The Ridley Scott Movie Rankings and ‘The Dog Stars’

The Big Picture

Sean, Amanda, and Chris Ryan discuss Ridley Scott's latest film, 'The Dog Stars,' starring Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley, while reflecti

Key takeaways

• Dolly Parton's legacy is celebrated for her humanitarian work, cultural impact, and enduring kindness across music, film, and philanthropy.
• Tim Curry's iconic screen presence in films like 'Rocky Horror Picture Show,' 'Legend,' and 'It' left a lasting mark on pop culture.

Main topics

• Ridley Scott's filmography and ranking of his movies
• The Dog Stars movie review and analysis

Notable quotes

"She was one of the last great good people, you know, always on the side of right."

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a reflective look at cultural icons and upc

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:15) I'm Sean Fennessey. I'm Amanda Speaker 3 (0:17) Dobbin. And this is Speaker 1 (0:17) the Big Picture Conversation show about Ridley Scott. Today on the show, we're reviewing The Dog Stars, a searing biopic of Keanu Reeves' beloved alternative rock band. Just kidding. We're talking about Ridley Scott's new movie, his 30th, a post-apocalyptic thriller starring Jacob Elordi. And we are ranking every single Ridley movie with our buddy Chris Ryan. We'll do it all plus some movie news right after this. Okay, bud. What's up? No Speaker 2 (0:40) laptop. Not for now. Maybe when we get to the rankings, but I do feel like I almost remember my rankings. I've committed that to memory. The big picture, it's just, it's second nature to me now. Speaker 1 (0:51) Wow. It comes that easily. And yet still questions about third chair. We don't have to get into that. Speaker 2 (0:55) I don't Speaker 1 (0:56) want to, I feel Speaker 2 (0:57) like we're giving it more oxygen by discussing it all the time. Speaker 1 (1:01) Who's Speaker 2 (1:01) we? Just like this podcast by talking about whether or not there's any. Like I'm battling guys on all fronts. Did you feel that Bill threw Speaker 1 (1:09) his hat in the ring? What kind of hat? Okay, let's talk about some movie news. Very sad news. Two very sad deaths. Two 80-year-old icons. Figures that are very notable to our youths and the youths of many. Dolly Parton, who passed away yesterday, as did the actor Tim Curry. And they both have a fascinating, sort of like modestly... scaled experience for me personally, but very impactful and very memorable. Dolly, how do you feel? Speaker 3 (1:42) Sad. I mean, and it is a loss, not just to the country music world and to movies, because she obviously had a huge impact, both on and off screen. But, you know, not just to the state of Tennessee, where I didn't grow up, but my family did. And I have been to Dollywood. I have toured the... the museums, I have ridden the log flume. I know what it is to be in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. But like the world at large, she was just one of the last great good people, you know, always on the side of right. And so she'd obviously she'd been sick for a while. She had been canceling appearances for the last few months and like, you know, sending updates. But but you could tell. And so hopefully she is, you know, more at peace now. But it's it was one of those where. I felt like for the first 24 hours, everyone... reminded you of like, and another thing, and remember how she just paid for the Moderna vaccine. And like, you know, I think my child knows how to read because of Dolly Parton and all of these things are true. You know, that great Eminem shared the letter that she wrote him when they were inducted into the rock and roll, or he was inducted into the rock and roll. Did you see that? I didn't. Speaker 1 (2:51) I love that. It was so lovely. Yeah. Speaker 3 (2:54) So she was Speaker 1 (2:55) sort of like, I'm not no hip hop expert, but I know that you're the best. And I really just appreciate your light and everything that you're bringing. Speaker 2 (3:03) That was the thing that jumped out at me. Obviously somebody and a vanishing amount of people who have the approval rating of somebody like Dolly Parton. But I really thought it was cool. The way at which it seemed to impact the artistic community around her and the way like her peers and colleagues and the people who are inspired by her. Everybody from like Sabrina Carpenter to Jack White to whatever have been reacting to it. I mean, obviously just a huge loss. Speaker 1 (3:32) Yeah, and in the world of movies, she made a real impact. She didn't star in too many films. Really only this kind of 10-year period in the 80s and 90s where she was leading films like 9 to 5, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, twice nominated for an Academy Award. Just last year, she received the Jean Hirschhold Humanitarian Award for her work in part with children's education. She's helped deliver millions of books to kids around this country. So, like, truly an iconic figure. The rare... decent mega celebrity. Speaker 2 (4:01) I Speaker 1 (4:02) feel like I know too much about celebrity culture at large now, and it's so frequently heartbreaking. And I didn't hear a single bad thing about Dolly Parton in my entire life. And I don't want Speaker 2 (4:12) to now. Speaker 1 (4:12) Nor do I. Speaker 2 (4:13) You're still reeling from what you found out about Mark Walter. You thought he was just like... Yeah, Speaker 1 (4:17) I thought he was the new Andrew Carnegie. You know, I thought we could believe in him and build a country around his ideas. You know, Tim Curry is sort of the opposite in that he was a famously very private man. and wanted his legacy to be his roles on screen. And his roles on screen were huge and outrageous. Rocky Horror Picture Show, Legend, My Beloved Congo, My Beloved Clue, Speaker 2 (4:40) Hunt for Red October, Speaker 1 (4:41) It, he was the original Pennywise in It, Muppet Treasure Island for the 90s kids, and... Home Alone Speaker 3 (4:48) 2, Lost in New York. Speaker 1 (4:50) Who can forget? Speaker 3 (4:51) Never Speaker 1 (4:51) forget. Who can forget? What is his credit card line? He's got one line delivery about the credit card. Totally memorable. But like an unmistakable screen presence. Also a great and trained and skilled actor who performed on the West End for years and was in many, many, many great theatrical productions. Did Speaker 3 (5:07) he originate the role of Amadeus? I believe he did. In the play that was then turned into... Speaker 1 (5:13) Oh, Speaker 3 (5:13) I had no idea. I believe he did Speaker 1 (5:14) in 1980. Yeah, I think Speaker 3 (5:15) that's something that I learned after his passing. Okay. Speaker 1 (5:18) Yes. And, you know, somebody who, for me, is in the wallpaper of movies, you know, somebody who is always a part of movies because I watched so many of these movies at such a critical age. And I remember seeing him as darkness in Legend at a young age, which is a real kind of gateway movie for me in terms of both fantasy and horror. Speaker 1 (5:38) freaking out when I saw what he really looked like out of the makeup and that being a real movie magic moment for me. But I just loved him as an actor. I thought he was always a ton of fun in movies. So he's a big loss as well. Let's pivot to James Bond. Speaker 2 (5:53) Oh, sure. Okay. Speaker 1 (5:55) We've been intermittently covering this ongoing discussion about who's going to be the next James Bond. Just yesterday on page six, there was a report that the race to be... cast as the next James Bond has been narrowed down to six men. Speaker 3 (6:09) Which, according to many people, means that's actually it's been widened from two to six because we weren't happy with our options. So who Speaker 1 (6:16) were the two in your mind? Speaker 3 (6:18) I had heard a lot of unsourced and scuttlebutt that it was between Callum Turner and Jacob Lordy. And now we just have some more names. Those two men are still in the running, but no one has nailed it down yet. Speaker 2 (6:33) And then there was another, and forgive me for not remembering where I read this, but another report that was about how it could be someone we don't know anything about. It would be like a wide casting call. An unknown. Pluck this guy out of like a Netflix series somewhere and it's going to be Speaker 1 (6:50) James Bond. Well, you know, I think it's fair to... Say that one of the names and the most surprising name that I saw was Jack Barton, who is another actor on Heartstopper, a show I don't watch and whose work I'm less familiar with relative to the other five men who are up for this, which is Jack Loudon, Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Paul Meskel and Harris Dickinson. So, you know, those are five of the most well-known under 40 Irish British actors around. Right. Plus Jacob Elordi. Also four, and then Speaker 3 (7:22) an Australian. I think that that is material, given the role and the history of who has played the role. We've had an English, Speaker 1 (7:29) Irish, and Australian bond before, right? So that wouldn't be shocking. Any thoughts? Who are you rooting for? Speaker 2 (7:35) On a personal affection level, Jack Loudon, but also may have... played himself out of the role by being so good as a spy on Slow Horses. Also, Speaker 3 (7:46) he is Mr. Darcy in the upcoming Netflix Pride and Prejudice. And I really honestly can't have Mr. Darcy also be James Bond. Like that, that's deeply, that's too overwhelming. And at what point does like the, you know, continuum break? There's... The Amanda continuum of popular culture? Speaker 2 (8:04) I'm really battling myself here because on one hand, his performance as River Cartwright is excellent. The next season of Slow Horses is fantastic. That's coming out in September. He actually is phenomenal in this season and gets to be paired off with Gary Oldman quite a bit, which is a real delight. Part of me wants him to get Bond just to see if the Saoirse Ronan Bond villain thing happens. She has been... Publicly advocating and campaigning for in somewhat of a tongue in cheek Speaker 1 (8:34) way. Would be delicious if he were cast. I Speaker 2 (8:37) would prefer him to Meskel. I would prefer him to Elordi. Speaker 2 (8:44) I'm like pretty okay. I'd be happy with Jack O'Connell. I think that would be. Yeah, wouldn't we all? Speaker 1 (8:51) I mean, but he should be. Yeah, he's not. He's not in the page six report. Okay, sorry. He would be my pick. Yeah. Just because as an actor, he's my favorite of those actors. I mean, we'll talk a little bit more about Elordi when we get into the dog stars today. Speaker 3 (9:02) What just so on the overlapping breaking Amanda's space time continuum. Can you have Paul McCartney and or John Lennon also being James Bond? That's confusing. To me, Speaker 1 (9:12) he is not James Bond. That's Paul Speaker 3 (9:13) Meskel and Harris Dickinson. I'm just pointing it out, you know? Speaker 1 (9:18) Harris Dickinson, I think we know as an artiste, as a cineast, that would seem like an odd casting. I do think he has the appropriate look. and style that would be a pivot away from previous Bonds, but still fit. And Speaker 3 (9:34) a second blonde Bond. Speaker 1 (9:35) Yes. But also even a different kind of blonde, like it wouldn't be a replication of Craig, who was sort of more shorter and stout and more powerful. Speaker 2 (9:42) Do you think this Bond will wear barrel jeans? Speaker 3 (9:49) They can't. I mean, they can't have any of these guys be modern Bond, right? They have to do a retro. I wonder. I don't know. It's Speaker 1 (9:54) an Speaker 3 (9:54) interesting question. Speaker 2 (9:55) But I mean, Speaker 3 (9:56) I'm open to it, I guess. Speaker 2 (9:58) Bond on hinge. Can we do a Bond running Speaker 3 (10:00) check for a second? Because we're going to talk more about the dog stars later in this episode. But I do. Speaker 3 (10:07) Want to check in now that we have recent evidence of Jacob Elordi running on screen to compare with recent evidence of Callum Turner running on screen for those of us who saw One Night Only. Not yet. Me and me only. So just to recap for you, Callum Turner, some work to do. It's not very ergonomic. It's sort of like a chicken dance situation when Speaker 2 (10:24) running. Speaker 3 (10:25) And I would say that Jacob Elordi is more aerodynamic. He doesn't look silly while running around in the dog stars. Speaker 1 (10:34) A couple things. One of the reasons I think why I'm intrigued by Jack Loudon is because he seems height appropriate. Also, I'll say to your point about slow horses, you know, Pierce Brosnan was Remington Steele. Like, there is a history of sort of like pre-auditioning for Bond by showing that you can do... components of the work before getting the job. Sure. Speaker 2 (10:52) Those Speaker 1 (10:52) slow horses Speaker 3 (10:52) is a different interpretation of the work and its components. He gets his Speaker 2 (10:56) ass kicked all the time. Speaker 1 (10:57) And he's just like, Speaker 3 (10:59) oh, shit, I did the wrong thing. It's going to Speaker 1 (11:01) be interesting to see how classical Villeneuve wants to go with the storytelling. You know, does he want this to just be tuxedoed, shaken, not stirred? Or does he want it to be something even more modern than what Craig was able to pull off? I don't know. We're going to find out. But these three of these guys are really fucking tall. And did... Speaker 3 (11:17) You're saying that like it's a Speaker 1 (11:18) bad thing. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. And like you're Speaker 3 (11:19) also not a tall person. But he's not Jacob Norty tall. Speaker 1 (11:23) I'm not 6'5". I mean, that's a lot. Speaker 3 (11:25) And Speaker 1 (11:25) that's to your loss. I'm getting along just fine. But I would say my height is Bond height. Speaker 3 (11:34) Oh, interesting. Now that might be the only thing about me that's bondish. Speaker 1 (11:38) But I think six feet tall. Now I don't even know how tall Brosnan or Connery or how tall those guys were. Do Speaker 2 (11:43) you Speaker 1 (11:43) think you would be Speaker 2 (11:43) a good 007, like practically speaking? No. Speaker 1 (11:46) I think I'd love to drink martinis. Yeah. Speaker 2 (11:49) He Speaker 3 (11:49) doesn't really like international travel. That's not true. You do like gadgets. Speaker 1 (11:54) I sure do. I just think it Speaker 3 (11:55) would be so funny if they Speaker 2 (11:57) were trying to get in touch with you because there was a nuclear missile aimed at England and you were like, oh, sorry, I was at an Austrian film. I'll tell you what, it would Speaker 1 (12:04) be not surprising. If I were distracted from time spent with a glamorous woman by my work, that is something that, you know, has happened from time to time. So I can relate to that component, you know, sorry, wish I could lounge on the beach with you, my dear, with the, you know, insinuating name. I have to go hang out with Q. A non. Speaker 2 (12:23) Yeah. What about you? Do I think I'd be a good bond? No, I'm too short, apparently. Speaker 3 (12:30) I wasn't aware that there was such a narrow height range. According to you, the person who cares the least about Bond at this table. That's Speaker 2 (12:38) very Speaker 3 (12:38) true. Speaker 1 (12:38) That's very true. I am intrigued by this kind of thing, though, as you know. This is the fun of movies. Speaker 3 (12:44) I just want to go on record and say that I do not think Jacob Lordy or Harris Dickinson are too tall to be James Bond or anything else. Speaker 2 (12:53) They're not going to put this out in 2028, though. Speaker 1 (12:56) No. They can't. They can't do it to us. Oh, just because that's too important a year? Yeah. It's just like that's... Because that's the vice year. We're going to go on Twitch for 365 days. The Speaker 2 (13:05) heat two Speaker 1 (13:05) year. In 2020. Speaker 2 (13:08) Yeah, sure. Like stream. We'll just stream. You know, Speaker 1 (13:11) I just saw a foreign film this morning and one of the characters in the film was, you know, 30 year old woman laying in bed playing video games. And I was like, hot. Is this it? Is this the way? Like, is this where maybe my 50s be defined by like acting like this? Acting like Speaker 2 (13:29) her or getting your wife to start playing video games? Why not both? Yeah. Okay. I mean, I know the Speaker 3 (13:36) film in question, and I wonder if there's anything else from that that you want to imitate and import into your own life. Speaker 1 (13:41) We'll get into that. Do Speaker 3 (13:42) you think Speaker 2 (13:42) we'll play Resident Evil 2 on some sort of gaming platform for people's entertainment? You want Speaker 1 (13:47) to do that? Yeah. Well, that's the key inspiration for Zach Kreiger's film. That's why. Of which I've heard nothing about screenings, no communication whatsoever about this movie. I looked into seeing if there were pre-sales available. Not on sale. Okay. The film comes out in 21 days. That's fascinating, considering where things are right now with Dune tickets and AMC's app crashing and Doomsday and all that. And Zack Greger in Speaker 3 (14:08) the anticipation. I do feel like I saw, you know, a poster for it at the movie theater yesterday. There's a second trailer. Speaker 1 (14:16) They're marketing it, but it's not the same frenzy. But I think it's actually going to be quite big. Me too. Because there's also going to be this wide gap between. very popular movie coming out. There's Speaker 2 (14:27) also just like across generations many men have reached out to me and been like I like Resident Evil. Speaker 3 (14:32) It's beautiful. Speaker 2 (14:33) You know Speaker 3 (14:34) you guys didn't have anything to unite you so it's good that you Speaker 1 (14:37) have this. Will you play it is really the question. Would you play Resident Evil 2 with us? Speaker 3 (14:42) What happens in Resident Evil? Tell me about it. Tell me about the world. Sell me. Well, it's the film or the video Speaker 2 (14:49) games? The Speaker 3 (14:50) video game. You're asking me to play a video game. Tell me. Well, in the video game, you Speaker 2 (14:53) get to play as a woman named Claire who arrives in a city called Raccoon City. I Speaker 3 (14:57) or Speaker 2 (14:57) A? Claire, A-I-R-E. Okay. And I can't remember a lot of the vagaries of her character, but you have to solve a lot of puzzles and you can't remember a lot of zombies. It's a Speaker 1 (15:10) zombie apocalypse game. A survival first-person shooter game. Speaker 2 (15:14) Okay. One of the reasons why video games are so popular is that you get to project your own stuff onto the characters because you're playing as them. So it would be for you, you know, whatever you're going through that day. You're Claire. Speaker 3 (15:26) Okay. What time of day would we be doing this? I don't know. Speaker 3 (15:32) You want me to make a commitment? I'm asking the questions. Speaker 1 (15:35) Chris Speaker 3 (15:35) and I will Speaker 1 (15:35) come over at midnight on a Tuesday. Speaker 3 (15:38) We'll Speaker 1 (15:38) wake up your children. Yeah. It's a good idea. And I'm interested, but I don't want to be on Twitch. Speaking of things I don't want. Okay. Ryan Gosling Speaker 3 (15:48) reportedly Speaker 1 (15:49) is developing a Flintstones spinoff movie centered on the character of Bam Bam, Speaker 3 (15:56) who Speaker 1 (15:57) I guess is Barney and Betty's son. I've seen the Flintstones many times. Speaker 3 (16:01) Yeah, he has very, very blonde hair, like white blonde hair. Yeah, Speaker 1 (16:04) white Speaker 3 (16:04) blonde hair. And he has like a club that he uses as a baseball bat. He has to say, bam, Speaker 1 (16:10) bam. Speaker 2 (16:10) Bam, bam. Is there any way in this world where this is saber rattling to Mattel and Warner Brothers to make the Barbie deal? And he's like, if you guys don't do this soon, I'm just going to go be a Flintstone and then I can't be Ken. Speaker 1 (16:25) You know? I think that's a very... generous interpretation. Yes. Otherwise, my Speaker 2 (16:33) king is dead. Speaker 1 (16:33) Yeah. Speaker 3 (16:34) Yeah. Speaker 1 (16:34) Yeah. My Speaker 3 (16:35) interpretation was like, is he somehow going to make this into a prequel for Barbie and connect the various universes? Because if you think about the character of Bam Bam and the character of Ken as interpreted by Ryan Gosling, not that different. Well, Speaker 2 (16:51) that's what I'm wondering. Yeah. I mean, like, is it basically like, I'll just take my money and go over here then. Speaker 1 (16:58) It's certainly possible. It just said that he's developing the film with his production company. It did not say that he would be starring as Bam Bam. I think that's notable. That's true. I do think Bam Bam... Adult Bam Bam. In this development is meant to be the teenage Bam Bam who we see in later seasons. There's like a... a spin-off Flintstones animated show. I spent some time reading into the Hanna-Barbera lore the other day. This made me want to kill myself, so I just want to... I was trying to find ways out of this feeling by reading more about these cartoons. Somehow Speaker 2 (17:26) loop this in with End of Oak Street. Sure, yeah. Bam Bam is introduced in 1982. Yeah, maybe he gets Speaker 1 (17:32) flashed into that period of time in history. That's possible. I don't know. You know, the Gosling thing is... Speaker 1 (17:40) It's devolving. Yeah. That's what I'll say. And I hope this gets figured out soon and he's cast as a violent assassin very soon. Speaker 2 (17:48) A Speaker 1 (17:49) broken man boy. Speaker 2 (17:51) A motorcycle Speaker 1 (17:53) racer who, you know, is going through a hard divorce. That's what I need next from Ryan. Let's save this last bit. to discuss as we go through the Ridley experience. Any other news you want to get off your chest? Any other personal announcements? Oh, hey, thanks to the folks at American Cinematheque for all three of us. A lot of fun. We shared films this week with fans during that. You guys were at Speaker 2 (18:14) the Speaker 1 (18:14) Los Feliz Speaker 2 (18:15) 3 Speaker 1 (18:15) last Speaker 2 (18:15) night. Born Identity last night. Speaker 1 (18:17) We were at the Arrow on Wednesday night. No, on Tuesday night. We had a great time showing Out of Sight, which was wonderful. You know what's really good? Born Identity. Speaker 3 (18:25) Oh, I thought you were going Speaker 1 (18:25) to Speaker 3 (18:25) say Out of Sight. Also really, really good. Both Speaker 1 (18:28) good films, yeah. And seems like we both had really nice, raucous audiences and a lot of people who hadn't seen the films before. Speaker 3 (18:35) I Speaker 1 (18:35) know, Speaker 3 (18:35) that was Speaker 1 (18:35) very, Speaker 3 (18:35) very exciting. And I talked to a couple people on the way out who were there for the first time. And they were just like, hey, that ruled! Yeah, yeah. Really good Speaker 1 (18:44) pick! Pretty exciting. Speaker 3 (18:45) So I was pleased about that. Speaker 1 (18:47) Yeah, you think these things that we talk about all the time that we feel like are endemic to the shows that we've been making for a really long time are universally understood, but... Speaker 2 (18:53) You know what? That's like what you were talking about with Matt Johnson, where it was just like these people under 25 that are essentially driving the survival and revival of movie houses. Yeah. They haven't necessarily up Speaker 1 (19:05) on all the Bourne movies. Of course not. Yeah. And where should they go next after Identity? Speaker 2 (19:09) I think that Ultimatum, or no, I mean, sorry, Supremacy. Okay, just because that's number Speaker 1 (19:13) two. Well, it's also like very key to the Speaker 2 (19:17) first film. I thought you were going to say your sexual awakening, given Joan Allen's performance. Yes, that's right. Speaker 1 (19:22) Okay. Let's talk about Ridley Scott and the Dog Stars. It Speaker 2 (19:27) sounds like an Australian pub band. Speaker 1 (19:30) So this movie is based on a novel written by Peter Heller. The screenplay is adapted by Mark L. Smith, a very seasoned screenwriter. Speaker 1 (19:39) Some notable heads of department coming in on this one that I cited to Chris last night, Amanda, that no Darius Walsky shooting this movie two in a row now, not working with Ridley Scott after working on many, many movies with Ridley over the years. David Fincher alum, Eric Messerschmidt, the Academy Award winning DP is on this. Walsky shot Resident Evil, which maybe explains why he isn't on this movie. This movie stars Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Benedict Wong, Guy Pearce, Allison Janney, set after a devastating flu pandemic. Josh Brolin. And Josh Brolin. We'll get to him. Don't worry. I Speaker 2 (20:10) just wanted to give him his credit. Yeah, Speaker 1 (20:13) we'll get there. I promise you. Set after a devastating flu pandemic that has almost eradicated humanity, the film centers on Hague, a former civilian pilot, and Bangley, a hardened former Marine, as they confront outside threats and hold on to the possibility of a better life beyond where they currently live, which is in Colorado. Speaker 3 (20:30) Yes. Speaker 1 (20:31) Amanda, Speaker 3 (20:32) what Speaker 1 (20:33) did you think of The Dog Stars? Speaker 3 (20:37) I mean, Yowza is what I think of it. It is many movies in one, which is not a compliment. But some of those movies are, if not interesting, then at least soothing. Speaker 1 (20:51) I Speaker 3 (20:52) did think to myself about 30 minutes into this film, okay, so this is just a movie about Jacob Elordi feeding his dog for two hours, which I'm not. Speaker 1 (21:03) Into. Speaker 3 (21:04) And I think that Jacob Elordi is the right height to do that and to wear all the immaculate. Short guys can't feed their dogs either? Speaker 2 (21:12) Tough one Speaker 1 (21:14) for you. Speaker 2 (21:15) I'm good. I just don't understand. Speaker 1 (21:18) Don't ever get a dog. Speaker 2 (21:20) I can't reach. Speaker 1 (21:22) Is that even true? He's got to bend down a lot. Speaker 3 (21:26) But, you know, he's limber. That's good. Hard on your back when you're tall. Mobility is an important part of health and longevity. So he's working on it now. Thank you. Speaker 1 (21:35) You're like the Dr. Becky for Pilates moms. Speaker 3 (21:40) I don't know whether that's really nice or the meanest thing you've ever seen. I think it means you've achieved your final form. Thank you so much. Yeah, he looks great in the Carhartt. There's an immaculate suede jacket that shows up at some point. I have a lot I want to talk to Speaker 2 (21:57) you Speaker 3 (21:57) about. And then I guess the plot starts. It's like, what's happening here? And it doesn't seem like anyone involved really has any of the... the pacing or the narrative beats laid down. It didn't look as bad as it could have. You know, there are parts of it that I Speaker 1 (22:18) think look beautiful. It was shot Speaker 2 (22:20) in Italy. Yes, devastatingly to Speaker 1 (22:22) me. Well, Speaker 3 (22:23) I did say to him, I Speaker 1 (22:23) was Speaker 3 (22:23) like, you know what? This is the first time that Colorado's ever looked appealing to me. Spoiler alert, it was Italy. I was Speaker 1 (22:29) talking to Chris yesterday and I was like, well, you know what? I liked being in Colorado for two hours. That was nice. And he was like, sorry, bud, that was shot in Italy. They Speaker 2 (22:35) seemed to have a delightful experience there. And they also shot a chinchetta. Usually after we see a screening that I know that we'll be talking about like days later, I'll try to like leave myself a voice memo. as I drive home, usually from Westfield, and it's a longish drive. And so sometimes I can get lost in thought. This one, I only had one sentence. Zach Bryan's Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Speaker 3 (23:00) I think I actually summed it Speaker 2 (23:02) up quite well. Speaker 3 (23:03) I agree Speaker 2 (23:04) with a lot of what Amanda said. However, it's been weird to see the Rotten Tomatoes score and the critical rejection of this movie because I'm like, It was bad, but it didn't suck. Did that make sense? I pretty much agree with Speaker 1 (23:21) that. Speaker 2 (23:21) Yes. Speaker 3 (23:22) It's not. It's Speaker 1 (23:23) unsuccessful. But it's Speaker 3 (23:24) not incompetent. Speaker 1 (23:25) Right. Speaker 3 (23:26) Yeah. Yes. And there are two times where we're like, why are you doing this? And I would have not done it. But the answer is pretty clear is that it's based on a novel. And so this is part of the plot. Speaker 1 (23:39) They made this. Speaker 3 (23:40) There Speaker 1 (23:40) is one particular sequence. Oh, Speaker 3 (23:42) that Speaker 1 (23:42) is new. Which is the most audacious thing in the movie that is not in the novel. Okay. And that choice, I would say, dramatically shifted my opinion of the movie. Because I was having what, it was sort of, the way you were describing watching a Lordy do a lot of those things sounded like ASMR, like visual ASMR. And this movie has a kind of like, I just love this terrain and I want to spend as much time as I can. as I can exploring it with aerial photography. There's some beautiful aerial photography. There's a lot of kind of quiet, contemplative moments with this sort of like sad, beautiful man who's lost his wife and is figuring out how to live in this post-apocalyptic environment. It's narratively like dead on arrival. Like the movie has no energy or pace whatsoever. But it does look good and you've got very handsome actors. You've got this kind of like... men's influencer energy of guys ripping tree stumps out of the ground and using cross saws together and it does have It's kind of like Speaker 2 (24:38) the most expensive Like outdoorsman YouTube video ever me of like cats really pleasant watching him to work on an old plane or it's like Speaker 3 (24:47) Or fly the old plane or fish. Speaker 1 (24:49) It's like MAGA Terrence Malick or something like there's just yeah Like it's not and it so it looks kind of good And you feel like you're watching a Hollywood movie. But as soon as, as you said, that the plot engine starts grinding. You can feel like I've seen at least 10 post-apocalyptic thrillers that are way more interesting than this. It's the Speaker 2 (25:11) inversion of what a lot of those post-apocalyptic thrillers do, which is typically spend a lot of time explaining the factions that are out there and, you know, like, oh, the Reapers are going to come for you or whatever. And this is kind of like, that's all brushed aside. Like, there are awareness or understanding the main two characters are Elordi, who plays a guy named Higg. And Josh Brolin, who plays a guy named Bangley. And they have basically created a fortress at an airfield in Erie, Colorado. And they are somewhat aware that there are bad guys out there who are kind of trying to come for their patch. Speaker 1 (25:49) And it's sort of suggested in the movie before we see them that there might be some zombie potential here. But they're really more just like... kind of crazed survivors. Speaker 2 (26:00) Yeah, it takes place in 2035, I think, right? I think that's right. Well, Speaker 3 (26:05) that's, yes. Speaker 2 (26:06) And so it's 10 years. I don't know when the apocalypse is supposed to have occurred, but I don't know. They've been doing this for Speaker 1 (26:12) a Speaker 2 (26:12) minute. And it's a pandemic Speaker 1 (26:14) -era novel as well, right? I believe so, yeah. No, Speaker 3 (26:17) I think that it's pre-2012. Speaker 1 (26:20) Oh, okay. Speaker 2 (26:20) And so there's like an awareness of these people, but there's not, it's... it doesn't get like bogged down in like the ideology and or state of the people who are coming for them. I will say I randomly happened to watch one of those mega trailers where they like cut together all the ads and different trailers. And I was struck by several things that are in the trailers that are not in the movie, including much more zombified looking figures. So I don't know if that was. Speaker 3 (26:50) Once we get into spoilers, I have a follow-up question about that because it did feel... there were some sort of visual feints or like clues in the movie that were never followed up on. And it did feel like things were chopped up or that things just kind of didn't gel together. I mean, it is also a Ridley Scott movie, so we know that there's four hours of footage somewhere that Chris is going to do a director's commentary for. Speaker 2 (27:14) We could talk about his technical approach to making films and how that's impacted how these stories are told at some point. Speaker 1 (27:21) Yeah, it just seems like he shoots a lot of footage with long scripts. And if he has an idea, he explores that idea really deeply. And then they kind of figure it out in post. And this is that was clearly true in Napoleon. It was clearly true in Gladiator 2. A lot of the recent movies. He's Speaker 2 (27:35) shooting with 10 cameras. Like he's not he's not shooting scenes with intention. But I Speaker 1 (27:39) think there's also like kind of a lack of fealty to hard story structure and script in terms of the execution of the movies. And you can feel it because they're. all kind of baggy now. Or they all feel like they're missing something. And, you know, I did eventually rewatch the Napoleon director's cut and I thought it improved upon the movie a little bit, but maybe not enough that it got to like, you know, an A minus. Even though I think all three of us kind of had a fun time with that movie. It's entertaining, but it's not the mega success that it should be. And he's now going through all these kind of series of styles of films. This is yet another genre. Speaker 1 (28:17) He's never really hit a movie like this before. And so he's going down the list of stuff like this. And, you know, they're just not as sharp. You know, they're not as sharp as the movies in the early 2000s and certainly not those breakthrough movies in the late 70s and early 80s. But I still I don't hate watching his movies. I really enjoy watching the movies. This feels like a case where both the script story and I think his general like truly unlocking of the world is working against it. I also think I have some Jacob Elordi questions. And Speaker 2 (28:50) I think Speaker 1 (28:51) we should talk about it. It's important. Generally. Speaker 2 (28:55) Like what compared to what? Yeah. Speaker 1 (28:58) Well, I mean, he's very important to Amanda, right? She has grabbed him as one of her guys, right? She's climbed him. She's climbed in. Not Speaker 3 (29:07) yet. Speaker 1 (29:10) A few more Pilates classes and we'll get there. I liked his work in Frankenstein quite a bit. I thought he was a terrific Elvis in Priscilla. I think he's a talented actor. He's very effective in the first two seasons of Euphoria. Not the third Speaker 2 (29:23) one? Speaker 1 (29:25) I think the writing maybe failed him a little bit. Speaker 1 (29:30) I thought he was quite poor in this movie. And I think he was really lacking a deeper register that if you can't connect to this character, then you're going to have a hard time with this movie. And maybe that's the circumstances or the script or the way that the movie is being filmed with 10 cameras or what. But I just wasn't with him emotionally at all. And so that's a big drawback for the movie. I'll Speaker 2 (29:50) say this. There's a clip flying