Kermode & Mayo’s Take - Ron Howard, DC League of Super-Pets, Hit the Road, Thirteen Lives, Fire of Love

Episode Date: July 29, 2022

Simon talks to legendary Hollywood director and actor Ron Howard, about his new biographical survival film ‘Thirteen Lives’ - starring Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, and Joel Edgerton. Mark reviews the new animation ‘DC League of Super-Pets', ‘Thirteen Lives’, documentary ‘Fire of Love’ - following the lives and careers of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Kraftt, and ‘Hit the Road’ - a new film by Iranian director Panah Panahi, that tells the tender and chaotic story about a family on a road trip You can contact the show by emailing [e-mail] or find us on our social channels. A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-daycare  money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trying to escape the holiday playlist. Well, it's not gonna happen here. Jesus' season for a vacation Fa la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la With sunwing seasons of savings on now, why not ditch the cold and dive straight into sun? Visit your local travel agent or... Sunwing.ca Sunfibas What's going like the clap? I know't go like the clapper's means.

Just I don't know. So we just had a clap. What are clappers? Is it a horse? It must be a horse thing, isn't it? It must be like, Hannah, horse racing correspondent, is going like the clapper's a horse thing? R-E-F-S-L-A-E-F-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-A-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-A-S-L-E-F slang. R-E-F slang. Which I think, I think blighties R-E-F slang. But anyway, maybe our top team can look that up and then give us a... Well, I can just look it up.

Got a computer here. Yeah, but no, I know. But you're looking something up on the internet. It's never the greatest. Going like the clappers origin. Here we go. Well, there we are. But to the village town by the use of church bells, the clappers in question are the things that clang on the inside of a bell making the ringing sound,

a vigorously wrong bell implied a sense of urgency or speed. So that's what the clappers are. It's a little bit of Campanology to start the show. Pardon? Campanology. Ringing, but the bell ringy. I was a campanologist. Oh, Campanology is bell ringy. Oh, I was a campanologist.

I used to ring bells. I was bell four. And I wasn't particularly very good. Is this true? Are you just making this up? No, it's true. That you used to ring bells. I used to ring bells.

So, and there's a thing, isn't it, that you pull it... When you pull it down, that's not when it goes ding. You have to time it that you're ahead of the ding or something. When you look to trebles going, she's gone. That's what bell number one says. And then you follow around, sorry, say again, look to trebles going, she's gone, which I think means look out bell number two, ringer. Trebles going, so treble is the first bell she's gone, meaning it's a bit like some ready steady go. Is that kind of thing? And I was bell number four, so you have to try and stay in sequence if it's all possible.

Yes, but so what I'm saying is that what you're pulling is out of sequence with the sound. It's like playing a church organ, which is that the sound comes out slightly behind because the air has to get up into the point. I'm just going back as long time ago. So I think when you ring it, it's, but I think it's as it bounces off the stay and then you hear the ring anyway, it's like, we will have Campanologists corner and people will be contributing to this. They're actually really impressed that you used to do that

because I thought it was kind of like magic. The main problem is, is if you broke the stave, you bounced it off the stay, which is the thing that stopped the bell just swinging round and round and round. If it cracked, then you were in trouble. So that comedy thing in a cartoon where the bell ringer disappears up into the bell free, that's because the stave's broken and the bell is just swinging round and round and round. It cannot actually happen. It can happen. Yeah. Wow. And the key thing there is to let go before you disobey. Yeah, but that's the enduring love thing. Isn't

it? It's the balloon going up. You have to let go early on. If you don't make the decision to let go early on, then you can't let go. It's let go immediately. Yes. Don't let go when you're 20 feet up. And about to crash into the bell for that. I think that opening to enduring love is still one of the most just heart-stopping film openings of eaves. I'm going to have to go back and watch it. You know, the balloon goes up and they're hanging onto it.

Oh. Anyway, that was very good. And you're welcome. Welcome to our top podcast. Yes. This is take one. Yes. Have you got your summer wardrobe together?

This is my summer wardrobe. Do you have a summer wardrobe? No, I have the same wardrobe for all times of year. Tell me what my t-shirt says. Stoker, Ampoule, Embarry, and Charlie. Thank you. It's a bit battered and it looks like it's been washed a lot. Yeah, well, it hasn't been ironed.

I like notes. I like to stay clean but crumpled. Yeah, and who would those people be? Oh, they're probably the Cumsett Angels or something. Not even close. What are they? Flame. That's the names of flame as played by...

As enslaved. Okay, that's very exciting. Anyway, on the show today, I wonder if people do have a summer wardrobe? I feel I should have thrown the ball back. No. Do you have a summer wardrobe? Well, I guess you have a summer wardrobe? Well, I guess you have jumpers which you only wear in the winter,

and then you have jumpers which work in the autumn, but apart from that. No. I mean, I just, you always dress pretty much the same. Like a teenager. Like a teenager, exactly. And I, you know, anyway, on the show, it's a very, very entertaining show today. Is that the end of the banter? The bad inage. Well, what else did you want to discuss? No, well, I mean, very entertaining show today. Is that the end of the banter, the bad inage?

Well, what else did you want to discuss? No, well, I mean, I was going to say, just in case anyone's interested in this domestic drama, what do you make of the conservative leadership election, for example? Well, what I made of it was that last night, I arrived at your house, as always, 9.30 because I don't like to get in the way,

and you've now allowed me to stay in the top room many more nights, and I think you originally intended when you said, Lady in the van. Yeah, you're right. Maggie Smith. And I didn't know anything about what happened in the television broadcast, which apparently is all now fine. But that was the first thing you told me when I came in. So I walked into your house.

Yes. I was immediately updated on all the news that's fit for you. But who are you instinctively be supporting? Coming up on the show, Mark's going to be reviewing which films? I'm going to be reviewing lots of films, including DC League of Superpets. Oh, good. A Fire of Love, which is a documentary about volcanologists, hit the road, which is a terrific road movieologists, hit the road, which is a terrific

road movie, as the title may suggest. And also, we're going to be talking about 13 lives, with our special guest, Hollywood legend director of Apollo 13, Splash, Cocoon, Frost Nixon, the Da Vinci code, always a favorite. So, a Star Wars story. It is, of course, the great Ron Howard. You can hear my chat with him a little later on. And as if that wasn't enough. On Monday, for the Vanguard, there'll be another extra take in which we'll be expanding on our viewing

and our feature One Frame Back inspired by DC League of Superpets. I've been asking you for your animated animal movies on all our thousands of social channels this week and an awful lot to choose from. I just can't get over the phrase inspired by DC League of Superpets. That's not a phrase you're gonna hear very often,

fair enough. And in Take It Or Leave It, you decide I would have mouth on a podcast feature, hearing your thoughts on Netflix is, you got. Netflix. It's easier just to say your thoughts on midnight mass, which is on Netflix, which has sparked some debate. And also more on Howard, because he was very gracious with his time. And I do get to finally, after all these years, talk to him about parenthood. Yeah. All that's coming up. That's on take to your suggestions for great streaming stuff to just anything you want to shout to us about correspondents

at kermitomeo.com. Do you think to him when you're coming into third and you need to do it third? Diary, yeah. I could have done it, but we did. Sign up to our premium value extra takes to dig all that stuff. Do you dig things still?

Because it's the 60s. It man. Yeah. Can access all the extra stuff through Apple podcasts, or if one prefers a different platform, then one should take to extra takes.com. If you're already a Vanguard Easter, thank you as ever for subscribing. We have an email. Just the one. Yeah. An email floods in from your actual J Rainer, restaurant critic, extraordinaire, master chef judge, and out-to-lunch podcast presenter. Great. How lovely to hear from him.

J says, dear butch and sundance. So good. MTL, second time emailer, but you ignored the last one. I had a chance. MTL, second time emailer, but you ignored the last one. Sorry. Great one, tap with merit. I heard you talking about serstroming, which, so this is about smelly food. Yes. That you said it was the most smelly food stuff, not a man call. When we were researching it back on the Ite program, this was, in terms of something that

you could go out to the Scandinavian store, which was around the corner, and by that Sustraming was supposed to be the most stinky food of all time. Anyway, he said, Jay says, it brought back memories, not all of them great. In my 2016 book, he's plugging, he said, I mean, I mean, I've rolled on. Ten food commandments. There's an essay on the appeal or otherwise of stinky food. Sustraming rated the stinkiest food in the world by a Japanese university study is one of them. There is a story about a German landlord who in 1981 was taken to court for evicting a tenant who had sprayed Sustraming liquor all over the shared stairwell of his building. He won his case.

He won his case by opening a camp inside the toilet, which is a bit like saying, you're on a, can I lend off a stink bomb? So, Jay says, I ordered a tin, which I opened in Brockwell Park across the road from my house on a very windy day in 2016. The neighbors still talk about it now.

The videos of me sniffing and then eating, the festering herring later became part of the live show that accompanied the book. And with this email which you are welcome to use, apologies for the wind noises, but to be honest the Howling Gale was very much welcome. So here is the clip that Jay Rayner sent us Jay and Sustraming. It's quite right. It's a bit arm-pity. Oh, hang on. Oh god. Yeah, then it...

Feases. Whoa, whoa. The disgust response involves the narrowing of the nose, closing of the lips, you're trying to stop everything getting inside your body. Oh, yeah, no, that really, really wants. Look at the size of that tin. That was enormous. When we got the surgery, it was like in a tiny tin, and that was bad enough.

You notice he didn't actually eat it. No. Anyway, says Jason's delighted to see you thriving in the land of pod, and also hello to Jason who, like Mark, is very much older than me me and was there for many years above me at school. Yes, I was. I mean, I still am. So you just older than him. So did Jay Rayne go to the same school?

Yeah. Everybody went to that school as far as I can tell. It's like a school for the performing arts. Wow, that's incredible. I would like to hear from anybody who's actually eaten Sustraming because it does sound like a character from Camelot. From the night to the round table. We bring forward the stochious night Sustraming. If anyone has actually eaten the stuff, give us most of the

velocon mechanics and then they'll chuck it away. We would like to hear about that. Correspondence at curbinamayon.com. I forgot to set my clock, which is very inefficient It gives most of the fellow in the can and then they'll chuck it away. We would like to hear about that Correspondence at curbinamayon.com. I forgot to I forgot to set my clock, which is very inefficient of me Let me just how long we've been going Too long they should say 11 minutes, okay, very good. Thank you Nikki and Verona, but actually from Dublin in the weirdest Is the word synchronicius? Would that be right synchronician in the weirdest synchronicius. Would that be right? Synchronicius, in the weirdest synchronicius moment. I would, not a construction I would ever have used, but it sounds,

it sounds good. Workable. Yes. In the weirdest synchronicius moment I've yet to experience, as I slogged towards the only chemist in Verona in 40 degree heat, La Saturday, to buy some paracetamol for my Pauli's six-year-old. I passed beneath the Juliet balcony at Chita Antica in actual Verona, only to have Mark Kermode serenade me with a song about Blum in Romeo and Juliet.

That's right, yes. Positively discombobulated. Fantastic, from Fomberlina. And there's the proof, that's where she was. Wow, you see. So you sing that stuff in here. It comes out there. And she's actually finding it synchronicious. That's very, yes. I don't know. I still don't know or fully believe that that is actually a word. It is a word apparently. It's a sound. It's being checked. And if you would like to email us and use the word synchronicious in another context, then that would be a lovely thing. Ian Howard. Yes. Grade 7 Trombone, captain of the Unbeaten St John's Leatherhead Thirds,

the 15th, so that'd be rugby in 1996. And he's probably always thought, I was only in the Thirds, and there were two teams above me, but anyway, he was captain and they were unbeaten. Okay. Dear doctors, no, and yes please. In last week's show, Simon read out correspondence from one James Bond, but not that one. Understandably, he followed up with the exclamation,

imagine going through life with the name James Bond. Well, I thought I'd bring to your attention the fact that there is a film that does exactly that. Enjoying its world premiere at this year's Dock Edge Film Festival hosted in Auckland, New Zealand, Australian filmmaker Matthew Bowers, the other fellow. Have you seen this film? No. It's an energetic exploration of male identity via the lives, personalities and adventures of a diverse band of men across the globe all sharing the same name James Bond. The stories include that of a black American arrested for telling a police officer

his name is James Bond, the officer assumes he's being facetious. No. And an outrageously eccentric suite with what can only be described as a 007 fetish. I went with my best mate and fellow long-term listener Yens Herzlum, known as the Good Viking, and we both agreed that on reflection, being James Bond in name without the license to kill, killer tuxes and Bond girls probably wouldn't be all that great. But regardless, we couldn't recommend the movie highly enough, it's beautifully constructed, funny and very moving. Hello to Jason, down with the Nazis, and narcissists everywhere. Very good. Do you think, which narcissists do you think he might have?

Thank you very much. See, we weren't allowed to do that before, but there we are. Yes. No, no, no, you can't. No, you can't. You can't, you leave it in. We'll rebel against the version. Yeah, exactly. If you've just heard bird song, what Mark said was. BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS

Yeah. What was that again? BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS I think that's right. They are the narcissists. The Malignant narcissists to sure. So we've got all their albums. Excellent.

Correspondenceakonymay.com. Movies, here's the one I've been looking forward to, the one I'm already booking seats for in the local multiplex and ordering my Mexican food and a little drug deal on the side because that's what we can do at our local, or DC League of Super. I have to say that gag kind of requires context. Oh, okay, down at my local, just watching that dust in off, was it called contagion?

Yes, have you seen this monkey, that one? And there's a guy on the front doing a whole series of drug deals, this is a long time ago, and things have got a lot better. So, okay, carry on. This is a long time ago. And things have got a lot better. So, okay. Carry on. DC League of Super Pets. Yeah, from there to DC League of Super Pets,

computer animation based on the DC Comics Legion of Super Pets. In the opening sequence, we see Carl Ells' puppy, you know, young person who's going to become Superman, leaping into the spaceship that takes baby soups away from planet Krypton, which is blowing up. And he then grows up to be Superman's canine sidekick, Krypto, who has the same sort of superpowers that Suaps has.

Lex Luthor, captures the justice league, puts them in cages, it falls to Krypto and a rag tag assortment of Shelterp pets to save the day, who were variously been either stripped of or given superpowers due to a complicated plot, which I'm not going to go into. Chief among the voice artists are Dwayne Johnson as crypto, Kevin Hart as ace, they're the kind of the dual role at the centre of it. And then there's Kate McKinnon as Lulu, who is a hairless guinea pig who's gone over to the dark side and dreams of world domination. He's a clip. Okay enough mayhem. Thank you. We gotta go. My goodness. Ha ha. Look who's alive. Well, let's correct that the lower side.

Shall we? Aes, deploy K9 shield. What is a K9? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH We specialize in those, but the graphics were professional. Yes. The cast also includes Diego Luna as electrokinetic red squirrel, John Krasinski's clock Kent, Anke Nana Nunu, as Batman. A co-written and directed by Jared Stern who has a genetic connection to the Lego Batman movie. So on the positive side, some of the animation has a kind of retro charm.

On the downside, it's a dog's dinner of a movie. I mean, it is a bunch of celebrity voices, all of whom sound like, you know when people record the voices for animation, I know this because I've asked Jason about it. You do them in, often in completely different areas, completely unconnected.

So it, it sounds like people aren't in the same room. And the miracle of the animation is that somehow they all sound like they're in the same room. This does sound like everybody did their performances in their own room. The plot is a weird mixture of stupidly simple and unnecessarily convoluted. The whole thing feels like it was dreamed up by a committee sitting around going, okay, what holes are there in the extended universe? Have we done young kids interested in animals? Should we do that? Should we just plug that particular hole? The main problem is, you know, people always say, we go into these films with expectations, which are not what the what the film is attempting to live up to. You know, it's just a kids cartoon with a bunch of dogs and guinea pigs and all the rest of it. You got, yeah, okay, but

on the one hand, you have into the spider verse, which demonstrates just how amazing animated superhero invention can be. On the other hand, you have the Lego Batman movie, as I said, with which this has a genetic convention, On the hand, you have the Lego Batman movie, as I said, with which this has a genetic convention, which demonstrates just how absolutely brilliant it can be to take those superhero iconic things and turn them into a kid-friendly, I mean, nobody expected the Lego Batman movie to be brilliant. And yet, you know, you can watch it time and time again, and once you know that it's possible to do that, you look at DC League of Superpets which is big and loud and splashy but surprisingly boring and just think,

well okay, should I engage the part of my brain that goes well maybe younger audiences will like the dog jokes? I suspect that the answer is that younger audiences and I don't know and I look forward to hearing from listeners who will you, take their younger members of the church. My suspicion is they will find it as boring as I did. Correspondence at www.comstilldecomepage10.com. Item 4. This is just opening emails, then I don't get, I go, I go, I'll be reviewing the documentary, Fire of Love, the road trip movie Hit the Road and 13 lives. You can hear from the director of that film Ron Howard plus marks favorite feature, The Laughter Lift. Now as you know, are you

at the heart of everything we do? That sounded cheesy. As you know, you are at the heart of everything we do. Everything I do. The production team for you. Basically sit around listening to Steve Wright. Well, you create our show content. So we'd like to hear from you. Your feedback goes a long way. It only takes a few minutes. Just head to kermitamoe.com slash feedback on the browser of your choice to answer a few questions and say how great we are. Time for the ads unless you're one of the hardcore in which case we'll be back before you can say vanguard. unless you're one of the hardcore in which case we'll be back before you can say Vanguard. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪

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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 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 Melda Staunton. 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, Selim Dor, 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. official podcast first on November 16th. Available wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back with Tom, who's 42 and a fifth in Bristol, Dear Crem and Broulai. Heritage listener, first time emailer. I write to you having just heard a listener in your most recent Friday edition,

describe her variant of Arles, wherein the sound of sirens in movies reduces her to tired and emotional states. Ever since watching the film without a trace, do you remember that? Yes, I do, yeah. A very curious thing happened to me while I was tucking into my bacon, peanut butter, fried eggs, and jalapenos on toast. Try before you judge. Just pause at that moment. This is Tom, who's managed to live until he's 42,

while steating a diet of bacon, peanut butter, fried eggs, and jalapenos on toast. See if I, I'm just, hang on. It does sound like a book by Dr. Zeus. If we, do you have it, do you eat eggs? Yes, yes, okay. So let's get rid of the bacon. Does peanut butter, fried eggs, and jalapenos on toast sound like something that you would... I'll give it a go. Okay.

As long as they're free-range eggs. And a side order of sister-in-law. Anyway, Tom continues. I found myself reduced to a tearful heap listening to her description of multiple state police forces coming along for the ride as the kidn child at the central stories returned home safely. I have never seen said film and have no intention of doing so. I assure you everything is all right at home so I can only attribute my sudden outburst of lackromosity to your listener's variant of ours, which somehow contrived to affect me via my listening device. It's a variant of a variant, if you will, or won't as the case may be.

Anyway, so that's a strange one. Yeah. Losing it. Yes, loving the new formats is Tom, please can we have another watch along before long. Punch Drunk Love was ace, up with the power of love, down with banana chucking minion records and say hello to Jason. We just discovered that a filmmaker who shall remain anonymous was planning to spend their transatlantic trip watching Punch

Drunk Love whilst listening to our commentary. That's right. And who also offered Jason a very big role in his or her next movie. So Jason, get in touch, we've got a great gig for you and you get to play with the new dog, which is also part of this new person's life. That was well done. That was well done. Our box office top 10 at 25, Kurt Vonnegut, unsticking time. Unsticking time.

I'm sorry, it's changed. No, an unsticking time. It is unstuck in time. It's the following. Are you a Kurt Vonnegut fan? No, we think we established this last week. Okay, fine. So I'm going, oh yeah, that's right.

I said, I'm going to give you a copy of Breakfast of Champions. Oh God bless, God bless you, Mr. Rosewater. I really like this. I mean, I'm a huge Vonnegut fan anyway. I think if you are a Vonnegut fan, you'll be impressed by the candor of the interviews which take place over a series of years, no decades. If you're not, it's a very good introduction

to your next favourite author. Markets, this is Hugh in Wolfenstown. I went to see Kurt Vonnegut unstuck in time this weekend at the Art House in Crouch End. As a Vonnegut obsessive, I'd been looking forward to the documentary for months. I was heartened by Mark's positive review. Unstuck in time did not disappoint, while the beats of Vonnegut's biography will be familiar to most of his readers. The archive footage Marshall to tell his story was extraordinary. Vonnegut's own words meant that the film definitely passed a six-large test, and I must admit

to about a sudden onset cinematic lacrimosti syndrome during the scene recounting the bombing of Dresden. While unstuck in time does skirt around some of the more uncomfortable aspects of Vonnegut's biography and his writing, see, for example, his complete failure to ever write a convincing female character. It's a joyous portrait of a remarkable man and timely as we approach Vonnegut's 100th birthday in November this year and hello to Jason.

That's it 25. Yeah, I mean, I thought it was great. I really liked it. Number 16 in the UK, Brian and Charles, dear more common wiser says Evan in Dublin. I wondered if you'd see Brian and Charles with a friend in the lighthouse cinema in Dublin, because that's where I live after hearing Mark's review on the show. What resulted was a smile from ear to ear for the majority of the running time of the film. I love these silly ridiculous, in the best possible way, type of films that say to you at the start, us in the best possible way, type of films that say to you at the start, right, this is going to be a bit mad and we're glad to have you on board.

Once the suspension of disbelief had quickly settled in, I found myself laughing and rooting for the protagonist, Brian and his friend Charles. I'd urge people to see this movie, which is a welcome alternative in a world of movies such as Top Gun Maverick. Top Gun Maverick. Which I thoroughly enjoyed albeit differently. Down with soft-core centralists and up with these types of nonsensical, beautiful films says Evan in Dublin.

It's a film that makes you care about a washing machine with a mannequin's head and it is, I think, a really beautiful, and poignant analysis of loneliness and it's really funny and charming and oddly moving. Number 10, in the UK, number seven in America, the black phone, which is, we've said,

it's a much better film than one might expect. And it's very well directed. It's a good adaptation of a short story. And I'm glad to see that it's done as well as it has. Lightyear is at number nine. Rubbish, and it's such so much of a worse film than one may have expected from something, which is, and I don't care what you say,

and you can tell me otherwise, and it's not gonna to make any difference. A toy story movie. Number eight is the railway children return. I turned up on one of the the adverts for the railway children return saying you know if you love the railway children you'll find you'll find it impossible to resist this and I think that's I think that's broadly true. Fair enough.

Yeah. Jurassic World dominion number seven, number eight in America. I mean, you know, Jeff Goldblum doing Jeff Goldblum, other than that, everything you've seen before, nice to see the old and new cast together. Yes, although that is a moment. That's not going on the poster, is it? Now this is interesting, and I'm glad that we can do this

now with our expanded format. Number six, in the UK, primafaceae NT lives. So it's a national theatre live thing, which I haven't seen because it's not a film, it's a transmission of a, but fortunately, Phil Kruchal has done so. So when a movie, when a theatre production gets a certain kind of momentum behind it, obviously, sometimes NT live turns up and they film it, So you can go to your local cinema and watch the... And incidentally, I have spoken to many cinema owners and runners who say that it's a great thing

because it's really, really good for, you know, getting the bombs on seats. So Phil Krichel says, Mark and Simon, apologies for not starting with a funny term of addressing you, but having just come out of the single most astonishing night of cinema I have ever experienced, I'm a little shell shot. I'm a heritage listener all the way back to Radio One, and a second time correspondent previously telling you that Tatooine is an

actual place in Tunisia and not made up for Star Wars. Turn that which I'd forgotten, so thanks for telling us again. Tonight I attended a screen year of Prima-Facey starring Jodie Coma at a cinema, NT Live event. Hopefully with your newfound broadoscope you'll be able to cover this cinema event. It is being shown beyond its original run in many cinemas as it is an astonishing piece of work. This one woman's show confirms in my mind that Jodie Coma is going to be one of the UK's premier actresses for years to come. The writing and delivery of what at times is the most harrowing and upsetting material concerning a sexual assault that occurs to a successful defense barrister is handled

with total professionalism. Truly amazing energy and depths of emotion that I cannot believe an actor can deliver night after night on stage. It is fantastic that this performance has been captured and shown on the big screen. To quote the great Roger Ebert, which he done many times, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. In this case, it's the capture of a performance, transferred to film or digital equivalent that I would challenge anybody to watch and not be moved. Well, that's an extraordinary recommendation. I know new nothing about it until I heard your email. Jody Koma came on the show to talk about. Yes, she was the last duel. Yes, she was

talking about the last. Which she talked about very eloquently and intelligently. I mean, that makes that sound like absolutely essential viewing. Yes. I think the jury is still out on whether that's a film. I think that is a cinematicsark. Cinemark, it's a cinemark. Cinemark, it's a theatrical experience. Yes. So, I guess it counts as a best-night in a cinemark. Yeah. Anyway. But then, you know, best-night in a cinemark could also be the transmission of a football match, which also happens in cinemars, or the transmission of a doctor who's special, which also happens

in cinemars. So on the basis of what Phil says, maybe if that is still going to be shown at a cinemark near you, it may well be worth. That sounds remarkable. The entrance money. Number five. Top Gun Maverick. Is Top Gun Maverick? And American Number Four, dear Gone Goose, heritage national trust historic past member of the old Kirk before migrating to your new premises.

I'm late to this, but I saw Top Gun Maverick Q mark shouting Top Gun Maverick. Oh, sorry. Top Gun Maverick. The weekend shouting Top Gun Maverick. Oh, sorry. Top Gun Maverick, the weekend it came out with my dad, who's a retired fighter pilot, which is the way to see Top Gun movies. Imagine going that you,

you go in with, when you think he sat there and went, that's not right, he's not flying. He laughed throughout. It was a comedy for him. He did say the flying was very good, but, and I quote him, our routine daily bread and butter in the RAF. We would have needed no special training

for that mission, and we'd had just been told to go and do it that morning. Needless to say, imagine that. Yeah, that's incredible. Needless to say, he really enjoyed the film despite it being quotes very Hollywood and silly, but he says that about every film. I personally thought it was okay, but very much an almost seen-for-seen remake of the original just with the damn busters raid added and the final landing from hot shots. Hello, DeJace, and keep up the bans and the bleatherings, Jen, for Madam Roy. You know what would have also happened in the real life? When he said, you know, in real life, we would have just been told, go and do this this morning, but the difference is they would have said, oh, and incidentally, here's the country

that it's happening in. Yes, they would, no one would have said that. Just a Iranian Amritchment Plan over there. And number four here, and number five in America is Elvis Andrew, film degree, masters, M-Fill in progress. I scoffed during Mark's positive assessment of Bass Lermans Elvis, even going suffice to laugh out loud. No, I said, he is biased, affected by his love of the titular king of rock and roll. I myself am impartial to Elvis and Vegas by sleeper, is one of my favorite songs, but I was sure the good doctor had been blinded. I could feel a big butt. Blinded by his own passions.

However, I must tip my hat, Tim, as I went to see Elvis with expectations lower than the center of the earth, which was then utterly exploded by what was an astounding film? Baz knocked it out the park. His camera work has such energy and hysteria. I think he should only make films about music legends from now on. Tom Hanks does his very best work since Captain Phillips buried under prosthetics but delivering something I'd never seen from him before, an unsympathetic character but nonetheless layered and complex. Simon's interview illustrated how Hanks started out with a certain impression of his character underwent research and developed an incredibly nuanced take. I too share Simon's love of Amadeus, having watched the three-hour

directors cut illicitly on BBC I-Play. Lipples of Venus? During GCSE ICT lessons. Wow, if you'd have got caught, you'd have been in trouble. And if Elvis isn't quite as good as that 1984 masterpiece, it certainly comes close. Anyway, down with the Nazis, up with a bluehead feminist, hello to Jason who's getting mentioned in every single email. Andrew, thank you very much. So Elvis, still another thumbs up there. Number three, here at Number three in America, where the crawdad sing. M says

personally, love the movie solely because of Daisy Ega Jones. She held that movie up even in some bleak moments and that proved her as a credible actor and she's become, not that she is becoming since normal people and fresh recently. She is good. Um, I think the film's very, um, middling and rather disappointing. I know you feel differently. I haven't read the book. I thought the whole thing felt, you know, like a kind of upmarket nixbox novel and I say that as somebody who likes the nixbox adaptations,

it just, you know, despite the swampy setting and, you know, the, you know, the stuff about the difference between Martian Swampland, it just felt very, very undercooked to me. However, as a balance to that, you felt... Yes, I enjoyed it. It was a story that I didn't know. I haven't read the book, but I thought Dezi Eger Jones' performance was strong enough to carry it and it's got Mr Strathin in it, so I loved it all the more. There's an email here from Gabby.

Now there's some spoilers in there, which I'll kind of him and her over. Long time list, the first time email. I went to see where the crawdad's saying yesterday was pleasantly surprised considering the bad reviews circulating around. My biggest problem with the film, and I think this is okay to say,

because this is right at the very beginning of the film. Yeah, okay. My biggest problem with the film was that they jump straight in with the murder accusation. So when you... Yes, that is literally the opening of the film. Right at the very beginning. So you view Kaya the whole time as,

is she, isn't she, a murderer? A murderer. In the book, the direct line between Kaya and Chase is drawn much later and is much more interwoven with her youth. So you fall in love with her character outside of that murder accusation first. The book also spends much more time in the courtroom, spelling out how ridiculously

implausible it is that Cai could have done it. Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da Number two here, number one in America is Thor Levin Thunder. Yesterday, as I was delaying arriving at your house because I like to arrive late, so that I'm not getting in the way. And so I went into picture house central to get on with some work. Picture house central. In the bar. And because I just sit there and it's nice,

you know, I can, oh, you're paying them. And I can just get with some stuff. And I went to the bar to get a drink and a gentleman next door to me said, oh, hello, how nice to meet you. I'm here to see Thor Love and Thunder. And I said, oh, and he said, have you seen it? And I said, yes.

And he said, what did you think? I said, I hate it. You should have said, thanks for not listening to the podcast. You should subscribe straight away. Exactly. No, I said, I hated it. And he looked momentarily crestful.

And I said, but, you know, I may be wrong. I think it's absolutely. How do you actually bought tickets? Yes, it was too late. It was too late to go on to somebody else. You should have, you should have, you should have. Well, come and see me afterwards. I think it is to quote my great friend Duncan Cooper, T.T., which stands for Total Toilet. Number one is, number one here, number two in America is Minions Rise of Groove.

So look, this is my Minions Water bottle, and this is my favourite new thing, my Minions Stress Buster. It's just a squidgy thing. It's a squidgy thing, but I just, well, I think the Minions are the funniest thing in the world, and I would happily go and watch Minions, the Rise of Groove all over again, and I'm very glad it's number one. And to anybody who doesn't like minions, I mean, you can't argue. You really can't with a raspberry. Gas today on the program, one of the most powerful in

prison. I guess, I've never done that run at that. I guess. You can edit all this out. I guess today on the program one of the most powerful and prolific men in Hollywood. One of the world's biggest directors delighted to spend some time with him again on the program talking about his latest film 13 Lives, the survival film, true story about the boys and their football coach trapped in Thailand's caves in 2018.ทุกคนที่นี่คุณมาสีอร์อันตลาย

ไม่กินครับ ไม่ต้องหอด คุณค่อย คุณค่อย คุณค่อย ผมใครค่อยากคุณคุณก็ได้สุขับ คุณค่อย จะทำให้เราค่อย อย่า สุดสิ ส่งด้วย ให้ที่เราจะสุดสิ คุณคุณค่อย จะทำให้เราคุณค่อย แล้ว คุณคุณคุณค่อย คุณคุณค่อยไม่คุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุณคุ I'm also going to have an art in Prague. You're going to have a art in Prague? Yes, I'm going to do it.

All right. And that's a clip from 13 Lives. I'm delighted to say I've been joined by its director and one of its producers, Ron Howard. Hello, Ron. Very nice to see you. Let's see you. How are you?

I'm well. I'm taking a punt here, but my guess is that most people listening will know this story. We'll remember the story of just a few years ago, and kind of know what happens, or they've think they know what what happens and they know how it finishes. How did it cross your desk as a movie for Ron Howard to make? Well, I certainly knew about the story. My wife Cheryl had been really riveted by it and we talked a lot about it. I think I was shooting something at the time, so I wasn't glued to the television, but knew what was going on.

Thought I knew the story. When I read Bill Nicholson's screenplay, I realized there was so much more. And when I corroborated it and realized that it was actually very well researched and accurate, I thought, well, this is really worth dramatizing. This is, I think we can share a lot of information. I think the themes that are very apparent

from this inspiring story can be even better understood and presented through a scripted version. And I hope I could create that kind of connection of empathy for the audience and sort of engage the nervous system as well as the heart and mind. Which you do, right? So you're reading William Nicholson's script. for the audience and sort of engage the nervous system as well as the heart and mind. Which you do, right?

So you're reading William Nicholson's script. So of course he has comes with fantastic back catalogue, had the A-turn, the MIS and so on. Was there a moment when you're going through it and you go, oh, actually, yes, this is a run-how at movie. You know, obviously he has a fantastic reputation. I wonder what it was that he gave you that you thought, yes, this is for me.

Well, I was fascinated by it, and especially more now than ever, you know, I really let my curiosity drive those decisions. It's kind of what's led me into making more documentaries in recent years, is because I'm, you know, I'm fascinated by the way things work. When I began to understand that the nuances of what was entailed, that's when I became riveted. And then along the way, when I began to recognize some of the political risks that certain characters were taking,

certain tie characters, the sort of the spiritual aspect of the story that the parents certainly felt as it related to their children and their homes. And more about that. Well, in more than Thailand, that's the sacred mountain. And those caves are part of the myth of a princess. And in many ways, they felt that there was some kind of mysterious in this.

And so there was a lot of prayer and commitment and a kind of a metaphysical aspect which some of the Western divers who I later got to know and interviewed and worked with, you know, actually acknowledged they sort of felt and understood that energy, that it really factor in maybe not, who knows, but they wouldn't say definitively that somehow that it hadn't. All of these things started to make me believe this could be a really great modern contemporary movie. And yes, I related to it. understood it it's optimistic you know I'm a tender I tend to want to celebrate sort of viable optimism plausible optimism and so you know I

I felt like I could also bring a lot of my experience to this to this story and its execution I felt as a, what are the biggest challenges that you face? Because it's obviously the heart of this is an extraordinary cave rescue. How do you even go about beginning to tell that story? Well, for me, first and foremost, it was about the Thai culture. It was something I knew very little about and needed to get right. So from a filmmaking standpoint, certainly... Look, I underestimated a little bit how difficult it was going to be to recreate those

the caves to photograph it in a way that felt authentic and did feel lit and staged, but also the fact that even on a tank, even when you built the tunnel. It's still a person trapped in a very tight space underwater, relying, you know, upon their gear to get them from point A to point B. It was a far more challenging than I expected physically, but the cultural thing, I just knew I was going to tackle it by trusting my collaborators who would be Thai. And letting each of them know whether they were in front of or behind the camera that, you know, I did not want to make mistakes. I wanted this to ring true for a Thai audience. I wanted them to be proud of it. A lot of the movie is in Thai.

When Paul Gringoas came on the show for years back to talk about July 22, his movie about the Maskers in Norway, he said he directed in English because he didn't think he could direct in Norwegian. Was there any moment when you thought, can I direct actors who are speaking in time? I've done just enough of it. Whether it's been the Dan Brown movies that took me to various European places where we had whether it's Italy or Germany or France. And a couple of other situations, multiple languages were in play in Russia, languages I didn't speak.

And I began to trust my ability to cooperate and collaborate with the actors and with other people and get to that place. And I felt like in this climate, I felt like this had a chance to be a very good, compelling, contemporary movie. But audiences expect more. And I felt like the more I learned about Thai culture, I felt like that I didn't want to cheat that very much. So I just again, I trusted my collaborators, which is why we had a couple of Thai co-producers. One's a producer writer, another one's a writer director, came onboard and I really deputized them in a lot of ways.

A number of people have pointed out the similarity between this and Apollo 13. It's a rescue mission under terrible, extraordinary circumstances where maybe the majority of the audience will know how it finishes. When did those similarities occur to you? Was it right at the very beginning? Yeah, immediately upon reading the script, I said, well, there are some similarities here. But, hey, it's been a long time since since I tackled that's kind of a story. And I felt like it was, in fact, had given me some experience, some other films as well,

that I could apply to this movie and try to do it justice. Right away, my goal was to take filmmakers in script and go further, do the research, understand more, be more granular. And is the title of the film a sort of a nod to Apollo 13? No, it's an end goal. Yeah, we need to have a double featured down the road. Apollo 13 and 13 live, sure why not. But no, that's a coincidence. You have big movie stars in this film of Big Amotans and Colin Fowell and so on.

But it doesn't feel like that. It doesn't feel like a big star movie. Deliberate. I told everybody going in, I said, this, here's the screenplay. This is an ensemble movie. I'd love for you to do it. Here's what inspires me.

I think it makes an argument for what is possible. Look at the risks people take. I love the spirit of volunteerism in this. Most of the people who were really making a difference didn't really have to be there, including many of the heroes that we were going to focus on. They all wanted the same things I wanted. I was thrilled that they signed on, even though it wasn't a pure Vigo Martensen or Colin Farrell vehicle. I really appreciate that. It's quite an acting challenge as well, isn't it?

Because a lot of the time they're in full gear and everything is under, is, is underplayed because they're very kind of self-deprecating. I mean, they're an interesting bunch. Yeah, these kind of rescuers. They're a very interesting bunch. And you have to remember, they're hobbyists. They're the first to tell you you this is what they do for fun

They're not professionally trained rescuers now Rick Stanton The person that you amortons in place, you know, he's a retired firefighter So there's an aspect of his career that did involve you know, rescuing people But it's sort of not what why he's in in, into the cave diving, it's just a, it's like my own climbing, it's that kind of, you know, sort of explore exploration, meets risk, meets technical challenge

and physical endurance. And is that them underwater? Because it could be anybody once they were here. That's Vigo and Colin. They learned from Rick and Jason Malinston, And is that them underwater because it could be anybody wants to be that's v going column They learned from Rick and Jason Malanson who was able to come and also conversations with with John and Chris and and others And by the time they went through the training process the actors came to me and said you know this cave diving is a very particular kind of technical process and we've learned it, and we should do it. And that, of course,

freed me up so much to be able to be in a wide shot and move right in on a close-up and things like that. But we had to make time for it, and they, you know, they did a lot of over time and a lot worked a lot of Saturdays that they wouldn't have otherwise had to in order to pull those scenes off. And we'd heard about their extraordinary heroics in the rescue, but one of the things your movie does is it says, yes, and all this is going on outside. And you told the incredible story of the farmers

who said, yes, flood our lands, we'll do it for the boys. Amazing. Well, there are so many different political career risks, the risk to their livelihood with the farmers. And certainly the physical and emotional risks that the divers were taking. And what was the, you know, pretty unlikely to be great outcome, you know, it was, you know,

they all knew they were gonna put their best foot forward for these people. The other thing I gotta say is, the Thai government did a great job. They did a hell of a job. They were there as fast as they could be. They did everything that they could do. They continued that.

They never took their foot off the gas. And yet they also had the presence of mind to say, any other good ideas, anybody else, you know, can you contribute something? It turned out that a lot of volunteers and foreigners could contribute a hell of a lot and they did. Ron Howard, thank you very much indeed. Pleasure, nice talking to you.

So two things to say before Mark Reveaz, there's lots more Ron Howard on take two because he was generous for this time and we get to talk about other movies and the reason why you might have picked up on a lot of background noise there which normally there wouldn't be but we were recording it on one of the super art days and it was the Monday and we had like so it was like 38 degrees outside so the windows had to be open hence the street noise. Anyway more with Ron Howard in take two, and I would recommend you, obviously,

recommend you subscribing, but he's very, very interesting about a whole bunch of stuff. Meantime, 13 lives. So this is in cinemas now, and then on Prime Video from August the 5th, it follows in the footsteps of the documentary, by the people who made free solo, the rescue,

which was told the story before. You mentioned that there is that strange coincidence of Apollo 13 and 13 lives, that number chiming, once again, a story of people in dramatic circumstances in dire straits. The screenplay for this is by William Nicholson, who Ron Howard mentioned in the interview, Shadowlands Gladiator, L Mise, as I think. Yeah, as I mentioned. Yeah. There was two phrases that Ron Howard

used. He said, to celebrate viable plausible optimism, which I think is a great phrase, and also celebrate the spirit of volunteerism. Certainly the scenes in which we see, you know, the farmers who agree to have their lands flooded. They say, this will save the boys, agreed for the boys. The governor, whose own reputation is on the line and is told you will stay until this is done and who recognizes that if it all goes wrong, it's his fault. It is an extraordinary story and I confess that even now, when I think about it, because I'm really claustrophobic, the idea of flooded caves just presses all of my buttons, so I find it really terrifying.

The story about the seals first going, and then the British amateur cave is played by Colin Farrell and Vigil Mortensen, unrecognizable completely. The phrase you use was, I think, Colin Farrell's most underplayed before. He disappears completely into that character. I thought it was really, really impressive actually. I mean, I watched him for a couple of minutes before realizing that it was Colin. It's same with Viga Mortensen. I mean, the only reservation I'd have there, they're slightly spinal, tapy accents. There is a little bit of Nigel Toughnell in the accents every now and then, particularly because the dialogue

is so absolutely ordinary blokey that I think occasionally the accents, but it's, you know, a bickering about custard creams. There's a lot of custard cream to it. That was quite revealing as to the kind of guys that they are. No, exactly. And that's a very, very minor complaint. The dialogue, the script is full of really sort of poignant moments of dialogue.

There's the moment when they found the boys, and what am I supposed to tell them? We found the boys, now watch them die, they're not coming out. Never, because, okay, we found them. How are we going to get them out? And then with Johnston's Harry, the Anetha test, who is effectively called upon to turn the boys into packages, they actually say at one point, they are packages. We are the delivery was. That's what we're doing. And that's the kind of key to how this operation works. And even thinking about that now gives me the creeps.

And I think that when you consider that, you know, as you've said, we all know the outcome. Actually, one of the reasons that we were able to, I think, enjoy 13 lives is possibly because we do know that those 13, I mean, actually, the operation was not without loss of life as we learn, but that we do know that the 12 boys and their coach did make it out.

And yet still, I'm sitting there watching on the edge of my seat thinking, the idea that this is how you're going to do it, that you are effectively going to use this, when it's first suggested, I think he says, it's insane, it's unethical, it's illegal, and you're going to kill them to which the answer is they are going to die anyway. There is also a really poignant moment when after one of the operations has worked. And the character says, if we brought one boy out alive, we'd be heroes yesterday. Now that we've brought one out alive, if we fail with a single one, and then he lets

you sort of finish the sentence. So I thought it was really grippingly done, considering that there has been a very, very good documentary already, considering the fact that we do all know how the story worked out. I still felt that we learned stuff. I mean, certainly that spirit of volunteerism, I love viable optimism. I mean, Ron Howard is a good man at heart,

and his films want to celebrate the best of people. And I think that that idea of everyone doing whatever they can, I mean, that just brief scene of the farmer's just agreeing to have their land flooded that you flagged up is very moving. A fantastic scene on the side of the mountain is when they run out of pipes to drain the water.

And somebody says, have you noticed all this bamboo? I mean, all that stuff, I think works well, but it's the thing that it manages to do is to create a genuine sense of tension and for me claustrophobia and anxiety and then relief as things start to go the right way, because even though you know the story, I mean, even though you knew the story of Apollo 13, you still sit there thinking they're never going to get out of this. It's an amazing film.

As you said, cinematic release briefly and then it turns up on. Amazon Prime was it? Yeah, Amazon Prime was the fifth. OK. And when you've seen it, we'd love to know what you think correspondents at Curbinomeo.com. It's the ads in a minute, Mark, but first, it's time once again to step into our always happy, laughter lift. Oh, dear. Didle didle didle didle didle didle. Fourth floor,

Lanjury. Lanjury. Lanjury. How would you say it? It's like it. It's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's, it sounds like a legend. Fourth floor, pants, lighting, ladies wear, no. Fourth floor, luxury, pants and shoes, going up. Anyway, earlier this morning, child three said to me, can I have a bookmark and I burst into tears.

He's 22, he still doesn't know why I'm signing this. 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 I just, did that joke come from Child 3? No, do you know what? I sent him a message saying I need some jokes. And he is completely, completely let you down. I mean, how bad is that? I just check. Yeah, I'm just going to check see if you sent any. Yeah, okay. Because honestly, the jokes can't be worse than the ones that written down. No jokes.

Thanks a lot, Child 3. No jokes. Did you know though that the first French fries weren't made in France? Go on. They're made in Greece. Yeah. I'm reading a book about anti-gravity at the moment. Hang on, hang on.

Is it giving you a lift? It's impossible to put down. Baaaay! He he he he. What is still to come? That's actually not bad. Did you like to come? That's actually not bad. Enjoy that one. That's actually not bad. Hannah? Well done. That's actually not bad.

I think it's Flynn. I think it was Flynn. I was Flynn. Congratulations. There are two people working on that joke. They had somebody did the setup and somebody did the bit at the end of it. Still to come. I'll be reviewing Fire of Love and Hit the Road.

We'll be back after this. Unless, of course, you're a Vanguardista, in which case your service will not be interrupted at all. This episode is brought to you by Mooby, a curated streaming service dedicated to elevating great cinema from around the globe. From my Codic 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 at CAN,

that 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 is new so for a couple of films which I am really looking forward to since I have an Elvis obsession.

You can 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. Trying to escape the holiday playlist. Well, it's not going to happen here. of great cinema for free. Trying to escape the holiday playlist. Well, it's not gonna happen here. D's a season for evocation. Fala la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la with sunwing seasons of savings on now. Why not ditch the cold and dive straight into sun? Visit your local travel agent or...

Sunwing.ca By the way, Mark, before we go on any further, Alissa Vikander is going to be on our next show. Oh, fantastic. She's very, very, I gave her a curmode award way, way back when before we, when nobody else knew how fabulous she was. I'm sure that will feature somewhere in the, she won't remember.

No, probably not. And the last time she was on the show was for Lara Croft. And I thought she was fantastic. Yeah. So that's Alissa Vikander talking to us about Irma Vett, which is new series on Skyland Take. Yes. On the next program, Mark Nurdin, heritage listener, several time emailer, happy dancer when said emails are read aloud by your good selves. I enjoyed the

wonderfully random turn of events in Las Vegas podcast, which culminated in Mark's rendition of Marry the Mole Yes, from Thumbelina In response to your discussions just prior to this, on the mystery surrounding Who Shot Who in Barry Manelow's Copicabano Is Mark aware of the hilariously brilliant 1980s TV movie which was based on the song No, starring Mr Manelow himself as Tony No Having been brought up by a Manolo fan

in my mother, this was an almost annual watch on VHS. No, I can't take for you. As I know, you will both be itching to see this shamefully underappreciated master. Oh, yeah. As well as witnessing the sheer brilliance of Manolo having a really good go at acting. I won't spoil the ending. Suffice to say, it answers Mark's question about who shot who? Empathically. Wow. Love the show. Let's explain. What's it called? Copicabella. My guess is it has to be because all Mark says is it's the brilliant 1980s TV movie based on Copicabana starring Barry Manlo so as Tony.

That's the one. I mean, I mean, we got a wow. Wow, wow, wow. You want to know? I've found it. It's directed by Roses Hussain, Barry Manlow, written by Barry Manlow characters from the song Copicabana, and it's start, wow! Barry Manlow is Tony Star, an EtoTooler's Lola Lamont.

Next week you review it. If I can find a copy, you can find it. Absolutely. Okay. Wow, Mark, thank you. You've made Mark, I was going to say you've made an old man very happy, but that would have been disrespect. Can I just show you the, you've made Mark very happy. That's the publicity image.

That's gonna be a hard film to live up to. Okay, my guess is that's not gonna be available anyway because Barry will have pulled the whole lot. It's like the George Lucas Star Wars Christmas special which he is attempted to remove from the internet but which is available. Let us know. And if Mark can see it, he'll review it. I think as a spoiler, you can actually, next week, tell us.

Who? Shot. Who? Okay. What else is out that we can see? Hit the road, which is the feature debut from Panah Pinarhi, who is the, the son of Jafar Pinarhi, the Iranian filmmaker, who was managed to continue making films despite the best efforts of the authorities to prevent him from doing so. We meet the central family of the film in the borrowed car, in which they will spend a lot of the film. There is mother, father, older son and younger son.

The older son is in the driver's seat. He doesn't say very much at first. The father is in the back. He appears grouchy. He has a cast on his leg. He's broken his leg. And then there is the mother in the front. And then the younger son, who is at just like a whirling dervish of energy. Six years old, constantly babbling, moving, jumping around the inside of the car, that everybody's kind of exasperated. He holds forth on life, the universe, and everything, and in that way that, you know,

out of the mouth of babes and falls and everything, and he's completely irrepressible. And on the one hand, he seems to be a presence who is going to tire everyone's patience, but also there is something fantastically watchable about him. We don't quite know what the journey is about. We've discovered early on that there is a cell phone that should have been thrown away, that hasn't been, that is then disposed of. The mother then, one point says, I think we're being followed. So there is something going on that's clandestine. We are told that apparently the elder son is on his way

to be married, but that doesn't seem to be the case. And gradually, during the course of the film, we learn what this journey is actually about. What the film is about is that brilliant intersection between the personal and the political, that it's a film which is set within a world in which people are worried, anxious, about the authorities and about the way in which they're being surveilled and about the way in which their lives are being controlled. And yet within the bubble of the car,

their family relationships are vibrant and lively. And again, as I always say this, it's not to do with what is said, it's to do with what is not said. The film has a brilliant balance on that razor's edge between tragedy and comedy. There are moments in it, I know this seems like

a strange comparison, but it reminded me of Laurel and Hardy. There is one beautiful section in which we see the father and the elder son sitting by a river, having a conversation that is actually very profound, but it also has this kind of almost, you know, Laurel and Hardy style, visual slapstick to it. There's also an interaction with a cyclist, which is very kind of slapstick. interaction with a cyclist, which is very kind of slapstick. And what happens is during the course of spending the journey with these people, you get to learn about each one of them.

And through what they don't say, because they're trying to keep the truth of the matter from the young child. They also have a dog with them who is ailing, and they're trying to keep that from them as well. What they don't say tells you everything about what you need to know about their lives. There are some great conversations about Bruce Wayne and how upset he would be if the Batmobile got scratched

because then it would only be worth 500 million to hold as opposed to 600 million. There's a lovely conversation about why 2001 is the best movie in all the world ever. There are some beautiful use of 70s popular songs. For some moments, I was like Carpool Cariochi. There's moments when people are singing along in the car, but then also there are moments in which the film

breaks into a kind of musical fantasia, breaks the fourth wall and lip-syncing addresses the audience. So the film teeters on the brink of surrealism and fantasy, and there is one fantastical sequence, which is it's imaginative, but it's all done so low-key. It's, you know, people often talk about, well, I think it's that joke about in full weddings in a funeral, how's your speech going? Oh, you know, laughter and tears, something for everyone. And there is a moment in the film in which there are genuinely in the same frame laughter and tears, something for everyone.

And it's such a hard thing to balance that, the serious and the comic, the tragic and the humorous, the personal and the political, the existential and the specific. And I thought this did it brilliantly. I thought it was absolutely, I mean, just breathtakingly well-judged. Every now and then, when a filmmaker gets something completely right, as you can hear, could get something completely right as you can hear. It's really hard to explain what it is that they got right. But I saw Hit the Road just knowing that a colleague of mine said, look, it's really great. You need to see it because it's exceptional. I thought, okay, fine. And I came out thinking, there's nothing wrong with that film. There's just nothing wrong with it. And I can't wait to go and see it again.

And it's called Hit the Road. And it's just terrific. Cinematic release. Cinematic release, yeah. Does it have a soundtrack that you can feature on your Scala Radio show? Annoyingly not yet, but I'm working on it. Oh, what you mean?

So there is... There are... Well, there are... Yes, there is music. There is music in it, and I'm trying to source the correct music. I'm weirdly enough well done for noticing. Of course, that's the first thing that I do, is that I cut that and are, yes, there is music. There is music in it, and I'm trying to source the correct music. I'm weirdly enough well done for noticing. Of course, that's the first thing that I do is that I come out and go, okay, I need to find all that.

Yeah, okay, we're playing in cinemas and a real solid, I mean, really go and see it, it is remarkable. What sort of a score has it got? It's not, there is use of music in it, and then there is use of these kind of slightly older popular songs and what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to find out what I can get. When I I'll keep you up to date you will be the first to know. By the way, can I say thank you very much. The Gray Man which we which you reviewed a couple of weeks ago and is now on Netflix. I think I watched it. The most expensive production.

Yeah. And obviously, there's another one already booked and apparently a spin-off from the Grey Man world. But when... The Grey Man world? Yes. Yes. But I have to say, having finished

and got to the end of the Grey Man, you did think, well, please let that only be one. But obviously, that's not the case. I'm reminded of an interview I did on stage with Paul the Hoven when he had made the Hollow Man. And I interviewed him on stage at the Edinburgh Film Festival about his new film, The Hollow Man.

And I said, so Hollow Man, Paul, what's it about? And he said, well, it's Hollow Film, really. He was like, oh, okay. Right. So let's talk about your other movies. And actually, the Grey Man, horror film. Yes, it is. They try to, they try, they try so hard and spend so much money and come up with the most derivative. There's nothing in it, I mean, spectacular. It goes back to the bank, Crushy, boom, boom.

But imagine having all that money and coming up with nothing that's original at all. Well, what's that phrase? It's the hollow vessel that makes the loudest noise. It is the boom bang a bang of expensive Netflix movies, isn't it? Anyway, so there's going to be more gray men, obviously. So before we're done, have we got another new movie?

Fire of Love, which is a documentary about the French volcano, volcanologists, people who study volcanoes as opposed to people who study volcanoes, Katchit and Maurice Kraft. The National Geographic label at the beginning tells you that you're going to see some remarkable scientific footage, because whenever they're, you know, their name is at the beginning of a film, you know you're gonna see some stuff. And they journey from one explosive observation trip of observing live volcanoes,

volcanoes that are spewing molten stone, stuff that should be solid, but is so on fire that it's not solid anymore. The title also tells you that it's a love story. A love story that we know has a tragedy in it because very early on we are shown an image and we are told this is the last recorded image of the pair. We also know that there is tragedy coming because the rather overwrought narration is read by Miranda July in her most breathy tones, his eclipse.

This is Kacha and this is Maurice. Tomorrow will be their last day. They will leave behind hundreds of hours of footage, thousands of photos, and a million questions. Alone, they could only dream of volcanoes. Together, they can reach them. They meet on a blind date at a cafe. From here on out, life will only be volcanoes, volcanoes, volcanoes.

The most staggering, what she said, the unknown is not something to be feared. It is something to be gone to. And what she says there, because we have subtitles here, says, if he's going to die, I'd rather be with him. Yeah. So I mean, the story is remarkable. A relationship of equals who are both equally committed to the pursuit of an exploration. That will put them in harm's way.

But it's very nature. You saw in that clip that we were watching, the footage of them dressed in the silver, like spacesuits, heets it, dancing, dancing by the side of an exploding volcano. So the footage is extraordinary. I don't know about you, but I think that the sight of lava, of molten lava, folding, and there is something about it which is mesmerizing not least because it kind of represents in the most visual way, the, you know, the origin of the earth, the way in which what we're on underneath us, everything

is shifting and moving constantly. There are some really extraordinary images. There's also a terrific electronic skull by Nicolagadan, who is one half of air. Who are the French? Moose of fire. Yeah, precisely. Nicolagadan, who is one half of air. Who are the French people? Moose Safari. Yeah, precisely. If I have a reservation and I do, it's

that I could have lived with the narration being toned down. The narration feels very overwrought and felt like it was doing more lifting work than I needed it to do, both in its writing and in its presentation. Now, this is obviously something that's a very sort of personal thing, the way in which one feels about any, and incidentally, I've narrated documentaries. So, I am, I cannot criticize anybody else for overall. I mean, I never knowingly underwritten, but I felt that what the narration was trying

to do was to do that Hutzogogian thing about getting beyond the immediate cinema veritate truth and getting towards an ecstatic truth. And I think that their Herzog can do it and few others can. What's an ecstatic truth? Herzog's definition of an ecstatic truth was something which is beyond what you immediately see. So the ecstatic truth is the essential truth. The not the truth of it. I think he once described cinema verite as people, tourists faced with the past as opposed to seeing beyond. I mean, you know because we interviewed Herzog.

You know, he has that way of kind of seeing through the surface to something beyond it. And I felt that the narration was trying to do that. And it I could have lived without it because I felt that the the story of this a couple and their relationship with each other and with volcanoes was remarkable enough. But it's a it's a minor criticism. That is the end of take one production management and cameras, Lily Hamley videos on our tip top YouTube channel by Ryan

Omera, Johnny Socials with Jonathan Imiere, studio engineer with Josh Gibbs, Flynn Rodham is the assistant producer, Hannah Toolbitt is the producer, guest research Sophie Ivann, and the red actor Simon Pull Mark, what is your movie of the week? Hit the road. Next week, Alyssa Vikander on the program before we go, quick reminder that we'd love your feedback please. It only takes a few minutes, you go to kerberdomeo.com slash feedback to answer a few questions. Thank you for listening, extra takes available Monday.

MUSIC Laughter Lift, special bonus edition. Excellent! This just in from Child 3 who has delivered us from evil. I haven't read them. What I said was, needs some jokes for the laughter lift. Okay. Yes. Here we go.

I'm writing them now. That was at 1206. And then these arrived at 1231. Bing-Ball. So, laughter-lift music. Down, down, down, down. Hey Mark, hey, start it. Going down floor eight, supermarket and cafeteria.

The good lady ceramicist, her indoors, has got a new job at an Italian chain restaurant. I asked her, is it hard? She said, no, it's easy. Yay! Okay. Speaking of food, have you, and I haven't read these. Okay.

Just take it slow. Take it slow. Enjoy. Okay. Speaking of food. You literally employed one of your children as a script writer. Have you heard about the new giant monster film where a prehistoric Mexican dish attacks New York City? No.

It's called Tortilla. It's tortilla, pronounced like Godzilla. Do I get that wrong? Tortilla. It's called tortilla. It's pronounced like Godzilla. Tortilla. That doesn't quite work.

It doesn't quite work. Okay, more work needed. Anyway, I learned a new fun food, and child's free, by the way, if I just screwed that up just by reading it wrong, then I apologize. Maybe it has hidden depths, and I didn't have to work it out.

I learned a new fun food fact about food recently. The author, JD, Salinger, really, really liked baking bread. Well, but he would always cook two at once and put one inside the other. Yeah. He put some sourdough in the croissant, put a baguette through the bagel, always favorite, for catch it in the right.

Whaaaaaaay! That's good! There we are! You have raised him well. Okay, that last one is... That's very good. That's very good. That's very good.

He just wrote that. Excellent. So I believe those to be jokes custom made, created for you, the subscriber to this podcast. Child 3, the cheese pizzas are on leave. you