Kermode & Mayo’s Take - Cate Blanchett, The New Boy, Monster & Drive Away Dolls

Episode Date: March 15, 2024

This week, the one and only Cate Blanchett joins Mark and Simon for a chat about her drama ‘The New Boy’, which follows a young Aboriginal Australia orphan, who is brought into a Christian monastery, run by a renegade nun, begin to question his faith and loyalty to his heritage. Mark gives his take on the film, as well as reviewing ‘Monster’, a Japanese psychological mystery thriller about a mother who confronts a teacher after noticing disturbing changes in her son’s behaviour; and ‘Drive Away Dolls’, an Ethan Coen-helmed road trip caper about two lesbian friends who get caught up in crime. Plus, Mark and Simon keep us abreast of the cinematic events happening around the country. Timecodes (relevant only for the Vanguard - who are also ad-free!): 08:23 Monster review 23:27 Box Office Top 10 37:28 Cate Blanchett interview 52:03 The New Boy review 57:23 Laughter Lift 01:02:48 Drive-Away Dolls review 01:09:23 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 advertise on this show contact: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well, hello there. Simon and Mark here to tell you about Indeed. Yes, Indeed is driven by the search for better. But when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search. Match with Indeed. If you need to hire, then you need Indeed. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors, according to Indeed data. And if you're busy watching all of this week's film recommendations and you have no time, then you can use Indeed for scheduling, screening and messaging so you can connect with candidates faster.

But Indeed doesn't just help you hire faster. 75% of employers claim Indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other online job sites. Leveraging over 140 million qualifications and preferences every day, Indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences. So the more you use Indeed, the better it gets, like us. Why not join the more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indeed to hire great talent fast?

Listeners of this show will get a £100 sponsored job credit to get your job's more visibility at indeed.com slash KermodeMayo. That's indeed.com slash KermodeMayo. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed. Indeed. Is that my pastry you're eating?

No, it's my pastry because there was only one here because there's only one of us in the studio. So, either there were two pastries at some point and somebody else ate your pastry or they just thought we're only going to get the one. It's the highlight of the week, really. It's the only pastry that I get in all week. And then for reasons that I've been taking last minute medication, I'm not in the studio, which that just means you get my coffee and you get my pastry. Which is just seems...

I love last minute medication. I have all their albums. It does sound a little bit like that. It does. I'm going to start, apart from the unfortunate events regarding my- Medication. I'm going to start, and I'm separating this from the laughter lift because I don't want either to suffer in comparison.

So are you saying that this is actually going to be funny and therefore- I have a joke. It will throw the laughter lift into sharp relief. I received a book this week called Be Funny or Die by Joel Morris, who used to do the book reviews on Five Live program that I did and which were the films, you know, where the film reviews were there on a Friday afternoon. Anyway, it's a very, very good book. Look at the world of comedy and it begins with the funniest joke in the world. Which is, here we go. So this is according to Richard Wiseman, so a lot of people will know this joke. In fact, you will probably know it as well. In 2002,

this was the winning entry in a scientific survey to find, quotes, the funniest joke in the world. Okay. All right. Okay. Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapse. I know it. I know it already. I know it already. Yeah. But you're not going to spoil it. No, no, go ahead.

Go ahead. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, my friend is dead. What can I do? The operator says, calm down. I can help. First.

Let's make sure he's dead. There's a silence and then a shot is heard. Back on the phone. The guy says, calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead. There's a silence and then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says, okay, now what? Now what? There you go. See, now I think that's good. And I didn't want to put that in the laughter lift because it's not as good as the laughter lift.

I'll be honest with you, when you said, think about hunters, and I said, I know that joke, I didn't know that. I thought you were about to tell a different joke, which is a joke that gets told in The Crown and then a joke that gets told in another movie simultaneously about the hunter and the bear. I thought, wow, he's going to go there. But then you didn't. That's fine. No, I didn't. But that's your more base, I think. No, well, it's not base. I think it's just my broad ranging knowledge of comedy.

Is that what it is? Yes. which I incidentally think is a funny joke. Even in that scene in The Crown in which it's told by Prince Charles, it still manages to be very funny. Richard Wiseman says it's proven by science that that is the funniest joke. And if it wasn't funny, it was the way I read it. Do you remember that there was, I'm sure you do, there was a Monty Python sketch about the funniest joke in the world being used as a weapon. Do you remember this? It's like one of those Monty Python news things. The British scientists come up with the funniest joke in the world, the joke that is so funny that it will kill anyone that listens to it. Then what they have to do is that the British troops have to march into foreign territories,

reading the joke in a foreign language that they don't understand, but that the enemy do understand. And then there's an incident in which there's somebody in the thing because each scientist has to work on only one word of the joke at a time, otherwise they will die laughing. And somebody is accidentally exposed to three words that they understand and they're hospitalized for the rest of the war. I think that sounds very good. Maybe you had to be there at the time, but in the 70s, you would be doing that stuff hilarious. Toby- Yes, back in the 1970s, Monty Python was very funny. Mason- So what are you doing later, by the way? I forget.

Toby- Well, I'm going to be doing what I usually do, Simon, which is reviewing films. So we have a full menu of films. We have Drive Away Dolls, which is a new film by Ethan Coen. We have Monster, which is a new film by Hirokazu Koryada, one that we knew from last year. And New Boy, with our very, very, very special guest. Who is Cate Blanchett, who's going to talk all about that and not talk about Sparks because we both forgot. Messed up. We did. Also, extra takes by the way, Oscarsar's Schmoskas is there already. We recorded that right after the ceremony. It's really red hot. It is. I mean, we literally recorded it only out. The ceremony was still sizzling on the

television. I think Oskar Schmoska actually dropped at about 9am or something. Yes, I think so. Also, a weekend watch list. We cannot list bonus reviews of Fight Club, 25th anniversary in the last year of darkness. Plot Smash, by the way, when I was reading Plot Smash, I got it instantly, and so will you. Okay, that makes me feel so much better because as we know, every time you say that, then I don't get it at all. One frame back is Best Child Performances, inspired by New Boy. You can access all of this joy via Apple Podcasts or head to extra takes.com for non fruit related devices. And if you are already a Vanguard Easter,

as always, of course, but separated studio to spare bedroom. If we the way to do this is let's do one word each because the thing is when you're separated, there's a slight delay. So if we do one word each, if you're already a Vanguardista, we salute you. That kind of works. A strange email here, I think I believe it. Okay, in that case it's definitely fake. It's from the American Writing Award team. Mark and Simon, it is with immense pride and joy that we announce your victory in the 2024 podcast of the year competition. What? Earning the esteemed title of grand prize and podcast of the year. Your dedication,

perseverance and unwavering commitment to excellence have truly set you apart. And we extend our sincerest congratulations to you. This just, it feels a little bit as though everyone's received one of these. Yes. Isn't this one of the things that I'm a relative of yours in a foreign country and I have a million pounds I need to deposit in a bank account? In recognition of your outstanding achievement, we've prepared a beautifully award seal exclusively for you. These promotional materials are yours to utilise freely, whether for sharing on social media platforms displaying on your website or incorporating into other promotional material. We encourage you to proudly showcase your accomplishment

and share the news with your audience. For a complete list of winners, blah blah blah, go to this thing. Should you have any inquiries or need further assistance, here's where you email. Once again, congratulations on this remarkable achievement. The thing is there is nothing in that email which relates to any content or suggests that they've heard anything that we've done. No, but here's the weird thing. So I've just gone to the website and the 2024 podcast of the year, the Innisforgettons, us, yeah, well, I have no idea. I have absolutely no, maybe it knows it's Michael, but there are many winners, but oh no, you keep going down and they're, wow, no, there's a lot of ...

Everyone's one. Everyone's a winner. That's so true. If you've entered, you've won. For a moment, I thought it was like getting a great taste award, but actually- We didn't enter. I've just been told from, so you can't hear, you can't hear one of the things that's the benefit for you for doing that in your, from your home rather than here. You can't get Simon Poole in your head. He just said in my head, we didn't enter. Isn't it? So that is incredible.

So we can, we, but we can say we are podcast of the year, even though we didn't enter. And that letter to me suggests they haven't got a clue about anything that we do at all. Well, you know, in many ways that's kind of fitting, isn't it? Do you think? Yeah. Okay. Very good. Anyway, well done us and thank you very much indeed to the AmericanWritingAwards.com

committee for probably not listening. Anyway, let's just take the prize. Take the win. Take the win. Exactly. Correspondence at kerbenamayo.com. If you want to award us anything, that would be very lovely. Indeed, the New Taste Award would be fantastic. New Taste of the Year. That would be particularly good. Tell us about something that's out and rather groovy. Monster, which is a 2023 movie by Hirokazu Kuriada, a Japanese filmmaker whose CV includes can hits like Father Like Son, Shoplifters, which I loved, I wish, which I loved, Broker, Our Little Sister, an extraordinary back catalogue, rightly described as one of the titans of modern humanist cinema, often cited alongside the Darden brothers, Ozu, Naruse Desika.

One of those people who whenever you say Hirakawa is a Coriader film, you know that you're in the market for something which is going to have profound human truth. This is written by Yuji Sakamoto, who won the best screenplay prize it can. The film was also in competition for the Palme d'Or. It won the Queer Palm. It's dedicated to Ryuichi Sakamoto, who was commissioned to do the score. At the end of his life, he proved not to be well enough to do the whole score. What he did was, he ended up doing two original keyboard compositions. Then the director took songs from his album 12 and put them together to form a soundtrack,

which actually works rather brilliantly. I was playing some tracks from it, well, the two new compositions and some other tracks on Scala a few months ago, and it's terrific. So Sakura Ando is sorry, who is a single mom whose young son, Minato, seems to be having problems at school. He becomes sullen. He locks himself in the bathroom, cuts off his own hair with a pair of scissors. He comes home from school with only one shoe. She starts to think that he's being mistreated. She starts to think that he's being mistreated by a teacher, Mr. Horrie. She goes to the school to confront

them. When she confronts them, they are very strange and uptight. They offer an apology, but the apology is offered in such a way as to make it seem completely insincere and also completely procedural. They just keep repeating, we apologize, the system will be fulfilled properly in the future. Then what she starts to discover is that rather than her son being the victim of attacks by the teacher, that he is being accused of bullying another kid called Yori, yet the two boys actually seem to be fond of each other. So what's up? The film then engages in this kind of Rashomon-style revisiting of events in which we go back and we see the same events from different points of view, from different angles. So we see the story from the teacher's point of

view and there's indications in this that the young kid, maybe he is a bully, maybe there is something fundamentally wrong with him. And then we see it from the kid's point of view. And each time you go back, a different layer is revealed and each time our preconceptions are challenged. And what the adults see and what the kids see are two very, very different things. And what the film starts to show us is this strangely intimate bond

between the two kids at the centre of the drama. So here is a clip. Obviously, the clip is in Japanese. We'll play it and then I'll tell you afterwards what's going on if you're not watching the video clip. But essentially, it's a discussion between the two kids about what will happen to the future of the world and the universe and how everything will be reborn. Here we go. So basically it's a discussion about how the universe will implode in on itself and all time will reverse and the dinosaurs will come back and everything will go back to a state of nothingness and then be reborn. This sense of rebirthing kind of runs all the way through the film. Because of the title, Monster, sort of implies we need to talk about Kevin because it's a story

about a kid who maybe there's something really strange going on with him. If you look at any of Iroquaza Corrieda's films, there's always this subtext about what you see on the surface and what's actually true underneath it. So if you take a film like Shoplifters, you and I discussed this when Shoplifters came out. On the one hand, it's the story about a gang of criminals recruiting and indeed kidnapping kids. But actually, it's not about that. It's a tale about families. And you know, nobody knows was inspired by a real life tale of child abandonment. And what Hirokazu Koryada is very good at is looking at the way in which the world looks differently from children's eyes and from adult eyes. This is about, in

the same way some of his previous films, it's about children finding their way in the world in the absence of adults. And that again is a theme that runs all the way through the director's films. When you start seeing it, when you start watching the film, you think this is going to be as like a dark psychological drama, and apparently, you know, particularly with that title. I mean, if anything, it's actually it's a love story. It's a cautionary tale about how something can seem to be one thing, but completely the opposite when you get close to it. If there are monsters in the story, they're never the monsters that you think they are at the point when you start watching the film.

There is a significant part of the drama that plays out in this abandoned rail car that the kids find, and they make it their own fantasy world. People always think that if you had a childhood friend and you had a place in the woods that you would go to like a den or maybe somebody had a tree house or a shed and it becomes the whole world. It becomes a place that you know, you put up little bits of paper and it becomes your, there is a really beautiful evocation of that wonderful performances by the two young kids. The music works really, really beautifully. And it is one of those films, as with all of Iroquaza Corrieda's stuff, that the more you watch it, the more you find in it. And I do think he is, and I mean this as a great compliment, a profoundly humanist director who understands the human condition.

And you watch his films and you think not only is it brilliant filmmaking, but you actually understand the world better as a result of it. So it's called Monster and the title is very deliberately misleading, but I think anyone who goes to see a Hirakaza Kariyada movie would sort of know that in advance. I think you would love it. I think you would absolutely love it. Mason- And when you say, this is just for clarification, humanist director, do you mean someone who understands the human condition? Is that what you're meaning? Toby

Yes, but I also mean it in terms of if there is a religion to the films, it is the religion of humanity. There is a spirituality to all of his films, but it's not a spirituality that is tied to a specific religious belief. So yes, I am using the word in a, you're completely correct to pull me up on it because of course humanist has a very particular meaning. But I do intend that inference. Yeah. Now it is a fascinating word because the humanist society would say one thing and it means something else in the way you used it. Yeah, exactly. In fact, my assumption was if a film is called Monster, it's always going to be. It's like

Monsters. It's not really about Monsters. It's always not them. Yeah, exactly. If a film is called Monster, it's almost certainly not about a monster, or at least not the one you think it's about. Mason which case I won't get a break. Anyway, we'll be back. Before you can say… Well, I just want to be clear that since the last two weeks, the rules of this game have changed, and last week you just did a lyric that you particularly liked. That's because you started it, you did a list, and I did a list. Exactly. And language is correct through usage, and features such as this are also correct through usage. So this is not a terrible lyric. It is a brilliant lyric, okay? this are also correct through usage. So this is not a terrible lyric, it is a brilliant lyric, okay? I wasn't there when the pumping was done, but whosoever pumped a pumping son

of a gun. Well, hello there. Simon and Mark here to tell you about Indeed. Yes, Indeed is driven by the search for better, but when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search. Match with Indeed. If you need to hire, then you need Indeed. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors, according to Indeed data. And if you're busy watching all of this week's film recommendations and you have no time, then you can use Indeed for scheduling, screening and messaging, so you can connect with candidates faster.

But Indeed doesn't just help you hire faster. 75% of employers claim Indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other online job sites. Leveraging over 140 million qualifications and preferences every day, Indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences. So the more you use Indeed, the better it gets, like us. Why not join the more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indeed to hire great talent fast?

Listeners of this show will get a £100 sponsored job credit to get your job's more visibility at indeed.com slash KermodeMeo. That's indeed.com slash KermodeMeo. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed. Indeed. This episode is brought to you by MUBI, a curated streaming service dedicated to elevating great cinema from around the globe. From iconic directors to emerging auteurs, there is always something new to discover, such as...

Well, such as high and low John Galliano, which is the thought-provoking new documentary from Oscar winner Kevin McDonald charting the rise and fall of the fashion designer John Galliano. It traces Galliano's working and private life through the decades, candidly investigating his struggles with addiction and the industry pressure he faced along the way. It features conversations with Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Pelle B. Cruz, Charlize Throne, Anna Wintour and many, many more. And it is showing in UK cinemas from March the 8th. Or you could explore the Women Cinematographers Film Group, streaming on MUBI in the UK from March the 8th. As women have found more equal footing in the film industry as directors,

producers and screenwriters, cinematography remains a stubborn final frontier. Around International Women's Day, MUBI are spotlighting the artistic and technical work of women working behind the camera. Including, including films such as Annette from 2021, Benedetta from the same year and more recently Passages, all streaming in the UK from March the 8th. You can try MUBI free for 30 days at MUi.com slash Kermit and Mayo. That's Mubi.com slash Kermit and Mayo for a whole month of great cinema for free. And the answer, so just remind us of what the wise, wise words have been. The unmistakable couplet, I wasn't there when the pumping was done,

but whosoever pumped a pumping son of a gun. Is it the Frog Chorus? No, but you're in the right postal district. Okay, enlighten me further. It's Who Pumped the Wind in My Donut by Washboard Sam, which was a big smash hit when it first came out and is indeed Washboard Sam's most famous waxing. I have no idea what the song means. I'm sure it's disgracefully rude, but I think it's a wonderful piece of music. When you say it was a huge smash, how are you defining that? Wherever he played it, in whichever bar he played it in, people just went nuts and they would say,

Washboard Sam. It wasn't a hit. It wasn't a hit. Well, it was recorded. It was a waxing and they sold many hundreds of copies of it. But wherever he went, people would say, Washboard Sam, please play Who Pumped the Wind in My Donuts. And when you've done that, please explain to me what it means because I'm sure it's absolutely filthy. When I was at Radio Nottingham back in the day, I used to produce a music show full of music from the 1920s and 30s. There was a song that Ron Stevens,

who is the presenter of the program, we played on a fairly regular basis, which was called She Had to Go and Lose It at the Aster. She'd lost something at the Aster, and it becomes very clear what she actually lost at the Aster all the way through. But it is without doubt the most filthy song that Radio Nosingam have ever broadcast. Mind you, I haven't been there for a long time. But because it was from the 1920s, it was like the King swearing, it's okay because it's very old. Well, I got Who Pumped the Wind and My Donuts played on Radio Solent. They asked me to choose a couple of songs that I really liked. I said that because it's on the Library of Congress recordings. They said, are there any rude words in it?

I said, no, there aren't. I mean, Donuts has never sounded so rude, but no, there aren't any rude words in it. Right. Box Office Top Ten. Starting with this email from Kirsten, Zone of Interest, I don't think is... No, it's a Zone of Interest email, but Zone of Interest is not in the chart. Kirsten says, and obviously we've talked a lot about Zone of Interest on the show. Not least on the Oskar Smoska podcast, in which we talked about it at the Oscars. Kirsten says, Zone of Interest has finally been released in Germany. Oscar podcast in which we talked about it at the Oscars. Kirsten says, Zone of Interest has finally been released in Germany. Growing up in Germany,

there has always been a significant emphasis on educating about the Holocaust and its origins. However, I had yet to come across a film that truly delves into the question of how did this happen by depicting the mundane rather than the inherently evil actions of the opportunistic German population taking advantage of the disenfranchised. Most holocaustal Nazi-themed movies tend to focus on the few Germans who resisted or actively assisted persecuted groups, like in Schindler's List, Valkyrie, Sophie Scholl. Is it Skoll or Sophie Scholl? I would think Skoll, but then you're asking the wrong person. Or worse, perpetrate the myth of ordinary Germans as innocent bystanders, for example boy in the striped pyjamas, says Kirsten. These narratives have contributed to a widespread

misconception among modern Germans, leading them to believe that their ancestors were more actively opposed to the Nazis than they actually were. Historical data suggests that only about 0.3% of Germans were involved in resistance efforts. Jonathan Glazer addresses the fundamental question by portraying scenes of everyday Germans like Henrik cheerfully discussing the goods her husband has brought back from Canada, or her mother's disappointment at missing out on seizing her Jewish neighbour's belongings. Such conversations were commonplace in living rooms across wartime Germany. While the majority of Germans weren't ardent supporters of Nazism, the allure of acquiring valuable items

through the arianisation process often overshadowed any moral qualms about their neighbour's faiths. For example, in Hamburg alone, a city with a population of about a million at the time, around 400,000 people participated in auctions of Jewish property, including jewellery and furniture. These uncomfortable truths place collective responsibility on the German population, a perspective that is often conveniently overlooked, if not actively tabooed in mainstream media. I'm hopeful that Glazer's film will usher in a new era of Holocaust discourse that goes beyond individual victim stories and heroism, instead examining the underlying reasons for these atrocities from a fresh perspective. To claim that, quote, there are enough Holocaust

movies already couldn't be more wrong. Anyway, warm regards from vanguard stronghold Berlin. Which is very interesting. And Kirsten, certainly the first part of, I mean, people will agree or disagree, but certainly that general feeling of explaining how did this happen by looking at how mundane the actions of the Nazis were in some circumstances seems to be true. Mason- Yeah, I mean, that's a very good email. Just something to add, which is completely anecdotal. So nothing beyond that. I have a German colleague who is round about my age, who has said almost exactly the same thing as that letter expresses on the question of films actually addressing how did this happen? How did we get to this point as opposed to what then did happen?

On the subject of Berlin, if you've been to Berlin and you've been to the Holocaust Memorial, it's this extraordinary thing when you walk into this maze and it's these low walls and you walk into them and the next thing you know is that the walls are higher than you are. It's almost like an optical illusion and suddenly you find yourself in the middle of something you don't quite know how you walked into it. I think that that memorial is wonderful, but exactly what was expressed in that email was expressed to me by a colleague, a German colleague, who is almost exactly my age. That definitely strikes a chord. Let's probably zip through most of these numbers on our way to the number one. The inventor is at 27.

Which I enjoyed, and I think Stephen Fry enjoyed doing the voices for it as well. It's a kind of fun animation with a serious heart. Origin is at number 20. Avery DuVernay was on the show last week. Someone who appears to be D. Wan Is Cool on YouTube says, excellent film. It was haunting because of the truth of the entire human race. We are all guilty of the us versus them. We are all guilty of disregard for others. I had to pray for forgiveness. Honestly, everyone should see this film. I agree with the last bit. The thing I thought afterwards, because the Ava Duvenay interview was really terrific,

and she was talking about making a dramatic film of a book, and you were asking her about why not do it as a documentary. The one thing I did come away thinking is I should read that book because if the ideas that are in the book are the ideas that are in the film, then that is a fascinating book to read. Number 19 is high and low, John Galliano. I thought this was terrific. I know nothing about fashion and I knew very little about the John Galliano story. The really impressive thing about the film is that it does not tell you what to think. What it does is it begins with the scandalous, hideously anti-Semitic comments that were made in a cafe

in Paris. Then it rewinds and says, how did this person who was this, you know, doyen of the fashion world end up at a point that they were drunk in a cafe in Paris saying these sort of things? And I think it's, the film is smart enough to just to show you the story and let everyone speak for themselves, and then let you decide how to judge whether or not somebody who did that should then be forgiven or rehabilitated. This is John Hobbs on High and Low. I love the documentary. I found it both fascinating and in parts very moving. He made a huge mistake in life and has very publicly paid the price for it. I think very brave of him to talk so openly and honestly about the whole incident without ulterior motive. None of us are perfect. I'm sure every one of us has some ingrained prejudice we've picked up from our parents. I think the only way

to understand and move on from these is to unpack them and to be honest. Number 16 is Copa 71, which you talked about last week. The great untold story of women's football and you're sitting there watching this television footage of tens of thousands of people in stadiums and thinking, why don't I know this story? And the reason you don't is because the football authorities decided that it wasn't real and it didn't happen, but it did. Number 15 is Soul. Which is now back in cinemas. We reviewed this when it came out, when it was just straight to streaming services, but it's now out in cinemas. There's three of the movies that were released to streaming that are now in cinemas, all in advance of the release of Inside Out 2.

Number 10 is Perfect Days. Which people are very, very fond of. I like Vim Venders as much as the next person. Again, I was just talking about being in Berlin recently and it's impossible to walk around Berlin without going, oh, well, yeah, that's from Wings of Desire. That's from Wings of Desire. I think it's good. I don't think it's the masterpiece that my colleagues do, but it is again, to come back to that word, a very humanist film. Number nine here and number seven in the States is Madame Web.

Jason Vale About which there was a joke from the Oscar stage. Madame Web now has sort of, it's just earned itself the title of the punchline of any anecdote about bad filmmaking and corporate filmmaking. It's always a shame because nobody sets out to make a terrible film. Madame Web is a very bad film, but I'm pretty certain that it's as bad as it is because the studio botched it. I don't think it began life as a film that's that bad, but lordy, lordy, lordy, some of the dialogue is ear-scrapingly poor.

Number eight is Sammy Swoioi Pochetech. So again, we said for this wasn't press screen, this was in the charts last week. Have we had any emails about it? We have not. Okay, fine. If anyone has, please let us know. Number seven is Wonka. I think we've covered that still an amazing hit.

Shaitan is at number six. 14th week in the charts for Wonka. So Shaitan is a Hindi horror film, title means Devil. This is a remake of a Gujarati film from last year. Again, wasn't press screened. If you've seen it, let us know. Imaginary is at number five. And this is the new Blumhouse horror movie. And again, this often happens with horror films. Not overly keen on showing it to the press. Variety called it, because I haven't

seen it because they didn't press screen it, a watchable mess of a child's play fright fic that exemplifies the trend of overwrought too muchness. Again, if anyone's seen it, let me know. About which we had a wonderful email which said that the film was so good that someone who took their child to see it, the child asked to leave because the peril, the ducks in peril was too much and the parent acted absolutely perfectly by saying, yes, fine, we can leave. And they went away and then they talked about it. And we're waiting to hear back whether they've gone back to see the rest of the film. But that was absolutely ace parenting. Number three here, number five in the States, Bob Marley, One Love, huge hit. Huge hit. And, you know, it's funny just how sniffy people were about this when we reviewed it.

We said, look, if you've seen as many pop biopics and pop movies as I have, it's fine. It's in the perfectly fine camp. It does take the rough edges off the story. Okay, fine. But it's not a bad, it was so strange how there was this kind of whiff of negativity in the air about it, particularly just before it opened. But it's fine, and it's finding an audience. Wicked Little Letters is at number two. Is there anything in the world funnier than Olivia Colman swearing in a very peculiar manner?

I mean, it's, I thought it was a treat. I laughed all the way through it. Again, kicked all around town by critics and yet embraced by audiences. The number one and very number one is Dune Part 2, Dunk Part 2, Holly Cruise in Manchester. Last week, one of your correspondents wondered what it would be like to watch Dune Part 1 and 2 in one go, especially with regard to the absence of civilians. Well, I can answer that. I woke up at eight o'clock on Saturday knowing that I was seeing Dune Two in the afternoon and decided to watch Dune One rather than any reminder videos. My main takeaway is that

the two films have very different moods, where one takes its time to establish mood through slow scenes, silence, scenery and background folks, an important element. Part two is all action and all intensity. Part one is like watching someone do a puzzle and part two is like watching someone play a video game. I liked both, but I think I preferred part one. It was more like Arrival, which is still Villeneuve's best film. Also, my one complaint about part two. All that time spent showing us how to get into a sandworm to ride on it and at no point do we find how anyone gets off. Answers in part three please, Denis. Thank you, Holly. Alex in Ramsbottom. Myself and the good lady

communications officer Errin Dawes are just back from a Sunday evening showing of Dune 2 where we both enjoyed escaping to the world of Arrakis. My reason for writing, however, is that other people clearly did not. Around halfway through, a pair of gentlemen left, not to return, and not long after, a group of four also left very loudly. When lights came up, I made a point of counting the remaining fellow cinema goers,

and there was just five of us remaining, meaning that more than half had gone. We recently saw Poor Things and Nobody Left, but I wouldn't have blamed anyone for doing so. And it has got me thinking why Dune Part 2 had such a high exit rate. Theories as follows. One, they hadn't seen Part 1. Two, part of the groups hadn't seen Part 1 and had been dragged along. Or three, they'd seen Part 1, but for some reason, two wasn't to their taste. It just struck me as odd that you'd see almost a three hour science fiction epic sequel advertised and not be sure it's for you by watching part of it anyway very

strange um alex thank you and um who's this obviously lots of correspondence about this nick in south sea uh i've been listening to your nonsense for so long it's ridiculous what doesn't get anyode say is an automatic response to any film suggestion. That said, my own good doctor has never really trusted you since the dying babies in Pan's labyrinth. Oh, okay. Well, going back a bit. We waited for a trip to IMAX to see Dunk 2. I thought it was fabulous. Just fantastic. From honking soundtrack, visceral fight scenes to sand between the toes. My response to part one, having been more relief that they didn't mess it up.

Regarding Christopher Walken, a man out of place. However, this is not his first trip to the Dune universe. He starred in the brilliant video of Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim. In the song, we are encouraged to, quote, walk without rhythm and you won't attract the worm, the song we are encouraged to quote, walk without rhythm and you won't attract the worm, which I had completely forgotten. It is a brilliant video, Wolkan is great in it, though I don't suppose he knew what was going on then either, though did anyone else. Tickety-tongue, Down with Space Nazis, Long Live the Fighters and hurrah for great films and great novels. Thank you, Nick. That is true. Walks without rhythm and you won't attract the worm, that's clearly a Dune reference there. I don't even recall that line being in Weapon of Choice,

because Weapon of Choice is mainly, it just says, love is my weapon of choice. And it is absolutely brilliant video in which Christopher Walken moves in a peculiar way. Two things, firstly, you talked about the honking soundtrack, and I was very impressed that whilst you did that, it sounded to me like a very large jet plane was taking off literally out of your house. So there was a lot of Hans Zimmer honkiness going on whilst you were reading those emails. It's really just my private jets arriving for later. Your private jets arriving. On Sunday night, because Linda does this, the goodly professor here indoors does this thing about bringing the extra students to London for a field trip. One of the parts of this is to take them to the IMAX, the BFI IMAX in London, biggest screen in the UK, and to watch whatever is on. Well, this year, whatever,

last year it was Shazam 2. This year it was Dune Part 2, so this year the students did rather better. I saw Dune Part 2 in 70 mil at the IMAX. I'd seen it before in laser projection at the Cineworld IMAX. It is an overwhelming experience. I mean, it is a really, really overwhelming experience. The worm thing is always going to be an issue. As far as the Lynch version is concerned, it does look like Karl McClachlan is climbing up the side

of a plastic bag. As far as the Denis Villeneuve is concerned, you're right. Once they're on the worm, and this is talked about in the book, it's how is it that the hooking under the worm's skin, you know, people go, why doesn't the worm just go down? And there's a reason it's to do with the way in which the thing is hooked onto. But how are you controlling the way the worm goes? You just get on the worm and go, is it like hopping a freight train? And yes, you're absolutely right. The main issue is how do you get off the worm at the end? And the answer is yeah, who quite knows? Presumably you just have to wait for the worm to stop. Mason- It is the number one movie. It'll be there for a while. Actually, there's more on the worm

in just a second. And in a moment you'll hear our conversation with Kate Blanchett about her new movie. More in just a moment. This episode is brought to you by the good folks at NordVPN. Mark, would you say that AI has been one of the hot topics of the last 12 months or so? I would indeed say that, Simon. We've had writers and actors striking over the potential misuses of AI. We've had many films exploring the topic, including Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and The Creator, among others. We have.

And although technological advancements bring with them exciting things, they also open the door to cybercrime. Yes. And with all these technological improvements, cybercrime will become more accessible to the average criminal and will become more frequent. And I've said it once, and I'll say it again, this is why NordVPN is so important. With one click on the NordVPN app, you are protected, meaning that you don't have to be tech savvy. Their threat protection feature shields your devices from viruses, malicious malware and

phishing sites. Also, one NordVPN account can be used on up to six devices. Plus, you can get access to streaming services in other regions, all for the price of a cup of coffee per month. To get the best available discount off your NordVPN plan, go to NordVPN.com slash take. There's no risk with Nord's 30 day money back guarantee and you'll help support our podcast. The link is in the podcast episode description box.

Hey, it's Ben Bailey Smith here, Substitute Taker. And this episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Now a lot of us spend our lives wishing we had more time. If I had an extra hour slotted into my day, I'd actually get through a question, smestha's, you know, it's I can never quite fit the extra shows in. We all live busy lives these days and everything seems to move at 100 miles an hour. So how do we know what to make room for?

How do we know what's really important when our lives are happening so quickly? Therapy can help you find what matters to you. And if you know what matters to you, you can do more of it. Isn't that why we're really here? So if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online and it's designed to be convenient, flexible and suited to your schedule.

With over a thousand therapists in the UK already, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a wide variety of expertise. And our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash curmode. That's betterhelp.com slash curmode. And we're back, unless you're a Vanguard Easter, in which case obviously we never went away. Just before we're done on Dune, Dan Harris in Rome. As I was watching Dune part two, I became curious

about the practicalities of travel by giant sand worms, which you were just talking about. In the film, the Fremen travel from the north of Arrakis to the south, presumably crossing the planet's equator. It seems that gravity on Arrakis is about the same as Earth, so the planet should be similar size. We could assume then that a trip from the north to the south of Arrakis would be like travelling from, say, Cairo to Lusaka in Zambia, a distance of about 4,000 miles. Assuming the giant worm travels at about 50 miles an hour and any faster getting on would rip your arms off, the journey would take 80 hours. So that's 80 hours of standing

upright being blasted by sand, arms locked, holding the worm picks, unless you are in worm business class, like the Reverend Mother, obviously. Even assuming up to eight worm changes, this would still entail journeys of 10 hours at a stretch. Presumably, it's not possible to stop the worm for a comfort break mid-journey. Since the Fremen suits recycle all fluids and all liquids, we can assume that onboard refreshments will be limited to drinking your own recycled sweat and urine served at body temperature. Let's not consider what happens if you need to try hard during the journey. Given the above, Paul Atreides and his fremen friends could be forgiven for asking, are we there yet? Love the show, Steve. Down with long journeys and

up with motorway service stations. Dan Harris in Rome, thank you. He's clearly been listening for a while. There's a lovely moment seeing the film again. If you get a chance, you do see it in 70 mil at the BFI IMAX, it's amazing. But there's that moment when after they've had the firefight and they're sucking the fluid out of the corpses and the mother looks and she's horrified and she turns away to throw up. And he says, don't let it out, don't let it out, don't let it out. And then she does throw up and you almost expect him to go, okay, well, now you're going to have to get that back in again. Part of the future I'm not looking forward to. Right, so thank you very much, correspondents at Curb and Amer.com. Let us know what you think of Jude once you've seen it. Guest time and what a guest. She's

received two Academy Awards, four BAFTAs, four Golden Globes, and she's been in a Sparks video, not that we remembered to mention anything about that. She is, of course, Kate Blunchett. You'll hear our interview with her after this clip from her new film, The New Boy. To the Aboriginal protector, Mr. Crank, I am writing regarding the progress of the new boy you sent us. After a shaky start, he is learning to read and to write. He has a passion for Christ and I feel that he may even follow in my footsteps. And that is a clip from The New Boy.

I'm delighted to say we've been joined by its star and it's one of its producers, Cate Blanchett. Thank you very much indeed for talking to us. Is this your first film since Tar? I think it is. Yes, I think it was. I think, yes. I think it's so long ago, actually. It all feels so long ago. The world is so cattywumpus that I've lost sense of time. And you know, of course, yeah. What was that word you used? The world was what? It's probably in the English dictionary, cattywampus.

Do you know what that is? That's a new one to me. The world was so cattywampus. It is cattywampus. What does it mean? Well, just sort of at odds and ends, like I'm, you know, turned upside down. Discombobulated. Yeah, discombobulated.

This is great. This is an education. We're learning something. So introduce Hey, this is great. This is an education we're learning something. So introduce us to the new boy. Who is the new boy? What is the new boy? What is the new boy? Well, the new boy is played by Aswan Reid, an extraordinary young indigenous actor. And the film centers around him.

From colonization onwards, there was a reprehensible program of, and I use this in quotes, breeding the blackout where young Indigenous kids were taken off country and invited to assimilate into white culture. So this young boy is taken during the Second World War, is taken off country and dumped into a monastery that is where a priest has just died and has been replaced by a nun who is now officiating mass, who is trying to protect the boys from either becoming cannon fodder or going to become basically slave labor on farms. The nun that you mentioned is of course yourself. Sister Eileen. Sister Eileen. And she's not your average nun, is she?

What kind of a nun is Sister Eileen? Well, I mean, I think she's a nun in great conflict. Any nun with a secret has just amplified her probably innate sense of Catholic guilt. But she's somebody who's, when you meet her at the beginning of the film, she's experiencing great spiritual doubt. And in a way, I think she's looking for a miracle. And into her lap comes this young boy with an incredible sense of Indigenous spirituality. And once he arrives, all of these very small and then quite large miracles happen so that she begins to think, well, perhaps he's her saviour, perhaps he is a black Christ.

So the film's directed by Warwick Thornton who also wrote it, who made Samson and Delilah and Sweet Country. Can you tell us a little bit about him and why Warwick Thornton is important? Warwick is one of the great Australian cinematic voices. He was recently, for this film, yet again as a cinematographer, which is where he began, recognized by Cameron Image, one of the golden frog for his cinematography on this film. So he shoots, he writes, he directs, and he's able to work from intense personal experience and observation as an Indigenous Australian, but yet somehow extrapolate stories out that have a fable and like quality. This film certainly does, but also a universal points of connection.

And it's been really fascinating actually, travelling with this film to various festivals, starting off at Cannes and going to Toronto. And just to see the relationship that audiences have had with a very personal story of Warwick's, you know, cultures that have been colonized and cultures that have done their fair amount of colonizing. And to see the different points of reference that they take from him as a filmmaker. But he's a filmmaker that I've always wanted to work with. I was blown away by Samson and Delider. It was the first time I felt that a contemporary Indigenous Australian perspective was really brought into the mainstream. If I've got the history of this right, Kate, it's another one of the films which is, although it's not about Covid, obviously came about because of lockdown in as much as it gave

you a lot of time to talk to Warwick Thornton. We all had long conversations with people over laptops and so on. Did this emerge out of lockdown? Will you look back on this as something that happened because of it? Yes, I think so. I mean, you know, obviously it was an intense and difficult time for millions and millions of people and we don't wish it on ourselves again, but we are quite stupid as a species. But it was a very fruitful creative time, I think, because we weren't concerned with outcomes so much. We were more interested in dialogue and process.

And I think we're seeing that brought to bear on the cinematic fare that's come out in the last sort of 18 months. I think that they're very particular films, very unique films that don't seem to be made from the same cookie cutter. And so the conversation with Warwick and I and my partner, Andrea Upton, began late night,

rambling conversations where we found points of connection, obviously coming from all being Australians, but yet having very different cultural experiences. But yet we were interested in the overlap. And one of those was the Catholic Church, which of course, my father died when I was quite young and I turned to the Catholic Church, even though I wasn't Catholic, for the ritual, for the symbol and the hope that the great hand of God would come down on my shoulder and he'd say, it's alright, he's playing golf. You'll see him in 70 years. And that didn't happen. And so I then flung myself into nature. And so there was so much overlapping that Warwick and I had. And then he, quite with a lot of trepidation, I think, and it was a great act of trust, said,

I've got this project, which I haven't looked at for 15 years. And I wrote it when I was quite angry. Would you and Andrew take a look? And we loved it. We felt it was incredibly haunted. It was mysterious. It had a central protagonist who was silent. The landscape, which we all love so much, and I think that's why there's so many incredible Australian cinematographers, the light, the landscape in Australia is just so unique. It was a huge character in the film, so it felt like a no-brainer. But yes, it absolutely came out of conversations and lockdown. One of the ways that landscape is captured is also through the music. I mean, obviously recently TAR, so you've been very immersed in music anyway, but this is a superb score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, who are two of my favourite composers. Tell me about working

with them because it must be a dream project working with them. Oh, definitely. You know, like you, I've long admired their work as musicians and composers and the scores that they have done for film. I think it spoke to a lot of spiritual excavation that both of them have done over the years increasingly. It felt like a meeting of minds and they also had a creative connection to Warwick. It felt like a meeting of minds and they also had a creative connection to Warwick. It felt like something very natural. What was wonderful is that the score, in a way, gave voice to the inner spirit of Aswan's character. In a way, it allows him to soar without the access for the audience to have to him speaking words. I wear two things around my neck as St. Christopher and a mold of Nina Simone's gum that

Warren Ellis gave me after he picked it up off the bottom of Nina Simone's piano. I heard that story, yes. Yep, that's one of them, limited edition. Oh, really? There it is. How fantastic. What has he done with the original? Has he put it in resin?

He's got it back in the flight case that it was in. It's gone completely hard and concrete, but he still has Nina Simone's original gum. See, that is so fascinating. Those two symbols are equally iconic and somehow they're melding in your sweat. So, we'll just leave the listeners there with that thought. Which one do you pray to if in trouble? Both at the same time. And where did you find Aswin Reed, the new boy of the title cake?

Because obviously it is one of those films that if you get the wrong kid, it's not going to work. Oh look, talk about late night discussions with Warwick. Four months out, he was saying, sis, I was calling and said, if we don't find this boy, we don't have a movie, what are we going to do? And we had an extraordinary casting director who also

cast another film that we co-produced, which was called Shader. And so great the casting directors, their work has been recognized much more in the industry because it's such an important role. But he's a kiri-kara boy from the border of Western Australia and Northern territory, so he was taken off country, never been on a film set before. And within 24 hours of being on that film set, he knew what a dolly grip was, he knew how to

hit his mark. I mean, he learned more in a week than I have learned in 30 years in the film industry. His facility was extraordinary and his curiosity, he's an incredible mover. But it was a massive responsibility to all of the boys. It always is when you work with children, but these boys in particular. And it was, I can't tell you, I found it so heartwarming the way they supported one another because the physical demands on Aswan were enormous. To watch him rise to that occasion, and also he just has this incredible magnetic presence. Warwick sent me with great relief a video of him dancing in the red dust of central Australia. And he said, we found him. He said, shut the front door, we found him.

Fantastic. Fantastic. You mentioned at the beginning of the conversation, Kate, because we're told at the beginning of the film about the Australian government policy to, quote, breed out the black. So we get that right from the off. But then there is, I don't know if my reaction will be typical, I think Mark's reaction was the same. As soon as we realized that The New Boy has powers,

whatever it is you want to call it, that there's something that you, it was with a huge sense of relief that I realized it wasn't going to be the film that I was afraid it was going to be, which would have been another tough outback film, and they need to be made, of course, but that it was going to be something else altogether. And I wonder if that will... It could have been so many different films, but it goes down the magical side, which makes it into something else altogether, a film that will stay with people.

Yes. I think it's surprising for Warwick. Originally, it was called Father and Son, and the nun who I play was a priest. We all said, look, if you see that poster, exactly what you're saying. We've seen that film before, and is it going to tell us something that a documentary wouldn't or that we haven't already seen? And suddenly, by flipping the gender into a nun, it became a film about absent fathers and mothers who don't have the agency to actually change the environments that are dominated by war, that are dominated by male iconography, and to protect these children

in a way that the system swallows them all. But yet there was a buoyancy and a warmth, I think, that Warwick wanted to bring the film, which is perhaps why he didn't make it almost 20 years ago, when he started to write the story. He wrote it in reaction and anger and then he picked it up now. He infused it with a different tone, which I think is surprising. There is, of course, a scene in which the absent priest isn't absent. Off screen, we hear you

performing both your character and the priest with whom you were having an argument. It does sound like you had a lot of fun throwing stuff around and apparently shouting at yourself. Shouting at myself. I know that was just something that Warwick invented on the day. We shot that many different ways. Because obviously when you flip the gender, you say, well, where's the priest? And non officiating mass, well, how long can that go on before the outside world finds out that, you know, she's going to hell for that? So there's, you know, we have, it gave us a lot of opportunity, I think, for moments of fun and levity.

I mentioned that you're the producer, one of the producers on this film, okay, I think everybody knows you'd make a great director. No, it's funny. People say that. I think... Yes, we're all right. So I think it's time that you, you know, this is our suggestion. Are you pitching a script?

Are you pitching a slacking? Well, yeah, I am very lazy. But you've got a script there that you want to shoot me. Don't go there. He has written several novels. He will be posting them to you. You were also in that Fantastic Sparks video, The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte. Yes, I was.

Would you like to talk about that? Oh no, you forgot to mention it. I really enjoyed it. It was fabulous. I loved the song. As soon as they started playing it to me, I started doing this weird dance and I've been doing it ever since. Okay, that's not good, by the way, as a cape-liner. I think it ever since. Okay, that's not good, by the way, as a Cape Blanchett. I think it was seamless. Do you think I can now, am I now invited to send all my collected works to Cape Blanchett? You're required to, aren't you? Surely. I mean, basically she said she'd direct one of your books. That's what I heard. That's definitely what I heard. In a very Remington Steele season five contractual obligation kind of way.

Okay. Anyway, always good to speak to Kate Blanchett. She's always fascinating. What did you make of New Boy? I mean, we've heard some of your thoughts. Yeah. I mean, I thought it was fascinating. So obviously, just to recap in case you haven't listened to the interview, listened to this out of sync.

So it is the story of an indigenous boy who we see at the beginning being effectively captured, taken to a monastery where the priest has died. It's now being run by this nun, Sister Eileen, played by Cate Blanchett. The death of the priest has been covered up. The whole setup is none of this should be happening at all because she shouldn't be doing the mass as she is. It's 1940, World War II, and essentially the boys that she is looking after will either go on, as she just said, they're onto effectively slave work on farms or to become cannon fodder in the war. She wants to protect the boys, but she is in conflict with the authorities. She is in conflict with her religion. When this new boy arrives, he brings with him a sense of magic. I mean, not just a sense

of magic, but actually an element of magic. He seems to have healing powers. We see scenes in which he appears to be interacting with Christian iconography. We see evidence of stigmata. She's been waiting for a miracle. Perhaps he is the miracle she's been waiting for. So it's a really interesting film. And you said, and I think this is absolutely right, both you and I had the moment when we realized that it wasn't the film that we thought it was going to be because particularly the way it begins, you think, okay, this is going to be a story about somebody being taken in and abused. And it isn't about that, although it is within the context of an abusive system. So the director, who is Kedich, Aboriginal from Raising Alice Springs, has roots in the

culture, but more importantly has the skills to tell his stories his way. If you remember, we reviewed Sweet Country, you and I together when it first came out, I was very impressed by it. And what he's got as a filmmaker is a way of, because he writes, he directs, he shoots, he is the complete filmmaking package. What he's got is a unique way of telling these stories, and it is a fairly unique story because it has a sense of magical realism. It exists in a world in which, and actually even the word magic isn't correct, in which there are battling forms of spirituality, and spirituality which manifests itself in a possibly transcendent way. It's about what happens when two belief systems meet each other.

When Cate Blanchett said in that interview, it's unique, it's not cookie cutter. It's absolutely not cookie cutter. I think that's one of the reasons why it's quite a hard film to talk about because it's not the film that you think it's going to be. It's got something it's got something far more, I mean, we'll keep coming back to this word, far more transcendent about it than that. One of the things that it has at its centre is this extraordinary performance by Aswan Reid. I know it sort of seems like a cliché to say, well, this is the finest youth performance since David Gullpalill. But of course that connection is there because, you know, even when she was talking about the

fact that on the second day on set, he knew what the grip was, he knew what the dolly was, he knew what the thing was. There is something about the way in which he is in front of the camera. I was just interviewing recently the brilliant actor, Vicky Knight, and she talked about how she found a safe space in front of the camera, which she didn't have in the rest of her life. found a safe space in front of the camera, which she didn't have in the rest of her life. I think when you see, it's extraordinary. I mean, really, really extraordinarily accomplished performance that is nuanced and smart and clever and playful and completely natural, but also absolutely not random. I do think that's why you look at that and you do think, okay, David Goldblum, you start thinking about that extraordinary career and how, of course, when we first saw him in Walkabout,

it was an absolute revelation. Wonderful score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, which becomes the voice of the landscape, but also becomes the inner voice of this child who isn't verbalizing, but is saying so much in a nonverbal way. An awful lot of that, I think, is to do with so much in a non-verbal way. An awful lot of that, I think, is to do with the score. I think that what's really impressive about the film is that I thought it was kind of considering how tough the subject matter is potentially, particularly when you see the set up at the beginning when you're told this sort of stark fact, the film has a real joy in it. The film has a really vibrant spirit. It's rebellious and unruly and unexpected.

Although it's moving within a tragic arc, there is a real sense of something, again, to come back to this word, forgive me, because my vocabulary isn't as great as it should be, but something genuinely magical happening. I really liked it. What I really liked about it was that it was not the film that I expected it to be at all. And there'll be more with Cate Blanchett in take two, by the way, because I mean, obviously

nothing about Sparks, because we forgot. But there will be more with Cate Blanchett. You're never going to forgive yourself for not asking her about Sparks, are you? Absolutely not. It's the ads in a minute, but even though we've had the greatest gag ever at the start of this podcast, it's time to step again into our laughter lift, which is somehow endlessly entertaining. I'm just looking at the material is just really great. Yeah. Anyway, Mark with the hi, Mark.

Hi, Simon. The weather warming up a bit. Thoughts turn to Easter when the first intrepid campers of the year start dusting off their tents reminds me of a Mayo family camping jaunt a few years ago. And who should turn up at our pitch? But the one and only Kat Stevens asking for help. His awning had broken. Actually, I had to explain this to child three.

That is very good. I said, haven't you got insurance, Kat Stevens? I tried, he said, but my insurance company refused. They said, if your tent gets destroyed, you won't be covered. Yeah, his awning is broken was better than that. It was an unseasonably warm day, and seasoned camper, Kat, advised us to put some of our perishables in a cool box. Apparently, a lot of nice things turn bad out there.

Better. So you kind of, you started high, you went low, and then you've kind of got into the middle. This is Tea for the Tilliman, of course, Wild World, but if you want to leave, take good care, hope you've got a lot of nice things to wear. Not a great line, I don't think. Then a lot of things turn bad out there anyway. Lots of Dan with the Kids, Cat Stevens jokes there compiled for the first time. Anyway, back after this, unless you're a Vanguard Easter, in which case we have just one question. If you can't locate your car in a car park, how can you increase your chances of finding it? There's a lot happening these days, but I have just the thing to get you up to speed on what matters, without taking too much of your time. The Seven from the Washington Post is a podcast that gives you the seven most important and

interesting stories, and we always try to save room for something fun. You get it all in about seven minutes or less. I'm Hannah Jewell. I'll get you caught up with The Seven every weekday. So follow The Seven right now. Okay, so the question, if you can't locate your car in a car park, how can you increase your chances of finding it? Mark, what have you got there? Well, you press the beep beep thing on your key, don't you?

You press the thing, and then your car lights up. The answer is you point your car keys at your head. What? Tests have shown that holding your keys close to your head in certain orientations does increase the realized gain in the required direction and therefore increases the range of your key fob. Electromagnetic waves of a particular frequency pass through a large number of water molecules contained in your brain. No!

That's the truth, Mark. Accept the truth. You stick the key in your head. Yeah, stick it in your head. You hold it close to your head, and then the electromagnetic waves of a particular frequency pass through all those water molecules that you've got in your brain. Why don't you hold it in front of your bladder? Doesn't work. You've got more water molecules in your bladder than in your brain.

You speak for yourself. Anyway, listen, if it's in the script, then it's absolutely true. If it's in the script, it's true. An email here from Ethel the Froth. So we're back into Pythonesque territory. Dear Mr and Mrs Jean Paul Sartre, watching Asteroid City, I wondered what you think are the prime contenders for the film with the most impressive all-star cast. The quality of the film is not relevant. Obviously Oppenheimer is a contender. I guess you have to include the Avengers movies. Going back you have A Bridge Too Far and How the West was won. The player might be worth a thought, but I'm nominating the bounty, which includes Laurence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Daniel Day-Lewis,

Liam Neeson, plus Edward Fox, Bernard Hill, Philip Davis, John Sessions, Dexter Fletcher, and Neil Morrissey. What do you think? Up with the Gummies and down with the Piranha Brothers, says Ethel the Froth. the Piranha Brothers, says Ethel the Froth. The Piranha Brothers, of course, for Doug and Dinsdale Piranha, who I think were caught by a policeman, Harry Snapper Aldous. Cheerful and violent, I think they were described as. Anyway, but that's a great cast, isn't it? It is. The player is pretty hard to top. The player also has a fantastic moment.

If you're a horror film fan or kind of exploitation film fan, in that early opening sequence, which is the longest tracking shot, I think it's longer than Lady from Shanghai, and you hear over the, as the camera goes over into the thing, you hear Talagot, who let Adam Simon on the lot? Because Adam Simon is a brilliant filmmaker who made the American Nightmare documentary and also tells that brilliant story about he directed Carnasaur for Roger Corman, which was a dinosaur movie made for half a million dollars. He told me once, I said, why did you do Carnasaur? He said, well, Roger Corman offered me Carnasaur. And I went home and I said to my partner, what do I do? And she said, well, you have to do it.

And I said, why? And she said, because otherwise you'll just end up doing Carnasaur too. Mason- Which is very good. Now there's a partner who is completely plugged in and understands it. So I think you mentioned Driveaway Dolls already. Tell us about that. I think you said you were off to Dave Norris' Picture Palace to see. Exactly. This was immediately after the Oscars. We did that Oscar Shmosker thing. I had very little sleep and we did the thing and I had to dash off to Dave Norris' Palace of Earthly Delights in order to watch Driveaway Dolls, a new film from director Ethan Coen, best known for his work with brother Joel. He previously solo directed

the 2022 documentary Jerry Lee Lewis, Trouble in Mind. This feature is co-written with his wife Tricia Cook, who also edits. It is a knowingly trashy lesbian road trip adventure, originally entitled Drive Away Dykes. They changed the title according to both the filmmakers because both the studio and the MPAA were concerned about the original title and also because they were concerned that there's negative connotations to the original title even though it was used in the context of a word that has been repurposed. So, starts in Philadelphia, 1999, two gay friends, Jamie Marion, Margaret Qualley, and Geraldine Visman-Arthin, decide through a complicated series of events to get away from it all by doing a drive away to Tallahassee, Florida. If you've ever been in an American

Duna driveway, what it is is a car is in one place, the car needs to be in another place, you're in one place and you need to be in another place. So the drive away is you agree to pick the car up and drive it to the other place. And so it's a way of doing it. And I've actually done one of those. I did a drive away from New York to Washington, DC, the first time I ever went to the location of the exodus. So they go to a driveway run by Bill Camp's Curly, Curly's drive away. And they say that they want to drive to Tallahassee. Here's a clip. Where do you want to go? Tallahassee? Tallahassee. What's drive to Tallahassee. Here's a clip. Where do you want to go? Tallahassee? Tallahassee?

What's wrong with Tallahassee? It's very nice. There's Spanish Moss and live oak. Curly here. Don't call me Curly. And your name Curly? My name is Curly. We just met.

It's too familiar. Have you ever been to Tallahassee? No, I got good sense. Your car is a Dodge Aries. Oh, okay. to Tallahassee? No, I've got good sense. Your car is a Dodge Aries. Oh, okay. Is that a good car? Yeah, really. You sell those shirts? So the reason he says that the thing they're driving is a Dodge Aries is because just before this, he has been told by some criminal types that they are going to send somebody to pick up a car, the Dodge Aries, to take it to Tallahassee, because that car has,

in its boot, a kind of Kiss Me Deadly repo man, pulp fiction style mystery box. So, the women pick up the car with the box, not knowing that the box or whatever it is, is in the thing. They drive to Tallahassee, visiting en route every lesbian bar between there and Tallahassee. Meanwhile, they're being pursued by a pair of bickering comedy gangsters who are employed to get the box back. So, the Tony's wacky, zany, lots of wisecracking, bawdy humor. Somebody said to me, you know, why is Ethan Cohen making this movie? Just as a little bit of background because I think it is contextual. So, Tricia Cook identifies as queer and has said of her marriage to Ethan Cohen that is a very non-traditional marriage. I have a partner, Ethan has another

partner. So an awful lot of the kind of, you know, the script, the stuff about the lesbian bars and that stuff is apparently drawn from, you know, her own knowledge and experience of this. Okay. So the script was originally written, as I said, as drive away dykes. And they said that when they wrote it, they wrote it together as a way of spending time together. And they described the project as deliberately, playfully trashy. I think a better word would be terrible. They've cited as influences, Faster Pussycat Kill Kill, Bad Girls Go to Hell, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Go Fish, But I'm a Cheerleader, and the works of John Waters as reference points. All of those films, incidentally, are films that were shown at the Scala, and I would

recommend that people see the Scala documentary. Scala! I would recommend that they do that rather than see this, because all of those movies are more interesting than this. This is the least fun I have had with a Cohen-associated movie since Burn After Reading, a film with which this shares an inexplicable fascination with the comedic potential of sex toys and artificial Mr. Happies. In fact, the film is dedicated to Cynthia Plastercaster, the sort of specter of whom sort of looms over the plot. I think- With Cynthia who?

Cynthia Plastercaster. Look her up, I don't know. She's somebody who used to take plaster casts of aroused famous persons. Chats. Mr. Happy, yeah. In fact, there is a very interesting story about Cynthia Plastercaster, but this is probably not the moment for it. The key gag is odd couple road movie schtick. One of the women is uptight and repressed,

the other one is out there and verbose, and we're supposed to find the chalk and cheese relationship kooky and fun against this wacky backdrop of severed heads and labyrinthine plot twists and exploitation style, you know, sex parties and orgies. In fact, it's just great because it's trying so hard to be smart and funny and wacky and crazy. It's closer to the Tarantino grindhouse project stuff than it is to the sharp satire of the Coens. The dialogue is meant to be smart. At times, it reminded me of the dialogue for The Counsellor, in which you could almost hear the clatter of the typewriter writing the dialogue that was then going to be just simply read off a page. The pacing is

meant to be wild and reckless. It is in fact uneven and bumpy like the car. The whole thing might be fun late night to a stoner audience, to the same kind of people who enjoy the Cheech and Chong films, but sober and tired a few hours after having stayed up to watch the Oscars and then done our fantastic Oscar Shmoska broadcast, it was a chore. It's 83 minutes long, and I felt every single one of those 83 minutes. And the fact that it is absolutely jam packed with famous persons, Minnie Feldstein, Colin Domingo, Matt Damon in the final act, just adds to the general sense of a smug vanity project

that exists because hey, the people that made it wanted to make a wild and crazy time. And it's perfect example of the more fun you had making a film, the less fun anyone had watching it. On that basis, they must have had an absolute ball making this. And that is drive away dolls. It is. Okay. All right. Okay. So let's do a what's on thing just before we're done.

So if you have a cinematic event happening near you, we would like to know about it. You attach it to an email and send it to correspondents and curbandomeo.com, for example like this. Hi, Mike. Hi, Simon. This is Adrian Wooden here, just to tell you about the fantastic programme I'm proud to curate called Cinema Made in Italy, which is taking place at the Cine Lumière in Kensington from the 20th to the 24th of March. Fantastic array of brand new Italian movies and classics and you can buy tickets via the Institut Francais website. So come along. Hi Simon and Mark. Kelly here from the Darkness in the Fields Folk Horror Film Festival being

held at Quad in Derby on Saturday the 23rdrd March. We're kicking off at 12 noon with a short film showcase, followed by screenings of All You Need is Death, The Borderlands, To Fire You Come at Last and The More, plus Q&As with our guests writer and director Sean Hogan, actor James Swanton and director Chris Cronin. Festival passes and individual film tickets are on sale now at derbyquad.co.uk. So that was Kelly telling us about Darkness in the Fields folk horror festival in Derby, and Adrian Wooten, who sounds disturbingly like David Hepworth, inviting us to the Cinema Made in Italy festival at the Cine Lumiere at the end of the month. Can I just say, I know Adrian Wooten very well. He doesn't look anything like David Hepworth.

They are definitely two different people. It's not David Hepworth putting on a voice. If you have something for us, let us know and send it to correspondents at kobademeo.com. That is the end of take one. This has been a Sony Music Entertainment production. This week's team was Lily Gulliver and Vicky and Zacky and Matthias Matias, apologies, and Beth. The producer was Michael Dale. the redactor Simon Pull. Mark, what is your Film of the Week? My Film of the Week is Hirokazu Koriada's Monster. Take two has landed adjacent to this podcast for even more extraordinary,

fabulous cinematic-related entertainment. Thank you for listening. See you soon. Take a closer look at the MDX, brought to you by Acura. Have you seen the new 2024 Acura MDX? I was researching my car to get and ended up on Acura's model page. You've got to see this. We're talking premium tech and precision crafted performance. It's got all the power you need. And the best part, it's all wrapped in this stylish sleek package. I took it for a test drive and it drives like a dream.

So definitely check out the 2024 Acura MDX. Visit Acura.ca for more details.