Excuse the Intermission
Alex, Erica and Max take you on a journey through film with this discussion podcast about movies.
Excuse the Intermission
Cinema Deep Dive: From John Wick's Universe to Wes Anderson's Latest
Father's Day 2025 finds our podcast fathers contemplating the curious state of cinema, where animation remakes break box office records while prestige directors struggle with creative stagnation.
Wes Anderson's "The Phoenician Scheme" becomes the focal point for a larger conversation about directorial signature styles calcifying into self-parody. Even devoted Anderson defenders are feeling fatigue as his meticulously composed dollhouses and deadpan performances edge closer to parody than innovation. Despite the welcome presence of Benicio Del Toro and glimpses of experimentation with violence and sports sequences, the film ultimately disappoints by prioritizing aesthetic consistency over emotional resonance.
Meanwhile, "Ballerina" emerges as a surprising standout in the John Wick universe. Ana de Armas commands the screen with physical prowess and surprising comedic timing, elevating creative action sequences featuring improvised weapons from ice skate nunchucks to television remotes. The film's narrative structure might be front-loaded with unnecessary exposition, but once it finds its rhythm, it delivers the kind of inventive, visually striking action that established the franchise while carving its own identity.
Family-friendly features continue their theatrical dominance, with "How To Train Your Dragon" joining "Minecraft" and "Lilo & Stitch" as box office champions. This enduring trend speaks volumes about audience priorities in an era of rising ticket prices – when families invest in theater outings, they gravitate toward reliable entertainment with broad appeal. On the horizon, Danny Boyle's "28 Years Later" promises to revitalize the rage virus saga with innovative iPhone cinematography and the return of original writer Alex Garland.
Join us next week as we dive deep into Danny Boyle's filmography and explore how his latest compares to the groundbreaking original that helped redefine zombie cinema for a new generation.
how's it?
Speaker 1:I'm alex macaulay and I'm max fosberg and this is excuse the intermission a discussion show surrounding rules and consequences. A few recent releases caught our attention the last few weekends. Some of those films have played and performed quite well, while others have had mixed reactions from audiences and critics. Max and I will cover that, discuss some other movie news and look forward to the rest of June on this episode which gets underway on the other side of this break. All right, we're back and we are recording on a special day here. Because of our schedules, we pushed back our regular recording date this past week and we are now here on Sunday, the Father's Day of 2025, june 15th. So, max, how are you doing today? Have you talked to John Fosberg? Have you spoken to him? What's going on?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, I tried to uh facetime him this morning at a reasonable hour um of course didn't get a pickup, so I sent him a video recording uh of of saying happy father's day and who's that more for?
Speaker 1:is that more for you or for him, or were you? You know it's for my face it's well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean right, I haven't seen his face. First off, I haven't seen him since april, uh, and so I, you know he hasn't seen me either. We we text quite a bit, but, um, yeah, I think it was, for I was hoping I was going to get a video response back, um, which I did not. I, I gotta thanks for the video max text in the family thread, not even in our own personal thread, um, so you know, it's all right, we're going through some things with our dads do better, john yeah, I, I, you know, uh, which is funny too, because two days earlier, on friday, I texted him and was like hey, what are you doing this weekend?
Speaker 2:I'm going to call you on Sunday, so please don't ignore it. And lo and behold, you know. But yeah, he's, he's, I'm sure he's living his best life. I hope he's scooting around today.
Speaker 1:I don't know if it's sunny up there, but uh, but if you have a beautiful day here in the Northwest it's 75 and sunny, so it's nice Scooter weather.
Speaker 2:And you know I'm glad we're doing this on Father's Day because we are pod fathers. We are fathers of this pod, but did you get to see Ron today?
Speaker 1:I did. I did get to see my father this morning. I do like that. We are the pod fathers. We're the pod fathers of the Chatter Network and, of course, of ETI. So, yeah, Ron and I got to play some pickleball together this morning, which is a slight deviation from the normal. Well, what has become the normal birthday and father's day outing of golf of?
Speaker 2:course, and so.
Speaker 1:I was a little nervous I'm not going to lie because the last time, the the one and only time prior to this that my dad tried to come out and play pickleball with us.
Speaker 2:He nearly blew out his Achilles and he's coming off an injury.
Speaker 1:So he had recently been um doing physical therapy for that injury, finally because he tried to just let it heal on its own um which he could never just get it back to 100. He says he's at about 90 right now, but now that he's in pt for his heel, they actually have him doing pickleball, like movements, and even holding a paddle and kind of doing like bends and squats and reaches. Because, you know, they asked him well, how did you injure this? And they said by playing pickleball.
Speaker 1:And I said, okay, well, let's try to replicate those same movements we can rebuild him faster, stronger and, and so he came out today and played three solid games, took breaks when he needed to, never, never redlined, never took it too far, which I was really proud of him, for. He's a former tennis player, um, and a pretty high level tennis player, so it's really it's hard for him, I know, to hold back when he's out there. Um, he's got to work on his third shot drives. Uh, he should actually try to drop because he doesn't have the drive right, I heard the drop shot is becoming extinct you know in 2025 that not that I'm some elder statesman of pickleball, but but it's.
Speaker 1:It's a different game already in 2025, not that I'm some elder statesman of pickleball, but it's a different game already in 2025. The finesse is fleeting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's all. Power now.
Speaker 1:Not as many drops, not as many dinks. But what is good about that is that if you have, over the last couple of years, gotten into pickleball and worked on your dinking and worked on your drop shots, people don't expect them now, because they just expect you to drive, drive, drive and right and bang it as hard as you can at the net. So there is something to say about still having a soft game, uh. But no, we had a lot of fun, played with some family friends, got some food, um afterwards, and yeah, now we're, now I'm back home, it's two o'clock and we're we're locked in, ready to pot yeah, and you know, a little programming note for us.
Speaker 2:Uh, uh, I am I. And a little news for me I am starting, uh, as a office. Pa uh, on my first feature. I start tomorrow. Very excited uh so cool.
Speaker 2:It's it's my first paid gig in california. It's my first feature. It's uh, it's an indie film, um, really tight-knit uh crew. I'm very excited to be a part of it. Lots of different locations, um. So, going forward, at least for the next like four and a half weeks, uh, sundays might become our new recording day. We're going to kind of feel it out. I was looking at the I did get the schedule, um, and looking ahead, and most most days are 12 hour days, uh, on Tuesdays. So so, uh, we will be probably probably recording mostly on Sunday, which is cool because we're going to be right on whatever is newly released, which is really exciting, and it gives me time to record on a Sunday and then possibly even release on a Sunday on that same Sunday. So, yeah, very excited about that. I'm in charge of the call sheets each day.
Speaker 1:I was going to say who does Max Fosberg need to be on this set?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm in the AD department and yeah, I just met with I actually just had a meeting with the first AD and the second AD and yeah, we just kind of went over call sheet, showed them. You know the format I use and it got approved. And you know a couple of things I need to polish up on. But yeah, it's really. You know, while we're on set I'll probably be doing a bunch of different jobs, but each night before 8 pm call sheet for the next day needs to go out. So I think I feel like you would love putting together call sheets. It's very like you know spreadsheets.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's spreadsheets, it's organizing, it's kind of a puzzle in text form putting it together and once it's complete, it's very, very satisfying.
Speaker 1:I love that, so do you have to then? Are you keeping an eye on the clock while on set and making sure things are moving?
Speaker 2:yeah, actually I had that conversation today with with the first ad, where he was like, you know, we need to make sure we're making our days, um, because, like even tomorrow, right on the first day, we're shooting. I think it's six and like one quarter of pages of script, uh and so, and we've got, you know, eight hours or maybe 12 hours to do it, um, so, yeah, he's like, and he's never worked with this director, so we don't really know the director's process or anything um, which will be fun to learn on on the go, but he's like you need to just, you know, wherever we're at in time, just give me a time check every every once in a while, and, um, so I, I know to push the director, you know, to, to to get the shot and get our get the takes done. So, yeah, it's, it's gonna be, it's gonna be interesting. I can't wait. We're going to be shooting in a prison one week, which is wild and going to be very fun.
Speaker 1:So okay, I mean I feel like I'm ready to go full post-production, like you just rapped interview here and ask you millions of questions, but I'll wait because I can't wait to hear more and we can chat about it as you go, if there is no sort of embargo or anything that I haven't.
Speaker 2:I haven't signed an nda yet, so okay cool.
Speaker 1:Well, I'll tell you what. Whatever this feature is going to end up being, it's going to get a lot of free pub here on that's very true.
Speaker 1:On eti yep, um, okay, so. So, since it's been about 10 days since our last recording, we do have two weekends worth of films here to talk about. The big one from two weekends ago really two big ones from two weekends ago that we want to touch on are the Phoenician Scheme, the new film by Wes Anderson and Ballerina. I know there's another one, max, that I can't wait to hear you talk about, because it might be your favorite out of those three films and one of your favorite of the year. But let's start with the Phoenician scheme from Wes Anderson. Um, a movie that it's tough to say where his films live right now in the public consciousness, like we saw this with asteroid city at just a few years ago. It feels like a big deal when they come out, but then there's almost no shelf life. Yeah to the film, um, so, so what did you think of the phoenician scheme and what do you think of where wes is in his career right now in general, based off what you've seen um out of this most recent film?
Speaker 2:so I've been, I think, as listeners will know, to this show. I've been a huge west fan for a very long time. I'm a constant west defender, you know. I know. I think when we did asteroid city I enjoyed that movie more than maybe you did. Um, I will say phoenician scheme. For the first time I've I felt some fatigue.
Speaker 1:Uh, and I. You got to see this right. Uh, I have seen this. Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:And, um, even though there are some, some new things he's trying here, uh, you know, uh, particularly the, the violence depict, depicted in this film, even though it's very cartoony in this film, even though it's very cartoony, but they're still like, like the film opens with a, you know, a half of a top half of a body blowing up, um, and there's blood, and so that's something kind of new. But man it, I, I am starting to feel like this, this dollhouse, and not all, not only the design, because I think the design is is cool, but like even it's just the performance style of the actors, and that's my biggest thing this so like it's so emotionless and um it it just.
Speaker 2:I, I I do feel it, uh, or I felt it when I was watching this film, where I was just and there's a lot of just and there's a lot of, there's a, there's a lot of plot and a lot of dialogue explaining the plot and the way it's delivered. It's like you're constantly trying to keep up with what's going on, but then at the end it doesn't really matter what's going on, because it's really supposed to be about this father daughter relationship, but like there's no connection to them because everything's so emotional everything's so dry, yeah, and so deadpan.
Speaker 2:um, you know, michael cera is one of the newcomers to the the troop, uh, this time around and I I think he's pretty funny, but also like kind of like overly goofy. And then there's like a turn in the middle for his character and then he just like slides right into this again, this performance style that everyone else is doing. And, yeah, I was kind of bored. I was kind of bored through this movie, which is too bad, because I was very excited about it. I think Benicio is really great because I was very excited about it. I think Benicio is really great. I'm starting to long for Royal Tenenbaums Moonrise Kingdom Life Aquatic, where there is this shoebox design in there but there's also more human, emotional moments.
Speaker 1:There's real heart, for sure, and the performances don't feel like they are just copy-paste from a playbook. You go to OTAs at the Wes Anderson summer camp and then it's time for the preseason. You know summer camp and then it's time for the pre-season and what, however it shakes out, you just end up like doing what you know you're supposed to do in a wes anderson movie like the playbook is the playbook at this point, and I do like the new wrinkles of some violence, some, some new people. Is this the first time tom hanks has been in?
Speaker 2:no, he wasn't.
Speaker 1:He was in asteroid city too was, that's right, he was in asteroid, um. But but so even him, because that's still, he's relatively new to this world. It just feels like guys playing dress up.
Speaker 2:You know, actors, I dress up in this world yeah, I really didn't like the tom hanks brian cranston sequence you know, and and again there is like, okay, we're going to again something we haven't seen in a long time in a Wes Anderson movie where someone plays sports which I think was done in Royal Tenenbaums as well. They play basketball, but like there's Wes.
Speaker 2:You have a chance here to try like and show us something new, something different, by shooting a basketball scene differently than how we expect you to shoot it and you don't, and it's just kind of goofy and pointless.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's tough because there's a lot of. I think that that can go one of two ways, right. It can feel like like a fish out of water, and that's what we get in this situation. And then there's other times when you see directors who maybe aren't the biggest sports fans or don't make sports movies or whatever sort of sub-genre you're dipping your toes into, and then, you're right, it comes across as really creative and inventive. I think that's why people love, say, the tennis scenes in Challengers.
Speaker 2:so much is because.
Speaker 1:Luca's. Like I never watched tennis. I find tennis boring actually. So the way I'm going to shoot this is going to be to make it really exciting. And that's not to say that Wes has lost his fastball or anything, because again, I think the playbook is the playbook, so he's doing what he wants to do and it's not like the actors are being asked to do anything unexpected of them. But the, the, you know, we just kind of keep returning to these words like bored and fatigued, and we've seen this before, and and the hope and the want for him and these, these films to again like show us something, um, it's getting kind of unbearable for me yeah and I've, I've, it's been.
Speaker 1:It's been a long time coming with west. I think asteroid city really cemented, even though I did find asteroid city more funny than the phoenician scheme. Um I I think that I'm just like I'm, I'm kind of out, I'm, I'm out in the next west anderson movie that is released is going to be like a home release.
Speaker 2:Um you know like wait till it's on demand yeah, yeah, wait till it's on demand for me and it's frustrating too, because I know there are. He shows, there's a glimpse. Uh, I feel like in this film where and we're getting into spoiler territory for all these when our main character, benicio del toro, faces off against benedict cumberbatch in the movie, right, they have a combat at the end and like for a split second, like the camera like goes like pov and then kind of like it's moving.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like this. And I was like, oh that, like this, and I was like, oh, that's a new move.
Speaker 2:Yes, but like let's do more of that, more of that experimental stuff in a Wes Anderson movie would be good, um, but yeah, man it. It really is starting to feel like he's chasing grand Budapest. Um, because grand Budapest was the first one that was like completely designed in deadpan, and then since then you know other than you know Isle of Dogs which is you know the animated um all his live action stuff has been like trying to to do Grand Budapest again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just symmetrical blocking production design whip pans instead of actual camera movement. Camera movement, uh so, but even grand budapest has more like the.
Speaker 2:Even the actors are giving more emotion in that too though so more natural performances, uh, where? Yeah, I don't know. It's too bad, I was disappointed been like sneaky good hits um.
Speaker 1:He directed the first underworld film, and and so ballerina is the latest chapter in the john wick universe. It acts as a standalone film, however.
Speaker 1:It takes place during the events of john wick 3 and we do get a cameo um from keanu reeves playing john wick, and he actually becomes more of a like supporting character during the third act of the film. On a day, armis is the title character here. She is the ballerina, the, the female hitman, hit person, contract killer that we spend time with um and I don't know. I'll tell you what. For for however long we want to go, I'm here to talk about ballerina. I really liked this movie, so I have I have a half a page of notes here to to go off of what. What did you think of this movie?
Speaker 2:So I had a similar feeling to when I came out of mission impossible.
Speaker 1:I was like I'm so happy you brought that up, because I could not, I'm, I was like I'm going to ask him to tell me just flat out what movies better. Because just to paint, paint the picture a little bit, a little bit of context. You love mission impossible. You ride for mission possible.
Speaker 1:I think you're definitely more attached to the mission impossible franchise than you are the john wick movies. However, I went back and to read some of your receipts on letterbox john wick four was john wick four is a five-star movie was an exciting film.
Speaker 2:I was very excited coming out of the theater um you were uh, yes you knew I was going there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, uh, I went back and looked myself as well, uh, and I could have changed it could have. Um, anyways, uh, I, I feel like the first 45 minutes of this movie is unneeded if we start the movie where she is in the bathroom taking the picture of the person she just killed and we go from there to the end. I, this movie fucking rocks and rips and is great, and it saves the keanu cameo for him getting off the train like a sergione leone or sergio leone Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western, which I think is what they wanted to do. But I've read a bunch of articles about how this movie was. They went back and reshot tons of stuff. They brought Chad Stahelski in, who has done all the other John Wick movies, to reshoot some things, um, and action sequences in particular.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, I, I, I felt like norman reedus was really wasted, like he is in the movie for 15 minutes running around with a shotgun and then he's in a hospital bed for the rest of the movie, which you don't even like, know, until the very, very end. Yeah, which I thought was was a bad decision. And if you're if, he's if, and listen, norman Reedus has been around the block, he's too old to do a bunch of stunts and stuff. Get somebody else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let me, let me stop you and talk. Let's talk about the. The first yeah 30 to 40 minutes of this film. Then, because I the cold open, because I'm looking at this, I'm coming into this movie as someone who I feel like I had less and less interest in the John Wick movies as that franchise continued. I think number one is actually a really good like mid budget, almost quasi like independent action film that it's very simple, it's very it's so simple and so much has been written about it.
Speaker 1:Um, so I'm, there's no need for me to you know, try to reinvent the wheel here and call that movie Great, like. I think that movie is unequivocally great in the best film in the franchise, including ballerina, and then two's, much of the same, which, as a sequel, goes, goes, I don't think is the worst thing in the world. And then arabellum, number three, and then john wick four, especially, I felt was just like pretty nonsensical and overly long and really drawn out. And the rules of the world, um, of of this world that we've grown to understand with um, like the buying of equipment and the continental and the rules and the consequences that come along with being a contract killer in this, in this universe, um, kind of all just go out the window.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I quite enjoyed returning back to someone else's origin story within the same world and I I'm always going to I don't know, you know, I. I think that when the movie starts out and you actually show some emotional stakes and you understand like, okay, this is what's going to motivate this person going forward, is that Gabriel Byrne, who's just like having so much fun in this movie? Um, is is going to be the big bad and he's responsible and he will ultimately be the one that, on a day, armis uh needs to track down. I thought that that was pretty effective and you know, there's just like there's, there's great at that's a great set piece to open the film to. There's a great like raid on a house.
Speaker 1:Um, it was pretty awesome when those frog men just come out of the water with the cross, absolutely the crossbows are so cool, that was really sick imagery and then and then, from there you go right into. You know, like 15 minutes into the movie, we're into the training montage and I, who doesn't love, like I wanted more.
Speaker 2:I wanted more, though. More, though, like I hear that.
Speaker 1:I hear you on that, you know, because we've seen the Angelica Houston character before, the person who trains um, these, these contract killers, these hit men and hit women, and so I think part of it was the movie's definitely over-reliant on your understanding and familiarity with the John Wick universe and I think that's probably why they didn't show us too much more other than just her. You know, maybe going from if you're going to if, if, if we're grading on a day Armis is ballerina character, um Eve, like she's a C, she's a C student, and then we see her kind of take it to the next level and become like top of her class, basically during this training montage, um, and then that's when we get our first look at at Keanu, at at John Wick as he's coming back in um to to basically whatever it is in number three, to to kind of be like excommunicado from from the I forget what they're called, but basically from the school here, and so that part I felt was kind of unnecessary. And then of course, you, we can have the whole debate, and I don't even really think it's a debate, because the answer is just don't show us John Wick in the, in the trailer, and that's not totally like that. That's the movie's fault, but it's it's more the studio and the marketing department's fault to feel like they need to do that, because if they don't and that's still in the movie and then we don't have our first look at him here, like the 25 minute mark, and he just comes in at that third act, like you said, um, like the man, the man dressed in black coming into town.
Speaker 1:Yep, I think that that, like you know, my theater was already hyped, but I think they would have been like hooping and hollering, um, when that happens. But but then I totally agree with you. Like I have written down here, like 30 minutes into this movie we have our first nightclub set piece and it's fucking awesome. Ana de Armas looks so good in this giant coat that she's in and I'm taking right back to no Time to Die, where it's just like show me one of the most beautiful women in movies right now, shooting people in the face and breaking their arms. Hand-to-hand combat with this incredible cinematography. Like all these great neon lights in the club. The John Wick movies are so funny. At least this movie actually had some people like running once gunfire happened, but like people are just, you know like still dancing during these fights, which is kind of like a, you know, a funny hallmark of this series, honestly, um.
Speaker 1:And then, yeah, you go from there into what you mentioned, where now, all of a sudden, she is like earning it does like a time jump right it does like two months, two months later, two years later I forget exactly what it is um one of those two, and then, yeah, she's, she's getting 75 or 750 thousand dollars per kill.
Speaker 1:She's almost, you know, like making a million dollars a kill, um, and then also, too, like that's I. I love that scene that really starts the movie. I do agree that that really is where, like, the movie takes, it, takes itself to another level and then it withstand, or like it can um, sustain that level, which is really good, because then it also introduces, while like furthering the plot and increasing the stakes, it's also introducing some comedy that actually thought, like worked really well and those, those, especially like three and four, those john wick movies took themselves so seriously and so I really really appreciated. Like there's a few things that I have written down here, like After she takes the picture of that kill and then she's working her way from a higher level of this building.
Speaker 2:She's at multiple floors up, and now she's going through rooms and she's just collecting knives that she's thrown into people.
Speaker 1:That was so great, this is hilarious. This is really, really funny. There's another moment where she's beating somebody with a television remote and the channels are changing behind her. Really funny and intentional. And then there's another scene where there's a fight in the kitchen and a scramble for a gun and plates have broken and fallen everywhere and we're just hitting each other.
Speaker 2:Yeah, tech savory.
Speaker 1:It's like a Buster keaton scene all of a sudden, and so I think that this movie it's doing a lot. It's doing a lot really well. That surprised me, um, for being a movie within the john wick universe, where I do think it's still taking itself serious, but it definitely has a sense of humor yeah, I totally agree.
Speaker 2:And and even like the grenade play. Uh, that happens when she's at like the hunting depot or whatever where she's trying to buy guns, like there's some some great like grenade play or grenade comedy kills, um. Within that sequence that I was really into, I love the idea of like this snowy alps town where everyone in the town is a killer. And like she, you know, she enters this town and then she has to fight everyone in the town. That's really fun stuff.
Speaker 1:And also, too, because it adds another layer again to this, to this world that we're already familiar with. That that, I think, helps us have just more buy-in than like seeing Bill Skarsgård sitting in a museum on some luxurious couch looking at pieces of art and we're just like, okay, whatever, like I've seen a bad guy that looks like this in a million other movies. This is really exciting because and no offense to your beloved five-star, john wick for but like this is really exciting because there's like another level to this movie. That's like I don't think it's trying to really talk about like human trafficking and and kidnapping children and all these other things that we're sort of introduced to.
Speaker 1:But there is something to be said about like this town that is not like the whole norman reed is character that we find out. You know a little bit about it during that character's introduction and then a little bit more at the end, and then also through the eve sister, or the eve and her sister, um, their relationship is that like not only are there trained killers, um, and and hit men and hit women living in this town and those are the only people living there, but they're trying to like raise a family of killers, and and if someone tries to leave, then we're kidnapping the kids and we're bringing them back and the whole idea is to, um, you know like, grow this thing for generations and generations. So I thought that, you know, there's like a cult aspect to this film as well.
Speaker 2:That was really interesting yeah, I, I, I agree, I, I just think that I, I, I think, if we're, if we're relying on people to know, uh, about the john wick like universe and and, and you know, recognize angelica houston and all that, like we can lance reddick.
Speaker 1:And yeah, we can start.
Speaker 2:We don't have to have the first 45 minutes to explain kind of who the ballerinas are, the training sequence. We can start again in that bathroom scene and right away it's just like okay, she, this is an assassin. Obviously she's really good at her job and you know. And then you know you get like a call from, from angelica houston later or whatever, and you know telling her to. You know you need to come in, you stop being on the run. I also thought you know the whole reveal of her sister in this village very quick, right, and even though, like I kind of guessed when that woman first showed up on screen, I think it's when they're chasing Norman Reedus.
Speaker 1:She's in the hotel lobby. She's in the continental lobby.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and uh, but yeah, again, like she kind of so once, once they get to the snowy Alps town, she like reveals like I'm your sister, your long lost sister, or whatever, and then all of a sudden she's dead.
Speaker 1:Gabriel Byrne says to her it's your sister.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah and then, and then it's just like she's dead right away, so like there's just no. I just felt like there was no. There was no you know connection or stakes, or like why am I supposed to care about that? Um, and, and that felt a little just like overwritten, like does she have to have a long lost sister? I mean, I guess because of the opening where the dad gets you know, run up on or whatever, but I don't know.
Speaker 2:I I did think it was just a little, just a bit overstuffed, but a lot of the action's really great again the, the climax in this in the alps and and and john wick coming in on a on a train and then like kind of just being like this overseer while she's trying to carry out this mission. I thought that was a lot of fun. I thought that was really really good stuff.
Speaker 1:I also have to give a shout out to a couple other kills that happen once we are in the third act there, when she duct tapes the knife to the bottom of her pistol yeah, that was, that's some great stuff. And then she also is is wearing.
Speaker 1:Two different things happen here involving some ice skates at one point at one point she has two ice skates on her hands like gloves and she's just swinging the blades which is phenomenal stuff and then at some point the laces get tied together and she is swinging around these ice. It's like nunchucks. Yeah, it's really so. Like you know, the john wick movies have always been praised by people for their gunplay.
Speaker 1:I thought that this movie was so creative with its action, set pieces in ways that the movie for it to hit. For someone like me that I think had less and less interest in the John Wick series because those movies they had their formula they stuck to because for the most part for audiences and for critics, that's what they wanted to see. I suppose I love the chances that this movie took, and maybe not so much I shouldn't call them chances, but just the creativity in which this movie played with um. I thought that was really good. There were a couple other just like great shots, like again when she's in the nightclub. I thought that was awesome.
Speaker 1:And then there's a scene where she has a sword. She has, like you know, she almost has her kill bill moment in this movie and she's in cabin. It's after her sister has been um, she has been murdered and the whole cabin is on fire and she walks out of the darkness with this sword and there's just flames behind her and it's kind of slow motion and she just starts chopping people down, um, with this blade, and so I don't know, there's there's a lot of I will say no more, no more flamethrower guns.
Speaker 2:We did that in John Wick four, we've done that here. Uh, let's, let's stay away from that. Cause again that. Do you think? If I had a flamethrower gun and you had a hose, do you think that works?
Speaker 1:No, I think that's like I'll. I'll watch that on. You know, mythbusters or something like that. I don't need that in my action movies, like again, and you know, I think that these, this is what happens. You just get into these trappings when it's like the fifth film franchise and so much of, so much of. I think what drives these, these creative decisions, obviously are like what's worked in the past, um and so for that to. When that happened again, I was like, oh boy, that's too bad, but I'm going to, I'm going to take with me you know the um, the, the duct tape, knife pistol, the ice skate gloves, you know the collecting of the knives, the tv remote all those really fun things that the grenade kills, obviously during, um, during that, that set piece there in the second act, and so there's enough for, I mean, this movie.
Speaker 1:I'll just I'll say this, this movie really I I was really surprised at how much I like this movie. Um, because, for not being the world's biggest John Wick fan, I had, I had moderate expectations that I might like it more, just because of on a day armistice. But I also didn't think that I would like be willing to recommend this movie to some people, or even anticipating, like the blu-ray release. But I'm, I'm there now, like I will definitely rewatch this movie and try to own it yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 2:It does seem like she has been chasing something like this since the no time to die sequence. I will say, if they do a sequel to this, let her. Let her be a bit more charming, like, like we, we got through the revenge, kind of like goth, like tattoo my back, uh, with a fallen angel thing.
Speaker 1:Now, like, let her like play more in the next one um, use, use, like, kind of become more of like the la femme, nikita, like you're using every bit of your sexuality, of your charisma, um, of your charm. Yeah, uh, I do agree with that. I think that would be fun to see Because, I mean, she's got it going on Like we're talking about. I love that she did this movie. I know she had been tapped to do this movie for a really long time, but what an interesting turn for her, because we're talking about someone who is like she's probably under 30.
Speaker 1:She's probably in her late 20s, I don't know for sure. But like, she's already been nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for her work in Blonde. She's obviously extremely charming, but now we've seen her be able to and she's proven it twice, once in no Time to Die, and that was like a teaser what we ended up getting here in ballerina. But, like, she can also be an action superstar. So, um, really good, really good for on a day armistice. Um, I think you're good, good showing in ballerina, yeah please, please, don't play a superhero what?
Speaker 1:what? Just don't be a superhero, yeah, so what movie do you like more Ballerina or the final reckoning?
Speaker 2:Ah, you know what I? I probably smiled and fist pumped and had more fun at Ballerina.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yep, uh and yeah. Go check out our mission impossible episode for uh, for reasons why there's no ai in ballerina, which is nice. That is nice. Yeah, hopefully that's not the sequel. Uh, which one did you like more?
Speaker 1:I like ballerina more, yeah, um, and, and that's having liked both movies, um, I've yet to log ballerina, I've yet to log phoenician scheming and ballerina on my letterbox, um.
Speaker 2:I think I rated them the same, but I had definitely had more fun at ballerina.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean ballerina, and again, I haven't. You know I'm not cranking out the movies yet. Come summertime here, we're like the by the time this episode releases.
Speaker 2:Wait, um, so I haven't watched a ton of new releases yet this year, but, uh, ballerinas, ballerinas probably my top 10 right now. Yeah, yeah, uh. Well, I want to talk about a movie that is in my top 10 right now wait to hear you talk about this.
Speaker 2:So it is called the life of chuck. It is from director mike flanagan. It is adapted from a novella by the stephen king. It is an extremely earnest depiction of, kind of the meaning of life. Um, it's, it's told in an interesting way in a film where, like, I've heard people ask if this even is a movie.
Speaker 2:Uh, it's told in an interesting way in a film where, like, I've heard people ask if this even is a movie. It's told much like the book, in three acts, but in reverse order, right, so you start out with Act 3 as your first act in the movie and and then act two and then act one. So it works backwards, from, from, from finish. Yeah, from end to start, but start to finish too. Um, and I, I found this movie, I you know the first, I think the. So when I say the first act, I mean the third, the third act and the second act, the middle act, the first act and the middle act. Uh, I found really, really, um, compelling and like, just like good old school filmmaking. This is not a horror movie, it's not a horror story. It's told more kind of like in a shawshank redemption or green mile Mile style of Stephen King's story.
Speaker 1:That's a note not only for the King aspect of it, but Flanagan, for the most part, has only been making horror or horror-adjacent stuff for the last five or six years.
Speaker 2:Totally, and he's obviously a huge fan of King, he's done. He's done Dr Sleep. Uh, I don't know if he had a hand in Pet Cemetery, um, but yeah, and, and this being another adaptation of King, um, the first act especially is really really good, because the other interesting thing about this movie is like there's not really a main character. Um, you know, these these characters all seem to exist in the same like world or town, but you're, you're kind of getting glimpses of different characters lives in each act. Um, it's funny that tom hiddleston is on the poster of this film, because it makes you think like, oh, this is a tom hiddleston movie, but really he's in like 20 minutes of it, which is, you know, kind of a spoiler, but and, and he doesn't even really have a lot of lines, which is also really interesting, but he comes in and does like some some great, some great work in in that second act, in that middle act.
Speaker 1:Tom Hiddleston is Loki correct, correct, tom. Hiddleston is Loki correct, correct, yeah. So that's his big thing for people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, yeah. I believe that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 1:So it's nice to see him out of spandex, even though, again, he's not in the movie a lot, but kind of something where you feel like he needed a movie like this Totally. It's been a long time since Crimson Peak.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that first act you're following gosh, I can never pronounce this guy's name Ejiofor, chilite Chilite. Ejiofor and Karen Gillan are kind of the two main characters in that first act and it is. It's really compelling because, um, and I, I don't even know if I want to say because it's going to be spoiled, you know a spoiler.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, Keep, keep everything close to the close to the okay, okay, yeah, so there something is going on in the world and it's kind of a mystery and like they never over explain what's happening. Um, you know, matthew lillard shows up for like two minutes, three minutes in this movie and like gives a great performance. Um, mark hamill shows up in the third, at the third part of the movie, which is the first act, as, like this alcoholic, grumpy grandpa, uh, uh, mia the, the woman who was in Ferris Bueller's day off, is also in this film. Uh, and she looks Mia Sarah, who I haven't seen in a movie and I probably since Ferris Bueller's day off. Um, and she's fantastic. Uh, and it's just, you know, again, it's a very earnest movie. There's one moment that like feels very horror, um, which Mike Flanagan, you know it plays really well and directs really well.
Speaker 2:Um, but yeah, man, I, I just I had a. Really it was just a nice sentimental, sweet movie again about the meaning of life, and then also, like there are some like supernatural turns happening and you know, it makes you ask more questions as you leave the theater than answers your questions, and I really, really enjoy that as you leave the theater than answers your questions, and I really really enjoy that, um, so I, I, I recommend going out and seeing this on a big screen. I got to see it on 35 millimeter, which I've heard that scan looks way better than what people are seeing on digital. Apparently, on digital it looks a little bit more like TV, far, you know, when it's cleaned up, but like on film, it was just, it was beautiful.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, I recommend, I recommend it. And again, like, don't you know, yes, it's Mike Flanagan, yes, it's Stephen King, but don't expect anything that they've done before. This, right Like it is, is much more of a sweet, sweet movie, um, and, and you know, makes you think about, uh, who we are in existence. I love that. I, we need movies like this totally. I think that was a huge thing too. Right like it is a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of the stuff we have been seeing this year.
Speaker 1:I feel like uh, it's nice to have this movie in theaters too, because everything you just said I hate to. I hate it in 2025. You hear a movie like this described and you're like, wow, it sounds like a great HBO max movie, totally. Or it sounds like your great Hulu movie, no this sound like.
Speaker 2:This is the kind of movie that can also play in theaters, you know, for adults. Yep, yep, totally, yeah, uh. So, yeah, go see the life of chuck. Uh, I also am gonna touch on this next movie very briefly because I know, alex, this is very anticipated on your list for the year and I want to give you a chance to see it. It is the materialists boy. That's a shitty image of that. Um, and this is the new movie from, uh, celine song. Uh, who did past lives. Uh, we've got a love triangle.
Speaker 2:I will say this is I. I feel like it's been marketed as a romantic comedy. Um, when you go in, expect more drama than comedy. Um, you know, it's a little. It's definitely lighter than past lives. Uh, it is much more Hollywood than past lives. Um, but man, I, I will say I, I. So we went and saw it last night with some friends and we all came out of the theater and they were like what did you think? And I said this is a perfectly good movie. It's just like I was never checked out, I was locked in. I still don't understand Dakota Johnson and her style of acting. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know, I know, I still don't understand Dakota.
Speaker 1:Johnson and her, her style of acting.
Speaker 2:Um, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know, I know, listen, she keeps getting jobs. So uh, I, I I always feel like at arm's length with her. Um, because of her, her again, she's just got very dry.
Speaker 1:She would be great in a Wes Anderson movie.
Speaker 2:Uh, would be great in a Wes Anderson movie, and and there's. But there's. There's some funny moments throughout. There's some, you know, sad moments throughout. There's Pedro Pascal is is doing something very different than what we've ever seen him do. I don't know if it completely works. The big thing I took out of this is like this version of chris evans is is is what we need. This is what I love when chris evans is either a total dick and a villain or when he is a hanged dog loser. And uh, yeah, I really enjoyed chris chris evans in this movie. Um, it's photographed beautifully, uh, really good music, some great needle drops and the score is really well done. I don't know if it's as good as Past Lives. I don't think so. I haven't revisited that movie in a long time. Past.
Speaker 1:Lives is pretty phenomenal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that movie's a bit more polished.
Speaker 1:Past Lives. You could have made the argument. People did make the argument that it should have won best pitcher, right here so I don't think it's on that level, but I think again.
Speaker 2:This is like a different type of movie than what we're getting in theaters recently. So go out and support it.
Speaker 1:So no sophomore slump from Celine is what you're saying. I think understanding that if we've set the bar, at past lives, then yes, it's a nominee. Right, if we've set the bar at best picture nominee. Sure it's a slump but it's a perfectly fine movie.
Speaker 2:It's not like it's sucked yeah, it didn't suck, I don't think. But at the same time it's not going to get any nominations right, I think. Okay, um, but yeah, I don't know, it's really interesting it's. It's very jane austen in its uh telling of this love story, um, where it kind of touches on some of those themes that jane austen really likes to touch on.
Speaker 1:Um, but you know, trying to have, because what the impression that I got now maybe this is going back to your, your disclaimer there at the beginning is that expect more drama than comedy. But I was under the impression after just listening to a few dakota johnson interviews, that there was also the, there was a bit of an intent to try to, to try to recognize and make a rom-com. That felt something, that felt akin to something that we would have gotten in, like 2000, 2001, 2002, like a Bridget Jones diary or how to lose a guy in 10 days or the wedding planner, like now those movies, I think, are those operate, operate on a on a lower level of prestige, but have a lot of enduring qualities to them a lot of endearing and enduring qualities.
Speaker 1:Like those, movies are endlessly rewatchable. Um so I don't know, would you say that that materialist feels like any of those?
Speaker 2:yeah, I, I think it does feel like a, yeah, like a mid tooth, but but a little higher, a little little better than a little elevated yeah, than something like bridget jones diary.
Speaker 2:Um, it's interesting. One of one of our friends that we saw it with last night, like, is convinced that this is a satire, and so I'll be really interested on your opinion, because I didn't read it that way, I, but you know, I, I feel like I, I think it's possible to read it that way and I haven't done more research on you know what, uh, selena said? I know it's based on you know she spent time in new york as a matchmaker, yeah, which is what dakota johnson's job is in this in this like a high profile high society matchmaker.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so I don't, I don't think it's trying to satirize, because there are like there's a bunch of different like storylines going on throughout. Um, there's like a, an, a, a, b and a, c, and I feel like if they were trying to make it satirical there, one of the storylines just would not, would not work and be a bad look. But, um, interesting again. Uh, just really interested to hear your take. Um, you know, again, I, again, I, I think I'm just allergic to Dakota Johnson, uh, but she's, she's out there doing the work, I, she great, gives great interviews. Um, and uh, as I said, pedro is doing something different. I don't know if it, if it works all the time, but at least it's something different than what he has been doing. And we have officially begun the Pedro Pascal summer because he's got Editing Next and then Fantastic Four.
Speaker 2:So, he is going to be everywhere and I bet you this will be the most different than what he usually does. Um, which is interesting, um, and then, yeah, I just uh, really interesting opening and ending to this movie as well. Uh, cold open and cold ending, um, so I I can't wait for you to see it and we can talk about more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm hoping that it has maybe a two or three week run like a first run in a lot of theaters, because Our theater was packed.
Speaker 2:Packed, was it? Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:That's good. I know it did. I think it did 12 million this past weekend. Box office numbers did just come in like an hour ago, so I can, I can confirm that here in just a second. Yeah, it opened at $12 million, $15 million, $15.5 million worldwide total and that's playing on 2,800 screens.
Speaker 1:So not great, but not terrible. Not nothing. Can't imagine that it costs too much to make. Probably terrible, not nothing. Um, can't imagine that it costs too much to make. Probably, um. So, so yeah, I'm hoping it gets a, gets a run here for a couple of weeks, because not this week but but the following week. Um, I would love to check this one out when I have more time. Yeah, um, okay, and then just something. And then now here's. Here's, really like the big one. This has happened two weeks in a row Well, really, I guess two out of the last three weeks, two out of the last four weeks where really the biggest movie of the weekend that really dominated the box office and took up multiple screens in theaters was another animated family film. We saw this with Lilo and Stitch.
Speaker 1:That's what I was referring to a second ago and now we're seeing it with the live action, if you will, adaptation of how to Train your Dragon. This movie opened on 4,300 screens worldwide and did $83 million domestically, $114 million dollars internationally good for a worldwide opening weekend of just under 200 million dollars. Um, so I mean, whether it's a couple of years ago with the super mario movie or minecraft, earlier year the aforementioned Lilo and stitch, and now how to train your dragon, like we talk about this, it's, it seems, like every other month. Horror movies and family, family friendly films, something you can get everybody together and go see. These are keeping theaters open.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Totally, and you know this open and in business, Totally. Uh, and you know this, this run of live action animated remakes yeah. Uh, just continues, and and now you know, it's not only Disney doing it, it's now dreamworks, right? So, uh, they should put their uh mouth where their money is, or their money where their mouth is, and make a, a shrek live action and also I mean warner brothers too, because warner brothers was minecraft yeah, right, yeah so so everyone's getting in on it like it's.
Speaker 1:Everyone wants to do horror, everyone wants to make a family. Family feature now right, it seems.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I haven't seen this film, but I heard it's. It's pretty much like a shot for shot remake it's. It's directed by the same guy who who directed the original animated trilogy, which are, which are fantastic movies like honestly great movies, yeah, um, so, so I don't know.
Speaker 1:I like we're going to have to dedicate max and I've been mulling this over we're going to have to dedicate Max and I have been mulling this over we're going to have to dedicate an entire episode to. You know, we can't call it a phenomenon. These movies have always played well in theaters. But just like what is happening here recently, because between the handful of films we just mentioned, like we're talking about a couple billion dollars worth of worldwide box office um, between some of these films, so pretty remarkable stuff Um, I was talking to a few people at work this past week.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, most of them teachers, so they understand, uh, because they have students in their class who talk about this, or they have families themselves and when, it's no surprise, with the you, you know the cost of everything going up that, like these movies are going to do.
Speaker 1:Well, because if you take a family of four to go see even a matinee, and it's near twenty dollars a ticket and there's four of you, and then if you buy concessions or whatever, not that that goes towards box office, but you get the picture is that, like this is what you do with your family over the weekend, like this is your outing, um, if it is something like father's day, I'm sure that, um, you know, this movie is going to continue to play well into summer because you have people who are now out of school. You have something like father's day pretty soon. It's going to be um fourth of july week in this movie. I'm sure we'll still be in a lot of theaters and so just giving people something to do, giving family something to do, um, there, there's something to be said for that, because these movies are crushing it at the box office this year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, they really are. And, uh, it'll be interesting to see what, what the next, what the what? The next film is that they, that they do? Because, again, yeah, I feel like disney's getting kind of close. I mean, what, what other could they do? A monster's ink? No, probably not. Uh, could they do I, I don't even soul, no, they can't do soul. Or inside the idea of a live action Shrek.
Speaker 1:A live action Shrek would be really interesting. Sure.
Speaker 1:You know, the to watch the progression of this to see, like, where it goes, when, when you're talking about live action, remakes of animated classics even though I think the first, how to train your dragon, was like 2010, but whatever, we'll call it a classic. Um, but whatever we'll call it a classic. But then you know, you have Minecraft, video game adaptation, super Mario Brothers story, or at least pull from a similar source material, like Alex Garland making a Skyrim film, or is it Skyrim or Elden Ring? I forget which one.
Speaker 2:I think it's Elden Ring.
Speaker 1:Elden Ring. So like again, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen video games that have more appeal to an older generation struggle at the box office. I think we saw this with the World of Warcraft movie. There's hundreds of millions of people who still, to this day, play World of Warcraft and no one cared about that movie. They were too early, I guess. So. The Dragon Ball Z movie, movie um, they were too early, I guess so, um, and and so the dragon we'll, we'll see what happens when, when different filmmakers and different target demographics start to get movies like this aimed towards them, and and what? The response is um, because the family stuff will always play. But will they try to capitalize? Will studios try to capitalize in other areas? You know we have um, is it Zach Crager? Who's? Who's the filmmaker behind barbarian, and he's rebooting the resident evil franchise.
Speaker 1:So different different things to keep our eye on, I think Um well, and, to be fair, resident evil did like what?
Speaker 2:nine movies. I fucking love every single one of them. Yeah, I mean they were, they were very successful, right they, they had a huge and again I think that plays into the horror right evergreen uh genre. So yeah, it is going to be really interesting, like I, you know, I wonder if anyone's ever going to make like a, you know, like a fall guys uh movie, right, and and yeah, that play though I guess that could be more family friendly.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to think of like a pg-13 or like video. You know, assassin's creed, they tried that and that that failed. So it's, who knows, uh, maybe, maybe it is just you have to do it. Kid, kid friendly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, okay.
Speaker 1:Well, something that's not going to be kid friendly, that we are really, really, really excited about next week is, 28 years later, the long awaited third installment into um the rage virus story, and so we have Danny Boyle back at the helm directing this project. The film is written by Alex Garland, who helped him on the first film with the script, and so we're we can't wait to not only talk about that film but Danny Boyle, a director who we've yet to have the opportunity to really explore his, his catalog, and so that'll be really fun to do like a rankings episode or however we decide to do that, someone who you know, I think we're both very familiar with. But until we have these moments, right, we talk about this time and time again, episode and episode again, like until we really have the time to sit down and start to compare a film like, maybe, slumdog millionaire versus train spotting, like, right, you don't think about all the different things um that that someone has accomplished in their, in their career.
Speaker 1:So it'll be really fun to do a danny boyle episode next week yeah, I can't wait.
Speaker 2:Uh, do we call this? Is this a legacy sequel?
Speaker 1:because it's been 20 years it's, it's, it's honestly, it's in the title, right? If it's in the title, I think we have to abide by it uh, yeah, it's, it's gonna be, uh, it's gonna be rip-roaring.
Speaker 2:I can't wait to see this in in in theaters and this will be gnarly, this this movie was shot all on using iphones, uh, which is really interesting.
Speaker 2:so think about that while you're in the theater. I've seen like crazy pictures I'll try and cue some up for next week of like these rigs they bought, where they had like 40 phones on like a, like a metal arm that they were like running around and then they're capturing every angle you know of whatever scene they're shooting on these phones. It's insane. So, yeah, I can't wait to go back into this world. You know, I don't really even remember 28. Was it? 28 weeks later is the sequel 28 weeks later.
Speaker 2:I just remember it not being as monumental as 28 days, uh, but.
Speaker 1:You know it's funny, it has a lot of the same energy that final destination two has, where I think the the opening of 28 weeks later is so good and almost rivals anything that we get in the original. So because of that that, I think people think of it very fondly, but the story is just a lot less interesting in the second one once you get past that opening set piece. Um, still a fine film, though that, um, you know, is going to have a lot of a lot of people revisiting it here over the next week or so yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then you know, I, you know we get to, if we, if we're going to go into deep, into into boil, we get to talk about the beach, we get to talk about sunshine yeah you know, I mean he has made some some really amazing movies that I think both of us like the venn diagram kind of kind of unites on a lot of his films. Um, so yeah, I'm I'm very excited to to take a look at that.
Speaker 1:That'd be great. Um, and then also coming up to it's near the halfway mark of 2025 already. So after we do our just to kind of look ahead a few weeks here, after we do our 28 years slash jenny boyle episode, we will be doing a best of recap for the year so far. Um, so a lot, a lot to look forward to here on the show. Until next time, please follow excuse the intermission on instagram and the two of us on letterboxd to track the movies that we're watching between shows, and we'll talk to you next time on ETI, where movies still matter.
