Movies Worth Seeing
Movies Worth Seeing is a comedy podcast that explores all the best trending films and blockbuster releases. A big movie buff, Michael is an unconventional reviewer of all things movies. This podcast is for anyone sick of watching crappy movies and wants only to watch the best
Movies Worth Seeing
Spy Love or Loyalty: Inside 'Black Bag'
We review "Black Bag," a dialogue-heavy spy thriller starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender that explores loyalty in both professional and personal relationships. Our panel has wildly different opinions, creating a dynamic discussion about what works and what doesn't in this unconventional film.
• Chemistry between the lead characters stands out as a highlight even for those who disliked the film
• The dialogue-heavy approach divides viewers - some find it immersive while others consider it boring
• Star-studded cast includes Pierce Brosnan, Regé-Jean Page, Naomi Harris, and Gustav Skarsgård
• Film focuses more on interpersonal relationships than typical spy thriller action sequences
• The central question explores whether spies are loyal to country, job, or spouse
• Classical cinematography and screen composition receive praise despite other criticisms
• Final ratings range dramatically from 1/5 to 4.5/5, reflecting our divided opinions
If you enjoyed this review, please like, share, and subscribe. Comment below what you thought of Black Bag - whether you loved it, felt neutral, or absolutely hated every second of it.
Hey everyone and welcome to another review. Today's episode is about the absolutely amazing, super exciting, non-stop action. Black what was it? Black bag Black bag.
Speaker 3:what was it? Black bag, black bag, what you kill for me, george?
Speaker 1:yeah, black bag. Um, I'm joined for this episode by aj and uh, as Addy as well, hi, so this is going to be interesting, because I hated this movie, really hated it. Aj loved it and Addy is somewhere in between, so this will be a fun dynamic. I'd love to know, aj, what you loved about the movie, because I struggle to find these things, so do tell.
Speaker 3:I love the chemistry and the relationship, first of all between Michael's character and Kate.
Speaker 2:So like.
Speaker 3:George and Catherine, I think, is their name. There's just something so sexy about both of them individually and then together.
Speaker 1:That brings up a good point. I wanted to see them bang numerous times, so yeah the chemistry was on fire. That's how I know the chemistry's on fire If the whole time I'm just like just bang, just bang. So yes, aj, what is this movie about?
Speaker 3:I would say it's about what it means to be a spy, in terms of not just your job but also your personal relationships. It's about the loyalty between these two spy couples, and it's like a test Are they loyal to their job, their country, or are they loyal to each other?
Speaker 1:That's pretty good. I like that description. Actually, I would do anything for you.
Speaker 3:Would you?
Speaker 1:Yes, give me a bit more about like what stood out to you, because for me, watching it, I just saw it as like people just talking. They go have dinner and they're all talking, and they're in an office and they're talking, and they're in the bedroom and they're just talking, and just a lot of talking about things that could be exciting but just aren't.
Speaker 3:Well, I guess that's kind of like a taste thing. I actually really like movies where there's like a lot of dialogues, when it's executed, acted well, a lot of the wit behind it was very interesting to me.
Speaker 1:I think I've just always really liked that kind of movie yeah, like I got the general principle, the general idea of what's happening, but then they'll have these 10 minute conversations where they're like and mcguffin's over the here and then remember when agent zero went over there in berlin and this thing happened in syria, and I'm and like I was just like what are you talking about? Like this is all over the place you know what I think?
Speaker 2:I think that all those conversations, they could be cut out completely and the general story would have remained unchanged. However, I think that within those conversations there is a deeper story that gives a lot more meaning and a lot more depth to the whole story. It's masked a lot with a lot of terminology quick speech, overlapping speech that is hard to follow and I thought usually it doesn't really go over my head, but with this movie it did go over my head some movies when it's like very dialogue driven, like openheimer for example, I can't follow and like I don't like it.
Speaker 3:But this one I feel like it kind of forced my brain to work to have to figure it out and I kind of enjoyed that.
Speaker 1:It made me feel like quite engaged see where, where you were at the mood of like brains firing on all cylinders, my brain was like this is completely the wrong movie for me to experience right now I Not for a Saturday night, I was just like this was like I was prime mood for something like Novocaine, where I'm like simple, fun action over the top heaps like comedic Novocaine. It is you. I thought you'd be dead by now.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm not. It's f***ing me, novocaine, and he's not f***ing dead.
Speaker 1:This was just like a bunch of psychopaths that you're following that have no emotion. I mean, cate Blanchett stood out Like she has a certain charisma that helps elevate things and the whole time I was drawn to her. But then Michael Fassbender I'm just like this is the same crap that I saw in the Killer, and this movie feels a lot like that where you could have condensed everything into like 20 minutes and you wouldn't have lost anything you would have lost the depth, but the general story would have been the same.
Speaker 2:The plot of the story would have been the same, but the depth and the meaning behind it would not have.
Speaker 1:I'm sure there is deeper meanings behind their conversations, but I don't care enough to watch it again to find those deeper meanings. I would rather be stuck in a cabin with a bear.
Speaker 2:No, that's not what you said.
Speaker 1:Dousting honey I'd rather go see a proctologist for a rectal examination. That's what I said. I'd rather listen to Rachel Ziegler interviews on repeat for like two hours rather than watch this movie again weird.
Speaker 2:I was expecting a lot more from it. Like I said, by the end I thought the climax is going to come, like an explosion is coming and like Pierce Brosnan and Arthur is going to turn on that or something like that. But that was just the end and that was it it's like this for me yeah, I felt unfulfilled by the end.
Speaker 2:Speaking of the adrenaline, rush did come and I saw pierce brosnan on screen. I had no idea he was in it. But all the star powers in there, all right Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, pierce Brosnan we had um.
Speaker 3:Regé.
Speaker 1:Regé, you got to put a French accent when you say something like that Regé-Jean-Page.
Speaker 2:Regé-Jean-Page. I mean, we have Naomi Harris, she's fantastic. Gustave Skarsgård.
Speaker 1:Another f***ing Skarsgarsgard. How many are there?
Speaker 2:I think there's three of them plus a dad. Really, I think, three brothers and a dad. I didn't recognize him for the whole thing until there was a flashback of him and that's the last time you see him and it's like that's.
Speaker 1:Floki, let's hear more from you, AJ since you loved the.
Speaker 3:What do you want to?
Speaker 1:know why. What the hell did you love about it?
Speaker 3:I think everything you guys said that you didn't like which is so fair happened to be something that I'm into. All the dialogue scenes actually make me feel like I'm a part of the world. I feel like it's not like I'm watching a movie. I feel like I'm just going through it with them. Yeah, but they alluded to it.
Speaker 2:It gave me the feeling that something big is going to happen. They're talking about a nuclear meltdown. For f***'s sake.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the stakes are high, but everything around it is so boring.
Speaker 3:It's not about like the bigger stuff that's happening. It's more about like the interpersonal relationship. So it's like why I liked it, because, like usually with spy movies nowadays, it's always like the big national security and then the focus is very much on that plot. But for me this is not about that.
Speaker 1:I will say this I did feel very immersed in the world. I didn't like the world, but I was very immersed in it. As I'm watching this, I'm thinking this isn't like the world, but I was very immersed in it. As I'm watching this, I'm thinking this isn't like anything else I'm watching right now or any other movies out right now.
Speaker 1:It's very different to the rest of the landscape. I guess for me the problem was when you've got all these characters that are so emotionally unexpressive to the point where, even when something horrible happens to them, these characters that are so emotionally unexpressive To the point where, like, even when something horrible happens to them, they're just like, oh, a knife in my hand. Oh well, what the hell?
Speaker 2:That's the craziest thing you've done in a while.
Speaker 1:Well, this makes things interesting. I'm like, oh, give me something, man F**k, you just got stabbed in the hand. I would say this uh, why would you be hooking up with people you work with when you work in that environment? Like it's so dumb? Yeah, good point, good point. Like it's dangerous to hook up with people you work with when you're in, like if you worked in a supermarket, let alone working for the cia or some shit where you're guarding nuclear missiles, they do talk about it.
Speaker 2:Clarissa mentions it's like how do you do it? People can't even date with people outside doing this job. You're dating two people from the same office doing this. How are you doing it? You're like the perfect couple. How are you doing it? You are one naughty husband couple.
Speaker 1:How are you doing it? You are one naughty husband, george. When you can lie about everything, when you can deny everything, how do you tell the truth about anything? That is interesting because there's a phrase where they they said it a few times near the end of the movie where they kept saying, like you guys are made for each other, you guys are both. Yeah. So that was kind of cool because it's implying that, like only when both are so such psychopaths can they thrive as a in-work relationship. So that was that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2:I liked that next point I would bring up is like when the revelation's like oh, he did this, all don't care, don't care, I really don't care who did it. Oh, by the, I want to see the repercussions of everything. That's what I was waiting for first, but right now there were no real repercussions. The world was really in danger.
Speaker 1:I think similar to you. I had the same experience where you fell asleep. I was like I could feel the build-up and music and everything trying to say, like, care about this moment, this moment's important, and I was like, oh, that guy did it, yeah, whatever. But I also can see from aj's point of view that it's so much about the intimate personal relationships. It's saying like, even though this is a secret agency and they deal with such high pressurepressure stuff like this, it's all just a group of people that have their own unique personal weaknesses, from infidelity and loyalty, like the same personal struggles that we go through in everyday life. So I can see why it didn't show more.
Speaker 3:I feel like for me the stakes were very much between their marriage, like the marriage was the stake for me. Yeah, that was the hook that was the.
Speaker 1:The hook, for me as well, is like is kate blanchett a double agent? Is she betraying her husband more so than is she betraying the? Country, yeah, I didn't give a shit about her betraying the country. I just wanted to know like is she betraying her husband, who's like obviously loyal to her and who we find out is incredibly good at knowing when people are lying.
Speaker 2:Who's the suspect? Your wife, is it true? No one can lie to you. I don't like liars.
Speaker 1:Maybe we should get to the final ratings. Yeah, I feel like now's a good time to get into that. Uh, let's start with you.
Speaker 3:Aj, we'll start with positives positives I give it like out of five four and a half I'm really easy to give stars and also really easy to take it away it's what I have out of five, not out of ten.
Speaker 2:Yet.
Speaker 3:I loved it. It was like honestly, it's like everything I wanted.
Speaker 2:It's one out of five.
Speaker 3:I mean, it's just like it hit me like a four and a half. It didn't hit me like a five. Okay, that makes sense Okay.
Speaker 2:Addy, I'm gonna give it a two and a half stars. I really liked a lot of the act. The cinematography was very classical. The composition of everything on the screen was fabulous. It's just I didn't know what to focus on in the movie Michael Two.
Speaker 1:After talking about it a bit more, I will give the movie credit that there is a lot of subtlety and nuance. You've got a good cast there, but there's just. This just isn't my movie. This isn't my cup of tea, so I'm not going to pretend that it is. Would I ever watch it again? No, um, I'd rather. I'd rather watch epic movie, I'd rather watch disaster movie. So, uh, if you enjoyed the review, please like, share and subscribe. Comment below what you thought of Black Bag, whether you loved it neutral or absolutely hated every second of it, like I did. Until the next time. Until next time, take it easy, guys.