July 7, 2024 • 56 mins
**Host:** Alex First
**Guest Critics:** Jacqui Hammerton, Greg King, Peter Krauss
**Episode Summary:**
In this thrilling episode, Alex First is joined by Jacqui Hammerton, Greg King, and Peter Krauss to dive into some highly anticipated films. The discussion kicks off with the prequel "A Quiet Place: Day One," followed by an in-depth look at the gritty drama "The Bike Riders." The critics then turn their attention to the dark and disturbing French film "A Silence." Each critic offers unique perspectives, blending humour and serious critique to provide listeners with a comprehensive review of these films.
**Highlights:**
- **A Quiet Place: Day One:** The prequel to the popular thriller series is examined, with the critics discussing its merits and shortcomings. Lupita Nyong'o's performance is praised, but the film receives mixed reviews for its tension and plot development.
- **The Bike Riders:** A gritty look into the world of a fictional biker gang in Chicago, featuring strong performances from Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, and Jodie Comer. The critics delve into the film's portrayal of camaraderie and toxic masculinity, offering both praise and critique.
- **A Silence:** A dark and disturbing exploration of a family secret, inspired by real events in France and Belgium. The critics discuss the film's pacing, performances, and its unsettling subject matter.
**Closing Note:**
This episode of First on Film and Entertainment offers a rich mix of film reviews, from the tension-filled "A Quiet Place: Day One" to the gritty drama of "The Bike Riders" and the disturbing family secret in "A Silence." The critics provide thoughtful commentary, making this episode a must-listen for film enthusiasts. Join us next week for more in-depth reviews and engaging discussions.
https://www.bitesz.com/show/first-on-film-entertainment/
www.bitesz.com
Sponsor
www.bitesz.com/nordvpn
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/first-on-film-entertainment--5645288/support.
**Guest Critics:** Jacqui Hammerton, Greg King, Peter Krauss
**Episode Summary:**
In this thrilling episode, Alex First is joined by Jacqui Hammerton, Greg King, and Peter Krauss to dive into some highly anticipated films. The discussion kicks off with the prequel "A Quiet Place: Day One," followed by an in-depth look at the gritty drama "The Bike Riders." The critics then turn their attention to the dark and disturbing French film "A Silence." Each critic offers unique perspectives, blending humour and serious critique to provide listeners with a comprehensive review of these films.
**Highlights:**
- **A Quiet Place: Day One:** The prequel to the popular thriller series is examined, with the critics discussing its merits and shortcomings. Lupita Nyong'o's performance is praised, but the film receives mixed reviews for its tension and plot development.
- **The Bike Riders:** A gritty look into the world of a fictional biker gang in Chicago, featuring strong performances from Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, and Jodie Comer. The critics delve into the film's portrayal of camaraderie and toxic masculinity, offering both praise and critique.
- **A Silence:** A dark and disturbing exploration of a family secret, inspired by real events in France and Belgium. The critics discuss the film's pacing, performances, and its unsettling subject matter.
**Closing Note:**
This episode of First on Film and Entertainment offers a rich mix of film reviews, from the tension-filled "A Quiet Place: Day One" to the gritty drama of "The Bike Riders" and the disturbing family secret in "A Silence." The critics provide thoughtful commentary, making this episode a must-listen for film enthusiasts. Join us next week for more in-depth reviews and engaging discussions.
https://www.bitesz.com/show/first-on-film-entertainment/
www.bitesz.com
Sponsor
www.bitesz.com/nordvpn
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/first-on-film-entertainment--5645288/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
First on Film and Entertainment. Avery good day to you all, and
we are going to be talking aboutsome pretty special movies. We're talking about
Jackie Hamilton, Greg King, PeterKrause and yours, Trauli Alex. First,
get a folks. Now, I'vealways sort of thought, all right,
what does a really good thriller looklike? And I suppose one example
(00:22):
of that is A Quiet Place thatreally hit us between the eyes back in
twenty eighteen, and we then hada sequel twenty twenty, and now they've
come back with the prequel, sothe third installment being the prequel with no
longer Emily Blunt, but a veryfine actor as the pivotal character in this
(00:44):
one. So I thought we'd startthere and we will talk about A Quiet
Place Day one. Hardly an inventivetitle, but there you go. You've
got it. So look it couldI reckon this could have been renamed how
to Avoid a Catastrophe because they givea hell of a lot of screen time,
do they? Not? Jackie Amadento a moggie? They do to
(01:06):
Frodo the cat prayed by played bytwo cats called Schnitzel and nico Ah.
You go, there's a little detailfor you. You've gone into feline detail.
I'm most impressed by this. NowI know that you are a dog
lover. Are you a cat loveror not? Oh? Yes, I've
always had cats all my life,up until I started having dogs. There
you go. I'm a turn coat. And the cat is used to good
(01:32):
effect in a thriller because you're alwayson the edge of your seat that the
cat's going to give you away,aren't you, Because they're unpredictable creatures.
Cats. I'm surprised you did.I'm surprised you now more often did not
me out once? Very expressive cat, don't you think, Peter? It
(01:52):
certainly was. It's the star ofthe film effect. Well, maybe an
Academy award. All nice look?Would you say? Picture perfect? Could
be? Sorry, Greg, theseare the These are the old man jokes
that you come up with. Comeon, join the fray joints. You're
(02:15):
covering up perfectly well between you.I don't need to put my force and
worlds in well perfectly well, thankyou. This is an origin story,
and more specifically, the focus ison a woman named Samira known as Sam
and she's played by a brilliant actorcalled the Peter Yongo. She won an
(02:36):
oscar, did she not? Yes? You correct. Now, she's struggling,
she's in pain, she's on meds, and she lives in a hospice
outside the city. And we're talkingabout New York City in particular, and
well basically unfortunately, she's a cancerpatient who's all but given up on live.
So on the proviso, did heget her a pizza? Sam reluctantly
(03:00):
agrees to let a care worker bythe name of Reuben played by Alex Wolf
take her and other patients to ashow in town, right in the city.
Now, I've got to tell youa personal story at this point.
This is giving of myself. Ichanged my name by deep Pole because nobody
(03:21):
could spell my name and I usedto like to order pizzas, and I
changed my name by deep Pole.Accordingly, true story. There you go.
Did any of you know that?Yes? Very good? One out
of three. Okay, so thereyou go. The second even spell your
original name. I believe we won'tdo that. I'd like to do it.
(03:44):
I also got rid of my middlename because I didn't like it.
Paid ten bucks. There you go. There were two phases in my life.
So I did that. And itwas a really easy thing to do.
Having said that it was just becauseof pizza, it was also because
when I got into the media,it was far better to have it as
(04:04):
a name that you could spell.Do you know how many people still cannot
spell? When I give them mysurname, they still can't spell it.
They struggle to accept that it's anactual surname. Maybe it's the way you
say it. Perhaps, Well,when you speak to people on the telephone
and even when you spell things out, I reckon that they confuse the letter
(04:27):
B for Bob with a V forvictory. Have any of you noticed that
you are generalizing I am hugely here? Well I do. It's like when
I say the mighty fighting Essendon footballmachine the greatest side on the planet.
Right Am I generalizing? Apsol bloodylately? Yes, all right, let's
(04:48):
get back onto a quiet place.Day one, and there's nothing quiet about
what's happened the mighty Boers at theg on Friday nights. There we go,
all right, talking about noise,Boy, there was a lot of
noise. Anyway, we are nowat this show in town with Sam and
that's when the aliens and look,they do remind the critics that are in
(05:08):
this remind me of the alien movies. They start arriving and they appear as
comets from the sky, and eventhe slightest noise can trigger them in numbers.
And of course they leave a partof destruction in their wake. So
these are creatures that are blind,noise sensitive, and don't like water.
(05:29):
That's my summary, Is that correct, Greg? Possibly? Yes? Sounds
on any hippie, thank you.So, buildings are torn apart, cars
are destroyed, they're overturned, there'sdebris everywhere. Now Sam and Ruben,
Ruben being the care worker, remainhold up and silent in the theater where
they've gone to see a this whatis it a puppet show? Anyway?
(05:51):
But that doesn't last too long.Soon enough, Sam's on the move with
Frodo being the cat. And nowI found this a bit strange. There's
an all points bullet in to evacuatethe city and that the evacuation is from
helicopters. Well, hang on,don't the creatures fly up and destroy the
helicopters or do they fly above theparapet I wasn't quite clear about that,
(06:15):
Jackie. Can you clear that upfor me? Blaz because I don't think
I don't think they can elevate themselvesthat high to a helicopter. Well,
obviously they can't because they didn't.Well it doesn't matter because they're made up
creatures anyway, and they just dowhatever the director. No. But yeah,
but like I don't think they knewthat knew that their powered when they
first arrived. That you know thatthey were tracted to sound that he's having
(06:38):
a while to sit out. Butby then they're destroyed all sorts of parts
of the city. So I thinkJackie's explanation is that they can't leap that
eye. Please, have you gotan answer? No, But it is
an example of one of many plotgaps in the film. Oh oh yeah,
(06:58):
yes, you've given us. You'vegiven something away before we're even there.
But there you go. Okay,So with all these this destruction and
all of that stuff, you've basicallygot city being cleared and people be asked
to head south via boats on thewaterfront. Why boats, As I've said,
their creatures can't swim. But Samstill wants her pizza like I did
(07:24):
when I change my name in Harlem? Now, why in Harlem? Because
it's a nod der late father whoplayed at a pub in Harlem. So
she goes alone with Fredo, althoughthe Puss wanders off, only to return
with this deeply fearful young British lawstudent called Eric played by Joseph Quinn in
(07:45):
tow and she tells Eric not tofollow her. He doesn't listen, and
the rest of the plot is devotedto the pair of them and as they
sort of navigate their sort of journey, whatever it might happen to be.
So yeah, it's kind of Theygo through the Manhattan streets because that's where
they are, the buildings, thesubway system, and of course there are
(08:07):
many close encounters with the creatures whostrike with a great deal of speed and
force. And the stories by JohnKrasinski, who of course is Emily Blunt's
husband, who was also responsible forthe first two installments and was heavily features
in particular in the first one,and the story also by Michael Saranovsky,
who you guys must have seen Pigthat was back in twenty twenty one,
(08:30):
and he also writes and directs Dayone. Michael Saranovsky, So look,
you can see this film. Ithink this is important when you make a
sequel, even though this is aprequel sequel. You make it so that
you could see it without having seenthe other ones, and it still makes
sense. I reckon, you cansee this without seeing the others, and
(08:50):
it's fine. What do you think, Jackie? Oh yeah, absolutely,
you could see this without the others. But why would you when the others
are so far, so much moresuperior. Well again, you've given something
away, But that's good. Second, that isn't that what I'm here for?
You are exactly it's I still thinkit's suitably intimidating and scary. There
(09:13):
there are several reality Yes, Scared, Yes, you weren't me. You're
a delicate creature, aren't you,Alex? I am very very simpitive.
You be conscious that when you're speakingwith me be respectful. Thank you.
Did you not find it frightening,Peter, Not at all. In fact,
I've found it quite sanitized. Onyour bike? On your bike great,
(09:33):
stupid and stupid, Greg any scared. I had a few moments,
You're but I wasn't as scary asthe first two films. But at least
a voice of reason. They're thatthese are I mean, these are large,
lightning fast, ugly, slimy,creatures. They're like Carlton supporters,
right then not real, Alex.Set of Carlton supporters are real. Oh
(09:56):
no, do you u? You'recoming out of the woodwork at the moment
they believe their own narrative. Iwas sent this is another aside. I
was sent a very ugly piece ofvideo footage yesterday, obviously by a Carlton
supporter where they predict that they aregoing to beat Collingwood by one hundred and
(10:18):
twenty five points in this year's GrandFinal. Right, and they've actually got
very very good football callers calling theend of the game. It's sickening,
It really is sickening. Let's getback to a quiet place day one.
Okay, you've made your views perfectlyclear. What about Lapite and Yongo?
(10:39):
Did you not think she was excellentin the Lee Jackie or she's the only
good thing about the film? Really? Right? She has a face that
shows fear like almost no other actorI could think of. She hit her
eyes go wide, and she hasto be completely silent, of course,
and she shows terror through every poreof her skin in her face. She
(11:03):
is brilliant like that. So allof my score is for her. Okay,
Okay, So you're a champion fellowto Peter and younger. I mean,
really strong, will, really disciplined, and yeah, those eyes speak
volumes. The camera loves those eyes, don't you agree, Greet. I
mean the eyes were terrific. Iwere you, as Japis said, she
displayed for you quite effectively there insome of those scenes. Well, I
(11:26):
thought, Joseph, when you dida good job too, is loyel?
Yeah? Well but hang on,Peter, that fear is the fear I
have when my eyes meet yours andI start talking to you about football and
you've got no doledge of it whatsoever. Is that not correct, Peter?
It is correct, because I alwaysnot off as soon as you talk anything
related to football. It's very sad, really okay, So what about what
(11:52):
about Eric, the Joseph Quinn character. I mean he sort of he really
wants to ingrace, to ate himselfwith the Sam's life, give us something
she desperately needs, and you knowthat being renewed joy. What did you
think of the character of Eric,Jackie, No, no merits, So
I just didn't even get him.He changed kind of personality through the through
(12:16):
the film. I guess you couldcall that, you know, a shift
in the film. But it didn'twork for me at all. I just
didn't have any interest in him atall, Greg, any interest in Eric.
I mentioned what he did a regionalgood job. Yes, Peter,
did you sorry? You hated everythingabout the movie, so you didn't like
(12:39):
Eric. I didn't. I hatedeverything. I mean, Peter is superb,
but I must say the cat isjust absolutely superb. He's just the
cat isn't seen Stiller. I wonderwhat the cat got paid compared to the
other actors, you know that kidneys. I had a big problem with the
(13:01):
cat with Frodo because to me,it was the most deliberate attempt to introduce
tension through the film. And we'retalking about people who, I mean,
they are, this is their lives. There are that they've seen what was
it hundreds or thousands in the bodycount being dragged away and ripped away by
(13:24):
these aliens, and yet they're preparedto risk that themselves for a cat that
might meow or jump up on abeam, or go trotting down the road,
stand on some broken glass, whatever, make a noise. And to
me that it just didn't work,that it was too deliberate a point to
(13:45):
introduce tension, but it introduces thesensibilities that we have, many of us
have, And I mean my wifeyou're a good example where you know,
my wife thinks much more of animalsthan she thinks of people, and you'd
probably do too, Jackie. SoI mean, we all care for our
pets and their doesn't that make sense? Then? Well, I thought I
thought more of the catch than ofthe director put it like that. Wow,
(14:07):
okay, Well then then Alex Wolf, I mean the care I thought
he had a significant role at thevery beginning. And we're not going to
have spoilers here, but you knowshe he encourages Sam to press on regardless
of her condition. Well, he'sa bit ho hum. I mean the
issue with the whole film isn't it'sthat there the story doesn't progress. There's
(14:31):
no there's no mystery at all here. It's thrown out there in the first
five minutes of what's happening. Weall know what the aliens can and can't
do and what the risk is withthem, and the story there's no mystery,
and the story just doesn't develop.It's like just to keep trying to
(14:52):
not get killed by the aliens anddo stupid things and try and get a
pizza. I mean, you know, and there's and even the characters don't
develop in the plot because they can'ttalk to each other. There's no dialogue,
so we don't find out stuff aboutthem, and we don't see that
emotional connection build, and we don'tsee how they interact because it's because by
(15:16):
necessity of the aliens it has tobe silent. Or maybe Emily Blunt and
John Krasinsky did it better in aquiet place. In a quiet place too.
Well, okay, let's talk abouta couple of other elements. Firstly,
they do link to the previous onePart two with Jim on Munso is
that well, if you remember parttwo, he was a leader of an
(15:39):
island colony of survivors. He getsa very small small roll here. They
hadn't named him Asia in part twothey given the name and Henri here.
And the other thing that I wantedto mention is visually, I thought from
the opening aerial shot it's quite striking, I thought Pat Skull, of the
cinematographer, who by the way,worked with the director on Pig, I
thought he captured the destruction, thedesolation, the desperation of that city quite
(16:06):
finely, with some distinction. Didyou not think the cinematography was okay?
Peter, Look, it was wellshot, but then so many films are
very well shot. And I haveto say a lot of this film,
as I mentioned earlier, is sanitized. The violence, the death angels as
(16:27):
these creatures are called, A lotof it happens off screen and there's a
lot that is not explained in thisfilm. Well, the other thing is
that the contrast between sound and silenceis critical and the impact of the picture.
That's where I thought the music byAlexis Greps, who also worked on
Pig, also had a vital roleto play in terms of the picture.
(16:51):
Did that not strike you as beingimportant? Greg? Well, well,
some of it, A lot ofit took placing dark hawk and fine places
we've added to a claustrophobic atmosphere.But I said, this one didn't grab
me as much as the first twofilms. I'm apart from the cat,
I didn't really fear for any ofthe characters. That's interesting because I mean
(17:12):
they were snatched very quickly and disposedof quickly. Unlike you, I was
engaged from the outset. I thoughtthe first if you're like three quarters,
was better than the end, whereyou know, really it was just that
they went to the line to givea bit of hope and so on and
so forth. But I did findit quite engaging. So all right,
well, Peter, do you haveapart from saying some nice things about the
(17:36):
cat and LaPete and Yongo, wasthere anything else redeemable or not? Actually?
No, And I would have lovedmore explanation about the water issue that
these creatures seem to hate, andalso about the whole Sorry, sorry,
let's take one at the time whenyou say you wanted more about the water.
(18:00):
If they can't swim, they drown, what more do you need?
But again, there's no backstory,no particular understanding about why these creatures are
the way they are, why theyinvaded Earth, what their point is.
It just seems just like a standardB grade horror movie. Do you think
(18:26):
we needed an explanation? Jagging?I certainly wanted more to the story,
and I would say C grade horrormovie rather than B grade and alex when
you talk about cinematography and that,I mean, okay, I would like
Greg to try and count how manyfilms in the past ten years have involved
(18:49):
great cinematography of a city being destroyed. I mean that was almost the reason
for this film was so you could, you know, destroy where the crap
out of New York City and italways looks very c GI effective. Well,
some of some of those shots ofthe dustin that going through New York
at that time when the creatius firstlanded, I was fastened back to eleventh
(19:15):
I reckon they got the idea fromthat. Yeah, But I mean that
was three minutes of the film,you know. So it's one one good.
There's also we're going to see somethingthis coming week called Twisters, which
again you've seen that. I presumeyou've seen the trailer, and you know,
again it's it's very much about thingsbeing picked up and destroyed. I
(19:37):
mean that's fair enough, isn't it. And I did you think it was
all c G? I did youthink it looked c G? I did
you Jackie all that? But Idon't know that I thought it looked that
way, just knowing in my mindthat it was made it, you know,
But then he helped me one stepaway from I mean, well Ney
was not destroyed for this film.But if if we if we see a
(20:00):
movie about the end of the worldor potential end of the world or whatever.
What what what would you like tosee filmmakers do that wasn't done in
this movie? Oh? Well nothing, It's just that it's been done so
many times before. I mean,what was it earlier this year where Rio
was completely destroyed? Was that?Was that the mm hm Godzilla? There
(20:22):
was Godzilla? Godzilla? Yeah,I mean that was similarly wonderfully effective,
but obviously not real because I wentto Rio two weeks after that and it
was perfectly calm and beautiful. Sowe know, we know already in our
mind it's not real. Pleased thatyou had at least in your head that
Rio may have been destroyed and verygood. So all right, is there
(20:49):
anything more to say about this film, Greg, that that you can give
a little bit of warmth to itor not? Really? Not really?
No, I think we said atall. Okay, well, let's get
some scores, starting with me highballing it. I'm giving a Quiet Place
Day one, which runs for Ithought the running time was fine, one
hundred minutes em rated. I'm givingit a seven and a half. Okay,
(21:12):
gret I liked it. Good onyou. I'll do it, I'll
do it, sis right, Okay, So Jackie, shouldn't the film like
this have an element of surprise toit? Well, even if it's even
if it's an origin story. Well, I'm sorry when you say element of
(21:33):
when an origin story, when whenyou've already had two actually quite excellent films
that are thrillers horrors, but nothorror horror, more like a thriller horror,
if I can differentiate there, Ifyou've already had two that were really
quite classy films, beautifully acted andthey did very well, and then you
(21:55):
go back to an origin story youwant to find out and Peter mentioned this,
do you want to find out whatthe origin of this is? Not
just oh they arrived, but whyand how and the ins and outs of
it. So there was no elementof surprise for me, and no element
of mystery and mystery getting solved.I gave a Quiet Place Day one three
(22:17):
out of ten. Oh my god, Lee, dude, I'm sorry as
far as I'm concerned. When youhave a different actor who you've already said
is excellent and you're only giving hera three out of ten. Effectively,
yeah, I gave her three outof ten. So I came with film
really a zero, He goes,Look, honestly, tell you the truth.
I wasn't scared, and I wasn'tbored. I mean, I wasn't
scared and I was bored. Sorry, okay, now that's but to me,
(22:41):
I had no idea what the backstorywas going to be. But I
thought she was terrific. I thoughtthat the way they set it up was
fine, and I thought it lookedgood. So okay, now, Peter,
can you topple three out of ten? I'll tide too. I've got
the cat next to me and she'swhispering a score to me. But for
(23:02):
me, it's always about the story, and I can only give it four
out of ten. Oh, soyou're giving it up. So Jackie's low
balled it. Wow. Okay,so now hang on, let's do some
arithmetic here. Please, Greg,get your human calculator out seven plus six
thirteen? But Greg hasn't given hisscore. Is he has six? Oh?
(23:25):
He did two? I'm sorry Imissed that, right. A lot
of people do that when I startfor him. All right, so we're
thirteen and a half mautes. Thirteenand a half plus seven. There you
go, is twenty and a halfdivided by it passes. There you get,
folks, Please go and see ita quiet place day one. There
(23:48):
you go, Ja, yeah,eighty eight FM. More of this nonsense.
And I'll tell you what. Ifyou want to become a member of
the station, please do. Communityradio needs your support. Fifty four bucks
that's what it costs you a year. And yeah, the more the maria
please twenty four hours a day,some intelligent and some less intelligent. No,
no, we shouldn't demean our ownshow programming. Add lots of good
(24:11):
music as well on j eighty eightFM. I okay, Outlaw motorcycle gangs
will have been the baying of manycities. And I suppose when you think
about bike riders and outlaws, etcetera, I suppose you do think about
the United States. Well, thisone, the Bike Riders, which is
(24:33):
rated M and runs for nearly twohours, one hundred and sixteen minutes to
be exact, was inspired by reflectionsof a particular photo journalist who spent four
years as a member of a particularmotorcycle club called the Chicago Outlaws. And
this one, the Bike Riders,Really it's about testosterone and based around a
(24:55):
fictional biker gang known as the Vandals, also based in Chicago, and it's
founder Johnny Davis, played by TomHardy. Now Tom Hardy plays himself very
well, doesn't he, Peter,He's very good. Yeah. I mean
he was in Max, of course, and he is a very good actor.
Yeah, I mean he plays heplays similar roles and this is what
I'm saying. He plays himself,but he's always very solid. Whenever I
(25:19):
see Tom Hardy, I think,yeah, I'm in for a good time
because he knows how to channel thatsort of deep, incent incentivized self.
Is that how you see him,Jackie or not? Tom Harty? Oh?
Yes, he is a very fineactor. But he does play a
particular he's becoming a bit known fora particular role. I think, yeah,
(25:44):
particular character. If you like characterizationas such. What's your view of
Tom Hardy as a performer as anactor? Can he do? Is he
diverse enough in terms of it?There's a strong screen presence, mumbles a
bit similar from it. Sometimes hardto understand what he's saying. Ah,
okay, yeah, well look inthis way. Okay, he's married,
(26:07):
but a couple of children in thisone. We don't see him do this
he's a truck driver, although allwe see of him is this brooding and
ruthless leader of the Vandals, andhis most trusted associate is a thrill seeker
called Benny Cross played by Austin Butler. Horrible to look at, Jackie,
would you agree, Oh well,would you put up with him? Yeah?
(26:33):
Okay, put it that way.That's less than enthusiastic Jacqueline. Look,
he very much channels James Dean inthe way that he presents himself.
And you could say, because hewas so successful and so beloved in the
recent film Elvis, that you couldsee Elvis in him too. But definitely
(26:56):
when you're talking about the movie idea, it's James Dean you're thinking of all
the time, and he plays tothat very strongly and quite successfully. Yeah,
I mean doesn't He really doesn't saymuch, but he never shies away
from a fight. And this isa story the Bike Riders that unfolds between
nineteen sixty five and nineteen seventy threethrough interviews conducted by the photo journalist I
(27:18):
mentioned at the outset. You know, these are interviews with club members and
their partners, and in particular thefocus is on Benny's wife, Kathy played
by Jodi Comer, who I thoughtdid a really good job, meets Benny
by chance at a bar frequented bythis gang, and at the time she's
got a boyfriend. A moment later, the boyfriend's gone, only to be
replaced by Bennie, who literally parkshimself on her doorstep or opposite her doorstep.
(27:45):
There's a street in between. Butthe intimidation that she felt by the
bikers when she first entered the barto meet her girlfriend is gone, and
five weeks later she marries Benny.So we see how the club was formed,
important a role it plays in thelives of its members, and look
to many of them, it's thebe all and end all, and those
(28:08):
include Johnny and Bennie. But wealso get potted portraits of the others too.
We might not get full backstories,but we get a feel for I
don't know, half a dozen adozen whenever it is ten of them that
the gang members, and soon chaptersof the Vandals are springing up all over
the Midwest. But not before Johnny'schallenged to a fist fight for control of
(28:30):
the Chicago operation because one of therules they institute if anybody wants a challenge,
they can, but it's kind ofa snack deck, is the best
way I can put it. SoBenny's loyalty to Johnny is tested after Bennie
stood over in a bar for wearingclub colors. A couple of guys,
(28:51):
a couple of heavies come in andsay, you know, you can't do
that here, and unfortunately, fromBenny's point of view, is badly injured.
Not that it's seen to trouble himtoo much, but thereafter Betty's relationship
with his wife gets quite a workout. So violence and fear. There we
go again significant parts of the gang'sculture, and that's manifest throughout the bike
(29:15):
riders. I say there we goagain because obviously the quiet place that we
just or a quiet placed day onethat we just spoke about. But look,
they've got their own rules of engagement. And although in timidatory, those
rules of engagement are nothing on thenew generation that's coming through, coming really
to supplant them. So now it'squite sinister in terms of what the lengths
(29:40):
that the newbies are going to goto. Whereas you get the feeling that
the writer and the director Jeff Nichols, who did movies like Take Shelter and
Loving. He maintains a kind ofa respect for the original gang, the
gang that started up the Vandals,if you like, or the person the
person and the persons that were involvedin the original gang and the starting point
for this particular work. The BikeRiders was a seminal book written by Danny
(30:04):
Lyons in nineteen sixty eight, andI mentioned I thought Jody Kohmer did a
great job, really strong Midwestern accent. She's really arguably that the heartbeat of
the movie, isn't she Jackie Oh? I definitely, I think she is.
Well she is because she's set upto be almost the narrator, if
you like, because she's telling thestory from her point of view. But
(30:29):
she's got great messages all love theaccent. She worked very hard on.
Love that accent, and remembering herfrom the role I've seen her in that
I was most impressed by was PrimaFacie, which was the one woman show.
So I'm a big wrap for Jody. Come. I didn't see her
in Private Facie. I saw itas a theatrical performance. Did you see
(30:52):
was that National Theater alive or wereyou yes? It was National Theater Live
and she took the role the legalstory. Legal story, Yeah, I
mean I look, I thought shereally told us story wards and all.
But she told it in such away as Kathy. She was proud,
she was unashamed. There was nopretense and there's a fearless quality about her
(31:15):
character Peter, which really appealed tome. What about you, Oh,
she is superb in the film,and I agree about prima facie. This
is a film that really surprised me. I must admit I wasn't looking forward
to seeing the film again about bikersand about the gangs, and about violence
(31:36):
and so on. But Jeff Nichols, who also directed Mud, has fashioned
a really interesting fictional story based onthat book of one hundred photographs of Vikings
in nineteen sixty eight. And whathe's done is is very clever. He's
made it into a strong cultural andpersonal story about how the various members of
(32:04):
the Vandals interrelate and how they progressthrough various incidents and events. I also
have to say it's great to seetwo Australian actors in the film, Damon
Herriman and Toby Wallace, in particular, who plays the young Turk, who
provides a pivotal performance in the film. There is a lot to admire,
(32:28):
and in fact it's Plants, EasyRider and Wild Angels and other of those
bite films by turning them into culturalobservations about real people and the way they
interact and what happens to them.So I was quite impressed by the film.
The acting was superb and it wasreally well filmed. Well Tom Hardy,
(32:54):
I really measured Harden quite as studentas Johnny. He's got world weary
look about him, Greek, doesn'the. I mean, that's how I
would would say he's portrayed and andI Reckon as Austin Butler is the sort
of picture of fire and restraint.He's quite enigmatic, and I mean,
what really distinguishes him. These explosionsof peak right contrast quite sharply with that
(33:20):
of a fellow who wants to beleft to his own devices. So he
wants to be left alone, buthe is ready to sort of put up
the dukes and defend others on it. What did you think of those two
characterizations? Yeah, I thought Butlerbought a brooding sassatu apology to his performance.
Here is enigmatic character A little bitalso contentered, self destructive and unpredictable.
(33:43):
A bit of a wild card there, but he made me plays second
fiddle to Hardy. I think Pierreand hard He mumbles his way through the
role as he was channeling Brando's iconicperformance from the World One. There's a
bit of a love that is afreedom of the bikeys, the freedom of
the camaraderie, but also mentioned thetoxic masculinity of this world as well.
But I'm like you, guys,I had a bit of a problem with
(34:06):
the Jody Comer Cassy's narration there.It was fine as a way to introduce
the whole world there, you know, being interviewed by this stanny lyon character
setting the scene there, but Ithought that constantly going back to her all
the way through the film interrupted andslide down to the momentum of the film,
Big jis down to me by theend of the film. Really,
(34:27):
that's I looked forward to hearing herobservations because there was so sort of a
matter of fact, Greg and that'swhat I think made them so compelling.
It It wasn't as if she waspushing of you. It was sort of
drawn out of her by the interview. I thought that was no. I
just thought I just sort of slidedown to pacing the film. Well,
okay, well what about like MichaelShannon is always good. He doesn't have
(34:49):
a big role. But I thoughtit was one of the other standouts of
zip Coo that a gang member.He doesn't he doesn't run with the college
boys. Did you like him?He was okay, he's a regular yes
yet? And also Norman readiers fromthe Walking Dead. There was also a
bit of an interesting character some ofthe but we didn't enough but story of
(35:12):
some of these characters understandable little bit. They're also lacking some of that.
But I mean, ultimately there wasthis camaraderie about them. They liked to
being part of something Jackie. Wasthat not enough? I wanted to know
why they needed individually the backstory iswhy they needed to be a part of
this biky gang. For all thetalk that went on, I really didn't
(35:37):
leave the film feeling I got toknow the guys there the lead There might
have been half a dozen. Iwould have liked to have known more about
what brought them there and their backstory. Instead, probably overdid the Kathy talking
and ran out of time. Forthat. I did want them all very
(35:58):
much to have a shower. Ithink that was my biggest problem with the
film, wasn't. I liked thelook of it and the setup and the
setting and the place and for cinematographyin that and thank you Peter for describing
it as cultural and personal story there, but I just couldn't couldn't get into
(36:27):
the story of as you said,the toxic masculinity, the alcohol, the
drugs, the abuse of women.They didn't seem to value, they didn't
seem to have well, a coupleof them had jobs, but that it
didn't seem there was no priority intheir lives, of that priority that was
so self absorbed and actually quick toanger and jealousy, and they were quite
unattractive, and as I said,they needed to shower. And I just
(36:50):
I just didn't like the place Iwas in when I was with them.
Hmm, that's it. Well.I thought there was a lyrical bit of
a lyrical quality storytelling, Jackie,which details the start and end of an
era. Is that not that wasn'tenough for you? I mean, the
pacings not enough at the pacing?What did you What would you say about
the pacing because it had a deliberateIt wasn't a retative. There was a
(37:17):
bit of breathing space, and Iliked that. I thought that was one
of the features of the production.Pleto. Oh absolutely, the pacing was
just righted. I really got intothe story, which, as I said,
surprised me because I didn't think Iwas going to be interested in this
group of bikers. Well, theother thing about it was the cinematography,
(37:38):
and I know I focused on thatas well with Day one. But Adam
Stone here, really I thought hedid a fine job. It wasn't overstated
at all, but he captured thespirit of the nation at the time.
I mean, we're talking a longtime ago now right, we're talking about
Oh well, what a different placethe world was nineteen sixty five, nineteen
seventy three. I thought he capturedthat very well. Jackie did that not
(38:00):
Oh yes, yes, yes,Angel said. I like the look of
it and the place and the settingand the setup of it. It all
came to together. But I justdidn't really want to be there unless they
have a shower, etcetera. It'sso you can't You can't see yourself with
a bikey for the rest of yourlife. Is that what you're jelling with
(38:20):
you anytime soon. No tradings,It's only tradings. There's a difference,
and that the trade shower just theother question. I'm just picking up a
thread, so please, I'm nothaving to go with Trading's that very big?
Not what I mean when I makethat comment, though, Alex,
don't you? I mean it waspretty. I mean you could call it
(38:42):
gritty and ugledy, but it wasalmost so pretty, you know, pretty
disgusting and sordid too. Is alifestyle Is the lifestyle choice? Yeah,
the lifestyle choice. I agree itis a lifestyle choice. And but I
mean, I suppose it played withyou. Also, you might say it's
very masculine. It was very testosteroneand which The other point was that to
(39:04):
me, Kathy didn't look like thatat all, and she actually looked out
of place the whole time. Butthat was the point that was where like
she was the most unlikely person,she was kind of more prim and proper
in certain regards, but she gotto appreciate elements of that lifestyle. That's
why I thought hers was such ameasured role, but one that transitioned and
(39:29):
I thought that was really valuable.But Anyway, let's start with you,
Peter. You liked it very much. The Bike Riders rated M and it
runs fore undred and sixteen minutes.Score out of ten players. I really
like this film. I gave iteight out of ten mm hm, okay,
I really enjoyed it too, sevenand a half. Greg King six
(39:50):
and a half. Jackie Hamilton.Oh, and I gave The Bike Riders
a six out of ten. Okay. So yeah, so you'd call it?
Where does six sit on the platform? Is that an average movie,
Jackie? Or below? Over?Oh? I'm not sure. No,
well, I'm not sure it's ait's a movie for particular, a particular
(40:14):
audience. I think not everyone wouldlove it. I mean, it was
a it was a finally made itwas well made film, but I just
didn't love it fair enough. Asa as a filmmaker, Peter, I
think he's quite an intriguing filmmaker thatyou know, the choices of movies that
he makes, that he has andso forth, what what what? What
(40:35):
are your thoughts about that into it? Because I mean, obviously as a
as a director, as somebody whomakes choices that that they're all kind of
gritty in a way, aren't theythey are. I mean, Nicholas is
such a good independent director and hisfilm Mud for me stands out as being
such a examinable examination film. Yeah, terrific film. Yeah, it's interesting.
(41:00):
There are certain you look forward.I don't know about you, but
I certainly look forward to the nextfilm of a certain director. For example,
some people maybe your Gostlanthemos is agood example. Right, you know
you're going to get the abcuse everytime you go and see your gos Lanthemos
movie. I think that's a goodthing, right, I mean, and
(41:22):
he's one of those that I followwith a great deal of interest and want
to know what's what he's doing next. Anyway, we've given our scores.
One of the other movies that hascome out is one that it took a
long time for me to start toappreciate. And I'm thinking, this has
got one of the longest starts inhistory, and I'm talking about a silence.
(41:45):
It was interminable before we got tothe plot, you know, before
we got to the point. AndI don't know why they did that to
sort of draw it out. Itdrove me nuts. Before giving any detail
about it, did any of youfind similarly like it took half hour or
forty minutes in a movie that onlywent for oar than one minutes to get
(42:07):
to the front. It was onlyabout five minutes. Now it's come on.
No, no, I genuinely don'tbelieve that. Was I the only
one that thought it took forever toget going. Yes, well, I
thought, because it focused first ofall on Emmanuel Devos's character and how she
felt guilt and concern, and westart to pull back from that and we
(42:32):
learn more about the background, Ithought it was actually really well made.
Well okay, well now, no, funnily enough. I also thought a
lot of it after the first halfhour. But anyway, it's ma Raiders
other than one minutes, and it'sreally about a dark and dirty family secret
that explodes. Right, so you'vegot Astrid played by Divos. Am Manuel
(42:53):
DeVos has said nothing about the deeplytroubling matter that I spoke about for three
decades, but a figure from thepast triggers a lot of concern, massive
concern. So Astra as this renownedmedia savvy lawyer for a husband. His
name is francois played by Daniel Lutiland Jackie. He's in every second French
(43:19):
movie, isn't he? I thinkyes, and it used to be,
but not so much now. No. No, Well, the conversation I
had off the record with you,no, not off the record, off
this platform, Jackie, was thatDaniel Ortil is in every second French movie
along with which actor which which femaleactor Isabelle Hooper? Yeah? Is that
(43:39):
right, Jackie? Yes, that'sright there you go. All right.
No, No, she's angry withme. Now, don't be angry with
me. We're just having fun.Okay. So, uh, you haven't
seen this one yet, Jackie,but I would I would suggest it's a
movie that you may you may thinka lot of anyway, Alex, you
(44:00):
did mention to me to see it, and I looked at the trailer and
I read a review of it,and I chose not to based on the
content. Ah, makes a lotof sense. All right? Well,
all right. So Astard's got thishusband who's a lawyer, has been fighting
(44:22):
He has been fighting an incendiary,high profile case for five years, and
he represents the parents of a coupleof abducted children, two of them with
reporters camped outside his place, reallynice home. He get a capture his
every word the two of them,that they're kind of cocooned in this life
of privilege, and yet that there'sa lot of tension between the couple that
(44:43):
dates back decades. And they've gota couple of children. They've got a
grown up daughter called Carolyn played byLouise Chevelon, who really implores her mum
to say something about about what's thisdirty day, dark secret, and she
wants her mother to come clean.They've also got an adopted teenage son called
(45:06):
Raphael played by matter Galoo, andhe's been wagging school. He faces expulsion.
So there are fires to be foughton several fronts, the personal fronts
of course, as well as theprofessional and ultimately, though, there's no
escaping the bit of truth. Soit's a really disturbing drama from Juakim La
(45:27):
Foss and it's a disquieting exploration offamily, of duty, of complicity,
and of coercive control. And they'rethe elements that I suppose are attractive in
terms of making a movie. Andwhat makes it even more shocking though,
is that it was inspired by actualevents that occurred in France and Belgium and
(45:50):
outraged both countries. I was suitablyappalled by what I saw unfolding. But
my biggest criticism of this movie comesdown to that tortuously slow, i'd say,
wallowing and obscure start. Now.I do understand that what they were
trying to do as filmmakers was tostretch out the big reveal, but I
dare say by the time it comes, some of the audience may not have
(46:13):
suck around. And that's a pitybecause the story's got real bite from that
point on. I mean, mysteryis one thing, but obfuscation is another,
and that's what I felt was happeningat first. So and I've got
to say, Greg, my sentimentsweren't helped by the darkness inherent in many
of the scenes. But it's avery dark film in many ways, some
(46:34):
of the scene films, and Ithink that added to the mood of it.
I wanted to see the film,Greg, I mean, it was
a theatrical device, maybe, butit became frustrating to me. It's like
something if that they turned the sounddown, they turned the light down.
It's too dark. But I stillwant to recommend the silence because as disgusting
(46:54):
and scandalous the story as it is, it really deserves to be told and
what gives them his strength is thatinternalized acting performance of Emmanual Divas really strong
as a woman who has endured somuch. And again Daniel or Till really
well cast, suave, astute,legal, legal, carrying a massive burden.
(47:14):
You believe he is who he is. And I thought Matteo Galou was
quite believable. Is that aloof youngsterwith problems trying to sort of find his
way through. So if you stickwith this, if you stick with the
silence, it's worthwhile because there ispay out for doing so, only it
takes its sweet time to get there. Greg, you thought more of it,
or I mean, I thought itwas a very fine movie. It
(47:37):
is a very tense drama. Thereas that opening scene there where Emanuel Jeeves's
character is driving down the street thereand you just get the bit of ominous
music in the background there she's driving, sort of sets the scene that this
is sort of going somewhere uncomfortable.It's building up that sense of expectations a
(47:58):
bit. But greet all starts toreveal and it all falls apart, and
it's certainly not going to have yourfamilies for it. No, But but
Greek didn't need to go That openingscene drove bananas like, Okay, look
in the review mirror Sea your eyesdoing a second time? Keep on going?
Yeah, it's giving you, it'sgiving you a sense of her uncomfortable
(48:19):
feeling. She doesn't know where,what's gonna what's waiting for her when she
gets your destination. That's why it'sgoing out, so that you get into
that sense of you know, youcan almost feel for her what is going
on here? Where if you're going? What if you're feeling? And it's
more of that internal performance, internalizationof her emotions. Did you get there?
So? Look, I know itwent on for about for a five
(48:43):
minutes, but that was setting thescene and getting you a chance to sort
of wonder what's going on, sothat you know you are drawing into the
film, You're drawing into expectations ofwhat's going to happen, and then all
unfolds and you'll learn so many groupsugly truth about this family. But but
mister, I'm going to disagree withyou on that point. Now it's mister
(49:04):
rack Calcitron did did did it needto go on for three four minutes?
Yes? It did because it's verycarefully set up to see. I mean,
look at the film zone of interestthat takes several minutes to get into
the into the storyline, and Ithink that's a great device that filmmakers use
to lure the audience into a narrativethat at first seems perhaps benign but actually
(49:30):
turns out to be quite different.Okay, see tell me, tell me
how wonderful the movie is from yourperspective, Peter A silence. Yes,
yes, I think it's an excellentfilm. I I and the devastating conclusion
is is just incredible? What else? Any any other thoughts? Greg,
(49:53):
No, it's just that I wouldI weren't sure I had read anything about
the film before I saw it.So the revelation, certainly you'd come out
of nowhere, a bit of asurprise there and a bit of a gritty,
uncomfortable feel when you learn the depthof what's been going on, absolutely
terrible. You know, this iswhere I'm staggered that I didn't know about
(50:16):
this case that occurred, I thinkin Belgium, and again I'm not sure
how how close to reality it was. Peter. Did you do any reading
on the actual case. I didn't, only a little bit, and as
far as I'm aware, it isa fairly accurate depiction of the real life
events. What an absolutely being setof circumstances like incredible at times? What's
(50:44):
the expression of fact? This strangerthan fiction? And yeah, but why
would we not have heard about this? I mean I followed the news very
carefully. Do we know? Didyou know when it actually occurred? What
year? And no, it musthave been about I would say eight or
ten years ago. Okay, well, there we go, So let's get
(51:04):
some scores for a Silence Jackie.Does this any of what we've said make
it more compelling for you to goand see it? All because of the
tawdry subject matter? Know, yes, it's the content. To be honest,
what I read of it was enoughfor me to say that I would
find it too distressing. Yeah,oh it is very very much So all
(51:27):
right, so I can take thealiens, but I don't want to do
this. Yeah, So Peter scorefor a Silence A rated runs for undand
one minutes. Yes. No,I was also similarly impressed by this film.
And there's nothing explicit really that wesee in the film, so that's
important that it's all suggested. SoI also gave this film eight out of
(51:52):
ten, eight out of ten,Greg, Yeah, look, I thought
that given the content and what it'sgoing was fairly It's tastefully handled, so
it's not that it's confronting you thatcould have burned. I'llowed you at six
and a half seven. Yeah,and I'm giving it a seven out of
ten as well. So yeah,sort of a well, a very solid
(52:13):
film, but you've got to havea summingch for it. Now. We're
very short of time at this point, but let's tease this for perhaps next
week, just just a line ortwo. There are really strong documentaries.
There are many of them, andI mean, are you a Midnight All
fan, Gregor or not? Youyou love your music, I've only got
I've ready got the Greatest It's album. I've never seen him live on that
(52:36):
kind of thing. I haven't gotany other hours of the Greatest It's Album.
Okay, Well, look, basically, Beds of Burning is one of
my favorite songs. I think it'sgot such power and I really admire and
the passion, well, I admirethe passion of Peter Garrett for whatever he
said, it turns his mind tohe's somebody who gives it his all and
he certainly gave the band is allfor a large number of years. And
(53:00):
I'm obviously talking about a documentary aboutthis Midnight All the Hardest Line, which
came out in the last few daysm rate A one hundred and ten minutes,
and yeah, this is a bandwith a social conscience and it sort
of galvanized those who had next togrind. And it was a pub band,
wasn't it. I mean they didas really commercial radio didn't want to
(53:22):
bar them when they started absolutely nothingand they couldn't get a run, and
yet they did it on the roadand the people who went and saw them
sought a great deal of them.But they took many missteps and that's what
this documentary shows, and I thinkit's quite It's very good for what it
(53:42):
does, and you really do geta feel. I mean, if you're
a fan, I reckon it's amust kind of documentary. But we'll talk
about it in a bit more detailnext week, and along with other movies
and also a few shows I wantedto talk about, So we'll wait till
next week to talk about that oneand their go by the way to the
Comedy Theater. There's something Who's Afraidof Virginia Wolf? Is is really sorry?
(54:07):
Not Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?I'm just gone blank on that's coming
up this week that there there's amove. There's a play that was on
a Red Stitch that is now that'snow playing at the Comedy Theater, and
it's well worth a look because it'sonly on for three weeks and it's it's
interesting. There's the first play thatwas on at Red Stitch that's transposed to
(54:32):
a bigger theater. That only happenswith the very best shows, So just
be aware of that. Check itout, go to I'm still It's it's
interesting because it stars Kat Stewart andher husband. Now, how often do
you see husband and wife in aplay? You know you want? You
(54:54):
do wonder and it is Who's afraidof Virginia Wolf? By the way,
you do wonder how they'd go homeof a night having fought for three hours
on stage, Jackie, could youimagine that? And you know who I
went with? I went with somebodywho's just separated from her husband, and
I wondered how she was going totake it. I did warn her about
(55:15):
the verbal fisticuffs that were being thrown, but you know, it's inevitable that
you would, you would reflect uponsomething like that when you see it.
Sin Ridmond who's just separated from herhusband. Wasn't your wife then? No,
just a very good friend. Thereyou go, very good. I
(55:37):
like it, Jackie. Thank youvery much for your contribution today. Thank
you, Peter Krause. Always apleasure to meet mister racalcitrant and Gregory King.
Take the white stripe off your backand bar it for the bombers,
were you no? Thank you folks. Where we're off first on film and
entertainment. Been a pleasure being withyou. We will speak to you again
(56:00):
next week.
First on Film and Entertainment. Avery good day to you all, and
we are going to be talking aboutsome pretty special movies. We're talking about
Jackie Hamilton, Greg King, PeterKrause and yours, Trauli Alex. First,
get a folks. Now, I'vealways sort of thought, all right,
what does a really good thriller looklike? And I suppose one example
(00:22):
of that is A Quiet Place thatreally hit us between the eyes back in
twenty eighteen, and we then hada sequel twenty twenty, and now they've
come back with the prequel, sothe third installment being the prequel with no
longer Emily Blunt, but a veryfine actor as the pivotal character in this
(00:44):
one. So I thought we'd startthere and we will talk about A Quiet
Place Day one. Hardly an inventivetitle, but there you go. You've
got it. So look it couldI reckon this could have been renamed how
to Avoid a Catastrophe because they givea hell of a lot of screen time,
do they? Not? Jackie Amadento a moggie? They do to
(01:06):
Frodo the cat prayed by played bytwo cats called Schnitzel and nico Ah.
You go, there's a little detailfor you. You've gone into feline detail.
I'm most impressed by this. NowI know that you are a dog
lover. Are you a cat loveror not? Oh? Yes, I've
always had cats all my life,up until I started having dogs. There
you go. I'm a turn coat. And the cat is used to good
(01:32):
effect in a thriller because you're alwayson the edge of your seat that the
cat's going to give you away,aren't you, Because they're unpredictable creatures.
Cats. I'm surprised you did.I'm surprised you now more often did not
me out once? Very expressive cat, don't you think, Peter? It
(01:52):
certainly was. It's the star ofthe film effect. Well, maybe an
Academy award. All nice look?Would you say? Picture perfect? Could
be? Sorry, Greg, theseare the These are the old man jokes
that you come up with. Comeon, join the fray joints. You're
(02:15):
covering up perfectly well between you.I don't need to put my force and
worlds in well perfectly well, thankyou. This is an origin story,
and more specifically, the focus ison a woman named Samira known as Sam
and she's played by a brilliant actorcalled the Peter Yongo. She won an
(02:36):
oscar, did she not? Yes? You correct. Now, she's struggling,
she's in pain, she's on meds, and she lives in a hospice
outside the city. And we're talkingabout New York City in particular, and
well basically unfortunately, she's a cancerpatient who's all but given up on live.
So on the proviso, did heget her a pizza? Sam reluctantly
(03:00):
agrees to let a care worker bythe name of Reuben played by Alex Wolf
take her and other patients to ashow in town, right in the city.
Now, I've got to tell youa personal story at this point.
This is giving of myself. Ichanged my name by deep Pole because nobody
(03:21):
could spell my name and I usedto like to order pizzas, and I
changed my name by deep Pole.Accordingly, true story. There you go.
Did any of you know that?Yes? Very good? One out
of three. Okay, so thereyou go. The second even spell your
original name. I believe we won'tdo that. I'd like to do it.
(03:44):
I also got rid of my middlename because I didn't like it.
Paid ten bucks. There you go. There were two phases in my life.
So I did that. And itwas a really easy thing to do.
Having said that it was just becauseof pizza, it was also because
when I got into the media,it was far better to have it as
(04:04):
a name that you could spell.Do you know how many people still cannot
spell? When I give them mysurname, they still can't spell it.
They struggle to accept that it's anactual surname. Maybe it's the way you
say it. Perhaps, Well,when you speak to people on the telephone
and even when you spell things out, I reckon that they confuse the letter
(04:27):
B for Bob with a V forvictory. Have any of you noticed that
you are generalizing I am hugely here? Well I do. It's like when
I say the mighty fighting Essendon footballmachine the greatest side on the planet.
Right Am I generalizing? Apsol bloodylately? Yes, all right, let's
(04:48):
get back onto a quiet place.Day one, and there's nothing quiet about
what's happened the mighty Boers at theg on Friday nights. There we go,
all right, talking about noise,Boy, there was a lot of
noise. Anyway, we are nowat this show in town with Sam and
that's when the aliens and look,they do remind the critics that are in
(05:08):
this remind me of the alien movies. They start arriving and they appear as
comets from the sky, and eventhe slightest noise can trigger them in numbers.
And of course they leave a partof destruction in their wake. So
these are creatures that are blind,noise sensitive, and don't like water.
(05:29):
That's my summary, Is that correct, Greg? Possibly? Yes? Sounds
on any hippie, thank you.So, buildings are torn apart, cars
are destroyed, they're overturned, there'sdebris everywhere. Now Sam and Ruben,
Ruben being the care worker, remainhold up and silent in the theater where
they've gone to see a this whatis it a puppet show? Anyway?
(05:51):
But that doesn't last too long.Soon enough, Sam's on the move with
Frodo being the cat. And nowI found this a bit strange. There's
an all points bullet in to evacuatethe city and that the evacuation is from
helicopters. Well, hang on,don't the creatures fly up and destroy the
helicopters or do they fly above theparapet I wasn't quite clear about that,
(06:15):
Jackie. Can you clear that upfor me? Blaz because I don't think
I don't think they can elevate themselvesthat high to a helicopter. Well,
obviously they can't because they didn't.Well it doesn't matter because they're made up
creatures anyway, and they just dowhatever the director. No. But yeah,
but like I don't think they knewthat knew that their powered when they
first arrived. That you know thatthey were tracted to sound that he's having
(06:38):
a while to sit out. Butby then they're destroyed all sorts of parts
of the city. So I thinkJackie's explanation is that they can't leap that
eye. Please, have you gotan answer? No, But it is
an example of one of many plotgaps in the film. Oh oh yeah,
(06:58):
yes, you've given us. You'vegiven something away before we're even there.
But there you go. Okay,So with all these this destruction and
all of that stuff, you've basicallygot city being cleared and people be asked
to head south via boats on thewaterfront. Why boats, As I've said,
their creatures can't swim. But Samstill wants her pizza like I did
(07:24):
when I change my name in Harlem? Now, why in Harlem? Because
it's a nod der late father whoplayed at a pub in Harlem. So
she goes alone with Fredo, althoughthe Puss wanders off, only to return
with this deeply fearful young British lawstudent called Eric played by Joseph Quinn in
(07:45):
tow and she tells Eric not tofollow her. He doesn't listen, and
the rest of the plot is devotedto the pair of them and as they
sort of navigate their sort of journey, whatever it might happen to be.
So yeah, it's kind of Theygo through the Manhattan streets because that's where
they are, the buildings, thesubway system, and of course there are
(08:07):
many close encounters with the creatures whostrike with a great deal of speed and
force. And the stories by JohnKrasinski, who of course is Emily Blunt's
husband, who was also responsible forthe first two installments and was heavily features
in particular in the first one,and the story also by Michael Saranovsky,
who you guys must have seen Pigthat was back in twenty twenty one,
(08:30):
and he also writes and directs Dayone. Michael Saranovsky, So look,
you can see this film. Ithink this is important when you make a
sequel, even though this is aprequel sequel. You make it so that
you could see it without having seenthe other ones, and it still makes
sense. I reckon, you cansee this without seeing the others, and
(08:50):
it's fine. What do you think, Jackie? Oh yeah, absolutely,
you could see this without the others. But why would you when the others
are so far, so much moresuperior. Well again, you've given something
away, But that's good. Second, that isn't that what I'm here for?
You are exactly it's I still thinkit's suitably intimidating and scary. There
(09:13):
there are several reality Yes, Scared, Yes, you weren't me. You're
a delicate creature, aren't you,Alex? I am very very simpitive.
You be conscious that when you're speakingwith me be respectful. Thank you.
Did you not find it frightening,Peter, Not at all. In fact,
I've found it quite sanitized. Onyour bike? On your bike great,
(09:33):
stupid and stupid, Greg any scared. I had a few moments,
You're but I wasn't as scary asthe first two films. But at least
a voice of reason. They're thatthese are I mean, these are large,
lightning fast, ugly, slimy,creatures. They're like Carlton supporters,
right then not real, Alex.Set of Carlton supporters are real. Oh
(09:56):
no, do you u? You'recoming out of the woodwork at the moment
they believe their own narrative. Iwas sent this is another aside. I
was sent a very ugly piece ofvideo footage yesterday, obviously by a Carlton
supporter where they predict that they aregoing to beat Collingwood by one hundred and
(10:18):
twenty five points in this year's GrandFinal. Right, and they've actually got
very very good football callers calling theend of the game. It's sickening,
It really is sickening. Let's getback to a quiet place day one.
Okay, you've made your views perfectlyclear. What about Lapite and Yongo?
(10:39):
Did you not think she was excellentin the Lee Jackie or she's the only
good thing about the film? Really? Right? She has a face that
shows fear like almost no other actorI could think of. She hit her
eyes go wide, and she hasto be completely silent, of course,
and she shows terror through every poreof her skin in her face. She
(11:03):
is brilliant like that. So allof my score is for her. Okay,
Okay, So you're a champion fellowto Peter and younger. I mean,
really strong, will, really disciplined, and yeah, those eyes speak
volumes. The camera loves those eyes, don't you agree, Greet. I
mean the eyes were terrific. Iwere you, as Japis said, she
displayed for you quite effectively there insome of those scenes. Well, I
(11:26):
thought, Joseph, when you dida good job too, is loyel?
Yeah? Well but hang on,Peter, that fear is the fear I
have when my eyes meet yours andI start talking to you about football and
you've got no doledge of it whatsoever. Is that not correct, Peter?
It is correct, because I alwaysnot off as soon as you talk anything
related to football. It's very sad, really okay, So what about what
(11:52):
about Eric, the Joseph Quinn character. I mean he sort of he really
wants to ingrace, to ate himselfwith the Sam's life, give us something
she desperately needs, and you knowthat being renewed joy. What did you
think of the character of Eric,Jackie, No, no merits, So
I just didn't even get him.He changed kind of personality through the through
(12:16):
the film. I guess you couldcall that, you know, a shift
in the film. But it didn'twork for me at all. I just
didn't have any interest in him atall, Greg, any interest in Eric.
I mentioned what he did a regionalgood job. Yes, Peter,
did you sorry? You hated everythingabout the movie, so you didn't like
(12:39):
Eric. I didn't. I hatedeverything. I mean, Peter is superb,
but I must say the cat isjust absolutely superb. He's just the
cat isn't seen Stiller. I wonderwhat the cat got paid compared to the
other actors, you know that kidneys. I had a big problem with the
(13:01):
cat with Frodo because to me,it was the most deliberate attempt to introduce
tension through the film. And we'retalking about people who, I mean,
they are, this is their lives. There are that they've seen what was
it hundreds or thousands in the bodycount being dragged away and ripped away by
(13:24):
these aliens, and yet they're preparedto risk that themselves for a cat that
might meow or jump up on abeam, or go trotting down the road,
stand on some broken glass, whatever, make a noise. And to
me that it just didn't work,that it was too deliberate a point to
(13:45):
introduce tension, but it introduces thesensibilities that we have, many of us
have, And I mean my wifeyou're a good example where you know,
my wife thinks much more of animalsthan she thinks of people, and you'd
probably do too, Jackie. SoI mean, we all care for our
pets and their doesn't that make sense? Then? Well, I thought I
thought more of the catch than ofthe director put it like that. Wow,
(14:07):
okay, Well then then Alex Wolf, I mean the care I thought
he had a significant role at thevery beginning. And we're not going to
have spoilers here, but you knowshe he encourages Sam to press on regardless
of her condition. Well, he'sa bit ho hum. I mean the
issue with the whole film isn't it'sthat there the story doesn't progress. There's
(14:31):
no there's no mystery at all here. It's thrown out there in the first
five minutes of what's happening. Weall know what the aliens can and can't
do and what the risk is withthem, and the story there's no mystery,
and the story just doesn't develop.It's like just to keep trying to
(14:52):
not get killed by the aliens anddo stupid things and try and get a
pizza. I mean, you know, and there's and even the characters don't
develop in the plot because they can'ttalk to each other. There's no dialogue,
so we don't find out stuff aboutthem, and we don't see that
emotional connection build, and we don'tsee how they interact because it's because by
(15:16):
necessity of the aliens it has tobe silent. Or maybe Emily Blunt and
John Krasinsky did it better in aquiet place. In a quiet place too.
Well, okay, let's talk abouta couple of other elements. Firstly,
they do link to the previous onePart two with Jim on Munso is
that well, if you remember parttwo, he was a leader of an
(15:39):
island colony of survivors. He getsa very small small roll here. They
hadn't named him Asia in part twothey given the name and Henri here.
And the other thing that I wantedto mention is visually, I thought from
the opening aerial shot it's quite striking, I thought Pat Skull, of the
cinematographer, who by the way,worked with the director on Pig, I
thought he captured the destruction, thedesolation, the desperation of that city quite
(16:06):
finely, with some distinction. Didyou not think the cinematography was okay?
Peter, Look, it was wellshot, but then so many films are
very well shot. And I haveto say a lot of this film,
as I mentioned earlier, is sanitized. The violence, the death angels as
(16:27):
these creatures are called, A lotof it happens off screen and there's a
lot that is not explained in thisfilm. Well, the other thing is
that the contrast between sound and silenceis critical and the impact of the picture.
That's where I thought the music byAlexis Greps, who also worked on
Pig, also had a vital roleto play in terms of the picture.
(16:51):
Did that not strike you as beingimportant? Greg? Well, well,
some of it, A lot ofit took placing dark hawk and fine places
we've added to a claustrophobic atmosphere.But I said, this one didn't grab
me as much as the first twofilms. I'm apart from the cat,
I didn't really fear for any ofthe characters. That's interesting because I mean
(17:12):
they were snatched very quickly and disposedof quickly. Unlike you, I was
engaged from the outset. I thoughtthe first if you're like three quarters,
was better than the end, whereyou know, really it was just that
they went to the line to givea bit of hope and so on and
so forth. But I did findit quite engaging. So all right,
well, Peter, do you haveapart from saying some nice things about the
(17:36):
cat and LaPete and Yongo, wasthere anything else redeemable or not? Actually?
No, And I would have lovedmore explanation about the water issue that
these creatures seem to hate, andalso about the whole Sorry, sorry,
let's take one at the time whenyou say you wanted more about the water.
(18:00):
If they can't swim, they drown, what more do you need?
But again, there's no backstory,no particular understanding about why these creatures are
the way they are, why theyinvaded Earth, what their point is.
It just seems just like a standardB grade horror movie. Do you think
(18:26):
we needed an explanation? Jagging?I certainly wanted more to the story,
and I would say C grade horrormovie rather than B grade and alex when
you talk about cinematography and that,I mean, okay, I would like
Greg to try and count how manyfilms in the past ten years have involved
(18:49):
great cinematography of a city being destroyed. I mean that was almost the reason
for this film was so you could, you know, destroy where the crap
out of New York City and italways looks very c GI effective. Well,
some of some of those shots ofthe dustin that going through New York
at that time when the creatius firstlanded, I was fastened back to eleventh
(19:15):
I reckon they got the idea fromthat. Yeah, But I mean that
was three minutes of the film,you know. So it's one one good.
There's also we're going to see somethingthis coming week called Twisters, which
again you've seen that. I presumeyou've seen the trailer, and you know,
again it's it's very much about thingsbeing picked up and destroyed. I
(19:37):
mean that's fair enough, isn't it. And I did you think it was
all c G? I did youthink it looked c G? I did
you Jackie all that? But Idon't know that I thought it looked that
way, just knowing in my mindthat it was made it, you know,
But then he helped me one stepaway from I mean, well Ney
was not destroyed for this film.But if if we if we see a
(20:00):
movie about the end of the worldor potential end of the world or whatever.
What what what would you like tosee filmmakers do that wasn't done in
this movie? Oh? Well nothing, It's just that it's been done so
many times before. I mean,what was it earlier this year where Rio
was completely destroyed? Was that?Was that the mm hm Godzilla? There
(20:22):
was Godzilla? Godzilla? Yeah,I mean that was similarly wonderfully effective,
but obviously not real because I wentto Rio two weeks after that and it
was perfectly calm and beautiful. Sowe know, we know already in our
mind it's not real. Pleased thatyou had at least in your head that
Rio may have been destroyed and verygood. So all right, is there
(20:49):
anything more to say about this film, Greg, that that you can give
a little bit of warmth to itor not? Really? Not really?
No, I think we said atall. Okay, well, let's get
some scores, starting with me highballing it. I'm giving a Quiet Place
Day one, which runs for Ithought the running time was fine, one
hundred minutes em rated. I'm givingit a seven and a half. Okay,
(21:12):
gret I liked it. Good onyou. I'll do it, I'll
do it, sis right, Okay, So Jackie, shouldn't the film like
this have an element of surprise toit? Well, even if it's even
if it's an origin story. Well, I'm sorry when you say element of
(21:33):
when an origin story, when whenyou've already had two actually quite excellent films
that are thrillers horrors, but nothorror horror, more like a thriller horror,
if I can differentiate there, Ifyou've already had two that were really
quite classy films, beautifully acted andthey did very well, and then you
(21:55):
go back to an origin story youwant to find out and Peter mentioned this,
do you want to find out whatthe origin of this is? Not
just oh they arrived, but whyand how and the ins and outs of
it. So there was no elementof surprise for me, and no element
of mystery and mystery getting solved.I gave a Quiet Place Day one three
(22:17):
out of ten. Oh my god, Lee, dude, I'm sorry as
far as I'm concerned. When youhave a different actor who you've already said
is excellent and you're only giving hera three out of ten. Effectively,
yeah, I gave her three outof ten. So I came with film
really a zero, He goes,Look, honestly, tell you the truth.
I wasn't scared, and I wasn'tbored. I mean, I wasn't
scared and I was bored. Sorry, okay, now that's but to me,
(22:41):
I had no idea what the backstorywas going to be. But I
thought she was terrific. I thoughtthat the way they set it up was
fine, and I thought it lookedgood. So okay, now, Peter,
can you topple three out of ten? I'll tide too. I've got
the cat next to me and she'swhispering a score to me. But for
(23:02):
me, it's always about the story, and I can only give it four
out of ten. Oh, soyou're giving it up. So Jackie's low
balled it. Wow. Okay,so now hang on, let's do some
arithmetic here. Please, Greg,get your human calculator out seven plus six
thirteen? But Greg hasn't given hisscore. Is he has six? Oh?
(23:25):
He did two? I'm sorry Imissed that, right. A lot
of people do that when I startfor him. All right, so we're
thirteen and a half mautes. Thirteenand a half plus seven. There you
go, is twenty and a halfdivided by it passes. There you get,
folks, Please go and see ita quiet place day one. There
(23:48):
you go, Ja, yeah,eighty eight FM. More of this nonsense.
And I'll tell you what. Ifyou want to become a member of
the station, please do. Communityradio needs your support. Fifty four bucks
that's what it costs you a year. And yeah, the more the maria
please twenty four hours a day,some intelligent and some less intelligent. No,
no, we shouldn't demean our ownshow programming. Add lots of good
(24:11):
music as well on j eighty eightFM. I okay, Outlaw motorcycle gangs
will have been the baying of manycities. And I suppose when you think
about bike riders and outlaws, etcetera, I suppose you do think about
the United States. Well, thisone, the Bike Riders, which is
(24:33):
rated M and runs for nearly twohours, one hundred and sixteen minutes to
be exact, was inspired by reflectionsof a particular photo journalist who spent four
years as a member of a particularmotorcycle club called the Chicago Outlaws. And
this one, the Bike Riders,Really it's about testosterone and based around a
(24:55):
fictional biker gang known as the Vandals, also based in Chicago, and it's
founder Johnny Davis, played by TomHardy. Now Tom Hardy plays himself very
well, doesn't he, Peter,He's very good. Yeah. I mean
he was in Max, of course, and he is a very good actor.
Yeah, I mean he plays heplays similar roles and this is what
I'm saying. He plays himself,but he's always very solid. Whenever I
(25:19):
see Tom Hardy, I think,yeah, I'm in for a good time
because he knows how to channel thatsort of deep, incent incentivized self.
Is that how you see him,Jackie or not? Tom Harty? Oh?
Yes, he is a very fineactor. But he does play a
particular he's becoming a bit known fora particular role. I think, yeah,
(25:44):
particular character. If you like characterizationas such. What's your view of
Tom Hardy as a performer as anactor? Can he do? Is he
diverse enough in terms of it?There's a strong screen presence, mumbles a
bit similar from it. Sometimes hardto understand what he's saying. Ah,
okay, yeah, well look inthis way. Okay, he's married,
(26:07):
but a couple of children in thisone. We don't see him do this
he's a truck driver, although allwe see of him is this brooding and
ruthless leader of the Vandals, andhis most trusted associate is a thrill seeker
called Benny Cross played by Austin Butler. Horrible to look at, Jackie,
would you agree, Oh well,would you put up with him? Yeah?
(26:33):
Okay, put it that way.That's less than enthusiastic Jacqueline. Look,
he very much channels James Dean inthe way that he presents himself.
And you could say, because hewas so successful and so beloved in the
recent film Elvis, that you couldsee Elvis in him too. But definitely
(26:56):
when you're talking about the movie idea, it's James Dean you're thinking of all
the time, and he plays tothat very strongly and quite successfully. Yeah,
I mean doesn't He really doesn't saymuch, but he never shies away
from a fight. And this isa story the Bike Riders that unfolds between
nineteen sixty five and nineteen seventy threethrough interviews conducted by the photo journalist I
(27:18):
mentioned at the outset. You know, these are interviews with club members and
their partners, and in particular thefocus is on Benny's wife, Kathy played
by Jodi Comer, who I thoughtdid a really good job, meets Benny
by chance at a bar frequented bythis gang, and at the time she's
got a boyfriend. A moment later, the boyfriend's gone, only to be
replaced by Bennie, who literally parkshimself on her doorstep or opposite her doorstep.
(27:45):
There's a street in between. Butthe intimidation that she felt by the
bikers when she first entered the barto meet her girlfriend is gone, and
five weeks later she marries Benny.So we see how the club was formed,
important a role it plays in thelives of its members, and look
to many of them, it's thebe all and end all, and those
(28:08):
include Johnny and Bennie. But wealso get potted portraits of the others too.
We might not get full backstories,but we get a feel for I
don't know, half a dozen adozen whenever it is ten of them that
the gang members, and soon chaptersof the Vandals are springing up all over
the Midwest. But not before Johnny'schallenged to a fist fight for control of
(28:30):
the Chicago operation because one of therules they institute if anybody wants a challenge,
they can, but it's kind ofa snack deck, is the best
way I can put it. SoBenny's loyalty to Johnny is tested after Bennie
stood over in a bar for wearingclub colors. A couple of guys,
(28:51):
a couple of heavies come in andsay, you know, you can't do
that here, and unfortunately, fromBenny's point of view, is badly injured.
Not that it's seen to trouble himtoo much, but thereafter Betty's relationship
with his wife gets quite a workout. So violence and fear. There we
go again significant parts of the gang'sculture, and that's manifest throughout the bike
(29:15):
riders. I say there we goagain because obviously the quiet place that we
just or a quiet placed day onethat we just spoke about. But look,
they've got their own rules of engagement. And although in timidatory, those
rules of engagement are nothing on thenew generation that's coming through, coming really
to supplant them. So now it'squite sinister in terms of what the lengths
(29:40):
that the newbies are going to goto. Whereas you get the feeling that
the writer and the director Jeff Nichols, who did movies like Take Shelter and
Loving. He maintains a kind ofa respect for the original gang, the
gang that started up the Vandals,if you like, or the person the
person and the persons that were involvedin the original gang and the starting point
for this particular work. The BikeRiders was a seminal book written by Danny
(30:04):
Lyons in nineteen sixty eight, andI mentioned I thought Jody Kohmer did a
great job, really strong Midwestern accent. She's really arguably that the heartbeat of
the movie, isn't she Jackie Oh? I definitely, I think she is.
Well she is because she's set upto be almost the narrator, if
you like, because she's telling thestory from her point of view. But
(30:29):
she's got great messages all love theaccent. She worked very hard on.
Love that accent, and remembering herfrom the role I've seen her in that
I was most impressed by was PrimaFacie, which was the one woman show.
So I'm a big wrap for Jody. Come. I didn't see her
in Private Facie. I saw itas a theatrical performance. Did you see
(30:52):
was that National Theater alive or wereyou yes? It was National Theater Live
and she took the role the legalstory. Legal story, Yeah, I
mean I look, I thought shereally told us story wards and all.
But she told it in such away as Kathy. She was proud,
she was unashamed. There was nopretense and there's a fearless quality about her
(31:15):
character Peter, which really appealed tome. What about you, Oh,
she is superb in the film,and I agree about prima facie. This
is a film that really surprised me. I must admit I wasn't looking forward
to seeing the film again about bikersand about the gangs, and about violence
(31:36):
and so on. But Jeff Nichols, who also directed Mud, has fashioned
a really interesting fictional story based onthat book of one hundred photographs of Vikings
in nineteen sixty eight. And whathe's done is is very clever. He's
made it into a strong cultural andpersonal story about how the various members of
(32:04):
the Vandals interrelate and how they progressthrough various incidents and events. I also
have to say it's great to seetwo Australian actors in the film, Damon
Herriman and Toby Wallace, in particular, who plays the young Turk, who
provides a pivotal performance in the film. There is a lot to admire,
(32:28):
and in fact it's Plants, EasyRider and Wild Angels and other of those
bite films by turning them into culturalobservations about real people and the way they
interact and what happens to them.So I was quite impressed by the film.
The acting was superb and it wasreally well filmed. Well Tom Hardy,
(32:54):
I really measured Harden quite as studentas Johnny. He's got world weary
look about him, Greek, doesn'the. I mean, that's how I
would would say he's portrayed and andI Reckon as Austin Butler is the sort
of picture of fire and restraint.He's quite enigmatic, and I mean,
what really distinguishes him. These explosionsof peak right contrast quite sharply with that
(33:20):
of a fellow who wants to beleft to his own devices. So he
wants to be left alone, buthe is ready to sort of put up
the dukes and defend others on it. What did you think of those two
characterizations? Yeah, I thought Butlerbought a brooding sassatu apology to his performance.
Here is enigmatic character A little bitalso contentered, self destructive and unpredictable.
(33:43):
A bit of a wild card there, but he made me plays second
fiddle to Hardy. I think Pierreand hard He mumbles his way through the
role as he was channeling Brando's iconicperformance from the World One. There's a
bit of a love that is afreedom of the bikeys, the freedom of
the camaraderie, but also mentioned thetoxic masculinity of this world as well.
But I'm like you, guys,I had a bit of a problem with
(34:06):
the Jody Comer Cassy's narration there.It was fine as a way to introduce
the whole world there, you know, being interviewed by this stanny lyon character
setting the scene there, but Ithought that constantly going back to her all
the way through the film interrupted andslide down to the momentum of the film,
Big jis down to me by theend of the film. Really,
(34:27):
that's I looked forward to hearing herobservations because there was so sort of a
matter of fact, Greg and that'swhat I think made them so compelling.
It It wasn't as if she waspushing of you. It was sort of
drawn out of her by the interview. I thought that was no. I
just thought I just sort of slidedown to pacing the film. Well,
okay, well what about like MichaelShannon is always good. He doesn't have
(34:49):
a big role. But I thoughtit was one of the other standouts of
zip Coo that a gang member.He doesn't he doesn't run with the college
boys. Did you like him?He was okay, he's a regular yes
yet? And also Norman readiers fromthe Walking Dead. There was also a
bit of an interesting character some ofthe but we didn't enough but story of
(35:12):
some of these characters understandable little bit. They're also lacking some of that.
But I mean, ultimately there wasthis camaraderie about them. They liked to
being part of something Jackie. Wasthat not enough? I wanted to know
why they needed individually the backstory iswhy they needed to be a part of
this biky gang. For all thetalk that went on, I really didn't
(35:37):
leave the film feeling I got toknow the guys there the lead There might
have been half a dozen. Iwould have liked to have known more about
what brought them there and their backstory. Instead, probably overdid the Kathy talking
and ran out of time. Forthat. I did want them all very
(35:58):
much to have a shower. Ithink that was my biggest problem with the
film, wasn't. I liked thelook of it and the setup and the
setting and the place and for cinematographyin that and thank you Peter for describing
it as cultural and personal story there, but I just couldn't couldn't get into
(36:27):
the story of as you said,the toxic masculinity, the alcohol, the
drugs, the abuse of women.They didn't seem to value, they didn't
seem to have well, a coupleof them had jobs, but that it
didn't seem there was no priority intheir lives, of that priority that was
so self absorbed and actually quick toanger and jealousy, and they were quite
unattractive, and as I said,they needed to shower. And I just
(36:50):
I just didn't like the place Iwas in when I was with them.
Hmm, that's it. Well.I thought there was a lyrical bit of
a lyrical quality storytelling, Jackie,which details the start and end of an
era. Is that not that wasn'tenough for you? I mean, the
pacings not enough at the pacing?What did you What would you say about
the pacing because it had a deliberateIt wasn't a retative. There was a
(37:17):
bit of breathing space, and Iliked that. I thought that was one
of the features of the production.Pleto. Oh absolutely, the pacing was
just righted. I really got intothe story, which, as I said,
surprised me because I didn't think Iwas going to be interested in this
group of bikers. Well, theother thing about it was the cinematography,
(37:38):
and I know I focused on thatas well with Day one. But Adam
Stone here, really I thought hedid a fine job. It wasn't overstated
at all, but he captured thespirit of the nation at the time.
I mean, we're talking a longtime ago now right, we're talking about
Oh well, what a different placethe world was nineteen sixty five, nineteen
seventy three. I thought he capturedthat very well. Jackie did that not
(38:00):
Oh yes, yes, yes,Angel said. I like the look of
it and the place and the settingand the setup of it. It all
came to together. But I justdidn't really want to be there unless they
have a shower, etcetera. It'sso you can't You can't see yourself with
a bikey for the rest of yourlife. Is that what you're jelling with
(38:20):
you anytime soon. No tradings,It's only tradings. There's a difference,
and that the trade shower just theother question. I'm just picking up a
thread, so please, I'm nothaving to go with Trading's that very big?
Not what I mean when I makethat comment, though, Alex,
don't you? I mean it waspretty. I mean you could call it
(38:42):
gritty and ugledy, but it wasalmost so pretty, you know, pretty
disgusting and sordid too. Is alifestyle Is the lifestyle choice? Yeah,
the lifestyle choice. I agree itis a lifestyle choice. And but I
mean, I suppose it played withyou. Also, you might say it's
very masculine. It was very testosteroneand which The other point was that to
(39:04):
me, Kathy didn't look like thatat all, and she actually looked out
of place the whole time. Butthat was the point that was where like
she was the most unlikely person,she was kind of more prim and proper
in certain regards, but she gotto appreciate elements of that lifestyle. That's
why I thought hers was such ameasured role, but one that transitioned and
(39:29):
I thought that was really valuable.But Anyway, let's start with you,
Peter. You liked it very much. The Bike Riders rated M and it
runs fore undred and sixteen minutes.Score out of ten players. I really
like this film. I gave iteight out of ten mm hm, okay,
I really enjoyed it too, sevenand a half. Greg King six
(39:50):
and a half. Jackie Hamilton.Oh, and I gave The Bike Riders
a six out of ten. Okay. So yeah, so you'd call it?
Where does six sit on the platform? Is that an average movie,
Jackie? Or below? Over?Oh? I'm not sure. No,
well, I'm not sure it's ait's a movie for particular, a particular
(40:14):
audience. I think not everyone wouldlove it. I mean, it was
a it was a finally made itwas well made film, but I just
didn't love it fair enough. Asa as a filmmaker, Peter, I
think he's quite an intriguing filmmaker thatyou know, the choices of movies that
he makes, that he has andso forth, what what what? What
(40:35):
are your thoughts about that into it? Because I mean, obviously as a
as a director, as somebody whomakes choices that that they're all kind of
gritty in a way, aren't theythey are. I mean, Nicholas is
such a good independent director and hisfilm Mud for me stands out as being
such a examinable examination film. Yeah, terrific film. Yeah, it's interesting.
(41:00):
There are certain you look forward.I don't know about you, but
I certainly look forward to the nextfilm of a certain director. For example,
some people maybe your Gostlanthemos is agood example. Right, you know
you're going to get the abcuse everytime you go and see your gos Lanthemos
movie. I think that's a goodthing, right, I mean, and
(41:22):
he's one of those that I followwith a great deal of interest and want
to know what's what he's doing next. Anyway, we've given our scores.
One of the other movies that hascome out is one that it took a
long time for me to start toappreciate. And I'm thinking, this has
got one of the longest starts inhistory, and I'm talking about a silence.
(41:45):
It was interminable before we got tothe plot, you know, before
we got to the point. AndI don't know why they did that to
sort of draw it out. Itdrove me nuts. Before giving any detail
about it, did any of youfind similarly like it took half hour or
forty minutes in a movie that onlywent for oar than one minutes to get
(42:07):
to the front. It was onlyabout five minutes. Now it's come on.
No, no, I genuinely don'tbelieve that. Was I the only
one that thought it took forever toget going. Yes, well, I
thought, because it focused first ofall on Emmanuel Devos's character and how she
felt guilt and concern, and westart to pull back from that and we
(42:32):
learn more about the background, Ithought it was actually really well made.
Well okay, well now, no, funnily enough. I also thought a
lot of it after the first halfhour. But anyway, it's ma Raiders
other than one minutes, and it'sreally about a dark and dirty family secret
that explodes. Right, so you'vegot Astrid played by Divos. Am Manuel
(42:53):
DeVos has said nothing about the deeplytroubling matter that I spoke about for three
decades, but a figure from thepast triggers a lot of concern, massive
concern. So Astra as this renownedmedia savvy lawyer for a husband. His
name is francois played by Daniel Lutiland Jackie. He's in every second French
(43:19):
movie, isn't he? I thinkyes, and it used to be,
but not so much now. No. No, Well, the conversation I
had off the record with you,no, not off the record, off
this platform, Jackie, was thatDaniel Ortil is in every second French movie
along with which actor which which femaleactor Isabelle Hooper? Yeah? Is that
(43:39):
right, Jackie? Yes, that'sright there you go. All right.
No, No, she's angry withme. Now, don't be angry with
me. We're just having fun.Okay. So, uh, you haven't
seen this one yet, Jackie,but I would I would suggest it's a
movie that you may you may thinka lot of anyway, Alex, you
(44:00):
did mention to me to see it, and I looked at the trailer and
I read a review of it,and I chose not to based on the
content. Ah, makes a lotof sense. All right? Well,
all right. So Astard's got thishusband who's a lawyer, has been fighting
(44:22):
He has been fighting an incendiary,high profile case for five years, and
he represents the parents of a coupleof abducted children, two of them with
reporters camped outside his place, reallynice home. He get a capture his
every word the two of them,that they're kind of cocooned in this life
of privilege, and yet that there'sa lot of tension between the couple that
(44:43):
dates back decades. And they've gota couple of children. They've got a
grown up daughter called Carolyn played byLouise Chevelon, who really implores her mum
to say something about about what's thisdirty day, dark secret, and she
wants her mother to come clean.They've also got an adopted teenage son called
(45:06):
Raphael played by matter Galoo, andhe's been wagging school. He faces expulsion.
So there are fires to be foughton several fronts, the personal fronts
of course, as well as theprofessional and ultimately, though, there's no
escaping the bit of truth. Soit's a really disturbing drama from Juakim La
(45:27):
Foss and it's a disquieting exploration offamily, of duty, of complicity,
and of coercive control. And they'rethe elements that I suppose are attractive in
terms of making a movie. Andwhat makes it even more shocking though,
is that it was inspired by actualevents that occurred in France and Belgium and
(45:50):
outraged both countries. I was suitablyappalled by what I saw unfolding. But
my biggest criticism of this movie comesdown to that tortuously slow, i'd say,
wallowing and obscure start. Now.I do understand that what they were
trying to do as filmmakers was tostretch out the big reveal, but I
dare say by the time it comes, some of the audience may not have
(46:13):
suck around. And that's a pitybecause the story's got real bite from that
point on. I mean, mysteryis one thing, but obfuscation is another,
and that's what I felt was happeningat first. So and I've got
to say, Greg, my sentimentsweren't helped by the darkness inherent in many
of the scenes. But it's avery dark film in many ways, some
(46:34):
of the scene films, and Ithink that added to the mood of it.
I wanted to see the film,Greg, I mean, it was
a theatrical device, maybe, butit became frustrating to me. It's like
something if that they turned the sounddown, they turned the light down.
It's too dark. But I stillwant to recommend the silence because as disgusting
(46:54):
and scandalous the story as it is, it really deserves to be told and
what gives them his strength is thatinternalized acting performance of Emmanual Divas really strong
as a woman who has endured somuch. And again Daniel or Till really
well cast, suave, astute,legal, legal, carrying a massive burden.
(47:14):
You believe he is who he is. And I thought Matteo Galou was
quite believable. Is that aloof youngsterwith problems trying to sort of find his
way through. So if you stickwith this, if you stick with the
silence, it's worthwhile because there ispay out for doing so, only it
takes its sweet time to get there. Greg, you thought more of it,
or I mean, I thought itwas a very fine movie. It
(47:37):
is a very tense drama. Thereas that opening scene there where Emanuel Jeeves's
character is driving down the street thereand you just get the bit of ominous
music in the background there she's driving, sort of sets the scene that this
is sort of going somewhere uncomfortable.It's building up that sense of expectations a
(47:58):
bit. But greet all starts toreveal and it all falls apart, and
it's certainly not going to have yourfamilies for it. No, But but
Greek didn't need to go That openingscene drove bananas like, Okay, look
in the review mirror Sea your eyesdoing a second time? Keep on going?
Yeah, it's giving you, it'sgiving you a sense of her uncomfortable
(48:19):
feeling. She doesn't know where,what's gonna what's waiting for her when she
gets your destination. That's why it'sgoing out, so that you get into
that sense of you know, youcan almost feel for her what is going
on here? Where if you're going? What if you're feeling? And it's
more of that internal performance, internalizationof her emotions. Did you get there?
So? Look, I know itwent on for about for a five
(48:43):
minutes, but that was setting thescene and getting you a chance to sort
of wonder what's going on, sothat you know you are drawing into the
film, You're drawing into expectations ofwhat's going to happen, and then all
unfolds and you'll learn so many groupsugly truth about this family. But but
mister, I'm going to disagree withyou on that point. Now it's mister
(49:04):
rack Calcitron did did did it needto go on for three four minutes?
Yes? It did because it's verycarefully set up to see. I mean,
look at the film zone of interestthat takes several minutes to get into
the into the storyline, and Ithink that's a great device that filmmakers use
to lure the audience into a narrativethat at first seems perhaps benign but actually
(49:30):
turns out to be quite different.Okay, see tell me, tell me
how wonderful the movie is from yourperspective, Peter A silence. Yes,
yes, I think it's an excellentfilm. I I and the devastating conclusion
is is just incredible? What else? Any any other thoughts? Greg,
(49:53):
No, it's just that I wouldI weren't sure I had read anything about
the film before I saw it.So the revelation, certainly you'd come out
of nowhere, a bit of asurprise there and a bit of a gritty,
uncomfortable feel when you learn the depthof what's been going on, absolutely
terrible. You know, this iswhere I'm staggered that I didn't know about
(50:16):
this case that occurred, I thinkin Belgium, and again I'm not sure
how how close to reality it was. Peter. Did you do any reading
on the actual case. I didn't, only a little bit, and as
far as I'm aware, it isa fairly accurate depiction of the real life
events. What an absolutely being setof circumstances like incredible at times? What's
(50:44):
the expression of fact? This strangerthan fiction? And yeah, but why
would we not have heard about this? I mean I followed the news very
carefully. Do we know? Didyou know when it actually occurred? What
year? And no, it musthave been about I would say eight or
ten years ago. Okay, well, there we go, So let's get
(51:04):
some scores for a Silence Jackie.Does this any of what we've said make
it more compelling for you to goand see it? All because of the
tawdry subject matter? Know, yes, it's the content. To be honest,
what I read of it was enoughfor me to say that I would
find it too distressing. Yeah,oh it is very very much So all
(51:27):
right, so I can take thealiens, but I don't want to do
this. Yeah, So Peter scorefor a Silence A rated runs for undand
one minutes. Yes. No,I was also similarly impressed by this film.
And there's nothing explicit really that wesee in the film, so that's
important that it's all suggested. SoI also gave this film eight out of
(51:52):
ten, eight out of ten,Greg, Yeah, look, I thought
that given the content and what it'sgoing was fairly It's tastefully handled, so
it's not that it's confronting you thatcould have burned. I'llowed you at six
and a half seven. Yeah,and I'm giving it a seven out of
ten as well. So yeah,sort of a well, a very solid
(52:13):
film, but you've got to havea summingch for it. Now. We're
very short of time at this point, but let's tease this for perhaps next
week, just just a line ortwo. There are really strong documentaries.
There are many of them, andI mean, are you a Midnight All
fan, Gregor or not? Youyou love your music, I've only got
I've ready got the Greatest It's album. I've never seen him live on that
(52:36):
kind of thing. I haven't gotany other hours of the Greatest It's Album.
Okay, Well, look, basically, Beds of Burning is one of
my favorite songs. I think it'sgot such power and I really admire and
the passion, well, I admirethe passion of Peter Garrett for whatever he
said, it turns his mind tohe's somebody who gives it his all and
he certainly gave the band is allfor a large number of years. And
(53:00):
I'm obviously talking about a documentary aboutthis Midnight All the Hardest Line, which
came out in the last few daysm rate A one hundred and ten minutes,
and yeah, this is a bandwith a social conscience and it sort
of galvanized those who had next togrind. And it was a pub band,
wasn't it. I mean they didas really commercial radio didn't want to
(53:22):
bar them when they started absolutely nothingand they couldn't get a run, and
yet they did it on the roadand the people who went and saw them
sought a great deal of them.But they took many missteps and that's what
this documentary shows, and I thinkit's quite It's very good for what it
(53:42):
does, and you really do geta feel. I mean, if you're
a fan, I reckon it's amust kind of documentary. But we'll talk
about it in a bit more detailnext week, and along with other movies
and also a few shows I wantedto talk about, So we'll wait till
next week to talk about that oneand their go by the way to the
Comedy Theater. There's something Who's Afraidof Virginia Wolf? Is is really sorry?
(54:07):
Not Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?I'm just gone blank on that's coming
up this week that there there's amove. There's a play that was on
a Red Stitch that is now that'snow playing at the Comedy Theater, and
it's well worth a look because it'sonly on for three weeks and it's it's
interesting. There's the first play thatwas on at Red Stitch that's transposed to
(54:32):
a bigger theater. That only happenswith the very best shows, So just
be aware of that. Check itout, go to I'm still It's it's
interesting because it stars Kat Stewart andher husband. Now, how often do
you see husband and wife in aplay? You know you want? You
(54:54):
do wonder and it is Who's afraidof Virginia Wolf? By the way,
you do wonder how they'd go homeof a night having fought for three hours
on stage, Jackie, could youimagine that? And you know who I
went with? I went with somebodywho's just separated from her husband, and
I wondered how she was going totake it. I did warn her about
(55:15):
the verbal fisticuffs that were being thrown, but you know, it's inevitable that
you would, you would reflect uponsomething like that when you see it.
Sin Ridmond who's just separated from herhusband. Wasn't your wife then? No,
just a very good friend. Thereyou go, very good. I
(55:37):
like it, Jackie. Thank youvery much for your contribution today. Thank
you, Peter Krause. Always apleasure to meet mister racalcitrant and Gregory King.
Take the white stripe off your backand bar it for the bombers,
were you no? Thank you folks. Where we're off first on film and
entertainment. Been a pleasure being withyou. We will speak to you again
(56:00):
next week.
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