Graham and Dave gave their reaction to the box office busting new horror Late Night With The Devil, while we also discuss if Drive Away Dolls battering by the critics is fair?
Plus we choose our top three science fiction films ever.
#LateNightWithTheDevil #DriveAwayDolls #FilmReviews
Plus we choose our top three science fiction films ever.
#LateNightWithTheDevil #DriveAwayDolls #FilmReviews
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:07 Hello and welcome back to the Scotsman Film No-
00:10 Hello and welcome to Not Everyone's A Film Critic, a vodcast or a podcast brought to yourself by the Scotsman
00:16 and presented by me, as always, Graeme Fogg. I'm joined sadly, once again, by David Hepburn.
00:22 Dave, how are you doing? You alright?
00:24 Doing well. It's 10 o'clock in the morning, which is a bit of a shock for us, I think, to be this early,
00:28 but we're just about okay for this, I think. I think we'll make it through.
00:31 Oh, if you think I'm underprepared in the afternoons, oh, no.
00:35 You've had all morning you're underprepared.
00:38 Hopefully you've kind of dreamed this vodcast and your dreams have prepared you for it.
00:44 I'll have a sip of coffee.
00:47 And we shall continue.
00:49 As always, if you haven't joined us before, I don't know how you got here, by the way, if you haven't joined us before,
00:53 if this is the first time you've just decided to pop up and been like, what the heck is this?
00:58 You know what? I'm not going to explain what we do. It's a film podcast.
01:01 You can just have a guess. It tends to delve off into stupidity.
01:04 So stay with us as long as you possibly can.
01:07 But we do do film reviews. Or should I say Dave does, because Graeme doesn't go to cinema anymore.
01:14 I actually haven't watched anything at all yet again, because you know what?
01:19 And I'm going to say this, and I know this isn't great for a film vodcast, but I feel like March to like June is just a crap time for cinema.
01:29 I'm going to prove you wrong, Graeme. I'm going to prove you wrong.
01:32 So I wanted to ask you, I don't know if you've seen it. So if you haven't seen it, then fair enough.
01:36 But I wanted to get your review on the new Ethan Cone film because it's been getting absolutely smashed, like properly destroyed in the reviews.
01:44 I have seen it, yes. That is one of the films I was planning to talk about.
01:48 So you're talking about Drive Away Dolls.
01:52 Yes, Drive Away Dolls.
01:54 So for those who don't know, Ethan and Joel Cohn have been a filmmaking partnership for like 40 years.
01:59 And no one really knows why, but they basically split up.
02:02 Whether they'll ever get back together again, I don't know. But they've gone their own ways now.
02:07 So basically, Joel did his first solo film. He did The Tragedy of Macbeth with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.
02:14 It was a proper kind of prestige film. It got lots of awards. It was quite heavy. It was quite serious.
02:20 It was very, very good. I found it a little bit dull.
02:24 However, Ethan Cohn has decided to go a slightly different way.
02:28 And by slightly, I mean it could not be more different than The Tragedy of Macbeth.
02:32 Now, I'm going to start off by saying I loved Drive Away Dolls.
02:36 I absolutely adored it. I had a wild time with it.
02:40 And I think it's a great film. And I think that the people who do not like it just don't have any sense of humour.
02:47 Because it's just a funny film, you know. It's kind of a throwback funny film.
02:52 It's kind of a wee bit like Raising Arizona. It's that kind of screwball, old movie comedy.
02:57 So it's very much going back to the early days of the Coen Brothers, which I think were my favourite days of the Coen Brothers.
03:02 I know they went on to make brilliant, brilliant films.
03:04 But I like a silly kind of indie road movie. The set up is absolutely preposterous.
03:11 So it's two young gay women from Philadelphia. One breaks up with her boyfriend.
03:18 And the two of them decide to go on a road trip to Florida.
03:22 I can't even remember why. It doesn't matter why. They want to go to Florida.
03:25 And they go to one of these companies where essentially you drive away someone else's car to take it somewhere else.
03:31 Which is something that happens in the States. It doesn't happen here as much.
03:34 Hence you've got the title Drive Away Dolls. And so they get this car. They start driving off.
03:39 It turns out that they're in the wrong car. And they've picked up a car which was meant to be driven away by some criminals.
03:45 They get a flat tyre. In the boot of the car they find a severed head and a briefcase.
03:51 And the briefcase is very much kind of a Pulp Fiction, like what's in the briefcase kind of thing.
03:57 You do find out what's in the briefcase. I'm not going to tell you.
03:59 If you can guess what's in the briefcase before they open it up, there is something wrong with you.
04:03 You're a witch and you should be burned. There's no way to tell what's in the suitcase.
04:06 But it is an amazing thing that's in it. And it's very, very funny.
04:09 But I think at that point you will know whether you're going to enjoy the film, all the rest of the film,
04:13 or if you're just going to walk out of the cinema. Because it's really stupid.
04:16 It's childish. It's puerile. It's kind of dumb and dumber levels of stupid.
04:21 And I'm all in favour of that. You don't get many comedies like that anymore.
04:25 So anyway, they drive down to Florida. Along the way they go to lesbian bars.
04:29 They meet a lesbian football team. It's very, very sex positive in a really fun way.
04:34 - A football team or a soccer team? - A football, well, a soccer team.
04:38 I would call it a football team, but it is a soccer team.
04:41 One of the pair, played by Margaret Qualley, who's brilliant, she just wants to pool.
04:46 She just wants to have lots and lots of sex.
04:48 Whereas her friend just wants to read Henry James and have a quiet life.
04:52 But she starts to come out of her shell. It's a lovely dynamic between the two.
04:55 It's really good fun. But all the way along, the lesbian bars and the soccer teams,
05:00 they're being pursued by three very bad men.
05:03 They actually might not be as bad as you think they are, but anyway,
05:05 they're being pursued by these criminals. Lots of silly stuff happens.
05:08 There's brilliant cameos from Pedro Pascal, who has a very short, very funny cameo,
05:14 and Matt Damon, who seems to cameo in every third film, but he's really good in this as well.
05:18 - I can't believe you said it in the normal way, by the way.
05:21 - Matt Damon. - Matt Damon.
05:25 - But all of it's fun. You've got Beanie Feldstein in it as a kind of spurned lover
05:31 of Margaret Qualley's character, who's also a kind of psychotic cop.
05:35 And she's brilliant. I think Beanie Feldstein is the most brilliant in everything she's ever been in.
05:39 She's just naturally very, very funny. And I loved it. I'm going to go and see it again.
05:44 I thought it was great fun. I'll probably buy it on Blu-ray.
05:46 It's the sort of film that I would happily sell. I think it's an hour and 20 minutes long.
05:49 It's not trying to be like a big serious film. It's a funny film.
05:55 And I'm all in favour of it. And I will tell you that if I had to choose between watching
05:58 The Tragedy of Macbeth or this, I would go for Driveway Dolls every single time.
06:03 Now, the audience I was in pretty much loved it. But I do understand that it's going to be devised
06:09 just because that kind of silly comedy just isn't in vogue.
06:12 I can't remember the last genuinely daft comedy that I saw.
06:17 It's just not the dumb thing anymore. I think that sort of thing's more gone on to television than film.
06:24 But yeah, I would go and see it. I highly recommend it to you.
06:27 Again, it's a short film. If you don't like it, it's not there for that long.
06:31 But I would really find it hard to believe that anybody would go and see it and not laugh quite a lot.
06:36 I laughed all the way through it. All the way through it.
06:38 There was a joke along every couple of minutes and sight gags. And like I say, the cameos were great.
06:44 So I think the critics are very wrong in this case.
06:48 And honestly, when you find out what's in the suitcase, you will laugh a lot.
06:52 And it's such a stupid.
06:54 I love it. I love it. Those people's opinions are wrong.
06:58 But genuinely, I think all I can say is I go and see a lot of films and I really enjoyed it.
07:03 And I laughed a lot. And it's a comedy. And if a comedy makes you laugh,
07:06 I think that's all that comedy has to do. I don't think that it's an important film.
07:10 Although, you know, the portrayal of a same-sex road movie without making it anything about their sexuality.
07:19 It's not about their sexuality at all. Yes, they happen to have sex along the way.
07:22 But it's not trying to make a big point about same-sex relationships or anything like that.
07:27 It's just a lovely, lovely film where people have fun.
07:29 And it is very sex positive. And a sex positive comedy is quite a good thing in this day and age.
07:35 I'm sure lots of people will hate it because of that, too.
07:38 Because if you're a prude, you don't want to go and see it.
07:40 And it is fairly filthy, but in a funny way, again, it isn't prurient.
07:43 It isn't prurient in any way whatsoever. Everything's pretty much played for laughs.
07:48 But there's a lot of sexy laughs there, too, which you can't see.
07:51 So, yeah. I'm all for it.
07:54 I'm all for sexy laughs.
07:57 But other than that, I've seen many films this week, Raymond.
08:01 It's been battered a little bit by, I think it's 1.8 on Google reviews.
08:06 So, the fans haven't really liked it.
08:08 But I did see Not A Colour Of A Day that praised it for being part of a film we spoke about not too long ago,
08:16 Love Lies Bleeding, as well, which is due to come out.
08:19 And kind of the uprising of good gay films, or pro-gay films.
08:24 I said it was the year of gay films.
08:26 Yeah, it's not that far apart.
08:29 And they're certainly making good double bill.
08:31 Very different films, but have got a certain similarity in some ways.
08:34 Yeah, it'd make a great double bill.
08:36 But I'd urge people to go see it.
08:38 I find it odd that people would class it as just the year of gay films.
08:40 Surely there's more than just that to it.
08:43 The thing is, I don't think it really identifies itself as being a queer film.
08:47 It's just a road movie that happens to have queer characters, you know.
08:50 This isn't a road back mountain.
08:52 This isn't making a statement about kind of sexual politics or anything.
08:56 It's just a silly movie with great performances, and all the better for that.
09:00 With no gay cowboys.
09:02 With no gay cowboys.
09:04 I had to check.
09:06 There's a lot of stuff going on.
09:08 There's lots of thinking, there's that and that and that.
09:10 Did the whole girl turn up?
09:12 The legend definitely didn't turn up, because, well, that would have been strange.
09:15 What else have you seen?
09:17 Well, I'm going to say, so I think it's been quite a good month for cinema so far.
09:21 There's actually a lot of films I've not got around to seeing yet,
09:23 which I'm very much looking forward to.
09:25 A very quick shout out for Origin, which I'm going to say very little about,
09:30 because I don't think people should go to see it knowing anything about it.
09:33 I think it's a film that really benefits for not really knowing.
09:36 I feel like I know this. Why do I know this?
09:39 It's a funny film.
09:41 So it's Ava DuVernay, who's famous for being Oscar nominated for Selma.
09:44 And it's quite a big -- when you've got something like the driveway dolls
09:48 being completely disposable, this is anything but disposable.
09:51 This is a film that screams, "I am very important, and I want you to know it."
09:54 And that's not necessarily a bad thing,
09:56 but it clearly is aware of its own importance.
09:58 It is basically a film about a woman writing a book about racism.
10:02 It's two and a half hours of a woman writing a book about racism.
10:06 It kind of feels like a documentary, weirdly, even though it is a film.
10:10 I mean, it is like a narrative film, but it feels like a documentary
10:13 because essentially this woman's researching this book.
10:15 It starts with her getting the idea for the book.
10:17 She's been Pulitzer nominated for her first book.
10:20 She's kind of struggling with her second.
10:22 And she begins to think about ideas of racism and caste.
10:25 And that's all I'm going to say about it.
10:27 I think it will be divisive.
10:29 I think some people will find it incredibly boring.
10:31 And I think that it isn't a perfect film.
10:33 I think parts of it kind of feel a bit televisual.
10:36 It's got a really problematic score that's very overbearing,
10:40 tries to find drama where you don't really need drama.
10:42 But what it did do is completely change the way I think about race,
10:47 which is quite impressive.
10:49 I came out of the cinema thinking completely different about certain things.
10:53 And it's the sort of film that you will bore your friends by afterwards.
10:56 You'll say, "Have you ever thought about this?"
10:58 And you'll steal the ideas as your own and go, "You know, I've just been thinking about this."
11:01 And absolutely nicking them to make you seem more intelligent than you actually are.
11:05 But it's a very clever film, very interesting film.
11:07 I highly recommend it.
11:09 But it is two and a half hours.
11:11 I would make sure you're not tired beforehand.
11:13 You could easily nap in it.
11:15 I had a tiny, maybe five-minute nap in it.
11:17 But very highly recommended.
11:19 You know, it might be one best to wait for streaming and seeing it when you're at home,
11:23 because it isn't massively cinematic.
11:24 There's nothing really cinematic about it.
11:26 But a very important film and a very good film.
11:28 But, Graeme, now here is my evidence for March not being a bad month for moviegoing,
11:34 and that is Late Night with the Devil,
11:37 which is probably the best horror film of the year so far.
11:41 It's had universal praise from pretty much everybody.
11:44 It's called Late Night with the Devil.
11:47 - Oh, yeah, I heard this, yes.
11:48 - It's massively high up on Rotten Tomatoes.
11:50 I don't think it's had any bad reviews, really.
11:52 It's a really good horror film.
11:55 Firstly, it's one hour, 20 minutes long, which I always see.
11:58 When I see any horror films, one hour, 20, I go, "You know, these people know what they're doing,"
12:02 because they can do it in one hour, 20.
12:04 The setup is we come into it in a kind of documentary style.
12:09 - Oh, Graeme's got some eye-candy in it.
12:11 - Absolutely.
12:12 He is in it.
12:13 He's very good in it.
12:14 So it starts with a documentary footage about this late-night TV show host, you know,
12:19 like a Letterman or Kimmel or whatever else,
12:22 and he's in the 1970s, all he wants to do is wrestle in Johnny Carson,
12:27 and he does all right.
12:28 He's got his own show called Night Isles with Jack Delroy,
12:32 but he isn't doing that brilliant.
12:34 He's got a kind of actress wife.
12:36 His life seems to be going pretty well, but he's not quite got to the sex sex.
12:41 He hasn't quite got the success that he really craves.
12:44 And then you come to the Halloween special.
12:46 So essentially what you're watching is you're watching the entire Halloween special,
12:50 which is the last show of his career, and it basically plays out live.
12:54 So it's kind of found footage.
12:56 You're watching this one big TV program, which is basically an hour long,
13:00 after the intro lasts about 20 minutes.
13:02 It's really good.
13:03 I mean, he's fantastic, David Dastmalchian.
13:05 He's always great in anything he's in.
13:07 He plays the chat show host.
13:08 He's right, you know.
13:09 You feel like he could be a chat show host in 1970s America.
13:14 It looks right, you know.
13:15 It looks, it's got that slightly grainy television feel.
13:19 What happens is it's a Halloween special.
13:21 All of the audience are dressed up as ghosts and ghouls,
13:24 and he has three sets of guests, if you like.
13:27 He's got a professional cynic who's out to debunk everything supernatural.
13:32 He's got a spirit medium who's been touring America to great acclaim,
13:36 and then he's got a parapsychologist who's on with this young girl
13:39 who she's written a book about, and the girl apparently is possessed by a demon.
13:43 It's a great setup.
13:46 In the advert breaks, you go to the backstage.
13:48 So if you've ever seen the Larry Sanders show, it's very much like that.
13:51 So you see what happens during the ad breaks.
13:53 It goes black and white to show you that that's happening.
13:56 I would have liked some fake adverts in there as well,
13:59 instead of just seeing what happens in the ad breaks.
14:03 But it still works really well,
14:04 and you see everything slowly unravels, and weird things happen,
14:08 and the professional skeptic kind of debunks them.
14:11 But then it gets weirder and weirder and weirder.
14:14 My issue with it is that it doesn't know how to end,
14:17 which is often a problem with these sort of films,
14:19 because they do everything right, they do everything perfect,
14:22 but then it has to end somehow.
14:24 I thought that the ending just didn't fit with the rest of the film.
14:27 It was kind of overblown, and I didn't really like it,
14:30 and I was kind of disappointed in that.
14:32 But everything ups the ending,
14:33 and it is literally the only last two minutes I've got any issue with.
14:36 All the rest of it is just great, great fun.
14:39 Really well reviewed, like I say.
14:40 It's had a limited cinematic release, but word of mouth hit.
14:43 And Cineworld's are putting more screenings on,
14:45 because they're selling out screenings every single night.
14:48 It's coming onto Shudder on April the 19th,
14:50 so anyone with Shudder will be able to get to see it then.
14:53 But unlike Origin, it's something that really needs to be seen in the cinema,
14:57 and it needs to be seen with an audience,
14:59 because it kind of echoes the audience that's in the actual TV studio,
15:03 and you kind of almost feel like you're in the TV studio.
15:06 It just works really, really well.
15:08 So my favourite horror film of the year so far.
15:10 It was meant to be leaving cinemas pretty soon,
15:12 but I think this is going to run and run and run.
15:14 I think there's going to be more and more screens in the coming weeks,
15:17 so you'll get more chance to see it.
15:18 So, Graham, I would urge you to go and see it.
15:20 As a big horror fan, I think this is the best of the year so far,
15:23 and I think we'll be right up there in the top ten horrors of the year
15:25 by the end of 2024.
15:28 Michael will say it tonight, actually.
15:30 I've just checked. I was Googling as you were speaking.
15:33 Yeah, and again, shorts, you're in and out.
15:36 It's very little investment in your time.
15:38 Can you remember the first time you -
15:40 I'm obviously pronouncing his name wrong -
15:42 but the first time you ever seen Dash Mlachian?
15:46 Dash Mlachian, yes.
15:48 But I don't know, was it Ant-Man? I must have seen him before Ant-Man.
15:51 I actually remember seeing him in The Dark Knight.
15:54 He was like the crazy...
15:56 - Who's he was? - Joker, yeah.
15:58 He was so good in that part, and I think it's kind of -
16:01 because he was in the bit when they're all stealing policemen's uniforms,
16:04 and they're like...
16:06 I'm still playing with this.
16:08 I believe it is a...
16:11 I can't think of the word for your muscles.
16:13 A muscle roller.
16:15 It's something roller.
16:18 It doesn't matter. It's not about thumbs.
16:20 If you just see it, it's what it is.
16:22 It's for the muscles.
16:25 He is a great actor, though.
16:27 He's a fantastic actor.
16:29 Whenever you see him, you're very pleased to see him.
16:31 He actually came to the Glasgow Film Festival a couple of years back,
16:34 and he was sweet, and he was a really nice guest,
16:36 and he seems just like a very lovely man, apart from everything else.
16:39 What was the role he was in last year that he was quite good in?
16:42 He was genuinely quite unnerving.
16:45 You can't ask me to rely on my memory, Graham,
16:47 unless I've written it down before this.
16:49 I can't remember anything.
16:51 I'm going to put it on the side.
16:53 It was a Stephen King film.
16:55 Oh, my God. It was a Stephen King film, and I've completely forgot.
17:00 He was quite good in it. He's quite menacing and creepy, no offence.
17:04 Oh, he is.
17:06 Although, funnily enough, in this film, he plays against type,
17:08 because you're right, he's got a funny-looking face.
17:11 And he usually does play baddies or sinister characters,
17:16 but in this, he plays a very slick talk show host,
17:18 and it shows he can do that as well.
17:20 It shows he's got great range, I think, because he can be good in that.
17:23 And he is actually quite handsome.
17:25 He's one of these guys that are kind of Hollywood weird-looking,
17:28 but if you see him in actual real life,
17:30 he's better-looking than anyone in Scotland, basically.
17:33 It's just that because everyone in these films is so beautiful,
17:36 even if you're slightly odd-looking, then you stand out in films.
17:40 Have you seen Dune?
17:43 Because obviously the topic of this week is that we are going to pick off
17:46 our favourite science fiction films.
17:48 And for many of the Dunes, I'm a little bit too concerned
17:51 about watching it potentially either at home,
17:54 because it's currently on Netflix, the first one,
17:56 or the cinema for the second one.
17:58 I'm slightly concerned that if I get too close to either screen,
18:02 I may have my eyes taken out by the cheekbones of Timothy Jemisin.
18:07 Well, I've not seen it yet.
18:11 But, well, you see, the problem with Dune is that it's two and a half hours,
18:13 and the first part is two and a half hours.
18:15 And because I've got no memory, I can't remember anything
18:17 that happened in the first Dune, other than I very much enjoyed it.
18:20 I don't remember any of the plots.
18:21 So what we're going to do is we're going to do the full five hours.
18:23 So it's Friday night, and we're going to watch part one.
18:26 Then we're going to get up early on Sunday
18:28 and go and see part two in the cinema.
18:30 So I'm very much looking forward to it.
18:32 I understand some people have said part two is a slightly more
18:34 of a slog than part one.
18:36 I didn't think part one felt particularly long,
18:38 and I was quite frustrated when it just ended.
18:40 But I'm looking forward to it greatly,
18:42 because I thought the first part was great.
18:44 I'm a Dune fan.
18:45 I like the original film that many other people do not like.
18:48 I don't like David Lynch.
18:50 I really like him.
18:51 People are going to hate me for this.
18:52 I know you don't like David Lynch.
18:53 I mean, you're wrong, but--
18:54 I don't like the point of boring.
18:56 It's like, oh, it's so weird.
18:58 Who cares?
19:00 Nobody cares.
19:02 I'm very much looking forward to it.
19:03 Anyway, I think that it's going to-- yeah, I mean,
19:05 it's going to get lots of awards and stuff, because of the two-part nature.
19:08 I think people like rewarding the second part or the last part of things.
19:11 I think it's going to get awards for Timothee Chalamet's "Cheekbones."
19:15 Yes, I think so.
19:16 Best cheekbones in a leading role.
19:18 Best cheekbones?
19:19 I don't know how that works.
19:21 I mean, like, take your eye out.
19:23 But we're going to choose our favorite three science fiction films.
19:27 And I want to say in advance, I normally sit and really study
19:30 what my favorite ones are.
19:32 I haven't done it for this one.
19:33 I'm going to just do what comes to the top of my head,
19:35 because I think that's funnier.
19:37 And let's be honest.
19:38 If you're with us still by this point, you think I'm humorous at the very least,
19:43 or David is humorous.
19:44 So it's going to be fine.
19:46 I'm going to turn my camera off for a moment while you give me your third one,
19:49 because I need to go and charge my phone, which is terribly personal.
19:53 But please tell me your first film, David.
19:57 I'll be back in about 20 seconds.
19:59 Well, I'm going to start with the most obvious choice ever
20:03 in the known universe, and I'm going for "Star Wars."
20:05 I mean, it's a cliche, but the fact is that from when I was a wee boy,
20:09 "Return of the Jedi" was one of the first films I saw in the cinema.
20:12 I collected all the action figures.
20:14 When "The Force Awakens" came out in Chapter 7,
20:18 I went to the midnight screening of it.
20:20 I very rarely do that.
20:21 I applauded the opening credits.
20:23 And by no means the biggest "Star Wars" film in the world.
20:26 I think the prequels are unwatchable, genuinely unwatchable.
20:29 I tried to watch them during lockdown when there was literally nothing else to do.
20:32 And even when there was nothing else to do, I could not get through one of the prequels.
20:36 That is how bad they are.
20:37 So I'm choosing the original "Star Wars."
20:40 The best entry in it, as everyone agrees, is "Empire Strikes Back."
20:44 But I'm going to choose the original "Star Wars"
20:45 because it's just a magical entry into a sci-fi universe.
20:48 It's never really been equalled.
20:50 It's a bit clunky, the first one.
20:52 But yeah, it's really been around for my entire life, "Star Wars."
20:57 And I've enjoyed Chapters 7 to 9.
21:00 I thought were all really good.
21:01 I know people have got varying views on those, but I thought they're all good.
21:04 I've enjoyed the TV programs.
21:06 I've enjoyed the standalone ones, one of which I'll come into as part of my other choices,
21:12 "Rogue One" is "Star Wars" story.
21:15 I enjoyed that as well.
21:16 So yeah, "Star Wars," it's obvious.
21:18 It's my first one.
21:20 I'd be slightly suspicious of people who don't know "Star Wars"
21:22 as one of their favorite sci-fi films.
21:24 So on to you, Graham.
21:26 - Never got "Star Wars."
21:28 Couldn't care less.
21:29 Not bothered.
21:30 Don't understand how it got so big, but film's subjective, so whatever.
21:35 Don't like David Lynch.
21:36 Don't like "Star Wars."
21:37 Shoot me dead.
21:38 Like, I don't care.
21:39 There's nothing.
21:40 - You're not going to see "Room" if I don't have a gun.
21:42 Otherwise, I would.
21:43 - Yeah.
21:44 It still wouldn't change my mind.
21:47 Like, I physically couldn't tell you I like either of them.
21:49 I just find them both very bland.
21:51 Like, I think the Stormtroopers are cool.
21:52 I've seen one in Glasgow Central Station the other day.
21:54 Turns out it wasn't a Stormtrooper.
21:55 It was just a bloke in a Stormtrooper outfit.
21:57 But here we are.
21:58 - You should have called the police.
22:00 - Well, I asked him, and he spoke back, and I was like, "Hang on a minute."
22:04 He's basically like a football mascot.
22:07 Do Stormtroopers hold minutes' silences in respect at, you know,
22:11 special events the way that football mascots do?
22:13 It's an age-old question that I can't answer.
22:16 So I've purposely taken out horror sci-fi because I feel like, A,
22:20 we've done that, and I think, like, B, I would just go down the horror route.
22:24 So, like, the thing under the skin, the horror-based stuff,
22:28 although it is very sci-fi-based.
22:30 - Yeah, there is a crossover there, but I agree with you.
22:32 Those are more horror than sci-fi, yeah.
22:34 - Yeah, I've taken it out for the simple fact that I think that there's an
22:40 argument to say it's more sci-fi than horror in parts, but, like,
22:42 I just think I'm a big horror head.
22:44 I'm obviously going to go horror sci-fi if I've got the choice.
22:47 So I've purposely taken it out so people are like, "He hasn't chose the thing."
22:51 There's a reason for that, and I've given you an explanation,
22:53 so just deal with it, all right?
22:57 I think, and I'm trying to put them together, I think, like,
23:01 what I've enjoyed the most, what I've enjoyed the least,
23:03 and it's kind of difficult because they're all, like, back to back to back.
23:07 But I'm going to go with my third favourite.
23:09 It's probably, and this might change if I really sit and study it,
23:13 but The Fifth Element.
23:15 - Yeah, good film.
23:16 - I think it really, like, is a great film with great performances.
23:19 It's Bruce Willis's birthday this week.
23:23 Lovely, wonderful Bruce Willis, who is just one of the best people on the planet.
23:27 I think when it comes to The Fifth Element as well, I honestly feel, like,
23:31 the style in that movie, like, basically, like, made fashion for the late '90s
23:37 and is now coming back with everyone wearing a bag of jeans
23:39 and all that kind of stuff.
23:41 It's a very, very good film.
23:43 Actually really underrated alongside a few of the films I was thinking of
23:46 was Twelve Monkeys.
23:49 Yeah, really good film, which also has Bruce Willis in.
23:52 But I think Fifth Element's probably my third favourite.
23:56 I'd be inclined to change it, but I'm probably going to exchange it
24:00 for things that have more nostalgic affection for me,
24:04 such as Independence Day, which is obviously a stupid film and amazing.
24:12 And I think Mars Attacks is sci-fi, but it's Tim Burton sci-fi.
24:17 Yeah, it's sci-fi.
24:19 I love Mars Attacks.
24:20 Mars Attacks is probably my top ten favourite films of all time,
24:23 but I'm not going to class it as sci-fi because Tim Burton's his own genre,
24:26 and I feel like most people might have seen Mars Attacks.
24:29 I feel like some people might not have seen Fifth Element.
24:31 So we'll go Fifth Element in the third place spot.
24:35 Oh, great film.
24:36 Very, very stylish.
24:37 I remember seeing it for the first time and getting a real kick out of it.
24:39 The costumes are absolutely amazing.
24:41 Well, I'm not doing these really in order particularly,
24:44 but my second favourite sci-fi film, Snowpiercer,
24:49 which I'm slightly obsessed with Snowpiercer for many, many reasons,
24:53 but a 2013 film directed by Bong Joon-ho,
24:57 who went on to do Parasite, arguably my favourite film of all time.
25:02 It's a brilliant idea for a sci-fi.
25:04 So basically what it is is that the world's been destroyed
25:06 due to global warming.
25:08 So all the humans on Earth are all on a train which travels around the globe.
25:13 So it goes around the globe once a year basically,
25:15 almost endless journey,
25:17 and they've got everything they need to survive on board.
25:19 So they grow plants, there's animals, there's food,
25:23 there's oxygen and water.
25:25 So they've got everything to live there indefinitely basically.
25:29 But the one problem with it is that like all humanity,
25:31 they've got a caste system or a class system.
25:33 So all of the first class passengers are at the front and live like kings,
25:37 all of the poorer people are right at the back and essentially live off scraps.
25:41 And Chris Evans, God bless him, decides to stage a rebellion
25:45 and works his way from the back of the train to the front of the train.
25:48 So it's kind of like The Raid, but horizontal rather than vertical,
25:52 or like Judge Dredd, which has a similar idea of somebody going
25:56 from the bottom of the building to the top,
25:58 but somebody going from the back of the train to the front.
26:00 It's just brilliant.
26:01 I mean, it's got a great caste.
26:02 It's got Tilda Swinson, who I know we both love.
26:04 It's got Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt, Ed Harris.
26:08 Lots and lots of good people.
26:09 It's a big budget film.
26:10 It looks beautiful.
26:11 It's got social commentary.
26:13 Didn't come out in the UK.
26:14 Why did it not come out in the UK?
26:16 You could do an entire podcast just about this.
26:20 But the answer is Harvey Weinstein.
26:22 He's done a lot of bad things, including meaning that this didn't come out in the UK.
26:26 There was various legal wranglings.
26:28 He wanted cuts made.
26:30 The director didn't want those cuts made.
26:32 And essentially it never came out in the UK.
26:34 You could only recently start seeing it on Netflix now, so you can see it.
26:38 But it never got a cinematic release.
26:39 I was very lucky to see one of, I think, only two ever screenings in the UK.
26:45 And it was a sold-out screening.
26:47 It was really exciting.
26:48 And it was one of my favorite cinematic experiences ever,
26:51 because everyone knew they were seeing something really, really special.
26:54 And it's just a fantastic film.
26:55 And it's massively under-seen, particularly in Britain,
26:58 because it wasn't released in the cinema.
27:00 So it never had any advertising.
27:04 None of the stars did the chat show circuit.
27:06 There were no adverts on buses.
27:08 So a lot of people don't know it ever existed.
27:10 However, now there's a TV series.
27:12 So I think people are now seeing the TV series and now going back to film.
27:15 So I think it's got a new audience there.
27:17 But anybody who hasn't seen "Snowpiercer," it is on Netflix.
27:20 You can watch it, and it's absolutely brilliant.
27:22 It's a legendary sci-fi film.
27:25 And it shows how good a director he was, and that ended up with "The Making of Parasite."
27:29 So highly recommend "Snowpiercer."
27:33 So the film itself actually freaks me out a bit, because I have like--
27:40 and this is really weird.
27:41 I had a dream when I was very young that mold was growing on my leg.
27:45 This is a therapy session now.
27:47 And so I've always had a fear of things growing on me, shall we say,
27:51 or growing out of me.
27:53 And also growing up with the film "Alien," which also added to the growing out of thing.
27:58 So there's a film where it made me feel prickly in kind of like a feared way.
28:04 But I think the film's really good, really well acted, and it's really clever.
28:08 The guy who directed it, I thought he was going to be amazing,
28:11 and he's done absolutely nonsense.
28:14 That is decent.
28:15 Like "Borderline Ridiculous," one of his films I've seen at one point.
28:19 So no offense, Neil.
28:21 But your first film was unbelievable, and it made me feel weird and prickly
28:26 and also made me think very deeply about the way we treat things and people.
28:31 "District 9" would be my second favorite by Neil Blomkamp,
28:35 who as much as I've just griefed him quite a bit, his first film is exceptionally good.
28:41 It has--oh, my God, what's it called?
28:43 "Charter Copley" in the lead role.
28:47 If you haven't seen it, it's really good.
28:49 It's based in Johannesburg.
28:51 I can't say the famous line because it's got swear word in,
28:53 but it really makes me laugh.
28:57 It's very, very South African, but it's basically, in my opinion,
29:02 and I think most people's opinion, aliens come down and they get trapped.
29:09 And essentially when they get trapped, they can't fly back,
29:12 and they're like these prawn, as they say in the film.
29:17 They actually say something slightly different, but I can't say the word.
29:21 I am the sweaty man.
29:25 I'm the sweaty man.
29:26 That's also a very good line.
29:28 But the aliens get stuck essentially and can't move,
29:33 and they're like trying to scavenge for food.
29:36 They're poor, and it's like a class thing once again.
29:40 And because it's based in South Africa, I think a lot of people felt it was
29:43 potentially reminiscent of the apartheid, which kind of makes total sense.
29:50 Something happens.
29:51 There's one guy who has to keep in charge of all these mud huts basically
29:54 where the aliens live and are scavenging for food and things,
29:57 and something happens to him, which essentially combines this guy who's
30:02 seen as the upper class guy that has all the privilege with something that
30:06 has no privilege, which is the aliens or the prawns,
30:08 as the disparagingly call them.
30:10 But it's a really good film, like deeply emotional,
30:14 especially the bit at the end with the flower, if you know what I mean.
30:17 That really got to me.
30:18 And I think it speaks really well for what it's intended to get at,
30:24 if that makes sense.
30:26 I think it showcased things really well.
30:29 I have no idea why he then went on to do Elysium and then The God-Awful
30:33 Chappie, which was just ridiculous.
30:36 It was just a De Antwoorth movie, and it just obviously,
30:38 that's who he wanted in the movie, so he just decided to do it.
30:41 But his first film is absolutely brilliant.
30:43 And if you haven't seen District 9, I'd strongly recommend you watch it,
30:46 but I do think you'll end up crying some tears at the end for basically
30:52 insect-prone-looking alien guys.
30:54 - Yeah, very sympathetic monsters, aren't they?
30:57 No, it's a great film.
30:58 I completely agree.
30:59 It blew me away as well.
31:00 Well, my last choice, talking about prawns and monsters, is Monsters.
31:04 So Monsters, again, it's a film that's not been seen by that many people.
31:08 - I know what it is, but I've never seen it.
31:10 - Yeah, it's a great film.
31:11 So it's by Gareth Edwards, who instantly after this film went on
31:16 to direct big-budget films.
31:17 So after this, he went on to do Godzilla.
31:21 He did Rogue One, A Star Wars Story.
31:24 He did last year's The Creator, which was like a $100 million film.
31:31 - Got a few Oscars as well, didn't it, Oscar noms?
31:33 - Yeah, he was Oscar-nominated for Best Visual Effect.
31:36 And he's going to do the next Jurassic Park film, which I think we can both
31:39 agree can't be worse than the last one.
31:41 - That's one called Jurassic Park.
31:43 - Yes, but it's not going to have giant insects in it, hopefully.
31:46 So this is a guy who has just made blockbuster after blockbuster.
31:51 And you can argue whether they're good blockbusters or not,
31:53 but he's gone straight from this film.
31:54 So Monsters was his first film.
31:56 It was made for nothing.
31:57 It was made on a laptop he got out of PC World.
32:00 It was made on digital video cameras.
32:03 It was made for an absolutely tiny amount of money.
32:05 It went on to make quite a lot of money, but only because of the tiny budget
32:08 it was.
32:09 It's a pretty simple setup.
32:11 A NASA probe crashes to Earth in Mexico.
32:14 It's got some hitchhikers on it, and essentially many tentacled monsters
32:19 begin to roam the land in northern Mexico.
32:23 So it's all quarantined off, a bit like District 9,
32:26 and this is the infected zone.
32:28 So they keep all the monsters in this infected zone,
32:30 but it's not letting them go, and they're kind of kept in there.
32:32 The setup is that Guy, who's a photojournalist,
32:37 he has to take his boss's daughter from Mexico to the USA,
32:42 and he has to go through the infected zone that has all these monsters in it.
32:45 That's all it is.
32:46 It's a really simple, simple setup.
32:49 But what makes it remarkable is that it looks phenomenal.
32:53 What he does with no budget, you're watching it,
32:56 and you're going, "This is an absolute world.
32:57 I completely believe in these monsters."
32:59 And this was back in 2010, so it was before a lot of technology that we now have,
33:04 like AI and stuff and all the stuff you do very easily,
33:07 and just what he did with it.
33:09 And it's got a real heart to it as well.
33:11 It's a proper journal.
33:12 It's well-acted.
33:13 It stars Scoot McNary, which is one of my favorite actor's names ever.
33:17 Scoot McNary.
33:18 You can say that again and again.
33:20 And, yeah, for most people who have not seen Monsters,
33:22 watch it, and you will never believe how cheap it was.
33:25 And I am going to say that it's actually the best-looking of all the films
33:28 he's made, even though he's gone on to make these massive, massive,
33:31 massive big-budget films.
33:33 - I know, it's a bit strange.
33:34 - So go and see Monsters.
33:36 I'm sure it's on streaming somewhere.
33:38 No one's seen it.
33:39 No one really went to see it at the cinema,
33:40 but the director's gone on to create things,
33:42 and you can see exactly why all of these Hollywood execs just instantly got out
33:46 a blank checkbook and said, "Gareth, you can do whatever you like
33:48 because we've seen Monsters."
33:51 - Yeah, I mean, I remember, like, from an indie cinema perspective,
33:58 it was quite big at the time.
33:59 I think it was before I moved to Glasgow around the time,
34:01 and it did quite well then.
34:03 But, yeah, I never got around to seeing it.
34:05 I think it went on Netflix for a bit, and I think it did quite well from then
34:08 because of what he went on to do.
34:09 I think it went back to it, but it didn't really do much on Netflix either.
34:12 But I'm sure he doesn't care.
34:16 My number one, I actually didn't have to think about it that hard.
34:20 And maybe I'm completely forgetting something until I've seen my DVDs.
34:24 - I think I know what it's going to be, and I'm going to be disappointed
34:26 if it isn't what I think it's going to be because otherwise I would have done it.
34:30 - I mean, I think because there was one that came up in my mind,
34:37 which I think is more sci-fi than horror and has the greatest fight scene
34:40 of all time.
34:41 But I think because it's directed by John Carpenter,
34:44 it has to be gone down as horror, so I'm not going to choose They Live.
34:47 What did you think I was going to choose?
34:49 - I was hoping it would be Arrival because it's one of my favourites,
34:52 and I thought you would do it, so I avoid it.
34:54 But it would have 100% been in my top three.
34:57 - Yes, Arrival would be mine.
35:00 I think the soundtrack is exceptionally good.
35:04 The same – correct me if I'm wrong, but it's the same – who's unfortunately
35:09 passed now – the same composer, the soundtrack from Mandy,
35:15 which I think really adds to the film, and I think you get exactly the same
35:21 from Arrival as well.
35:22 I think it's Amy Adams' best performance.
35:25 I think it's complicated whilst also being very easy to understand,
35:30 if that makes sense.
35:31 Like it's a complicated answer how they've got to it, but you don't get
35:34 lost off by it.
35:36 I don't think it's a confusing film, although it is a complicated end.
35:40 It's not confusing, if that makes sense.
35:42 I think the idea of why the aliens have landed, which I won't give away,
35:48 that essentially is the premise of every alien film.
35:51 Why have they landed?
35:52 Why are they here?
35:53 The journey getting there is worth it, and I also think the way they find out
36:00 why the aliens are actually there is really clever.
36:02 I also think the best part is the aliens themselves.
36:08 They're not human at all.
36:11 They're kind of like spots of ink in many ways.
36:16 I think the bit where they go to meet with the aliens and they have to go up
36:20 the alien chute is amazing.
36:24 I've seen it in the cinema and it really built a lot of tension,
36:27 just seeing them go up and, "Oh, God, what are they going to come across here?
36:31 This could be kind of scary."
36:35 But, yeah, I think Arrival is one of the best, if not the best,
36:38 alien film ever made, so that's my number one.
36:41 I agree with you.
36:42 Good.
36:43 We can end an agreement.
36:44 After all the disagreements, we can agree on one thing, and that's Arrival.
36:47 Okay, everyone, bye.
36:49 [Laughs]
36:50 See you later.
36:51 Bye.
36:52 See you.
36:53 Bye.
36:54 Bye.
36:55 [Music]