It’s the end of the year and also our series finale so we're bringing both to a close with a deeply intellectual discussion on the ultimate New Years movie, Bridget Jones’s Diary. Plus, in anticipation of awards season, we list the films we’re most excited to see over the next couple of months.
References
Bridget Jones’s Diary deleted scenes
That scathing New York Times piece on Bridget Jones
20 behind-the-scenes Bridget Jones’s Diary facts
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If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!
Original music by James Brailsford
Logo design by Abby-Jo Sheldon
Follow us
Email us
It’s the end of the year and also our series finale so we're bringing both to a close with a deeply intellectual discussion on the ultimate New Years movie, Bridget Jones’s Diary. Plus, in anticipation of awards season, we list the films we’re most excited to see over the next couple of months.
References
Bridget Jones’s Diary deleted scenes
That scathing New York Times piece on Bridget Jones
20 behind-the-scenes Bridget Jones’s Diary facts
-----------
If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!
Original music by James Brailsford
Logo design by Abby-Jo Sheldon
Follow us
Email us
People at swimming pools are absolute monsters. Welcome to Groovy Movies. My name is Lily Austin.
James:And my name's James Brailsford. Hello!
Lily:It is the season finale.
James:Again! Season three!
Lily:Season three finale. And also, this is Christmas week for our listeners. Are you having a good time? How's it with the family? Have there been any arguments?
James:Have night and day merged into one? Has not drinking become not a thing and it's just one thing where you're a bit drunk or a little bit hung over? What's happening?
Lily:As in you're just It's no longer about having a drink, it's about having a sober moment kind of thing. your
James:Possibly.
Lily:body is more alcohol than water. That
James:this fuzzy haze of like overindulgence. Ha
Lily:know what, I'm already feeling it. We're recording this the week before Christmas and I'm, I'm actually quite hungover. For no reason. I was just decorating the tree and watching The Crown last night. I shouldn't have drunk so much. But, you know, it's that time of year, baby.
James:My brother visited the other day and brought a hamper for me, so I just was tucking into that bad boy. And I think it's meant to last much longer than it actually has, so.
Lily:Oh, a hamper. That's so nice. I love that. it's very grown up.
James:Well, I'm a grown up kind of person, Lily. I don't know if you've figured that out yet from the hours and hours of times we've spent talking to each other. I'm a serious
Lily:You're very much an adult. I was at the swimming pool the other day, and this little boy almost swam into me, and his teacher was like, you almost hit that woman! And I was like, oh my god, am I a woman?
James:You are a
Lily:I guess I must be a woman, this is alarming.
James:a serious woman who doesn't like kids eating into them in the pool. You obviously look like you've got the potential to kick off, so she was placating
Lily:People at swimming pools are absolute monsters. I've been told off so many times. Anyway, okay, look, we're digressing. should we get, should we stick to what we're doing?
James:Sorry, yes, we don't usually do this kind of chit chat stuff. We normally get right into the meat of it. Sorry, listeners. I know you're probably chomping at the bit there, like, oh, enough of this, getting, just small talk nonsense.
Lily:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. Okay. Sorry, guys. Sorry, guys. Yeah, we're not that kind of podcast. we know what you're here for and we're going to give it to you. So for the season finale, as it's post Christmas, we're in that pre New Year, post Christmas, never region, if you will. so we are going to discuss Bridget Jones Diary because I feel like that is the ultimate film for this time of year. It's about New Year's resolutions, finding
James:Making plans for the year
Lily:Yeah, Intentions and it's bookended, it starts and ends at Christmas. And it's also, I have to tell you, probably top three favourite films, and definitely the film I've watched the most in my life.
James:Wow, so where does Practical Magic, for example, rank in that? Is that in the top three, or is that top ten?
Lily:God, it's, James, it's like hard, this is like swirling all around and the same kind
James:I, yeah, I'm the same. It's, it's hard, but if you're going to make that claim for Bridget Jones, I'm just curious as to, to calibrate myself where in, in relation at least, if not in like specific, but how many steps up or down is practical magic?
Lily:You know what it is, right? It's the Just like how you have 2001 as in a separate category to other films of your favorite film, for me, these sorts of movies, like Practical Magic and Bridget Jones, basically films that are considered like, chick films and a bit shit, but in general, like, they're not given a lot of, they're not taken very seriously in a way. Um, they occupy a different space in my film brain, I guess, because they're the films that I just always am up for watching and always enjoy. They are my superhero films. For those who find those an easy watch.
James:they're like my Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy I'll slip on. They're just an easy watch. I enjoy watching them. They hit all the bits of my brain that, I just I enjoy. and I know it's not going to disappoint. It always delivers, I guess, so it's similar.
Lily:absolutely. And so, yeah, so Bridget Jones is number one because also it's got a very special place in my heart because it's, it's the film that my best friend, Amy and I, we quote every, we really, like, we watched it together the first time last year, like, having both watched it a million times separately, and we're always quoting bits to each other from it. And we realized that basically every line of the film is a quote that we say to each other, at least once a week, probably,
James:I didn't realize, I got the impression that this was a favorite film of yours. I had no idea how deep it
Lily:I know, I was thinking, I bet you don't even know, because I don't think I've ever taught you. I try and talk to you about, French New Wave, and pretentious, not, sorry, not pretentious, but
Laugh Track J:ha! Ooh! what a giveaway.
Lily:No!
Laugh Track J:No, I know, I
Lily:know what I mean, I try and
Laugh Track J:I know exactly what you,
James:mean.
Lily:with my, with my cinematic, uh, taste, and really underneath, just scratch the surface a little way, and, and you'll find
James:a bunch of romantic comedies.
Lily:Yeah, basically. Yeah. Can I tell you my, my, my history with Bridget Jones when I first
James:Well, yeah, because that was my, because I was, my first question is did you see it when it came out in 2001? Or was it, did you see it on DVD later?
Lily:So in 2001, I was nine. So too young to see it in the cinema. But my mom saw it with friends and loved it, I believe. And maybe my dad as well, I don't know, but we had it on tape. And so from. I'm not quite sure exactly what age, possibly nine, maybe slightly older. Whenever I was ill and having a day off school, I would watch three films. I would watch Bridget Jones Diary, Notting Hill and Pretty Woman. They were all 15, so I wasn't allowed to watch them. And I would be lying on the sofa watching them with my With remote controls in both hands, one for the video recorder, one for the TV, because every so often, my dad worked from home, and his study was upstairs, and every so often, he'd come down and check on me, so I would hear his footsteps on the stairs, and I'd quickly pause the, pause Bridget Jones, and then change the channel onto like, the news or something, and just, and lie there still, and he, and he would come in and be like, hello darling, how you feeling? And I'm like, oh, I'm okay, yeah, and he goes, oh, okay, by and go back upstairs and I'd wait for him to hear the footsteps and then I'd quickly change it back. So there's also this like, it makes me think of my dad and also makes me feel anxious when I think about this film.
James:In case your dad busted you being corrupted by the influence of Bridget Jones's diary.
Lily:such a sweet man, that's the thing, he wouldn't even, I don't think anything would have even happened, he'd have just been like, oh I don't know if you should be watching that and that would be it. But can I ask the same thing to you? Because I believe you haven't seen it before, right?
James:No, I'd never seen it. I mean, I think I mentioned passing that I initially mistook Bridget Jones's diary for the Prozac diaries or
Lily:Oh yeah!
James:somehow and then when I discovered it was actually not at all about somebody with a drug addiction I thought Bridget Jones's diary was gonna be some fucked up like dark nasty 90s trip hop soundtrack and then I was like oh this doesn't seem like my kind of film I don't think.
Lily:Oh my god, James, I find that extraordinary because Bridget Jones Obviously, most of our listeners probably know that Bridget Jones story is based on the book of the same name, written by Helen Fielding, which started life as a column in The Independent
James:I didn't realize that. Yeah,
Lily:you weren't the target audience gender wise, but you were like the age of someone perhaps who would be aware of this, because this was like a huge cultural phenomenon. women were obsessed with it, so I'm just, I assumed it must have been a choice, like, Oh no, that's not my kind of thing, that's for women, but you just didn't even know what it was!
James:no, just to clarify, I spent maybe a year or two under the misapprehension that it was this, It was Prozac Nation was Bridget Jones's diary that kind of got meshed in my head.
Lily:Right, but the, but The the novel, or the
James:The novel,
Lily:Oh, okay, fine, the
James:right, the novel, And, And, and so then I think when it was made into a film, I was seeing images of René Zellweger, looking like Bridget Jones does in the film. I was like, this doesn't track with my, in my head. So then I was, I, I, then I realized, oh, it's a book and it's kind of like a rom com thing. And yeah, so then I clicked and I thought, okay, it doesn't, it just never really quite clicked to me. I've seen Four Weddings in a Few. By the way, interesting trilogy, Films you used to watch for comfort watchers. I'm curious as to what order you watch them in. Cause the satisfying order for me would be Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, and then into Bridget Jones. Just because then you've got, uh, you've got, um, Julia Roberts, then you've got Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, and then Hugh Grant
Lily:Hell yeah, Hell yeah, babe, you and I, we're one mind, that is absolutely what I did. And that was also That just works with the, tonally. I think it works to go that
James:Does it take you on a journey? Is it, there's like a narrative arc of the three good sequencing.
Lily:I don't know why. It just feels like the correct order to do things, I think, because of that tracking. I love the idea of you seeing Renée Zellweger in those trailers for the movie, being like, hmm, she doesn't seem like a drug addict, but I could be right.
James:that, you know, it was along those
Lily:It's a comedy
James:Ha ha ha ha ha!
Lily:seems to have romance in it too, brilliant.
James:but yeah, It definitely didn't seem like I was the demographic, And, this was like, 2001, so I was at film, oh my god, I was at film school at the time, so
Lily:yeah, so it makes sense.
James:We went to see Christopher Nolan's Memento when it was unreleased in 2001. We did see, Lord of the Rings. And I think that the least film school film we saw was, the Harry Potter, the first couple of Harry Potter films we saw as a group as well. But,
Lily:But that's what I was thinking when I was, contemplating my relationship to Bridget Jones and thinking about the fact that while you were like watching Jean Luc Godard at film school and like, you know, really getting into the highest of high cinema. I was secretly watching Bridget Jones
Laugh Track J:Covertly watching. In case,
Lily:year old.
Laugh Track J:In case,
James:uh, you're worried that your dad had bust you for the corrupting influence of Bridget Jones wanting to get a man for the new year. can't have your head been infected with that nonsense, Lily.
Lily:Okay, so Bridget Jones, uh, it was directed by Sharon Maguire and it was a collab, we both know this, James, right? It was written by Helen Fielding, Richard Curtis and Andrew Davies. We had this very funny moment of talking about Bridget Jones in a previous episode where I was like, it was written by Helen Fielding. and James Googled it and was like, no, it's not, it's written by Richard Curtis. And I literally went berserk. I was like, how? I was like, don't you tell? I know Bridget Jones. I know it. I was like, they wrote it together. Because actually the goss is, I believe Helen Fielding and Richard Curtis went to Oxford together and they actually dated at Oxford. they were kind of a power couple of that group. They, in fact, that included Rowan Atkinson as well. They all met there. That's how Richard Curse and him started working together on Blackadder. So the interesting thing, there's lots of weird connective stuff with Bridget Jones and Pride and Prejudice. So Helen Fielding basically based the romantic plot of Bridget Jones on Pride and Prejudice. And when she was writing the book, Cleaver, the character of Cleaver, who's played by Hugh Grant, was slightly influenced by Hugh Grant because Helen Fielding is friends with Hugh Grant and he would say things like, you dirty bitch, and she put that in the book. So it was kind of, he inspired her and then went on to like, play the role. And then at the same time, while she was writing the novel, that was when there was all that fuss around Pride and Prejudice in the 1995 BBC adaptation. And so again, when she was writing Darcy, it was very much influenced by Colin Firth playing Darcy.
James:Now, I haven't read the book, but in the book, is there actually, is the Darcy character described as looking like Colin Firth? Or have I just misremembered that, or picked something up, or?
Lily:Okay, I have to confess something. I have not actually read the book. I've only seen the film, but I have actually asked for it for Christmas this year because I was thinking. what's wrong with me? I need to have the full picture. And I was reading recently, um, Monica Heisey's new book, um, really, really good actually. Um, I'm just like, looked over there at my bedside table being like, did I get the name right? Yeah, yeah, really good actually. And it's clearly a child of Bridget Jones. It's so, so good. Brilliant book uh, so I was like, oh my god, I need to get the literature. I need to have the source material. But I don't know, but I imagine so. She definitely said he was influenced by him.
James:it's just something I read in passing years ago that the character in the book is described as looking like Colin Firth. So it's a meta kind of joke that Colin Firth got cast, but maybe I'm making that all
Lily:yeah, yeah, no, that's, it's very true. and the kind of, the additional link is that, so when she came to write the screenplay, she asked Andrew Davies to help with it, who wrote the screenplay for the 1995 Pride and Prejudice.
James:Right that's the one person I didn't really know much about. And I wonder, so, I wonder how the three, how much did the three of them wrote? Because I was watching the film and there were occasional passages where I just felt like, especially there's a few moments where Bridget Jones has a little, I don't know about a soliloquy, a little monologue and I just thought that feels like it could be Richard Curtis and then there's other bits which don't feel like, there's elements this feels like a, a Richard Curtis film with a female lead, you know, as opposed to Four Weddings where you got Hugh Grant at the center. It has a feeling of a slightly more feminized, Richard Curtis movie, but I don't know how much he was involved. Did he do like a script doctoring pass at the end because he was mates with Helen Fielding or was he more involved with it? I don't know.
Lily:I'd imagine he'd be more involved than just, Doctrine because this was her first screenplay she ever wrote. I'm not sure she's even she's written any others apart from Bridget Jones, and obviously he'd written quite a few by this point. It was quite well established doing that. But I don't know that's all speculation on my part But I like to think they were very much doing it together because you're right. I think what makes this film So so good is that it is It's very much got that Richard Curtis characterization and sense of humor. but the thing I feel like is often missing from Richard Curtis films is that strong, well written women character. And that's that, I mean there are lots of interesting side characters, but often the sort of love interest is a bit like, less well drawn. And in this, I mean, Bridget Jones is just such a perfectly formed character. Such a believ so infinitely believable that, yeah.
James:Cause I went in with a bunch of preconceptions of what I was going to say, and that's one thing that was a nice surprise, that she was a well rounded character, I thought it could, she could have easily fallen into caricature, and this is like a bit of caricature, but it's a romantic comedy, so that's everybody's a little bit caricatured, it's a little bit of a fantasy, but, she, I like that she's not, It would have been easier, I felt, to have made her a little bit of a weaker, slightly less confident character. So it was nice that she did have confidence. It was more that she was just a little socially awkward than she had a lack of confidence. an excellent every woman performance by superstar Renée
Lily:And if you look at the, deleted scenes that are on the DVD extras, but you can also find them on YouTube, guys, I'll add a link. In some of those deleted scenes, it is a bit more, caricature or it's a bit some of the gags about her thinking about her weight and so on like they go a bit almost too far and I feel like and apparently when the in the initial edit of the film it was a bit of a mess and really wasn't working at all and they basically did lots of work to restructure it which I find amazing because it's It, it zips along and it fits together all so perfectly, and there's no flab at all. But I think that was a big part of it, was like making sure that there was, they dialed that back. So there it would, it was funny enough and big enough, but not so much that it mo dips into caricature.
James:You kind of had a peek behind the curtain with the DVD extras that we've discussed in our episode about women editors in Hollywood. Is that there's two kinds of editing. There's like shot to shot like when do you cut to somebody's reaction when you cut to close ups. But then there's also the structural editing which is the thing that you see the least Or that you, when it's done well. Like, yeah, I wouldn't have noticed that there were any big structural changes but That kind of push and pull, I mean even in my limited experience of directing dramas and editing them, that's, those conversations were happening all the time. How much is too much? How far do we push the fantasy element until it pulls you out of it, you have these conversations about the world of the film, so does this scene fit in the world of the film? And you start realizing, and it's Especially for me as well, the hard thing was some of these scenes that I actually completely removed from my work were the motivating scenes that made me write the script, to me, these were the key scenes. And then in the process of editing, you're like, well, actually in the world of the film that we've created, they're too much or they're just not quite fitting. So the same, the exact same process happened there. And yeah, I would certainly have not got the impression that it was any major structural changes, but that's the editing process.
Lily:Yeah. You gotta kill your darlings.
James:damn right, you're damn right. And it hurts, it hurts. You spend two weeks not killing your darlings, then you're like, Oh my god, this is time. It's slaughter time. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
Lily:I love that. I love that. Yeah. yeah, but let's talk about Renée Zellweger because, I honestly think she's amazing and I think it was really this time of watching it with a critical eye thinking about this podcast that I really appreciated. Her, her talent, but what were your, but tell me what your thoughts on her, of her are.
James:can't name the René Zellweger films that I've seen. I'm damn sure I have, but none come to mind. But,
Lily:So,
James:um,
Lily:Chicago,
James:Haven't
Lily:she was in Chicago. That's all I can think of her being and
James:the point is I wasn't overly familiar with her work as an actor. And, I was really impressed. I thought it was really well done. I remember reading at the time that she'd spent like a couple of weeks as research working in an
Lily:yes, at Picador Publishing House. She was a trainee publicist, so doing basically the same job she does in the film.
James:She nails it, she's got this every person kind of charm. She's very relatable, it's never a caricature. it's just right. Pitch perfect.
Lily:And that accent, I mean, she's from Texas. It's amazing, because I really do believe, for the most part, Americans cannot do British accents. it always sounds really, put on and over the top. And she, there are a few moments where it seems, it's like a bit, it goes a bit too plummy, but it just works with who she is.
James:out of all these kind of films that we've watched so far on the podcast, I was thinking, is this the cain of the kind of, this kind of naughty, romantic comedy? It's all, it all comes together very nicely.
Lily:definitely James. I'm so glad you think that though, I was worried, I wanted to ask you about your thoughts, sort of from a cinema point of view, like from a, director, like, all that stuff.
James:from,
Lily:the words. You know what I mean.
James:stuff point, yeah, from an all that stuff point of view, I really liked it. I thought, especially the production design and the costumes, both of those were exceptional. the cinematography and the sets, like, it made me realize how much. We don't make these kind of films anymore, which was, it clearly had a decent budget because for what is essentially a drama set in the contemporary real world, they've built lots of sets, the sets have lots of space in them, they're built on multiple planes of action, so you have a foreground, in The Officers, for example, you have foreground, and then you'll have mid ground where the action's taking place, the dialogue, then there's a far background, and then there's stuff outside the window, so you've got multi planar action, and most, Scenes are in a set of that kind of size, even I mean, if we're going to go for reality, then Bridget Jones is a flat is like the most luxurious, spacious looking flat, but it looks amazing. And in the fantasy of the world, that's the kind of flat we would fantasize about having if we were, working in London. So it. It works in the fantasy. for me, it's got this, um, we call it high key lighting. So everybody's faces are very glamorous. They're all quite soft lit. it's an excellent, Version of high key lighting with big sets. My preference is for more, slightly more contrasted low key lighting, for these kinds of romantic comedies, you want everyone looking beautiful, but yeah, it all flawlessly execute a great direction. I think, they make use of the cinematic space, the story rattles along, it's a very well made version of this kind of story.
Lily:I think you're right. I think it is definitely The Citizen Kane. And that makes me so happy. I'm glad you appreciate it from a visual point of view.
James:Oh, from a direct, how it's put together, yeah, aesthetic, Absolutely. very impressive. but it does make me sad that you realize these kinds of films just aren't made anymore. You wouldn't spend that much money making, cause it's contemporary set. Nowadays, you'd probably film in an office. You'd probably film in a real flat that you'd adapt and you'd change. Because they built everything,even the interior houses are built sets. Everything's perfect. Everything's nicely put together. There's enough space to light everything, to put the cameras in the best places. And that just, that helps make a film feel like cinema. And, nowadays, that kind of romantic comedy set, the real one, you just wouldn't have that amount of money put behind it.
Lily:interesting that this film came out in 2001, April 2001. And it really does feel like one of the last hurrahs, before the world, before the Western world changed, before 9 11 and film took a distinct turn and there were a lot, there were rom coms that came out in the years after that, but I feel like it really does capture a moment in London and UK. it's very Blairite in its vibes, you know, like nothing to worry about. I have this amazing flat in Borough, I can like fall out of a black cab drunk every night. I mean, imagine taking a black cab on a weeknight. It's just. It's such a, and even like with her friend, like setting up, he's putting a phone cover on a new phone and the box is on the, on, on their bar, they're at a bar and he's got all the kit up. I love these little details that really make it. specific to that time that when there was so much joy and, and for women, I think it was a very important time, but we'll get into that. What, sorry, what were you going to say?
James:no, yeah, I, was also saying there's a bunch of things I noticed from watching it. I mean, well, one, excellent use of needle drops,
Lily:Oh my god. Fabulous soundtrack. I also have this on CD. I've listened many times.
James:It's, completely on the nose. Like every music choice is the most literal evocation of what's happening on screen. However, they are all bangers. Can't deny it. Like when they kick in, you're like, oh, that's the, perfect song for that moment. And also because it's 2001, you've got some original UK garage bangers popping in now and again. which I wasn't expecting that. That was quite a scene. These classics, Ain't No Mountain High Enough and all that kind of stuff. But then he got some, you know, some well chosen, they've aged quite well, UK garage bangers. So yeah.
Lily:of It's Raining Men.
James:Oh, is it Jerry's version? Blimey.
Lily:has a lot to thank Bridget Jones for. That song kept her current. Okay, I think we should talk about the men in the film, because Yes, it's a rom com, it's a who's she gonna pick kind of situation. First with Hugh Grant, and I, I love Hugh Grant in this role, because it's quite clear, if you just, like, hear a snippet of interview with him about this film, that this is, the character of Cleaver is the closest to his real personality of any part he's ever played. And having spent many years playing these, like, very foppish, nice boys, I think Hugh is very pleased to get to play himself an
James:it's. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I, thought it was a great performance because, you know, I, I know him more from, Four Weddings and a Funeral. However, I do love him in Cloud Atlas, which is a completely underrated gem. And I think maybe that's a one for the pod for us to discuss, in that he plays seven different assholes through,
Lily:wait, literal arseholes, no,
James:well, as
Lily:people,
James:characters, You know, riffs on the unpleasant character, is set in different, multiple realities in different time periods. And the one consistent thing in all the different stories is Hugh Grant pops up in some form of a toxic male and it's great. In fact, in one of them, he's even a flesh eating cannibal, Cloud Atlas is so good. So, yeah, I figured when I watched Bridget Jones Iris that this is, there must have been nobody else they had in mind for that role, because I can't imagine anyone else he's got the kind of sleazy, but he's also very likable. he's able to just make it charming, but kind
Lily:And sexy as hell. I think him and Renée Zellweger have amazing chemistry. that's, the big knicker scene, honestly, I think it's like an incredibly sexy scene. even up to and even including, them laughing about her big knickers. Like, I love it. I think it's perfect casting. And then on top of that, we've got Colin Firth. I think I love them two being
James:Yeah, they're great love, love rivals.
Lily:Yes. Love
James:sequence, it works really well. especially cause they're two really good actors going at it. So it's not just like a, a fight sequence. It's funny and they sell it really
Lily:Apparently in the original draft of the script, the plan was it was meant to be sexy, like a sexy fight, like they would rip their shirts on their front and they'd all be like, woo, amazing, and Colin Firth was like, I don't, I don't think I can do, I don't think that's, realistic, and it was Hugh Grant's idea that they should fight really badly and just like awkwardly, just how They genuinely would fight, get rid of the, the choreographer and just, go for this awkward, awkward thing. It's so good. Yeah, it's brilliant. It's brilliant. think that is what makes the film so rich and, so good, is that all the characters around Bridget are so, so So well drawn, I feel like I use that phrase all the time, but it's definitely true for this one I mean one of her friends Shazza is actually based on the director on Sharon Maguire. She's a friend
James:Phillips?
Lily:Yes, Sally Phillips character. Yeah, she's
James:good to see Sally Phillips is something I always think she's
Lily:Yeah, she's fantastic and yeah So the director is actually also a friend of Helen Fielding's again more interconnected and she's one who's always swearing
James:And, watching this made me realize that the joke Kind of the self referential joke in the casting of, I've forgotten the actor's name, but the woman who, plays one of her friends who's also in the Harry Potter films as Moaning Myrtle. And so the first time we see her in Bridget Jones, she's in tears in a bathroom, And of
Lily:know, crying
James:in Harry Potter, I was like, I was like, oh no, in Harry Potter, that, there's there's a deliberate reason why they cast her. and she's right, got it now.
Lily:Well that's what I was wondering. Do you think that was the deliberate reason to make that joke? For the mums in the audience? The millennials in the
James:Oh Oh right, yeah, which way around was it? Which came first? Maybe it was just pure coincidence because Bridget Jones came out in 2001 and didn't the first Harry Potter film or the second one, because Moaning Myrtle's in number two, didn't they come out around the same time, So
Lily:Oh yeah. Oh, I don't know.
James:it could be just one of those weird coincidences, but I, I thought it would be Bridget Jones as first and then,
Lily:Yeah, yeah, no, that's what I thought too, but I did genuinely wonder if, I mean, because she's, she's very good at, as moaning Mercer, but I know when you first hear that voice and see her in the toilet, I'm like, am I in the right film?
James:So, and also the creepy non uncle who keeps groping Richard
Lily:Yeah, James Faulkner. Yeah, Yeah. Uncle Jeffrey.
James:he pops up as a villain in Doctor Who, wearing the same mustache, clearly, Russell T. Davis was trying to invoke the memory of that character. Cause obviously he plays a villain in Doctor Who.
Lily:right.
James:you know,
Lily:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
James:I didn't realize the connection there.
Lily:I mean, such a good cast. Celia Imri playing Una, her mum's best friend, and Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones playing Bridget's parents. That's what I love, is the um, is first of all her relationship with her dad. That feels, them being really close, they're, they're easy. kind of camaraderie when they're at these like family, like friend events. And also, just those, the fact that there are like quite, there are three different scenes of them being at Parties with friends of her parents, and that kind of extended world of like, your mum's friends when you were growing up, like, that all feels, Yeah. that all feels so, so, a truism of Britain, I, the way that, that's put together, those people all feel very real, and just so, so funny, and, yeah, it just, I don't know. It's just so well observed. I think
James:And I think that's probably why I stayed away from it because I wouldn't have, been able to verbalize it until maybe the past few years, but I think it's because it represents The majority of how society sees how the world works the idea is you want to find a partner and, you know, you want it, you want to, this is how it works. And these are how your friends are. You don't have any, for example, I saw this was, there was no platonic male friends of Bridget Jones it's essaying in a world that I always felt, I didn't quite fit in, or I always felt a bit of an outsider too. So it. I suppose I could enjoy it and I love it as a film, but I don't think it's an aspirational world that I feel like I'd want to fit into. It's come on Bridget, you can have both, date both of them, man.
Lily:No, Daniel Cleaver is such an arsehole, she doesn't want him. But I know what you mean, I know what you mean. but I think, yeah. See, so, okay, so it's the 20 year anniversary of this film. Um, coming out. And, so in fact I'm going to go see it at the cinema next week with the previously mentioned Amy.
James:Oh really? Oh, how
Lily:I know, I've never seen it at the cinema, so I'm,
James:Are you going in London or
Lily:yeah, in London, yeah, yeah. um. um. At Curzon. My favorite cousin. Yeah, I know Yeah, I think it's at the Mayfair one. It's gonna be super fancy the OG Anyway, so yeah, actually if anyone's They're screening it on the 30th and the 1st if anyone wants to come along. I'll see you there so because of it's this anniversary and it's also 25 years since the book came out so it's like a double anniversary for the story and there was a New York Times piece about Bridget Jones basically saying like, why she's not relevant to Janet X's and how like we deserve better than Bridget Jones. It was quite a searing piece. It's, it called it dated which obviously it is, it's from 20 years ago, but also anti feminist which I was like, quite incensed by. She talks about how, women today know that being neurotic isn't cute. And I'm like, I'm sorry, I don't think Bridget Jones thinks she's being adorable when she's being neurotic. She is just responding to the world that she is living in. And I think the thing about this film is that, and I'm sure the book, is that in a very funny, fun, frothy way, it's actually reflecting Some quite unpleasant aspects of being a woman in that time, like the fact that her relationship with Daniel Cleaver, he's her boss, it starts with workplace harassment, sexual
James:Oh, yeah. Oh, Yeah, yeah.
Lily:yeah, you mentioned the uncle, Uncle Jeffrey, and how every time he sees her, she, he tries to pinch her bum, in every space, she endures some kind of like almost everyday harassment. and I think the way, Showing that, and showing how it's actually, for most women, these sorts of things, you just had to get on with. I think it was actually really important for that to be shown in a film at that time. Because, it's thanks to those sorts of things actually being, like, shown. That it began, we've, it began us moving to a place which we're not even, we haven't even arrived at the destination yet, we're still getting there, but we've, it's, it's contributed to us being able to say or call these things out at work and and assert a boundary, but you need to get to that point first by just
James:you feel that this was the start of the journey or somewhere on the
Lily:Yeah, absolutely. And so much has been made of it's so terrible that Bridget Jones talks all the time about like wanting to diet and needing to lose weight. And yeah, like the numbers are shocking. Like she's like 10 stone. she's
James:looks fine. She doesn't need to lose
Lily:Well, yeah, I, she's the same weight as me. I'm nearly the same age as her at this point. She has a, yeah, my f Amy actually sent me in a, a meme the other day where it was like, Bridget Jones is like 10 Stone has her own flat in bar, and this is a single 30-year-old, and she and has a job in publishing. And apparently she's like a failure. Like it is ridiculous. But what this film isn't saying is that, is those are objectively things to be. to feel bad about. But it's, it's saying that in this, in this world, women are made to feel bad about that stuff, and so they do. it's just reflecting back what, how women actually felt, which hadn't really ever been Voice before in such a frank, but also funny way, I think that was like an amazing thing to like have that reflected back to, to women. So I just, it really annoys me to look back on that and be like, Oh, like this is Bridget Jones. she's so neurotic. She's so like, why does she care about dieting? I was like, that was fucking normal to care about dieting. And also it's not like we're any less neurotic now. We're just neurotic in different ways.
James:every film that's contemporary set is always going to be like a time capsule of either the attitudes that were real at the time or the attitudes as perceived by the filmmakers. And here we have a female writer, female director, so they're reflecting how they see the world around them, which is kind of a bit of a shift from maybe if the film would have been made ten years earlier. Probably being a male director or a male writer. I mean, apart from maybe Nora Ephron is the only person I can think of who was writing
Lily:Which, yeah, which is definitely, I feel like that is the lineage is like Nora Ephron, Helen Fielding. And then, and now today with these, these sorts of books, like Monica Heisey's book I mentioned before, you can really see the kind of the evolution of women's writing of writing about at least a certain kind of woman, I guess. No,
James:Jones, the, like the noughties remake of it girl. I was thinking, does it fit kind of, kind of not, you know? So, So,
Lily:this is the every woman. This is definitely not the It Girl.
James:But, but the It Girl, remember, was a shop worker. The It Girl wasn't a celebrity. She wasn't anyone clever. she had a lot of confidence and she had Riz, as you would call it. But I found, cause I was going into Bridget Jones as thinking that Bridget Jones perhaps wouldn't have charisma, but she does. It's just. It's evolved and changed. It's not as on the nose. You know, she is, she's the it girl, but with insecurities. That's how I saw it. And she is aspirational in her love interest. I mean, is a Colin Firth, is he a lawyer? Am I right in
Lily:Yes, human rights
James:doesn't. Yeah, a human rights lawyer. So it's evolved from he owns the shop that she works in. It's now he's a human rights lawyer. It's an aspirational partner that perhaps is slightly out of her reach, you might say. Society might say, which in the it girl, the shop worker and the boss getting together, I don't know, I certainly felt that the lineage was there, even if I'm trying to struggle a little bit to make it fit,
Lily:Yeah, sorry, I guess so. I was thinking I was thinking more about the It Girl as a concept, how it evolved. You think literally from the film, from the film. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah,
James:moder Is that like the slightly middle class riff on the shop worker?
Lily:yeah, I guess so. But the thing is in It Girl there seems to be a big class divide, right? And she, but she has all this charisma so she's able to hop basically to kind of like rungs, I guess if you want to break it down that way. Whereas I think with Bridget Jones, I think the class element of it is very much. Echoing Pride and Prejudice, as I said, it's influenced by that book, both Hugh Grant and, and Colin Firth's characters, both Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy, they went to Oxford together, I think, or Cambridge together, and you see the family home of Mark Darcy, so you see that he comes from clearly, a lot of money and it's very much like, kind of an upper class, world. But it seems to me, like, Bridget Jones, I did think about it because, Karen's some, she is, I guess, like a bit more, aspirational than on the same level as them, but it seems like in, in that world that they are moving in, it's definitely not made a point that she is like, She's moving up, I don't think. it feels to me like that is never an issue, that she is, she could have those guys from that point of view if she wanted to. I think she does very much fit into this world, in my opinion, you know. These are all her Mark Darcy's friend parents are friends with her parents, They're all She, her parents live in a big house in the Cotswolds, and to be honest that to me is just really what that is It's just the pride and prejudice of it because in Pride and Prejudice, Bingley is From a, from like the highest like elite, but yet still he's very interested in, Jane Bennett and does, that's, it's not really a deep consideration, like it's for, they all end up with someone in the end because the, yes, they're slightly like, I guess, lower down the pecking order, but not so much that it's a big problem. It's fairly negligible. Whereas in It Girl, it's definitely she needs to win him over and like, get over this hurdle of being from a different world from them completely. Whereas Bridget Jones, it definitely occupies this world in which everyone is kind of on this, they may be financially a bit, there might be some variation, but they're basically in the same privileged world, which I, it's definitely perhaps the criticism of the film. I mean, it's definitely a fantasy bubble of
James:Yeah.
Lily:yeah, posh London, I guess, and the surrounding, yeah, exactly, yeah, definitely very, yeah, very posh, very white I feel like that's not the central point of it, it's more, for me, it's more about, it's more about a woman trying to, like, figure out what she, What really will make her happy? A man. definitely a man. But I
James:You don't need a God man. Bridgett, you're fine. You don't need a kid. It's fine. Stop putting pressure on a society back off
Lily:But the thing is, those are the things she wants, but better, for better or worse, most of us do want those things. So I think the idea that it's like, it's, you know, anti feminist to show a woman who cares about her weight, cares, does drink too much and regrets it. Does want to be in a relationship and often in quite dysfunctional ways. Like she definitely obviously sees aspiration in Daniel Cleaver. It's quite weird to me from, they've only been dating like a few days it seems and she's already asking him if he loves her and think, and thinks she, he's her boyfriend. Like she is a bit, she's a slightly un,
James:that, I have to admit that, that came out of slightly nowhere. I was thinking. That doesn't feel quite, I don't know. It feels a bit soonish for Bridget. From the Bridget we've seen in the film, but you know, it's a drama you got, you gotta do these things.
Lily:Yeah, I know, you're right, you're right. For me as well, because I don't remember thinking that, I don't think I'd ever really clocked quite how quick she was sent. Because to me, it was not nice that, It definitely wasn't nice that he lied to her and then had another woman at home. But like, I don't think they were exclusive at that point. Like, I don't actually think it's that terrible. Like, I would be upset too, but I don't really think you have a right to like, C, I don't know. Lying. The lying is not cool. The lying is not cool.
James:in the area of what I call the fog of monogamy. Those early, early few weeks of monogamous dating where pe The
Laugh Track J:The Fog The fogonomy, Yeah. we're on the mulled wine already.
James:those early precious few weeks of monogamous dating where you haven't had the conversation, so technically you could be seeing other people. It's kind of fine, but let's not say anything.
Lily:But what I love about Bridget, so most women, right, in this situation would be thinking, what are we? Are we headed somewhere? Are we serious? What's going on? She doesn't have that conversation. She's just like, no, no, he's my boyfriend. She's telling her dad, I've got a boyfriend, asking him if he loves her. are you kidding me? you've slept together twice. What's going on? So she does have a slightly childlike, I guess, attitude to relationships where
James:been conditioned by too many rom coms, that's what, Bridget Jones.
Lily:Yes. Yes, but that's the thing, that's what I love about this film, is that is how most women are. You know, we have to kind of uncondition ourselves from that stuff. And maybe, hopefully not, it's probably getting better, but at least I certainly felt like I had to. So, so I think, it's not saying this is, great. I think the comedy comes with that, that we know it's It's all, it's, it's kind of mad really.
James:Yeah, it's a, it's an imperfect system, but it's basically the system that everyone's got. And
Lily:and we're all laughing at it. So it feels good. The other thing I really need to draw attention to is the Salman Rushdie cameo at the book launch.
James:yeah.
Lily:So watching it this time, I think Sam Rushdie is actually her guardian angel, Loki, because when she arrives and finds her way to his little circle and he's talking, he turns to her and says, what do you think? And I think, how nice that this man is genuinely interested in what this woman has to say. What a rare treat. Love that. It's unfortunate she didn't have any things to say, such as ask for the toilet swab, but I love that he gave her the chance. and then later on, when she's feeling bummed out about how embarrassing her speech went, Mark Darcy turns around to look at her, and you can just hear in the background that Natasha marks female squeeze who's really rude to Bridget, says to Salmon Rushdie, So how autobiographical is your work? And you can just like, very vaguely hear him say, Huh, you know what, no one has ever asked me that. And I think, yeah Salmon, shoot her down. We hate this woman, she's making Bridget feel bad. Okay, do we have anything more to say of Bridget Jones? I feel like I barely even, I barely even scratched the surface, but, I just want to like, Encourage people to watch this film because the thing that is very pleasing about it is that it has such that feeling of the kind of end of that Christmas, New Year lull, where you've overdone it. Just like we were talking about at the start of the episode, you've overdone it. You're feeling a little bit bad about how much you've indulged, but you're also feeling the sense of like, okay, it's a new year. I'm going to make this year a really good one. What are my New Year's resolutions? You have all this intention and then. As things go on, starts off strong and then immediately fails and then has a, an additional burst of energy and achieve something. And then we all revert back to our same selves and we're back to square one, just like in the
James:Oh yeah, and I love it, and she's eating, and she's drinking, and she's they last minutes, the resolutions, but yeah, that's, I think, everybody, isn't it? I love it,
Lily:Yeah, absolutely. So it's the perfect film for the end of the year.
James:And do we not talk about the sequels? Or,
Lily:We don't talk about the sequel, so The second one is terrible. Second one is terrible. I've,
James:noticed that it wasn't the same director, but she comes back for the third
Lily:And the third one is People generally agree pretty good. I didn't Love it. It's definitely a lot better than the second. But in my mind, just The first is perfect, Let's just leave it there.
James:It's one of those things where, I have not, I haven't seen the two sequels, I, essentially to get the sequels to work you have to upset the equilibrium where you have the ending of the first film that was picture perfect and then you've got to manufacture something going wrong with that to get all the same cast back to give you that same kind of feeling of Bridget
Lily:Yeah, exactly.
James:diminishing returns, like with a lot of films like, like with the Matrix sequels, god damn it,
Lily:yeah, absolutely. You know what, but you're right, it is a perfect ending because I love that bit where, when Mark Darcy just wraps his coat around her while they're snogging. It looks so cosy in there. I'm like, oh, I want to be there.
James:Well, excellent. Well, potentially we've part one of how many see a part three C three part series of a Bridget Jones discussions. Maybe.
Lily:I just, can I just thank you, James, because I feel like, I think this series in particular, you've really allowed me to like lean into the things that I'm quite passionate about film wise, which, which is definitely exposing myself to be quite sort
James:Well,
Lily:for indulging
James:I, well, well, I'm a Nolan film bro. It seems
Lily:We're actually so heteronormative, it's embarrassing, but
James:Hilarious, isn't it? But you know, but also it means that when I play the Let's go watch Tenet for card You know, I've, I've earned my dues I've got my, I've got my little pass that I've got my stamps
Lily:It's It's so true. I do feel quite indebted. Yeah. Yeah, so watch this space guys for next season Okay, so we were thinking to finish up the series finish up the episode Because we're gonna be taking a bit of a break TBC on how long exactly that break will be I mean not crazy long guys. Don't worry. we'll be back in your ears before like Definitely in March at some point, just figuring that out, but and there's a bit of a gap between then and now. And also the new year is like the best time to see films because it's when all the awards worthy, the awards contenders are released.
Laugh Track J:So we figured we'd give you some hints and tips of things to look out for To keep you ticking over until we're back in the saddle
Lily:Exactly. So James, would you like to kick us off? What are you excited about in January?
James:12th of January. I've got Poor Things directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. and shot by Robbie Ryan, starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe. yeah, and it seems to be like a modern steampunk riff on the Frankenstein story. So, uh, I've seen Lobster, which I thought was good. I haven't seen the subsequent, couple of films that he's done, but I think I'm definitely gonna see this at the cinema. It looks interesting.
Lily:favourite was amazing, also with Emma Stone. so so good. Mmm. And yeah, I think it looks amazing. I can't wait for the poor thing, so it's gonna be good.
James:As I was researching this is just something that caught my eye, which is interesting, which is the book of Clarence coming out 19th January, which is, It's a comedy, it's set in 29 AD, and it's about a guy who decides to cash in on the idea that this Jesus Christ character is a messiah, so he sets himself up in biblical era Jerusalem as another messiah, Clarence, and it's a majority black, cast, We've got David Oyelowo in it, we've got Marianne Jean Baptiste, we've also got James McAvoy playing Pontius Pilate and Benedict Cumberbatch he doesn't tell you what his character is, possibly he's gonna play God, I don't know, but it looks really interesting, the cinematographer is Rob Hardy, very good cinematographer, did the Mission Impossible film, so it looks quite good, and the trailer looked okay,
Lily:it. sounds very Life of, Life of thank you. I was like, what, what's your name? Is it someone's life? Some man's life. Yeah.
James:life. Yeah, but certainly, it's only just the cast and the cinematographer. It's it looks like it's something of quality. So, interesting.
Lily:Oh yeah, I'm interested
James:What about your January pics?
Lily:I have many things I'm excited about for in January. So I'll rattle through them as quickly as I can. on the
James:Oh, sorry quickly, sorry. December 26th, which is not quite January. Ferrari, the new Michael Mann. Gotta see a Michael Mann film at the cinema. Now I've been getting into him.
Lily:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm super excited to see that. Can't wait to see that. In fact, there are a few films. I haven't seen Maestro yet. Bradley Cooper's film, which he's not my favorite man in the world for the action world, I should say, but Cary Mulligan's performance is apparently incredible. So I definitely want to see that. and also. Priscilla comes out on the 1st of January, which I think I've mentioned before, Sophia Coppola's new movie about Priscilla Presley. Cannot wait to see that. And Jacob Elordi playing Elvis, excited for that. Though apparently he's not as sexy as in Saltburn, which is unfortunate. But hey, can't have it all. So, besides those, I am really excited to see One Life that comes out on the 5th of January. That is the biopic about Nicholas Winton, who was the man who organized the Kindertransport. he rescued 669 children from the Nazis in Czechoslovakia. I have to say that, I saw the trailer, I've seen it twice, and I've cried both times. I don't know if that just means emotional, but, I mean, God, that story is just gets me every time. So I'm, I'm really looking forward to seeing that. Though, I do think that it's directed by James Hawes, who's a TV director, and I do think these sorts of films, these kind of Oscar worthy British films are often a bit televisual, so I'm not sure if it's going to be like the most amazing viewing experience, but I just, that story, you know, I can't wait to
James:Well, I would like to say James Hawes, I know his work from when he was a director on Doctor Who, He was one of the more clearly cinematic directors of the TV series. I'm sure it will translate to his film work, So,
Lily:Okay.
James:to see what I think. Ha
Lily:I take that back, James Hawes. I bet it's going to be amazing. You've already made me cry, so I'm sure it's going to be great. And I, I think I did mention this before, but I want to say again, Ava DuVernay's new film Origin. It's a movie based on this nonfiction book called Cast the Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkinson. And I thought that it was going to be a kind of a nonfiction. Because this book is a non fiction book, so I thought it was going to be a similar kind of documentary thing, maybe akin to Thirteenth, her other documentary, but actually it's like a, it's a biographical drama and apparently the story is of Isabelle Wilkerson as she's, her experience of writing The novel, so kind of meta. So I'm excited about that. Like, especially cause I saw the trailer and it doesn't really tell you anything. It feels powerful and moving. I felt moved watching it, but I don't know what's going on. So I'm excited about that. And then the other film in January I'm very excited for is All of Us Strangers. That comes out on the 26th of January and it is a film starring Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott and Claire Foy as well. And it's directed by Andrew Hay, who made the film Weekend, if you've seen that. And it's basically a love story. Paul Maskell and Andrew Scott fall in love whilst Andrew Scott's kind of struggling with, I think he revisits home, something to do with some kind of past family trauma. There's loads of buzz around it. It's already been nominated for Oscar, for Oscars, for awards.
James:Never heard of that one, sounds interesting. Well,
Lily:it looks great.
James:I've got, one and again, which I hadn't heard of until I was researching for this was, is called American Fiction, which is coming out on February the 2nd in the UK, which is when you look into, it's got a lot of buzz around it. Jeffrey Wright plays an author who, his books aren't very successful. He's a black author and he. He's clearly like a middle class author. I guess like a, maybe a Salman Rushdie type and his books just aren't selling. and his publisher says, we need a book from you that's really black. And so as a joke, he writes like the most ridiculous parody, kind of black novel full of street slang and stuff like that. And it sells shit loads. And he then has to pretend that he's a streetwise kind of quasi. Gangster esque character with a bad life when in fact that's far from the truth. And so just from the trailer, it looks like a good comedy that's got something to say. And it's a, and it's a debut film. It's a writer director called Cord Jefferson and it's their debut film. So I'm always intrigued to see a debut film that's got a lot of buzz about it.
Lily:the trailer for that and it looked genuinely really funny which I feel like is exactly what you want for something that's Like a satire that it has a very important message at the heart, like that's like the, that's what you need. and also, yeah, an amazing cast, Tracy Ellis Ross and Issa Rae are also in it. So, it looks brilliant. I can't wait for that. And then the other, the film I'm, I, my site says, hmm, that It's got Mads Mikkelsen in it, so I'm really excited about that, is The Promised Land, coming out on the 16th of February. it's a Danish film, it's directed by Nicolaj Arsel, I hope I've pronounced that correctly, and it's a historical drama the variety described it as, a commoner turned captain locked in a grisly land battle with a dastardly nobleman. And I've also seen it described as like a, Uh Jutland, Jutland, Nordic, Western. I mean, I saw the trailer and it looks really beautiful, like a proper epic. I wonder if it could be perhaps a bit boring, but it's Mads Mikkelsen, the sexiest man in all of Scandinavia, possibly the whole cinema. So, I can't wait for it.
James:I don't know how hard and fast I rule of when I cut off point is for recommendations. Cause I've got a bit of a blank in February, but I've got a pickup again in like later
Lily:Hit me with it. What have you got? What are we excited for
James:well, I, in March, I'm very much looking forward to Mickey 17, the latest film by Bong Joon ho. Um, and it's shot by my all time, well, not, I don't know, my all time, one of my all time favourite living cinematographers, Darius Conji, the mastermind behind the visuals on Seven. it's a science fiction film starring Robert Pattinson, who plays, a replicant, a, like a synthetic humanoid character and then expendable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize an ice world and, he dies and he gets a new bodies created with most of his memories intact. Sounds like a fascinating premise,
Lily:Oh my god, that sounds, yeah, that's like heavy on the premise.
James:Yeah! And it's Bong Joon ho coming. It's the parasite guy with Darius Conji doing the
Lily:yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for that alone, I'm up for it. I'm up for
James:And we've got Steven Yen and we've got Tony Collette and Mark Ruffalo
Lily:Oh, wow. Oh my god, amazing cast. Okay, cool. Alright, let's see that. We'll probably be back by then, so we can maybe see it for the podcast. And I say that because we're, Yes, tentative for when we're coming back, because our plan had been that we would return for June 2. That is, for both of us, our most, I, that's right, right? Our most hotly anticipated movie. And we were, like, devastated that it got pushed back from November because of the writer's strides. And then got pushed back to the 15th of March. Now it's been brought forward slightly to the 1st of March. So,
James:Goddamn.
Lily:chaos around June 2, but that is the big film that I cannot wait to see.
James:Yeah, I went to see Godzilla minus one last Friday at the IMAX, which by the way, very entertaining movie if you're in the market for a human interest drama set in post war Japan about a kamikaze pilot who decides to bottle it and not carry out his mission and he's socially excluded because he's essentially seen as a coward and about all the different stories about the characters struggling to survive in post war Japan. And then. A big monster comes and stamps through the city intermittently. Then this is the film for you. I've never seen a Godzilla movie before and I bloody loved it. It had a round of applause when the credits came on because everyone was so into the film. But they had a trailer for Dune 2 and it was the full height like IMAX trailer because we've got proper IMAX at the view and it was mind blowing. sequences in Dune 2 look, look incredible. So I'm very excited. Mm.
Lily:Advertised anywhere. You're the only person who's told me anything about it. I've not seen it online. I've not seen trailers What's going on with it?
James:so it only has come onto my radar because some of the YouTubers that I watch, especially Corridor Crew, they've raved about it, so yet I haven't picked up on it through any of the usual channels, this is more, this is more, it's more like a Because the, uh, I think Lily, to be honest, they haven't spent a lot of money marketing it. The thing that blows my mind is it costs 15 million to make, and it looks like a properly big budget Hollywood movie. So, they know how to make films economically. So it doesn't need to make a lot of money to make a profit. And it's already made like 40, 50 million. So they're already. Banging the money and they haven't had to spend a lot. You haven't seen it on the side of buses because that costs money. It's like a more of viral marketing campaign. So it's the first time where I've really seen a film where it was more marketed by my peers, by them all saying, this is a great film, really good. So yeah, that's how it came on my radar.
Lily:Interesting, okay. Well, yeah, I think I might give that a watch actually. I've never seen a Godzilla movie.
James:afterwards I, um, bumped into a friend who's with one of his mates who's a Godzilla aficionado and has seen all of them and he said that's the best one by far. So I guess if you're only, if you're only ever going to one, watch one, Japanese Godzilla film, I think this is the one.
Lily:Okay,
James:out of, out of, the 37 or 33
Lily:Oh, okay, fine, sorry, I didn't know that. Okay, yeah, makes sense. Alright, that's the one. Alright, cool, yeah, I'm gonna see that. Okay, so, this brings us to the end of the episode. And, James, I have a surprise for you and the listeners.
James:Okay.
Lily:Don't worry, it's nothing to be alarmed by. It's nice. It's a good thing. Basically,
James:Hooray.
Lily:seeing as I think one of the struggles of this series for us, this podcast has been pronunciation of names. I feel like we were like, we were really trying very hard just now with all those names, I think we just about got away with it, but with that in mind, I thought it would only be fitting to put together a little bloopers reel.
James:Okay. Okay.
Lily:So, to finish up, to tie up the series in a nice little bow, here is the Boopers Reel of Groovy Movies.
James:that was hilarious. I was hoping we could kind of sweep under the carpet. God damn awful at times. But there it is. Foreground, front and center. Merry Christmas, everybody. Happy New Year.
Lily:Well, the thing was, I also wanted to just sweep it under the carpet but then I listened back to our Taylor Swift episode and not only did I misname the title of the show the whole way through but also I called one of My, one of my favourite songs with her, All Too Well, I called it All Too Much, which seemed to be some kind of subliminal message or something. So I was just so mortified, I was like, I've got to make a virtue of these horrible mistakes. We've got to just own it, lean in, because, James, what else can
James:just, you've just, you've just got to throw us both under the bus. Um,
Lily:I'm hoping it will endear people to us, I hope.
James:mean, we'll find out
Lily:We'll find
James:wait, wait. So, how did you mispronounce Taylor Swift's Eras tour?
Lily:I just kept calling it her era's movie her era's film Taylor Swift's movie Like just like slightly because it's I mean because it's called Taylor Swift's era's tour That is not a great title for a film. Do you know what I mean? That's what I that's my excuse. I don't
James:but I wouldn't want to be pedantic and call you up on nonsense like that. It's just we're just talking, we're grooving. Like, you know, it's the film's called It, Not It Girl. I'm not going to pause the
Lily:Oh My god, yeah, see so many bloody mistakes, but yes Guys, I hope you enjoyed that. That was just a little treat For you and for James to atone for our sins.
James:that felt very festive. That must've been a lot of work, Lee. Thank you. That was lovely.
Lily:Oh, you're welcome. Okay. Well guys, have a lovely new year. Hope you enjoy the rest of the Christmas break.
James:And if you can just remember in the middle of being, off your box on Bailey's to just leave us a like, little review, all helps get the podcast out to a wider audience
Lily:Absolutely, yeah, if you've enjoyed what we're doing and you want to give us a Christmas present just like five stars and maybe some nice words about how much you love all our mistakes would be amazing
James:Yeah. Thank you very much.
Lily:thank you so much guys and yeah we don't know when we're gonna be back but not too long we'll be back before you know it so just keep stay subscribed and we'll be back in your ears as they
James:keep
Lily:before
James:your ears open for our return. Okay. All the best and happy new year.
Lily:Happy New Year! Bye!