FLICK'N'BEANS
Longtime friends and bandmates Bridget and Wendy review one movie each week over fancy coffees every Sunday morning. Includes lots of swearing, laughing, and dog panting. Sometimes other friends join in.
You'll like this if you like "How Did This Get Made?" or "Unspooled."
FLICK'N'BEANS
EP 79: FLOW | Breast Pillows, Hoarding Lemurs and Camel Tickling
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Good Morning!!!!
Our movie this week is FLOW (2024), an AI animated Latvian film about cute animals in terrifying situations.
Feel the waves of the flood and the waves of the emotion. We were swept away and on the edge of our seats! It's really amazing!!
Enjoy!!
Love you!!! Bye!!!!!
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Foreign.
Wendy:Good morning.
Bridget:I'm Bridget.
Wendy:And I'm Wendy.
Bridget:And this is Flickin Bees. How do you like your Dunkin coffee this morning?
Wendy:It's not bad. I requested something kind of sweet and there's like, chunks of sugar in it. And that's not the best, but chunks, you know. Yeah. Like granular. Like maybe they used, like, sugar. Sugar in the raw. They didn't mix it up very good.
Bridget:Mine's hazelnut and it's way too strong.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:And I can't taste the hazelnut.
Wendy:Did you get a latte or a cold brew?
Bridget:I went ahead and got a latte like you did. So I made you watch this movie because I said I was on the edge of my seat. It is everything. It's called flow.
Wendy:Yes.
Bridget:I honestly put it on while I was working, thinking it was just be a cute little animated something.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:So basically the premise is that a kitten gets caught in a flood. The mewing of the kitten.
Wendy:I know. He has really sad meows.
Bridget:Oh, my God.
Wendy:It reminded me a lot of a video game.
Bridget:How so?
Wendy:Just the way that it was animated. And plus, we actually have a video game. Like you are a cat going around in, I guess what they call open world. It doesn't have, like, levels and stuff, so I didn't understand how to play it.
Bridget:I get you.
Wendy:But it's very, like, realistically animated.
Bridget:Like this movie, the entire movie was created and rendered using the free and open source software Blender. I was blown away by that. First, all we see is the cat. And we should point out it's animals. So there's zero dialogue.
Wendy:Correct.
Bridget:There's music in the background. And I was thinking it would be good to watch it with your own soundtrack, but then you'd miss out on the little animal sounds. The first animal that we meet is a dog. Dog.
Wendy:Yes.
Bridget:And we know cats and dogs don't typically get along, but it's kind of like that life of pie where you have to.
Wendy:Yeah, I thought of that movie with this.
Bridget:Yes. You have to work together.
Wendy:Stuck on a boat with a tiger.
Bridget:A boat happened to come around.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:Just drifting. They're able to get on that together. And just the way that they animated those animals, they seemed so much like. Like real animals.
Wendy:Yeah. They made a point of putting in typical animal behavior of all the animals. There's a point, for example, like, where the cat is sitting on the deck and just knocks the seashell off and you're like. Yeah, cat behavior. The dog wanting to, like, play fetch on the board.
Bridget:Right. And I Got to talk about that capybara.
Wendy:Yes.
Bridget:It would be doing something and then just fall over sleeping. Honestly. Reminded me of Paul Blart. Right.
Wendy:Maybe it has low blood sugar.
Bridget:Probably. It's got a big body to it. It does to feed.
Wendy:I was wondering if the capybara is. Was like to scale because it was as big as the dog, which looked like it was like a lab.
Bridget:They're huge.
Wendy:I was wondering, would all these animals be in the same spot at the same time? I don't know.
Bridget:So it's. It's supposed to be a world, possibly a future world. Mythical.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:And they talk about that when they talk about the whale.
Wendy:Right.
Bridget:It doesn't really look like a wh. But the other ones are so great.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:There's a lemur who's a hoarder.
Wendy:Yes.
Bridget:That was the best. It's like his opportunity to get saved and jump on this boat. But he's got this basket and all these little glass jars, sparkly things, and he's going about putting them in the basket. And finally the capybara just grabs the handle of the basket, pulls it in, tips it over, and the lemur has to get on that boat.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:That I thought was so hilarious. And the hoarding nature comes back and around and around and around.
Wendy:Yeah. He's obsessed with hello. Trinkets.
Bridget:I love that.
Wendy:And it's very cute.
Bridget:Like a crow with shiny things. Yes. But he wasn't willing to give gifts back. Like a crow.
Wendy:No.
Bridget:He's like, mine don't touch these things.
Wendy:I'm guessing just because the traits of all the other animals are so accurate. Is that a trait that lemurs like? They really.
Bridget:Yeah.
Wendy:Maybe collect things. Cuz the other lemurs are like wearing jewelry and stuff when he runs into them.
Bridget:Oh, you're so right. Very Lion King.
Wendy:Yes.
Bridget:Well, maybe that is something. Maybe they do collect weird shiny things.
Wendy:Yeah. It's not unusual for animals to do that.
Bridget:There are birds that make huge altars for mating that are gorgeous.
Wendy:Fish too. One in particular I'm thinking about. But lots of fish do something like this where he flutters in the sand to draw a picture, basically.
Bridget:Oh my.
Wendy:It's usually like a repeating pattern or something. Or big, like Mandala, I guess you would call it. And the lady's like, I like that guy's house.
Bridget:Yeah. Right.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:Ha. Well, to be fair, a lot of fish die in this.
Wendy:Yes.
Bridget:But the cat swims underwater, like learns it. I gotta go back to the boat.
Wendy:Okay.
Bridget:They operate the boat like they Operate the boat, they steer it. They mess with the sails to push them in the right direction. And that killed me because everything else is so accurate.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:All of those animals are super smart.
Wendy:Yes. I think any of the animals could have been trained to do that for real. So for them to have figured it out isn't too much of a stretch, you know.
Bridget:Yeah.
Wendy:But usually they would have to have seen someone do it first, that maybe at some point they have seen somebody do this. There's no people in the movie, so I don't know if people don't exist anymore or they're just not around.
Bridget:Well, I think the flood.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:Yeah. Like we talked about how it's not necessarily a time and place that we can recognize. And when the cats walking around, I guess, looking for anyone or probably food, you see it walking by all these huge monolithic animal statues, which is extra.
Wendy:Creepy in the beginning. They're all cats.
Bridget:Yeah.
Wendy:Where he's like, in a place where they must have worshiped them, maybe.
Bridget:I mean, they do worship cats in Egypt.
Wendy:Yeah. And one of the huge cat statues kind of saves his life. Because the flood is this. It's crazy. Like how much it flooded.
Bridget:Yeah.
Wendy:Because it goes as high as that huge statue.
Bridget:Yeah. And. Oh, and the poor cat basically is crawling higher and higher, trying to reach higher and higher ground. And it's. You just is so realistically scared. And the mewing. I can't get over that. Okay. I do have a fun fact about the animal sounds. They're real animal sounds, but. So the filmmakers went and tried to tickle capybaras to get their sound, but they didn't get quite the sound that they wanted. So instead they tickled baby camels. What?
Wendy:Capybara is funny because it's just so unbothered. So chill. Not scared of any of the other animals.
Bridget:With its size and weight, it's the strongest animal. So yeah, it kind of does make sense that it can push that steering stick.
Wendy:Yeah. With its.
Bridget:With its nose. So they don't run aground, but they don't know where they're going. And they're all trying to survive. They all adapt to the circumstances and they bond deeply when they get separated at times, they're so happy to find one another again and they really, really work together out of necessity.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:It's beautiful.
Wendy:It really is. It's such a simple movie in a lot of ways. Really does.
Bridget:Woohoo. Coffee break. Let's talk about our beans.
Wendy:Hey, bean flickers, have you followed us yet? We are on Instagram. And Facebook at flicking beans Pod. Make sure you like and subscribe and leave us a review. Tattoo.
Bridget:Would you say this is a movie for kids just because it's animated? I assumed it at first.
Wendy:I don't know. There's nothing about it that's inherently violent, but it's very scary.
Bridget:It's scary in that way where you don't have control over your own circumstances.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:And scary as in being very afraid. By the end, I said no. Like I said, I was on the edge of my seat. So crazy. I mean, cartoons aren't supposed to do that.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:I laughed. I cried. It was very emotional.
Wendy:Yeah. There was some tense, dramatic scenes. When the cat gets in the water at first, when it first starts to flood, like, he drowns, basically. And the whale saves him. Oh, no. Already? Yeah. And then I kept worrying that it was just they were going to flashback and it would just been a dream or like the cat was dead or something, you know? But that's not the case. Somebody else dies.
Bridget:I read that no animals died, but the whale does.
Wendy:They don't see the whale die, but it's washed up and they can't do.
Bridget:Anything on the ground. And they're all so small. And again, another feeling of helplessness.
Wendy:Yeah. And the whale saves them several times. And then to just be, like, so helpless to save it. They can't move it. The water's gone away and it ends. So sad. They're just all, like, looking in a little tiny puddle of hopelessness because they can't put the whale in there. That part is really sad.
Bridget:Yeah.
Wendy:I didn't like that. But, I mean, that's nature, though.
Bridget:Yeah. You're confronted with your own helplessness and your own mortality. And I'm about to well up right now.
Wendy:Yeah. You can't help but put yourself in the situation of these animals. Animals, we're all at the mercy of nature, really. At any point, we could be struck by lightning or hit by a tornado or flash flood or any of those things. This might have been a bit of a climate change commentary, for real. Because of the rising waters and the fact that, like, there are no humans left. I'm wondering if maybe this is in the future and we killed ourselves off, but these animals have kind of survived.
Bridget:I believe that that's a good. The way that they all get together really shows the truth of we're all. I'm gonna cry. We're all stronger together than we are on our own. Each of those animals contributed a strength. Each of those animals also grew from that Experience. It was beautiful.
Wendy:It was. They make it a point to show you how these animals would normally be at odds with each other. Because in the beginning the dogs are chasing the cat, but then she befriends the one dog that got separated and it's like a golden retriever. So it loves everybod. I need to be with somebody. I'm a dog. I need.
Bridget:Exactly.
Wendy:And the cat's kind of like, what doesn't trust it. The birds. You think at first this bird is gonna hurt the other animals, but it doesn't.
Bridget:It's very imposing. It's the one out of the group that is almost threatening. It, like, you know, does seem scary. And at one point drops a fish for the cat to eat. But the other birds come in because they're dicks and likely also hungry, but they have the ability to catch the fish. So they're probably doing better than most. And they can also fly.
Wendy:Right.
Bridget:But it. It gives you the impression there's just nowhere to go. And. Yeah, like in the Bible, the great Flood.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:And it is a little bit of a Noah's ark.
Wendy:It absolutely is a Noah's ark story because you're like a little one of each species.
Bridget:Right.
Wendy:Just keep picking them up.
Bridget:Right. Although in the ark there were two. So they could all have sex with one another.
Wendy:Is there any opportunity for crossbreeding there? I don't think so. Capybara could probably find another rodent somewhere. Can you imagine a capybara crossed with one of those giant floppy eared rabbits? Oh, it would be huge and have big floppy ears.
Bridget:They used to be in the Teletubbies. Humongous a**.
Wendy:Right. Flemish or something like that.
Bridget:Can I have one as a pet? Do you know you can have a capybara as a pet?
Wendy:I did not know that.
Bridget:And they love water, so it was recommended. If you do have a capybara as a pet, you need a pool so they can just freely swim all day if they. Which is an interesting fact because that capybara never gets in the water. I never noticed it swimming.
Wendy:Yeah. I don't remember it.
Bridget:Yeah, I was thinking that the whole time. But they love water regardless. Irregardless. Have you ever been swept away in water?
Wendy:Kind of.
Bridget:Yeah. It's scary.
Wendy:It is scary. I've been in a river that made me a little nervous a few times. I've been in the ocean where the waves coming in kind of got me the undertowed. Yeah. That is very scary. And I'm a pretty it strong swimmer. I'm comfortable in the water, but I'm.
Bridget:Not a strong swimmer. I describe myself as a manatee.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:Slow, lumbering, docile. Yeah. So slow. I went to the pool the other day and I swam, I don't know, maybe 10, 15 minutes and got out of the pool. And the lifeguard commented, done already. Listen, Linda, I do what I want.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:In the water. Manatee out of the water. Honey badger. There was one time on a canoe trip, my mom and older aunt. Their canoe got swept toward the shore under tree branches, so they had to duck down and their canoe capsized. Oh, my God. These old people are going to die. What a way to cut short a canoe trip. How dare you? And you room. Nobody's wearing life jackets.
Wendy:Right.
Bridget:It's just not cool. Right?
Wendy:I never wear one.
Bridget:Nobody does. I know. Even when we were stand up, paddleboarding, just threw that life jacket under the little rubber straps. But you fell off, so you might have wanted it at that point.
Wendy:Yeah. I mean, if you hurt yourself or something, that would be bad. The paddle board, you're right next to a flotation device.
Bridget:Right. I was scared when you fell off because it looked really hard to get back on.
Wendy:Because if you're not somewhere you can stand, then you have to lift all your body weight out and onto this thing. That doesn't weigh anything. Right. Struggled to get back on. She had to help me.
Bridget:She did. And I was just like, oh, my God, I wonder if she's freaking out. It has to have happened.
Wendy:She seemed calm right in the moment.
Bridget:Having us do back bends.
Wendy:I think it's really more scary for her that she doesn't make you wear a life jacket. If I, you know, someone does drown on your.
Bridget:They're nicer life jackets. Why are they always so puffy?
Wendy:They do make them.
Bridget:I want.
Wendy:But they're expensive.
Bridget:Yeah. I want a sleek, cute life jacket.
Wendy:I've never found one that I thought was even remotely comfortable enough to wear.
Bridget:No. The ones they make for dogs are pretty cute.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:What's wrong with that for a purse?
Wendy:They're always cut unisex. It doesn't fit a woman's body because you have b****.
Bridget:You're right. Yeah, I was just gonna say that.
Wendy:Or hips or whatever. So it ends up. And those orange ones that they always give you are worthless. I fell out of one. I had one on when I was tubing as a kid. Flipped. I fell out and the life vest came up without me. And so for like a second, my aunt was like, oh, my God. She didn't come up with it, but I was right behind it. It's just like, I didn't have it on very tight, and there's not much to secure it to you, really?
Bridget:No. I hate that top clip. That's what just compresses your whole chest. Like your b****. I hear you. Once when I was getting a massage from a male, he said would breast pillow. And I was like, oh, what? And he's like, oh, I'm surprised no one's ever asked you that. And it was basically a square that went under my chest. And I have to admit, it was a little bit comfortable.
Wendy:Okay.
Bridget:But it was so creepy.
Wendy:Yeah. Why do you have to say it like that? It is where your b**** are, I guess. But I've never been asked that in a massage.
Bridget:Same. And I've had a lot of massages.
Wendy:Anyway. Digress.
Bridget:Well, you always digress. Who knows?
Wendy:How did we get to massages from animated cats? I don't.
Bridget:Well, it went to breast pillows somewhere along the way. I don't know who came up with that one. Oh, it was because we were talking about life, Jack.
Wendy:Oh, right.
Bridget:Okay. I just have to say it was an amazing movie for what it looks like on its cover.
Wendy:Yeah. It looks like a kid movie, but it's a lot more than that. I think it would be okay for older kids to watch this.
Bridget:Right. If your kid is scared of thunderstorms, for example.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:They're sensitive. And don't. Not that it's violent. It's just terrifying. You get this impression that once they're on the boat, everyone's gonna be safe.
Wendy:Yeah.
Bridget:And that isn't the case.
Wendy:I felt attached to this cat because I have a black cat too. So he was sitting in my lap. I'm watching him, like, don't turn. Don't turn.
Bridget:Right. Honestly, it reminded me of my cat too, because it's mewing sounded. And I'm not even saying meowing on purpose because it was mewing. It was sad and lonely and scared. We all need friends around us to thrive. I don't want to cry again. Yeah, I highly recommend, but for adults or older kids. Loved it.
Wendy:Loved it. We think we did it.
Bridget:Did we do it?
Wendy:Yeah, we flicked some beans. Okay. Love you. Bye.
Bridget:Bye. Party all night long.
