Kermode & Mayo’s Take - Another Transformers Film? What Will Mark Think?

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

This week’s guest is everyone’s favourite foul-mouthed politico-cum-Time Lord. That’s right, Peter Capaldi is on the show to tell Simon all about Season 2 of his time-bending, psychological thriller show ‘The Devil’s Hour’. Mark reviews ‘Transformers One’, an animated sci-fi action film based on the Hasbro toy line, which explores the untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cyberton forever; ‘Salem’s Lot’, the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s classic supernatural horror novel, which sees an author return to his childhood home in search for some inspiration for his next book, only to discover that people are mysteriously turning into blood-sucking vampires; and ‘Timestalker’, a historical sci-fi romantic comedy in which a hapless woman falls for the wrong guy, dies a grim death and is reincarnated a century later. As she experiences romantic misfortune through different eras of history, she seeks to avoid repeat mistakes and finally break the cycle. What will be Mark’s film of the week? Listen and see! Plus, get tickets to our Live Christmas Spectacular here: https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo And vote for us for Best Co-Host Team at the prestigious Signal Awards here. Let’s win this thing!:  https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2024/shows/craft/best-co-host-team-pop-culture-podcasts Timecodes (relevant only for the Vanguard - who are also ad-free!): Transformers One Review: 06:21 Peter Capaldi Interview: 27:55 Salem’s Lot Review: 45:20 Timestalker Review: 54:08 You can contact the show by emailing [e-mail] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: [e-mail] And to find out more about Sony’s new show Origins with Cush Jumbo, click here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, Simon and Mark here. This show is brought to you by NordVPN. I'm feeling a bit spooked, Simon. Why is that, Mark? Bad actors. Ah, you've been watching The Room again. No, not that kind. I'm talking about the kind that hang out online and steal your data. Oh, well, it's completely coincidental, but Nord have just the solution for that. Sure, public Wi-Fi can leave your computer wide open for snoopers, trackers, hackers and all those others to

get your data, but Nord helps you keep them at arm's length by linking you to VPNs and so hiding your data and location. Even while I'm watching Exodus Believer. Take the bad actors you like while blocking out the ones you don't. To get a huge discount So So, if you had to choose between voting in the leadership for the Conservative Party elections, or voting for your favourite podcast in the Signal Listeners Choice Awards, what would you go for? Well, I think on the basis that I'd go for the one that would actually make a difference. So that would be the Signal Listeners Choice Awards. You don't want to choose between the final two. Who are they?

I think it's Alec Douglas Hume and Ted Heath. I think it's down to that. Ted Heath! I'm more of an Alec Douglas Hume and Ted Heath. I think it's down to that. I'm more of an Alec Douglas Hume man myself. No, I'm not saying I'm going for Ted Heath. I saw Ted Heath conduct an orchestra once. Don't vote for him just on that. I'm not going to vote for him. Alec Douglas Hume surely carries the hopes of a nation. What I'm saying is I'm not going to vote for either of those because I'm going to vote for the Signal Listeners' Choice Awards, the prestigious podcast awards from that there

America in which we are currently up for... What are we at for? Yes, they are the biggest podcast awards in the world apparently and we're in the running for best co-hosted team brackets pop culture. Because when it comes to pop culture, there is nobody who is more on the pop and the culture than us. So, we'll put a link in the show notes and it's on all our socials. And so, we'd really appreciate your vote in a sort of embarrassingly needy way. The rest of the nominees are all Americans.

So, this is like payback for 1776. It's an interesting voting thing whereby it actually shows you're running total. Does it? Yeah. How are we doing? We've got 19% of the vote. So we're the same as the bold and the beautiful. We're ahead of the anime effect, but we are behind last thingy and behind the sports movies. So anyway, if you could just pop on the Signal Awards and just say, I say, oh boy. Is it easy to do? Is it literally just like, can

they just jump on there and then vote? Yeah, it's quite easy. Yeah, it's free. You don't have to send them any money or anything. And while you're there, you can vote for who you want to lead the Conservative Party as well. And I'm still saying Alec Douglas-Humes is the future. So anyway, that's the needy section of the podcast. Actually, there might be quite a few other needy sections. However, Mark is going to be doing some fine work reviewing these films. Yeah, it's an interesting week. There is a new Alice Lowe movie called Time Stalker. There is a new adaptation of Salem's Lot. And there is a new Transformers movie, Transformers

One. Transformers One? Transformers One. That's weird. Why would they call it Transformers? Because it's a prequel. It's an origin story. It's a prequel. It's an equal. It's a sequel. It's an equal. Okay. And our special guest is Peter Capaldi and not Peter Capaldi, as you will hear exclusively. He's quite clear that his name is not pronounced Capaldi. And that was a surprise to me and

I believe that it was a surprise to you. Yes. Anyway, you'll hear why when we talk about his new TV show, which is like it's a series too, but we'll be talking about it for the first time. It's called The Devil's Hour. It stars Peter Capaldi and you'll hear from him a bit later on. What are your reviews in our premium bonus subscriber section for the elite? In our premium bonus subscriber section for the elite, we have Terrifier 3. I know that you are fully up to date with Terrifier 1 and 2 because I did review them previously on this podcast. And in anticipation of the theatrical

release of Gladiator 2, they are theatrically re-releasing Gladiator. Which makes a lot of sense, really. Yes. Our recommendation feature TV Movie of the Week, not list watch list, that'll be there as well. Add free episodes of Ben and Emotions Shrink the Box, plus questions and Shmestians will be there. You can get all that via Apple Podcasts or head to extratext.com for non-fruit related devices.

A seven-day free trial is on offer, which is a very lovely thing. If you're already a Vanguardistaista as always, we salute you. Actually, this leads to a query from Kieran in Auckland, Chaps, a question for pedants corner, perhaps. Interestingly, he puts an apostrophe after the T and before the S, pedants corner. But if it's a corner for many pedants. Yeah. But if they're after, yeah. Anyway, linguistic and other tangents in previous editions of your show have been followed. So I suppose my correspondence is not totally without precedent. Currently various directions for Android and Apple iOS devices are given to

listeners of the show under the heading fruit related as I've just been mentioning or non-fruit-related devices. My question is, how should owners of BlackBerry phones, which now use the Android operating system, avoid confusion from these instructions? Does the fruit-related adjective need an update? I mean, I think BlackBerry's from my previous point... I didn't know they existed. Well Well they were discontinued in 2016. So presumably if you're a BlackBerry user and you're using the Android operating system, you're using a super old phone.

I think that's how it's working. Because I looked it up, they were made between 1999 and 2016. So if you are a BlackBerry user, I mean you're hanging on for dear life, aren't you really? But I'm afraid in this case, BlackBerry is not a fruit. We're only talking about apples. If you remember, we reviewed a film about the rise and fall of the BlackBerry within the last year. Yes, and that definitely ends with them falling. So if you are indeed still using BlackBerry with an Android operating system, get in touch correspondence at codeomain.com.

However, I suspect overwhelmingly they've been chucked away and recycled or something like that. Anyway, thank you very much for getting in touch. Um, tell us something that's new and interesting. Okay. Transformers one. So just, just to get everyone up to speed in case you've missed this summer. So the Transformers

franchise, which includes toys, comic books, video games, feature films, is apparently one of the highest grossing media franchises of EVEs. More than $25 billion in revenue, which is why we have a new Transformers movie. If you're a regular listener, you will know that I was not a fan of the Michael Bay live action series, which started in 2007, basically took a kid's toy and turned it into a kind of pornified, wah, fest, you know, with lots of kind of non-kid friendly shots of Megan Fox's bottom and references to cluster fruitcakes and jokes about statutory rape because that's what Michael Bay finds funny. Anyway, after I think it was five of those, Bay stepped away from the director's chair, somebody else stepped in and they immediately got better and we got Bumblebee, which was

altogether sort of less leering. But long before Bay did all that, the Transformers were an animated series on television and then of course an animated feature film, 1986 Transformers movie, which famously, Simon, features the final performance by which screen legend? I would say it's almost certainly… Voice performance? A voice performance from Richard Harris.

Well done. Orson Welles. So Orson Welles from Citizen Kane to Transformers, the movie, and consequently the movie ended up being the subject of much ridicule. Don't forget, Dimec Double Century Sherry also did that. Exactly. So, anyway, the new movie is also an animation, albeit a computer generated animation with a lot more sort of whiz-bang smash than the previous animations.

Here is a bit of the trailer. Where's Optimus Prime? The filthy red and blue bot? Gives off a Corotor metallic stench. Okay, Corotor, that is too far. Okay. When two worlds are fighting, it gets hard to survive. Transformers transform in bats in the sky. You have the power to make your world better. So, all that stuff.

So, Bay is still exec producing, but essentially back to closer to what we began with, which is animated feature voice cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Brian Terry Henry, Scott Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Keith Michael Key, John Hamm, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion, the last of these being the most important because as with Megalopolis, the thing about Laurence Fishburne is he sort of provides an oral link to the world of the Matrix. And actually there is a lot of Matrix in Transformers 1. It's kind of, it looks like the Matrix meets Speed Racer. And remember that the Wachowski's aesthetic was always effectively animation, but made live action,

made flesh. And as animation has become more and more in inverted commas realistic, they kind of with the rise of CG, those two things have come closer and closer together. So the film is basically an origin story prequel. The planet of Cybertron has been robbed of its energon supplies, meaning that the Coglus and therefore untransformable Transformers have to work down mines to dig out the power. They are led by Sentinel Prime, who goes up onto the surface trying to find the lost power source. But then when two sort of plucky miners make their own way to the surface, they discover that all is not what it seems and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So after Bumblebee, this is my second favorite

Transformers movie. It's got lots of smashy bashy action, satisfyingly crunchy, silly machine transformations. It's got a not very subtle, but hey, I'll take it anyway, message about power corrupting. And it's even got a couple of jokes that I actually laughed at out loud in a cinema. One of them, I laughed at so loudly that another critic turned around and looked at me in something approaching dismay.

If you got- Did they go shush? They didn't go shush, they just looked around and go, why is Kermode laughing at Transformers hitting each other jokes? If you've got a kid who wants eye-popping fairground attractions on screen and doesn't need it to resemble something that looks like it was published by Paul Raymond, then this is the movie for them. It's PG for mild threat, mild violence, threat and language. I was very pleased to see that in

the language thing, the BBFC actually point out it is implied that a robot is about to use a middle finger gesture, but this isn't seen. And when I saw that happen on screen, I thought, I wonder whether they cut that or whether that was how it was actually done. But that is a million miles away from the Michael Bay cluster stuff that they had in the other one. So it's basically like, yeah, you remember Transformers? They were kids' toys. Here's a film about that. So yeah, what's interesting about that and the fact you laughed out loud is that that kind of laugh is worth more than a laugh in another movie because they must have worked very hard to overcome years and years of painers to actually get to that point where you laughed

out loud at a Transformers joke. Yeah. And also I laugh because immediately after the joke, there's a silence and I laughed into the silence, which was, it's always the thing that, you know. Is that like screaming into the void? It's exactly like screaming into the void, yes. Boggs always top 10 in just a moment. Before we get there, we talked about Harder Than the Rock. Yeah. Last week.

I loved it. And an email here from, it says, Dear Roots and Rock Reggae. This is from Mark Lediard. Hello, Mark. Thank you very much for getting in touch. Long-term listener, first time emergency mailer, writing to say thank you for your review of Harder Than the Rock. I have to declare an interest, however, as I was the editor of the film. Oh, okay.

A task that started for me a little over one year ago when I met the director, Mark Warmington, who shared with me the incredible footage he had shot and collected since 2020. He described to me how he first met Loxley Gitchey in The Simmerons Guitarist in a Burger King car park where they chatted for hours while sitting in Loxley's car. The stories he heard of backing Bob Marley on his first UK gigs, of taking reggae music to Africa, Japan, Europe and Ireland for the first time, of making albums

with Lee Scratch, Perry and Paul McCartney were mind-blowing. They were the pioneers of reggae music to Africa, Japan, Europe, and Ireland for the first time, of making albums with Lee Scratch, Perry and Paul McCartney were mind-blowing. They were the pioneers of reggae in the UK and yet have been almost totally forgotten. What followed was three years of filming the band as they recruited a new singer, survived COVID and lockdown, lost one of the founding members to cancer, and tried to get together back on stage one more time. In the edit room, we became detectives, scouring the internet for footage, photos and music so that the full story could finally be told. I had my chance to meet the Cimmerans in person for the first time at Sheffield Dockfest in June this year. What struck me most about them was how warm and friendly they were and despite everything that they had been through, their lack of bitterness

at the way the music business and life in the UK had treated them. Their love for what they do and the camaraderie and friendship that they show for one another has sustained them over the years and we hope that with this film their story will come to be at least a little bit better known. In my opinion, they represent everything that is joyous and positive about the melding of cultures that can happen through immigration. As teenagers born in Jamaica but coming of age in 1960s London, they kept their Caribbean culture close but couldn't help being influenced by the music that they heard on the radio and saw on TV. The Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks. So much so that what they wanted to be most of all was a band. Down with the Nazis and up with punky reggae parties,

Mark, the editor, Lediard, the editor of Harder Than the Rock. Well, Mark, you did a brilliant job editing that footage. I mean, I'm a big fan of the movie, so much so that I'm doing a couple of Q&As. I'm doing a Q&A at the Newlin Film House, I think, this Saturday, and then I'm at Act One in Acton after that. I think the film's great, and Simon, I think you should see it because the joyousness of it is the thing that really, really rings through.

I mean, firstly, the fact that you can't quite believe that you don't know this story already, and secondly, just, I mean, the joy of the music, I mean, I love reggae anyway, but there is a real life-affirming spirit to the film, and it joy of the music. I mean, I love reggae anyway, but there is a real life affirming spirit to the film and it comes through the music. And it's, yeah, no, it's an extraordinary story. And Mark, you should be very proud of the work that you've done on it. Not me, Mark, Mark, the person who sent me the email. And indeed, Mark, who directed it. Another Mark,

top Marks, in fact. Box office top 10 at 15, Interstellar. Still astonishing and if it's going to be seen anywhere, should definitely be seen in a cinema. Basically going to race through until we get to number one, essentially. Dragon Keepers at 14. I enjoyed it, like the animation, driving me mad to think who the voice cast was because of course, of course, it's Bill Nighy. The Deadpool and Wolverine is at 13. Finally out of the top 10 after 11 weeks. It's taken a staggering amount of money. Apparently people enjoy it. Don't understand why.

Never Let Go at 12. Which is an interesting atmospheric horror thriller in which people are in a house in the woods to which they must remain attached by a piece of wood from which they must never let go. Megalopoulopolis is at number 11. Megaflopolis, am I right? This is the second week and it's out of the top 10. For Francis Ford Coppola's $120 million dollar folly and not even grand folly at that. One of the worst films I have ever seen. And incidentally, it's been lovely hearing from the Coppola fans. Thank you very much. Have a nice life. Have they been warm in there?

Are they basically saying, I understand that you have a point which I disagree with politely? Yes, that's exactly what it's been like. Number 10, A Different Man is number 21. We don't have any correspondence on Megaf mega, mega, megaflopolis. I thought we were, oh, okay, fine. A different man. I really liked, I thought different man was really surprising. I thought Adam Pearson was terrific in it. I thought it negotiated a complicated story, you know, with, with wit and

verve and yeah, it was, it was a real surprise. And there is someaflopolis conversation a little bit later on, but not in this particular bit. Number nine, Star Wars Episode Six, Return of the Jedi, 40th anniversary. My suspicion is that the Star Wars theatrical re-releases will continue to bring people in forever and ever because there is an entire audience that only ever saw them on the small screen. So as long as they continue to be on the big screen, people will continue to go. 200% Wolf is at number eight.

Neither you nor I saw 100% Wolf. I have seen 200% Wolf, didn't understand very much of it. But I did check with the press notes. They said it doesn't matter if you haven't seen the first one. I hadn't, and I still didn't understand what's going on. Number seven here, number 18 in the States is Lee. I'm really pleased how well this has done. This is its fourth week in the top 10. I think it peaked around number two or number three. This is Kate Winslet's kind of passion project. Again, I did an onstage with Kate Winslet at the Newlin Film House about this because it's a film that she had sort of poured her heart and soul into. It's a story of a photographer who takes pictures

from the front line of World War II and the impact that that has on her life. I thought that Kate Windsor did a brilliant job in the lead role and as I said, it is a project into which she threw her heart and soul and you can really tell. UK number six is Despicable Me 4. UK five, number 16 in the States is The Out Run. If you haven't listened to it already, listen to Simon's interview for The Outrun because it was really interesting hearing about how the film came about and the fact that Saoirse Ronan's partner basically said to her, here is a book that you are going to need to do. This is the book for you. And it's fascinating discovering that and then watching the film and then seeing how that story plays out.

And of course, famously not the first film ever shot on Orkney, but possibly the first film ever shot on the island off the island of Orkney. Yes, Papa Westry, I think it was called. The Substance is it number four, number nine in America. I'm so excited about The Substance. I think it's my favourite film of the year so far. Brilliant that it's doing so well. I know that early on some distributors were kind of shy of putting it out because they thought it's just too extreme.

The fact that it's in its third week now and it's at number four means that it has found an audience. The press reports about walkouts have just kind of added to the charm. I think Coralie Farge has done a brilliant job with it and I just think you have to see it. It's one of the films of the year. No, I won't. I take your recommendation. Okay. Three here, five in the US, Speak No Evil. A remake of a film that we had reviewed earlier on this show, which basically told a dark story about two families stuck together with each other. This is a remake with James McAvoy, which basically plays out the first film and then bolts on a final act in which it all

turns into Straw Dogs, and I think it does it all up. Rob says, I hated the overall direction this film took. The original movie was an interesting idea in setting up a path for Arthur to start to transform into a fully fledged villain. A Joker begins, if you will, and this film smashed all that original promise to pieces. Mark mentions he was unsure how fans of the character would react, and I have been a fan of the comic book creation since I got into comics as a much younger Vanguardist. I believe the reason I and fans adore the character is that he is pure psychopathy with only chaos in mind.

There are no moral questions or hints of internal struggle, just carnage. This film should have embraced that and continued the steps to grow into that full-blown creation without spoiling it. Clearly J-Fad, as I don't think we should be calling it, did the exact opposite. This from Jerleget. It could be Ger, but I'm going with Jer. Dear Har and Lee, I found it fascinating that the movie appeared to hold contempt towards both the original fan base and its detractors. Todd Phillips is a talented filmmaker but in recent years seems to have the deafness in his work of an angry uncle

ranting on Facebook about a subject he's watched one documentary about and declared himself an expert of. His promo for Joker saw him call out woke culture for making comedy impossible these days, a theory that I think has been thoroughly debunked since. This round of promo and the resulting movie seems determined to deconstruct and demythologize the Joker itself. The story being set in Gotham appears incidental, as Phillips implies the Joker is little more than a lunatic turned legend imagined by cable news and lost soul followers who appear to be stand-ins for the incels the original movie was accused by many the Joker is little more than a lunatic-turned-legend imagined by cable news and lost-soul followers, who appear to be stand-ins for the incels the original movie was accused by many of platforming.

What results is an empty, bitter and soulless experience that feels created out of little more than spite alone? Alan Shepard in Cheltenham says, Dear Batman and Robin, you choose. Anyone who expects it to be a Crash Bang Wallop superhero Marvel Universe, I know it's DC style movie, obviously hasn't seen the first one and is in the wrong theatre. It's extremely daring and I can see why lots of people won't like it. It's unremittingly dark. Such violence as takes place is pretty graphic and ultimately it's a tragedy of a man adrift, maybe or maybe not, partly redeemed by a doomed love story. Not a masterpiece, but a courageous and effective follow-up and a film that will grow in reputation as the years pass. Thank you, Alan. And one more. This from Josiah Omotoshu. First-time emailer, Vanguard Easter,

double colonial commoner, born and raised in Nigeria, now living in the United States. Josiah says, in his effusively positive review of Heaven's Gate, a film I know Mark despises, but bear with me, Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas wrote, and I quote, I don't think in 20 years of movie reviewing, I've ever been so totally alone. Having watched Joker Foliette, I relate highly to Thomas' words all those decades ago. Not only did I love this movie, but it is easily one of my favourites of the year, joining other more positively received pictures such as Monkey Man, American Fiction, Dune Part II and Late Night with the Devil. All the things people seem to find galling about this film, I find enrapturing.

Its complete lack of regard for comic book lore in favour of telling a self-contained story on its own terms. More of that please. It's occasionally unwieldy, veering from golden age animation to prison film to musical to courtroom drama and back. Propulsive. It's seeming build up to an eruptive and action-packed finale that never comes, subversive. It's insistence that Arthur Fleck is not rewarded for his violent proclivities, no matter how

justified they may seem, admirable. I think in 20 years we'll look back on this film and go, well, that kind of got a raw deal, didn't it? But until that day, if it ever comes, I'm okay with being, as Kevin Thomas put it, totally alone. Hello to Jason, all the production team, god emperors of the podcasting landscape. Long may their benevolent reign continue." So that'll be Joker 2, Folly Adieu at number one.

Yes. I mean, you're not alone. There are people who like it. The film has proved incredibly divisive. And when I was reviewing it, I said that I thought that may well be the case. I thought that a lot of people wouldn't like it. I also said, and I hope I expressed this correctly, that whilst I was watching it, I thought this shouldn't work. Yet, almost in spite of itself, it did. I came out thinking that actually, I think, and I think you agreed with me, it is a more interesting film, I think you agreed with me, it is a more interesting film, and for my mind, a better film than The First Joker. Earlier on this week, I went to a screening of Salem's Lot, and I saw Kim Newman,

who of course, Kim is the great horror maven, and he wrote all the secrets of cinemas with me. He was the lead writer on that thing. Kim's got very, very good judgment. We started talking about it. We hadn't seen each other for a few weeks. I said, what did you make of Folly Adur? Because I kind of liked it. He said, yeah, so did I. I thought, okay, well, Kim's judgment is, I understand where Kim's coming from and he quite often has got very, very good judgment. I remember Fire Walk with me, the only people that liked Fire Walk with me when it came

out was me, Nigel Floyd, Alan Jones, and Kim Newman. I'm not saying that everyone is going to get won over to folly adieu, but I think its divisiveness is actually a strength. I do understand that a lot of people will dislike it for entirely legitimate reasons. I thought it was unexpected, it did something that was very, very audacious, and it doesn't all work. But enough of it does that I respect it and I've got more out of it than I did out of Joker. And I like Joker. Somebody said, oh yeah, well, you said it's better than Joker, but you hate Joker.

No, I didn't. I like Joker. In fact, I went back to my Observer review in which they do stars, which is always a shame and it's a four-star review. I didn't dislike Joker. I just like Folly Adder more because I think it's doing something really adventurous. I mean, I am, of course. How many stars would this one get, would you think?

Well, I don't like doing stars, but I think this would still be a four. I mean, this is why stars are stupid because there's no nuance. There's absolutely no nuance. The way it worked with the Observer was we agreed they wouldn't do them in the paper, but they would do them on the internet because it's clickbait. But the point I was making was I didn't dislike the Joker. I had reservations about it, but I didn't dislike it. I think this is a more nuanced film. I think it's a more interesting film. I think it's a more ambitious film. I think it's some I think it's the better film but I

absolutely respect everybody's right to detest it in the same way that I respect people's right to love Megalopolis I do wish the people who loved Megalopolis would respect your right to not like it. Not just my right we respect anyone's right to not like it. Not just my right, we respect anyone's right to not like it. But hey, you know, film fandom, it's a weird world. Correspondence at CovinaMare.com, we're back in just a moment with Peter Capaldi and Mark will be reviewing these. Time Stalker, which is the new film by Alice Lowe, and also there's a new version of Salem's Lot.

new version of Salem's Lot. When Henry III chose his royal advisors, he ended up with some very untrustworthy power grabbers which led to poor management decisions, rebellions and at least one person in prison. Why didn't he use Indeed? Well Indeed wasn't around back then, but it is today. Indeed is the ultimate hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors, according to Indeed data, and matching technology that helps you find quality candidates fast. Use Indeed for scheduling, screening and messaging so you can connect with candidates faster. When I was hiring, I didn't use Indeed either and the process was very slow and stressful, so

I wish I had. Join more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indeed to hire great talent fast. And listeners of this show will get a £100 sponsored job credit to get your job's more visibility at indeed.com slash dynasty. Indeed.com slash dynasty. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. You need indeed. Hey, it's Ben here with a word from our sponsors at Better Help. Now, I do a bit of the old acting, so I know what it's like to try on different characters for size and put on different masks, so to speak. And now it's October, which is kind of mask season, right? But even without acting, without Halloween, we all sometimes find ourselves pretending, hiding behind something,

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great cinema. MUBI is the place to discover ambitious films by visionary filmmakers, all carefully handpicked so you can explore the best of cinema streaming anytime, anywhere. So Mark, what can people find on Mubi this October? Well, one of the highlights in October is Occupied City, the Steve McQueen film. This is an extraordinary portrait of World War II Amsterdam, which uses testimony from World War II, but interspersed with footage from modern day Amsterdam to create this really kind of strange disparity. I really like the film. I think you did too. That is Occupied City, which is on Mubi UK from October the 11th. You can try Mubi free for 30 days at mubi.com slash Kermode and Mayo. That's m-u-b-i.com

slash Kermode and Mayo for a whole month of great cinema for free. Okay, now this week's guest is Peter Capaldi. Now you'll hear the pronunciation advice given by Peter in just a moment because I do get it wrong. Also, I think it's just worthy of note that this is probably the only interview he has ever done where Doctor Who is not mentioned. He's done so much work that I thought, no, I'm not going to talk about it. Anyway, he's back with his character, Gideon Shepherd, second season of The Devil's Hour on Amazon Prime. You can hear my chat with Peter after this clip from the show.

Deja vu. It makes you feel like you've experienced all this before. You told me the worst thing that ever happened to you. I stopped it. Remember Lucy, remember. I remember everything. Do you know how many times we've had this conversation? DI Chambers. And that is a clip from The Devil's Hour,

series two, stars Peter Capaldi. Peter, how are you, sir? Good, thank you. Very good. It's very nice to see you. And you too. I feel slightly reassured that you're not terrifying. I am terrifying in one respect, which is when my name is mispronounced. So my name is pronounced Capaldi, not Capaldi, which is a very common mistake.

It's a Londoner's mistake, which I can only apologize. I once had a very fraught telephone call from Joe Wiley saying, I've got Lewis Capaldi on the show, how do I pronounce his name? Not like that. I said not like that.

Because he's a cousin? He's my cousin's son. Right, okay. So also to make it absolutely clear, this is the Devil's Hour and not the Devil's Whore, which you were also in. Which was a show about the English Civil War. Charles I. Yeah, which was a great job to do, but I often get confused between the two.

Is it the same devil we're talking about here? I think it is actually. So this is series two, new series on Amazon. Prime First series had a fantastic impact. Just introduce us to the idea of The Devil's Hour and what is The Devil's Hour? The Devil's Hour is a show really about deja vu and it's about how sometimes when that occasional feeling you have that you have been through an experience is actually you have that you have been through an experience is actually a signal that you have been through the experience and that there is another level of existence, another loop of existence, if you like, in which those experiences have occurred and you can tie them all up together and it's another life that you have led. But that mystery,

that you have learned. But that mystery, that knowledge is held by very few people, including my character, who is the person who understands what's going on in life, in all of its revolutions and all of its loops. And it follows the path of Lucy, who's played by Jessica Raine, who discovers that she has another life and that there are significant events that have happened in that other life that have a knock-on effect in her current life. I think it's probably worth saying, so this is the start of series two and there are three series in total. I get the feeling you're going to take all of the three series to tell us the entirety of this story. I'm not a great sleeper and when I woke up

this morning and it was dark, I thought, if I look at my watch and it's 3.33, I'm going to freak out. Fortunately, it was half past five. But there is a specific reference in your show to the Devil's Hour is apparently 3.33. It's 3.33 and apparently that's a genuine thing. That's the time when you're most likely to wake up from a nightmare or to be disturbed. I don't know how they had worked that out, whether they asked people to write down when they felt

they were particularly upset in the middle of the night. But yeah, that apparently is the time when it's most likely that you will awake with a start and with a sense of dread. How would you describe Gideon Shepard, your character? And Gideon is, well, essentially he's, the world would see him as a serial killer, really, because he's... With a good side?

Well, I think he's got a good side. He thinks he's got a good side. But when we meet him at first in series one, he's incarcerated. Because they've tracked him down because he has, you know, he's killed a lot of people. And has a whole list of people that he's going to kill. But the reason that he kills people is because he knows that those people will be responsible for terrible crimes, because he has access to the other loops of lives in which their lives have taken another turn. So he tries to get them before they take this other turn.

So he believes what he's doing is saving. A lot of the time he's protecting children, but of course that's not as happens, even in describing it just now, you think, oh, you're just mad. This is just a madness. You've just got voices in your head. But he is actually, he has got a very specific task that he's on. Who's given him that task? He has himself, because he has, through his own very troubled upbringing, he has discovered the secret to our existence, which is that it's not a singular existence, it's not a once only gig. It's quite a burden to carry.

It is. But he decided that rather than just go under with that, that he would begin to... He discovered that he could have an effect. He could alter things. And that's what he tries to do. What is his connection with Lucy? His connection with Lucy is that he knows that she is in danger and that he must... I'm trying not to give it away. No, no, that's why I'm aware that there

are three series worth of secrets. There are three and we've just finished during season three so it's quite odd. We're selling season two as it were today but we just finished... Well you can sell me season three if you want. There's something going on but well I can't really go into it because this is the trouble when you're selling these kind of shows because you don't want to give it away. But what's going on? There's something that he doesn't realize. What he thinks is going on is not what's going on.

That's interesting because we get the impression that he, in fact, I think you've suggested it earlier on in our conversation, he's the only one that knows what's going on. Apart from, I suspect, maybe Isaac, the little boy. Yeah, yeah, that's true. He probably knows what's going on. Yes, he's a very key part of it, Isaac. So you really need to watch the whole of the first series. You really need to watch.

Although I've actually been watching it out of sequence, which in a way feels appropriate for your show. It's one of those shows that it's quite complicated talking about it, but actually watching it is easier. It exists. They're just watching. And also it's very beautifully made. And I can't compliment enough the directors

because it has a kind of sense of unease about it. Now quite why people find this bombing or entertaining, I don't know, but I think they do. And I think, you know, it's sort of in a tradition of, of horror movies, if you like, in the sense that, that, that people, I think, quite enjoy experiencing these chills and then realizing that's not real. And they can go to bed happy. So it's the, like the difference between a fairy story and a horror story.

Yeah. There's a slim one. Yeah. story and a horror story. Yeah. It's a slim one. Yeah. But the actual construction of these films is quite a delicate and skillful task. And with our show, it's full of chills and sudden shocks and this growing sense of darkness. And that's, it's one of the things I love about horror movies is that they're kind of a totally cinematic darkness. And that's, it's one of the things I love about horror movies is that they're kind of a totally cinematic convention and you don't get that in the stage, you don't get it anywhere else. It's this building up of these atmospheres. I just wanted to mention the music

only because you're not aware of that obviously when you're performing on the set but it is both the needle drops and the music that's being composed for the program is very important and as someone who makes music and I was listening to your St. Christopher album this morning, which I love very much, very kind of Tom Waits-y I thought. Oh thank you very much. The music is playing an important role. Yeah. But do you, is that something that you get to appreciate afterwards when you see the edit? I always love seeing what they do, you know,

because I think it can transform things. When you watch a scene and there's no music, it's fascinating to see the comparison between that and then with the music and with different variations of the music. I always have a sense when we're filming, I try to have a sense of the thing on the screen, even though we're acting in the moment.

Sometimes I'll play a little bit of scary music to myself to get myself on the screen, even though we're acting in the moment. Sometimes I play a little bit of scary music to myself to get myself in the vibe, but the music on this show is great. When someone hires Peter Capaldi to appear on their show, they don't just get Peter Capaldi the actor, but you're a writer, you're a producer, you're a director, you're an Oscar winner for the Franz Kafka It's Wonderful Life a few years back. Does that mean that they kind of expect you to have a role in shaping the character?

Were you, was that option open to you on this? You've made me sound like this very grand kind of creative renaissance kind of man, but really I'm just somebody who has, who's always wanted to have a go. So I'm interested in filmmaking and in music and all of this stuff. So I just have a go and see what happens.

And I've had a go at writing and I've had a go at directing and I've had a go at acting and I've had a go at music. And yes, it all adds up, I guess, to somebody who has an awareness of all these sensibilities. So I guess my collaborators know, I mean everybody on this show I know, so they know I do all these things, but I don't bring that to the table because I'm employed to be Gideon. That's one of the joys of acting, is because you are just 100% committed to delivering those lines, making those moments work. I'm not interested really in the directing of it or the writing of it at that point,

because that's not my job. Tom Moran, who's the screenwriter, has a background in comedy and did series of shows at the Edinburgh Festival and you have brought as much comedy over the years. I think, I just think funny people are scary people, you know? There's a, I don't know whether it's a timing thing, but he's written a very scary script and you deliver it with such power. I just wonder if there's something in that kind of comedic thing

which you have in common. I don't know. It's very interesting you said, because Tom, when you meet him, would be the last person you would think really would do this kind of thing. I think comedy is probably both one of the most underrated acting skills and most ignored acting skills. Which sounds odd because everybody likes to laugh and comedians are huge and blah blah blah. But you don't often see comedians getting Oscar's. You look at like Cary Grant, you know, such a light touch, so hilarious.

That was, he was a fabulous actor. Did his comedic instinct preclude him from being respected earlier? I think so. You know, if you make jokes about things, if you are funny, you're probably not gonna be taken seriously as an actor. So yeah, I think if you're, you know, if you make jokes about things, if you are funny, you're probably not going to be taken seriously as an actor. So, yeah, I think if you're, you know, if you are funny,

you're usually quite smart. So you can delve into different areas. And I just need to mention before we're done, Peter, that Mark, who does the reviews on this show, and I disagree about most kind of movies, but the one thing that we have in common is that our second favorite film is Local Hero. Alright.

His favorite film is The Exorcist, then Local Hero. My favorite is Amadeus and then Local Hero. Great choices. But that is still a sensational film. Sensational music and wonderful acting. Yeah, yeah. The music's incredible. Well, I can remember how exciting that was because we had... Your first big role. That was the first, yeah, because I was in a band, you know, back then and we were, you know, and we used to go

and do, we used to do a lot of support gigs with Altered Images. Claire, who'd been in Altered Images, who was in Altered Images, had been in a film called Gregory's Girl that director called Bill Forsythe had made. and Bill used to hang around the gigs and come and see her and then we would support them quite a lot and then he met me in Bla Bla Bla and then he said he was doing this other film and then did I want to be in it? Bla Bla Bla, long story. But we never expected it to be anything like that. I thought it was going to be a, you know, just a 60 millimeter knockabout thing. But I remember they got, it was an amazing time.

I was so lucky to be involved in this because David Putnam was the producer. David Putnam had produced Chariots of Fire and would go on to produce The Killing Fields and The Mission. Films unimaginable today that anyone would make films like that. Big budget, intelligent, moving, sharp, political

movies. But David had started the thing of bringing rock musicians into composing soundtracks. And it was he who I think invited Mark Knopfler, who actually came over to Scotland when we were filming to have a look at us and to play a bit of stuff. So it was very exciting we got to see him. But I think he did amazing. And he continued to do scores. He did a fabulous score for Last Exit to Brooklyn, which is one of the most moving scores. And Carl, a movie with John Lynch and Helen Mirren. Fabulous. I don't know if he's done any more since. There's an album called Screenplaying, which is most of his film music altogether.

He seems to have stopped, but we need to stop because we're out of time. So first of all, you should say The Devil's Hour, Series 2, Amazon Prime. Then there'll be Series 3, already filmed, can't tell us anything more about that. Anyway, Peter Capaldi, thank you very much indeed for talking to us. Most enjoyable thing. Lovely to talk to you. He's fascinating to talk to. And when we did the bit at the end, he was talking about filming and putting them in everything, I thought, oh, Mark's going to enjoy this bit, whatever he makes of everything

else, he's going to love this bit. And this is very much an interviewer's observation. You know, when you're asking a question of somebody and you're looking for some kind of confirmation or affirmation from their face, maybe they're nodding or they're smiling, oh yeah, yeah, we're going to be fine. Peter, I've seen this in a number of other interviews because I watched him being interviewed, he frowns. When you ask a question, he frowns as though really, you're going to ask that?

But it's just, I think he's just concentrating, but I love listening to him. He has so much to say. He does. When he mentions that thing at the end about he was in a band, the band he was in, if I'm not mistaken, was Dream Boys, whose drummer was Craig Ferguson. And then I just wicked this and it said that they also performed a cabaret act together as Bing and Dean Hitler. Okay.

So, he manages to be, he has, I mean, from my point of view, he seems to have incredible range. So, he can either do family entertainment a la who, or he can be, you know, genuinely terrifying. And he's a rather rotten policeman with an Apple TV series which we did talk about called Criminal Record. And also he's scary in this. I mean, it's difficult for you to talk about because it's so entwined over three series, but what did you make of what you saw? Well, I mean, I think he is scary. And the story as he explained it there is an interesting one. There's, I'm very conscious of the fact that we're working around embargoes. And as I've seen the first couple of episodes, but the thing about his, when you said he has a frowning face,

I think it's even more than, I think he has a very, very intense face. And even when you said he has a frowning face, I think he has a very, very intense face. And even when you're watching him in Local Hero, when he's sort of tying himself up in knots because he's fallen in love with Marina, that intensity is the thing that shines through. And I'm sure that's the reason why Bill Forsythe ended up casting him. Whether he's doing comedy or whether he's doing this, I like the fact that he very clearly connects this to horror cinema because that is what its antecedent is. Yeah, he has a very, very intense face and he uses it rather well. I wouldn't have wanted to be in the room when he corrected the pronunciation. No. No, but he was smiling.

He was gracious. He was gracious, but it was like- And he does look, he is blessed with the ability to look cadaverous if needed. Yeah. And he does. Yeah. Okay. So look out for that show, The Devil's Hour, not The Devil's Whore, very different thing

that looks similar, but he was Charles the first in that and he's Gideon Shepard in this and it's on Amazon Prime. What else is out? You mentioned Salem's Lot. Well, staying in horror, yes, Salem's Lot, it's a new adaptation of King's 1975 modern vampire novel, which was his second novel after Carrie. In the source, a writer, Ben, returns to his hometown of Jerusalem's Lot, Salem's Lot, where he lives as a child, only to discover that the town is basically being turned into vampires. So famously, 1979, two-part mini-series directed by Toby Hooper, who made Texas Chainsaw Massacre starring David Soule and James Mason. That was terrific.

1980-something, Larry Cohen, who did It's Alive, returned to Salem's lot. In 2004, there was a new TV mini-series, Rob Lowe and Donald Sutherland. There was also a BBC radio drama version in 95, so many adaptations now. This is coming to us, obviously, in the wake of the big screen success of It, which similarly started life as a TV mini series. It's a big screen Salem's Lot, although it's worth pointing out that this was made in 2021, was due for release in 2022, was delayed to 2023, delayed again to 2024, and in America has gone straight to max, but is getting a theatrical release here. So it's not been much loved by the people that made it. In fact, Stephen King was on Elon Musk's hellscape of fascist filth. He said, I don't know what the problem is because it's not like it's embarrassing or anything. And he said, no, it's not embarrassing. But

that's, you know, yeah, it's not embarrassing. So this is written and directed by Gary Doberman, who wrote for the conjuring universe, directed Annabelle Comes Home and was a writer on It, sole credit on It chapter 2. And it's credited as from the creator of the Conjuring universe, that's James Wan, and a producer of It, which I presume is Roy Lee and King gets an exec producer credit. So mid 70s, Lewis Pullman is Ben Mears, the writer who comes back to Salem's lot, which he left after traumatic childhood experiences. Mackenzie Lee is Susan, the Salem local who is interested in Ben. Here is a clip.

I've always written stories about things that are so terrible. You'll run away until your brain won't remember. So why did you come back? I'm here for research. What exactly though are you researching? I can see you lying back in your satin dress. Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary in the library recently? A bit of Gordon Lightfoot.

It is. Seeking a man. And actually the needle drops are rather good. When he says he's noticed anything out of ordinary, well, what is out of the ordinary is that the Marston house, the creepy house has been sold. It's now being caretaken by Peter Isbeck's Richard Straker, who's got an antique shop in town. The locals, meanwhile, have been asked to deliver a crate which looks suspiciously like a coffin into the basement of the house and then to leave it alone. Jordan, Preston Carter is Mark, who's this resourceful school kid, he's one of the first to cry vampire.

Alfred Woodard is Dr Cody, who's baffled by the outbreaks of pernicious anemia. John Benjamin Hickey's father Callahan, who finds his Holy Spirit in a bottle. Bill Camp is all around good egg, Matthew Burke. So the mini series were like three hours long and the horror had time to unfold. This is 130 minutes and so you have got none of that breathing space. One moment the town is just a bit weird and the next moment everyone's a vampire and characters

are getting killed and resurrected at a rate of knots. That is because it's a compressed running time of a longer book. There are some good scenes. The floating kid tapping at the window that we all remember from the Toby Hooper version is sort of revisited. It still has less power, but it still has some panache. There's a sequence at a drive-in, which is actually very well handled. It's got some very, very good tension. One or two of the jump scares have got some bite, but it's a fairly uncharismatic adaptation. I mean, you know, I was left longing for David's soul. John Preston Carter is very good, holds the attention. Alfred Woodard is very underused. I mean, it's rated 15 for strong horror, violence, bloody images and language. And it's not really scary. There are a

couple of creepy moments because it's kind of a creepy story. But it does definitely feel like when King said there's nothing embarrassing about it. Yeah, you're absolutely right. There isn't, but there isn't much more either. I mean, I kind of enjoyed it because I like the story. And I'm a Stephen King fan and I know you are and this is one of his most enduring tales. But I don't know that there's anything new here. It's just fine. Okay. And we're looking for something that's maybe a bit better than just fine. Now, it's the ads in a moment, but everybody knows and they gather around at this point and they call their various family members in to sit and listen together and enjoy the pleasures of the laughter lift.

Hey, Mark. I annoyed the good lady ceramicist who endorsed this week so much that she decided she was going to emigrate to Australia. She'd been on the blur with the embassy for a few minutes when she said, do I have a criminal record? Is that still a requirement then? I had to ask one of her friends what the problem was as she wasn't speaking to me. You have no idea what goes on in her life. You never buy her flowers, said her pal. What the actual, when did she start selling flowers? I thought it was just the pots Hey Mark, do you know why do you know why the French eat snails? I don't because they don't like fast food. They go It's cracker season already

Looking forward to our live show with so much more comedy to come. And then this bit says here, right, it says, Simon, throw to Mark for Trail of Blast bit. Mark, throw forward. Simon, we'll be back after this Trail of Blast review. Time stalker. Hey, Mark, I found that I've been thinking recently about merch. Merch? Yes, merchandise, especially all those goodies we have for sale online. Hey Mark, I find that I've been thinking recently about merch. Merch? Yes, merchandise, especially all those goodies we have for sale online, you know, branded

mugs, t-shirts, water bottles, you name it. The torch, the director's chair, the full works. I wish someone had told me about Shopify, the all-in-one commerce platform to start, run and grow your own business. I know all about that. So Shopify is the commerce platform revolutionizing millions of businesses worldwide, whether you're selling herrings or Harrington jackets with the take logo on the back Shopify simplifies selling online and in person so you can successfully

grow your business. Shopify even gets you selling across social media marketplaces like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok with industry leading tools. Get Shopify today. Sign up for a one pound per month trial period. Can't we fix this? shopify.co.uk slash. Curmode. All lowercase. All lowercase. I mean, what is wrong with Kermode and Mayo? It's easier to spell Kermode.

They've gone for shopify.co.uk slash, let's say it together, Kermode. Are you an overthinker? Then I have a podcast recommendation for you. Introducing the Magical Overthinkers podcast, a show for thought spiralers exploring the subjects we can't stop overthinking about. I'm your host Amanda Montel, author of the New York Times bustling book, The Age of Magical Overthinking and host of the Sounds Like a Cult podcast. Every other week on Magical Overthinkers, I interview a brilliant expert guest about a buzzy, confounding subject from

the zeitgeist. Think narcissism, social media comparison, imposter syndrome, girl math? Complete with thought-provoking conversations and actionable takeaways for how we chronically online listeners can get out of our own heads, this podcast is here to make some sense of the senseless. Listen to Magical Overthinkers now every other Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. Just checking the voting stats, the Signal Listeners Choice Awards hasn't changed. We're still on 19%. Yeah, but this hasn't gone out yet. I know, but my family voted. I thought maybe four votes from around Europe might have counted,

but maybe they're not. An interesting email just before our next review from, now I would say Maghrete in Aberdeen. Okay. But it's a double T-E at the end, M-H-E-R-I. So it could be Maghrete. Anyway. Maghrete. Anyway, Maghrete, Maghret in Aberdeen. Thank you very much for your email. Apropos of the Outrun and all things Orkney, if there's one place on earth that will make you feel the weight of human history, it's the Orkney Islands. And at the heart of it all is Scarabray, one of the most awe-inspiring archaeological treasures

on the planet. Imagine stepping into a village that was bustling with life over 5,000 years ago, a time before the Pyramids of Egypt or Stonehenge even existed. That's what Scarabray offers, a tangible, breathtaking connection to a civilization lost in time. This perfectly preserved Neolithic village hidden beneath the sand for a millennia or for millennia feels like a time capsule. The moment you set foot here, you're not just seeing the remains of homes, you're walking into the daily lives of ancient people.

Their stone-crafted furniture still stands, beds, dresses, even hearths where they gathered with their families. The sophistication of this settlement built without any of the technology we rely on today, will leave you in awe. Yet, despite all we know, Scarab Ray is still shrouded in mystery. Why did its people leave? What untold stories linger in the windswept ruins? Visiting Scarab Ray isn't just about history. It's about feeling the pulse of the human story in one of the most remote and magical landscapes on earth. Go, says Magritte. Stand in those ancient homes, gaze out at the wild Orkney Sea and feel the centuries melt away. This is more than a visit, it's a pilgrimage into the heart of time

itself. It sounds like a movie trailer. I'm convinced. Let's go. In a world of time. We should do the show from Scarab Ray. That would, it might be a little bit windy. Hey, let's do it. Because I'm sure the internet connection there is fabulous. That's right. It might be as good as the internet connection to your house. Correspondence at kermitandmau.com. Okay, so what else is there? When we were doing Salem's Lot, I said, fine. You said, I think we need something a little more than fine. So Time Stalker, new movie from writer, director, star and all-around polymath Alice Lowe, one

of the co-creators and stars of Sightseers, who made her directorial feature debut with Prevenge. She made that while she was heavily pregnant. She then edited the film whilst breastfeeding, did a brilliant job. This is her follow-up feature, second feature, an ambitious time-traveling anti-love story in which Alice Lowe's heroine meets the man of her dreams in several periods of history, from rural 17th century Scotland to the present day and beyond. Narin Barnard is the object of her affection, or more accurately her obsession. She is convinced that they are made to be together, even if,

no matter when she meets him, he has no interest. Every time her character meets his throughout history, their interactions are doomed to failure, usually doomed to failure with her dying in a number of squishy ways, including axe in the face and decapitation by horse drawn carriage. Throughout, she is accompanied by Tonya Reynolds Meg. Sometimes she's a servant, sometimes she's a friend, sometimes she's something a bit more than a friend. Here's a sequence from the 1980s in which the dream man is now a new romantic pop star who dresses weirdly like the dandy high women that she met in a previous incarnation when high women were a real

thing. Once again, Meg is by her side. Here's a clip. I haven't seen you for ages. Where have you been? Oh, I've been changing my fate. Really? It looks like you've just, I don't know, had a perm? Do you think it makes me look like Barry Gibb? I'm not sure who that is. Aslan? No. The Cowardly Lion. Yeah, make sure the Cowardly Lion.

Yeah, make sure the cow can't deny him. HE LAUGHS Do you think you'd recognise me? If you hadn't seen me for a really, really long time. Like 200 years. Come on. Sisterhood can carry on without me. So, basically... That's funny.

Yeah, it's good. And that's a kind of, you know, that's a rather sort of, that is a clip that is very much like the tone of the movie. We were recently talking, there was a, somebody wrote in an email about the new wave of female helmed horror films, you know, Jennifer against Babadook, Julie de Cornel's Raw, Titane, Rose Glasses, St. Maud, and Lily Amapour, Girl Walks Home at Night. Prevenge was definitely part of that wave because it was a really genre-literate film. It was all these nods

to Zouofsky's possession and it was also gruesomely funny. So after Sightseers and Prevenge, there was this interview with Alice Lohan, in which she said that in the work she'd done, she'd killed a lot of people on screen and it was time she killed herself on screen instead, which happens several times in Time Stalker. And again, it's very silly, literate. It's got like nods to everything from Witchfinder General to Barry Lyndon to Olivia Newton-John's video for physical. And the title is the key to it because the thing is she is a stalker. I mean, she is every bit as much of a stalker as the Son of Bernard character is in King of Comedy. She's also a deluded fantasist. She's got this absolute belief that

whenever she meets this bloke, he is the bloke for her even though he's not interested. And deluded fantasist is a description that Alice Lowe used, I interviewed her on stage just earlier on this week. She said she used it about herself. She said, that's what I that's what I am. And also that is what the process of making films is about. The crucial thing is this, you're not asked to like her character. You're asked to see her character, see the world through a character's eyes. I mean, Alice Lowe talked about kind of subverting that, the monstrous woman archetype, by making the

monstrous woman the center of the drama. So you see the world through her eyes. And although this is a low budget film and it is, she's clearly having a whale of a time with the period detail, you know, whether it's the courtly wigs, there's one bit where she's wearing this huge wig and it's meant to look like a heart. And she meets the man of her dreams and he says,

it looks like an ass. She says, no, it's a heart. And then there's all the sort of later on in the 1980s, there's the dancer size Lycra and there's the poodle perm that looks like the cowardly lion. Nick Frost is in it, has a lot of fun with the role of the perennial partner who she keeps ending up with, who doesn't think that women should be educated, but keeps getting himself tied to her anyway. There's a lovely musical score by Toy Drum who worked wonders on Prevenge. The colour palette is kind of bubblegum, goes to hell, it's like pink, purple and worse. But most importantly, it is

distinctively and unmistakably unfilmed Alice Lowe. Nobody else would make this movie, but for her, it makes perfect sense. I think it's worth pointing out firstly, in a world in which women filmmakers often don't ever get to make a second feature, it's not only remarkable that she's managed to do this, but it's remarkable that she's managed to do it so much on her own terms. I mean, it's not a film that plays it's like it's not a film that plays it safe.

It's not a film that behaves itself well. It's not a film that thinks, I wonder if we can get that demographic by doing this. It's no Alice Lowe does disastrous love story across a series of time periods. And it's funny. And it's sharp. And it's got, you know, it's there is a little bit, there's some horror in there and there's some science fiction in there. But the centre of it is the self-described deluded fantasist making a film about a deluded fantasist and clearly having a whale of a time was doing it. And I, you know, I think Alice Lowe is a terrific thing all round around. I think as a second feature, this is like, yeah, wow, because just the scope, just the

palette is so much wider than it was in Prevenge. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. It's called Time Stalker. If you see the poster, the poster evokes Yorgos Lanthimos, the favorite. Actually, I think there is a bit of Lanthimos in it, but it is absolutely 100% pure distilled Alice Lowe. Before we're done and Mark decides what might be his film of the week and, you know, Transformers, I'm still holding him. Andy Ion, it's ION, again, I'm not quite sure.

It could be Eon, but I'm going to go for Ion. Andy Ion. Listening to an anecdote last week about memorable date movies brought to mind an epic first movie date night choice from Melbourne in the mid 1990s. Thinking that an edgy choice of Lars von Trier's psycho drama, The Kingdom, would impress her. Wow.

It backfired somewhat when, on arrival at the marvelous Astor Cinema in St. Kilda, it transpired that it was not a conventional film, but a four and a half hour compendium of all four episodes of the TV series. Yeah, of the TV miniseries, yeah. Hats off to her for sitting through the whole thing and sticking with me beyond that point. Sadly, it didn't last that much longer. After I took her to see Breaking the Waves, she'd obviously reached the last limit.

Are there any other examples of multiple viewings of one director's films that have caused unfortunate relationship breakdowns? Up with supernatural Scandi hospital dramas and down with boring film choices. I mean, I would think, Andy, if the multiple viewings of one director's films, if it's going to cause an unfortunate relationship breakdown, Lars von Trier may well be that person. If you're determined to go and see a whole bunch of Spielberg movies, I don't suppose you'll have that kind of problem. I don't have any personal experience of that. I did know in advance that the Kingdom was a TV series where you said you went through. I thought, you must have been in there for a very long time indeed.

Let's see if any listeners have any similar specific experiences. Well, that's it for this week. The team is the same team as normal and they're all fantastic. Mark, what is our movie of the week? Movie of the week is Time Stalker. Thank you very much indeed for listening. Take two has landed adjacent to this podcast already. Don't forget to vote. The link is in the show notes. Thank you so much.