Feb. 6, 2025

S04E01: A Real Pain: Cousins, Heritage, and the Weight of History

S04E01: A Real Pain: Cousins, Heritage, and the Weight of History

**Host:** Alex First
**Guest Critics:** Peter Krause
**Episode Summary:**
In this engaging episode of First on Film & Entertainment, Alex First is joined by Peter Krause to dissect the latest cinematic offerings, including Boxing Day releases and...

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Season 4

**Host:** Alex First
**Guest Critics:** Peter Krause
**Episode Summary:**
In this engaging episode of First on Film & Entertainment, Alex First is joined by Peter Krause to dissect the latest cinematic offerings, including Boxing Day releases and New Year's Day premieres. Kicking off the conversation is *A Real Pain*, a film directed by Jesse Eisenberg that follows two cousins on a poignant journey to their grandmother's childhood home in Poland. The critics share their contrasting views, with Alex finding the film dull and lacking depth, while Peter appreciates its psychological nuances and character development, particularly praising Kieran Culkin's performance. The discussion then shifts to *All We Imagine is Light*, a heartfelt portrayal of three women in contemporary India, which both critics commend for its feminist perspective and beautiful storytelling. They also dive into the animated adventure *Sonic the Hedgehog 3*, with Alex enjoying its vibrant chaos, while Peter finds it overly silly and lacking substance. The episode wraps up with a look at *Paddington in Peru*, where Alex revels in its charm and creativity, contrasting with Peter's critique of its departure from the beloved franchise's roots. Finally, they explore the atmospheric horror film *Nosferatu*, where Alex expresses disappointment in its convoluted narrative, while Peter offers a more favourable take on its psychological horror elements. With lively debates and diverse film reviews, this episode is a must-listen for film enthusiasts.
**Highlights:**
- **A Real Pain:** A contrasting critique of Jesse Eisenberg's film, exploring themes of family legacy and psychological depth.
- **All We Imagine is Light:** A commendation for its feminist storytelling and rich character development set in contemporary India.
- **Sonic the Hedgehog 3:** A lively discussion on the animated franchise's latest instalment, with differing opinions on its appeal and execution.
- **Paddington in Peru:** A look at the beloved bear's latest adventure, highlighting its charm and the critique of its narrative direction.
- **Nosferatu:** A debate on the effectiveness of this horror film's storytelling and character portrayals. Tune in for a dynamic exploration of film and entertainment, and prepare for more insightful discussions in the coming weeks!
00:00:00 - First on film and entertainment. Also looking ahead to what has just been released on Boxing Day
00:00:41 - A Real Pain opens Jewish International Film Festival and then gets general release
00:01:53 - The film is about cousins making a pilgrimage to their late grandmother's Poland home
00:05:10 - Peter: I really liked the film. I think it's very well-written
00:08:28 - I thought the characters could have been developed further in this film
00:09:48 - I give the film a six out of ten for its Holocaust representation
00:13:55 - The film focuses on three women and it's an M rated film
00:16:37 - Das says Mumbai is another pivotal Persona in the movie
00:18:01 - All We Imagine as Light is a well-observed film about Indian women
00:21:50 - Peter: As a franchise this has done particularly well
00:22:18 - Peter says sonic the hedgehog 3 requires some concentration to follow
00:24:56 - Peter Carey: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is ludicrously stupid
00:28:16 - Black Dog is a Chinese drama set on the edge of the Gobi Desert
00:30:47 - Peter: I give Black Dog a seven out of ten rating
00:33:13 - Paddington in Peru is a rather rollicking adventure with the Brown family
00:36:32 - Peter thought this film diverged from the first two Paddington films
00:39:25 - Robert Eggers' Nosferatu is a horror film with lengthy running time
00:43:30 - This is the fourth version of Nosferatu, which premiered in 1922
00:46:32 - Peter Pan reviews School of Rock the Musical, based on 2003 film

WEBVTT

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First on Film and Entertainment Alex First with You, joined

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by Peter Krause the part two of the Boxing Day releases,

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also looking ahead to what has just been released on

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New Year's Day. Happy New Year to you, Peter, and

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to you and you're going to be your racal sitident.

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I can't even get the word out your obstrepper's.

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Self all jays.

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That's why the New Year's resolution.

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I would not want it any other way, my friend,

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which you and your family well in twenty twenty five

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and beyond. So always appreciate your contributions, and especially when

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you and I differ, which seems to be reasonably frequently.

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And in fact, I think we'll start there because there's

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a movie that opened the Jewish International Film Festival which

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has now been lauded as some film that could potentially

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tackle the oscars. As far as I'm concerned, it's called

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a Real Pain. I could actually call it something else.

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I think a Real Pain is actually appropriate as an aim,

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but for different reasons than you, Peter.

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Is that correct?

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That is correct?

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M all right, well, Jesse Eisenberg.

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I mean this is one of the releases from There

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were seven major releases on Boxing Day, and this was

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one that obviously, when you've got a film festival, often

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the English is a good example of that, but German

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as well and Italian. When a movie you first get

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to see at a festival and then it gets a

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general release.

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In this case, I'm presuming is a real pain.

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Has Eddie to me, been the one that's brought this

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in or is it a different studio arrangement?

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I'm not sure. Do you have any idea?

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Well, no, he got permission to screen it at the

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opening night of Jeff Yes.

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Got it, So in other words, it's a studio film

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that right, got it? Okay?

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Well, Jesse Eisenberg has used his Jewish family's roots to

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craft what is a fictitious story about cousins making a

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pilgrimage to their late grandmother's.

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Childhood home in Poland.

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And Eisenberg, as he's prone to do, he plays an

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anxious New Yorker. He's a married father of one and

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happens to be a digital ad salesman and his name

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in this movie is David Kaplan and his traveling companion

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on this week long trip to Poland is Benji Kaplan

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played by Kieran Culkin, and he's This larger than life

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character lurches from personable to accusatory, and the two of

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them are very close in age. In fact, they were

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born three weeks apart, and Benji was particularly close to

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their grandmother, who only recently passed away, and Benji Kaplan

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acknowledges that he's been in a funk since he died.

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The pair both he and David were left money in

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their grandmother's will to take a heritage tour with a

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small number of fellow Jews. And they've got a mighty

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respectful British guide called James played by Will Sharp, who

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explains the sight seeing will incorporate the country's painful past,

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and that of course includes a visit to a concentration camp.

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And although the pair of them care for one another,

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they're like chalk and cheese. They have a love hate relationship.

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Benji well, he can be charming, he can light up

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a room, and he appears to revel in being the

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life of the party, but then at a moment's notice,

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he can turn on those that he's just embraced. He's

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sort of the man who wears his heart on his

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sleeve his point one moment, and then he's melancholic the

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next and he suffers a major meltdown after they bought

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a train and they head straight to the first class

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carriage that they've actually paid for, given the Jews were

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transported to their deaths in overcrowded trains. Benji finds it

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totally inappropriate that that's the case that they head to

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first class, and he says so forcefully, even though so

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they've actually paid for it now on more than the

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odd occasion, David, this is the Jesse Eisenberg character who

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pops pills to calm himself. Is embarrassed, actually ashamed of

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his cousin's behavior. So their adventure is going to be

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filled with a series of highs and lows, as Benji's

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odd temperament becomes a talking point amongst the group.

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So, okay, that's what it's all about.

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Given the subject matter, I've found a real pain well

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surprisingly dull Peter. Not enough happens to make it a

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compelling film, and we're only talking about ninety minutes. It

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was a struggle to make it to ninety minutes. It

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actually struggles to fight any real traction beyond the fact

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that it showcases a pair of mismatched cousins and a

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few sites and sounds that of Poland and it's war

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torn bars. I was looking at my watch constantly, and

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that's a really bad sign, Okay, Kieran Culkin, clearly the

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star of the show is embracing manic representation of benj

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No problems. Eisenberg, who also wrote and directed this film,

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plays along respectively as second fiddle, so he picks up

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the pieces when it's necessary to do so. And around

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them are four other travelers whose character development, especially the

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older couple, I found somewhat patchy. The most interesting of

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those is an African born Jewish convert called Alongay played

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by Kurt Egiawan, who embraces goodwill and his newfound religion.

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So as the Oxford history scholar guide Will Sharp comes

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across as a decent bloke trying to make the most

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of the traveler's Polish experience. He's not Jewish in this

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particular representation, but he's obviously empathetic towards what Poland has

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gone through. Musically, the movie leans heavily on a strong

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classical piano score, and again I felt that at times

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that was kind of overwhelming, so I did want to

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like it. I really did want to like a real pain,

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but I thought it needed more leavers to pull more

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script development, and I really did find it underwhelming. So

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I can't understand why it's been lauded as much as

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it has been better.

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I think it's being lauded. It's a film that really

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impressed me because it deals with a current generation trying

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to deal with the Holocaust, with what happened in Poland,

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with the Nazi era, etc. And it's personified by these

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two cousins who each have their own psychological dimensions trying

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to deal with it. Kieran Kulcan is superb as the

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cousin who has some real issues that have not been

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properly dealt with, and Jesse Eisenberg, who always likes to

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deal with characters that are somewhat confused or concerned or

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unhappy about circumstances, but through somehow. This is the second

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film that Eisenberg has written and directed. His first words

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when you finally, when you finish saving the world, and

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he is such a good actor, and he's now transferred

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his acting experiences in a number of good films into

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this film that he's written and directed, and it's I

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think it's very finely tuned and psychologically very appropriate. I

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really liked it. I liked the two characters. I liked

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the rest of the cast. I like to see Jennifer

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Gray as one of the tour members. Of course, Jennifer

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Gray is probably best known for dirty dancing, and here

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she is as an older woman also trying to make

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sense of what is going on in regards to being

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Jewish and coping with modern day acceptance or not of

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a Jewish life. I really liked the film. I think

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it was well developed, well observed, and in fact, I

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would have liked it to have been a bit longer

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to see what happened to Kieran Culkin's character. We're left

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with a question mark and with Jesse Eisenberg and his

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relationship with his cousin and his family. A finally observed film.

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I really enjoyed it.

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Okay, so let me ask you a few questions. Firstly,

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they go and visit the grandmother's home. Now they don't

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actually go into the home. They don't knock on the

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door because the person probably well I think they may

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have actually and then the person isn't home. And then

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they lay a stone on the outside, which is obviously,

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what one does you know when you visit a grave.

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But I kind of thought is that it there's nothing

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more to be done there. That to me still left

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question and I thought they could have been developed further

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and it could have been more compelling. The other element

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here is that really in terms of Holocaust representation and whatever.

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I understand that was only one part of it, but

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that was the whole point that looking at the historic

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nature of Poland, et cetera. I thought that could have

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been handled. They could have given it more.

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Coverage, they could have done it in a better way.

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I mean it, don't get me wrong, it was respectful,

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but I didn't think that was developed as much. And

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I kind of I thought the other characters, I mean, okay,

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Jennifer Gray was fine, and the Elongai character as well.

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What was the older couple doing? What did they actually

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add to the apart from being members of the group.

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So there's three questions I'd love you to answer.

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All right, I'll try and answer those. The elderly couple,

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I'll start with them. They are probably representative of current

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Jews who who want to forget, who don't want to

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rake over the colds, and are just there to satisfy

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their own interest in what happened in the past, but

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not to do much about it. They want to move on,

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to forget, and to move on. So that's a perfectly

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understandable representation. I think the visiting the grandmother's house, of

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course there's new people living there. That was circumvented when

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they left the stone outside by the neighbors, who said

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that leaving a stone there is potentially dangerous. You can

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trip over it, and I think that sort of ended

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their possible sentimentalizing of that visit, and I think quite

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rightly they internalized it and moved on. So I think

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that worked pretty well. And just trying and remember what

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the third point.

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Was I remember as well.

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Okay, so there was the Holocaust representation, Yes, exactly. Overall,

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I think the film or Eisenberg is very clever in

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not overstating the actual Holocaust representation. I think it could

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well have gone down that path, but he is interested

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more in the contemporary representation by people of what they

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think of it, what their memories might be, or what

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their families might have been involved with, and I think

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it becomes a somewhat more distant sort of area which

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they don't want to rake over the coals on and

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I think that works because contemporary Jews in many respects

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don't want to be hit over the head by that

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Holocaust representation anymore. They just want to understand and move on.

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So I think psychologically it works well.

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But it's interesting because given since October seven there's been

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the anti Semitism has risen markedly, And I would have thought,

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I think this was shot before October seven, wasn't it.

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It was, Yes, it was.

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Yeah, But because it is more relevant than ever quite frankly,

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and you know, I'd hate to think that future generations

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won't give it the necessary weight that I certainly believe

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it belongs. I mean, it's not a Holocaust film. It's

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not like The Pianist, not not movies like that. I

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get that, but it was still that was the theme.

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The Jewish theme was very strong here. Look, I think

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we just agree to disagree because I honestly, I spoke

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to well over a dozen people who'd seen it at

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the Jewish International Film Festival, and there was only one

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who found it tolerable. The rest of us thought it

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was an inappropriate movie to have as the opening night

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festival film, and by the way.

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It's rated m A and it runs for ninety minutes,

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a real pain.

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As mentioned, I'm giving it a six out of ten,

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and I'm struggling to give it a six to be honest,

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what about you.

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Look, I really liked the film. I think it's received

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a lot of accolades for Kwan Kulkin, who's going to

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win probably the Golden Globe tomorrow, and possibly we'll get

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a Oscar nomination as well. I think because it is

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so well observed. I gave it an eight out of ten.

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All right, you're on j eighty eight FM and if

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you want to subscribe, fifty four bucks is all you need.

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That's not a great deal, hopefully, although I know there

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is a cost of living crisis going on, so you've

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com dot au and you can make a decision one

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way or the other. But we value all of our

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listeners and we've got programming twenty four to seven.

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Now.

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Another film that has received many plaudits is All We

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Imagine as Light that also came out on Boxing Day.

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It's an emirated film that runs for just under two hours,

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and it's set in Mumbai and also in an Indian

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seaside village. So it's an empathetic slice of life movie

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that focuses on the fate of three women and amongst them.

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Foremost amongst them is.

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Prava played by Karne Kuzruti, and she's a dedicated, highly

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regarded nurse at a Mumbai hospital, largely introspective, and she's

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in an arranged marriage.

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Her husband works in Germany.

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She actually has not heard from him for over a

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year and to be candid, highly unlikely she'll ever hear

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from him again, although there is a gift that comes

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into focus during the course of this movie. Nevertheless, she

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politely and respectfully declines overtures from a doctor called doctor

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Minoje played by Aziz Nedu Mangad, who has worked at

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the hospital where Braba works for a few months. Arnu

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played by Divia Praba iziongnurs. She lives and works with Braba,

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as I say, lives and works with Braba, and she's

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got a secret Muslim boyfriend called sheaz A redou Harun

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whom she's desperate to find some alone time with so

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the pair can be intimate she doesn't want to go

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down the same route as Prava, and yet Arnu's parents,

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who would not countenance she iss, are sending her photos

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of eligible men right in terms of trying to arrange

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a wedding for her. And then there's Parvati played by

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Chaya Kadam, who also works.

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At the hospital.

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She's been turfed out of the apartment where she's lived

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for twenty two years. Her husband died and didn't give

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her the documentation that would have seen her retain ownership

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of the property. Instead, developers are moving her on and

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she's left with no choice other and to return to

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her home village by the sea, and Prava and Anau

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help her with her belongings. So there's quite a lyrical

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poetic quality that the writer and director Payl Kapadia has

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imbued into All we imagine is light. She really is

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a rich and redolent storyteller and the story is told

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from a female perspective. It's a feminist work and the

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impression one gains is that tradition and the patriarchy are

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still very much well, They still very.

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Much hold the upper hand here.

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She's composed the picture to ensure that we care about

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each of the characters and what the very best for them.

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I gotta say Mumbai is another pivotal persona in the movie.

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It is in effect a persona. Really evocative cinematography by

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Rabia DAAs well captures the hustle and bustle excitement of

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the city that never sleeps, and as somebody who's visited Mumbai,

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I can account for that, I can attest for that

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to that because it is a boisterous city and people

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gravitate towards it. But however long they remain there, the

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question is can they ever call it home? Within this

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context of the movie, or we can imagine is light.

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Performance is quite naturalistic, particularly that of Canni Khuzruti as Prava,

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about whom there's an intensity disappointment and a sadness and

286
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her eyes speak volumes more of a rebellious streak. In Anu,

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who wants to turn tail on the old ways of

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thinking and her desire to do her own thing very

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well captured by Divia Prava. Frustration is the key ingredient

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that Chaya Kadam brings to Parvati, who falls foul of

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the system. Not for nought did all we imagine is

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light which captures the essence of city and village life.

293
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When the Grand Prix at the twenty twenty four Cahnes

294
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Film Festival, So I thought this was a solid independent movie,

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something that again it's not mainstream in its proclivities, but

296
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it's well done.

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What did you think about. All we imagine is like Peter.

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I was very impressed by this film. And it's interesting

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to note that it's the second film from this director,

300
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so which is, by coincidence, similar to Eisenberg's second film

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as director. Anyway, this is such a well observed film

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about the role of women in contemporary Indian society. This

303
00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:29.920
doesn't go the Bollywood path that so many Indian films

304
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.880
tend to go, or the romantic sort of aspect. This

305
00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:38.720
is almost like a documentary, although of course it's not.

306
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It's a fictional film, and it's just so well observed

307
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by these two women who are nurses trying to live

308
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their lives, trying to understand the different cultures that are

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00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:54.240
impacting on them and how they can navigate that. Knowing

310
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that India, of course is still a patriarchal society, but

311
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it is gradually changed, and we're seeing that through the

312
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eyes of these two women in particular and through the

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medical nursing side of things that they focus on. Really

314
00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:15.079
loved this film. Beautifully shot in Mumbai, and it gives

315
00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:19.240
you that impression of not just light because that light

316
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is part of the title, but also of the changes

317
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that are happening in contemporary Indian urban society. Lovely film

318
00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:36.359
Beautifully Observed has received lots of nominations in different categories

319
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:41.640
at different awards presentations, and I'm not surprised. This is

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really a superb film.

321
00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:48.279
Well, it's interesting inasmuch as I think, as a filmmaker,

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you've got somebody that we are going to be paying

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a lot of attention to because of her observation of

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the human condition. I'm really like you suitably impressed by her.

325
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She's not what I would call a conventional movie maker

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because she takes she as she has done. She takes

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a feminine look at something, and I thought it was

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a really it was kind a pointed commentary on the

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way of the world, and I found that extremely compelling.

330
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Peter, did you do absolutely very compelling. It's interesting when

331
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you say it takes a feminine view of the world.

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I mean more, more filmmakers should be being more even

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handed in terms of looking at male and female representation

334
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in film, and I think this film does it so well.

335
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Yeah, I mean, I think we are seeing more of that,

336
00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:45.559
and we're certainly seeing a lot more inclusivity in movies,

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which is a terrific thing. I kind of also, you're

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00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:51.960
long for points of difference, and I was trying to

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00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.599
draw a parallel between this and other movies that we've seen,

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and I quite frankly couldn't think of another one that

341
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had the same sort of z to it.

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Can you think of a parallel film off the top

343
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or not?

344
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What about the one? My Old Ass is probably along

345
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those lines?

346
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, potentially a little bit like it, although

347
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a little bit more mainstream. I would have thought my

348
00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:25.759
Old Ass is it ass? Or rs? I would have

349
00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:29.599
thought as But I mean again, it's got an intro

350
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that's the one where they look back at the life

351
00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:39.440
of an older an older woman, isn't it? And yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

352
00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:41.920
I think this is a bit more.

353
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Sensitive.

354
00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:47.160
Dare I say, yeah, I think this one is It

355
00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:50.640
stands alone in my eyes. So well, let's give it

356
00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:52.960
a score out of ten. It runs it for one

357
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hundred and eighteen minutes rated m all we imagine as light.

358
00:21:57.559 --> 00:21:59.160
I'm giving it an eight out of ten.

359
00:21:59.240 --> 00:22:02.599
Peter, I was suitably impressed by the film. I give

360
00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:03.759
it nine out of ten.

361
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:07.799
Oh okay, So we moved from there to an animation

362
00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:12.359
and as a franchise, this has done particularly well, and

363
00:22:12.359 --> 00:22:14.440
there's going to be more of them because it's done

364
00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:16.200
well and the studio is sort.

365
00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:19.279
Of counting the money.

366
00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:23.480
So Sonic the Hedgehog three lots of color, lots of movement,

367
00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:27.160
lots of high jinks, and it's quite a complicated story.

368
00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:30.880
When it takes a while, you know what's happening. It's

369
00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:32.880
moving from one thing to another. That's the first thing

370
00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:36.000
that struck me about this. And you know something, Peter,

371
00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:39.200
I went back a second time because it was so

372
00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:42.039
I found it. If you sort of switched off for

373
00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:44.960
a few moments, it went on to something else. That's

374
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:47.359
how I found it. But I'm pleased I went along.

375
00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:49.519
I enjoyed it the second time just as much as

376
00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:52.240
the first. I thought it was actually very well done.

377
00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:55.200
It's the latest installment of the video game spin off

378
00:22:56.200 --> 00:22:59.880
and Sonic played by Ben Schwartz or the voice there

379
00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:05.599
and his pells Tails Colline O'Shaughnessy and Knuckles Idris Elba.

380
00:23:05.960 --> 00:23:09.079
They've settled into domestic bliss in a place called Green Hills,

381
00:23:09.559 --> 00:23:12.920
and that's after their decisive victory over the evil doctor

382
00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:16.000
Robotnik as played by Jim Carey. I mean it's his

383
00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:19.680
movie in Sonic The Hedgehog two that came out in

384
00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:22.640
twenty twenty two. And suddenly, while on a camping trip

385
00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:25.960
with their foster parents, Tom and Maddie Woshowski played by

386
00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:30.839
James Marsden and Tik Sumpter, they received an urgent request

387
00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:36.480
and it comes from Guardian Units of Nations GUN, which

388
00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:40.920
is a secretive international security in military force. And after

389
00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:45.519
being held in suspended animation for fifty years, Shadow the

390
00:23:45.559 --> 00:23:49.240
Hedgehog as voiced by Keanu Reeves has broken free of

391
00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:53.920
captivity and he's hell bent on revenge after these five decades.

392
00:23:54.359 --> 00:23:58.480
The reason for his vitriol is the untimely death decades

393
00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:03.200
earlier of his only free the girl named Maria played

394
00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:07.680
by Aliah Brown. So Teams Sonic is dispatched to Japan

395
00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:11.319
to try to stop Shadow from continuing to run a mark,

396
00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:14.119
and they end up on a wild chase through the

397
00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:18.680
streets of Tokyo and London and eventually in outer space.

398
00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:24.480
Also returning is doctor Robotnik, who, as the story begins,

399
00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:28.440
has hit rock bottom, and he's joined by his ruthless

400
00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:31.839
one hundred and ten year old look alike grandfather Gerald,

401
00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:36.920
who is very much on Shadow's side. The director, Jeff

402
00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:39.160
Fowler is back at the Helm, as are all the

403
00:24:39.160 --> 00:24:42.680
writers of Sonic too, Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington,

404
00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:45.640
so you can be assured of the continuation of the

405
00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:49.599
zaniness that characterized the earlier two films in this franchise.

406
00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:53.079
The story well, it takes many a twist, and has

407
00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:57.240
mentioned it requires some concentration to follow. It's another great

408
00:24:57.319 --> 00:25:00.839
vehicle for carry This time he plays op is It himself,

409
00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:05.400
filling the roles of both doctor Robotnic and Doctor Robotnic's grandfather.

410
00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:12.839
The deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated handlebar mustaches on both set the

411
00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:16.039
scene very, very nicely, and while Doctor Robotnik is at

412
00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:19.839
first delighted to a founder family connection, Gerald is well

413
00:25:19.880 --> 00:25:24.319
hardly the warm, sharing, caring type, and as Sonic does

414
00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:28.400
a double take when he initially confront Shadow, you know,

415
00:25:29.160 --> 00:25:33.640
and he does, Sonic sort of thinks what because Shadow

416
00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:36.720
looks just like him, only in different colors. And then

417
00:25:36.759 --> 00:25:40.720
as events unfold, Sonic's forced to face his own demons,

418
00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:44.160
dealing with loss and morality. They've got a big part

419
00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:47.160
to play in the outcome of this movie. And I've

420
00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:49.559
got to say, I want you to stay on until

421
00:25:49.559 --> 00:25:52.200
the last frame because through the credits and then again

422
00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:55.079
at the very end, the picture points to developments in

423
00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:59.319
the next installment. That's Sonic the Hedgehog three. Did you

424
00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:00.000
enjoy it?

425
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:00.119
Be?

426
00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:05.759
Not particularly? The first one was not bad. It sort

427
00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:11.200
of was a frenetic film based on the original game

428
00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:14.519
or video game, and did its best to fashion a

429
00:26:14.599 --> 00:26:20.119
story and Jim Carrey, of course, to to eat the scenery. Well,

430
00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:24.000
now there's two of him in this third version, and

431
00:26:24.039 --> 00:26:25.799
not only does he eat the scenery, I thought he

432
00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:31.279
ate half the audience. The film is just ludicrously stupid,

433
00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:35.720
and I must say the storyline was just tacked on

434
00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:40.000
so that they can have for anetic animation. Kids I

435
00:26:40.039 --> 00:26:44.559
think might like the color and movement, but not appreciate

436
00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:48.440
some of the throwaway lines and gags that might.

437
00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:52.119
Work, wasn't it? It was complicated because it moved to

438
00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:53.640
another no question.

439
00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:58.519
Yes, exactly exactly, and it's but it's the usual plot

440
00:26:58.599 --> 00:27:03.519
about seeking revel, about making the world whole again and

441
00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:09.359
about and it's just so dumb and pointless in many respects.

442
00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:13.519
I just felt disappointed by the whole franchise. I know

443
00:27:13.640 --> 00:27:16.960
there's going to be a Sonic four, because I know

444
00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:21.880
it's already in the works, but Jim Carrey's character is

445
00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:25.640
just ridiculously over the top and over developed and.

446
00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:27.559
Very That's what he's noted for.

447
00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:29.880
And I think fans of Jim Carrey going to say

448
00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:32.119
he's back doing what he does, you know, that's the

449
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:32.640
whole point.

450
00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:36.160
Yeah, But I found it tiresome. I found it. It

451
00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:39.480
was just not doing much for me. And I've seen

452
00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:42.720
so many other animations that are so much better in

453
00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:46.559
terms of script, in terms of storyline. I mean obviously

454
00:27:46.599 --> 00:27:51.960
Inside Out Too is just superb. World Robot Memoirs of

455
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:56.200
a Snail. I mean, there are so many other better animations.

456
00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:58.880
This one is just a throwaway for me, and so

457
00:27:58.960 --> 00:27:59.799
I was not impressed.

458
00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:03.519
At Well, let's score it. It's PG rateed runs one

459
00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:06.920
hundred and ten minutes. I'm giving a seven Sony to

460
00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:07.599
Hedgehog three.

461
00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:11.480
You look, I am afraid I can't pass it. I

462
00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:13.160
can only give it full out of ten.

463
00:28:13.640 --> 00:28:15.720
My golly, gee, that's harsh.

464
00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:18.519
Let's I want to talk about a movie that I

465
00:28:18.599 --> 00:28:20.599
caught up with which I wanted to see at the time,

466
00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:24.759
and there was a clash. Black Dog now this is

467
00:28:25.319 --> 00:28:28.839
Redemption Again is at the heart of a Chinese drama

468
00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:31.440
set on the edge of the Gobi Desert just before

469
00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:35.000
the two thousand and eight Olympic Games in Beijing. A

470
00:28:35.079 --> 00:28:39.039
former stunt motorcyclist called Lang played by Eddie Ping, is

471
00:28:39.079 --> 00:28:43.599
a loner, just been paroled after being imprisoned for manslaughter,

472
00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:46.759
and he returns to his hometown, which has undergone quite

473
00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:50.599
a metamorphosis. In fact, it's been systematically dismantled to make

474
00:28:50.680 --> 00:28:54.359
room for new development. Many residents have already left and

475
00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:58.359
the place looks like a ghost town. There's a large

476
00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:02.559
population of stray dogs that roams the street and the desert.

477
00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:06.440
One of those is a black dog, hence the title,

478
00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:11.519
thought to have rabies and is causing all sorts of havoc,

479
00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:16.200
biting people. And there's the bounty, a bounty that's been

480
00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:19.359
put on this dog's head, which Lang initially goes for,

481
00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:21.960
but when he comes into contact with the animal, his

482
00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:26.519
view changes and the pair bonds. Meanwhile, city officials have

483
00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:29.599
launched a drive to rid the streets of strays which

484
00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:33.279
Lang is roped into, and he faces all sorts of issues,

485
00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:37.559
including the fact that snake farmer Butcher Hugh or Butcher

486
00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:42.200
who is out to avenge his nephew's death a decade ago,

487
00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:46.200
for which he holds Lang responsible and presumably that's the

488
00:29:46.200 --> 00:29:49.960
reason that Lang went to prison. Now Lang's father has

489
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:52.640
moved to what's left of the run down zoo in town.

490
00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:56.440
He's a heavy drinker and his health is fast deteriorating.

491
00:29:57.559 --> 00:30:01.240
The one new constant in Lang's life is that black dog, who,

492
00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:04.759
like Lang, faces all sorts of scrapes, but keeps finding

493
00:30:04.759 --> 00:30:09.680
a way through against an uneasy and challenging backdrop. The

494
00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:13.519
co writer and director Guan Hu has crafted a reflective

495
00:30:13.559 --> 00:30:18.079
piece about the changing face of China. There's a harsh

496
00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:22.680
grittiness to what unfolds here. Survival is far from assured.

497
00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:26.319
Who's not afraid to introduce a series of surprises as

498
00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:30.640
the narrative develops, including the arrival of a traveling circus,

499
00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:36.920
a member of which takes a shine to Lang. The landscapeable,

500
00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:41.480
it's barren, its challenging. The cinematograph Waizu Kiao has done

501
00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:44.039
a fine job in setting the scene, letting us know

502
00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:47.720
it's a place that's fallen on hard times, and an

503
00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:50.519
air of mystery surrounds Edny Ping in the lead as

504
00:30:50.599 --> 00:30:52.839
Lang is a man of few words, his stoic. He

505
00:30:52.920 --> 00:30:57.480
is resilient with his own code of morality. His past

506
00:30:57.519 --> 00:30:59.839
comes back to haunt him, yet he must find a

507
00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:02.160
way to deal with it before he can actually move on.

508
00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:05.799
And there's something heroic I reckon in Peng's representation of

509
00:31:05.880 --> 00:31:09.759
Lang the dog itself, like Lang has an untamed spirit

510
00:31:10.200 --> 00:31:12.359
which dictates proceedings.

511
00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:13.960
And both will not be tamed.

512
00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:17.039
So it's quite an intriguing portrait of a man and

513
00:31:17.079 --> 00:31:21.079
a city at the crossroads. And I haven't seen many

514
00:31:21.160 --> 00:31:24.039
Chinese movies, as mentioned, but I think this one's a

515
00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:24.839
really good one.

516
00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:26.559
Black Dog Peter.

517
00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:29.880
Yes, I like this film. I think it had a

518
00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:35.319
fair bit to say about the contemporary China and how

519
00:31:35.640 --> 00:31:39.279
people on the outer dogs on the outer are being

520
00:31:39.359 --> 00:31:44.000
treated and what happens to them if they don't quite conform.

521
00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:48.680
So I found there was a strong political subtext that

522
00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:54.240
was running through this film certainly about being able to

523
00:31:54.319 --> 00:32:00.440
survive and being able to stay and resisting being killed

524
00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:04.039
or been removed because you don't quite fit into the

525
00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:08.880
political paradigm. So yes, I like the film a lot.

526
00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:12.799
I think it's very well shot. I just felt it

527
00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:16.920
was a little bit predictable insofar as we knew that

528
00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:21.720
there was going to be some sort of reconciliation or

529
00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:26.519
some sort of happiness that was going to come into

530
00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:30.519
the storyline. Otherwise, Chinese authorities that would have looked at

531
00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:33.000
this film might have felt that the film was too

532
00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:37.279
political for their liking. But yes, it's a good film.

533
00:32:37.359 --> 00:32:44.039
It's well directed, well presented, and it certainly has received

534
00:32:44.079 --> 00:32:50.279
attention at various film festivals around the world quite deservedly. Yes,

535
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:51.039
a good film.

536
00:32:51.480 --> 00:32:53.279
Yeah, very good film. Well look, I'm going to give

537
00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:55.400
it an eight out of ten. It is called black

538
00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:58.400
Dog rated M and runs for one hundred and ten minutes.

539
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:01.599
You'd better I gave it seven out of ten, seven

540
00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:05.039
out of ten. Okay, which would you consider that to

541
00:33:05.079 --> 00:33:08.039
be your average score or a little bit above your

542
00:33:08.039 --> 00:33:08.680
average score?

543
00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:11.920
A little bit above average? I think by my average

544
00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:13.359
is usually about six.

545
00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:18.279
Okay, Well, let's go to the movies that were released

546
00:33:18.400 --> 00:33:21.240
on the first of January, the New Year's Day. One

547
00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:24.440
of those, which again has done very well as a

548
00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:28.480
franchise is Paddington and it's Paddington in Peru. In this case,

549
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:30.599
runs for one hundred and six minutes and is rated

550
00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:34.400
PG and Paddington, voiced by Ben Wishaw, as it has

551
00:33:34.440 --> 00:33:37.759
been previously, gets back to his roots in what's a

552
00:33:37.880 --> 00:33:41.839
rather roll king adventure with a Brown family. The rather

553
00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:48.400
intelligent Bear remains living comfortably with the Klan, although the

554
00:33:48.440 --> 00:33:51.519
Brown family I'm talking about, although there's now little connection

555
00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:55.440
between the parents and their two children. Judy played by

556
00:33:55.599 --> 00:34:00.200
Madeline Harris, is applying for university entrance and her mum,

557
00:34:00.200 --> 00:34:04.480
Mary Emily Mortimer, is sad to be quote unquote losing

558
00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:07.599
her because in America they usually go to another state

559
00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:10.079
or whatever to go to university, and they sort of

560
00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:14.519
move into the premises. Jonathan Samuel Jocelyn stays hold up

561
00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:18.840
in his room, playing video games and chilling Dad. Henry

562
00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:22.400
Hugh Bonneville has a new American boss at the insurance

563
00:34:22.440 --> 00:34:25.760
firm where he works, and she takes a decidedly different

564
00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:29.320
approach to what he's used to her mantres to quote

565
00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:34.320
embrace the risk and that challenges him. Mary's taken up painting,

566
00:34:34.840 --> 00:34:37.320
but longs to return to a happier time when they

567
00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:41.039
are all sharing the couch together. And then suddenly Paddington

568
00:34:41.079 --> 00:34:43.639
gets word from the reverend mother at the Home for

569
00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:48.039
Retired Bears played by Livia Coleman, that's where his beloved

570
00:34:48.079 --> 00:34:52.440
aunt Lucy, the voice of Emelda's Staunton lives. Apparently all

571
00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:56.679
isn't right. She's missing him terribly, so off to Peru.

572
00:34:56.800 --> 00:34:59.960
The family trots with the ever resourceful living house case

573
00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:05.079
keeper missus Byrd played by Julie Walters Ininte. When they arrive,

574
00:35:05.159 --> 00:35:08.199
the situation is actually worse than they expected. Aunt Lucy

575
00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:12.880
is missing. Thereafter being begins this dangerous trip to the

576
00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:16.800
Amazon rainforest in search of her, as well as the

577
00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:20.199
lost treasure of El Dorado. The guide is a boat

578
00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:24.719
captain called Hunter. Antonio Banderas plays Hunter, and there is

579
00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:30.079
skullduggery afoot. So Paddington in Peru. It's fun, it's creative,

580
00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:33.239
it's colorful. In fact, it's a delightful family film that

581
00:35:33.519 --> 00:35:37.440
features sight gags and mischief making. I like the distinct

582
00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:41.920
personalities that continue to inhabit the franchise. Paddington maintains his

583
00:35:42.360 --> 00:35:46.719
charm and his composure for the most part, and obviously

584
00:35:46.760 --> 00:35:51.280
at times he gets into all sorts of precarious positions.

585
00:35:51.679 --> 00:35:55.320
Now as Henry Hugh Bonneville must find his wild side,

586
00:35:55.639 --> 00:35:58.880
while as Mary Emily Mortimer gets what she's after with

587
00:35:58.960 --> 00:36:03.880
a family. Julie Walters brings a suspicious streak to missus Bird.

588
00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:08.920
Antonio Banderas has greed coursing through his veins as Captain Hunter.

589
00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:13.880
And then there's the super nice or is she mother

590
00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:18.159
Superior as played by the cheery Olivia Coleman. Setting action

591
00:36:18.239 --> 00:36:22.119
in Peru brings with a peril and pursuit, giving this

592
00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:25.599
movie a nice edge. I will say greatly appreciated the

593
00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:29.920
focus on heritage, as well as the unexpected ending which

594
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:31.920
I am not about to spoil.

595
00:36:32.760 --> 00:36:38.239
So that is Paddington in Peru. Peter, Yes, I really

596
00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:41.880
like the first two Paddington films. They were well written,

597
00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:48.400
cleverly crafted, nicely observed family and bare sort of stories,

598
00:36:48.840 --> 00:36:53.039
with a very good animation CGI on top of the

599
00:36:54.119 --> 00:36:57.440
live action etc. That worked really well for me. The

600
00:36:57.519 --> 00:37:01.840
second one just had some very clever ideas and some

601
00:37:01.880 --> 00:37:07.519
good writing which appealed to both young and old. This one,

602
00:37:07.639 --> 00:37:12.119
I thought, diverged somewhat from the first two films, and

603
00:37:12.199 --> 00:37:18.159
I think became somewhat sentimentalized and introduced characters that were

604
00:37:18.519 --> 00:37:23.559
not particularly interesting. I mean Antonio Banderas's characters, the ship's

605
00:37:23.559 --> 00:37:28.400
captain with his daughter that turned into an adventure sort

606
00:37:28.440 --> 00:37:31.320
of situation. I don't think that worked for me at all.

607
00:37:31.400 --> 00:37:33.760
I think that was just too over the top and

608
00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:40.320
silly and took the focus away from Paddington's character and

609
00:37:40.920 --> 00:37:46.800
having adventures that are a bit more oriented towards him

610
00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:51.039
and finding Lucy and so on, and plus Olivia Coleman

611
00:37:51.599 --> 00:37:55.039
as the singing None. I thought, No, this ain't no

612
00:37:55.159 --> 00:37:59.880
sound of music. I thought, I don't know. I wasn't

613
00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:04.119
about the character and about what relevant it had and

614
00:38:04.599 --> 00:38:07.760
what it was trying to do, because I mean, really

615
00:38:07.880 --> 00:38:11.639
the film had a sort of a nasty sort of

616
00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:18.480
subtext about thieving and robbery and misrepresentation and all that

617
00:38:18.519 --> 00:38:21.079
sort of thing. I thought, I don't know, I'm not

618
00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:24.519
sure if it's true to the Paddington character and Paddington

619
00:38:24.639 --> 00:38:30.000
having to be an adventure hero as well. I thought, No,

620
00:38:30.360 --> 00:38:33.280
I would have liked a bit better writing and a

621
00:38:33.320 --> 00:38:35.320
bit better story development than that.

622
00:38:36.119 --> 00:38:38.239
Even though Peru.

623
00:38:37.719 --> 00:38:40.639
The connection with the bears, I thought that was actually

624
00:38:40.679 --> 00:38:42.639
strong when it got to that point.

625
00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:47.239
Yeah, to some extent, yes, Peru serves as a nice location,

626
00:38:48.199 --> 00:38:50.280
although I don't think it was actually shot in Peru.

627
00:38:50.360 --> 00:38:54.079
But anyway, that's another story. I thought, No, it doesn't

628
00:38:54.159 --> 00:38:56.760
quite work at all for me, and the adventures that

629
00:38:56.880 --> 00:39:00.559
happened in the second half of the film just seemed

630
00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:04.679
a bit silly, bit over the top. I wanted better writing.

631
00:39:05.039 --> 00:39:07.400
Whereas I Kinite liked this, I did.

632
00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:10.280
I quite like Betting too. So it's P two, rated

633
00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:12.559
one hundred and six minutes. I'm giving it a seven

634
00:39:12.599 --> 00:39:13.079
out of ten.

635
00:39:14.159 --> 00:39:16.519
Okay, I give it a because I like the Paddington

636
00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:22.239
character and I like the special appearance later in the film.

637
00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:23.719
I thought six out of ten.

638
00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:24.639
Okay.

639
00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:28.199
Well. The other one that was released on Year's Day

640
00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:32.159
was Nosferatu, and this is a long film, one hundred

641
00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:37.440
and thirty three minutes, rated A. It's atmospheric, and dare

642
00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:39.840
I say it puts the bite on an impressionable youngster.

643
00:39:39.920 --> 00:39:44.320
Does it not beat up who carries the commitment to

644
00:39:44.400 --> 00:39:49.239
Dracula into her marriage with terrifying consequences. The writer and

645
00:39:49.239 --> 00:39:51.760
director is Robert Eggers, who did The Lighthouse that was

646
00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:55.239
the black and white movie, very much an independent film.

647
00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:59.000
He's at the helm of what is a supernatural horror

648
00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:02.440
and he was in inspired by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula

649
00:40:02.519 --> 00:40:05.920
that came out in eighteen ninety seven, and by the

650
00:40:05.960 --> 00:40:10.119
screenplay for nos Ferra to a Symphony of Horror that

651
00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:14.599
was released in nineteen twenty two that was by Henry Galen.

652
00:40:15.880 --> 00:40:20.119
Anna Anna Harding played by Emma Corn, effectively makes a

653
00:40:20.199 --> 00:40:25.079
pact with the vampire when she is but a teenager,

654
00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:30.079
and thereafter she's plagued by nightmarriagh visions, which carry on

655
00:40:30.119 --> 00:40:34.159
when she falls in love and marries Friedrich played by

656
00:40:34.199 --> 00:40:38.599
Aaron Tayler Johnson. When Friedrich's given the opportunity for a

657
00:40:38.679 --> 00:40:40.760
leg up in the real estate business in which he

658
00:40:40.840 --> 00:40:45.039
works by securing a client's signature in no lesser place

659
00:40:45.079 --> 00:40:51.000
than Transylvania, she is concerned. Anna has a premonition about

660
00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:55.480
what's about to happen, and she implores Friedrich not to go,

661
00:40:56.320 --> 00:41:00.000
but her husband dismisses her apprehension. Little does he knows

662
00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:03.000
that the client is none other than the notorious nos

663
00:41:03.079 --> 00:41:09.440
Ferratu aka Count Orlock, played by Bill Skarsgard, who local

664
00:41:09.480 --> 00:41:14.480
gypsies recognizes evil personified. In no time, he has Friedrich

665
00:41:14.599 --> 00:41:17.719
terrified before he hitches a ride in a crate on

666
00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:21.000
a ship back to the Baltic German down in which

667
00:41:21.039 --> 00:41:26.559
Friedrich and Anna live in the eighteen thirties. Nos Ferrato

668
00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:31.800
means nos Feratu means to eliminate Friedrich and reclaim Anna,

669
00:41:32.280 --> 00:41:36.559
who by now he's experiencing seizures still and is having

670
00:41:36.559 --> 00:41:40.000
a hard time convincing her best friend Ellen Hutter Lilly

671
00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:44.480
Rose Depth Johnny Depp's daughter, and her husband Thomas Nicholas

672
00:41:44.480 --> 00:41:48.480
Holt that her fears are real. Soon after, that changes

673
00:41:48.800 --> 00:41:52.920
when nos Ferratu gets a taste of blood. On Anna's

674
00:41:52.960 --> 00:41:57.559
side is a knowledgeable university professor played by Willem Dafoe

675
00:41:57.639 --> 00:42:01.519
who recognizes just what a threat Count or Locke poses.

676
00:42:02.559 --> 00:42:06.000
With alternating sequences in black and white in color, a

677
00:42:06.119 --> 00:42:10.440
portent of doom hangs over Nosferatu. There's a loud and

678
00:42:10.559 --> 00:42:14.519
potent score that underpins the dread. Now fine as that

679
00:42:14.599 --> 00:42:20.039
he is given the subject matter, I found the storyline disjointed, convoluted,

680
00:42:20.280 --> 00:42:23.320
and unnecessarily drawn out well.

681
00:42:23.760 --> 00:42:26.119
In short, the film labored, and there's.

682
00:42:25.960 --> 00:42:29.079
No way this movie justifies her to our plus running time.

683
00:42:29.559 --> 00:42:31.599
Emma Corn has a bit of a thankless task. At

684
00:42:31.599 --> 00:42:35.159
one point, she remarkably transforms from being off with the

685
00:42:35.159 --> 00:42:38.159
Pixies to normal without so much as a big pardon.

686
00:42:38.679 --> 00:42:41.079
I wasn't sold, nor was I of many of the

687
00:42:41.119 --> 00:42:45.679
other transitions that constitute this film. Bill Scarsgard mumbles his

688
00:42:45.719 --> 00:42:48.239
way through his role as the Devil Incarnate in a

689
00:42:48.239 --> 00:42:53.639
foreign accent. Willem Dafoe really unconvincing as the August Professor,

690
00:42:53.920 --> 00:42:56.280
and like much of the picture, what he does feels

691
00:42:56.400 --> 00:42:59.840
affected with a capital A. I simply didn't buy what

692
00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:02.639
he or the other characters were selling. In many instances,

693
00:43:02.679 --> 00:43:06.800
the dialogue sounded disingenuous, the acting appeared forced, and I

694
00:43:06.920 --> 00:43:11.639
just couldn't countenance nosferato nos farato, which became a very,

695
00:43:11.760 --> 00:43:15.159
very long sit and it goes down as the earliest

696
00:43:15.159 --> 00:43:17.679
of contenders for the worst film of this year.

697
00:43:17.760 --> 00:43:18.079
BETA.

698
00:43:19.039 --> 00:43:23.280
Oh my goodness, that is a pretty tough commentary on

699
00:43:23.320 --> 00:43:25.760
a film that I think Eggers has done a pretty

700
00:43:25.760 --> 00:43:31.039
good job in revisiting the original silent film. We should

701
00:43:31.079 --> 00:43:36.119
also mention that there were two other Nosferatu films that

702
00:43:36.280 --> 00:43:39.119
were made. So this, I think is the fourth version

703
00:43:39.280 --> 00:43:45.960
of nos Ferratu. The original film was originally called Dracula

704
00:43:46.000 --> 00:43:48.400
and was made in nineteen twenty two by F. W.

705
00:43:48.639 --> 00:43:52.480
Myrnow in a very expressionistic sort of style, only ran

706
00:43:52.559 --> 00:43:57.239
for about seventy minutes or so, and the Count was

707
00:43:57.280 --> 00:44:01.519
actually meant to be Dracula, but when the film was released,

708
00:44:02.360 --> 00:44:05.960
Bram Stoker did not give permission for them to call

709
00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:11.760
the film Dracula and to use the term Dracula, and

710
00:44:11.880 --> 00:44:17.000
so hence the name changed to nos Ferratu. However, the

711
00:44:17.039 --> 00:44:20.800
original silent film is I think the template in which

712
00:44:20.840 --> 00:44:24.760
all the other films had have to meet. Max Shrek

713
00:44:25.280 --> 00:44:29.800
played the Dracula like character and did such a brilliant job,

714
00:44:30.360 --> 00:44:33.840
especially in the muted black and white that the film

715
00:44:33.920 --> 00:44:37.599
was shot in, that any other version of that film,

716
00:44:37.639 --> 00:44:41.119
even if it's shot in color or muted color, would

717
00:44:41.199 --> 00:44:44.559
never live up to the original, which was just so superb.

718
00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:49.599
So this new version, this fourth version of nos Ferrato,

719
00:44:50.159 --> 00:44:54.239
I think, does a reasonable job. It gets into the

720
00:44:54.280 --> 00:44:59.800
psychological horror of the Count or Dracula if we use

721
00:44:59.840 --> 00:45:03.039
that in verted commas, and of the power that he

722
00:45:03.239 --> 00:45:09.400
has over people, in particular women, and also of the

723
00:45:09.440 --> 00:45:14.519
notion of the rats that are symbolic of the invasion

724
00:45:14.599 --> 00:45:18.199
of the town and of the nastiness that can happen

725
00:45:18.840 --> 00:45:22.760
when things go or right. I like the film. I

726
00:45:22.800 --> 00:45:27.239
think it was well developed. Yes, it is long, but

727
00:45:27.360 --> 00:45:32.360
it also introduced some other characters, some other perspectives in

728
00:45:32.400 --> 00:45:35.880
addition to obviously what was in the original Silent film,

729
00:45:35.880 --> 00:45:38.840
and I think because of that, it did it quite well.

730
00:45:40.039 --> 00:45:42.679
I like Iger style. I like the way he uses

731
00:45:42.760 --> 00:45:46.960
close up. I like the way he uses blood and

732
00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:51.599
gore in a particular way and keeps it on hold

733
00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:56.159
for most part of the film. So yeah, I thought

734
00:45:56.199 --> 00:46:01.599
it was a pretty good attempt at revisiting the original film.

735
00:46:01.639 --> 00:46:03.639
It made my skin crawl, and I was looking at

736
00:46:03.679 --> 00:46:08.000
my watch a lot, and I'm afraid that I cannot

737
00:46:08.559 --> 00:46:12.559
really fathom why they've done it this way. Nos Ferrato,

738
00:46:12.920 --> 00:46:16.480
nas Ferrato, I kept saying, oh, nos Feratu rated m

739
00:46:16.519 --> 00:46:18.679
A two hours, thirteen minutes.

740
00:46:19.400 --> 00:46:21.599
They fail four out of ten.

741
00:46:23.400 --> 00:46:26.760
Okay, I quite liked it, and I think it has

742
00:46:26.800 --> 00:46:30.079
some elements that really worked, so I give it seven

743
00:46:30.159 --> 00:46:30.719
out of ten.

744
00:46:32.159 --> 00:46:35.320
All right, So you've failed one. I've failed one. What

745
00:46:35.559 --> 00:46:36.880
doesn't fail is.

746
00:46:36.880 --> 00:46:39.400
A musical that I saw, which you would have seen

747
00:46:39.559 --> 00:46:44.880
in cinematic form, School of Rock, the musical I saw that.

748
00:46:44.920 --> 00:46:47.079
I went to Frankston and I went there on New

749
00:46:47.159 --> 00:46:50.079
Year's Eve because that was the opening night. And it's lively,

750
00:46:50.159 --> 00:46:52.880
it's cheery, it up ends political correctness. In fact, it is.

751
00:46:52.920 --> 00:46:56.360
They are really the perfect holiday treat. And it features

752
00:46:56.400 --> 00:46:59.480
the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater,

753
00:46:59.519 --> 00:47:02.719
book by Julian Fellows, And it's based on the two

754
00:47:02.719 --> 00:47:04.639
thousand and three film that you saw, Peter.

755
00:47:05.239 --> 00:47:05.440
Yep.

756
00:47:05.800 --> 00:47:07.840
A real hip for Jack Black, wasn't it. In fact,

757
00:47:07.880 --> 00:47:09.800
it was a perfect vehicle for Jack Black. I think

758
00:47:11.159 --> 00:47:14.000
the recalcitrant teacher, the racalcil trant, Peter.

759
00:47:14.360 --> 00:47:15.679
It works well, doesn't it, Peter.

760
00:47:16.519 --> 00:47:17.599
What's the story of my life?

761
00:47:18.880 --> 00:47:19.639
It is? It is?

762
00:47:20.400 --> 00:47:24.440
You could have You could have played the character very much. So, right,

763
00:47:25.159 --> 00:47:28.480
how's your singing voice, Peter? I've never heard it?

764
00:47:28.679 --> 00:47:31.320
Dreadful. I need to be dubbed.

765
00:47:32.119 --> 00:47:34.719
Is there a Are you a shower singer, Peter or not?

766
00:47:34.920 --> 00:47:35.840
We don't sing at all.

767
00:47:36.280 --> 00:47:37.280
I don't sing at all.

768
00:47:37.400 --> 00:47:39.599
You spare the world, Peter, very good.

769
00:47:40.599 --> 00:47:44.400
Well, okay, so Jack Black, of course played the most

770
00:47:44.480 --> 00:47:48.960
unlikely of teachers. Well, hang on, you're the analogy keeps

771
00:47:49.000 --> 00:47:49.480
on going.

772
00:47:49.519 --> 00:47:51.679
But in another life, you were a teacher, weren't you?

773
00:47:52.159 --> 00:47:52.559
Correct?

774
00:47:53.199 --> 00:47:56.199
Yes? Right, were you were? You drummed out a school

775
00:47:56.239 --> 00:47:57.599
like the character here.

776
00:47:58.519 --> 00:48:03.199
With a real drum. Nah no, no, no, I never

777
00:48:03.239 --> 00:48:03.880
taught music.

778
00:48:05.400 --> 00:48:08.440
With very good reason, I get a if you're tone deaf,

779
00:48:08.559 --> 00:48:12.039
it's very good, Thank goodness for that. You've spared the world.

780
00:48:12.199 --> 00:48:13.119
Very good.

781
00:48:13.400 --> 00:48:16.480
Well, okay, this as a musical at Deboot on Broadway

782
00:48:16.800 --> 00:48:22.360
in December twenty fifteen, and now plus PLS Musical Productions

783
00:48:22.679 --> 00:48:25.239
brings us all the color and the hijinks at Frankston

784
00:48:25.360 --> 00:48:25.760
Art Center.

785
00:48:26.440 --> 00:48:28.239
So that's in Melbourne, Southeast.

786
00:48:28.239 --> 00:48:31.039
If you happen to be watching, listening, or doing other

787
00:48:31.119 --> 00:48:33.320
things from interstate or overseas.

788
00:48:33.840 --> 00:48:36.639
Dewey Finn cannot take a trick. He's struggling.

789
00:48:36.880 --> 00:48:39.559
He's an out of work rock singer and guitarist, just

790
00:48:39.599 --> 00:48:42.239
being kicked out of his band as well as being

791
00:48:42.280 --> 00:48:44.719
fired from his job at a record store because he's

792
00:48:44.719 --> 00:48:48.440
totally unliable. He's unable to pay his rent, which is

793
00:48:48.519 --> 00:48:51.320
lent upon to make good on by his friend ned

794
00:48:51.360 --> 00:48:57.320
Schneeby's dominier and girlfriend, Patty Demaco. And that's when opportunity knocks.

795
00:48:58.000 --> 00:49:01.679
Let me be more accurate, Dewey take advantage of an

796
00:49:01.679 --> 00:49:05.639
opportunity that wasn't meant for him. Rosalie Mullens, who's the

797
00:49:05.639 --> 00:49:09.960
principal of this hoitty twitty school, calls to offer Schneebly

798
00:49:10.400 --> 00:49:15.159
a well paid substitute teacher's position. Because he is a

799
00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:21.599
substitute teacher. This is the friend of Dewey anyway, Jeweyish

800
00:49:21.960 --> 00:49:26.440
assumes Schnebley's persona. He takes the job at Horace Green School,

801
00:49:26.960 --> 00:49:30.840
where he will be teaching fifth graders, and, in keeping

802
00:49:30.880 --> 00:49:34.440
with his reckless ways, he arrives for the first day late,

803
00:49:35.159 --> 00:49:40.599
totally unprepared and hungover. Now that was just the next day.

804
00:49:41.000 --> 00:49:43.320
The teacher said you can start immediately, but he still

805
00:49:43.360 --> 00:49:47.920
decided to tie one on. Now, the seemingly straight laced,

806
00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:51.400
uptight by the book principle doesn't know what's hit her,

807
00:49:51.800 --> 00:49:56.079
and neither do the children. Dewey abandons the set curriculum,

808
00:49:56.360 --> 00:49:59.400
gives over his classes to form a band, complete with

809
00:49:59.480 --> 00:50:04.840
backups and Rody's. He wants them to compete in the

810
00:50:04.880 --> 00:50:08.119
Battle of the Band's competition where his former band No

811
00:50:08.320 --> 00:50:13.559
Vacancy will feature and twenty thousand dollars prize money is

812
00:50:13.599 --> 00:50:16.679
on offer. But that's hardly what the parents paid massive

813
00:50:16.719 --> 00:50:20.320
tuition fees for. For fifty thousand dollars a year at grade?

814
00:50:20.360 --> 00:50:24.679
What was that with the age of fifth graders, certainly

815
00:50:24.679 --> 00:50:29.159
not what fellow teaches nor the principal were ready to countenance.

816
00:50:29.519 --> 00:50:32.159
So it's only a matter of time before the proverbial

817
00:50:32.280 --> 00:50:37.960
dam all bursts. So in what is a talent laden show,

818
00:50:38.360 --> 00:50:41.760
Clint Wood leads from the fronts Dewey Finn, strong projection

819
00:50:41.840 --> 00:50:44.840
and charisma to burn and he quickly wins us over

820
00:50:45.199 --> 00:50:48.280
as the anti hero, imbued with a spirit of rock.

821
00:50:48.840 --> 00:50:52.119
Is unquestionably the one that ignites this musical, which I've

822
00:50:52.159 --> 00:50:53.239
seen the second time.

823
00:50:53.280 --> 00:50:54.920
I might say I went back for second night.

824
00:50:55.480 --> 00:50:59.599
Emily Wilkinson is the complete packages Principal mullins. Her strut

825
00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:03.760
sets the tone, but it's her vocalization that marks her

826
00:51:03.760 --> 00:51:07.159
as a star. I mean that, whether it's operatic or pop,

827
00:51:07.280 --> 00:51:12.960
she delivers magnificently. As ned Ryan Perdy has subjugation down

828
00:51:13.039 --> 00:51:16.559
Pat and Sarah Cossi Glaubert doesn't hold back as his

829
00:51:16.639 --> 00:51:21.119
domineering girlfriend Patty, but Tilda Doughty brings attitude to her

830
00:51:21.199 --> 00:51:25.599
representation as miss Goody two shoes turned band manager Summer

831
00:51:26.199 --> 00:51:30.159
and then their surprise packet, The Surprise Packet Summer Bush,

832
00:51:30.400 --> 00:51:35.079
who readily transitions to Mika from shy to potent as

833
00:51:35.119 --> 00:51:36.760
the latter finds her voice.

834
00:51:37.119 --> 00:51:39.480
There's actually thirteen young cast members.

835
00:51:39.519 --> 00:51:44.079
They excel as Dewey's students turn bandmates, and they are

836
00:51:44.119 --> 00:51:46.800
on song when they harmonize. Some of them have got

837
00:51:46.800 --> 00:51:49.400
better voices than others, but as a harmony they do

838
00:51:49.440 --> 00:51:53.000
a really good job. They're backed by an enthusiastic adult

839
00:51:53.159 --> 00:51:56.400
ensemble who play the parents and the teachers, and let

840
00:51:56.440 --> 00:51:58.920
me not forget the musical strains of the pit band,

841
00:51:59.320 --> 00:52:03.280
some of whom as the band no Vacancy. Fine direction

842
00:52:03.320 --> 00:52:07.840
from Brad Fisher, musical direction Bev Woodford, choreography by Jessica

843
00:52:07.880 --> 00:52:11.480
Pratt and Talie A Sweatman. This School of Rock is

844
00:52:11.480 --> 00:52:16.199
a winner. Brett Wingfield's costume design from downbeat to classroom

845
00:52:16.239 --> 00:52:18.960
to rock chick hits the mark set changes.

846
00:52:19.000 --> 00:52:22.280
There lots of them. Plentiful. They're smooth by way of props.

847
00:52:22.280 --> 00:52:24.280
I couldn't take my eyes off the slide in slide

848
00:52:24.280 --> 00:52:27.519
out desk and chair accommodation, or the single bed propped

849
00:52:27.559 --> 00:52:30.239
up by green plastic milk crates, green and a few

850
00:52:30.280 --> 00:52:33.280
other colors. The big fan of those, and I like

851
00:52:33.400 --> 00:52:38.559
Daniel Jow's colorful lighting and Marcello Rico's boy sound design.

852
00:52:38.960 --> 00:52:43.119
So plus's School of Rock the Musical is rousing and

853
00:52:43.159 --> 00:52:47.280
its rebedias des even Fleetwood Macs Stevie Nicks, she's.

854
00:52:47.039 --> 00:52:49.360
A favorite by the way of Principal Mullins.

855
00:52:50.199 --> 00:52:52.199
Stevie Nicks would be proud of what's dished up here

856
00:52:52.320 --> 00:52:55.960
because it really does, pardon the pun, strike a chord.

857
00:52:56.400 --> 00:52:57.480
It's on at frank.

858
00:52:57.360 --> 00:53:01.639
Smart Center until the eleventh of January, so you've still

859
00:53:01.679 --> 00:53:03.320
got what six days to see it.

860
00:53:03.840 --> 00:53:07.519
Go along. Just get into Art Center of Frankston, VICTV.

861
00:53:07.559 --> 00:53:10.519
Dot Au, go onto the Watson section and you can

862
00:53:10.519 --> 00:53:14.800
book tickets to School of Rock the Musical. It is

863
00:53:14.880 --> 00:53:20.719
a fine, worthy production, Peter, even you might enjoy this one.

864
00:53:21.320 --> 00:53:22.159
I've seen the film.

865
00:53:23.000 --> 00:53:24.000
Did you like the film?

866
00:53:24.400 --> 00:53:28.599
Yes, Well that's a starting point, Peter. You know, so

867
00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:32.000
you can imagine with live human beings in front of you,

868
00:53:32.480 --> 00:53:35.480
not that they were dead when they were filming. But nevertheless,

869
00:53:35.800 --> 00:53:40.079
you know that that extra dimension, the X factor, it works,

870
00:53:40.119 --> 00:53:43.599
it works beautifully. So anyway, I commend it to you.

871
00:53:43.800 --> 00:53:49.480
And there's not much on, although there is starting at

872
00:53:50.360 --> 00:53:53.079
where we're talking about the Botanic Gardens.

873
00:53:53.480 --> 00:53:58.039
There are a couple of things. There's the Shakespearean production.

874
00:53:58.760 --> 00:54:01.800
Which is actually quite it's one of the shakespeare In

875
00:54:01.840 --> 00:54:04.360
productions that you don't hear a lot about. But the

876
00:54:04.360 --> 00:54:06.800
Merry Wives of Windsor is on there, The Wind in

877
00:54:06.840 --> 00:54:09.280
the Willows is on there. So you can check out

878
00:54:09.920 --> 00:54:12.320
what's on at the Botanic Gardens as we speak.

879
00:54:12.559 --> 00:54:14.719
Peter, thanks very much for your contribution.

880
00:54:14.920 --> 00:54:17.199
And I should mention the Golden Globe Awards will be

881
00:54:17.280 --> 00:54:22.119
on television tomorrow from twelve noon on Channel ten, which

882
00:54:22.199 --> 00:54:22.800
is terrific.

883
00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:25.320
And there's a in fact, I think that replayed at

884
00:54:25.320 --> 00:54:29.760
seven point thirty Chris, good stuff, beat be well, catch

885
00:54:29.840 --> 00:54:31.760
up with you, have a good new year and keep

886
00:54:31.800 --> 00:54:32.480
on being Beto.

887
00:54:33.679 --> 00:54:35.039
Okay, all the best, Alex.

888
00:54:35.239 --> 00:54:37.559
Thanks here is now you've been listening to First on

889
00:54:37.760 --> 00:54:39.320
Film and Entertainment,