The Top 5 Party Scenes in Cinema

It takes skill to capture the effortless spontaneity of a really good party scene. Relatively few nail it but when they do, they really do. This week we compile our top 5 party scenes; from teenage house parties to rave afters, with a surreal French restaurant jamboree sandwiched in the middle.

References
The party scene in 10 Things I Hate About You
The afterparty in Human Traffic (1999)
The party scene in Playtime (1967)
The party scene in The Great Beauty
Watch Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock here on BBC iPlayer

An oral history of 10 Things I Hate About You by David Krumholtz for Vulture
A cute 10 Things I Hate About You behind-the-scenes featurette
Retrospective with the Human Traffic cast in by Phil Hoad for The Guardian
Jacques Tati’s ways of working told by two extras from Playtime
Steve McQueen Q&A about Lovers Rock

Film Pharmacy
The Tree of Life (2011) dir. by Terrence Malick 
Tron: Legacy (2010) dir. by Joseph Kosinski
The Color of Pomegrates (1969) dir. by Sergei Parajanov
Modern Times (1936) dir. by Charlie Chaplin

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Transcript

Lily INTRO: 0:10

Welcome to Groovy Movies. My name is Lily Austin.

James INTRO: 0:14

And my name's James Brailsford. Hello!

Lily INTRO: 0:17

How are you, James?

James INTRO: 0:19

I'm not too bad, thank you. Not too bad. Just, uh, you know, been, been seeing what's coming up on the horizon film wise. And there's not been a lot grabbing me, uh, you know, immediately. What about yourself?

Lily INTRO: 0:29

I'm quite interested in this, uh, Mother's Instinct.

James INTRO: 0:34

Oh, yes, yes, I missed. That does look quite interesting, that. That's kind of snuck up on me. I didn't know much about

Lily INTRO: 0:39

I, I did, I thought it was coming out in a few, few weeks, but it came out last week, and I think the reviews are quite mixed. My site is saying, hmm.

James INTRO: 0:49

It's directed by a cinematographer, Bruno Debonel, so visually I'm expecting it to look incredible, so it could be worth it, just for the, you know, just for the eye candy, I'm hoping.

Lily INTRO: 0:59

I mean, honestly, it, it feels a bit, from the trailer, it looks in the same vein as Mommy Dearest. And

James INTRO: 1:06

ha

Lily INTRO: 1:07

probably won't be as bad as that. I'm sure we'd have heard about it if it was, but I'm like, if it is that bad, I'm here for it. And if it, and if it's filmed well, like you say, if it's great cinematography, then what more

James INTRO: 1:17

Yeah, I'm certainly interested in checking it out, that's for sure. I just hope it's on a good quality screen, because if it is a visual spectacle, I want it to look good, you know?

Lily INTRO: 1:26

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And, uh, and Godzilla x Kong. I keep stumbling over that because it's such a terrible title. Like, it's not, it's not clear how to say it. But it is, I looked at various YouTube reviews to try and figure it out. And the first two I looked at, neither of them said the title of the film. I feel like everyone's on the same page. But Godzilla x Kong, The New Empire, right? Godzilla x Kong

James INTRO: 1:52

Yes, I think that's right. I suspect it's not versus because I'm guessing they don't fight each other so much as they team

Lily INTRO: 1:59

Well, my research tells me, I love that it's clear we have not, neither of us have watched this film, we're not invested in this monsterverse, but it's the sequel to Godzilla vs Kong. They were against each other and now they're working as a team.

James INTRO: 2:12

I normally keep my hand in even if it's just a little bit reading the synopsis of most of the franchises, even if I don't watch them, like I've never watched A Fast and Furious, but I kind of roughly, vaguely know where's the Monsterverse, I ain't got a bloody clue what's going on.

Lily INTRO: 2:26

I mean, it would have completely passed me by if it weren't for the fact that It's been making headlines because it made 194 million worldwide this weekend, so that's 25 percent more than June Part 2.

James INTRO: 2:38

Yeah, now, uh, that, that really caught my eye and I've been digging into Box Office Mojo, which is one of my favorite places to go because, you know, I, I always like to what you can figure out or infer from how well it's done in the box office in various parts of the world, know, over time, does it have legs, all that kind of stuff. I kept seeing the trailers for Kong, um. Godzilla, X Kong, New Empire. I started to see it was getting trailed everywhere. And every trailer, every time I saw it, it just looked like, just noise, generic noise on screen. Like there was so much CGI and so much Durman strang, so much like everything's like at the max, I just, none of it. It just washed over me, you know? I mean, I love a good blockbuster. I love good spectacle, but this just a very generic, it didn't excite anything in me. So I was as surprised as I'm sure a lot of people were that it's done so well, especially off the back of what we're caught, what's being referred to as like superhero fatigue, which I know. Godzilla vs. X Kong isn't a superhero, but it's definitely an action, fantasy, fighting based film. It's like, it's got a lot in common.

Lily INTRO: 3:45

It's definitely superhero adjacent. I've seen it referred to multiple times as a monsterverse film. So this is giving me great anxiety because I'm like, Oh God, we've just, we seem to be just coming out of the superhero phase. Are we about to like dive straight into a new phase of monsterverse?

James INTRO: 4:02

Well, if Hollywood's anything to go by, then yes, absolutely we are. Um, unfortunately.

Lily INTRO: 4:07

It's surprising as well, because from what I've seen, the reviews have not been good.

James INTRO: 4:12

I've done some digging for both you and our listeners to get to the bottom of what the fuck is going on here. Why has it made mega stacks of cash? Because it doesn't make any sense, right? Because that's what, so I've looked into it, and I've also compared and contrasted with June Part 2, because this is the thing that it keeps getting compared to. And I've got, I, essentially, I've got, I've got a fairly solid ish grasp on what's going on with Godzilla X Kong. One word, China. How much money has it made in China alone? Quick guess?

Lily INTRO: 4:44

Mean, cause you've said that I'm going to say 90 million.

James INTRO: 4:48

Uh, not quite as much as that, but, but, ha

Lily INTRO: 4:52

I really took the lead out of your lead out of your no, but the wind out of your sales.

James INTRO: 4:56

Just to keep away from my, boat, right? And, uh, no, he's made 44 million already. Um,

Lily INTRO: 5:02

pretty, I mean that, that's amazing. That's quarter of its, of its profit so far.

James INTRO: 5:07

And that made me then think, wait, so is the reason that this film exists at all is predominantly for overseas markets. So then I looked at Godzilla versus Kong and, uh, that made over its lifetime in China, 188 million. So I was like, ah, it made a fortune. In China, the previous one. So I think this wasn't really made with much of an eye towards its domestic box office. You've also got, where is, um, Godzilla, the franchise where is it from originally from Japan?

Lily INTRO: 5:36

Right,

James INTRO: 5:37

Godzilla versus Kong made, I think 14 million in Japan alone. So I don't think it's been released in Japan yet, or at least I've not got any stats for the new one in Japan, but I suspect that it's kind of Asia Pacific and China audience and numbers are what prompted them to make this new film. It's made 80 million domestic so far. So it's, international haul of Godzilla X Kong is more than it's American haul. So it's definitely been made for overseas, not really for it's American audience.

Lily INTRO: 6:08

Okay, well, we're overseas. Are we gonna see it?

James INTRO: 6:11

Fuck no. I mean, it made, it's made 5. 3 million, which is great for a UK release. But no,

Lily INTRO: 6:16

Well, look, I'm very, I'm very happy that another, there's been another successful box office film so soon after, after June. That's, that's,

James INTRO: 6:24

that, that's the

Lily INTRO: 6:25

year when everyone's, we've, we've been pranging out worrying that it's going to be a tough year

James INTRO: 6:29

I agree with you that I'm very glad for theatres, because the thing I'm worried about this year are theatres surviving, Cineworld is absolutely on the throne. thinnest dangling thread of about, I mean, it's already, Oh yeah. It's already been, it's already going through bankruptcy. I can't quite remember the official status, but it is on life support. It's really, really hanging in there.

Lily INTRO: 6:50

Oh, yeah. COVID or just after?

James INTRO: 6:53

Well, just after and so this year is unfortunately, The year where we'll have less new material due to the knock on effect of the strike. So, if theatres go down, then there's nowhere to actually show the films to support the actors who went on strikes to get more money. So, the whole ecosystem is very, very, like, on just thin ice at the

Lily INTRO: 7:13

Yeah. So thank you, Godzilla. Thank you,

James INTRO: 7:15

Thank you, Godzilla! Yeah!

Lily INTRO: 7:18

But, on that happy note, to the main event. So, last weekend was the 25th anniversary of 10 Things I Hate About You's release. A film notable for many reasons. It's surprisingly sound feminist principles, and Heath Ledger's panty dropping, Frankie Valli rendition, to name a couple. Can you tell that I wrote the script? But it is the house party scene in the middle of the film that was our source of inspiration for this week's episode. So, Great.

James INTRO: 7:48

top five party scenes in cinema.

Lily: 7:50

So, I guess we'll start with a bit of a definition, though I realized after we'd agreed on said definition, one of our entries breaks the rule, but it doesn't matter. Roughly speaking, we're talking about party scenes. not club scenes. so generally a private party, not a public party, though one of our choices isn't a restaurant, but we're going to make an exception because it's futuristic.

James: 8:18

It has the chaos and the madness of a house party. It certainly isn't some kind of slick nightclub sequence, so I think it gets in there just right.

Lily: 8:27

I think inevitably at some point we are going to explore our top five club scenes because I think both these kinds of. scenes are very hard to capture well in cinema. I think we all know of those movies you've watched and they go to a party or they go to a club and it's, you can tell that the people aren't dancing to actual music.

James: 8:48

Absolutely is very hard to make feel convincing, especially in a club. There's a very specific sound that the club has that kind of echoey bassiness that is hard to get right. And then with house parties on screen, um, you know, it's how it's shot. Does it, does it feel authentic? Does it look like a set? Does it look like any kind of house you might've been to and the kind of characters who are there, you know, there's a, there's a lot of elements that are required to make it kind of feel like it's something that you might've experienced yourself.

Lily: 9:14

Okay. So we've, I think we're already touching on a few of the things that make an excellent party scene. Do you think we should just dive in and then, and then we'll explore as we go?

James: 9:22

Yeah, absolutely, I

Lily: 9:24

So first on our list is one of my favorite films. And definitely it was the first party scene that came to my mind when we, when thinking about this subject. And that is

James: 9:36

Now that's interesting.

Lily: 9:38

That is the house party scene in Ten Things I Hate About you, Everyone, I think, it's, it's an iconic scene with, for my generation, James. Like everyone knows this movie. We all watched it at school and like the last day of term and stuff. And,

James: 9:53

Really? So that was, it was your Howard the Duck?

Lily: 9:59

It was my Howard the Duck. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So can we, before I ask you your thoughts, can I just talk? I just want to refresh our listeners memories of this iconic, incredible scene So what I love about 10 things I hate about you and about this party scene is the setup is planted from the very start of the film. So we have the kind of quintessential new kid. In high school introduced to everyone in school by someone nerdy who knows. So just like includes you have the walk and talk of like, this is that group. This is this group. These are all the different people at school. Here's to who to avoid. Here are the losers. Here are the cool kids, et cetera, et cetera.

James: 10:45

And that nerdy kid, by the way, did you by any chance recognize him? Because I was like, Oh my God.

Lily: 10:50

I've recognized him in something later on where I said you were in 10 things. that I bet you, but now I can't remember what it was. What is it?

James: 10:56

he plays Oppenheimer's best buddy in Oppenheimer. The guy he meets on the train and the guy, and he's basically, it's like the same character. It's like a 1940s older version. He's He's the sidekick who's got the quips, but he's also a bit nerdy. Christopher Nolan was basically give me that character from 10 things I hate about you. Thanks. And action.

Lily: 11:16

And there's another link, because obviously he flares you're in Christopher Nolan's Batman.

James: 11:21

Yeah. Well, and also, Joe's and

Lily: 11:23

Gordon levitt. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think Christopher Nolan must have been a huge fan of 10 Things I Hate About

James: 11:29

I think so.

Lily: 11:30

he's a man with great taste. So forgive us for not knowing the name of that, that, actor, but yeah, this guy walks Joseph Gorvin Levitt around the school saying, here are all the different groups and he points out this group of kind of soon to be yuppies. Yuppie nerds, that's called them. and he says, Yesterday I was their god, but Bogie Lowenstein started this rumor about me, so now I'm on the outs. And he's like, don't worry, I'll

James: 11:56

Oh, yeah. I'm I miss that detail. Yeah

Lily: 12:00

because I've watched it a million times. But that's what I love, is that this plant is seeded, seed,

James: 12:06

Set up pay

Lily: 12:07

the seed is planted even, not this plant is seeded, yes, about what's going to come later, chicken and egg. And, uh, yeah, it's true, both kind of work. A seed is planted. Oh my god. Anyway, and uh,

James: 12:20

Just a little side revelation for you there Lily and back on with the podcast you can use on that

Lily: 12:25

this is major. For anyone listening, have you thought about that before? Because I haven't, my mind is blown. Okay, so, so then we, we move forward in the plot and I won't go into all the details, but it's pertinent to the plot that there is a party to get these sisters that are the kind of, the objects of their affection to go to, and this is the moment he uses. So, Michael. He takes a flyer for Boguelo In Seen's Party, which is very much like a small party. It's not meant it's not for everyone to be invited to and makes out that it's like a free big house party with free booze. Everyone should come and he, uh, he's like throws these flyers out into the hall using an amazing needle drop of Sexy Boy by Anna. And so all these kids descend on this house. And poor Bogey lowenstein, he has this incredible mansion. And it's overrun with kids playing music, drinking, smashing precious objects. And he's just like there's this throughout the party you have this this kind of vignette of this guy coming back Like wailing trying to maintain his house and like keep a handle on everything he knows He can't get them to leave So he's just kind of being like guys please careful Oh, let me take that I just I just love this little like Through line of that the party it just adds another layer to it

James: 13:43

I've definitely been to a house party where it was meant to be a quiet party with not many people meant to turn up and it got completely swamped. And in fact, was there and somebody upstairs, I heard somebody, um, in a room go, fuck, ran into the room and they were basically, it was like they were half. Disappeared into the floor and their foot had gone through a gap in the floorboards Because the parents were doing some work on the house. And I remember running downstairs into the living room and I looked up just I had to see it for myself. And the woman's foot was just dangling through the ceiling. the parents had expected, like, a few of their close friends to come round, and this is what happened.

Lily: 14:21

So that's the setup to this party. So what did you think of, of this scene, James?

James: 14:26

I thought it was an absolutely fantastic, movie house party scene. The fact that I even could recognize I've been in a similar situation, like swamping a party that was definitely meant to be a small affair. and I just think you get swept up in the kind of the atmosphere of it. It's nice and busy. There's lots of extras, lots of things going off in, in the party. It's like a, High school teenagers and kind of going a bit wild. I actress's name who plays one of the two sisters, but towards the end of the sequence, she's got drunk and she starts dancing to, uh, is it Notorious B. I. G. G. G. Uh, B. I. G.

Lily: 15:02

Yes, Julia Stiles. This is another reason why I love this, this scene because, the party kind of follows these, the two sisters, Bianca and Kat, as they're being pursued by different people. So you've got Patrick, Heath Ledger's character, pursuing Kat, and you've got Cameron and the douchey guy, Joey, pursuing Bianca. And you kind of follow these two strands through the party, and they're constantly on the move, which is just just amazing. Obviously just how it is in a party, right? You're constantly moving around trying to avoid someone trying to see someone else and like it's it's it's never ever sedentary and um, and then we get to this sort of peak where Cat. it's getting really drunk. She's just decided like fuck it. Everyone wants me to to be a certain way so I'm just gonna like do it and and there's a load of shots, and then gets off on the table, and it's it's a fun, I I love this dancing on the table moment because I really relate to that dancing, like it's not great. She's like she's trying to she's trying to be sexy. She's feeling herself cause she's drunk uninhibited. but her arms are up in the air. She's doing that classic white girl kind of waving your arms about dance, which I have to say I do all the time. She's then like dropping it low and it's It would be embarrassing if it weren't for the fact that she is is going for a hundred percent, you know, there's no, no self consciousness. She's just really in that moment. And I, I don't, so I find that like, even though it's, it's obviously unfortunate because it's an alcohol induced moment of reverie. It's kind of comedy gold because of the way she dances.

James: 16:40

Relatable, eh, Lily? You've been doing it? In that world, perhaps.

Lily: 16:44

I definitely dance like that all the time, but mostly when I'm sober, honestly. I mean, I would love to fall into Heath Ledger's arms and him to be looking after me afterwards. It's great. And then through the film, you've got these switches, right? Because, By the end of this scene, by the end of this house party, Kat realizes that actually she does quite like Patrick and we see that Patrick isn't the scary guy that you think he is. There's complexity to why she is so hostile. I mean, it's not surprising, but you see that kind of come out. And then on Bianca's side, Bianca realizes that Joey, that cool guy, is actually just a loser who

James: 17:16

Boring, self absorbed.

Lily: 17:19

self absorbed and boring And whereas she realizes that Cameron is great and Cameron realizes that Bianca is quite selfish actually So we have these great kind of flips of everyone

James: 17:28

It's, very good for character, switcheroos and everything. The scheming that goes on, the whole setup of how you've got to date this girl so that I can date the sister and then, like you say, them realizing that they're not who they all thought they were, so there's lots of like masks that have been slipped. Uh, during this party sequence, what makes it so good? And I love the sequence, outside of the party, actually. Um, on the swing where Julia Stiles is Cat. She's, she throws up and then they have a moment with Heath Ledger's character. And in the background behind them both on this kind of, is it a swing that they're on? you know, You can see the house party behind them with all the extras and stuff. And that, that, you know, it's a nice moment.

Lily: 18:05

it is a really nice moment. And again, it also feels quite familiar, right? Because whenever you go to a house party, there's like, there's, there's always a moment, many moments, where you're like, This is all a bit much. This is, this is enough. It's sensory overload. I need a minute to go outside. And you have the like, The fresh air, a quiet moment with someone hopefully that you like or a friend or something. And so I, I like that feeling away, but you can still hear the music in the background. I do think it's like the, the peak of so many, there are so many good house part, like we discussed when we were coming out of our five, we, we floated quite a few different house party scenes, right?

James: 18:44

Yeah, yes we did, was rewatching the scene from Clueless, and it's a nice sequence, but it's not as big a scene as the one in 10 Things I Hate About You, you know, it's not as big a part of the film, whereas in the 10 Things I About you. It's like almost the center point of the film. And it's, it's that where all the different characters come together. So it's, it's naturally dramatically a bit bigger, but they've also, that means they've spent more money on it to make it look a bit more impressive. The fact that it's set in a rich person's mansion. So in a Clueless and also in 16 Candles, which is a John Hughes film that contains like a house party scene, they're much smaller scale, they don't feel as cinematic, and I think that's a mixture of the setting, that they're not set in a rich person's house, but also probably for the film, they don't want to spend as much money on these scenes because it's not as big a set piece like it is in 10 Things I Hate About You.

Lily: 19:34

In Clueless, I feel like the reason they go for the smaller party in the valley thing is because Cher lives in a massive mansion. I feel like it's a good contrast to have a slightly alternative, setting and like someone from her school. I think that kind of makes it work. I, I like the fact that it's a smaller place. It's this kind of little condo with a pool at the back. I, I think, I, for me, that fear makes it feel quite sort of plausible as well. I think that definitely works for clues, but there's just, because there's so much builds to this point in 10 things. I hate about you

James: 20:10

This is what it's all leading up to as far as the kind of dramatic states have been building up to this moment here at the party. So everything's kind of hinging around it. And then after the party, the characters continue on their paths., there were a lot of things about the party scene in 10 things I hate about you that you could relate to There's lots of little moments that felt true, but, but all of it was in a, an American. Setting filled with Hollywood kind of gloss. It was shot in a, in a very beautiful, almost fantastical way. You can't imagine that anyone really had an American high school experience like that. However, I'm glad that I, I threw into the pot, as soon as you mentioned this as a. Theme, the very first thing that came into my mind was like, Oh my God, the house party scene from human traffic, which I would say is the British counterpoint if you want bringing down to grubby earth, then here we go.

Lily: 21:01

I'll just say that I, what I like about 10 Things I Hate About You is like every other teen Hollywood movie of this time, and probably now even today, they're always set in a very affluent, predominantly blue. Kind of white middle class world, and I quite like the intent things I hate about you, even though it is still set in that there is quite a bit of acknowledgement of that, you know, throughout the film. So it does kind of, there's this intelligence and a self-awareness to this film, which really, I think is partly why a people love it so much. It's like an idealized version of a house party. Like I can imagine, I can imagine going in a way

James: 21:37

The thing is, well, it's a house party you would love to go to. It's like, Oh yeah. If I go to a house party, I want it to be like that. You know?

Lily: 21:42

Yes, but it feels clean, right? It doesn't feel like a grubby house party. And then, and then we move to human traffic and oh my god, it's, it's reality, it's absolute reality.

James: 21:56

It's almost a bit too reality. It has a ring of truth. Oh yeah.

Lily: 22:01

set it up James, tell us about human traffic.

James: 22:05

So Human Traffic, is a film about the late nineties club culture. I think you could say the director, Justin Kerrigan, went to Newport film school and he was basically a clubber himself. He said that he would go out clubbing at the weekend, then on his come down, he would spend basically midweek, just writing up his adventures and things that had happened, conversations he'd had, and then he just kind of, Threw that all into a script. He said his first draft was 400 pages The film certainly doesn't hold up as any kind of cinema classic. I absolutely loved it at the time. And I think the reason I loved it at the time is because I'd never seen a film that was trying to show that specifically the UK club culture, um, and the club scene as it was.

Lily: 22:44

I haven't heard of it, but I feel like it does hold up, I think it's doing some interesting things. Okay, I know that there are other things like, train spotting or whatever, that do the same thing,

James: 22:54

I think I'm probably not talking about holding up culturally because I think it's almost like a great time capsule. I think more just as, as me developing as a filmmaker slash film appreciator, it's nowhere near the same level as train spotting as far as, Quote unquote, the art of it, you know, it's, it's quite basic, but, but it doesn't stop it from being a fun ride. Don't get me wrong. I think it's worth a watch just to see like, it's a perfect time capsule, of a clubbing scene. It's all about a bunch of mates who like going clubbing at the weekend and what that's like. It's, I think it was the first film role of Danny Dyer. That's where I first saw Danny and he's, he's

Lily: 23:27

a baby Danny Dyer, like he looks like he hasn't hit puberty yet. He's, he's like, he's he's skinny as anything. And he's, he, I think it's, I mean, I've not seen a lot of Danny Dyer, but I think it might be his acting high point.

James: 23:41

Oh, I think it's the definitive Danny Dyer performance. I think he's perfect in it. It's like, it's almost like the ideal Danny Dyer role. And then it's cause John Sim plays the central character who's a great actor. But this. particular scene we're discussing is, uh, they've had a night out, it's clearly about four in the morning or something, and suddenly some they've all got wind of a house party, so everybody's piling back to this random house party that's in like a mansion in the middle of nowhere.

Lily: 24:07

And you have, The protagonist, you, you mentioned Jip is with everyone in the car, driving them to this party. Clearly, like, off his face, he's like, gurning. He's trying to keep his eyes wide. It's like, it's, it's quite hectic. It does echo 10 Things I Hate About You, because they arrive at a mansion. And what's fun about it is that as they come into the house. they break the fourth wall, everyone in this group turns to the camera as if it's someone else, another partying thing, like, come in, come in, we'll show you the party. and they're like, oh, It's like Dynasty. and the camera kind of spins around, and, and you agree, it's like, wow, this is like a massive house. this is so cool, what a, what an amazing place to have an after party in. But it's also, you know, So grim And everyone is so off their face and it's so well done because that is

James: 24:56

feels so authentic because the guy did live that lifestyle. You can tell that this isn't somebody who got a script and they didn't know the subject matter at all. This is a film about the clubbing in the 90s directed by a clubber from the 90s,

Lily: 25:09

Yeah, it really feels that way and in a way that makes me realise that most directors don't really you know, maybe it's just because this, this is something I understand a bit about, you know, I'm not major club or anything, but the small details are so correct. The moment when there's this pause and, they talk about like spliff politics, I think they call it or something like that. And it's about the, Passing around a spliff and wanting to get one. So you start a conversation with the person. He knows what you're doing He's like, I don't want to give it to him. Oh That was like so many moments like this.

James: 25:45

I love the bit where, where very early on, as they go around the mansion, occasionally we'll just cut to random people. We don't know having a conversation, but our core group of friends, they're always orbiting around. It's almost like they're our tour guides around the internet. It's a house party, which I love. And so there's a bit where there's two guys chatting and they're getting on really well. And then suddenly one of them takes a turn. And it's like, what do you mean about that? They'd gone off on a paranoid trip and the camera pans the entire group of friends and they just sing, that's paranoia, mmm. And it's like, that's the rollercoaster of a house party.

Lily: 26:16

I was a bit hungover when I was watching it and I found it quite, like, torturous, like a bit of a painful watch because it was so, it felt horribly familiar when it's like, It's that bit where things start to, like, you're, you're hitting your

James: 26:35

You've passed the peak.

Lily: 26:37

And like, you could see it they, because they have these a couple of moments where Jip is with Coop and Nina is with her friend, I've forgotten her name, the, the other girl in the group and they're both, they're obviously both like best friends and and they're having that, you know, when you're off your face, but you start talking about like deeper stuff and, and having a laugh and they're flipping between the two of them. And you know that that's around the point where like things are starting to peak and pretty soon you're going to be feeling like shit. Yeah.

James: 27:08

and I love it with, with Danny Dyer and the friend that he makes in the kitchen. Cause obviously all the best action happens in the kitchen. They're talking about Star Wars and they're having these big revelations while they're taking hits from what looks like a bong of some description. And, and like, you know, they're getting, they're getting, All profound, and then it, like, the party goes past its peak and everyone's still trying to keep that peak going but then it cuts to them and they're just trying to keep the conversation going they're just like wrecks by this point the magic was two hours ago but you kept going.

Lily: 27:35

And honestly, in that moment, you feel like you've really found a new friend and you've connected with someone that's going to mean something to you forever. And in fairness, that at the start, Jip says that he met Danny Dyer's character, like, last summer at a party. So, there are moments when it does happen, right? I mean, that's how I know you, is for you making meeting people and like, you know, kind of adventure type party situations. But, for the most part it's definitely just in the moment because you're off your face and so yeah seeing the the and then the comedown as the the party progresses and then you get to the comedown, the music's off everyone feels like shit but you can't go to sleep That's the thing is that I feel like Ten things i hate about you It looks like a lot of fun, so it's fun to be in it. And it's also, it's a great scene for, as we said, like progressing the plot along. With this, it's great because it's so real. It's like the opposite, you know.

James: 28:30

absolutely. And I was reading an article with Justin Kerrigan, the director, who I did actually meet in 2001 or 2002. It was at film school. He came to do a, panel about, The film with the producer. I think some of the people who funded it. But there were more people on the panel than there were people in the audience. There were literally four

Lily: 28:48

Oh! no!

James: 28:49

I know, and afterwards, he came to the bar. And so we got chatting to him, which was quite, quite cool. Cause you know, he'd made fucking human traffic. And he said that, it was just him writing down his experiences to just get the feel of what it was like to be clubbing in that time. So he said, there's lots of scenes in the film that do not, do not Advance the plot of the narrative and, and even that party scene, you could say arguably doesn't really advance much. It's like you, you just kind of there with them and you're experiencing a night out. So it's very much, I hate to use this. This sounds way too grand a word to use for human traffic It's very much about the experience of clubbing than it is about the kind of the stories behind it. The bits of narrative that are there are quite thin. They guide you through the various scrapes and adventures. If you want to know what it was like to have a wild night out in the nineties in the UK, human traffic's pretty great!

Lily: 29:37

And that, but that's why I like it actually. What I like is that I'm, I'm, the thing I'm least interested in is the, is Jip, the protagonist getting with that girl. Like it's it's cute for them. I'm happy for them, but it's a great, it's a great film for just, for just being that, just being a night out and how everyone in a friendship group Connects with each other through that the thing that was striking for me was that it was cool watching a film that does feel, like you said, there's total like time capsule of this, this moment, but actually it also feels very familiar, I don't think clubbing or at least going to house parties has changed all that much in the past. 24 years since and that's nice, you know, it's quite cool that there are very few things really that haven't changed that much And, and I mean, in a way, it's it's cool watching an earlier phase of it because I feel like the nineties, that whole sort of, I guess ecstasy generation, that was kind of a novel, new thing, right? And the whole thing of like, parents being like, oh, they, they've obviously not been brought up right for kids to, their children to be doing that kind of thing. I feel like life is, that kind of thing has moved on quite a lot, like, conversations around that have moved on quite a lot, so. In some ways it's cool to watch something where these are people in their early 20s feeling like they're the first generation to ever have a good time like this. And obviously every generation feels that way but it's cool seeing that and then seeing how that was something that I feel like everyone nailed and it's continued in the same way, ever since.

James: 31:16

especially with some of the other clips that we're going to discuss, which are going back a few decades. It speaks to in the end, what, what we all enjoy. We all enjoy getting into the same room or the same house, the bunch of strangers and getting inebriated together and see what adventures unfold.

Lily: 31:32

That's very true. Okay. On that note, I think we should swing back to, again, a very contrasting kind of party scene. We've talked about it before when we talked about this film, The Great Beauty, Sorrentino's movie from 2013.

James: 31:48

I mean, this is the ultimate like decadent party. This is the one where you tell your friends, you wouldn't believe where I went last night. You know, you might say you wouldn't believe what I got up to in Cardiff in the nineties, that, but you wouldn't believe what I got up into Italy. This is the decadent kind of hedonism.

Lily: 32:05

Again, complete contrast to the reality of human traffic, because this is pure fantasy, really.

James: 32:13

It's gloss, it's stylized, everything about it is manufactured to be, I don't know if it's meant to be appealing, but it certainly is very stylish, isn't it? You know, you feel it's an aspirational party.

Lily: 32:24

yeah, it's a good question, actually. Is it meant to be appealing? Because, in one way, it is. appealing, right? Like it looks like a very fun, pulsating, energetic party and everyone is very glamorous and shiny and it's clean unlike human traffic. But the people themselves the men can be quite lecherous, the women all have this air that they think they are the most attractive woman at the party and you're lucky to be even looking at them. Do you know what I mean? Everyone has that kind of face on them.

James: 32:56

They've got a right face on.

Lily: 32:57

Yeah. they really do, Which I think is it's very deliberate, right? I don't think you're meant to feel like it's an inviting

James: 33:07

Even visually, it's not a warm inviting place. Even the visuals, it's got this kind of cold steely blueness don't feel a warmth about these characters. I don't feel like I want to really be in their presence. And when you watch the film, they are kind of self involved, quite shallow people. And, The club kind of reflects that, is that it looks impressive. But really, I don't know, do you want to be part of that gang?

Lily: 33:28

So kind of in contrast to the last two films, with Human Traffic this, the whole film builds to this club scene and then there's after party and with 10 things I hate about you it's kind of at the, it's at the end of the second, third, So again, kind of a build to it. With this, this is, Very early on in the film, it's her this scene introduces us to the lead character, Jep, who I just realized has a very similar name to Jip from Human Traffic. So,

James: 33:54

Do you think he was inspired? Do you think Sorrentino was like, I need to do an Italian riff on this. I need to do my response to human traffic.

Lily: 34:04

I, mean, that would make me so happy if that was actually what was going through his head. Definitely. Um, so Tony Civillo plays Jep Gambardella. And so we get introduced to him. It's at his 65th birthday party. And like you said, glamorous, but somewhat uninviting. party. And I feel like the intro to him, he's like, I believe he's in sunglasses. all the women want to snog him and he and they're like, Yeah! and this woman jumps out of a cake to Everyone clearly thinks he's the most like, fabulous guy and, And I feel like it sort of sets up, you understand who this man is, he's like incredibly popular, he's prone to excess, just like this party. But yeah, there is this feeling that he's like shallow and a bit ludicrous, right? He's a ma This is his 65th birthday. Who has this kind of obscene party for their 65th birthday? and the voiceover comes in saying that he's a writer and he is Jep Gambadillo, and it's just like I think I feel like It's no wonder that it's only in these sorts of stories that a writer's ever this fabulous, like, only a writer could create a character Who is so kind of desired and so chic and cool who is a writer, you know?

James: 35:24

Yeah. When I watched the film originally, I was like, I thought that was kind of meant to be the joke that he'd made this one book that he was dining out on for the rest of his kind of career. I thought that was meant to be part of the, I, I can't. My finger on it,

Lily: 35:37

The first time I watched it, I think I was just so taken with what a great scene it was, because it also goes on longer than you expect, And then there's this whole dance thing where, The kind of the men and the women dance, and Do this kind of dance routine

James: 35:49

definitely would be out of by that point. I'd be like, you know what? It was good for a bit. But then when the synchronized like group dancing happened, I just like made my excuses and left. As they used to say in the tabloid newspapers.

Lily: 36:00

I'd be right in there.

James: 36:02

Ah, right. I'll see you back at the bar, Lily. I'll see you back at the bar. Right.

Lily: 36:10

I, think the subtlety and the, tongue in cheekness, I think, slightly went over my head the first time I watched it, and I could really see it a lot more this time round, right, that I think, these people are all a bit absurd, and, completely shallow,

James: 36:25

but all think that they're somehow really deep.

Lily: 36:28

Yes, the moment when that woman says, she refers to the woman who jumps out the cage. She's like, what did she say? Oh yeah. In total mental And physical decline. And you obviously having watched this film before And that, ah, that's actually alluding to what this film is really about, which is like Rome's, decline and all of these people's decline, but it's quite great. It's a good sort of setup of everyone looking at each other and judging them, but they are themselves just the same.

James: 36:54

Absolutely.

Lily: 36:55

does a lot with what is a very fun scene to look

James: 37:00

It's doing a lot this party scene, whereas in Human Traffic, Human traffic is more about the experience. It's just putting you, this is what it was like. And here have, let's have the, let's have the experience. You might have, they'd have a laugh. You'd have some weird moments and you might fall in love or lots of this. It, those things don't really happen. It's world building the right at the start. It's saying this is the world that our characters inhabit, and this is normal, and this is what they look for in their lives.

Lily: 37:26

I feel like if you, if I'd have paid to see that film in the cinema, I'd already have felt like I've got the, I've got my money's worth in that first few minutes being treated to this kind of over the top opulent indulgent scene. So it's a, it's a fun thing and you're right. Yeah. It does an awful lot to, to, kind of allude to what's coming in the rest of the

James: 37:46

absolutely. And the sound design's great, but yeah, it's a, it's a bit of a scene setting and a world building. It does a lot.

Lily: 37:51

Alright, Well, shall we move on to our fourth top film playtime?

James: 37:56

Absolutely. This was one which only came to me when you and I were brainstorming. I'm very glad it did because, cause I've always wanted to try and find an excuse to kind of get play time into the mix a little Had you heard it before we chatted about it?

Lily: 38:08

No, I, yeah, I feel like we're going to have to revisit this film sort of in in the, in the round at another time. To kind of set it up, it was, uh, it came out in 1967, directed by Jacques Tati, Jacques Tati. And it's a Monsieur Oulot movie, right? Right.

James: 38:29

Yeah,

Lily: 38:30

I know of Monsieur Ullo because it's it's one of my parents references in life, actually. Um, but I've never, never seen any of these films. I think they had the first one, the one about him going on a holiday or something.

James: 38:42

Monsieur Holo's Holiday. I think that'll be it. And the thing is just to give a bit of context here to people who might not know the character or the actor is that this is a character who he performed for decades, you know. So I think Monsieur Holo's Holiday is from the film. And then there's Mon Oncle, which, uh, which is one of his better known films from 1958. And then of course we have almost 10 years later, we have Playtime. And you see you through the films as well. I've not watched, I think I've seen, uh, Monty or Hulu's Holiday and Playtime. And that's it. I'm not some big, big fan, but I just know of them. He was a big celebrity in, France. And so he had quite a lot of clout and his films would make money at the box office. So all those things add up to, at some point in your career, you're going to get a blank check. And so Playtime was Jack Tati's blank check Monsieur Hulot film.

Lily: 39:29

And if that intrigues you as a concept, go back and listen to our episode from series two. Do carry on.

James: 39:36

Absolutely. This is what happens when, Tarty decides to basically go all in and make his masterpiece that wants to say stuff about capitalism, consumerism, the modern world. Ha! And be a slapstick comedy.

Lily: 39:51

So I started by watching the link you sent me to this party scene.

James: 39:55

Which is very short, I realized.

Lily: 39:57

very short. No, no, it was quite all right. It was a good sort of first dipping my toe in and it's like a lot of chaos. It's a hectic, chaotic. party with a band playing and lots of people dressed up in their finest outfits, but really like dancing quite sort of almost violently. So it kind of reminded me of the party scene in Brexit Tiffany's, which was which was on my list as potentials for this top five. I love that party scene. And I mean, part of the similarity is the fact that both this set and made in the 60s. And I actually it made me realize that like, the 60s is a very good time for a party scene because it was this point in American culture and history where The kind of swinging era was coming in and people wanted to have a good time. Drugs were around and kind of becoming kind of widespread in a way that perhaps I hadn't before, but also people just, I think, we're hungry for a wild time, you know in a good time. But they were still dressing quite nicely and formally for a party So everyone's in like tux and the women are in pearls the hair perfectly quaffed They're in like a fitted cocktail dress, but they're like dancing furiously the clothes aren't suited to what's going on and I love that kind of Contradiction, right

James: 41:16

It's the start of people letting their hair down, but it's still within the conventions of what went before. So you may be dressed like your parents, but you're not acting like them.

Lily: 41:25

But it was only then after watching that I was like, okay, I, think I, I need a bit more. So I went and found, I found, I found a version online of the, of the film where they, it had been like overdubbed a

James: 41:38

Hmm.

Lily: 41:40

So it's like mostly French, but it seems like a lot of the, of the, especially the part, or is that correct?

James: 41:48

There are characters who speak in English Yeah, yeah, but but it was all shot in France and I'm assuming with French actors So possibly they got dubbed over by you know

Lily: 41:57

I'm sure because mostly you can hear the French because a lot of the dialogue is almost like background or like they're for the for the whole of this quite long scene at this restaurant because it's a party But it's, it's out of restaurant right with a band. and so people are coming in for dinner and it's just as the scene builds and more and more chaos ensues. But most of the conversations between people are almost slightly like background conversations. So it's mostly French and then you'll just suddenly hear some women go, Oh no, what is she wearing?

James: 42:29

But when you look at those wide shots, you realize that everybody's got something to do. It's not like in most films where the extras are just kind of going through the motions and doing some background business. No, you can see that they've all been directed and they've all got little stories going on. So you can drift from one to the other. And they've all usually got some form of gag going on.

Lily: 42:46

I've never seen such a crowded. Screen. party scene. You're right, because they do pull out quite a lot. And there's so much going on. It's like, it's, it's full on to watch. Because you're just, there's so much going on all the time.

James: 43:02

builds and builds, but it's like a 40 minute scene that it just builds and builds and gets crazier, more hectic. And, you know, this, this cost a fortune to make. iN the show notes, there's some links to some people who were on the set as extras saying about how torturously slow it was, like Tati would wait for the exact right light to happen because he built two stories of the, of the office block that you see, that's not a location. That was a built set. Um, on a, a studio lot that he'd bought and the plan was he was going to make like Tartyland and it was going to be just this complex where they were going to shoot loads and loads of films and the idea being that play, time would would be this huge success and the success of that would fund all of these things. And of course it wasn't, it was a big flop and it cost a fortune. So, his, his, his ideas of A big film studios kind of disappeared. And even the cars outside that all the cars in the roundabout, that's all, that's all been built specifically to an exact design. So it's all the right size, all the car, you know, everything is completely coordinated by him for exactly the effect he wants. There's, there's no, there's no chance in any of the shots that you see in everything has been orchestrated, you know?

Lily: 44:07

It's so impressive. It's a shame it was, it was a flop because I, so I didn't know any of the backstory or the content. I didn't know anything about Jacques Tati, But reading about it and, and so apparently the sixties in Paris there was This whole push towards modernism, so buildings were being knocked down and, and modern buildings in this, in the sort of American style were being high rise buildings were starting to be built. And so, you felt very sad about that. And so this film was sort of an, ode to, The Paris he knew and loved the old buildings by creating a future Paris or a future France, To show the chaos and the, the upshot of, of this kind of all in consumerism,

James: 44:51

and I think there's also something quite poignant about the fact that he chose to use his Monsieur Hulot character because this is a character that, um, the French people grew up with, you know, that you can look at his earlier films and you see Monsieur Hulot as a young man who is in step with the times, The France that's depicted on Monsieur Hulot's Holiday is the France that his character is clearly most in tune with. And then you come to playtime and his character is dwarfed by his environment. The modern world is like, there's almost no space for him in the frame. He's always constantly trapped behind glass and, you know, frames within frames. He's always usually isolated. So he's taking a character that, that French audiences may have known and loved and felt very close to and then it's showing him suddenly out of step with the world that he's in. kind of playing on the theme that you picked up on from when you watched it.

Lily: 45:41

Wow. See, it's, it's, it's interesting to watch something and then subsequently hear that kind of context of the film and what is actually going on there. Because obviously watching that, not knowing any of that, I'm watching what it seems like, oh, this is so cool to see. 60 years ago, what was happening in. The party scene and like what, what I understand to be like where culture was at in the sixties, it's kind of cool to think that this was a film made by an older generation who's like looking at this as something he's not in, step with.

James: 46:17

not in step with, and that he can easily ridicule. He's a comedian ultimately, and he's a physical comedian. And there's a lot of that throughout the film, it's not a slapstick comedy like you might imagine. There's a lot of thought that's going into it. Ultimately, he is a comedian and it is a, it is a funny film, but there's, there's a lot of thought going on behind it.

Lily: 46:34

a very funny scene. Like I did think that when watching, it was like, it's good to have an actually a more, a kind of more pointedly. party scene because that's the thing. It's like what we talk about the chaos. There's just stuff going wrong all constantly in this and it's like building and building getting worse and worse and worse of people,

James: 46:54

And like there's, there's multiple characters have all got different things going off. Like there's a waiter who swaps his trousers around with some other person and, and that keeps building and, you know, so every character has a thing that's kind of either it's a problem for them or they're trying to sort out. And, uh, you know, those things all stack up and interact. And just to be able to pull that off as a director, I I find it difficult when I've got more than two actors in a shot trying to arrange and time that because everyone's got to hit their marks at the right time especially in a big group scene, if there, if somebody's covering up somebody else at the wrong time, then the joke doesn't land.

Lily: 47:31

The party scene in that, like you said, was like 40 minutes of the film, it was the predominant part of the film, and Love is Rock, this is a film I wanted to pick because it, it was also like one of the first things that came to mind, but this is like, this is not just a scene, this is the whole, the whole film, This, is part of the uh, the series that Steve McQueen made, that came out in 2020. And it, the film is, I think it's an hour and 10 minutes. so it's, it's like a short feature film. but it's so perfectly captures a party that I just thought like we, this is, this is the peak for me of, of, of all of these.

James: 48:09

yeah, I mean, I, I'm so glad you, you suggested this because, small acts it's something that's been on my to watch list and just never quite got round to it. So this was great that I watched this. And it's. Amazing. I, I loved it. It's beautifully directed by a master and, it's the sweet spot between it's very, very relatable, but also I definitely would like to be at that party more so, you know, like that's the, if I could choose out of all of these, I think that this is, this is what I would love to be at.

Lily: 48:38

I'm so glad, I'm so glad, we're, we're, we agree on that because that was why I wanted, and we don't, we're not rate, ranking these, these are just five, the five film, the five scenes out of, of I, I think not the huge amount because like I said I think it is very hard to do party scenes really well and for them to feel believable and I think that is like the number one thing that it has to be believable, but this This This one for me is just because it like you said exactly, it's like, it's it's 100 percent plausible and believable and and has the and like with human traffic, it has some of the detail of a house party. I I imagine in the 70s in London that's where it's set.

James: 49:18

I felt it was the early eighties, but that was just a feeling. I dunno if it's ever stated or anything, but if I had to put my finger, I'd say like, early, early eighties.

Lily: 49:26

I think maybe late, I know that the kind of the music, so lovers rock is like a genre of music and that was kind of like mid 70s, but I mean, yeah, could have been early 80s. I, for me, cause there was quite the clothing. Maybe you're right. I'm not sure. You know, I don't know. I'm not

James: 49:44

Okay. But, but around

Lily: 49:46

around this time. Yeah, Yeah, yeah, and the film starts with the prep for the party, so everyone, like the women cooking the food, men moving furniture and setting

James: 49:57

sound system.

Lily: 49:58

Yeah, getting out their records. And it being just very much clearly like someone's real home.

James: 50:06

Everything about it felt felt authentic. And throughout the whole film, it's a very like sensory and sensual film. So there's one detail that I just I loved was when they're all dancing and the music's got a little bit sensual. Sexy and we're cutting around. We see like hands on bums and you know, everyone's got a bit close into it. And then we cut, we cut to a shot of the wall and there's just a one bead of sweat dripping down the wall. And I was like, Oh yeah. You could almost feel how warm it is in there. You can feel that hot heat.

Lily: 50:34

I think that's a that's a signature move of Siva Queen's. If you think about, um, very much in, in, uh, in contrast, very different con like, but in hunger.

James: 50:49

Tell me about one of the sensory, sensual details in hunger.

Lily: 50:53

I I'm not, I don't want to talk about right now cause I'm too happy to be in love as Rockland, but, but there is, and also with shame as well. I think, I think that's what Steve McQueen does so well is to like, you're right. It is very sensory, very central. It's always very, the physicality of, of, of life and, and connection kind of.

James: 51:13

Yeah, it feels like part of his, maybe where he comes from as a vid, as like a film and video artist, but as he made a transition to kind of straight fiction and drama, is this idea of like a bit more poetic, a bit more expressionistic use of like the camera and images. And that's the kind of stuff I bloody love. also love The camera work, the cinematography, we had a very warm, appealing color palette. The whole thing just had this warmth throughout it. And I loved every time somebody would light a cigarette, their faces would light up with this beautiful orange like look, you know, so the color palette had this like nostalgic golden feel to it, which helped make it feel appealing and warm. Even though it's set in a, you know, quite a rundown house, it feels inviting. Um, and, And I loved the, there's just a bunch of the sequence that I love. There's one bit where it's a continuous take where the camera doesn't cut and they're, they're playing like a track and the whole party keep requesting a rewind and the whole party are like, they're, they're kind of the old gang up on the DJ and the whole like dance floor around them and they rewind the record, they start dancing and the cat doesn't cut away from them and they go back and demand a second rewind. And it's like, you are completely with the camera. With the crowd in that moment, it like whips you up into the atmosphere that they were, that they did.

Lily: 52:27

And in the middle, when they're singing, um, they're all singing along to, uh, Silly Games, You feel like you're in, it with them, I think it's one of the most, like, moving scenes I've ever seen in a film, because, I think, well, especially I think the context, because it came out in 2020, I remember watching this in the second lockdown. So it's winter, it's cold, We're all very isolated, literally from each other, and haven't been to a party in the longest time, time probably for most of us, of our whole lives. And So watching that, I just remember being like, oh, it's like so, so moved by it. And just seeing, it's amazing to capture. And I think, I can't think of another film which really captures that, that kind of communal sense of when you're, you're, with a crowd, or like feeling the music and loving the music and loving being together. It's, it's so, it's so completely special and so unique. And, And, also it's really like, I love that it's part of the Small Axe series, because, James, you'll see when you watch the rest of the series, like, that's a series which explores, because the, the kind of through line of that series is about, like, I think, you're, I think it is actually, it's like, mostly set in the eighties London, but amongst the like Afro Caribbean community. So, there are various plot lines that are very, very. Heavy and, you know, exploring obviously like racism And a lot of the difficulties of that time for the community. And this film, there are moments that touch on it. There's a moment where the, kind of, protagonist leaves the party, and, or one of the protagonists leaves the party, and she kind of, like, encounters some racism just outside of the front door. Then she kind of comes back into like the warmth environment of the party and is kind of back in the like, look there and it just, it's like, it shows the light importance of community and like, the kind of power of the party as something that is like a salve from these sorts of horrible aspects of life and the episode does the same thing for this series. I think it's like an important part of it because it shows like the kind of amazing sides of life too, as well as the difficulty, you know,

James: 54:49

Yeah. And I love that you said about the, the, the healing power of the party. Cause there is a character who's like a bit of a disruptive, like slightly out of control presence who kind of, you know, Gate crashes his way into the party and, and you think it's going to kick off with him. You know, it's all, and he kind of does to a degree, but then he goes to the dance floor and he's, he's acting, he's dancing a bit too crazy. And then they kind of think someone sends him a spliff and just says, Hey, chill out. And then he, they get him kind of, uh, doing some MC, some toasting over the dub reggae. And he, and, and then he's like part of the gang then. And it's like the party soothed him. It like absorbed him and it just kind of, he didn't stop him. It just absorbed him and kind of took his energy and put it in the right place. And I loved that.

Lily: 55:29

Yeah, Yeah, And actually what's the other thing that's really nice about it is In a way similar to 10 things I hear about you, but in a, it's done so expertly. I think that's why Steve McQueen is such a like good director for characters is that there are like a number of different people. so the, so the there's a girl called Cece whose party it is. It's her 17th birthday party. So again, I was thinking, of this as like the exact opposite of the great beauty as well. Cause like, we've got this, like, OOF Glamorous over the top party with this, this old guy, the 65 year old guy who like thinks he's everything and then there's this girl, the kind of start of her life and it's her 17 year old party and it's so exciting. But then we have a couple of girls who come to the party, you don't really know anyone and then there are some of the guys who come to the party and they're all these different people and they just have these like, moments you, get there like. They have their own plots going on that are like piecing together and interweaving and they connect with each other as you, as As everyone's does at a small party, you know, of course you're going to interact with other people even if you don't know them yourself. And so it just very well, like, tells these stories. So we get to this point of like and Yeah, the cute romantic storyline between two of them It's like It's just so beautifully done.

James: 56:42

Yeah. I, I absolutely loved it. I thought this was great, and I will be watching the, the rest of the series, that's for sure.

Lily: 56:47

Yeah, I think i'm going to re watch it was so You It was,so nice watching that again. It's so, so, so good, and such, I think for my birthday next week, I'm just going to like play the sound, the playlist from it. Cause that's the other thing, when I was thinking, okay, so what makes a really good house party scene, or party scene, it's like we said, like, feeling like you could be there, it's like a little bit believable, but also, Like, dream like, and, and the kind of thing you want to be at and that, and has some aspiration to it in like, an inviting way. But also you need excellent needle drops, you know?

James: 57:23

Absolutely. You do.

Lily: 57:25

And, both Ten Things I Hate About You and Lovers Rock, they really, in particular, they

James: 57:29

yeah, For me, lovers Rock nailed it. It just made me realize, God, I haven't listened to some good reggae in a long time.

Lily: 57:35

yeah, I know. So, so good. Oh, I'm so glad you liked it. that

James: 57:40

Yeah, great, great film to round things off with. I

Lily: 57:43

Yeah, okay, So, so guys, so that's the, those are our top five films. It was hard to come to a decision, but that that's where we got to. 10 Things I Hate About You, Human Traffic. Why is it called Human Traffic, by the way?

James: 57:57

couldn't tell you, to be honest.

Lily: 58:00

Cause it's quite a, that sounds like a really heavy title. Like it's not what I would have guessed

James: 58:07

no, no, good point. It does, if you are just scanning through your movies to watch, might not stand out as something about the 90s club scene, yeah.

Lily: 58:17

But yes, Human Traffic, The Great beauty, playtime and lovers Rock.

James: 58:22

Yes, and if you've got any that you think we've missed or that should have been included in there, please let us know. We'd love to hear from you.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 58:28

All right, so shall we take a trip to the film pharmacy?

James: 58:31

Absolutely yes.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 58:36

all right, this is a good one very appropriate for our subject matter this week, Hi James and Lily, I've got a new projector and my birthday is coming up What film would you recommend to have playing during the party? So no sound but cool visuals

James: 58:50

Great question. This is playing right into my particular area of interest, which is the best quality picture and sound. But, you know, I have to say, Groovy Movies listener, I love the question, but I'm aching more detail. I want to know what kind of projector, is it 4k? Is it laser? Has it got Dolby vision? Because that will affect the optimal image to project on there for your party to look cool.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 59:12

Can you do an answer for 4k and one for whatever another one is?

James: 59:17

You damn right I can, Lily.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 59:20

All right, hit me with them. Oh,

James: 59:24

It's gotta be a film that just kind of is more visually based. You don't want some dialogue talky drama. So I would perhaps go for on Blu ray 1080p. I would, oh, by the way, listener, you are not streaming anything on your projector. If you want it to look good, you've got to get Blu ray. Blu ray player secondhand or a 4k Blu ray player brand new. Anyway, you want to be projecting tree of life in 1080p. That's Terrence Malick's, I think it's 2010, 2011, Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain starring film about a man's childhood with a quite, uh, an overbearing father figure. But it's got a beautiful 15 minute flashback that flashes back to the dawn of the creation of the universe and goes all the way through from the evolution of the dinosaurs, the destruction of the dinosaurs to finally 1950s America.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:00:08

so what are you thinking like, do you want to play that on a loop or you just play out the film? Yeah. That's

James: 1:00:13

no, that, that chunk, it's like a

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:00:15

Can you do that? Is that an option?

James: 1:00:17

that all depends on the player, but come on, you can just like, click it back, rewind it, press the scene button.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:00:24

You're asking our listener to every 15 minutes at his party or hers, theirs, click back to the start of this 15 minute scene.

James: 1:00:35

nothing worth having ever comes easy.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:00:38

I love it. Cause it makes, you know what, Jameson makes me want to go to a party at your house. I want to see this kind of dedication to the form in person.

James: 1:00:48

Well, if you ca If you came to Secret Cinema at the, uh, the BIM Manchester Screen and Film School, you'd see me, uh, I'm constantly in the pre show before the film starts. I take the videos from one, uh, film or YouTube videos and I combine it with Dolby Atmos music for another input source. So you get like a sound and vision. So every, every five minutes, every time a song finishes, I've got to queue up the next video. I've got to change the next song. It's worth doing because it looks and sounds great.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:01:13

Oh my God. I love this. Okay. I want to go, I want to go to that. Did you have another one then as well?

James: 1:01:18

I did. And I'm thinking something, um, well, I don't know. This is a bit of a curve ball one. I'm going to stick at 1080p and I'm going to say Tron in 3d. You need to get a 3d projector and some glasses, but Tron legacy, the latest one, terrible script, but the visuals. They are these, this neon kind of hyper pop looking image, Daft Punk turn up in there, glossier, silverish, robot looking, you know, you've got, Michael Sheen playing essentially a riff on David Bowie from his Ziggy Stardust era, the visuals are awesome. Eye popping. And if you've got the 3D glasses, blow your mind, look great on your projector. And you can run the whole thing from about the 30 minutes mark onwards without having to loop it. So you've got a two hour of neon soaked visuals.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:01:58

But you're asking your guests at the party to wear 3d glasses.

James: 1:02:02

Now, the point I made earlier, nothing worth having. Ever comes easy.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:02:07

Welcome. Welcome. Now pop these on, shoes off, pop these on. There you go. Enjoy guys. Enjoy. It's just for the background.

James: 1:02:15

as I recall, the question is impressive visuals. If you want mediocre visuals, just stream something random off YouTube. Fine. Done.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:02:22

Oh my God, I love it. I love it. The funny thing is I had the same thought, like I need more information, but, but not about the technology about what kind of a party it is.

James: 1:02:33

If you just want to click a button and put something surrealistic and strange and impressive looking the color of pomegranates would be a strong recommend. No 3D, no nothing, just click play on the color of pomegranates and you will have two hours of surrealistic visuals.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:02:46

All right. That's cool. I've not seen any of these movies, so good job. The color of pomegranate.

James: 1:02:52

yeah, that's like a very surrealistic, um, purely visual kind of experiential movie. It's all very, dream like logic. Nothing really makes any sense. It's perfect for putting up on a screen and having the sound off.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:03:05

Okay, so when I was thinking about it, I thought genuinely, actually, a playtime would be ideal to have in the background. But obviously we've just discussed that. So, um, the other thing I was thinking was like any Studio Ghibli film would be great. Cool visuals, but, but it is quite, Plot base, but I was struggling to think outside of that because then the other thing I thought of that I worry it might seem a bit pretentious, but I think would work really well is something like modern times. You know, the Charlie Chaplin film. I like the The kind of, I guess, jarring or contradiction maybe of, of having, kind of dance music or party music on, and then having this black and white silent film it's like a cool thing to have going, but it's not gonna distract people from the party.'cause you know, it's a silent movie anyway. And I, I, I think it'll just be a nice thing that people will see and be like, oh, that's cool. And then they'll go back to Chang to their friends.

James: 1:03:58

Whereas, whereas, you know, I was thinking with Tron Legacy, it's more like having visuals to a futuristic disco,

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:04:03

Yeah, which I think is great. I feel like yours is like, yeah, futuristic. Let's go. This is more kind of, I don't know. Drinks party maybe.

James: 1:04:13

Maybe Tron's a bit more come on, let's get, let's have a bit of a rave going on. So depending what kind of atmosphere you want at your party, perhaps you can choose from our selections.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:04:21

Yeah, exactly. All right. Well, thanks everyone for listening to another episode of groovy movies.

James: 1:04:28

And if you can find your way to leaving a like or giving us a five star review, it all helps get our podcast out there.

Lily Film Pharmacy: 1:04:34

All right. So see you in two weeks, guys. Bye.

James: 1:04:37

Bye.