The Box Office Revival + Bring Her Back Fails to Impress

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May 2025 marked a historic turning point for theatrical exhibition with box office numbers approaching $1 billion on just 128 releases – half the number required to hit that mark pre-pandemic. This stunning 75% year-over-year growth signals what could be the full recovery of theatrical moviegoing after years of uncertainty.

Behind this remarkable surge were five films crossing the $100 million domestic threshold, led by Disney's surprisingly dominant "Lilo and Stitch" ($260M domestic) and Marvel's "Thunderbolts" ($180M). Perhaps most unexpected was "Final Destination: Bloodlines," the sixth entry in a long-dormant franchise that managed to earn over $200M worldwide – proving audiences still hunger for inventive horror when executed properly.

The hosts dissect several recent releases, finding much to be desired in "Bring Her Back," the sophomore effort from the directors behind A24's "Talk to Me." Despite strong performances and effective sound design, the film's telegraphed storytelling undermines its potential for genuine suspense. Similarly disappointing is Guy Ritchie's "Fountain of Youth," described as a "dollar store version of Indiana Jones and National Treasure" despite its star-studded cast. Netflix's "Fear Street: Prom Queen" fares better as a fun but lesser entry in the franchise, while HBO's tech billionaire satire "Mountainhead" delivers mixed results.

Looking forward, excitement builds for Wes Anderson's "The Phoenician Scheme," the Ana de Armas-led "Ballerina," and Ty West's vampire film premiering at Tribeca. The hosts also share news of Luca Guadagnino directing an AI business comedy and James Cameron tackling a dark fantasy project called "The Devils." These developments, alongside the emergence of AI-themed narratives as a distinct subgenre, reflect how cinema continues to process our collective anxieties and fascinations.

Catch Alex and Max each week as they explore theatrical releases, streaming debuts, and industry developments with insight and enthusiasm that reminds us why movies still matter.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
How's it?
I'm Alex McCauley and I'm MaxFosberg and this is Excuse the
Intermission a discussion showsurrounding the real return of
the box office.
May was a historic month forthe domestic box office, so Max
and I will recap that activity,discuss some recent releases and
give an important update on theshow.
Those conversations up next onthe other side of this break.
All right, we are back.

(00:32):
And for the people on YouTubeor maybe this will draw some
people to YouTube I have aquestion for you, max.
Yeah, I've yet to really figureout my lighting situation here.
I've moved my desk.
I'm in front of a big baywindow that looks out over my
front yard.
Those curtains have been shutfor today's recording because
the last few episodes I've hadthem open to get that, you know,

(00:54):
natural glow.
Now I just have a ring light infront of me because I wanted it
to provide stability, but still, as I'm watching this like I'm
fading in, I'm dark, I'm light,I'm going back and forth.
You have such a nice steadylighting on you.
Is that the film school studentin you coming?

Speaker 2 (01:10):
out.
How do?

Speaker 1 (01:10):
you achieve such consistent steady lighting,
because I'm all over the placehere with my lighting.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
You like that practical in my background?
Yeah, man, I don't know.
The ring light why does itautomatically like go up and
down?
And the ring light why does itautomatically go up and down?
And the?

Speaker 1 (01:25):
ring light itself is not changing brightness.
Interesting.
And that's why I was like okay,we'll keep.
And these are blackout curtains, so there's no outside See.
There it does.
Maybe it's just my face, maybeI just glow like that, I don't
know.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Do you have the overhead light on as well?
Yeah, you do.
The overhead light is on.
It's interesting how dark itgets.
Yeah, I don't know.
I would try to, but I guess youhad natural lighting going last
weekend, right.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
With the curtains open.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
And no ring light.
I don't know, it might besomething in your computer
settings.
Perhaps Could be that yourcamera settings.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Yeah know, sometimes like if you're listening to um
like headphones on a iphone andthey'll just like automatically
adjust the volume or somethingfor you or the brightness, right
.
It'll adjust your camera oryour phone screen's brightness
and then you can lock it.
That's maybe what I need to do.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
I just need to lock my camera settings yeah, yeah,
that might be something to lookinto.
I into I've got a perfectovercast day today.
We had a thunderstorm earliertoday in LA, which was
interesting.
The rain came down in sheets.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
So as a transplant, you probably love that.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, it felt great.
We opened up all the windowsand it smells awesome and you
know I can hear the sirens goingoff cause, uh, people freak out
when it rains here, so forgethow to drive.
But yeah, we uh, yeah, it wascool to have some, some thunder
uh going on this afternoon.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Nice.
Well, up here in the PacificNorthwest it really feels.
It feels like things areheating up and summer's.
Here it's 80 degrees today,bright blue skies out, oh yeah,
which is kind of a good segueinto, you know, our first topic
here for today's show.
Because, with with summer, Ifeel like there's five or six

(03:19):
things that are kind ofsynonymous with like summer.
There's, you know, barbecues,there's fourth of july, there's
school being out and then, youknow, up there in the top, top
five, top seven things I thinkpeople associate is like summer
blockbusters, like what are yougoing out to see?
Well, this may, which is, youknow, kind of the unofficial
start to summer, that memorialday weekend is really when, like

(03:41):
, we start paying attention tosummer blockbusters and how
things are tracking, performingand ultimately how they end up.
So we have some numbers herefrom May of 2025 that we want to
go over at the beginning of theshow here because, like, what a
run.
This is a historic run for themonth of May.
Month of May, the cumulativebox office gross domestically on

(04:10):
128 different theatricalreleases is about $33 million
shy of a billion dollars.
Just to put that into context,the last year that the month of
May, here in the United States,domestically performed over a
billion dollars was in 2019.
And that was a billion and7,700,000.

(04:32):
The year prior, in 2018, it wasa billion and, oh excuse me, a
billion and 77 million, and itwas in 2018, a billion and 40
million, and it was in 2018, abillion and 40 million.
This these two years, though, ifyou look at the release numbers
and I'm on box office mojoright now in 2019 they performed

(04:54):
over a billion, with 225theatrical releases, and in 2018
they performed the box officeperformed over a billion, with
218 releases.
So once, once again, the monthof May in 2025, just shy of a
billion by about 33 million, andon half as many releases as

(05:15):
2019 and 2018.
So 200, or, excuse me, yes, 200releases.
Back then, we were at 120releases.
This past month, we can talkabout the heavy hitters that
helped get us to that mark, butwhat are your impressions of
that just right off the bat?

Speaker 2 (05:31):
you love to see it.
Uh, I, I think also a number weshould be paying attention to
is that, compared to last year2024, may of last year, I mean
we've seen an increase in over75% in box office and only two

(05:52):
more releases.
And, who knows, maybe there's,just there were more.
I guess maybe you think kidsfilms are kind of like the main
driver of box office, so maybethere were more kids films this
May, but but honestly, I, Ireally just think more people
are going back to the theaters,like I, you know, who knows if

(06:15):
it's.
I think it's actually totallypossible that we could get back
to a billion dollars, uh,monthly, uh, like we were in
2019.
And it makes sense that itwould take five years from 2020
to get back to this point.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, the rebound was going to take some time, right,
because you look in 2020, wehad 13 theatrical releases in
the May of 2020.
That increases to 83, 91.
And it wasn't until 2023 thatwe went back up over 100
theatrical releases, not only inthe month of May, but when that

(06:56):
started to average back out forall months.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
Well, and in 2023, it went down.
It went down only 1.5%.

Speaker 1 (07:03):
The performance went down only 1.5 percent, but the
performance went down.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
The performance went down and then last year went
even further down.
So it's very encouraging to seethis, uh, you know, as, as two

(07:26):
guys who love theaters, weedging out, you know, 2022,
which was the high mark for thepast five years, but the fact
that we were killing last year,and you know, by 75%, that's
great.
I'm excited to keep looking atit.
25%, that's, that's great.
I'm excited to keep looking atit.

(07:46):
Like you know, maybe maybe westart doing this every month, uh
, where we we look at themonthly, uh in recent years and
compared to this year, but, yeah, man, I, I think it's, it's
just all good stuff.
It feels good.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
So in the month of May there were five films that
grossed over 100 million dollarsdomestically, which of course
helped contribute to that nearlybillion dollar mark.
Uh, the top film being lilo andstitch.
This movie's, I think, wellover 600 million worldwide now
at this point, but in just themonth of May domestically it had

(08:25):
$260 million of gross income.
Thunderbolts was second with180.
Sinners still performing really, really well, with 123.
Mission Impossible, the FinalReckoning 114.
And then the little franchisehorror movie that could, Final
Destination Bloodlines, up over$100 million domestically and

(08:50):
when you factor in theinternational gross for that
film it is well over $200million.
So we're talking about, I meanof all the things right Like
Lilo and Stitch.
That surprised a lot of people,I think.
I don't necessarily believethat the consensus was that
there was that diehard of a fanbase out there for Lilo and

(09:12):
Stitch.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
I think they hit the timing perfectly right.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
I feel like kids who were six years old when that
original came out are A lot ofthem have young families now,
when that original came out, area lot of them have young
families?

Speaker 2 (09:24):
now yeah, or just even just like people with jobs
who can go to the movies as manytimes as they want, you know
yeah.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
So they hit perfectly on the nostalgic clock of that
and you know really good word ofmouth for Thunderbolt.
It's a great marketing campaignfor that movie, kind of acting
as the the shot of adrenalinethat marvel needed, I think,
gets people out to see that film.
Sinners obviously speaks foritself, um, but still just a

(09:53):
great accomplishment to see.
Mission impossible was alwaysgoing to do.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
Well, you have a sinners thought well, sinners is
interesting because it came out.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
The release date on that is april 18th yes, so I
mean so much of this box officeto continue.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah into may is is fantastic and I think kind of
speaks to the the quality ofthat film.
Absolutely.
You know, lilo and stitch andthunderbolts, are you know those
are, those are known ipproperties, right?

Speaker 1 (10:21):
so like, yes, they are going to have fandom behind
them, but, yeah, the fact thatsinners is in the three spot
here being an april release,that's, that's huge it is, and
and I think, much like sinnerswill probably continue to see
mission impossible play wellinto june because of that film's

(10:42):
late release date in the monthof May.
But to see it already be over$100 million is really good.
But then just back to FinalDestination Bloodlines.
If you were going to tell methat the sixth installment in
the Final Destination franchisewould probably end up over a
quarter billion dollars when itreleased that's, I mean, we're

(11:04):
talking like one of the topmovie headlines, one of the top
box office headlines of the year.
If you really pay attention tothis stuff and and kind of nerd
out over it like we do so, justincredible stuff from from the
franchise, that that we all kindof forgot about, I feel like
yeah, yeah, I, I it's.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
it's pretty amazing that uh cause again that and
that film's interesting becauseI guess it is a franchise right,
it's the sixth movie, but also,like it's a franchise, that
hasn't been around for 10 years,it's not particularly like a
you know it's it's not, it's nota Mount Rushmore classic movie

(11:44):
either.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
Right Like it's not.

Speaker 2 (11:45):
it's very fun and we really enjoyed seeing it and I I
hope there's no leather facedriving it.

Speaker 1 (11:51):
There's no, michael Myers, yeah totally Um.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
so that's really interesting.
Mission impossible.
It is going to be reallyinteresting to watch them
through June because you knowthat movie is the most expensive
movie ever ever.
That movie is the mostexpensive movie ever made, at
like $400 million for the budget.
So it still has some ground tomake up to get close to that
budget because we don't knowwhat the marketing was on top of

(12:16):
that and there's been lots ofmarketing for it.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
But yeah, I hope it continues.
It sits at at 356 millionworldwide worldwide yeah, it's
done about twice as muchbusiness internationally as it's
so interesting actually thatthat's so people love tom.
Yeah, we all know, tom tom doesnot world leader press.
Yeah, he does not do press forhis film in just the united
states, he's worldwide.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
I I will say he has done way more press, I feel like
, for this movie than he has inthe past decade.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah, and opened up more.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah, and more long-form stuff.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
Yeah exactly.
And then just a couple moviesto kind of round out the top 10
in the month of May.
A Minecraft movie continued toperform well.
The Accountant 2 was kind of aout the top 10 in the month of
may.
You know, like a minecraftmovie continued to perform well.
The accountant 2 was kind of asneaky success um 34 million
dollars domestically.
I guess a new karate kid filmcame out that was in the eighth
spot friendship, the paul, rudd,um and tim robinson tim robbins

(13:21):
uh, tim robinson movie.
And then the last rodeo roundedout.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
I think the last rodeo is like a kind of a sound
of freedom picture, like itmight be from one of those
faith-based studios.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Can I read you?

Speaker 2 (13:42):
the log line here on Box box office mojo can I do my
movie phone voice?

Speaker 1 (13:48):
to save his grandson, a retired rodeo star enters a
high-stakes bull ridingcompetition.
Along the way, he confronts hispast, discovers faith and
proves that true courage lies infamily.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Oh yeah oh, yeah, 11 mil, 11 mil hey that's good 11
mil.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
11 mil.
That's good for 11 mil.
Opening weekend.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
Give me that double Blu-ray with Sound of Freedom
please.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
Too funny.
So yeah, I mean that's notnecessarily to say that June is
going to replicate that we dohave some big releases coming up
.
But yeah, I mean, when you havelilo and stitch thunderbolts,
mission impossible, a couple ofhorror movies thrown in there,
one original, one ip things likea minecraft movie still playing

(14:35):
, kind of the perfect storm,like there's something.
There was something foreverybody in the month of may.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, yeah, I totally agree, and that's really what
you want.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
There's nothing worse than going to the theaters and
say you're going to like aneight screen cineplex and the
same movies on four screens,yeah, or five screens, that's
always the worst, yeah yeah, soyeah, yeah, keep, keep, keep
doing the good work.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
and you know what?
Shout out to warner brothers,who I I thought was was dead in
the water for a long time.
But between Minecraft, sinners,final Destination, they are
ascending with their releases,so I hope their good year
continues.

Speaker 1 (15:18):
These movies are all continuing to play well, just
daily too, because the firstfilm that we're going to talk
about kind of here in our recentrelease, um conversation.
I don't even see in the top 10for the domestic box office from
from yesterday, from june 2nd,um, I see, I see that number.
Is it number seven here?

(15:38):
I think, for domestic boxoffice.
June 2nd just single dayperformance.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
Oh, this is june like yeah, no, this is just june,
the month by a month yeah, um,because that's, that's an
interesting one.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
That, um, we can we can start to talk about here in
in just a second um, but any,any final thoughts on the box
office or or any new likefavorite theaters to report.
Where have you been seeing yourmovies?

Speaker 2 (16:06):
uh, yeah.
So yeah, I think one of themovies we're going to talk about
today I saw on a sunday nightuh, it was just a.
It was an amc at the grovewhich is like kind of this big,
huge shopping center in westhollywood and, um man, just a
packed house.
Packed house on a sunday night,at like like I had to sit in

(16:26):
the front section because Ididn't get my tickets beforehand
, which was totally fine, but areally engaged audience.
It was tons of fun and I wouldsay even like again heightens
the experience.
You know, I think we'll getinto it.
But even if the movie I thinkthat's what's so important about

(16:50):
going to the theater Even ifthere are low points in the
movie or you can feel stuffdragging, if something shocking
or something funny or somethingsad comes up, you feel that
energy in the theater and itdoes heighten, uh, movie
watching.
And so, yeah, I would just saykeep, keep going to the theaters

(17:12):
, keep, keep going.
I'll keep seeing you there.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
I can't wait I like it um.
So I assume that the movieyou're talking about is bring
her back bring her back.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yes, this is the first film, uh, that we saw, or
we both saw this over theweekend we'll saw this over the
weekend kind of the first whatlike big release, mainstream
release of june.
I would say, uh comes from thetwins, the australian twins, who
made uh talk to me back in.
Was that 2022?
Um, which was a criticalsuccess and a audience success.

(17:46):
Like people really, reallyliked that film.
I happened to rewatch it thispast week and, yeah, I think
that movie is just like kind ofhums, you know, like there's no
real lulls or bumps and like itdoes a great job.
It has.
I think I remember you and Ireally loving the ending to that

(18:07):
film.
Yes and uh, I was.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
I was very excited to go see bring her back so bring
her back opened on about 2400screens domestically here in the
States and grossed just over $7million, which I think is a I
mean, it's a disappointment forsure, and I think, at least to

(18:33):
me, came as a big surprisebecause I guess a lot of people
were still just seeing.
You know, like Final Destinationoutperformed this film last
weekend mission impossible, ofcourse, and lilo and stitch
outperformed it, but the newkarate kid outperformed it.
Um, sinners was just below itat like 5.2 million dollars,

(18:53):
thunderbolts at 4.7.
So again, having the diversity,having the variety of different
movies to go out and see rightnow, maybe hurt this film film's
performance a little bit, butmy screen was not very full, it
was like a four o'clock on aSunday and I think I probably

(19:13):
would have enjoyed the movie alittle bit more had it have been
a packed house, because thismovie, surprisingly enough and I
mean once we get into asomewhat spoiler-free
conversation about it but oncethis movie got going, um, within
the first like 15 minutes, Ikind of had one of those like
uh-oh moments because it's it'sa movie that I thought was

(19:34):
really going to be for me andthen I realized was a good way
that I think I can describe themovie without hopefully spoiling
too much was just like it wastoo handholdy, it was just
everything was too telegraphedfor me and I think the moments
that were supposed to be playedfor a lot of suspense just don't

(19:55):
work when that's kind of thescenario that you've put your
audience in.
So I don't know, I think weboth rated this somewhat
similarly on letterbox.
So what are your just sort ofoverall thoughts on on bringing
her back?

Speaker 2 (20:10):
I, I think it's just you know I, I think I wrote this
like this movie is just fine,it's it's like sure.
It's kind of middle of the roadfor me, like it's it's got it.
It's got some weak writing, butlike some of the actors give in
really good performances.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
I think all three of our main.
Really there's four mainperformances in this film, but I
think all three of the mainperformances are solid.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
Yeah, and Sally Hawkins is in this film and I
think what she's able to do withthe material is really fun on
one level and like disturbing,but then also like gets a little
hammy right.
And so you do have to kind of Idon't know.

(21:01):
You do have to kind of um, Idon't know you.
I felt myself like ebbing andflowing through the movie where
I'm like, oh, this is okay.
Here we go, like this is, thisis going to be fucking great,
and then you just kind of goback down into this.
What are we doing here?
Like what, what's going on?

(21:23):
Um, you know, like somethingthat we love in a good horror
movie, and especially in a 24,is like a signature score, right
, something, some sort of theme,that music theme, uh, that that
kind of leads you throughoutthe film.
This movie has a completelyforgettable score, like I don't

(21:43):
remember feeling the music atall in it.
However, the sound design, likethe, the Foley artistry of it,
um, or the, the sound effects,uh, are fucking fantastic and
really heighten some of thevisuals that you see on screen.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (22:02):
Um, how did you feel about the cinematography?
Because that was one thing thatI was like kind of like really
annoyed with.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
I was quite annoyed as well.
Here's my thing I felt like itwas too.
It's really interesting becausethis movie really takes a turn
once it starts raining in thistown that we're set in in
Australia, and I could not standthe lighting and the way things
looked once it started raining.

Speaker 2 (22:32):
It was very muddy.

Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah, I thought that was a big detractor for the film
.

Speaker 2 (22:37):
Yeah, and I just I you know some of the lenses that
were, that were chosen and theangles, and like I understand
that they're trying to make itas intimate as possible and
maybe that's supposed to do likeup ratchet the the tension, but
man, just like, can we, can weget out of these people's ear

(22:59):
Like, can you back me up just alittle bit so I can see the
geography of this place?
Um, so I found that kind ofdistracting.
On the other hand, there aremoments when we are in a little
bit of a wider composition and,like you know, some of the
special effects are reallyreally good.

(23:21):
You know, uh, there's there's acouple scenes this movie has a
lot to do with consumption andeating and there's a couple
eating stuff scenes that arelike just awesome.
And these are moments,especially in that packed
theater I was in, where I've gotmy hands on my head and people.

(23:45):
There was a woman two seatsdown that literally I thought
was going to puke all over thefloor.
Sure her gag reflex was justgoing off like crazy and people
are screaming and going oh noand yelling at the screen and
like, again, that reallyheightens the experience of

(24:07):
watching this.
However, once you walk awayfrom the theater and think about
it longer, you know it doesfeel a little like oh, those
scenes were kind of just shocky,right, like what really were
the points of those in this, inthis story, and it's never

(24:27):
really touched on or explainedwhy or what or you know who even
really, um, and so, yeah, thatI can feel, I can feel that, uh,
as, as I leave the theater andlike I'm thinking about the film
more, that it's kind of adisappointment.

Speaker 1 (24:49):
I'm going to give a quick, just secondhand synopsis
of the film, not readinganything right now, just so that
I can sort of talk about whereI think the movie could have
been more successful and thedirection I would have liked to
have seen them go in.
So basically, two half-siblingslose their father, their last

(25:09):
biological parent, and from thismoment on, which is really how
the movie starts, they're thenplaced into foster care and
Sally Hawkins is their fostermother.
The younger sister, thehalf-sister is basically blind.
She's like 80 to 90 blind.
She says she can only reallysee lights and shapes, and the

(25:31):
older brother, who's about toturn 18, is very protective of
his younger half sister.
And the moment that they moveinto sally hawkins house which I
do agree it's a great moviehouse I would have liked to have
seen the camera explore thatspace more.
You know something is off, andnot in a way where like, oh, I
know something's off here, Ican't wait for them to show me

(25:53):
what it is.
They show you right away, likewhat the problem is going to end
up being, basically and and.
So that's where there's justlike a real lack of suspense for
me, and I'm not here to saythat you know, I think there's
been this running joke for quitea few years now and this is
another A24 film, and Talk to Mewas an A24 film and while that

(26:18):
movie was elevated in someconcepts, it did feel more of
like sort of this justsupernatural horror movie
concepts.
It did feel more of like sortof this just supernatural horror
movie.
This is really relying on you,as the audience member, to once
again kind of hand yourself overto to these themes of grief and
loss and depression, traumatrauma and trauma, trauma,

(26:38):
trauma, the loss of a child, andI I'm, I get it like I I it,
but it just sucks that we livein a world where films like
hereditary exist and things likethis have in in the in that, um
, you know that maternalrelationship to your, your child
, who may be living, who may bedead, who has passed on.

(27:01):
We've seen it done so well, notonly in her, in hereditary, but
in quite a few other films herein recent memory.
And so when, when you show somuch at the beginning of your
film and then you leave a lotunexplored, it kind of it's a it

(27:21):
puts the story that we get in atough place, because then I can
only really be hypercritical ofthe things that I'm seeing the
inclination to think like, wow,you're really relying on like a

(27:42):
few really well done set pieceswhere, like, the makeup team is
working and the visual effectsteam is really working hard here
, and so, like, when that's whatI'm left with this, and then on
the other side, I have to sortof like decipher between is this
a good, is there a good storyhere, versus like what could

(28:05):
have been, because I think whatcould have been like seeing if
this was really just like almosthow hereditary really becomes a
tony collette vehicle like alexwolf is obviously incredible in
that movie.
Gabriel burn also.
It's like the, the supportingrole of, of the father.
There's so much, there's somuch meat on that bone.
If this was just like becausethis movie's so much, there's so
much meat on that bone.

(28:25):
If this was just like causethis movie is only about a
hundred minutes long.
So this was just like an hourand a half of Sally Hawkins
dealing with the, with thedirect aftermath of the loss of
her child and then coming into,we'll say, possession of her
first foster kid, um Ollie, ofher first foster kid, um Ollie.
I think that is would be such amore interesting movie because

(28:53):
then that lets us really explorethis space of of what we get in
the opening credit scene.
Really I it's either theopening credit scene or right
before things um kind of getgoing after we've had, like our
opening title card but like um,this is a cult movie that
doesn't show us anything,anything really that this cult
is up to Like.
We ultimately find out whatthey're doing to these children

(29:17):
and how they're providing peoplewho are going through the loss
of a loved one and dealing withthat grief and that depression
and that trauma.
We find out how they are, airquotes, helping, helping people,
but we don't really get to seeit and and it's just such a
tease because really, withoutgetting into too many spoilers

(29:38):
for the film, the sort ofpossession type influence that
these abducted children get putunder and then get released back
into you know society, but notreally like they're confined, I
don't know.
I was getting vibes of likemartyrs and a little bit of

(29:59):
hereditary and so many differentthings where I'm like God.
There's just so many othermovies that have really explored
like a dark, fucked up side ofa cult like this and just shown
us more like this would havebeen a movie that I just would
have loved to have been.
It's still a hard-rated R, butshow us some really gnarly stuff
of how this process happens.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
It is interesting, and you bringing up the other
version of this film sounds justway more exciting and way, way
more, way more interesting to tofollow sally hawkins and like
the the discovery of this cult,and then, yes, and then yeah,

(30:43):
the acts that she's going tohave to do, um, and then you
know that feels more.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
That feels more like the movie, that it's trying to
be right by making the sallyhawkins character, this like
tony collette type hereditaryfigure, that like we're supposed
to almost empathize with theirmadness because they have lost
somebody, or we're at leastsupposed to be like along for
the ride.
It's a movie, of course, youknow whatever, but but like when

(31:10):
tony collette has beencompletely consumed by the, the
cult and hereditary, it justfeels so earned where, like
sally hawkins, her, her mentalstate just felt so unearned to
me.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
I'm like I don't like well, it all happens off screen
it all happens off screen.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yes, it all happens off screen.
Yes.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
You just get plopped into Sally Hawkins and Hawkins
is a journey.
Uh, and yeah, I, I think, Ithink you're completely right in
in that um observation thatthey, they could have chose to
go a different direction and Ithink it would have been a much

(31:50):
more successful movie.
Um, yeah, I will say sorrel wan, who plays piper this is her
first time acting in anythingever like.
Her mom made her auditionbecause she saw a facebook post
for auditions, like in australia.
And uh, sarah wands, that'sreally, that's really cool.

(32:13):
That's really really cool.
Um, it's a great story yeah, and, and, and she, and, and.
In real life, you know, shedeals with um, almost complete
blindness.
So I think that's, that'sreally cool, and and maybe, but
I mean that again, I just think,and if we, if we get that other

(32:34):
version of the movie, weprobably don't get sora wong
right, but so there are handoffs, but uh, I don't know, I just
wanted to, I just wanted topoint that out.
That's a, that's a cool littlefactoid it is and and again.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
You know, the movie that we got did deliver on some
levels, like I there's there areabout two, maybe three moments
where it's just like yes I mean,like for anyone who's already
seen the film, or when you'regoing to see the movie, just
like as it's funny because theyhave the siblings that have
siblings have sort of like this,this safe word between them

(33:10):
when they they say grapefruit,when I think that means like
shit's real.
You need to trust me, basically.
Um, so I'll just say to all thelisteners out there like
cantaloupe, that's my safe wordfor you guys.

Speaker 2 (33:22):
Once you see a melon get pulled out of, just once you
see a melon on screen, likebuckle up yeah, yeah yeah, it's
really great I I also reallyhated the ending of this film,
so weak, um, especially becausetalk to me is such a strong
ending and such a, and an endingthat really like is kind of
unconventional, where this isjust extremely conventional and

(33:44):
like, yes, just, you see it inalmost every single movie overly
, Overly dramatic too yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
So I don't know Again, theseguys were supposed to make a
Street Fighter movie and theymade this instead.
They pulled out of that projectto do this project.
So I'm happy that that happened, because we don't need a Street

(34:07):
Fighter movie, especially fromthe guys who brought us Talk to
Me.
So I hope you know, keep makingmovies and keep doing these
weird gross moments, right, likeI hope they keep making horror.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
I agree.
Okay, what's another one?
What's another film from thislast week that you want to touch
on?

Speaker 2 (34:31):
That's really our only big theatrical release, but
there were a couple onstreamers that Max and I found
time to watch, so what do youwant to talk about on Apple TV
Plus, called Fountain of Youth,from a director who continues to

(34:54):
work at a high quantity offilms.
He keeps pumping out filmsalmost every year.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
He's a volume shooter .
This is like Definitely avolume, he's a heat check guy.
Yeah, this is Kobe post-Shacktrade like with this.
This is Kobe post shack tradelike with smush Parker and Sasha
on the team.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
And and that that director is guy Richie.
Uh and again, this film iscalled fountain of youth,
starring John Krasinski, nataliePortman, uh, eliza Gonzalez.

Speaker 1 (35:26):
He's a don't you dare .

Speaker 2 (35:28):
He's a name Gonzalez and uh, gonzalez, and don't you
dare mispronounce his name,gonzalez and uh, domen hall,
domen hall, domen hall, gleason,brandon gleason son, yeah, and,
and you know a guy fromsomething like ex machina who
has done fantastic projects inthe past.
Um, but this is just a.
This is like a dollar storeversion of like Indiana Jones

(35:53):
and National Treasure mashedtogether.
It is.
It is horrendous.
And Apple TV now is.
They're hitting on their TVshows, but like this, the
instigators, the wolves Wolvesyeah, I mean, fly Me to the Moon

(36:17):
, like they are really filling astraight-to-video void in the
movie landscape with and theseare big stars.
Natalie Portman and JohnKrasinski are two of the biggest
stars.
Granted, john Krasinski is onan all time, just like he.
He is ice cold, ice cold afterwhen it comes to yeah, when it

(36:41):
comes to acting projects.
Since leaving the you know like,yeah, stepping away from TV and
the office, like it has beendud after dud and he is an
absolute dope in this movie andI, I, just this movie is uh did
you watch all of this movie?
I, I certainly did and uh, it is.

(37:03):
It is not good.
Um, uh, so it's all thelisteners out there, please skip
it.
Um, it is not a new, it's noteven national treasure.
Like that's kind of my bar.
Like I was like, okay, maybethis is going to be like kind of
fun, like national treasure.
We're going to go on aglobetrotting adventure.
I love artifacts.
Once upon a time I alwayswanted to be an archaeologist,

(37:28):
came and say the wordarchaeologist, but this is, like
I said, it's a dollar storeversion and it's bad this hurts
because Natalie is just like oneof the all time best love
Natalie Portman paycheck man toplay second fiddle in this.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
To John Krasinski is I mean love, Natalie Portman.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
Paycheck, paycheck, man.
That's tough to say.

Speaker 1 (37:53):
to play second fiddle in this to John Krasinski is
tough, that's rough, and IsaGonzalez has been really steady,
like she's obviously beautiful,um, but I've really liked her
projects, so that's that's toobad.
I hope everyone got paidhandsomely.
That's all I can say.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
I'm sure.
So that's too bad.
I hope everyone got paidhandsomely.
That's all I can say, I'm sure.
I'm just glad I didn't go to atheater to watch this, and I
think Apple's probably glad too,because I watched it on their
service instead.

Speaker 1 (38:19):
The Apple thing is really weird, like post-CODA.
I don't think they've reallyhit on any movie, but you're
right, the TV shows arefantastic.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Yeah, yeah, it's an interesting uh service right now
it'll be.
I I don't even know.
I guess f1 is like their nextbig project and now that is
going to be in theaters and onthe service, and same with
highest to lowest.

Speaker 1 (38:46):
So who knows?
We could be eating crow in acouple of months.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
I sure hope so.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
Um, I don't not not to say it necessarily excuses
this run of stinkers thatthey've had, but they could
bounce back.
Um, all right, what else do yougot?
You have a lot queued up.
You're you're crushing it onthe uh production skills today.
Um, I would love to talk aboutfear.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
street prom queen yes , yes, go for it okay, so fear
street prom queen.

Speaker 1 (39:16):
Such a an interesting release.
The timing of this release forme personally, um, and that's
because, I guess two weeks agonow, uh, my mom's out of town
and she asked me to go over andtake care of her cat while while
she's, while she's, uh,visiting family, and so anytime

(39:38):
I'm over at my mom's house I'mI'm inclined to fire up netflix,
because I don't have netflixlogged in on any of my devices
or downloaded on any of mydevices at home.
Um, um, I don't, you knowthat's, I don't know if that's
some, like you know, silentprotest or whatever for for um,
this, the streaming service thatis kind of ruined movies.

(40:01):
It probably is on some level.
So if there ever is like aNetflix movie that I want to
watch, I just find ways aroundthat Um and and watch it at home
some other way.
But so I'm over at my mom'shouse and I'm like you know what
movies I've always wanted towatch were the Fear Street films
that came out 2021, kind of inthe back half of the pandemic,

(40:24):
but they were lost on me backthen, and so I decided you know
what, here we go.
I'm going to start with 1994,give it a shot and see what it's
like and, if I have a good time, awesome, there's two more
movies waiting for me, becausethe first three were all
released kind of in succession.
There I'm here to tell you thatthe original three fear street

(40:44):
movies so it's 1994, it's 1978,and then it's 1666 a fantastic
trilogy, cool and fear street,prom queen, while being
serviceable serviceable reallyreally makes those first three
movies look like a master classin in, like storytelling over a

(41:09):
three film block.
Like there's such a cleardivision.
It was the same director on thefirst three films.
The movies tell this story ofthis town that was divided a
long, long long time ago.
You find out about this in thethird film, 1666, between
Shadyside and Sunnyvale.

(41:30):
And now, the best thing aboutthese movies is that they are so
indebted to films that havecome before them.
But all of the homages, all ofthe tips of the cap are done in
a way that like yeah, you cansay it's a little stranger
thingy, um, nostalgic bait, ifyou will, but like when, when,
done right, it's like okay, well, that's, that's what scream was

(41:52):
, that's why everyone lovedscream, because it brought back
the slasher.
Like this brings back thatfirst one, especially 1994,
which is the time period inwhich the entire fear street
series like kind of relies on um, you have one character, that's
that's in all three movies.

(42:12):
It's trying to figure out whythis town, um, why these two
towns of Shadyside and Sunnyvalehave been pitted against each
other, and Shadyside being likethe wrong side of the tracks and
Sunnyvale being white picketfences and, um, everybody's well
off, nothing bad ever happensover there versus Shadyside,
where every so many years thereis like a mass murder.

(42:36):
Something goes wrong.
And that's what these movies dosuch a good job of showing us
is like how the different curseshave taken their own toll on
the town and become almost likea plague for Shadyside.
And so Fear Street Prom Queenis.
It exists within that sameuniverse.

(42:57):
It takes place in 1988.
And there is the awareness of,like Shadyside being the wrong
side of the tracks, but it onlytakes place in Shadyside.
So that's the first thing thatyou're missing in this movie.
Is that rivalry betweenShadyside.
So that's the first thing thatyou're missing in this movie.
Is that rivalry betweenShadyside and Sunnyvale and
Sunnyvale, uh, what we have islike a, a girl whose family has

(43:18):
experienced one of theseShadyside tragedies Um, her mom
ended up having to to like, stabher dad during an attack or or
something along these lines nota story that we're told within
the first three films we reallyget to know kind of like the
core killers from from Shadysidein the first two movies, which

(43:39):
is again just like so great,really makes you appreciate the
lore and the vision and thestorytelling in those first
three films.
Like I can not recommend thosefirst three movies enough.
I think they they get in, theyget as the as that first trilogy
goes along I think the qualityfalls off just a little bit,
like the first one is so fun andthen the second one is still

(44:00):
really good.
The second one, taking place in1978, is really a love letter to
the like sleepaway camps of theworld the friday through the
13th of the world, that are alllike the 13th of the world, that
are all like those summer campteenagers getting promiscuous
and then getting hacked to bits.
And then the other one 1666, ismore of your full core, kind of

(44:22):
like poking a little bit of funat the A24 elevated concepts of
the Witch and all these othermovies that we've gotten to know
here over the last like 10years I would say.
But then the second half ofthat movie comes back to 1994.
So you do get a good balanceand once again it wraps up
really nice and neat.
This movie is just like more ofa one off.
That's kind of how I felt aboutit, that one of the best things

(44:46):
that these movies all havegoing for them is whoever is the
music supervisor and I know Igave whoever it is in the first
film a huge shout out because,like the jukebox soundtrack to
all of these movies and this oneis no exception in 1988.
Like this is when you really seejust like how stupid big a

(45:09):
Netflix budget can be becauseit's still like these movies can
still, you can still say like,oh, it kind of just looks like
stranger things, it kind of justlooks like TV.
It doesn't look like a film butmy God, if it doesn't sound
like the best thing you've everheard, like just the best
soundtracks.
And so this one's no exceptionin 1988, you can imagine all of

(45:29):
the artists that we're gettingto hear, you know and, and we're
at a prom, and so there'sthere's like this.
Really I've seen people likesay it's just incredibly cringe,
and this is a part where theylike turned it off.
But there's like a dance off atthis prom between these two
rival girls who are both kind ofrunning for prom queen.
One's the, the leader of, likethe popular girls, and the other

(45:49):
is this one girl who's had thetrauma with her family and
everything, and she's trying tomake a name for herself and
rewrite her family's history andthey just have this dance-off.
That is so corny, but it's likeyou know that this was studied
from 80s movies, from DirtyDancing, from all these other
things, and so, again, thesemovies are only as good as the

(46:10):
other films that they'reindebted to, and if you can just
let yourself have fun with that, you're gonna have a good time.
Um, they're these all four ofthese movies just have great
brutal kills and then, like, wedon't pull any punches, and this
movie's no exception on thekills, and so ultimately it's
it's the weakest of the fourfear street movies, but that's

(46:31):
because it just it's not part ofthat original trilogy and it is
.
It is the one-off that is istelling us and showing us
something that we didn't reallyknow about, whereas those first
three movies do such a good jobof just like connecting all the
different tangled um spider websinto this one giant story.

(46:51):
That is just awesome.
You can still have a lot of funwith Prom Queen, but I see why
people are kind of ripping it,you know, whereas, like the
first ones have a consensus likethree to four to some people
are just like God, this is justlike so me, core and they give
it like a four and a half or afive on Letterboxd.
I haven't seen anybody reallythat I that I follow or paying
attention to on on that platformgo above like a three for prom

(47:13):
queen.
Um, most of them are like inthe ones to twos, I'm I'm
somewhere around that threelevel, um, just because I'm a
little bit more generous to to amovie like this that I can just
like sit down, spend an hourand a half with and have a lot
of fun, um, while doing so.
So it's a soft recommendation.
The Fear Street trilogy, thoughthose original movies from 2021

(47:35):
, could not have been more happythat I just decided to throw
those on, though a couple ofweeks ago and then, unbeknownst
to me, I had no idea that I wasdoing homework for this new
release.
I just wanted to watch thosemovies finally.
And then I find out the sameFriday as the Final Reckoning
comes out.
Oh, also on Netflix we have anew Fear Street movie.

(47:56):
So it was a lot of fun to justkind of have that moment here
with this franchise, completelycoincidentally.
So I would definitely recommendthe first couple to you
especially.
I think you would be able tosee through any sort of
criticism of this being, likeyou know, creatively bankrupt or
anything like.
No, this is what fun horrormovies do, is they like take a

(48:19):
concept that we've seen work andthen show us something new as
far as, like, the story goes?

Speaker 2 (48:24):
yeah, they've.
They've always been on my radarand always have been things
that I've.
I've been like, uh, just out ofreach of watching, um, yeah,
but uh, I'm glad to hear that atleast the first three and and
even this one, uh, you know,again, I I think there is a
space for, you know, these typesof movies on streaming um and

(48:49):
especially if you can make themfor a lower budget and a cheaper
budget.
Even though we're getting tonsof music cues in it, um, you
need that.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
Nor you need the the cheese, uh, and so I'm glad that
these are filling that void Imean when you watch 1994, which
is the first one in thefranchise, within the first 20
minutes you will be like, okay,we've got to be up to $4 million
on just copyrights alone,because it is like bands that
don't normally license theirmusic for films.

(49:23):
It is Radiohead, it's Nirvana,it's Nine Inch Nails Closer is
playing during the openingsequence of 1994 and it's nine
inch nails like closer isplaying and during like the
opening sequence of 1994, andit's like just a murderer's row
of whatever the decade is thatwe're set in, they just go all
out and and take every singlesong from like the top 40 that
year.

Speaker 2 (49:43):
It's great note to filmmakers if you want, uh, the
critic alex mccauleyley, to loveyour film closer in the opening
titles it's never failed.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
Walked in, fincher, did it with seven and we've
never looked back, okay.

Speaker 2 (50:03):
How about this next one?
I believe Did you get a chanceto watch?

Speaker 1 (50:07):
Mountainhead.
I got about 45 minutes intothis one yeah did you watch?

Speaker 2 (50:15):
get a chance?
I got about 45 minutes intothis one.
Yeah, uh, mountainhead is from,I believe, jesse armstrong, who
is the writer, creator,showrunner of succession, which
was, you know, a phenomenon forwhat?
Four or five years, or four orfive seasons, I should say.
Um, mountainhead is his newfeature film on hbo I guess it's

(50:36):
hbo max now hbo max uh, it's anhbo original.
It follows four tech bros, techgiants, uh, all meeting up at a
um cabin, up in like a snowymountain area, I think, like you

(50:56):
know I don't know if it's thealps exactly, but uh, in a huge
mansion to talk about, to meet,and I think the original plan is
like to have a poker weekendyeah, they're boys, they're all
boys they're all boys and theyall are like kind of you can see
loosely like auras of real-lifepeople in these guys We've got

(51:20):
Steve Carell, rami Yusuf, jasonSchwartzman and.

Speaker 1 (51:27):
Chevy Chase.

Speaker 2 (51:28):
Mr Chevy Chase.
Yeah, what is his name?
Corey Michael Smith.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (51:32):
Um, so I was pretty excited for this film.
I just to put it out there, I'mnot a succession head.
I've I've watched maybe twoepisodes of succession.

Speaker 1 (51:44):
I've never seen an episode.
Okay, I should put that outthere as well.

Speaker 2 (51:46):
Yeah, I never jumped on that wave and I know people
are, you know, want to freak outabout that.

Speaker 1 (51:52):
um, but going in.
I still need to watch madman.
I still need to watch breakingbad.

Speaker 2 (51:57):
I don't have time I know your severance or any of
this shit dude, it's so funny, II'll tell you off mic.
But, uh, yeah, so and and so,while they're together, like and
one of their AI programs goeslive or like, and takes the,
just there's a lot of jargongoing on, a lot of tech talk, uh

(52:34):
, and I think you know that itit must be really well
researched.
Um, and I think it's yeah, keepgoing, keep going.
I'm not, I'm not a tech head, Idon't.
I'm not an ai guy.
I'm not an AI guy, I'm not atech bro.
Like, just not my wheelhouse.
So I'm while I'm watching this,I'm very trying to get caught

(52:57):
up in it, but also like justfeeling a little lost and it
makes me feel stupid, which Iknow I'm not, but I just found
this movie just like utterly notinteresting and I think it's
well-timed for its release, with, you know, google releasing

(53:21):
Flow last week, I think.
You know.
I think three of the actors arereally good.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
Do you not?

Speaker 2 (53:29):
like Rami, I don't like Corral.
I'm kind of done with the wholeSteve Corral as the bad guy, as
a serious actor.
I'm kind of done with thatexperiment.
I think we can move on Again.
Another office alum, just likeletting me down out here in the
uh of films, um, wide world offilms, um.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
But yeah, man, I I don't know, I I just was not, I
was not hooked, uh, as I thoughtI would be, with this film so,
from what I've seen so far, I dothe impression that I get is
that so much of the jargon,which I do think is really well
researched and delivered prettywell by by these four different

(54:14):
actors, I think is made to soundstupid, to make them look
stupid because, not only in thisfilm, but, you know, you see it
on on social media, onInstagram reels, on Tik TOK,
like there's the people who arejust like, oh yeah, get that
back to me by, you know eod,like, and they're just doing all

(54:36):
this just like corporate, likewe'll circle back.
Oh, put a pin in that.
All this just like reallystupid, overused, um, you know,
just like business talk, techtalk, office talk, that it's
like no, these people like Ilove, um, god watches.
I hate people that have threenames.
What's chevy chase's?

Speaker 2 (54:54):
name.
I think it's cory michael smithcory, michael smith.

Speaker 1 (54:57):
Like him, having the puffer vest with, like the polo
or, like you know, the longsleeve collared shirt underneath
is like just such a look and sofunny and so stupid.
And same with like corral'slook and everything um
schwartzman's got the same vibegoing.
So, like I do think that it'ssupposed to be like tongue in
cheek, like they obviously getthat they're playing

(55:19):
billionaires and like no onethinks being a billionaire is
cool in 2025, right.
So I don't think we're supposedto really like look up to any
of these guys and not to saythat like that's what you were
coming into the film trying todo or whatever.
Like I think they're all playedreally well and made to look
stupid by by sounding the waythey sound, by dressing the way

(55:39):
they dress, and then you knowthis, the ai thing is so
different, right, or so sointeresting, because ai is going
to be different in every movie.
But I've I said, I guess, juston last week's episode, that
like anytime that we have ai ina movie, now I'm just going to
call it the entity.
So, like the entity and when,when the entity in this movie

(56:00):
kind of goes off the rails, youknow where it's.
We're supposed to.
I think, look at how helplessthese guys who are supposed to
be really smart actually are,and I think that that's well
communicated and well executed.
I'm I'm really happy that thiswas and you know I I am

(56:21):
definitely going to finish it,um, but I'm happy that this was
a movie and not some mini seriesor not like another Silicon.
Valley through, like um, likeanother Silicon Valley, um yeah
drawn out, um, so, so I am in,you know, a made for TV movie,
like we'll just that's what thisis, you know, like, if this is
not theater worthy, um, and andso I I do like the space that

(56:46):
that it exists in, and I dothink people are going to see
this.
I think I think people aregoing to watch this movie in
there, even if they don't knowsomebody directly, because you
know how many of us knowbillionaires out there, but like
, even just like the douchebagat your, at your office, you
know people are going to seepeople who they know in these
characters, and so I doappreciate it for that yeah I.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
I just you know, don't they know that Ethan
Hunt's out there saving theworld from the entity Like it's
going?

Speaker 1 (57:14):
to be all right.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
It's going to be okay .
You'll be okay.
Yeah, yeah, it'll beinteresting.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
You can go harass some bartender at, yeah, the
restaurant or wherever you are.
Yeah, I was thinking like Aspen, but you're saying Swiss Alps.

Speaker 2 (57:31):
It does feel a little bit more like international now
.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, um, I don'tknow, maybe I again.
I think I wrote in my reviewlike maybe in 20 years we'll,
we'll look back and this will beactually a really, really funny
and sharp satirical uh, yes,satire on it.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
Yeah, I could see that.
I could see that.
Um, all right, does that coverkind of the big ones?
Uh, do you have?

Speaker 2 (57:53):
I don't know, did you watch the ugly?

Speaker 1 (57:57):
steps.
I did not watch the ugly steps.
I didn't get to it either okay,we'll save that for next week
then.
Yeah, yeah, great yes um, yeahthat's all.
That's one.
That's one that I feel like weshould definitely be talking
about together.
Yeah, I've both seen it, so I'mglad we're not split one and
one.

Speaker 2 (58:13):
Great on it um well, I have a couple of news items
okay, if we want to touch onreal quick and just going right
into more stories about theentity.
Uh, this was reported on indywire today.
Uh, luca guadagnino, attachedto direct an ai business comedy.
Um, could be kind ofinteresting.

(58:36):
I, I feel like luca's namekeeps coming up like attached to
different movies uh, but thisis.

Speaker 1 (58:43):
I mean you want to talk about somebody that's just
like fire, like got a full clipalways right luca yeah, uh, but
supposedly this is for AmazonMGM it's going to be set at.

Speaker 2 (58:59):
have reported that the film is set at OpenAI and
follows a tumultuous period in2023, which founder Sam Altman
was outed before immediatelyreturning to the company.
Andrew Garfield is reported toto be starring in.
So you know the entitycontinues.

Speaker 1 (59:19):
That's a, that's a combo that makes a lot of sense
to me.

Speaker 2 (59:22):
Yeah, I think that could be.
That could be interesting.
And again, like I, these AImovies.
It's.
It's kind of a new wave herethat I think is going to just
continue.
It'll be really fun at somepoint when we're going to be
able to build like the.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
AI Hall of Fame.
Yeah, yeah, that's a greatpoint.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
We're going to talk about, like Afraid and
Mountainhead and this film It'llbe Megan and the Drop.
It's going to be interesting tosee where this genre goes,
because it's kind of its own newsub-genre.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
It's very true, you're right.
It does make sense because thisis what movies have always done
, whether it's whatever'shappening in not only you know,
hollywood's always going tocritique upon itself, and so I
think that the fear that so manypeople had a couple of years

(01:00:23):
ago, as far as you know likewhether it's facial recognition
for casting, or it's scriptwriting, or the millions of
different ways that ai couldaffect the industry, and and
some of the I don't know some ofthe fear that people have
surrounding that, I think moviesare.
You know, to make a movie aboutit is a good way to exercise

(01:00:45):
some of those fears.
But then also, too, just thingsthat are happening in society,
like AI is everywhere.
It's in the business world,it's in our schools, and so that
aligns well with, you know, thecounterculture movement that we
saw in the 70s and all thegreat movies that came out of
that, and then with the boomwith with the internet and and
the big boom that we had at theturn of the century, and we saw

(01:01:08):
so many great movies about that,and so, you're right, this is
sort of like the next big thingthat's happening in our world.
So, of course, movies are goingto talk about it like I wouldn't
want movies to not be touchingupon AI and like, yeah, make
them schlocky, make them stupid,make terrible movies, like
afraid that are going to havelike a 19% on Rotten Tomatoes,

(01:01:30):
but like just just do it though,you know, yeah, yeah, um, no,
but Luca, I love listen, luca,and there's a few directors
right.
Like Scorsese has done it withNetflix in the past, he's done
it with Apple, luca, I mean likegoing back to the Suspiria
remake, where we're talking likepre COVID and stuff that was an
Amazon feature and maybe helives on Amazon now.

(01:01:51):
Like you can get it on physical, of course, because it was
still made in like a time whenwe valued those things.

Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
But like challengers, was an amazon funded movie like
luca is what's that?
And you know, I'm sure, becauseit's luca and and honestly,
because it's mgm, you know,which is owned by amazon like
it's still going to be intheaters.

Speaker 1 (01:02:11):
So I think that's good.

Speaker 2 (01:02:13):
They do value that yeah um, but yeah, I'm just, I'm
excited, but but because we'regetting a Luca movie this year
Right After the hunt.
Right and then the AmericanPsycho remake and then and now
this as well.
That's right, like there's justlots of Luca going on and I'm

(01:02:33):
happy about it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Yeah, doesn't miss, so yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
All right, what else you got?

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
Last piece go ahead.
Well, I was just saying I havethe dailies pulled up over here.
Um, you know, there's just morenews confirming that garland
will do the elden ring yepadaptation that we talked about,
um.
And then I'm looking down hereblumhouse has released, or has

(01:03:03):
announced that they're they'regoing to do, their first spanish
language original film, um,which is by some director duo
that I'm I'm all for because,you know, I'm I.
I see what Blumhouse is doing.
Blumhouse makes the Megans andthey make the Afraid's and they

(01:03:24):
make these movies that are thatwill turn a profit, so that they
can come out with a movie likethe purge or get out or
something really like excitingevery three or four years.
So I don't know, maybe thiswill be the next one Blumhouse
going international.
I do really like that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:40):
Yeah, that's very exciting.
Um, James Cameron uh hasannounced that he has found his
next project that he's going tohelp co-write.
Uh, called the devils uh, whichis a dark fantasy novel, draws
from classic horror tropes.
It follows a priest on a holyassignment who discovers the

(01:04:02):
mission he serves is filled withmurderers, dark magicians and
monsters, meaning that if any ofthem are to reach God, it will
require bloody means.
This book was just releasedlast month, hit number one in
the UK, hit number five on theNew York Times bestsellers list,

(01:04:24):
and it's described as a sharplywitty horror adventure.
Let's go, big Jim, big Jim, jccoming for us all.
As usual, he's going to bediving into horror and I'm all
for it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:44):
Do we think he's done with Avatar?
You know, I actually waswatching.
There's one more coming downthe pipe, I'm pretty sure, right
?
Well, yeah, so Fire and Ash isthis December.
Fire and Ice is this December.

Speaker 2 (01:04:56):
Fire and.

Speaker 1 (01:04:56):
Ash, fire and Ash, so that movie's got to be done.

Speaker 2 (01:05:04):
That movie, I believe , is this fire and ash, so so
that movie's got to be done thatmovie I believe is, if not done
, it's like in the final stages.
I'm sure I'm sure they'll beworking on it up until till
december.
Um, they'll be working on it 10years after it releases yeah,
and like you know some people II respect who were at cinema con
, you know there was footageshown there and you know people
are just like he's.
He's done it again he's.

(01:05:25):
You know you thought underwaterwas cool.
Just wait till you see fire.

Speaker 1 (01:05:30):
This is what a volcano looks like.

Speaker 2 (01:05:31):
Yeah, and I've heard the, the term coined.
What was it?
Mordor Navis, the term coined.
Uh, what was it?
Mordor Navis, like these arelike, oh, like, volcanic Mordor.

Speaker 1 (01:05:45):
Navis.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
So yeah, can't wait, can't wait for that.
Um, okay, so who knows, whoknows if four or five and six
will eventually come after thisthird one but I'm excited if
he's going to take at least alittle break and, and maybe just
right.
Go right and yeah, and not thathe is a great writer, but I

(01:06:06):
think he's a great idea guy andI would love to see him go into
horror, which we haven't reallyseen him do.
A horror, you know, you cankind of call Terminator or
horror, at least the first one,but yeah, so that's.
I find that pretty exciting aswell.

Speaker 1 (01:06:27):
The Abyss is, you know, sci-fi, but it has horror
elements to it as well.
No, that's great and that goesback to something you know I
think we talked about this atthe beginning of the year like
what's on our wishlist for 2025and beyond is like more, more

(01:06:48):
superstar filmmaker team upmovies.
So if, like, if james cameronis just like the co-writer on
your film, then like, okay,who's shooting it, who's
directing it, who's scoring it?
Like we could have amasterpiece on our work on our
hands here.
Yeah, that, that'd be that manypeople at work.

Speaker 2 (01:06:59):
That'd be amazing.
Um yeah, uh that.
That for me is all the news.
Uh, in in the town we'll sayNice, I love that.

Speaker 1 (01:07:10):
So, yeah, I don't really think I have any.
I don't really have any.
People are saying, uh, businesshere either.
Um, I will just say that a lotof people.
Oh, actually, tribeca kicks offthis Wednesday, so if you're
listening to this, on Thursday,tribeca Film Festival started
yesterday in Tai West.
New movie, new vampire moviewith Scott Mescady and Kiernan

(01:07:34):
Shipka.
I've loved Shipka forever, soto see her in a starring role in
a Ty West film about vampiresand Kid Cudi is you know the
second hand in this movie soundslike a blast vamp vamps are
back vamps and and we get and weget Ty.
You know not that like we neededhim out of the Maxine trilogy

(01:07:56):
um the Pearl trilogy.

Speaker 2 (01:07:58):
He needed to get out of there, but we needed to get
out of there.
So let's see him do vampiresnow.

Speaker 1 (01:08:03):
So that's going to be really fun.
I think that'll be great.
Yeah, hell, yeah, okay.
So then, to wrap up today'sepisode, we are obviously
without Erica.
We did preface that at the endof last week's episode that she
would be gone for this show.
As she is down, I believe,visiting some friends in
Portland.

(01:08:24):
If you're following Erica onLetterboxd, please, or if you
haven't yet, please go do thatso you can still keep up with
all of her movie takes.
She is going to take a bit ofwe'll call it like an indefinite
leave of absence from the podhere, just taking some time for
personal reasons.
We spoke with erica a lot aboutthis decision over the last

(01:08:45):
week and all agree that it'swhat's best for her.
Obviously we've loved havingerica on the show and at live
events with us.
She's been a great ambassadorfor the pod, always brought
really good um perspective on onfilms, I think, a unique
perspective that max and I havebeen missing, and so we hate to

(01:09:05):
see her go, but we're happy forher to be doing what she feels
is right in the moment, um.
So yeah, erica, we love you, weappreciate all the time that
you've given to the pod over thelast handful of months and
enjoy your time away from theshow.

Speaker 2 (01:09:19):
Yeah, yeah, and I hope she continues to listen and
come back as a guest anytime.
Absolutely, we love Erica and Iknow I'll continue to share
movie takes with her, so maybeshe can send some movie takes to
us and we can sprinkle them inthroughout episodes.

Speaker 1 (01:09:39):
I mean, she can be one of the people from people
are saying she can be one of ourpersons, um, okay.
So as for what's next on theshow, max and I will be back to
talk about the new Wes Andersonfilm, the Phoenician scheme,
which I'm hearing pretty solidthings about, so excited to you
know.
Know, it's just.
It's so funny because I feellike when, when we started this

(01:10:03):
show and big directors wouldcome out with a movie, we're
like, okay, cool, now we can dolike a wes anderson film, right,
but wes has released like thiswill be his third movie, I think
, since we've started the pod,and so we were talking before we
got on air and it's like we'vedone wes anderson hall of fame
right, we've given all of hismovies, or we've done a whole
career ranking, right it's likewe've given all of his movies,

(01:10:24):
uh, 15 seconds and so so, yeah,we're excited just to talk about
the phoenician scheme, seewhere it maybe kind of fits into
some of west's best, dependingon how we feel about it.
Um, I know you're a huge wesanderson guy so you're probably
chomping at the bit to get outand see it.
And then we did mention theugly stepsister, which is a
shutter original that we haveheard amazing things about and

(01:10:45):
so really excited to check thatone out.
We'll probably get to a fewother films, uh, next week, on
next week's episode as well, wehave ballerina coming out, and
so I'm excited to see where thejohn wick franchise goes, even
though we're supposed to bepost-Wick Wick's back.

Speaker 2 (01:11:02):
We can't be post-Wick .

Speaker 1 (01:11:04):
They'll never let go.
They'll never let us truly getpost-Wick.
But Ana de Armas I feel like weI don't know Next episode will
be a good opportunity to talkabout her, because I do think
that she is a bit of a unicorn.
In the sense that she is a bitof a unicorn and in the sense
that she did, I think she canactually pull off being an

(01:11:24):
action star while still beingyou know, just like a a
bombshell.
And and then also someone whoyou know the success of a film
like blonde certainly not good,um, critically, but she was
still nominated for Best Actressin that role.
So I kind of think she can doit all.
So we'll see.
We got a little glimpse of itin no Time to Die in her one

(01:11:48):
scene where she really kind ofstole that movie.
So we'll see what that lookslike played out over an entire
film's runtime.

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
Yeah, yeah and yeah.
I think it's going to be a busyweek at the movies, so I can't
wait to get out there.
You know we touched on at thetop of the show, but this, this
podcast, is on YouTube so youcan go watch us there.
The Chatter.

Speaker 1 (01:12:12):
Network.
Give me advice on how to fix mylighting.

Speaker 2 (01:12:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, please, please say something in
the comments or send us some fanmail through.

Speaker 1 (01:12:22):
I just turned the light off.
That's way too dark.
Right, that's too dark now.

Speaker 2 (01:12:29):
That's very bright now.

Speaker 1 (01:12:31):
And that's way too bright yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:12:33):
It's gotta be a setting.
It's gotta be a setting.

Speaker 1 (01:12:36):
Camera thing.
Camera thing on the laptop Yep,all right.
Well, it's got to be a settingCamera thing.
Camera thing on the laptop Yep,all right.
Well, that does it for today'sepisode.
Of course, please follow Excusethe Intermission on Instagram
and the two of us on Letterboxdto track what we're watching
between shows, and we will talkto you next time on ETI, where
movies still matter.
Thank you.