Kermode & Mayo’s Take - Does THE BRIDE! earn its exclamation mark?

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

Some exciting news—The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo. Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member‑only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind‑the‑scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show—a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. On this week’s episode of Kermode and Mayo's Take, actor and national treasure Martin Clunes joins Simon… On the review slate this week: Pixar’s latest animated adventure, Hoppers—a high-concept tale of body-swapping beavers and environmental derring-do. Will it burrow into the Take’s good books, or be politely shown the exit? Then there’s The Bride!, a bold and buzzy reimagining of a classic monster myth from Maggie Gyllenhaal, starring Gothic romance, big hair, bigger ideas—Mark digs into the film’s ambition, while Simon weighs up whether it truly crackles with life. We also head back to Birmingham’s smoky underworld with Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, as the Shelby saga makes the leap to the big screen. Is it a cinematic evolution worthy of its razor-sharp legacy, or does it feel like prestige telly in slightly fancier trousers? Rounding things off is Mother's Pride, an intimate drama exploring family, sacrifice and the stories we tell ourselves. Tissues may be required. Mark considers its emotional pull; Simon braces for impact. Plus all the usual Take treats: the box office top 10, a Laughter Lift that may (or may not) restore your faith in humanity, and your ever-splendid correspondence. Thanks for listening! Timecodes 00:00:00 Show starts 00:11:33 Hoppers review 00:21:02 Box Office Top 10 00:33:27 Martin Clunes interview 00:49:06 Mother’s Pride review 00:56:35 Laughter Lift 00:59:10 The Bride! review 01:13:28 Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man review You can contact the show by emailing [e-mail] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo Please take our survey and help shape the future of our show: https://www.kermodeandmayo.com/survey 🌎 Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code [Take] at checkout. Download Saily app or go to to https://saily.com/Take ⛵ 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

This episode is brought to you by Mooby, the global film company that champions great cinema. From iconic directors to emerging otters, there's always something new to discover. Yes, and coming to Mooby in the UK, this February, we have the brilliant sentimental value by Yoakim Trier. We reviewed this when it came out. He's the guy who directed the worst person in the world. Film did really well at Cam, won the Grand Prix, a bunch of European awards, and he's now nominated for nine Academy Awards and eight BAFTAs. I think it's fantastic. I think it's really moving, really exciting, really funny, but also insightful. And I think Yorkshire is one of the finest directors working today.

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I'm not wasting good holiday money calling you. Charming. Why don't you get an e-sim? It'll provide an internet connection wherever you travel and save you money on roaming fees. Well, it sounds ideal, but did you have one in mind per chance? Well, it's funny you should ask. Yes, I do. It's called salee, and it's an e-sim service app brought to you by the creators of NordVPN. Oh yeah, we like them, don't we? We do. It's dead easy. All you have to do is download the app in your device and buy an e-sim plan. Then, follow the instructions on the app to install the ESIM, and it will be activated instantly on arrival. It'll significantly reduce and even eliminate roaming fees in over 200 destinations.

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Still not calling you. Before we begin, a quick reminder that you can become a Vanguard Easter and get an extra episode every Thursday. Including bonus reviews. Extra viewing viewing suggestions. Viewing recommendations at home and in cinemas. Plus your film and non-film questions answered as best we can in questions, Schmestian. You can get all that extra stuff via Apple Podcasts or head to extra takes.com for non-fruit-related devices.

There's never been a better time to become a Vanguard Easter. Free offer, now available, wherever you get your podcasts. And if you're already a Vanguard Easter, we salute you. Well, I was going to start the show right here, but are you eating? Have you got a mouthful? No, no, I'm done. No, but you were just a second ago. What's for breakfast?

I was having a, so I'm at Ali's house again because, you know, as I said, the roof is still being done. And so this is Ali's office, and that's Ali's guitar behind me. And Ali provides me with a tray, which has got coffee, water. And it's like being in a hotel. And a biscuit, this is a Meredith Drew. It says Meredith Drew since 1830, irresistible oat crunch. Now, the only issue with oat crunch is that it has little flakes of oat in. And when you're doing radio and stuff.

Picking them out of your teeth for the rest of the program. Yeah. And just a little... A moment. I've got few of those. Are you recovered? Well, here's the closest that I can... This doesn't really work as an analogy.

You know when you're downloading something and you've got those swirly ball and you're like 90% downloaded. And the final 10% just takes forever to arrive. Yes. I feel as though I am in that swirly ball of... You're in the finalising period. Yeah, but my goodness me, does it go on forever?

So, thank you for asking. You look better. That's a filter I've obviously got on my laptop. You know, the filter that I use on, what's the one, Zoom, is the one that I was taught to use by Emma Freud. Yeah, that was the COVID one, wasn't it, to make you look down and gorgeous. The touch-up one that makes you look, you know, makes you look sort of, you know, sort of more clamorous than I. I didn't know about it. And once she told me about it.

It was like, oh my word, this is astonishing. I think we both used it and didn't really look any more glamorous or well, but still. So on the show, what are you going to be talking about later on? Well, we have a packed buffet of reviews. We have Hoppers, which is the new film of Pixar. Obviously, we spoke to Peak Doctor a few weeks ago. We have Peeky Blinders, the Immortal Man, which, as the title suggests, is the Pinky Blinders movie. There's the oat crunch in your throat.

We have The Bride, exclamation mark, the Bride, which is the new film by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Mother's Pride with our special guest. Who is Martin Clunes? Last scene, as he indeed wrote to us, last scene with a mouthful of vomit being kicked in the head by Marco Robbie. Yes. So there's a couple of films. That was just on a train. Yeah, that's right. So there's Martin Cloons with two movies, essentially, to talk about. One is a little bit more of Wuthering Heights and the other. is Mother's Pride.

Brought to you by the team that did Fisherman's Friend. Yes. Which kind of, that's sort of what you need to know. It's even the title. Fisherman's Friends, mothers pride.

There you go. And in Take 2, what are you up to? There's a new horror movie out and I have to say it's for Horror Officiados only, Dolly. Why is it just for officiados only? Well, it's not something

that's going to hit a big mainstream audience. It is definitely, it is a shudder release and it is, I feel like I'm reviewing it in advance, but it's a festival favourite, shall we say. And in take two, you'll get even more of the good stuff, including five-question film club. Each week, we pick a film that's on streaming services. Mark Tackles are five big questions. Three, Your Majesty.

Thank you. Basically, the whole thing is to make you sound clever in the pub or annoy someone in your family. Yes. This week's choices were deliverance, Wuthering Heights from 2011, and with now. and I. Plus, as the bride, point of exclamation is out this week, we'll have further discussion on your top Frankenstein-related movies in one frame back. Plus questions, Schmestians, in which we answer the question, is a whoopin and a hollering during exciting films, such as Crime 101, a violation of the code? Yeah, it's an interesting one, is it? And whether there are

regional differences allowed. Regional differences in a whooping and a hollering. Yeah, because in America they whoop and holler more than they do in... Oh, right, regional like that. I thought you meant like, you know, if you were like in Eckersley and someone went, buy ec, that's... Any one of mind. A couple of emails before we get to Hoppers.

Yes. Matthew Payne says Simon Amark, I'm the father of a 26-year-old woman who suffers from Tourette's. I've written this email in my head over and over, but what I want to to say boils down to this. Simon, you would never consider suggesting that someone should have, quote, had a conversation with Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo and said that there is a man with Tourette's in the audience, so perhaps since there's a risk, you might use words that will insult you and use racial words, racial slang, you don't come on stage. I watch my daughter hide herself

away from the world that doesn't understand or accept that her tics, in her case, physical, not verbal, are involuntary, a world that won't make the effort to see the wonderful young woman beyond those symptoms. Every single day, we encourage her to try again, to find the courage to go out, to interact with the world around her. For her to hear your comments on a podcast that is such a beacon of tolerance and compassion hurt. I don't know what the solution is for those suffering from Tourette's. I wish with all my heart that I did. But I do know this. Yes, Tim. Whilst involuntary can be extremely offensive and disturbing for people in the vicinity. Yes, mistakes were made in the aftermath of the Bafters.

But please compare the reaction to this event, to the reaction to the President of the United States of America, posting a cartoon depicting Michelle and Barack Obama as monkeys. Tinkety-Tongue says Matthew, and down with Tourette's and racism, up with love and respect and understanding, still love the show, Steve, and hello to Jason from Matthew and Vicki Payne. So first thing to say is Matthew, thank you very much indeed. Yes.

For corresponding, as other people have done. And obviously, I'm very sorry for any upset that was caused because that was clearly not the intention. Absolutely not. And also education is a wonderful thing. And we are both educated all the time by the correspondence to this show. We are. What I probably, maybe I made, you know, a cack-handed attempt at this.

But my point is this. one, something completely unacceptable and horrific happened at the Bafters. It's point of one, which had, and this is not the broadcast, this is just in the Bafters. Yeah. I don't think anyone disagrees with that. The second point is, was there any way to prevent that happening? Now, if the answer to that is no, then, which I think is, I think is the line that Matthew is taking, in which case we proceed, I was bringing that up as a subject. But so that's the issue for me.

Was there any way to prevent it happening? Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't. But Matthew, I appreciate the email. Thank you very much. Well, I mean, it's interesting. I mean, I've had a lot of conversations with people, you know, people from BAFTA, people broadcasters about what happened. And obviously the question of, is there any way that it could have been prevented?

And the general feeling is that as far as in the room is concerned, no, you know, the Bafter did what they took the necessary precautions in terms of saying in advance John Davidson is in the audience if you've seen I swear you will know that John Davidson is a Tourette's campaigner and therefore you might hear

you might hear things that you know that you find alarming that's what it is and it was contextualised none of that was seen at the beginning of the broadcast. The second point is that the BBC they just spectacular I spectacularly dropped the ball with broadcasting it,

because what that then did was sent it out around the world, and actually the really, really horrible thing is the way in which people have jumped on this. Commentators, I don't know whether you've seen. There have been some comedians who have thought that this was the stuff of comedy when it absolutely isn't. So, yeah, thank you very much for the email. I mean, my genuine feeling is that Bafter did what was necessary in the room.

I know there is a question about they should have probably spoken immediately afterwards to the two presenters who were on stage and who conducted themselves so spectacularly when that happened. If it had not been broadcast, we wouldn't be in this position. And I think anything that causes distress to any of the parties involved is a very, very, very very bad thing. And, and I think that in order to move forward from this, what everyone has to do is to go, okay, what lessons need to be learned? You know, is there a way of, as we do this in the future, because all the BAFTA we're trying to do was to be inclusive, and that, which is an absolutely good and right thing to do. And so I think it's perfectly legitimate to ask if there any, you know,

if there was any, anything that could have been done, stop it. I think the answer actually is in the room, no, in the broadcast, yes. Correspondence at covenomere.com, Matthew, thank you. An incredible email from Saham Husseini from Moonrise Motion Pictures. Yeah. Mark and Simon, this week I finally caught up on the episodes I'd missed while traveling to Iran. I was there during the IRGC crackdown and the brutal actions of the Islamic Republic, a heavy and unforgettable time to witness firsthand.

Indescribable experience, I just hope that I can make a movie about those days and nights. I've been back a few weeks now, and now with Iranians being freed from that evil monster, brackets, the supreme leader, and free Iran that once felt impossible, might slowly be shifting. The idea of you guys hosting a live show in Tehran, whoa. Okay, thanks, Sam. Have we agreed to this? which I emailed you about during the Masha Amini movement and which you seemed to enjoy doesn't feel quite as far-fetched anymore.

Just a thought. I wanted to resurface and it truly feels good to hear your voices. Thank you in kind regards. Well, Sam, thank you very much for getting in touch. And hopefully there is an email of hopefully there is a film that can be made about that appalling IRGC crackdown. Things have moved on, obviously since then. sounds as though it's a story that definitely, like Tiananmen Square, it's a story that needs to be told and maybe it'll take some time to be told, whether you and I will ever present a

live show in Tehran. But, I mean, thanks for the invite, but, you know, who knows? Never say never, never, eh, Mark? Precisely, so. Okay, correspondence at kermanamau.com. Thank you, Sam, for the email. Let's talk hoppers. Okay, so this is the new film from Pixar. The company was formed in 1986 and as we know from when we were talking to Pete Doctor, this year celebrates its 40th birthday. This, I believe, is their 30th feature film. I didn't know this until I checked out. Founded on February the 3rd, 86, when Steve Jobs purchased the computer graphics division from Lucasfilm for 5 million. And then that company was then later bought by Disney. The first feature was Toy Story in 95, which was the first fully computer animated film since.

then films such as Toy Story 3, Finding Dory, Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4 and Inside Out have all grossed over $1 billion being amongst the 50 highest grossing films of all time. So fair to say that Pixar I've done fairly well for themselves. When we have Pete Doctor on and you were reading out his CV, the list of films in which he's been involved. And it was kind of like, you've made more of our favourite films than almost anyone else we've ever had on the program. Yes.

It's like someone was, one person was responsible for pet sounds and Sergeant Pepper all at the same time. It was just an incredible after a while you just gave, okay,

just talk to us because you know what you're talking about. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so Hoppers, directed by Daniel Chong, written by Jesse Andrews with a voice cast that includes Pippecuda,

Bobby Monaghan, John Hamm, Dave Franco. Centres on a hyperactive young environmentalist, Mabel, who learns that her favorite professor at school has found a way of putting human consciousness

into robot animals that can then interact with actual animals and can understand and speak to the actual animals by the miracle of putting this, what's in somebody's head, into this, the robot animal. Here's a clip from the trailer. I need your help.

Mabel, I'm in the middle of class. A class that you are enrolled in. What up, Mabel? Come with me. The traditional methods to understand animals just weren't working. But we've done it, Mabel. We created a revolutionary technology that gives us unprecedented access to the animal world. We call it hoppers.

Huh? We put this into this. Yes, yes. This into this. Mabel, be careful! And they were in the same den. No. I understand you. What's you doing later?

This is he? Okay, so you get the idea. So Mabel is thrilled because her favorite glade is about to have a freeway built through it. This is happening because all the animals have moved out, so therefore they're allowed to do it. But the animals moving out includes the beavers whose damning, you know, has made ponds and lakes, and now they are all gone and it's just turned into this dry land. So she hops into a beaver identity. She finds into, you know, the beaver robot, she finds the animals that have all made,

moved out of the glade. And it turns out they've all moved away because there is a terrible noise that has driven them away. A terrible noise that points to a wicked plot on behalf of the person behind the freeway. So then, you know, that's the, that's the set of the plot. So the director said it was partly inspired by seeing those nature documentaries in which they have robot animals in as much, you know, you get the little, you know, the cameras thing that interact with real animals. So there is somewhere in the background a kind of basic this in real life that people have actually experimented with using mechanization in order to, you know, to get firsthand close up, even though, you know, if we've all watched spring

watching things, you'll understand this. But he also wanted, he also wanted like a Mission Impossible style sense of undercover adventure, which is something that you get with Pixar films. Apparently, originally it wasn't beavers, it was penguins. And then Pete Doctor, who was a guest on the show, I may have mentioned before, said, you know, I think penguins have been done. I mean, you know, you had happy feet and you had penguins of Madagascar and find something else. And then they found beavers. The director said, these animals can be ecosystem engineers and help everyone else survive. I just think that made me go, oh man, beavers are crazy cool. The other thing is that the idea of putting the consciousness of a human being into the body of another thing so it can interact with this kind of, in inverted commas, alien world is very avatar. So much so that in fact, one of the characters saying, this is exactly like Avatar, which was... And I've heard that on a clip on one of the ads that we were running at Greatest Tids,

and doesn't someone immediately say, never say this is like Avatar? Almost like accepting that that's like the worst thing that you can say. Precisely, precisely. But it's kind of, you know, it's that, as we all know, the way in which all the Pixar films work is that they are, they are sin-literate, and they're also aware of their sinic literacy.

So there was also a weird new story, a while back in Hollywood reporter that said that the filmmakers were advised to go easy on the on the eco message because in the age that we're now in suddenly anything that's ecologically friendly is woke and therefore to be hated and stamped upon although frankly that if they made any changes I didn't notice them because it it is definitely a film with an idea you know a film with an idea about It's be nice to animals, and let's probably not build a highway through this thing. Here's the thing. I enjoyed it as I do with all Pixar movies. I mean, I've never seen a Pixar movie that I didn't get a lot out of. It doesn't have the classic narrative simplicity of the best pixel. If you think about the best ones, right, toy story. When you're away, your toys come out to play, okay?

Or cars, right? There's a world in which cars are people. or monsters ink. The monster under your bed is real and they're scaring you because we scare because we care. Or inside out, your emotions are personified. They're people. It's numskulls.

They are people. Those are all things that you can kind of do in one sentence. The thing with this is you can't. It is much more convoluted and much more contorted. The narrative is frankly, fairly scrappy. I mean, it's interesting that Pete Doctor was talking. about how much they work with the story, how much they work with the script, and they're constantly revising and constantly. I have to say in the case of this, the narrative is a bit all

over the place. However, it's Pixar. So it looks good. There's loads and loads of, there was a guy that was in a screening. The guy sitting behind me was incontrollable laughter. I mean, was laughing out loud in a way that almost made me want to turn around and go, I'm sorry, can you stop enjoying yourself so much because it's, I mean, you know, it is funny, but so it's, and it is, I think, in terms of its, you know, if it's central themes, it is as with all Pixar stuff, you know, it's on the side of the angels and it's on the side of the outsiders. It's, it's, it's, its heart is in the right place and it's good fun. I don't think it's a Pixar classic by any means. But because of the way that Pixar work, being not a Pixar classic, being just,

part of the Pixar catalogue is still pretty good. It's interesting, and I was just thinking back to the Pink Doctor interview, and I know why he didn't really answer the diversity and inclusion question, which I was asking him, you know, has it changed? Do you have to make, it addressing the point you just made? And then he kind of answered a different question altogether, but you can only imagine that if you're the head of a big filmmaking company, there are all kinds of weird pressures

which you have now, which you didn't have before. But isn't it horrible in these Trumpy times being eco-friend, I mean, you know, Trump is on record as saying that, you know, climate change is the biggest hoax forever, which of course it isn't. It's factually scientifically correct. There you go, bringing science into it again. Bringing science into it, yeah.

It's like when people keep repeating on, you know, Trump says he's completely exonerated. No, he isn't. I mean, you know, there's other things, but he's not completely. Anyway, but what's a weird time to be in in which the very idea of being inclusive is somehow potentially dangerous? Yeah, listen back to the Pete Doctor interview

just last week in case you missed it. We'll be back in just a moment with mothers. Oh no, not Mother's Pride. Mother's Pride. Mother's pride. Picky Blind is, the bride. And Piqui Blind is the immortal man. And our special guest is Martin Cloons.

And we'll recap everything. Oh, sorry, Martin Cloons. Juan, d'Axamassion. And we'll recap everything that's out in the UK and US cinemas in the box office top ten. Top ten. Top five, your majesty. And, of course, the laughter lift. Hey, Sal.

Hank, what's going on? We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car in Carvana and it was so easy, too easy. Think something's up? You tell me, they got thousands of options. Found a great car and a great prize. Uh-huh. And it got delivered the next day.

It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right. Case closed. Buy your car today on... Carvana. Delivery fees may apply. Mark, you know that scene in A Beautiful Mind, where Russell Crow plays John Nash, and he's got intense mathematical scribblings on the walls of his shed?

I do. He wasn't bad in that, Russell. Well, that's what my head feels like when I try to remember all the passwords and login details for my online shopping accounts. It's just why I never get any birthday presents from you, which is very convenient. One of the reasons. Anyway, you need to look out for the purple button

at the top of the payment options. No need to log in. You can just complete your checkout with the tap of one button. Easy. And it's brought to you by Shopify, the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world, from household names like Heinz and Mattel to brands just getting started.

Get started with your own design studio, with hundreds of ready-to-use templates, Shopify helps you build a great-looking online store that matches your brand style. See fewer carts go abandoned and more sales go with Shopify and their shop pay button. Sign up for your £1 a month trial today at Shopify.com.uk-tuk slash take. Go to Shopify.com.com.uk-take. All right, so the box office top 10 this week at 12, Sirat. I'm sorry, that still makes me laugh.

Not Sirat. doesn't make me laugh, but that top top top top. I think it's Jir in Dublin. Okay. As in Jerry would that be? Do you think? Yeah, I'm going to go with that. Okay. Dear Thud and Thud, I recently attended an afternoon showing of Sirat, and for much of the runtime, shared Mark's view that its shocking turns felt unearned. That was until the deliberately flat ending revealed Lacks had no intention of narratively soothing us at all. Instead, he forces, both his characters and audience into a period of reflection. That's when the penny dropped for me, and I'd respectfully urge Mark to give it another go. Whether Lax deals with the terrible event midway through now feels irrelevant. I don't think he ever intended to. The film isn't intended to process trauma in a comforting way. It's about the randomness of life's horrors and our lack of

control over them. What remains a brief moments of clarity, in this case, embodied by the relentless rave beat and hypnotic refuge it offers those who chase it. I completely understand disengaging when the twists feel abrupt, but the technical mastery, the choreography, the immersive sound design and the collective dread in my screening suggested to me that it had earned a second thought. Okay, two things. Weirdly, Lash, Lash is the pronunciation. No, it's one of those things that took me ages to find that out. Thank you for the email. You are in the majority. Most people feel the same way that you did.

And I hope that when I was reviewing it, I did give some sense of the technical achievement of the film. I mean, certainly comparing it to wages of fear and fairly obscured by clouds was intended to that. I'm not going to watch it again because I had an email from a friend of the show who said, who will remain nameless just because I haven't asked their permission to say this. He said, I'm so glad you said that because my partner got to the end of the film and said, right, now I'm just annoyed.

Ryan in Abingdon, I was surprised when Mark said he had issues with the third act of Surratt, as I didn't think it had, I didn't realize it had one. For me, it has two acts, then ends abruptly. This movie is a journey with no destination which can work in some films but didn't in this one. When the credits were old, I found it very frustrating. As for the journey, it felt like a top gear special. Every time they were trying to overcome an obstacle, I was half expecting them to cut to the punishment car. Take the tongue down with the usual.

Okay, so that's Surat. Number 12. Number 10, number five in America, 21 pilots more than we ever imagined. This is a concert. Concert film of the duo, 21 pilots of whom I am not, with whom I'm not familiar. This wasn't press screen, so it was,

and so I haven't seen it. Number nine is the testament of Anne Lee. Holly Cruz, B.A. History. MA History University of Warwick. So obviously is a smart cookie. Yeah. Dear Shakin It and Quaken it. We saw the Testament of An Lee this weekend and loved it.

It's a great example of a historical film which uses exaggeration or anachronism to help a modern audience understand what the characters are experiencing. It doesn't matter if the shakers really dance like that or that some of the superb soundtrack features an electric guitar wailing. It created powerful mood of intensity and emotional release, which we in 2026 can fully emerge. ourselves in. It's akin to a knight's tale which use Queen's songs and modern dialogue to show audiences what medieval people would have felt when living with their own familiar songs and language. We also experienced an extra unintentional bit of immersion at our screening. The first half of the film prominently features Manchester Cathedral, a building which is just 200 metres away. Surely you mean 0.2 of a kilometre from the view cinema, which we're never going to get over that high.

Which we saw Anne Lee in. After our screening, we went to the cathedral and saw their display covering the cathedral's history, including a small section on Anne herself. So that sounds like a very good way to see it. Maybe you go and see that and then see the movie or the other way around. So that's Anne Lee at the Testament of at number nine. I was a big fan. If you haven't heard the interview that Simon did with Mona Fastfold and Amanda Syfred, Syfred, do go back and listen to it because it was terrific hearing them talk about. I mean, I really like the film and I think the dancing really, really, really works. But it is definitely true that it has proved divisive.

And number eight is Pegasus 3? So this is a Mandarin language, motor racing, sports comedy adventure that has become a huge hit domestically, but wasn't press screened here. If it's still in the charts, I'll see if I can see it for next week's show. So it's Pegasus 3, Zootropolis 2.

So Pegasus win by one goal. And Zootropolis is at number 7 and number 9 in America. still holding on in there. I mean, what a run that film has had. It's, yeah, I mean, I enjoyed it, but it's done really, really well. Secret Agent is at number six? Which is just fantastic. And if you haven't seen it yet, go see it, because you need to see it in a cinema. It's, it is an absolutely brilliant movie that moves between genres with fluidity and grace and is just it's super. Crime 101 is at number five here, number six over there. Terrific Heist movie. I love a good heist movie. This is definitely a good heist movie. And I believe that we will have a conversation

later on, which you flagged up before, about the correct way of responding in the cinema if you're enjoying it. Goat is at number four. Epic, Elvis Presley in concert is at number three here and number four in America. It's a couple of, a couple of emails. First of all, so this is signed from, I think this is Anne Spudviers. Okay. Not, uh, And so what it says is from Ad Spudvia's Indented Head, Australia. Okay. Is that what is what is what is that her post or anyway, so I looked it up. An indented head is a coastal township in Victoria, Australia.

So that's the name of the place that she lives. Okay. And she says it's very beautiful. Anyway, Diablo in ring bingo. What an opening. Baz's trademark Rasmataz was all over the screen, but was restrained to bookending the film in the credits. Baz let Elvis tell his own story in technical clips from Vegas, intimate footage of rehearsals where Elvis's rap hole with his band and singers is beautifully captured, an historic film of his early years, which added such poignancy now that we know how the history that followed. I never wanted it to end. The color, those jumpsuits, Elvis's beautiful facing close-up, his performance, energy and humor and the obvious respect and admiration of his fellow musicians and singers, not to mention the audience itself. The hysteria, the hairdos, the sheer size and buzzes, the sheer size and buzzes.

of the audience it was transporting. I'm searching for superlatives. Suffice to say, I love, love, loved it, and I can't wait to go again. I could have stayed in the cinema all day. Yeah, fabulous. I'm on the exactly the same page. And an indented head. Also, she's the sunrise swimmer and winner of a box of oil pastels for coloring

in a picture of Smokey Dawson on the back of a cornflakes packet in 1960. John Penny says, Dear Not a Colonel and Not a Tom Parker. Very good. What a film. A touching and captivating Port-Avading Port-Whorne. of that beautiful, talented man. He really showed what a talented musician, arrange, and vocalist Elvis was. It was obviously made with such love and appreciation that it left us both delighted to have seen it and heartbroken that it all ended so soon afterwards. My only criticism of the

film came during the credits. Firstly, that awful disco remix that played over them, having just seen some of the finest drumming of ever, why switch to the robotic inanity of a drum machine, and why put it so high in the mix? Which leads me to my second criticism, why weren't the musicians and backing singers credited. For a film in which the quality of the musicians and their interactions with Elvis is basically the whole point, it seemed like a serious omission. Are they not credited?

Yeah, I kind of thought that they were, but I can't... I thought they were, but... Anyway, that said, it's a joyous, uplifting spectacle, and I'm wondering whether I'll be able to see it again before it disappears from cinema. Okay, yes, to that point, I thought they were credited. I...

But I, you know, to be honest with you, as the film was finishing, I was just so kind of overwhelmed and happy. I thought they were, you're absolutely right, that they definitely should be, because the musicianship is out of this world. I mean, that's one of the best things about it. Simon, you were saying that, you know, you saw Van Morrison playing, and there was all these musicians, including Georgie Fame on keyboard, just watching him like a hawk.

That is exactly what it's like the musicianship in this. It is astonishing. Yeah. Clearly, everybody wanted to play those shows. Yeah. Number two is Wuthering Heights. Mr. Earnshaw, the patriarch of the Earnshaw household, is on the show in a bit. Is there anything else you wanted to say about Wuthering?

No, I mean, I think we've, you know, I think we've covered Wuthering Heights. One thing I will say is I did talk to Charles Gant, the kind of the box office maestro, the guy who really understands box office and can actually explain it. And I said to him, Charles, simply, has it done well? And the short answer is, yes. obviously it has costs to cover but basically, yes, it has done very well

and he compares it. I'll talk about this a little bit more in take two but he compares it to other literary adaptations, Bronti adaptation, Jane Austen puts it all in context, but yes, the short version is it has done well. And number one is Scream 7. Archie Andy says to see

I went to see Scream 7 tonight and whilst it was great to see Neve back, the series should have ended with the last one. I am a fan of the franchise who thought the last two were okay, three and four probably the weakest. There are some fun nods, callbacks and Easter eggs, some gory kills and great performances.

No spoilers, but one cast member seemed to be having a blast. And whilst I had fun, Seven was maybe a scream too far. Yeah, well, you figure? I mean, Neff Campbell's back because they sorted out the money because she wasn't there in the one before because she wasn't being paid enough. And I don't think there's any way of looking at Scream Seven as anything other than an accounts balance sheet.

And I think it's very depressing, particularly if like me you are old enough to remember having done an on stage with Wes Craven and the cast when the first scream came out and remembering how exciting it was and how thrilling it was and how enthusiastically you know Wes talked about the film and I interviewed him a lot because he was one of those film directors who would talk about his work because he loved talking about it um you know so I think this is depressing uh back in just a moment Mark's going to be talking Mother's Pride, The Bride, Pecky Briders, the Immortal Man, there's an exclamation mark for Bride and there's a colon for peekie blinders and our special guests,

Martin Cloon's on the way. It's never too early to plan your summer story in Europe with WestJet, from rolling countryside to cobblestone streets. Begin your next chapter. Book your seat at westjet.com or call your travel agent.

WestJet, where your story takes off. there. I'm Kendra Adachi and my show The Lazy Genius Podcast helps you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't and you get to decide what matters. I'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm here to give you a new way to see. Episodes of the Lazy Genius podcast are full of compassionate time management tips and permission slips to do what makes sense for you. New episodes drop every Monday. Follow and listen to the Lazy Genius podcast on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, it's time to talk to our special guest who is Martin Cloons.

So, you know, he's been on telly like forever, Men Behaving Badly, Doc Martin, William and Mary, Arthur and George, goodbye Mr. Chips. Movies, Shakespeare in Love, Nativity, 3. Anyway, as you know, because we've talked about him a lot, he's just appeared in Wuthering Heights, and he has a new film called Mother's Pride. You'll hear Martin Cloons after this bit from the trailer.

You don't drink it with your eyes, mate. Nothing robust about that. If you want cocktails, I suggest you go over the road with the rest of the prawn sandwich brigade. I wonder what he's doing back? I'm going to bail his father out of the mess he's in. Hello, Dad. This place is a madhouse.

You going? Probably best I stay here. Well, you're scared she's going to punch you too. When everyone got, the pub was always the life for the soul of the village. I may have been through the change, but I'd still get them one. Oh, we've got 14 days to find 10 grand, or they're going to start repossession. proceedings we could do with cow's financial help. I'm broke, Jacob.

Bleu the lot. On what? What do you think? On the high life and hookers. What's a hooker? And that is part of the trailer for Mother's Pride. It stars Martin Cloons. He's in a couple of films at the moment, as you might have noticed.

Martin, hello, welcome to the show. Hi, hi. How are you? I'm Graham, thank you. It's the year of Martin Clunes, I think. It's weird, isn't it? Is it? It's to me, yeah.

I think it is. So you can literally go to the cinema and choose to Martin Clune's films. Has that ever happened before? No, I'm trying to think the last film I was in. It was probably Shakespeare in love. Yeah, it was a long time. But that was the only, so if you wanted to see Martin Clunes in a movie, that was... Carry on Columbus, I did a day on.

I was in the Russia house. Okay, but now we have a choice. We have commudgeonly, um, whiskery... Grotty. And very grotty, Martin Cloons. And kind of light-hearted, but slightly angry, Martin Cloons. in Mother's Pride. Thank you very much for emailing the show.

A couple of weeks ago, that was fantastic fun. But I did genuinely think that you stole the film. Certainly all the scenes that you're in, you're thinking this guy is taking it away with him. Well, I had a good part, didn't I? I mean, it was a really nice part. Emerald's just a real joy to be directed by, because I've never known anyone be so clear

about what they want out of everything. She was talking to one of the actors. And she went, I hate those buttons. 20 minutes later, somebody came a scissors and changed the buttons on her. Imagine having an opinion on buttons. Well, it's kind of, you know, work up almost exclusively in television, most of my working life, where there's never enough time. There's never enough money. And sometimes you get a director who turns up and goes, right now, how are we going to do this?

And you think, what did you think the fee was for? But Emerald, every set just wants to know what the director wants. And because there was enough time, all the creative roles got to flourish. Susie Davis's designs were just through the roof and the makeup artists and nobody's rushed. I mean, obviously, you're concerned about the time, but there is enough time. And that was just such a joy. There was a bit in the interview with Emerald. I think I mentioned it afterwards when I mentioned you and how I thought it was such a great role.

She punched the air. It was the only bit in the interview that she kind of appeared even more. animated. That's amazing. Which made me think you were definitely her idea. Yes, I was, yes. We nearly did something together before,

but it didn't work out with dates and things. But yeah, I know it's just chuffed her bits to have a champion in the... So she calls you, does she, and say, what was the original? Well, came through the agent. And I yelled through it from the kitchen to my wife. I said, who's Mr. Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights?

Is Kathy's dad? I'll do it. No, where you would. It's slightly, she's played around a lot with the film anyway. And are you mainly the dad with bits of nastiness from the missing brother, is that? Yes. Yes, exactly. So she's kind of locked off the second half of the film after Kathy dies.

Second half of the book after Kathy dies. It's quite boring as well after. I think almost all the different versions stop there that they don't do the second part. You said in your email that there was a moment where you were lying on the floor. Or vomit in your mouth waiting to be kicked in the head by Margot Robbie. Yeah, try not to blink or breathe. So remind us what's happening there. Well, I've died, and she's come to visit me.

And after a slightly brief period of morning, she kicks me in the head. And then you have to vomit. Well, no, no, I didn't vomit. I was just holding it in my mouth so that as I whipped over like that, it flew out. Right. And what is it? I can't remember. Do you know, Simon, I've had so much fake vomit in my mouth.

that's a professional from men behaving badly to Doc Martin, it's been a constant. Really? It's usually vegetable soup. Well, I hope it's improved since back in the day.

Now, when Mother's Pride starts, I recalled a conversation on a earlier version of this podcast with the great Tom Wilkinson, sadly no longer with us. And he was in a movie, I think it was called The Debt with Helen Mirren.

And as the credits roll, it's more traditional, it has all the titles at the beginning, And then it says and Tom Wilkinson. Right. So I said to him, I said that was always very impressive, isn't it? And he gave a whole long spiel about asking for the and. You have to ask for the and.

And I was thinking about this because on your film it says with Mark Addy and Martin Cloons. Oh, does it? Yes. What's better with or Anne? Well, I think and. Thank you. This then led Mark Strong to contact the show to say maybe there's a but. I remember that.

Yes, I do remember that. Where some actors, like Stephen Segal, should be a butt, Stephen Segal. So is that news to you that you were and Martin Clunes, or did you know all about that? Oh, somebody might have said something early on. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. With? I'm not bothered.

No. Someone else is. So Mother's Pride. So take us into, so you're an angry publican. I'm a sad publican. Okay. A sad, slightly angry publican. Who's down on his luck.

His family's a bit of fractured. And this is briefly only at the beginning, it's sad, just to sort of set it up. And the business is in trouble. They've got massive debts, and the debts are so big that they can't even afford any beer. And then one of my sons, played by John O. Davis, comes home, who's a pop star, who's had a bit of a breakdown. And he comes home, which annoys me. But then he's with no beer he sets about from Grandpa's book,

trying to brew beer to brew us out of trouble and hopefully gain the attention of the campaign for real ale and put the pub back on its feet. Now my understanding, looking at some of the announcements about this, the first reference I found was in 2022. So it was just out of COVID, which of course was a disastrous time for pubs and for lots of people in different walks of life.

But the pubs particularly just lost everything immediately. So everyone knows that Pubs are struggling, but in this particular village, Martin, we've got your pub, which is struggling. But over the road, what's happening there? Over the road is a smart pub owned by the son of the brewery that makes the beer for that pub, who's a bit smug. He's a knob, isn't he really? He's a bell end. Yeah, he is.

I think he gets hit. Yes. Who hits him? It might be me. So it's a very British story. and the team behind it were the team that did Fisherman's Friends. And so it's like that. Basically.

Yes. I mean, there are a lot of English films. They're like Full Monty as well. Exactly, right. Starring Tom Wilkinson. Starring Tom Wilkinson, down on their up, and Mark Addy. Of course. Down on their up as conquering adversity, getting better and fixing things.

It's a strange thing. We're good at those films. We like them. We solve emotional turmoil. and upset by, in this case, brewing good beer. Nothing wrong with it? No, absolutely not. So there is a splendid sort of conflict at the heart of it,

and we know whose side we're on. But it all leads up towards a great contest. I mean, I'm not quite sure. I think it's okay to talk about the end. We don't have to give away the ultimate end. But it's fantastic to distill all the kind of financial and emotional and familiar problems into a brewing competition. Yes, I suppose it is.

Yeah, which is great. So tell us about the beer that your son, the pop star son, has come up with. It's called Mother's Pride. Well, they realise that throughout the film that because they're missing, my two sons are missing their mother. Yeah. So did you get to sample any beer? Did you get any brewing knowledge along the way?

Not a drop. And no, I don't think so. I wasn't paying attention. But I was asked about there was a stick in it, the brewing stick. Oh, yeah, that's right. I think that's made up. I don't know. Many pros.

Now, there is some Morris dancing in this film. Yeah. Disco Morris. Disco Morris. Did you escape? I'm just trying to think. Did you do any? I did a little bit of Grandad dancing off to the side.

It's mainly James, some real Morris dancers and Mark Addy. Mark Addy can shake his stuff too. He's got that big man grace. Yeah, well, and as you remind him, full Monti, so he knows how to, he knows precisely how to do this thing. What I was surprised by was once I'd worked out the kind of film that we were in, enjoying the characters and enjoying the contest, and being fairly certain I knew where we were going,

the scene where you finally distribute the ashes of your wife with your sons, I was quite glad I was on my own at that time. You know, it's a very, very powerful scene. Yeah, it is, tears. Yes, with that girl dancing sort of, you know, who was, yeah. Yeah, it was, it was, I think it was the first scene I did in it. And, yeah, it moved me, you know. Silly, isn't it?

But, you know, you sort of put yourself there as an actor. Yeah. And it, you just sort of imagine, you know, missing the love of your life at a later stage. Yeah. It's a very, you know, it is, I think it's because, we've been having such a frothy time that suddenly we're surprised by the emotion of the moment. It's nice, isn't it? It gives the film a heart, doesn't it? Yes, yes, yes, yes, absolutely.

So, 2026 feels to me as though it's been the year of Martin Cloons, really, that when we get to do a wrap-up of 26, that your Wuthering Heights and Mother's Pride, and do we see the downfall of Hugh Edwards sometime soon? Yeah, I think so, yeah. Have you filmed that? Yeah. Okay. So this is going to be a remarkable year for you.

I know, but I haven't got a job at the moment. It's all publicity. What do you mean you haven't got a job at the moment? I haven't got a job. A gig. At all? No. Okay.

But the impression is you're working non-stop. It's annoying. So here's the question, Martin, I think. You've been one of the most familiar faces on British television for a long time. You've mentioned a couple of the shows. What is must be quite thrilling. I would think is to get to, are you a national treasure? Yes, okay, you're a national treasure. You get to your status, having been on television for many decades. And the stuff that you're coming up with is surprising to us, that you're getting fantastic roles. And it's possible. I mean, Pete Bradshaw and The Guardian, I don't look at any other comments at all other than Mark. I only listened to Mark's comment. But Peter also said, you stole the film. Yes, I don't know what to say about that, because I don't really think I do. I think Margot Robby and Jacob Allaudie are just magnificent. Yeah, but they get enough attention, I think that's what we're.

They just got a lot of insults, I think. I think maybe I was the hardest to insult. Everyone seemed preoccupied with Jacob's skin tone and Margot's age. I don't think we'd discuss a lady's age, do we? And there was a lady who wrote a piece in the Times saying, what they got right and what they got wrong? What does she mean they got wrong? There's an all-female Julius Caesar.

Don't go and see that, love. And then there's an all-male measure-for-measure. And then she's stand in front of a Salvador Dali picture and say he's got that wrong. I've seen men's bottoms. I guess the Martin Cloon's point that I'm trying to make is that you are getting exciting roles to do. New roles were going to the movies. You know, Wuthering Heights is a number one film and you're one of the big stars that's in it. And it must be thrilling to be getting those parts.

Yeah, it's very thrilling. It's very thrilling. Unexpected. Yeah, just as I sort of felt like things were kind of winding down. Just as it looked as if things were winding down. Do you mean retirement? No, I just mean job. Jobs in television. I mean, it's a little bit weird television at the moment. Is it harder now to get TV shows made than it used to be?

I'm just another old white guy, aren't I? I've sort of had my turn in a way, I think. Did you hesitate at all about the Hugh Edwards show? What was it the made you want to do it? I thought it was a really good script. And Michael Samuels, the director, had directed years ago, a thing, an adaptation of a William Boyd book called Any Human Heart. And it's stuck in my mind as being so beautifully done as a piece of TV, William Boyd wrote the screenplay, and it was just so super, Jim Broadbent was in it, it was so superbly directed. And when I saw that Michael was attached to this, I thought, well, I never thought I get the chance to work with him. And I did. And obviously, it came with kind of risks or challenges or whatever, but that's good too, isn't it?

Scare yourself every now and again. And it, I mean, it wasn't pretty making it, but I think it's a story worth telling. But as we sit here and talk now, you've got no new projects. Actually, no, I did just do the script. There you go. There you go. See, I can't quite believe that that's not the case, because Mother's Pride is fun and the angry Republican Mick, we know that you can do that.

Like the jukebox scene, by the way. I was trying to get a close. I was trying to look very intensely to find out what the jukebox was. Oh, hey. Because I like a jukebox. And it is very much a love letter to British pubs, and British pubs need all the support. that they can get. But I would think that the scripts are going to keep on coming, because people

will see you for doing Mother's Pride, which we know you can do. And now we're seeing you in Wuthering hides. People are going, wow, we'll have that guy. Well, thank you for your prognosis, doctor. I hope so. Are there people that you would love to work with? If Emerald Fennell gave you a thrilling experience because, you know, it was so clear what she wanted and it was great fun to be on, what would you like to do next? Anything. I really don't mind. I've never. I've never. I've never had a career plan or think now I need to do this or now I need to do that. I've just sort of run at the things that have appealed to me. I'd love to work with Emerald again. I'd like to work with Michael again. I'd work with anyone. And life on the farm is calling

you back, I would think, quite often. Yeah, life on the farm's great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I sort of miss it when I'm away. I like London less and less. Yeah. So you have to hold everything in balance, but in the end, back to the farm and back to your dogs. Yes. So to the question, And what do we see you in next? That's going to be the downfall of Hugh Edwards. Yes. And what is that on? Channel 5.

Meantime, it's Mother's Pride, which is in cinemas now, and it's Wuthering Heights, which is like top of the charts. Martin Cloone's top of the charts. That's what you are. Martin, it's always a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed for coming in, and I look forward to watching you in the movies in IMAX. Oh, boy.

Many times in the future. They did the cast and crew screening of Wuthering Heights in IMAX. That was off-putting. that's seeing your face very, very big. Oh boy. I would think. Martin Cloons, thank you so much for coming in. Thank you very much.

Martin Cloons, who's also, he said, he's very proud of the fact that in his email a couple of weeks ago, he referred to us as Violet Swirl and Anita Bush. Yes. Apparently, I think there was a thing that they did in Doc Martin. They used to give silly names to patients who died or something like that, you know. So we were very much in that. that tradition. But that, you know, but that's...

Who just seized patience in Doc Martin. Yes. So if Wuthering Heights showed us a surprising Martin Cloons, Mother's Pride doesn't. Doesn't.

It shows us the Martin Cloons that we know and love. Yeah, incidentally, Martin Cloan's version of being unemployed is not the same as anyone else's version of being unemployed. Wasn't it interesting? How often, and how quickly he said,

yes, but I've got no work. It's been amazing year, I've got no work. No work at all. Okay. So, you know, So as you said, this is a comedy from the people behind Fisherman's Friends. Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard, who co-wrote Fisherman's Friends and then co-directed the sequel about a failing pub. That is that people try to save by this kid comes back home.

He's the guy, he's the landlord, he's the grumpy landlord. I do think that thing that you played in the clip about he want cocktails go across the road. That was funny. And then the kid sort of thinks, okay, well, what we'll do is we'll start. brewing and then miraculously overnight they start brewing and that's going to become the to save the pub. And as with fishermen's friends, inspired by, in the very vaguest sense of the words, two true stories, one of a struggling pub in Wales, one of a, which was bought by the local community, one of a family-run brewery in Essex. Cast includes, Martin Cloons,

John A. Davis, James Buckley, Gabriella Wilde, Mark Addy, of course, which is the full Monty connection there, Luke Treadaway, Miles Jop, Josie, Lowe, Josie, and. You know, I mean, so it's a cast of familiar faces about whom people generally feel very warmly. It's described on the poster as being about a family with a pint to prove. I'm going to say that again, a family with a pint to prove. Ha ha. Thank you. And from the creators of fishermen's friends.

And boy, is it from the creators of fishermen's friends. I mean, if you remember, some time ago, there was a film called Swimming with Men, which I said was basically the pool monster. in as much as... Okay, you're just mentioning that to repeat your excellent joke. You know, half as good... Is that the Rob Bryden film? Yes, that's right.

Rob Biden, yeah. And I said half as good and twice as wet. If that was the Paul Monty, this is the mild Monty, buoyed up by the presence of Mark Addy, who I think you realised in that interview was in the full Monty, because when he says he got, oh yeah, that's a thing. And who gets, you know, there is Morris dancing involved. it is however weighed down by the same thing with the fisherman's friends which is that none of it

rings true in any way whatsoever i mean it's not you know it's not pulled points it's it's it's pulled punches you said frothy you said up until the point that when there is the sad bit it had been frothy and i think frothy is absolutely the word i mean honestly if fishermen's friends was like a kind of dewy-eyed tourist version of cornwall because it's interesting Fisherman's Friends came out around about the same time that Mark Jenkin was doing things like bait. I mean, then this portrait of pub rivalry in bucolic settings, it basically makes the Martin Cloons Doc Martin look like a searing expose of tough life on the streets, you know, in a deprived coastal town.

I mean, it's so frothy. It's so glossed over. it's so completely artificial. I mean, running a pub is very difficult. Taking much of this film seriously is, I think, substantially harder. But the point is it doesn't want to be taken seriously. On the contrary, what it wants to do is embrace you in a kind of warm hug, you know, a sort of warm pint of bon-a-me.

And that's what made Fisherman's Friends popular. I mean, Fisherman's Friends was not well received by critics, but it did very, very well with audiences. One thing I should point out, you said at one point that there was a moment when you were fairly sure where it was going, okay? There's a friend of mine who was at the beginning of the screen. I won't name them, but they were there at the beginning of the screening. And they bailed out very early on because they had to get in the queue for another screening that was happening in the evening. And on the basis of the first 30 minutes of the movie, when I then saw them at the next screening that they had to get to, I said,

okay, tell me on the basis of the first 30 minutes of the film what happens in the rest of the film. And they literally did. This happens and this happens. And did that happen? And then that happened. And right down to the thing about the rival pub, sending somebody over to do the thing,

which I'm not going to spoil, but frankly, 10 minutes in, you know that that's what's going to happen. And the spaceship? Did they guess the spaceship? It's a wonderful life moment when everybody from the village turns up with the thing. So there is nothing that you don't expect.

I mean, there's the whole thing about the girlfriend with the Posho guy who nobody likes, who's going to discover true love with the troubled folk singer. Incidentally, there's a moment in it. This is very sort of telling of the thing. There's a moment in it when the singer comes back home looking like a, looking like a bit of a star. because he's very handsome young man. And somebody says, oh, lots of, lots of famous people dressed like homeless people.

And you go, he's dressed like homeless people? Mm-hmm. What? It's pretty fine to everybody else. Exactly. It's like in the world of Balamori. I mean, it's, you know, you remember in Zulander, there's the whole thing about derelict. Derelict.

She doesn't even look derelict chic. He just looks chic. And the real, the real L competition is preposterous. the Martin Cloons has a movie illness thing is preposterous. He was brilliant in Wuthering Heights. And whilst I was listening to that interview, I just looked for an image of him in the, is it the downfall of Hugh Edwards or the,

whatever it is of Hugh Edwards. There's a still, I mean, he looks, I mean, just the still looks really, really good. Martin Cloons could do this in his sleep. And it is,

it is exactly what you think it is. honestly, I didn't think it was any good. But then I didn't think fishermen's friends was much good. And that took a bunch of money. So, you know, hey, what do I know? Were you a fan? Cup of tea and a biscuit. Goes down well with a cup of tea and a biscuit misses.

Yes. And so therefore ticks that box, I think. So it's not, it's not, you don't have to see this in the cinema. I'm sure it'll be on a streamer very soon. And if you want to watch a show, So en family, then maybe, you know, this is going to be fine. So it has, you know, it has its place. But it is, as you say, entirely predictable from the start, I would say.

And Mother's Pride is the name, it should say, is the name of the beer. But it's only the name of the beer at the end of the film. Yeah. Because it's like, it's called the drovers all the way through. And then at the very end, they change it. And my friend, who only saw the first half an hour, even predicted that. that. Okay, very good.

Anyway, so that's Mother's Pride. More to come, and also it's the ads coming up. But first, we have to, as we're in a jolly mood anyway, step with gay abandon into our laughter lift. Well, well, hey, Mark. Hey, Simon. What's made of leather and sounds like a sneeze? I don't know.

A shoe. Off to a great start. Oh, a shoe. A shoe. Yeah. By the way, I don't want to break the comedy drama here. This week I heard of a conversation between a mother and a young daughter. Yes, this is true. And the mother had the misfortune to cough and break wind at the same time as you sometimes happens. And her daughter referred to it as taking a screenshot, which I thought was very, very interesting. Anyway, Mark, I had a very... Oh, sorry, that wasn't part of the laughter lift. That was an actual thing.

No, that's an actual thing. Okay, okay, okay. As in, you know, pressing two buttons on your phone. Yes, I know what I was. I had a very cinematic black and white dream last night. I dreamt I was a medieval knight on the beach in Ingmar Bergman's 1957 masterpiece, the seventh seal, with a white-faced shrouded figure played by Banked Echorot. But instead of playing chess with him, I was cutting carrots.

I was really dicing with death. Thank you. Okay, that's all right. That was, yeah, that was worth the long run-up. Is that right? Yeah. The same, obviously, is going to be true of this. Okay.

Anyway, I was very shaken up by the dream. I needed a four-pack of Adnham's Broadside to recover. So I popped out to my local high-class booze agent. When two masked men burst in, one of them said, this is a stick-up. And the other one picked up a rather nice, invigorden, 50-year-old single malt, and said, is this whiskey to the boss man? Not as whiskey as wobbing a bank, but yes, it's up there. CCTV is everywhere. I'd leave it if I were you. And that's where you laugh hysterically.

Okay, that was, I mean, the punchline of that joke was in the middle of it. Is this, is this whiskey? Not as whiskey. Not as whiskey is doing that. And then you did a whole thing about CCTV. Yeah, no, no, I think you should have stuck with the, with the Dicing with Death. Or the, or the screenshot, which was actually the funniest joke. Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm glad to put all that effort into that. Coming up, the, Bride and piggy-blindness colon the immortal man after this. Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything. Like packing a spare stick.

I like to be prepared. That's why I remember, 988, Canada's suicide crisis helpline. It's good to know, just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder any time. 988 suicide crisis helpline is funded by the government in Canada. So our email, of course, is correspondence at Carbon Med. Let us know what you think of the bride. Now, mother had an exclamation mark.

We always said it's like that. So the bride kind of needs to be said in that kind of... The bride! With a claim. It does. With a claim, exactly. What's the front? Ponte de exclamation mark in French, yeah.

But anyway, which just sounds more fun. But anyway, so it is the bride. It has got an exclamation mark, take it away. So this is the new feature from writer, Maggie Gillen Hall. If you remember she made The Lost Daughter. Who did you interview for Lost Daughter? I interviewed her.

You interviewed her. And she's great. She's like really smart and really eloquent and talks a really good film. I think it's her and Olivia Coleman, as I recall. I think that's right. That's a very good double bill. But the Lost Daughter was, I think, cost around $5 million. This is closer to $80 million.

So 15 times the budget, and the scope of the film is like 20 times broader. So whereas The Lost Daughter was this kind of fairly stripped down adaptation of a novel, this is a sprawling, genre-hopping, unruly epic of a movie, which like Frankenstein's monster, I mean, it draws from, obviously from Frankenstein and from the James Whale in 1935, Bride of Frankenstein. I mean, it is a collection of disparate body parts, literature, film, music stuff, all bolted or sewn together in ramshackle fashion, jolted alive with a huge shock, hence the pont, you know, de exclamation. And it's not so much, you know, everything but the

kitchen sink as let's throw everything into the kitchen sink and then see what floats. So it opens with a dead Mary Shelley narrating from beyond the grave, telling the story of how, having written Frankenstein that everybody knew about. She then died of a persistent illness. I think it was now thought to be a brain tumor. And ranting that Frankenstein wasn't the real story. The real story was the story of, and I will interpret this for broadcast, the mother fruit caking bride, which will now be recounted, will incidentally be recounted with a hint of possession because there is a crack through which she will possess or have a ghostly haunting of the central character.

So it's a bit bonkers from the beginning. So cut to, of course, 1930s Chicago, where else? Where Jesse Buckley's glamorous but apparently unhinged, very drunk party girl, as the phrase used to be then, is suddenly possessed of the spirit of Shelley. She has a fit, she bursts out in a rage, She taunts the local crime boss and his cronies, gets herself thrown out and thrown down a flight of steps. Meanwhile, Annette Benning's Dr. Euphronius is a brilliant scientist who's very familiar with the work of Dr. Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, and has made her own breakthroughs in regeneration.

And she is visited by Christian Bale's, well, monster, but when she asks his name, he says, well, Frankenstein was my father's name. so he then gets called Frank, okay? He says he's lonely, and he wants her to make him a mate. And she says, I can't do that. He says, yes, you can. And she says, I can't do that. He says, yes, you can. So she goes to think, figure out, okay, maybe I can.

So they go to a pauper's grave where they find the body of Jesse Buckley's character and reanimate it to find that there are effectively two souls in it, because the memories of the past are all gone. So there's a bit of Mary Shelley. bit of residual memory. But this now reborn bride is an anarchic firecracker whose kind of defining feature is, you know, I prefer not to. I'm not going to do that. It's outspoken, knows her own mind. Wild, rebellious spirit with this kind of distinctive razor blade smile, which you will have seen from the posters, there's this kind of black sort of splurge to one side of her mouth.

And believe me, you'll soon be seeing that in nightclubs and on Halloween masks around the country. So he is like an old-school romantic. He's fixated on this musical star, the cinema musical star, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. But of course, he's also Frankenstein's monster, so still capable of great brutality. And she is absolutely, you know, this buzzing, rebellious spirit. And together, they start to cause havoc in Chicago, gate crashing parties, which spontaneously turn into musical dance numbers very much in the manner of, well, I was thinking originally of Neander

but obviously more recently in the manner of testament of Anne Lee or even weirdly in the manner of Mel Brooks's young Frankenstein because at one point they actually danced to putting on the ritz and that cannot be accidental. Anyway, here is a clip from the trailer. What happened?

You had an accident. An accident, huh? We dug you up. Literally brought you back to life. Get on a stay. Girl, I'm the same. Born from the dead, I am a monster. So am I.

So they're also basically, they're Bonnie and Clyde. You know, they start to become local legends. In particular, her black lips, black tongue and that sort of, that razor blade sort of, you know, spatter on her face becomes adopted by people as they become kind of local heroes. And it becomes like a riotous, like a riot girl, rebel. girl statement and inspired by this character who's, you know, everyone's talking about, people start to adopt her look and her attitude and they're rebelling against the patriarch. I mean, at one point, a character actually says, yeah, me too, me too, says it a number of times

just in case you missed it the first time. Meanwhile, Peter Sarsgaard, who of course, you've had the whole conversation about, you know. Yes, who's Maggie Gillenho's other half. Yes, and of course is the son of Stellan Scars. They're all part of the same family. They all love it. They all love it. Is the detective on their trail, with his far smarter assistant, played by Penelope Cruz, actually doing the crime solving and shaping up as the real force behind their partnership.

So the film was all shot on IMAX certified digital cameras. The score is by Hilda Goodnardotter. It says in the wiki entry that it was originally Johnny Greenwood, but I ended up being Hilda Goodnardtta. The result is a game of many halves. As I've said before, I kind of made that comparison about a reanimated body with all these different bits strapped together. Some of the bits work brilliantly. Some of them don't work so well.

On the plus side, it is as ambitious as it is bonkers. I mean, this is not a film that anyone ever workshoped. This is not a film when a group of executives sat down and said, well, we should do this and then we should do this. This is a singular vision of Maggie Gyllenhall. And whether you like it or not, and I think there'll be people who don't, It is clearly the film that its writer-director set out to create. It looks terrific. Jesse Buckley walks on water, frankly, and can do anything.

And Christian Bale is impressively dorky and pathetic, in the true sense of pathetic, you know, as in pathos-laden, as the monster. It's also very clearly an out-and-proud feminist take on the Frankenstein narrative. The fact that it's The Bride, not the Bride of Frankenstein, but The Bride. exclamation mark. So that all that is hardwired into its DNA. On the downside, I mean, it pinballs around between themes and moods and genres in a way that can be befuddling. I mean, it is a mess. But whether or not you go with that mess is, I think, a very personal decision. And I did decide to go with it. And I did enjoy it whilst thinking that there's an interesting

comparison here that, look, this cost pretty much the same as well. Wuthering Heights. It has a similar sensibility. I mean, they're both essentially Gothic romances. They are both inspired by literary sources which some people revere. They are both honestly, boldly ridiculous takes on those texts. They're both helmed by women with a very clear sense of their own vision. They're both big and splashy and garish and unembarrassed and unashamed to be ludicrous. And they're also both kind of aimed at that, that demographic, in which there is a significant part of that demographic, which is, you know, if you are a, if you are a young woman, like a teenager, you are often very sorely served by big mainstream cinema,

which tends to concentrate on cars and robots hitting each other. And it is absolutely true that at the moment we're going to have next week in the charts, we're going to have Wuthering Heights and the Bride, which are big event movies, big, garish event movies, in which they are clearly much more attuned toward a section of the audience that has been grossly overlooked by mainstream cinema. And that in itself, I think, is something to be celebrated.

I think this is a better movie than Wuthering Heights. I don't think it will do as well as Wuthering Heights. And the reason is because it aims higher, it takes more risks, and it is more unruly and more all over the place. But I think actually it's a better film, certainly in terms of the ambition and the sort of the scale of this world that has been imagined and dreamed up by Maggie Johnson. So it's all over the place. it's preposterous and it is not for everyone. And there are things about it that don't work. But there's enough in there that does and that makes me just sort of cheer the idea

that somebody like Maggie Gilliloh could get a movie like this out there in cinemas that makes me very happy that it's out there in cinemas. That's very interesting. So it's a mess, but it's a hot mess. It's a hot mess. Hot mess that's definitely worth seeing. I should have got, yeah, I wish I'd use that phrase. It's a hot mess.

Yes, yeah. Yes. Okay, all right. So let us know what you think once you have seen it. Correspondence at Kevin O'Meer.com. Time for a quadriology of Watson's. First of all, it's either Louis or Lewis. Hi, Simon and Mark.

Louis here from the Glasgow Short Film Festival, which kicks off on March 18th at the beloved GFT with a screening of Down River a Tiger, presented in partnership with the Catalan Film Festival. about a kitchen worker and photographer losing her sight in a new city it's a love letter to Glasgow through a cinematic lens we also have genre programs such as our horror and comedy programs scared shortless and for shorts and giggles and a whole host more

you can find out more at glasgow short.org I'd see you there nicely recorded there from Louis very well done very well done but nice acoustic I thought thank you Louis here now here's Connor hello Simon America and the glorious redactor this is Conor Kilkelly to let you know there is a wonderful Irish film festival taking place at the Babylon Theatre in Berlin over the St. Patrick's weekend from the 13th till the 18th of March. There will be a retrospective of the works of Killian Murphy and a whole array of contemporary documentaries, shorts and features, including Tabby Daily, a short I wrote and directed.

We'll also play some traditional Irish music on a Saturday evening, tickly tongue and down with the AFD and Vim Vendor's non-political films. For more information, visit Irishfilmberlin.I.E. Thank you. All right, so that was Connor. Irish, I love that, because Jesse Buckley did this at one of the awards, just made a point of saying film by giving it the extra punctuation. So it's Irish Film Berlin.I.E.

Connor, thank you. Now, let's hear from Becker. Hi, Simon and Mark. Introducing the Time Valley Film Festival in Northumberland, 39 screenings in 22 venues across the Time Valley from the 13th to 27th of March. All information can be found at Time Valley Film Festival.com. A special shout-out for Allendale Film Club screening of Driving Mum, a quirky Icelandic film at Allendale Village Hall on the 16th of March at 7.30pm.

The wearing of Icelandic sweaters is encouraged. Okay, Becca, thank you very much. The word quirky and Icelandic kind of go together always, don't they? There isn't a, you know, I don't suppose Iceland would make Mother's Pride, for example. There isn't the equivalent, I don't think. Yeah, no. Becca, thank you very much, indeed. Finally, here's Rob.

Hi, this is Rob Lamont. I'm a musician in Wes Bandersen. That's the band that plays the music of Wes Anderson's films. We perform cues from the original scores and needle drops from across the cannon. And we'll be on tour of the UK from the 20th to the day. 29th of March. You can find the locations and the details at wesbandersen.com. And I'm sorry, Simon, but we will be wearing red beinis indoors, as we'll be dressed in the team Zissu attire. Thank you. Love the show, Steve.

Okay, Rob, thank you. That's fine, because you're like acting. So I think there's, I think, I think that's absolutely good. Sorry, can I just say, Wes Banderson, Wes Banderson, that is pretty good. That's that. I wonder whether that came up and they formed the band because I thought it was just such a good name. Very, very good name. Rob, thank you. Enjoy the tour. So before we're done, there is a small matter of Killian Murphy and his mates with dangerous caps. Peaky Blinders, the Immortal Man, which is a film spinoff of the iconic TV series, which I have to say I have not seen. I mean, I have dipped into it very slightly. I've seen all of it, every single episode.

Okay, fine. So this is interesting. And in a way, we'll have to. to revisit this when you've seen the film, okay? So this is written by series creator Stephen Knight, who wrote Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises, also wrote and directed Locke, Hummingbird, which I actually like very much, and is currently, I believe, writing the new Denisvol Nov Bond film,

for which we will find out at some point who the new Bond is going to be. Wow, I mean, that's pretty impressive. He's doing fine. He's doing fine. It's going to be Jacob Allaudy, I'm sure. Do you think? Not too tall and too Antipodine? I don't know. Listen, I've got no idea. Who knows? Anyway, so this is directed by Tom Harper, who, along with directing some of Peeky Blinders on television, Helmed, the Aeronauts and Wild Rose, starring that there, Jesse Buckley. That was one of the films in which she starred.

So, as I said, I haven't seen Peaky Blinders, so I'm not familiar with the story, although the weird thing is, if you breathe air, you have got some awareness of Peeky Blinders because it is everywhere in the culture. things. It's like people think they've seen Citizen Kane. They haven't, but it's just there. So for the record from the official thing, this is a continuation of the TV series, Killian Murphy in the lead, ensemble cast, including Sophie Rundle, Ned Denahee, Paki Lee, Ian Peck, and Stephen Graham reprising their roles alongside new editions, Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, Barry Keogan. So, plays out at the beginning of World War II, Killian Murphy's Tommy Shelby has exiled himself to this lonely house where he is writing his memoirs. I think there is memoirs. He's writing a book. I think their memoirs. He's cut off all

contact with the outside world, including with his son, Erasmus, who is now running the increasingly lawless, peeky blinders gang. We meet them looting arms supplies, supplies that are meant to be going to the front in the wake of a bombing that's taken out small arms factory. He is feared by all, apparently has no moral compass whatsoever. He's approached by Tim Roth's Nazi supporting Beckett to help in a scheme to flood the country with counterfeit currency that will cause economic collapse and thereby bring about the downfall of the country and the success of the Nazis. Then a mysterious woman played by Rebecca Ferguson turns up at Tommy's house and Tommy's sole assistant friend basically is scared of her, says, hang on, she's, she's a gypsy witch,

you know, she, you don't want to, you don't want to cross this. And she tells him that he needs to reconnect with the world with his son, whom he has effectively abandoned. Here is a clip from the trailer. You live in a house haunted with costs of people who died because of you. You abandoned your kingdom and you abandoned your son. Your gypsy son is running the peaky blinders like it's 19-19 all over again. Because I'm not bad man anymore. Good trailer. So it's yet another Gothic romance. I mean you heard that. It was kind of very ghostly tale of lost loves and empty houses and ghostly memories and a kind of hint of

something vaguely supernatural going on. It's also yet another example of the saleability, if you do it right, of period drama with modern pop stylings. You know, I mean, the soundtrack in this was thunderous. I saw this in a screening room in which somebody may have turned the projectionist to turn it up to 11. But there's a lot of, you know, there's like shots of iconic figures, even iconic if you haven't seen the series, walking in very slightly slow motion to really kind of grinding guitars and, you know, bram, brown, brown. Is it Nick Cave's music? Nick Cave is in it.

He does the, yeah, there is a Nick Cave's song in it. Because the style of the TV series was kind of, it seemed to be absolutely wedded to his music. Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. And you understand why, because, you know, he's the man for that job. It looks terrific. And when you've got a cast that's got Murphy and Ferguson, and Roth and Graham and Keogan on screen,

it would be really hard to mess it up. The question is, and Barry Keogan plays the son and whether I've said that, Barry Keogan plays the son, the kind of the guy's out of control. So the question is, okay, how will it play to somebody who loves Peaky Blinders? It's seen all of Peeky Blinders,

which is you, because I can't answer that because I have not seen the series. What I can tell you is that as a total newbie, it filled in as much as I needed to know to enjoy it, with surprisingly little dialogue. I mean, there's no Basil exposition. There's no somebody sitting down and recapping the stuff that's happened before. The themes are classic.

So, you know, from Greek tragedy to Westerns, you know, you know what the themes have been told. You know, fathers and sons and returning and blah, blah, blah, all that stuff. I just slipped right into it. There is a scene in it in which a father and son wrestle in pig manure, which is a little on the nose, but I had no problem with that because it's not, you know, it's got a kind of graphic novel sensibility to it. And the best thing about it is, whilst I enjoyed watching the film, it did make me think,

actually, I've got to go back and watch a TV series now, because if the TV series is anything like this, then I would find, I would find it very entertaining. But I do think it's quite a credit to the film that for somebody who did not know anything, I genuinely have just sort of seen little fragments of Peeky Blinders, I perfectly understood the story, and it didn't ever feel the need to explain the story to me. It's not very dialogue heavy. It's, as I said, there isn't a Basel exposition moment. It just does it on the basis of big themes, familiar themes, let's go.

And I enjoyed it. Yeah, it's terrific. And the episodes in the TV series where Killea Murphy is an MP and is in conflict with the Mosley fascists, I think it's Sam Claflin who plays Oswald Mosley, but he's absolutely terrifying, and it's really, really gritty and gripping stuff. So I'm looking forward to it very much. Good.

I'm very interested to know what you think of it, because obviously what I think of it as someone who hasn't seen the TV series is very, very different to what a big part of the core audience will be. When does it drop, Mark? It drops in cinemas on Friday. Okay, all right. And then it's on Netflix? Yes, it'll be on Netflix later and so there'll be a theatrical window.

All right. Okay. Finally, Lynn Eldon in the Witter 1 chat room on Patreon spotted this. She says, the chase on ITV, answered correctly, though I'm not sure Mark is going to be entirely happy with the pronunciations. Here's a bit off the telly. Here's a question. What is the main subject of the podcast?

cast, Commode and Mayo's take. A, film and TV reviews, B, current affairs, C, pop and rock music. You've put film and TV reviews. Yeah, absolutely. You heard it? I've heard it, yeah. It used to be on 5 Live, I think. There you go. So, apart for the fact that Bradley Walsh, like some other people, get your name wrong, we're in it. So we're in the quiz. There we go. There we go. You've got to be in it to win it. I've just looked this thing up. Theatrical screenings begin March 6th, although some places say March the 5th of Peeky Blinders, and then on Netflix March 20th. That's what Google AI thinks. But then, as we all know, Google AI thinks that I quite like to film that I hated. That is the end of take one. This has been a Sony Music Entertainment production. This week's team Jen, Eric, Josh, Heather and Dom. The redactor is Simon Paul. And if you're not following the pod already, please do so wherever you get your podcasts. Come and join us over there. on Patreon for all the good stuff. A quick hi to new ultras. Richard Tolbert, Beard, I think it's just someone who appears to be called Beard. We don't have any other name. Lauren Morley and Robert Holloway. You're all very welcome. Mark, what is your film of the week?

Well, in the tradition of Oklahoma, exclamation mark, and mother, exclamation mark. My film on the week is The Bride. I thought you're going to say Mother's Pride there just for a moment. And correspondent of the week, I'm going to give the year's ultra membership to Saham Hosseini from Moonrise Motion Pictures, who got in touch telling us about his ambition to maybe one day make a film about the IOC crackdown in Iran. So we'll give you that and then see what happens. So Saham, thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much indeed for listening. Get in touch.

Correspondence at www.com. 2 has landed adjacent to this one.