Kermode & Mayo’s Take - Ari Aster, Return to Seoul, Blue Kaftan and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Episode Date: May 5, 2023

Director of Hereditary and Midsommar, Ari Aster, joins Mark and Simon to discuss his new film ‘Beau is Afraid’. He explains how doing press isn’t his favourite part of the process, but divulges some of his feelings on the film with Mark and Simon. Mark reviews ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ –  where Marvel’s Cinematic Universe expands into the cosmos – and Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt; ‘Return to Seoul’ - chronicles a 25-year-old French woman first return to South Korea since birth, where she tries to find her biological parents; ‘Blue Kaftan’ depicts a Moroccan couple’s relationship as the wife, Mina slowly realises just how much her husband is moved by their new male apprentice. Time Codes (relevant only when you are part of the Vanguard): 00:11:12 Return to Seoul Review 00:20:03 Box Office Top 10 00:32:19 Ari Aster Interview Blue Kaftan Review Laughter Lift Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Review What’s On 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 bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, esteemed podcast listeners, Simon Mayer. A Mark Kermode here. I'm excited to let you know that the new season of the Crown and the Crown, the official podcast, returns on 16th of November to accompany the sixth and final season of the Netflix epic Royal Drama Series. Very exciting, especially because Superstar and friend of the show Edith Bowman hosts this one.

Indeed, Edith will take you behind the scenes. You can also catch up with the story so far by searching the Crown, the official podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe now and get the new series of the crown, the official podcast first on November the 16th. If you worked out, what you're going to wear for the coronation? Because you can't just turn up wearing anything.

When you say turn up, are you going something? No, no, no, I mean, it's just in your front room. Are you going to? I can turn up in my front room in anything I want. Oh, is that right? Yes. So I'm going to wear a Comsar Angels t-shirt, a pair of roomy shorts and a hat at a jaunty ankle.

I think that is very good. A lot, yeah, because this is our pre-coronation edition. I haven't thought of it that way. Is there a dish, you know, like coronation chicken? Is there a dish for this correlation? I've noticed that coronation chicken is turning up in lots of sort of the traditional coronation chicken. I think there is. I think there are other things.

What three-know-what it is. It's very complicated, I think. Is it something, forgive me, this is not a... Is Charles, is he vegetarian? I don't know. Was, was he not, he talked to plants for a while, didn't he? Well, he's been an eco kind of guy. Yeah, before, to be honest,

before it was kind of cool, he was talking about this kind of stuff for quite a while. Yeah, no, I mean, I wasn't asking sarcastic, I was asking because I have a memory of that being the case, but then I remember loads of things that aren't the case. I remember that we landed on Mars, but apparently that never happened. I did, did I tell you I wrote to him? No.

I wrote to him when, when I'd done a mad blood stirring, which as he knows in Darmall, setting down a prison, where he kind of owns Darmall prison and all the land around there. So I wrote to him and said, because this is the place where the first black shakespeare was ever produced in this country, there should be some kind of like a plaque or something which just, even though it's still a prison, there should be something that acknowledges its cultural significance. Does he own it as part of the Duchy of whatever it is? It's part of his, but it's he- Maybe it's been passed on to the new-

Anyway. Anyway, so first of all, one of his henchmen replied, which is very nice. I don't think henchmen is the one you're looking for. And I sent the copy of the book anyway. Then the next thing, he wrote me a letter saying, Sorry, you have a letter from the king. Well, he was pretty charged at the time saying, thank you very much.

I enjoyed reading your book and did you say love the podcast Steve? If only he'd done as a PS, I might have brought it in. But he, he was basically suggesting that um, Dartmall prison won't belong for this world. So it's pretty ancient. Okay, but that, well, he said it's too ancient to put a plaque on. I think he was just saying there's, you say, we put a plaque on it, it's pretty ancient. Okay, but that, well, it's two ancient to put a plaque on. I think he was just saying this, so we put a plaque on it, it'll fall down. Yes, I think that's, I think that's probably right. Anyway, when you, I'm just, I'm, I'm, I mean, I'm, you know, I'm just, so I'm surprised, firstly, that you have the initiative

to do that. And secondly, that, that you got to reply, I always imagine that my whole version of writing letters to anything of any book was when I was young I wrote a letter to the BBC which said Dear BBC, I love Star Trek. Can you get me Leonard Nimoy's autograph? And they wrote back and they said We don't film it here See I thought it was on the BBC They're following this right the William Shatton and Lenin Nimoy lived in, you know, broadcasting household television centre, but they did write back and say, we don't make it.

At least I'm on my own back. Yeah, I precisely so, yeah, it was it. And then my mum wrote to Michael Crawford, because for my eleventh birthday or something, I got taken to see Billy Leia. Billy, it was called, wasn't it? The stage show, you know, I think so. Yeah, I think it was the stage where it was just called Billy. And the poster was him with a bunch of balloons and ambrosia and all that stuff. And it was a big trip and I was taken to the theater because I

loved some mothers do have them. So I knew that he was on in the West End. So my mum said, she would take me and my best friend, Chris Dry, to the theater to see Billy. I think he'd seen it already. Anyway, and then she wrote to Michael Crawford to ask if he could send an autograph, you know, maybe give some, and Michael Crawford sent back, not only an autograph for me, but an autograph for my mum. Sorry, I'm not mad at the copy of Michael at the sign photo, we had matching sign photographs

of Michael Crawford. That's very lovely. Yeah, there was really, really nice. Will you be pledging your allegiance during the combination? I think we should do it. Okay, here's what I think we should say. Here's what I think we should say. I've written it down.

Okay. I pledge allegiance to the band of Mr. Schneebley. So when it's been the service comes out out in favour of the Archbishop. That's great. We will do that. Okay, you say this. I pledge allegiance to the band of Mr. Schneebley and will not fight him for creative control and will defer to him on all issues related to the musical direction of the band. That's it. Okay, let's do that. Yes. Fine. When it comes to that bit, this is our suggestion to the Van God Easter, is that when the allegiance comes up, you pledge allegiance to the band. Is that disrespectful? No, I think that's very good. That's actually a very, very good thing because you're not hardcore unless you live hardcore. That's right. And then

the Archbishop of Canterbury should stand up at the end and instead of doing the blessing, should say, God of rock, thank you for this chance to kick ass. Please give us the power to blow people's minds with high-voltage rock. Wouldn't that be fantastic? Just passing that on. It was coming out later on the show. Oh, I've got to count them ourselves now. We're going to be doing reviews of Paul.

I'm just sorry about that. Yeah, looking for Saul, Blue Cafften, and Guardian to the Galaxy Vol. 3, Vol. 3. And I guess we'll be Ari Aster, director of Her Head Hitter Tree. And also... Which is still a great joke. Midsommah. Now Bo is afraid, so we'll talk to Ari a bit later on.

Do you know why Bow is afraid? Because you heard me say, meet someone. To be honest, I am afraid that if we start the interview with Ari by saying, who is Bow and why is he afraid? We won't get anywhere. That will be the end of all time. On extra takes another 90 minutes of this complete nonsense,

more than double this thing. Extra reviews mark what's going to be in the extra review section. We have Pumphia and Haka, both of which are very interesting films. Pumphia and Haka sounds like an upscale and overpriced luxury candle brand, but that's worth aspiring to. Potentious Mark, currently Mark Kermode 13 versus Mark Kermode 11. Did you give me the half point last week? You did. Trink the box with Ben Baby Smith is as a space is also ad free on Tuesdays alongside all your other extra content on the take channel. You can spot us via Apple podcast or head to extra

takes.com for non fruit related devices. If you're already a van God Easter as always, we salute you dear Grendel and Grendel's mom says David Hopkins this week's email regarding the unusual letters in modern Scandinavian languages and particularly the A and E pushed together. He reminded me of my times spent studying old English poetry which also features similarly unfamiliar characters. I say I spent time in doing old English poetry. Did it help? If you knew the youth and he's lifted of the flu, we'd be better live the flu than mood. That was a worthy man. That's a middle.

Okay. The aforementioned A and E is usually referred to as ash and is the same hard A sound as in hat, but one can also employ it F. A soft T-H sound as in bath or thorn, a harder T-H as in thistle or thud. A capital thorn looks a bit like a Y if you squint a bit, and so is responsible for the erroneous belief propagated by a yelled coffee shoppy, owners that E was ever an old version of the. This may seem in consequential of course, but sooner or later someone will make a version of Beowulf in the original language, at which point it will be invaluable. Thank you. Still confused, but always useful. Have you ever read the Battle of Molden? No. The Battle of Molden basically has many, many

stanzas that go, and then the men who are on the inside said, sayingly, with words that came forth from their mouth, to the men who are on the inside said sayingly with words that came forth from their mouth to the men who were on the outside that heard the men on the inside say the words that were sayingly said forth from their mouths on the outside. But those who were outside wanted to be and it goes like the is that on Led Zepp 3. It is on the director's car. Lisa Gilholy possibly Jillholy, but Lisa Gilhoole, possibly Gilhoole, but Lisa Gilhoole is what I'm going for.

We're in trouble. Oh, Mark and Simon. Oh dear. I am not a member of the church, but my husband is. Oh dear. Basically, your podcast or more accurately, your scathing review of leap year is running my marriage. It was years ago. I wanted to watch leap year is ruining my marriage. It was years ago.

I wanted to watch leap year with my husband. He said, no, Mark and Simon said it was terrible. Yes, I agreed. I doubt it was a masterpiece, but it looked like a cute romantic movie, and I wanted to watch it. He refused. It's been nearly a year. I have seen it five times, and he still refuses to watch. I read this message to him up to this point, and he was so horrified that I have seen it five times and he still refuses to watch. I read this message to him

up to this point and he was so horrified that I'd seen it five times that the rest of the message was moot and he is now questioning my sanity. I just wanted to watch a romantic movie with my husband. We are at an am pass and he will only listen to you. He says, if you read this on air, he will watch the movie. His fate is in your hands. Well, we've read it. We've read it on air. So, enjoy Leopie ear. Let me just remind you that we watched Leopie ear because the star of the film was going to come on the show. Yes. And then decided not to, because their opinion of the film seemed to be the much the same as ours. But it's not worth spoiling a marriage. No, it's not. No, good, you know, it's ahead. Yeah. I mean, you could just watch the trailer, which has the whole film in it, but in about

three minutes, but watching it five, I don't suppose anyone involved with the film has watched it five times, he says. Most people involved with it haven't watched it one time. Why would you watch it five times? You know, hey, look, a multiplicity of opinion is a wonderful thing. And I love the fact that we have just saved a marriage by the simple act of you reading out an email. Yes. Good deed for the day. Lisa, we appreciate you getting in touch.

We hope you enjoy the co-watch. And basically, your other half needs to get in touch with a review, I think. Yes, it does. Next week. If I remember incorrectly, it does include the line, it is not a load of old poo, which the answer is. Hmm. Doesn't someone say top of the morning? Isn't it? Yeah, it's absolutely full of people be garering and mumbling.

Anyway, we'll take a review next week, please, as your part and penance. Okay. So, yes, our reactor is going to be coming up shortly, but first of all, here's a review. Return to Soul, which is a really, really interesting film, the right to my David Cho, who is a filmmaker who made a big splashing cam with Diamond Island. He's a Cambodian French filmmaker, and he decided that he wanted to make a movie about a Korean adoptee. He had met somebody who had told him a story and he'd become sort of very interested in the life of script consultant, Laura Bedouff, actually very much influences his script.

And he was looking for somebody who was French but from Korea. And he couldn't find an actor. And then somebody said, I have a visual artist who is a friend called Park Ji Min, who was born in Korea, moved to France, the church. It has no acting experience at all. But you might want to talk to her because she's very much like the character you're talking about. They then had this intense period of collaboration. And they made this film, it ended up being Cambodia's entry for the 95th Academy Awards. I think it made the shorter version of the long list. So she plays Freddie. We first meet her when she arrives in

Seoul, apparently accidentally. We'd learn later on that she was meant to be going to Tokyo, but all the flights were grounded. So she decided on a whim to go to Seoul. She had said to her adoptive parents that at some point they would go back to career together, but she's now done this completely on a whim. She meets a woman who is the clerk at the hotel who sort of sees her as a sort of lost soul and takes her under a wing.

And then very quickly discovers that on the one hand, she may may look vulnerable but she is also this kind of agent of chaos who takes great pleasure in upturning the sort of social morays and the polite behavior of the society into which she's landed. Here's a clip. One bottle of soju, please. No no no. Two, two, two. Soju, two gyeong, you have to answer. 소주 두 명이라 답발 한 적씩 주세요 친구 분이 굉장히 특이하시네요 어 어떤게요? My name 지환 감사합니다 왜 알아있어?

France France? France 왜 France? 아프랑스 예! France! 아프랑스 왜 던지면 빠리바겠대 아프랑스 So one of the lines in there is that the people that she's with says she doesn't look French and then that conversation then becomes no she looks Korean she has actually an old fashioned Korean

face a pure Korean face they start talking to about the fact that she is Korean. And then she goes to the adoption agency almost on a whim turns up completely sort of unannounced and very quickly finds that it's possible to locate her birth father but not her birth mother. And then there's a question about whether or not she should meet her biological father, which she does. Again, without any form of preparation, not able to speak the language or understand the culture, and she is accompanied by this new friend who is acting as a translator but finds herself thrown into this very kind of very complex situation. The rest of the film then plays out over the best part of a decade with gaps in the narrative of a couple of years, sometimes longer than that, in which we see this central character who discovers fairly early on that her original career name was

Yoon Hee, which apparently means Do Seil, I mean, and she is anything but Do Seil. She's Do Seil and Joyful. And she is actually this character who's sort of seeding with contradictions, full of energy, very, very creative, but also given to bursts of out of context dancing and chaos creating, which seems to be something that she does whenever anybody gets close to her. And what you start to see is this portrait of somebody whose sense of identity is in a state of flux and is confused about who they are and about whether or not it's possible like when she meets her biological father, he immediately goes into this kind of drunken thing about, you know, you must come back, you while Korean, you must live here and she's going,

no, I'm French, but he immediately wants her back within the bosom of the family. And meanwhile, the mother is still failing to respond to the telegrams that sent to her. And what's really fascinating is that over the course of this drama, which I said plays out of the best part of the best part of a decade, we see this central character try on different identities and variously adapt herself and her personality as if she is trying to find an identity that fits her when she's a very, very material character. And she is played, as I said by Park Gemin, who has never

acted before in her life. And apparently was very, very proactive in the script when she got the script originally from the director, right to director. She said there was a whole lot of things about it that she didn't like. It was a whole lot of things in it that she thought were cliche, the whole lot of descriptions of her character that she said, no, no, she wouldn't do that, she would do this. And they worked very intensely together. So the character that you see created on screen

is absolutely a collaboration between a director who's got a good track record and his film, a previous dramatic feature played very, very well in Cannes, did this. And somebody who is a visual artist who never intended to be an actor, but who took the project on and who threw herself into it, and you look at it and you go, I cannot believe that is the first time that she has acted. I mean, over the course of the 10 years,

her character transforms so many times and everything about the transformation is completely convincing and you're swept up in it. The film makes brilliant use of music. As I said, one of the things that she does is she's kind of given to these bursts of dancing. And at one point, she dances to this techno track, which has this thumping chorus, which says, you know, I don't need anybody. And I never needed anybody. I never needed anybody.

And she's sort of swirling around and it's kind of ironic because she looks like she's being happy and joyous, but in fact what she appears to be doing is sort of swirling to kind of shut the world outside her out. And then her character goes through a complete sort of transformation in terms of what she is and what she does and the people with whom she is close. And all the way through it, you get this sense of firstly, this is one person who I can see developing over the course of this. Secondly, the cross-cultural complexity of this, they're having conversations in French, Korean, English, you heard even in that clip, they're sort of jumping between languages.

And the different identities that she manages to embody, I thought it was, I think it was breathtaking. The music is really, really well done. There's a lovely moment in which the father attempts to communicate with his daughter, the biological father attempts to communicate with his daughter by playing her a piece of music that he wrote. And it's kind of like the language can't do this, but the piece of music might be able to. And then it's also very, very aware of the fact that there's a conversation that she has

with her mother, her adopted mother, back home in France, who says, we always said we would go to career together. You know, and it's clearly very, very wounded by the fact that her daughter has suddenly just gone off and done this walk back into her past apparently on a whim. Anyway, I thought it was terrific. I thought it was like a kind of a trance of a movie. It's called Return to Soul and see it on the big screen because it looks

beautiful as well. The way in which it's shot is very, very important to the feel of it. I thought it was really great. Ad Sans compelling. It is. A definite watch. Okay, return to soul. Still to come. What else are we going to be looking at? We're going to be reviewing Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which is the third chapter in the Guardians of the Galaxy and his volume 3, as opposed to chapter 3.

And we are going to be talking to our very special guest, who is Ariasta talking about his new movie, Bo is afraid. We won't be saying why is Bo afraid? Why is Bo afraid? Because we won't get anywhere. We're going to be back before you can say, Li Sao, a dansense, say, deux amousons,

ne forge jamais, de malo monde. Remind me. Let us read and let us dance. These two amusements will never do any harm to the world. Voltaire? Voltaire again. Spot on.

All the world. Voltae? Voltae again. Spot on. All the hits. Hi, esteemed podcast listeners, Simon Mayo. I'm Mark Kermot here. I'm excited to let you know that the new season of the Crown and the Crown, the official podcast, returns on 16th of November to accompany the sixth and final season of the Netflix

epic Royal Drama series. Very exciting, especially because SuperSub and Friend of the Show Edith Bowman hosts this one. Indeed, Edith will take you behind the scenes, dive into conversation with the talented cast and crew from writer and creator Peter Morgan to the crown's Queen Elizabeth, Emelda Staunton. Other guests on the new series include the Crowns Research Team, the directors, executive producers Suzanne Mackie and specialists, such as Voice Coach William Connaker and props master Owen Harrison. Cast members including Jonathan Price,

Selim Dor, Khalid Abdullah, Dominic West and Elizabeth Tabicki. You can also catch up with the story so far by searching the Crown, the official podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe now and get the new series of the Crown, the official podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe now and get the new series of the Crown, the official podcast, first on November 16th. Available wherever you get your podcasts. Happy Nord Christmas. Protect yourself while Christmas shopping online and access all the Christmas films from around the globe. Plus, when you shop online, you'll have to give websites your card details and other sensitive

data like your personal addresses. Those websites should already have their own encryption built into their payment systems, but to be on the safe side, you can use a VPN to ensure that all data coming to and from your device is encrypted. Even if you're using an unsafe Wi-Fi, you'll still be able to shop securely with a VPN. And you can access Christmas films only available overseas by using streaming services not available in the UK. To take our huge discount of your NordVPN plan, go to NordVPN.com slash take. Our link will also give you four extra months for free on the two-year plan. There's no risk with Nord's 30-day money bank guarantee. The link is in the podcast episode description box.

This episode is brought to you by Mooby, a curated streaming service dedicated to elevating great cinema from around the globe. From myConnect directors to emerging oters, there's always something new to discover, for example. Well, for example, the new Aki Karri's Mackey film Fallen Leaves, which won the jury prize at CAN, that's in cinemas at the moment. And if you see that and think I want to know more about Akikari's Mackie, you can go to movie, the streaming service. And there is a retrospective of his films called How to Be a Human. They are also going to be theatrically releasing in January,

Priscilla, which is a new Sophia couple of film, which I am really looking forward to since I have an Elvis obsession. You could try movie free for 30 days at movie.com slash Kermit and Mayo. That's M U B IB-I.com. Slash, Cermord and Mayo. For a whole month of great cinema for free. And we're back, Ariasta coming up very shortly. Box Office Top 10, first of all, at 41. Little Richard, I am everything. Which other was terrific. I mean it's this is the

Lisa Cortez documentary which is not to be confused with the documentary which is currently on BBC I player which is little Richard King and Queen of rock and roll with which there is some cross over but I think this is a really fascinating portrait of a really brilliantly exciting ground-breaking artist and this looks at his career very much through kind of queer theory lens and you know and says what if if everyone just accepted that rock and roll was in fact created by a black queer icon and what does that then tell us about the you know the culture and which all that stuff happened also it's just got loads and loads of fabulous fragments of interviews with little Richard,

who never appeared to do a boring interview. I mean, he was torn between rock and roll and religion, but every time we did an interview, he just went off on one. Number 11 here, and number 11 in the state's big George Foreman, the miraculous story of the once and future heavyweight champion of the world. Which, as we discovered last week, despite the fact that both you and I thought that we knew, you know, a certain amount about what's in history, you said, I know about the rumble in the jungle and then demonstrated that you didn't.

Right. Which so, you know, for me watching this film, I didn't know any of this story at all. So every single match I was like, is that how it finishes? I didn't know that. Number 10 is missing. Which I haven't seen. Polite Society is at number nine. So the best way of describing Polite Society is that it is a British satire, Bollywood fantasy Asian martial arts, heist movie with a science fiction,

Cronenburgian twist at the end and songs. And despite how chaotic that sounds, it's actually pretty good fun. And it's got a sort of an arctic chaotic energy that I think works rather well. And I have thought about it a lot since I saw it. There were certain moments when I was going, what genre are we in now?

Which, sorry, where is this film going to? So it pinballs all over the place, but it's very entertaining. And number nine, so Daniel Savage on the number nine movie, Plague Society thoroughly enjoyed it, full of charm, laughs, and great stunts from start to finish. Get a bit bonkers at the end.

A bit bonkers is understates how bonkers it gets at the end. But that's no bad thing. I thought Priya Kansara and Rita Arya were superb. Yeah. Air is at number eight. Well, you know, I like Ben Affleck, I like Matt Damon. It's I keep I'll say the same thing again. It's a story about licensing issue.

I know other people have found more in it than that. I mean, whilst I was watching it, I was enjoying the sort of, you know, the bromance conversations between these businessmen doing this stuff, but it's it's a story of a shoe. Number seven in the UK number four in the States, Star Wars episode six, return of the Jedi brackets 40th anniversary. This is an email from Elliot. This re-release intended to make us all feel really old. I just wanted to say that I was one, that I was one of what I hoped were

many people getting to see Return of the Jedi on the big screen this weekend. I hope there were others, but the midday screening I popped into Brixton's Ritzie in the biggest room had an audience of one, which was me. How surreal to have a room that size to myself. It was possibly the best and most relaxing cinema experience I've ever had. I had no concerns about bad behaviour by other audience members. I was able to have exactly the seat I liked, and that no one else would be in it. It was a massive screen. I had no anxiety about my chocolate bar wrap of noise being too annoying for anyone. Also, it being returned to the Jedi. I had no anxieties about the characters on screen, about Jedi itself, a solid, very 80s action adventure romp, elevated by the creature effects

and in McDermott's emperor more than anything else. The Ewoks looks spectacular in some shots, but like children in suits in other shots. But hey, Ho, being of a certain generation, the original Star Wars remains the only one I've not managed to see in the cinema now. Can any other listeners recount screenings attended where they were the only attendee? Okay. Well, that's for future programs, but that would have been a great experience, particularly if you're anxious about other things that can happen, if it's just you, which you're used to, and I've done it as well, because you go to these screenings which put on for

you. Yeah, there is the great privilege of going to the press screening. I just tell you the trivia thing about Return of the Jedi is that one of the people that George Lucas asked to direct it was David Lynch and David Lynch tells this story about going out to George Lucas's ranch and the sky will grow whatever it's called. And when he got there, he immediately developed a migraine. And then for the whole of the meeting, when George was showing him all the characters

and the toys and that he walks on something David Lynch's migraine just got worse and worse and worse. And then he had to leave. Yeah, I don't think that's a perfect combination. It's a bunch of moppets, isn't it? But you know, I remember queuing in Starbucks near Broadcasting House and I joined in the queue and three in front of me was Ian McDermott, who has such a distinctive

profile because that's the profile is kind of what let's you know. And the guy behind, you know, who was serving said, name and he could have had so much fun at that point, but he did just say Ian. I wanted him to do the form kind of emperor. Anyway, Star Wars is at seven. Number six is John Wick chapter four, which you and I both enjoyed very, very much. And that's a three-hour movie that the time flies by. Number five here, six in America Dungeons and Dragons, honor among thieves doing very, very well and good for it. So much more fun than we had any right to expect.

So yeah, really enjoyed it. Pony and Selvin too is at number four. Haven't seen it because it wasn't press screen, but I imagine we may get some emails about it in the next week or so. I got one here. Oh great. From Ross, dear rocket and racon, medium term list, the first time caller. South Asian cinema has been gaining a lot of international attention in the past few years thanks to the incredible success of RRR. But also films like Ganga by Katya Wadi, which is one of my favourite films of last year,

which are absolutely fantastic films. And one of the very few films to include a shot of a 1956 Dodge Coronet, which I know Mark was a big fan of. And Patan, which broke all sorts of box office records back in January. Ponty himself and parts one and two were of a different mold to all of those films, however. An epic two-part book adaptation of one of India's most celebrated works of fiction.

To say that these films are a triumph is a little bit of an understatement. It's wonderful to see such vision and style executed in a way that's equal parts exciting and complex. And director Mani Ratnam has outdone himself bringing this adaptation to life. It's not a surprise then, given that he's been trying to get this book adapted. Since, as early as 1994, that the film seems so carefully planned. The cast also turned out excellent performances, especially when she's going to Vikram and Ishwarya Rai Batchan

for one particular climactic moment in the film that I shall not spoil here. Needless to say, it's been one of the best times I've had at the movies this year and that includes the Pope's exorcist, although entirely different reasons. If the duology needs summarizing for the layman, then imagine a sort of game of thrones if it was Tamil originally, and didn't have an ending so dire

that it removed itself from the pop culture canon for a few years. This is very easy to recommend, provided that A, you've seen the first one, available on a streaming service near you, and B, can get over the fact it's not in English and therefore it's a little tricky to follow all the place names and character names as they are quite long. Up with the subtitles down with people that don't like foreign films and all the other usual stuff from Ross.

Thank you. Well, thank you very much. I feel that my job has been done. Box Service number three here in America, not so. Unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Mohamed Shakir says, I watched Harold Fry yesterday expecting a more uplifting and upbeat film. Definitely far more complex than that with wonderful central performances, though it

didn't meet my expectations, I still enjoyed it. Didn't meet expectations in terms of what it was as opposed to what he was hoping for. Okay. I mean mean the penalty Wilton interview is on the last podcast do listen to it because it's it's terrific as as is her further interview on take two in which she sort of she answers questions unrelated to Harold fire I liked it I mean I I was surprised by I was surprised by how much it stayed with me, because when you're watching it,

it feels very incidental, very kind of light on its feet, and then later on, it's like, oh, okay, fun. It had stuck around with me. But no, to be particularly interesting on filming in South Africa, with Richard Edinburgh, I thought it was fascinating. Number two here, and number two in the state's evil, dead, right.

Now, I promised I'd go and see it, and I was going to, but I didn't, because on the? Now, I promised I'd go and see it, and I was going to, but I didn't, because on the Tuesday morning, I was going to go and see it. You and I ended up watching three hours of, um, uh, bow is afraid. So I have seen the Pope's exorcist, but that's now departed from the top 10,

which is bizarre because I thought, you know, what a success that was. It's a Russell Crowe showgirls with demons. Surely that's a smash hit. Anyway, Jude has seen it. As a massive evil dead fan, my favorite film of all time is Evil Dead 2. I was hesitant about Evil Dead Rise, especially as I wasn't the biggest fan of the 2013 remake of Ferdile Verres. And I've always been worried about it. If the franchise can survive without Bruce Campbell's

ash given the three movies and a show, which is one of my favorite shows, ever. However, Lee Crone in and Co. Completely proved me wrong. I loved Evil Dead Rise. It's got the grittiness and the gore of the original 1981 film and the 2013 film, though not as violent, but still has some of the goofiness of ED2 and army of darkness perfectly blending the two so as to keep me entertained. Thought the cast did a great job, especially Neil Fisher as Cassie, because I'm always

surprised when a child actor does a great job, but Alyssa Sutherland deserves the biggest shout out for her performance as the dead-ite version of Ellie. She scared me no end. Lily Sullivan and the rest of the cast deserve their props to evil dead can be such a physically taxing franchise and they nailed what they needed to do to sum it up. It showed up, impressed the hell out of me and has become my favorite film of the year so far. Well, it has to be to make me send an email about it. Can't believe this was almost going to go straight to streaming a parody because it fully deserved the big screen release. Bring on the ash, mere,

Beth, crossover film, PS hoping to see Mark back at Queen's film theatre this October. We'll be back, absolutely. Absolutely. From Jude. So it sounds as though you're going to enjoy. No, I am really looking forward to it. In fact, I've got reasons which I won't go into. I've got costume fitting. I have to do this afternoon. And if I can get out of that early enough, I will go and see this evening because I am really excited. Is it a fancy dress costume? It's a thing.

I'll tell you about it another time. You're gonna, would you be recognized? Would we recognize you? Or are you gonna be like, I hope so. Is it cosplay? It is cosplay. Yeah, that's what it is.

Yeah, I'm just what I'm going to a Comic Con and I'm going to dress. I'm going to dress as my favorite character. I'm going to dress as Father Carrus. Oh no, I do that anyway. Okay, that's very good. And number one here, number one in the States, the Super Mario Brothers movie.

Yeah, you know, again, total amount of money at the moment. I just, go on, what? On the, 45, 780, 59, it's just making numbers up now. Read that figure out. 45 million, 780,596 pounds. It's astonishing amount of money for a film which is very mediocre. I mean, fine, but very mediocre.

And again, I would refer back to Rob I'm you know Robby Colin of this parish made the same point. What that success tells you is there is a gaping hole in the market for kids movies. Now today's guest is the writer and director of the A24 horror films Hereditary from 2018 mid-Somar 2019 and his new film is Bo is afraid. Ari Astor of course and his new film is Bow is afraid. Ari Astor, of course. You'll hear Mia Mark having a chat with Ari after this clip. Am I jazz? No, no.

You've been healing so quickly. And no organs were hit. And your bleeding was really mild. What, this is a room, this? This is a room in our house. But it's your home for as long as you need. My name's Grace. Oh, this is Roger. This is my husband.

Hey, Kai. Welcome back. Thought you'd sleep in, huh? Roger's a very respected surgeon. He's the one who dressed and treated your wounds. You're a lucky man. What is this? That's my little assistant health monitor. Keep track of your condition. And that is a clip from Bo is afraid,

written and directed by Ari Astor. I'm delighted to say Ari joins us. Are you in Germany, Ari? Yeah, I'm on the last legs of this Europe tour and leaving today, actually. Okay. And how much do you enjoy doing the promotion for your movies? I'm a scale from one to ten, three or four. Why is it so bad? Because I know you've said it before. I've watched lots of interviews with you, from one to ten and you're not a three or a four. Why is it so bad? Cause I know you've said it before

and I've watched lots of interviews with you and it's clearly not the thing that you enjoy doing the most. But why is that? Cause so many, some directors, they can't wait to tell us their story. Is it just that we should be judging you by your movies rather than what you say about your movies?

Yeah, that's it. If anything, it's that I find the press part of all this very perilous, because anything I say, I can only regret. There's never a feeling. I'm so glad I said that that's really gonna like help somebody you know, take this movie in. It's, I'm only providing potential obstacles for people, I feel, by saying anything.

Okay, well, having prefix talk conversation with that. You might great to speak to you. Can I invite you to describe Bowers of Introduces to Your Film? It's a film about a man who is riddled with anxiety, and it's about his trip to go visit his mother, which is frustrated by many, many things. That's maybe my coy with holding way of pitching the film, but it's a nightmare comedy and an odyssey of sorts. Before we get into the detail of what you've done and how you've done it, can you just also just explain the genesis of Bo because you started with Bo as a short movie back in 2011.

Can you just explain how it started there and now has become this three-hour epic. Well, the short film was really just this exercise. I had just gotten out of school and I was moving out of my apartment and two days before having to move, I realized, oh, this is a potential location and I had no money. So I wrote something very quickly to be shot in that apartment and the short itself is nothing special but in the short there is this idea of a man

leaving this key in the door and then running, I'm on his way out the door and then he has to run back in to grab something and when he comes back, the key is missing. And that struck me as a strong catalyst for this kind of an anxiety comedy. And so about 10 years ago, I wrote the first iteration of the bobe script that I then tried to get made. At that point, it was even more overtly a comedy.

It was only interested in being funny and even more episodic. And I wasn't able to get it made. Wrote a few other things, wasn't able to get those made. Wrote hereditary, that happened. And after I made Midsomer, I just felt like I wanted to return to that world, which had always made me laugh. There was no idea that was too outrageous or strange, because the world itself was kind of governed by this nightmare logic.

You talked about how, you know, in its original inception, it was more of a overt comedy, but there are so many just fleeting sight gags in the film that may be laugh out loud. I mean, I go forward at Shiva Steve's grub for the grieved, which I thought was, you know, the kind of thing that you almost don't notice it happening. And it seemed to me that the whole film is kind of like a shaggy dog story,

in which the central thing is, what if your mother could hear all those things you say about her in therapy, which seems to me to be sort of the heart of the nightmare gag? Is that how you felt about it? I see this film as kind of an elaborate Jewish joke. And you're right, it is a shaggy dog story. If it is a contribution to any specific tradition, I'd say it is a contribution to that of the picker-esque, right? That was really the goal was to make something that was really spacious, to make a film that kind of kept changing shape and changing tone and changing rhythm, but which is hopefully cohesive all the way through. And I said the first draft was more overtly a comedy,

but for me, if this isn't a comedy then I don't know what it is. I was making myself laugh all the way through making it and part of the joy of making the film was really packing this thing with as many gags as possible. You know, totally, there were two things that it reminded me of, and forgive me if neither of these

are films that you, but there were moments that reminded me of Punch Drunk Love of that the central kind of the driven character of the center of Punch Drunk Love. And at one point I started thinking about Sinectiggy New York, which I was a film I never really understood, but as this kind of elaborate world was being kind of constructed, that kind of chimed a little bit with me.

Do you have other films that you think about when you're making your work, or do you just take everything from your own head? On this one I was thinking more about books, and I was thinking more about certain writers. Like it probably, it probably almost even too obvious to say, but Kafka was on my mind and Borges and as I said, you know, the Picker Esk was a tradition that I was very conscious of while I was writing this, so I was thinking of Kendiid and Don Quixote and Trish from Shandhi.

But I was always thinking about the Greeks, especially as we got to the ending, which to me is something, should play almost like a Greek play written by Tennessee Williams or something. The film has often come to mind while I'm making something. Sometimes they occur to me when I'm on the set. So sometimes they occur to me in post. You know, when Bo enters the play, more than halfway through the film, you know, that's an interlude that made me think of the red shoes

pretty early on, or at least that was a film that kind of made me feel freer to do that, right? You're kind of referencing Pal and Press burg as a matter of life and death to what the end is well on you. That's right. The, this sort of hellish tribunal at the end is something of a nod to the end of matter of life and death, which is a much gentler film. Yes. Quite a... Yeah, but also very funny.

I mean, it's propaganda, but it's really... It's beautiful and very funny. The ending of that film has always made me laugh. I'm aware we're 10 minutes into the conversation, Ari, and we haven't mentioned Waking Phoenix, who is, I think, in every scene of a movie and when that's three hours, long that's a lot of scenes. Tell us how you came to want Waking Phoenix to be your bow. Early on, you know, into writing this, the thought kind of occurred to me that he would be the ideal person for this. He's such a vulnerable actor and he throws so much of himself into everything he does.

And it felt like what this film needed more than anything was somebody who could ground it, right? Or at least who himself could stay grounded within this world because the world is so arched. And so kind of unreal, right? And kind of harsh. And it was very important to just have somebody who could stay human all the way through that. I've wanted to work with him ever since I saw,

to die for for the first time, but the film that really, really excited me, that he was in was actually, I'm still here, not only because I think that's one of the great comic performances and it is a performance in every way. We'll see you like to work with her. Amazing, Amazing. He's not only a good guy in a very decent person, he brings such seriousness of purpose to what he's doing, but also a lightness that might surprise you. He's a very, very funny guy. But it's interesting that the film that you cite as,

you know, one of your favorite performances, is basically essentially watching somebody virtually torch their career in public. So it's like, it's almost like what you love about that film is that he's willing to go that far with a role. And you don't realize it is a role, but watching that film is deeply uncomfortable because it is like watching somebody set fire to themselves in public.

Yeah, it's a conflagration, it is. But it's beautiful for that reason. And it's and it's it, I think it makes you question the nature of identity in that way, especially the idea of an actor having an identity and whether they're even entitled to one, right? Because an actor having an identity and whether they're even entitled to one, right? Because their job is ultimately to give themselves away to whatever they're doing. Can I ask you about the theme of family, Ari, and what is passed down from your family? It's clearly something that interests you, but what is it about the stuff that we inherit, which makes it so fascinating to you?

Family is just an interesting place to start when you're thinking about drama at all, right? Because it's such an interesting situation because we're born into these bonds that we have no control over and there's no severing them, right? You can sever them, but even that trauma will is something that can't really be shaken.

For me, this film in many ways is third of a trilogy and the idea was kind of like, once I decided to do this, okay, if I'm gonna go back to these ideas, I wanna stick like dynamite into them and kind of blow this thing up and kind of have the film eat itself. You know, eat its own head, basically.

But the... But... But it's in heads again. Yeah. But there's an element of parody here that I think is important. The tongue is in the cheek in a lot of ways. Imagine your family must be saying to you enough already.

Are you aware of the joke about the title of Hereditary, don't you? Which is the Hereditary is called Hereditary because it's a puddle on her head, hit a tree. I hadn't heard that, that's the first time. I gift that to you. And Florence Pue, your star of mid-Samaar, obviously, said, are you, that you're basically a stand-up comedian at heart. Is she right?

Oh boy, well, I liked to laugh, and I'll leave it at that. I would not call myself a stand-up comedian. And can I ask you to just briefly say something about working with Bobby Crillich and what your relationship with him is like, and how much you talk about the music with him? Yeah, well, you know, I loveacks and Cloak, which is pretty amazing. And I met Bobby before I made her, before I made her red it Terry, and we really got along.

I had the same taste in music and films, and he's really just a sweet person and we work together very, very well on mid-Summer. I worked really well with Colin Stetson as well on hereditary. That was an amazing collaboration and I'd love to work with him again. But you know, I brought him back on to Bo, Bobby, and it was just a pretty seamless collaboration. I should also nod to or name the music editor on this film because she really she was pretty instrumental in in this score kind of getting to where it it landed and her name is Catherine Miller and she's she's brilliant and I know that that Bobby loves her as well like that she is a big part of that process.

She just also mentions subject of music. Everything I own by bread comes up at a crucial point and always be my baby by Mariah Carey comes up at a crucial point. Would you have been lost if you hadn't got permission for those tracks? Yeah. Yeah.

That I'm not trying not to explain anything, but you know. Those were in the scripts. Those were pretty essential. And I was urged to find an alternative to the Mariah Carey song because it came with a price tag, but I could not for the life of me find anything that even competed. The other song was the Nina Simone song, which is a cover of of isn't

it a pity? And that was another one that we just could not replace. All right, it's been a pleasure to have you on the program. No, you have a flight to catch. And I realized that this was very painful for you to come on the show. But we appreciate you spending some time with us. Thank you very much indeed. I hope it wasn't too painful for you, not at all. We enjoyed it very much.

Thank you for having me. And thanks to Ariaster for talking to us, even when he clearly didn't want to. I think he enjoyed himself. I do think he enjoyed it, but he's just one of those, you know, you either enjoy this kind of thing or you don't. And some directors love telling their story

and he just, well, given that the whole movie is a nightmare, he has said before, this is his kind of nightmare having to do press. Yeah, but there was more, there was many more chuckles in that interview that I was, there was, there was many more chuckles in that interview that I expected, which is great. And many more chuckles in the film than I expected. Although I should point out, we'll review it in two weeks time,

that I was aware of the fact that I saw it in a cinema with you and one of the person. And Sophie, you have that on the show. And there were large sections in which I was the person laughing. Correct. I don't, I think I laugh twice. Once at the microwave meal, which I can feed it has,

and what to just repeat what the name is. Well, it says on it says on the microwave meal, the best of Irish and Hawaiian cooking or something like that. And it's called a low-har, but it's overposter-feet low-har. I mean, it's, when you say it out loud, it's not funny, but when you see it, you know, it wouldn't make it in the laughter left is what I'm thinking. Did my laughing in the film annoy you? Well, did you just think I'd just enjoy it? No, I just thought you were enjoying it more than I am.

But anyway, to be reviewed in a couple of weeks time, like you said. So what else can you review? The Blue Cafften, which is a Moroccan Arabic language drama directed by Mariam Tuzani Halim and Mina run a traditional caftan story in one of Morocco's oldest Medinus and they need to work faster in order to keep their customers

But the thing is that he is old school. He doesn't use machines. He does everything handcrafted and He's very very dedicated to his craft. So they take on Yusef who is an apprentice. And you immediately see in him a kind of an aberration for Yusef. He believes that Yusef could be an apprentice who will take on his trade. And his wife says, no, no, he won't, like anybody else, he'll just end up being a delivery boy. But then she starts to become aware of there being something beyond just the professional

aberration. Is he interested in his crafter? Is he interested in something else? Meanwhile, there's a scene very early on in which there's a bathhouse in which we see him gazing at the men in the bathhouse, and we understand that he's married, but he appears to be gay. And it also starts to become clear that this is something which is known within the marriage and which is obviously a source of some tension, but also a source of some resolution. The film premiered in the Unsurton Cragarde section

at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. It was always saying the uncertain regard, which is films that regarded uncertainty by the festival. It was also Morocco's entry for the International Future Film Category at the Academy Awards. And on one level, it is about a covert, you know, closeted gay relationship. On the other hand,

another level it is a portrait of a marriage and a rather beautiful portrait of marriage. It's a lovely scene when a husband and wife who, you know, although there is clearly some level of a strange fit with them in terms of his sexuality, they role play an argument between him and a customer and it's very funny. She's very proud of his dedication to his craft. She says, my husband is a leem, not a machine. They go to a cafe to watch a match and she's punching the air and she's smoking and she's very feisty and independent. She's also unwell and she's looking to the future. And they start to have conversations that make you realize that what's happening in this marriage is that they do, they understand each other much better than you think they might do.

And that they have accepted each other. I mean at one point he says, I tried all my life to suppress it. I could have brought shame on you. And she says, I don't know any man as pure and noble as you. And I, it was, I thought it was really, really affecting them. It, not least it's affecting because it has a score by him. Forgive me if I've mispronounced this, uh, Christian, I, this Anderson, who's a Danish composer and sound engineer, whose CV includes working with Von Trier on things like Antichrist. And more recently did that drama Viverium. And do you remember we did interviews with Viverium's stars?

That was around about the time that lockdown was just before lockdown, I think. Anyway, the music is really emotional and maybe slightly melodramatic, but I like melodrama. And it's a very gentle film and what's really impressive about it is it is a film about resolution and it is about the marriage, even though it appears not to be. And it's called The Blue Cafeton.

Now it's the ad's in a minute Mark, but first it's time once again to step into our very entertaining laughter lift. Oh goody. Excellent. And once again to step into our very entertaining laughter lift. Oh, goody. Yes, Linda. Yes. And say before we actually get underway here, that my fantastic, he is resin, he is resin and deez.

So it was appreciated by Liz Clutterbuck. Oh, really? The Reverend Liz. She of Clurgy Corner, one of the first members. In fact, maybe she was the founder member of the Clurgy Corner. It was. About him, we used to say, do maybe she was the founder member of the Cleary's Corner. It was. But then we used to say, do the clutter bark, do the clutter bark.

If you don't know how to do it, then you're out of luck. Yes. What a fine song. What a fine song. Anyway Mark, I was out of Ponzi Gastropub in Sherby's North London over the bank holiday weekend and a very strange thing happened. In walks a mule from Moscow. He goes up to the bar and the barman says,

this is very old, we've got a cocktail named after you. You've got a cocktail called Dimitri. Is this great? I have one of those, please. I could actually see that coming. Moscow is a long way off. Vodka ginger beer and lime juice actually sounds quite tasty. I've had one of those, have you?

I've had one of those in the last two weeks. And? Yes, quite tasty. Anyway, I got back in from the pub, and I thought the good lady's ceramicist, her indoors, had been converted to the joys of horror films. Because she was shouting at the telly, don't go in there, don't go into the church,

you know what's gonna happen, no! Turns out she was just watching our wedding video again. LAUGHTER That's good. That's a good joke. Something of a rowing's huge, and she picked up two of my favorite queen records and threw them at me. I ducked just in time but they shattered on the wall. Now she wants to break free. Sorry. Now she wants to break free.

I'd rehearsed it as well. Now she wants to... Yeah, I don't know. Once you've introduced that song a number of times. Yes. Now that's what it was, is your DJ Once you've introduced that song a number of times. Yes. Now, that's what it was, is your DJ skill overrode your stand-up comedian skill. And you say...

He wasn't even the funniest jarred in the film. That's right. This is Pac-Man Turner Overdrive. Anyway, as for the rest of the weekend, telling people about the benefits of eating dried grapes, I was raising awareness. Thanks very much. He is raising. He is raising

He is resting Indeed, Mark that is gonna it's gonna live on that joke coming So what are you still doing in this in this I'm going to be reviewing guardians of the galaxy volume three Now she wants to break three 3. Now she wants to break 3. And we'll be back after this unless you're a Vanguard Eastay in which case you're a mansion, your service will not be interrupted. Metrolinx and cross links are reminding everyone to be careful, as Eglinton Cross-Town LRT train testing is in progress.

Please be alert, this trains can pass at any time on the tracks. Remember to follow all traffic signals, be careful along our tracks, and only make left turns where it's safe to do so. Be alert, be aware, and stay safe. Superstore. Where you'll find more legendary ways to save than any other major Grocery. Until December 13th, you'll get a free PC turkey when you spend $300 or more. That's right, free only at your Super Holiday Store. Conditions apply to fly for details. With banking packages from Scotia Bank, you can put money back in your pocket. That's how Marcus was able to invest in everything he needed to launch his podcast. About his pets. Welcome back to PetGasd.

Visit ScotiaBank.com slash welcome offer. ScotiaBank conditions apply. Here we go with an email from a colonial commoner heritage list and van Goddys to first time emergency Maela Ben Smith, BSC economics on's MWAM. What's the, I can't remember what that is. Anyway's MWAM. What's the, I can't remember what that is. Anyway, MWAM, MWAM, he's an MWAM. It was just assuming we know.

Dear TOUT and scalper, on the subject of earworms, while on a mindfulness course, several years ago, the group was doing an exercise to sit quietly and listen intently to all the sounds that we could identify separately, whether from the room we were in or outside. I identified a fair number but way less than many in the group. At the end of the exercise, I expressed concern around the difficulty I faced of identifying anything other than the louder, more obvious noises due to the

near omnipresent jukebox which plays in my head. Another in the group piped up. I wish I had that. I don't hear music ever. Which I have a question says Ben. Is this auditory a fantasia? Oh, sorry, I don't hear music in my head. Yes. To which I responded, be careful what you wish for.

I don't think you realize what it's like. It's borderline pernicious. Then another of the group remarked that a surefire way to stop earworms is to sing happy birthday to yourself. And I did, and it worked, and it still does the job. Usually? Maybe not for really stubborn earworms,

but it's pretty good. I sometimes let the music play, but if I need to concentrate or listen clearly to something else, a quick rendition generally does the trick. Other than briefly questioning how on earth could this work at the time of this genius revelation, I hadn't thought about it much, rather I simply delighted that there was a solution, a cure in fact, because it really can be an affliction. I thought no more of it until hearing the recent discussion of earworms and possible cures

on your show. Two things struck me after listening to the discussion and contributions from listeners. The first I realised was that the tunes in my mind's ear, slash internal jukebox, were almost always songs where I didn't know all the words. And the second was that happy birthday met the requirements of a sex of a successful earworm cure as noted on the show. That is, a complete cycle or a finished song to satisfy the brains need for completion and order. I would guess that someone, why is it am I, can tie this into visual imagination spectrum, discussion of recent shows, but aside from that, I thought I should share with the congregation to see

if this helps other people. Now I just need to fix the tinnitus. Okay. And also Ben says, Touts are referred to as scalpers here in ours. Yes. Which is a bit more evocative, don't you think? Yeah. And then he has this fantastic abbreviated sign-off, Tinks, A lot of Jace, Love the Show, relevant ups and downs, etc. That'll work. So that's interesting. So singing Happy Birthday all the way through, which is obviously clearly just going to take a few seconds, but it does musically complete itself should stop all earworms. There was a comedian who did a routine about somebody who's up to me and says, what's your name? And he goes, that Jeffrey.

Is that Geoffrey? That is very good. That is very good. But there is that idea of completion. I mean, I get, I get songs stuck in my head so much that I will wake up and the song is playing like, almost immediately when I wake up. And sometimes the thing for me that stops it is listening to the song, you know, finding it on Spotify and actually playing it. But I do think there's something fascinating about the idea that if you play a piece of music that has a beginning middle and an end, you know, at a completion point,

that that then satisfies the, you know, the ticking thing. I mean, it reminds me, remember when you used to have a, like a dance set record player with a spindle in the middle that you could load singles on. And if you, it was an arm that would come across and would hold the records on the spindle. And if you just put the arm up, it would just play the same record over and over again. You remember that? Like it would automatically just keep playing it. And sometimes I have that thing about envisaging in my head, putting the arm back to stop the thing playing. But you know, I just figured that everybody has songs songs, I mean, you must, because you... As soon as that email I read the email the first time, the track that came into my head, which it does every time,

I used to, because on Scarlo, I used to play it all the time, is the Justin Ho, its music from First Man, which is the landing, which is just a fantastic piece of music. And obviously, if we didn't have to pay a fortune, we'd now play a part of it, but we won't. And that's the piece that just goes around on a loop, just goes around and around and around. And it's a fantastic piece of music, which when you hear the tracks, like six minutes, has a proper beginning and an end, but in my head it just does the same bit.

But I presume that since you are a music DJ, you know, the music DJ, that you are constantly thinking about music, you must constantly have a tune in your head. Yes, probably, and I certainly have music on the whole time, all of the time, unless I'm writing, in which case I can't. You have it on in the car, you have it when I come to your house, you have it on, you've always got a playlist that you'll, you know,

a musician or a dinner, even if no one else wants to hear it. And you mentioned that thing about whether people notice it, because I always do when I come into your house and I go, what is that? Yes. A lot of people just don't notice. It's just a wash. But Charlie Makasey, as in the dog, the boy, the thief, and his lover. And that's a film I would play good money to see. I had a cup of tea with him, and he instantly, he was just immediately in tune with the music that he was playing, and which was Arvo Pet and Spiegel and Spiegel, he just noticed that

it was there straight away, and he's just, okay, it's just interesting that some people tune into it and some people don't. And which actually is a very, very nice lead into Guardians of the Galaxy, which is as a series has always taken the music and cassettes and all that kind of retro stuff very seriously. Exactly. So if you remember the very beginning of the good lead in, that was really well done. Yeah, thanks. And it's a small roll of the fact that you just flagged it up. But there we go. Well, I just think it's worth point.

If something goes well, it's worth, it's worth. I'm just arguing a nice thing. Yeah. Anyway. So if you remember the first Guardians of the Galaxy opens, you know, with Chris Pratt doing that, it's almost like a dance number, isn't it? And he grabs a sort of weird thing and sings into it. And, you know, and that's the whole thing.

Then there's the whole thing about the Walkburn and why the music, you know, is constantly playing. And he said, and there was also a weird crossover, wasn't it? Because when the Martian happened, there was the whole thing about the Martian that the only thing he's got is the disco playlist that he's stuck behind. So there was a kind of, what is red planet? What is red planet, which is a joke I wish that I had made, but I didn't. Who was he? Was he? It was genuinely me. It was genuinely you. You genuinely come up with that joke. So the, I remember when I

first saw Guardians of the Galaxy, the thing that I really loved about it was it was, it was a breath of fresh air. It was a hoot. It was also a hit. Obviously, spawned sequels. This is, this declares itself to be, you know, the third and, you know, closing instalments of the Guardians of Galaxy is this is returning to James Garn, team of back they're getting used to life on nowhere. Day-Potister is tracks the destroyer, who of course is actually a sweetheart, Karen Gillen is nebula proving that they really is life after Doctor Who. I'm Clement, Clement, I'm never sure about that pronunciation. I'm terrible. It's the empathic man Tis Vin Diesel is Groot who only ever says I am Groot and actually is a tree anyway, so I'm gonna say Vin Diesel is Groot

You know Bradley Cooper is rocket the genetically engineered raccoons obviously. There's an awful There's a lot of you know makeup stuff and then Pratt is back as Peter Quill, aka Star Lord, who is still in love with Zosodani's Gamora, who died and then came back as a different version of herself who doesn't love or remember him in the way that he does her. Here's a clip.

And I miss you. So much. And maybe, maybe if you open yourself up to it, there's a possibility. I don't think so, Quinn. Quill. Quill.

I don't think so. Well, what I'm trying to say is... Peter, you know this is an open line, right? What? We're listening to everything you're saying. And it is painful. And you're just telling me now? We were hoping I would stop on its own.

But I switched it over to private! What color button did you push? Blue! For the blue suit! Oh, no. Blue was the open line for everyone. Orange is for blue. What? Black is for orange. Yellow is for green.

Green is for red. And red is for yellow. No, yellow is for yellow. Green is for red. Red is for green. I don't think so. Try it then. Hello!

Hello! You're right. That's funny, very exactly. And there is a lot of that. There's a lot of the funny wise cracking between them. And there's a lot of that. There's a lot of the funny wise cracking between them. And there's a lot of the, you know, the well chosen, needle drop retro hit, jukebox stuff.

What there also is, which I, if people know about the film, they'll know this, but because I didn't read anything about it beforehand, is there is also a lot more darkness. So this time, Rocket becomes a central character. He's wounded in an attack by Will Palsus' warlock. And they then try to make him better. And by trying to make him better, they find out that he has a kill switch built into him

because obviously he's genetically modified and his backstory has always been somewhat hidden. And the rest of the film then shifts between flashbacks to his backstory, how he became rocket. And the mission to find and disarm the kill switch, which is in it. Now, as I said, previous instalments, funny action packed. This, it has that, but it also has this weirdly melancholic and often very dark stuff about the animal experiments. I mean, you remember things like the plague dogs and Richard Adams, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A long time ago.

Yeah. So there is something genuinely affecting, and I believe me, no one was more surprised where this than I was, affecting and distressing about the scenes in which the character becomes rocket is one of a number of creatures who are being experimented on to create, to accelerate their evolution in order to create a new utopian society, obviously in a way which is very twisted in Ireland of Dr. Moro. And during that stuff, I became very affected by it. I mean, to the point that actually at one point,

I teared up and I'm sure I'm not the only person because the way in which the animation of that is done is, you know, is very convincing. And the problem with it is, is that then when you have the other stuff, it kind of feels to me like there It's almost two different movies. So I think this is two and a half hours long. It is over long and it is baggy There is a there is a great 89 minute movie in there Which is basically the rocket back story, which is really you know odd

Oddly kind of Oddly touching in a way, which I hadn't expected it to be. Then when you get back to the Starship fighty-fighty-fighty, runny-jumpy, smashy, crashy-boom, all that stuff, not so interested. And I did kind of find that towards the, you know, the inevitable big climax, it sort of lost some of its ump.

But there is in the middle of that, and obviously this is partly a kind of personal thing, but in the middle of all of this, there is a film about vivisection and an animal experimentation, which even in the context of it being a guardian to the galaxy fantasy about the creation of rocket is oddly poignant and just reminded me that science fiction has a way sometimes of dealing with issues that just catch you completely off

God. So I was sort of surprised. I mean, it was also, it was an evening screening that I went to and it was full because I think it was the multimedia screening. It did seem to be playing very well with the audience. The audience gave a big round of applause at the end. So clearly fans of the series are getting what they need out of it, but do be warned. There be beasts and darkness in here. And I actually think that's for the good. And it's volume three.

Guardians of the Galaxy volume three, although when I saw it, it was volume 11, mate. And is that? This is backman Turner, I would drop something. Is that the end? Or is there? Well, we know that at least the characters can reappear in other ways, but the Guardians of the Galaxy, that is a self-contained trilogy. Okay, that's done.

Let's do what's on now. This is where you email us a voice note about your festival or special screening from wherever you are in the world. Send it to Correspondents at Curbinemare.com. Here we go with this week's. Hello Mark and Simon. This is Sue from Inshort Europe, an exciting short film festival taking place at the Sinylumia Cinema at the French Institute in South Kensington on the 12th and 13th of May. Showcasing over 20 short films from around Europe, they'll also be special Q&As. Check out the Sydney Lumia website for more details.

High Simon & Mark Lost Reels is launching a new 16mm film series of classic curiers of forgotten gems all shown from vintage 16mm film prints. With inspired double bills and two-for-one pricing, a first event, Monsters Attack, features sci-fi horror on May the 13th at the Cinemar Museum in London, details at lostreels.co.uk. So that was Sue from In short Europe, a short film festival in Sydney, linear cinema in South Kensington in London.

And then Jeff Badger promoting Lost Reels, new film series, the first event, May the 13th and the Cinema Museum in London, just let us know, because they were both London, you can send us stuff from wherever you are. Very well, yes. From wherever you are, and we'd love to put it on,

send your voice note to Correspondence at kermetermayo.com. That is the end of take one. This has been a Sony Music Entertainment production. Did you know that? I was aware that they were paying the checks. Excellent. The team was Lily Hamley, Ryan Amira, Sancia Panzer, Gully Tikell, Sophie Ivan,

Basecker, and Johnny Socials. Hannah Tolbert was the producer, Simon Paul was the redacto, Mark, what is your film of the week? Return to Soul. Thank you for listening. Our Extra Takes with a bonus review, a bunch of recommendations, and even more stuff about the movies and cinema and adjacent television is available right now because these things

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