Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Everybody to Kenmure Street, The Samurai and The Prisoner | #1075

0:21 Film Spotting is presented by Regal Unlimited, the all you can watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. See any standard two D movie anytime with no blackoutdates or restrictions. Sign up now on the Regal app or at the link in our description and use code film spot twenty six to receive fifteen percent off.

0:45 What kind of a show you guys putting on here today?

0:48 You're not interested in art?

0:49 Now?

0:50 No, Look, we're going to do this thing.

0:51 We're going to have a conversation.

0:55 From Chicago. This is film Spotting.

0:57 I'm Josh Larson and I met him Kempinar. You don't remember me, but we used to know each other.

1:03 Something bad was going to happen, and the only way to stop it was to.

1:06 Make everyone forget about me. Because I'm not just Peter Parker. I'm spider Man. After a five year hiatus, Tom Holland's Peter Parker is back in spider Man. Brand New Day. Movie fans missed their Spidey Josh.

1:25 Apparently, Brand New Day had a huge opening weekend at the box office. We've got a review plus thoughts on everybody to kenmure Street and the Samurai and the Prisoner. That more ahead on film spotting.

1:45 Welcome to film Spotting. Later in the show, Josh, we'll discuss a new documentary that would fit in nicely with our current dissident cinema marathon. Everybody to Kenmure Street. It's about a collective active civil disobedience that took place in a Scottish neighborhood back in twenty twenty one. Was this a movie that was being talked about at all while you were in Scotland recently?

2:06 Oh?

2:06 Hugely, and I intended to go see it. Intend to see it in Glasgow, where it's set. I think it might have premiered at a festival there, but yeah, the timing didn't work out. Finally did catch it here in Chicago.

2:19 Okay, we will give that a few minutes. You also caught up with the latest from Pulse and Cure director Kiyoshi Kurrasawa. The sixteenth century Japan set The Samurai and the Prisoner is the movie. I've seen your star ratings, so I know you're going to recommend it. In fact, I'm going to steal your thunder a little bit here.

2:37 Your your blurbis plays like something Agatha Christy might have written, after binge watching a bunch of Akira Kurrasawa, I'm in.

2:44 I mean sounds great, right, and it works. It works. This is a really good movie.

2:49 Yeah.

2:50 I'll get more into that in a bit.

2:52 Also later in the show, Everybody's favorite segment Massacre Theater. A reminder that Film Spotting is available as a video podcast. You can watch us talk over at YouTube dot com slash film Spotting up. First Spider Man, Brand New Day.

3:07 Doctor Banner, you found a way to suppress mutating DNA?

3:10 Right have you seen them with this off run?

3:16 So?

3:16 Could you get rid of the bad aspects but keep the good?

3:18 How would you decide what parts of that you're our good or bad?

3:23 Well?

3:24 Sorry about that, you're not one of my students.

3:26 Sorry.

3:28 From two thousand and two Spider Man up to Brand New Day, we've witnessed ten standalone Spider Man films and four very different Spider Men. Yes, to keep things simple, I'm only going to dip a toe into the multiverse. In the Sam Raimi films, Toby Maguire carried a palpable sadness, was socially awkward, and constantly overwhelmed by responsibility. He was also deeply sincere Andrew Garfield was more restless, emotional and tragically romantic. There were moments watching The Amazing Spider Man two in preparation for our top five Spider Man scenes. No, none of those scenes made the cut in which I was sure Garfield was intentionally channeling James You're tearing me apart, Dean Garfield. Spidery yearns. He also quips a lot who

4:13 can forget a god named Sparkles Tom Hollands. Peter is the most believable as a teenager. He's insecure and sure, but also the most determined to prove himself and optimistic, at least until this latest MCU installment, which finds him without his girlfriend or best friend and buckling under the pressure of focusing on being Spider Man full time. In the animated films, Miles Morales voiced by Shamik Moore isn't wrecked with guilt and grief the way his predecessors are, displaying more of an easy going warmth and confidence as he seeks to fulfill his potential. Josh, before seeing Brand New Day, I had never forced myself to consider what exactly I wanted from a Spider Man movie or a Spider Man. But my response to the recent entry did

4:59 prompt an answer. How about you? Last week, debating the current Film Spotting poll, you said that Spider Man was the definitive Spider Man movie, even though Into the Spider Verse might be the better Spider Man movie. I don't think you're necessarily upside down out on a ledge with that opinion. So is the earnestness maguire offers about your ideal web slinging speed or are their DNA strands of all these spiders that would make the perfect Spider Man?

5:30 And did Holland director Dustin Daniel Cretin and Brand New Day design you something close.

5:38 There's definitely distinguishing characteristics among all of them, as you laid out, and I think that's to their credit and as much as each of these movies work as well as they do, I'm glad to see you're still recovering from the shock of how bad Amazing Spider Man two.

5:53 It's so bad, it's literally the worst one, right, It's.

5:56 Going to follow you for a long long time. You know, this is a question I sort of asked myself for our Top five Spider Man scenes list. Is trying to get a handle on the essence of the character and what I responded to, what I've responded to most about it. It was interesting, Adam. Since then I listened to Movie Deathmatch, the film Spotting show pairing Spider Man two against into These, and on that episode, Matt Singer spent a lot of time talking about how Peter Parker is so tortured, He's continually wrestling with his identity and trying to balance the job of being a teenager and the job of being Spider Man, and how it just makes him one of the most He was talking about how Sam Raimie's the

6:44 streak of sadism and Ramie fit this character, you know, because he's one of the most beleaguered Spider Man characters. And I thought, huh, that makes a lot of sense, But it's not at all what I really talked about on our list in terms of what I've always responded to, which was we touched on his friendliness and his youth.

7:04 You know that this is one of the superheroes who is, for most iteration, as a teen and even as a superhero clad in his costume, someone who the neighborhood knows and feels like they have a relationship with, So I think that's where I lean now to get us to Brand New Day. What does that mean for the iterations we've seen in these movies? And I do think Maguire I appreciate the friendliness, the earnestness that he has there.

7:33 What I have always liked about Tom Holand though, is that teen aspect that you just touched on, and it goes beyond Holland as Peter Parker. It's the movies up until now that we're very much teen movies, high school movies. We've touched on this many times. Spider Man Homecoming was a high school movie first, a Spider Man movie second.

7:53 I think that's to its credit, and we have something different here with Brand New Day that actually tests my personal appeal to the character. Necessarily it has to. This is the fourth Hotland movie. He can't be a teenager forever. The actor has grown up, as has the character, and I was relieved to see that this Spider Man handles that well. Do I miss the tea teenager, the high school Peter Parker. I do, But at least the movie embraced and leaned into the reality that this Peter Parker is now in his twenties, facing some of these more angst ridden questions that Matt Singer talked about and has always liked about the character unique to me in your twenties, changing relationships, uncertain futures, particularly what this means for his

8:44 relationship with MJ Zendeia here and the two of them get a lot of scenes together working through this. I joked when I wrote about A Brand New Day that it's the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind of Spider Man movies, because right it begins with their memories erased, Ned's memory his friend and MJ their memories erased of Peter Parker as Spider Man, and so that gives a lot of emotional room once he reconnects for them to play out these questions of what it's like to be in your twenties, questions of identity, allegiance, independence, and these moments are nicely played by the two actors. So I think it diverts from what I've always liked about Spider Man.

9:28 But does it well enough that I appreciated it went that way? Does it mean it's a great Spider Man movie. Well, we'll get into We'll get into that and cover some of the other many many many many many many many many many, many many things this movie does.

9:44 Maybe in a bit, okay, we it sounds like want or like different types of Spider Men, but ultimately feel the same about what works here. So I love your flexibility, Josh. Okay, even though I also do think based on the many, many, many, all the caveats you just provided, I think I like this film more than you did, and I want to mention here that I even though during our top five I alluded to a scene and picked a scene that Matt Singer in that movie Death Match, which had mentioned from Sam Raimi spider Man two, I knew that he talked about that scene, but I actually hadn't heard that episode until we were putting the final production touches on that episode over this weekend after I had seen Brand

10:37 New Day. So listening to Matt talk about Spider Man and Peter Parker and getting into some of the tortured psyche stuff that you were just referencing was incredibly validating for me in terms of my response to Brand New Day. Going through this whole exercise after seeing the film, putting our top five Spider Man scenes together, looking at my mostly wanting ratings for the three previous Holland movies. I don't think I'm with you that it's a plus that their high school movies first. Yes, catching up with my lone blind spot watching the Amazing Spider Man two, where I was minded of the overly quippie as I mentioned comedic sensibility of Garfield Spider Man, and yes, I look back and found this because I remember getting the emails,

11:32 and they're there from people saying, not necessarily, all of our listeners who wrote in loved the movie, but they said, oh, you're wrong, Adam. That's that's spider Man. That's true spider Man, that's who he is in the comic book. They got that right. Okay, I didn't love it on screen. I can now report though, after all of this, I know Creton directed Shang Chi too, but it checks out that the guy who made Short Term twelve, a pretty heavy movie about counselors at a care unit for at risk teens, would make my favorite Spider Man movie in this series. Apparently, the more bergmanesque my Spider Man movies are the happier I am. I like my Spider Man torture. That's the caveat for my review for anybody listening, that's how I like,

12:21 That's how I must prefer my Peter Parker's more on the sad bastard side, with with Raymie's maguire and with with Tom Holland here and as we said that that is, we can say I'm going to trust Matt Singer, having written the book about it, written a book about Spider Man, that that is. That is something that is core to Spider Man. One of the best exchanges in that death match, if you listen to it, where they're talking about Spider Man two and Spider Verse, is when Matt said, I think a reason that he resonates in every form with people is getting back to how frankly miserable he is as a person. Part of that is his loneliness. He's a lonely character. And Matt goes on to say, I'm going to paraphrase that. A lot of thirteen year old

13:08 boys they read the comic as Matt did, and you you connect with this character who is lonely. And the way Matt Matt framed it was you feel like nobody understands you. You're a weirdo, you're a nerd, you're a dweeb, You're different. This Peter Parker hasn't like others, hasn't just tried to move on. Is trying and failing to move on from MJ, trying to move on from other people in his life. You know, Aunt May is gone here of course too, but he's pressed the nuclear button to ensure that they they've completely forgotten him, that they don't even know he exists. As far the eternal struggle for Peter Parker and Spider Man of work life balance, there's no work life balance here. It's all work and it's

14:04 completely destroying him as he's just focused on saving the world. And I thought, I thought the central metaphor of Peter rather than undergoing puberty but transforming into adulthood, this new stage of the Spider life life cycle. I thought it was really effective and inspired in a way, tying together his mental and physical stru struggles directly with his DNA, his Spider, his Spider DNA. Now there is one major butt here that I have a feeling we're going to get to, which is the water this movie has to carry for the MCU. But beneath the MCU obligations and superhero spectacle lies something surprisingly heartfelt the Spider Man movie about loneliness and the struggle to be an adult. I'm even surprised to say that I not only had a

14:56 really good time watching Brand New Day, it got a little dusty in the theater. A few times. I've sitt there thinking, what's going on. I'm watching a Spider Man movie and feeling this way. So, yeah, I'm pro Brand New Day.

15:09 I think that's still PTSD from Amazing Spider Man Too.

15:12 You were just so relieve, set the bar so low.

15:15 There was a good New Spider Man movie that you just started crying. It could be JO totally understand. Yeah, so we are looking for different things. But like I said, that doesn't mean if a movie does the thing I'm not looking for, well, I don't want to recognize that we've got. It's just like we've got so many brooding, tortured superheroes, and you know, I think, to me, Batman has this corner on Lockdown, so a little variation on it, a character who offers something completely different. That's why I'm more drawn to the teen, little bit lighthearted though still having conflict Spider Man here. Adam, Yes, it is as you say, the water it has to carry for the MCU, which I've made my deal with the Devil from I

16:04 don't know, maybe the third entry that that's part of this. In some ways, I appreciate that. It's very much like the lived experience of reading comic books, where you're always aware of multiple worlds going on around the one storyline you read. So I don't hold this against these movies across the board. It is a matter of proportion for me, sure, and honestly it's a matter of if I am locked into the movie doing something on its own terms, with its own narrative quite well, that MCU better get out of the way because your movie does not need it.

16:44 And then it is nothing less than an intrusion. And I feel that's what we get here on multiple levels. We're gonna have to avoid spoilers. We will avoid spoilers. If we decide we want to talk about it near the end of this, maybe I'll say more Right now. I will just say that this needs to open up another franchise in the megamol of the MCU, and not only do that, but spend probably its last third doing it.

17:12 I feel it's pretty egregious. I realize they try to make thematic connections between how that works and Peter's story. I recognized the attempt. I just found it to be incredibly ungainly, where all of a sudden I didn't feel like I was watching a Spider Man movie at all for quite a bit of time. A non spoiler thing we can discuss, because I'd like to hear how this character registered for you.

17:38 Punisher.

17:39 The Punisher Punisher depending on the iteration here, played by John Bernhal, has already been in some MCU, showed up on TV shows.

17:50 I just this.

17:51 Character I've never really liked. I have seen the two thousand and four for Thomas Jane movie, which I'm sorry I think I did give I might have given a positive review to in my memory, but the character, I remember it being sadistic and violent. And maybe I've just seen what over twenty years more of such characters. The proliferation and hijacking of the Punisher character, let's say, by segments in American society, and really concerning ways. I do understand, having seen that original you know film and knowing something about the comic book, I understand there's a distinction between how this character was conceived and depicted and how he's used on I don't know, you know, the really annoying

18:41 car that probably just cut you off on the freeway and someone gave you the middle finger, and they've got the Punisher d kel on the back. I understand there's a distinction there. Still, I have become less enthralled with this character over the years, and I think the use here is just brutal all of a sudden, This Spider Man movie, which is about agility, dexterity, swinging on webs, comes down to machine guns. And I like to think a moment with an errant bullet is meant to be self critical in a wry way that's trying to comment on gun violence. I don't think it is, but it made me realize what I've long disliked about The Punisher.

19:20 And I think it's just a really.

19:23 Brutal element that drags down this.

19:27 Movie quite a bit. Hell, French, who just hit me with a band? Break suit yourself, motherfuck go home. I have no feelings about the Punisher in terms of baggage I'm bringing to the film, which is a great position to be in it. Similarly is how I feel about, honestly the MCU overall, and and the characters. I'll get into this in a second. When I talk about how I responded to the water the movie was caring for the MCU, I'm only responding to how the Punisher functions within this film, okay, and I would largely agree with you.

20:17 I give them credit for providing some balance here. And what I mean is I know enough about the Punisher to understand that the character, at least this current iteration that Burnhall has given us in the various whatever series he's done. I know enough to understand that he puts the mature in for mature audiences and that they had to be monitoring the number of swear words they could put in his mouth to still get a PG. Thirteen rating that they got here. So where I give them credit is that they inserted him into this world without feeling like he makes absolutely no sense at all, like they had to they had to completely sand down his rough edges. M hm. You know, I said, Peter is a is a bit of a sad bastard here, but

21:09 it's nothing like the pain even here that that Burnfall infuses Punisher with, even when you just look at him. So with that said, something is just off when Punisher when Punisher is one of your key comedic figures in the movie, When when Punisher and and and Peter Park, when spider Man's banter, when they're their odd ball odd couple relationship is giving you some of the more comedic parts of the movie. And and beyond that, I didn't necessarily think that any of the action scenes that that they were in together were highlights of the movie.

21:50 I just shooting guns. It's the most unimaginative action you can have.

21:54 So yeah, yeah, I'm with you on that. Now as far as the other characters, we agree on the MCU part, but we don't necessarily I don't know if we see eye to eye on a certain on a certain element of it. And to go back to what you said, of course, I wouldn't complain about the MCU sprawl unless the MCU sprawl was a distraction from the narrative, especially when the narrative is otherwise for me functioning pretty well.

22:23 And here again, I'm not invested in the MCU. I'm not anticipating any characters who may or may not appear. I don't know what movies might be coming, so I'm just I'm just watching this narrative unfold and taking what it gives me, and through the first I don't know what it is, twenty or so minutes of the movie, I'm fully engaged. This is going great. And then Peter says something like or Spider Man says something like I need some information, and I think I know who can help me. And that's not the line, but I wish it was a significantly better line. And the next thing you know, he's in a bathhouse talking to Florence Pugh's black widow. I don't know if you found this scene offensive.

23:07 I wouldn't say it was offensive, Josh, but I will. There's a reason why I'm bringing it up. I can't say it serves no purpose for the plot. He finally, I think, if I remember it, right as he leaves, he gets a word from her that that ends up being important, even though he doesn't do anything with it. So how important is it? But this scene ultimately is there to be kind of a comedic distraction. Spider Man has to take his clothes off and get a bath with his mask on, and she has a little quip at the end of it. I didn't find it very amusing, and it really is. I assume otherwise to let let us all, let let the MCU make sure that we get Black Widow into this movie, because she's going to be important to some other MCU movie down the line.

23:53 It's set up, and she shows up later in the movie via a laptop, and and and it's it's another joke which again doesn't really land. And the last one that I'll give you is another example, of course, is Peter going.

24:07 To see Real Quick? Yeah you cried. I laughed, Okay, I thought it was funny. Him getting in the bath wearing his mask still made me laugh. I like her comment about how it's to the Spider Man character. You know, he deals in what does she say, small baby potato stuff?

24:26 Yeah, and they I don't mind that line.

24:28 This this is see this is a cameo like this from another MCU character. If the material is good and takes up forty five seconds to a minute and a half, I'm okay with So.

24:40 That's longer for me. It's longer than that. But I'll give you an example of one that could work that one doesn't got for me. One that can work is when Peter goes to see doctor Professor Bruce Banner because narratively the information that he gets from him is hugely important to the story. And I was engaged enough at this point that I thought, now, this, this is nice, this makes sense. This is nice to see Mark Ruffalo in this movie. And of course he would of course he would seek out Bruce Banner to get this information.

25:17 Who else would know this. This isn't shoehorning in in anything that's ten. But then what is this setting up? We know what it's setting up. A whole lot of chaos and destruction, some well shot chaos and destruction, but a whole lot of chaos and destruction and probably some other things that are come that are going to come down the road. It could have worked, It could have functioned nicely and been and been the kind of effective cameo that I think it could have been. But that's but the first example for me of Black Widow is an example of a distraction. And then the second one that I'm just describing is then like actually gobbling up narrative by by putting the Hulk in the movie.

26:00 And we Hulk cinematic technology still has not arrived. I'm sorry, Like when when we get those action scenes, I don't I don't think they're they're bad, but they still are not as convincing even of other digital characters and effects. We get there's something particularly difficult, difficult about Hulk as a character, as a visual character that I keep hoping they'll crack. Someday. They probably will, maybe maybe not. Maybe this is just too strange of a visual to ever convincingly depict on screen. But we do end up getting a fair amount of Hulk here too. And yeah, I just don't think the visuals are there yet.

26:38 Okay, least last little part of the MCU, just the least closing bit, because here again we're we see it the same way we I think, we just disagree slightly slightly on how effective it is. And we won't we won't get into spoilers because apparently this is a very protected thing, but it's not protected or it's very well known that Sadie sinc is in this movie. And there is where all this MCU stuff leaves us. Is it leaves us with, at some point or to some extent, a compromised movie that's that's trying to do justice to Peter's arc but also do Marvel business. And even though after this big fight scene happens, and there's some resolution, even though it doesn't feel over by any means. You can't help but think. I'm speaking for myself, but I

27:29 have to imagine a lot of people were feeling similarly. Wait, if this is where we're going, we still have a lot of story left to get to, and and sure enough, where we're getting is a lot. There's a lot to resolve. But also it's very clearly setting up more MCU storylines and more around a very key character. But you spoke to this, you said that I see how it's connecting to Peter and his story. I would say, beyond that, Josh, the emotional beats, the actual scenes and the way it connects, and the performance that that that that actress gives and how she interacts with Tom Holland, I think it's very effective and I think for all of its sprawl, I think that I think the screenplay is at least quite

28:21 coherent and it does all connect, even if ultimately it's compromised.

28:27 Yeah, I think she's quite good. I'm gonna be delicate here. I think she's quite good in those scenes you're describing. I think the movie earlier asks her to do something and carry a presence that she's not quite as equipped to do, and so it's a performance of two sides. For me, that gets better, or the screenplay gets better.

28:50 Perhaps is a different way of looking at it. I'll say that about that character, and I just wish maybe the movie hadn't been given over quite so much to that character in certain sentences, because, as we both said now thematically, it does connect interestingly, so Sadie sink Yes from Stranger Things. This movie does give a lot of really good supporting TV actors, some juicy supporting roles here Tremelle Tillman from Severance, mister Milchick and Severance. I thought he has some good scenes. It's a thankless part, but he carries like enough of a presence to it that you know what you're getting the whole time.

29:31 See, that's like how he gave it to us. That's the thing. I won't I won't dance around it, or I won't I'm sorry, I will dance around it, but I will simply say that I don't think the movie is trying to fool you. At the same time, if everybody sitting in the theater immediately knows what we know about that character, how doesn't Peter Parker slash Spider Man. Know, sure, it's a hole in the movie for me and and and I I can't help but think then that it's slightly a weakness in Tilman's performance too.

30:06 It's also a bit of typecasting because on severance, he's let's say, he's a kindly duplicitous character. So it's kind of being carried in. Now, what's not being carried in anything? I don't think from The Bear, which you know I finally finished up recently, but Liza Colonzeis plays Tina and the Bear, one of the best characters on on that series, and here she's the police commissioner or a lead detective and has some nice back and forth with Peter and speaks directly to this workaholic element of the film. I like that they include. I think in each of her scenes we see her, she's also with her kids, either eating with them or riding the subway with them, which is just speaking to this dynamic of work life family

30:52 work balance that Peter is struggling and that she's kind of demonstrating. So yeah, it's just interesting that you've got three well known TV actors popping up here and The other thing I want to say to this movie is credit. You mentioned Kret and the director who did do shun Chi and the legend of the Ten Rings, which I really love. Happened to think it's one of the best MCU films, probably because it's self contained. Like Spider Man home Coming, largely was here.

31:19 The action.

31:20 You know, I've said what I said about Punisher Hulk, mileage is going to vary. There is an excellent and it is also like shang Chi, largely martial arts based showdown with the hand. This group of you know, villain's adversaries for Spider Man, basically ninja types and these red robes and they use swords, and the way that's staged within it's like a cage match because it's in this atrium where the levels have fencing all along them. I thought that was quite thrilling, inventively staged, and also makes use of that Spider Man DNA changing element, so ties into some of the themes as well. I know people have become and they are right to feel this way we read by MCU action. I think that sequence is

32:12 one of the standout action films in the series.

32:16 I was going to say, we're completely aligned down to not surprisingly because it's a pretty common word, the use of the word thrilling in our notes. There is a fight sequence, and it's that one that's near the end of the film that has to be one of the most thrilling and most memorably shot and edited in all of the MCU. It's that it is that good. And if we're talking about performances, I do have other things I want to praise about this movie. If we're talking about performances, I think this is maybe Holland at his best because he brings he still does get to bring the elements that we associate with him from the other films, but he does get to stretch out a little bit, and he doesn't play what he does well here. The

33:07 smart choice he makes is is that he doesn't play Peter as somebody all of a sudden with an edge. That's never the sense I got. He really plays him as someone who's just struggling, as someone who seems to really have depression, and I felt that from him. I also think Zendeia Josh, I'm gonna at some point, I'm going to stop beating the dead horse. But here, one of the trailers, maybe the last trailer before Brand New Day was Dune three, of course, and there's only one shot of her in the entire trailer, and it's her making the Zendeia face that filmmakers insist on having her make.

33:47 And it couldn't have gotten me less excited to see Dune three. And so then we go into Brand New Day and we watch her opposite Holland and she is effortlessly charming. She's funny, she has great chemistry with him. And in a scene where she gets to do some I suppose small level capital A acting and show her darker side, she absolutely delivers. I'm always amazed that she's really good when she actually actually gets to play people.

34:21 It's crazy.

34:21 It's a chance. Yeah yeah, I mean we're on record from Challengers to other stuff. She's one of our best working actresses. But you're right about how some filmmakers choose to use her. I can imagine a game of haven't seen doing three obviously, but based on the other films, shot from The Odyssey or shot from Doune, and it's just on his face and the costuming. They also put her in, right, It's like you have to decide which is which. I think it would be harder than you might guess. I think she's great here. She's always given I mean, that same sort of unpredictability and spark and attitude, but also you know, enough vulnerability that she had in something like Challengers. She's bringing here appropriately and makes the

35:08 use of quite a few scenes, you know, a good use of quite a few scenes that she and Holland get together. Holland, I agree with everything you said about him, and I would add that he's also still funny, and I think that is key. I think you know you're right. This is not Spider Man, you know, goes dark and brooding.

35:26 It doesn't quite go to that Batman territory. It is distinct in that way. And in addition to the bathhouse scene, I like the recurring bit where you know, this is a Peter Parker who's kind of grossed out by spiders, and I think that you know that you and then the Tom Hollands sells those well. And the fact that you know this part of the lower being played with here is part of his changes is now the web spinnerets become organic for him rather than mechanical, and the fact that his reaction is is to be like utterly grossed out, like he suddenly discovered a bizarre growth on his body. I just think it's you know, he plays that sort of comedy really well and brings that element to the film as well, which I think is a

36:08 crucial component of it.

36:09 I agree, I agree, he is still he is still funny, and the movie also still takes advantage of the element he brings that none of the other ones do, which is his physical agility. There's a lot of physical comedy in this movie, without a doubt. So a couple other things during the death Match, Matt said something that one other thing that was so in sync with something I loved in this film, and I wonder if you had a similar reaction. There's a part in that exchange in Deathmatch where he's taught he's talking about the video game, the Spider Man two video game. Now I know nothing about any of the Spider Man video games, but Matt says something like it was the first time the game was an open world game where you could swing around

36:55 as much as you want and you had objectives in places to go. But also part of the fun of the game was you could just swing around Manhattan and it looked as best as they could make it at the time, and it gave you that feeling of freedom and excitement and fluidity and movement and kinetic energy that the movies have, which you could never get in even the greatest Spider Man comic by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and John Romita and whoever else. As beautiful as the artwork is, it is inherently a series of static panels.

37:20 So I think we touched on this a little bit during our top five what attracted us to Spider Man in the first place as a superhero. It doesn't surprise me at all to learn that part of the attraction for many to this video game was, yes, it's a game, and there are things you got to get to at some point, things do accomplish and achieve, but you also just get to swing around the city as Spider Man is sure, and just have fun. That's what we all want to do. And so here again about Holland, He's always brought this physical dexterity, this balletic ability that neither Maguire nor Garfield had, and you combine that with with some genuine grace that the filmmakers here depict with some of the flying scenes like when Spider Man is swinging swinging,

38:08 not flying swinging with MJ. Think about when he's bringing her back and forth. There is a distinct rhythm to the thwip and swings where it truly feels like their share a dance together. And he's not only trying to take things slow because he's trying to keep her safe and not scare her. Maybe, but maybe he's also trying to savor every second of this because he doesn't know how many more chances he's going to get to hold her or even you know, spend any time with her.

38:40 I loved those moments.

38:41 Well they're nicely handled too, because their relationship is different. Again, won't spoil it, but the first couple swing, let's say that they do, has a different possibility where the second one there's a different reality now for their relationship. And it's speaking to your observation about rhythms. Those are paced differently, they are their performed differently, and I think that is a nice little bit of nuance I absolutely thought of during those sequences, you know, the Lowest Lane and Superman flight from seventy eight, super absolute right, It's yes, it works along the same lines, which is yeah, kind of a nice callbacks. Speaking of callbacks, did you notice you know, doing our Spider Man scenes? And you can't say this

39:29 is a ripoff because these movies have been borrowing from the comics in each other since the beginning, But very early on they do grab that upside down shot we both picked for of course across the Spider Verse, and they have Holland sitting upside down with the you know yeah, and they even riff on the upside down kiss from two thousand and two Spider Man where she Zendea gives him MJ gives him a half mass kiss, pulls up the mask to give him a kiss. So I think, you know, again, those homages, let's call them, let's call them nice homages.

40:05 Well, I think it's it's emblematic of something else in the movie is doing well. Though, that I give Kretton and his team a lot of a lot of credit for is that I was really struck by, including the effects, but just the overall visual athetic esthetic is that it looks as good as any of the live action films do, if not better. But they also seem to me Josh in some instances subtly to find a way to integrate some of the look and feel of the animated movies in select sequences to give it a heightened realism in a way that for me never really broke the spell like they give it. They incorporated some of that beauty that all of us go crazy for in the animated films in a way the live action movies haven't been

40:51 able to do.

40:52 There's that montage early on of him when we're starting to learn what a workaholic he is, and we see him and showdowns with various villains, including the Hand. We get a little teaser of the hand, and Yeah, those are very much framed as you know slow motion or almost freeze frame moving into slow motion, that have an animated aesthetic to them.

41:14 Yeah, and there are shots that you would expect in a good comic book movie, like at Damage Can just before the battle really begins, where it's it's in a puddle in the hallway, but you see you see Spider Man in it as he's arriving. Shots matter in this movie in a way that I haven't felt as often in some of the other films. There's an intention behind them.

41:40 There's an intention behind moments like at the beginning the senior describing where he he leaps from that skyscraper, the decision, and there are more, there are more instances like this, but putting us inside his mask. Do you remember that where he's falling and they put it in the ball. Yeah, So it's it's not just sometimes they do that only when it's it's Iron Man or Spider Man or something when he's targeting something, and it's just about showing off the technology. That's not what it's about here. It's about like we're hearing his breathing. It's it's it's showing him as as a person behind the mask, and that seems important to what this movie is ultimately trying to do.

42:20 Yeah, I if that had been done before. Where it is putting us right again, right next to his eye, it's related to his eyes change as the IRAQ DNA is changing, So it kind of sets the stage for us to watch his eyes. But there's an intimacy there to your point that I don't remember a shot like that in a previous Spider Man movie. Maybe, And also and related to that, surely other iterations have had live action iterations have had when in mask the eyes narrow.

42:52 I can't imagine this is the first time they've done it. It might be more that they do it more frequently here than they have before, but it did stand out to me, and I think again speaks to this merging, the idea of merging the man behind the mask, and the mask it's not just a rigid mask. You know, there is a personality, and it's Peter Parker's who is expressively responding by narrowing his eyes, and the mask shows us that as well.

43:21 That's a nice touch less point, and this speaks to the benefits of engaging in activities like doing a top five Spider Man scenes before you see a movie like this, where we talked quite a bit about Spider Man's relationship to the people of New York City, and so then I found it so fascinating when there's a scene as he falls from his apartment and he goes on the sidewalk and a citizen, just someone walking by, it seems, says something to him and then says something a little sinister to him. Not a spoiler, we realize that this is really the villain in this film, because the villain's a telepath who can get into people's heads, and it's just a guy walking a guy walking by, and there's an extended scene. Whoever that actor is is very good.

44:16 That's a really good conversation. And then then that that voice jumps from New Yorker to New Yorker, and there is something so sinister about weaponizing the people of New York, not just using them as pawns in a battle, like lots of villains do in these movies, but actually weaponizing the people of New York against Spider Man.

44:39 Yeah, especially in the context of a Spider Man story. Yep, yeah, absolutely, Yeah.

44:42 I really like that. Spider Man Brand New Day is currently playing in wide release. If you see it, or if you have seen it and agree or disagree with our takes, we would love to hear your thoughts. You can email us feedback at film spotting dot net. You can also send us a voicemail, send us a send us a clip, send us a video clip. We'll put it on our YouTube. Email that to feedback at filmspotting dot net.

45:08 Adam, we always talk about the great aspects of seeing movies in theaters. You know, with with a crowd, you get you know, the excitement or the fears for a horror movie, the laughs for a comedy the big picture of course. Obviously. You know what we also get occasionally for movies is people going to see a movie in costume on theme, and I think I think Spider Man movies would make a top five list of films where you're likely to see people in costume. Obviously you've got Rocky Horror, right, I think maybe something like the Wicked movies.

45:43 People were doing this definitely for the second installment. Every time I have gone to see a Spider Man movie, I've seen someone not just in like a T shirt, but you know, having some more elaborate elements of the Spider Man costume, from the mask to web slingers of some sort. It's part of the fun of seeing a Spider Man movie in a theater. Next time you're in a theater to see Brand New Day, check for that, look for that, and you could probably have that experience for free. If you're a member of Regal Unlimited, you'd be able to see something like Spider Man Brand New Day for free, because this is the all you can watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Right now, Regal is offering film spotting listeners

46:28 endless movies for less. If you sign up for Regal Unlimited and use our code film Spot twenty six, then you're going to get fifteen percent off. This is the only truly limitless movie subscription pass out there because you can see any standard two D movie anytime, they don't have blackout dates or restrictions. Also with Regal Unlimited, you're going to save on snacks. Members get ten percent off all non alcoholic concessions. So sign up now in the Regal app where that Spider Man costume. If you want, you can find that link in our description or just use the code film Spot twenty six to receive your discount. Adam, let's take a minute to thank the Film Spotting family.

47:17 These are the folks who pretty much keep us going. Let us can continue to make these shows. This is membership in the Film Spotner family. It really is the largest source of support for the show. So we want to thank this week family member Ryan Jacobs in Charlotte, North Carolina, and also Family plus member Zach Rothfeld in New York.

47:37 Ryan says that his listenership predates the van in Van Holgren. Now that's how you know you are o G. Twenty years ago, I graduated college with the film Studies Minor and wanted to continue to listen to intelligent people talk about the kind of movies I like to watch. I have donated to the show many times over the years.

47:55 I'm sorry it took me so long to join the family. We thank you so much. Ryan Zach is a relative newbie. He says only been listening since twenty seventeen. Random films or filmmakers they love. Josh. Zach is a big fan of Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married. Good movie?

48:13 Okay, yeah, oh really good.

48:15 Ryan is a Jonathan Glazer fan. Favorite books about movies or a movie making Mark Harris and his book Pictures at a Revolution. Ryan for some reason, didn't submit an entry. Don't I don't know what happened here. He didn't answer this part of the questionnaire. Oh, thank you, thank you.

48:33 Just have my notes.

48:34 Oh okay, so I thank you. Sam left it out of mine. Uh huh do you want to read it?

48:39 Thank you for reading Movies Our Prayers a little book I wrote. I really appreciate that. It's always you know, it's been a couple of years for both of my books, Adam and this and earlier this week for fear not. I got a nice note on Facebook. Someone read it over the summer and yeah, it's always always makes you feel good and you're like, oh, those things are still out there and some people are still reading them. So thank you very much, Ryan. Thank you also, Zach for your support for listening to the show. If you want to follow Zach on letterbox, as I just did about an hour ago, you can find them at Frothy Rothy.

49:15 More about joining the Film Spotting Family is available at film Spottingfamily dot com. Here's what you'll get as a member early in AD free listening. AD free listening that means no ads, right Adam, not an AD is to be found, Okay, literally, just wanted to make sure. You'll also get a weekly newsletter. You'll get access to the complete Film Spotting archive. We have a family only discord, a message board where there's lots of great conversation going on and exclusive opportunities. We're currently running the twenties thirties Madness Tournament. If you're a film Spouting Family member you can be part of that. Right now, we are down to the elite eight. The benefits they just keep on coming.

50:01 We haven't even mentioned our monthly bonus shows. July, we did our performances of the year so far list this month in August, we are going to have a blind spouting conversation as soon as we can nail down a title that I haven't seen, Sam hasn't seen, and Adam hasn't seen, so we'll be we'll be getting to that.

50:20 So un all of this great value at the regular price for a Film Spotting Family membership, but through August thirty first, you can get a membership for twenty percent off. Just use the code Summer. We will link to that in the show notes, or you can go to film Spottingfamily dot com and sign up with that code Summer for twenty percent off.

50:44 Here's another incentive to join the family and be part of that family discord. Is that you will see, I'm not sure if you're even aware of this, Josh, you will see that somehow neither the Passion of Joan of Arc nor Metropolis made the twenties or thirties Madness Elite eight. And you can then go into the discord and make fun of everyone who didn't vote for those films.

51:11 Is this is this how you've been spending your time?

51:13 No, No, I need I need a proxy to do that for me. That would be to mean of one of the hosts to do that.

51:19 Well, if you wanted to vent in some away, yes you could do that by joining the film spoting Family at filmspting family dot com. That's not the kind of thing you expect to see when you're your curtains in the morning.

51:31 I started getting these text messages. Great on Camillo Street. Can people get in now? The new documentary Everybody to ken Mere Street just left the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, but it's coming to Iowa City's film scene. It's playing in limited release in other theaters around the country. It's directed by Philippe Busto Sierra. It premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie is about a twenty twenty one collective act of civil disobedience in a diverse neighborhood on the South side of Glasgow. Residents in the area attempted to protect their neighbors from being deported.

52:08 We did both catch up with this one. Josh. You suggested you saw it first and said, hey, this might be worthy of a Golden Brick nomination. I want you to tell us why. But I also just want to say first that one of the things we learn early on in this film that this attempt by the UK Home Office effectively ice to deport to seek men upon the occasion the holiday of d at dawn in the early morning hours is is really thwarted by a man who decides, who has the brilliant idea that comes to him to lodge himself under the vehicle and attach himself to one of the axles or something under the vehicle and make it so that the vehicle simply cannot move.

53:06 And that's what allows all of these people to assemble. So tell us about this film and your response to it.

53:14 Yeah, without that act, none of this would have taken place. Yeah, the Golden Brick question. You know, the direct here has been working for a while, so not necessarily an emerging filmmaker for Libe Busto Sierra, I think, has one feature documentary he made before this, as well as a number of shorts. It's to me it was a formal question.

53:34 The vision thing we look for in Golden Brick Awards, a unique formal vision, an inspired filmmaking choice. And this is a documentary that has a lot of stuff you would expect. It has a mobile phone footage from the day, It has a wide range of interviews for protesters who were there, but it has this inspired conceit to have actors play a few of the crucial figures. And we know this because there will all of a sudden be a shot that's clearly not mobile phone footage. It appears to be sort of within the context of but it looks a little more staged, and the person will turn to the camera and say, this is my face, but these are my words. And I think it's crucial because it means they're working from an interview that has been done,

54:29 but now it's in a reenactment. And I think this happens three times, mostly with two people. A lot of the time it's done with two people. And my question to you, Adam, one of these three people is Van Man, the guy who you said started this by diving under the van and grabbing onto the axle. Did you realize who played Van Man in the moment? Because I did not until I looked at the credits immediately. Really, oh no.

54:55 Maybe maybe it's because Sarah and I not too long ago watched the Emma Thompson series on Apple TV. And so not only is she an actress I like quite a bit, but she's very immediately recognizable to me with that white hair.

55:12 That kind of spiky, Yeah, that short I recognized them, like, oh, that's interesting, like a woman with white hair, interesting choice to play van Man. But it wasn't until the credits I was like, of course.

55:25 And this isn't my face, but these are my words. It's a bold choice. You recognize right away that Okay, they're using they they announced it to you, as you said, but you know that it's a it's a formal technique to say we're not going to be able to use the actual for whatever reasons, including potentially legal reasons, We're not going to be able to use the actual some of the actual people in the scenario. And there's three total.

55:53 It's an it's an activist who is played by an actress named Kira Lucezi, and then there's the nurse who's tending to Van Man, played by a very prominent Scottish actress, Kate Dickey.

56:06 And then I recognized right away from the Witch actually, of.

56:09 Course, from the Witch and and and Game of Thrones, I think potentially to stuff. Yeah, and then and then Emma Thompson, who's dan Man. So I I did recognize Kate Dicky, and I definitely recognize Emma Thompson. You you know that they're employing this technique and you understand why. It is one of those cases where immediately you're you're thrown by it. If you recognize her, you understand later she's a producer on the film. And I have to think, if I'm a documentary filmmaker and I need an actress to portray someone, why wouldn't I use Emma Thompson if I had her at my disposal when she's one of the greatest actresses on the planet. But in the moment, it did throw me. It took me out of it for a second. Josh, I have to admit I'm still

56:53 I'm still thinking about the effectiveness of having someone portray someone recognizable portray that person. At the same time, I think having someone who isn't recognizable portray them that that may have the opposite effect, where you're then very much assuming that there is a certain veris similitude and that is van Man, and that may not work either.

57:17 Can I try to talk you into it?

57:19 Of course?

57:19 And I didn't. You know, I haven't really thought about this a little bit more until now I should have. What does this choice do? I love the inspired nature of it, but the big question is, Okay, is it effective and if so how? Obviously I found it effective, So now I got to figure out how in terms of Casting Thompson, what I think it does and again in retrospect for me because I didn't recognize it in the moment, but it is an echo of the larger idea of continuing concentric circles of care that I think this documentary depicts. It starts with van Man and then the next circle are the couple of neighbors who are You can tell they were on their morning commute, they were going to work or I think one of the

58:02 interviewees says school. They've got backpacks, they've got bikes. They all sit down, put their bikes around the van. That's another circle. Then you have more neighbors come out and form the circle on the sidewalk. Then you have a circle people looking out the windows of their flats on this street making hanging from the windows. And I do think casting Amma Thompson widens that circle because now you say we have one of the most prominent respected actors UK actors getting behind this, joining the circle by deciding that I'm going to give not only my producer time to this, but I'm going to give my acting time and I'm going to give my face time this cause that's exactly And so I think, to me, maybe that's

58:58 sort of a meta or a deeper level why the conceit works in concert with what the movie is trying to do.

59:06 I think what I appreciated the most is the way this is an immersive documentary using Glasgow's long history of struggle with a spontaneou is active of collective resistance. You get that opening montage. The music is by a Scottish musician named Barry Burns. The song is called Your Sweet Love and it's six minutes long. And it is this montage using a lot of historical footage and other you know, some of it is more recent camera footage, TV news type, newsreel type footage showing the history of activism and oppression in Glasgow, from the time of slave grown tobacco being imported to the response to George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, and it immediately grounds us in history. It gives us a sense of the larger these circles, how wide it is,

1:00:07 the larger Glasswegian community, and it reminds us that this will remain a continuous struggle, that regardless of how much we know about what happened here at Kenmere Street or what we're going to see play out, that the struggles not over because because one battle was won, and later in the movie then using incorporating some of this footage, we get a ten minute sequence yeah that digs in to that history, starting with the origin of the name ken Mear Street. And I really thought I thought this was such a bold stroke because it's not like the movie needs it. You could make the case that the movie could just stay on ken Mere Street and it would be more than sufficient. But I thought this context

1:00:52 was not only really interesting, but crucial to understanding the subtext of this particular scene in Pollock Shields, understanding the potential for this to be a real powder keg And I think what's great about it, too, Josh, is that it makes it poignant because one of the neighbors at the end talks about the story of the day like it's a fairy tale, even though it's real, like it's a fairy tale. Their kids, they have a painting on the wall and their kids say, tell us the story at bedtime about the day the baddies came and and this is what happened. And what we learn about going back into the past is that those are stories that still echo today, that they still talk about. Those are narratives that the people today who lived through it, and

1:01:49 even the ones who didn't, they talk to the people from the past. They know all those stories, and they're passed along. And some of those protests ended well, and some of them didn't, and and and they draw on them for strength and resilience and for knowledge. And I think what's what's scary for those in power is that a new tale like this gives gives people hope that that it's not a fairy tale, that it really that it really happened, and that it's it's being told and.

1:02:21 It casts an alternate vision. I think is the true power of this documentary is not only looking back on this day, but how this day shows an alternate way forward than the one that way too many governments in the world right now are taking us. I want to come back to that, but to the historical footage point.

1:02:43 I think what I did like about it is that we have those two sections, you know, because initially that opening one that is very long, the opening montage, with all the historical footage, I found a little sprawling and context less except for giving me the vague notion of you know, Glasgow is a city that has a history of and you know and be there and knowing. Its reputation is this of not putting up with shit, right and especially authority coming down, And so a lot of the historical footage is documenting that it's the city's reputation.

1:03:20 That's all well and good. But I did wonder, not only wanting to know a little bit more about all this footage we're seeing, but I did wonder, are we setting ourselves up for a self congratulatory you know, we're a city where these things don't happen story, which would have been felt a little more one sided. But you do get that second historical section that takes us away from the street, as you said, As you said could potentially disrupt the rhythm, because it's very much a movie about putting us on this street in this day for these hours, but it's crucial in the context of the opening montage because it shows us the flip side of Glasgow where there has been a history of exploitation by the residents of the city and the wealth drawn at

1:04:03 the expense of people in other regions of the world. So it kind of balanced that out for me, if you see what I'm saying, It was a little more realistic, like, yes, we have this history of defiance and this is a city that is perhaps unique in that way, but we're not perfect.

1:04:19 And it speaks to your.

1:04:19 Point about this is not going to be the final battle. So I basically I agree that the historical footage is in there, and ultimately it's well used on this idea of another vision. And why I did also find this documentary so inspiring is, as you mentioned, this is happening on need and on this day there was a celebration planned at the local mosque, and so they had all this food there, all these activities, and at one point one of the people associated with the mosque is being interviewed and describes the decision to just move the festival out onto the street to be part of the protest, to bring the food and the quote he says, we thought let's make a we eat celebration of this, and just to see this guy who first of all does

1:05:08 not look like our dress like what we probably think of as someone who lives in Glasgow right just to hear him use the word we is beautiful. And this choice to picture a community that could be very different in many ways, but also ultimately all caring for each other, which again the concentric circles of care, that's what we're seeing here. And so to bring this festival out onto these streets, combine and ead celebration with this history of Glasgow protest using a Scottish phrase like we very naturally, it's just this beautiful picture of pluralism. And the world right now is being directed by fearmongerers who if they were to see something like this they never will, but an interview like that would absolutely just crumble their brains

1:06:05 because they are not only can they not imagine this, but if they did, it would just make them tremble for what reason. I don't know. I mean, to me, it's beautiful and show something hopeful, But what we're seeing in the world is that just thinking about something like that scares people to their very core. And Kenmeyer Street, this documentary is just casting a possible real world it has happened in this time that we're living in. This sort of pluralism can be beautiful and healthy, and I think that's, you know, that's what the documentary ultimately leaves us with in addition to the record of.

1:06:45 This day along those lines. And I may be ascribing too much meaning to this choice, but that's what we're here for. I thought it was interesting that none of the interviews and there are a lot of them, way more than you would normally get in a documentary that features talking heads. There are a lot of people, a lot of faces, and there are a lot of people that only appear once for maybe on one line or a couple lines, and we don't get any of them.

1:07:20 To my recollection, Josh ever id'd. They're in the credits, but there's no on screen identifier. It doesn't say their name, it doesn't say their occupation, it never says what they do for, you know, what neighborhood they're from or anything anything like that.

1:07:34 There's name, but not always.

1:07:36 I scanned through the movie again, I didn't see a name for people, so, you know, maybe I miss something, but there is something that is on point about that for this movie, because it's always a bit of a challenge anyway from a practical standpoint for documentary filmmakers, because sometimes they just clutter up the screen aesthetically, sometimes you only have someone on screen for a brief snippet and there's no time for an id without it feeling jumpy.

1:08:07 And are you going to id everyone or only some people? And when you return to people, how often are you going to re id them? Is it every time or only after so much time has passed and you think the viewers confused. Here it actually felt to me like not only a pragmatic choice due to the sheer number of people they interview as the roster keeps expanding because this was such a huge gathering, but also as they want to feature this panoply of faces and voices that are, let's face it, largely anonymous. Right They talk about each other as neighbors, and some are actual neighbors, and some recognize each other. But for the most part that's not the case at all. They the way they talk about each other as neighbors has a completely different meaning. I

1:08:58 feel like the anonymity of the characters here, characters in this context, actually makes complete sense for this documentary. There's people there from all different backgrounds, and you're like, Ashley, there is love here. We put out tables.

1:09:14 We thought, let's make a wee eat celebration out of this of tea and biscuits with those. The neighbor notion is so crucial, and it does come up. I think at one point one of the people interviewed was asked, you know, why did they respond this way? And they just they just shrugged and said, these are our neighbors.

1:09:38 Like it was just like it as a matter of fact. It's practical, it's it's obvious. It's a question that doesn't need to be in need to be asked. And even you know, this was a little aside. We don't get a lot from the men who were detained. And I'm trying to recall exactly when this interview takes place. I don't think we see his face either, but I could be recalling that incorrectly. At any rate, the point is one of the police at the time. He recalls being asked by one of the police, why is the community coming out for you this way? Basically, who are you right?

1:10:19 And the man's response, I'm nobody, I'm normal. Yeah, again, like it's a self evident truth that this is what is going on, is not how a neighborhood should be should be operated, or or even immigration or even immigration policy should be enforced. Right, There's just like it's self evident to these people that something is deeply amiss in handling things this way. And yeah, so there's just a couple a couple of you know, you get in documentaries interviews with people where they they will say something just everyday folks that hit you with practical wisdom, right, and just hearing them say something that self evident like that it's not the words that are maybe the most necessarily eloquent, but they still retain this truthful power to them, and

1:11:14 there's a lot of that in this documentary.

1:11:17 Everybody to Kenmeer Street is currently playing in limited real We will add the film to our Golden Brick page, also in limited release. The Samurai and the Prisoner sounds exciting, Josh, just from the title. It's from director Kiyoshi Kurrasawa. The director is best known here in the States anyway for a pair of horror thrillers that came out in the late nineties Slash early two thousands, nineteen ninety seven's Cure in two thousand and one's Pulse. He got back on our radar a couple of years ago with Cloud, which showed up on a couple of best of the year lis.

1:11:50 I believe Alison Wilmore may have had it there on our show. I know our friend over at Letterbox, Mitchell beau Prey, picked it and sent us a voicemail about it. We have actually discussed perhaps doing our Blind Spotting bonus show for Film Spotting family members, giving them a choice between some Kiyoshi Kurrasawa films, because I have seen none of them, but you have now seen The Samurai and the Prisoner. It is set in sixteenth century Japan. Kind of a who done it? It does seem based on you or description? Tell us why it's good?

1:12:26 Yeah, I have no Kyoshi Kurosawa context to bring to this. As you said to my Shame my first film of his. I only know that you know psychological thrillers slash horror is where Cure and Pulse are placed, and this is not that, so I gather from the way it's been described, this is a bit of a departure for him on its own terms. It is intensely compelling as who Done It?

1:12:52 It definitely works that way. The historical setting is just fascinating from the pomp and circumstance given to each of the conversations. And this is mostly a series of conversations this movie, and the castle exterior and interiors I think they filmed in temples and castles around Kyoto, are part of the movie's grandeur and appeal. But really there's also a fascinating central core to this where the lead, the main character, Lord murashigey Araki played by Masahiro Motoki, has had a crisis of conscience. We learn where he his first instinct is not to kill. It's no longer to kill as a matter of honor really as a samurai, and so he's going against samurai code by imprisoning the man in the title rather than killing him. And there

1:13:47 are a couple of other instances in the film where he chooses a way other than death, and this puts him at odds with tradition, it puts him at odds with the warlord who's laying siege to his castle, and it does add this interesting moral dimension to the decisions that Lord Murashige has to make. As he's managing this outside threat and then the interior deceit that he encounters when some of these crimes start occurring. So it's a bit of a character study as well. Motoki is incredible here.

1:14:15 Wouldn't be surprised if he lands on Best Performances of the Year lists at the end of the year. And yeah, and the mystery is compelling too. There are a couple of things speaking of end of the year in this movie that I won't go into now, including a sequence because it might end up as a contender for our rap party categories. The movie overall, I think works, even though it might tend to get a little talkie here and there, because as I said, these are a bunch of interrogations really to figure out what's going on in the castle. All of a sudden, Kurisawa will come at you with an intensely inventively staged sequence that kind of snaps you back into attention. So yeah, this one really delivered.

1:15:01 Obviously makes me curious and eager to watch more of his titles, even if they might be you know of a very different vein.

1:15:10 Was so I go, I send you out most of you we ain't a key anymore not. Samurai and the Prisoner is out in limited release, including in Chicago at the Jene Cisco Film Center. I can't wait to get a chance to see it and hopefully catch up with more Crosawa films.

1:15:32 Time now for Masacar Theater. This is where Adam and I perform a scene and you get a chance to win a film spotting prize. Last time we massacred this scene, he said.

1:15:42 All the data, Yes, there's no service.

1:15:52 No. I tried to do my duty, Cooper, but I knew the day that I arrived here this. I said nothing, and I resisted the temptation for years, but I knew that if I just pressed them button, somebody would come and save me.

1:16:16 Hey gosh, Yes, that was Matt Damon Matthew McConaughey and twenty fourteen's Interstellar, written by Jonathan and Christopher Nolan, directed of course by Nolan. That mescer was part of our best of the year so far show. So why that scene from Interstellar?

1:16:34 Here's Matthew Aflido in Brooklyn, New York. The scene you mescreed was from Interstellar. I could tell partly from the breathlessness that Josh sold through acting although it did sound a little like Gollum, especially with the elongated s at the end of one of the yeses, have we done that? Have we heard your Gollum before? A little precious in there.

1:16:55 We have to have done gott you would think. If not, we need to pull that out. The connections included this being a Nolan movie like The Odyssey, also featuring Matt Damon and both as a man so far from home that it seems he will never make it back. Interstellar is also connected to Best of the Year so far movie Project Hail Mary, as a guy who travels through space to save humankind from nature things.

1:17:17 All right, you're on at Matthew. Here's Scott Lentz from San Luis Obisas, California for other connections. Listener poll winner Project Hail Mary has been getting lots of Interstellar comps this year, at least in its visuals, and my personal favorite link Adam's number one movie of twenty twenty five so far, Nirvana the Band The show. The movie prominently features a poster for the Dark Night to show that Matt and Jay have traveled back to two thousand and eight. Okay, yeah, good catch.

1:17:45 Dave Allen and Bonnie Lake. Washington says, Hey, guys, I might have only known this was interstellar because I just rewatched it for the recent movie Deathmatch episode. Good job evoking two out of breath middle aged dudes. It was hard, let me tell you. Method acting. I have to say. However, with all the love in my heart that on the word resisted. Josh's Matt Damon seemed to slip into curly from the three stages, which is worse scalum or curly.

1:18:11 And maybe I decided to throw a little curly in there. Dave, Well, okay, I'll never tell I'll never tell you. Maxwell Fletcher has another comment for us. He's from New York City. Your portrayals of out of breath Damon and McConaughey were so ridiculous in the best way. I'll never be able to watch that scene again without chuckling to myself.

1:18:30 That's what MASCAR Theater is here for. It is so ruined scenes that it impacts your future viewing of the movie. I think it was Ron Vitally who rode in and said that I didn't though really throw in any McConaughey like accent. I mean, it was hard, but I didn't really give it any of that Texas twang.

1:18:52 You could have. You could have really leaned in and we might.

1:18:55 Have had more entries, might have had more entries. There wasn't There wasn't a ton, Josh. But we do have a winner, and you are now going to share that with us. Reach into the film Spotting hat.

1:19:05 Our winner is David Colb from Whitesboro, New York.

1:19:09 Congratulations David, email feedback at film spotting dot net and we will set you up with your very own film Spotting t shirt, tote bag, or trial membership to the film Spotting family. Say him, would the detours? Would they simple? Would the des same day? Why do you say that? Why do you say tour? Will you said? Say it?

1:19:32 Like I said?

1:19:34 We move on now to this week's edition of Massacre Theater, and I am going to be totally honest, Josh. Before you suggested we do this scene, I was only vaguely aware this movie existed. I think I had heard about it at some point, but I have definitely never seen it. And based on the scene we're about to perform, which you don't get me wrong, it's going to be fun.

1:19:59 Based on the scene, I don't think I'm ever going to watch it? Yeah, I could.

1:20:05 I could have told you that based on the scene. I'm perplexed that I think I not only saw this and reviewed it, but might have done so positively.

1:20:18 I am also perplexed. I'm gonna I want to read it.

1:20:22 I have to check the archives on that one. Here's a clue for folks, because this could be a bit of a challenge, but it's appropriate.

1:20:31 Spoiler.

1:20:32 We're gonna spoil our massacre theater scene that I'm tortured in this scene by this character. Yes, it makes sense in the context of it's it's a connection to this show, among among other connections to this episode that exist in this scene. Any other clues we can give to help people out here, anything, I don't think.

1:20:57 So, okay, you are going to start it out, so I I sorry, I have to. I have to get into character here.

1:21:06 So get angry, get really angry.

1:21:09 I'm going to give you and action. What's the torch for two thousand degrees Mick, enough to turn steel into butter. It won't hurt it first, it's too hot. You see the flame sears the nerve ending shut killing them. You'll go into shock and all you'll feel is cold? Isn't science fun? Mickey, Ah, I don't know. Shit, You'll smell burning meat and then then it'll hurt. I swear I'm telling it truth.

1:22:02 And scene scene Wow, very frightening, very intimidating. My question is how does he how does he know all that? Is he speaking from personal experience? Did he just do science?

1:22:14 Research? Science? He's a science teacher in another life? Ah, I think.

1:22:19 I don't think that that character's lore.

1:22:23 But well, you've seen the movie. It's possible. If you know what film we just massacred. Email the movie's title, your name, and location. He wasn't a cheery teacher. The other teachers didn't like him in the lounge much. Email the movies title, your name, and location to feedback at film spotting dot net. The deadline is Monday, August seventeenth.

1:22:41 We will select the winner randomly from all the correct entries and announce it in a couple of weeks. But if you've seen this movie and you know the scene, you're not a winner. Sorry, or maybe you are.

1:22:53 Maybe you are according according to me.

1:22:55 Okay, that's the show, Josh.

1:22:57 Mercifully, that is the show. If you want to connect with us on social media. You can find Adaman film Spotting at Instagram, Facebook, Letterbox, YouTube, and blue Sky at film Spotting. I'm at those places as Larson on film. We are independently produced and listeners supported. Please support us by joining the film Spotting Family at filmspottingfamily dot com.

1:23:18 You can listen early and ad free. You also get monthly bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter, and access to the entire show archive. For show t shirts. Another merch go to film spotting dot net slash shop.

1:23:30 In limited release this weekend, you can see the movie Josh recommended, The Samurai and the Prisoner out wide, Eli Roth's ice Cream Man and One Night Only. Two strangers Callum Turner Monica Barbara. They meet on the one night a year that single people are allowed to have sex. I think that's how it works.

1:23:50 Three Have you have you, like me, seen that trailer about six thousand times?

1:23:56 I haven't? Actually Okay, Well, then.

1:23:59 You're not gonna be able to help me because despite all those viewings, I have no idea what the context is here? Is this a social construct? Is this? Are we to stowe It doesn't seem to stowey in It seems very like, okay, never mind, just look at that.

1:24:13 We'll move on. Super Troopers three is out, Josh. We go from two thousand and one to twenty eighteen to this weekend. You can see the third be a completist, Josh, and seeing all of the super Troopers.

1:24:25 Movie we saw the first one.

1:24:27 Really, maybe we should do a series that should be our blind Spotting. There you go. Next week in the Film Spotting Feed, we we just got an abundance of riches. Coming to your film Spotting Feed. Sunday, you'll get the final film in our Dissident Cinema Marathon. We're talking about Jafar Panahi's third movie, The Circle, from two thousand Monday, the Movie Racket is back. We're coming off a week of movie Deathmatch the first Monday of every month. We're back with Michael and the Movie Racket. Guess who he's having on Everybody Loves Slate's Danas Stevens and they're weighing in on a famous Harry Cone axiom. He was the co founder of Columbia Pictures. And I won't say the quote, I don't have it off the top of my head,

1:25:12 but basically he had a famous physical tell when he knew a movie wasn't working for him. Josh, So they're going to get into and and maybe you can share on a future show next week. Josh, do you do you have something that that kind of gives you an insight into whether or not a movie is working for you? Your eye gets twitchy or something.

1:25:31 About so like I see so like an actual bodily.

1:25:36 Respectual, bodily function that tells you the movie's not working.

1:25:40 Oh, I mean, as if I wasn't going to listen to the movie Racket. Alright, that's all right, I know it's going to be a goo okay.

1:25:47 Tuesday, Matt Singer and Jordan Hoffman will be back on Film Spotting SVU talking brand New Day and the state of Spider Man and Matt Singer he wrote the book on spider Man, so you want to hear from him. Thursday, the Next Picture Show and Inspired pairing the Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony paired with Pixar's Ratituey. And then Friday, it is our It is our plan to talk about the new the new Jane Schoenbrun film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, and the new Cold War drama The Brink of War is out as well.

1:26:22 Film Spotting is produced by Golden Joe des So and Sam Van Halgren. Without Sam and Golden Joe, this show wouldn't go. Our production assistant is Sophie Kempinar. Special thanks to everyone at wbe Z Chicago. More information is available at wbez dot org for Film Spotting, I'm Josh Larson and.

1:26:39 I met him Kempinar. Thanks for listening.

1:26:41 This conversation can serve no purpose anymore.

1:26:45 The Barn