November 17, 2025 • 50 mins
With Michael B. Jordan's amazing performance in Sinners still fresh on our mind, we look back at his critically acclaimed performance in Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's just a few more days until Black Panther Wakanda
Forever arrives in theaters. How excited are you for that?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I am super excited to see this movie. Seeing that trailer,
I cannot wait.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
One of the best trailers I think the MCU has
ever given us.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Right, absolutely it is.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
When I played that trailer over and over, probably ten
times because it was so powerful.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Very powerful. Speaking of powerful, let's talk about a film
by Ryan Coogler today, his twenty thirteen biographical drama Fruitville Station.
(01:08):
Hello everybody, and welcome back to a film by podcast.
My co host Brad Kozo has the week off and
graciously filling in for him once again. David Burns. Hello, Dave.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Hello, it's great to be back again.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
It is always great to have you. I know, I
know the listeners love the Dave Burns episodes, and I'm
sure they'll be happy with what we got coming up
next season with with a lot more Dave Burns.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
But that's right.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
But before we get there, let's uh, let's let's get
to Coogler. Uh to it. Fruitville Station.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
What a powerful movie.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Extremely powerful movie.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
You know, I'm embarrassed to say this, but I didn't
know anything about this film.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I had never seen this film.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So when you you asked me to be on the
podcast for this, you know, when I pulled it up
and you know, I didn't watch the trailer. I just
decided just to go in cold and and watch the movie.
And I'm like, WHOA, what a great movie.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I will share that embarrassment. I had not seen this.
This is this is Ryan Coogler's directorial debut, YEP, and
just getting excited for Black Panther, What kind of forever?
I I you know, I thought, wait, what what did he?
You know, he just showed up like all of a sudden.
He's a filmmaker out of nowhere, but everyone has a beginning.
(02:38):
What what? What was his first film? And like you
I I saw Fruitville Station. I was like, okay, what's
that about? You know Michael Michael B. Jordan and I'm
a big fan. I've talked about him before on the podcast.
Love his work. So I was like, let's let's let's
talk about this one now, Dave. Before we get into this.
(03:02):
You know, there's probably other people that haven't seen it. Yeah,
I feel like we can't do this story justice. We
can't do this film Justice without talking about it in detail.
So obviously you know it's twenty thirteen when this comes out.
It is. It is based on a true story. So
if you haven't seen this movie, if you haven't, if
(03:24):
you don't know what it's about, and you want to
go in, you know you don't want us to spoil
the movie for it. I would. I'd tell you hit
pause on this episode and go check it out and
then come back to us, because we got to talk
about it in detail, right, Dave?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Yeah, I mean I completely agree with you.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I'm glad I went to this into this film cold
because I'm knowing nothing about it, because it made it
even more powerful to me. So yes, please put this
on pause if you've not listened to it or not
seen it, and go watch it please.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Okay? Well, Dave, for those that don't want to, that
don't mind the spoilers, can you give us a quick
synopsis of Fruitville Station Sure.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
This is the true story of Oscar Grant played by
Michael B. Jordan, who is winding his way through a
normal day of life, taking his daughter to school, dropping
his girlfriend off at work, and preparing to celebrate not
only the coming of a new year, but also his
mother's birthday. He has struggled for some time, and recently
losing his job, is trying to find a new path
for himself while avoiding going down the same one as before.
(04:28):
He is a man who has a great heart, who
cares about people who crossed his path. Where there's at
a grocery store or a dog wandering alone, he deeply cares.
He is unsure of where things are going, but one
horrifying night fruitflle station will change everything forever.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Fantastic, Dave, thank you for that. Yeah, I couldn't believe
I went in this. I didn't watch the trailer. I
didn't know. I didn't know about Oscar Grant, the Oscar Grant,
And you know, all I knew was Ryan Coogler's directory
at W and the poster with Michael B. Jordan just
you know, a profile shot.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
You know, not not to jump up. But after seeing
this movie, I can see why Google have became so
popular so fast, because this this movie just blew me away,
you know, I mean, I just it was just phenomenal
performances across the board, directed extremely well, just just put
together as a great I believe it was an independent
film you know, I just cannot speak highly enough of
(05:28):
this film.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, listeners, I'll tell you right now if you have
not seen this, and again jumping ahead, it's on Amazon
Prime right now, so Prime listeners, you've got access to it.
I know it's a lot on a lot of the
other streaming platforms to rent for like two three ninety nine,
which is worth it. I feel it's a musty movie.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
It is, which is why I'm so embarrassed I've never
seen it before. After seeing it, is like, everybody needs
to watch this film.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Well, you know, that's the thing that I mean, that's
one of the reasons why we we kind of went
with the format that we do on this on this
on this show, you know, we're looking for those those
underrated movies from from great directors, and sometimes they get
by you, you know they do. Yeah, you know Coogler,
Ryan Kugler, everyone just you automatically like, I love Ryan Cougler,
I love everything he's done. But then you have to
(06:19):
ask yourself, have you seen everything he's done? Right? And
that's when we find Fruitvale Station, you know. So I'm
glad for the opportunity to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Honestly, I am too it's it's one of those things that,
like you you go along, you see all these movies
because we watch a lot of movies, that's what we do.
But you know, you find that one film that you
don't know anything about, it just comes out of nowhere
for you and it's just like that that that sweet
candy that you find in the store. Man, You're like, wow,
(06:48):
what if phenomenal experience in watching in that and that
is exactly what this movie is.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Well, I want to get into the cast a little bit. Uh.
I've been a fan of Michael B. Jordan since the
days of Friday Night Lights. I don't know if you know,
ye oh yeah, I do his character on that. Always
been a fan of him. So when he when he
hit the movie screen with with Black Panther and Creed,
I'm like, yes, I'm glad to see this guy is
(07:15):
doing great. He's doing great movies. So for me, the
real treat here was seeing a Michael B. Jordan film
that I had never seen and seeing a great performance.
He's he's amazing in this.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
He he's like Denzel Washington And I'm gonna say it now,
I think he's the next Denzel Washington. He agree he
can melt into a performance and because he's so natural
that you forget who you're watching. He's phenomenal, and he
really proves it in this movie.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
His performance in this movie go. I mean, there are
moments where his sweetness is on full display. He's so tender,
and then there's moments where he is fearsome, you know, uh,
not one to mess around with, and and you know
very you know, and I'm not talking about violence. I'm
just talking about this aggressive vibe that he can give
(08:10):
off immediately, and it's in a protector's role, not exactly
instigator's role.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, that's exactly what I was gonna say. I said,
you know, he's not doing that to lose his temper
really quick, because just to lose his temper, he cares
about his family, his daughter, you know, his i'm guessing girlfriend,
soon to be fiance, soon to be wife.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
You know, he's protecting them.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
So that's why he loses his temper a little bit,
because he realizes he's got to bring in some money.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah, and it doesn't really matter if he's whether he's
talking with his fiance Sophina, or his daughter Tatiana, even
his mother Wanda. He just has this self assurance where
you know he's gonna take care of you. If he
says it's good, if he says it's gonna be okay,
it's gonna be okay. And the way he handles that,
(08:56):
that that pressure and that stress, it's it's masterful. It's
just it's it's it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
It is and it speaks to the character the performance
that he pulls off when he you know, the Katie
at the grocery store, you know, when oh, yeah, looking,
she's looking at the fish and she's trying to figure
out what She's never had a fish fry before, but
she wants to impress her boyfriend, you know, and she's
struggling to figure it out, and he literally calls his grandma.
It has Katie talked to her on the phone to
(09:24):
pick the right fish.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yeah, just put it a call to Grandma Bonnie. She'll
she'll take you, She'll take you through the steps. We'll
get to that scene. And I want to talk about
that scene. Yeah, but later on, how about how about
Melanie Diaz playing Sofia Dave. I haven't seen her in
anything else, but uh, very very fine performance that that
Diaz gives off.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, I think she does some TV work, but I've
never I've never seen this actress before, but yeah, I
think she did a fantastic job as the girlfriend of Oscar.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Yeah, I mean I believe. I believe their the relationship,
you know, because it's not it's not just uh you
know it it opened this this movie opens up, you know,
with the voiceovers that they have about their new the
New Year's Resolutions, which like a very cold opening. Loved
very cold opening. Love loved how they did that, but
also you see like their struggles of of what the relationship,
(10:20):
what the relationship is all about, because you know, I mean,
let's let's face it, Oscar is you know, we root
for him to this whole movie, and we loved the character.
But he's a flawed individual, you know. I mean he
he has lied about his his job, he has been
you know, there's been some infidelity, you know. And and
to see those those those conversations happened between uh Jordan
(10:43):
and Diaz, I mean, it's it's fantastic because it looks
it almost like it almost plays out like a documentary,
like you're watching real people talk about their their life.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
The performances were just so natural and the chemistry was
there between them. I mean, chemistry was there for everybody
in this film. But yeah, I mean you're right, it
felt like we were watching a documentary just in a
few moments of the lives of these two people.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You really did absolutely. Yeah. Now, one one performance that
just just blew the doors off this thing. I mean,
you want to talk about gravitas. You are talking about
Octavia Spencer playing his mother Wanda.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Wow, she's great in everything she does, and she's been
in a lot of stuff. She even does a lot
of voice acting and stuff like that too. But yes,
what a great actress to play the mother of after
a great actress.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Just the scenes where I mean, whether it's the the
visits you know that we we have, we have a
flashback where he's he's in San Quentin, yep, and she's
going to visit him. That scene where she is, where
she is the calming presence.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
I love that, the the tough love that she had
to show there. Yeah, man, I tell you, I mean
I was just like on the edge of my seat
with her performance there because you could just see in
her facial reactions, her eyes that she just had to
go be you know, strict with him, this is it,
I'm not coming to visit you anymore, you know, basically
(12:21):
telling him you got to get your life straight.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yeah. Well she's not buying into his bs at that point, right, yep.
And she's had it, and she she wants she expects more,
you know, she she expects more from her son. This
at the end of this movie. Her performance with the doctors.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah, I know, heartbreaking, I mean absolutely heartbreaking. But the
way she the way she takes control of the family
and the friends that are in that hospital.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Yeah, because they were getting out of control, and she's like,
you know what, no, no, we're not going to do this. Yeah,
you know, calm down. You know, we're gonna pray about this.
We're gonna we're gonna talk about this, you know, and
we're gonna get through this.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah. Tavia Spencer just one of the most amazing performances
I've seen from an actress in a long time. Ye
and uh, I'm kind of surprised, like there's no nomination
for her for this movie. Like, what what's the Academy doing.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
In twenty thirteen not watching this? Apparently?
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I guess I have no idea, but I do want
to make a note here about you know, not Octavia Spencer,
but the character of Wanda. I don't know if you
know this, Jeff, but the real mom of Grant, Wanda Johnson.
She makes a small cameo appearance in the film. Oh
you didn't she No, she plays missus Stacy at Tatiana's preschool.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Oh okay, the the preschool teacher. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
I thought that was really neat that they did that.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I loving her me too, man, I mean, you're you're
you're showing so much respect by doing that, and I
love it.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yeah. Well, I mean, I know, I know Ryan Coogler
obviously to to bring this to the screen. You know,
his first step was was contacting the family, the family's attorney,
and wanted to share Oscar story. Yep, you know which.
I think they do an amazing job of doing. But
I always love when when when when real individuals that
(14:11):
are part of the story, when they take the opportunity
to participate in whatever regard. And you know, I mean,
it's a small scene at the preschool, but uh, fantastic.
I'm I'm I'm just glad to know that she was
part of it.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
So yeah, me too.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Yeah, uh and back to back to Octavia Spencer. My
understanding is this movie loses money BIDWI through production and
Octavia Spencer forgoes her her salary and works to to
to raise money to keep it going.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yep, I mean she did.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
What an amazing woman. I mean, she's she's incredible.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
When when you when you when you're part of a
project like this, you really realize the importance of that project.
You see what it's going to do, the story it's
going to tell, and the people that it's going to influence.
So I am proud of some people who do that.
You know, put put aside of the finances that you
could potentially make, and you know, work your butt off
to make sure the money is there to get that
(15:07):
project done so that the world can see it.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
I thought that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, Well, before this turns into the Octavia Spencer hour,
I'll move on because you know, one other, one other
person I want to point out uh Arianna Neil, who
plays Tatiana, the daughter. This girl, this little girl is
one of the most adorable little girls I've ever seen.
Is just what I mean, what a smart and what
(15:33):
a smart actress I mean to play you know, because
there's a couple of times she has to play scared
and upset and a couple of times she gets to
have fun and she is She's incredible, right.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, the part was she asks for the extra fruit
snack and Sophinas like no, and then it gets snuck
to her by Oscar loved that.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Yeah, that scene is great because you know, look, moms
have got to be moms, and you know you don't
you don't need extra fruit snacks in your lunch bag.
But but the fact that they they're able to establish
that Tatiana is a daddy's girl, just in that moment
where he he's like sneaks the snack to her. You know,
(16:15):
don't tell mom. You know, even when you know at
the day when he when he picks her up, the
whole the race, you know, she's she's playing tag and
no one can catch her, and you know he's just
flat out burns her. Yeah, you know I'm number one dad,
Dad still undefeated. Yeah, I just I love that moment.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
You know, it's it's so funny that you talk about
that scene because you know, I made a note here
to talk about that. You know, when he goes to
pick her up, you have that slow, atmospheric, steady cam
shot where he's.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Going through the school mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
And you know, and he goes to out the back
door and goes out to get her because they're playing
in the back you know, the backyard there. I guess
you could say where the playground or whatever. And you know,
he goes and gets her and then you're right, you know,
they have that race to get back to the car.
I love that scene so much. That's probably my favorite
scene of the whole movie.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Okay, okay, yeah, I mean there's a couple of really
great scenes in this you know, not not one of
my favorite scenes, but because it's got Tatiana and I
want to talk about real quick, because we're talking about
that whole Daddy's girl vibe that the movie gives you
the teeth brushing scene, you know, you know, I mean
just just those those those cute looks that she's making
(17:25):
in the mirror, you know, like the the silly faces
that she's doing, you know, and then and then her
kind of looking after him like, hey dad, you had
dinner too, Like he's you know, he's like, yeah, you
do want to go to Bad Bad Breath, And you know,
so he's she makes him wash his you know, brush
his teeth with his finger. Yeah, I just those are
just those are just heartfelt moments that you know, happened
(17:49):
in and and homes across America. Scenes like that make
this movie so great, but also help like at the
end of this movie when you're hit with a ton
of bricks, when the emotions come Yep, it seems like
that that you have just been slowly watching and building
(18:12):
up that make it all the more tragic.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I think because and I hand that to you know,
Kogler for the writing and the directing of this of
being able to pull that off, because it's not just
the performance of the actors, but it's his directing style.
It's his camera work that helps pull you into that too,
because the ones the other scene, you know, that really
does an incredible job with it because you know, we.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
All have families.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
We've all had experiences where we've got together for New Year's,
for Christmas, whatever holiday it is, you know, to hang
out with your family, to have that banter, to talk
to laugh, to cry to whatever it is. But the
scene where he goes to his mom's birthday party, you
have all of those close up shots those interactions between
you know, first the ladies in the kitchen where they're
you know, they're trying to finish up it. He's got
(18:58):
like the glory shots and you really close up shots.
We will go from one face to another face and
then you know, the camera moves around a little bit
because he has a lot of hand to hand camera
work in this movie. And it works so well because
it pulls you in as an audience. It makes you
feel like you are there, like that documentary style directing
and that Neede. You feel like you were part of
(19:20):
that family. It made you feel like you should you
care about Oster and what happens in the movie. I
thought that was incredible, So yeah, you were absolutely right
about that.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, the handheld filming from time to time. Uh, it
absolutely works, especially at at Wanda's birthday party because that
house is so small, yep, and it's packed with family
and it's packed with love, and it makes you feel
like you're Yeah, you're at you're at a Christmas party,
(19:51):
you're at your at your aunt or uncles, or you're
at a family reunion where you're bumping your shoulder to
shoulder people. You know, dinner table, most most most tables
have four seats, you know, some some six, So you know,
places like that, you know, situations like that, you know
people you know, plates are in laps and you're you're
just trying to find a spot to sit and you know,
(20:12):
and just talk and be part of the part of
the the conversation.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah, and we already talked about that chemistry between the actors,
but it's all of them. You can you can believe
that is an actual family right there with those actors.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
You absolutely can. Uh, just I don't know, I just
I can't say enough great things about the performance the
performances in this film, truly, truly I must see, uh
you know, even is it Anna O'Reilly who plays Katie.
You mentioned the supermarket scene with the the girl that
(20:46):
didn't know how to prepare for a fish fry. That
that's uh, you know, I want to talk about that
when we get to you know, we'll talk about likes
and this, you know, dislikes obviously certain scenes. I want
to talk about that scene there. But I mean, great
character and just sad that you know, it's that character
(21:09):
and that interaction at the supermarket that ultimately seals his fate,
you know, him just doing the right thing. Him being
a good person seals his fate. So Dave, let's get
let's get a little into the making of this film.
We know it's based on a true story. What'd you
(21:29):
find out?
Speaker 3 (21:31):
So fruitful?
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Station was actually shot in Oakland, California for twenty days,
and I cannot comprehend it only took twenty days to
make this movie. But when you got professional together, I
guess you can pull it off. The scenes were actually
shot at and around the day Area rapid Transfer platform
where Grant was actually killed, which I think I cannot imagine,
And I'm going to talk about a quote here in
(21:52):
a little while that we get from Coogler about that,
but I just can imagine being in the actual spot
where this happened. But anyway, most of the platform scenes
were shot over the course of two nights, with another
night dedicated to the sequences on the train that led
up to the police confrontation. And San Quentin State Prison
even was actually served as the filming location, and they
used prisoners.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Which I thought was kind of unique as ex but hey,
when you got them, why not use them?
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Right?
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Dangerous but effective.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, But the scene where Oscar Grant is shot was
filmed at the actual spot. The original bullet hole is
still there where Michael B Jordan was lying. Can you
imagine that.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yet, that had to be a very difficult scene to shoot.
I would have to imagine for both, both for Michael
B Jordan, both for Ryan, for Ryan Coogler, for anyone involved,
that that had to just be a tough day on set.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
I would think it was, you know, and you know,
I've got a couple of quotes that we'll talk about
a little bit later that he actually refers to that,
but we'll get to that. The film had a nine
hundred thousand dollar budget and when it grows little over
seventeen million worldwide. So I don't know about you, but
that's a pretty successful film.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
That is very successful. I know, uh yeah, nine hundred thousand.
I think they after after the film festival circuit, they
sold it for two and a half million, and then
it goes on to make seventeen million. I mean, that's
that's amazing and.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Really opened the door for Coogler.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah, directorial debut for Ryan Kugler. Talk about just knocking it.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Out of the park, something that powerful.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Wow, Yeah, grand slam, knocking out of the Park whatever
you would call it. Man Coogler did it. Yeah, this
film absolutely, But you did. You didn't mention earlier about
a couple notable producers for this. One of them was
Forced Whitaker and the other one was, as you mentioned,
Octavia Spencer, So I think it was really neat that
we get those names too.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
All right, Well, we've talked about a couple scenes that
really stand out for us. You you mentioned, you know,
you you were kind of talking about your what you
thought was maybe your favorite scenes. Do you want to
you want to elaborate?
Speaker 2 (23:57):
So, I mean one of the favorites that you know
I just mentioned earlier was their relationship between the father
and the daughter, you know, at that the preschool. There's
just so much to like about this movie. You can
find any kind of scenes in here that you're just
gonna fall in love with and just realize what it adds,
and not only to the character of Oscar, but what
it adds to the story itself. There's just there's just
(24:19):
so much to pick from. I could talk all day
about this movie for crying out loud, But you know,
the close up shots that I think is my favorite
with the whole family, you know, you're getting that chemistry,
you're getting that experience of of what that family's like,
how close they are with one another. But to me,
the one scene that added so much character to Oscar
(24:40):
was the dog. When he stopped to get the guests
to get to get you know, fuel up his car,
he noticed the dog that was just wandering around by
by himself. So he goes over and pets the dog,
looking around to see where the owner's at, you know,
because this dog is wondering around, where traffic is at
and those kinds of things, you know, And so you know,
he pets it and then realized at first your thought
he was gonna take the dog, Oh yeah, the way
(25:01):
he was looking around. But then you know, he goes
back to the car, finishes up, and then you lose
track of where the dog is at, and then all
of a sudden, you hear the brakes of the car,
you hear the whine of the dog, and you know
what happened. Yeah, So he runs back to the road,
yelling at the driver as the driver's taking off, showing
how much he cared for a dog that he just met,
you know. So then he gets down, you know, just
looks at the dog and tries to comfort it because
(25:22):
you know it's obviously dying, you know, and he pulls
it off the side of the road and just it
just breaks your heart. But it just shows you how
much character Oscar has just right there in that one scene.
To me, you know, that was just a powerful, powerful
scene and I loved it very much.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
There is that scene. What makes that scene amazing is
it goes in entirely different direction that you're that you're
that you're not prepared for, because, like you I was like,
oh wait, he's he's looking around, you know, dog doesn't
have a collar, right, Tatiana is about to get a
new a new pet. You know, this is you know,
and and I'm already in my head, I'm kind of chuckling.
(25:58):
I'm thinking, I can't wait hear the conversation between him
and Sofena about how are they gonna where's the dog
gonna be and how they're gonna feed it and all
this kind of stuff and just the just the tragic
ending for this this poor animal and just how he reacts. Yeah,
just it's a gut riching moment, you know, just to
(26:18):
see anytime you see an animal, you know, suffering it's
going to be hard to watch, but again, it speaks
volumes to what what kind of character that this this
individual has it does? You know? I want to talk
about one of my favorite scenes, which we kind of
we kind of you know, touched on, is the supermarket
(26:39):
scene because you know, early on, you know he's heading
into work. You know, we we understand, you know, he's
lost his job, we know that, but his family doesn't
know this at this point, and he's just there to
try and get his job back, you know, just to
try and work with the boss. But his buddy is
working behind the fish can her and that's where Katie,
(27:02):
the character Katie comes into play, and she's she's getting
ready for a fish fry. She doesn't know what to buy,
she doesn't know how to make it. And this is
the this is the moment where I start rooting for
this character. Oscar's character in a big way because we
just had had the argument between him and Sophena about
his infidelity and how you know, is he calling that
(27:23):
girl still? So you're like, okay, well is he a
good guy or is he not a good guy? And
you really don't know how to feel about him. And
then when he starts kind of interacting with Katie. You're like,
here we go again. You're like, okay, so come on, dude,
are you are you really? Are you really that guy?
But then you find out, oh no, he's not. He
is a genuinely caring individual because you know, he's just
(27:47):
he's just trying to help out a fellow stranger. To
the point, like you said, he you know, he calls
his grandma, Grandma Bonnie, and then he even puts Grandma
Bonnie on the phone with this stranger, you know.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Has to ask what's her name again?
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yeah, yeah, what what's what's her name? And he does
Grandma Bonnie. She's like, hi, Grandma Bonnie. You know, and
I'm telling you right now. Uh Marjorie Crump shears, who
plays Grandma Bonnie. That's everyone's grandma in America.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Everyone.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
She is awesome in this movie. And I love the
fact that, you know, she's like, this girl don't know
what the boss, you don't know how to what she's making.
Put this girl on the phone. Put this girl on
the phone right now. So I just love that. But yeah,
he just hands his cell phone and then goes walking
down the aisle to talk to his boss. About job. Yeah,
and again that's where he kind of he shows us
(28:37):
a little bit of that that that that darker style,
that ugly side, you know, where he's you know, it's
not that he's threatening his boss, but he's he's letting
his boss know like, you know, here's my options. You know,
I can work here, you know, even at even at
half pay if that's what it takes. Or I can
hit the streets and you know, start selling drugs and
(28:59):
you know, because no matter what, he's going to provide
for his family, right And it's one of those uh,
it's it's one of those hard moments where you're like,
you know, you don't want you know, you wanted to
have this, this this crummy job, but you know it's
not gonna work out. And then you you immediately start thinking, Okay,
is this gonna be the downfall the character? And again
it's not. Wait, let's talk about the other scene at
(29:21):
the at the beach, you know, because that redemptive moment, right.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Yep, it absolutely is you know where you think that
he's going to get back into drug dealing, you know,
and but he actually you know, he has this bag
of pot that he kept in his house and but
you think what he's going to happen is he's gonna
you know, get back into that. But then he gets
rid of that, sells it to make money. But he's
with his friend who thinks that he's there to get back,
you know, to doing those things. But he ends up
(29:46):
giving him a little bit and you know, basically saying hey,
I'm done.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
You know, I'm you know. Yeah, SE's a redeentant moment
right there.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Absolutely, especially the way they they sat on it, Like
he went out and he got there early, so he
went out, you know, watched the water for a little bit.
You thought, Okay, this is where it's gonna turn. He
has to do something that he shouldn't do because he
needs to provide for his family. But then they don't
do that.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah again, Ryan Coogler, he keeps he keeps you on
your toes because every time you think, like, you know,
I'm not gonna approve of what this character is about
to do, he shows you that he's not doing that regardless, right,
you know, and you and you just keep falling for
it over and over. You know, it's and it's it's
(30:30):
amazing how how he does that to us. But uh, Yeah.
I love that moment because even then, that's like, Okay,
well he just did the right thing. But he's still
in a major jam because rent is due, he's promised
money to his sister to help her out, He's got
you know, he's got his daughter to take care of,
Like what where, what's he gonna do? You know, he's
in a mind and sure, yeah, and even and despite
(30:52):
all that, his priority is just to make sure that
his is his girlfriend fiance is going to have a
fun time on New Year's Eve. Yep, you know, I
think it's it's just amazing.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
It is.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
It's absolutely amazing. It is.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
There's there's two other things that I want to mention
to make sure we talk about. The first off is
I loved the way Coogler decided to just show us
the text and stuff that came up on the screen.
Oh yeah, I thought that was an amazing touch, especially
since you know, we get to see the actual footage
on the cell phone at the beginning of the movie.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
You know, I thought that was a great touch that
he did that.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
But I also love the fact that Kugler decided to
make this movie in one day. You see one day
of Oscar's life, and I felt that was just that
that spoke volume to me on the way he did that.
So I wanted to make sure that we mentioned both
of those.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Yeah, because most characters in film, most characters have to
have whether it's it's the course of a day or
weeks or whatever, they have to go on that journey
and they have to have that that that arc, right,
and this is just an average day and this and
this man's life, you know, these are the things that happened, yep.
And it's despite that. It's enough. It's it's enough. We
(32:04):
don't need an arc, you know. And he didn't need
to be a he didn't need that redemptive story trope
because he he found redemption regardless.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
You know.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
So I love that about this movie me too. So
many good things to day, but anything that you didn't
care for in this movie scenes are performances.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
You know.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
I really had to look and think hard to find
anything that that I disliked in this movie. The only thing,
and this is very minor, is I wish we would
have spent a little bit more time with his family,
I mean, his friends and his fiance girlfriend when they
went into the city before the incident. That's the only
dislike I have.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I'll tell you. The film does ramp up really quick
there once they get on the h once once they
hit the bart. But yeah, I and again. And this
isn't a long film either.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
No, eight ninety minutes, I think.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Yeah, it's about maybe like an hour, Yeah, maybe ninety minutes.
So I could say that, Uh, I agree with you.
We could have spent a little more time with them. Again, man,
uh another scene that just talks what just shows what
what kind of person this guy was. The the girls
need to use the bathroom, and then you know with
(33:17):
the shopkeeper.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
And you know, just he talks them into it.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Talks him into it. But but the way he talks
him into it, you know, he here, look, I'm not rich.
Here's my last ten bucks. You can take it and
let these girls use your bathroom or there gonna be
p all over the here, like you know, but I
dig that because you know, any guy is gonna do
that for for his uh, for his partner. But the
fact that a stranger two strangers come walking up and
(33:43):
he sees that the woman's pregnant and she's got to go,
and he's like he immediately ghost goes down. We got
one more. Yeah that I think that. You know, if
you're asking me, like you can have that scene or
you can have more inter action with his friends. I'll
take the scene with the shopkeeper and the girls need
(34:05):
to use the bathroom absolutely, you know, because it's friend
you know, uh, their background characters obviously, because we don't
get to spend a whole lot of time with them.
But but I do appreciate the way this movie shot,
you know, in just the short time that they're available.
This is this is a tight group of friends.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
And they've been together for a while.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
Yeah, and they've been to Yeah, they have been together, Uh,
definitely for a while. So I dig that about it
me too. One thing I want to talk about real
quick too, since we're talking about some of these some
of these powerful scenes and favorite scenes. You mentioned the
beginning where we see the cell phone footage. I was
(34:49):
really surprised to find out that that was that's that's real,
that's actual cell phone footage captured on the on New
Year's DA two fifteen in the morning when when when
Oscar Grant was was was murdered. Yeah, I mean I
didn't realize that.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
I didn't either, And then after watching the film, and
then then I did a little bit of exploration on that.
I'm like, oh my gosh, that was the actual real
footage of the incident, and it's just that whole that
whole scene of when it when it happens, you know,
you're you're already on the edge of your seat because you
at the pity your stomach, you know it's coming, and
when it happens, you just from there all the way
(35:29):
to the final shot of the movie, you were just
on the edge of your seat.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Just you know, I was in tears.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I don't know about you, Jeff, but when when it happened,
I was tearing up. And then then they gave us
the you know, the the hospital scene with the mother,
and just I was a mess by the end of
this movie. And I just thought it was done extremely well.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Oh absolutely it was, because even at the beginning, I
don't know who's who sitting there right, and you know,
you hear that pop and and you know, and I'm like, Okay, well,
what's going on in this movie or what's what's what
am I about to see? And then you get the
you know, you get the flashback where he's in San Quentin,
and that's when my mind starts trying to put it
(36:11):
together without, you know, because again going in cold, not
knowing what this movie is about, I'm thinking, is he
gonna end up in prison? Right? You know? Is this
all about him going back to prison? Uh? Did something
happen on this platform? And and he's gonna do something
that is a mistake that that puts him back in jail.
And then to find out that again Ryan Coogler, you know,
(36:32):
he he shows you something over here, but what's really
happening is is is over there? Yeah? So I wasn't
ready for that. I was then you know, when you
see him laying there and then they start going to
work on him to to save him. M m. Then
I'm like, okay, well how's this now? How you know?
And I I'm right there with with the with the
(36:52):
characters in that in that moment, like in that that
waiting room, like well, what's gonna happen? How you know?
How's this going to end? Because we got I you know,
you know, we got to have a where's our happy ending?
Basically there isn't a happy there is.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
There is not a happy ending in this movie.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
No, No, it has an important message which is why
everybody needs to see it.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Yeah, the message, you know, you know, the message is
is uh, it's very powerful and it's very you know
we we we've used that word. I've used that word
quite a bit. We have this this episode, but I
don't I don't know what other word. You know, it
is better, you know, for.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Us to to use absolutely.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Yeah, Google is just incredible.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
He is he is and you know that that leads
me in.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
I talked about a couple of quotes I was going
to mention earlier, and you know this is a perfect
place that you know, I talk about those. So the
first one, Coogler expressed his uh desire to make this
film about Grant's last day. He says, I wanted the
audience to get to know this guy, to get attached
so that when the state, when the situation that happens
to him happens, It's not just like you read it
(37:56):
in the paper, you know what I mean? When you
know somebody a human being, you know that life means something.
And you know that speaks volume of how Couglar shot
this movie right there. But the last quote that I
have for him, this is the one that really drive
home because he talks about them filming at the actual
place that Grant got killed. We shot here of Bart's
(38:17):
stationed for three nights after the station was closed. Everybody
was there with us, Bart employees, safety monitors, train drivers,
all the cast members and crew. Some of us would pray,
others would just keep to themselves. The energy of it
hit everybody. It was the hardest thing I've done in
my life making this movie. Having to see real life
(38:38):
here after die so many times and having to see
that people react to it. That never gets easy, man,
never Wow. So, I mean, you know, Cougler obviously had
such a passion, you know, to bring this movie, you know,
to the theater for everybody to see this, and everybody
needs to see this. But Jeff, you know, tell us
some stuff about Cooglar. I mean, people who don't know
(38:59):
about this movie. Like I didn't know about this movie.
Maybe people don't know about Coogler.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
So tell us about Yeah, I mean, yeah, we talked
at the beginning, you know, saying like, hey, we love
this guy, but but he came he came out of nowhere, right,
very impressive origin story, if you will, I use it.
I use that term since he's you know, big in
the superhero genre now with White Panther. But right off
the bat, you know we're gonna love this guy because
(39:25):
he's born in nineteen eighty six. Oh yeah, that's already
a good sign.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
And if you listen to our limited series you know
why I said that, But listen. Athlete all through school.
He attends Saint Mary's College of California on a football
scholarship as a wide receiver. Nice, and he has an
intention of majoring in chemistry. Now football, yeah, chemistry, Yeah,
he's see, he's like Peter Parker.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Here's here's what's really cool about Saint Mary's. The football
program encourages players to take a creative writing course. Coogler's
work is praised in this class, and it's suggested by
his teacher that he learned screenwriting. So that's where it begins. Now. Sadly,
(40:16):
Saint Mary's cancels their football program in two thousand and four,
so Kugler transfers to Sacramento State, where he racks up
one hundred and twelve receptions for twelve hundred plus yards
six touchdowns and a whole lot of writing classes and
a whole lot of film classes. So after he graduates,
he's accepted into the three year master's program at USC
(40:39):
School of Cinematic Arts and Dave. That's where three of
his four short films were nominated or won various awards.
And there's a whole lot of awards. Like when you
read about what these things did. And like you mentioned
in twenty eleven, Forrest Whittaker's production company, they're looking for
(41:00):
new filmmakers, young young filmmakers to bring in and see
what they got. He takes a meeting. Ryan Coogler takes
a meeting with Forrest Whitaker, and Fruitville begins to grow.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
Wow, that's impressive, man, very impressive.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
I would have never ever have guessed a story like
that about someone who ended up writing and directing films
where he's at now, No way.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Yeah, And here's what's cool about this guy. Here's what's
really cool about this guy. His father worked with the juveniles,
you know, like at risk juveniles and stuff like that.
Since he's been since the time he was twenty one,
he has worked as a counselor with incarcerated youth at
(41:45):
San Francisco's Juvenile Hall. So, you know, just like his
father who had worked in the same occupation. He's doing
something to give back and to help.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Wow, what an impressive guy.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
I didn't know any of this about him, but I'm
telling you now now that I know all this, now
that I see how you know the talented this guy is.
I mean I knew he was with Black Panther and
stuff like that, but I mean now that I know
where he comes from and what he's been through and
what he does and he gives back like this man,
it makes me excited to see other projects that he's
working on.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yeah, well, you want to talk a little bit about
his filmography before we get to future projects. So look,
we already talked the Fruitville Station. You know his director
O w in twenty thirteen. But I'll tell you when
I took notice of him, I know what he was
going to be twenty fifteen, Dave, you've known me a
(42:35):
couple of decades now, and you know I am a
huge fan of Rocky YEP. I never thought I would
see another Rocky film after Rocky Balboa, and thanks to
Ryan Coogler, he he takes the franchise in a whole
new direction, with a whole new character. With twenty fifteen's Creed.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
Yep, great, I love this movie.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
I love this movie.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
Ye.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
The fact that and again you know, he teaming teaming
up with Michael B. Jordan. Again, I can't imagine anyone
else playing the role, you know me there, especially especially
now that I've seen what what Donnie's all about in
these movies. Just sensational. Stallone gets nominated for Best Actor
for Best Supporting Actor or Actor. Yeah, yeah, and you know,
(43:22):
just I mean talk about taking something, taking a beloved
franchise and then and then bringing it to a whole
new audience.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
Yeah, giving us something new that we never would have expected.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
Absolutely, I love it. Speaking of something new and unexpected.
Twenty eighteen, Black Panther comes out. Look, you and I
both you know, we've read comic books our whole lot,
you know, as kids. Black Panther was one of those
cool characters that would show up occasionally in a Spider
Man comic or you know, with the Avengers, you know,
(43:56):
and again, you know, one of those one of those
one of those those smaller, smaller scale characters in the
Marvel world that you didn't really know a whole lot about.
But I'll tell you what, everyone knows who Black Panther is. Now,
this movie did like a billion dollars.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
Yeah, I can see why, because it's it's done so well.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
I mean, he right, written and directed by by Coogler,
and it's the first superhero film ever to be nominated
for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Speaker 3 (44:29):
And I can see why.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
I can definitely see why. Yeah, absolutely, you know, it
didn't win, but just the fact that it's nominated is amazing.
And until we get that with the next one and again, well,
and you know Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan is back again.
You know, uh he is always working with Jordan and
man talk about a successful partnership. Yeah, why not? Yeah?
(44:53):
Why not? A yeah, I know he's also it's rumored
that there's like there's some kind of scene where he's
in kind of forever. Also, I've read I'd be okay
with it because I love this character in Black Panther, because, yeah,
he's supposed to be the villain, but in a lot
of ways he's not.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
He's not.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
I mean, I I kinda you know, when you go
back and you watch that on repeated viewings, you kind
of you're kind of on his side. You know, at
least I was the guy got cheated. You know, just
wonder what was his? So who wouldn't want exactly exactly? Yeah,
So Ryan Coogler has given us just a handful of films.
(45:36):
I know, well, you know we kind of we kind
of glossed over Creed too. He executive produced it, was
not was not involved in the direct directing or writing
of that one. So but again Creed two, fun movie,
you know, kind of open up the world a little bit.
I know a lot of people were like Drago's son
versus the Polar creed Son. You know, it's just gonna
(45:59):
get a little hammy. I didn't think so I loved it.
Speaker 3 (46:02):
Well, very what's so what's next with him?
Speaker 1 (46:06):
Uh? You know he's actually teaming up with Michael B.
Jordan again the movie. I know they announced it. I
don't know when it's coming out, but it's called Wrong Answer,
And just like Fruit Reveal Station, Googler has shown he
can take a true story and make it a very
important film. Dave, I don't know what you know about it,
(46:29):
but Wrong Answer is based on the Atlanta Public Schools
cheating scandal. Oh okay, I don't know if you I
was like, what what cheating scandal? I did a little
bit of homework on it. Wow, I mean this, I'll
tell you right now. I can't wait to see this
movie because just just based off of what I read
(46:50):
about the real scandal, you know, and it's one of
the biggest scandals in American history.
Speaker 3 (46:56):
Oh wow, I don't know anything about so looking forward
to it.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
Do some homework and then you'll be excited to see,
uh see what he's got coming up next.
Speaker 3 (47:03):
We's Coogler film. Already got excited.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
Exactly exactly, uh Dave. Look it goes with us saying
we we recommend people see this movie.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
Right, Oh, absolutely, please see this movie. You know, don't
just say because it's a great film, but it's got
a great message too. You need to see it.
Speaker 1 (47:20):
It does. Any final thoughts about the about Fruitville Station.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
No, just just you know what we mentioned, you know,
it's it's a powerful film that needs to be seen
by all so that you know, you can understand that
message so that stuff like this doesn't get repeated.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
Well, check it out. It's on Amazon Prime if if
you have Prime, If you don't, heck, order order a
copy of this is one I'd I'd love to have
a copy of this because you know, it's it's good.
We're gonna see this happen. It's you're gonna want to
watch it?
Speaker 3 (47:47):
Yep?
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Are you gonna want to show the film to somebody?
And then streaming rights or options are gonna change and
it's not gonna be available. I say, I own a
copy of it. Honestly, I agree you and I we're
gonna go see. Uh what kind of forever? We got
our tickets? So ask the only question, I guess, the
only question, Dave, any chance we can go back to
the box office? Can we give? Can we?
Speaker 3 (48:07):
Will we do it?
Speaker 1 (48:08):
Yeah? Will we have time to do a quick review?
Maybe maybe put that out for our listeners, let them know.
Speaker 3 (48:12):
We would be more than happy to do that. Again,
give the.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
Spoiler free spoiler free as it were?
Speaker 3 (48:17):
It sounds like fun.
Speaker 1 (48:19):
Excellent. I'll tell you what else is fun? The birth
year of Ryan Coogler nineteen eighty six. Connection. Next week,
Dayton Johnson of the Docking Base seventy seven podcast will
be joining me to talk about Lucas the the Corey
(48:42):
Hayme movie about high school football as it were. Uh,
And then, Dave, you'll be back at the end of
the month, right we're gonna talk about color of money.
Speaker 3 (48:51):
Yep, looking forward to that too.
Speaker 1 (48:53):
I am myself. So until then we will. We'll see
you next time.
Speaker 4 (49:00):
Cam.
Speaker 1 (49:37):
You know what, I screwed up again. I forgot all
about like, hey, you know www dot somebody you know
what you can find us. You got this, you just
type it in. If you're listening to us, you already
know where to find us. I have monumentally screwed up.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
Yeah, this has been a little bit of a mess
up to day of my part, your part. S. We've
been a little to the police. But hey, we got it.
Speaker 3 (50:01):
I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1 (50:02):
Our Come on, come on, come on, come on, feed me, Dave,
come on,
It's just a few more days until Black Panther Wakanda
Forever arrives in theaters. How excited are you for that?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I am super excited to see this movie. Seeing that trailer,
I cannot wait.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
One of the best trailers I think the MCU has
ever given us.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Right, absolutely it is.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
When I played that trailer over and over, probably ten
times because it was so powerful.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Very powerful. Speaking of powerful, let's talk about a film
by Ryan Coogler today, his twenty thirteen biographical drama Fruitville Station.
(01:08):
Hello everybody, and welcome back to a film by podcast.
My co host Brad Kozo has the week off and
graciously filling in for him once again. David Burns. Hello, Dave.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Hello, it's great to be back again.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
It is always great to have you. I know, I
know the listeners love the Dave Burns episodes, and I'm
sure they'll be happy with what we got coming up
next season with with a lot more Dave Burns.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
But that's right.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
But before we get there, let's uh, let's let's get
to Coogler. Uh to it. Fruitville Station.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
What a powerful movie.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Extremely powerful movie.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
You know, I'm embarrassed to say this, but I didn't
know anything about this film.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I had never seen this film.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So when you you asked me to be on the
podcast for this, you know, when I pulled it up
and you know, I didn't watch the trailer. I just
decided just to go in cold and and watch the movie.
And I'm like, WHOA, what a great movie.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I will share that embarrassment. I had not seen this.
This is this is Ryan Coogler's directorial debut, YEP, and
just getting excited for Black Panther, What kind of forever?
I I you know, I thought, wait, what what did he?
You know, he just showed up like all of a sudden.
He's a filmmaker out of nowhere, but everyone has a beginning.
(02:38):
What what? What was his first film? And like you
I I saw Fruitville Station. I was like, okay, what's
that about? You know Michael Michael B. Jordan and I'm
a big fan. I've talked about him before on the podcast.
Love his work. So I was like, let's let's let's
talk about this one now, Dave. Before we get into this.
(03:02):
You know, there's probably other people that haven't seen it. Yeah,
I feel like we can't do this story justice. We
can't do this film Justice without talking about it in detail.
So obviously you know it's twenty thirteen when this comes out.
It is. It is based on a true story. So
if you haven't seen this movie, if you haven't, if
(03:24):
you don't know what it's about, and you want to
go in, you know you don't want us to spoil
the movie for it. I would. I'd tell you hit
pause on this episode and go check it out and
then come back to us, because we got to talk
about it in detail, right, Dave?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Yeah, I mean I completely agree with you.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I'm glad I went to this into this film cold
because I'm knowing nothing about it, because it made it
even more powerful to me. So yes, please put this
on pause if you've not listened to it or not
seen it, and go watch it please.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Okay? Well, Dave, for those that don't want to, that
don't mind the spoilers, can you give us a quick
synopsis of Fruitville Station Sure.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
This is the true story of Oscar Grant played by
Michael B. Jordan, who is winding his way through a
normal day of life, taking his daughter to school, dropping
his girlfriend off at work, and preparing to celebrate not
only the coming of a new year, but also his
mother's birthday. He has struggled for some time, and recently
losing his job, is trying to find a new path
for himself while avoiding going down the same one as before.
(04:28):
He is a man who has a great heart, who
cares about people who crossed his path. Where there's at
a grocery store or a dog wandering alone, he deeply cares.
He is unsure of where things are going, but one
horrifying night fruitflle station will change everything forever.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Fantastic, Dave, thank you for that. Yeah, I couldn't believe
I went in this. I didn't watch the trailer. I
didn't know. I didn't know about Oscar Grant, the Oscar Grant,
And you know, all I knew was Ryan Coogler's directory
at W and the poster with Michael B. Jordan just
you know, a profile shot.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
You know, not not to jump up. But after seeing
this movie, I can see why Google have became so
popular so fast, because this this movie just blew me away,
you know, I mean, I just it was just phenomenal
performances across the board, directed extremely well, just just put
together as a great I believe it was an independent
film you know, I just cannot speak highly enough of
(05:28):
this film.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, listeners, I'll tell you right now if you have
not seen this, and again jumping ahead, it's on Amazon
Prime right now, so Prime listeners, you've got access to it.
I know it's a lot on a lot of the
other streaming platforms to rent for like two three ninety nine,
which is worth it. I feel it's a musty movie.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
It is, which is why I'm so embarrassed I've never
seen it before. After seeing it, is like, everybody needs
to watch this film.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Well, you know, that's the thing that I mean, that's
one of the reasons why we we kind of went
with the format that we do on this on this
on this show, you know, we're looking for those those
underrated movies from from great directors, and sometimes they get
by you, you know they do. Yeah, you know Coogler,
Ryan Kugler, everyone just you automatically like, I love Ryan Cougler,
I love everything he's done. But then you have to
(06:19):
ask yourself, have you seen everything he's done? Right? And
that's when we find Fruitvale Station, you know. So I'm
glad for the opportunity to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Honestly, I am too it's it's one of those things that,
like you you go along, you see all these movies
because we watch a lot of movies, that's what we do.
But you know, you find that one film that you
don't know anything about, it just comes out of nowhere
for you and it's just like that that that sweet
candy that you find in the store. Man, You're like, wow,
(06:48):
what if phenomenal experience in watching in that and that
is exactly what this movie is.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Well, I want to get into the cast a little bit. Uh.
I've been a fan of Michael B. Jordan since the
days of Friday Night Lights. I don't know if you know,
ye oh yeah, I do his character on that. Always
been a fan of him. So when he when he
hit the movie screen with with Black Panther and Creed,
I'm like, yes, I'm glad to see this guy is
(07:15):
doing great. He's doing great movies. So for me, the
real treat here was seeing a Michael B. Jordan film
that I had never seen and seeing a great performance.
He's he's amazing in this.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
He he's like Denzel Washington And I'm gonna say it now,
I think he's the next Denzel Washington. He agree he
can melt into a performance and because he's so natural
that you forget who you're watching. He's phenomenal, and he
really proves it in this movie.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
His performance in this movie go. I mean, there are
moments where his sweetness is on full display. He's so tender,
and then there's moments where he is fearsome, you know, uh,
not one to mess around with, and and you know
very you know, and I'm not talking about violence. I'm
just talking about this aggressive vibe that he can give
(08:10):
off immediately, and it's in a protector's role, not exactly
instigator's role.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, that's exactly what I was gonna say. I said,
you know, he's not doing that to lose his temper
really quick, because just to lose his temper, he cares
about his family, his daughter, you know, his i'm guessing girlfriend,
soon to be fiance, soon to be wife.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
You know, he's protecting them.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
So that's why he loses his temper a little bit,
because he realizes he's got to bring in some money.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah, and it doesn't really matter if he's whether he's
talking with his fiance Sophina, or his daughter Tatiana, even
his mother Wanda. He just has this self assurance where
you know he's gonna take care of you. If he
says it's good, if he says it's gonna be okay,
it's gonna be okay. And the way he handles that,
(08:56):
that that pressure and that stress, it's it's masterful. It's
just it's it's it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
It is and it speaks to the character the performance
that he pulls off when he you know, the Katie
at the grocery store, you know, when oh, yeah, looking,
she's looking at the fish and she's trying to figure
out what She's never had a fish fry before, but
she wants to impress her boyfriend, you know, and she's
struggling to figure it out, and he literally calls his grandma.
It has Katie talked to her on the phone to
(09:24):
pick the right fish.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yeah, just put it a call to Grandma Bonnie. She'll
she'll take you, She'll take you through the steps. We'll
get to that scene. And I want to talk about
that scene. Yeah, but later on, how about how about
Melanie Diaz playing Sofia Dave. I haven't seen her in
anything else, but uh, very very fine performance that that
Diaz gives off.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, I think she does some TV work, but I've
never I've never seen this actress before, but yeah, I
think she did a fantastic job as the girlfriend of Oscar.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Yeah, I mean I believe. I believe their the relationship,
you know, because it's not it's not just uh you
know it it opened this this movie opens up, you know,
with the voiceovers that they have about their new the
New Year's Resolutions, which like a very cold opening. Loved
very cold opening. Love loved how they did that, but
also you see like their struggles of of what the relationship,
(10:20):
what the relationship is all about, because you know, I mean,
let's let's face it, Oscar is you know, we root
for him to this whole movie, and we loved the character.
But he's a flawed individual, you know. I mean he
he has lied about his his job, he has been
you know, there's been some infidelity, you know. And and
to see those those those conversations happened between uh Jordan
(10:43):
and Diaz, I mean, it's it's fantastic because it looks
it almost like it almost plays out like a documentary,
like you're watching real people talk about their their life.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
The performances were just so natural and the chemistry was
there between them. I mean, chemistry was there for everybody
in this film. But yeah, I mean you're right, it
felt like we were watching a documentary just in a
few moments of the lives of these two people.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You really did absolutely. Yeah. Now, one one performance that
just just blew the doors off this thing. I mean,
you want to talk about gravitas. You are talking about
Octavia Spencer playing his mother Wanda.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Wow, she's great in everything she does, and she's been
in a lot of stuff. She even does a lot
of voice acting and stuff like that too. But yes,
what a great actress to play the mother of after
a great actress.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Just the scenes where I mean, whether it's the the
visits you know that we we have, we have a
flashback where he's he's in San Quentin, yep, and she's
going to visit him. That scene where she is, where
she is the calming presence.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
I love that, the the tough love that she had
to show there. Yeah, man, I tell you, I mean
I was just like on the edge of my seat
with her performance there because you could just see in
her facial reactions, her eyes that she just had to
go be you know, strict with him, this is it,
I'm not coming to visit you anymore, you know, basically
(12:21):
telling him you got to get your life straight.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yeah. Well she's not buying into his bs at that point, right, yep.
And she's had it, and she she wants she expects more,
you know, she she expects more from her son. This
at the end of this movie. Her performance with the doctors.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah, I know, heartbreaking, I mean absolutely heartbreaking. But the
way she the way she takes control of the family
and the friends that are in that hospital.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Yeah, because they were getting out of control, and she's like,
you know what, no, no, we're not going to do this. Yeah,
you know, calm down. You know, we're gonna pray about this.
We're gonna we're gonna talk about this, you know, and
we're gonna get through this.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah. Tavia Spencer just one of the most amazing performances
I've seen from an actress in a long time. Ye
and uh, I'm kind of surprised, like there's no nomination
for her for this movie. Like, what what's the Academy doing.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
In twenty thirteen not watching this? Apparently?
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I guess I have no idea, but I do want
to make a note here about you know, not Octavia Spencer,
but the character of Wanda. I don't know if you
know this, Jeff, but the real mom of Grant, Wanda Johnson.
She makes a small cameo appearance in the film. Oh
you didn't she No, she plays missus Stacy at Tatiana's preschool.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Oh okay, the the preschool teacher. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
I thought that was really neat that they did that.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I loving her me too, man, I mean, you're you're
you're showing so much respect by doing that, and I
love it.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yeah. Well, I mean, I know, I know Ryan Coogler
obviously to to bring this to the screen. You know,
his first step was was contacting the family, the family's attorney,
and wanted to share Oscar story. Yep, you know which.
I think they do an amazing job of doing. But
I always love when when when when real individuals that
(14:11):
are part of the story, when they take the opportunity
to participate in whatever regard. And you know, I mean,
it's a small scene at the preschool, but uh, fantastic.
I'm I'm I'm just glad to know that she was
part of it.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
So yeah, me too.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Yeah, uh and back to back to Octavia Spencer. My
understanding is this movie loses money BIDWI through production and
Octavia Spencer forgoes her her salary and works to to
to raise money to keep it going.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yep, I mean she did.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
What an amazing woman. I mean, she's she's incredible.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
When when you when you when you're part of a
project like this, you really realize the importance of that project.
You see what it's going to do, the story it's
going to tell, and the people that it's going to influence.
So I am proud of some people who do that.
You know, put put aside of the finances that you
could potentially make, and you know, work your butt off
to make sure the money is there to get that
(15:07):
project done so that the world can see it.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
I thought that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, Well, before this turns into the Octavia Spencer hour,
I'll move on because you know, one other, one other
person I want to point out uh Arianna Neil, who
plays Tatiana, the daughter. This girl, this little girl is
one of the most adorable little girls I've ever seen.
Is just what I mean, what a smart and what
(15:33):
a smart actress I mean to play you know, because
there's a couple of times she has to play scared
and upset and a couple of times she gets to
have fun and she is She's incredible, right.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, the part was she asks for the extra fruit
snack and Sophinas like no, and then it gets snuck
to her by Oscar loved that.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Yeah, that scene is great because you know, look, moms
have got to be moms, and you know you don't
you don't need extra fruit snacks in your lunch bag.
But but the fact that they they're able to establish
that Tatiana is a daddy's girl, just in that moment
where he he's like sneaks the snack to her. You know,
(16:15):
don't tell mom. You know, even when you know at
the day when he when he picks her up, the
whole the race, you know, she's she's playing tag and
no one can catch her, and you know he's just
flat out burns her. Yeah, you know I'm number one dad,
Dad still undefeated. Yeah, I just I love that moment.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
You know, it's it's so funny that you talk about
that scene because you know, I made a note here
to talk about that. You know, when he goes to
pick her up, you have that slow, atmospheric, steady cam
shot where he's.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Going through the school mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
And you know, and he goes to out the back
door and goes out to get her because they're playing
in the back you know, the backyard there. I guess
you could say where the playground or whatever. And you know,
he goes and gets her and then you're right, you know,
they have that race to get back to the car.
I love that scene so much. That's probably my favorite
scene of the whole movie.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Okay, okay, yeah, I mean there's a couple of really
great scenes in this you know, not not one of
my favorite scenes, but because it's got Tatiana and I
want to talk about real quick, because we're talking about
that whole Daddy's girl vibe that the movie gives you
the teeth brushing scene, you know, you know, I mean
just just those those those cute looks that she's making
(17:25):
in the mirror, you know, like the the silly faces
that she's doing, you know, and then and then her
kind of looking after him like, hey dad, you had
dinner too, Like he's you know, he's like, yeah, you
do want to go to Bad Bad Breath, And you know,
so he's she makes him wash his you know, brush
his teeth with his finger. Yeah, I just those are
just those are just heartfelt moments that you know, happened
(17:49):
in and and homes across America. Scenes like that make
this movie so great, but also help like at the
end of this movie when you're hit with a ton
of bricks, when the emotions come Yep, it seems like
that that you have just been slowly watching and building
(18:12):
up that make it all the more tragic.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I think because and I hand that to you know,
Kogler for the writing and the directing of this of
being able to pull that off, because it's not just
the performance of the actors, but it's his directing style.
It's his camera work that helps pull you into that too,
because the ones the other scene, you know, that really
does an incredible job with it because you know, we.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
All have families.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
We've all had experiences where we've got together for New Year's,
for Christmas, whatever holiday it is, you know, to hang
out with your family, to have that banter, to talk
to laugh, to cry to whatever it is. But the
scene where he goes to his mom's birthday party, you
have all of those close up shots those interactions between
you know, first the ladies in the kitchen where they're
you know, they're trying to finish up it. He's got
(18:58):
like the glory shots and you really close up shots.
We will go from one face to another face and
then you know, the camera moves around a little bit
because he has a lot of hand to hand camera
work in this movie. And it works so well because
it pulls you in as an audience. It makes you
feel like you are there, like that documentary style directing
and that Neede. You feel like you were part of
(19:20):
that family. It made you feel like you should you
care about Oster and what happens in the movie. I
thought that was incredible, So yeah, you were absolutely right
about that.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, the handheld filming from time to time. Uh, it
absolutely works, especially at at Wanda's birthday party because that
house is so small, yep, and it's packed with family
and it's packed with love, and it makes you feel
like you're Yeah, you're at you're at a Christmas party,
(19:51):
you're at your at your aunt or uncles, or you're
at a family reunion where you're bumping your shoulder to
shoulder people. You know, dinner table, most most most tables
have four seats, you know, some some six, So you know,
places like that, you know, situations like that, you know
people you know, plates are in laps and you're you're
just trying to find a spot to sit and you know,
(20:12):
and just talk and be part of the part of
the the conversation.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah, and we already talked about that chemistry between the actors,
but it's all of them. You can you can believe
that is an actual family right there with those actors.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
You absolutely can. Uh, just I don't know, I just
I can't say enough great things about the performance the
performances in this film, truly, truly I must see, uh
you know, even is it Anna O'Reilly who plays Katie.
You mentioned the supermarket scene with the the girl that
(20:46):
didn't know how to prepare for a fish fry. That
that's uh, you know, I want to talk about that
when we get to you know, we'll talk about likes
and this, you know, dislikes obviously certain scenes. I want
to talk about that scene there. But I mean, great
character and just sad that you know, it's that character
(21:09):
and that interaction at the supermarket that ultimately seals his fate,
you know, him just doing the right thing. Him being
a good person seals his fate. So Dave, let's get
let's get a little into the making of this film.
We know it's based on a true story. What'd you
(21:29):
find out?
Speaker 3 (21:31):
So fruitful?
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Station was actually shot in Oakland, California for twenty days,
and I cannot comprehend it only took twenty days to
make this movie. But when you got professional together, I
guess you can pull it off. The scenes were actually
shot at and around the day Area rapid Transfer platform
where Grant was actually killed, which I think I cannot imagine,
And I'm going to talk about a quote here in
(21:52):
a little while that we get from Coogler about that,
but I just can imagine being in the actual spot
where this happened. But anyway, most of the platform scenes
were shot over the course of two nights, with another
night dedicated to the sequences on the train that led
up to the police confrontation. And San Quentin State Prison
even was actually served as the filming location, and they
used prisoners.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Which I thought was kind of unique as ex but hey,
when you got them, why not use them?
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Right?
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Dangerous but effective.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, But the scene where Oscar Grant is shot was
filmed at the actual spot. The original bullet hole is
still there where Michael B Jordan was lying. Can you
imagine that.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yet, that had to be a very difficult scene to shoot.
I would have to imagine for both, both for Michael
B Jordan, both for Ryan, for Ryan Coogler, for anyone involved,
that that had to just be a tough day on set.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
I would think it was, you know, and you know,
I've got a couple of quotes that we'll talk about
a little bit later that he actually refers to that,
but we'll get to that. The film had a nine
hundred thousand dollar budget and when it grows little over
seventeen million worldwide. So I don't know about you, but
that's a pretty successful film.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
That is very successful. I know, uh yeah, nine hundred thousand.
I think they after after the film festival circuit, they
sold it for two and a half million, and then
it goes on to make seventeen million. I mean, that's
that's amazing and.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Really opened the door for Coogler.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah, directorial debut for Ryan Kugler. Talk about just knocking it.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Out of the park, something that powerful.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Wow, Yeah, grand slam, knocking out of the Park whatever
you would call it. Man Coogler did it. Yeah, this
film absolutely, But you did. You didn't mention earlier about
a couple notable producers for this. One of them was
Forced Whitaker and the other one was, as you mentioned,
Octavia Spencer, So I think it was really neat that
we get those names too.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
All right, Well, we've talked about a couple scenes that
really stand out for us. You you mentioned, you know,
you you were kind of talking about your what you
thought was maybe your favorite scenes. Do you want to
you want to elaborate?
Speaker 2 (23:57):
So, I mean one of the favorites that you know
I just mentioned earlier was their relationship between the father
and the daughter, you know, at that the preschool. There's
just so much to like about this movie. You can
find any kind of scenes in here that you're just
gonna fall in love with and just realize what it adds,
and not only to the character of Oscar, but what
it adds to the story itself. There's just there's just
(24:19):
so much to pick from. I could talk all day
about this movie for crying out loud, But you know,
the close up shots that I think is my favorite
with the whole family, you know, you're getting that chemistry,
you're getting that experience of of what that family's like,
how close they are with one another. But to me,
the one scene that added so much character to Oscar
(24:40):
was the dog. When he stopped to get the guests
to get to get you know, fuel up his car,
he noticed the dog that was just wandering around by
by himself. So he goes over and pets the dog,
looking around to see where the owner's at, you know,
because this dog is wondering around, where traffic is at
and those kinds of things, you know, And so you know,
he pets it and then realized at first your thought
he was gonna take the dog, Oh yeah, the way
(25:01):
he was looking around. But then you know, he goes
back to the car, finishes up, and then you lose
track of where the dog is at, and then all
of a sudden, you hear the brakes of the car,
you hear the whine of the dog, and you know
what happened. Yeah, So he runs back to the road,
yelling at the driver as the driver's taking off, showing
how much he cared for a dog that he just met,
you know. So then he gets down, you know, just
looks at the dog and tries to comfort it because
(25:22):
you know it's obviously dying, you know, and he pulls
it off the side of the road and just it
just breaks your heart. But it just shows you how
much character Oscar has just right there in that one scene.
To me, you know, that was just a powerful, powerful
scene and I loved it very much.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
There is that scene. What makes that scene amazing is
it goes in entirely different direction that you're that you're
that you're not prepared for, because, like you I was like,
oh wait, he's he's looking around, you know, dog doesn't
have a collar, right, Tatiana is about to get a
new a new pet. You know, this is you know,
and and I'm already in my head, I'm kind of chuckling.
(25:58):
I'm thinking, I can't wait hear the conversation between him
and Sofena about how are they gonna where's the dog
gonna be and how they're gonna feed it and all
this kind of stuff and just the just the tragic
ending for this this poor animal and just how he reacts. Yeah,
just it's a gut riching moment, you know, just to
(26:18):
see anytime you see an animal, you know, suffering it's
going to be hard to watch, but again, it speaks
volumes to what what kind of character that this this
individual has it does? You know? I want to talk
about one of my favorite scenes, which we kind of
we kind of you know, touched on, is the supermarket
(26:39):
scene because you know, early on, you know he's heading
into work. You know, we we understand, you know, he's
lost his job, we know that, but his family doesn't
know this at this point, and he's just there to
try and get his job back, you know, just to
try and work with the boss. But his buddy is
working behind the fish can her and that's where Katie,
(27:02):
the character Katie comes into play, and she's she's getting
ready for a fish fry. She doesn't know what to buy,
she doesn't know how to make it. And this is
the this is the moment where I start rooting for
this character. Oscar's character in a big way because we
just had had the argument between him and Sophena about
his infidelity and how you know, is he calling that
(27:23):
girl still? So you're like, okay, well is he a
good guy or is he not a good guy? And
you really don't know how to feel about him. And
then when he starts kind of interacting with Katie. You're like,
here we go again. You're like, okay, so come on, dude,
are you are you really? Are you really that guy?
But then you find out, oh no, he's not. He
is a genuinely caring individual because you know, he's just
(27:47):
he's just trying to help out a fellow stranger. To
the point, like you said, he you know, he calls
his grandma, Grandma Bonnie, and then he even puts Grandma
Bonnie on the phone with this stranger, you know.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Has to ask what's her name again?
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yeah, yeah, what what's what's her name? And he does
Grandma Bonnie. She's like, hi, Grandma Bonnie. You know, and
I'm telling you right now. Uh Marjorie Crump shears, who
plays Grandma Bonnie. That's everyone's grandma in America.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Everyone.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
She is awesome in this movie. And I love the
fact that, you know, she's like, this girl don't know
what the boss, you don't know how to what she's making.
Put this girl on the phone. Put this girl on
the phone right now. So I just love that. But yeah,
he just hands his cell phone and then goes walking
down the aisle to talk to his boss. About job. Yeah,
and again that's where he kind of he shows us
(28:37):
a little bit of that that that that darker style,
that ugly side, you know, where he's you know, it's
not that he's threatening his boss, but he's he's letting
his boss know like, you know, here's my options. You know,
I can work here, you know, even at even at
half pay if that's what it takes. Or I can
hit the streets and you know, start selling drugs and
(28:59):
you know, because no matter what, he's going to provide
for his family, right And it's one of those uh,
it's it's one of those hard moments where you're like,
you know, you don't want you know, you wanted to
have this, this this crummy job, but you know it's
not gonna work out. And then you you immediately start thinking, Okay,
is this gonna be the downfall the character? And again
it's not. Wait, let's talk about the other scene at
(29:21):
the at the beach, you know, because that redemptive moment, right.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Yep, it absolutely is you know where you think that
he's going to get back into drug dealing, you know,
and but he actually you know, he has this bag
of pot that he kept in his house and but
you think what he's going to happen is he's gonna
you know, get back into that. But then he gets
rid of that, sells it to make money. But he's
with his friend who thinks that he's there to get back,
you know, to doing those things. But he ends up
(29:46):
giving him a little bit and you know, basically saying hey,
I'm done.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
You know, I'm you know. Yeah, SE's a redeentant moment
right there.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Absolutely, especially the way they they sat on it, Like
he went out and he got there early, so he
went out, you know, watched the water for a little bit.
You thought, Okay, this is where it's gonna turn. He
has to do something that he shouldn't do because he
needs to provide for his family. But then they don't
do that.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah again, Ryan Coogler, he keeps he keeps you on
your toes because every time you think, like, you know,
I'm not gonna approve of what this character is about
to do, he shows you that he's not doing that regardless, right,
you know, and you and you just keep falling for
it over and over. You know, it's and it's it's
(30:30):
amazing how how he does that to us. But uh, Yeah.
I love that moment because even then, that's like, Okay,
well he just did the right thing. But he's still
in a major jam because rent is due, he's promised
money to his sister to help her out, He's got
you know, he's got his daughter to take care of,
Like what where, what's he gonna do? You know, he's
in a mind and sure, yeah, and even and despite
(30:52):
all that, his priority is just to make sure that
his is his girlfriend fiance is going to have a
fun time on New Year's Eve. Yep, you know, I
think it's it's just amazing.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
It is.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
It's absolutely amazing. It is.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
There's there's two other things that I want to mention
to make sure we talk about. The first off is
I loved the way Coogler decided to just show us
the text and stuff that came up on the screen.
Oh yeah, I thought that was an amazing touch, especially
since you know, we get to see the actual footage
on the cell phone at the beginning of the movie.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
You know, I thought that was a great touch that
he did that.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
But I also love the fact that Kugler decided to
make this movie in one day. You see one day
of Oscar's life, and I felt that was just that
that spoke volume to me on the way he did that.
So I wanted to make sure that we mentioned both
of those.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Yeah, because most characters in film, most characters have to
have whether it's it's the course of a day or
weeks or whatever, they have to go on that journey
and they have to have that that that arc, right,
and this is just an average day and this and
this man's life, you know, these are the things that happened, yep.
And it's despite that. It's enough. It's it's enough. We
(32:04):
don't need an arc, you know. And he didn't need
to be a he didn't need that redemptive story trope
because he he found redemption regardless.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
You know.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
So I love that about this movie me too. So
many good things to day, but anything that you didn't
care for in this movie scenes are performances.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
You know.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
I really had to look and think hard to find
anything that that I disliked in this movie. The only thing,
and this is very minor, is I wish we would
have spent a little bit more time with his family,
I mean, his friends and his fiance girlfriend when they
went into the city before the incident. That's the only
dislike I have.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I'll tell you. The film does ramp up really quick
there once they get on the h once once they
hit the bart. But yeah, I and again. And this
isn't a long film either.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
No, eight ninety minutes, I think.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Yeah, it's about maybe like an hour, Yeah, maybe ninety minutes.
So I could say that, Uh, I agree with you.
We could have spent a little more time with them. Again, man,
uh another scene that just talks what just shows what
what kind of person this guy was. The the girls
need to use the bathroom, and then you know with
(33:17):
the shopkeeper.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
And you know, just he talks them into it.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Talks him into it. But but the way he talks
him into it, you know, he here, look, I'm not rich.
Here's my last ten bucks. You can take it and
let these girls use your bathroom or there gonna be
p all over the here, like you know, but I
dig that because you know, any guy is gonna do
that for for his uh, for his partner. But the
fact that a stranger two strangers come walking up and
(33:43):
he sees that the woman's pregnant and she's got to go,
and he's like he immediately ghost goes down. We got
one more. Yeah that I think that. You know, if
you're asking me, like you can have that scene or
you can have more inter action with his friends. I'll
take the scene with the shopkeeper and the girls need
(34:05):
to use the bathroom absolutely, you know, because it's friend
you know, uh, their background characters obviously, because we don't
get to spend a whole lot of time with them.
But but I do appreciate the way this movie shot,
you know, in just the short time that they're available.
This is this is a tight group of friends.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
And they've been together for a while.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
Yeah, and they've been to Yeah, they have been together, Uh,
definitely for a while. So I dig that about it
me too. One thing I want to talk about real
quick too, since we're talking about some of these some
of these powerful scenes and favorite scenes. You mentioned the
beginning where we see the cell phone footage. I was
(34:49):
really surprised to find out that that was that's that's real,
that's actual cell phone footage captured on the on New
Year's DA two fifteen in the morning when when when
Oscar Grant was was was murdered. Yeah, I mean I
didn't realize that.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
I didn't either, And then after watching the film, and
then then I did a little bit of exploration on that.
I'm like, oh my gosh, that was the actual real
footage of the incident, and it's just that whole that
whole scene of when it when it happens, you know,
you're you're already on the edge of your seat because you
at the pity your stomach, you know it's coming, and
when it happens, you just from there all the way
(35:29):
to the final shot of the movie, you were just
on the edge of your seat.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Just you know, I was in tears.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I don't know about you, Jeff, but when when it happened,
I was tearing up. And then then they gave us
the you know, the the hospital scene with the mother,
and just I was a mess by the end of
this movie. And I just thought it was done extremely well.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Oh absolutely it was, because even at the beginning, I
don't know who's who sitting there right, and you know,
you hear that pop and and you know, and I'm like, Okay, well,
what's going on in this movie or what's what's what
am I about to see? And then you get the
you know, you get the flashback where he's in San Quentin,
and that's when my mind starts trying to put it
(36:11):
together without, you know, because again going in cold, not
knowing what this movie is about, I'm thinking, is he
gonna end up in prison? Right? You know? Is this
all about him going back to prison? Uh? Did something
happen on this platform? And and he's gonna do something
that is a mistake that that puts him back in jail.
And then to find out that again Ryan Coogler, you know,
(36:32):
he he shows you something over here, but what's really
happening is is is over there? Yeah? So I wasn't
ready for that. I was then you know, when you
see him laying there and then they start going to
work on him to to save him. M m. Then
I'm like, okay, well how's this now? How you know?
And I I'm right there with with the with the
(36:52):
characters in that in that moment, like in that that
waiting room, like well, what's gonna happen? How you know?
How's this going to end? Because we got I you know,
you know, we got to have a where's our happy ending?
Basically there isn't a happy there is.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
There is not a happy ending in this movie.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
No, No, it has an important message which is why
everybody needs to see it.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Yeah, the message, you know, you know, the message is
is uh, it's very powerful and it's very you know
we we we've used that word. I've used that word
quite a bit. We have this this episode, but I
don't I don't know what other word. You know, it
is better, you know, for.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Us to to use absolutely.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Yeah, Google is just incredible.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
He is he is and you know that that leads
me in.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
I talked about a couple of quotes I was going
to mention earlier, and you know this is a perfect
place that you know, I talk about those. So the
first one, Coogler expressed his uh desire to make this
film about Grant's last day. He says, I wanted the
audience to get to know this guy, to get attached
so that when the state, when the situation that happens
to him happens, It's not just like you read it
(37:56):
in the paper, you know what I mean? When you
know somebody a human being, you know that life means something.
And you know that speaks volume of how Couglar shot
this movie right there. But the last quote that I
have for him, this is the one that really drive
home because he talks about them filming at the actual
place that Grant got killed. We shot here of Bart's
(38:17):
stationed for three nights after the station was closed. Everybody
was there with us, Bart employees, safety monitors, train drivers,
all the cast members and crew. Some of us would pray,
others would just keep to themselves. The energy of it
hit everybody. It was the hardest thing I've done in
my life making this movie. Having to see real life
(38:38):
here after die so many times and having to see
that people react to it. That never gets easy, man,
never Wow. So, I mean, you know, Cougler obviously had
such a passion, you know, to bring this movie, you know,
to the theater for everybody to see this, and everybody
needs to see this. But Jeff, you know, tell us
some stuff about Cooglar. I mean, people who don't know
(38:59):
about this movie. Like I didn't know about this movie.
Maybe people don't know about Coogler.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
So tell us about Yeah, I mean, yeah, we talked
at the beginning, you know, saying like, hey, we love
this guy, but but he came he came out of nowhere, right,
very impressive origin story, if you will, I use it.
I use that term since he's you know, big in
the superhero genre now with White Panther. But right off
the bat, you know we're gonna love this guy because
(39:25):
he's born in nineteen eighty six. Oh yeah, that's already
a good sign.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
And if you listen to our limited series you know
why I said that, But listen. Athlete all through school.
He attends Saint Mary's College of California on a football
scholarship as a wide receiver. Nice, and he has an
intention of majoring in chemistry. Now football, yeah, chemistry, Yeah,
he's see, he's like Peter Parker.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Here's here's what's really cool about Saint Mary's. The football
program encourages players to take a creative writing course. Coogler's
work is praised in this class, and it's suggested by
his teacher that he learned screenwriting. So that's where it begins. Now. Sadly,
(40:16):
Saint Mary's cancels their football program in two thousand and four,
so Kugler transfers to Sacramento State, where he racks up
one hundred and twelve receptions for twelve hundred plus yards
six touchdowns and a whole lot of writing classes and
a whole lot of film classes. So after he graduates,
he's accepted into the three year master's program at USC
(40:39):
School of Cinematic Arts and Dave. That's where three of
his four short films were nominated or won various awards.
And there's a whole lot of awards. Like when you
read about what these things did. And like you mentioned
in twenty eleven, Forrest Whittaker's production company, they're looking for
(41:00):
new filmmakers, young young filmmakers to bring in and see
what they got. He takes a meeting. Ryan Coogler takes
a meeting with Forrest Whitaker, and Fruitville begins to grow.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
Wow, that's impressive, man, very impressive.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
I would have never ever have guessed a story like
that about someone who ended up writing and directing films
where he's at now, No way.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Yeah, And here's what's cool about this guy. Here's what's
really cool about this guy. His father worked with the juveniles,
you know, like at risk juveniles and stuff like that.
Since he's been since the time he was twenty one,
he has worked as a counselor with incarcerated youth at
(41:45):
San Francisco's Juvenile Hall. So, you know, just like his
father who had worked in the same occupation. He's doing
something to give back and to help.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Wow, what an impressive guy.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
I didn't know any of this about him, but I'm
telling you now now that I know all this, now
that I see how you know the talented this guy is.
I mean I knew he was with Black Panther and
stuff like that, but I mean now that I know
where he comes from and what he's been through and
what he does and he gives back like this man,
it makes me excited to see other projects that he's
working on.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yeah, well, you want to talk a little bit about
his filmography before we get to future projects. So look,
we already talked the Fruitville Station. You know his director
O w in twenty thirteen. But I'll tell you when
I took notice of him, I know what he was
going to be twenty fifteen, Dave, you've known me a
(42:35):
couple of decades now, and you know I am a
huge fan of Rocky YEP. I never thought I would
see another Rocky film after Rocky Balboa, and thanks to
Ryan Coogler, he he takes the franchise in a whole
new direction, with a whole new character. With twenty fifteen's Creed.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
Yep, great, I love this movie.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
I love this movie.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
Ye.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
The fact that and again you know, he teaming teaming
up with Michael B. Jordan. Again, I can't imagine anyone
else playing the role, you know me there, especially especially
now that I've seen what what Donnie's all about in
these movies. Just sensational. Stallone gets nominated for Best Actor
for Best Supporting Actor or Actor. Yeah, yeah, and you know,
(43:22):
just I mean talk about taking something, taking a beloved
franchise and then and then bringing it to a whole
new audience.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
Yeah, giving us something new that we never would have expected.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
Absolutely, I love it. Speaking of something new and unexpected.
Twenty eighteen, Black Panther comes out. Look, you and I
both you know, we've read comic books our whole lot,
you know, as kids. Black Panther was one of those
cool characters that would show up occasionally in a Spider
Man comic or you know, with the Avengers, you know,
(43:56):
and again, you know, one of those one of those
one of those those smaller, smaller scale characters in the
Marvel world that you didn't really know a whole lot about.
But I'll tell you what, everyone knows who Black Panther is. Now,
this movie did like a billion dollars.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
Yeah, I can see why, because it's it's done so well.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
I mean, he right, written and directed by by Coogler,
and it's the first superhero film ever to be nominated
for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Speaker 3 (44:29):
And I can see why.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
I can definitely see why. Yeah, absolutely, you know, it
didn't win, but just the fact that it's nominated is amazing.
And until we get that with the next one and again, well,
and you know Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan is back again.
You know, uh he is always working with Jordan and
man talk about a successful partnership. Yeah, why not? Yeah?
(44:53):
Why not? A yeah, I know he's also it's rumored
that there's like there's some kind of scene where he's
in kind of forever. Also, I've read I'd be okay
with it because I love this character in Black Panther, because, yeah,
he's supposed to be the villain, but in a lot
of ways he's not.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
He's not.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
I mean, I I kinda you know, when you go
back and you watch that on repeated viewings, you kind
of you're kind of on his side. You know, at
least I was the guy got cheated. You know, just
wonder what was his? So who wouldn't want exactly exactly? Yeah,
So Ryan Coogler has given us just a handful of films.
(45:36):
I know, well, you know we kind of we kind
of glossed over Creed too. He executive produced it, was
not was not involved in the direct directing or writing
of that one. So but again Creed two, fun movie,
you know, kind of open up the world a little bit.
I know a lot of people were like Drago's son
versus the Polar creed Son. You know, it's just gonna
(45:59):
get a little hammy. I didn't think so I loved it.
Speaker 3 (46:02):
Well, very what's so what's next with him?
Speaker 1 (46:06):
Uh? You know he's actually teaming up with Michael B.
Jordan again the movie. I know they announced it. I
don't know when it's coming out, but it's called Wrong Answer,
And just like Fruit Reveal Station, Googler has shown he
can take a true story and make it a very
important film. Dave, I don't know what you know about it,
(46:29):
but Wrong Answer is based on the Atlanta Public Schools
cheating scandal. Oh okay, I don't know if you I
was like, what what cheating scandal? I did a little
bit of homework on it. Wow, I mean this, I'll
tell you right now. I can't wait to see this
movie because just just based off of what I read
(46:50):
about the real scandal, you know, and it's one of
the biggest scandals in American history.
Speaker 3 (46:56):
Oh wow, I don't know anything about so looking forward
to it.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
Do some homework and then you'll be excited to see,
uh see what he's got coming up next.
Speaker 3 (47:03):
We's Coogler film. Already got excited.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
Exactly exactly, uh Dave. Look it goes with us saying
we we recommend people see this movie.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
Right, Oh, absolutely, please see this movie. You know, don't
just say because it's a great film, but it's got
a great message too. You need to see it.
Speaker 1 (47:20):
It does. Any final thoughts about the about Fruitville Station.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
No, just just you know what we mentioned, you know,
it's it's a powerful film that needs to be seen
by all so that you know, you can understand that
message so that stuff like this doesn't get repeated.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
Well, check it out. It's on Amazon Prime if if
you have Prime, If you don't, heck, order order a
copy of this is one I'd I'd love to have
a copy of this because you know, it's it's good.
We're gonna see this happen. It's you're gonna want to
watch it?
Speaker 3 (47:47):
Yep?
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Are you gonna want to show the film to somebody?
And then streaming rights or options are gonna change and
it's not gonna be available. I say, I own a
copy of it. Honestly, I agree you and I we're
gonna go see. Uh what kind of forever? We got
our tickets? So ask the only question, I guess, the
only question, Dave, any chance we can go back to
the box office? Can we give? Can we?
Speaker 3 (48:07):
Will we do it?
Speaker 1 (48:08):
Yeah? Will we have time to do a quick review?
Maybe maybe put that out for our listeners, let them know.
Speaker 3 (48:12):
We would be more than happy to do that. Again,
give the.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
Spoiler free spoiler free as it were?
Speaker 3 (48:17):
It sounds like fun.
Speaker 1 (48:19):
Excellent. I'll tell you what else is fun? The birth
year of Ryan Coogler nineteen eighty six. Connection. Next week,
Dayton Johnson of the Docking Base seventy seven podcast will
be joining me to talk about Lucas the the Corey
(48:42):
Hayme movie about high school football as it were. Uh,
And then, Dave, you'll be back at the end of
the month, right we're gonna talk about color of money.
Speaker 3 (48:51):
Yep, looking forward to that too.
Speaker 1 (48:53):
I am myself. So until then we will. We'll see
you next time.
Speaker 4 (49:00):
Cam.
Speaker 1 (49:37):
You know what, I screwed up again. I forgot all
about like, hey, you know www dot somebody you know
what you can find us. You got this, you just
type it in. If you're listening to us, you already
know where to find us. I have monumentally screwed up.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
Yeah, this has been a little bit of a mess
up to day of my part, your part. S. We've
been a little to the police. But hey, we got it.
Speaker 3 (50:01):
I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1 (50:02):
Our Come on, come on, come on, come on, feed me, Dave,
come on,
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