S03E10: Rootless Cosmopolitans: Theatre Amidst Turmoil

**Host:** Alex First
**Guest Critics:** Jackie Hammerton, Peter Krauss, Greg King
**Episode Summary:**
In this compelling episode, host Alex First is joined by critics Jackie Hammerton, Peter Krauss, and Greg King to discuss a variety of topics spanning theatre and film. The episode kicks off with a special interview with playwright Ron Elisha, whose new play "Rootless Cosmopolitans" is currently showing at Chapel Off Chapel. The conversation then shifts to a review of the latest blockbuster, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," and concludes with a critique of "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." The critics provide a balanced mix of praise and constructive criticism, offering listeners a nuanced perspective on each work.
**Highlights:**
- **Rootless Cosmopolitans:** Playwright Ron Elisha discusses his timely and thought-provoking new play, which delves into the complexities of anti-Semitism in today's world. The critics praise the play's blend of humour and serious subject matter, emphasizing its relevance and engaging narrative.
- **Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga:** A visually stunning prequel to "Mad Max: Fury Road." While Alex First praises its spectacle and action sequences, Peter Krauss and Jackie Hammerton express concerns about its lack of depth and narrative coherence. Greg King offers a balanced view, appreciating the film's technical achievements while noting its shortcomings.
- **Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes:** The latest instalment in the "Planet of the Apes" franchise receives mixed reviews. While the critics commend its special effects and production design, they find its story lacking and overly long. The film's emotional impact and character development are also points of contention.
(00:00) Jackie Hammerton joins us to discuss film and entertainment
(00:12) Gregory King was away for six weeks exploring South America
(01:11) Peter Krause says he's heading to Paris later this year
(01:30) Ron Elisha has a new play called rootless cosmopolitans
(05:36) How much of the play was rewritten after or since October 7 attack
(06:22) Do you see this play as being entertainment as well as education
(12:17) Anton Berezin is very, very strong in this play
(13:03) Tell us about the term rootless cosmopolitans
(15:48) Ron, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us
(17:26) Peter Bennett says anti-Semitic bullying at Melbourne University is deeply disturbing
(18:28) Peter Howell: Furiosa looks amazing, and it's brilliantly shot
(20:27) Furiosa is a strident revenge thriller starring Chris Hemsworth
(23:00) I thought Anya Taylor Joy was really powerful in Furiosa
(23:55) Tom Burke plays Furiosa's running mate Jack in Mad Max
(24:27) Peter Krauss: I was not as impressed with this film as you were
(25:45) Greg says the 148 minute running time is too generous for this film
(28:42) Jackie: I found Chris Hemsworth's character kind of weird
(34:28) Peter Furioso gives Mad Max saga a mixed review
(35:57) Jackie says the film is too long, but still entertained
(39:00) Gregory King: Maybe we should rate movies based on ape score
(40:09) This sequel takes place several generations after the great ape Caesar passed away
(44:13) Gregory King: I thought Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was interesting
(46:13) Greg says the film was bloated and looked good overall
(50:04) We're going to go scores here, uh, starting with Peter
**Closing Note:**
This episode of First on Film and Entertainment offers a rich tapestry of discussions, from the poignant themes of anti-Semitism in "Rootless Cosmopolitans" to the high-octane action of "Furiosa" and the visual spectacle of "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." The critics navigate through the complexities of each work, providing listeners with insightful and thought-provoking commentary. Join us next time for another round of in-depth reviews and engaging conversations.
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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
First on film and entertainment. Avery very good morning to all of you,
and we have got a cavalcade ofchampions today. Jackie Hamilton, very
good morning. You've been away,you're back again. It's nice to be
on board. Thank you, Alex. Now our first things first, you
went far afield? Did you enjoyyourself because you went to stick Low Carl's.

(00:21):
I did. I went way offthe grid. I went to South
America and did a big, avery very big five weeks. I was
away for six weeks around South America, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Brazil,
and around the Galapagos Ecuador. Soba adventurous attacked by tarantulas? Were

(00:44):
you? I did say. Idid meet some tarantulas and they were very
polite. They didn't attack me.I did meet some hammerhead sharks out in
the in the Snorkeling Waters and allsorts of other critics and had a lot
of fun. Ah, that's terrific. Nice said you? There as mentioned
Gregory King exotic or otherwise? Whatdo you reckon? I very adventurous,

(01:08):
I know that, but I've readit. That's about Well, Hey,
I you're heading where are you headinglater this year? Where you going back
to Sydney or something. Are youin Paris? Paris, My golly,
Peter Krass, we're being left inthe dark here are you? You're going
to go to dark in cinemas.That's about it, isn't it. That's
correct. That's as much journey asI'll take. Well, look, we've

(01:30):
got a very very special guest firstup, a writer extraordinaire who has done
a lot of work and I've gotto say I've seen quite a bit of
it and have been mighty impressed,not just saying that, but genuinely so.
He's got a new play out andI'm holding his name at abayance for
the time being. The play isby Wondrous Theater and it's called Rootless Cosmopolitans

(01:53):
on at Chapel Off Chapel, oneof my favorite venues. And look,
obviously we are talking on Ja,so highly appropriate because being identifiable as Jewish
today is well, it's more fraughtthan at any time since the Holocaust.
And I can't speak for the restof you, but in my case,

(02:13):
my parents came to Australia to getthe freedom that they didn't get in Europe,
and unfortunately, many many people,six million Jews and many others lives
were lost in the Holocaust. What'shappened since October seven and the Hamas terrorist
attacks on Israel is despicable. Imean, the growing diet of anty Semitism

(02:34):
has been relentless, and that's whythis work is most important. Ron Elaisher
is the playwright I'm speaking of,most thought provoking, rootless Cosmopolitans could not
be any more relevant or timely.Many words are spoken within the play,
but the heart of which is reallyblatant discrimination. So first twenty minutes,
well, it's pretty lighthearted, exploresthe relationship between self assured Jewish son who

(03:01):
happened to marry out and his Jewishmama. But then the tide turns and
that's where everything really takes off.So Ron, thanks so much for joining
me. I haven't spoilt too muchof the plot at this Stagey, When
and why did you write this play? Well, I originally wrote it a

(03:22):
couple of years ago when I readsome statistics about anti Semitism, and this
of course was way before October seventh, which surprised me, and it was
a response to that. And then, of course, once October seven happened,
the entire landscape changed, and thebeasts that we refer to as anti

(03:45):
Semitism had also transformed. So Icouldn't ignore that. I couldn't make believe
it hadn't happened. So I had. There was a certain amount of rejigging.
But I didn't want to get in. I didn't want to make it
a play about the war, perse, because that's whole subject on its
own, and a very complex one, and one that's very difficult, I
think, to approach in a playwithout sounding incredibly didactic. It sort of

(04:10):
he said, she said, sortof thing. I have also written some
plays on the subject, but Idoubt they'll ever get onto the stage.
But this is one that is mainlyabout the specific nature of anti Semitism and
why it's not quite the same as, for example, racism of other kinds.
There is a difference. Well,perhaps you can outline what the difference

(04:32):
is, please go for it.Well, it's because it's not quite just
a religion, it's not quite justa race. We don't fit into any
easy category. And because we're seeingpeople on the right, for example,
the extreme right, who have beentraditionally anti Semitic, will not see us

(04:55):
as white they'll see us as nonwhite, somewhat inferior. But people on
the extreme left, who this isthe sort of as you like, the
new anti Semitism, would see usas the oppressors, would see us as
part of the sort of white colonialisticoppressive class wielding all the power. So

(05:19):
it's this odd thing where you've seenas being inferior, but you're also seen
as wielding power, and therefore you'renot only the subject of content but also
of fear. And it's a weirdposition to be in because you can't please
everybody. In terms of rewriting,how much of the play was rewritten after

(05:40):
or since October seven? And howlong did that take? Oh, look,
it didn't take a long time.I write fairly quickly. It was
really mainly I don't want to giveway too much. There's a plot point
where his life changes. What's madethat happen is in real time the news

(06:04):
of that October seven attack, andthat leads him to do certain things that
ultimately lead to quite significant consequences.So it's really making the trigger for for
what happens to him, Whereas atrigger used to be something less well defined
in terms of who you'd like toactually go along and see a play,

(06:25):
rather than saying everybody, is therea specific target audience here? Is this
meant to be only a play withoutsort of Well I don't see it that
way, of course, But doyou see this as being entertainment as well
as education? What would you say? I always try and make every play
doesn't matter how serious the subject,and this is a serious subject. I

(06:47):
always try and inject humor, notjust for the sake of humor, but
that's because it's the nature of life. Even in the most extreme circumstances,
people can't help but laugh, andso it doesn't make it a lot easier.
Sometimes certain subjects are so intense andso confronting that you need something to

(07:10):
live in it a bit. Soyes, I don't think there's any excuse
for sort of boring your audience totears. I think you've got to give
them something ting onto. That meansthat the evening progresses without them looking at
their watch and wriggling in their seats. So yes, entertainment is important,
but it should be the sort ofentertainment that when you laugh, you suddenly

(07:33):
think, oh, hang on,should I be laughing at that? Shouldn't
I be laughing, what does itactually mean so that you go out with
something to talk about? And fromwhat I've heard, I think people are
going out of this play with plentyto talk about. Well, I found
rootless Cosmopolitans certainly engaging, quite disturbing. I mean, obviously that's part of

(07:54):
the message that needs to come throughhere. Yeah, definitely. And in
terms Ofustralia as you see it today, I mean I don't know if you've
lived here here entire life. Iwas born in Israel, but I came
out when I was eighteen months old, so virtually, yes, virtually or
entire life. I've never seen itlike it is today, and it's incredibly

(08:16):
concerning in terms of not just now, but what's going to happen in years
to come. In the wake ofOctober seven, how do you read the
political situation here, Yeah, it'sa massive, massive change. We always
used to talk about the possibility ofanother Holocaust and that sort of thing,
and it was always a sort ofa theoretical discussion, but without being sort

(08:41):
of a panic merchant or alarmist.You know. When I was at the
rally on Sunday in Melbourne, whichwas a rally held against Andy Semitism.
It wasn't to do with the war. It was basically against Andandy Severns,
a very comba type of gathering.And there were people just up the roads,
separated by two lines of police whowere abusing and screaming and engaged in

(09:07):
acts of violence, who were protestingagainst the rally which was against Andy Semitism.
Now, how do you justify that? Really, it's just it's extraordinary.
It really is extraordinary. So where'sthe education factor here missing? Because
it's almost like between the years,people just don't seem to understand. And

(09:31):
for example, chance of from theriver to the sea, people don't understand
even what they're chanting when they're supposedlyagainst Israel or against Jews. There seems
to be a total lack of understanding. But there's a lot of conviction.
There is a tremendous amount of ignorance. But some of it has to be
willful ignorance. You can't tell methat professes at a university, some of

(09:54):
them, you know, who professesin things like history, etc. That
they don't know the actual history.You can't tell me that. It would
have to be a willful ignorance,a wilful desire to ignore certain basic known
facts and I mean facts, Andthis is the problem. We're in these

(10:16):
bubbles where there are no facts anymore, there's no truth anymore. And you
know, I don't know that educationis the key, unfortunately. I mean,
the worst holocaust in history happened inGermany, which is a highly educated
country at the time. And Ihave a friend who works for Courage to
Care and they go to schools talkingabout the cost and she's decided at the

(10:41):
end of all this, and she'sput a tremendous amount of work and effort
into it that it seems to bea waste of time, which is a
terrible thing to have to say.So she's going to pull the plug.
Well, I don't think she'll pullthe plug. I think she's still out
there trying, but she's not feelinghopeful. She's not feeling optimistic about the
effects of how do we address thisas a very real issue that's not just

(11:05):
going to affect us potentially, butfuture generations, And you know, it
changes the face of the society that'smeant to be care free. There are
no easy answers. I think Ithink the internet has a tremendous amount to
answer for And I think we needto become a lot more critical about how
we use it or misuse it.And I think the atmosphere out there is

(11:30):
absolutely toxic. I mean, wewere unable, for example, with this
play, we were unable to getany kind of mainstream coverage at all.
And the word that came back unofficially, not through official channels was this is
too hot to handle? And whyis it too hot to handle? Because
people have been intimidated by things suchsuch as doxing and cancelation and this sort

(11:54):
of massive online and onslaughts, withterrible death threats and all sorts of things.
It's a very toxic, intimidatory environmentout there, and I think the
Internet's got a lot to answer foryou. We really do need to be
a lot more active in combating thealgorithm we do. Indeed, look Anton

(12:18):
beras and is very very strong inthis one. He is the central focus,
if you like, and he envisageshis mother, who's no longer with
us within this play as being ifyou like, a voice of conscience for
him. That was obviously a deliberateploy on your part. Very strong.
Indeed, what can you say abouthis character in this play. Well,

(12:39):
I've purposely made him. You know, I don't think he's any worse than
anyone else as a flawed character.He's got his plus he's got his minuses.
I didn't want to paint a picturethat, you know, all the
Jews out there are saints, butyou shouldn't need to be. You should
be able to be flawed. Youshould be able to make mistakes and say
the wrong thing and not be pilloriedand not discriminated against. Absolutely well,

(13:03):
I should finish by asking you theterm rootless cosmopolitans. Let's go into that.
It's a play that people should see. I've really got to emphasize that,
and perhaps once we've spoken with you, till you tell people a little
bit more about it, but overalltell us about the name and where that
came about or how that came about. It was coined in the eighteen hundreds

(13:24):
by a literary critic in Russia whowas referring to people generally whom he felt
were not suppose good to Russian enough, not patriotic enough, And it did
to a degree refer at that timeto Jews. But then it was taken

(13:45):
up with great glee by Stalin,who specifically used it in relation to Jews,
and it was a kind of code, if you like, for Jews,
so that you couldn't be necessarily accusedof anti Semitism. But everybody knew
what you were talking about. Butyou've been used much more recently than that
it was used by His name hasgone out of my head. And now

(14:05):
particular colonel in the US Army whowas addressing the GOP in the US and
made reference to the rootless Cosmopolitans,and everyone knew exactly what he was talking
about. So it hasn't lost itscurrency. No, it certainly hasn't.
And look, there's a lot ofself serving in this particular play. There

(14:26):
are people sort of feathering their ownnests, left, right and center,
and there is a great deal ofentertainment value, believe it or not,
in what we've talked about, eventhough the subject matter isn't entertaining. So
I think you've done exactly what yousuggested earlier in this interview that you were
going to do, so that it'snot just dark, dark dark. And
there are certainly quite a number ofhumorous moments, and probably the most prominent

(14:50):
of those is the relationship between motherand son. Correct. Yeah, yeah,
it's a bit of a double act. And I did make her intentionally
not your stereotypical Jewish mamma because Ididn't want that. I didn't want it.
There's a lot of Jewish momma inher, sorry, I reckon.

(15:11):
I can recognize my mother in heras well. Well, well there is,
but it comes more out of whatshe actually says rather than who she
is, if you know what Imean. Yes, it's so's she's no
fool, that's for sure. No, and it's not. I didn't want

(15:31):
to do a sort of a NeilSimon. It's not that kind of paths.
McMillan is the woman who played theactor who plays the character of Frieda,
which is the mother, and Irais the Anton Bereras and character in
Riddles's Cosmopolitans. Ron, thank youso much for taking the time to speak
with us today, and I wishyou well, not just with Ridless Cosmopolitans,

(15:56):
but with future work. And Iknow you're prolific if you you seem
to have this capacity to be ableto turn out a lot of material,
not just here but overseas. Andjust a brief plug. This is going
to continue until when when when doesRootless Cosmo Boltons go on till the Chapel
Off Chapel. It's got one moreweek, so it ends second of June,

(16:17):
so you need to get in quicklyexactly. And I think you're bringing
something to us that was on overseasas well, and what is that next
year? Yes, hopefully and beingFrank as the play and it's a reimagining
of the Anne Frank story from avery different perspective. And it won a
couple of awards off for the BroadwayWorld Awards. It was an Off Broadway

(16:42):
production for Best Production, Best SoloPerformance, and runner up for Best New
Play. So that the performers,though, will be new performers here in
Australia or would you bring it's aone woman show at Alex Fishman is the
actor and she's originally Australian. Shelives in New York now and she'll be

(17:03):
bringing it out to Sydney and Melbournehopefully. And we know it's been you
yet or time or not yet notyet, no early days yet, but
we'll get there to revy well,I'll keep in touch with you and inform
our listeners about when that is on. But for the time being another week
to see Riotless Cosmopolitans at Chapel OffChapel Ronalisha, thanks for your time,

(17:23):
Thank you well, folks, thereyou go. You've got the offering.
You've got it from the writer's mouthand mine as well as a strong recommendation.
And look, it's one of thosethings that in terms of anti Semitism,
there isn't one answer, but it'san ongoing issue. Students are being

(17:44):
hounded and a number of them onlyin the past week have said that they
are going to leave the University ofMelbourne because of the troubles that are there.
I mean, that's deeply disturbing,Peter, isn't it shocking? It
is very much. Yeah. Solook, i'd like to think that how
do you educate those that don't wantto be educated. That's the difficulty here.

(18:06):
And I mean, you know,whatever you think the solution is killing
one another, discriminating against one another, be it anti Semitism, any other
form of discrimination, is not theanswer. And as a society, I
reckon we're going backwards rather than forwards, which is very very It's not something
that I want to bring our kidsinto, and yet they're already here.

(18:27):
Let's move on on first on filmand entertainment to a few other things.
And I suppose talking about war,it's war of another side or another type,
and it's more cartoon type violence.But the big movie of the past
week has been Furio, a MadMax saga and she Whiz. I mean

(18:47):
forty five years of Mad Max.It's hard to believe that when this was
formulated as a concept we'd be thinkingthat George Miller is still turning it out.
And tell you what, they musthave spent a decent amount of money
on this movie, Peter, Doyou know these things? Do you know
how much the action the film itselfcosts to make. I think it's around

(19:08):
eighty million dollars all thereabouts. Really, I thought it was more than that,
Okay, Greg or Jackie any insight? It was closure to two hundred
million. Yeah, again, numbersare bandied about, but I certainly think
it's more than one hundred million dollarmark. But the most expensive film made
in Australia. Yes, yeah,and it's brilliantly sure. The thing that

(19:30):
I've got to say, at theoutset, I think it looks. It
looks you can see where they've spentthe money. It looks amazing. It
sounds incredible that the plot is justa revenge prop. We get that all
the time, and actually the wordsare kept to a minimum, but the
sounds are certainly not kept to ina minimum, nor is the visuals,

(19:51):
which are quite striking. So,talking about striking, I don't think I've
ever seen an actor such as AnyaTaylor Joy. She stands out head and
shoulders because she's so different in termsof look generally right. In terms of
her acting ability, she's phenomenal.But you know, whether it be on

(20:12):
a catwalk in terms of promoting waresor whether it be in a movie,
that angular face of hers, veryvery beautiful woman really is quite striking.
But an astounding actress, really astounding. So let's talk a little bit about
what is a strident revenge thriller.Furiosa a mad Max Saga fifteen year odyssey

(20:34):
of a young girl snatched who isbasically going to stop at nothing to find
her way home. And in thattime she starts out as a feisty ten
year old and she becomes a mostresourceful and industrious young woman. So Anya
Tayler Joy is Furiosa. Stolen fromwhat's known as the green place of many

(20:57):
mothers and into the hands of agreat biker hoard led by a warlord called
Dementus, and that's the role thatChris Hemsworth plays in Furiosa. They sweep
through what's called the Wasteland and comeacross the citadel, which is presided over

(21:17):
by a character called the Immortal Joerole filled by Lockey Hume, and you've
got the two of them. You'vegot the Immortal Joe and Dementis fighting one
another couple of tyrants that they're bothlooking for total domination and furiosis survivals on
the line. Here she undertakes many, many trials that test her resilience.

(21:40):
And part of the reason for thisis that her mother has been taken and
killed. So that's as much asI want to sort of say about the
script in terms of growing back tothe well. It was written by George
Miller as well as directed a fellowwriters Nikola Thoris, who did Admacs Fury
Road, which is the previous moviein the franchise. And I really gorged

(22:04):
myself on the visuals, the sound, the costuming, the makeup spectacle that
are the defining characteristics of this prequelto Fury Road, as I said,
looks and sounds magnificent, and Ireckon, you've got to see this film.
You really do have to see thisfilm on the biggest screen possible.
Now, if you can afford togo to Imax, please see it at

(22:26):
Imax. It is really really potent. Love the stunt work, the creation
of the cobble together vehicles, andwe're talking about cars and bikes and trucks.
And I think there's an area aswell that are bound in the movie
and they sort of crash and bashinto each other. And the start desert
landscape as well, endless sand,rocky out crops, perfect setting to a

(22:48):
world that's in chaos. I mean, much of it was shot around Broken
Hill, so it's ferocious, it'sunrelenting. It lays bare the brutality of
the wasteland that is front and centerin the movie. And there's plenty of
action over nearly two and a halfhours, so lots of chases in combat
and inevitable thrills and spills. Ireally did. I thought Andy Taylor Joy

(23:11):
was really powerful in the lead.Lots of gusto, lots of verve,
doesn't take a backward step, reallyimpressive she carries herself with this steely eyed
determination and ferocity of spirit. Reallylike the younger iteration of Furiosa too.
Ayla Brown is that particular actor anddoes a very fine job too, and
makes her presence felt. I thoughtthat Chris Hemsworth was full of bluster.

(23:33):
I mean, he's a blowhard inhis portrayal of Furious's nemesis. He doesn't
give a tinker's cast about anyone otherthan himself. Of course, he's got
a history too, because he losthis family and maybe that's made him who
he is. But he's like acartoon like villain and strong man in Furiosa.

(23:55):
Thought Tom Burke was very very goodtoo, makes his mark as a
highly capable, tough and persistent characterwho has a conscience, and he plays
Furios's running mate known as Praetorian Jack, so quite a dystopian worldview inherent in
Mad Max been spectaculally realized and new, and bravo to George Miller for making

(24:15):
it so. It deserves to dowell. It's going to have to take
a lot of money at the boxoffice to make up for what it costs.
I hope it can do so,because it's a powerful movie. What
did you think of it, PeterKraus, I was not as impressed with
the film as you were. AndI think what this film has done as

(24:36):
a prequel to the twenty fifteen MadMax film is that it has lost sight
of the origin, story, ofthe meaning behind what Mad Max is.
A future dystopian society is all aboutwhere people are battling for energy, for
food, for water, for survivalin a situation where people can't trust anyone

(25:03):
else. So the problem with thisfilm is that, yes, it is
a spectacular well made film. Itis beautiful, shot around out back New
South Wales. It has a lotof key elements in it, it's a
lot of action, a lot ofstunt work. However, the story is
empty. I thought there was reallynothing much in terms of story development that

(25:26):
happened in the screenplay. And forme that means a great deal, because
if you don't have a strong enoughstory and screenplay, no matter how much
money you throw out of film,the special effects in stunt work and so
on are not going to mean agreat deal. So, and I must
admit I loved her Anya Taylor Joey. She was great as the potential Charly's

(25:52):
the on character I suppose in thetwenty fifteen mag Max. But Tom Burke
is Pretorious who was sort of theMad Max type character who it was pretty
weak and really why I'm surprised tosay that I thought he was very strong.
No, I felt there was notmuch to his story, his character

(26:12):
and the way he interacted with andyour Taylor Joy's character. Look. Overall,
great film to look at Imax,I agree, is a great place
to see it. But if you'relooking for a good, strong story that
really gets into the Mad Max sagain more detail, then you'll be very

(26:34):
disappointed. Wow. Okay, Greg, did you think more of it than
I did? Then Peter did it? Rather? I both think more of
than Peter did. But I quiteliked this for what but it took a
while to get started, but oncethe action starts, the place is quite
fast and furious there. However,I thought some of those during the Highway

(26:55):
reshoot there with the White war boysand the motorsy, all that chatting distruct
there. I thought some of theaction beats here and mimic the accent of
Fury Road, which for me wasone of the great action films in the
last decade. Some of the Viles. I thought there was a little bit
unpleasant, unnecessary in nature, andI thought the one hundred and forty eight
minute running time is a little bittoo generous. This is the longest film

(27:18):
in the series, and it couldhave been cut by about twenty minutes,
I think. But I agree thatAndres Taylor Joy is convincing here, and
she equits herself well in a veryphysical role. She only have a lot
to say, but what does shedrew a lot? I thought Henru had
played the willderness amentis with a broado accent, a lot of bluster,
and the looney missing charm that comesacross as more comical than menacing. There.

(27:41):
I think that Burke did have astrong presence as Pterian Chad, but
his presence reminds us of those earlierincarnations of the character of mad Max.
There. But this in superb stageaction sequences year. The special effects in
suntwork are truly spectacular, and unlikea lot of today's buster action movies with
their multi million dollar budgets and overdoseof c g I effects, Miller prefers

(28:04):
to use special effects where possible.I think this makes for a more spectacular
movie. Some highlights there. Filmwas well shot around Brandon Hill, the
Red Sands jests that provide a perfectsetting for this waste land and Cineus algrapher
Simon Duddet is done a superb jobof bathing the film in a fleet orange

(28:26):
hue there. And yeah, Iagree that it needs to be seen on
the biggest screen possible, with fullsound and everything to appreciate Miller's vision to
best benefit. Okay, well,Jackie, have you seen the Big Blockbuster

(28:47):
or not? Yes, I sawit and I saw it at Imax.
Well, so that did you likethat setting for it as well? Absolutely
totally agreeing it's the place to seeit because it is all about think,
you know, in the action andthe spectacle and the clanking and the sound
and the noise and the weaponry andthe landscapes and all of that. Everything's

(29:10):
big. I think of the threeof you, Peter absolutely here to what
Peter had to say, I totallyagree with everything he said. And as
for what you said, Alex,yes it looks good, but you know,
good looks can be only skin deep, and to me, there wasn't

(29:30):
much under the skin with this andsome of the finer detail of it didn't
work for me. I found Ithink it was, as Greg said,
some of the undercurrents and the tortureand the nastiness, and there was kind
of this threat against Furiosa the wholetime, being a young girl at the

(29:53):
age of ten, this kind ofundercurrent of potential sexual violence against her,
which I found disturbing and didn't fitwith what this film was about, which
was, you know, a bigboy clinking machines and fighting, which is

(30:14):
the essence of the film. Really, I don't know if you felt that,
but I see we I was uncomfortablewith. WE see what you're alluding
to. But you know, it'skind of like that supercilious way that Chris
Hemsworth's character had to basically say you'llbe okay, then locked her up in
the cage, et cetera. ButI thought they backed away from what was

(30:37):
pretty nasty as a concept that you'vejust alluded to. I thought they deliberately
backed away from it. You're sayingthat backed away, but then they actually
presented it before they backed away,so the idea was still there. I
didn't like that, I found,you said, crims Hams, Chris hemsworth
character was kind of really weird.They all had the assy accents and he

(31:00):
was very pronounced, except of course, when Furiosa finally spoke and somehow she
came out with an American accent.I mean, where did that come from?
Was she watching too much TV orsomething? Because that was way wrong
when everybody else had the Australian accents. But Chris Hemsworth or Dementist is kind

(31:22):
of comic book character. With thisthe cape and the Teddy and the and
the motorbike chariot, you know,the three motorbikes as a chariot. That
was all kind of cartoon comic book. But it was a different tone from
where the rest of the film was. It was really odd. And Chris

(31:44):
Hemsworth like, I'll go to afilm to watch him. Oh no,
I'll go to a film to lookat him. And you were talking about
good looks of the film. I'llgo to a film to watch Chris Hemsworth.
But I would never say he's agreat actor or necessarily even a good
acta. He's very wooden. Idon't know. Did you think he acted

(32:04):
well in Turns? Well, look, I thought he played a cartoon role,
and I thought he played the cartoonrole as it was. Did he
act well? Did he act well? He was wotten. But chris Enzo,
wait a second, when you sayhe's Wooden, I don't think he's
Wooden in every movie. So Ithink he had a role the plane,
he played the rock. He hammedup the role. I mean, I

(32:25):
thought, you know, and perhapsthat was what was called upon for him
to do. So he said,I thought he looked uncomfortable and strange.
Really, but still I'm still happy. I'm happy to I'm not yet,
but I'm not. I mean,it's even the humor that he was he
was asked to delivering the film.Even his humor was odd. It was

(32:47):
kind of not funny. It wassort of childish kind of humor. Here
he is supposed to be leading thesemassive armies across the desert and there,
and he's doing silly things and playingwith a teddy bear. Yeah. Well,
well again that was a nod tohis past. I mean, one
of the things that we should besaying here. It's interesting you said he's

(33:07):
still good to look at. Youknow. One of the things I made
a point of saying was that hisopposite number, the star of the show
Furiosa. In terms of Anya TaylorJowett. She's also good to look at,
but she's also a fine actor.And I don't think differently about Chris
Hansworth. I think he's done particularlywell and some of the roles that he's
played, he's done a very verygood job. And I just thought he

(33:30):
had. As I say said beforehe's got there, you got to,
Alex, you use the word he'sdone a good job, you know mine,
that's not fine acting to say someonedid a great Okay. I mean,
if you're mainly going to be playingcartoonish characters or you know, Marvel

(33:50):
superheroes or whatever you do, Isuppose that. Look, there are different
representations of that, but Downey Juniorplayed man like that acted in a very
fine fashion. Yeah, well thatdifference. It's funny. I had Robert
Downey Jr. At the tip ofmy tongue because he's better at it than
almost anybody that I can think of. Right, So, but if you

(34:14):
it shows you it can be donewell. But what I'm asking is,
can if you go to other characters, Chris Pratton, whatever they did,
they do a better job than ChrisEnsworth is what I'm asking? Yes,
really, Okay, that's it.Yes, Okay, Well, I'm going
to think I'm going to give thisthe high mark without any question of doubt.
Peter's going to give it the lowmark. So let's start with you,

(34:35):
Peter Furioso, right are you?Are you going to unleash your fury
on a mad Max Saga? Icertainly will. Well, although what I
will say is there was a lotof employment for Australian actors in the film.
I recognized quite a few of them, so it's good that they got
work. A good spectacle but nota good screen page. Let me let

(34:59):
me guess I'm going to give you. Have you given them the score yet?
Or have overspoken? Not yet?Not yet? Okay, I reckon
you're going to give it about abetween a five and a six. Yeah,
I gave it six out of ten. There you go, all right?
Now? Second, I reckon,Jackie will be next to cab off
the rank, and I reckon you'reyou're you're around about the same marker around

(35:22):
the five five mark? Where areyou Jackie? I know I did give
furios Mad Back Saga a six outof ten, but part of that is,
you know I've criticized, I've givenmy critical comments about the film,
and only briefly mentioned the things Idid like, because I think you and
Greek covered that quite well. Ithink there's a lot that a lot of

(35:45):
people will enjoy about it, soI'm not denying that it will appeal.
And also here here on the apploymentof employment of Australians in the industry.
Well, was it too long,Jackie? Yes, it was, but
I was I was necessary. Iwas still entertained for most of the film

(36:06):
quite quite well. So I reallyhave a problem with the very much,
so very much two hours twenty.I didn't feel I didn't feel that the
as Peter already covered this. Ithought it was back and forth, back
and forth quite a lot, andnot it didn't advance the narrative. It
wasn't progressive to a you know,yes, And that's where you get where

(36:29):
boredom sort of does come in.When you're not seeing a big advance through
the narrative, you're basically going fromfight to fight, right, That's that's
kind of what it's all about inthe endeavor for furiosity to get home.
Now, let me see, Greg, I reckon that you'll probably give it
somewhere between US six and a sixand a half ish, Go on,

(36:51):
what are you going to give it? Seven? Bonanula said, the original
Fury wrote with one of the bestash films of the last decade or so,
when I had a lot to liveup to and in what Make It?
But I'll still be about seven becausesome of the action secreences is a
quite spectacular all right, So whatam I going to give it? Greg?
About nine? Eight? There wego, So we range from six

(37:13):
to eight average. What you'll micis seven. So it makes a decent
film to go along and see it'snot an average because there were two on
six, one on seven and oneon eight. Where's your mats? Two
on six? Yes? Well,hang on? Well and like doing twenty
twenty seven? Four is six?What? No, No, it's close

(37:40):
to six point something. Hang on, you said twenty seven, Greg,
twenty eight would be seven. SoJackie's gully. You're being nitpicky, aren't
you? Hey? We don't havesome three quarters that's my middle name exactly.
Golly, yes, thank you verymuch. You're fine, and please

(38:04):
subscribe to all this nonsense. Subscribeto the staging fifty four bucks for the
year. Go to Jdacy dot comdot au. And you can hear more
about Jackie's nick nickpicking, witch isbent and Peter Grause's recalcitrants and the fact
that Greg's team Sin Kilda doesn't knowAleck find itself out of a wet paper

(38:24):
bag. Greeg do they sorry?Silence? We're doing sounds of silence?
Are we? Okay? We're doingthat fair enough? We are not plenty.
I'm not pointing today, Alex.Oh, I'm very disappointed in you.
Greg. In fact, I thinkyou're you're still supporting your team by
going to the football, which Igreatly admire. So maybe you need to

(38:46):
sort of parley a few of theapes that are in Kingdom of the Planet
of the Apes so that you becomea little bit more battle hard, Greg,
what do you reckon? Eh,that'll be all right. Let's talk
about Kingdom of the Planet of theApes. M Rted arter than forty five
minutes. Again, a lot ofmonkey business here, and it does two

(39:07):
hours twenty five minutes. Does itneed to be two hours and twenty five
minutes, Gregory King? Not manymovies need to be that long, thank
you? I say that now thisis the bugbear of mine. Okay,
so you keep on rabbiting on abouta movie is and so forth determined by
how good or bad it is.Does two hours and forty five minutes justify

(39:30):
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes? Peter Krauss, No it doesn't.
In fact, when I had completedseeing the film, my response was,
this film has one ape too many. Oh okay, so maybe we need
to rape movies based on apes score. So look, this is another reboot,
reset, reconfiguration nineteen sixty eight moviePlanet of the Apes. Charlton Heston,

(39:55):
Well, thank you very much,bless you, Chelton. I must
be a exactly Roddy McDowell. Hasthere been a better than the original?
Yes? No, what's the collectivethinking about that? No? All right,
well this is the tenth picture inthe franchise, so ten Green Bottles.
Does it live up to expectations?Well, I reckon, yes and

(40:17):
no. It takes place several generationsafter the great Ape Caesar passed away,
and he was the one who oversawthese simons and mankind living in harmony.
But well, what can we say? Things have gone backwards since. And
you've got a young ape who knowsnothing about the outside world called Noah played
by Owen T. He knows nothingabout the outside world, nor does he

(40:40):
know anything about Caesar. He livesin a rather busy clan, and this
particular clan takes joy in singing toand training eagles, yes eagles, to
fish for them. So the group'sright of passage begins when Young UN's a
task with securing eagle egg high upin the mountains and then nurturing them,

(41:01):
and that's the starting point for kingdomof the Planet of the Apes. So
you've got an imminent coming of ageceremony for Noah, and that's upset by
the arrival of a human female calledMay played by Freya Allen, and that
results in Noah undertaking this grand anddangerous adventure. So in that guys,

(41:22):
he encounters a wise old ape calledRaka played by Peter McConn, who's an
orangutan, and he remembers he actuallydoes remember Caesar's teachings of decency and morality,
and he preaches tolerance and peace.That's racer. So his adversary,
Noah's adversary is a powerful, verypowerful, imposing creature beast called a gorilla

(41:45):
named Silver played by Ekka Darvil,who heads an adversarial ape army, and
that army's beholden to the narcissistic,proximous caesar Kevin Durant, who craves technological
knowledg ligion. That's what May actuallyhas the human being and hence his quest
to capture her. So silver Wellwill stop at nothing. This is the

(42:08):
adversary Noah's adversary to track down May, and that involves raiding and torturing other
clans, including Noah's one, andwhen his family and friends are captured,
Noah is determined to fight back.Now at the same time, he's got
a decidedly uneasy relationship with the whipsmart human May and he's trying to figure

(42:29):
out whether he can trust her.And also the picture is a human captive
called Trevathan, and that's roll filledby Widiam H. Macy who accepts the
new status quo right where apes ruleand teaches the primate's history. So it's
been written by Josh Friedman who didAvatar, The Way of Wonder. Where's

(42:50):
Ball who did the Maze Runner andyeah, so he wes Ball also directs
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. It's again it's a good looker.
Visuals are impressed the cinematographer Cula Paidos, who did Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle.
I thought it's done a pretty goodjob here, and the sound design
adds to the gravitas in the film. I kin'd have enjoyed that tentative dance
between May and Noah, the humanand the ape, young young ape,

(43:14):
which carried on throughout the film,and they of course continued to figuratively feel
each other out, so Noah gainsinsights. As the story does take shape,
May appears to want to re establishhuman control or does she? M
Well, there's a mysterious quality toFreyer Allen's representation of the human May.

(43:35):
And I thought that Silver quite amighty force to be reckoned with as one
of the villains, and the pieceand Echa darvil in costume, well,
I reckon positively fearful. You wouldn'twant to meet Silver anytime soon. I
also appreciated, by contrast to this, the representation of Rakka by Peter McConn.
But again very dragged out two hourstwenty five minutes, as mentioned,

(43:59):
too long have been tightened, itwould have been had greater impact, and
well, not much surprise here.It sets up for film number eleven.
So yeah, another sequel is onthe cards if this can bring home the
bacon and make enough money. Didyou or did you not enjoy Kingdom of
the Planet of the Apes Gregory KingFor a point, I did yes.

(44:20):
I thought some of the special effectswere fantastic here, and special effects have
certainly come a long way since thenineteen sixty eight original, and a combination
of CGI and motion capture has workedwell. But unlike when Caesar was running
the characters there, I didn't reallyfeel emotional infested these apes at all.

(44:45):
There. The film does pay homageto up the Nine Night original, though,
with a couple of scenes that arereminiscent of that film, especially at
one where the agent on horseback ischasing a human through a field, which
I thought we captured some of theregion. I also thought this was head
at one stage this was headed downthe path similar to nineteen seventies beyond the

(45:05):
Planet of the Eights, But thankfullythe riders that you've mentioned, they're going
a slightly given direction there. Butit certainly does set the way for a
sequel. I thought there action scenesare handling quite muscular fashion, but they're
also a little bit Bombassid and overthe top there. The production design respectacular,
especially of the fortress there for theProximus and in some dation scenes are

(45:31):
quite well. You wouldn't know thiswas shot in Sydney, in more part
because it looks fantastic, otherworldly.Some were shot apparently in the Blue Mountains,
but they've used green screen effects torecreate this other world. Who look
there and there's some great production designthere. I thought I would tea you
did a good job as Noah there, but we h Macy was wasted.

(45:53):
I thought he wouldn't given much todo. But yeah, no, look
it's interesting, but again one hundredand forty minutes to wait, too long
for what it has to do,unnecessarily bloated and again it tas it's time
to get started, but it certainlygoes set up the scene for another sequel.
Yeah it does. Okay, Jackie, have you gone ape? I

(46:17):
did not go ape over this film. It didn't really appeal to me at
all. The looks again, asI mean what Greek says, it looked
good, The production was good,The CGI is great, but you know,
no better than the previous one was. I just got so bored with
this so I love the opening sequencesof raiding the bird's nests for eggs and

(46:40):
the reason for doing so, butthe story just didn't grab me, and
the characters I just really couldn't careless about any of them. So I
very quickly lost interest at about theninety minute mark, which is about as
long as it should have run.Okay, that character played by Peter Macon

(47:01):
new wise old or any saying herereminds me a little bit of Louis Van's
character Doc Jo. Yeah, yeahscome from the first one. Well,
so, Jackie, I've actually Ithink I admire what you've just said.
Then, basically, as long asyou believe a movie needs to last,
that's as long as you stay,and then at that point you walk out.

(47:22):
So if you thought that Mad Maxwas only worthy of sort of let's
say thirty five minutes, then youcould walk out. Then is that what
you're saying? That That is absolutelynot I think we said that off the
top of my head in relation tothis particular film. Don't know, but
I actually think you've got if bodiesrather very I know, I don't know,

(47:43):
I'm going to go I'm denying thatcompletely, Alex, and I'll give
you a reason why. Yesterday Iwent to see I'm patching up on my
films, you see if you followingmy long absence, for example, The
Road to Patagonia, which absolutely thrilledme, having been very close to me.
Yesterday I went to see Radical,which is the Mexican film in Spanish

(48:07):
about the teacher who engages with students, and that again was fifteen minutes too
long. But some of the bestparts of the film were in the last
ten minutes. And there's no wayI would have walked out on that or
seen that as being okay, that'sa cutoff, that long enough, fine
diet. So absolutely I said thatabout this film Planet of the Kingdom,

(48:30):
of the Planet of the Apes,but I wouldn't say it in general.
I think I'm bringing a big tonguein cheek here. It's an assessment,
but I wouldn't like you to getaway with it, alex Ah Goey,
I get away with nothing, Peter, especially I from a calcul translate like
Jackie and your good self. Didyou find anything to scratch yourself about here?

(48:51):
No? I was looking for abit of monkey business, and I
just remembered the nineteen fifty two HowardHawk's film, which was much more entertaining.
Anyway, Key, I agree withyou. Radical is a terrific movie.
Anyway, Greg, your comment thatthe film was bloated is one of
my top words for this film,because a script editor was definitely needed for

(49:14):
this Kingdom of the Planet of theApes film. The first half hour of
the film just leads nowhere. Itjust tries to establish character but doesn't do
much at all, and by thetime we get to some nitty gritty aspects
of the story, it's not terriblyinteresting story because it's just revolving around the

(49:35):
typical apes versus humans sort of trajectory, which I find quite tiresome unless they
can find a way of dealing withthat in a more creative and interesting sort
of way, especially if we're talkingabout different battles and approaches by two adversaries.
So overall, yes, the specialeffects are great, the CGI,

(49:57):
the motion capture, everything beautifully done. It's just a shame that it's such
a hollow and bloated story. Iwas very disappointed. Well, okay,
so we're going to go story.We're going to go scores here, starting
with Peter, who is again thedisappointment capital of the Kingdom. So we're
going we're going to say, we'regoing to say that I don't hold whether

(50:20):
you're going to pass this one,Peter. So you know, let's say
maybe a four or five. Whereare we the Kingdom of the Kingdom of
Dean play of Apes, the Disappointmentof the Kingdom. I love it.
I aware that. Okay, Igive it five ound of tend Okay,
I was right there, Jacqueline andhe saw ninety minutes of it. What
would you just give that ninety minutescore? I'll also say about a four.

(50:45):
Go on, Well, actually,I've just snuck under Peter there with
a four point five because I didwant to fail it, but I don't
know what any to mean. Hey, it's still a fail. He's a
four point five. Yeah, apoint is a fail. Okay, great,
Yeah, but but there's an averageagain, there's an average of nearly

(51:06):
five, isn't there Jackie four andthree quarters? So far we're at four
and three quarters. Okay, Gregoris going to pass this one. I
reckon, I'm going to do itships six and a half. Hang on,
I was going to say sixty.Let's spelt my fun again. So
that's my that's my role in life. It is. So what am I
going to give it? Greg?I'm probably going to give about eight.

(51:27):
No, no, I'm not goingto be that generous. I reckon seve
and a half. Yeah, Ireckon it's worth about a seven yeah,
something like that. Yeah. Sookay, what's the average jackie? It
passes correct? Well it was Greg, six or a six and a half.
No, no, well I wantwe're out to confuse six or six
and a half? Sis six anda half? Yeah, six and a

(51:49):
quarter given a Jackie six and aquarter, so we've got an eighth.
Do you want to sort of addthat up with your you know, get
along to your little comes to fivefive points six eight seventy five, which
is a pass. But may welcometo the first first on film and mathematics.

(52:15):
Do you want to start a podcaston mathematics? Jacqueline, you've come
back from the bush. No,you've come back from the natives and the
bungle. The hours on jungle,I'd forgotten what it was called. Yes,
exactly. Oh golly, so gomake a geography as well then,
yes, Rootless cosmopolitans, fokes,monstrous theaters. Put it on a chapel

(52:38):
off Chapel and I look. Ithought it was a very interesting story because
a lot well Ronald Iich has managedto sort of take a story that could
have been very very heavy, andthere's lots of smiles and laughter and so
forth within it, but it's still, you know, rather rather compelling,
and it talks about in terms ofa person who's at the top of an

(53:04):
organization using their power in terms ofboard members and whatever to if you like,
strength, flex their muscles. That'sone of the themes. I'm deliberately
trying not to spoil a surprise foranybody, but it's a very interesting piece
of theater and well worth looking at. So go along and see it Rootless

(53:25):
Cosmopolitans if you get the chance inthe next week. We've been promoting it
heavily and given wrong the chance todo so likewise, and it raises some
important issues beyond that. Thank youone and all, and we'll do it
all again very soon. First onfilm and entertainment. Thanks Jackie, Thank
you Greg, thank you, PeterGrause,