Eavesdropping At The Movies

In the mid-Seventies, Argentina was terrorised by the Triple A (Argentine Anticommunist Alliance), a far-right death squad that disappeared countless people, and it is under this regime of fear and death that Rojo is set - with 1976's military coup on the horizon. Disappearance is one of the film's major themes and gives it its central structure: Dario Grandinetti's Claudio, a lawyer, has an altercation with a rude young man in a restaurant and, though what follows is partially accidental, ends up leaving the man for dead in Argentina's vast desert. It's the first act of disappearance in a film draped with them, disappearances that nobody speaks of, but everybody takes advantage of. Overt signals of the Triple A are absent here - the film shows us how daily life is affected, in a chilling atmosphere not of fear, but of acceptance. Friends are spoken of as having moved away. A house vacated by a family we never see is ransacked by otherwise well-to-do, middle-class neighbours, and presents a money-making oppo

The Birmingham chapter of the Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society shows a few of their films every year at the mac, and this year sees them screen two shorts, Twice Two (1933) and County Hospital (1932), followed by their classic Western feature, Way Out West (1937). We discuss Laurel and Hardy's style, Mike comparing it favourably to cartoons and less favourably to the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and José remarks upon the joys of seeing a full audience of people aged 4 to 90 all laughing at these everlasting films. Recorded on 6th October 2019.

It's as though we've seen two different films, with José bowled over by Joker's social commentary, Mike bored and annoyed by its perceived self-satisfaction - not to mention an audience that applauded at the end. Joaquin Phoenix's Joker is explored to be a product of an uncaring, broken society that reaps in him what it sows, in a 1981 Gotham City that is the New York City of the era in all but name. José argues that the film will become a bellwether of the time, depicting the anger of the oppressed and downtrodden - Mike suggests, though, that in demonising them and aligning them to villainy, it gives the right-wing what it wants, in a vision of antifa, the enemy it believes it faces. We discuss issues of race and representation, Mike seeing similarities between some of the film's scenes and real-life historical crimes to which they may refer, and in observing racial components and changes to them, asks what the purpose may be, though, struggles to work towards an answer. And José remarks favourably upon ev

Donald Trump's vision of Mexico as America's terrifying, criminal neighbour to the south finds a home in Rambo: Last Blood, a film in which a journey to Mexico is no less than a descent into Hell, and the comfort of the USA means a ranch, horses, sunsets, and a subterranean network of tunnels in which to viciously trap and slaughter Mexican rapists. You may be surprised to hear that we weren't that keen on it. Considering Sylvester Stallone's age - a mighty 73 years old - Last Blood's action can't ask as much of him physically as did the Rambo films of old, but through the use of traps and ambushes, Stallone's limitations are smartly made irrelevant. But that's about as positive as we can get. This is a film that cost $50m, if the production budget figure on Box Office Mojo is to be believed, and if Stallone hasn't taken $40m of that for himself it's impossible to tell where it's been spent. This is cheap, nasty, acrid cinema, and it spurs José to look back on Stallone's career and decry it for not simply ha

Ideologically hideous and cinematically not even trying... we hate Downton Abbey. Hate it. But José especially so. Recorded on 29th and 30th September 2019.

Francis Ford Coppola's classic 1979 war epic, once renovated already in 2001's Redux, now sees a second altered version, restored in 4K from the original negative, 40 years since it first came out - Apocalypse Now: Final Cut. And what an extraordinary film it remains. José has endless praise for the genius work of cinematographer Vittorio Storaro - this film defines painting with light - and in the cinema it visually dazzles, iconic, bold imagery in every frame. The scale of Coppola's production still amazes, particularly in those early scenes with Robert Duvall's manaical Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore orchestrating helicopters, napalm, infantry, smoke, music and surfers to insane, theatrical effect. And in its long fades between images, superimposing almost abstract compositions over one another, José feels the influence of the avant garde and marvels at what was possible in that era. Marlon Brando's famous role as Kurtz at the end is shorter than José recalls, in part because the French plantation segment, no

A film that jogs memories for Mike, as in the process of revisiting Fight Club he realises what an impact it had on him as a teenager. David Fincher's outrageously stylish and visceral story of a generation of dispossessed men finding purpose in violence has only increased in relevance in the twenty years since its release, drawing comparisons to incels and school shooters, but it also leads Mike to recall how it affected his interests and attitudes in his youth. José, who saw it on its release, was on the positive side of its mixed response and recalls trying to convince his friends of its greatness - and is proud to have been proven right in the years since, in which it rapidly became perhaps the defining cult hit. Mike is surprised to discover a sexual dimension to it that he hadn't quite realised was there - obviously, Tyler and Marla's ceiling-shaking lovemaking sessions hadn't escaped his attention, but it wasn't until this screening that he saw Marla as desirable and human, rather than simply present

The film that introduced Marlene Dietrich to America, Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel tells the tragic story of a man who gives up everything for love. Emil Jannings is delightfully pompous and uptight as Professor Rath, a schoolteacher charmingly disarmed by Dietrich's seductive cabaret star Lola Lola. The two marry, but unable to change and consumed by jealousy, Rath loses his status, dignity and the woman he loves. Dietrich is captivating as Lola, wearing a seemingly permanent smirk of knowingness - much of the film's action takes place backstage, an environment she controls effortlessly, in which the fewer items of clothing she wears the more uncomfortable Rath grows. José notes a moment in which she ungraciously adjusts her underwear, and who cares who's watching - Mike remarks upon her legs, which at times are posed and filmed to take on a character all of their own. José considers the greatness of Dietrich's collaborations with von Sternberg, of which this was the first, and in particular the way

We love Lulu Wang's comedy-drama The Farewell, about a Chinese family that knows their grandmother, Nai Nai, has cancer, but keeps it a secret from her. Awkwafina brings humour and sensitivity to the American-raised granddaughter who argues that her family is in the wrong, and although the film opens up questions of cultural differences, it's remarkably even-handed, refusing to judge or criticise any opinion. Zhao Shuzhen, playing Nai Nai, is delightfully warm and snappy, and shares wonderful chemistry with Awkwafina. The Farewell is a gentle film that tells an engrossing story, and it's simply a pleasure to be in its world. Recorded on 20th September 2019.

Ad Astra sees a withdrawn, isolated Brad Pitt take to the stars as Roy McBride, an astronaut in search of his father, and with him writer-director James Gray shows us stunning imagery and brings us brilliantly into McBride's suppressed mental state. José is head over heels in love with the film's epic feel, its exploration of universal human problems, the way in which it imagines a human race that, in spreading to and taming other planets and moons, brings its pre-existing problems with it, and the way in which Gray expresses McBride's inner turmoil through action. Mike is less keen, particularly arguing for the weakness of the film's first act, and asking questions of the film's gender theming, but finds much to love too. Ad Astra is a vast, careful, $100m art movie, the likes of which only Christopher Nolan normally gets to make. It's very much worth your time. See it on the largest screen you can. Recorded on 19th September 2019.

J-Lo runs the show and steals every scene in Hustlers, Lorene Scafaria's crime flick about a team of strippers who run a scam to steal from Wall Street traders and CEOs. Its style, energy and representational strategies impress us, it drew an audience to Cineworld that we aren't used to seeing, and we discuss how it fits into what we decide to call "state of the nation cinema", films that brazenly and deliberately depict, condemn and critique the institutions and power structures of modern America. Recorded on 18th September 2019.

A gentle, somewhat meandering podcast to follow a gentle, somewhat meandering film. Joanna Hogg's The Souvenir talks of artistic development, the vigour of youth, life without money worries, and the complications of love, all through a soft camera and subtle performances. It's a film that refers to and respects art, that remembers the past fondly, and that leads José to explain the Portuguese concept of saudade. Recorded on 17th September 2019.

Ne Zha, a Chinese animated film, holds the record for the biggest box office in a single market (having made over $700m in China), but Mike isn't that impressed with it, comparing it to the likes of Ice Age. José had a better time, though asks himself why he overlooks some of its more questionable elements, including a rather homophobic running joke that just doesn't go away. But there's a certain flair and thoughtfulness to some of its visual design and characterisation that we appreciate, and it gives us food for thought. Discussing Ne Zha leads us into a conversation about British film culture as it relates to foreign language cinema. It's not impossible to see foreign language films in Birmingham - though Ne Zha making it to Cineworld, as opposed to the Electric or mac, is notable - but outside London, the kind of culture that European and South American countries have of showing films from other countries as a matter of course in the main cinemas just doesn't exist here. In going through our list of pod

Adapted from the 1944 novel of the same name by Anna Seghers, writer-director Christian Petzold's Transit behaves to some degree like Shakespeare in modern dress. The story follows a German man, Georg (Franz Rogowski), escaping facist-occupied Paris to Marseille, and there encountering other refugees, forging connections and affections with them, making arrangements at consulates for passage and visas to Mexico and the USA, all while rumour and hearsay about the spread of the occupation to the port city hangs over him. But with markers from nearly a century later - present-day vehicles in particular, although much of the clothing lives in an ageless world that bridges the years, and an ethnic component that makes more sense in today's world than the Forties - Petzold turns a historical narrative into a fable of creeping fascism and the refugee crisis of today. Indeed, the idea that Transit functions like modern-dress Shakespeare might make it sound terribly stilted and artificial, but the real power of Transi

Following 2017's It, the characters are 27 years older, the events of the first film mere memories, and the effects are more thrilling than ever. But it leaves us feeling much the same as its predecessor - despite fantastic production values, wonderful monster design, and attempts to delve into interesting themes of trauma and the scars with which it leaves us, it's, well, kind of stupid really. Recorded on 12th September 2019.

Considered by some to be his best film, Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious comes to the mac in a beautiful 4k restoration. We explore its sumptuous close-ups, complex characterisation and smart, effective editing, which elicited big responses from the audience, and José tells us about Ben Hecht, the film's screenwriter. We also have an argument about focus pulling. On the blog, we've posted a number of clips and screenshots of moments and scenes to which we refer in the podcast: http://eavesdroppingatthemovies.com/2019/09/11/167-notorious/ Recorded on 8th September 2019.

It's probably fair to say that Pedro Almodóvar's films seem to be made specifically for José. It's in every detail: the locations, eras, sexuality, ways of life, attitudes, class, love of cinema and countless other aspects of Almodóvar's ouevre speak to José on a deep, intimate level. He's watched every one of his films time and time again, and he considers Pain and Glory, which he has already seen twice and plans to see again, a masterpiece. Mike doesn't have anything like such a specific relationship to Almodóvar, and indeed has only seen one other of his films, 2016's Julieta, which he liked very much - and indeed he likes Pain and Glory just as much... though not quite as much as José. We discuss how Pain and Glory stands alone but might benefit from being seen in relation to Almodóvar's ouevre. Several of his regular collaborators appear, including Cecilia Roth, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano and Penélope Cruz; this film, as with The Law of Desire, Broken Embraces and Bad Education, is about a filmma

There's a remarkable female gaze in Animals, Sophie Hyde's adaptation of Emma Jane Unsworth's novel, and a wonderful sense of insightful observation in the world occupied by and behaviours of the two friends whose stories it tells. Mike, who'd been anticipating it keenly since seeing the trailer, feels a little shortchanged by the triteness of the larger themes on which the film builds and the relative lack of excitement in comparison to what the trailer conveyed. José shares a little of that feeling but is keen to express his pleasure at seeing a film so confidently and originally expressive of a female perspective, particularly in its sex scenes. And we both adore the stars, Alia Shawkat for her fabulously performative comic theatrics, and especially Holliday Grainger for her extraordinary, sensitive, soulful expression of a girl falling in and out of love and friendship and upset with her own failings. Animals is a film that explodes with creativity and expressiveness in the details, but whose big pictur

Mike has seen 2019's remake of The Lion King, and it sends him into a state of deep woe. José hasn't, and is glad Mike took the bullet for him. Recorded on 19th August 2019.

Mike feared it might be the most tasteless film ever made. José doesn't look forward to Quentin Tarantino films. But we both came away from this fantastical reimagining of a near-mythological era of Hollywood history having had a great time. Tellingly, for a film that exceeds two and a half hours, we both felt the time fly by. Tarantino's love for and expert knowledge of Hollywood and cinema informs all of his work, and arguably not that consequentially - he cribs shots, pastiches genres, and evokes styles and tones specific to cinema, but to debatable significant effect beyond the superficial. But in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (OUATIH for brevity's sake), the decision to bring this passion to the surface and tell a story directly about Hollywood results in Tarantino's most meaningful and personal film. What he values is brazenly displayed here, and, Mike suggests, isn't entirely pleasant to examine. He finds OUATIH initially troubling in this regard - with a day's reflection on it, he comes to see it as