This week we chat London night buses, Oscars hype including Everything Everywhere All at Once's winning spree, our now regular synopsis game and out main review Cocaine Bear. We hope you enjoy!
This week we chat London night buses, Oscars hype including Everything Everywhere All at Once's winning spree, our now regular synopsis game and out main review Cocaine Bear. We hope you enjoy!
Quick disclaimer. If you do want to skip to the main cocaine bear review, it's just off to the 32 minute mark. Before that, we have lots of great intro waffle, including talking about the Oscars, talking about our thoughts on everything everywhere, all at once, winning everything. And we also have the synopses game and lots of other great chat. But if you do want to skip to the main review, 32 minutes is for you. Hello and welcome to the Save the Chat podcast. With me, Michael Coburn. I'm joined by my co-hosts from Across the Pond. Well, one of them is across the pond in L.A., Michael Broccolini and Globetrotter. Steve Hodges, where are you this week? I'm in Rectory Road in North London, of all places. Large, easy, sort of consuming. Donna kebabs and fantastic sitting in the rain. But it's been lovely. And it's been good to be back. That's what. That's what you've missed about London. Yeah. The Donna kebabs. In the right. Yeah. Other have been sitting in the rain outside. Other humans Sure but the rain and Donna kebabs. Well I'm planning on doing a sort of Donna kebab in the rain at some point just to get the full sensory experience of everything. But yeah, but no, so far independent of each. Other the true that's true London experience of being slightly drunk, four pints in the rain, consuming a wet Donna kebab. Yes, it has to be wet, you know has to be what the he says in pollution as a little smoke out that overall flavor of the Donna I daily consumed on a on a night bus. Yeah that's the best and getting punched in the face from behind. Yeah it has to end with getting beaten to a pulp. Yeah yeah, yeah. Well, we did actually. Did you ever get punched in the face? But I know we were on a night bus once and Brendan got punched in the face by a random guy. I think just for the story. Which, if I'm honest, I understand that guy. I understand what he was. It wasn't right to punch. I don't think it was right to punch. Of course, the listeners won't know who this is. This is a long time friend, Brendan Harvey, who's also a very talented director of photography, who got punched in the face on a night bus. Um, we got. Oh, yeah, that's the night when we got it was like, Oh, there's going to be a brawl. And I was like, oh, I was like, Oh, we're meant tonight. Nothing happened. I remember that night we were all like, the guy punched Brendan in the face and then sort of walked off the bus. And we also got up like, oh. Well, what's. He done? And then I got off the bus. Then we ran. Downstairs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the doors shut, the doors shut. Shaking will be funny, if only we got. Him in time. It'll be perfect. Then the bus driver went. Just opened the door. Is it You guys want to go? Yeah. Yeah. It's like, Oh, no, we've missed out. He's gone now. Yeah, Yeah, I remember. Like, I would. I would run away. I'm honest. I think I was starting a fight, but I remember trying to leave a club after eight points and I was trying to get out of a door. I just wanted to go home and I started kicking this door because I was drunk and I shouldn't have kicked it, but I was kicking this. Why can't I just leave? Remember being so feeling such a sense of injustice that locked me into this club? And then the bouncer just grabbed me and then dragged me across the club and then threw me down a flight of stairs. This was in the Stockwell Club and basically, like, you know, ruptured my ankle. And I was on the street for a bit claiming I was going to sue them. And then, of course, woke up in the morning. I thought, it's not worth it, but I think I still got a Donna kebab on the way home. Right. So that always seems to be violence, isn't it? A little bland? Well, they don't talk about probably cheer you up a bit and then stopped your litigious thoughts. Came to your senses. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I don't tend to do. Yeah. If you're feeling litigious, just get yourself a Donna. You'll feel better, actually. But. But also, presumably they've got footage of you trying to kick a door, and so that. Well, exactly, Exactly. In fact, I remember that's what my girlfriend at the time said. She said, Come on, they can see you. And maybe you ruptured urine. And. Kicking the door as well. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point. Well, true. It's probably way more dramatic in my head. It was probably the most pathetic thing. And on CCTV, I have in my head I was trying to be random and then just got beaten. You did your best, but there were just too many of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Big, big bouncers who are quite unreasonable. But usually because you're talking to drunk people as a sober bouncer so that the reasonable ones. Really fuck me. What a job. Yeah. That reminds me to. To watch Kickboxer again. What a film that is. Yes, indeed. Any Van Damme film or anything else, You know. Cheesy dancing mixed with fly kicks. That's what you can expect from that film. Yeah. Um, so there are. About thousand of them on there. Yeah. Before I go, somebody asked me a good question, which I realize we never really addressed on this podcast, which is why are we called Save the Chat? And I realize if you're not like, uh, sort of, you know, if you've not really delved much into the world of like film writing or whatever, you probably don't know the phrase save the car. Hmm. So would one of you like to briefly explain what what Save the cat is? Well, it's a screenwriting manual, isn't it? By authors Faith Snyder, which basically just gives you a very quick rundown of the Hollywood formula of screenwriting beat for beat, which is supposedly the Hollywood formula if you're creating quite a basic narrative film, but something that has worked for decades and and is always a go to, you know, should you be stuck if you're a writer, it's worth reading as a foundation. Yeah, but from memory of it is I mean, it also there is there's a moment where it sort of says, you know, this needs to happen on page 17. If it doesn't, your script should go in the bin. Yeah, so it's a little bit details in that way. But, but I think generally the beats are quite good. Yeah. And then then. The very specific. And then the original bit is like save the cat as in the um that if, if your character is an asshole and because obviously all characters are super flawed that are overcoming a journey, the more flawed they are, the more interesting it is to watch. But then at some point you go, Do we like this person? So? So they set. The trick is have them as bad as you want them. Just make them save a cat early on in the film so they have a redeemable quality. And you know. What I said? I've actually had literal cats being saved. Um, in my script. Unfortunately, those scripts will never see the light of day. But if you see, I was watching, I was watching with the kids just the other week, The Incredibles and Mr. Incredible literally saves the Cat at the beginning and they're there and it's used a lot. I mean, Pixar, I think some of them Pixar said that they use save for. I know for sure. And I hate to bring it up again. The writer of Paddington literally used Save the Cat beat in. Two or one. For both both films, both in. The film. It's just a way of going, wow. Yeah, yeah. It's like a relatable character who's who does something very good at the beginning. Could be giving that sandwich to a homeless person that would be saving in the car. Could be a Yeah, yeah, exactly. So some sort of early scene to get you to like the Yeah, I think the main character Yeah. Some values and then you very clever and you switch stick cat with a chart. Exactly. Yeah. Genius. Yeah. At the top. Yeah. Um also because that's literally what we do. We talk and then we save it. Well, I didn't, unfortunately, I didn't save my recording last time, but, um. It's actually very ironic. Sometimes we save all chat, so. Yeah, hopefully we're saving this chat. Maybe we can choose. As hopefully they save. That's a very good point. Yeah. Um, actually, and our film this week is Cocaine Bear as promised and I'm not sure if the if the cocaine bear does save any cats at the beginning of this film, he probably eats them. But you know, you can't. Yeah, I can't expect to buy your own cocaine to, to have that many values. Um, but we're going to get onto that a bit later. Hmm. First of all, I think we should talk Oscars a little bit. And I think I said that I loved everything everywhere. And it was going to win everything. Yes, You said I remember specifically. You said that you said once and we were talking about talk about what actually. And you were like, hey, yeah, I just I have this urge to say. Um, yeah, I think everything everywhere, all at once, we'll win all the awards. You were a little bit off, but not much. And it did win all the awards. I wish it. Which, like you, I was very as I said when we reviewed it, I was very I said I'd be very surprised if it won anything and they won everything. So this is an interesting point because it's sometimes you think you're out of touch when you when you make these predictions and then they're completely wrong. I really was convinced that the Oscars would give most things to bunches or in the sharing. But they went with they went with everything everywhere, which I was very surprised by. So, uh, yeah. Were you guys also surprised by that? Well, it was a very original film. It doesn't surprise me too. I mean, even though I wasn't the biggest fan, I can appreciate its originality and I can appreciate how bold it was as a film, you know, whether that was the storyline, the VFX, the choreography, the madness of it. But then, of course, you know, my my old sort of knowledge of the Oscars was like, you know, is sort of revolutionary developments in film and this or that. But of course, you know, it's a big voting session, isn't it? But just basically by all the directors, all the actors. So so it's all vote based make up the academy. So a huge proportion of the cream of Hollywood all agreed that it was superb. Five out of five. So do you think they mainly would have done that based on originality or. Yeah, something they think they hadn't seen before? I guess so. I mean, it could be anything. I mean, people can judge films for any reason, to be honest, but emotional satisfaction, originality, just general enjoyment. But I think it's, you know, if you're in top of the top of your game in the industry, to have someone execute a fairly solid, very, very, very original film, big respect, because filmmaking is hard and if you're replicating old techniques, then that's the safer way of doing things. But if you're breaking new ground, that's fucking impossible. And I think that they did something impossible in many ways, which is admirable, particularly from fellow filmmakers. Yeah, and I know that there's a lot of people who feel underrepresented in Hollywood that felt, Oh, I could really relate to this because there's also the dynamics when you have a story about a parent and kids, right? And it's a white writer, American or Western writer, we're going to write what we're familiar with. However, the whole fucking world is watching Hollywood films and yeah, I don't know. I just feel like as I've understood it, it just gives a lot more people a voice that maybe have been a little bit not a little bit very much so underrepresented. Yeah. And then like, yeah, like she says that it's very original crossing genres I thought was really cool that he was spoke about it like is that actually a rom com in between all the press and the funny lines? Um, which was kind of cute. Um, we're about to review cocaine beer, so I think it's interesting to see how many kind of types of films that can be made and for what reason. Yeah, right. Totally. You know, bears on cocaine, it's quite an original concept, so I guess that's probably going to win next year's best picture. Well, very well. Right. Presented right. Because it's not Kalki was in character for the last one. They had a beer at the Oscars or no. Without it just Yeah, I think they did. They had a sketch where their back comes out because I think the director Elizabeth Banks, wasn't she? Yes. Yeah, yes, Yes, she was. She was. I saw that and they had a they had a bad come out, you know, both of her who's clearly high on cocaine. Yeah. Oh, that's funny. But yeah, for me I guess it was kind of unfortunately, a bit of a nail and another nail in the coffin for the Oscars for me. But it's not for me. The Oscars I. I've decided. So. All good. Um, yeah I think she's and weirdly looking at the previous winners and maybe that's going in a different direction because that was partly what surprised me is it's a very different film to the kind of film that normally wins the Oscars. And maybe that's a good thing. And I know that they're scrabbling for viewing figures that because I think the viewing figures are going down year by year and maybe it's because of the kind of films that win, because they're usually more arty, more emotional based, like last year was Coda, which I actually never saw the year before. Nomadland Parasite is that green Book before that Shape of Water, Moonlight, Spotlight, Birdman, 12 Years a Slave, Argo. So going back, this seems like a very different type of film. You're reading this out, right? You don't have this by memory. No, no, I'm actually reading it off Wikipedia. Oh, okay. It does sound about like you've got an encyclopedic knowledge of of. Yeah. You had. No, I wish. I wish. No, I've just got it up on Wikipedia just now. Looking at them now made me realize, you know, it's very different to most of the maybe that's good. Like, yeah, I get, I get it. So in terms of like, again, my least favorite exercise in filmmaking, the box ticking stuff, I guess I do get it, but it doesn't. I'm very surprised in terms of how how, how bored I was and how clearly it won. But I think it seems to have split. I don't remember film splitting the audience so much in terms of people who hated it and loved it for sure. But I, I think that's one of the things is that before yeah I think it was also a I think we're getting older. So before we just looked at the Oscars and just like, okay, that's Bible, that's fine. And now we're older. So we started to doubt. I'm sure people in our age 20 years ago or ten years ago were doubting why, especially when it was literally overtly racist. I'm sure there were a lot of, um, but people that went, okay, this is, this is, this is not accurate. But I and I think it's one of those things where like being part of the game hasn't happened ever. And it's starting to happen now with literally within the last what Well since Will Smith are all people started to boycott them genuinely that's when they went Oh shit, Oh shit, we got to do something. As a collective, as a Hollywood collective. As a cult. Yeah. In terms of, well, at least the Oscars and that But you're right, as a Hollywood collective collective, because then and then I think that game is right to do because especially if you walk in America, is when you realize that especially in L.A., it's just it is just a melting pot. It's like if you took a handful of people from each continent and just threw them into a city or a country, but all everyone apart from white people alike, they're kind of following what's already happening. And then after a while or after generations, they go like, Hey, can we have a go? Can we just have a go? Is it okay if we try? And then we go, Yeah, just don't don't do it too much. But and then when we find something that may be, you know, we can't relate to 100%, um, and the question this is controversial, but is it, you know, I don't know. I think it's just having more people be part of the game for longer to be able to judge everything at a certain quality and not like you said, not just because it takes boxes, because sometimes stories is just a stories that someone can relate to is enough to hear if it's perfectly told. Yeah, ideally it should be, but at least the fucking story. Like because there's so many things in Hollywood, it's the same fucking story over and over again. Because as white writers explaining our childhood, which is very different, like very different. And it's good. No, you're right. I mean, it's definitely representative of, you know, Hollywood more and more the last few years trying to address the imbalance of those particular stories that might not have existed really before. Now, as in, of course they existed. They just weren't told. And, um, yeah, and I think Holly, Hollywood is a collective. It feels like it's that's what was the interesting thing was that, you know, it was polarizing for the audience in general. Globally, it seemed right. But the Oscars are voted by that Hollywood collective or people put their vote. So they, I think, were just as much as they thought it was original and great and did it. It was you know, this is this is a great story worth telling. And this wouldn't have been told 20 years ago. Probably wouldn't have got the financing. No, that's true. That's true. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe it didn't. But but they need to we need more stories like that. Well, I mean, it's interesting. They because, you know, you could have said and I remember some people talking about parasite in the same way that it was kind of box ticking. But I never felt that with that film, I understood why that film won. Right, right, right, right. Because it felt more like a serious film that should be considered amongst the serious best films made. And this one, it just felt like a different genre and not something to be taken seriously to me. But again, like with everything we say, you know, it is really subjective. And so you can never say the wrong film one. Obviously I just suddenly I felt this year more than ever, that there were influences beyond what was the best film to be taken seriously when they decided what should win. And even with the performances, I didn't think Michelle Yeoh performance was particularly great. I don't think she's a particularly great actress actress. I think she's a very impressive person and I think she's great. Who? I mean, someone who can mix the action. You know, most most martial arts action stars can't do as well as she did in terms of the performance, but I still don't think I performance was that good. So it's a it's a weird mix of things, but I guess you can say at least they're trying something different. It's a different type of film that's good. It's bringing more attention to the Oscars. There's very much talked about, so it did its job. Thank God. We have these fresh perspectives, though, because, I mean, the thing that we're seeing out of these stories and these perspectives has existed forever is that we haven't been shown them. And I think that adds to in our eyes, in a lot of people's eyes, I think, a certain freshness because it's interesting, right? Why? Why wouldn't it be? I mean, at least it is to me. I'm fascinated by other cultures and I'm fascinated by every aspect of other cultures. And even though with a film like everything, everybody, you know, wasn't necessarily for me, but I was fascinated by a maybe it was a family dynamic which is culturally different to my own, or they talk about things in a certain way, or they pull themselves in a certain way. There's a freshness there, and I hate to say it as it's originality because of course it's not original because it exists. Yeah, but but to certain eyes it is. I think you could argue. Yeah. An interest comes as a result, you know, it's exciting. And then the question becomes if that that culture not only is like, oh, we're, we're introduced to this culture as a new thing and this is interesting, but that culture becomes a culture that everyone knows in depth. Then the next films that are about those cultures are more relatable, therefore more enjoyable. And then it's not like about once in a life. Every once in a blue moon we get to experience a new culture, but it's like, Oh, we get that now. Yeah, yeah. It's there should. Just be a balance, right? I mean, I think and I think that's what's happening now. There's, there's an imbalance and there has been in filmmaking history a huge imbalance. And it's being addressed whether, whether sort of actively or in actively corruption that it or it's sort of just, you know, a natural subconscious. I mean, in a lot of companies, it's firmly in their policies, right, to have a balance of everything, you know, whether that's company hire as well. That's diversity policies, whatever that might be. You know, people are firmly making active steps to change things. That's the ideal place you want to get to, I suppose, which is the every everyone is the pool is larger for everyone. So then when you narrow it down to the best people, there won't be any lasting quality of whatever it is because the pool is so large that it is what you, I guess, want to aim for. So I guess that's a good point. The more you that's the more they see themselves represented, the more likely to get to get into it. Then the pool is larger than the films about it and everything is. Yeah. Is that so? So and that's, that's. That's it. Yeah. Um, okay, let's we're, we're sort of eating at the time now, so let's, let's move on from that. But that was interesting though, and it's an ongoing debate and it's a good debate to have and it's good to hear everyone's different opinions on it. Um, diversity of opinion also is good. Let's go on to the synopsis game. Yeah. Just before Megan says the synopsis game we talked about job quickly the other day, right? In honor of the film this week I thought what could a spinoff of Cocaine better be? And I'll try and get you to write me a synopsis for two potential spin off films, two cocaine ban. I'll tell you what it came up with. Amazing. So the first the first one I told that to write me a synopsis for was LSD Weasel, and I told it to write me off as crisis for LSD reason. And let me tell you what it came up with. And I get two and they're very different. It's actually quite funny what's come up with. So LSD Weasel is a whimsical and psychedelic adventure that follows the story of a curious and mischievous weasel named Whiskas. One day, while exploring the forest, Whitaker stumbles across a small tub of LSD and accidentally ingests it, sending him on a trippy and surreal journey as he navigates through the forest, he encounters a cast of quirky characters, including including a wise old owl, a playful rabbit, and a mysterious, mischievous squirrel. Together, they embark on a mind bending adventure film with colorful, colorful visuals, surreal landscapes, and mind altering experiences as effects something LSD begins aware of, Whiskas realizes his journey, taught him valuable lessons about himself and the world around him. He returns to his first home with a newfound sense of wonder and a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of all things change. Empathy is amazing. That came up with that in 2010. Second, for. A for an AI. And I bought to have something so well articulated is that is that is extraordinary. That is unbelievable. I mean, it's not I mean, you know, if you compare LSD with cocaine bad the use of okay one's a sort of bit of a trick so you know cocaine bad you at least you get a sense of aggression which might provide some conflict but but like, you know, a monkey, heroin monkey, a film is going to be a monkey on a mattress for 90 minutes. You know, just staring at the ceiling. Well, whereas is porn possibly the same with LSD? Weasel just wandering lightly through the forest? I urge you both to give this a try and tell it to come up with. I even got it to write me a poem. I will go into that later. The second one is called Crack Parrot. And so I told them to write the synopsis for Crack Power and it took a very different turn. Let me tell you what it wrote for Crack per so beautiful Crack Power is a thrilling horror comedy that follows the story of a curious parrot named Rio, who finds a mysterious bag of crack cocaine deep in the Amazon rainforest. Rio, who is known for her adventurous spirit and love of shiny objects, unknowingly ingests the drug which gives her supernatural abilities and turns her into a frenzied feathered fiend. It's even got some alliteration, and I don't understand this thing Anyway. As Rio wreaks havoc in the jungle, a group of unsuspecting tourists stumbles across her path and become her own, become her unwitting victims. With her newfound powers and insatiable craving for crack, Rio turns the rainforest into her own twisted playground, leaving a trail of destruction and chaos in her wake. But when a brave wildlife ranger sets out to stop Rio and save the rainforest, he must confront the pirates dark, addictive powers and face the ultimate showdown between man and bird. Great power is a wild and wacky adventure that will leave you squawking with laughter and trembling with terror again. 10 seconds to come up with that. Very good. I mean, what, we're in 2023 and a robot. Well, what's the future is bleak for humans. Screenwriters, it feels like right now is because in if that's if they're doing that now for robots doing that now in ten or 20 years when we're in a full is now fifties peak career, this robot is going to be writing ten out of ten scripts That's what that's that genuinely is what it feels like is going to happen. Okay. Anyway, let's get on to the world famous Save the chat synopsis game. If Megan is ready. Can make me. Okay. Go. Can you hear me? Uh, can you guys? Yeah. I can. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Go for the game number one is called Upstream Color 2013, and that logline is the romantic tale of two kidnaping victims who are infected with mind altering forms. Number two is Parrish 27, And the logline is a thrilling comedy horror about a group of children who find a ghost who helps them develop a potential cure for cancer until the government tries to shut them down. And then number three is called Penguin's Memory from 1985. And the logline is a dark, gritty drama about the trauma of war. But starring cute, animated penguins. Cute, animated, short story, just missing. Penguins. Oh, of course. So the last one had a year. She's trying to catch of the day. What was the first one in 2013? Which one did you write? I just cut to the chase. Yeah, we have a. Ghost. Okay, so the first one Ops. Yeah, I think that's real. The second one was Cold War. What was the second one? Call? Perished. Perished. She had a little smile in her mouth. Yeah. Can I just repeat that one? Kill briefly. Repeat that one. Okay. It's Parrish 2007. Wait, Which one pairs a thrilling comedy? Thrilling comedy? Horror about a group of children who find the ghost who helps them develop a potential cure for cancer until the government tries to shut them down. I really like that one. I think that's like. It's like E.T., but with one more layer that actually eat had a fucking purpose because he didn't do much except for touch things and eat ice cream and shit. What did they eat? What was his purpose in Casper? The Friendly Researcher? Yeah. Casper, I take. She's like, rolling her eyes like, Oh, I wouldn't know because I'd be like, your last. One. The last one is that animator. And what was the last one? You penguins. Should. The last one called Penguins Memory Penguin 1985. And it says a dark, gritty drama about the trauma of war, but starring cute animated penguins. Well. Interesting. That's my personal favorite. As in to watch or that To watch. So To watch. Yeah, just to watch. I like you like penguins. Yeah. You like love you always like you always love. Yeah, I love Paddington and I love penguins. Um, bit. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. What? I'm going to go for the middle one that Meghan made up. The cancer one. Yeah. Yeah. I wished. Meghan. Meghan is a very good writer, and I think that that title I'd give Meghan credit for because I really like the title. I think it's quite clever. Yeah. I think that upstream Color could be the fake one. Interesting. Yeah. The way she said it, she was apologetic when she read out the log line of that one. The last one. She laughed so it wouldn't have been that one. She wouldn't have laughed at her own. She's, you know, self-aware, but she was quite confident. The first one she was a bit apologetic that would add that that would make sense. Um. Okay. All right, let's give up. All right. Because then we can go on. So let's do it. Cocaine Bear review. Upstream color for me, I think, is this fake. Perished for me. Yeah I think I'm leaning toward perished as well. Let's see. Uh, he's saying upstream color. He's also saying perished. Which one did you write? Perish he wrote perished. Oh, yeah. Like a nice. You can tell Meghan I was giving her solid credit for my choice of upstream color there. But unfortunately, it wasn't her who came. To the was saying. Well, I think Perish is a very good title as well. Perished. It's very good to know the Sea was saying that he was giving you too much credit because he thought it was the first one because the title was so good. Uh, but unfortunately, you didn't write that. Yeah. I didn't. Yeah, it's okay. It's okay. I just. He was a bit distant. Good choices. Yes, very good choices. I want. To see this Penguin War film as. Well. A war film I want to see is all 100% a bit vague. Um, but. Yes, but you pique your interest. It really was. It does. It's Graeme. Coke, cocaine bear, the. Successful game of, um. So let's go and just get onto cocaine bear quickly. Um hmm. A brief, brief cocaine bear. Details written by Jimmy Ward and director Elizabeth Banks, who many people will know as an actress rather than a director. But she she is now a she is main cast Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich and Osho Jackson Ice Cube's son, who I love seeing. And yes, a brief plot. In 1985, drug smuggler Andrew C Thornton. The second dropped a shipment of cocaine from his plane. The attempts to parachute out with drug fueled duffel bag but knocks himself unconscious on the doorframe, causing him to fall to his death. His body lands in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he's identified by Bob, a local detective. He concludes that the cocaine is likely from a drug kingpin. Meanwhile, in the forests, in the chatter, Chattahoochee National Forest, an American black bear eats some of the cocaine, becoming highly aggressive and beginning a killing spree. That is quite a synopsis as well. It could have it could be included in our game. Maybe it may be years in the future. So we'll do a game like this and not believe that this film actually existed as well. Um, in terms of comedy, horror, I love the genre. This was not a particularly fantastic entry for me. What did you guys think? Look, I love high concept films, generally speaking, and you know, whether it's like Snakes on a Plane with Jackson or it's like a shark, I think that always it's always in response to it. But this, for me, wasn't particularly scary. Wasn't particularly funny. Um, even though, of course with these films, you get the whole idea of the film within the title itself. I expected, I expected more. And also I'm not great with VFX. It takes me out of it a little bit, like with The Bear, even though I appreciate the crazy work that was done, VFX was at the back. It was a bit mad, wasn't it? It had three interesting moments, but sometimes it was. It lingered on the birds a bit too much. You're like, Oh, this is it's so ridiculous. Which of course the whole wasn't intended to nab. But it wasn't. And I spent a lot of money on it as well. I think they did. I think I was reading a huge proportion of the budget. I think the budget was 30 million or something. Went to this specific VFX workshop house, this post, our specialized VFX. I think that half the budget went just to them, you know. Yeah. To, to execute it because I can imagine the amount of frames that were but it still wasn't great for 2023. I was expecting a lot better. Is like Jaws right. Don't show the shark. Um, yeah. No, but I showed the bear. It was. And you can tell they spend a lot of money, but it's still not believable. And if it's not believable, I'm not scared. But, um. No, I mean, on 75 million. 75 million box office. Yes, yes. Yeah. So far. Which often these high concept films tend to do because it's the trailer's so, so easy to post. So easy again, I think a bit like Meg in that film shot it about an episode to whatever, you know, certainly a younger audience is the target 100%. Yeah. Teenagers, people in their twenties and stuff because I mean you know, there really is, I would say more or less zero character development, anything out the window. I mean, there's a sort of vague father son thing, isn't there? But, you know, it's just about know, it's about a bear on drugs. It's killing people. I mean, if you look at a film like as a Canadian film called Backcountry, which is about a couple in the woods hiking and a. Bass. Not to spoil it, but that's terrifying. Very terrifying. And like Jaws, but you just said, you hardly see the bag. And it is terrifying. And I think good. Tagline Buried ten. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, I think you've hit on the exact two problems I had with that immediately, which was first of all, too much of the bear. So it's not scary enough. Second of all, uh, the characters, you don't, none of the too many us, they had three groups of characters. You flip between them, you never really get much time. I mean, I thought the blond kid was quite funny, but other than that, I mean, if I was thinking my favorite comedy horror films like Shaun of the Dead, um, Tucker and DAVIES, Evil Ghostbusters, those types of films, they succeed because you're invested in the characters very early on and so that you can get away with a lot of wackiness. You can get away with a lot of bonkers things going on in the horror, and you can still be interesting. Even if some of the bits are here for you, you're still right there hoping that hoping that the characters get, you know, what they want. And in this one you're just kind of it's too much flitting between the main characters without any sort of investment. So again, a bit like making you get bored early on. Well, it's just a lot. It's a string of set of sets in that way of violent deaths, which is great. And it's sort of I suppose it's on some level it's entertaining because, oh, how are they going to be killed this time? Where's the leg going to fly to on this occasion, you know. Yeah. But yeah. It doesn't really link up I don't think is a film and I found myself just getting a bit bored to be honest. But I was 16, probably. 1975 million. So one might be thinking we as a production company are doing something wrong because we're saying this film is shit and we're poor, but they're making 75 mil. But what I think was really, really clever about it is that the title alone makes you want to watch. Yes. Yes. So cocaine, beer. And it's kind of if you look it up online, it was a true story. I don't I'm going to I don't give a fuck. I literally I literally said I don't care how bad it is. I'm going to watch it. 2 minutes. Yeah, I was like, this is a pilot. Yeah, the first it's just 35 million. That's what really annoys a lot of money. That's a lot like there's no excuse really, because it felt like a glorified student film. It did. It did. It did. And if you spent like 500,000 or a million, actually almost. Fair enough, because it's very difficult. But you spent 35 million. Yeah, it made me angry. But. But you're right about the title and that is the genius of these high concept films. If you have a punchy title with a trailer to match it, you probably will make decent money as long as it's professionally made. You know, I mean, it's funny in the cell because I saw that in some territories it's been renamed as Crazy Bear, which made me laugh because, you know, it doesn't have the same effect, is it? No, it's not quite that cut me crazy back. Sounds like a little teeny is sort of, you know, thing on Amazon Prime for kids which of course maybe it is and don't get confused if you have kids don't put that on. You know. Yeah. And like you said, it's piggybacking on these films like Sharknado and things like that, which were not big. Yeah. Snakes on a Plane. Right. For these. So these bonkers. Yes. Sort of B movie. But this is, this is not quite B-movie. It's it's sort of these kind of films and now upping themselves a little bit into the mainstream, but they're sticking with their ridiculous premises, which I quite like. I like a film like this. Being in the cinema, I love comedy horrors. But in the end, this was a disappointment for me, mainly because of the characters. No, you know, I mean, less of the bear and more, more character development would have made this a great film. But if you have Elizabeth Banks, that is going to direct it. And she she's done a couple of films, directed a couple of films now, starting with the whole movie 43 thing. Yeah. Um, yeah. And you have a film with the premise of a cocaine bear. I think that's a that's a done deal. Yes. Yeah. Well, I think unfortunately as well, she was kind of a back up director and originally Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were attached to are the guys who did the Lego Movie and uh. They ended up doing Scream. Yes. And they ended up doing the new Scream film. That's right. But I think yeah, this film with that writer and director potentially would have been more of a more of a satisfying film because those guys. Yeah. Okay. So we'll be watching it again. Scott won't be watching it. No, not, not, not once again. Although like you said, I think you touched on Steve. Some of the gory bits were quite good. If I had to give a compliment to some of the bodies. Yeah, Yeah. The bit and the bit in the ambulance. Yeah, it does. Yeah, it does. When the face is being in terms. Of groped along the tongue. Yeah. Yeah. That was exactly. If you want to see a bonkers bit of it. Right. And you're not expecting much character development and you want to see some silly scenes and some and some just unbelievably bonkers action scenes with a bear on cocaine. You won't be disappointed. But if you're expecting. Yeah, something like a Shaun of the Dead, you will be so. Yes. So yeah, let's give it some scores. Oh, God. Oh, God. I'll give it, I'll give it right. I'll give it a six. Just because I would love to see more comedy horrors in cinema and I just I'll give them I'll give them the props for being a big roll out of a of a subgenre. So technically, and I want to see more of this kind of film. Interesting. Interesting. That's quite as high than I thought you would go. I would give it a I would give it a four out of ten. I, I struggle to get over 50%. I was just very little I enjoyed about it other than the fact that it was cleverly packaged from a commercial perspective. Yeah, producers on board, you know, other than that, it wasn't it wasn't very good. So for. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, but I was tempted to go three, but just because I did that, there was some good jokes in there as well. But I'm the wrong audience, so I know I'm not the person who just likes to go, Oh, yeah, I just want to watch some fun shit like Van Damme is the max. I can do kind of a thing, you know what I mean? Like, if it's just kick ass, that's fine. Van Damme can barely read, like, say, the lines and he looks into camera and stuff like that, But that is fine for me. That breaks the illusion much less than just a million different characters. Yeah. Eh, not good enough. Bear the legs flying everywhere. Uh, not for me. Uh Three and a half. Yeah, three and a half. Okay. I won't go. Three for three and a half. I've realized I've done exactly what I said I don't like, which is giving it a score based on the type of film and the box ticking rather than the actual film itself. Uh. Yeah. So I've gone back home of my classic hopper. The hopper, I think we've all. Yeah, but I'll, but I'll stick with the six just because I think I don't think, I think a lot of people will not be as disappointed as us when they go and see this because they're just looking for a silly hour and a half to, to, you know, look to laugh at and say, look at this bonkers stuff. But, you know, yeah. So okay, well, that's I think that's the lowest score we've given for any film so far. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, which in the end is several, uh, 13 and a half of 30. Wow. That is. No. Yeah, that's a shame. It's don't get. That is no good. No, not good at all. Not going to. So, uh, okay, let's wrap this up. Um, remember, everybody, if you're listening to this, follow us on iTunes or Spotify, send us an email, save the chat pod at Gmail dot com, send us suggestions of films, send us insults or whatever you feel like sending us. Money, money. Money, money. We get it. Very nice. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. We should have any currency. Really? Email me if you want to send me money and I'll send you, I'll send you details. You could just put the bank details on an auto response perhaps. You know, whatever. I just do that autopay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Thanks very much for joining me, guys. Thank you. See you next week. Thank you, guys. Always a pleasure. See you next week. And of course, thank you very much to our listeners. We appreciate you all. And please join us next week for our review of the Whale with Brendan Fraser, who of course, won best actor at the Oscars. So looking forward to reviewing that.