S03E02: Beekeeper Buzz: Statham's Latest Action Flick

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First on Film and Entertainment, Gregory
King, Peter Krause, and yours truly

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akes first here for another week of
baiting. Is that what it is?

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Peter? We get recalcitrants that you're
like your good self. We've got to

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put you in your place? Is
that right? Oh? Absolutely? And

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Gregory pun central dad jokes, grandfather
jokes, great grandfather jokes. That's what

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you were noted for. Correct.
I were totally joked by Methusla, So

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you know, just pass them on. Well, hang on, Peter,

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you would have known Methusala. I
met him. We had a great discussion

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about Mozart. You've been there for
thousands of years. You're like the old

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oak tree. It never gives way. That's what I love about it.

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Now, I wanted to sort of
get your mind work, both of your

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minds working here. And this is
a question without notice, greg I want

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you to go back in time,
all right, and Peter as well.

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You're far and well. You're lying
back on a couch and I'm your psychiatrist,

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and I asking you to project back
to when you were seventeen? Now,

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can you tell me anything about when
you were seventeen? What did you

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dress like? Were you dow King? Were you mean? Were you what?

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What was it? You know?
Was this your last year at school?

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What was seventeen? Tell me about
it? Wasn't my last year of

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school? It was so you finished
seventeen? Okay? Which school did you

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go? So? Better? Melbourne
High? Mh but you did you live

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in the area? It was a
long hike to get there? No,

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I mean I live in sin Kilda, so was it a long hike?

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Mm hmm. Okay, Greg?
What about you? Which school? I

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went to? Alexandra High School in
sub New School and the country alex in

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a town called alex Alexandra. Yes, yeah, okayt No, No,

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I remember visiting and I thought it
was quite funny given my surnames Alexander.

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So dore you go. So but
what else do you remember about your childhood?

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Both of you? When I say
childhood when you were seventeen, anything

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that stands out the clothes that you
were wearing or not. A lot of

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school uniform, mainly lady week stuff
on the weekend. That was about you.

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Yep, Peter, yeah, no
again, school uniform. It was

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a fairly mundane being in the last
year of school at Melbourne High. Okay,

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so what about the last day of
school? Do you actually recall whether

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there was a sense of relief or
beginning the next chapter either of you.

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It just seemed like a normal final
day. It didn't stand out really and

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final exams there wasn't a sense of
relief or anything like that. It was

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sort of but no, it was
all fairly smooth sailing. I suppose and

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Green, were you seventeen or eighteen
or how old were you finished school?

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Just want to work it out,
so it must be made around the same

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time as me. I finished in
seventy I was about seventeen. Yeah,

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yeah, you finished in seventy five
as well. Yep, yeah, same

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thing. So an in More went
to university stunning seventy six. Yeah likewise,

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So okay, the reason I'm asking
this is that the season is kicked

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off for Melbourne Theater Company and the
first play of the year is called seventeen.

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It's on at south Bank Theater the
summer and opening night was Friday night.

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And I suppose I posed the question
for a reason. Do you remember

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what your last day of school was
like? You just finished your final exams.

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Freedom was there for the taking.
The future was uncertain, but it

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was one of possibilities and regardless,
now was party time. Now they are

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the thoughts in the minds of the
seventeen year olds at the center of Matthew

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were Ted's heartfelt play named seventeen.
Here is the Twistfellas, And I'm wondering

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whether you think this in principle can
work okay, seventeen year olds being played

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by sixty and seventy year olds,
Yes or no? As a concept,

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Greg, probably not, Peter,
It's all about the acting. I suppose

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it may work well. Events take
place in a playground where five school leavers

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have gathered to chill and drink,
and they're joined by the fourteen year old

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sister of one of them. And
during the course of the one hundred minutes

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that they are on stage, they
hang out and they muck around. More

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than that, their apprehensions, fears, and vulnerabilities are exposed. So that's

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the concept. And you've got a
character called Mike played by Richard Piper.

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He's the alpha male in the group. He's loud, he's confident, is

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belligerent. His best mate since the
first day of fifth grade is Tom played

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by Robert Menzies, and he's book
smart but relatively timid to leave for Adelaide

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with his folks in two days because
his dad has secured a new job there.

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Mike's sister, Lizzie Fiona Choi,
is the fourteen year old, and

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she's wise beyond her years. She
can see that beneath his gregarious exterior,

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her brother is not happy. Mike
is set to go to work for their

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father. His girlfriend, Jess Pamela
Rabe, is struggling with her alcoholic and

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needing mother, and Jess is not
sure whether she wants to go to university,

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but she would like to travel.
Her best friend, Amelia Genevieve Peker,

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regularly suffers nosebleeds and has her own
issues. And then there's the outsider,

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Ronnie George Sevskott, who is known
as a bit of a widow hiding

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a dark secret. He wants to
be part of the celebrations. Now truth

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be told this moment in time.
The next few hours that the six spend

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together will never be replicated. This
is their chance to reveal their innermost feelings

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and wait for dawn to break.
In the playground, it's filled with humor

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and surprises. Seventeen develops poignancy as
it progresses, and it's that evercation,

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that sort of evocative transition that elevates
this work. Now, having said that

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seeing adults of a certain age dress
up and act out as school leavers,

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often swearing like troopers, is hilarious, there isn't a weak link. The

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actors positively shine in their respective roles, each with distinctive characterizations from loudmouth to

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angst riddled. Ronnie's movements early days
are perplexing, just as they are meant

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to be. But George Shevstad ensures
that Ronnie comes into his own as the

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narrative unfolds this full playground set.
It's really good with tan Bark brings back

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fond memories. It's a really fine
endeavor from Christina Smith, who's also responsible

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for costuming, and that too has
immediate impact. If I put that in

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another way, the introduction of the
year twelves is not easily forgotten. Now.

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There are other elements that are memorable
here, Shaking Booty being one of

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them, and a game of truth
or dare the director's match at Matt Edgerton.

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He plays up the light and shade
in the script and that gives seventeen

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emotional resonance so it's on at south
Bank Theater the summer. I believe it

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started in Sydney in about twenty sixteen, then was played in London and now

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we've got our iteration in Melbourne.
It's really interesting work and it's a very

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clever device because you know, you
don't really expect I mean, I haven't

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looked up the exact age of the
cars, but I'm gathering that we're talking

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sixty sixty to seventy year olds,
although one of the cast member, the

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fourteen year old's younger, so I
hope I haven't aged anybody unnecessarily. But

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it's a really fascinating way of getting
the point at cross and I think it

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works very very well. So I
mean, I reckon this could actually do

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well on film, Peter, I
actually do. I think this could work

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very well on film. So maybe
maybe there's something in it for a person

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like yourself who how many how many
centuries old are you? It doesn't then

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counting at the very least, because
you just admitted you knew me, Methusale.

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So Greg, what do you reckon
a film out or something like this?

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I don't know. Again, it
comes down to how it works on

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screen. Is staging screen are all
from different Yeah, may not work on

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screen, Peter, do you see
much National Theater alive or not? At

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over? I do see as many
of the releases as possible, Yes,

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But I mean it's it's fascinating because
whilst I like it, there's something about

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the actual being in the theater and
I've had the good fortune. Have you

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been to London and seen National Theater
live live so to speak? No,

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it is fantastic, I mean just
extraordinary saw. I think I've seen three

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productions there and wow, as good
as it is on film, it's not

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the same because you never know from
night to night whether an actor has a

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bad night or this is a few
lines here or there. There's something It's

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kind of like seeing sport live as
well as good as it is on TV,

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and you see more of it because
they can sort of use close ups,

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et cetera, et cetera. The
atmosphere is not the same as when

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you're in a theater. So yeah, anyway, I really liked it and

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it is on until the seventeenth of
February south Bank Theater the summer and it's

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called seventeen with very good reason.
So on Jair eighty EIGHTFM. If you

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want to become a member, go
to jdoshare dot com dot au. We

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love our members, We love people
anyway who listen to the programming twenty four

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hours a day. You've got some
chatter and you've got some music and lots

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of good stuff. So yeah,
I think it's about fifty four bucks a

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year if you want to become a
member of Jaya again eighty eight FM.

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Now I want to catch up on
a few We sort of started last week

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by talking about the year's releases,
those films that have been put out in

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twenty twenty four, and I wanted
to begin with an actioner called The bee

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Keeper, which is MA rated one
hundred and five minutes. Quite a wild

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ride. It's ultraviolent, over the
top nonsense really, But I reckon the

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way I approached this is it wasn't
previewed by the company concerned that put it

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out, but I saw it as
a bit of a guilty pleasure. Having

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said that, some of the dialogue
is horrendous. Scene that sets in train,

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the plot is wooden in the extreme. I puts you this way,

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Plausibility is never in question, because
plausibility simply doesn't exist, and yet the

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choreographed action with one man taking on
the FBI, the Secret Service and more

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and leaving them impotent I found mighty
impressive. And that man is Adam Clay

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played by Jason Statham, who does
this sort of role very well. And

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he's a really diligent bee keeper.
Actually a beekeeper, he also happens to

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be a retired operative for a shadowy
off the books organization that operates outside the

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law, and people like him are
known as beekeepers because their job is to

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keep the hive of government functioning and
the nation safe. Clay now leads a

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quiet life tending to his honeybees.
He occupies the barn of an isolated property

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owned by aging Eloise Parker. Felicia
Richard plays that role. She's the director

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of a charity with no knowledge of
it security. When her computer's hacked,

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she falls prey to a ruthless scam
involving data skimming, which rids the charity

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of its money and her Eloise Parker
of her life's savings. Her downfall brings

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into play for distanced FBI agent daughter
Verona Emma Raver Lampman and fellow agent Matt

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Wiley Bobby Naderi, but they're always
one step behind Clay, who comes out

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of retirement to exact revenge on those
that fleeced Eloise Parker. That evolves blowing

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up a call center that targets the
elderly and working his way up the food

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chain to cut off the head of
the snake. Among those standing in his

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way a former CIA director Wallace Westwild
played by Jeremy Irons, and a twenty

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eight year old bad boy Derek Danforth
Josh Hutzieson. There's also a further to

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West in store late in this movie. Still you can't say that Clay is

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anything but driven. The script is
by Kurt Wimmer, who did point break

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direction from David Air Suicide Squad.
One Tone. Jason Stathan Well hardly sets

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the world on fire in the acting
stakes, but he sure can kick bart

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Emma rava lamp and displays get up
and go as the FBI agent with skin

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in the game. And there's also
some drolled humor involved in Verona's into play

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with her partner, which Bobby Naderi
handles well. Josh Hutchison isn't stretched in

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playing this arrogant entitled pratt. His
role is to repel the audience from his

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first train, which he does manage
to do quite readily. There's elegance about

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Jeremy Irons as the XCIA chief caught
out of his depth. And I also

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appreciated Gabrielle Birdstone. He's a evocative
cinematography. He did Black Widow just out

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of interest, and it doesn't matter
whether it's the solitude of beekeeping or a

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mayhem that ensues in this work.
I thought that Gabriel and Gabriel Bereristaine did

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a very good job. It's undoubtedly
a good looking turkey. Not a turkey,

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but a good looking picture. Look. I did cringe it much of

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the scripting, but I still found
myself strangely invested in the journey, So

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that leaves the movie as a showy
mixed bag called The Beekeeper m I rated

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one hundred and five minutes. What
do you reckon, Peter? I was

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not impressed by this film at all, Oh, and the reason was the

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muddled scripting. As you have described
the plot, you make it sound more

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coherent than it actually is because the
film deals with a number of issues and

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doesn't deal with them effectively at all. Is it to do with a candidates

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political aim to succeed and understanding that
she's been funded by these scammers. Is

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it about people being scammed and how
this can be a real difficulty for so

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many people. Is it about any
other conspiracies about the FBI or about any

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agencies and who's to blame? All
of that is muddled up in a very

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confusing and unworthy screenplay, and it
was played reasonably well by Jason Statham,

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who's very good at being a stonefaced, violent action character, although he certainly

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know John Wick, and in fact
the film is nothing like john Wick,

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even though it pretends that it wants
to be. I'm glad to say that

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no bees were harmed in the making
of this film, but I think the

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audience might be. I was not
impressed. Ah, I must admit,

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I'm sorry. I didn't find that
complexity there. I understand where you're coming

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from, but I did, you
know, I just took it for what

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it was. What about you,
Greg? Can we call this a B

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movie? Yeah? I think it
is a bee movie very good, but

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I think it is, but it's
not a terrible movie. Well, I

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actually like you, Alice. I
found a little bit of guilty pleasure there

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and It's always good to see Jason
Satem kicking, but he's one of the

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more believable of those action heroes going
around at the moment. He's still young

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enough to get away with being convincing
there. The plot, as you said,

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is a bit of nonsense and everything, but just some of the p

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X sequence this year. We're very
well saved by David Airs there. Jason

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gave some scales and brows and burrunts
his way through formulate role there. But

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I liked it up to a point
there. It is a bit begualized body

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end, but I bought into it
now as wanings, you go along for

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the ride while I was on screen. Once you walk out a similarly forgetable.

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But yeah, no, I quite
enjoyed this Alex good stuff. So

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what would you give it out of
ten? The bee Keeper? I'd give

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it a six out of ten.
Isily hmmm, yeah, and I'm giving

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it a six out of ten.
Peter, you're gonna fail it, are

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you? You're gonna be nas to
begin with? Yes, of course,

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I always sam no, no,
this shute, yes, go on?

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Why do you give me? I
was just going to say, it's a

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triumph of bloodshed over writing, and
so I can only muster four out of

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00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:22.640
ten. He starts to be rocking
up with a jo Honey, I mean,

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would would your sweet sweet tooth be
satiated if Jason knocked on your door?

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I'd have to get Keanu Reeves to
support me. Oh, I see

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00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:36.119
all right? Yeah, yeah,
eighty eight FM. You're listening to nonsense

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00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:38.200
from Peter Krause. No, you're
listening to Peter Krause. You're listening to

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00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:44.839
Great King and Alex Spurs. Now, would you like a night swim?

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00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:48.640
Please? Don't? Can I push
you in? Oh? No, that's

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00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:52.799
that's a bad joke actually, because
someone was pushed in. Yeah, that's

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00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:56.519
a very bad joke. Actually I
didn't meet. I just realized what I'd

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said. I apologize. Yeah,
terrible during the week. Actually that the

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elderly man who was off the pier, you know, that was terrible.

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Look, Knight Swims the name of
the movie. It's emirated. It's ninety

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eight minutes and this backyard pool all
but becomes a living, breathing entity.

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It's a horror film, right,
So the malevolent forst does its worst early

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on before we settle into the main
storyline, which loops back to what happened

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at the start. The appearance of
a toy boat seemingly operating on its own

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in the water in the dead of
night marks the poor tent of doom.

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We're talking summer nineteen ninety two.
Not long thereafter, a young girl named

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Rebecca played by az A yarn Dalla
Bejeva is dead, having drowned nineteen ninety

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two. And then we come to
the present day family of four about to

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move into the house where that incident
took place, oblivious to its history.

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Father Ray Waller Whyat Russell, a
former pro baseballer, walks with a stick

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because he's been diagnosed with MS.
It's been tough for him and his family.

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As the kids were growing up,
they were constantly moving as he changed

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teams, and now he's facing this
major health battle. His doctor says water

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therapy could help. When they take
possession of the property, the pool is

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in a state of disrepair, but
he and the family are up for the

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challenge. Soon enough, the crystal
clear water is enticing Ray's improvement, marked

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and significant. The same time,
his wife Eve Kerry Condon, son Elliot

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00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:45.559
Gavin Warren, and daughter Izzy Emily
fairly are spooked, and when they enter

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the pool alone, each of them
is easy prey. They see disturbing image

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that they're set upon. Everyday life
becomes a constant battle as evil consumes Ray

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00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:03.480
the father. It's based on a
short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire,

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and McGuire has written the screenplay and
also directs. I found it genuinely

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00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:15.720
spooky and intriguing until the third act, when it goes over the top.

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I was invested in the plot and
in the family looking to start a new

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life. Kerry Conlin compelling as the
mother looking for stability. Whyitet Russell's uncertainty

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and ungainliness are understandable. The sibling
dynamic is familiar, so all the ingredients

250
00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:37.119
are in place, and then the
jomp scares happen slowly but surely. All

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good to this point, while there
are twists along the way. The narrative

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00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:47.680
takes a wild bend after Eve takes
matters into her own hands, and that's

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when the filmmakers decided to throw the
kitchen sink at night swim and it all

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00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:56.599
becomes preposterous. More restraint could have
maintained the level of credibility that had marked

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the film to that juncture, but
that's not how it plays out. Still,

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I might think twice before next dipping
my toes into a backyard ball or

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anybody of water for that matter.
Great, what do you reckon nights?

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00:21:08.920 --> 00:21:15.119
When this is the Amazurville Horror in
a swimming pool? Basically, and despite

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00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.519
an intriguing premise, I thought,
ultimately became a little too derivative there.

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Jump scares early on there, but
the longer it goes on, I thought,

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00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:29.880
the more silly and ridiculously pot I
thought the performances from people like Ryot

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00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:33.440
Russell and Kerry Conyon were particularly good. They're showing strength and determination there.

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This is actually based on a short
film from two thousand and fourteen. The

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00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:45.559
film only went for about five minutes, I think, in which a woman

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was threatened by terifed by a swimming
pool, but he stretching the material out

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00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:55.319
ninety nine minutes or something, it
seems to lose some of its immed immediacy

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and some of its impact there.
I also thought Charlie Sarahs Underwater cinem with

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You, which is actually quite suitable
moody and uncertainly and created a certain mood

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and it's obviously the director, Bryce
McGwire's been influenced by films like Poddeis and

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Jaws, and he plays effectively on
our childhood fears of the unknown, the

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water, all that kind of stuff
there. So yeah, look adds small

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levels of characterization and emotionally involvement to
a short film and plenty of jump scares.

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But as I said, it's creepy
to start with, but I thought

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by the end it was cliched and
predictable. Now, Peter, do you

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think we can get you into a
swimming called Night Naked Alex? What are

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00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:45.359
you proposing? It's taking a down
fern exact. This is the reason I

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00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:49.519
say this is you know, any
ugliness that you might see in the movie

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00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:56.039
could be supplanted by you plunging into
this pool the horror exactly. We have

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00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:00.920
to study of our audience. This
is what I'm saying. We thought you

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00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:07.720
dearly, but that concept that conceit
is just why it's taking a dive off

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00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:11.359
the deep end? Peter, is
it not? Oh? Not only that

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00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:17.559
you've submerged yourself into a real horror
show here, I'm looking at bubbles here.

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00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:22.640
So do you think more of this
piece of film than I did?

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00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:29.400
Or Greg did or not. I
thought it was what I call an average

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00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.759
horror film. It's one of the
Boomhouse James one. Yeah, I didn't.

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00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:36.640
I didn't think it was terrible.
I actually there are elements there.

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00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:38.119
I mean, I think Greg and
I are similar in this regard. It

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00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:45.759
became preposterous, Yes, and that's
when the backstory is revealed later in the

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00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:49.160
film, and it just sounded too
ridiculous for words I have to say.

290
00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:55.559
But yes, the general premise of
the film starts off quite well but sort

291
00:23:55.559 --> 00:24:00.640
of deteriorates as it goes on.
This whole notion of the evil working under

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00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:03.920
the swimming pool is just a little
bit too ridiculous for words, I have

293
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:11.480
to say. And knowing that there
is Australian production behind this film and Australian

294
00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:17.200
special effects, I thought the in
joke in the film was quite amusing,

295
00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:22.000
even if no one else noticed it. You may have seen in the film

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00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:29.000
the name of the middle school that
the child attends, and we see that

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00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:33.759
twice in the film. Oh,
I cannot recover. We don't want to

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00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:37.359
spoil we don't want spoilers, Dewey, So we go it's not a spoilers

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00:24:37.400 --> 00:24:41.920
because people won't notice it, apart
from some Australians in the audience, especially

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00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:49.519
those who remember drowning and a prime
minister Yes, yeah, Harold Holt,

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00:24:49.839 --> 00:25:00.279
yes, middle school yeah again.
But did you decided you know there one

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00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:03.200
of the big swim pools after Ian
thought me a little bit champion will a

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00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:06.559
mass after a prime minister ground?
Yeah, but I don't know. I

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00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:10.599
found it. I understand you know
it's that named after that pool in Malvern,

305
00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:14.519
but I didn't find it terribly amusing, to be honest, I found

306
00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:18.920
it a bit icky. I did. I couldn't help feeling a bit ikey.

307
00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:22.160
It brought it back in it in
not in a in a good way

308
00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:26.200
for me better, honestly, I
understand that. And I thought that was

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00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:30.960
the joke in the film, that
his drowning that shouldn't have happened or whatever.

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00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:36.240
Anyway, So apart from that,
the film is so so an adequate

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00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:42.319
bee horror movie, not like The
Bee Keeper. So it's it's worth worth

312
00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:48.240
seeing when it eventually ends up on
streaming. Okay, well, I mean

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00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:52.039
I think i'll I'll probably go a
bit higher than you guys. I'm not.

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00:25:52.759 --> 00:25:56.279
I'm giving it six and a half
night swim. What about you,

315
00:25:56.359 --> 00:26:00.640
Peter, I gave it five out
of ten, and Greg I'd gave it

316
00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:03.799
as well. Okay, yeah,
there we go. So yeah, well

317
00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:07.680
we've all passed it. Let's put
it that way. Let's talk a little

318
00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:12.359
bit about Mean Girls, which,
well there was the cult film came out

319
00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:17.799
in well twenty years ago. It's
hard to believe, but pardon me.

320
00:26:17.880 --> 00:26:19.880
This time it's back as a movie
musical. It's PG rated, it's one

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00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:25.240
hundred and twelve minutes. The star
of the original, Lindsay Lowhand, it's

322
00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:29.920
given a small role in this one. And look, I'd say this like

323
00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:33.119
the original, it's actually fun.
And it's written by Tina Faye, music

324
00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:38.720
by her husband Jeff Richard. The
Tale of Adolescent Angst is based on their

325
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:45.279
stage musical, which opened on Broadway
in twenty eighteen. Fay also wrote the

326
00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:51.599
original film, which was based on
Rosalind Wiseman's two thousand and two non fiction

327
00:26:51.720 --> 00:26:56.519
book Queen Bees and Waabes with a
lot of Bees in today's program, I

328
00:26:56.599 --> 00:27:00.400
might say, in the movie musical, this one we're talking about. Faye

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00:27:00.519 --> 00:27:06.039
also reprises her role as a teacher. So the story concerned sixteen year old

330
00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:11.640
Caddy Heron played by Angery Rice,
who has been homeschooled in Kenya by her

331
00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:15.000
mother, a roll filled by Jenni
Fisher. They move back to the United

332
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:22.680
States and then Caddie's enrolled in north
Shore High. She's academically gifted and unfortunately

333
00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:26.759
is immediately socially distanced by the other
children. Coming to her rescue a couple

334
00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:34.400
of outsiders, misfits Janice and Damien
Jannis played by Ollie Cravallo and Damien by

335
00:27:34.839 --> 00:27:41.519
Jackquell Spivey or Spivvy. They school
her on the different cliques that exist within

336
00:27:41.559 --> 00:27:45.440
the school. Now is your test? What are some of the cliques?

337
00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:49.359
Greg, You can go for it. You've got the nervous, You've got

338
00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:55.920
the mathletes. Um, you've got
the student groups. You've got the Plastips.

339
00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:59.559
Very good, you're doing very well. They are right down Jock's band

340
00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:04.079
Freak, Spurnout's theater nerds. Yeah. And the most exclusive group, of

341
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:08.119
course, is the plastics. And
that group consists of Conniving Queen Bee,

342
00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:15.039
Regina George played by Renee Rapp,
and her minions Gretchen Wieners, Bebe Wood

343
00:28:15.319 --> 00:28:21.240
and Karen Chetti of Antika. And
they've got strict dress code. Now,

344
00:28:21.319 --> 00:28:25.720
unexpectedly, the over the top glamour
girls take Caddy under their wing, and

345
00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:30.319
they decide to make her over in
true plastics style. That hits a pothole,

346
00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:37.200
though, when Caddy takes a shine
to Regina George's hunky ex boyfriend Aaron

347
00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:42.000
Samuel's Christopher Brinney, Suddenly the gloves
are off. Caddy decides to give as

348
00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:48.079
good as she gets in what becomes
a dragged down battle with Regina George,

349
00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:52.759
and in the process she distances her
only real friends and learns a valuable lesson.

350
00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:59.359
It's the feature film debout of the
directors Samantha Jane and Arturo Perez Junior.

351
00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:03.759
I think it's quite an auspicious one. They've taken a smart and updated

352
00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:08.720
script from Fay, reimagined for a
new generation, incorporating smartphones and TikTok videos,

353
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:12.640
and I reckon they've nailed it.
Mean Girls sirk at twenty twenty four.

354
00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:17.720
It's energetic, it's engaging, lively
score. I really enjoyed the music

355
00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:22.000
woven effortlessly into the storyline. Angery
Rice Well, she works away at Nice

356
00:29:22.039 --> 00:29:27.240
Girl Turned Tail when newfound popularity strikes
her and she makes Caddy, her own

357
00:29:29.319 --> 00:29:36.160
I loved Olli Cravallo as Artsy Jattis
and Raquel'spriavy as larger than life Damen.

358
00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:40.680
They are among the star turns in
Mean Girls. Avon Tiker is a scene

359
00:29:40.680 --> 00:29:45.319
stealer. She's hilarious as the pouting
Karen Karen's a getting a bad name,

360
00:29:45.400 --> 00:29:48.480
let me tell you. And Beattie
Wood also makes her mark as the less

361
00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:53.079
than confident Gretchen Renee Rap brings an
edge to her portrayal of the manipulative Regina

362
00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:59.279
George and with a hair toss here
and another there, Christopher Brenny is comfortable

363
00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:03.759
in the skin of low interest.
Aaron Samuel's thought Tina Fey, She's always

364
00:30:03.799 --> 00:30:07.519
assured. She's again here She's confident
as missus Norbury miss and Awbury, while

365
00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:11.480
Tim Meadow steps up again as he
did in the first installment as the principal

366
00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:18.720
principal du Val John Hamm Milks the
role of sex educated coach car so much

367
00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:22.839
to like and appreciated about the new
Mean Girls. It's a film that clearly

368
00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:27.839
recognizes its target audience, namely both
those who appreciated the original and jen Z

369
00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:33.759
or gen Z as it's called in
the United States, and I reckon it's

370
00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:37.759
successfully made a B line for it. That's what the filmmakers have done in

371
00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:41.759
short and this will mean something to
those who know mean girls. It's fetch

372
00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:47.960
What do you think, greg,
Ah, this is interesting film? I

373
00:30:48.039 --> 00:30:53.079
thought based on interesting isn't interesting?
Is not normally A four runners are good?

374
00:30:53.640 --> 00:30:59.759
Ah h. It fors the female
cliques of high school and the meanness

375
00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:06.039
there. It's almost a remade of
the original two thousand and four film with

376
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:10.279
the song and dance numbers added in, although I believe they cut out about

377
00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:15.319
half a dozen songs from the Save
production just fin in the running time of

378
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:18.920
two hours. There, the story
remains the same way. I didn't mind

379
00:31:18.039 --> 00:31:22.440
and boy rise from as Pagi there, but I didn't teach you was quite

380
00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:27.079
as strong or as memorable as low
And in the role there. I did

381
00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:36.200
like Renee Rapp, who played the
same role in the Broadway production as Regina

382
00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:38.839
George, the leader of the plastics
there. I thought she was quite good

383
00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:45.240
there. I did like those two
outsiders, Janus and Damien. I thought

384
00:31:45.240 --> 00:31:51.160
they were fun and they served as
our narrator by breaking the fourth wall frequently

385
00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:55.599
there. But unlike you, Alis
I thought the song songs were pretty bland

386
00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:59.279
and forgetable. Here I didn't walk
hereto the cinema coming even one number.

387
00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:02.559
The stand out from me was the
rousing anthem that I'd rather be me,

388
00:32:04.039 --> 00:32:07.839
sung by Janis in the gym.
There writer's portrayal of Katie Senior victure,

389
00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:13.480
sweet, in naive, and sheacked
that sassic quality and edge Lindsay Lowen brought

390
00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:15.960
to the role there Rap had a
commanding presence, I thought, and she

391
00:32:16.200 --> 00:32:22.319
viewed a Monstra's Regia with an edge
that veered between sickly sweet and icy coal.

392
00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:28.400
And Spivey hammed it up nicely as
the effe feminine but generly natured Damien.

393
00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:32.319
I thought, there's a lot of
energy, delivers its core messages effectively,

394
00:32:32.839 --> 00:32:36.160
but I don't know whether it will
stand the chest of time. And

395
00:32:36.200 --> 00:32:40.119
he still fondly remembered in twenty years
time, like the original what ay about

396
00:32:40.119 --> 00:32:45.319
you? Peter? Did you sing
along? No? I didn't sing along.

397
00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:49.720
Look, I thought this was quite
an effective film version of the stage

398
00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:57.519
musical, especially well directed by the
two directors involved to put a frenetic tone

399
00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:04.839
to the way they direct this film. Even a sequence involving phone, mobile

400
00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:08.200
phone footage, so to speak.
It's and look, this is Heathers on

401
00:33:08.279 --> 00:33:15.119
steroids. It's all about young women
and how they misbehave and treat each other

402
00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:20.319
and bully and harass and so on. And although we've seen this in a

403
00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:27.960
number of other films, I think
this musicalization of the original film with some

404
00:33:28.039 --> 00:33:31.559
added elements to it, I think
works quite effectively. I think it talks

405
00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:37.559
to its audience quite well, its
younger audience. And I actually liked a

406
00:33:37.640 --> 00:33:43.359
number of the songs because they were
well integrated into the storyline and into the

407
00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:46.559
plot. So look, I likeming
girls. It's a pretty effective musical.

408
00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:51.960
Yeah, there we go. See
I like the music too. So what

409
00:33:52.039 --> 00:33:54.039
are we going to give it?
I'm gonna be I regon, I'll be

410
00:33:54.079 --> 00:34:00.319
the high mark here, So Greg, you start us off ling five out

411
00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:04.680
of ten? Wow, Peter,
I actually gave it seven out of ten

412
00:34:04.920 --> 00:34:07.159
and I gave it seven and a
half out of ten. Am I the

413
00:34:07.199 --> 00:34:12.800
most generous of reviewers? What is
it? I've had the top mark all

414
00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:15.000
the time last couple of weeks.
What's going on here? Now? Guys?

415
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.159
Did we do the holdovers last week
or not? No? So we

416
00:34:19.199 --> 00:34:22.599
should do it today. All right, So that's m erated one hundred and

417
00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:27.280
thirty three minutes. And wow,
Paul Gimardi can he act? Oh?

418
00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:32.119
Paul Hunmany plays an adjunct professor of
ancient history at an elite boarding institution.

419
00:34:32.760 --> 00:34:39.239
Now here's your trivial pursuit question.
What year did the institution date back to?

420
00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:45.559
That he is Paul Gimmarty, as
Paul Hunman is the adjunct professor of

421
00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:51.840
any clues, any ideas, Gregory, Well, you asked me this last

422
00:34:51.880 --> 00:34:54.840
week, Alex, and I said
about seventy eighty nine or something, seventeen

423
00:34:54.960 --> 00:35:00.719
ninety seven. There we go.
Well, you should have known that you're

424
00:35:00.760 --> 00:35:04.800
around. You know, you're already
old man at that stage, weren't you.

425
00:35:05.159 --> 00:35:09.119
I was there to see the architects
plans exactly now, talking about old

426
00:35:09.159 --> 00:35:14.880
school, that's what Paul Huntman is. Paul Giabardi, Yeah, old school.

427
00:35:15.159 --> 00:35:19.400
He's got this tough love approach and
he's determined to bring the best out

428
00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:23.960
of his students at Barton Academy in
New England. Now button Academy doesn't actually

429
00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:28.320
exist, but there you go.
Now that puts him at odds with pupils,

430
00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:31.159
with teachers, and with the school
principal Dr. Hardy Woodrup played by

431
00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:38.280
Andrew Garment. We are in the
year nineteen seventy and this Christmas is been

432
00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:45.039
knowingly hoodwinked into babysitting Borders that haven't
been invited home for the holiday. Is

433
00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:47.519
that it'd be terrible if you're sort
of stuck at school and all the rest

434
00:35:47.519 --> 00:35:52.599
of the kids go. But anyway, the heating's being turned off, there's

435
00:35:52.599 --> 00:35:55.880
snow all around. It promises to
be a cold and miserable festive season for

436
00:35:55.960 --> 00:36:01.559
those remaining at the facility and all
the laws because Hunman intends to continue with

437
00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:08.239
regular school hours and with school work
while minding the children, and so among

438
00:36:08.280 --> 00:36:13.880
them is Angus Tully Dominic ssser Senior
has been kicked out of three schools,

439
00:36:14.280 --> 00:36:17.599
and he was a last minute in
after his mother remarried and her focus is

440
00:36:17.639 --> 00:36:22.840
now on her new man, right
the new husband at Angus's expense, something

441
00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:28.719
that he's far from happy with because
Angers still misses his father. Angers also

442
00:36:28.719 --> 00:36:32.400
has frequent run ins with another who
is forced to stay back. Teddy Conci

443
00:36:32.800 --> 00:36:37.840
Brady Hepner, who's not the sharpest
tool in the shed, shall we say

444
00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:42.360
another with them is one of the
school's football stars Jason Smith, Michael Provost

445
00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:46.480
who's laid back and he's in a
standoff with his wealthy father, and to

446
00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:52.760
complete the quintet, two juniors,
Korean youngster Eye Yune Park, Jim Kaplan

447
00:36:53.039 --> 00:36:59.639
who is missing family and friends,
and alex oloman Ian Dolly join the fray

448
00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:06.000
mind You. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the internment of all but Angus at

449
00:37:06.039 --> 00:37:09.840
the school is relatively short lived,
so Angus is left with the painstaking task

450
00:37:09.880 --> 00:37:14.960
of seeing his way through Christmas with
just mister Huntman and the head cook,

451
00:37:15.239 --> 00:37:22.280
Mary Lamb played by Devine Joy Randolph
for Company. Lamb was pregnant when her

452
00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:27.480
husband died in a tragic accident before
he turned twenty five, and then recently

453
00:37:27.719 --> 00:37:32.239
she lost her only child, Curtis, a Barton graduate in the Vietnam War,

454
00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:37.519
and he wasn't even twenty so lost
both the husband and the son.

455
00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:43.440
The only other person occasionally appearing over
the holiday season at this school is the

456
00:37:43.480 --> 00:37:49.800
friendly cleaner Danny Nahem Garcia mind You. Mister Huntman also unexpectedly bumps into the

457
00:37:49.840 --> 00:37:55.360
headmaster's gregarious personal assistant, Lydia Crane
played by Carrie Preston. Who is earning

458
00:37:55.400 --> 00:38:00.320
some extra cash at a bar and
over ensuing days. Despite their differences,

459
00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:05.719
Angus and mister Huntman bond, and
we learn more about each of the key

460
00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:08.920
players. Look, while I was
watching it, I couldn't help but think

461
00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:15.400
of the superb Peter we directed Robin
William's comedic drama Dead Poet Society. When

462
00:38:15.400 --> 00:38:20.760
there are life lessons in the holdovers, both for teacher and student. Love

463
00:38:20.840 --> 00:38:25.719
the characterizations, led by the incomparable
Paul Giamati, perfectly cast as the cynical

464
00:38:25.719 --> 00:38:30.440
teacher and Lona with a devastating tongue. Not for nought did he win the

465
00:38:30.440 --> 00:38:34.400
Golden Globe. His experience comes to
the fore. It's one of the roles

466
00:38:34.440 --> 00:38:37.440
of his life. Dominiccesser. I
thought it was excellent. As the intelligent

467
00:38:37.480 --> 00:38:42.480
but fraught Angus sees the future.
This is his film taboo when he brings

468
00:38:42.559 --> 00:38:46.519
vulnerability to his portrayal. Also hard
not to be impressed by the stoicism with

469
00:38:46.559 --> 00:38:52.599
which Devine Ran joined Randolph andmbues Mary
Lamb, who was endurance so much.

470
00:38:53.239 --> 00:38:59.199
Carrie Preston gives the film a boost
with her uplifting realization of the principal's buoyant

471
00:38:59.320 --> 00:39:04.639
Assistant, written by David Hemingson,
who cut his teeth as a TV series

472
00:39:04.760 --> 00:39:09.119
writer, and it's finally directed by
Alexander Payne, who's made some good movies

473
00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:15.239
like Sideways and The Descendants. The
picture's gentle pace, well, that's established

474
00:39:15.239 --> 00:39:20.719
from the get go, ably supported
by lustrous cinematography from Eagle Borld he did

475
00:39:20.760 --> 00:39:25.119
in Bruges, and a captivating score
by Mark Orton, who did who was

476
00:39:25.679 --> 00:39:31.079
responsible for the score in Nebraska.
So much to appreciate and savoring the holdovers.

477
00:39:31.159 --> 00:39:35.639
It's got warmth, it's got humor. It's got heartache too, Peter,

478
00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:39.800
it certainly has. This is such
an impressive film. It won me

479
00:39:39.880 --> 00:39:45.039
over from the very start when it
because the film is set in nineteen seventy,

480
00:39:45.199 --> 00:39:50.480
and we have that sort of impression
that the film was made in nineteen

481
00:39:50.519 --> 00:39:55.360
seventy, with that sort of a
technical approach which gets you into the story

482
00:39:55.880 --> 00:40:01.079
and into the period of the time
period. Actors are absolutely superb, I

483
00:40:01.119 --> 00:40:06.559
have to say, And the way
the story develops, and I have to

484
00:40:06.599 --> 00:40:15.599
say David Hemingsen's screenplay is exemplary in
developing these three damaged people's characters and how

485
00:40:15.639 --> 00:40:21.400
they interact and how they find something
within themselves that they can move on.

486
00:40:22.159 --> 00:40:25.519
And I thought that was just so
impressive. And it was so beautifully directed

487
00:40:25.559 --> 00:40:34.400
as well by Alexander Paine, who
really understands human frailty and also humor and

488
00:40:34.440 --> 00:40:39.840
how those two can sort of interlace
and create really a three dimensional characters,

489
00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:46.639
beautifully made film, Absolutely superb,
And I think this film is going to

490
00:40:46.679 --> 00:40:52.519
be a really strong dark horse for
the Oscars. I don't think it's going

491
00:40:52.599 --> 00:40:57.239
to I think you know it's a
dark horse. Yes, I think it's

492
00:40:57.239 --> 00:41:01.239
a dark horse. But I don't
have any doubt at all that Oppenheimer will

493
00:41:01.239 --> 00:41:07.800
win Best Film and Best Director,
No question of doubt in my mind whatsoever,

494
00:41:07.119 --> 00:41:10.159
Peter. So there you go.
It's on the record. We'll see

495
00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:14.880
what happens in It's in March,
isn't it the Oscars from Recollet, Yes,

496
00:41:15.119 --> 00:41:19.440
yes, the Holdovers. Obviously you
thought a great deal of it.

497
00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:22.119
What about you greet you two?
Yeah, this is a good film.

498
00:41:22.239 --> 00:41:28.559
So I think this for my best
film in a year so far, only

499
00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:31.639
only January. But that's beside the
point. I thought it was a really

500
00:41:31.679 --> 00:41:37.760
well filmed and the character of Hunham
suits Paul Giermardi's screened for Sooner that curmudgeonally

501
00:41:38.880 --> 00:41:43.719
Parish James to the ground there he
plays it really well, and I thought

502
00:41:43.719 --> 00:41:49.079
this is Alexander Payne's probably best film
since Sideways actually, and as Peter mentioned,

503
00:41:49.239 --> 00:41:52.119
it does capture that early seventies aesthetic, the look and feel of it,

504
00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:57.199
even with the use of the old
Universal logo at the start opening the

505
00:41:57.239 --> 00:42:02.559
film, and it sort of has
that same feel as some of those films

506
00:42:02.559 --> 00:42:07.360
from some of those Maverick directors of
the seventies like hal Aspi in that and

507
00:42:07.400 --> 00:42:13.000
I thought the cinematographer edgel Build did
a great job of recreating that milk with

508
00:42:13.119 --> 00:42:19.639
the cineasography. There. Hemming's script
I thought was well written, articulate,

509
00:42:19.880 --> 00:42:22.760
and the dialogue zines and it has
a general pace which shoots the material there

510
00:42:23.079 --> 00:42:28.599
a just mix of warm humor and
pace, ice and pain. Maintains a

511
00:42:28.679 --> 00:42:31.719
delicate balance between the comedy and the
drama here with lots of insight in gender

512
00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:37.360
characters and a script. The script
peels away these layers of the three main

513
00:42:37.480 --> 00:42:43.039
characters, making him more sympathetic,
more three dimensional, more realistic, and

514
00:42:43.119 --> 00:42:45.760
more credible. I thought was really
done. As you learn their backstories and

515
00:42:45.800 --> 00:42:51.079
this great chemistry between the pre leagues. I thought that brings the film alive.

516
00:42:51.840 --> 00:42:54.079
De Marty's casting a role of plays
for strengths, and I think he's

517
00:42:54.199 --> 00:43:00.480
one of his strongest performances for some
time as a subtle and nuance reading character.

518
00:43:01.440 --> 00:43:06.239
It's just a suburb as the rebellious
angers. He brings a sense of

519
00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:10.519
entirement and wound advantages to his performance. And Ranolph I thought gave a garish

520
00:43:10.679 --> 00:43:15.760
it's such a compassion and resuming,
resimmering resentment. But it just looks good

521
00:43:15.840 --> 00:43:19.760
on the film. On the screen, it's a great little film. Well,

522
00:43:20.119 --> 00:43:23.360
every one of us has praised it
for good reason, and Jim Rti,

523
00:43:23.480 --> 00:43:27.519
Paul Jim Marti certainly leads from the
front. But it's not just his

524
00:43:27.639 --> 00:43:30.159
performance. It stands out that there
are quite a number here, and it's

525
00:43:30.199 --> 00:43:34.760
a really really strong script. I
think you're going to high ball this one,

526
00:43:34.840 --> 00:43:37.480
Peter don't, so let's start with
you high balling it. Go for

527
00:43:37.519 --> 00:43:44.239
it. And I do want to
add the BAFTA nominations also indicate the Holdovers

528
00:43:44.320 --> 00:43:47.840
is very well in favor, so
look out. I think this film is

529
00:43:47.840 --> 00:43:53.079
going to sneak up on people.
A very impressive film ten out of ten

530
00:43:53.239 --> 00:43:58.199
from me. Oh my golly,
Yeah, I knew you'd praised it much

531
00:43:58.239 --> 00:44:00.840
more than any film that you've done
in recent time. So yeah, well,

532
00:44:01.079 --> 00:44:05.880
okay, I'm not there. What
about you, Greg, I'll go

533
00:44:07.119 --> 00:44:09.360
eight and a half. You gave
it eight and a half and I'm low

534
00:44:09.440 --> 00:44:13.039
balling it. I'm giving it an
eight. So you know, we're all

535
00:44:13.239 --> 00:44:15.960
that they're really good marks, folks. So you know you really do need

536
00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:19.800
to go along and see the hold
those holdovers. If you haven't done so

537
00:44:19.840 --> 00:44:23.280
already. You're on J eighty eight
FM, and we should be talking about

538
00:44:23.320 --> 00:44:30.079
a movie which I didn't know.
This story The Iron Claw m rated one

539
00:44:30.119 --> 00:44:34.280
hundred and thirty two minutes, based
on the true story loving family torn apart

540
00:44:34.599 --> 00:44:39.239
by a father's win at any cost
mentality. Pritz von Eric played by Holt

541
00:44:39.960 --> 00:44:45.639
mclaney, rising star of the wrestling
circuit, but he did not get the

542
00:44:45.719 --> 00:44:51.119
chance to be a world champion.
Still, it is what continues to drive

543
00:44:51.280 --> 00:44:55.880
him and an attitude that he abus
in his sons. Now is married to

544
00:44:55.920 --> 00:45:00.360
Doris Mara Tierney. His mantra is
if you are the tough, first,

545
00:45:00.719 --> 00:45:06.039
strongest, and most successful, nothing
can ever hurt you. He and Doris

546
00:45:06.119 --> 00:45:10.400
that they've had five boys, but
the eldest, Jack Junior, died when

547
00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:14.639
he was just five and a half, and now the other four, Kevin

548
00:45:14.960 --> 00:45:20.280
played by Zac eFront, David AARs, Dickinson, Kerry, Jeremy Allen White,

549
00:45:20.480 --> 00:45:24.599
and Mike Stanley Simons, are destined
to follow in Dad's footsteps as wrestlers.

550
00:45:25.360 --> 00:45:29.239
Mind you, the end goal is
for them to go one better than

551
00:45:29.239 --> 00:45:35.039
Fritz by claiming a world championship belt. Kevin will he's top of the heap

552
00:45:35.079 --> 00:45:37.920
in Texas, steps into the ring
against the raigning world champion in a non

553
00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:42.719
title fight, and the sparks fly
and it looks like he's about to get

554
00:45:42.719 --> 00:45:46.679
his shot at the really big time
soon. But that's not how events pan

555
00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:51.079
out. In fact, it's the
youngest sibling, David, that moves ahead

556
00:45:51.079 --> 00:45:53.880
of him in the peking window.
In the meantime, Kevin meets and later

557
00:45:54.000 --> 00:46:00.920
marries down to Worth Pam Lily James
Kevin as he raised with Pam what's known

558
00:46:00.920 --> 00:46:07.280
as the family curse, which she
immediately dismisses. Despite that tragedy is about

559
00:46:07.320 --> 00:46:13.960
to befool the clan, still,
father Fritz presses on with his ambitions read

560
00:46:14.079 --> 00:46:19.280
and directed by Sean Durkin, who
was responsible for Martha Mace, Marcy May,

561
00:46:19.440 --> 00:46:24.559
Marlene I, and Claw Well.
I found hard to watch as something

562
00:46:24.679 --> 00:46:30.239
meant to be positive goes so pear
shaped. Dad's ambition becomes this ever tightening

563
00:46:30.320 --> 00:46:34.199
noose around the family's neck. Kevin
and his bros Are forever trying to please

564
00:46:34.239 --> 00:46:39.480
their dad, but as far as
Father's concerned, nothing but total dedication to

565
00:46:39.559 --> 00:46:45.639
the cause is acceptable. And while
he is hardly sympathetic, Hold mclady impresses

566
00:46:45.679 --> 00:46:52.079
with his intense characterization of a man
that refuses to be swayed from his path

567
00:46:52.360 --> 00:46:54.440
and in one of the roles of
his career and it really is zac Efron

568
00:46:54.639 --> 00:46:58.960
brings sensitivity in a heartache to his
persona. In fact, each of the

569
00:46:58.960 --> 00:47:05.320
brothers as vulnerabilities and pitfalls. Lily
James, warm and caring is Kevin's grounded

570
00:47:05.360 --> 00:47:09.480
wife. Doris is harder to read
as Fritz's god fearing wife who sticks by

571
00:47:09.559 --> 00:47:15.880
her husband despite the torment that she
experiences, and more a tyranny channels that

572
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:21.159
dichotomy. The movie's title, The
Iron Claw, is drawn from Fritz's signature

573
00:47:21.199 --> 00:47:23.920
move in The Ring. The Dad, although given what goes down. Perhaps

574
00:47:23.960 --> 00:47:28.039
it should be should have been called
the iron fist. That would have been

575
00:47:28.039 --> 00:47:32.639
more apped. It's tough, it's
unrelenting. This one grips the iron claw,

576
00:47:32.719 --> 00:47:37.400
grips and grips hard. How's that
for a one of your dad jokes?

577
00:47:37.599 --> 00:47:39.840
Greg, You've got him in hand, and I think, pire,

578
00:47:40.199 --> 00:47:45.280
thank you? What did you think
of it? This is an interesting story

579
00:47:45.280 --> 00:47:49.400
of Jane. I hadn't heard of
this. I'm not that I'm a big

580
00:47:49.440 --> 00:47:52.800
fan of wrestling. No, that's
what we're saying, exactly why have we

581
00:47:52.880 --> 00:47:55.119
heard of this? But no,
A couple of my friends have. When

582
00:47:55.159 --> 00:47:59.840
I mentioned this at the Problem Thursday
night, they one of them mute about

583
00:48:00.159 --> 00:48:06.199
von eric families, and so here
you go. But I'm right, this

584
00:48:06.239 --> 00:48:09.760
is one of Zach Everyone's best roles. He's sort of taking that path to

585
00:48:09.800 --> 00:48:14.480
move on from being a pinup idol
and a poster boy in geen Idol to

586
00:48:15.199 --> 00:48:20.159
picking some more gridgy roles that showing
him as a good actorate. And I'm

587
00:48:20.199 --> 00:48:23.159
surprised that it's actually his own muscles
there. He built up and bubbed with

588
00:48:23.320 --> 00:48:29.199
his character. Looks amazing. Yeah, he's frightening, frightening intense there and

589
00:48:29.719 --> 00:48:35.920
there were recently things have such power
there surprise, not surprising that some of

590
00:48:35.960 --> 00:48:39.719
these wrestlers do you get really seriously
injured even though the perhaps the stage managed

591
00:48:39.760 --> 00:48:43.840
to within an inch of their life
there. But this is a really tragic

592
00:48:43.880 --> 00:48:47.400
story one happens to the all the
brothers and the sons of his family there

593
00:48:47.679 --> 00:48:52.320
and help mc canney, who's done
some good stuff in the past. I

594
00:48:52.320 --> 00:48:55.199
think this is the role of his
career there as his driven father who didn't

595
00:48:55.280 --> 00:48:59.679
quite insie at the top of his
shosen sport and he's now trying to achieve

596
00:48:59.679 --> 00:49:01.920
it through his son's there. I
thought this is a really good story there

597
00:49:02.079 --> 00:49:07.440
you actually with such power and passion
by Sean Durkin. Yeah, I'd totally

598
00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:12.960
agree. Did it grip you,
Peter the Iron Claw gripped me? Yes?

599
00:49:13.039 --> 00:49:19.119
It did. Look this is a
melancholic film from the outset. It's

600
00:49:19.159 --> 00:49:24.239
all about this family and it's the
tragedy that has befallen them and the curse

601
00:49:24.360 --> 00:49:29.280
or whatever that they're supposed to have. But it's even though it's sort of

602
00:49:29.320 --> 00:49:34.960
about wrestling and about the sport and
a lot of well choreographed sort of sequences

603
00:49:34.960 --> 00:49:38.320
of wrestling. Even though there was
a lot of jokes going around that the

604
00:49:38.360 --> 00:49:45.559
whole thing was so carefully stage managed
that it was scripted almost. But what

605
00:49:45.679 --> 00:49:51.199
is so interesting about this film is
about the family dynamic, about the macho

606
00:49:52.119 --> 00:49:57.280
treatment of the boys by their father, of this whole notion of having to

607
00:49:57.360 --> 00:50:01.840
win to be seen as being in
important in the family, all of that

608
00:50:01.960 --> 00:50:07.679
dynamic, and the way the mother
sort of supports that, which I thought

609
00:50:07.760 --> 00:50:14.159
was very interesting indeed, in terms
of the way the whole family storyline dynamic

610
00:50:14.239 --> 00:50:20.719
develops as seen through the eyes of
zach Efron's character. It is a nicely

611
00:50:20.760 --> 00:50:24.960
melancholic tuned film. It's Sean Dirkin
has done such a good job of telling

612
00:50:25.039 --> 00:50:30.599
us a tragedy, an American tragedy
almost, in terms of what happened to

613
00:50:30.639 --> 00:50:37.519
these men and the family and the
consequences of the way they were treated.

614
00:50:37.719 --> 00:50:43.400
A really nicely tooled film. I
was quite impressed. Yeah, there was

615
00:50:43.440 --> 00:50:47.360
a lot of impressive elements to it, and I agree with Greg that I

616
00:50:47.400 --> 00:50:52.400
mean, yeah, I used to
watch World Championship Wrestling. We had a

617
00:50:52.400 --> 00:50:55.000
television, you know, with the
old doll TV in the hall. As

618
00:50:55.039 --> 00:50:59.639
people first entered our home and my
brother and I were sitting there on very

619
00:50:59.679 --> 00:51:02.719
small chairs, and then we used
to practice some of the maneuvers. That

620
00:51:02.760 --> 00:51:07.440
doesn't surprise you at all, does
it, Greg? No? No,

621
00:51:07.679 --> 00:51:13.400
remember Jack Little? Did you ever
watch Chazah? There you go? But

622
00:51:14.360 --> 00:51:22.880
and now I'm actually picturing his voice
in my mind. It was quite We

623
00:51:22.880 --> 00:51:27.639
were of a certain age and it
was very influential because now, Peter,

624
00:51:28.280 --> 00:51:32.119
knowing that you love sport as much
as you do that last week, did

625
00:51:32.159 --> 00:51:37.159
you also watch World of Sport when
you're watching because it was on? Wrestling

626
00:51:37.199 --> 00:51:39.440
was all around about the same time
from recollection, So then did you stay

627
00:51:39.440 --> 00:51:44.119
on and watch World of Sport?
To some extent? I did because it

628
00:51:44.159 --> 00:51:49.679
was occasionally funny. But I liked
the World Championship Wrestling because that whole thing

629
00:51:49.800 --> 00:51:54.239
was just a comedic nightmare. It
was just so hilarious and so stupid at

630
00:51:54.280 --> 00:51:58.760
times that I thought it was a
comedy show. Did do you remember some

631
00:51:58.800 --> 00:52:02.760
of the names Spiros Arena and I
remember, yes, Mario Milano? Yeah,

632
00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:06.440
what else? Come on, guys, this is in the trip down

633
00:52:06.519 --> 00:52:10.719
Memory Lane. They were the Chief
Indian chief character. Yes, right,

634
00:52:12.039 --> 00:52:15.679
okay, yeah, no, you're
right. Oh goodness. There was such

635
00:52:15.880 --> 00:52:20.400
bizarre names because I mean, it's
funny if I was in terms of world

636
00:52:20.480 --> 00:52:23.840
wrestling, if there's one name that
again, I don't think I ever saw

637
00:52:23.920 --> 00:52:29.320
him. Hull Cogan stands out,
but I when that was not in our

638
00:52:29.360 --> 00:52:31.639
era? Was it? Or was
it? But it wasn't shown on the

639
00:52:31.679 --> 00:52:36.320
eighties. There was more eighties,
wouldn't we Yeah that's yeah, that's right.

640
00:52:36.840 --> 00:52:38.760
It doesn't get the rock sound out
as a wrestler too, true.

641
00:52:39.119 --> 00:52:45.199
Yeah, I still think it's and
soone called Steve Austin. Yeah, and

642
00:52:45.239 --> 00:52:49.840
again, but these were not not
people that we saw on the TVs riens

643
00:52:50.360 --> 00:52:54.000
when you know in the what was
it seventies or sixties, No, it

644
00:52:54.079 --> 00:52:59.239
wasn't. Anyway, Look, let's
get to some scores for The Iron Claw.

645
00:53:00.559 --> 00:53:02.480
Look, I'll start this one off. It's M rated, sorry,

646
00:53:02.559 --> 00:53:06.800
M rated with very good reason.
It's one hundred and thirty two minutes in

647
00:53:06.920 --> 00:53:10.400
duration. I'm going to give it
a seven and a half Greg six and

648
00:53:10.400 --> 00:53:15.920
a half, okay, And Peter
I was actually quite impressed by the film,

649
00:53:15.960 --> 00:53:19.960
eight out of ten. He twice, Oh my golly, Peter,

650
00:53:20.159 --> 00:53:22.480
are you turning over a new leaf
at the end of the program? Are

651
00:53:22.480 --> 00:53:28.239
you going to be nice films?
Some only when they deserve it. Ah,

652
00:53:28.320 --> 00:53:30.239
very good. Well, it is
awards season. There's all sorts of

653
00:53:30.280 --> 00:53:36.880
other nominations backed as you've already mentioned, and critics awards, et cetera,

654
00:53:36.920 --> 00:53:42.480
et cetera. But I find it
interesting that the films that I really regard

655
00:53:42.599 --> 00:53:46.400
very highly I've already often mentioned Oppenheimer, but also Poor Things, they're the

656
00:53:46.400 --> 00:53:51.920
films that seem to be doing particularly
well. Anyway. Let's the Oscar nominations,

657
00:53:52.079 --> 00:53:54.960
I should say, will be out
on January twenty fourth. Lovely Peter,

658
00:53:55.079 --> 00:53:59.599
thank you, Greg, farewell and
thank you too. And you've been

659
00:53:59.599 --> 00:54:04.119
listening to First On Film and Entertainment
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