Aug. 18, 2024

S03E16: It Ends With Us: Romance Cloaked in Domestic Abuse

S03E16: It Ends With Us: Romance Cloaked in Domestic Abuse

**Host:** Alex First
**Guest Critics:** Jaqui Hammerton, Greg King, Peter Krause
**Episode Summary:**
In this compelling episode, Alex First, Jaqui Hammerton, Greg King, and Peter Krause delve into the latest romantic drama, *It Ends With Us*. The...

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Season 3

**Host:** Alex First
**Guest Critics:** Jaqui Hammerton, Greg King, Peter Krause
**Episode Summary:**
In this compelling episode, Alex First, Jaqui Hammerton, Greg King, and Peter Krause delve into the latest romantic drama, *It Ends With Us*. The discussion extends to the powerful themes of domestic violence and the film's execution, including Blake Lively's performance and the film's handling of serious subject matter. The critics also explore the intricacies of Russell Crowe's new film *Sleeping Dogs*, discussing its convoluted plot and Crowe's standout performance. Finally, the episode touches on the French comedy *Iris and the Men* and its take on modern relationships.

**Highlights:**
- **It Ends With Us:** A romantic drama that tackles the serious issue of domestic violence. The critics discuss the film's length, its handling of the subject matter, and the performances of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Jaqui Hammerton finds merit in the film's direction but raises concerns about its potential triggers for certain audiences.
- **Sleeping Dogs:** Russell Crowe stars as a former detective with Alzheimer's in this mystery crime thriller. The critics discuss the film's believability, Crowe's performance, and the various plot twists. Peter Krause finds the film's premise bordering on science fiction, while Jaqui Hammerton appreciates Crowe's committed performance despite the film's flaws.
- **Iris and the Men:** A French comedy about a woman rediscovering her sexuality through dating apps. The critics debate the film's conservative undertones and its handling of stranger danger. Greg King enjoys the film's playful elements, while Peter Krause feels it falls short in challenging preconceptions.
**Closing Note:**
This episode of First on Film and Entertainment offers a rich mix of film reviews and thoughtful discussions. From the serious themes in *It Ends With Us* to the mystery of *Sleeping Dogs* and the playful yet problematic *Iris and the Men*, the critics provide nuanced insights into these diverse films. Join us next week for more in-depth analysis and lively conversations.
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WEBVTT

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First on Film and Entertainment, Alex first with you and

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Jackie Hamerton, Greg King and Peter Kraus. Now the big

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romantic movie of the week, which is hardly the notebook is.

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It ends with us, and it's got a very very

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serious subject and it spends a lot of time dealing

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with the romance and less time dealing with the major issue.

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I found it quite distressing, I've got to say, and

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I'll go into a bit of detail in the next

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few minutes, but perhaps we'll start with that. I was curious,

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Jackie overall, how did you take to the film, because

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I thought if the Europeans had done this, there would

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have been a lot more subtlety.

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Oh, whether Europeans or American, that's the point the film

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as it is. I found it too long for a start,

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two hours and ten minutes or thereabout. Totally came into

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this film not knowing the subject matter. It's based on

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a book that's been huge, it's been like a really

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big selling novel and so but I came in innocently

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without knowing what it was about. So the first kind

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of well, shall we say, sixty to seventy percent.

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Of it, I was going a little bit oh, this

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is a bit wrong coming, and then when it.

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Shifts gear, that's when when I shifted gear and got

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into it.

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A lot more. Well. Likewise, having said that, it's kind

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of interesting about well, is it subtle in any way,

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shape or form? And given the history of the character

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the center of it, Blake Lively, you kind of wonder

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whether the alarm bells should have gone off earlier or not,

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or whether, like in real life, people hang around for

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longer than they should because they want to believe things

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will work out differently on that.

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Yes, but you need to say right from the start,

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this is a film that is about domestic violence, and

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then people know about the you know, the nuances here,

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and when we talk about whether someone should know straight off,

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let's help it that very.

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Well, Well, okay, Lily Bloom's father has just died and

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her mother, Jenny, wants her to eulogize him at his funeral,

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and from what I gather, he was in his sixties anyway,

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But she can't do that. Why not? You may well ask, Well,

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that's that sort of brief intro sets in motion a

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chain of events that will well, what's the best way

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I can put it? See the sins of the father

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visited upon the children, or in this case, the child.

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So as a teenager, the character of Lily Bloom because

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it's played in two time frames, one as a teenager

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and one as a sort of mature adult out relatively

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young adult but still a mature adult. So as a teenager,

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Lily struck up a really loving relationship with a fellow

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student called Atlas Corrigan, and he found himself struggling and

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homeless after he himself had trouble at home. But for

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all the mutual affection between the pair of them, that

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coupling was doomed to fail when her father intervened, Right

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Lily Bloom's father intervened, And now we move to the

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present day and Lily remains gunshy in terms of relationships,

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and while trying to process her reaction to her dad's passing,

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she unexpectedly meets this hot headed guy called Ryle Kincaid

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who's had a very bad day. They meet on the

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rooftop of the building where he owns an apartment or

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he has an apartment, I'm not sure where he owns

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it or is paying it off. And he turns out

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to be a neurosurgeon, who shows more than a passing

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interest in Lily, and though that initial meeting is short lived,

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circumstances see the meet up again months later, and by

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then Lily has opened up this funky flora's shop. She's

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always had an affinity with plants, and she's employed Ryle's

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married sister as her only employee without realizing who she is.

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In other words, didn't realize that her brother was the

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guy that she met on a rooftop. And now that bloke,

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who hasn't exactly been the settling kind, is a bit

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of a player, pursues Lily relentlessly. He charms her, he

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engages her, but of course all is not as rosy

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as it first appears, and things get even more complicated

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when Atlas Corrigan re enters the frame. So, as you

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rightly said, Jackie. Based on a very successful twenty sixteen

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book by Colleen Hoover, I was reading about her really

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interesting because she's published quite a few books, and she's

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self published books as well, and one of her self

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published books has gone straight to the top of the

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Amazon charts amazing, so she's sort of obviously got a

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prolific aptitude for doing this sort of stuff. Anyway, it's

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the writing of the screenplays by Christy Hall and look,

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we sort of we pieced together the backstories. I've sort

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of tried to summarize it all because it jumps back

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and forth in those two time frames I spoke about.

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So the way I'd put it is that the very

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serious subject of domestic abuse has cloaked in thick layers

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of syrup. And you know, we're talking about longing looks.

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We're talking about the physical heat if you like, between

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the bear soft focus, romantic music and the like, and look,

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I reckon there'll be many we'll feel that the filmmakers,

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led by the director Justin Baldoni, who did what five

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feet Apart a few years back, and he's also the

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male lead in this one, I think the filmmakers have

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laid it on with a trowel. That's how I sort

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of felt while I was watching part of it. But

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mind you, that juxtaposition between hot and cold is quite stark.

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It's jarring, and I see some merit in it actually,

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because it's ultimately what drives the plot. And look, the

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Leeds I think play their parts pretty effectively, notwithstanding, as

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I say, hitting hitting the subject matter over the head

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Blake Blake Lively. I think she switches gears quite convincingly.

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She plays sexy and smart and traumatized. And then you've

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got Baldoni bringing his own smolding sex appeal to the

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character of Ryle. I actually really like Jenny Slat. They're

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the sort of carry Bradshaw style guide there, right, Sex

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and the City on the television and in the movies

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as well. Of course, there's a sense of style there.

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And she plays Ryle's sister Alyssa. So look, notwithstanding the

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earlier remark I made about pulling focus, you know, in

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terms of the soft focus, it's quite an attractive looking

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film and the settings, the cinematography. It was set in

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Boston most of the time by Barry Peterson, who did

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My Big Fat Greek Wedding Free. It gives us a

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pretty good sense of place. But my reservations really around

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the soap opera feel that the picture has not to

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overlook what I thought, like you was the inflated running time.

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There's no way this needed to be one hundred and

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thirty minutes. And you know, I kept done reflecting on well,

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you know, could this have been done better? In my

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answer was yes, were it not for the talent. I reckon,

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this has got to be great telemovie. Phil. What about you, Jackie?

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I agree with some of what you said there.

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I think I think in the end, what we take

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away from this film is that it shows how domestic

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abuse can be.

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So easily explained away.

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You used the word, oh, you know, well, it's a

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bit of a bit of a hot kid. We can

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say that's his personality, it's a bit of a hot head,

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or it was an accident, and there's always excuses, And

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therefore I think it really explains it quite well to

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people who maybe haven't been in this situation and don't

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understand it. There was one excellent scene in which a

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hot dish is taken out of the oven gets dropped

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on the floor, and as I watched it, I was

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a little bit annoyed because the camera work was very

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shaky and jerky. It was all over the place. I

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can really tell what had happened. Was you know when

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his arm came up?

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I mean, did he Hi? Why is she so? Why

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is she sitting up there so upset?

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What? Same thing? Jackie? I didn't know that. I didn't

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know what there was action putting your hand into an

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oven and then suddenly.

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Kid exactly, And it was brilliantly deliberate because it was

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only upon reflection later that she and we could see

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how easily that can be explained. Oh, he didn't mean to,

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but in fact it was a demonstration of again that

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hot headedness where heru her.

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So you'll say, you're saying it was a fit of peak,

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that that it wasn't just the reaction.

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To well, not peak, I mean it was anger, and

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yes he lashed out, put it like that for whatever

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whatever emotion you want.

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To put on it. The physical result.

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Was that he lashed out at her. But she didn't

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realize and we didn't, and therefore we didn't realize that

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that was exactly what happened in that micro split second.

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And I thought that was good direction.

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I agree with you. Yeah, it was too long.

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I think it was too I thought it was going

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to be a love triangle kind of thing. But I

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also think that this, as you said, you know that

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the soap opera a kind of feel of it lulled

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us from the start into a false sense of security

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where we were just going along on this romantic ride,

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and the flashbacks that she starts to have the very

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very brief flashbacks, not whole scenes, just little flashes we

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start to see as she connects the dots with the

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behavior that she begins to see in him, and I

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thought that was well done too, So to me, it's

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really a film of two parts where where our carbs

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kind of overall this mushy stuff. But what really worries

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me about the film is that the men who need

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to see this will not be in the audience, and

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the people who are in the audience are the ones

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who can see not only her point of view, but

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how these situations come about, and so they won't be

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in the audience. Well, the women who are in the

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audience and in this situation may it's a warning. I

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give find this extremely triggering.

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Very very much, so I totally agree. I also and

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I don't want to spoil the ending for people who

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go along and see it, but I kind of wondered

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about an element of almost convenience about the the ending.

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I'm not sure, And again we're going to have to

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talk around this, Jackie. I hope you know. No.

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I like the ending is fine.

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Okay, Okay, I just thought it was too movie like

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an ending.

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It's a movie.

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It's a movie. Yeah, yeah, I understand it.

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Like ending, it's fine, it's good, don't worry about well.

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Also, just to bring this up, and I'm not going

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to put credence in it or otherwise, but there was

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an article in the online in the Daily Mail, and

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you know a lot of people are going to say, well,

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it's it's not you know, it's not the Times of London.

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But there was an article about the fact that they

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haven't the two stars haven't sort of appeared together and

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interviews and sort of that there's suggestions of a feud

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between them. I mean, I don't know whether it's sort

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of been written with the idea of sort of getting

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clicks or whatever, but it's part of it is interesting

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to me that they Lively and Justin Baldoni haven't appeared together,

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according to this article to sort of promote it. And

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is there anything behind this? Was it? Was it? What's up?

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Alex? Alex?

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Your your mic is crackling something awful?

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Oh really, I'm so sorry. I'm not I apologize. I'm

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not sure whether there's anything behind this or not. You

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hear about things like this. It just does seem a

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bit odd that they haven't appeared together if that's indeed

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the case, but yeah, so be it. So okay, let's

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let's get to a school. I don't think, gentlemen, you've

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seen this movie as yet, have you great? Have you

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bet her?

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No? No?

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So okay, I'll be interested Jackie in terms of your

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school for this, because I think we do need to

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see more movies like this, and I'd like to see

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films that are handled with a little bit more subtlety.

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That's all. What are you scoring about? A ten? It

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ends with us M rated one hundred and thirty minutes.

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Seven out of ten for me, and I will just

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add in the in the movie reviewing sort of theme here.

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I did love the it's a small cast, and I

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thought each of the cast was very good. I thought

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the acting was just fine, very fine, and I thought

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the characters were well, you know, well displayed. So you know,

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it's it's it's quite a solid film to watch.

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I quite liked.

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I quite enjoyed the look of it and particularly the characters.

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And as you said, Jenny slat As.

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Suggests the basement, she wrote, she brought a real vibrancy

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and bounce into the film, so she's thoroughly enjoyable yets.

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Even how she's introduced is such an unusual way, you know,

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like you know, it's almost like happenstance, per chance, et cetera.

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But she just got this. This jois de vive about her.

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I think that's good. Yeah, I'm sort of in similar territory.

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Six and a half to seven out of ten as you.

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I kind of wanted to like it even more as

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a movie. I'm not talking about it obviously the subject matter.

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You are on JA eighty eight FM. If you want

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to subscribe, we are happy to take your money. I

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don't mean that in a nasty way. We need subscriptions

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to keep the station a running fifty I think it's

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fifty four bucks, fifty two, fifty four, I can't remember. Now.

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Just go on to jdash air dot com dot au

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and support your community a radio station twenty four hours

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a day, intelligent and thought provoking and programming and some

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00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:40.120
pretty good music as well. I want to move on

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to another. A Russell Crowe movie. We seem to have

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seen a lot of them of late, and we're not

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talking about him playing a religious figure in this one.

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I'm not sure you know. We saw him in two

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religious movies in the last year or so. This one's

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called Sleeping Dogs and it's rated MA runs for one

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hundred and eleven minutes. He've got Russell playing Roy Freeman,

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who was unceremoniously booted from the police force after a

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drunk driving incident. And he's since been diagnosed with Alzheimer's

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and has undergone revolutionary cranial treatment. So he's getting medical

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treatment now he's had operation as well, so his memory shot.

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And I found this a pretty strong beginning. Every wall

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and device in his home is labeled, and that includes

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instructions on how to cook food in his freezer. Jackie,

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as you know, I'm in his microwave.

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You're cooking in his microwave, not the freezer.

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No, that includes instructions on how to cook food that

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has been in his freezer, is what I'm right, Thank

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you very much. Perhaps I'd like to think that I'm

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not of the same diagnosis it as Russell grows character

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Roy Freeman. But you know how much of a master

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chef I am. I burned toast. Perhaps that's what I

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need instructions on how to take things out of the

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freezer and put it into the microwave, because Whenever I

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try to do that, Jackie, I fail miserably.

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Are you surprised to hear that alex Alzheimer's is pretty

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serious subject here?

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Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm not. Yeah, but hang on, hang on.

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As serious a subject as it is, he seems to

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be able to overcome it reasonably. You know, it's part

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of the movie. So I think I can. I'm not

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call it black humor if you like, but yes, I

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need to pay more attention to my cooking and cleaning duties,

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which are all but non existent. I'm afraid it's not

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a good thing, is it. If every own again, I'll

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clean up though, So there you go. That that gives

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me some merit. Hey, Greg, you and Peter live alone?

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How good are you at cleaning up your house? Space?

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Bad?

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Yeah?

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Okay? And and Greg?

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Okay, but I'd be a mess?

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Fine? A bit of mess is fine? Okay. What would

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you do, Jackie? If you suddenly came along and saw

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a bachelor pad with mess all over it? Would you

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would you be compelled to clean it because you you

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couldn't live with it? What? What I'm just curious is

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to your predilection.

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I'm not going to live.

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With the Bachelor and Alex No, I would turn on

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my heels and walk away.

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Yes, I I was hoping that was going to be

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a response, you know, Gully. Oh, yes, I wonder how

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many people are how whether this is a male or

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female thing, because I know there are males who are

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clean freaks as well. But is it more of a tendency?

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You know, I'm trying to get to the analytical side

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of this, Jackie.

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Do you think it's a personality thing. It's not, it's not,

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it's not do you reckon? But do you honestly think

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it's his personality? You don't think it's more a predilection

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of women to be cleaner?

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00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:02.119
No?

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00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:05.720
No, no, they clean if the ones who don't like

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00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:07.319
to clean, they clean because I have to.

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Yeah, well, that's the point that I'm making, Like every

321
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now and again, we've got a his in hers bathroom. Right,

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00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:16.480
I'm revealing trade sequence yet, but we've got to his

323
00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:22.440
in hers bathroom. And basically when my wife walks into

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my bathroom says, oh, you've got to clean that, and

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I'm thinking, leave me alone, it's my space, right, But

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inevitably I then feel guilty and clean. Now, that's probably

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not the right approach, is it, Jacqueline Gee, I.

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Don't know, Alex. I'm not going to give you domestic

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all right.

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Well, maybe this maybe the title of this movie sleeping dogs,

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as in sleeping dogs, let sleeping Dogs lie. Maybe that's

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what I'm saying here. Okay, let's talk about the film.

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So right out of the blue, this guy who has

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Alzheimer's receives a call from a representative of a nonprofit

335
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legal action group, and she's reaching out on behalf of

336
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a prisoner called Isaac Samuel, and he's scheduled to be

337
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executed for a vicious murder a decade ago. It was

338
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the murder of a pioneering psychology researcher, and that's a

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role played by Martin Sockers. Anyway, Samuel was incarcerated on

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the evidence of then homicide detective Freeman. As I say,

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he was Russell Crowe character and his partner at the

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time Jimmy Remus. So basically evidence from them saw the

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Isaac Samuel character, now a prisoner convicted, and in the

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next month he's actually scheduled to be executed. So, as

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is often the case, he insists he didn't do it,

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and he actually implause Roy Freeman to do some digging

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before it's too late for obviously the acts, the very

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proverbial acts, has fallen. So when Russell Crowe's character Roy

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Freeman does that, he in covers a Pandora's box of

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lies and manipulation. And the finger of blame points in many,

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many different directions, and that includes the ambitious research assistant

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to the researcher that was murdered. Her name is her

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character's name is Laura Baines, and her want to be

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novelist boyfriend Richard Finn. There's also a shadowy figure called

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Wayne Devereaux who's a war veteran suffering from post traumatic

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stress disorder whom the pioneering psychology researcher helped find maintenance work.

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And another this is in terms of all these potential suspects,

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and another who hardly seems like a clean skin in

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all of this is Freeman's ex partner as well. So

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you've got fingers of blame in all sorts of directions,

361
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and maybe he didn't do it, or maybe he did so.

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Sleeping Dog's being written by Adam Cooper, who did Assassin's Creed,

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and he makes his directorial deboot here alongside Bill Collard,

364
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who was the co writer, and jumping between the past

365
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and the present as this movie does. It taken from

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a novel called The Book of Mirrors that came out

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in twenty six seventeen, rather by a Romanian author called

368
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Eo shiobis Chi. I'll try that again, Eochi. Anyway, as

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a storyteller, Adam Cooper is drawn to characters in crisis,

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someone who goes on a journey from sort of a

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lost and fragmented state too being restored. And that's where

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you enter the character of Roy Freeman. It's quite an

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I thought it was quite an involving mystery crime thriller.

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The ground is constantly shifting, flashes of memory returning. Freeman,

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who's fighting his own battle, is quite persistent and methodical,

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and I thought Crowe was quite convincing. Is the ma

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on whose shoulders Samuel is set to die. He's quite dow,

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he's troubled, but he's also residient and around him. Adam

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Cooper's assembled quite a diverse collection of characters, none of

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whom could lie straight in bed. And I think the

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movie's all the better for it that you've got all

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these red herrings potentially, but people who have flaws. And

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you've got one sort of actor, Karen Gillen playing a

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prima donna that's the assistant research director. You've got Martin

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Sockers equally entitled as the actual guy who got murdered,

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and Tom Flanagan rough and ready as the fellow cop

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to the Russell Crowe character. And you've also got the

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boyfriend of the research assistant, Harry Greenfoot. Greenwood plays him.

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He morphs that character from self assured to aggrieved. And

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you've also got the guy who's the odd job man.

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Tom m Wright plays him. He presents Wayne Devro as

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a bit of a mental stew. So many threads, many suspects.

393
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It's quite a convoluted movie, but I still found it

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quite compelling. Real star of the show is Russell Crowe.

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Fair significantly better I thought than his recent religious offerings.

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Were talking about the exorcism that came out not so

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long ago, in The Pope's Exorcist that was out last year.

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What did you think, Peter of Sleeping Dogs?

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The film of interest because it's a who done it?

400
00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:37.720
It develops a storyline about a past murder and who

401
00:23:37.880 --> 00:23:41.160
was responsible, and at the same time, it looks at

402
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Russell Crowe's ex police officer character who has Oldzheimer's and

403
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has been given experimental treatment, none of which is believable

404
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in this film, because at times he asks involved questions

405
00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:01.519
of particular suspects when you've ever remember.

406
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The drug me as well. While I was watching this,

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I'm thinking, hang on, he's laid down a bed supposedly,

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00:24:08.599 --> 00:24:11.440
or that filmmakers have laid down a bed. But then

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00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:16.960
he seems to be incredibly incisive. And the explanation for that, Peter, though,

410
00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:21.319
is that he's undergoing this revolutionary cranial treatment that seems

411
00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:25.200
to be working. And I'm not convinced that I was

412
00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:27.400
sold on that. Are you saying the same thing.

413
00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:30.079
I'm saying the same thing. In fact, that almost borders

414
00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:33.599
on science fiction if he's been given this sort of

415
00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:39.079
borderline experimental treatment, etc. Which doesn't make a great deal

416
00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:43.400
of sense. So we have these two stories dovetailing Crow's

417
00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:47.279
character he's Oldzheimer's and the who done it, And then

418
00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:53.400
we have introduced the whole idea of plagiarism and of

419
00:24:54.359 --> 00:25:01.480
academic cheating with the mirror effect. So look, there are

420
00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:05.000
some nice elements in the film as well as some

421
00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:08.160
that are a bit unbelievable. But then it goes into

422
00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:13.079
this sort of twisting last third of the film, which

423
00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:16.720
for me didn't make a great deal of sense either.

424
00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:20.960
So there were a lot of elements that I thought, No,

425
00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:24.640
I don't think so this is not an Agatha Christie,

426
00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:31.559
M Knight, Siah Malin film. And also I didn't believe

427
00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:35.440
some of the aspects of the storyline and the old

428
00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:39.279
timers and Russell Crowe's character. Although pro does a pretty

429
00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:44.000
good job at playing it straight. I was reminded of

430
00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:50.079
the film Memento Yeah, which goes back into memory into

431
00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:54.519
past and revisits and reconstructs, and I thought that was

432
00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:58.519
a far superior film. Was this one has this hook

433
00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:03.039
which I don't think is particularly effective with the old

434
00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:07.640
timer's treatment. So look, it's a film of interest, But

435
00:26:07.880 --> 00:26:10.720
I thought there were too many elements that didn't work

436
00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:16.920
together particularly well, and I must admit I didn't believe

437
00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:17.759
the way it ended.

438
00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:22.039
Did you feel that Russell Crowe's performance was stronger than

439
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:24.759
the other two movies that I referenced.

440
00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:29.640
Oh, definitely, definitely. He's found a role or character that

441
00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:33.440
is much more dramatic and much more involving whereas the

442
00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:39.119
Pope's Exorcist and all of that, Shenanigan's going on with

443
00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:45.799
Exorcism just isn't effective at all. He just overacts at

444
00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:48.799
times and it just doesn't work.

445
00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:54.759
Jackie, did you find much to enjoy about the movie

446
00:26:54.759 --> 00:26:55.759
Sleeping Dogs?

447
00:26:56.119 --> 00:26:59.240
What I enjoyed was seeing Russell Crowe come back to

448
00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:03.799
an excellent performance of a character and beef up for

449
00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:08.279
it looks he looks really beefy and older, and you know,

450
00:27:08.359 --> 00:27:08.720
it's not.

451
00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:12.480
A glamorous role at all, and he does it very well.

452
00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:16.359
And I'm going to agree with pretty much everything Peter

453
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said there about the film. I found it, and like you,

454
00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:22.400
I found it. The plot was a bit convoluted. I

455
00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:26.279
really didn't follow every bit of it. I struggled with

456
00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:32.559
that inconsistency in his mental capacity whether or not, and

457
00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:35.359
sci Fi did occur to me at one stage two, Peter,

458
00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:39.319
I just found the inconsistency there didn't work at all

459
00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:42.119
for me, and it took me out of the story

460
00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:44.480
as I was trying to work that out. And it

461
00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:48.359
also kind of contrasted with a kind of a there

462
00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:50.559
was kind of a tedium and a dullness and a

463
00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:53.839
repetition to the film. It kind of laid it on

464
00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:56.920
a bit thick with the you know, constantly staring into

465
00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:00.880
the mirror, which actually was quite good. Looking into Russell

466
00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:04.079
Crowe looking into the mirror was really quite compelling, but

467
00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:06.680
it was laid on a bit thick. The alcohol, the

468
00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:11.799
dicksaw puzzle, the even the script to me was actually

469
00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:16.200
quite quite flat, you know, I found it a little

470
00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:16.839
bit boring.

471
00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:21.920
And on top of that, the music was really oh,

472
00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:24.400
you know, really just yeah.

473
00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:27.880
It's when you're thinking about the music and not the

474
00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:29.200
story and you're thinking.

475
00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:31.880
You shouldn't be I mean.

476
00:28:31.799 --> 00:28:35.519
The music, Jackie, I actually disagree with that. I was

477
00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:38.319
quite involved in the storyline. I was really trying to

478
00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:40.599
concentrate to follow all the threads because there were so

479
00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:44.279
many of them. So having said that, it is interesting

480
00:28:44.279 --> 00:28:46.079
that all of us say the same thing with regards

481
00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:49.039
to Russell Crowe. There's no question if he chooses the

482
00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:51.960
right part. He's acting Chops as good as anybody, and

483
00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:55.880
it's I was really delighted, like you were, to see

484
00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:58.400
him get back to what he does Dan well, right,

485
00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:03.200
he really inserts himself and becomes the character that he's playing,

486
00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:07.720
So you know, that's not too I agree that The

487
00:29:08.200 --> 00:29:11.000
Sleeping Dogs isn't isn't it anywhere near a perfect movie,

488
00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:15.920
but his performance in it elevates the film to what

489
00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:19.000
somebody else may not have been able to achieve. So, okay,

490
00:29:19.240 --> 00:29:21.720
let's get start with you. Peter. You'll presumably give it

491
00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:23.720
a low score. I'll probably give it the high score.

492
00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:26.559
What are you going to give this movie? One hundred

493
00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:29.359
and eleven minutes of it? Sleeping Dogs A rated?

494
00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:32.880
Okay, it's a bit like the Curate's Egg. It's good

495
00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:36.480
in parts, but it has some problematic elements. So I

496
00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:38.200
actually gave it six out of ten.

497
00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:41.759
Okay, Jackie, Oh disso exactly, Peter.

498
00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:43.359
I gave it six out of ten.

499
00:29:43.400 --> 00:29:45.519
And I'll go, hi ball, I'm giving it a seven

500
00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.319
because I still thought there was quite a bit of

501
00:29:48.359 --> 00:29:51.279
merit in it, and that's the reason for my score.

502
00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:52.319
Let us go.

503
00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:56.759
It is a odd thing, Alex, to say that you

504
00:29:56.839 --> 00:29:57.359
want to give.

505
00:29:57.559 --> 00:29:59.960
I gave all of my score for this very committed

506
00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:03.799
performance by Russell Crowe, and I'm just so excited to

507
00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:08.279
see him come back and really deliver something that really

508
00:30:08.519 --> 00:30:13.359
feels truer to his skills and talents and We've always

509
00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:18.039
loved having you know, the the Aussie up there, but

510
00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:21.720
then it wasn't the right vehicle as a as a film.

511
00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:24.440
To watch and enjoy I thought. Anyway, final comment.

512
00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:26.119
No, no, good good to hear.

513
00:30:26.599 --> 00:30:29.160
And also it was shot in Melbourne the film.

514
00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:33.000
Yes, yes, yes, which is terrific. You know it's but

515
00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:35.640
I mean we we we've known we we punch above

516
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:38.920
our way, don't we in many areas, including the Olympic Games.

517
00:30:39.160 --> 00:30:42.440
We should insert that it's been a remarkable games for

518
00:30:42.519 --> 00:30:46.000
Australia in every way, shape or form, regardless of the

519
00:30:46.039 --> 00:30:49.559
fact that obviously we've meddled in news sports as well,

520
00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:54.640
where you know we're noted for performing in But it's

521
00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:58.759
funny we started on a very serious topic. But boy,

522
00:30:58.839 --> 00:31:02.200
our women are quite I'm not taking any away from

523
00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:04.759
the men that won the medals, et cetera, but gee,

524
00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:10.000
talk about top heavy lopsided. I was so ecstatic at

525
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.880
how well everybody did, but in particular the women. And wow,

526
00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:18.480
you know, per capita we've done done well. Even not

527
00:31:18.599 --> 00:31:22.240
per capita, we've done extremely well and I'm just frustrated.

528
00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:24.240
I'm gonna have to wait another four years. As the

529
00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:26.880
rest of Australia does for the next Olympic Games. And

530
00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:29.960
I'm already looking for to nineteen thirty two, nineteen thirty two,

531
00:31:30.200 --> 00:31:33.279
twenty thirty two that went in the game to gon

532
00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:36.240
to be. That was a good year. It was a

533
00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:39.960
good year. Well, you're already an old man, then, weren't you,

534
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:41.960
Peter exact?

535
00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:43.640
That was there when it was launched?

536
00:31:43.960 --> 00:31:48.839
Yes, well you were there in old time Greece. Weren't

537
00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:51.119
you when the first games were there? You know you're

538
00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:53.319
all and yes.

539
00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:54.480
Well remember the music hall?

540
00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:57.039
Really well, yeah you must.

541
00:31:57.160 --> 00:31:59.319
You must give us an account of what it was

542
00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:01.759
like to be in the crowd, you know when the

543
00:32:02.519 --> 00:32:05.480
first marathon runner came past, you know, all those years ago.

544
00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:09.440
You know you'd have vivid memories or have they faded

545
00:32:09.640 --> 00:32:09.960
by now?

546
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.640
Peter, No vivid memories because this was the day before electricity,

547
00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:17.640
when all the video cameras weren't operating properly.

548
00:32:18.200 --> 00:32:21.599
Good to know, Peter. Yes, we must have an entire

549
00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:27.039
show just devoted to Peter's recollections. Talking about recollections, there's

550
00:32:27.079 --> 00:32:31.359
a movie which opens this coming Thursday called Iris and

551
00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:35.599
the Men, which I wanted to preempt. It's an emirated movie.

552
00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:39.839
Thankfully ninety eight minutes, so that's kind of kind of nice.

553
00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:44.279
After sixteen years of marriage and twenty two years together,

554
00:32:44.920 --> 00:32:52.880
a conservative dentist and mother, Iris Bayhu's husband Stefan, appears

555
00:32:52.920 --> 00:32:55.519
to have lost interest in her, so that's a shame.

556
00:32:55.799 --> 00:32:59.640
And the pair's got a couple of daughters, Anna, aged fifteen,

557
00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:03.440
and Lily, who's a ten year old. And although the

558
00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:09.799
pleasantries between Iris and Stefan remain, the passion's gone and

559
00:33:10.119 --> 00:33:12.960
they actually haven't had sex for four years. And while

560
00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:17.119
waiting for a parent teacher meeting, a fellow mother gives

561
00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:23.759
Iris a solution which basically this other mother swears by it.

562
00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:26.640
In fact, she claims that it actually saved her life.

563
00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:31.400
And just what might that answer be? Well, get onto

564
00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:37.039
a dating app or apps for purely physical hookups, So

565
00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:42.119
what could be wrong with that? Yes, Iris does it

566
00:33:42.680 --> 00:33:46.440
and gets instant results, and before she knows it, it's

567
00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:51.480
figuratively raining men of all ages, shapes and sizes. So

568
00:33:51.640 --> 00:33:53.240
what do you need to do is to get on

569
00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:56.079
all dating app and everybody will come orun it. That's

570
00:33:56.079 --> 00:34:00.880
what it's basically suggesting this movie Iris and the Men. Okay, Well,

571
00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:05.079
she then experiences a series of one night, one date stands,

572
00:34:05.079 --> 00:34:08.800
not one night stands, one date stands, and she regains

573
00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:12.519
that spring in her step, connecting with her desire and

574
00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:17.239
her sexuality. And at first Stephan hardly notices because he's

575
00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:21.159
so busy working he's landed a big contract. And then

576
00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:29.159
though Iris's unusual behavior becomes impossible to ignore, h Iris's

577
00:34:29.239 --> 00:34:33.760
dental assistant called Neuria, is also decidedly put out by

578
00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:39.639
Iris's aberrant conduct. While attending to patience, Iris is forever

579
00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:44.079
distracted by the pinging phone messages that she receives, and

580
00:34:44.360 --> 00:34:48.920
she begins taking increasingly increasing amounts of time off at

581
00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:52.559
very short notice during the day. Now, truth be told,

582
00:34:52.760 --> 00:34:55.760
she just longs to be wanted by her husband. But

583
00:34:56.519 --> 00:34:58.840
I pose this question, the matters too far gone? Is

584
00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:02.360
there a way back? So this is a comedy, Iris

585
00:35:02.360 --> 00:35:06.480
and the Man, a comedy with distinctively French proclivities. It's

586
00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:11.360
written and directed by Caroline Vignoll. There's a sadness, there's

587
00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:14.360
a yearning, and there's that word again, JOI de vive

588
00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:18.239
about it. The origins of the film were in what

589
00:35:18.440 --> 00:35:21.760
Vignall heard from a friend of hers, fifty one year

590
00:35:21.800 --> 00:35:25.679
old friend who had embraced life after her husband suddenly

591
00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:29.239
left her and another friend had encouraged her to sign

592
00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:32.960
up to a dating site, which boosted her damaged ego

593
00:35:33.039 --> 00:35:36.639
and lifted her cloak of invisibility, which is something that

594
00:35:36.679 --> 00:35:40.320
we hear about. It's not unusual that people are for

595
00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:43.400
a certain age feel that they are invisible, and particularly women.

596
00:35:44.199 --> 00:35:48.199
So I thought Louis Calamy was quite delightful as the

597
00:35:48.199 --> 00:35:51.119
centerpiece of the film. She channels a great deal through

598
00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:54.840
her distinctive facial expressions and her body movement, and she

599
00:35:54.960 --> 00:35:59.400
transitions her character well from downcast. The book she reads

600
00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:02.840
at night in bedspeak volumes. I might say she sort

601
00:36:02.840 --> 00:36:06.159
of transitions this character from downcast to cheeky and cherry.

602
00:36:06.920 --> 00:36:10.119
Very much her movie and the world gravitates around her character.

603
00:36:11.119 --> 00:36:13.719
The film does manage to avoid much focus on the

604
00:36:13.800 --> 00:36:18.119
stranger danger inherent in the situation in which Irish, in

605
00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:21.320
which Iras chooses to put herself that troubled me. Actually,

606
00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:25.760
it concentrates on the adventure and the excitement. I understand

607
00:36:25.840 --> 00:36:29.559
that was its purpose, but yeah, it's sort of it

608
00:36:29.639 --> 00:36:33.639
did trouble me anyway, naive, Yeah, it was inherently so,

609
00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:36.679
But I suppose I put it down to the fairy

610
00:36:36.760 --> 00:36:40.159
tale that it was as to the issue of consent,

611
00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:45.559
and that also troubled me enormously. It's left to her

612
00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:49.280
almost sixteen year old daughter, Iris is almost sixteen year

613
00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:51.760
old daughter to bring that to the four at a

614
00:36:51.800 --> 00:36:57.079
dinner table, and Iris enrages the daughter with her surprising

615
00:36:57.159 --> 00:37:01.039
response that there's quite an in strength. I felt about

616
00:37:01.159 --> 00:37:06.679
Vincent Elbaz's representation of Iris's husband and devoted you know,

617
00:37:06.760 --> 00:37:13.320
the devoted father Stefan Susanne Bique gives voice to confusion

618
00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:19.159
and unease, making her presence felt in the process. So look,

619
00:37:19.239 --> 00:37:22.320
it's got warmth, it's got charm. I reckon many you're

620
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:25.199
going to find it appealing. And I enjoyed Iris and

621
00:37:25.239 --> 00:37:27.079
the men for what it is and what it was.

622
00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:30.239
What about you, Greek king, Oh look, this.

623
00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:33.719
Is charming enough film, as you said, it doesn't I say,

624
00:37:33.760 --> 00:37:36.400
it's welcome, which only what you said ninety eight minutes

625
00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:40.000
or so. But I thought there is a playfulness about

626
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:42.920
the film, like especially in the second half there, especially

627
00:37:42.960 --> 00:37:45.480
when they're breaking that Simon Dancy return of his reigning

628
00:37:45.599 --> 00:37:47.920
men on the steps. You know, that worked a true

629
00:37:48.039 --> 00:37:51.280
I thought, And as the movie went on. Laura Calri's

630
00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:54.440
character look and acted younger as the film progress.

631
00:37:54.519 --> 00:37:56.559
I thought you gave is fifty year old.

632
00:37:56.719 --> 00:38:00.000
She was much more youthful and joyful and a journey

633
00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:01.639
by the end of the film. I thought that worked

634
00:38:02.039 --> 00:38:04.760
as well. Some of the humor worked really well, visual humor.

635
00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:07.559
As you said, the books She's really in bed, they

636
00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:10.880
speak volumes about the relationship between her and them. I

637
00:38:10.920 --> 00:38:13.719
also love the way they use the sex messages you

638
00:38:13.719 --> 00:38:16.360
know every time, and that played off and that played

639
00:38:16.360 --> 00:38:18.719
off beautiful at the end of the film.

640
00:38:18.760 --> 00:38:23.239
I agree. It's interesting how your whole life, her whole

641
00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:27.639
life was transformed, and the whole point of it was

642
00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:30.760
to get the attention to the US. But Peter, you

643
00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:33.800
haven't seen this one where you have?

644
00:38:33.559 --> 00:38:35.480
I saw that the French Film Festival.

645
00:38:35.559 --> 00:38:37.920
Yes, ah, yes, well and your thoughts.

646
00:38:39.119 --> 00:38:42.320
I was a bit worried about this film because French

647
00:38:42.880 --> 00:38:48.199
wrong cooms have a history of edging the boundaries, of

648
00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:55.840
hitting the boundaries and challenging the typical roles that married

649
00:38:55.960 --> 00:38:58.679
couples have, and yet this one turns out to be

650
00:38:58.840 --> 00:39:02.920
ultra conservative as it turns out, even though on the

651
00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:08.079
surface it isn't. I thought Laura Calamy is such a

652
00:39:08.119 --> 00:39:11.639
good actress. She was in Full Time, which was an

653
00:39:11.679 --> 00:39:15.840
excellent film, but she was also in other rom coms

654
00:39:15.960 --> 00:39:21.280
like Tickets to Greece, which I didn't think was much chop.

655
00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:27.440
So the concept behind this film about challenging a marriage

656
00:39:27.519 --> 00:39:35.079
and finding a way to I suppose to excite a

657
00:39:35.119 --> 00:39:41.159
woman into revitalizing her relationship or not, as the case

658
00:39:41.280 --> 00:39:45.679
might be, seemed to be an interesting concept. However, it

659
00:39:45.719 --> 00:39:49.079
doesn't work for me at all because, as you've already mentioned, Alex,

660
00:39:49.159 --> 00:39:54.559
the danger stranger danger sort of aspect doesn't come into

661
00:39:54.599 --> 00:39:57.639
this film at all, which I thought was really strange.

662
00:39:57.840 --> 00:40:01.639
And then the way the film ends up, without giving

663
00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:08.519
any spoilers, it's just reverting to a very conservative sort

664
00:40:08.559 --> 00:40:12.719
of outlook on life, and and I just didn't like that.

665
00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:17.800
I thought the thing was really troubling me as well. Yeah,

666
00:40:18.199 --> 00:40:23.239
that's you know, like you'd hate to think that because

667
00:40:23.320 --> 00:40:27.440
you're going to embrace life. But you know, again, I

668
00:40:28.159 --> 00:40:31.199
kind of they tried to make it into a fairy tale.

669
00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:34.599
It may have. You know, it's interesting because society has

670
00:40:34.679 --> 00:40:38.599
changed appreciably over the last twenty years, Peter, and they

671
00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:40.400
may have been able to get away with it in

672
00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:44.519
a more naive world right where you know they shouldn't

673
00:40:44.519 --> 00:40:47.119
have been able to. But I'm not sure, you know,

674
00:40:47.280 --> 00:40:50.400
coming out as it is now, I just don't think

675
00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:53.239
they can get away with it as readily. I still

676
00:40:53.360 --> 00:40:57.840
enjoyed it, but I thought it just felt it just

677
00:40:57.880 --> 00:40:59.960
felt wrong. Did you get that sad?

678
00:41:00.679 --> 00:41:05.199
Yes, absolutely definitely felt wrong. I thought it's trying to

679
00:41:05.320 --> 00:41:11.079
challenge preconceptions and yet it gives in to them. And

680
00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:13.480
in this day and age, you would like films that

681
00:41:13.559 --> 00:41:17.960
are a bit more challenging, even if they're wrong. Com So, yes,

682
00:41:18.000 --> 00:41:22.639
I was disappointed by the film. And I thought the daughter,

683
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:27.480
the relationship mother and daughter, when they talk about condoms

684
00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:33.000
at the dinner table and there's lots of dinner table conversations,

685
00:41:33.840 --> 00:41:37.480
I thought, this doesn't work for me. There's something wrong

686
00:41:37.559 --> 00:41:41.639
with the writing of this that doesn't quite work. So yeah,

687
00:41:41.679 --> 00:41:43.639
I was very disappointed by this film.

688
00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:47.880
I wasn't very disappointed, but on that level, I was great,

689
00:41:48.039 --> 00:41:50.239
none of this trouble do you not?

690
00:41:50.559 --> 00:41:50.960
Really?

691
00:41:52.199 --> 00:41:53.480
Okay? I know that's.

692
00:41:54.960 --> 00:41:57.199
I just read along with the film. I thought it

693
00:41:57.239 --> 00:41:57.840
was a bit of fun.

694
00:41:58.320 --> 00:42:02.079
Yeah, you can try to shoe yep, understand, And again

695
00:42:02.320 --> 00:42:05.440
I think I'll be very interested. Jackie's unfortunately to leave us,

696
00:42:05.440 --> 00:42:08.400
but I'll be interested in her views on this. Maybe

697
00:42:08.880 --> 00:42:11.559
the incoming weeks we'll get that because you know she

698
00:42:11.960 --> 00:42:15.800
has strong opinions about films like this, and you know

699
00:42:15.840 --> 00:42:19.199
her views will be just as valid. So yeah, I mean, okay,

700
00:42:19.239 --> 00:42:22.119
so you're going to loadball this, but I'm not in

701
00:42:22.199 --> 00:42:25.000
spite of it. I'm going to sort of look at

702
00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:28.360
it as a fairy til with with sort of warning signs.

703
00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:31.599
So what are you giving this film? Iris and the Men,

704
00:42:31.800 --> 00:42:36.920
which opens on the fifteenth of August rated m.

705
00:42:36.360 --> 00:42:39.360
I thought if it had continued its musical sort of

706
00:42:39.440 --> 00:42:44.119
proclivities with its raining men and a few other fantasy elements,

707
00:42:44.199 --> 00:42:47.480
it might have worked a lot better. So I have

708
00:42:47.559 --> 00:42:50.280
to only give this film five out of ten.

709
00:42:50.440 --> 00:42:53.519
Wow, okay, ninety eight minutes in duration, Greg, you're going

710
00:42:53.559 --> 00:42:55.400
to be much higher. What are you going to give

711
00:42:55.480 --> 00:42:58.320
Iris and the Men? I'm going to do it six? Oh,

712
00:42:58.360 --> 00:42:59.239
okay only see.

713
00:43:00.440 --> 00:43:02.719
I thought the start was a bit slow and a

714
00:43:02.760 --> 00:43:05.400
bit clunky, but as I said, it picked up as

715
00:43:05.440 --> 00:43:05.840
it went on.

716
00:43:06.599 --> 00:43:08.559
Okay, well it's funny. Well I'm going to give it

717
00:43:08.599 --> 00:43:12.159
the high mark because I, as I say, went along

718
00:43:12.199 --> 00:43:14.800
with it but was troubled by elements. I'm giving it

719
00:43:14.840 --> 00:43:18.679
a seven. It depends on your perception when you see this.

720
00:43:18.719 --> 00:43:21.800
One is how I would put it, And that's okay.

721
00:43:21.840 --> 00:43:24.840
I mean, you know, there's nothing wrong with that other

722
00:43:24.960 --> 00:43:28.920
than societal norms. Having sort of said, well, you know,

723
00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:32.400
we've got to be a lot more conscious of the

724
00:43:32.440 --> 00:43:36.039
way that people behave and are seen to behave. Okay.

725
00:43:36.079 --> 00:43:39.199
Now on j eighty eight FM, I want to talk.

726
00:43:39.559 --> 00:43:43.199
I went to Palais Theater cheap. Palais Theater is beautiful.

727
00:43:43.280 --> 00:43:45.440
Any Greg, have you been there for constantly things or not?

728
00:43:45.599 --> 00:43:47.320
You have been there quite a few times. I've seen

729
00:43:47.360 --> 00:43:50.119
a number of artists play there, including Bruce Springsteen and

730
00:43:50.159 --> 00:43:52.480
Brian Adams, meat Loavergon.

731
00:43:53.280 --> 00:43:55.840
Did Bruce Springsteen play the Palais.

732
00:43:55.599 --> 00:43:58.199
Acoustic and when came out did an acousive concert?

733
00:43:58.679 --> 00:44:03.719
Wow, I've got a say. Generally speaking, the sound travels

734
00:44:03.760 --> 00:44:06.159
really well. I mean it's quite It's what two thousand

735
00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:10.320
seed venue, isn't it huge? Yeah? But the sound I

736
00:44:10.360 --> 00:44:14.840
saw John Farnham there and thought was phenomenal, Absolutely phenomenal.

737
00:44:15.679 --> 00:44:19.480
He's in terms of artists that I've seen John Farnham

738
00:44:19.480 --> 00:44:22.440
hands down as the best I've ever seen. I've seen

739
00:44:22.480 --> 00:44:27.519
him in concert quite a number of times, and hopefully

740
00:44:27.679 --> 00:44:30.239
sort of he's continuing to do well. But gee whiz,

741
00:44:30.320 --> 00:44:33.599
that that that the concept of pallet stands out for me,

742
00:44:34.119 --> 00:44:34.800
I didn't.

743
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:38.280
I enjoyed your conscious that the rod Laver Arena, man

744
00:44:38.360 --> 00:44:40.719
Cheski as well, But for me, I'm the best artist

745
00:44:40.840 --> 00:44:42.400
I've seen a live.

746
00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:46.840
Was bon Jovi really so better than that? Better than

747
00:44:46.880 --> 00:44:47.239
the Boss?

748
00:44:48.159 --> 00:44:48.599
Oh well?

749
00:44:50.960 --> 00:44:52.880
I like Bruce being saying yes, and I like bon Jovi.

750
00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:55.679
Bon had a lot of energy and hidden after hit.

751
00:44:57.159 --> 00:44:59.360
Bruce being saying I also like as well. There to

752
00:44:59.480 --> 00:45:03.159
the best two best artists I've seen live, Okay.

753
00:45:02.960 --> 00:45:06.000
The other one. Then I'll throw in seeing a Dell live,

754
00:45:06.320 --> 00:45:11.440
Oh my golly, goosebumps. Phenomenal voice like John Farnham. It's

755
00:45:11.480 --> 00:45:15.920
interesting the distinctiveness of the voice makes her who she

756
00:45:16.239 --> 00:45:19.239
is and hit after hit and so on. And I

757
00:45:19.440 --> 00:45:21.800
saw it not in Melbourne. I saw it in Sydney

758
00:45:22.239 --> 00:45:25.559
and it was a very special experience. So yeah, it's

759
00:45:25.599 --> 00:45:29.440
interesting how something stands out like that. I mention and

760
00:45:29.559 --> 00:45:33.360
reference it because there's a there's only there were only

761
00:45:33.440 --> 00:45:37.960
two shows that in last one is this evening Sunday

762
00:45:38.039 --> 00:45:43.559
evening called Larron Dean, which translates to the swallow, And

763
00:45:44.159 --> 00:45:47.159
unlike the rock and pop concerts we've talked about, this

764
00:45:47.280 --> 00:45:50.800
is an opera and I really enjoyed it, really enjoyed

765
00:45:51.079 --> 00:45:58.320
Victorian opera and it's asks a rather important question. Can

766
00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:03.519
one truly escape one past? And can true love win out? Now?

767
00:46:04.840 --> 00:46:10.639
What's your view? Boys? If you do you think people change?

768
00:46:12.400 --> 00:46:16.800
I'll accept they don't change readily, But how seriously can

769
00:46:16.880 --> 00:46:21.719
you change someone's disposition during the course of their life? Peter,

770
00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:24.880
do you think you can change somebody a long way?

771
00:46:25.519 --> 00:46:28.400
Just sort of iron out some of the rough edges?

772
00:46:29.320 --> 00:46:33.159
What do you think is possible in the vast majority

773
00:46:33.199 --> 00:46:34.519
of instances, if not all.

774
00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:39.440
It's very difficult to change someone's thinking, attitude, and behavior.

775
00:46:39.800 --> 00:46:43.559
They usually they have to have a life threatening experience

776
00:46:44.039 --> 00:46:46.000
before they re evaluate their life.

777
00:46:46.400 --> 00:46:50.679
Yep, I think that's a very prosaic way of putting it. Greg,

778
00:46:50.760 --> 00:46:54.320
do you agree? How do you how much can somebody change?

779
00:46:55.440 --> 00:46:59.760
I don't know, not something that can happen overnight of

780
00:47:00.159 --> 00:47:03.840
a long process, and probably need something to happen to

781
00:47:04.079 --> 00:47:06.880
bring about it change so well, I'm sure people do

782
00:47:07.079 --> 00:47:10.320
change along the way, but yeah, it's not something I'll

783
00:47:10.320 --> 00:47:11.199
put a lot of forward into.

784
00:47:11.360 --> 00:47:14.000
Alex Well, I'll look, these are the questions, and this

785
00:47:14.159 --> 00:47:16.119
is what I liked about this. These are the questions

786
00:47:16.199 --> 00:47:20.559
posed in Giacomo Puccini's Larron Dean and it's a three

787
00:47:20.599 --> 00:47:24.199
act lyric opera set in Paris and on the French Riviera.

788
00:47:24.400 --> 00:47:27.480
I think it's highly appropriate seeing this is on during

789
00:47:27.519 --> 00:47:31.320
the Olympic Games. But there we go. It concerns the

790
00:47:32.039 --> 00:47:36.440
maybe that was deliberate programming. I haven't asked Victorian opera

791
00:47:36.480 --> 00:47:39.440
about that, but if it was, congratulations. It concerns the

792
00:47:39.559 --> 00:47:45.159
fate of a mistress. So this woman called Magna Magda

793
00:47:45.400 --> 00:47:51.400
not Magna Magda, and her provider, a wealthy man called Rambaldo,

794
00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:56.159
are hosting a cocktail party. And at this party there's

795
00:47:56.199 --> 00:48:00.239
a poet called Prunier who declares that romance is back

796
00:48:00.280 --> 00:48:04.320
in fashion. We're talking about the nineteen hundreds at some stage,

797
00:48:04.599 --> 00:48:07.480
depending upon who you believe, nineteen twenties, nineteen thirty is

798
00:48:07.519 --> 00:48:11.280
that sort of era. Anyway, Prunier predicts that, like as swallow,

799
00:48:11.440 --> 00:48:15.320
hence the title Ron Dene, the swallow, Magda will fly

800
00:48:15.639 --> 00:48:21.000
south to pursue supreme happiness. Prudy, as girl girlfriend, happens

801
00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:25.400
to be Magda's maid a woman called Lazette, and Lazette

802
00:48:25.400 --> 00:48:29.880
interrupts proceedings at this sort of get together to announce

803
00:48:29.960 --> 00:48:33.440
the arrival of a young man named Riguero, who's the

804
00:48:33.559 --> 00:48:37.760
son of Rambaldo's childhood friend and he's new to Paris,

805
00:48:38.400 --> 00:48:40.920
so he asks where he might best enjoy an evening

806
00:48:41.000 --> 00:48:45.480
out in the city of Love. Lazette suggests a famous

807
00:48:45.599 --> 00:48:50.800
Latin quarter restaurant and dance hall called Bulliers, and Raguero

808
00:48:51.039 --> 00:48:55.159
takes up the recommendation. Prudier also heads there with Lazette,

809
00:48:55.519 --> 00:49:00.559
and Magda turns up in disguise, and this is the kicker.

810
00:49:01.079 --> 00:49:03.800
When a group of students shows interest in Magna at

811
00:49:04.599 --> 00:49:10.519
this restaurant, bullyairs she seeks refuge at a table where

812
00:49:10.639 --> 00:49:14.119
Riguero is sitting, but does not recognize her because she's

813
00:49:14.159 --> 00:49:17.199
in disguise and after all, is only just met her,

814
00:49:17.840 --> 00:49:22.280
and the pair quickly and effortlessly falls passionately in love.

815
00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:27.840
It ain't love grand it is, indeed, and so that's

816
00:49:27.880 --> 00:49:30.679
sort of where the whole thing really kicks up a gear.

817
00:49:31.039 --> 00:49:35.760
They envisage a future together. They subsequently enjoy each other's

818
00:49:35.840 --> 00:49:40.519
company on the French Riviera. Very nice, but Magdum worries

819
00:49:40.679 --> 00:49:44.960
that she has deceived Ruguero because she Ruguero doesn't know

820
00:49:45.400 --> 00:49:49.440
who she is and about her past, and she's concerned

821
00:49:49.440 --> 00:49:52.679
that she'll embarrass him and his family. So the question

822
00:49:52.880 --> 00:49:56.639
is will she be able to shake off her colorful

823
00:49:56.760 --> 00:50:00.719
past or is she kidding herself by living alive. It's

824
00:50:00.760 --> 00:50:05.800
a really beautiful romantic opera, gorgeous score, it's rich, it's lyrical,

825
00:50:06.480 --> 00:50:10.519
it juxtaposes dreams and reality with a really deft touch,

826
00:50:10.920 --> 00:50:16.000
and ultimately it's of course idealistic, but it's also quite crushy.

827
00:50:17.039 --> 00:50:20.559
So Victorian opera has given us much to appreciate and

828
00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:27.199
savor in really splendid production directed by Stuart Munda, conducted

829
00:50:27.280 --> 00:50:31.360
by Tobias Ringborg, and the soprano in this one is

830
00:50:31.719 --> 00:50:37.360
Keandra howth She is just magnificent, intoxicating as Magda. The

831
00:50:37.519 --> 00:50:41.880
purity in her voice, the elevation in her vocalization are

832
00:50:42.039 --> 00:50:47.280
superb throughout a really really just brillant. The timber and

833
00:50:47.440 --> 00:50:51.559
tone in one white choice delivery enhances his performance as

834
00:50:51.639 --> 00:50:56.320
Raguero really really strong as well great coupling, very well

835
00:50:56.400 --> 00:50:59.639
done together, and there's a jauntiness about Douglas Kelly's role

836
00:50:59.639 --> 00:51:04.920
as pre the air and Nina Corbe or Corby brings attitude,

837
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.360
which is what you want to Lazette the Maid. Any

838
00:51:09.480 --> 00:51:12.719
day that I hear Teddy Dahou Rhoades is a great day.

839
00:51:13.320 --> 00:51:17.280
Oh my golly, what a performer. I remember seeing him

840
00:51:17.280 --> 00:51:20.679
in an MTC production. What a voice. He's a commanding

841
00:51:20.800 --> 00:51:25.320
presence as Rambaldo. The second costume designer, Richard Roberts, provides

842
00:51:25.360 --> 00:51:30.000
a real visual treat with his elegant costuming, striking scenery.

843
00:51:30.559 --> 00:51:33.079
There's a different feel to each act and he does

844
00:51:33.159 --> 00:51:36.639
that very well with very little. Gavin Swift's lighting design.

845
00:51:37.039 --> 00:51:40.519
There's tonal shifts there as the opera plays out, So again,

846
00:51:41.000 --> 00:51:45.400
just what you need. Orchestra, Victorian, mighty fine voice helping

847
00:51:45.480 --> 00:51:50.360
to make larn Dean a magical night of operatic excellence.

848
00:51:50.400 --> 00:51:53.920
And it's two hours twenty minutes. Two intervals in that

849
00:51:54.039 --> 00:51:56.480
I think they're both around about the twenty minute mark.

850
00:51:57.000 --> 00:52:00.199
It's sung in Italian with English sur titles, and the

851
00:52:00.239 --> 00:52:03.960
set titles are easily much much more easy to follow

852
00:52:04.039 --> 00:52:06.719
than a lot of opera where it doesn't kind of

853
00:52:06.760 --> 00:52:10.320
make a lot of English language sense to me when

854
00:52:10.320 --> 00:52:12.800
I'm reading it. This is not the case. It's at

855
00:52:12.840 --> 00:52:16.440
the Palais Theater only until this evening, only two performance.

856
00:52:16.559 --> 00:52:19.280
Is all the shame because I reckon it could have

857
00:52:19.360 --> 00:52:22.039
done a longer season. But you have to sell a

858
00:52:22.079 --> 00:52:25.000
lot of tickets do to make it worthwhile. At the

859
00:52:25.320 --> 00:52:28.239
Palais Theater Greek it's two thousand seats, it's a lot

860
00:52:28.320 --> 00:52:31.159
to sell out, and a lot of shows there are

861
00:52:31.239 --> 00:52:33.840
only one night. I sort of sometimes look at the

862
00:52:33.880 --> 00:52:36.039
programs there and think, oh, what a shame. It'd be

863
00:52:36.119 --> 00:52:38.559
nice to be able to see something and review it.

864
00:52:38.679 --> 00:52:43.840
But we're reasonably well served with theaters in Melbourne, greeg

865
00:52:43.960 --> 00:52:46.480
But I reckon we could still do with a few more.

866
00:52:46.760 --> 00:52:49.320
And I don't know whether you noticed that there was

867
00:52:49.400 --> 00:52:51.599
a sort of a news release that was put out

868
00:52:51.599 --> 00:52:54.880
a few weeks ago. While the State Theater is being redeveloped,

869
00:52:55.440 --> 00:52:57.599
which will take three years, or the best part thereof

870
00:52:58.079 --> 00:53:01.039
they've opened a smaller than you where there's going to

871
00:53:01.039 --> 00:53:04.320
be a lot of shows in coming months in the

872
00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:07.599
interim and I can't even remember. It's something like one

873
00:53:07.679 --> 00:53:11.599
hundred and something one hundred and thirty eighty Seed Venue.

874
00:53:12.079 --> 00:53:14.679
I stand to be corrected there, but I'm delighted there's

875
00:53:14.679 --> 00:53:17.639
another opportunity for Melbourne, Melbournie in is to see theater

876
00:53:17.880 --> 00:53:20.199
of all its forms. Thank you very much, Greg for

877
00:53:20.280 --> 00:53:24.199
your input today, Peter Krause likewise, and Jackie who has

878
00:53:24.280 --> 00:53:26.400
left us. As I mentioned, we are going to do

879
00:53:26.480 --> 00:53:29.519
it all again very soon. First on film and entertainment.

880
00:53:30.320 --> 00:53:35.360
Listen out for our next show, and yeah, contribute by

881
00:53:35.400 --> 00:53:39.599
all means become members of J eighty eight FM. See

882
00:53:39.639 --> 00:53:39.960
you soon,