Kermode & Mayo’s Take - Keanu Reeves, Chad Stahelski, Infinity Pool, The Beasts & John Wick: Chapter 4

Episode Date: March 24, 2023

Keanu and Chad tell Simon about the most difficult stunts to film in the latest John Wick installment in a fascinating interview. Mark reviews the new satirical horror from Brandon Cronenberg - ‘Infinity Pool’  about a writer (Alexander Skarsgård) and his wife, who find themselves in a strange and dangerous situation on holiday when they’re involved in a fatal accident, ‘The Beasts’ - about a middle-aged French couple who move to a village but are met with hostility and violence from two of the locals, and ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’  the highly successful franchise is back, and this time sees John Wick trying to uncover a path to defeat the High Table, but there is a new enemy in the mix. Time Codes (relevant only when you are part of the Vanguard): 14:28 The Beasts Review 22:15 Box Office Top 10 31:37 Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski interview 46:32 John Wick: Chapter 4 Review 55:19 Laughter Lift 01:00:34 Infinity Pool Review 01:10:44 What’s On EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! You can contact the show by emailing [e-mail] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get holiday ready at Real Canadian Superstore. Will you find more legendary ways to save than any other major grocery? Until December 13th, you'll get a free PC turkey when you spend $300 or more. That's right, free only at your Super Holiday Store. Conditions apply to fly for details. And now General Chat and Live Show Plug, that's us. Don't think you meant to read that out. Oh, really? Literally like that.

No, I think. Well, my issue is, now General Chat, hello Simon. How you doing? I'm doing good. You can leave your jacket on again all the way through this. It's cold. It's not cold. And this, we're arguing about Maths Re this. It's cold. It's not cold. And this, we're arguing about match or effect.

I am cold. Okay, that's, and, you know, and so yes, I'm gonna keep my jacket on. Thank you. Can you hear if I'm squinting? Can you hear if I'm squinting? Yeah. Well, because I, my, the words in front of me,

they've made the smallest font possible, as you can see. I've got them on my computer screen. You know that bit where you go, wow, you know when you go for an eye test. Okay, that's the bottom line. If you don't, you like that. It's just a type of thing, you know. That's amazing, this one. Why, you couldn't read that.

But if I get through the whole thing and that you can't tell that I'm squinting, okay, that makes me feel as though I've passed my eye test. On the subject, sorry, on the subject of can you hear if I'm squinting? Yes. You, I don't know, you've talked before about the fact that you have tinnitus. Yes.

But you have visual, visual, no, visual migraine. Visual migraine? Yes. Then describe, because you told me about it, I was, it's like, so that it's, there's no pain involved, but it's like having a psychedelic light show in one eye, so that if you were driving, for example, you would have to stop.

If I got one now, I would might be able to carry on, but I could only read out of one eye, but you just take, well, the GP said, you treat it like any headache, you take paracetamol, urethane, something like that. And I've been 20 20 minutes, how can I get that? And it's like you see, you see like colorful... When you're a kid, when you had a collider...

What, collider? A collider scope. When you turned, you looked like a head... It's like a telescope and you'd turn it and all these shapes would go around. Like psychedelic top of the pops, nine six. Prochal Haar among top of the pops. It's like that in one eye. It's wider shade of pale, all swirling around.

It's that he, thank you for asking. My face is better. Oh, yeah, how's your face? My face is better. What happened to your face again? Well, if you remember, I had that weird thing when it was like one whole half of my face felt like it was on fire. Yes. But now it doesn't. It's all gone away. Although a couple of people did get in touch and say, you've got something, something, something, and you need to do it. You want to turn that? I didn't. It has gone away. It was an inflamed nerve. OK. Thanks for asking.

That's OK. So I'd forgotten that half of your face was a problem. Yes. It's the other half OK. It's all fine now. By the way, I'm hoping that your face is going to be in tip top shape for our live show. A live show. Because otherwise we're back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script.

We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We are back on script. We're back on script. We are back on script lives in the Z-U-N-Chapel Tuesday, 23rd of May. Everything that I say is done with a script. Okay. And like the six tickets available or 12 or something like that. We're a couple of days by the so today's Wednesday and by the time you hear this that we Friday

so they as we speak at the moment there's a few tickets, you know, at the back. Yeah. But if you go at the moment, there's a few tickets at the back. But if you go via the website, that's the place to go for information. But if you go via the website and this is the right ticket, if you squint, then there might be... You know, in newspapers and on television, where they have to pixelate someone's face because they might have done something bad. Or all because they might not have done something bad and you don't want their picture. But if you squint, you can kind of see who they are. You try that.

Next time, there's a pixelated face, squint, and you go, oh, look, it's Roger 26. Where it could be, Jeff, it's more likely to be Roger. I don't think they thought about it. What are we going to review later on, bud? We're going to be reviewing Infinity Pool, which is a new fun by Brandon Cronenberg, the Beasts, which is a really gripping thriller. And John Wick, chapter four, is it chapter four?

Is it chapter four? Is it chapter four? With our very special guests. Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski, who's the director of the entire franchise. We're going to talk about John Wick chapter four, which you never know whether you're going to get kind of the version of Kiano,

which is nice to talk to, but quite brief and succinct, or chatty. I thought he was quite lequacious, lequacious. Yeah, well, I think he likes, he liked doing the interview with Chad, with his mate Chad. I think he liked doing the interview with you because you ask him interesting questions. Yeah, well, he's, I think he likes, he liked Danny and to be with Chad with his mate Chad. I think he liked Danny and to be with you because you ask him interesting questions, you always bring up that documentary he made. Oh, he loved, yes, he loves side by side. Yeah, he, and if you've

been listening to us for a long time, you remember, a long interview that he gave to us about side by side, which is what, in which he reveals quite how much he knows about film and he is a huge amount. And when I ask him about it, he punches the air. I mean, you can't actually see anything, but you think he doesn huge amount. And when I ask him about it, he punches the air. I mean, you can't actually see anything, but you think he doesn't really, okay, I'll talk about John Wick, but really can we talk about film technology?

And when he's talking about film technology, he really, really gets animated. Yeah, he's a good interview and you get on very well with it. I wish he was my friend. I want to be friends with Camarna. Yeah, well, you have to get his name right. Anyway, Camarna and Chad will be with us very shortly. And don't forget, we continue to, as is our mission,

to super-server with extra stuff, with all our impactful extra takes. For example, apparently, at least an extra 90 minutes of this nonsense. Actually, oh, really? Yeah, wow. I mean, I don't know quite what's going to be in there More reviews. Yes. Is that right? Yeah, it's got two more reviews. Okay

Pretentious more currently at the people a lot and mark a little bit less I can't wait. I was like 13 for the people 9 and 3 quarters as I know Take it all leave it you decide word of mouth on a podcast feature. It's the haunting of Hill House. Is that right? Yes, exactly. On Netflix, which is the series, as opposed to the... You know that? So I wrote down haunting of Hill H.O.

Full stop, right? Because H.O. is an abbreviation for House. And is it? Yes. And many years ago when I had just started writing books and Random House with the people who signed me up, Penguin, or whatever. So I said, I had written something like, delighted to be working with Random Ho, Random Ho. And obviously this was taken, and it was Ian Rankin who tweeted back saying, I think you might want to just not use that abbreviation at this point, because it was misleading. Also, Shwing the Box is ad free on Tuesdays alongside

all our other extra content on the take channel. Vanguard Easter, this is a bit worried I don't understand. This won't appear in the cabinet mode take feed. It has its own feed within the channel. If you got that mark, excellent offer. I'm still laughing at you as being thrilled to be associated. With a random hoe. You can support us via Apple podcasts or you can just give us money in the street or you can head to extratakes.com for non-fruit related devices. And if you're already a Vanguardista, as always, we salute you. I'm going to laugh about that for the whole world with the rent. Well, I don't know how I missed that. Yeah, I know.

Penguin Random House now, so it's a lot more pithy. Do you know why they were called Random House? I don't, actually I don't. It's because they came out of a collection of other bits of stuff that didn't fit neatly under one umbrella, hence they were called Random because it was a random collection of stuff put together to form. So random house

was genuinely, it's not like Mr. Random or something. I remember, I do remember there are a lot of people who thought when Penguin and Random House combined or were taking over whatever, that they, a random penguin would have been such a fantastic name. But obviously, you don't have a name of a company to make people laugh. Email from Josh here. Dear 5,000 fingers and dr. T. I know this is a bit out of the purview of the usual fair. Now, as soon as you use the word purview, I think in the opening sentence,

you realize what a class you show this is. The usual fair of reviewing new releases and sharing comedic broad sides in the laughter lift, but I wanted to briefly share a cinema experience that I will never forget, which is kind of what we're here for. I recently relocated to the Greater Boston area for a new professional opportunity. The hardest part, I imagine this is, you know, it's Boston, USA, not Boston links.

The hardest part of this decision was knowing that I would see my boys ages 17 and 14 less frequently than usual. So when they returned to Massachusetts in February, after more than a month and a half since the last visit, I was a bit nervous that some distance may have grown between us. It must be said that from the time they were very little, much of my relationship with the boys was shaped around shared experiences at movies. From watching a screening of Soul under the stars on Hot Summonite,

to enjoying the annual cat video film festival at the neighborhood movie Palace. So to make this visit a special one, I secured tickets to a Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 marathon at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, one of the great old Ardeco theatres in New England. The moment the Van Gellis score washed over the full house, a new we were in for something special.

Suffice to say, the boys had a joyous time, clapping and sighing along with our cinema colleagues and shouting out answers to intermission trivia questions. That's quite an entertaining question. Have a quiz. As we left the theatre, the younger son reminded remarked that it was snowing for the first time this winter and noted how this mirrored the final iconic

and beautiful image in 2049. I put my arms around my sons and we watched the snow fall in fat, white, fluffy flakes around us, securing the knowledge that our bond anchored through a love of each other and cinema was as strong as ever. Thanks for lifting my spirits and your filmic witterings each week, I'm all the better for it. So there you go. So thanks to Josh and respect to the Coolidge Corner Theatre, which I quite fancy visiting some day. I really love the idea of New England because of that Jonathan Richmond song. New England. Yes, I think it has other qualities as well as being included there.

And Kirsty McCulles, hang about this. There's a brilliant line on that, which is I've seen all these rails arid plain. It's beautiful, but so is mine. You're going to quote Jonathan Richmond Day here. I love New England best. I may be prejudiced, but I love New England best. Laura emails before Mark's voice becomes more weird. Hello Mark and Simon, hope you're well.

I write in relation to the chat about movies, Mums, not Mums, would like in last week's show. This is because we ended up talking about, because it was Mother's Day films that you might want to take your mother too. Yes. And then you made a joke about take your mother to the other, take your daughter to the slaughter. Yes. Take your uncle to the, don't take your mum to X. Well, depends on your mum. I mean, you know, it's like, mum, would you like to see X, which is interesting, it hasn't been me goth in it, or would you like to see that film? It's about the basketball stuff. But it's one of those films where you put it on

back in the day, you put on the television, the film would start. It's like half past 10, you'd just come in and you're a grown adult, but you're still living at home, and then it does a raunchy bit on the film, and that that moment your parents walk in. And you go, it's just, do you remember what's like this from the beginning? We had an email from Melissa, whose father, if ever there was anything of a French nature on television, would immediately get up and stand in front

of the television while pretending to fiddle with the lamp on top of the room. Yeah, inspired by my grand, I think, who also would stand in front of the television and say, as I think I've said before, shall we have it off? Meaning shall we turn the television off, but getting it slightly wrong. The whole of this first part of the take is taking strange er, cold as hax. Laura says, hello, Mark and Simon, hope you well. I write in relation to, oh, I've done, oh no, the chat about movies that mums would like to see.

Okay. My mum Sally is prone to a bit of, I can't, what is it? What are TG laps? I can't remember what they are. TG laps. TG L A A P S something, this is obviously a show joke,

which we should know about. TG lots. It's just a production team. They're still listening. What does that mean? T, capital letters TG L. Just a production team. They're still listening. What does that mean? Capital Edges TG LAAPS. Do you see who I remember? Okay, we'll come back to you.

No idea. Anyway, prone to a bit of that, whatever it is, and Liam Neeson, shooty-shooty film. Shooty-shooty. But she also often surprises me. A couple of years ago, I put on 20th century women. Maybe my favourite film of this century and was primed for her to hate it, or at least conclude with a polite, um, quirky, which is mum's speak for, that was weird.

But she actually loved it, really, really loved it and seemed to find it as profound as I do. She even asked to hear the soundtrack in the car so that she could find the song that she really, really loved. And so, at 50 something discovered talking heads. Isn't that fantastic? That's fantastic. My Nana, which is her mum, obviously, is similarly open-minded. And we often go to the great New Lynn film house to check out anything from Mary Poppins.

That's a wonderful cinema. With my seven-year-old cousin. To the worst person in the world. and most recently, Corsage. While they were not great cultural adventures in their own right, they are endlessly open-minded and will go with me to anything. I love our three and four generation trips to the cinema. Film's idea of Mumfare is far too limited. So both those emails, both with Josh taking his kids to the movies, and then Laura going with Mum and Grammys. How fantastic. Well, they're still open-minded. Yes, because that's fantastic.

Yes. And does demonstrate that the cinematic experience is pan-generational. And as we've discovered from listener emails over the years, seeing films with your family really is a very special experience. I also like the fact that quirky is code for quirky is code for, it's really like it. Way too much.

As I said, it keeps saying, that was Ken Russell's, Marmys says, is it a British picture? What she meant was, is it boring? And black and white, and it has people arguing in a kitchen. If there are other family code words for, I didn't really enjoy it,

but I'm trying to be positive and supportive. Now, Marmys getting touched, correspondence at kovenemade.com. So, well, it's review time. What's the... Yes. Tell us something that might be out that we might be interested in. OK, the beasts as best as in its original language. Spanish, French, co-production, shot in Gilesian, Spanish,

and French directed by Rodrigo Sargoyam from a script by him and Isabelle Pena. This earned 17 nominations at the Goya Awards, one in nine categories. It also won the Cesar for best foreign film, it's from last year. Denis Melachet is Antoine, who is a Frenchman who moves with his wife Olga,

Marinevoix, to a rural Gleason farm. They have dreams of making their own way, growing organic vegetables, telling the soil, but also renovating houses in the local area in order to give something back to the community. But they don't fit in with the locals, or more particularly, he doesn't. When he goes to the local bar, there is Jan and his brother Lorenzo, who basically take against them because they're outsiders, because they're incomeers, because they're people that don't understand

the traditions and the land. More importantly, to Anne's family have grown up here and had a very, very hard life. And what they want to do is to cash in and sell their land to a wind farm, to an energy company that wants to make a wind farm. He doesn't want to do it, because he says, no, we've come out here for the perfect life. We don't want the wind farms. He's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no So basically what's happening there is that he's being taunted for being French for not having a sense of humor, but the taunting maybe it's fun.

So basically what's happening there is that he's being taunted for being French for not having a sense of humour. But the taunting maybe it's fun. So basically what's happening there is that he's being taunted for being French for not having a sense of humour. So basically what's happening there is that he's being tamented for being French for not having a sense of humor, but the torntink maybe it's funny, maybe it's a joke, maybe it's something more sinister turns out it's something much more sinister. involving a Dutch couple which happened between 2010, 2014, they moved to a Santailla and that combined with a really deeply unsettling score by Olivier Asong makes this really gripping and very, very disturbing. There's a lot of...

You know that thing when there's a situation which is pretending to be good-natured, but actually underneath there is a real sense of threat. And every time somebody sort of seems to suggest that it's threatening, so no, no, no, no, we're just joking, we're just messing with you, but actually we're not messing with you. And what happens during the course of the drama is that you see the central couple, the French couple, having profound disagreements about how they can or can't do. Why don't they just leave? Why don't they just upstumps and go away? Has it started to become a matter of we're going to dig our heels in because

this is what we've decided to do and this is how it is? Or is there something, are they right? Is it that staying and doing what they're doing is the right thing know, are they right? Is it that staying and doing what they're doing is the right thing? Why are they staying? Why are they enduring this kind of harassment harassment? Now meanwhile, what he's doing is he has a camera and he's trying to sort of film some of this harassment

because he wants to be able to show to the police that he is being harassed. But of course, the essence of this kind of harassment is it's very hard to pin down. They find things like the water supply that they're using mysteriously becomes poison. Somebody sticks a battery in it because it led poison. Well, you can't prove who it is.

Everyone knows who it is, but you can't prove who it is. And what's really clever about it is that it becomes unbearably tense, like really, really properly tense, because you can see it going from something which looks like a kind of domestic rural squabble into something far more profound than that. And without wishing to give any more away about it, the drama just keeps edging forward in this increasingly uneasy manner. And it uses very, very long takes. There's a very naturalistic feeling

of the performance is great. Across the board, the performance is a really good. But it's just to do with the way in which the tension ratchets up. You know, sometimes if you watch a film and you feel really uncomfortable, like really profoundly uncomfortable. Yeah, I prefer not to watch this.

No, but you like thrillers. Yes. So it's, you know, when you're watching a thriller, I prefer not to watch this. No, but you like thrillers. Yes. So it's, you know, when you're watching a thriller, you want it to be tense. I mean, we'll talk in a little while about John Wick for. And, you know, whether or not you're watching that for the tension, you know, will he won't he? Or whether you're watching it for the smashy-bashy-crashy

that's how I feel. The latter I saw you. Forley runny-jumpy-throwy thing. Yeah. Well, in the case of this, you just think, I don't want this situation to get any worse., I don't want this situation to get any worse. I really don't want this situation to get any worse. Please don't let this situation get any worse.

Oh, it's got worse. Oh, it's got worse. Yeah. So anyway, I thought it was very, very powerful. It's called the Beasts and it's well worth checking out. And the soundtrack is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Oh, it's not even heavy lifting. It's kind of, it's, the soundtrack is doing

a thing about on the one hand, it's rooting it in the land that the drama is set on, but it's also scratching away at the edge of your consciousness if you want to attract them it. On your scar, right? On your scar, right? Which I will be playing a track from it, but yeah, no, it's really, I think you'd like it. Is it giving too much of a way to ask who are the beasts? Well, actually, weirdly enough, there is a very specific reference to that. But of course, the overall question

of it is, who are the beasts? I mean, is it the incomeers who come in and just don't understand? I mean, weirdly enough, there's a comparison here with local hero. The comparison with local hero is he goes from America, he arrives in this Scottish Yiddell, and he thinks, oh, it's brilliant, and we're gonna build an oil refinery here. The gag is that everyone who lives there wants out. They want to take the oil refinery money.

They're all pretending that they don't, but they do. Because the thing is, you didn't grow up here, you don't have to wake up at five o'clock every morning and do the farming, you've chosen to do it. We don't have any choice and you're stopping us from having that choice. Still to come on this podcast. We are going to be reviewing Infinity Pool, which is a new fund by Brandon Cronenberg with the astonishing Miagoth. And we'll be reviewing John Wick chapter four.

Chatting took Keanu Reeves and Chad's to Hell's Keys. Time for the ads. Unless you're in the Vanguard in which case, we'll be back before you can say there's another antisposed joke which I refuse to take part in. Well I won't get it anyways and why don't you just say it? Before you can say whoever the spurs manager is when you hear this podcast, who knows who it's going to be. Happy Nord Christmas! Protect yourself whilst Christmas shopping online and access all the Christmas films from around the globe! Plus, when you shop online you'll have to give websites your card details and other

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The link is in the podcast episode description box. Hi, esteemed podcast listeners, Simon Mayo. I'm Mark Kermot here. I'm excited to let you know that the new season of the Crown and the Crown, the official podcast, returns on 16th the new season of the Crown and the Crown, the official podcast, returns on 16th of November to accompany the sixth and final season of the Netflix epic royal drama series. Very exciting, especially because SuperSub and Friend of the Show Edith Bowman hosts this one. Indeed, Edith will take you behind the scenes, dive into conversation with the talented cast and crew,

from writer and creator Peter Morgan to the crowns Queen Elizabeth in Mel Distant. Other guests on the new series include the Crowns research team, the directors, executive producers Suzanne Mackie and specialists such as Voice Coach William Connaker and props master Owen Harrison. Cast members including Jonathan Price, Selene Daw, Khalid Abdullah, Dominic West and Elizabeth DeBickey. You can also catch up with the story so far by searching the Crown, the official podcast, wherever you get your podcast.

Subscribe now and get the new series of the Crown, the official podcast, first on November 16th. Available wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is brought to you by Mooby, a curated streaming service dedicated to elevating great cinema from around the globe. From my Connect Directors to emerging otters, there's always something new to discover, for example. Well, for example, the new Aki Karri's Mackey film Fallen Leaves, which won the jury prize it can, that's in

cinemas at the moment. And if you see that and think I want to know more about Aki Karri's Mackey, you can go to movie The Streaming Service and there is a retrospective of his films called How to Be a Human. They are also going to be theatrically releasing In January Priscilla, which is new so for a couple of films which I am really looking forward to since I have an Elvis obsession. You could try Mooby Free for 30 days at Mooby.com slash Kermit and Mayo.

That's M-U-B-I dot com slash Kermit and Mayo for a whole month of great cinema for free. I think the answer is Ryan Mason will probably be of great cinema for free. I think the answer is Ryan Mason will probably be the interim spurs boss by the time this drop. Just give me a very quick primer. What's the thing with spurs bosses? They have won every couple of years and then they lose patience and get rid of one. And then Ryan Mason stands in. Who eats Ryan Mason stands in. Right. Who is Ryan Mason?

He's a nice guy, whoever one likes. Player. Well, he was a player and now he's part of the coaching staff and so he'll probably be an interim charge for the remaining 10 games of the season. It's not interesting, but anyway. But is the joke that the Spurs have many managers therefore that he's the many?

Okay, so yes, one of them. Okay, I mean, not particularly funny, but, you know, what does Paul support? Ignore him. Is it Arsenal? Could you bird song that, please? I think that's... You don't use language like that.

LAUGHTER Box of his top 10, at 11, Pearl. Number 10, here, a six-in-America cocaine bear. No, which I think is really good fun, particularly considering the possibility of it just being all title and all trailer. I think it's really enjoyable. Nine here, five in the States, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Quantamania. There was an article in the press about Michael Douglas not understanding what the movie, how

the movie worked. And it quoted you. Yeah, it quoted you asking him a question and him saying, oh, I think it quoted you saying, have you seen all the other 29 or 31 Marvel movies and him saying no in a way that implied that he hadn't seen any of them? I think that's quite possible.

Number eight here, what's Love God to do with it, but not that one? No, but it's still quite fun. I was on the train today on the tube train. No, yesterday probably. And the huge big posters are still up. There is always something very nice about saying, seeing the big double form posters for films. It's one when it's like the the single sheep, you know, the big posters because it's like, you know, big reliant. It's got hematoms and it's got the stuff and everything. I think the film's perfectly fine.

It's done alright. It's not great, but it's good fun. It's hard in the right place. I'm on a big poster again. Are you? Yeah. The greatest hits we've got this big ad campaign because Ken Bruce is joining, as you probably know.

I didn't know that. I didn't know that was just being a role. And the bus ads, taxi ads, huge billboard ads, I'm being blown up to a ridiculous stuff. So what's on the ad? You're probably gonna have to take that out because the slogan, because the advertising people will go,

oh, you shouldn't have said that. So that's gonna be a mystery. So you're not gonna be a mystery. Well, that's gonna be a mystery. If they bleep kens and then they bleep the rest of it, it's going to sound a lot worse than you just blowing the advertising slogan. No, that's absolutely true. Number seven here, a new entry is Ryan Lange, which is great. Terrific to see it going to the top 10. I think this movie's really

lovely. Rayn Allen Miller, it's essentially a kind of, it's like a before sunrise, structure, two people getting to know each other in sunny south London locals, it's Peckham, it's Brixton, it's the south bank. There is obviously that the film recognizes that it has similarities with Richard Curtis romcoms and it makes a very, very astute gag about that, which is a very good way of diffusing it. I thought it was lovely. I think she's a terrific filmmaker. I think both of the leads are great as well. And I really hope that people continue to see this, because it's like, great. Look, this is the kind of really accessible, you know, street wise grit, but it's also romantic fantasy. This is the kind of film we can make. Let's make more of this, please.

Kate Pruse, PhD, brackets from the University of Manchester. I think she's just trying to get your affections. Yes. Dear love and gradually... And there's the joke. In, really? I'm an LCL FTE, finally writing into the show due to a personal collection to the wonderful Rylei.

OK. I was delighted to hear Mark's glowing review of the film was particularly excited that he mentioned the writers by name as Tom Melia is my cousin's husband. However, I feel the need to write into correct Mark's pronunciation. I said, Mel, I'm sorry. Sir, name which should be Melia with a long e-like cilia.

OK, my mistake. To make sure Tom gets the recognition he deserves, I'm sure you'll agree about the importance of this, especially after the recent Fraser Frazier debate. Yes. Anyway, I went to see Rylane last night and loved it. The humor, the joy, the brilliant performances and the uncredited cameo appearance,

which is probably a spoiler in which case, please, bird song. There you go. You can bird song that if you need to. Do you think that needs to be bird song? No, I think so. That's fine. I may be biased by the family connection but would highly recommend going to see this uplifting film says Kate Pruse. Thank you, Kate. Actually, I've just had a rethink about that. I think it should be bird song. Okay. Yeah. Fine. Can I just say on the subject of name pronunciations? We do try to credit writers. I think it is really, really important.

One of the things that's very difficult is if you see a name written down and you don't know how it's pronounced. The only way you can find out is to see if you can find a video in which the person says their own name. It says their own name and it's amazing how few of those there are. There is some... You're saying it's Tom Meleus fault. No, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is, you know, there are things like forvo, which is a place you can go to and it'll give you a pronunciation of a name.

But only if the person is, you know, one of the people that fall though happened to have done. And I know there's a thing on Wikipedia now in which they attempt to, like I've looked my name up and it says it's got a phonetic thing. I wish there was for writers, for movies, um, thing which is, you know, if you're a writer and if you're doing something, do record a little video of yourself saying your name, it will be so, I'm not blaming anyone but it will be lovely to get it right, particularly if you've got a name like Kermode, I understand exactly how annoying it is for people's names to be mispronounced. Alleluia is at number four, which I wasn't a fan of.

Henrik Hansen, old Lee misjudged. In Maidston. Yeah. Dear not only but also, I totally agree with Mark regarding Alalooia and its dark subplot that capsizes and otherwise NHS positive drama. It falls into a category of recent films that my wife and I call Stelts sad movies.

Along with... That's a great phrase. A man called Otto, an empire of light, these are films which are marketed as feel good but contain tragic plot lines. We can handle quality drama, just don't sell the movie as light-hearted when it definitely isn't. Of which the best example was always slumbering. Some billion. The feel good hit at the summer. That's right.

You know the bit when they're burning children's eyes out. Yes. You go, are we talking about the same film? The thing with Alaluia is that that stealth subplot, when it reveals it, you go, sorry, what? And apparently the stage play, apparently on stage, it kind of worked and it made more sense. In the film, in which the film is so heavily weighted towards saying, look, the NHS is a great thing, particularly with that final scene, the sort of the speech about the NHS during COVID, it just seemed so odd to have this, I mean, I thought completely ill judged subplot going on underneath it.

Number three is Scream Six. Number two is Creed Three. Yeah, which I enjoyed. And number one is Shazam Fury of the Gods. Well, here's an interesting thing about this, okay. So I've seen Shazam Fury of the Gods twice now. As I said, when I reviewed it last week, it was kind of fun, but you know,

it's all over the place and it's fluffing, don't make any sense. I went to see it again because the Good Lady Presser, no, no, second time. I've only seen it for once that time. The Good Lady Presser, her indoors, brought a group of exeter film-study students up to London for, you know, field trip blah blah blah. One of the things we did was we went to the IMAX, the BFI IMAX. And the thing that's on at the BFI iMacs is Shazam Fury of the Gods. There were 40 of those students and I think there were 44 people in the cinema on the sun. Now, okay, it's a Sunday night

and obviously it has gone to number one. So it's taken money. It's doing fine. But it's, I mean, on anecdotes, 11th and second time round, I enjoyed it more because it was bigger. I don't think it's packing them bigger. I don't think it's packing them out or it's going to be packing them out for much longer. I thought it was fun, but

it's a mess. I mentioned that I had a memory of Shazam being a big genie. Yes, and apparently you said. Well, Keith's memory. The memory that Simon has of Shazam isn't of Shazam with an M. It's Shazam. Hannah Barbera cartoon, circa 67, 68, called Shazam with an N, not an M. In this, a brother and sister, Chuck and Nancy inevitably, had two halves of a ring, which when they put together some under Jean, this is exactly right. And then they had fantastic conditions. I completely forgotten this. It was shown in the UK on BBC One at around 1970, but it only ran one series in is now more or less forgotten unlike other HB cartoons from the same era like Wacky Races and Scooby-Doo, which I

really haven't forgotten. The only reason I remember it is it had a magic flying camel in it called Kabubi. I'm not making this up. My brother, who was at the time in his 20s, not six, decided to call our family cat Kabubi. The much-love Moghi lived for the next 16 years and every time someone visited us and asked what the cat was called, the answer involved this really long-winded inclination, but a cartoon series which no one ever remembered. I remember it other than you, although you

remember this. Yes. I have no memory of it at all. Yeah. Yeah. One half over and another half over and put them together. Big shazan. Big genie arrives called shazan and not shazam. Well, for a couple of reasons. But thank you for the email and you can get in touch. Once you've seen something, you want to tell us stuff. Correspondence at kermaname.com. Now, we're going to talk about a John Wick chapter four and a conversation on the way with Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski.

Needless to say, this interview was recorded before the tragic passing of Lance Reddick, which was announced just a few days ago. So obviously, I'd be interested to... My guess is all copies of the film will be out and they can't add anything to them. But if... In talking to you, like, a dedication or a reward...

In time, they will want to dedicate this movie to Lance really, I think. Yes. No, that makes sense, yeah. Anyway, so he doesn't get mentioned in the interview, which obviously we would have done if the timings had been slightly different. Anyway, John Wick, chapter four, Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelsky with us for a chat. After this clip from John Wick, chapter four. You come here thinking there is a way out of this world for you, Mr. Wick, Chapter 4. We'll have your freedom, but you won't take it.

OK, it's time to talk, John Wick, chapter four. Delighted to say I've been joined by it, Star Keanu Reeves, and it's directed Chad Stahelski. Chad Keanu, how are you? Good morning. Good morning. Great, thank you. Good to be here.

Chad, you're in black. I was just making an observation about Keanu's suit, which is, I thought, was quite John Wick in, but you're not sure. Well, that's, I think, really just the color of the shirt, the dress shirt, powder blue. I don't know if powder blue is, maybe John Wick, the man, the husband, but not John Wick, the assassin. So early John Wick won, yes. Yes, early John Wick won. It's a pre-puppied death, maybe. Maybe before he decides to get a sledgehammer and pre-sledgehammer.

A pre-sledgehammer cracked through the basement floor and grabbed some guns. Pre-sledge, pre-puppied. That's blue. That's powdered blue. Waldrow absorted. Where are we in the world of John Wick for, for chapter four? Bringing something to speed. Yeah, sure. At the end of chapter three, John had just been shot off the roof of a building by his

friend Winston, who's played by the fantastic Ian McShane of the New York Continental. And I've landed up on the shores with the Bowery King, Lawrence Fishburn in the Bowery King. And he, of course, has been kind of injured by the high table for his support of John Wick. And he asks, John, are you pissed off? And John Wick said, yeah. And then we open with chapter four with the rising sun of Aqaba, Jordan.

And John went to the land. Is on a horse and he's chasing some fellas to ultimately have a conversation with the new elder of the high table. Chad, did you got anything to add to that? Or is that what you need to script? That's what we are. That's pretty neat description. That's it. Can't do the great lead in.

And then that's what sets us upon our journey of John's response to, yeah. He's looking for freedom. He's looking for, is it not payback? It's not revenge. But I think it's, it's closure. We'll go with closure. Closure?

Closure. John's looking for a book. He's trying to live too, right? Yeah. He's kind of, he's upset. Well, John's in a dilemma. So how do we get out of the, the never ending circle of dilemma? Yeah. So you clearly wanted to make a bigger picture. And this is a bigger picture. Definitely. I think, you know, I, I've always liked the idea of cinema or cinematic, you know, you go back and see bullet on the big screen, or any of the big,

and we finally had the opportunity to take a quick to that level. So we switched the Anomarific Master Prime lenses, big screen experience, big set pieces, and it's also kind of the mythology, right? You always wanna see John as this little person in these big sets, so he feels like he's a man among gods, you know, to really push that mythological sense across.

Is it right? I had like a third more. There's like a third more in John Wick for in terms of scenes than there has been in the previous three. I think so. You're probably pretty close on that. We thought about expanding the world and the good way to do that is through other people's perspectives and not just John.

What's in your toolbox, Kiano, for this movie? What are the skills that you've needed to master on top of the ones in the book? There was no mastering going on, but there was sure trying. Stahelsky over here had the idea of John Wick taking up Nunchucks. So I guess I was a new one working with Nunchucks. I got back to do some driving in the muscle cars, some car food. And then I got to work with a wonderful Jodhika and Jujutsu practice practitioner named Dave Camerillo who was trying to help me.

I think he had a, you know, you look at the other cast members. I mean, I think there's a lot to do with here Yuki Senata, you know, and then with, of course, Donnie Yen. You know, you have to, everyone's got to up their game for everybody. Just explained about the casting of Donnie Yen and what he brings to the picture. Oh, well, it's Donnie Yen. He brings his excellence as martial artist. He's been acting since he was, I don't know, 14 or something. At least. And so he's a wonderful character actor. He's a leaning man at the same time. He's very inventive.

I thought, that's kind of like he and I play, I guess, old comrades. It's kind of friendship. And he's tasked with killing John Wick. So I was like, come right back. You won't particularly. I mean, John Wickworld. Well, I mean, he's such a master, you know, movie martial artist. And so as Chad was saying, lifts the level for that. It was a couple of movies ago you were talking about John Wick bootcamp and what you had to

do. And because everyone who goes to this movie will be just stunned by what you do and how you do it. And I hope you enjoyed it. Yeah, no, absolutely. At the end of three, I kind of thought, well, that's it. That's, you know, you've just been shocked. That's, you know, that's the end of it. But obviously, obviously it isn't.

What did bootcamp feel like this time? Or is your life like a permanent bootcamp? No, no, no. It was really fun. I mean, I was really excited about the story and the journey that we were intending to take John Wick on and for me, I mean, I love the physical acting and I love action and so for me it's it's a real pleasure

Yeah, I mean I get to you know go train for three, four months and, you know, that's fun. A lot of actors wouldn't think that was fun. I don't know. I mean, I don't know. I can't speak for anybody else. I mean, I've seen actors who have really enjoyed entering and stunned people to enjoy entering the John Wick world. We're, I don't know, we're trying to have fun. We're trying to do things for the audience that's action, but in connected to story and to be immersive. And, you know, and also I'm working with a visionary filmmaker

and knows how to shoot action. And knows how to create that connection. What makes him a visionary filmmaker? Well, I mean, he was talking about his lens choices. He was talking about choreography. He talks about story and action. His partnership with Dan Laustsen, the cinematographer, Kevin Kavanaugh, the production designer, he speaks about the synthesis of all of the departments

working collectively together to tell the story, to create the John Wick world to do the action is extraordinary. And that synthesis between all of the departments and the collaboration with the actors, with the stories, with the writers, that synthesis, that kind of That synthesis, that kind of almost, I'm going to use the word holistic, but anyway, but then I guess just bring it all together and with what are we going to do, you know, with the inventiveness, with the dramatic storytelling insight and with the drive, you know, to push, to learn, to get better, to celebrate. You just have to sit, Chelle, and listen. I know, I'm all choked up now. And I want to ask you about the action scenes in just a moment, but long time listeners

to this program will have heard you in 2012 talking about your documentary side by side, in which you were talking about digital catching up with ordinary film, all-fashioned film, and it was quite clear that you were passionate as a film student and that you wanted to learn. And it sounds as though you are still exactly this, I mean, maybe it's not time to make a new side by side, but it sounds though you are still passionately keenly observing what directors are doing and what they can do.

When you get to work with professional excellence, it's the best, because it's creative, it's inventive, and to answer your question, yes. I mean, it's really great to be watching Dan Lousson and Chad setting up the shot and talking to Kevin Kavanaugh on a set and looking at what they were doing and why he built things a certain perspective. Like that set was Scott Adkins, Killa and Berlin. You know, the size of the fans and that platform that leads to this big table where he's playing cards

and it's the entrance of John Wick. But then they kind of created these tunnels on the side so that when he was doing the shots coming down, you got a sense of the world on the edges. And then with the lighting design, that drew your eye a certain way, but then also hinted to what was in the backgrounds. And then, so the production design, the lighting,

the lenses, and then the wonderful performers who are on that stage with the stakes of the scene, that is, you know, attention, but also funny, and the color design, and then the costumes, the way that they look. And you're just like, yeah. Fuck you. Chad, you're directing your films, Chad.

You're someone who just loves everything that you're doing. Have you ever said to Kiyano, no, we can't do that? No. Like, it's not safe or it's not practical. I think it's always a conversation, right? Like, there's always limits, there's always something. Like, I think we can both agree, like, being hit by a bus is not on the plate.

You know, that kind of thing. But like, when we talk about limits, and we talk about capabilities, and how capabilities can exceed limitations, I think it's not. It's always a question when someone says, calls it a stunt to whether it's action. He's been doing choreography for,

oh my god, forever, 20 something years. So doing a fight, we wouldn't really consider stunt, but it's action. You know, not a lot of people can do a 360 or reverse 180 and reverse 180 out or drift to Carl while shooting a gun. For some way that was just coming into that world, yeah, we'd consider that a stunt that's, you know, beyond his capabilities. But when you have Kanna, who's literally drifting a car better than 90% of stunt people, that's beyond his capabilities. But when you have Kiana, who's a little e-drifting a car better than 90% of stunt people, that's action to us and it's absolutely cool. Probability of success, super high,

probability of capabilities, very high. So we look at that more like action. But if we're gonna say, okay, you know, we wanna throw you off a building at 90 feet and we're like, okay, what? That's a stunt, that's a stunt. That's a stunt. That's a stunt. We watch it.

Yeah, so we'll have that talking and go, no, go have that. Let me know when he gets shot. Yeah, but you also push the stunt people. And I know we have international stunt teams, right? We had a French stunt team, Japanese stunt team. We had the Bulgarians, Germans, right? And they all love John Wick and they all come to us with a certain kind of passion for the project. And why?

Because they know that they're working on a project that respects what they do and celebrates what they do. So it's like Vincent, who is doing my stunt double, he was like, yeah, man, I get hit by a car and then Scott Rogers, the stunt choreographer, it's like, no Vincent, you're gonna get hit by two. Maybe three. And then also we're gonna actually slide this man in. They're gonna do a slide 45, come in on you,

and trust it's gonna be there. Trust it's gonna be there, and Marco's gonna pick you up and throw you into a side of a moving van that's slamming in. And is this the Arctic D'Altreon scene that I'm talking about? Because that is one of, I mean, anyone who's seen or driven round the Arctic, knows that it's nuts at any time.

But what you guys do with driving around the Arctic is quite extraordinary. Thanks. Is that the toughest? Was that in terms of the intricacy of what you're trying to achieve? Was that the toughest? It was the most complex logistically, obviously,

because you can't just rehearse 50 cars. You got to take your best guess. Do all the pieces. Count it as ability to drive and rehearse the stunt guy's ability to do it. And then you just, you know, you started at the beginning and piece your way through it. Um. Yeah. You make it sound like it's something that you could do tomorrow.

Uh, given, given four months of prep, yeah. Which was your toughest sequence, Kale? You're almost asking me what was the most fun. Right. Okay. Hardest fun. I don't know. I mean, I think the, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, you know,

because there's the arctic tree on sequence, but that was later in the shoot. Can we talk about stamps? I don't know that we could talk about this. The stamps? I would say probably the toughest was the known chucks in the first Osaka Continental sequence, because that has a lot of interactions

and a lot of, a lot of known chucks. A lot of nunchucks. A lot of nunchucks and fighting, and we had to do that pretty quick. So that was probably the most... And that was our first action sequence we had. Yeah. Just final question, Keanu, last time you were on,

you did talk about the possibility of the continental being a spin-off TV series, and you said a bit like a 40-towers spin-off. Well, of course they are now, John Cleaser said he is gonna do 40-towers. Fantastic. Again, Graham, is are now. John Cleezer said he is gonna do Fulti towers fantastic. Again, Greg, is that going anywhere that project? They shot it, right?

Lines did. I think they shot the three part thing. Not a comedy like Fulti towers though. I think they were quite earnest. Yeah. But I know, I wasn't a part of that. So I don't know. Yeah, no, it's more of a satellite project,

but we hear like Albert Hughes, I think, did two of the episodes as far as I know. What's next for you, Chad? Good question. We literally just finished the last version of Wic like three days ago on the standard definition version. So we'll get through the press tour

and we'll give it a think. Wherever he goes, that's an artist. Yes, we will be lucky. I know what you're doing next. I have no idea, sir. You're just gonna get We will be lucky. You know what you do next. I have no idea, sir. You're just going to get through this and see what happens. Thank you for asking. Yes.

Chad, thank you very much. And Dick Kionner, thank you. You're always a pleasure. Thank you. Thank you very much. Chad's the Hellsky in Kionnery. He's a sort of, could be any doubt as to. You were.

Who we were. Who we were talking about. I thought it was for you, just listening back to the issue because you did it a while ago. He's when I said to what was the toughest scene, and he says what you're asking is which was the most fun. It's enjoyable. Because that, and really you couldn't approach this kind of movie

if you didn't find all the stunts and the hard work that goes into that the most fun because it's exhausting to watch. Yeah, and the physicality of it is extraordinary. Just to pick up on a point that you made before we listen to that interview, that that interview was done a couple of weeks ago before the tragic loss of Lance Reddick, who is obviously in this and Tadric in the wire. So the statement from the makers of John Wick said, we are deeply saddened and heartbroken at the loss of our beloved friend and colleague, Lance Reddick.

He was a consumer professional and a joy to work with. I love him, prayers with his wife Stephanie, his children, family and friends. We dedicate the film to his loving memory and apparently at the film's LA premiere on Monday night, which was the 20th, it was confirmed that a dedication to Reddick has been added to the end of the film I presume,

because obviously the film's a largely digital now. It's easier to do that than before when you have to recall the final real of the 35. So apparently that has happened incidentally. Also interesting here, the interview that Albert Hughes is involved in that content, a big fan of Albert Hughes. Anyway, so on to the film itself. As someone who wasn't a fan of the first John Wick film, I have to say that I think this series has got better and better.

And I feel that this continues. It's also got bigger. They've talked in that interview about we wanted a bigger picture. Yep, it's big in terms of its scope, in terms of its body count, in terms of the choreography of its fight scenes. And indeed, I think in terms of its, and forgive me for saying this, underlying existential themes, which of course are exactly the same underlying existential themes that you would have in a samurai film,

or a cooser film, or a hitman film. This is something to which cinema returns time and time again, you know, the person who's, they have an inner soul, but they're out of character is that they are just a killing machine. It was interesting in that interview when you were referring to the shirt that Kellner Reeves was wearing. He said, well, maybe it's the shirt that John Wick, the married man, might have worn, but not John Wick, the assassin.

So this brings in a bunch of new element. It's interesting when Calories talks about, well, non-chucks, you know, he's about to learn to do the non-chucks. Of course, never forget that in the not too distant past, non-chucks were completely banned on British screens. You could not have non-chucks in movies. They were taken out because the chief censor James

Ferman in a previous century, in the 20th century, and the 20th century believed that they were imitatable violence because they were things that you could buy. So he just took non-chucks out and there's one of the toxic avenger movies or maybe it was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies in which one of the heroes picks up a string of sausages and uses it as non-chucks and they cut that because they thought it looked too much like I'm seriously, it was mad. So it's quite interesting now hearing, oh yeah there's the non-chuck stuff which is kind of, it's very cinematic and you can see the pleasure that Kiana Reeves takes in having obviously learnt to do all the non-chuck stuff. Donnie N.'s character was kind of a riff on those at which you blind swordsman character

and I think that kind of works well in terms of placing it within the archetypal heritage of this kind of story. There is a lot of physicality to the action, and we've talked before about fighting in these movies being like dance. Well, there's a scene in this which makes the most of that in which a fight sequence happens in the middle of a disco and nobody notices because the fighting looks pretty much like the dancing. I mean, there are people on the dance floor and they're flailing around and then in the

middle of them, there's John Wick and a very large chap and they're fighting and beating each other up. But actually, take two steps back. It just looks like everyone's dancing. I mean, I know it becomes kind of ludicrous because it's like, would you really carry on dancing to that banging beat whilst people are being thrown over balconies?

And but it does make the point that what you're doing in this is, it is choreographed dancing. When Kennery was talking about the taking pleasure in those things. I always think of, you know, Jean Kelly or Fred Astaire, Fred Astaire, you know, famously saying, you just put the hard work, you have to put the hard work in, it is painful, but the end result is something kind of, oddly beautiful. There's also, you talked about the Arctotry Omp scene,

which he referred to as Carfou. I know it's not the first time that phrase been used, but it is lovely because that reminds me of like Baby Driver, which is basically a dance movie that happens to have cars as the dancers. There's a scene in which the camera goes overhead and watches an entire highly choreographed fight sequence playing out in a number of different rooms. Remember this? and the camera, which is really kind of elegantly done. It's like they've sat down and thought,

okay, as we say, big, you know, let, how are we gonna do it? Okay, why don't we do a kind of God's Eye view of one of these fights? In a previous film, you had Death by Book, which was one of my favorite things. Here, you have a killer card game, which again, you know, it must have been,

how are we gonna, okay, that'll work. The staircase scene, and I think it's fine to talk about this because it has been talked about a lot. There's a scene in which he has to get to the sacra-cur. And it's, however many hundred stairs, it is, and actually, you know, the radio announcer voice says, you know, I wonder how he'll get up those stairs. So that sequence immediately you start thinking about things like Tony Jar in Tommy and Gong and Protector, because staircase fights are, you know, they're a particular pleasure. I thought the cyclical sequence was terrific. And I also thought that the gag, which I'm not going to spoil, which had the screening

I was in, I only had sort of five, six people in it, because I only saw it just on Monday. Most people had seen it by that point. I'll choose the morning pardon me. The whole audience laughed out loud at the audacity of what they had done. And I thought, this is the thing, it's, you know, the film is about violence and killing a murder, but it isn't.

It's kind of joyous. There is a real joy in the physicality of it. The piano talked in that interview. That piano, look at me, Reeves talked about his tension, but also funny. And the funny has always been really important. There's the thing in the trailer, which is, yeah, not really, which is, I can't do it, obviously,

but it's, he's really good at delivering that stuff. There's only a couple of things that, that occurred to me that I think are, I mean, one of them is, remember we used to have that thing about who's driving the boat. There's a scene, and if somebody goes and see this, incorrect me, there's a scene in which he gets broad-sided by a van. The van doesn't appear to be driven by anybody. I don't remember. No, of course not. But if anyone's seeing it, when he gets broadsided by the van, who's driving the van? A second thing often spent a lot of time wondering, who sets up all the food and wine in the tables?

And wherever they go, it's, you know, literally wherever they go, somebody is set up and incredibly, and completely under the cover of night, you know, this is suddenly a huge banquet is available wherever they are. The final thing is, and this had never really occurred to me before. One of the interesting things about Keanu Reeves as an action star is, he appears on screen to have fairly small feet, and he's almost slightly pigeon-toed. And what it does is it creates this weird thing about him. I love watching him physically on know, physically on screen,

but it's like from the top up, he's John Wick, and from the waist down, he's Elvis Costello. And there is a really, but what's fascinating about it is the way in which he walks, the way in which he's, you know, he's gay because I'm watching a lot of it because it's like a dancer. He has a strange gate, which is on the one hand very powerful, but on the other hand weirdly fragile. There is something about the way he walks that makes his character

seem oddly vulnerable. You know the thing with your toes it turns slightly in, it's kind of a costella with the classic thing. It's kind of like, you know, if you stand with your feet, if you look at the cover of live stiff live, Nick L Lowe's feet split out, Elvis Costello's feet turned in, and it makes them look like very different characters. There is something about Keanu Reeves' gate, which perfectly suits the character, which is that on the one hand he's an unstoppable killing machine. On the other hand, he's fundamentally vulnerable.

He's John Wick and Elvis Costello. I really enjoyed it. John Wick for, John Wick chapter four. Did you enjoy it? I did, I did enjoy it. It's long, just go it's a bit. It is long. You know, we don't get to the sacricur steps for about two and a half hours

and then there's a mightier battle. If you go to the cinema when there's 15 minutes of trailers, go for a wee just for the film starts. Adds in a minute, but first it's time to step once again into our very popular, laughter lift. Oh dear. I've tightened the gap there, haven't I? Yeah, mind the gap.

Well, very interesting week. By the way, this is a written joke and only really works in an American accent. Okay, go ahead. An incredibly stimulating dinner party this week with a successful gastroenterologist friend. She specializes in the study of the formation of excess gas in the intestine, also known as flatulence. In fact, that's the medical term flatulence.

Yes. Why is she so successful, I hear you ask? Why is she so successful? Because her observations are very astute. Astute. I mean, so astute is very astute. Astute, French would work. Okay, he's very astute. Speaking of which Mark, I hear there's a very awkward moment

at the palace this week. King Charles was holding an investor at Buckingham Palace and unfortunately, he let one rip, he floated on an air biscuit, he cut the cheese, his royal highness led out a big ring bark. Why didn't anyone laugh, I hear you ask? Why didn't anyone laugh? Because noble gases don't cause reactions. Because problem? Noble gases don't cause reactions. Noble gases, inner gases, the noble gases, helium neon argon, krypton, senon and radon. Are they called noble gases, helium neon argon, krypton, senon, and radon. Are they called noble gases?

They're the noble gases. Do you not know that? They're inert gases, odorless colorless, low chemical activity. Famously inert, no? OK. Anyway, it reminds me of the times. There's more? One of my offspring calls to stink in the Apple Store,

which is the worst place to do that, Mark. Why do I hear you ask? Why? Because they don't have windows. Microsoft. No, I know, I got that. I just wasn't laughing. Windows is just with windows.

And mobile gases. Anyway, nobogas is, everyone knows about nobodies. No, you might do, because you wrote a book about elements. What's still to come? Infinity pool. Very good. We'll be back after this unless you're a Vanguardist elements. What's still to come? Infinity pull. Very good. We'll be back after this unless you're a Vanguard Eastern, which case everyone loves the gifts you buy them

for your birthday and your service will not be interrupted. Metrolinx and cross links are reminding everyone to be careful as Eglinton Cross-town LRT train testing is in progress. Please be alert, as trains can pass at any time on the tracks. Remember to follow all traffic signals. Be careful along our tracks and only make left turns where it's safe to do so. Be alert, be aware, and stay safe.

You're flying to meet with a new supplier to keep your business growing. And with the business platinum card from American Express, you can earn $820 in new value and more, which includes a $200 travel credit toward your flight. Now a boarding business class. American Express, don't do business without it. Terms and conditions apply your flight. Now a boarding business class. American Express, don't do business without it. Terms and conditions apply as at mx.ca slash business platinum. So matters arising before we carry on. Can I just say how I now feel completely stupid

because we did a straw poll of the people behind the glass of how many people knew what noble gases were. And apparently everybody does know. And I actually, this happens to me all the time, things that I don't know that it turns out that everyone else in the world knows. And I feel like the stupidest person I've ever seen. No, but that is, that means precisely the opposite because the more you study and the more knows. And I feel like the stupidest person alive. But that is, that is, that means precisely the opposite, because the more you study and the more you

learn, the more you realize how much you don't know. Exactly. Also, there is no such thing as a stupid question. Also, noble gases were, I probably wouldn't have remembered much from school apart from, as you correctly say, because I look at my book about elements. For the periodic table. And there is a moment towards the end of the first book. And I remember, because I was a bit stuck and I needed to get itch at a very difficult situation. And I discovered that. I discovered one.

No, I just got it. That Zenon, one of the noble gases, was used as an anesthetic. And they stopped using it because it was too expensive. But I thought, that is exactly what I need. And so he has this capsule of Zeno gas, which he releases in the car and puts everybody to sleep.

And I think it's very good. But do you have that same thing as I, I mean, it may just be me that you constantly find out things that apparently everyone knows that you don't know. And you think, how have I gone through my life? Not knowing. And that's just an indication of an inquiring mind, that is. And if, because the people who think they know everything are the worst people, you know,

the people, no, no, I know all that. I've known, and I've known all that for a long time. The people who have closed minds, you just think, okay, I don't want to hang out with you. I do, I do think that I am genuinely quite stupid, but it's always, it's always, it's always great to learn new things. I'm always shocked by how much I really don't know. Also, it's worth saying, was it Woody Harrelson who you were just saying, great actor, a few politics a bit odd.

Politics a little bit odd. On that subject and bearing in mind that the principles of liberal democracy do need to be supported all the time, things that we assumed was general standard of a decent person. Donnie N. fighting great politics, not someone. When talking about the Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstration, called it a riot, clearly aligned with the Chinese Communist Party anyway, so it's worth just saying, okay, no, martial artists, but shall we not discuss that? Yes. Any further. And I don't think, I think, clearly, as you could tell from that

interview, Keanu and Chad were just in awe of his abilities. Although, as a, because he's, as you said, he's a blind assassin. It did occur to me that actually, you would only have to go like 40 foot away with a rifle and he really wouldn't last long. But anyway. But on the 40 foot away with a rifle, on the stair things at Sacra Curr, I'll come on. He's in the middle of fighting somebody else, another hitman who you don't care about,

take three shots and me, one of them's gonna get him. Yes. Although he does have a Kevlar jacket. Oh, that's true. Kevlar suit. Kevlar suit, yes. Absolutely. So you've mentioned Infinity Pool a few times. Tell us more.

And so Infinity Pool is the new movie by Brandon Cronenberg, who made Antiviral, which I think was very kind of underrated. And Pazessa with Andrea Reisbrow, which if you remember, I kind of very much enjoyed. New film stars Alexander Skarsgard as a washed up already right, a six years ago, he wrote a book that probably only got published because he's married into wealth and his father-in-law is a media mogul.

Anyway, we meet him and his wife, M, played by Cleopatra Coleman, in an anonymous, glamorous hotel, staring out at a beautiful beach in this kind of absolutely idyllic environment. He says, where are we? Where are we? The fact is they could be anywhere. They're kind of nowhere because where they are is in a hotel compound in a comparatively poor country, but the hotel is surrounded, the compound is surrounded by barbed wire fences to keep the

locals out. At the beginning we see somebody protesting on the beach making a protest statement about this, but generally, they're kept apart. There is also apparently a town nearby. If you say to anyone think the town is real, sorry, why would they have a Chinese restaurant? So the whole thing is like this kind of enclave of wealth in the middle of this environment

in which the country around them is poor and people dealing with real sort of proper problems. Mia Goth, who of course was last week in Pearl, which we talked about, and you said to me, is Mia Goth her real name? Because it's such a fantastic name. Her real name, full name, is Mia Gypsy, mellow, desilver, Goth. I mean, beat that.

I know, it's like, okay, and you win the prize therefore for the best time. So Mia Goth is one of the other guests who comes up to James, Alex on Scots because I said, I loved your book. He says, really? He says, I just loved your book. You must come out with me and my husband, you know.

And he's obviously, he's kind of, he's attracted to her, but he's more knocked out by the fact that she loves his book, because his wife said, you finally met your fan club, and he says, I knew there must be somewhere. So, then what happens is the four of them go outside the compounds to a remote beach, which they've been taken to, and on the way back, he's driving the car drunk, and he he hits somebody and he gets arrested. And suddenly he discovers that there is an eye for an eye policy of justice on this, once you're outside of the enclaves of the hotel, the posh compound, except they have a really weird program, which is that you can be doubled

and basically a standing of you can be executed on your behalf. And suddenly he starts to find himself in this world in which it's not just rich and poor, it's not just incomeers and inhabitants, it's like you're a kind of a wall with yourself. Here is a clip. Our country is not a playground for foreign children. of a wall with yourself, here is a clip. What do you say? Yes, please. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, rich hotel, poor country, authority, death penalty, but a way of escaping the death penalty through a process which is completely weird and is it real? Or are you imagining it? And at one point his wife says, am I dreaming? And in fact, the film begins in darkness with him saying something that seems completely absurd and inconsequential,

and you realize that he's dreaming. So the whole thing has a kind of nightmare-ish logic to it. But what it also has is this real sense of fun. I mean, it is satirical. It's satirical in the way like a Bunwellian surreal satire would be, you know, taking satirical swipes at the bourgeoisie. On the one hand, it is a kind of class satire about the rich and not like you and me, and if Scott Fitzgerald. On the other hand, it's also about the way in which everyone is their own double. The Dostoyevskine idea of the double has been run throughout literature. What does that mean?

Everyone is their own double. It means exactly that. It means that you have the ego and the id. It means you have the external you and the internally. You know that if you, if you ever, I'm not saying this flippantly, if you ever go to therapy, one of the things that will come up very quickly is that there's, there's the you that's presented and there's the you one, the anything. You know, it's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. That kind of idea that everybody, you may present as lovely, friendly, avancular, Simon Mayer, but underneath, yeah, but underneath, filthy, crawling, bestial werewolf.

Damn it, you spotted that. It precisely. You're not coming back to our house every game. So there is this idea that everyone is constantly living a double existence and it's then given a sort of science fiction, you know, surreal, fantastical twist, but it keeps its feet close enough to the ground that even as this stuff is playing out, that he's absolutely what, sorry, pardon how that the film still has a kind of understandable logic.

Alexander Skulls got his great because he's doing this, he's like this kind of, he's this idiot full guy. I mean, for a start, the fact that he's failed author who is just completely overwhelmed by the fact that somebody has read and apparently loved his book. And then you have, excuse me, we're all like that. We're all like that. And then you have Mia Goth, who I am starting to think

is one not starting to think. Mia Goth is a remarkable screen presence. The what she does in X, what she does in Pearl, what she does in this, what happens is she flips between being on the one hand understated and on the other hand absolutely unhinged with the ease of somebody who is like inhabiting different personalities.

The film has in terms of its, it's kind of fantastical or science fictiony elements. It deals with all them in a way which is really trippy, really hallucinogenic, it's got these incredibly, it's got visuals that kind of remind you of, in some extent, of Nick Wining reference work on Neon Demon. There's quite a lot of gasp and no way in there in terms of the sort of extreme cinema, but extreme cinema in a very kind of playful way. It's got absolutely brilliant effects work by Dan Martin, and very physical effects, which again, that kind of calls back to why possessor work, because the effects in possessor felt

very physical. I was thinking also of Ben Wheatley's in the Earth, he's called in the Earth, is it? With all that stuff, with the mushrooms and the kind of hallucinogenic. Is there anyone who have sex with a car? Is it that extreme cinema? The answer to that question is no, but weirdly enough, it's kind of, because obviously, in the case of that particular movie, Titan, that related to David Cronerberg, because he's Brandon Cronerberg's father film, Crash, which I think you could make a triangular connection between that and this.

I think that's what you were suggesting, wasn't it? I just followed that particular thread. Exactly. I was just laying it. Yeah. But no, it's, I mean, it is, but it's in that kind of realm of wow. Now, I've now seen, I've seen this twice and I have just enjoyed the heck out of it both times.

There are things in it that are really funny, really, really laugh out loud, properly funny. There are things in it that are sort of jaw dropping like, well, I didn't expect to see that on screen today and, you know, and wow. And then there are ideas in it that are cerebral, but because it's so flashy, because it's so squishy, because it's so, is that a good thing?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, tactile, it's tactile. You never feel that what you're getting is a kind of an intellectual lecture. I mean, some of the ideas in it, weirdly enough, actually chime very closely with some of the ideas in Christopher Nolan's film The Prestige, which I still think is, you know, Nolan's great underrated master.

You'll be actually probably not underrated. I think people have now just come to accept that that is a brilliant film. But those ideas about who are you? And what is, you know, why is there, why does the idea of the doppelganger resonate so much, and has resonated so much through literature and film? That, it's a really, really common idea. Why is the idea of the doppelganger so disturbing? And I think that what Brandon Cronerberg does,

he takes all this stuff, he takes the class warfare stuff, he takes the, to some extent, the gender warfare stuff, he takes the idea of the doppelganger and the doubling and he puts them all together in this great, big, skewing fantasy, morass. That's terrible. No, it'sass. That's terrible. It's no, it's wonderful. It's wonderful.

I came out of it both times with an absolute spring in my step and light of heart thinking, more of this, more of the flesh, long live the new flesh, which I'm sorry is a David Cronberg reference. So that must be a very annoying term. Meet the new flesh, same as the old flesh. Yes. Does that work?

No. Okay. That's good stuff. Go see it. I want you to see it, because I want to know what you think about it. Well, it sounds, as soon as you say extreme cinema, I'm thinking, I'm thinking of... You're looking heavy of hearts. I know, because I'm thinking of men.

That's what I'm thinking. Oh, it's much better than men. Yeah, but I just couldn't bear that film. So, but extreme cinema is not my thing. So, is it extreme cinema for people who don't like extreme cinema? No. Okay.

So, I'm mine. You might guess, you might guess see Rylane. I might see Rylane again. And then I might look at the BBC app to tell me about all the bits in it Honestly, I haven't even looked at the BBC description and I can't begin to imagine what it says Okay, anyway, so once you see it let us know cross-ponets code on mo.com time for what's on This is where you email us a voice note about you have you ever sent a voice note to anybody?

I sent a voice note to somebody who Somebody won an award and I I send a voice note congratulations. That's a very nice thing. But I think it's a top thing to do. And what we'd like to know about is the festival that you're involved with, or maybe you have a screening which you'd like to tell us about from wherever you are in the world. You sent it to Correspondence at KermanAware.com, like this, for example. Hi, for example. Philippines, Myanmar and more. Join us for the incredible programs that will push boundaries and challenge expectations. Kick it and full line up at queereast.org.uk Hi Mark and Simon, this is Michael, the curator of the BFI and Kino Techers' Yerjie

Skollimowski retrospective, tracing the EO director's career from its dazzling beginnings in 1960s Poland through such classics as Depend, The Shout and Moonlighting. There'll be a Q&A with a man himself on March 28th and the season runs until April 29th. Oh, that was it. I imagine both of those sound fabulous. Yes, I imagine Michael had a payoff there. Did he cut? No, no, he just finished.

Yes, it was a BFI, it's just very factual. Get into the Urzish-Skollomowski retrospective incidentally is great. I mean, think they were because Skollomowski's career is so eclectic and I loved E.O. and I love the show. Anyway, he's got really, really interesting stuff. And the queries festival sounded brilliant. Yeah. So that was E from queries festival. And Michael is the curator of the Skollomowski retrospective. The one that kind of we just kind of he didn't finish, he didn't fade, it just stopped. No, he just, he'd said what he'd said.

And it was like, I think he did a mic drop. Is that right? Yeah, like a barmer out. But it just kind of ended. Yeah, but, you know, anyway, obviously he thought that was... Like two lame black top, it just ended. Well, like the last of us, final episode, just stopped. And there we are, and there we are.

I suggest that he probably heard that. And, uh, incidentally, if you haven't yet listened to our last of us discussion, which was on take two last week, well, it all dropped at the same, it all dropped at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, obviously, I understand some people won't have done because you want to watch the series first. But when you do, then have a listen to that discussion, because I was thinking about our discussion and thinking, I think that's one of the best discussions

we've had. Child 3 hasn't seen any of them, and is about to start. He's too busy playing Dungeons and Dragons, and working on his tip-top TV show. What are you doing today? Are we allowed to say no? I don't know. He's an elf. He's a QI elf.

He's a, so he's doing that. This morning, as we were leaving your house, Charles III came down and he said, how am I because I hadn't seen him? Because I walked past his door as I was going up to your attic to sleep. And all like it, he was Orcs and there was an awful lot of destruction of fantastical creatures. And then he came down and I said, oh, congratulations on writing the program that he's just done. And he said, congratulations on being a nice person.

Yep, that turns out to be him. But also, I am also envious of him because he's got the whole thing to start. The last of us from the beginning. So I might have to join. He's also a stand-up comedian. He is. Yes, and he runs a comedy night in South London, which is a turn up for the books,

for sure. Wow. Anyway, if you have a what's on, which you'd like to tell us about, a bit like Michael, the brief curator, the brief curator. E. From the Queries Festival, send it to Correspondence at KerbertoMo.com. And let's, I mean, that's all great stuff in the UK. Let's see how far afield we can go with our Wattson guide. We have had a Wattson for Australia.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We can do some more. Anyway, so send it to Correspondence at carbonamoe.com. It doesn't matter how you spell correspondence, we've got all of those email addresses sewn up. As the end of take one, production management in general, all-round stuff, Lily the end of take one, production management in general, all-round stuff, Lily Hamley.

Cameras also by Lily. In fact, she kind of does everything. Videos, however, by Ryan O'Meara and Sancio Panzer, studio engineer Josh Gibbs, shepherded by Angelo Guest Researcher, Sophie Iván, heroics, were by Billy. Flynn Rodham was the assistant producer and guest booker. Johnny Socials was on the socials.

Hannah Talbot was the producer and Simon Infinity Pool was the redactors. Is that what we're calling it? This is now what he wants to be known as. Infinity. Why is it in Infinity? Why is it called Infinity? Well, you know what Infinity Pool is? Yes. Yeah. So, okay. So, an Infinity Pool is an actual thing in which when you're in a swimming pool, it looks like- It goes on to the sea. Like, John. But obviously, the idea of doubling and doppelganging is an infinite. Okay, I see. Anyway, what is your film in the way?

Infinity Pool. Infinity Silent Pool. Okay, thank you very much for listening. Extra Takes with a bonus review, a bunch of recommendations, and even more stuff about the movies and cinema and adjacent television is available right now. Right now. So this thing landed here, and the other one has just landed alongside it. That was the sound of them dropping. That's right. Take three and question, Schmessions will be dropping next week. I don't know where this dropping thing came from.

It arrives in your inbox anyway, then that kind of thing. I think dropping is, is that okay? But yeah, they say like episode three drops on, is that okay? Well, we've dropped and we'll be dropping. There's another drop. We've done another drop. So many ways. We dropped and we'll be dropping. There's another drop. We've done another drop. So many ways. We'll be dropping you again next week.

Thank you very much.