283: Napoleon + The Creator

[00:00:05] Hello everybody, welcome back to the Film Buds Podcast. This is episode number 283 and my name is Henry. Noelle, this time she should be back next week. I know I keep saying that but things have been a little crazy here, a little chaotic

[00:00:28] and we are going to be doing our best of 2023 next week so she will for sure be back for that. I'll be counting down my top 10 films of the year and she'll probably be doing her maybe

[00:00:39] top 5 TV shows of the year so stay tuned for that along with we'll be doing a new review of some kind. But just me this time around, thanks for being here. Make sure to subscribe if you have not already and thank you to all of our new listeners.

[00:00:52] We really appreciate it and we hope you stick around. So this week I'm going to be touching on two films that we missed in theaters and I just got around to seeing it over the last couple of days but I was very excited and curious

[00:01:06] to see and to talk about which is Ridley Scott's Napoleon, the Napoleon biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix and then Gareth Edwards' The Creator, his new sci-fi film from I believe late summer. And then I have some other stuff I watched, all the normal stuff so once again thanks

[00:01:24] for being here. So we'll probably get into what's been happening lately when Elle is back next week, that's more on her side of things but otherwise took Elvis in to get some of his shots, our German

[00:01:38] Shepherd Black Lab mix dog which was good so he's all updated and then just been working and all that but been a fairly exhausting couple weeks and trying to look at maybe taking some vacation in perhaps March or April so looking forward to that. Hopefully that goes through.

[00:01:55] Other than that not a whole lot, just been recording some bonus shows for our bonus show page which is at filmbuds.bangcamp.com and that has over 60 plus bonus shows at this point so please check that page out if you have not already.

[00:02:08] You can subscribe there for 5 bucks and get all shows or just download each one for a minimum $1 donation. I do want to go ahead and get into these films so let's get into the first movie which is Napoleon and we have a clip so take a listen.

[00:02:23] No doubt you've seen the chaos in the streets. We must make an example or France will fall. What would you do if this assignment of defense was transferred to you? I promise you brilliant successes.

[00:02:54] Alright so Napoleon is on digital now for rent and purchase, directed by Ridley Scott, stars Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Rupert Everett, Mark Bonar, Paul Reiss and the synopsis is an epic that details the checkered rise and fall of French Emperor

[00:03:15] Napoleon Bonaparte and his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive volatile relationship with his wife Josephine. So this is Ridley Scott's latest historical epic. He's been in a bit of a historical epic phase I guess aside from The Martian he's done Exodus

[00:03:30] of the Scots and Kings, The Last Duel and he also did Robin Hood back in 2010 and he's done many others as well but this is his latest and I as anyone who listens to the show I love Ridley Scott.

[00:03:43] He's one of my favorite filmmakers and no one really makes historical epics like he does and I feel the same way about his sci-fi films. I'm so glad that he continues to get these movies made.

[00:03:54] I mean they cost a hundred two hundred million dollars and for the most part they don't do that well financially and so I'm really surprised that he is still able to get the funds for

[00:04:03] these movies and to do them at the scale that he does because usually they'd say alright well this one didn't do very well sorry one and done but he's been able to make a few

[00:04:12] in a row now and Napoleon didn't really do all, I mean it made more money than I thought I would but considering his budget was still not really a huge hit financially.

[00:04:20] I was very excited about this one as every Ridley Scott movie but I find The French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte very fascinating. I love Joaquin Phoenix and really any historical epic that follows revolutions, military campaigns,

[00:04:36] biopics I'm just, this is my kind of film as I say every so often on the show. This is just my style of movie. These big epic sprawling big production value not necessarily a lot of action.

[00:04:50] This one has a decent amount of action but just these big historical epics are the thing I am immediately drawn towards and really Scott is the king of this type of film and

[00:05:02] I'm sad that I guess he's more towards the end of his career because I feel like these movies don't get made very often even if they're not perfect they still don't get made all that often and always so happy when they do.

[00:05:13] I had heard fairly mixed things about these. I think most of his are generally more polarizing kind of mixed reviews. There's not even one that comes close to disliking for me.

[00:05:25] I really like all of them and I guess I can go ahead and just say I really enjoyed this movie. I don't get the major hate against it. I don't think it's a masterpiece. I think Kingdom of Heaven, The Director's Cut and then probably Exodus Gods and Kings

[00:05:39] and then Gladiator of course are better maybe about on par with Robin Hood. I think I like this one a little bit more than Robin Hood and I like it more than The Last Duel. Joaquin Phoenix as he always is is amazing.

[00:05:51] He just completely embodies that role and there's so many facets and nuances to his character that might not otherwise be there in the script. I think the script is alright. I know some people criticize the script but I think for what he was given he really really

[00:06:06] elevated it and I don't mind that the movie, I think one thing is they commented on it brushing through things too quickly, didn't focus on one particular area. In this case maybe it was partly due to Joaquin Phoenix or just how Ridley Scott decided to tell the story.

[00:06:23] I didn't really have a problem with that. I felt the movie for being two and a half hours long flowed perfectly and I know Ridley Scott has talked about doing a four hour Director's Cut at some point on Apple TV which I'm dying to see.

[00:06:36] I'm really hoping that happens but I was surprised that I was never really checking the run time whereas I know most of his films in this genre get criticized for pacing but I don't really understand that because I don't know what you're expecting when it comes to

[00:06:50] pacing for historical epics. They're going to be slower, they're going to be more deliberately gradually paced and I don't think he has one out there that is poorly paced in terms of being inconsistent.

[00:07:01] I think they're all slower but it comes with the territory so I don't really understand that repeat criticism over a lot of these films because he's pretty consistent across the board. It doesn't mean that the movies are perfect but when it comes to pacing and storytelling

[00:07:16] it's generally pretty solid. I think another thing that I heard brought up is the tone. The tone is lighter than I thought it would be but that's not really a bad thing for me. The movie is genuinely funny.

[00:07:28] At times I think some of the humor with Joaquin Phoenix, with Napoleon and him being so caught up in his own world, he's never wrong, he has all this bravado and then at the same

[00:07:38] time he seems to almost cower like a little boy and he really hides behind his rank. So I think all of that and the little injects of humor work so I didn't really have a problem with the tone.

[00:07:50] In some ways I found it refreshing because I found like it never took itself overly seriously which maybe that's a bad thing for some people, I don't know but I didn't really have a problem with that.

[00:08:00] End of the day I think the main issue with the movie is there are parts that are a little too rushed, a little too shallow but that wasn't really a big issue for me. I just was really entertained. I thought it looked incredible.

[00:08:11] Like Ridley Scott, and it's the same thing with his sci-fi films, he shoots these films in a way and his production value and the amount of practical effects and extras, it's almost similar to someone like Christopher Nolan. He goes all out.

[00:08:25] And I did do a review last week of Exodus, Gods and Kings and then the making of that movie which is a Ridley Scott film as well. And you watch that and you can see the incredible level of quality and production and epicness

[00:08:39] that he brings to his movies and staging these huge action sequences with all these real extras and horses and weapons and all this stuff. It's pretty amazing to watch and I'm hoping that they do a big making of documentary for this maybe when the Blu-ray comes out.

[00:08:54] I'm hoping that happens because I would love to see more about it. But the action sequences are amazing. I think each one really stands on its own. The opening one where Napoleon Bonaparte's horse is hit by a cannon and blows its chest

[00:09:07] out is a crazy visual and very unexpected. He just has a knack for shooting medieval historical action. I don't know what it is exactly but he brings an intensity, a realism, a unpredictability to it that just works every time.

[00:09:25] I think the Battle of Austerlitz, if I'm not mistaken, that's the right title, which is all out in snow where they ambush this army is amazing. And you see that strategy of Napoleon. The movie does a good job of showing you, yeah he did have some brilliant strategies

[00:09:41] to him and you see why he was so successful in some ways. But then obviously as with Waterloo, he brought people to his demise because he thought, nope, it's going to work. It's going to be fine. I got it. Don't worry. Just move forward. I'm with you.

[00:09:55] So it does a good job of showing you both sides where, yep, he had some great intelligence, great knack for military warfare but then at the same time he couldn't get past his own ego.

[00:10:07] That sequence is amazing just the staging, the cannons where they run onto the ice and the ice is shot and blown up and the soldiers are falling in. All that stuff is really, really well done and looks beautiful.

[00:10:18] Just the cinematography, of course, really Scott's overall direction, Arthur Mack's production design, which he does in all of his movies. He's worked with them for years. Is always so detailed, so top notch, feels so authentic as close as it can.

[00:10:36] The Battle of Waterloo at the end is really well done and you see where there are points where he looks like he might be succeeding in the battle but then ultimately he just completely ruins it because he thinks he's right.

[00:10:49] The British are able to overtake the French and then he's exiled and that's really how the movie ends. But as I said, I thought it flowed so well. I can understand if it's not your kind of movie or if it's maybe not deep enough or

[00:11:02] I know some parts of the movie were criticized for historical inaccuracies but yet again, how long has Hollywood been around making these kinds of films? It just seems a little silly that every single time one of these movies comes out, this didn't

[00:11:15] happen that way or this didn't happen this way, etc. And I love history and I'm not saying it's good to completely ignore it but I don't think the point of the movie was, all right, this is how this happened exactly, etc.

[00:11:28] It was more so a portrait of Napoleon and if plot points and certain relationships are changed, I don't know if that has such a big change on the film because if Ridley Scott made a documentary where he was using real documents and paintings and whatever else,

[00:11:46] references and they said, all right, this is how it happened but that wasn't true. That's different. You can criticize it, all right, that is wrong because you are saying this actually happened this way and it didn't.

[00:11:56] But in this, it's a historical dramatization of something that happened hundreds of years ago. I don't know how accurate you're supposed to get or you can get. Yeah, there's a lot of documentation but at the same time, it's a dramatization.

[00:12:10] And I think anyone watching Ridley Scott movies would know that at this point. Exodus of Gods and Kings, Robin Hood, I mean, that's Kingdom of Heaven. All these have a certain kind of mythical quality to them.

[00:12:21] Some obviously are true stories in some ways while others are more mythical and like Robin Hood for example. I don't really understand that. I didn't have a problem with that in the slightest bit. I'm not a Napoleon Bonaparte expert.

[00:12:35] I've read and studied the French Revolution and some on him as well over the years but I'm definitely not an expert so maybe if I was closer, I would be a little bit more peeved at that.

[00:12:47] But first time watch with my background knowledge, I had no problem with that at all and I just don't fully understand what are you expecting at this point. If you don't want to watch a movie that's not exactly how it happened, you shouldn't be watching it.

[00:12:59] It's Hollywood, it's a new interpretation of a character, of an event. If that's something that pissed you off, let me know your thoughts on why at FilmBuds on social media, email, letterboxd, let us know. Then I guess another big thing with the movie is Josephine.

[00:13:15] I thought Vanessa Kirby was amazing. She wasn't in it enough and I know that Director's Cut apparently has a lot more of her which I am excited to see if that ever does come out. I thought she was amazing and she and Joaquin Phoenix have great chemistry together.

[00:13:30] I really like the part where it shows them getting married and then she immediately has an affair later on and Joaquin Phoenix comes back and feeling so embarrassed and then the relationship changing over time and them kind of becoming friends and all that.

[00:13:46] So I thought all that worked pretty well. There's nothing incredibly deep about it but I thought performance wise, writing wise, chemistry wise, it worked really well for me. The sequence in Egypt is really great.

[00:13:58] I mean really any, really this guy can just shoot and make action and historical warfare so epic. You feel like you're really there and he's able to maintain pretty good focus and geography where you don't really get lost in all of the chaos of the sequences.

[00:14:15] So that's another plus in his favor. So this is definitely one of my favorites of the year so far. There are some I've missed that I'm going to try and watch before next week but this is definitely up there for one of my favorites of the year.

[00:14:27] I kind of knew going in I was really going to like it and I was not disappointed. Let me know your thoughts if you were not really a fan of it or if you were a big fan of it. I would like to know why. Good score.

[00:14:37] As always, the production and costume design is just off the charts. I mean just the level of detail and then also the real locations that they used. I don't know exactly which were real and which were not which maybe that's a compliment on

[00:14:49] its own right where you don't know if this was an actual place or if it was just recreated through sheer research and detail. So big fan of the movie. Not a masterpiece, not top three Ridley Scott for me but a lot better than I think people

[00:15:02] made out to be. More deserving of praise and one I will definitely go back and rewatch every so often and I'm very very excited to see that four hour director's cut because I could easily watch another hour

[00:15:16] and a half of this movie because that pacing was really good. I don't really understand the huge criticism but anyways so that one is a four and a half out of five.

[00:15:26] All right well let's get to Gareth Edwards the creator and we do have a clip as well so take a listen. Shipley, it's Howell. Answer the phone. Shipley? I know you're there. Colonel! Taylor, where's Shipley? I'm with him right now. He's in pretty bad shape.

[00:15:39] All right listen to me. Did you locate the weapon? Yeah it's here. I'm on my way. Describe it. It's a kid. It's a kid. They make it into some kind of kid. That's the weapon. What? Colonel. I can't reach you. You have to bring it to me.

[00:15:52] All right so the creator is now on digital for purchase and rental as well. Directed by Gareth Edwards who also did Rogue One and Godzilla. As far as John David Washington, Madeline Una Boiles, Allison Janney, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, not a huge cast really.

[00:16:18] And the synopsis is against the backdrop of a war between humans and robots with artificial intelligence a former soldier finds a secret weapon, a robot in the form of a young child.

[00:16:29] So this one is an original story by Gareth Edwards and I was really excited to see this one because it's pretty rare you get a original big budget sci-fi epic being made nowadays. Usually it's always a franchise or big IP affiliated movie but this one was I guess

[00:16:49] because of his success with Rogue One and with Godzilla he was just given the green light and they said all right you can do what you want with it for the most part.

[00:16:58] So I was very very excited to see that this one came out because similar to Napoleon these movies don't get made very often by a big name director with a big name cast and a big budget.

[00:17:08] So I was very curious and I did miss it in theaters like Napoleon but I just got around to seeing it in the last couple of days. So I guess big thing, I was overall a little disappointed by it.

[00:17:21] I love Rogue One and I love Godzilla those are by far my favorites of his so far. This one sadly is my least favorite. It has a good concept and I thought the art design, the concepts, the cinematography was pretty great and for being an original movie.

[00:17:39] I mean everything takes from something but for being an original story about AI in a sci-fi dystopian world it was very refreshing and it's just nice to see even though I don't love the movie all that much I'm still glad it exists because it's almost something similar

[00:17:56] to Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets which I like that one a lot more than this one but it's just nice to see studios taking a bit of a chance on filmmakers saying alright you've had some successes do your own story.

[00:18:08] You know it's not going to be Marvel, it's not going to be DC or Star Wars, it's its own thing. Nevertheless I did find it to be much more underwhelming than I thought it was going to.

[00:18:20] The overall story, Gareth Edwards now having seen a handful of movies he just seems to have an issue with writing and making characters interesting. Godzilla if I had to point out something it would be the writing for the characters. Aaron Taylor Johnson not a very interesting character.

[00:18:37] In Rogue One the main characters don't know much about him, they're still good, I still like the movie a lot but if I had to point out one thing it's character wise not that great and in this it's by far the worst.

[00:18:49] I feel like John David Washington who I like a lot, I think he's been great in everything I've seen him in, he's good but the character is just pretty much nothing. I feel like I couldn't tell you much about anyone so maybe he needs to have someone take

[00:19:03] the story for him that he creates and write the script because he's usually a co-writer or a sole writer on his films and that is now consistently an issue for me. I feel like I'm always struggling to get invested in his characters, really get to know them,

[00:19:18] care about them. So with the movie not being all that flashy, all that big in action it was a little bland at times. I think all of the designs of the robots, the AI, the robot police, the henchmen, all

[00:19:34] that stuff was great and I think it almost reminds me of someone like Neil Blomkamp with District 9 and Chappie and Elysium but I just was struggling to get invested in this. I just didn't care that much about this kid who is this secret weapon and then John David

[00:19:50] Washington's character trying to save her and all that. I just really was struggling to care and it felt fairly unoriginal. So I feel like when the movie was first and foremost showcasing that art design, the

[00:20:04] costume design, the technology and AI concepts, I was pretty engaged but sadly there's just few and far between of that where there were parts where I was starting to lose interest and I feel like by the end I was ready for it to be over.

[00:20:18] I just didn't care that much about how it resolved. So overall I still give the movie a pass and maybe it will grow on me over time, I don't know but first time watch I was pretty disappointed in it. I think that seems to be the general consensus.

[00:20:33] I think people were more thinking this was going to be a lot greater and more epic than it was considering that it is this original story and it's by Gareth Edwards. I thought overall the whole cast was good. David Washington, I thought the young girl was very good.

[00:20:47] Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe who I love. I thought everybody was solid and he always gets good performances really I think but visually cinematography wise yes it was good like I said but I feel like a lot of the movie

[00:20:59] took place in a lot of dark industrial kind of dank locations where it just didn't really have much of a chance to be visually beautiful. Those interiors a lot of the time just were not very interesting to look at so I think

[00:21:13] whenever it was outside I thought it looked pretty good. The lighting, the composition just overall I did like the Southeastern Asia setting Thailand and Tibet and I thought all that stuff was pretty great and refreshing for a dystopian war sci-fi film.

[00:21:29] I like the look of the Tibetan robot monks if that's what they were towards the end I thought that was a pretty unique and original art design. The look of the AI with the back of their head having that circular space and the cycle

[00:21:46] moving back and forth I thought that was pretty interesting but overall I just was struggling to really think about the movie all that much, get engaged in those characters and in the movie flowing forward.

[00:21:59] Also I think overall his direction is good and his editing is good but in this there were times where I was struggling to figure out wait are we actually in the present day or

[00:22:08] are we going back to these flashbacks where it showed his relationship with his wife and other pieces of backstory. I was kind of phasing in and out wait oh wait shoot we're in the past now not the present

[00:22:21] or wait is this the future now like it was a little messy I think in terms of the editing and the direction to where I was losing track of where we were timeline wise.

[00:22:30] So that was a little bit of an issue and it's kind of strange for Gareth Edwards because he's usually pretty tight on that kind of thing. It's one that I might go back and rewatch sometime in the next couple years maybe it will grow

[00:22:41] on me I have a feeling it probably won't which is too bad because I feel like if you get the chance to do a big original sci-fi movie make it great. You know it doesn't have to be perfect but I feel like it should have been better than

[00:22:52] it is in my opinion. I know some people really liked it but I think it's that's more so the minority of its viewers. So like I said biggest issue was the script for me they just need a little bit more richness

[00:23:05] in the character and the story because it when it wasn't visually great it was a little bland sadly but if you have thoughts on the movie let me know. Same thing on social media at FilmBuds Letterboxd however you want to get in touch I'd love

[00:23:19] to know what you thought of it. Pretty good score I thought and the action that was in the movie I thought was good pretty visceral and intense and had some good choreography and twists.

[00:23:28] I like the look of that blue radar wall that would scan landscapes I thought that was a pretty interesting idea. So there are little dystopian sci-fi concepts and ideas scattered through the movie but

[00:23:42] there just wasn't enough really that when it was over I feel like I just was not thinking about it very much and there wasn't a whole lot that stuck out to me in terms of memorable scenes or emotion so a little flatline sadly.

[00:23:54] It's too bad because I was really looking forward to it. I hope more movies get made like this because we do need non-franchise sci-fi films being made or just big budget films being made because it is just refreshing in its own

[00:24:07] right even if it's not a great movie. So that's a three out of five. All right so I can just end off now with picks of the week. I re-watched War of the Worlds the Steven Spielberg remake.

[00:24:21] I really enjoyed the movie I don't think it's one of his best but for just being a B-movie genre film I think it still holds up quite well. Tom Cruise is awesome in it.

[00:24:32] When Tom Cruise is working with the right director the right story he can be so entertaining and funny good drama. I think he is fantastic in this. Dakota Fanning she's probably the best part of the movie her fear and confusion and sadness

[00:24:49] in this film is so authentic whenever she's trying to figure out what's going on from her father or her brother or one scene that really stands out to me is when they're at that farm and the brother's trying to leave and she's screaming at him saying you know

[00:25:04] what are you going to do who's going to take care of me if you go and just that sort of wail and voice crack and cry that she has feels so authentic for a kid who's just suddenly going from my normal world to an apocalypse.

[00:25:18] So I think she's incredible in it. The main issue is the last 45 minutes or so kind of drag you have to go down into that basement spend a lot of time there which I think the search by the aliens and that

[00:25:32] tentacle probe thing is very well done and there's some good little twists and visual cues and good suspense there but it's just too long spent in a place where you're not seeing what's going on in the world.

[00:25:45] You want to go outside and explore see more what's going on with the aliens and more interactions with people because really end of the day that guy in the basement is just not that interesting and if it had been a five minute sequence

[00:25:57] that's different but it feels like the movie sort of comes to a halt there once they get out it's pretty good where there's the capture sequence where they put the grenades up inside

[00:26:08] the ship and it blows up all that stuff is really well done and the overall concept of the movie the setup of the film and that initial part where you see the ships coming out of

[00:26:20] the ground and the Tom Cruise running and the people being vaporized all that stuff is really well done very good score by John Williams a little underrated I don't know if how many people nowadays watch it I feel like I don't hear it mentioned all that often

[00:26:33] but I think it's a little underrated maybe that's too far to say but I really enjoy it not a perfect film not a best of Spielberg but a great 2000s sci-fi genre movie so do check it out if you haven't seen it yet.

[00:26:45] Then I re-watched Loving Vincent the animated film about Vincent Van Gogh's death and them trying to figure out what happened to him did he actually kill himself did somebody else do it did he regret it when he first did it because he ended up surviving shortly afterwards before

[00:27:02] dying and the movie it is the first ever fully painted film and it is undeniably gorgeous just you see the hard work that was put in over years and years and years to make individual

[00:27:15] paintings for these scenes especially since they recreated a lot of Vincent Van Gogh's paintings and that's where the a lot of those sequences are set within those actual paintings which is amazing the story itself it's well told it's nothing amazing it's got some good flashbacks and I

[00:27:31] like the black and white style of those flashbacks there are points where maybe if you know a lot about Van Gogh and his death it may not be super dramatic or suspenseful for you but as a first

[00:27:42] time watch for me I remember it was great and I still really enjoy it there are points that maybe drag a little bit but it's still fascinating to watch gorgeous to watch very good score and a

[00:27:53] very emotionally touching film because you see how tortured Vincent Van Gogh was and how he just wanted to paint he couldn't do anything else and then he had this tragedy happen I really like the

[00:28:06] all the perspectives that the movie gives you about people who knew him and interacted with them saying oh this he seemed like this this day and then next week it was like this and etc etc I

[00:28:16] think all that stuff is done very well so a must watch I think for anyone really it's just a great unique animated film definitely one of the best of the last decade then I re-watched with some

[00:28:29] co-workers Medea's Big Happy Family which if you had said years ago I would find a Medea movie funny or many Medea movies funny I would have said you're crazy because when I first saw it I was like

[00:28:40] this just is too over the top it seems so stupid goofy just dated not for me and about two three years ago I was I think with a family member and they were watching it and I could not believe how

[00:28:54] funny it was and this is the first one that I saw and I think re-watching it now it is still hysterical Tyler Perry is a genius he's so funny as Medea and the other characters he plays and he

[00:29:05] does have despite all the goofiness the how over the top and silly these movies are he still generally at least by the films that I've seen of his as Medea they really do have good values

[00:29:18] like for example this one is a family acting out being disrespectful to each other criminal activity cheating on each other etc etc not paying attention to the important things in family

[00:29:31] and listening and then Medea having to come in and clean them all up and get him to focus on what's really important and the love there so I think that despite all the silly stuff he really

[00:29:42] grounds his films in good values that people can watch and they can laugh at but also those ideas are there that will really remind you oh yeah like family and respect and all these things

[00:29:56] that is really admirable and maybe some people don't pay attention to that at all when they're watching Medea movies I don't know but I think this one especially that really hit me watching

[00:30:06] I was like this is hilarious and so ridiculous but I see those morals and values there that he injects I really do appreciate that but I think of all the ones I've seen this is by far my favorite

[00:30:18] it is a must watch in my opinion it's if you're hesitant give it a shot I think you'll probably enjoy it maybe not but I really really enjoyed this one and I would say it's underrated and then

[00:30:29] I re-watched Snowpiercer the Bong Joon-ho film which I hadn't seen in years and it is incredible I think it's definitely one of the best sci-fi films of the 2010s a great Chris Evans performance

[00:30:41] John Hurt I love John Hurt RIP I think he's amazing in everything and just whenever he's on screen I'm instantly compelled I just am fully invested in across all of his films I think he's was an

[00:30:53] amazing actor Jamie Bell has a great role Octavia Spencer is very good really everybody in it is great but Bong Joon-ho has just a you know he's South Korean but he takes enough western elements

[00:31:06] to make it this interesting mesh of culture and style the flow of the movie how much variety visually the movie has considering they go from the very back of the train through this entire basically city on a train you know nightclubs greenhouses sushi bars classrooms it's just

[00:31:26] insane the amount of creativity within this very self-contained story it's very visceral it's very intense very dark and grim and depressing but really intense movie incredibly I feel like I don't hear it mentioned all that much I haven't seen the show

[00:31:43] but I was blown away about how well it holds up how it really resonates even more now with the ideas the concept the execution of it I think one of the best sequences is that moment where they

[00:31:56] open the door and there's that huge army of axe wielding henchmen and then the train goes into the tunnel and it goes dark and they turn on the night vision that sequence is so crazy and

[00:32:07] so unexpected but it really is horrific and intense but really a very well done sequence and the whole movie I don't think there's a part where I was ever really bored I was ever

[00:32:18] saying this is too much too ridiculous whatever it was flowing perfectly and I think it's an amazing movie and definitely check it out if you have not seen it if you have any interest in sci-fi

[00:32:29] or more indie underground sci-fi films it's it's a an amazing movie all right well I think that is about it for the show as I said Elle will be back next week for sure and we will be doing our best of

[00:32:42] 2023 so please make sure to stay tuned for that subscribe rate the show review tell your friends follow us on social media at film buds me and Elle on letterboxd email us with your thoughts

[00:32:55] comments suggestions anything we'd love to hear from you out there thank you for listening and we'll see you next time