This Seats Taken
This podcast is all about movies! Here my reviews, with some input from other movie enthusiasts , on all new movies. Weekly episodes that review the newest movies in theaters. I also review a throwback movie along with each episode that is picked by my guest. And every once in a while there will be bonus episodes of just older classic movies and just movie, tv, and pop culture updates. Let me be your movie guy.
This Seats Taken
Exploring Broadway to Big Screen: Yesenia Flores on 'Wicked,' Anna Kendrick's Directorial Debut & More
Join us for an exhilarating conversation with the talented Yesenia Flores as we traverse the enchanting world of Broadway musicals and their cinematic counterparts. Yesenia shares her childhood nostalgia for the "Grease" soundtrack and our shared admiration for "The Greatest Showman." We dive into the much-anticipated "Wicked" movie adaptation, reflecting on character transformations and the magic of practical set design. Our lively discussion also touches on Anna Kendrick's exciting directorial debut, "Woman of the Hour," and her captivating performance in a true crime narrative, sparking our curiosity for more stories centered on actual victims.
Entertainment industry buzz takes center stage as we explore the latest happenings with Jonathan Majors and the unexpected turn in Jussie Smollett's legal journey. We tease the star-studded cast of Christopher Nolan's upcoming film featuring Tom Holland and Zendaya, and wonder about the future of comedic films with David Spade and Theo Von's new project, "Bus Boys." Ridley Scott's rapid production pace for "Gladiator 3" leads us to deliberate the impact of rushed sequels, while Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's portrayal of Maui in the live-action "Moana" has us eagerly awaiting its release.
As we round off our episode, we explore the captivating world of musical movies, focusing on Ariana Grande's dedication and standout performances in the long-delayed film project. Bowen Yang's surprising casting, alongside the emotional depth brought by Cynthia Erivo, keeps us enthralled. We wrap up by sharing our excitement for upcoming live-action adaptations like "Lilo & Stitch" and "How to Train Your Dragon," as well as the eagerly awaited "Fantastic Four." With heartfelt gratitude, we express our thanks to Misenia for her insightful contributions and extend warm Thanksgiving wishes to all our listeners, hinting at the engaging discussions yet to come.
https://msha.ke/thisseatstaken
excuse me, is anybody sitting here? Sorry, this needs to take him sorry.
Speaker 2:Thank you for everyone joining me on this week, this year's thanksgiving episode with misenia flores. Thank you for coming back on. Yes, see you. Thanks for having me. I am excited to have you on. I'm joining you through a zoom call via because I am sick for this season. It sucks. And I went to the movies, I'm sure, like right before I got sick and it kind of ruined my movie experience for me. I was so uncomfortable in that tiny theater and I have been miserable this whole weekend. I had so much plans to go to the movies. I was gonna see light eight or two and I didn't even have a chance to see that and I'm kind of bummed like this kind of sick. It sucks being sick, um. But yes, see, I asked you weeks ago, almost a month ago, to be on the podcast for wicked because I think you really would enjoy this kind of movie. Where's I wrong?
Speaker 1:I really enjoyed wicked. I've actually been wanting to go see the broadway musical but I haven't got the chance to. They didn't come out to Chicago this year so I was like, okay, at least the movie's coming out.
Speaker 2:I'm sure, because of the success of the movie, I'm sure that Wicked is going to be touring everywhere now, but because of that also, I'm sure tickets are going to skyrocket too.
Speaker 1:Oh, most definitely.
Speaker 2:Okay, were you a theater kid growing up you know I enjoyed theater.
Speaker 1:I didn't do it as like I didn't participate in theater, but I did enjoy like musicals, I enjoyed, uh, like movies, with the musicals going to plays, things like that. So I did enjoy the theater environment environment.
Speaker 2:Okay, do you have a specific favorite musical that you like?
Speaker 1:oh, so I will always love greece um when I was younger yes, when I was younger, my mom actually uh, she tells me to this day like I was obsessed with the soundtrack um to greece, like they actually bought the cd, like when we would go on road trips. I don't remember this, I don't recall it, but I would always sing like the greece songs and like every word. I still do?
Speaker 2:I'm still obsessed with it yeah, hands down greece greece is a good one too.
Speaker 2:I mean tick, tick, boom with andrew garfield on netflix is a very popular one that I love. What's that? One with hugh jackman, the greatest showman, is also a great musical that I love. I love musicals and honestly, like maybe because I'm not in Broadway like most people are I didn't think, I don't know, I hate saying this because it's so freaking popular, but I didn't. I mean the music was just okay for me in this movie and I hate saying that so much. I mean the songs have been stuck in my head not because of the movie but because it has been on mine and yours.
Speaker 2:For you, Paige, for like the past four days now it really has been. Yeah. Yeah, I wasn't a theater kid, but I was a Sabo kid. Theater is something I never got into. I mean, I have seen plays. The only play I really seen in Chicago was Jersey boys and I really enjoyed that.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 2:The movie Jersey boys is pretty much, line for line, the exact same as a play. Yeah, jersey boys was pretty much exactly line for line as it was. Is it like the movie version? So it makes me curious to see. I was wondering if the wicked play was pretty much exactly the same as this one. I haven't heard any comparisons really at all about the play to this movie, but I would imagine it's very similar and it makes me question. This is a part one of part two and I'm wondering is a play that long of a play? Like you know, do they have both parts in the same timeframe?
Speaker 1:I don't believe so, from what I had seen myself and, like you know, just observing online. Um, they said that the wicked musical alone. I want to say correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not sure like two hours or so. So I do believe that the movie, just um you know, has its own thing going on.
Speaker 2:It could be, um, but it has been a while since back on this podcast. I think the last time I seen you, maybe on this podcast, was around valentine's day, if I'm not mistaken. Um, but have you been going to the movies a lot lately this year?
Speaker 1:no, no, I've just been waiting for things to really come out on stream, like streaming channels. Um. The one that I was really excited for was inside out too. And as soon as it came out on Disney plus, I was like okay, we're watching it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know from your Snapchat stories you're a big person that stream at work. Oh, yeah, yeah, um, the streaming originals has been a pretty big year for this. Uh, streaming originals. Have you been seeing anything in rich you just posted?
Speaker 1:I'm going to plug this towards the end of the episode too that you started watching a new documentary last night, correct? Yes, john Bonet Ramsey on.
Speaker 2:Netflix, so good. Yeah, I want to compare that to our second movie we're going to be talking about in this episode, because it kind of goes hand in hand with the kind of creepiness I would say. But that being said, we're going to be going to two movies this week, two this episode. Obviously, the first one's gonna be wicked. I'm excited to talk about that with you. But also we're gonna be talking about anna kendrick's new uh movie on netflix woman of the hour. I've seen this pretty much the day came out and I've been excited to talk about it. So I'm glad we're gonna have a chance to do it because it's also her directing debut on this movie. But before we get into all that mess, I do have some information from all our Hollywood updates this week. The first one's going to be directly tied to Wicked. Wicked box office opens to a record-setting $114 million and Gladiator 2 starts strong with $55.5 million. So Wicked's doubling what Gladiator you have. Did you have any interest in going gladiator either?
Speaker 1:honestly no, um, I'm not. I don't even believe. I watched the first one um, I actually went to go watch wicked with my friend and, uh, he wanted to watch a gladiator. I'm like, no, we're watching Wicked.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's almost like a.
Speaker 2:Bob Barbie Oppenheimer thing last year, like it's. Like it's dividing audience members, which I'm for. I like the controversy with stuff like that and it makes me curious who's going to win. But I think Wicked was obviously the big winner One. It's a number one play in the country right now. It's probably bouncing around, but until it has ariana grande in it too, like you can't lose.
Speaker 2:Uh, in the second update I got jonathan majors ex-girlfriend drops, assault and defamation lawsuit kind of like undoing everything that like ruined his acting career. Do you remember all that nonsense earlier this year? What was that? Again, jonathan majors, he was the big villain for marvel coming up. Uh, he was a villain in creed 3. Um, he was uh filed a lawsuit for, uh, domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend and not because of that. But that's mostly the reason I would say that marvel dropped him as a big villain as king um, essentially replacing them with dr doom, with robert downey jr playing him. But now that they're dropping it, I'm wondering if his career is going to try to bounce back to what it was. He also just got engaged to his current girlfriend now, so I'm curious to see how his career is going to be taking place in the future yeah uh speaking of crime I didn't hear about that that's such a lie.
Speaker 2:That's, it was the biggest news of the year.
Speaker 1:This, uh, beginning of this year maybe I did, I just, I just, I don't know. He is a good actor.
Speaker 2:Don't get me wrong. I'm excited. I think he's great. It's unfortunate that his career went down this way because of his actions, but now that it's being dropped I'm wondering if it's going to try to pick up where it is. He was an A-list actor now, but now I don't know what else is coming out for him soon.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're going to have to see what the future holds for him.
Speaker 2:Speaking of past convictions, jesse Smolllet conviction overturned in an alleged hate crime hoax. You remember jesse smoulet from uh yeah empire how he faked uh hate crime against them by posing that he got beaten up by these two racist trump uh fans and had like a new noose around his neck, walked to the police station, got caught because they he wrote him a check for beating him up. I was like, oh my goodness, he was in jail for a little bit I think that they were gonna find out about this yeah, but now it's being overturned.
Speaker 2:Same thing. I wonder if his career is gonna be changing or if he's gonna have a career at all. I don't see anyone really wanting to touch him after this. Yeah, that's a bad look. The past few episodes I've been talking about Christopher Nolan's new movie coming up. It hasn't been released any details or what it's called or what it's about, but releases of who is going to be in it. So far there's like Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon. Also, Robert Pattinson just joined the cast as well. It's to the point, like who isn't going to be in this movie? Now I'm excited for christopher nolan. He's one of the best directors of all time. Um, but it was such a big deal when tom holland was going to star in this movie. But now that there's so many celebrities in this movie, I was like it kind of makes it a little less special. Like I hope it's not just a cameo, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a lot of well-known actors, big name actors and actresses huge actors.
Speaker 2:I'm not too sure how big of a comedy fan you are, but David Spade and did Theo Vaughn is coming out with a buddy comedy called Bus Boys. The pair wrote the feature and will star in, directed by Jonah Feingold. Do you know Theo Vaughn from TikTok? And stand up.
Speaker 1:I don't believe so. Maybe if I seen his face, but I'm a big fan of David Spade.
Speaker 2:Theo Vaughn is one of the hottest comedians right now. He's very like, kind of funny. He has one of the biggest podcasts in the world right now, called this past weekend, and david spade also has another podcast right now. But he's also big from snl and you know all these huge movies, tommy boy and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Um, but there's also a big controversy that comedies aren't the same anymore and I'm curious to see if this is going to be an attempt to bring comedies back the way it used to be. When I mean comedies, I mean like like pineapple express, super bad. You know all kinds of movies like that. You know what I mean. Uh, the next one I got Ridley Scott is already working on gladiator three. We just talked about gladiator two for a minute, but for a third one to come out, I don come out. I don't. I hate when movies do this like they. They come out with a big blockbuster feature and instantly it's like we gotta jump on the train and get another one going already. I hate like just let it set for a bit, let the audience want and demand more and then work on more, you know, because you don't know how it's gonna do. Like next week it could be like in fourth place next week, you know. But that being said, are you to go see Gladiator 2 eventually?
Speaker 1:You know, I was thinking about it, my friend, he actually is like okay, I'm going to go watch Gladiator 2 soon. I was like, okay, well, let me know when you do, we'll go together.
Speaker 2:We're going to go talk about the wicked popcorn buckets in a minute, but also Gladiator had a great popcorn bucket too. It popcorn bucket too. It was a coliseum that you put the popcorn inside the coliseum. I thought that was very cool and unique, Very simple. I liked it. That's pretty cool. And the last update I got for us is we got our first look at the Rock as Maui in the live-action Moana movie coming out soon. Have you seen pictures of him in this?
Speaker 1:I did see a I think it was like a little video or a photo that I had seen on TikTok and I was like, okay, that's really cool, it's very cool.
Speaker 2:And it's him on a beach. He has long hair, he has a giant hook and everything like that. But what fans have noticed? It looks like he's wearing a muscle suit, which is kind of odd. Obviously, the Rock has a big physique in real life, but they're wondering why is he wearing a muscle suit?
Speaker 2:I mean, that can come up with two reasons, like one, he's like the busiest man in the world. He probably doesn't want to sit there for like eight hours and makeup doing it because he's covered in tattoos, so it's probably just easier for them to put a muscle suit on them, already covered in that. And then also, maui in the movie is very drastically built a specific way and that that being said, it's a little bit different than the rocks physique as it is, so it's probably just time consuming. Like that, he could do an acting method where you could transform his body Like a lot of actors do, like Chris Hemsworth all the time changes his body all the time. But, like I said, he's the busiest man in the world and he's not really dedicated. I'm kind of over the rock honestly. I think he's so full of himself and I think I talked about this when I did my review on Red One last week. You don't even when you watch him in a movie, you don't even see his character. You're seeing the rock. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've never really been a big rock fan in movies. Maybe there's a select few that I've liked, but I've never been crazy about him. And everyone's always looking at me like, are you crazy? Like the rocks, the man I'm like.
Speaker 2:I have never been that crazy about him I mean, I was a big fan of the rock, but after, like the eighth movie of him being exactly the same character, it's not even the character, it's him himself and then promoting himself like thinking of himself as a brand versus a human being, it's it's kind of annoying like I'm over it. I'm excited for moana, though. Moana 2 is coming out next week and I am so pumped for that soundtrack to come out. The moana one is the biggest movie uh, biggest streaming movie, I believe, of last year and this year, if I'm not mistaken, at disney plus and this moana 2. I think it's gonna dethrone um inside out 2 as the best biggest animated movie of all time.
Speaker 1:That's my prediction isn't your niece a big fan of moana? Who your niece?
Speaker 2:my niece is a big fan of moana, so I'm excited to um show her. She's not even two yet, so we're gonna see how we can do about getting her in the theater. Um, but she's I'm sure she's gonna love it. I'm gonna love it. I'm probably gonna see them way more than one time.
Speaker 2:That's awesome that's another musical that I love too. I mean, most pixar movies are musicals nowadays. That's another musical that I love too. I mean, most pixar movies are musicals nowadays. Um, but let's go back to wicked a little bit. You went on opening day with your friend. How was the theater reaction like? How was it packed in there or how was it?
Speaker 1:so actually no. So I went to the very first showing um and we watched it in 3d. It was at two o'clock, I want to say so it wasn't packed at all. There wasn't a lot of people um, it was literally just me and my friend um, another it was a couple, an older couple um a friend group of three girls and then another couple, so literally we had the whole theater to ourselves.
Speaker 2:So it was really nice on top of that you got some really cool merch. You guys saw, you got a popcorn bucket and a cup from the Wicked merchandise. Tell me what the cup looked like, because I think I've seen it in the theater and I kind of wanted to get it too.
Speaker 1:So it was really cool. The cup I had chose to get the Elphaba cup, which it was black and green. I forgot it. I'm so sorry, but I can most certainly send you a photo, but it was black and green. The material of the cup on the outside was really nice. It's all rubber and then it's green. Also, the top of the cup has the wicked witch, so it's not actually like it's elphaba, but it looks like the original wizard of oz witch at the top. So kind of a topper. So the cup was really neat. It was really neat. The straw was green. Um, I'm a big fan of the cup and then also I'm a fan of the popcorn suit. Uh bucket I had received. It was glinda. It was a photo of glinda, like her face shape like a silhouette, and it was nothing but the lyrics. So her silhouette was consists of the lyrics of popular, so it was pretty neat nice, nice um, were you a big fan of wizard of oz too?
Speaker 1:before watching yes, I was a big fan growing up. Um I was a big fan of wizard of oz. I really did enjoy it when I was younger um something I grew up on.
Speaker 2:So, um, yeah wizard of oz is one of the most popular, if not the most popular uh movie of all time in film industry and there's so much history behind the scenes facts about that we could get it to. That's a whole new episode by itself. Uh, about the struggles of getting that movie made and how it was made and what that has done for the film industry going forward too. Um, I've seen it growing up and I've seen many and many renditions of it because it's been retold a million times through media and other movies as well, and I went back and re-watched it after I seen wicked in a whole new light and whole new perspective. Uh, because now that you realize like the wicked witch isn't that bad of a person, it makes you wonder, like on part two, how we going to get to this point of her being like totally wicked. But like I didn't realize I forgot she had a sister actually and I was like, oh shit, like that was that chick in the wheelchair.
Speaker 2:When I went I went on the same day as you but a little bit evening, and the theater was probably probably like a quarter of the way filled, which is kind of wild because everyone and their mother is talking about this movie. So I'm just curious to see, like, when did everybody go? Like well, I guess we did go opening day. Um, I seen wicked with my mother the whole time and the opening scene it was like very visualizing, like of the whole, um emerald city, like you know. You see the dorothy walking on the road a little bit and the first thing I said, like man, I wish I would have seen this in that 4d theater because I'm sure it would have been so cool, like like you're flying on the broomstick the whole time. What was your first reaction seeing this movie?
Speaker 1:towards the end. Um, I was amazed I wasn't. I actually enjoyed it a lot, I loved it and I and I felt so many different emotions. I was just really happy and I've always been a big fan of Ariana Grande. I love Ari, so I was very proud of her as a fan. So, yeah, I was just. I really enjoyed it, I really did you texted me during the movie too.
Speaker 2:It was like the movie's not even over yet and I'm already bawling my eyes out. I went to go see the movie. I was like I don't know what part of the movie you're talking about, cause I didn't feel like I was crying at all. But then again, like I said, I was getting sick too, so like I was like so uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Ariana Grande was phenomenal in this movie. She has been pushing for this movie for over 10 years now. So there's a whole big story about how this movie was made. It was in talks to be made over 10 years ago like, I think, early 2010s, of late 2000s about this movie being made and she heard wind of it might be good made. Um, she talked to, she was always in contact with producers and trying to be a part of this in some way, and uh, universal, who made this movie, was going to make it this play. They were going to make us several plays, I believe, into a movie form and it was movie was scheduled to come out in 2019 at what point? But they decided to push it back and replace it with movie cats. I don't know if you remember that disastrous?
Speaker 2:movie. Um, that movie bombed so hard that universal didn't want to do plays anymore and they shelved this movie for a couple years few years actually and then it wasn't until maybe like 2020, I believe, that they finally got a director and they started picking it up again. Ariana agrani was the first one they called, but even herself she had auditioned several times to get this movie, which is kind of wild because it seemed like this part was almost made for her with her scene and acting abilities. I was not a fan of her look in this movie like blonde with the blonde eyebrows. I was like that's a weird choice, but I mean, it is going with. With the character she can pull off a princess. I'm excited to get her on there and she was so involved. I want to say she's listed as a producer too. If I'm not mistaken, she had a lot of say in this movie.
Speaker 2:From what I have heard, she pushed hard for the SNL actor, if I'm not mistaken Let me find his name, I think I've seen um the tiktok, but I can't recall his name bowen yang from snl, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, during snl in the season filming seasons, like a lot of snl cast members aren't allowed to go out and film movies just because it's too time consuming when snl, like you're doing something almost every single day, with the only exception maybe sunday's your off day, um. But armena granny herself went to snl creator himself, um, to ask if he can have some time off to be in this movie, which is so great of her and a great friend of her. But I was. I heard that before watching this movie. I was like he didn't even do anything significant in this movie, like that thing that he played basically a mean girl in this movie. I loved it. I was like he did he. He was funny, he was one of the funniest parts of this whole movie, but I was like I don't think he brought anything too much special to the table.
Speaker 1:If I'm not mistaken, that's that's me hating and apparently that role was supposed to be originally casted towards uh, for a woman and not a guy um I did see that um, but I did enjoy him um. Like you said, he was basically a mean girl, a bully, and I think he just played that character so well he is very funny but uh.
Speaker 2:But I want to talk about cynthia ervo for a minute, the one who plays avoban. I don't think you could have picked a bigger I'm not bigger a better, uh, actress to play awful bug. She was so amazing. If anything would make me feel any emotion in this whole movie, it would have been her with her acting skills, especially that scene where I know you were got emotional, where she acts like nothing was bothering her, but it's clear on her face, with a tear down her cheek, it was getting to her. And if that's the moment for me where you really connected with this kind of actress and felt sympathy for her, it she was incredible in this movie and her singing abilities too, both those singing abilities, ariana grande and cynthia's what made it so unique?
Speaker 2:A lot of time when they do musicals, you record your song in the studio and then lip-sync it on the day you're recording I mean, out. You know shooting this scene, but ariana grande and cynthia fought against that, saying no, we have to sing it live as we're shooting it. And that's how they did it and it turned out phenomenal and it shows so much of their talent too, because they're doing some hard scenes like this is one of them. She's in a broomstick singing too. I can only imagine how hard that is to hit them. Notes what were some of your favorite songs in this movie most definitely popular.
Speaker 1:I was a big fan of popular and the fine gravity, the ones that everyone basically loves. But I was a big fan of popular and the fine gravity. It's just. The songs are just so catchy. I also like the song um, I don't know the name of the song, but when she was moving into the room with ariana grande, with glinda, the back and forth and everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was very cool how they did that. There are a lot of other characters. Well, I want to talk about the big one, wizard of Oz, jeff Goldblum. No one could have played that better than him. I was so excited when I seen him in the trailer. He was amazing. I love Jeff Goldblum a lot and he was. He's so fucking cool. Michelle michelle yeah, michelle yo, if I'm sorry mistaken, michelle yo played madam morrible. She was okay in this movie. I was like I guess she's a big name. I'm excited about how she got in there. But again, I don't think she brought too much to the table for me personally.
Speaker 2:And I want to talk about the character Fijero man. I thought his character was going to be so different than what he was when he first showed him on screen. He was this cool, suave guy coming into town like the new guy who transferred into this new school. But then he gets to the library he's like y'all are nerds, like why are you focusing on this shit? He threw me off so much for the curveballs. Like I picture this guy's so like a prince charming kind of guy, like this guy's kind of a.
Speaker 2:He went to several different schools of, I believe I made it seem like, and each time I guess you get kicked out. I'm assuming his song was very funny, that whole like with the library and they're going in circles and that, that style that they had on. I loved it so much. I don't know if you caught this, but this movie did foreshadow what a wizard of Oz and some of the different ways. So the point I think we met all of the characters like the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion. Did you catch those?
Speaker 1:I did crow, the tin man and the cowardly lion. Did you catch those? I did I.
Speaker 2:I saw quite a few easter eggs in the movie so the line that they saved in the classroom, I'm pretty sure it goes. Let's be the cowardly lion now. I think I read this in a tiktok review or a youtube breakdown um, you know, we know. The sister turns into the Wicked West of the East, her love interest. By the way, I don't know if you knew this Ethan Slater's character, who's also dating Ariana Grande in real life too. His character Is with the sister, the Wicked West of the East. Let me look up her character's name.
Speaker 1:It's Nessa Rose.
Speaker 2:Thank you the wicked wispy east let me look up her character's name. It's nessa rose. Thank you is the love interest of nessa rose and he breaks her heart at the end, which I didn't like how they ended that story in this part, one like it left so unresolved, like you don't see any confrontation, you just see her looking at him. Looking at arne agrani's character, it's like, oh, I guess he doesn't love me and she rolls away. That's the last we've seen of her. I think once she gets her powers, I think she does turn him into the scarecrow. Not the scarecrow, is it the tin man? I believe the tin man. She takes away her his heart and that's why he's always complaining he doesn't have a heart. So there's the, there's the, the tin man in that one, and I believe this is just me guessing. I don't know if this is true at all, but I believe by fairo, fairo, fiero I believe, f I want to say he turns into the Scarecrow only because he was so against learning.
Speaker 2:That's why he doesn't have a brain.
Speaker 1:That's all. So I read that he is turning, that he does get turned into the Scarecrow by accident from Elphaba, but I did think of that also. I was like you know the whole library scene and him being being, you know, um, like not caring for the books and learning.
Speaker 2:it makes sense as to him turning into the scarecrow because scarecrow didn't have a brain so yeah, I agree, and we do see references to like um the ruby red shoes in this movie too and uh munchkin land, which you know is played by uh ness's love interest too. It's kind of weird that they took a munchkin from munchkin land and made him like just a guy, like five foot four or something, you know he must have been a giant munchkin land probably, he's probably king over there.
Speaker 2:Um, the set in this movie was phenomenal. I mean, what made it so great? It was practical too, like they really built those sets. We've been sending a lot of tiktoks back and forth about this movie too, that we learned about they. They built these sets like the huge school and not just that, the fields with all the multi-colored flowers and everything like that. It was all real.
Speaker 2:Which I think you had to do to make it great, because we've seen other movies like this, specifically the mila kunis and james franco version of the oz. Uh, that was all cgi and you could tell it completely tell, and part of the reason why it didn't do so. Well, I think once you built the sets and you realize that, once they believe it themselves, we believe it in the audience as well. I believe that's what I'm trying to get at, I think. I mean, I don't know if those sets are still up there there's this movie was shot in England, I believe and those, if those sets are still up there, would you pay tickets to go visit that actual set, like the whole school and everything?
Speaker 1:I don't think the school. If it was Emerald City I would.
Speaker 2:I mean this whole movie reminded me like if, if, harry Potter mixed with High School Musical kind of thing. It begs me the question is everyone attending the school? Do they all have magical powers too?
Speaker 1:I don't believe so. Um, I don't think so.
Speaker 2:They never really addressed that in the movie no, not really, because obviously ariana sorry, ariana grande really wants to be a witch. I don't know a sorcerer, I would just call her wants to be a sorcerer. At no point in this whole movie do I see she has really magical powers, until she gets that one which begs me to think, like, is it just in the one that has the powers, or these people themselves, like alpha boy, have magical powers? Uh, we also get a quick glimpse into her childhood. Why she's green? It's because her mother had an affair. She was like she called a stinky link over and stuff like that. She got pregnant and as punishment I don't know how it is she was born green well.
Speaker 1:So I'm not sure if you caught in the beginning, but when, um, she had the, you know, when the husband had left town and she had her other boyfriend come over, they were drinking the green elixir and he was telling her to drink it. So I think that could have resulted into her turning green.
Speaker 2:That could have been.
Speaker 1:And that's her karma.
Speaker 2:That's your karma.
Speaker 1:I thought the worst thing Like your kid being born, the worst thing you can imagine is it turning out being a different race but to come out green. I can imagine how that would feel.
Speaker 2:I just thought it was funny because I saw something like you're worried about your daughter turning green, but you're OK with animals giving birth to your birth, to your daughter. Yeah, yeah, because he was raised by a bear in this movie too this movie.
Speaker 2:It was a lot funny that I was thought it was going to be too as well like I was laughing a lot in a handful of parts. I have nothing but great things to say about this movie. Would you watch this again in theaters? Actually I would. I have nothing but great things to say about this movie. Would you watch this again in theaters?
Speaker 1:actually I would. I'm gonna go with my mom because she didn't get to watch it.
Speaker 2:I felt bad, but I'm like I didn't even know I was gonna go watch it I don't know if you noticed, in the theater before you walked in there are signs all over amc that says do not sing along with this movie because they are going to come out with a sing-along version on christmas day, if I'm not mistaken. Not that I would know the worst to sing along if I wanted to, but you would sing along. I think a lot of everyone's people are joking about that right now, like I think it's going to be a huge deal. Once it does start coming out as the singable version, I think it's going to be the good day. I'm not going to go to the theaters.
Speaker 1:You I can't recall if who's interview it was, but Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were in an interview and they were asked. They were asked by the interviewer how do you feel about singing along with the movie? Like there's a lot of you know controversy going on, like you shouldn't and you could, and they said whatever you want to do, if you want to sing along, sing along. If not, then don't.
Speaker 2:I mean, this movie is meant for the theater kids too, really, so I could totally see why they were wanting. Are you excited for part two coming out then, or give me the first in line, I'll have you back on for part two too awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm really excited to see how everything turns out towards the end oh, I'm so curious because I've been reading a bunch of timelines how it takes place in the between the this and then the wizard of oz movie. I'm so invested in this now, um, and I can totally see this movie being re-released as well, maybe like a month before it comes out. Actually, what would you give wicked?
Speaker 1:a one out of ten oh my gosh, I give it a 10 a 10 I loved it. I, I loved it, oh, I loved. You know even the choreography to the movie, the. You know the vocals, ariana and cynthia revo. It was amazing. You know just everything about it. I thought was just amazing. Creative all of it. Yeah, I give it a 10 10 out of 10.
Speaker 2:I would give this like a good 8.5 out of 10.
Speaker 1:I give it a 10. I love it, I love it. I love Ariana's outfits, especially Galinda's outfits.
Speaker 2:I was just a big fan of all of that if you were to cosplay as one of these witches the good witch of the bad witch which one would you? Definitely glinda love her style choice, style, choice for sure as she comes in, floating on a bubble, and everything in the beginning yeah, her dress next.
Speaker 1:Um, for wicked part two, her dress isn't going to be pink, it's going to be like purplish blue yeah, the only thing I was kind of surprised that they didn't do.
Speaker 2:Like the movie opens up with a narration from glinda, like saying like, oh, like, the wicked the witch is dead. The witch is dead and it's her like this whole movie is her telling the story of how they met and stuff like that kind of. I thought we would have seen that again at the end of the movies. Like, oh, like, and that was only the half of the story, something like that. You know, you never go back and see her again as the nice witch. You kind of see her origin story a little bit as the good witch. How fucked up is that part like oh, the wicked witch is dead, and like they're so happy that they sing and shit like that. And then you see her off about and like getting accepted into the school, like I have visions that people are going to cheer for me. I was like no, they're cheering because you're dead.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would give this a solid 8.5 out of 10. I don't think I would go to the theaters again to watch it. I would definitely watch it once it starts streaming. It definitely wants to start getting closer to the second part. I could definitely see the second part easily surpassing already this first one, which it's doing huge numbers already. It is it's kind of like avengers infinity war and then going into avengers endgame, like you don't have to do any marketing, people are already gonna go back and see exactly um, but we're gonna try to do any marketing People are already going to go back and see.
Speaker 2:But we're going to try to do a smooth transition, kind of, if we can, into Netflix's new movie, woman of the Hour, starring Anna Kendrick and directed by Anna Kendrick. And I kind of like how you picked this movie, because you kind of are on a crime junkie kick right now with the documentary we just watched a little bit. This movie is based on a true story but, like I said, the only thing that caught my eye and caught my interest in watching this movie, it's the directing debut of anna kendrick. And what I mean by that. Like I'm kind of surprised it isn't a comedy movie or anything like that. It's a very drama kind of show. It's a very drama kind of show movie and I think she killed it in directing this kind of movie.
Speaker 2:Now the actual story itself I have like a lot of plot points, potholes and nitpicks and all that, but like for her being her directing debut, I thought she did phenomenal at it. For those of you don't know, it's about Cheryl Bradshaw, a single woman looking for a suitor on a 1970s TV show, chooses a charming bachelor of ronnie alcohol oh, geez alcohol unaware that behind the man's gentle fast aid, he hides a deadly secret. And this written movie was directed by anna kendrick and written by ian mcdonald. Was this your first time watching it?
Speaker 1:for this episode um, yes, I watched, it was my first time and how would you feel about it initially?
Speaker 1:I liked it, um, because I've seen, because it's based on true events it really happened, you know, um, so I knew a little bit about the case before. Like you said, I I'm a big fan of crime and like crime stuff, so I knew about the story behind it. So when I watched it, um, I did learn a little bit more, um, but I did enjoy it. Uh, my only like I didn't realize it was a shorter movie. It wasn't as long as I expected it to be.
Speaker 1:Um, I just feel like a lot of like, just a lot of. It was kind of just like crammed into a short amount of time. I kind of wish that they would have explained a little bit more, shown a little bit more of about his victims. I just feel like it was just in a really short amount of time I 100 agree with that.
Speaker 2:And also another biggest concern of mine is, I mean you, on kendrick's character. Cheryl isn't his only victim in this whole movie. You see like three or four other women Like he. How he lures him in. He'll like, hey, I'm a photographer, let me take pictures of you. And then he gets them secluded and then he attacks them and then he kills them. He actually sexually assaults them and then kills them.
Speaker 2:I believe, um, the biggest problem I had with this anna kendrick she was preyed upon but she was never really a victim of his and this. They give statistics at the end of it, he, he murdered over a hundred women. Yes, I was like, why couldn't we follow any of their stories instead of someone who wasn't, you know, a victim? Yeah, I, I was just confused like why would just, uh, choose to, um, focus on this one woman? Obviously, yeah, it's big, because she was on the tv show and like he was on the tv show too, but I don't know, like I, I feel like it was kind of a waste of a time telling me about the story. That didn't get raped or killed, you know, yeah, it would have been more. I mean, it's interesting to tell the story from her perspective. But then you know you go to other victims, like like the woman who tried warming the, warning the producers about the show, no one really taking her serious, and then it was like what's the point of showing this if it's not going to go anywhere?
Speaker 2:you know what I mean, most definitely I agree um, but to get the 70s feel, I thought the sets and the hair and makeup and costumes and everything it was very good about this. It definitely felt in that time of time period. Uh, the acting actor who plays uh, sorry, the actor who plays ronnie daniel zavato, zavato I mean I thought he was killed like cute, not killed, I thought he killed it. Um, especially the top part where he was on the television show trying to be a bachelor around there. His answers are very, very suave and everything like that.
Speaker 2:I could totally see how woman could trust him. I mean, it's like ten bundy almost, like he gets not just his good looks, but he's also confident and suave with his answers and the way he talks to women. He can gain trust of almost anybody and he definitely takes advantage of that. And then I mean you don't even know the full story of him, because there's even unsolved murders that he's probably accused of too. One thing I think they didn't also miss on they could have had a lot more cooler 70s music in this movie.
Speaker 1:Give you more of the vibe.
Speaker 2:Exactly exactly Did this movie make you want to go learn more about the story? Because Anna Kendrick, I believe she does appear in a podcast after promoting this movie talking about the story, because she does do a deep dive and research herself and they do talk about this case. Is there something interesting in you like learning more about this case? Or would you like to see? There is a documentary, I believe, actually about this guy that does a lot of better detail about what he actually did?
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, most definitely like. It kept me intrigued and I'm wanting to learn more about like not only him, his victims what made him want to continue to do these killings.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, I would say yeah, and one of the biggest I mean I'm glad they included this too about how he was able to get captured.
Speaker 2:Finally, one of those victims like kind of tricked him and like, hey, like I'm still, she's, like I'm still alive.
Speaker 2:She was like um, I'm not gonna turn you in, like let's just go, I'll be your girlfriend or whatever. And the second she gets away from him, she takes off and she turns him in um, and she was like the real hero of the movie too, because not only did she turn him in, too, he gets arrested, he gets like years in prison. There is a chance where he comes like, oh, I might be able to get parole, but she doubled down on his asses. She goes, testifies against him again years later, making sure his ass is going to rot in jail. And he does die in jail, believe, um? So she was kind of the real hero of this movie too and I would like to see her perspective go um more than anna kendrick's in this movie. Um, and I love how movies do this too at the end of the movie they give statistics up, following up with real um, real updates about what really happened and how much this was true and it definitely followed up with that it did, I did like that.
Speaker 1:I usually like when movies do that also overall?
Speaker 2:how does it feel about anna kendrick's performance in this movie?
Speaker 1:I think she did really good. Um, I'm a fan of anna kendrick's uh, of anna kendrick, so I think she did good she did phenomenal in this movie.
Speaker 2:Um, what are some of your favorite anna kendrick movies uh, of course pitch perfect, most definitely pitch perfect.
Speaker 1:Um, what are some of your favorite Anna Kendrick movies? Of course Pitch Perfect, most definitely Pitch.
Speaker 2:Perfect. There has been rumors about Anna Kendrick appearing in the MCU, specifically as Squirrel Girl. Would you like to see her in the MCU at one point?
Speaker 1:That would be pretty cool. That'd be dope, I think.
Speaker 2:A lot of Go ahead.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 2:A lot of actors look down upon the mcu or superhero movies in general too. I think it's degrading a little bit like uh, I don't want to sit around in tights all the time. I think she might be one of those actresses has she made a comment? Yeah, about that I I don't know. I don't think she's made a comment, but I know there's actors out there, specifically leonardo dicaprio and stuff like that she's probably like I'm directing now.
Speaker 1:I don't need to I.
Speaker 2:I think I really hope this opens up a whole door for her. Like to become a director more often.
Speaker 1:I'd like to see what she has offered yeah, I think she did a great job with this movie, that's for sure. I think the movie was good.
Speaker 2:Out of all the movies on Netflix right now, netflix original movies what's the?
Speaker 1:number that you would say you would recommend this to somebody. New to somebody new Like.
Speaker 2:are you like I was? I don't think this would be the first one. You recommend off and up Like, so like, how low on the list would you?
Speaker 1:I wouldn't. You know, I'm a big crime person, so for me, uh, I don't, I think I would recommend it, um, as one of the first ones. I mean, I wouldn't say it's the greatest movie, but if you want to watch something like crime, something that's going to keep you intrigued, uh, definitely I would recommend it I think the biggest reason I would recommend it too.
Speaker 2:Like it's such a short watch it's only an hour and a half. Like I said, you can easily knock it out real quick. What would you give this movie? One out of ten.
Speaker 1:I would say a solid seven, Six and a half seven.
Speaker 2:I was going to say seven as well. Yeah, it could have expanded a little bit more, it could have got more detail. The music could have expanded a little bit more, it could have got more detail. So the music could have been cooler. But the reason I gave it a seven mostly I was Without Anna Kendrick directing this, I'll give it a five, but knowing it's her first time directing and I'm very impressed with it, it gets those two points.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she definitely did great.
Speaker 2:Yesenia, what are some movies coming out later this year, or even next year, that you heard of that you're looking forward to? We have live, live. So we have live action. Lilo and stitch coming out soon. Um, fantastic four is coming out pretty soon. What are you looking forward to?
Speaker 1:you know I did see um releasing the trailer to um or a preview, I'm sorry, to how to train your dragon that you know what?
Speaker 2:I've never seen that franchise. I do gotta watch it before I go watch the live action it actually looked pretty neat. I was like okay I'm same thing with uh, same thing with the sonic movies. The third one's coming out pretty soon. I still have yet to see the first I haven't watched sonic either, it's okay how to train your dragon.
Speaker 2:I mean, I've seen trailers of it too and how it looks. It looks phenomenal. It looks very uh true to the characters in the animated movie. So I think we're in a perfect time for movies, for live action, to come to truth. They said that, yeah, that sonic looking like its character. Uh, stitch from lilo and stitches looking like his character. We have seen trailers of stitch like shorts of him. I'm more interested now to see what the aliens look like in the movies, like you know, like uh jumba, yeah yeah, jumba bleakly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I want to see what those guys look like too, uh, but I'm definitely gonna be watching that. It's like we're like six months away from that, so we got some time. Well, miss you, sandia. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Um, I think I plug it every time you come on. You are working as a manager at louis talks, correct?
Speaker 1:yes, louis tech shop. So if y'all need some text me to come see me. Weddings party, whatever feel fancy. Thanks for having me. No problem, thank you for taking time. If y'all need some text me, come see me. Weddings parties, whatever Feel fancy.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me, robert. I'm definitely going to be tense, no problem. Thank you for taking the time. Sorry, like I couldn't do it in person, like I normally do, but I'm sick and then I'm going to have to edit a lot of me coughing out of this episode.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, there was a bunch of background noise. I met my dad's doing my oil change so I'm like, okay, I'm just going to go sneak in my niece's room and get on this call real quick.
Speaker 2:You're good. Thank you for everyone listening, staying tuned, being patient with this late release Next week I do believe it's the Moana episode, so I'm very excited about that too. That's awesome, and a happy Thanksgiving from everybody, from us, to you, and stay tuned next week, where I'll be seeing you soon.
