interesting question. And I do not ever want to do any research into this. Um, so, so don't tell me if there's actually, if this is actually known, but it raises a question that, you know, like Jabba the Hut,
uh, one of the iconic blob monsters of, you know, uh, of the films, uh, of cinema. What if, not all Huts are like that? Actually, Huts are like, normally like incredibly fit. And they're all just like, oh, Jabba, like he's just really, you know, he can all work on himself. It's depression. I mean, it's like he's just, all he does is sit around, you're not chaining up women. Yeah, I know. Like, I love to what him. Yeah, you know, he hasn't talked to the Sarlac and you're like the
clearly a strain, you know. No, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, as a lifelong, but I'll also not fully invested anymore Star Wars fan. Like, I, I will go see happily Mandalorian and Grogu and, and probably enjoy it. I mean, it's John Favreau directed it. Like he does tend to make good, it's movies,
“yeah, but I just, yeah, the TV conversion thing is rough. Like, because I think it assumes a lot”
people who've seen the Mandalorian who have not. And I do think that our appetite for cute friendly alien and all that kind of is somewhat slaked by projectile Mary just, you know, eight weeks before this other movie comes out. And I think that that could be a problem. Yeah, or maybe it'll be huge because people are just like, oh, I remember like going to the movies, you know, with a bunch of people, including my children is fun. Yeah, like how Mac and me was such a hit. It was such a hit
and then he came after. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, and everyone considers it the lesser film, but, um, like, people's nice for both, I think, I would like to say. If I'm sure most listeners know about this, but if they don't, the, the long running bit where Paul Rudd would go on Connor Bryan's show and pretend to show a clip of his new project and it was just one particular
“clip from Mac and me. Yeah, I think there's like a compilation on YouTube. It's worth watching.”
So Richard, where are we going next week? So next week, we're, we're going in a, in a very different direction, tonally. Um, we are going to be primarily talking about they will kill you, uh, which is a Zazzi beats joint, right? Um, and, uh, but also because it has a lot of sort of thematic and stylistic similarities, we're going to talk about ready or not to, uh, which came out a couple weeks ago. So if you haven't seen that, watch that, we're all going to watch. They will kill you.
And we'll talk a bit about that particular brand of action horror. He's the rich in the rich. And, well, woman tricked into bad marriage. Um, there's also a TV show that has a similar plot, uh, on Netflix that's out. Um, so yeah, we're going to, we're going to dive into a sort of
South-by-South West, if you genre of horror. Critical darling's is a blank check production.
Hosted by Allison Wilmore and Richard Lawson, produced by Benjamin Fresh, executive produced by Chris Sydney.
