January 9, 2020 • 19 mins
Join tv and radio personality Natasha Gargiulo and movie-watching experts Marni Weisz and Ingrid Randoja from Cineplex Magazine for an inside look at the top 10 films on the horizon for 2020. Without giving anything away -- let's just say it’s going to be an eclectic year!
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Episode Transcript
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Natasha G. (00:02):
Welcome to Hello Movies, a podcast that reminds you why
you love the big screen. It's a brand new year,
and guess what? I am your brand new podcast host,
Natasha Gargiulo. We've got a great show lined up today,
a look ahead at the top 10 movies on the
horizon for 2020. I won't get into it just yet,
but let me just say it looks like there's something
(00:22):
for everyone.
I'm here at the Cineplex Yonge- Eglinton VIP Theaters in Toronto,
in line of course to get some popcorn, because you
need popcorn when you watch a movie. I'm with Marni Weisz
and Ingrid Randoja. These two have become my friends, ever
since I met them here at Cineplex. They're the dynamic duos,
writers and editors behind Cineplex Magazine, and hands down two
(00:46):
of the biggest movie aficionados I know.
Marni Weisz (00:48):
Woo hoo.
Natasha G. (00:49):
Yes.
Marni Weisz (00:50):
Welcome to the podcast, Natasha.
Natasha G. (00:51):
Thanks, ladies. Thanks for having me. It's great to be
here. Okay. I think we should get our seats. All
right, ladies. It's that time of year, and if you're
like me, you kind of start to look ahead a
little bit. Maybe this year you resolve to spend more
time with your family and friends. Also, we're heading into
(01:13):
those cold months, right? And all you want to do
is just watch a really good movie in a movie
theater. So, what better way to do it than to
book some solid movie dates? And to do that, you
need to know what's coming out, so you can make
some decent choices. Am I right?
Ingrid Randoja (01:26):
Yup.
Marni Weisz (01:26):
For sure.
Natasha G. (01:27):
All right, so let's get into it. Marni, Ingrid, you
have compiled a list of your top five movies of
2020. You each have different movies, and you're going to
sell us on why we should go and see them
in 2020.
Ingrid Randoja (01:37):
In a very short amount of time.
Natasha G. (01:39):
Okay. We're going to start with you, Ingrid. Can you give us
your top five, but save the very best for last?
Ingrid Randoja (01:45):
Sure. Number five, I can't wait to see, Trial of
the Chicago Seven, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, which
is about the trial of the eight men... That was brought
down to seven... who were charged with inciting violence during
the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. A political film
that comes out on September 25th, just before the American
election. Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne. I can't wait. It's
(02:08):
going to be political, it's going to be smart, and that's my
number five. Number four, I'm hoping that Tom Cruise in
Top Gun-
Marni Weisz (02:16):
Yes.
Ingrid Randoja (02:16):
... Maverick has a chance to really take a look
and confront bro culture. It's the sequel to the 1986 film.
He is now 57 years old, Maverick, and he's teaching
at the academy. Here's a chance for, I think Tom
Cruise to do great stunts, great action. Number three, I
think No Time to Die, the James Bond film starring
(02:36):
Daniel Craig. Comes out April 10th. It's Bond 25. It's
the last time we see Daniel Craig as 007. He
takes on Rami Malek as the villain. It is going
to be a beautiful looking movie, great action, nice clothes,
good looking people, and we get to look at his
eyes and his abs for the last time. And-
Natasha G. (02:55):
We've done that many times before.
Ingrid Randoja (02:57):
We've done it. You (crosstalk) . Number two for me
is Black Widow. This is a mid quill, as they
call it. Scarlett Johansson of course plays Black Widow, one
of the members of the Avengers. This takes place after
the events of Captain America
have broken up, and she's very depressed. And as Scarlett
Johansson says, the character is in a very dark place. She goes
(03:18):
back to Russia. We start to find out about her
backstory. I think it's going to be amazing. That comes
out on May 1st.
Natasha G. (03:27):
All right, so out of those four, I'm really interested
in seeing No Time to Die, because when they released
the trailer of that, everyone who was a Bond fan
just freaked out. But my question is, what are your
predictions for Bond? Is he going to die? What are
they going to do to MI6?
Ingrid Randoja (03:41):
I'm the weirdo who thinks that they actually will kill him
off.
Natasha G. (03:46):
No. How could you say that?
Ingrid Randoja (03:46):
Remember, because 007 is a number, and anybody can be 007. It's just a
number. It's a codename. So, who will step in? I
think they're going to do that. I think Daniel Craig wants to go out with a bang. That's
just my theory. It's probably out there, and it's crazy,
but I think they should do that.
Natasha G. (04:00):
All right. Can't wait for that. So, hold on tight
with your top movie of 2020. We're going to now
talk to Marni, who's got a list of top fives
that's a little slightly different from yours.
Marni Weisz (04:10):
Okay. I would say that my fifth pick would be
Bill & Ted Face the Music, August 21st.
Natasha G. (04:14):
Do we really need another Bill and Ted?
Marni Weisz (04:16):
You know, at first I wasn't sure, and then I
went back and I watched the trailers for Bill & Ted's
Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey, and I laughed so hard
that yes, if ever we needed another one, it's now.
I really liked it because they're really smart movies about
dumb guys. In this one, Bill and Ted... I don't know
if you remember from the first movies, the reason that
(04:37):
they went back in time was because they were fated
to write the most beautiful song in the world, that
would save the universe. They never did it, so now
they're middle- aged. They're married to-
Natasha G. (04:50):
It took them that long, and they still haven't written it.
Marni Weisz (04:50):
... princesses. They haven't written it. They're not very good musicians,
which is what's making it so difficult. So, this is
all about them trying to write that song. And people
have been looking forward to this movie for a long
time, and Keanu Reeves is really hot right now. My
fourth movie, The Eternals, comes out November 6th. We've already
(05:12):
heard from Ingrid about another Avengers movie, if you can
call it that, Black Widow. Personally, my favorite Avengers movies
have been the ones that take place in outer space.
So, the Guardians movies, Thor
guess I like the funnier movies better. We're plumbing the
story here from a 1970s series of comic books by
Jack Kirby. The plot here is that an immortal race,
(05:34):
the Eternals, has been created by the Celestials, to protect
humanity from the Evil Deviants. This is a story that
spans 7, 000 years, so get ready for a lot
of sequels if this one works. And hopefully it will, because
the interesting thing about this film is the diversity. So,
aside from Angelina Jolie, who plays an Eternal, and Kit
(05:56):
Harington, who plays a non- Eternal, we've got Kumail Nanjiani
and Brian Tyree Henry, who you may know from Atlanta,
and Gemma Chan. It's directed by Chinese- American director Chloe
Zao. But it also has Lauren Ridloff, who's a deaf
actor, as a deaf character named Makkari, who is the first deaf
superhero, and I'm really interested to see how they use
(06:19):
sign language, if they use sign language-
Natasha G. (06:21):
Interesting.
Marni Weisz (06:21):
... how she communicates, and how they work that into
the story.
Natasha G. (06:25):
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah.
Marni Weisz (06:26):
West Side Story is my number three. That one is
coming out December 18th, and I am not actually a
musical person.
Natasha G. (06:33):
Then why did you pick it?
Marni Weisz (06:34):
That's a really good question. I'm not a musical person, except
for West Side Story. Every time it comes on TV,
it's one of those movies where if I flip past
it, I have to watch the rest of it. It
won 10 Oscars, and for good reason. It was based
on the play that had the score by Leonard Bernstein,
Stephen Sondheim lyrics. This all means something to people who
(06:56):
are into musicals. Since I am not, what mattered to
me was the story. It's Romeo and Juliet, set in
1950s New York. It's two warring gangs. One is white...
Our protagonist, Tony, has a Polish background... and the other
is Puerto Rican. And Tony from the white gang and
Maria from the Puerto Rican gang, they fall in love.
(07:18):
And if you know Romeo and Juliet, you know where
this is going to go.
Natasha G. (07:22):
Marni, do we know the cast yet for West Side Story?
Marni Weisz (07:25):
Yeah. Ansel Elgort is Tony, and Rachel Zegler... Who is little-
known. You probably haven't seen her in anything yet... she
is Maria. And Rita Moreno is actually back as a new
character named Valentina, who is a reworking of Doc, who
owned the drugstore where Tony worked in the first movie.
Most importantly, this is being directed by Steven Spielberg, and
(07:46):
he got Tony Kushner to write the screenplay. And if
you don't know who Tony Kushner is, he won the
Pulitzer Prize for writing Angels in America. So, this movie
has a lot of cred. And, you know, maybe it's
a movie that doesn't need a remake, but I feel
like it's going to go deeper and be gritter, and
show us something that maybe we didn't see in the
(08:07):
first one, which really looked like they had just filmed
the musical. My number two movie is Tenet, which comes
out July 17th. And if there's one movie that you should see
in theaters this year, this is the one. It's directed
by Christopher Nolan, who doesn't make a bad movie. He
started his career with Memento. After that he did The
Dark Knight, which is the Batman movie with Heath Ledger
(08:28):
playing The Joker. He did Dunkirk. He did Inception. And
most importantly, he really likes people to see his movies
in theaters, on the big screen. In fact, when the
first trailer for this movie came out, he insisted that
it not be shown online. It was only going to
be in theaters, and it's still not online. But just
(08:48):
before the holidays, a second trailer was finally released online,
and so now we know a little bit more about
the plot. We know that it's an espionage movie that
deals with manipulating time and reality, much like Inception did.
It starts with an image that could have come from
Inception. Characters played by John David Washington and Robert Pattinson
are scaling a building, but they basically fly up to
(09:09):
about the sixth story before they make contact with the
side of the building. We know that they're fighting some
sort of threat, but it's not going to be some
cliché villain who's going to release a plague on the
world. Because it's Christopher Nolan, we know that it's going
to be something mind bending, something philosophical.
Ingrid Randoja (09:25):
Intriguing.
Natasha G. (09:26):
Oh, it's very intriguing, and all we know is that
it's probably one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2020,
and also the most expensive undertaking as well.
Ingrid Randoja (09:33):
Could be. Could be. We don't know the truth, and-
Marni Weisz (09:35):
I know they filmed in about seven different locations around
the world, and that costs a lot. India, Italy were among them.
Ingrid Randoja (09:41):
Estonia. Where my parents are from.
Natasha G. (09:43):
Oh. Okay, we're narrowing it down to our last pick
of 2020, and I got to say, between Ingrid and
Marni, I think I'll probably go to the movies with
Ingrid, because she picked one of my-
Ingrid Randoja (09:53):
I win.
Natasha G. (09:53):
... favorite movies in 2020, that I am most excited
to see, and that would be Wonder Woman.
Ingrid Randoja (09:59):
Wonder Woman 1984, the sequel to Wonder Woman, directed by
Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Godot. She's back. It's set
during the Cold War, and Diana Prince, a. k. a.
Wonder Woman, is reportedly working as a spy for the U.
S. government against the Soviets. Have you seen the trailers?
Natasha G. (10:16):
Yes.
Ingrid Randoja (10:16):
It is just steeped in 80s culture, all the way
back to fanny packs and wide shoulders, and all of
the accoutrements.
Natasha G. (10:22):
So fun.
Ingrid Randoja (10:24):
It's fun. Of course, everybody's buzzing is that Chris Pine
is back as Steve Trevor, who died in the first
film. So, how is he alive? How can this be?
And we don't really know. I mean, there's different theories.
But I mean, the thing about Wonder Woman which I
am eternally happy about is I've never seen a character
that can be almost naïve, and believes in goodness. But
(10:46):
Gal Godot just dived into it, leaned right into it
with Patty Jenkins, that belief. So when you're watching the
first movie, I was just so inspired by her. And
she was not sappy or silly. She just believed in
that goodness, and so she made me believe. And it
made me happy to believe in that. And a lot
of superheroes don't have that. They're cynical, whatever. And, you
(11:06):
know. Obviously, in fact she's beautiful and sexy and all
of those things, but she just believes in the goodness
of what she's doing, and I just love that character.
And also being intelligent and well played. So, with the
setting and her and Chris Pine back, because I think
they have great chemistry, I just am so looking forward
to this movie on June 5th.
Natasha G. (11:24):
Yeah, and I think Wonder Woman also represents empowerment for any
woman of any age.
Ingrid Randoja (11:30):
Absolutely. Yeah.
Natasha G. (11:30):
I know that my daughter and I both dressed up
as Wonder Woman for Halloween.
Ingrid Randoja (11:33):
Right.
Natasha G. (11:33):
And she's mine, and I'm... Oh, something. I'm of a
certain age. And we both feel that Wonder Woman represents
this type of female power that we all want, and
we're proud to be.
Ingrid Randoja (11:45):
And she could just fall off that... It's such a
thin line you're walking, right? Between being silly and... Because
we grew up with the silliness of Wonder Woman.
Natasha G. (11:51):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Ingrid Randoja (11:51):
And the kind of, she's almost a joke into the D. C.
Comics. And Kristen Wiig is Cheetah, the villain, which is
just another piece of casting. Like, Kristen Wiig as a villain?
Natasha G. (12:03):
(crosstalk) ?
Ingrid Randoja (12:02):
And have you saw in the trailer? She's doing her
silly, almost like Bridesmaids talking, but you know that she's
a great actress.
Natasha G. (12:08):
Right.
Ingrid Randoja (12:08):
And I think Patty Jenkins believes in her. And I
just... What a great casting. I'm not sure how this is going to
be, but I'm just so excited.
Natasha G. (12:15):
When is the release date for Wonder Woman?
Ingrid Randoja (12:17):
June 5th.
Natasha G. (12:18):
June 5th.
Marni Weisz (12:19):
Yeah. And you know, my experience seeing this one, the
first movie, in theaters, was until that point, we'd done
a lot of interviews with people who had said, " You
know, the first time I saw so- and- so, it
really made me feel like I was seeing myself onscreen for
the first time." Whether it was a gender, or a particular
race, orientation. And I always heard that rationally and logically,
(12:42):
and knew what they were talking about, but I never
actually felt it until I saw Wonder Woman, strangely enough.
And I, when I was watching her protect the rest
of the characters... Chris Pine and the other characters, who
are mostly male... I really felt something. I felt a
stirring that I hadn't felt before. I watched the TV
show when I was a kid, and I didn't feel
(13:03):
that at the time.
Ingrid Randoja (13:04):
Yeah. No. It was silly.
Marni Weisz (13:04):
I wasn't aware enough to feel that.
Ingrid Randoja (13:07):
Yeah. Yeah.
Marni Weisz (13:07):
But I'm really glad that I saw that one in the
theater, because when it ended, all the women are looking
around at each other, and the guys probably aren't. And
you walk out, and I remember just, like vibrating when I walked out of that movie.
Ingrid Randoja (13:18):
Right.
Natasha G. (13:18):
So, we can all agree that Wonder Woman makes us
feel confident, strong, and makes us feel that girl power
is stronger than ever, especially in this day and age.
Ingrid Randoja (13:25):
Right. And remember, it did well around the world, so men
watched it, too.
Natasha G. (13:27):
Right. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Ingrid Randoja (13:28):
I mean, it helps that she's beautiful, but I think
men also felt... I can't speak. But I feel like,
talking to people, it was a good movie, but they
also felt empowered almost through her, too, in a way. So, it was cool.
Natasha G. (13:38):
Great. So that's your top pick for 2020, Ingrid. What's
yours, Marni?
Marni Weisz (13:41):
I feel like I have to convince you now, Natasha.
Natasha G. (13:45):
All right. Hit me.
Marni Weisz (13:46):
You're going to see Wonder Woman 1984 with Ingrid.
Natasha G. (13:48):
Yes.
Marni Weisz (13:49):
And I know my choice is a little bit risky.
Natasha G. (13:51):
Mm- hmm ( affirmative).
Marni Weisz (13:51):
It's Dune.
Natasha G. (13:52):
Tell me about Dune. I haven't heard much about it.
Marni Weisz (13:54):
Yes. Well, it's coming out December 18th, so I've got a
long time to convince you.
Natasha G. (13:58):
Okay. You've got 12 months, about.
Marni Weisz (14:00):
I wrote a little thing about... Yeah. I wrote a
little thing about this in the magazine, and I said
that the tagline should be, " Let's try this again." The
thing with Dune is that everybody automatically thinks of the 1984
David Lynch movie, which was terrible.
Natasha G. (14:15):
So, then why would you want to see this?
Marni Weisz (14:18):
Well, let me tell you. I hadn't even watched that
version until about a week ago. I forced myself to
watch it. It really is that bad. It's amazing that
they let David Lynch make more movies after that. It's
a good thing that they did, because he made great
movies. But this is a movie that needed to be
remade, and it's being made by Denis Villeneuve.
Natasha G. (14:39):
Oh, my favorite Quebecer.
Marni Weisz (14:40):
He is. Not only is he a Canadian director, but
he directed my favorite movie of 2017, which was Blade
Runner 2049. To me, that movie was perfect. It was
a work of art flickering across the screen. I saw
it multiple times, and liked it better each time. And
I am hopeful that this Dune will be epic in
(15:02):
that same scale. It's a story that has some similarities
to Star Wars. Basically it's about a family, the Atreides
family, that goes to live on this inhospitable planet that
they call Dune, and they have to manage what they
call the spice, which is this drug that expands the
mind and extends life.
Natasha G. (15:22):
How do we get that drug here now?
Marni Weisz (15:23):
Yeah. And it better be good, because they have chopped
the book in two. They're making two movies out of
it. So, the second movie will come out some time
in the next couple years, and they're also doing a
TV series out of this.
Natasha G. (15:38):
Oh.
Marni Weisz (15:38):
So, my (crosstalk) -
Natasha G. (15:41):
It has legs.
Marni Weisz (15:41):
It has legs. It could turn into a big franchise,
and I hope it will.
Natasha G. (15:46):
Okay, so judging from your top picks for 2020, Ingrid,
you are more of a play it safe. You know
blockbusters are going to be seen. Everyone loves these films.
Ingrid Randoja (15:57):
Yeah. And if you notice mine, I'm very much into
girl power.
Natasha G. (16:00):
Yeah. Yes.
Ingrid Randoja (16:01):
That's my thing.
Natasha G. (16:01):
My kind of girl. We're going to go see lots
of movies together in 2020. Whereas Marni, you like to
give directors and people an opportunity and a chance to
kind of enter your world, and have you for two
hours. And if you like it, it's great, and if
you don't, well.
Marni Weisz (16:16):
Yeah, but I don't think I'm the only one who
has high hopes for Dune, because this is just the
first of two movies. They've cut the book in half.
There's also going to be a TV spinoff, so I
think they're expecting big things from this. And there are
people who will see it as a replacement for Star
Wars. I mean, Star Wars is still going, obviously, but
now that the main franchise is wrapping up, I think
(16:36):
there are a lot of people that are going to
turn to Dune if it's successful, and I certainly hope it
is, and it'll fill that place in their hearts and
minds.
Natasha G. (16:46):
All right, ladies. We just had a film face off,
and you gave us every reason to put our butts
right here in a theater, because there are so many
worthy elements. But now I want to know, what are
the movies that you're really excited about seeing in theaters
next week?
Marni Weisz (16:59):
For me, it's Underwater.
Natasha G. (17:01):
Oh. That's with Kristen Stewart.
Marni Weisz (17:02):
Yeah. We've got Kristen Stewart in this, and she looks
super cool. She's got a shaved head. It's dyed blond.
She looks fierce. So, she plays a researcher at an
underwater lab on the ocean floor, which is 5, 000
miles from land on either side. And then there's what
seems to be an earthquake. The lab is basically destroyed,
so they have to put on these underwater suits and
(17:24):
walk to safety. And once they're out there they realize,
as if this isn't dangerous enough, they are not alone.
Natasha G. (17:32):
We never are, right?
Ingrid Randoja (17:34):
We never are.
Natasha G. (17:34):
We never are. Okay, so report for some serious movie watching there
in theaters with Marni's choice. What's out right now that
you're excited about, Ingrid?
Ingrid Randoja (17:42):
Well, mine, I'm interested in Doolittle, which hits theaters next
week. Robert Downey Jr. Plays Dr. Doolittle. Which, of course this is a remake
of the 1960s musical with Rex Harrison. But it's not
a musical, and it's just a kids' family adventure movie. I
love seeing Robert Downey do anything, and he hasn't made
a kids' or family film since The Shaggy Dog 14
(18:04):
years ago. And in that one, he was actually second fiddle
to Tim Allen, which is kind of crazy.
Natasha G. (18:09):
Wouldn't Iron Man be (crosstalk) .
Ingrid Randoja (18:10):
No, no.
Marni Weisz (18:13):
Oh, you're in dangerous territory, so don't. I don't think you should say that.
Ingrid Randoja (18:15):
The thing about this that's great is the CGI animals. They're all voiced
by great people. So, just very quickly. Emma Thompson, Rami
Malek, John Cena, Tom Holland, Marion Cotillard, Octavia Spencer. They
all voice the animals that are around him when he
goes on his adventure. So, I think as a parent
or a adult taking a kid to it, you're going
(18:36):
to enjoy it too, because you're going to recognize these
great voices, and Robert Downey is just so much fun
to watch, even if it goes off the rails, which I don't think
it will. He is a joy to watch.
Natasha G. (18:45):
He really is a joy to watch, and I think
he appeals to every gender, every-
Ingrid Randoja (18:48):
I think so, too.
Natasha G. (18:50):
Every, you know, age. It's going to be great. And
as usual, it's a great week at the movies. So
thank you, Marni, thank you, Ingrid, for being here on
our Hello Movies podcast. Our next episode is Birds of
Prey and Rhythm Section, two films about women kicking ass
and getting revenge. You won't want to miss that, obviously.
I'm Natasha Gargiulo, and this is Hello Movies. Thank you
for listening.
Welcome to Hello Movies, a podcast that reminds you why
you love the big screen. It's a brand new year,
and guess what? I am your brand new podcast host,
Natasha Gargiulo. We've got a great show lined up today,
a look ahead at the top 10 movies on the
horizon for 2020. I won't get into it just yet,
but let me just say it looks like there's something
(00:22):
for everyone.
I'm here at the Cineplex Yonge- Eglinton VIP Theaters in Toronto,
in line of course to get some popcorn, because you
need popcorn when you watch a movie. I'm with Marni Weisz
and Ingrid Randoja. These two have become my friends, ever
since I met them here at Cineplex. They're the dynamic duos,
writers and editors behind Cineplex Magazine, and hands down two
(00:46):
of the biggest movie aficionados I know.
Marni Weisz (00:48):
Woo hoo.
Natasha G. (00:49):
Yes.
Marni Weisz (00:50):
Welcome to the podcast, Natasha.
Natasha G. (00:51):
Thanks, ladies. Thanks for having me. It's great to be
here. Okay. I think we should get our seats. All
right, ladies. It's that time of year, and if you're
like me, you kind of start to look ahead a
little bit. Maybe this year you resolve to spend more
time with your family and friends. Also, we're heading into
(01:13):
those cold months, right? And all you want to do
is just watch a really good movie in a movie
theater. So, what better way to do it than to
book some solid movie dates? And to do that, you
need to know what's coming out, so you can make
some decent choices. Am I right?
Ingrid Randoja (01:26):
Yup.
Marni Weisz (01:26):
For sure.
Natasha G. (01:27):
All right, so let's get into it. Marni, Ingrid, you
have compiled a list of your top five movies of
2020. You each have different movies, and you're going to
sell us on why we should go and see them
in 2020.
Ingrid Randoja (01:37):
In a very short amount of time.
Natasha G. (01:39):
Okay. We're going to start with you, Ingrid. Can you give us
your top five, but save the very best for last?
Ingrid Randoja (01:45):
Sure. Number five, I can't wait to see, Trial of
the Chicago Seven, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, which
is about the trial of the eight men... That was brought
down to seven... who were charged with inciting violence during
the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. A political film
that comes out on September 25th, just before the American
election. Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne. I can't wait. It's
(02:08):
going to be political, it's going to be smart, and that's my
number five. Number four, I'm hoping that Tom Cruise in
Top Gun-
Marni Weisz (02:16):
Yes.
Ingrid Randoja (02:16):
... Maverick has a chance to really take a look
and confront bro culture. It's the sequel to the 1986 film.
He is now 57 years old, Maverick, and he's teaching
at the academy. Here's a chance for, I think Tom
Cruise to do great stunts, great action. Number three, I
think No Time to Die, the James Bond film starring
(02:36):
Daniel Craig. Comes out April 10th. It's Bond 25. It's
the last time we see Daniel Craig as 007. He
takes on Rami Malek as the villain. It is going
to be a beautiful looking movie, great action, nice clothes,
good looking people, and we get to look at his
eyes and his abs for the last time. And-
Natasha G. (02:55):
We've done that many times before.
Ingrid Randoja (02:57):
We've done it. You (crosstalk) . Number two for me
is Black Widow. This is a mid quill, as they
call it. Scarlett Johansson of course plays Black Widow, one
of the members of the Avengers. This takes place after
the events of Captain America
have broken up, and she's very depressed. And as Scarlett
Johansson says, the character is in a very dark place. She goes
(03:18):
back to Russia. We start to find out about her
backstory. I think it's going to be amazing. That comes
out on May 1st.
Natasha G. (03:27):
All right, so out of those four, I'm really interested
in seeing No Time to Die, because when they released
the trailer of that, everyone who was a Bond fan
just freaked out. But my question is, what are your
predictions for Bond? Is he going to die? What are
they going to do to MI6?
Ingrid Randoja (03:41):
I'm the weirdo who thinks that they actually will kill him
off.
Natasha G. (03:46):
No. How could you say that?
Ingrid Randoja (03:46):
Remember, because 007 is a number, and anybody can be 007. It's just a
number. It's a codename. So, who will step in? I
think they're going to do that. I think Daniel Craig wants to go out with a bang. That's
just my theory. It's probably out there, and it's crazy,
but I think they should do that.
Natasha G. (04:00):
All right. Can't wait for that. So, hold on tight
with your top movie of 2020. We're going to now
talk to Marni, who's got a list of top fives
that's a little slightly different from yours.
Marni Weisz (04:10):
Okay. I would say that my fifth pick would be
Bill & Ted Face the Music, August 21st.
Natasha G. (04:14):
Do we really need another Bill and Ted?
Marni Weisz (04:16):
You know, at first I wasn't sure, and then I
went back and I watched the trailers for Bill & Ted's
Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey, and I laughed so hard
that yes, if ever we needed another one, it's now.
I really liked it because they're really smart movies about
dumb guys. In this one, Bill and Ted... I don't know
if you remember from the first movies, the reason that
(04:37):
they went back in time was because they were fated
to write the most beautiful song in the world, that
would save the universe. They never did it, so now
they're middle- aged. They're married to-
Natasha G. (04:50):
It took them that long, and they still haven't written it.
Marni Weisz (04:50):
... princesses. They haven't written it. They're not very good musicians,
which is what's making it so difficult. So, this is
all about them trying to write that song. And people
have been looking forward to this movie for a long
time, and Keanu Reeves is really hot right now. My
fourth movie, The Eternals, comes out November 6th. We've already
(05:12):
heard from Ingrid about another Avengers movie, if you can
call it that, Black Widow. Personally, my favorite Avengers movies
have been the ones that take place in outer space.
So, the Guardians movies, Thor
guess I like the funnier movies better. We're plumbing the
story here from a 1970s series of comic books by
Jack Kirby. The plot here is that an immortal race,
(05:34):
the Eternals, has been created by the Celestials, to protect
humanity from the Evil Deviants. This is a story that
spans 7, 000 years, so get ready for a lot
of sequels if this one works. And hopefully it will, because
the interesting thing about this film is the diversity. So,
aside from Angelina Jolie, who plays an Eternal, and Kit
(05:56):
Harington, who plays a non- Eternal, we've got Kumail Nanjiani
and Brian Tyree Henry, who you may know from Atlanta,
and Gemma Chan. It's directed by Chinese- American director Chloe
Zao. But it also has Lauren Ridloff, who's a deaf
actor, as a deaf character named Makkari, who is the first deaf
superhero, and I'm really interested to see how they use
(06:19):
sign language, if they use sign language-
Natasha G. (06:21):
Interesting.
Marni Weisz (06:21):
... how she communicates, and how they work that into
the story.
Natasha G. (06:25):
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah.
Marni Weisz (06:26):
West Side Story is my number three. That one is
coming out December 18th, and I am not actually a
musical person.
Natasha G. (06:33):
Then why did you pick it?
Marni Weisz (06:34):
That's a really good question. I'm not a musical person, except
for West Side Story. Every time it comes on TV,
it's one of those movies where if I flip past
it, I have to watch the rest of it. It
won 10 Oscars, and for good reason. It was based
on the play that had the score by Leonard Bernstein,
Stephen Sondheim lyrics. This all means something to people who
(06:56):
are into musicals. Since I am not, what mattered to
me was the story. It's Romeo and Juliet, set in
1950s New York. It's two warring gangs. One is white...
Our protagonist, Tony, has a Polish background... and the other
is Puerto Rican. And Tony from the white gang and
Maria from the Puerto Rican gang, they fall in love.
(07:18):
And if you know Romeo and Juliet, you know where
this is going to go.
Natasha G. (07:22):
Marni, do we know the cast yet for West Side Story?
Marni Weisz (07:25):
Yeah. Ansel Elgort is Tony, and Rachel Zegler... Who is little-
known. You probably haven't seen her in anything yet... she
is Maria. And Rita Moreno is actually back as a new
character named Valentina, who is a reworking of Doc, who
owned the drugstore where Tony worked in the first movie.
Most importantly, this is being directed by Steven Spielberg, and
(07:46):
he got Tony Kushner to write the screenplay. And if
you don't know who Tony Kushner is, he won the
Pulitzer Prize for writing Angels in America. So, this movie
has a lot of cred. And, you know, maybe it's
a movie that doesn't need a remake, but I feel
like it's going to go deeper and be gritter, and
show us something that maybe we didn't see in the
(08:07):
first one, which really looked like they had just filmed
the musical. My number two movie is Tenet, which comes
out July 17th. And if there's one movie that you should see
in theaters this year, this is the one. It's directed
by Christopher Nolan, who doesn't make a bad movie. He
started his career with Memento. After that he did The
Dark Knight, which is the Batman movie with Heath Ledger
(08:28):
playing The Joker. He did Dunkirk. He did Inception. And
most importantly, he really likes people to see his movies
in theaters, on the big screen. In fact, when the
first trailer for this movie came out, he insisted that
it not be shown online. It was only going to
be in theaters, and it's still not online. But just
(08:48):
before the holidays, a second trailer was finally released online,
and so now we know a little bit more about
the plot. We know that it's an espionage movie that
deals with manipulating time and reality, much like Inception did.
It starts with an image that could have come from
Inception. Characters played by John David Washington and Robert Pattinson
are scaling a building, but they basically fly up to
(09:09):
about the sixth story before they make contact with the
side of the building. We know that they're fighting some
sort of threat, but it's not going to be some
cliché villain who's going to release a plague on the
world. Because it's Christopher Nolan, we know that it's going
to be something mind bending, something philosophical.
Ingrid Randoja (09:25):
Intriguing.
Natasha G. (09:26):
Oh, it's very intriguing, and all we know is that
it's probably one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2020,
and also the most expensive undertaking as well.
Ingrid Randoja (09:33):
Could be. Could be. We don't know the truth, and-
Marni Weisz (09:35):
I know they filmed in about seven different locations around
the world, and that costs a lot. India, Italy were among them.
Ingrid Randoja (09:41):
Estonia. Where my parents are from.
Natasha G. (09:43):
Oh. Okay, we're narrowing it down to our last pick
of 2020, and I got to say, between Ingrid and
Marni, I think I'll probably go to the movies with
Ingrid, because she picked one of my-
Ingrid Randoja (09:53):
I win.
Natasha G. (09:53):
... favorite movies in 2020, that I am most excited
to see, and that would be Wonder Woman.
Ingrid Randoja (09:59):
Wonder Woman 1984, the sequel to Wonder Woman, directed by
Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Godot. She's back. It's set
during the Cold War, and Diana Prince, a. k. a.
Wonder Woman, is reportedly working as a spy for the U.
S. government against the Soviets. Have you seen the trailers?
Natasha G. (10:16):
Yes.
Ingrid Randoja (10:16):
It is just steeped in 80s culture, all the way
back to fanny packs and wide shoulders, and all of
the accoutrements.
Natasha G. (10:22):
So fun.
Ingrid Randoja (10:24):
It's fun. Of course, everybody's buzzing is that Chris Pine
is back as Steve Trevor, who died in the first
film. So, how is he alive? How can this be?
And we don't really know. I mean, there's different theories.
But I mean, the thing about Wonder Woman which I
am eternally happy about is I've never seen a character
that can be almost naïve, and believes in goodness. But
(10:46):
Gal Godot just dived into it, leaned right into it
with Patty Jenkins, that belief. So when you're watching the
first movie, I was just so inspired by her. And
she was not sappy or silly. She just believed in
that goodness, and so she made me believe. And it
made me happy to believe in that. And a lot
of superheroes don't have that. They're cynical, whatever. And, you
(11:06):
know. Obviously, in fact she's beautiful and sexy and all
of those things, but she just believes in the goodness
of what she's doing, and I just love that character.
And also being intelligent and well played. So, with the
setting and her and Chris Pine back, because I think
they have great chemistry, I just am so looking forward
to this movie on June 5th.
Natasha G. (11:24):
Yeah, and I think Wonder Woman also represents empowerment for any
woman of any age.
Ingrid Randoja (11:30):
Absolutely. Yeah.
Natasha G. (11:30):
I know that my daughter and I both dressed up
as Wonder Woman for Halloween.
Ingrid Randoja (11:33):
Right.
Natasha G. (11:33):
And she's mine, and I'm... Oh, something. I'm of a
certain age. And we both feel that Wonder Woman represents
this type of female power that we all want, and
we're proud to be.
Ingrid Randoja (11:45):
And she could just fall off that... It's such a
thin line you're walking, right? Between being silly and... Because
we grew up with the silliness of Wonder Woman.
Natasha G. (11:51):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Ingrid Randoja (11:51):
And the kind of, she's almost a joke into the D. C.
Comics. And Kristen Wiig is Cheetah, the villain, which is
just another piece of casting. Like, Kristen Wiig as a villain?
Natasha G. (12:03):
(crosstalk) ?
Ingrid Randoja (12:02):
And have you saw in the trailer? She's doing her
silly, almost like Bridesmaids talking, but you know that she's
a great actress.
Natasha G. (12:08):
Right.
Ingrid Randoja (12:08):
And I think Patty Jenkins believes in her. And I
just... What a great casting. I'm not sure how this is going to
be, but I'm just so excited.
Natasha G. (12:15):
When is the release date for Wonder Woman?
Ingrid Randoja (12:17):
June 5th.
Natasha G. (12:18):
June 5th.
Marni Weisz (12:19):
Yeah. And you know, my experience seeing this one, the
first movie, in theaters, was until that point, we'd done
a lot of interviews with people who had said, " You
know, the first time I saw so- and- so, it
really made me feel like I was seeing myself onscreen for
the first time." Whether it was a gender, or a particular
race, orientation. And I always heard that rationally and logically,
(12:42):
and knew what they were talking about, but I never
actually felt it until I saw Wonder Woman, strangely enough.
And I, when I was watching her protect the rest
of the characters... Chris Pine and the other characters, who
are mostly male... I really felt something. I felt a
stirring that I hadn't felt before. I watched the TV
show when I was a kid, and I didn't feel
(13:03):
that at the time.
Ingrid Randoja (13:04):
Yeah. No. It was silly.
Marni Weisz (13:04):
I wasn't aware enough to feel that.
Ingrid Randoja (13:07):
Yeah. Yeah.
Marni Weisz (13:07):
But I'm really glad that I saw that one in the
theater, because when it ended, all the women are looking
around at each other, and the guys probably aren't. And
you walk out, and I remember just, like vibrating when I walked out of that movie.
Ingrid Randoja (13:18):
Right.
Natasha G. (13:18):
So, we can all agree that Wonder Woman makes us
feel confident, strong, and makes us feel that girl power
is stronger than ever, especially in this day and age.
Ingrid Randoja (13:25):
Right. And remember, it did well around the world, so men
watched it, too.
Natasha G. (13:27):
Right. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Ingrid Randoja (13:28):
I mean, it helps that she's beautiful, but I think
men also felt... I can't speak. But I feel like,
talking to people, it was a good movie, but they
also felt empowered almost through her, too, in a way. So, it was cool.
Natasha G. (13:38):
Great. So that's your top pick for 2020, Ingrid. What's
yours, Marni?
Marni Weisz (13:41):
I feel like I have to convince you now, Natasha.
Natasha G. (13:45):
All right. Hit me.
Marni Weisz (13:46):
You're going to see Wonder Woman 1984 with Ingrid.
Natasha G. (13:48):
Yes.
Marni Weisz (13:49):
And I know my choice is a little bit risky.
Natasha G. (13:51):
Mm- hmm ( affirmative).
Marni Weisz (13:51):
It's Dune.
Natasha G. (13:52):
Tell me about Dune. I haven't heard much about it.
Marni Weisz (13:54):
Yes. Well, it's coming out December 18th, so I've got a
long time to convince you.
Natasha G. (13:58):
Okay. You've got 12 months, about.
Marni Weisz (14:00):
I wrote a little thing about... Yeah. I wrote a
little thing about this in the magazine, and I said
that the tagline should be, " Let's try this again." The
thing with Dune is that everybody automatically thinks of the 1984
David Lynch movie, which was terrible.
Natasha G. (14:15):
So, then why would you want to see this?
Marni Weisz (14:18):
Well, let me tell you. I hadn't even watched that
version until about a week ago. I forced myself to
watch it. It really is that bad. It's amazing that
they let David Lynch make more movies after that. It's
a good thing that they did, because he made great
movies. But this is a movie that needed to be
remade, and it's being made by Denis Villeneuve.
Natasha G. (14:39):
Oh, my favorite Quebecer.
Marni Weisz (14:40):
He is. Not only is he a Canadian director, but
he directed my favorite movie of 2017, which was Blade
Runner 2049. To me, that movie was perfect. It was
a work of art flickering across the screen. I saw
it multiple times, and liked it better each time. And
I am hopeful that this Dune will be epic in
(15:02):
that same scale. It's a story that has some similarities
to Star Wars. Basically it's about a family, the Atreides
family, that goes to live on this inhospitable planet that
they call Dune, and they have to manage what they
call the spice, which is this drug that expands the
mind and extends life.
Natasha G. (15:22):
How do we get that drug here now?
Marni Weisz (15:23):
Yeah. And it better be good, because they have chopped
the book in two. They're making two movies out of
it. So, the second movie will come out some time
in the next couple years, and they're also doing a
TV series out of this.
Natasha G. (15:38):
Oh.
Marni Weisz (15:38):
So, my (crosstalk) -
Natasha G. (15:41):
It has legs.
Marni Weisz (15:41):
It has legs. It could turn into a big franchise,
and I hope it will.
Natasha G. (15:46):
Okay, so judging from your top picks for 2020, Ingrid,
you are more of a play it safe. You know
blockbusters are going to be seen. Everyone loves these films.
Ingrid Randoja (15:57):
Yeah. And if you notice mine, I'm very much into
girl power.
Natasha G. (16:00):
Yeah. Yes.
Ingrid Randoja (16:01):
That's my thing.
Natasha G. (16:01):
My kind of girl. We're going to go see lots
of movies together in 2020. Whereas Marni, you like to
give directors and people an opportunity and a chance to
kind of enter your world, and have you for two
hours. And if you like it, it's great, and if
you don't, well.
Marni Weisz (16:16):
Yeah, but I don't think I'm the only one who
has high hopes for Dune, because this is just the
first of two movies. They've cut the book in half.
There's also going to be a TV spinoff, so I
think they're expecting big things from this. And there are
people who will see it as a replacement for Star
Wars. I mean, Star Wars is still going, obviously, but
now that the main franchise is wrapping up, I think
(16:36):
there are a lot of people that are going to
turn to Dune if it's successful, and I certainly hope it
is, and it'll fill that place in their hearts and
minds.
Natasha G. (16:46):
All right, ladies. We just had a film face off,
and you gave us every reason to put our butts
right here in a theater, because there are so many
worthy elements. But now I want to know, what are
the movies that you're really excited about seeing in theaters
next week?
Marni Weisz (16:59):
For me, it's Underwater.
Natasha G. (17:01):
Oh. That's with Kristen Stewart.
Marni Weisz (17:02):
Yeah. We've got Kristen Stewart in this, and she looks
super cool. She's got a shaved head. It's dyed blond.
She looks fierce. So, she plays a researcher at an
underwater lab on the ocean floor, which is 5, 000
miles from land on either side. And then there's what
seems to be an earthquake. The lab is basically destroyed,
so they have to put on these underwater suits and
(17:24):
walk to safety. And once they're out there they realize,
as if this isn't dangerous enough, they are not alone.
Natasha G. (17:32):
We never are, right?
Ingrid Randoja (17:34):
We never are.
Natasha G. (17:34):
We never are. Okay, so report for some serious movie watching there
in theaters with Marni's choice. What's out right now that
you're excited about, Ingrid?
Ingrid Randoja (17:42):
Well, mine, I'm interested in Doolittle, which hits theaters next
week. Robert Downey Jr. Plays Dr. Doolittle. Which, of course this is a remake
of the 1960s musical with Rex Harrison. But it's not
a musical, and it's just a kids' family adventure movie. I
love seeing Robert Downey do anything, and he hasn't made
a kids' or family film since The Shaggy Dog 14
(18:04):
years ago. And in that one, he was actually second fiddle
to Tim Allen, which is kind of crazy.
Natasha G. (18:09):
Wouldn't Iron Man be (crosstalk) .
Ingrid Randoja (18:10):
No, no.
Marni Weisz (18:13):
Oh, you're in dangerous territory, so don't. I don't think you should say that.
Ingrid Randoja (18:15):
The thing about this that's great is the CGI animals. They're all voiced
by great people. So, just very quickly. Emma Thompson, Rami
Malek, John Cena, Tom Holland, Marion Cotillard, Octavia Spencer. They
all voice the animals that are around him when he
goes on his adventure. So, I think as a parent
or a adult taking a kid to it, you're going
(18:36):
to enjoy it too, because you're going to recognize these
great voices, and Robert Downey is just so much fun
to watch, even if it goes off the rails, which I don't think
it will. He is a joy to watch.
Natasha G. (18:45):
He really is a joy to watch, and I think
he appeals to every gender, every-
Ingrid Randoja (18:48):
I think so, too.
Natasha G. (18:50):
Every, you know, age. It's going to be great. And
as usual, it's a great week at the movies. So
thank you, Marni, thank you, Ingrid, for being here on
our Hello Movies podcast. Our next episode is Birds of
Prey and Rhythm Section, two films about women kicking ass
and getting revenge. You won't want to miss that, obviously.
I'm Natasha Gargiulo, and this is Hello Movies. Thank you
for listening.
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