Kermode & Mayo’s Take - Deadpool & Wolverine: Top or tiresome?

Episode Date: July 26, 2024

This week’s guest is novelist and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who tells Simon all about ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’, his adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s beloved novel, which sees a boy become stranded on a desert island after being swept overboard during a storm on a sailing trip with his family. The conversation is so good that we’ve got more in Take 2! Mark will be reviewing the film next week.   The Good Doctor Kermode gives his thoughts on various new releases, including ‘The Echo’, a Mexican-German docufiction film, which blends detached observation with incisive commentary to capture the rhythms of life in the traditional Mexican village of El Echo; ‘About Dry Grasses’, a Turkish-language drama about a disillusioned teacher in a remote village who, facing allegations of sexual misconduct, meets a colleague who may help make sense of the challenges at hand; and ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’, which sees Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman don their superhero costumes and join forces for another Marvel outing in which Wolverine, recovering from his injuries, crosses paths with the loudmouth Deadpool, reluctantly teaming up to defeat a common enemy.   Expect some A+ witterings from Simon and Mark, who bravely and boldly ask: how can we be more ‘Brat’ this summer?    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

My name is Christine. And I'm Zandi. And we're siblings and the hosts of Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet, a podcast where we do dramatic readings of the most wild and off-the-wall reviews on the internet. We find the funniest real reviews about everything from Vegas weddings, matchmaking services, and Trader Joe's, to caves, toddler beds, and Spirit Halloween. You won't believe the things people think absolutely must be said on the internet. How else would everyone know some caves don't have Wi-Fi?

We hear about the good, the bad, and the time Spirit Halloween sent someone a dildo instead of a Halloween costume. Listen to Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm wondering, Mark, whether we can, are you brat, would you say, by the way? I'm wondering if we can be brat or whether it's something that we shouldn't. I actually understand what that's a reference to, which is remarkable. So it's like, it's an American thing, obviously, but it's also a British thing. Is it? Because if, yeah, because if Kamala is Brad, therefore she's the personification of something. Right.

However, in the paper today it said, and Brad is pretty female, but it's described as capturing the current mood, sulky, sickly, hedonistic and nihilistic. Um, so I'm not quite sure that we can, can we be that? I'm not quite sure whether, but, but, but also if, but Kamla isn't, I would say, she's hedonistic and nihilistic. Is she? She's not nihilistic, hedonistic. No, but anyway, so I'm not quite sure, but if so, should we even try to be Anyway, so I'm not quite sure, but if so, should we even try to be brat or would that be like you looking up WAP online?

And then having to delete my internet search history. Or the lady Chatterley judge saying it's not a book you let your servants read, that kind of thing. I don't want to end up sounding like that, but should we even try to be brat? No. I think the very fact that we're having this conversation means that we shouldn't. What we should do is say, yay, if it's a good thing, I don't know, but hazar, but let's not go anywhere near it.

Hazard is not a vibe, that's not. But also, apparently it's a vibe. So it's a vibe. It's a vibe. Apparently, according to Child 2, it's a vibe. And I asked Child 2, and Child 2 said the closest that we got to it was the up with blue hair feminists and women pipe smokers and all that jazz. Was that Brad?

So, so I think, yeah. So saluting female pipe smokers is Brad. Okay. Bluehead feminists might be Brad, but then I don't, I don't, what I don't get is how can't, how, how then is Kamala Brad? Because she's, I don't know if she smokes a pipe and she hasn't got blue hair. So I'm not quite sure. Do you think she's a secret? She certainly is. Do you think if she smokes a pipe and she hasn't got blue hair. So I'm not quite sure. Do you think she's a secret?

She's certainly a feminist. Do you think when she has a little- If you have any suggestions as to how this podcast could become more brat, Eward, would you want us to become more brat? I'm not sure. Anyway, KermitandMayor.com. Assuming that we're not brat, nor should we be, what are we doing in this non-brat podcast? Mason- Well, we're going to be reviewing about dry grasses, the Echo El Echo. And of course, there is a new superhero movie, Deadpool and Wolverine, plus our very, very special guest.

Mason- Yes, Frank Cartwell-Boyes, who has just been announced as the children's laureate. And he's done the screenplay for Kensuke's Kingdom, which is a new animation based on a Michael Morpoga book of the same name. Talking to Frank is always delightful. We've got some take one business and some take two business with Frank. In our premium section for the Vanguard Easter, Mark, what do we get there? Mark Miller Well, Chariots of Fire is back in cinemas, so we'll be looking back at Chariots of Fire. Toby Eastwood Well, the weekend watchlist and the weekend notlist, our TV movie of the week, that's there.

Deadpool and Wolverine, as Marcus mentioned, so best crossover films, I think, is what we're doing there. Ad-free episodes of Ben Babysmith and Nimone's Shrink the Box. Plus, we answer your film and non-film related quandaries in questions, smestions, and you get it all via Apple podcasts or head to extra takes.com for non-fruit related devices. And if you're already a Vanguard Easter, as always, Mark, you go first because you're slightly behind. Okay. We salute you.

I'm sure they get that. That's going to be fine in the edit. Marvelous. Exciting news from our friends at Rooftop Film Club, London's king of outdoor cinema. Their rooftop experience is located at Bussey Building in Peckham and Roof East in Stratford. It says, feel free to just say Peckham or Stratford if easier, which would have been easier had that instruction been at the beginning of that read.

I think they're assuming that you might have read ahead, just to familiarise yourself with the text. But yes. After all these years, that is a foolish assumption to have made. That's true. Anyway, on the 10th and 11th of August, we'll bring you a selection of specially curated films in Peckham. The Incredibles, The Mask, Birdman, Vertigo, West Side Story, which I read that as six

foot one, but obviously that's West Side Story from 1961 and almost famous. As a Vanguard Easter, you get two for one with the code TheTake24, all one word. 24 is the number, obviously. In addition, you also get two for one on every Wednesday as well on any booking using the same code. Two for one is I think usually the way that is said. Anyway, visit rooftopfilmclub.com to book. It's written two for one. I'm reading what's put in front of me.

I'm like Ron Burgundy. It's for speak, two for one. Visit rooftopfilmclub.com to book. Two for one. Thank you for your reviews, which have been coming in completely unsolicited. This says joyous, five stars. Kerberna Mayhem's The Take is an absolute masterpiece of a film podcast, effortlessly blending erudition and entertainment in a

way that is nothing short of magical. Mark Kermode, with his encyclopedic knowledge of razor and razor sharp wit, delivers critiques that are both profoundly insightful and delightfully entertaining. Simon Mayo, with his warmth and charm perfectly, blah, blah, blah, it gets too embarrassing. The show's blend of in-depth reviews, industry insights, and engaging listener interactions is simply sublime. The take is without doubt the pinnacle of film podcasting, an essential listen for anyone who loves movies. And this is from the show beloved by the Al Gore Rhythm.

So we're moving out of brat territory, but algorithm is a three piece power band who are, it sounds like pretty hard rock to me. Now, anyway, okay. I just want, I just want to throw something in here for a long time. I was given a hard time about the way I say erudite, right? I was told off. You remember this? I said erudite. You said, well, it's erudite. Why does Mark say erudite, right? I was told off. You remember this? I said erudite. You said erudite. Why does Mark say erudite? Yeah. Okay. I would like you to hear this brief voice recording of Barbara Streisand saying the word. Okay. Steve knew this world intimately and he also knew the Talmud. That gave him the kind of natural authority

that I wanted for this role and his voice already had that cadence of an erudite Jewish elder. Thank you very much, an erudite Jewish elder. You heard it from Barbara Streisand herself. I was right, everyone else can get lost. Right, okay. Well, we won't be able to use that for copyright reasons, obviously. But the fact that- Jason- You can use the bit of just her saying erudite, surely. Mason- Barbara Streisand says it in one way. It doesn't prove that there's an extra vowel in erudite at all. But anyway, the algorithm- Jason- She says erudite.

Mason- The show beloved by the algorithm, the freshest grooves, apparently, this side of the Lazzaretto River. That's who they are. Then someone says, I don't know what the Al Gore Rhythm is, but it loves Marky Mark with his Commodey content and Simon County Mayo. Every episode is full of pipe-smoking women and true feelings about Birdsong. One day we'll discover what the redactor actually does, but until then there's the laughter lift. I suppose that's true. what the redactor actually does, but until then there's the laughter lift. I suppose that's true. Martin Lee says, amazing, this podcast is great. I prefer it to my wife, five stars. Son of Lung says, Kermit and Mary's take is about family. That's what's so powerful about it. Anyway, so these unsolicited reviews are amongst our favorites, obviously. Thank you. It helps the

algorithm, pops it up there, everyone thinks it's cool. Very good. Even if they don't think it's brax. Kermit and Mayo, correspondents of KermitandMayo.com. What is out there? What can we go and see? Okay. So, the Echo, El Echo, which is a documentary with elements of fiction by Mexican filmmaker, Tatiana Huezo, who made Tempest, Thad and Prayers for the Stolen, the latter of which was shortlisted for Best International Feature Oscar, plays out in a remote village where we meet three generations of people who raise sheep, they raise children, they care for their old folk. It's a hard, scrabble life, very tough, the drought, frost, all the challenges of nature, and children in this world coming of age in a world from which some of them want to escape because it's a kind of hard scrabble life.

There's a statement by the director which said that the film arose from my need to continue investigating the territory of childhood. I decided to explore a rural universe because the children are prepared for the adult world too early. In this world, children learn how to understand death, illness, and love with each act, word, and silence of their parents. Basically, it's about the hard, scrabble life that they lead, but it's also about children coming of age early in a world in which that's what is demanded of them. I thought it was a quietly powerful experience,

which I like, not least because it's a world in which you've got the very young, the very old coexisting and everyone has a role to play. You feel that during the course of the work that you get to know these people. I was reminded, Simon, do you remember some years ago, I reviewed a couple of drama documentaries, Mongolian docudramas. One was called The Story of the Weeping Camel, and the other one was called The Cave of the Yellow Dog. Do you remember that? Sorry, sorry. So your question is, do I remember some Mongolian docudramas you reviewed a couple of years ago? That's honestly the question? Yes.

And now that I've repeated it back to you, does it sound as ludicrous to you as it does to me? Because the answer is, I have no idea what you're talking about. Now that you say it back to me, I realize that I probably, it was a rhetorical question and I'm sure there are people listening. I'm sure there are people listening. I see that I probably, it was a rhetorical question and I'm sure there are people listening. I'm sure there are people listening. I see, I see who would remember those Mongolian docudramas. Well, look, so to anyone who does remember Story of the Weeping Camel Cave, The Yellow Dog,

this had a similar atmosphere in as much as it invited you into the world of people whose experiences are completely different to, well, certainly mine and allowed you to get to know them and to see the world through their eyes, through the miracle of the international language of film. And I thought that was really powerful. As I said, it's not packed with dramatic incident, but it is something that is very engrossing in a very kind of quiet and understated way. If you want to put this on the poster, if you're a fan of Mongolian docudramas, this German produced film from a Mexican filmmaker

is right up your street. Excellent. I will bear that in mind and I'll be at the head of the small queue to go and see it. Okay, coming next, it's The Box Office Top 10. Well now this episode is brought to you by MUBI, a curated streaming service dedicated to elevating great cinema. MUBI is the place to discover ambitious films by visionary filmmakers, all carefully handpicked by real people who really know movies. Mark, what's coming up in July on Mubi?

Well, Mubi have a new series dedicated to one of our favourite actors, Lea Sadoo. It's streaming on Mubi UK from July the 12th. You can dive into some great performances by her. They've got Crimes of the Future, The Feature from David Cronenberg from 2022. That's streaming on Mubi UK from July the 12th. The Beast, the Bertram Bonnello film in which she co-stars with gorgeous George Mackay, which as you know, I absolutely loved, came out of reeling that streaming on MUBI UK from July 19th. Will Barron Any other favourites in there of ours? Will Barron Yes, there's Horde by Luna Carmoon, who when we reviewed this when it came out, I said,

I think she is a brilliant new screen talent with great performances, really worth seeing. Will Barron Two of our films of the week there, you can try Mubi free for 30 days at mubi.com slash Kermode Meo at m-u-b-i dot com slash Kermode Meo for a whole month of great cinema for free. He killed at least 19 people during the 1980s in South Africa. Very dark times. People were desperate.

We were looking for him. We couldn't find him. And nobody knew where he was. Every single one of his victims was black. He reached such a stage where he was now hunting. World of Secrets from the BBC World Service. Season 3, The Apartheid Killer. Search for World of Secrets wherever you get your BBC podcasts. So the box office top 10, here we go. And at number 14, Forrest Gump, the 30th anniversary

4K reissue. Someone called Charlie and Leeds, so that will be Charlie and Leeds, sends us an email making points I believe that we have made already, but Charlie is making them again. Okay. Go ahead. Yeah. Charlie says, hmm, life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. Yes. How profound that is. So true. Unless of course you can read or even if you can't, but can still decipher the little map of chocolates you get in every single box of chocolates, you know exactly what you're going to get, so you've made that point. Then the only exception is Bagger Revels, which I think I mentioned last time when you can learn to identify the evil coffee and orange creams. The only thing, Charlie and

Liz, is the coffee ones were truly disgusting, but the orange creams were perfectly fine. Obviously, the complete chocolate ones were the best ones. And the orange cream, which you spelt with a Grav accent on the first E, is that right? I'm not sure that creme works when you're talking about a bag of revels. But anyway, I think as soon as you analyse most of these sayings, they don't kind of hold up. But you kind of knew what Forrest was getting on with. Yes, yeah, yeah, exactly. But we have made the point that yes, you're absolutely right. If you open up and you read the thing, you can, but his mother was speaking in a much

more philosophical way. I do like Phil Lyman. Maybe back in the day in the community in which Forrest's mum grew up, then maybe the boxes of chocolates that you got were just boxes of chocolates and you didn't have any idea. We're speaking from our very illustrious and very comfy, cosy position here. We have a luxury, we expect to have a little grid, which tells us where to get the frog surprise, but maybe back in the day they didn't. Clumsy frog.

Yes. It may have been more accurate to say, mama always used to say, life is like a bag of pick and mix. Mama used to say, take your time young man. I think that's spot on. Take your time young man. That's right. Don't you rush to get old. Yeah, that's the one.

Anyway, Forrest Gump's at 14. Probably be gone next week, I would imagine. Thelma's at number 12. Which I thought was really terrific. I thought Gene Squibb was wonderful in it. I love the constant Mission Impossible Tom Cruise jokes because essentially it's a heist movie starring an older cast in which she gets scammed and she goes to find the scammers to get her money back. It has a terrific late in the drama appearance by Malcolm McDowell, but June Squibb

just rules. She's great. It's number 17 in the States, Alex in Fleet. Just wanted to say thank you for recommending Thelma. It was absolutely wonderful and just what I needed after a difficult week. There may have been some lacrimosity, but it was the good kind. We all need to be better at taking care of each other. Thank you, Alex in Fleet in Hampshire. Number 10 here, number 10 in the States is The Bike Riders, which I think is a really good looking film. As I keep saying, I keep comparing it to Catherine Bigelow's The Loveless. I know a number of people have now seen The Loveless, which is available on a number of streaming services, including BFI Player, and the comparisons

are very strong. I think it's done better than I expected. This is its fifth week in the top 10. It'll be his last week in the top 10. But I sort of thought it might come and go and then just become a cult movie later on, but it's actually done pretty solidly. Number nine is Bad Boys Ride or Die. But not as solidly as Bad Boys Ride or Die, sadly,

which has taken a huge amount of money. But, you know, hey, particularly at the time we're in at the moment, I think anything that was bringing punters into the cinema is a good thing, even though I don't think the film is a good thing. Number 80 is Blurr to the End. RG Cole says, I just watched it and thought it was so interesting to see the background to what was one of the most memorable comebacks last year for the band. I was at Wembley and it was my first concert of Blurr's followed by the second concert just a few weeks later in Hammersmith. I thought Mark's review was very harsh. There's a lot of interesting information and background about the band and what they've been through that I never knew about.

Damon was in a dark place after his relationship ended. I guess documentary is celebrating a massive comeback last year with a new credible album from the band. Not many 90s bands doing new stuff that sells does not hit the high bar anymore. But I love it and can't wait to see the full Wembley concert again. Will Barron Well, the full songs are going to be available on another film, which is coming out later. I think one of the things with this documentary is it's kind of slightly, it's a bit, there's not much songs in there because they don't want to show you the songs now. What they want you to do is to buy that thing when it comes.

I think if you're a Blur fan, it probably is. I like Blur, but I just thought the documentary was... It didn't tell me anything that I hadn't seen in previous documentaries and it did feel a little bit... It did feel a little promotional-tastic, but there you go. UK's number seven, America's number eight is Bad News with a Z. Okay, so this is a Hindi language rom-com which wasn't press screen, but it was reviewed in The Guardian, presumably from a cinema

screening which said, love triangle caper about a woman who bears twins by two different fathers gives disappointingly more life to its competing men. I haven't seen it. If anyone has send us a review. Six here, six in the States, fly me to the moon. Which I enjoyed. I mean, it's a film which toys around with the moon landing didn't happen conspiracy theory, which it then absolutely solidly debunks and it has a lot of fun on the way. The design is really nice. The performance is acute. I mean, I think it's entertaining. As I said, I know a couple of critics who took against it because they thought that it somehow fed into conspiracy theory law.

I think it does completely the opposite. I think it actually ends up, weirdly enough, being about the difference between truth and lies. But it's a rom-com with eye-catching sets and eye-catching stars, and I liked it. UK and US number five is A Quiet Place, day one. Not scary, but very tense. Very good central performance by Lupita Nyong'o and as we've heard from several people he wrote in, has been making cinema audiences go quiet, which is never to be sniffed at.

Long Legs at number four. Genuinely creepy, genuinely has a sense of dread. Horror movie which actually manages to do that thing about making you go, ooh, there's something bad coming. Some great performances, some very extreme, some very, very sort of battened down. I know I really liked it. Actually, most people I know who are horror fans have really enjoyed it. Inside Out 2 is at number three. Which, Inside Out 2 at three. This is one thing about, you know, I want one ticket for Inside Out 2 at three in screen four. I don't, for me, Inside Out was the more perfect film,

but we have had so many letters from people saying that they have had absolutely sublime cinema experiences seeing this with their kids and making connections with their kids that you know, it's clearly working. It works better than I had expected it to. Number two here, number one in the States is Twisters. James in Basingstoke. I'd like to take issue with Mark's review of Twisters. He was far too easy on it. The tagline should have been, go ahead. The weather is bad, but the writing is worse. Not least to see where Daisy Aguilera Jones' character inexplicably tells a tornado to stop as her car is swept up. Unsurprisingly, the tornado doesn't listen. The opening is spectacular, but then there's an hour of approximately 30 unnecessarily

nameless 2D characters driving and shouting woo into cameras and for the purpose of their vlogs. Yes. Powell and Edgar Jones should have been the focus of the first hour. As a spectacle, I was underwhelmed. It feels like the action set pieces amount to just 10 minutes of the two hour runtime. I could have got a better thrill by wrapping myself in tin foil and running into a lightning storm. Maybe that's the fundamental problem. Do tornadoes lend themselves to cinematic storytelling? They destroy everything in sight within seconds. I'm going to write something I

never thought I would write, but Michael Bay would have done this better. It would have been the rock and a load of transformers rolling around in a non-stop three-hour tornado, job done. On the plus side, no cows were harmed on screen. Would Michael Bay have done this better, Mark? No, I don't believe that's the case because I don't believe that the problem is that it's badly directed. I think it's perfectly functionally directed, but I think the script, I mean, I agree.

It was funny when you said, you know, I want to take issue, I thought of I imagined, of course, and this is what the email imagined as well, I would think that they were gonna say I was too harsh in the film, I wasn't harsh enough. The script is terrible. The script is terrible and the narrative is literally, as I said before, it's, oh, there's a tornado,

let's run towards it. No, it's scary, let's run away. And then they just do that seven times. And that's what happens. Adam Lightfoot, sorry. No, no, you carry on. So it's not a direction problem. When they were doing the first twister, the main thing was they wanted to know whether

they could actually conjure a digital tornado on screen, because this is in the days when digital technology was still comparatively in its infancy. Once they had discovered that they could, they then said, okay, let's write a plot around that. The plot is, you know, there are tornado chasers, people who run towards tornadoes. But that's it. There isn't any other plot. It's like, oh, tornadoes, they destroy everything. That's bad.

Mike Kilner says, Mark's tonally sarcastic comment on the follow-up to Twister being the less than imaginatively monikered Twisters left me in full quizzical double teapot mode. I don't recall Mark or any other critic for that matter passing the same snooty aside being made when James Cameron announced aliens, the xenomorph shoot-em-up follow-up to alien. Perhaps the writers were looking to earn the same vibe, shoot them up, follow up to Alien. Perhaps the writers were looking to earn the same vibe even if they were always going to fall short. Tickety Tonk up with birdsong, silent running and female pipe smokers. Also, before you pronounce Adam Lightfoot originally from Newcastle upon Tyne now in San Diego. Twisters isn't an awful film,

it's made solidly enough, hits the beats it needs to and attempts to puff things out with a balance of scientific endeavour and the devastating effects of the disasters. However, there's just nothing compelling or involving. The score by the reliably talented Benjamin Woolfish does a lot of the heavy lifting, telling us when to be in awe and when there's peril on the way. But ultimately, just like a tornado, while Twisters looks like a whirlwind from the outside, it's hollow. Yes.

Well, I agree with everything that you said there. I'm including the thing about aliens. Cause actually funnily enough, as we were going in, um, somebody said to me, you're looking forward to this. And I said, well, aliens worked. So I, I acknowledge the, you know, it's the differences. Aliens is a good film. That's why I'm not so hockey about the thing. Also aliens had the most brilliant tagline, which was this time it's war, which is a fantastic

tagline, which then when they released Alien special edition with the 18 extra minutes, that tagline was tweaked to this time it's more. That's very good. This time more than any other time, which was a World Cup song by the England. Dispicable Me 4 is the number one movie. It was number two in America, number one here. Well, I mean, I think there is something funny about the minions keeping Twisters off the top spot. I still find the minions funny. I find them funnier than anything else in the Despicable franchise, but I laughed and giggled all the way through and then got told, are you going to do that all the way through the film? To which the answer was yes.

Did we have any emails? Has anyone been to see it and enjoyed it as much as I did? No. So that's it as far as the box office top 10 is concerned. And the ads are coming up, but first it's time with that kind of spirit and wind in our sails to step into the laughter lift. Hurrah, what a joy this is. Okay.

Well now, I mean now I'm just laughing already, but not a great week at home, I have to say. The good lady ceramicist there indoors has been a bit annoyed with me recently. Apparently I'm very uncommunicative and never even leave a note if I go out. Ruined dinner apparently. So I left her a note last Friday evening. It just said, I've gone to the pub for an hour. If I'm not back in an hour, please read this note again, et cetera. That's good. It's actually, actually quite good. Child three's first day as a trainee at the Microsoft headquarters last week.

Uh, seemed to go well. He texted me, hi dad, having a great day so far. Accidentally tripped over a cable and pulled it out the wall, but I'm fairly sure it went back in the right socket. It is obviously a topical, um, reference, but you might not have noticed the big power outage in computer world. Actually Child3 tried to get a few off-color gags into this section of the podcast. And I have to say, poo jokes are not my favorite, but they are a solid number two.

And he was trying hard., and he was trying hard. Yes. Trying hard. Okay, tough crowd. We'll be back after this with Frank Cultural Boys. Hi, I'm Jon Lovett, host of Lovett or Leave It. You know it can be tempting to tune out the news completely, but my producers won't let me, so instead I put on a weekly comedy show about it. Every week, I welcome an all-star lineup of comedians, performers, politicians, and random gay guys to make sense of politics and pop culture.

And even when we don't succeed, boy, we have fun trying. So join us as we run down the latest headlines and figure out what the hell we're all gonna do about it. Listen to Love It or Leave It wherever you get your podcasts. Wherever you're going, you better believe and figure out what the hell we're all gonna do about it. Listen to Love It or Leave It wherever you get your podcasts. Wherever you're going, you better believe American Express will be right there with you. Heading for adventure?

We'll help you breeze through security. Meeting friends a world away? You can use your travel credit. Squeezing every drop out of the last day? How about a 4 p.m. late checkout? Just need a nice place to settle in? Enjoy your room upgrade. Okay, so this week's guest is the wonderful Frank Cottrell-Boyce, prize-winning author, screenwriter behind films from Danny Boyle, Michael Winterbottom, there's five of those, and many, many others. He's also the children's laureate. He's written many fantastic children's

books. We had him in to talk about adapting Michael Morpogo's Kinskaya's Kingdom for Screen, which we're going to be reviewing next week. We'll hear from Frank after together, exploring the world. Not quite all of us. We didn't want to bring Stella. Oh, love, we all miss Stella. But a boat is no place for a dog. You know that, sweetheart.

I bet right now she's having the time of her life digging our Uncle Pete's garden. Michael, look! Dolphins! See? It's not all boring chores. And that is just a small part of Kensuke's kingdom, which is a brand new animation. The screenwriter is the one and only Frank Cottrell-Boyce who joins us. Hello, Frank, how are you?

I'm very good, it's lovely to be here. Based on a Michael Moore-Purgo book, of course, and the idea of Frank Cottrell-Boyce writing, doing the screenplay for Michael Moore Pugger book just sounds like an absolute winner. I'm there, before I'd even seen a single second of this film, I thought, I am going to really enjoy this. And I did really enjoy it.

In fact, I loved it more than I thought I was going to. So Frank, introduce us to how you got, how did you get involved in this? Because this is going back quite a way, I think. It's going back a very long way. I looked at my contract and I think it's pre-decimal. My fees are pre-decimal. It's really a long time ago.

I was at a book festival and Michael came over to me. I don't think Kensington's Kingdom would even been out that long. But he said, Sarah Radcliffe wants to make it into a film. that long, but he said, Sarah Radcliffe wants to make it into a film, because Sarah Radcliffe is like proper, old school blue chip producer, and would you like to do it? And I blithely said yes,

and it was a long, long time ago. But it's been a ride, it's been nice, been fun. Been through many iterations. So did it take a long time, just because these things take a lot of time? Obviously there was COVID in between, It's been nice, been fun, been through many iterations. Mason To start with, we were thinking of it as a live action. So we went down the route of trying to work with orangutans, which now, I think, how we were ever thinking of that, it seems so questionable now, but I think it wasn't back then. And there were, there were working orangutans,

but they were proper starry. They were like, you know, well, I've worked with Clint, and you mustn't look me in the eye, and I'll only work where I live. So it would all have to be shot in like Santa Monica. They were really difficult. So we dropped that and moved to animation, which just does take long time.

And actually making independent children's films is really difficult because you're up against really serious industrial strength filmmaking. You know, if you make a thriller, you might find room for it, or even a rom-com, but with children's films, you're up against Pixar. You're up against really big guns. So it's quite difficult to find the room for that.

Did the switch from live action to animation require you to make any changes to your screenplay? Oh gosh, yes. Yeah. I mean, Simon, it was an education. It was really an education for me. I mean, Michael's book is a lovely book. It's a really good book. I think it's his best book. But it's a book, you know, and the first, his thing is like, oh, there's this, he's got this problem at the beginning, which is that he wants an ordinary kid to be on a voyage around the world,

and how do you do that? And there are pages and pages of set up, which I kind of really slimmed down and thought I was cool for slimming it down. And then as soon as we started talking to Neil and Kirk, it was like, well, it just starts on the boat. You don't ask those questions. And I can remember, they gave me, it's gone now,

but they sent me this storyboard, and the film opened with an anchor coming up out of the bottom of the sea and being hauled up into this little boat, and then this little boat setting sail, and it's like, wow, wow, you just go. You know, it's just ready, steady, go. And there's like, the backstory is now, like one line that the mum says when you're five or 10 minutes

into the film. It just had that sort of confidence in the swagger. And if you're in animation, you're straight away in story worlds. You don't need to kind of prize your character up into story. There's no wardrobe to walk through into Narnia, you know? Neil and Kirk, you refer to Neil Boyle and Kirk Henry who are the directors. So can you tell us the story then?

Because it's a relatively straightforward story, but many people will not have read the original book. So where does it take us? Well, it's very straightforward. There's a couple, there's a family, the mum and dad have been made redundant, they throw their money into sailing around the world. The boy smuggles his dog onto the boat and tries to keep it secret.

They don't want to take the dog. He tries to keep this dog secret. There's a storm in the storm. He has to go and kind of settle the dog. He's washed overboard and washed onto a desert island. At first, there's nobody there, though somebody starts sort of mysteriously feeding him, leaving food out for him, so he knows there is somebody there.

And the somebody turns out to be the classic trope. He's a Japanese soldier who was washed up during the Battle of the Pacific and decided not to go home because he heard about Nagasaki and knew that his family were gone. And that's kind of the whole story, but in the most important part really, I think, is that guy, Kensuke, this is his kingdom, this little island, has made himself the protector of the wildlife on that island, which is a colony of orangutans who are threatened by poachers. So most of the dialogue is in English, but also Kensuke, who's voiced by Ken Watanabe,

speaks in Japanese. In fact, they don't really talk to each other, do they? I mean, they stick to their own language, they communicate, but there is no shared language. Have I remembered that right? Yeah, completely. And it's the thing I'm most proud of because in the book, I mean, it's a book so it's got different pressures. In the book, Michael has it that the guy was, I think it was a translator or a radio operator and spoke some English so they were able to speak to each other. And I think the first thing I thought was like, well, we shouldn't do that. That's cheating, you know. And they should find a way of communicating without, you know, do you know what I mean?

You're gonna have Ken Watanabe doing, I don't know. Anyway, so I just thought, I mean, it's nearly a silent film. They learn to communicate with each other through gestures, through what they do, what they do for each other. And there is that moment when somebody points to their chest and says their name.

The little boy points to his chest and says Michael. And Kensky points to his chest and says Kensky. But you're like an hour and a quarter, it's like nearly the end of the film by the time they try words. And I've loved that. I've loved the discipline of that. Partly and over the course of it.

I've got very chippy about very talky films, my bet and wise, the Mission Impossible films, which they quite, they lean into 39 Steps quite a lot, or they lean into those Hitchcock films where there's a chase and all that. If you watch 39 Steps, there's no back, there's no exposition in that film at all. It's like, you better run, because there's the 39 Steps. You don't know what they are or anything, you just go. And just go, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam,

and then right at the end someone says, by the way, what are the 39 Steps? And as he's about to enter, he gets shot. It's like, there's no, nobody explains anything. You watch the Mission Impossible of impossible film every 10 minutes Someone is sitting down going you see what's happened is there's these agents in the field and they are god It's like it's like we have these like catch-up zoom meetings in the middle of the movie. So I've got very kind of um Arcee about exposition. So I really

I'll see about exposition. So I really am proud of how little there is and how little talking there is in that film, which it's really opened it up to proper anime. There's some beautiful storytelling in there from, I'm not taking the credit from that, from Neil and Kirk, you know. It does look amazing, but as you're the wordsmith here, are you right, how's your Japanese, Frank?

You wrote in, you, I imagine it's one of your many languages that you speak, but there isn't a lot of it, but how did you approach that? Well, actually, some of it's left, he does speak a little bit of Japanese in the book, but I mean, they say so little. What they speak with is gesture and these little tiny acts of generosity The heart speaks to heart. That's what's really happening in there. I think you literally say sayonara at one point. So

I think you know where I got that from Yes, yes, so we should mention the voice to mention Ken Watanabe who voices kinsuke So you got Sally Hawkins as the mother killing Murphy is Murphy as the dad. Again, they're not really in it very much. And Aaron McGregor, who is the 11-year-old Michael. Is Michael writing himself into this book? Is that Michael? I think, I mean, if you choose your own name as the hero of a book, then there's a reason for that. I think there's a lot of Michael, you know, he loves nature, he loves the sea, he loves adventure. So I think this is the book that he's closest to.

Yeah. Can I ask you, this is probably nonsensical, but after the shipwreck, it fades to black for a long time. It holds that black shot for a long time, it holds that black shot for a long time. And I hadn't read the book, so I'm thinking, well, I'm imagining that he hasn't died, but I suppose he could have. And then when he wakes up on the island, it's all shrouded in mist, and he's on his own with his dog, who is called Stella, not Stella Artois, as in the book. But he then mutters, help me, which is sort of like a

prayer. And then when we get to see Kinskay, it just, Frank, correct me if I'm wrong, there was something Christ-like about that whole sequence. Am I way off beam? No, you're not, because at all, I thought that worked for me. I thought that was, I mean, that's what I do. I would pray if I was stuck in those circumstances, and there's a whole thing of like, you know, prayers are answered in lots of ways, so it seemed like a completely legitimate moment to me,

and I watched it properly in the cinema this weekend, and thought I was really bowled over by how smooth that felt. That felt like it really worked to me. Were you surprised how long, did you say fade to black and keep it there for a long time? It just felt a whole lot longer than most films would do. No, I know. And I think there's been a lot of going back and forth about that.

I mean, you write a there's been a lot of going back and forth about that. I mean, you write a sentence and you have no idea how much it's going to weigh in a film. It's very, very intense, that bit. And it kind of, and it's brilliant. I think what they've done with it is absolutely brilliant. It's very gray. As you said, it's quite misty.

You do see some animals, but they're reptiles. And then later in the film, it's an explosion of color because you're in the jungle and these big ultimately these very big cuddly animals the orangutans so that kind of move from desolation into a kind of Garden of Eden into love is really really marked but it does hold there a long time. I remember watching it the first time thinking, ooh, but I mean that's why you should watch it in the cinema because you should go through that ringer. I think you do really go through the ringer with Michael. It's not, unlike a lot of kids' films,

you don't kind of just skip over the difficult bit. It is really quite, I mean, dark's not the right word, but you are with him and you kind of do feel troubled for him, I think. You get the heat word, but you are with him and you kind of do feel troubled for him I think you get the heat and the lack of water really strongly Great filmmaking and although it is it is a children's film for everybody Nagasaki and the atomic bomb in 1925 is there the illegal poachers are there and they're dangerous People so it has some has some hard edges Frank. It does

You know, it's not it's not a children's film in the sense that everything's all skippity-boo and lovely, or that the only problems are kind of emotional ones. It does have a lot of darkness in it, which I think we've handled delicately. You know, Nagasaki's there, but it's there in this very beautiful animated sequence where Kensuke's kind of painting his memories. So you're not kind of exposed to anything gory, but it is a kind of big thing. It's an animated film with a lot of substance, which it did really well in France, where they've got that tradition of animation that's got a bit

of weight to it. They read comics that are, I lived in France for a while and you could buy graphic novels at Thrust, so the whole idea of graphic, no you genuinely could. It's like people collecting the sets. So there isn't that kind of very narrow definition of animation that we've sort of drifted into here, but hopefully people will get that. It's okay. It does work. What is, as someone who has been a very successful author and screenwriter, what is essentially the difference between writing a novel and writing a screenplay? I know that's obviously

you can answer that in a lecture that lasts 90 minutes, but in slightly less than that. I think experientially you get a lot of support when you're writing a screenplay because everyone's looking over your shoulder going, is it done yet, is it done yet? What about this bit, what about that bit?

And when you're writing a book, you're on your own. I think that's the big, big difference. But no, well, so when you're writing a book, you've got a freedom that you'll never get in a film. You know, I'm aware now writing children's books that they're kind of all unfilmable because essentially, if you're gonna make a movie, you are gonna have to have like a big adult role.

So the successful children's books that make it into film are the ones where there's significant adult presence, whether it's the Brown family in Paddington or those amazing villains in 101 Darmations or Holes. So if you've got a big adult part, that's a thing. Frank, it's always a pleasure to speak to you. Thank you so much. Frank has written the screenplay for Kensuke's Kingdom.

And as Frank has said, if you can get a chance to see it in the cinema, I mean, obviously it'll turn up on TV, it'll turn up on a streamer at some stage, but it is a magnificent work of art. It is absolutely delightful. Frank, we appreciate you speaking to us. Thank you very much, Adi, for your time. Frank Cottrell-Boyes talking about Kensuke's Kingdom. Mark will review it next week just to say our longer conversation. There's intake two. Obviously, we're going to do some more with Frank because he has become the children's laureate, so we talk about that. Also, this

is the week of the start of the Olympic Games, so it starts Friday in Paris. Because Frank wrote the opening ceremony for 2012, it seemed like an obvious thing to talk to him about because he must be watching that with a whole different set of eyes to everybody else. So Olympic chat and Laureate chat. He's very interesting about what he thinks he can achieve as the children's Laureate and that'll be in take two. But as you know, Mark, and as you've said a couple of times, he's always fascinating to talk to. He's great. I mean, I think for a start, he's one of those people who can write and then talk about writing with equal candor and insight.

But also, I think that he is one of those people who fundamentally believes the best in people. I mean, there are some people who just look at the world with a kind of… It's not to do with rose tinted glasses, but it's to do with seeing the best in people rather than the worst in people. As anyone who's ever spoken to him, I think you could almost hear it in that conversation. There's something really calming about his presence. You kind of think, I would like to see the world more in the way that Frank Cottrell-Boyce does it, because I think he has a great understanding of human nature, and his understanding of human nature is actually profoundly positive, which I think is a wonderful ability. It's a fantastic animation. Mark will review Kensuke's Kingdom based on the Michael

Moore Poga book on next week's programme. What else are you going to do for this week? For this week, about Dry Grasses, which is a 2023 film from the Turkish director Nuri Bilger Ceylan, who's perhaps best known for Winter Sleep from 2014, which won the Palm Door. And also, and I dread to say this, you remember that film that I reviewed called Once Upon a Time in Anatolia? Was there some Mongolian docudrama out at the same time? Because I think most of my attention was on that and the latest developments in cinematography. Okay. So like many of the directors' previous features, this was Turkey's entry for the

best international feature Oscar about dry grasses was that it wasn't nominated. Also set in Anatolia, a remote village where a teacher Samit lives with his, with a fellow teacher. They have a quietly competitive relationship. Samit likes to see himself as an ally of the kids in particular as a smart 14-year-old girl who he's sort of taken under his wing and he buys her gifts. One day there's a class inspection, the inspection's coming to the class, they take everybody's bags and they find in her bag a love letter, which is then passed to him. And she comes to his office and says, you have the letter, can I have it back? And he says, I've destroyed it.

And she says, no, you haven't destroyed it. Give it back. And he says, no, I've destroyed it. And she says, I really want you to give it back to me. She knows that he's lying. Meanwhile, the other teacher is striking up a friendship with Nuri who lost a leg in a bombing and is very involved in political discussion and political thought. But what happens then is that the two teachers then find themselves accused of inappropriate

conduct by pupils who, because of the process, have to remain anonymous. But they start to find out who the pupils are. The central guy is at first shocked and angry, but then he comes to think that actually the real target was the other teacher who he lives with, and he starts going about getting his own low-key but very insidious personal revenge. Now, this is a story that takes its time. It's several hours long, during which time the focus shifts from the teachers to the pupils to the woman who they've both got an interest in. And at one point, and it's a very strange moment, at one point just before a crucial scene,

the film completely breaks the fourth wall. The central character, he says, I'm going to go to the bathroom, and he walks off the set, and he walks out of the set, and he walks into the studio space where the film is being made. It reminded me of, do you remember that film with Florence Pugh,

The Wonder, that began outside of a studio, and it came in and came in and came in and came in, and then it moves into the set and then the story begins. There was a discussion that we had about what is that doing? What is that device doing? The Brechtian alienation device. I think what it's doing is it's telling you that this is a story about stories. It's a story about the stories that we tell ourselves, and particularly when you have a central character who is kind of very, very quietly arrogant and full of himself and self-righteous. And it's about the stories that he tells himself

about himself and about others around him. At least I think that's what it's there for. Now I know that this scene has proved a curve ball for some viewers. I was talking to another critic who had liked the film very much and then was really baffled by why we were suddenly taken out of the drama. I didn't find I was, I kind of found it was, like I said, I think it made it a story about storytelling. Um, the title, because I, ever since there was that time that you said to me, what does the title of this thing mean?

The title about dry grasses is really only kind of invoked at the end of the film in which there's a sort of monologue-y voice over about the fact that this is an area in which there are only two seasons, in which it goes from being everything is frozen and covered by snow, or the sun has come out and the grass has almost been burnt dry. It's sort of about the kind of the world in which those two polar opposites exist with kind of almost no midway in between. It also reminded me a little bit, and this was more recent, there was a film that I reviewed quite recently called The Teacher's Lounge, a German film, about a teacher at school who's very high-minded and believes

that she has a great relationship with the pupils and then does something that suddenly starts to unravel that relationship. One of the questions is, is what she is doing right or is what she is doing an arrogant belief in her own power. This is rather more ruminative. As I said, I think it's about the way that we construct a version of ourselves. It is long. There is no question that it takes its time and it wants you to sit there and ponder with it.

I actually found myself very engaged with it. I found it very compelling, which I was surprised by since I, you know, at the beginning, I kind of thought, okay, this sounds like this is going to be a lengthy walk, a long walk along a long road. But actually, I think it kind of earned the right to take the time that it did. Because by the time you get to the end, I think you have had time in your own mind to figure out what the film means, or at least what I think it means. But I also understand that other people may think it means something completely different. But that scene, that's the scene in which it breaks the wall and goes out.

I really did spend a lot of time contemplating what that meant, and I think it meant it's a story about stories. At least that's what I think. If you've seen it and you had a different interpretation, we'd love to know about it. Correspondence at kodomo.com. After the break, if indeed you're going to get a break, because if you're a Vanguardista, you don't get any of that stuff. It's Deadpool and Wolverine after this. Bumble knows it's hard to start conversations. Hey. No, too basic. Hi there. Still no. What about hello, handsome? Who knew you could give yourself the ick?

That's why Bumble is changing how you start conversations. You can now make the first move or not. With opening moves, you simply choose a question to be automatically sent to your matches. Then sit back and let your matches start the chat. Download Bumble and try it for yourself. Are you the friend who can recognize anime themes sampled by J. Cole, MF Doom, and The Weeknd? Don't worry, I'm Lea Alec Murray.

And I'm also that person. I'm Nick Friedman. And I'm Lea President, and we invite you to take your sonic knowledge to the next level by listening to our show, Crunchyroll Presents, The Anime Effect. Learn about how Yeji's latest album was actually born from her own manga.

I started off with not even the music. I started off by writing a fantastical story. Or how 24K Golden gets inspired by his favorite opening themes. There are certain songs that I'm like, whoa, the melodies in this are really amazing. No idea what Bro's saying at all, but I'm jacking these melodies. And you know, I hear Megan the Stallion

is also a big anime fan. So Megan, do you want to trade AOT hot takes? We're here. Listen every Friday, wherever you get your podcast, and watch four episodes on Crunchyroll or on the Crunchyroll YouTube channel. on the Crunchyroll YouTube channel. Okay so Deadpool and Wolverine is coming up next. I guess a lot of people will kind of know what they want to think about this because Deadpool, you know, people have strong reactions

to, Wolverine people have very strong reactions. Wolverine is of course dead. So they might be thinking, okay, what I mean is people will go into this either being thrilled that Wolverine ain't dead and he's teaming up with Deadpool, or they'll be thinking, so what was your mind going into this? Were you genuinely open-minded or were you jaded or were you excited and thrilled that Wolverine was still alive? I think I went in genuinely open-minded thinking, you know, okay, fine, it's Tuesday morning and I'm at the Cineworld IMAX and the last time I was here is Twisters and I didn't like that, so I think this will be more fun. So would you like to hear how it went? Yes, I'd like to know whether indeed it was more fun.

Okay, so firstly, The Nuts and Bolts, 34th film in the MCU, sequel to Deadpool, Deadpool 2, directed by Sean Levy, whose filmography includes Night at the Museum, Free Guy, blah, blah, producer of Stranger Things. He's also one of several credited screenwriters, this time include leading man Ryan Reynolds is one of the other credited screenwriters. Development of Deadpool 3 began when they were at Fox, then it was put on hold because it was bought by Disney. This is apparently part of phase five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Like the first two, it's R-rated, so apparently the first Marvel movie to be so, although I lose track. And if also this sounds like wiki information, that's because it is, because at this point I don't care and neither does anyone else, including the people who made the film. And that's kind of the point. So this is a movie that begins with Deadpool asking, okay, how are we going to resurrect Wolverine, who of course died, in actually one of the films that I did care about, you know, one of the most moving films. How are we going to resurrect him sensitively and respectfully? The answer is we're not. And that's the gag, that's the tone. So it starts with, you know, digging up a grave and then not being respectful. So the rest of the film concerns.

So the washed up Deadpool Wade is enlisted by Matthew McFadden's Mr. Paradox, who works at the Time Variance Authority, who tells him that his universe is falling apart because Wolverine has died and Wolverine was a core anchor character. As a result of this, the universe has started to splinter and fracture. This is a meta gag about what's happened to the movies. Mr. Paradox wants to put the universe out of its misery. Deadpool wants to not have that happen, but instead uses the multiverse, you remember, in which no one is ever dead, to find another Wolverine. Here's a clip.

You're not welcome anywhere. Now get the f*** out of my bar. Just give me one more drink and then I'll leave. That's not how it works. It does now. Leave the bottle. I know you, bub. Nope. But I know you. Everybody knows me. I'm the Wolverine. Yes, you are. And I'm gonna need you to come with me right now. Look, lady, I'm not interested. Really getting into your cups here.

Why would I go with you? Because, unfortunately, I need you. And even more unfortunately, my entire world needs you. Because, unfortunately, I need you and even more unfortunately, my entire world needs you. You two are going to have a fair fight. Okay, so that, you know, obviously we have to bleep that thing at the end, but that's the sort of turn of it. So it's loads of self-referential gags about characters and worlds being owned by different studios, about actors being forced to revisit saleable roles until they are 90. Lots of fourth wall breaking jokes, including fourth wall breaking jokes about fourth wall breaking jokes. Lots of jokes about Fox, Disney, Marvel ownership. Sorry,

are you going to say something? No, no, no. I'm along for the ride. Sorry. Okay. Lots of cameo appearances by various stars from over the years, many of whom will leave you thinking, sorry, who is that? Oh yeah, I remember that. The tone is sweary bromance with slapstick violence, loads of in-gags, loads of fan fiction stuff, loads of jokes about nerds were just enjoying themselves in an unpleasant manner on their own. Oh, and no one can die. So in the interest of avoiding plot spoilers, I won't tell you who any of the cameos or actors are, not least because finding out who they are is probably one of the key pleasures for the audience to whom this is

playing, which is the nerd audience for whom there's actually a joke at one point about you're going to want to find your special sock. What I will say is this. The film opens with a kind of funny, violent musical scene that made me think, oh, I like this. I like the Deadpool, you know, sweary violence. I mean, it's not kick-ass, but hey, it's fine. You know, I'll take it. It then descends quite quickly into fairly boring stuff with characters I don't know or care about spiced up by all the R-rated, sweary Deadpool stuff, which is quite funny, but it is, you know, it's jokes about butthole surfing and him thinking that he's Marvel Jesus. Then there's a whole section which goes into a Mad Max ripoff, which they justify by saying this whole section is a Mad Max ripoff. Doesn't this all look like Mad Max?

Then there's an actually funny joke about the Fantastic Four movies. But even when, and I laughed a few times, I mean, I passed the six laugh tests, but it's a couple of hours long and it's really people playing in the rubble left behind after Avengers Endgame. And I will say this again, no one can die. I mean, Deadpool can't die. That's the Deadpool thing. But in this world, no one can die because there is no consequence to anything.

So the central gag is the universe is falling apart in the wake of the death of an anchor character and that is a five minute sketch. Emma Corrin has fun in a role which I won't say the name of because I have no idea whether saying her name is a plot spoiler and as I said there's a fun thing about you know characters. There's a thing that one character does which is being able to stick their hand into the head of other characters which is quite a nice special effect and I quite like that. But it is a series of smug in-jokes wrapped around the corpse of a superhero franchise built from the wreckage of a civilization that, like the Roman Empire, rose and fall many, many moons ago. Is it... I'm going to do the thing that you've always criticized before. Is it awful?

No. Did I laugh? Yes, a few times. Will there be more? Almost certainly, definitely, probably, because I don't even know which phase we're in. Do I care about any of it? Not in the least, which makes it weird that at the end, it sort of starts to take itself seriously and get a little bit dewy-eyed. So it's not. And I certainly in the screening I was in, people were laughing at the gags, but it's not consistent enough. And it is literally like people playing in the scrap heap of, you know, everything's finished. We're just picking bits up and waving them around. And I honestly don't know whether a movie making jokes about the franchise owners of the characters in the movie should be encouraged because it's a bit like, yeah, all right, Fox, Disney, Marvel.

Ah Marvel, ah. Fandesieckle. Yeah, Fandesieckle is a polite way of putting it. But you know, I laughed a few times. I laughed at the rude jokes and some of the slapstick violence is quite funny. I wish you wouldn't interview yourself though, it's very presumptuous. I know, I did say I know you hate doing this, but it's because- Am I annoyed by that? Yes, I am. Do I wish you would stop doing that? Yes, I do. Here's the thing I did. I did something that the movie does. I did something really annoying,

but I justified it by preempting it by saying that I was going to do something really annoying. And that is the tone of the movie. In which case. And that is the end of take one. We're back next week with reviews of Ken's Case Kingdom, reissues of the original Spider-Man, My Neighbor Totoro and Mark Rewatch's Sex and the City 2, just because we thought it would be entertaining. This has been a Sony Music Entertainment production. This week's team, Lily, Gully, Vicky, Zachy, Mattie and Bethy. The producer was Jem, the redactor was Simon, Paul.

Mark, what is your film of the week? About dry grasses. Hmm. Am I surprised that you chose that? No, I'm not. Thank you very much indeed for listening. Do you know that there is a take two that's available which has landed for the Vanguard Easter? Yes, you probably know that already. So I didn't really need to mention it. Anyway, get in touch. Correspondence at Kerb and Ameya.com.

See you soon.