Eavesdropping At The Movies

The first part of Marvel's ending to the unendable story wallops us with two and a half hours of punching and planets. Mike is even more gullible than usual. Jose stays cynical and rightly so. The film leads to discussions on whether we can actually find themes in it, the leaps of faith necessary to buy into it, the way in which we can't help but buy into the story logic in the way we talk about it, and the nature of even trying to talk about corporate assets this enormous. It all gets quite meta. Jose mentions the state of modern America again. We bring up Call Me by Your Name somehow. Recorded on 29th April 2018.

One of the stupidest films we've seen for a long time, but was it fun? We discuss its lazy and crass writing, the treatment of its female star, its lack of balance between entertainment and boredom, missed opportunities, and just how many people we think died. Recorded on 23rd April 2018.

A boxing film that opens with its climactic fight and develops drama in its aftermath. We find Journeyman disappointingly contradictory - a showcase of performance, writing, and observation, executed with no cinematic nous or flair. Paddy Considine lacks credibility as a world champion boxer, but captures beautifully the impotent rage and misery of such a star physically and mentally diminished. His road to recovery is a clever and interesting twist on the typical boxing film formula of training for a life-changing fight, executed too sappily and casually. A film we like but don't admire. Recorded on 8th April 2018.

A young adult romance with a twist, Love, Simon gives gay teens a high school movie with a decent budget and aimed at a wide audience. We both have mixed feelings on it, but find it a well-meaning and substantially positive film. We discuss some shortcuts it takes - the use of a queeny character to render Simon more acceptable, the setting in upper middle class suburbia making Simon's sexuality the only issue in his life, a certain generic formulaicity - and ideas the film depicts as simple that could and should be more complex, including conversations we'd like to have seen Simon have with his best friend and the aforementioned queen. Not to mention the rather flat aesthetics. It's a discussion that does almost nothing but pick out flaws but nonetheless finds that the breadth of the film's intended audience mitigates them and its goodness of heart shines through. Worth a watch! Recorded on 6th April 2018.

Jose can't handle the bad costumes, pap morality, and smug tone. Mike considers the age of the intended audience a mitigating factor but largely agrees. A Wrinkle in Time inclusively opens the big-budget Hollywood fantasy film to new audiences, but while we agree on the positivity of that aim, we find the film flawed and overly simple. The film invites comparison with The Wizard of Oz, but as Jose demonstrates, it's a comparison in which it comes off far worse. Mike fondly remembers the Macaulay Culkin film The Pagemaster and recommends people watch that instead. Recorded on 2nd April 2018.

A Quiet Place is a deceptively simple horror film that finds a surprising degree of variety in its premise: the planet is overrun with monsters that cannot see but hunt by sound. We marvel at its creativity and technique, and indeed, the way it silenced the audience. We talk over its performances, its ending, the way it manipulates and moves characters to generate threatening situations, the intelligence of its editing in moving between storylines, and the shortcuts it takes with its internal logic in order to keep the story moving. We also mull over a potential for a sequel and decry one plot decision in particular. But fundamentally, we urge everyone to see it. It silenced a full cinema, and that was quite remarkable. Recorded on 2nd April 2018.

A low-budget psychological thriller, Unsane is a less involving film than its subject matter and star deserve. Claire Foy is extraordinarily powerful as a paranoid prisoner of mental trauma inflicted on her by a stalker and bureaucratic malfeasance, distressed, knowing, sarcastic, resistant. The film fails her in other areas but is an intriguing experiment nonetheless, and we find much to discuss, including its cinematography, relationship to termite art, and potential audiences. Recorded on 1st April 2018.

Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs is a stop-motion story of the utmost beauty and wit. We discuss its cinematography, compositions, lightness of touch, allegorical relationship to reality, and place in Anderson's body of work. We also reserve particular praise for Bryan Cranston's vocal performance and Alexandre Desplat's score. Recorded on 1st April 2018.

Ready Player One is a strange beast, crammed full of energy and references on the one hand, amounting to nothing on the other. Jose dislikes it. Mike kind of likes it. To say it's flawed is understating it, but there are interesting ideas to probe. Who is the film aimed at? How does it have its cake and eat it? Is it making interesting decisions, mistakes, or both simultaneously? What can we make of a film that references other work not as Easter eggs but as the very cloth from which it's cut? Mike wishes it was more cutting, more biting, about the ideas it raises and the nerds it seeks to please. Jose just wants it to end. Also: It was shot in Birmingham! Mike even went to go and see it during filming just one road over from his flat. What he saw was a couple of cars driving, once, and almost nothing else of note. He would never admit that though. As far as he's concerned, he is best mates with Steven Spielberg. Recorded on 1st April 2018.

Alex Garland's curious sci-fi adventure comes to UK cinemas - for one single evening. A theatrical release in the US that Paramount feared wouldn't make money elsewhere, it's on Netflix worldwide, but we waited for the special event to see it properly. And it was worth it, its stunning visual design singing on the big screen. But what did we make of the rest of it? Has it stayed with us? Does it cohere? What would we have liked to have seen more of, what surprised us, what did it do well? No matter what we make of the details, it's certainly deserving of a second look, and now we can be grateful rather than rueful that Netflix gives us that opportunity. Also, Mike bangs on for a bit about Ex Machina, Life, Anomalisa, and The Beach, because he can. Recorded on 30th March 2018.

Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here tells a story of vigilante justice with a tapestry of elliptical editing and interwoven flashbacks. We consider its themes, the deliberate way it depicts or conceals violence, the effect of trauma on its protagonist and his need for human connection. It's a complex, almost ergodic film, that requires attention, rewards visual literacy, and yields great pleasures. We love it. We also praise Amazon Studios for respecting the theatrical release window, and round off by discussing the recent Oscars. Recorded on 11th March 2018.

We finally get around to seeing the one Best Picture nominee we were missing, Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird. It's been highly praised, but has the hype hurt it? We discuss its female-centric twists on coming-of-age teen movies, the mother-daughter relationship, its attitude to sex, and the Everyman Cinema in Birmingham, which we visit for the first time. Recorded on 27th February 2018.

We try out Mubi, a curated streaming service that gives you 30 films at any one time, and only 30 days in which to watch them. Our choice is Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, a 1970s Italian satire on police corruption and the politics of power. It leads to discussions on its expressive imagery, its topsy-turvy plot, sexual kinks, peccadillos, and lifestyles, the performance of power and authority, and male jealousy and rage. Recorded on 26th February 2018.

The story of Tonya Harding raises all manner of issues for us to delve into. I, Tonya is a film about class, domestic abuse, celebrity, opportunity, achievement. We examine its visual design and use of competing aspect ratios, its use of direct address to camera, and the conceptualisation of the working class characters and mother-daughter relationship. Mike believes it insists upon Tonya Harding's fame too heavily, not aware of how she's only really remembered in the USA. Jose finds its portrayal of working class people uncomfortable. An energetic discussion. Recorded on 25th February 2018.

Mike's brother Stephen joins us to discuss Phantom Thread in further detail. We look at the power struggle between Alma and Cyril, the visual verticality that contributes to an Academy ratio feel, the film's relationship to fairytales, the way the score augments the images, and whether the dresses are actually any good and why. Recorded on 24th February 2018.

Guillermo del Toro's gorgeous, bizarre monster romance is one of the films dominating the awards conversation, but what do we make of it? We discuss its characterisation, its performances, its cinematography, its relationship with the classic cinema and fairytales from which it builds. We use the word "beautiful" about two hundred times. Recorded on 21st February 2018.

Jose's been away for a week, and while we've been apart we've each seen Black Panther. You join us after our second screening, in the midst of an already feverish conversation taking place online and amongst friends. So much to discuss! How does the film build compelling conflict between the characters, what are the nuances of its commentary on racism, colonialism and masculinity, what were our shared experiences with the audiences, what did we draw out of its costume and character design - and is it really really really obviously the best Marvel film? Recorded on 20th February 2018.

Eavesdropping takes a look at the nominations for the upcoming Oscars and chews the fat on what we like, what we don't like, what's been left out, and what will win. Plus Mike gives a brief rundown of four films from 2017 he liked but feels have been forgotten, and never got a chance to talk about because we hadn't been doing the podcast at the time. Recorded on 7th February 2018.

Finally, we sink our teeth into Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson's highly-anticipated romantic period drama. The performances, aesthetics, direction and so much more are simply enthralling and give us much to discuss. We consider Daniel Day-Lewis's style and how likeable he is in this, Anderson's mastery of tone and ability to lighten with unexpected humour what could be a rather dry film, the beauty of his cinematography, the range of female characters and some aspects of their portrayal, the way in which the work of an artist is depicted, and more. Jose is simply beside himself with the film's beauty, and Mike questions its flirtations with cliché so often that he becomes a cliché himself. It's clear that there's more to discover than one viewing can reveal, so we look forward to seeing the film again and talking on it more. Recorded on 7th February 2018.

Mike doesn't believe that Liam Neeson is a normal person with real problems, and wants him to do proper acting again. Jose admires the film's social conscience and visual flair. It's The Commuter, a film that exceeds the low expectations set by its dull title. We discuss its portrayal of society through the characters on the train, how much we like its premise, and where it stands in the cheapish high-concept B-movie canon. Recorded on 2nd February 2018.