Kermode & Mayo’s Take - Is Nic Cage still riding the comeback wave in THE SURFER?

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you. And if you’re already a Vanguardista, we salute you. It’s a bumper review week in Take 1, and first up is the new underwater doc from everyone’s favourite near-centenarian national treasure, ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’. Mark reviews this big-screen voyage for the naturalist, and sticking with the seaside theme we’ve also got a review of Nic Cage’s bonkers beach-set latest, ‘The Surfer’. In it, Cage plays a man who revisits the beach of his childhood to surf with his son, but finds himself locked in a conflict with the locals that escalates to surreal heights. Plus, ‘The Wedding Banquet’—Andrew Ahn’s remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 romcom, in which two queer couples get mixed up in an unlikely marriage in pursuit of Green Cards and fertility treatment. And finally, ‘The Uninvited’—a Hollywood industry satire featuring two screen stars of the moment, Walton Goggins and Pedro Pascal—alongside Rufus Sewell, Lois Smith, Elizabeth Reaser and more. And in place of a guest this week the Good Doctors will be answering even more of your top correspondence than usual, so don’t miss it. Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free): Ocean with David Attenborough review: 08:23 The Uninvited review: 37:58 Laughter Lift: 43:38 The Surfer review: 49:13 The Wedding Banquet review: 59:26 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 EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: [e-mail] And to find out more about Sony’s new show Origins with Cush Jumbo, click here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Plus enjoy zero dollar delivery fees on your first three grocery orders. Instacart, we're here. Is that you? This is me. Yes. Before we go into anything else, can I just do a very, very quick thing? I was looking again and I'm really sorry, I will stop doing this under the comments. Oh, you're not looking at the underside of the internet are you? I have a question for you. Okay. Where is Sheffield? It's in Yorkshire. And how would you describe the area that it's in?

How would I describe the area that it's in? Yeah would I describe the area that it's in? North, south, east, west, what is it? Well, as far as the UK is concerned, it's not north, but as far as England is concerned, it is. Yes. So Sheffield is in the north. Well, I would say it's in the north of England, but I'm always very aware. I remember it might have been Nicky Campbell saying to Mark and Lard, stop,

humorously, obviously, you keep on saying you're from the North. Well, viewed from here, you absolutely are. Yeah, okay. But that's like when you're in the Shetland Film Festival and everyone, you have to talk about going south to Edinburgh and all that stuff. I understand, right? I would think most people would say Yorkshire is northern England. Yes, exactly. Okay. There's just a lot of fuss about saying it's not in the north, it's the Midlands. It's filmed in Sheffield, right? Sheffield is in the north. I mean, I lived in Nottingham for a long time and Nottingham is East Midlands as opposed to the

West Midlands, obviously. So I think north of the Midlands is the north. Yeah. And Sheffield is the North. Yeah. And she absolutely is the North. And there we go. Thank you very much. I would be surprised if anyone was going to... I wouldn't be surprised. No, you wouldn't be surprised. Before we continue, we have had quite a lot of correspondence, particularly to our questions,

Shmashen's feature, which is in take two about tariffs, something which Mark and I are clearly not qualified to talk about from an economic point of view. That's all right, neither is Trump. That's also very true. So obviously it's an issue which has sprung from nowhere and maybe it will disappear into nowhere but we will, the subject of tariffs does come up, but it's mainly in take two. But in a sentence, Mark, you're kind of thinking it ain't going to happen.

Well, the gibbering idiot just woke up out of some frenzied shark fever dream after having had brunch with John Voight and went, 100% tariffs. And then five seconds later the White House went, hang on, hang on, hang on, we haven't thought this through. And then he went, Alcatraz. It's just like, you know, it's like his Adderall. He just snorts it up and sneezes it out. So that will, there'll be more of that kind of stuff. But anyway, there are some specific questions which we'll get into with specific answers in take two. Yeah, the specific answer is he's a moron and he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Let's take that as red. Reviews, as far as the films that are out are concerned, Mark, what has grabbed your attention? Well, we've got a packed week. We've got a packed week. There is an Ocean documentary with David Attenborough. There is The Wedding Banquet, which is kind of a remake of The Ang Lee Wedding Banquet. There is The Uninvited with Wong Goggins, who's obviously been making a lot of news because of White Lotus. There is The Surfer, the new film from Nick Cage. It is an absolute Nick film, as in Crazy Go Nuts.

I think we all read. Does he wear a vest? Because I kind of feel we know already what- He doesn't wear a vest. No, he doesn't. But he does become very bedraggled. And in take two, where we do some questions, questions and tariff talk, what else? A very, very interesting and I think very impressive film called The Extraordinary Miss Flower, which is part documentary, part, what do you call something, epistolary memoir set to music. And that features Nick Cave, not to be confused with Nick Cage. A.S. Epistolary meaning? L.A meaning of letters.

Toby Eichers Is it epistolurri or epistolurri? Alistair Dixon I'm sure you could add a vowel in and no one would. Toby Eichers It will be very erudite to do that. Alistair Dixon That's absolutely correct. Dear Bunny and Teeth says Lucy, honors grade, ballet, cycling proficiency, descant recorder grade, can't remember. I'm not sure if the honors grade applies to the ballet or the cycling proficiency. I don't think you can get, I think you've either got cycling proficiency or you haven't.

I failed it the first time and then- Did you? What did you do? You fail your cycling proficiency. Back in the day when people cared how you cycled. Anyway, greetings from foggy Long Island says Lucy. My offering for a single word that always reminds me of a film is pizza, as expertly stated by Tim Curry in Home Alone 2 Lost in New York. Tim Curry is like the obsequious guy behind the concierge, isn't he? Well, just weirdly enough, by going to Lost in New York, you're bringing us back to the Manga Mussolini because of course he's got a cameo in that. But can I very briefly tell you my story of walking through Central Park with the good lady Professor Herr indoors in,

we were in New York. This is a rhetorical question, I think. Yeah, it was a rhetorical question. It was July and we were walking through Central Park and it was incredibly romantic. Then it started snowing. It was like it's snowing, but the sun is out and it's July. It turned out it was artificial snow blowing off the set of Home Alone 2, where they were filming at the Park Plaza. Wow. And they had, you know, the ice machine that makes snow. And they were blowing it up and it was fluttering. It was really magical. Really, really magical. Piers Morgan is also in Home Alone 2 as the bird lady.

Didn't they take Trump out? Wasn't the most recent streamed version, hadn't they taken him out? Because he was only in it because of a contractual obligation. He would only let them film in the Park Plaza if they gave him a cameo because he's such an arrogant arse. You surprised me. Final word on this particular item. Craig writes, Dear Video killed the radio star, occasional correspondent, former van guardian, sorry, lost a job and listener since your first download dropped onto my fruit-based device in pre-hysterical times, just with reference to your one-word film references, I did a quiz a few weeks ago, which was basically this idea and is apparently fairly easy.

Go on. One-word film clues with just one word only as a clue. Can you name the film? So I'm not going to do this as a quiz because it would be unfair. So Adrienne is Rocky. Rosebud is obviously Citizen Kane. Surely, question mark is Airplane. Sam is Casablanca. Aqueduct is Life of Brian. Yippee-ki-yay is Die Hard. I think that's the easiest one of the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh no, actually beaten by this. Infamy, which is Carrie on Cleo. Carrie on Cleo, yeah.

Infamy, the name all belongs to me. Pianti, Silence of the Lambs. Johnny is The Shining. Royale is Pulp Fiction. Dave is 2001. Damn is Gone With the Wind. And you know, Mark, if Hollywood made more films like Gone With the Wind, we wouldn't have to tariff anybody.

I know. Because the world would be so much better placed in. So much easier. So much better. More, which is a Harry Seacombe reference too. And the only Harry Seacombe reference that you're going to get in today's show probably, which is Oliver. Talking? Taxi driver. Doc back to the future. Walking midnight cowboy. Khan mark Star Trek 2, entertained question mark is gladiator and chocolates, which is Forrest Gump. Actually, it's not a bad kind of written quiz, I think anyway.

And then Craig signs off TTOF and DWTN. You might as well just say Tinkety Tong and do all that. Miss you, Steve. Craig, Format 11, High Beer, Matflipper, now retired. Correspondence at Kerbidomeo.com. What is out there? Oh, right. Okay.

Let's talk cinema royalty. Yes. So David Attenborough, Ocean. So this is typically an eye-popping documentary, two years in the making, co-directed by, forgive me, Keith Scholey, Toby Nowland, Colin Botfield. So David Attenborough, in his late 90s, as he approaches the century, thinks that we are facing the biggest crisis and crucially, and this is important, also the biggest opportunity of his near-century on Earth. Here's a little taster.

After living for nearly 100 years on this planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea. Through the course of my life, we have been on a voyage of ocean discovery. Only now are we understanding what it means for the future of our world. What we have found could change everything. For once you've truly seen the sea, you'll never look at Earth in the same way again. That's a great clip. It is, isn't it? Makes me want to watch it a lot.

And you could listen to that voice infinitely. So opens in cinemas coinciding with Attenborough's 99th birthday. Will later on it be available on National Geographic, Disney+, and Hulu. The crisis that is the premise of the film, which is laid out in pretty uncompromising terms, is that the oceans are being destroyed due in large part to industrialized overfishing and particularly bottom trawling. These kind of drag nets that scrape the bottom of the ocean engulfing everything before them, leaving a kind of trail of

devastation in their wake. The scrapes are so dramatic that as he says, you can see them from space. And then there's a shot from space in which you can indeed see them. We also see from space in which you can indeed see them. We also see really alarming footage from the mouth of one of those nets as it plows along. You know, it's like some, you know, it's just churning the entire bottom of the ocean up. And so what we learn is that effectively, this has caused massive destruction. One of the things that we learn is that effectively this has caused massive destruction.

One of the things that it does is that it grabs a whole bunch of stuff, often in pursuit of a single species. And so, a huge amount of waste, a huge amount of stuff is thrown away. And then they talk about these ocean-bound factories, which are trawling for krill. These are like ships on which they do the trawling and then they do the processing. So it's literally like a factory on the sea. Everything is taken, nothing is put back. And Attenborough, who is fairly outspoken, calls this a form of modern-day colonialism at sea.. You see at one point this illustration of a coastal community that depend on fishing and the members of that coastal community out in their

very small boats fishing and then in the background these huge industrial size trawlers plowing away. Worse still, it turns out that these underwater ecosystems, which could prove crucial to climate control because of the way in which they retain carbon, carbon harvesting, are being destroyed as part of this process. So that's the bad news, okay? And the bad news is very bad. However, what Attenborough goes on to say is that there is good news, and the good news is that it turns out that despoiled oceans can rebuild themselves much faster than anybody thought. To prove that, they have the example of certain sanctuary areas in which basically any form of intervention is banned.

What happens is these areas grow back very, very quickly. They also produce sea life that then overspills into the rest of the ocean. So the argument all the way through is this is not an argument against fishing. This is not saying you can't fish, this is not saying you can't eat fish. What it is doing is saying that there is a sustainable way of doing this and an unsustainable way of doing this. Now, it turns out at the United Nations upcoming ocean conference in Nice, it is hoped that member states will agree in principle to protect 30% of the world's oceans from destructive fishing by 2030. At the moment, the protected areas are absolutely tiny. What Attenborough does is to make this incredibly convincing argument that this is

the only way forward, that essentially this is an amazing resource. It is in a precipitous point at the moment. If we pull back and if we actually properly protect areas of it, which it is possible to do, it will rebuild itself faster than anybody thought possible. It will have a significant change not just to the sea, but actually to the whole planet. As always, extraordinary photography, which is what you'd expect. I mean, amazing marine life, mind boggling underwater terrains, shimmering coral reefs,

reefs which are all too suddenly then turned to kind of white deserts due to a heat event. There's been quite a lot of press about the film being particularly outspoken. I mean, the way in which the ocean is being destroyed is made very clear. But as always, Attenborough is at pains to create a narrative that is engaging without just being polemical. I mean, his message is that this possible accord coming up is a huge opportunity. And if grasped is a massive plus, but if missed, it would prove catastrophic. Of course, it's an impressive piece of work. You said just from hearing

that clip, you said, I want to see that. If I have any criticism at all, and this seems like the most churlish thing, but just with my critic's hat on, but any criticism at all, the music is pretty bombastic. And there was a couple of points in which I thought, okay, just dial the music back a little bit because this is working on its own accord. But that is such a small thing and it's an urgent message and David Attenborough has earned the right to be listened to. but when you watch the documentary, I know we've all sort of got used to it now, but you sit there and you watch this footage and you go, this is astonishing. This is absolutely astonishing. And then he lays out in really

simple terms, and I say in really simple terms because even I can understand it. And believe me, what I understand about the ecosystem wouldn't fill the back of a postage stamp, but he tells it as a narrative, as a story. It's a narrative that is absolutely this could be really bad, but crucially do not lose faith because it could be really, really good. Just judged as cinema, it sounds as if my instinct is to think, okay, it might be easier if I wait for it to be on a streamer, which you've said that it is going to be. But maybe it's worth seeing it on the biggest screen that you can find. I think that if there is ever an argument for going to the cinema on the basis of you want to see this amazing photography and you want to see it projected and you want to see it big. Also, I think actually there is an argument for seeing

it with other people because funnily enough, I think it is one of those things in which you would like to feel a group reaction to it. So I think there's every reason for going to see it in the cinema. I mean, it looks better than most movies that are out at the moment. Certainly, it looks better than Thunderbolts, which has now been renamed in the plot spoiling way, New Avengers. That was the whole thing about, you know, we couldn't talk about what the asterix meant. That's what the asterix meant. So what is this called? This is called David Attenborough Ocean or Ocean David Attenborough. I think the correct title is Ocean with David Attenborough. Ocean featuring David Attenborough.

David Attenborough's Ocean featuring fish. Ocean versus David Attenborough. Ocean featuring David Attenborough. David Attenborough's ocean featuring fish. Ocean versus David Attenborough. That's right. Do the kids talk like that? I think they probably do. Anyway, in our next section after the ads, unless you're a Vanguard Eastern, in which case, it'll just disappear.

What's coming up? Well, in our next section, we're going to be looking at the top 10, of course, as we always do at this time, and The Uninvited, which is the new film starring Walton Doggins. Hey Mark, have you any idea what's streaming in Panama right now? No. Costa Rica? Colombia? Ningún idea. Por qué?

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about Indeed on this podcast. Hiring Indeed is all you need. And next, the box office top 10 with this caveat. Yes, this is one of the weirdest things in all the time that we've done the show. Every now and then there are things in the box office top 10 that I haven't seen. This week it's particularly peculiar. So there's a film called Hit the Third Case, which is an Indian action thriller which wasn't press screened. There is Retro, which is an Indian action thriller, which wasn't press screened. There is Retro, which is Indian Tamil language, romantic action film, which wasn't press screened.

There is Bluey at the Cinema, Let's Play Chef collection, which is basically a series of episodes from the TV series, which wasn't press screened because it's not really a film. There is Until Dawn, which is the horror movie that came out in the two weeks that we were off. And then there is The Accountant 2, which again is similar. So for the first time, and I can only apologize in advance, there are five things in the top 10 that I haven't seen and I will try and do better. But three of them aren't my fault and two

of them we were away. For as long as I can remember, you said often about these foreign language films not press-screened. Jason Vale Well, it's specifically Indian movies are not press-screened in advance. And there's the short… Will Barron You would think that that would have changed. Jason Vale Well, when you look at the box office performance, it's different.

The reason historically is this, and like I said, you can go back, there's a piece that I wrote about this in the New Statesman 20 years ago, when actually one of the major distributors of Indian movies was signed up to the FDA. They have two issues. The first one is piracy. So quite often the movies are literally not available to be seen until right up to the moment of release. and quite often they would go through the BBFC at the very, very last minute for the same reason. The second is that as the box office figures seem to demonstrate, their primary market is absolutely unaffected by reviews and consequently it costs money to press screen a film and you only do it if you think it's going to have an effect on the box office and all the indications are that it doesn't. But believe me, this has been an ongoing sort of debate and it is a shame that more of them aren't press screened for English language journalists. But that is the situation. I said I wrote

a piece about it in the New States 20 years ago, and at that point, there did seem to be some movement, but it's because it's not a cost-neutral thing. It does cost something to screen movies, and you have to have them in advance to do it. The piracy issue was always cited before that as literally not having access to the films until just before they opened. Okay. So, with all that, before we actually get to the 10, Rich Wallace in Vancouver, dear Mark Carney and the one who lost his seat. I've been meaning to write in about this for a while, but since you brought up the Canadian box office, I stupidly said last week, why don't we just do the Canadian box office rather than the Canadian box office, I stupidly said last week, why don't we just

do the Canadian box office rather than the American box office? Yes. Which you're very enthusiastic about. I am very enthusiastic about it. Is the problem. Okay. This is in take two. I feel like I should let you know that the Canadian box office is the same as the American

box office. It's all rolled into North American. As they are both considered, quote, the domestic market. So when you do the top 10 rundown and say that such and such a movie is at number two in the UK and number one in America, this isn't strictly accurate, as the American chart also includes Canada, something I have to say, Rich, which I will now amend. And in these uncertain times, it's nice for us to be united in at least one way. And while we're on the subject, says Rich, the UK charts also

include Ireland. As someone with dual Irish and Canadian citizenship, I feel like I've been overlooked in two separate ways. I'm so sorry. The movie market chart ignores history in both the American chart and the UK chart. So I need to make amends in future. I will say the UK chart, including Ireland and the American chart, including Canada. I might just say it the other way around. Well, I mean, it's what they always historically refer to as North America, North America and domestic, you know, being conflated. But yeah, I would just say that we are always very happy to be corrected and thank you for doing so. Thank you, Rich.

At position for UK4 2012, dear Mark Concord and brother, Mayonard, this afternoon I sat – this is about Monty Python and the Holy Grail – this afternoon I sat in my local world of Sydney and immersed myself in the utter brilliance and silliness of Monty Python and the Holy Grail 50th anniversary screening. Chaps, the health warning from last week's take was not required. While the room was packed, there was absolutely no dialogue recall en masse at any point. In fact, the only sounds to be heard during the entire film were guffaws, giggles and titters in anticipation of and in response to the nonsense, absurdity and sheer genius of it all. Not only that, I was heartened to see that rather than a room jammed

full of folks my age, which is 52 and above, every generation was amply represented. In my row, there was an older gentleman, accompanied by two 30-somethings and a couple of young lads who could have been no more than 20. I grew up on a strict diet of Monty Python thanks to my dad. I wore out our VHS copy of Holy Grail, and it appears that my generation and the ones below mine have skillfully raised their young on a similar diet of silliness. It was joyful to be in their company as we projected warmth and fondness for this film, the pythons and all their magnificent nonsense. You just don't get that feeling watching a movie at home. What a marvellous thing the cinema truly is. The film was prefaced by a delightful short featuring Michael Palin,

John Cleese and Terry Gilliam reminiscing on the shoot. This successfully passed the six laugh test alone. And I'd estimate that I was approaching around 50 laughs before the end of title sequence, which is, this is Donna. Hello Donna, Agile. Which she's written as though exactly as it is in the title sequence. It looks as though it's Swedish, but it's actually English. Why not try a holiday in Sweden this year with all the appropriate Scandinavian punctuation? My sister was once bitten by a moose. No, really, it's very painful. Donna finishes off. I watched with a stupid grin on my face throughout and left smiling inside, humming the organ tune from the end sequence. There was indeed much rejoicing. Donner, thank

you very much. Vanguard Easter LTL, I went to member number one from Lavendon Buckinghamshire branch. Thank you, Donner. Well, on the subject of that, one word that sums up a movie, I, when we ended up the two weeks that we were off, I went to abroad. When I was in abroad, I got off a train holding two suitcases because it's my job and I'm carrying the suitcases. I didn't mind the gap and I fell down between the- Ouch. Yeah, ouch. I caught my shin on the platform, on the edge of the thing and it jammed down. I was very lucky because I didn't actually do myself any major harm, but I did rip the

skin open and it was bleeding quite profusely. The person who was, she said, are you all right? I said, I'm fine. I'm fine, thank you. She says nothing, nothing at all. And she said, but there is blood. And I went, yeah, no, it's okay. It's fucking wishy-washy. There is blood on platform. Oh yeah, there is. I'm sorry about that. And anyway, then I walked down the platform to where the good lady professor and child two were waiting. And I said, look, I've had a bit of an accident. I've done, you know, and I pulled up my trousers to show this thing. and the good lady professor said, it is but a flesh wound. I think flesh wound is one of those multi-pythons that we will always remember. That's right. UK position, Thruptmpty15. Slade in Flame. Gary Farley. I've been and seen

the film tonight. Absolutely brilliant. I am my classmate with the help of his older brother. Bunked in to see it when it first came out. Disappointed at the time, I was too young, expected to be stomping in the aisles too. And then it says 9.30, come on, feel the noise. Now I know what come on, feel the noise means, but does 9.30 have any significance? Mason- Not ringing a bell for me. Jason- Okay, maybe it's a minute, maybe you just be stomping up the ass to come and feel the noise. Today, wow. What a great performance. Don, tablecloth, cigarette box, and where's the toilet? I'm going for a waz. Brilliant. Citizen Kane, I agree. So Slade in Flame,

which I believe you mentioned last week. I did. And immediately afterwards, I went to the BFI and I did this on stage with Richard Longcrane, Noddy Holder, who obviously played, and Tom Conti, who's one of the stars of the film. He plays the slimy Southern businessman, he sort of buys them up. And then in the audience was Dave Hill and Dom Powell, who I don't have the great pleasure of meeting afterwards. And if you follow on Instagram, I put a whole bunch of photographs up of me and Dave Hill, me and Don Powell, and me and Noddy Holden. The whole evening was brilliant. The film opened in

82 cinemas, which I think is 20 more than it opened in 1975. I was in heaven and then you sent me a very nice message saying it looks like the Slade thing went well. But my favorite, favorite, favorite thing that happened was, um, Dave Hill was lovely, really, really lovely and very funny, very self-deprecating and very, very funny. Cause, um, you know, and it's Dave Hill and then he's, but Dave Hill is, is quite short, which I had never realized before, because of course, whenever you saw Dave Hill before he was always in like, you know, massive glam, glam boots. As we all were. Yeah. Huge high rise glam boots, but he's actually quite, quite a short gentleman and, um, so it took a picture of me and Dave Hill and there's me.

And then there's Dave Hill standing next to me and somebody wrote underneath it. Is Dave Hill quite short or is he just far, far away? Very good. That would have appealed to you very much. I suspect. Mason- Very good. That would have appealed to you very much, I suspect. UK and Ireland, number 10. US and Canada, eight. This is going to get very long-winded, so I might not do it after all. Number 10 is warfare. Mark Woodruff says, gentlemen, I went to my local flea pit in Campbell, California, six dollars before six o'clock to watch Warfare. It was distressing,

visceral, upsetting, and terrifying. But did I need to see it? I came out into the bright Californian sunshine quite depressed and thought, what was the point of that experience? I guess one good thing about the film is it ain't no recruitment film, that's for sure. The point of the film is, that's certainly true and should be shown alongside Top Gun. But all you need to know is that, as I think we kind of made reference when we were doing the review, when you were doing the review and we did the interview, the point is this is what it was like to be in an incident in the Iraq war. That's it. There's no moral teaching applied to it. It's just this is what it was like. I think that's the point. Yeah. Two things to add to that. One of them is,

as I said in my review, when Saving Private Ryan opened and there was a veteran who had seen it and they were asked by a journalist, is that what it was like to be at D-Day? And the veteran said something to the effect of, unless someone is actually shooting at you, no, that's not what it was like, but it is the best cinema representation of it. So no one is pretending for one minute that watching a film is the same. Okay? No one is. And also, it was made very clear in your very good interview with the filmmakers that one of the things that had happened was that people came up to them and said, Oh, yeah, well, you know, that's really what war's like. And it was, how do you know?

So we are all just talking as people whose experience of this, what you and I are talking about this is people whose experience of this is from watching and I are talking about this, people whose experience of this is from watching films, I'm sure it is very, very different if you have first-hand experience of warfare. But what you can say about that film is it was made with the collaboration of people who have that first-hand experience, all of whom did their best to ensure that what the film was doing was accurately representing their memory of, and a lot of the film is about memory. It's not just an experiential, you know, first person, this is the war is hell thing.

It is also about the way in which the fog of war, the memory of war is a strange thing. And I do think that even though the film is incredibly gruelling, there is a pleasure to be had in the craftsmanship of it because it is very, very well made and it is a very powerful experience. That experience had me on the edge of my seat and wanting it to end, but that's not a bad thing. It's not a laugh riot by any means, but it is a very well-made film about the memory of war. So that's at number 10. Number 9 is, well, okay, these are the films that we mentioned already, hit the third case, new entry. No.

Retro. Retro at 8. No. Bluey at the cinema. No. The Penguin Lessons is at number 6 in the UK and Ireland, number 20 in America and Canada. Yeah. So I think that I've seen The Penguin Lessons twice now. The second time I watched it with a friend of mine who is Argentinian and particularly wanted to see it for that reason and was very,

very charmed by it. It would be a very different film if it weren't for Steve Coogan, because Steve Coogan brings a sort of a Serbic edge to the drama. It needs a little bit of astringence, otherwise it would be a bit cutesy. And of course, there's this story that Steve Coogan, when he was first told the story, said, I don't know, I think that sounds a little bit, and then they developed it around his kind of personality. I think he does a very good job. they developed it around his kind of personality. I think he does a very good job. I've seen it twice and I think it's rather charming. Until Dawn is at number five in Canada and number five in Ireland. No. The Accountant 2 is doing all the fours. And again, no.

A Minecraft movie is doing all the threes. It's a ramshackle bag of stuff and it's basically a Jack Black movie that just happens to be set in the Minecraft world. As everybody now knows, it has been attracting some audience participation, which is not, shall we say, universally embraced. There's not much else to say about the film. The only other thing to say is it might keep cinemas alive because so many people are going to see it. Maybe it's their first experience in the cinema and maybe they're thinking,

this is a lot more fun than if I was watching it at home on the own. Yes, exactly. Sinners is at number two. Big fan. Went to see it in the cinema. Went down very, very well with audiences. Heard a couple of people have been a little bit sniffy about it, which I was surprised by. I really like the way that it tells its story through music. I think that it's one of those films that understands the way in which it's using the songs

and the way in which it's negotiating, you know, the supernatural and the natural, you know, racism. I'm trying not to spoil anything, although I realize that at this point, everybody knows what the film is. It's like the whole thing when, you know, racism. I'm trying not to spoil anything, although I realise that at this point, everybody knows what the film is. It's like the whole thing when people were talking about From Dusk Till Dawn, and how can you talk about the fact that at halfway through it goes from being one movie to the other. The difference with this is I think Sinners is always two films working side by side. I don't think it's a sudden break. I liked it very much.

The UK number one is the same as the Canadian number one, which is Thunderbolts with the asterisk, which you were saying earlier, the asterisk applies to? Yes. New Avengers. There's a film now of the cast. I only knew about this because I saw Dave Nores. He said, oh, you know that now they've done this thing. They've revealed this is the poster which says Thunderbolts, Asterix. And then you pull the thing off. It says New Avengers. And when you said to me last, whenever it was that we reviewed it, you know, what's the Asterisk about? I said, well, it's kind of a plot spoiler because it's the thing that at the end they become,

but it's not much of a plot spoiler because it's like, you always think, well, that's what it is. It's, you know, it's another version of, so anyway, so now, yeah, now Thunderbolts asterisk, the new Avengers, it's not a plot spoiler because there's now a poster that says the new Avengers on it. Will Barron Why don't I do some emails and then you can come back. Is that the first time that this has happened, that a movie has changed its name? Paul Matz I don't know how much it's actually changed it because it's still called Thunderbolts. I think it was more of a sort of... I'll be honest with you, Simon. I don't quite understand what happened.

Fiacra. I hope that's right. Kermit and Mayo. Hi. While I don't disagree with anything in particular, Mark says in his review of Thunderbolts, I do think he is glossing over, or maybe didn't fully appreciate, an important aspect of the film with his comment about, quote, some darkness thing happening. I'm sure both of you are aware that mental health and particularly loneliness is a major issue in the modern social media dystopia. As I learnt when recently tried to get on the property ladder, there is a huge difference in being aware of and actually experiencing a crisis firsthand. I love that mental health was an ever-present issue for the characters throughout the film,

and in the end it is revealed that loneliness and depression was the true villain, and that, instead of another exhausting half hour of punching and kicking, the villain is defeated by reassurances and hugs. I came out of the cinema thinking, what a wonderful film and such a positive experience. Yes, the film was visually bleak, but I believe that was intentional as we see the warmer colour tones in the end. I also believe that all the talk of helmets and the like is an example of what the MCU does well and other franchises ignore, showing us that the superheroes have the same humdrum problems and interests as the rest of us. I would have preferred no asterisk though.

Thank you, Fiakra, and I hope that's not far off. Thank you. Andy Webster, you should- Well, if I can go back to the first email that you read out. Yes. And I think this is a sort of perfect example of the way in which the things that people take from movies are multitudinous. That is clearly hardwired incidentally into the movie itself. One of the great things about film storytelling, particularly fantasy film storytelling, is

that it can really strike a nerve. It can really touch people in strange ways. When I was a kid, I had these two comic book collections, which was Superman from the 30s to the 70s and Batman from the 30s to the 70s. They used to read them over and over again. It was two annuals. I think technically one of them was mine and one of them was my brother's. I think they'd been brought back from a holiday by a relative and given to us. I remember reading those stories over and over again because there were certain stories, particularly in the Superman collection, which for some reason really struck a chord. There's a lot

of stuff about loneliness in Superman. There's a lot of stuff about being misfit because he's the man who fell to earth. He's the baby that fell to earth. All that sort of stuff. There's a couple of episodes in which he renounces his powers. I know some of this is addressed in the movies. The point is, if these are the things that you find in any movie, any fantasy superhero movie or not so superhero movie, then that's great. This brings me back to the thing about whatever I think of any individual movie, and I confess I have got battle fatigue with Marvel. I do think that the Martin Scorsese thing about they're not movies is yes, they are movies. Of course they are movies. You may not like them and you may find that there's nothing in them that's speaking to you, but they are movies.

And there are things in all of them that speak to people. Even when I'm not particularly wowed by them, I do understand that they do have the power to speak to certain audiences and I'm just delighted that that's the case. It brings me actually back to the point you made about the Minecraft movie is, hey, it's filling cinemas. Take the win. Correspondence at covenomair.com. Okay, the laughter lift is on the way, but another review first of all. What else is out there? Yes. The uninvited, which is the narrative directorial feature debut from Nadia Connors who also wrote the script. Previously made the documentary The 11th Hour, which Leonardo DiCaprio was involved in. We talked about that a little bit when we had the time of Killers of the Flower Moon.

So this is a bittersweet Hollywood dramedy, to use the word that nobody should have, I know, sorry. Anyway, A-list cast, Elizabeth Rieser, Rufus Sewell, Pedro Pascal, Walton Goggins, who, as we said, was recently in White Lotus Season 3 and also happens to be Mr. Nadi Okonis. So he is Sammy, a Hollywood agent on the brink of a midlife crisis whose very well-appointed lifestyle seems to be unraveling. He is about to co-host a party with his wife, Rose, Elizabeth Risa, who was once a celebrated stage actress, now seems to spend most of her time as the full-time mom to their son.

And Sammy's fussing about all the people who may or may not come to the party. One of whom unexpectedly includes Helen, played by Lois Smith, who is this befuddled old lady who drives up to their gate, can't get the gate to open and says, well, I don't know why the gate doesn't open. This is my house. I live here. This is our house, but she won't be told otherwise. Meanwhile, there's also Gerald, played by Rufus Sewell, who is Sammy's star client and who Sammy basically wants to have a conversation with about striking out in a new agency venture. Turns out that a very meaty dish has been prepared for him, but that's a problem because circumstances have changed. Here's a clip. No, no, no. Gerald is a vegan now. No, I literally

just had a burger with him last week. Do you just turn Gerald into a vegan, okay? I have to get home. My husband is waiting for me. Oh, this is my husband, Sammy. Sammy. That's my husband's name. Are you my husband? I'm sorry. Who is this lady? Who are you?

She's high and suddenly so thirsty. Maybe Sammy can drive you home? It's seven o'clock. Literally dozens of people are about to walk up to our front door right now. Are you having a party? Yes, and it's very important to my husband. Oh, we're throwing this party for Gerald. So essentially, also on the list, you've got Pedro Pascal, Lucien, who is a Hollywood star

with whom Rose has history. But the main event is really Helen, who is this agent of chaos. All the more so after she says, I need to go to the bathroom. So she gets out of the car, leaves the car where it is and goes into the house. Then she's in the house and then she's installed. She's partly holy fools. The truth-sayer, the person appears to be completely befuddled and doesn't know where she is and yet says out loud the things that other people aren't able to say. You know, she sees through the facade, she sees through the glamour, she sees through the lies. And brilliantly played by Louis Smith, who, you know, has an extraordinary career and there was fantastic not so long ago in Marjory Prime, which I really liked. So this is a decent, if somewhat slight, Hollywood drama. It has few rough edges and fewer surprises.

In many ways, it's like one of those drawing room stage plays. You can watch the first five minutes, you can say, okay, I know what's going to happen. You're not really watching it for the surprise of what the narrative is. It's to watch the way in which each character will end up in a room with a different character and then they'll have an interaction that will be awkward and strange. You know that this person's dream will fail and this person's ego will be punctured and this old flame will be rekindled or maybe it won't and this secret will be revealed. Maybe at the end there'll be some kind of reconciliation. I mean, what makes it work is the performances. I think particularly recently is very, very good. I'm not sure that I actually cared about anybody. I always think that is a problem. I mean, we were talking recently about the studio.

It's the same kind of characters, but in the studio, they're being mercilessly satirized and sort of torn apart for laughs. And in the case of this, you're sort of asked to just spend time in their company and become involved in them. And although their lives are being punctured as egotistical and all the rest of it,

I don't know that I actually cared that much about anyone. Lois Smith has a lot of fun. Her role kind of reminded me a little bit of, do you remember June Squibb in Nebraska playing sort of the older woman who's seen it all and doesn't care what she says or who she says it to? I think Juan Goggins is well cast as this kind of narcissistic nitwit who makes everything about himself and takes himself far too seriously. So it's fine. I don't know that I'll remember much about it next week, but it's fine and it's well played. It's just a little bit that I never felt. There was no part of me that emotionally felt invested in the characters.

I think that's a shortcoming. Sounds like a kind of six out of 10. Not that we do that kind of thing. Not that we do that kind of thing. But if we were to. Correspondence at cobenameo.com. Once you've seen any of these movies, let us know what you think. It's the ads in a minute, unless it isn't, because you're a subscriber. First though, we do step with confidence, assurance,

Brio and Brio into our laughter lift. Hey Mark, with the weather cheering up a bit, the good lady ceramicist Terran Dawes and I have been out in the garden and it looks like someone has been adding soil to it over the winter. Right. The plot thickens. Hey! We're thinking, We're thinking about

zhuzhing up the garden just a bit. The good lady said she'd been to the garden center and was looking at buying a pear tree. Did you know they can grow up to 20 feet? She said. How revolting said I can't they just grow some pears? I think I prefer that. Anyway, apparently when she was at the garden center, she said the garden center, she thought she saw Michael J. Fox, that you can't be sure though, because he had his back to the futures. Now, I have to say that you will use some timing conversation in the next week, because that might have been a joke that's been around since 1982. But that's not bad.

Correct. Some reassurance here. No, no, it was good. It was good. I'll tell you. I'll tell you off. What am I telling you on there? Uh, do I?

There are two jokes that I heard this week. One of them was a joke by Harrison Ford and the other one was Jimmy Stewart's favourite joke and I may tell you them later on. They were both very funny as well. You might tell us what? In take two? So we have to subscribe? Yes, you have to subscribe to get me ruining a joke told by better people.

What an old trot thing to do that is. Well I've got a very funny joke. Why. What an old trot thing to do, that is. Well, I've got a very funny joke. What is that old trot thing to do? Give us your money. I just, you know, cut from them. That's not the opposite. It's like a capitalist thing to do. That's where all old trots end up.

Okay, oh yeah, that's right. So yeah, so ads coming up, and then Mark is gonna be talking about the surfer and the wedding banquet. The surfer and the wedding banquet So for and the wedding banquet now, I have nothing to say because you've said it for me. That's right Okay, what are you gonna be doing next? I'm gonna be doing the server and the wedding the wedding after this Thank you unless there isn't anything here. Hmm This is a paid advert from better help now summer is just around the corner the Sun will be out

Vibes will abound but when it comes to getting that good feeling, therapy can help even when the sun isn't shining. According to a recent survey, 37% of people still feel uncomfortable sharing their mental health concerns with others for fear of judgement and waiting to get help can affect them but it also impacts both personal relations and workplaces. So how about breaking this stigma and encouraging each other to nurture our wellbeing? Therapy for me is a form of release, a feeling of getting a weight off my shoulders, letting

go of some of that heaviness which I don't want to carry around, especially when it's hot out. I'm a very sweaty man. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, better help can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. We can all get better. With help. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash curmode. That's better hglp.com slash curmode. Is a thing from Mike Broadbent in Toaster. Chaps, on the subject of songs heard for the first time ever in a movie, from your correspondent Pete last week, this puts me in mind of when I was taking a bunch of kids, including my own, to a squash tournament about 10 years

ago, we would play jukebox roulette where my phone would be passed around each child in the car. I think there were six of them, and they would get to choose a song each which would play out of the car stereo. We'd had a few of the sorts of songs one might expect from 10 to 13 year olds when suddenly the next track to come on was Cherry Bomb by The Runaways from 1977. Cherry Bomb. Swiftly followed by Come and Get Your Love by Redbone from 1974. Upon inquiring why we'd gone from the latest insipid chart dirge to a couple of stone cold 70s classics without so much as a meander into the 90s or 80s beforehand, I was informed

by my son sitting next to me in the front passenger seat in a tone that can only be described as dripping with sarcasm and an attitude of get with the program old man, that these were tracks from the Guardians of the Galaxy movie that had recently come out. I think their mother had taken them to see it, hence my ignorance. This happened again a couple of years later on another squash tournament drive and with probably the same children. Went after enduring some horrendous club tunes that made my ears almost commit suicide. We were treated to the dulcet tones of Looking Glass and Brandy or A Fine Girl, which all the kids sang at the top of their voices.

I didn't have to ask the origin of the change of tone on this occasion, and it's possible that I'd seen Guardians of the Galaxy 2 by that point, but instead thoroughly enjoyed hearing Mr. Blue Sky, Fox on the Run by Sweet, and The Chain before the jukebox was returned to modern awfulness. The obvious conclusion that I drew from these instances was that great music is just great music, no matter what your age or musical inclination, and that whatever you might think of the Guardian films, they did at least bring about a bit of love for old hits to new generations. They also saved me from having to grit and grind my teeth the entire time that I drove this lovely bunch of young sports people to their tournaments and back. Love

the show, Steve. Mike Broadbent in Toast. I mean, it is weird how people discover old tunes. There's a video game which Child 2 discovered Sweet Caroline. Oh no, Cracklin' Rosie. Cracklin' Rosie plays on the soundtrack of this thing whilst you're skating around LA. And suddenly I'm hearing Cracklin Rosie coming from, sorry, when did you get into Neil Diamond? Oh, he was on Skate 2 or whatever it was. So yeah, it's extraordinary. To use a very dated reference, I remember driving Child One to school, trying to calm him down because he had a big exam coming up and putting on a Ramones CD in the car. He knew it from The Simpsons and he knew it from, again, a skateboarding game that he'd been playing. There we go. There we go.

And so music from the 70s, absolutely jumping 50 years and working very well to prove Mike's point, I think. Correspondence at Curb of the Moor.com. What's new? What's out there? Well, the surfer. Now, you may have seen posters for the Surfer. The poster has this sort of orange glow sun with Nick Cage and a surfboard. It looks like a very 70s poster. There are two quotes on it. One of them is compellingly fraught and the other one is fabulously bonkers. And the other one is fabulously bonkers. So, okay. We know where we are.

So the surfer is the new movie by Lorkin Finnegan and Lorkin Finnegan is the Irish filmmaker who made Vivarium for which you interviewed, Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots. I can't remember whether I was part of that interview or not. They, I remember they said they came into the studio. So they did. They did. So in Vivarium, which is this kind of surreal set up, which I think I liked more than you did. That is certainly true.

I liked them very much. Yeah, no, they did. And they were good. They gave good account of the film. I liked the film more than you did. So that was basically about this young couple looking for a dream home. And then they find themselves, they go up to this neighborhood, which I think is called nearby or far away or something. And then they find themselves, they go up to this neighborhood, which I think is called nearby or far away or something. And once they get into it, they find themselves stuck in this little ticky, ticky box, you know, little boxes, exactly like that.

And then they're stuck there and they can't get out. And then there's an alien baby arrives and they have to look after it. And a vivarium is a place where in which, you know, you put insects and that sort of stuff. And so what they're in. There was an interview with Lorcan Finnegan who described vivarium as addressing, quote, the fantasy version of reality that we strive towards in which consumerism is consuming us and in which the promise of an ideal life, ideal living is, quote, the bait that leads many

into a trap. Now, some of those phrases apply to the surfer, which is based on a script by Thomas Martin. The centre of it is a man's desire to own a house. There is a clear similarity here in the case of Bavarian, they're looking for a dream house. In the case of this, Nick Cage's character, who is unnamed, the characters are sort of archetypes, unnamed, is desperate to get this house, which is an idyllic, it overlooks an idyllic Australian surfing beach. It's like a grand villa. And it was once his home and now it's on the market and he wants to get it. It's the family home.

He wants to get it and get it back. So we meet Nick Cage's character. He's in a suit and shades in a Lexus. He's on his phone urging his broker and his bank to close the deal on this house, which is the thing upon which he has set his sights. And then he gets his son, the kid, out of school and he takes him to the beach and he says, yeah, you know, she says, she might be in school. She says, no, no, no, we're going to do an important thing. We're going to surf. We're going to go down to this beach and surf. And the reason that he wants the son to come and surf is because

he wants the son to look up from the surf and see the house because it's the best vantage point to see this house, which overlooks this dreamy beach, is from the sea. But when they get there, they find the beach is guarded by locals. And again, on the poster, there's an image of a wrecked car with locals only written on it. And there's this gang of guys led by masculinity guru Scali, who basically tell Keiji, don't live here, don't serve here. And Scali is this kind of advocate of toxic masculinity who has this kind of suffer, surfer, suffer, surfer mantra and all the brood appear to have this branding on them. They're all, they're all bros together. Meanwhile, in the car park overlooking the beach,

and instantly the kid goes off, in the car park overlooking the beach, there is this sort of local derelict, this local bum who he's got this wrecked Subaru that he's living in. And he appears to be sort of deranged, but he insists that Scali killed his dog and took his son and he's got this kind of grudge. And then what happens is that Nick Cage, he can't leave because the battery in his Lexus goes flat. So he's stuck in the car park overlooking the beach, his son goes off. So above him

is the house that he desperately wants to get back in inverted commas below him is the beach onto which he cannot go because it's you know, they're all these surfer dudes everywhere. And meet the police come along and tell him that he has to leave, but he can't leave because the battery's gone flat. And after a couple of, you know, after a day or so of hanging around there, he starts to look so bedraggled that he resembles the homeless guy who lives in the Subaru to the point that the policeman thinks that he's the guy that lives in the Subaru. Meanwhile, down on the beach, the gang have absolutely no intention of giving him back his surfboard, which they have stolen,

and the police aren't sympathetic either. Here's a clip. I want my surfboard. Okay, okay. I'm sure it's just a mix up. Is it one of these? Dude, that's my board, and I want it back. Listen, mate, I think you've been out in the sun too long. They took it from me last night. They threatened me with a broken bottle. Why don't you take a drink of water?

I don't want anything from you. I want my board. So you're saying they took this from you last night? Was I not clear? Well, it's just the problem is, and I can tell you myself, that old boy's been up there for as long as I can remember. So he's suddenly in this kind of alternate reality, which nobody believes him. His life is falling apart.

He's gone from being a bloke wearing sunglasses and a suit to this bedraggled guy whose card won't start. He hasn't got any phone charge. He can't get in touch with his broker. So he can't close the deal on the house and everything falls apart. Now, look, I am a big fan of surf movies. I remember I did a thing down in Cornwall some years ago, this goes surf posium, which is like a discussion about surf movies. We know whether it's Big Wednesday or Point Break or documentaries like Endless Summer, or actually

there's a really good documentary Endless Winter as well. And even that, remember that weird film Blue Blue Juice, that everyone kind of laughed at at the time, but now it's got a bit of a cult following. Anyway, the reason that I liked them is because there's that sort of combination of surfing, the sort of the visuals of surfing, which is amazing. There's a reason there's so many films about surfing is because, you know, surfing looks great on screen. And also this kind of cosmic philosophising of the kind that Patrick Swayze does in, you know, in Point Break. And in the case

of this, that cosmic philosophizing turns into something, the kind of iron-john toxic masculinity with a little bit of Dostoevsky's The Double. And I'm not saying that as a joke, there is a whole Dostoevskyian thing going on in the background of this, what was it called, absolutely bonkers, Nick Cashew. So at first, you think it's going to be like falling down. You think that the thing is going to be, you know, he's a suited businessman. He turns up. This is the place where he has a right to be there. They see him off. And at some point he's just driven to the point when he just goes and does something violent. But it's not that at all. What happens is far more sort of freakily bonkers. And once again, the central idea is that this, this lust for this dream home, this absolute

dedication to this dream home, just causes everything to fall apart. And essentially what happens is you see the wheels coming off his life in real time. And it's a very convincing transition from him being this besuited businessman to him being this absolutely this man to have been this absolutely kind of degenerate wastrel who's hallucinating in the sun and is dehydrated and you know, is essentially going completely crazy. The whole thing's got this very burnished retro feel. If you look at that poster, it's got that very 70s feelings and the typeface and everything about the movie has got that kind of glowing

burnished feel. Nick Cage is in his element. There's one thing do you remember years and years ago when Cage was sort of first making his mark, he was in Vampire's Kiss and there's the whole thing about the cockroach, the cockroach eating thing. Because there's a scene in this which sort of seems to refer back to that.

And I was watching it thinking, you know, Nick Cage is probably in the most entertaining part of his career at the moment because he's made, you know, Mandy and Long Legs and Pig and Dream Scenario. And he's kind of moved into this golden age of cult movie stardom. And this is a great vehicle for his talent. I mean, he won an Oscar years and years and years ago for Leaving Las Vegas. And now he's just sort of, he's carved this weird little niche in which you have these odd, strange sort of psycho drama pot boilers in which he gets to do the thing that he does.

And I really enjoyed it. How would I recognise a Dostoevsky moment? Well, you know the double, you know the story of the double. No. Well, the story of the double is kind of like it's, it's like the classic doppelganger. There's a, there's a guy who meets his double and, and, and, which is a horrifying thing. I absolutely horrifying. There's this other person who appears to be living his life better than he, than he is. There's a, there's quite an interesting film adaptation of it by, which I

reviewed actually on our show by Richard Ayoade, which weirdly enough starred Jesse Eisenberg. Okay. Yeah. So, so there is that, you know, this, but the Dostoevsky thing with the double is it's, it's the divided self. It's, you know, it's kind of, I mean, obviously it wasn't written with that in mind, but that's, and there is, I think there's a clear nod to that in this script. So when it gets to that bit, you should say quietly, but certainly so the person next door

can hear. I think that's a reference to Dostoevsky. To Dostoevsky, yes. And then everyone will go wow. And then you'll get punched in the face and then that will be the end of that. Correspondence at kerbannameer.com. If you've seen any of these movies, if you want to pass on any comment or you have a question, for our question, Shmeshchens section, which comes at the end of take two for subscribers. Before we're done, there's another movie to talk about. Yes. So, The Wedding Banquet. Now, when I say The Wedding Banquet, what immediately

leaps to your mind? The Wedding Present, I think, and their back catalogue. I thought, or I hoped, that this being a movie show, what would leap to your mind is the 1990s Ang Lee film, The Wedding Banquet. No, it was The Wedding Present, I'm afraid. But there you go, the 90s is such a long time ago, Mark. I don't remember much about the 90s. Okay, so The Wedding Banquet, the Ang Lee film, was basically his international breakthrough. It wasn't his first film, it was his international breakthrough. It was co-written with American screenwriter, producer, James Seamus. That film was about a gay Taiwanese man and his partner

partner and agreeing to marry a Chinese woman so she can get a green card and he can get his family off his back, which is all fine until the family announce that then they're going to come over and arrange a lavish wedding banquet. And that's the whole thing. So now we have The Wedding Banquet 2025, nominally based on the Ang Lee film, with a script once again co-written by James Shames, who co-wrote the original film, and this time with director Andrew Arne, who made Spar Night and Fire Island. Great cast, Bowen Yang, who I really, really love in Saturday Night Live, Lily Gladstone, who was of course the star of Killers of the Flower Moon, Night Live. Lily Gladstone, who was of course the star of Killers of the Flower Moon. Kelly Marie Tran, who was Rose Tico in the Star Wars sequels. Joan Chen, who I've just rewatched seasons one and two of Twin Peaks, so there's a lot of scenery chewing in that. And most importantly, Yun-Yeo

Jung, who stole the show as the grandmother in Minari. Do you remember the grandmother in Minari, which was kind of a big sort of celebrated film, when she's the grandmother in Minari. Do you remember the grandmother in Minari, which was kind of a big sort of celebrated film, which she's the grandmother. Anyway, here she is stealing the show again. She is Jiayong, who is the grandmother who announces that she's coming over to oversee the wedding of Min, longtime partner of Chris, who has decided to pay for his lesbian friends Lee and Angela's fertility IVF treatment in return for a paper marriage that will stop him having to return home to take over the family business. Okay, here is a sort of semi

explanatory clip. Will you marry me? I mean, I can't. Not you. I don't want to marry you anymore. I want to marry her. Me? What? Her friends. We help each other. Okay.

I heard all about the IVF and I'm so so sad. But until my grandfather takes my money away, I have so much money. I want you to have some so you and Lee can have a family. So you marry me and I will pay for Lee's to grow a baby. You're joking, right? He's joking, right? He's not joking. So the initial premise is kind of similar. It's the whole thing about this. There's a marriage, which is a, which is a facade in order to cover over a reality that may not fall as it does with the family. But this is definitely its own story.

So it's not strictly speaking a real, it's a reimagining of a reinvention. So we've got, there's the same dynamic of you have some scenes in which there are gay characters who have to temporarily heteronormalnormalize their lives, taking books off the shelves to give the appearance of an inverted commas normal life. This is an appearance that the grandmother takes one look at and sees through immediately. The pantomime of the marriage remains important for the wider family and appearances must be kept up. So they must go through with this. But what you don't have is any confusion

basically on the part of the characters in that very quickly everybody kind of understands what's going on. So the original wedding banquet was a big breakthrough for Ang Lee. He's gone on to become one of the most important filmmakers of his generation. I think one of the most important filmmakers currently working. It's hard to imagine that this version will have anything

like that kind of cultural impact. Although to be fair, it doesn't seem to be aiming for that. It's a very gentle, broad, crowd pleasing, open minded, again, comedy, drama or dramedy, as people keep saying. it'll play to- What you keep saying. It's the same time you've used that word today. Yeah, I should just stop doing it, shouldn't I? Comedy drama, drama comedy. That works, yeah. And it's designed to play to the widest possible audience, ruffling very, very few feathers. It's extremely good-natured and open-minded.

good-natured and open-minded. And honestly, in a world of Mel Gibson-style cynicism, being good-natured and open-minded is really not to be sniffed at. We'll talk about this a little bit more in take two. But a movie that has a good heart is not something that we should just take for granted. Although there are occasional moments of La Cajou Fall over the top farce, it's generally much more even keeled in its depiction of LGBTQ characters' lifestyles, even when Bo and Yang start slipping into that schtick that he's made his trademark. These are people for whom you wish the best. It serves the drama well that the grandmother really doesn't spend very much time with the wool pulled over her eyes because she's smart. I mean, the world has changed since the Yang Li movie. Maybe the tone of this reflects that that change. Personally I would have liked it to have a little bit more edge, a little bit more bite and there's a sort of very unsatisfying ending

which sort of just kind of imagines that I'm guessing none of the things that were important that seem to be important are important. You know it's like the end is a little bit like hang on, hang on, hang on, if that's the case why are we we... But, but, but. Sweet-natured, nice performances, fine while it lasted. Not a patch on the original, but I don't think it wants to be. And I will say this again, at the current moment, a film which is good-natured and good-hearted and open-minded is not to be sniffed at. And as Fogel-Schaarke taught us, a good heart is hard to find. It's hard to find a good heart, the lasting kind. And that's the end of take one. This has been a Sony Music Entertainment production. This week's

team, Jen, Eric, Josh and Heather, producer, Jem, redactor, Simon Poole. If you're not following the pod already, good heavens above, please do so wherever you get your podcast. Mark, what is your film of the week? My film of the week is The Surfer, which I enjoyed hugely. Is there a Surfer Nick Cage crossover with Ocean featuring David Attenborough? Yes. In fact, very well done. So let's do that. Let's make it a, let's make it a, let's make it a, a, a, a watery double bill.

Yes. Ocean with David Attenborough and The Surfer. One of them is a salutary lesson, the other is crazy go nuts. Thank you very much, Adif Filisti. We'll be back next week. Also, take two has landed adjacent to this podcast. If you're a subscriber, you can get into that. Tarifs are go-go and so on. But also, a good heart will dominate throughout.