Kermode & Mayo’s Take - Sheridan Smith, The Railway Children Return, McEnroe, The Gray Man, The Good Boss

Episode Date: July 15, 2022

Simon talks to Bafta winning British actor Sheridan Smith OBE on what it was like to be a part of ‘The Railway Children Return.’ Mark reviews Ryan Goslings new action flick ‘The Gray Man’, ‘The Good Boss’ - a Spanish workplace satire staring Javier Bardem. ‘The Railway Children Return’ - which is the sequel to the much beloved classic. + ‘McEnroe’ -a new documentary that follows the life of the iconic tennis player. Plus, What’s on World, the Box office chart and more. You can contact the show by emailing [e-mail] or find us on our social channels. Show timings: 00:06:19 Last week's streamers 00:09:46 The Good Boss review 00:15:15 Ad break 00:17:46 Box Office Top 10 00:35:27 Sheridan Smith interview 00:49:42 The Railway Children Return review 00:55:12 The Laughter Lift 00:57:16 Ad break 01:03:00 The Gray Man review 01:06:21 What's On 01:07:43 McEnroe review 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

So we're recording and all that kind of thing. Yes. How many people have you blocked today then? Well no, so early I haven't done it. Actually I have done one this morning. How did you block? Oh, it was a Trump thing. It was a Trump thing. It was somebody going, my thing is, it's much to be said on both sides. To which the answer is, no, there isn't. Just speaking about that kind of thing, it's actually not. So have we started?

Well, yeah, so we're speaking obviously in the middle of a heat wave. And I think, so it's a heat wave today. It's a heat wave when this drops. And over the weekend, it's going to be super steamy. And then Monday is going to be very hot. And I won't name the particular newspaper. But a well-known American newspaper was reporting about how the Brits were dealing

with these incredible temperatures and all that stuff. And in the reporting, and I'm paraphrasing it because I can't remember the exact line. It was talking about people in the UK down on, it was on the South Coast thing in Bournemouth or something, and it said, where many homes don't have air conditioning. And I said, one of those kind of moments where you go, you really don't understand Britain and told you, no one has got air conditioning. And you said one of those moments where you go, you really don't understand Britain and talk to you. No one has got any. Absolutely.

I mean, offices, this studio has air conditioning, which is absolutely lovely, which is terrific. But I've never been in anyone's house or flat that's got air conditioning. So the key thing is America, we don't have air conditioning. We don't, because there are a few days where you think, oh, that'd be nice, but the rest of the year, no.

Anyway, here we are with another top show, as far as your concern, what's coming up? I'm going to be reviewing Mac and Row, which you've seen, which I'm looking forward to talking to you about, the Good Boss, the Grey Man, which is, I think Netflix is most expensive, production, and Railway Children Return, which brings us to our special guest. She's the BAFTA Award-winning actor and all-around good-eak Sheridan Smith. Plus, we're going to run through the box office, Tom Ten. And as if that wasn't enough. On Monday, there'll be another take-to,

in which we'll be expanding your viewing in our feature one frame back, which gives us some further watching related to one of the week's releases. In this case, sports docs, because we're talking about Mac and Ro. And you love a good sports doc, don't you? Well, I love a good sports doc more than I love sports, because as I always say, I know about, I know I was corrected on this. What I know about sport wouldn't fill the back of a postage stamp. That's correct, isn't it? That is the right way.

That's the right, thank you, Ed, for correcting me last week. And in take it all over, you decide our word of mouth on a podcast for each of Mark's going to be taking a look at midnight mass on Netflix. Which is interesting because I've seen all of it. He's seen all of it, more to come on that. Your suggestions for great streaming stuff that we may well have missed,

almost certainly have missed, correspondence at curbada-mail.com. Sign up to our premium value extra takes. You can dig into all the extra tip top stuff, which now includes a watch along podcast. You can sync up a streaming copy of Punch Drunk Love and here Mark, try to convince me it's one of the greatest films EBS in real time. I also try to convince you that it's actually a superman film. I know. And I think, do I think, did I, did I, did it work? You'll have to check out the podcast to find out.

You can access all that through Apple Podcasts or if Sir Madden prefers a different platform then head to extra takes.com. And if you're already a Vanguardista, as always, thank you very much indeed for subscribing. I should say if you hear any grumbling and a rumbling, it is either the Northern line, the underground passage underneath the studio or it's my stomach because you're a bit like Brian and Charles, you know,

Charles who was the robot, who's head is a mannequin's head. Right. And he says, and my stomach is a washing machine. It is a little bit like that. Quite often know what that feels like. It is a bit like that. A bacon sandwich with extra ketchup would obviously sort that out, but well for you it might be. In my case, vegan spread and actually vegetarian bacon has got a lot better. I mean, it's still nothing like bacon, although it's quite a while since I would know how to compare, but vegetarian bacon is getting closer to being edible. Kenny says, Hi, guys, just finished watching

Punch Drunk Love accompanied by a big bad cells. Okay. I felt compelled to write in as it was such a joy to watch it with Mark Laughing in all the same places I was and exclaiming, this is so brilliant. Non-stop similar to how I do every time I watch the film. Not to mention Simon pointing out the lack of license plate

on Lena's car, something I'd never noticed before. This movie is very dear to my heart and has been so ever since I saw it as a 14-year-old when it came out. There were so many things that felt like they were speaking to me and representing the anxiety and awkwardness I felt as a teenager from the valley, not far from where this was actually filmed. It changed my life and spurred my love of cinema. Hearing you express such a deep appreciation for this film was very moving to me for some reason. I think because I've mostly kept my feelings

about this film to myself as it feels so personal. I'd never heard about the Superman theory and it was cool to see it in a new light. Really? Anyway, just thought I'd send an email, love the show, thank you for all you do Kenny, who's been doing watch along for Punch Drunk Love and Pirates. He's going to be there sometime soon. Holy Grail will be there sometime soon. Yes, but Punch Drunk Love one was a

particular joy. And I'm so thank you for mentioning the Superman theory because I know I probably drove that nail home rather hard, but the more you hear about it, the more it's like, yes, yes, yes. And the thing that I can't believe is that I've never asked Paul Thomas Hanson about it, because partly because I know that he just go, no. Even if it's, you know, he'd just go, no, but the thing is, even if he said no, I wouldn't believe it. He's wrong. No, of course. That when Spielberg told you that Jules is, of course, about a shark, he just said, well, what do you know? That's what you just made it. Just because you made the film doesn't mean you know what it's about.

Yeah, but when I interviewed Paul Thomas Anderson about inherent advice He wouldn't even admit that the author actually existed. Okay, there you go So on the subject of The streamers we were talking about last week, Blackbird, which is on Apple TV+. Yes. So, I'm Taryn Edgerton, who was- Bulked up Taryn Edgerton. Yes, yes, who was on the show.

It was great. Last week, and was very entertaining. And he said to say hi, Mark, by the way. He sent me a message saying that he had very much enjoyed speaking to you. Annika Ruff on Twitter. I wish that all episodes of Blackbird were available now, because I'm desperate to continue the series.

Apple TV Plus shows always look so well made with a high budget, and this is no exception. I have finished episode two, and the two main characters have yet to meet. That's Taren with Paul. Yeah, they meet at the house. Yeah, the show, I have appreciated the time taken on character development and background storytelling, all the performances of so far being stupendous, and I'm excited to see how the rest of the series unfolds. I didn't have time to mention Taren, also it was nothing to do with him, but the title sequence I thought was very succession influenced,

didn't you think? Yeah, and also because of where I am, which I had to say to you, do you get to find out why it's called black? You know, that was where I am, which I had to say to you, do you get to find out why it's called black? You know, that was one of the questions that I should have asked, Taryn, but, you know, there's always something that falls off the edge. There is a reference to birds in one of the episodes, but I'd need to go back and watch all six to, it is very gripping though, isn't it? It is.

And persuasion, which we were talking about last week, Aqua Blush Girl says, that's a great name to have. You think that's a given name? Almost certainly. And you name this child Aqua Blush Girl. Aqua second name Blush, surname girl. Mark was way too kind to persuasion. Okay. I'm not sure why. My opinion is that this adaptation is a pile of bird song. It is not persuasion at all. It's blummin' awful.

I also think it is patronizing to say that Ostenites are up in arms. What categorizes an Ostenite? Anyone who's ever read Osten or someone who is obsessed with Osten? Anyone with half a brain who has ever read any Osten can see that this film is dire. Okay. Well, I'd like to say two things. Firstly, I've read Austin, and I didn't think it was dire. So technically, the every one thing is wrong. Secondly, in terms of being patronizing about Austinites,

I wasn't intending to be patronizing. The Austin fans who were up and up in arms against it before the film was seen were taking against the trailer, which I always think is a dangerous move. And what I think I said in the review was there's two questions. The first one is, is it any good in and of itself? And secondly, is it Austin? And the answer is, it isn't Austin, it evidently isn't Austin.

It is passively entertaining in a kind of, you know, flimflam way and we did say, you know, the constant winking at the camera does become annoying. But there are some good performances in it. I actually think Richard E. Grant is funny. And I think just dismissing the whole thing as terrible isn't fair. I don't think it's terrible. I really don't. I think it is flimflam and whiffle and it's not Austin. But there is somewhere in the background of it a ghost of what persuasion was about. But I said at the very beginning, the whole point about persuasion, the novel is it's generally regarded to be Austin's most personal statement. And there's very little

personal about that film. Correspond at kronomau.com. We'll do the box office top 10 shortly, but let's talk about a film. That's okay. So the good boss, glad web patron, which is directed by Fernando Leandre Aranova and it's does Javier Bardem

with whom he made Mondays in the Sun and loving Pablo, the Pablo Escobar crime drama. This was incredibly successful at the Doyer Awards. It got a record breaking 20 nominations and wins, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Act of a Heavy Airbag, and Best Reginald Screenplay and Best Score for Zelti Montez and the Score is, I think, really, really fine. Do you feature it on your top scholarship?

I do feature it on my top scholarship. Thank you for bringing that up Simon. So whenever I say a score, you can automatically imagine that that's the case. So the director himself has said that the film is about the way in which the modern labor market is completely corrupt and decadent. He said it's a tragic comic tale of a worn out labor ecosystem and also the reverse angle shot of Mondays and the Sun.

Javier Bardem is the head of a provincial company making industrial scales and they are up for an award, a business excellent awards that will come from the regional government if they can just manage to impress them that they are indeed an excellent business. He is terribly smarmy in petition. We see him at the beginning giving this gray hair, giving this gray suit, giving this speech about my, the company is my family. You aren't just employees. You know, this goes way beyond contracts. You're all my family. It very soon turns out that that's not the case. Firstly, he has a predatory habit of praying upon young interns and then disposing of them. One of the employees, a long-term employee, has been fired as a result of cutbacks and has consequently lost his home, his family,

and increasingly his marbles, and has set up a protest camp outside the factory, decrying the factory. Meanwhile, his right-hand man, his work is falling apart because he's marriages in crisis, and his marriages in crisis, he says, because, you know, his wife is doing something terrible, but of course it turns out that he is equally responsible. So, immediately, what you see is this kind of, this front-footed image of, you know, I'm a father to all of you and I look after all of you and you're all wonderful and then what you see is that it's all corrupt and it's all twisted and in fact he's just massively egotistical. So it's a back comedy. There is a central metaphor about scales and the scales of justice and justice being blind and everything being balanced. And that is a metaphor which is worked into the floor. I mean, there is not a version of that

metaphor that doesn't at some point get... And are fish scales in there? Is there, they push it that far? No, they don't go as far as fish scales. I wonder what the Spanish transfer, the Spanish is for fish scales. I could look it up, but it would take more time. I thought the film was fine. It's got a great performance by Heather Baudet. He does an absolutely brilliant job of, he has this kind of horribly paternalist smile

and this, everything sort of fixed in this kind of, you know what people talk about? The smiling face of capitalism, the kind of, you know, caring capitalism, and it looks all sort of very, ah, yes, and the man... The George Bond, that kind of thing. So, he actually had the image of George Bond and John Horsbourne, even, which would be interesting, in my head. John Horsbourne for John's.. So he's great. I mean, his performance is really terrific. And I think the reason he's performance is great is because you can do that thing about

looking smiling and charming and swathe, but also suggesting that behind it, there were these layers of corruption and vinality and self-interest and self-aggrandizement. There's a couple of funny running gags as a thing about the security guard befriending the guy who set up the camp outside and complaining about the fact that his slogans don't rhyme and they don't have the meter that they should have and that's a kind of quite funny thing. There's also some much darker stuff going on in the background and there's one scene in which our central character ends up staring at themselves in the mirror and it is like the void, looking into the void. My problem is, I don't think it's a masterpiece. I don't think it's doing anything that hasn't been done before and I think it kind of, it overstretches, certainly overstretches its central metaphor and it slightly outstays its welcome. But it is absolutely worth it for Javier Bardem's performance, which is terrific. I mean, he is really mesmerizing as that kind of smiling, but also reptilian, petty boss, who's the Lord of his kingdom,

and has the morals of a snake. Interesting. Morals of a snake. If only there was some kind of person in the news who we could attach that to, but I can't think of anyone. It's in cinemas and on-person home cinemas. Thank you very much. Anyway, still to come on this fabulous podcast. I'll be reviewing the Grey Man, Mac and Row and the Railway Children Return. Add you can hear from the star of that film, Sheridan Smith, plus Mark's favorite feature, The Laughter Lift, after this.

Oh dear. MUSIC Happy Nord Christmas. Protect yourself while 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 sensitive data like your personal addresses.

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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 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 Imelda Staunton. Other guests on the new series include the crown's research team, the directors, executive

producers Suzanne Mackie and specialists such as Voice Coach William Connaker and propsmaster Owen Harrison. Cast members including Jonathan Price, Selene Daw, Khalid Abdullah, Dominic West and Elizabeth The Bikki. 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? 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 myConnect directors to emerging otters, there's always something new to discover, for example. Well, for example, the new AkiKarri'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 Mooby 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 a new Sofia couple of film, 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. And we're back. Box of his top 10 on the way plus railway children chat, Mark's opinion and Sheridan Smith OC. Drew Murson in Aberdeenshire, heritage listener, former emailer, first time correspondent. Apologies if this has been covered as I'm a touch behind in my listening, but I wish

to address Mark's query regarding whether or not avocados are a fruit or a vegetable. So are you ready? Yeah, I am. Are you looking something? No, no, I'm looking already, I'm ready. Is something X a vegetable or a fruit? Is a frankly meaningless question? Is it? Deployed as it is usually to send tomatoes, cucumbers,

and in this case avocados into existentialist crisis. Fruit is a botanical term, generally describing the part of a plant which has softer matter, the flesh, usually contained in a skin and carrying the seeds. However, vegetable is a culinary term, an umbrella word which covers pretty much any part of a plant which we eat, be it the leaf, stem, root, or indeed, the fruit. There is nothing which we call a vegetable which cannot be described with a more accurate botanical term describing the part of the plant we're eating. I will concede that it is true that in general fruits are sweeter than the rest of the plant,

and are more often used in sweet dishes while the rest of the edible plant matter or vegetables are usually used in savory dishes. However, the widely known use of tomatoes, pea pods, cucumbers and avocado in savory dishes widely known use of tomatoes, pea pods, cucumbers and avocado in savoury dishes and the use of carrots, bean paste and for those of us avoiding gluten, potato. In various desserts, clearly demonstrate that it's not a reliable delineation. So, the answer to Mark's question, if we're allowed, is both. Avocado is botanically a fruit which is culinary used as a vegetable. Okay. Up with the rich variety of human life, down with blustering blonde blowhards. Very good. Again, a reference to her, before you were talking

about moral vacuums. And again, I'm just not quite sure what juice going on about. So, but that's interesting. And avocado is avocado who's botanically afroot, but from a culinary point of view? Yes. Because I can't say, culinary, it's a vegetable. Yes, and in both of those categories, it is horrid. No, incorrect. Both of those categories, it's fabulous.

And if avocado is the one fruit or vegetable, that should be smashed into obliteration. And then sprinkle with a little bit of chili paste and put on toast. Box of his top 10 this week, number 28, Futura, which I thought Futura. Futura, Futura. So it's a documentary in which young people

talk about their visions of the future and what their hopes and their fears and aspirations are, but it also ended up being a document about lockdown and about COVID because when they started filming the documentary, it so happened that it was just prior to the pandemic. So it actually ends up doing something accidentally that it hadn't set out to do. Number 10, Doctor Who, classic movie double bill, which is Doctor Who in the Daleks

and Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD, back on the big screen in 4K restorations. I mean, of course, the film versions of Doctor Who are very, very different to the television versions of Doctor Who, but I have to confess to enjoying both of them. There's the whole thing about digging out the center of the earth and turning into a spaceship, which I'm not sure is scientifically.

Clearly possible. And I just want to say all the best to Russell T. Davis for taking over the new series of Doctor Who, because I don't know, this is completely unfair comparison, but with Mandalorian turning up on television, stranger things turning up with an incredible budget, which Doctor will never have in a million years. Yeah. The stakes have been raised, I think, in that kind of science fiction based television, and I would be interested to see what a Russell always made a fantastic job of

everything. Yeah, absolutely huge man. Very, very good. Number nine, in the UK, not charted in America, Brian and Charles, Andrew Garrison says, this film was both silly and heartwarming in a good way, and I challenge anyone to watch Very, very good. Number nine in the UK, not charted in America, Brian and Charles. Andrew Garrison says, this film was both silly and heartwarming in a good way, and I challenge anyone to watch this without a smile on their face, especially the last 50 minutes. Also, it captivates you enough, so you don't question how the hell did he make that?

Just go with it. It's lovely stuff. Jules Evelyn, I love this film. I expected absurdist nonsense, but I also received a lot of heart and warmth, a true love letter to friendship, just in Spencer on our YouTube. I only discovered Brian and Charles today,

and have since immersed myself in as much Brian and Charles related content as possible. I love Charles so much. I immediately loved him. I can't wait to see the film tomorrow and really can't remember being so excited to see a film such a long time. I actually feel protective of Charles.

He's absolutely ridiculous and yet I love him. Yes, I am Charles Patrista. I mean, I loved it. I thought it was great. I had two of the stars and the writers on a live show that I did earlier on this week. I think the great triumph of it, as that first emailer said, is that you sit there

watching a mannequin's head on a washing machine and you care about how it feels about things. And it is a film about friendship and about loneliness. And it's adapted from a short film and it's one of the cases in which the short really is expanded by the feature as opposed to overstretched. I mean, it's so tenderly done and a lot of it is very, very funny. There is a kind of slapstick sort of walless and grommet style humor to it.

But it's such a charming movie. And it's an absolute, I mean, it was at Sun-Ans London. It was an audience award winner. And brilliantly, the filmmakers didn't know there was an audience award. So they left. And then they got all the way to come back because they won the audience award. It's such a lovely film and a real homegrown treat. That film

wouldn't have been made anywhere else. UK number eight, London Nahee, Johnga. Which I haven't seen if anyone has let us know. It's a Pakistani drama at Romance. Correspondence at cometermayer.com. The black phone is at number seven here, number six in America. Which I thought was much better than I had expected to be. I think Scott Derrickson is a very interesting writer, a very interesting director, but I think that this is a decent adaptation of a story by Joe Hill, who obviously is connected to Stephen King, but I thought it did a good job of dramatizing its kind of surreal set pieces in which voices

become characters that you actually see on screen. And it's got some genuinely creepy moments. When he said connected, just even King. Easy sound. That's the only reason I sort of slightly shy away from that. I do feel it almost does somebody an injustice. I know. You have to judge it on it.

But it kind of sees. No, I know, I know, I know. It does. But you know what I mean? It's like, say for example, one of your children started writing books, and the first thing anyone said was some or daughter of successful author Simon Mayo. Yes, but how about when you talk about Liz Cheney in American politics, she's clearly there based on her own opinions, but the fact that she's the daughter of Dick Cheney in American politics, she is clearly there based on her own opinions, but the fact that she's the daughter of Dick Cheney kind of is relegated.

No, it is absolutely. Yes, absolutely. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no's episode from James, Heritage Listener, first time emailer from Naraara, Australia. I just think this is really, really interesting take. I don't think we've provided this so far. Anyway, full disclosure says James, I haven't seen lightyear as of this email. However, it seems to me that whether or not this is tapping into a previous conversation, whether or not lightyear as a toy story movie depends greatly on what is meant by a Toy Story movie.

Consequently, depending on what is meant by a Toy Story movie, light year could be a Toy Story movie and not be a Toy Story movie. To explain this logic, I turn to the example of Star Wars and the spin-off movies given on the podcast I just listened to. In the current live action Star Wars movies we have nine mainline movies and two spin-offs, those being Rogue One and Solo. Both Rogue One and Solo are Star Wars movies as in they are set in the same universe, shared design aesthetics, characters, locations and so on. They are however not Star Wars movies, insuffer that the main Star Wars movies are science fantasy space operas with their own themes, structure, rhythms and so on that make them feel like a Star Wars

movie, as George Lucas would say they rhyme. Conversely Rogue One is a war movie and Solo is a heist movie, and thus they have theme, structures, rhythms and so on from those genres that will set them apart from the 9 movie Sky Walker saga. Therefore, when judging the standalone movies, I wouldn't expect them to feel like one of the 9 main series, as well set in the same universe they are trying to be something different. So to bring it back to Lightyear, while I previously noticed I haven't currently seen Lightyear, it certainly seems like Lightyear is trying to be something different

from the four main toy story movies. The toy story, Tetralogy, is a series of movies about parenthood growing up and bringing grown men to Greek tragedy levels of public weeping. So, the Tetralogy is four, is it? Yes. Lightyear, on the other hand, looks to be more of an action adventure movie that shares features with Toy Story, but is ultimately a different type of movie. And that should be judged on the merits of what it is trying to be, rather than what it isn't, trying to be. Thus, Lightyear, both is and is not a Toy Story. Even the same way that avocado is both a fruit and a vegetable.

And Shredding is cat is both alive and dead simultaneously. Or perhaps everything I just said is complete nonsense. I'm an engineer, not an art critic. James from Neroara Australia, thank you. was an interesting point and well made it is can I just Add to that that something is in a different genre doesn't necessarily mean that it is not part of the family And the example I would give is the first three alien movies the first alien movie is a horror movie Aliens is a war movie in In fact, the slogan for Aliens was this time it's war. And it was like, okay, you know, that first one, it was Texas Chainsaw, Masquerade, Haunted House in space. This is now a war movie. And then the third one is Name of the Rose in space. Or at least that's

how it was when Vincent Ward first envisaged it before it then got completely ruined by the studio and the rewrites. The idea that a series can jump genres doesn't mean that they're not a series. I mean, I think it's a very well argued point and very eloquently said, I still think you can judge light ear as a toy story movie. Number five here, number five in the state's Jurassic World Dominion. I think we've probably said enough about that. Generally disappointing, isn't it? UK number four.

Top Gun Maverick. And US number three is indeed the aforementioned. Number three in the UK is Elvis. Number four in the state's Neil Redding, MABA third place beanbag throw in the primary school sports day. He's a Vanguard Easter as well, so we love Neil already. Having been listening to the correspondence on Elvis, I must take objection to the fact that Elvis glosses over

the fact that Elvis borrowed Stole blatantly ripped off black music. The entire opening 10 minutes of the film shows Elvis embracing the black music he was surrounded with. And through his conversations with BB King directly states that he will be more successful with this music than BB could ever be all the while absorbing everything Bill Street had to throw at him. Later in the film, Lerman focuses an entire section in split screen on Elvis.

His young remembrance, the performance of Crudup singing, that's all right, Mama, and intersected with scenes of big Mama thawnton singing at Club Handy, appearances by little Richard Fats, Domino and sister, Resetta Tharp, underlined this further. Shorthof Lerman interrupting the film with a piece of piece of camera saying, here I am showing you the influences that Elvis had and how he exploited them. I'm not sure what else he could have done to make this clear to the audience. For me, Elvis was Lerman's best work to date, retaining his familiar style, but getting far enough out of the way so that his tropes and style complemented the story rather than distracting from it. Maybe Lermans own snowman vibe reflecting

parkers is what gives the film such a lift. Love the show, Steve. Can I respond to that? You usually can. I think that that's completely on the money. I mean, I feel the same way. I love the short of Lermans stopping the film and coming out and saying, now, in the back row, in case you hadn't noticed, this is what I'm trying to do. I mean, obviously, the debate about Elvis' relationship to African American culture and African American music and whether what it's doing is appropriation. Or, you know, I mean, we all know that one of the things that led to his success was the fact that he sounded like one thing, but was another thing, and therefore managed to break through a barrier that existed simply

because of what used to be referred to as race records. I mean, that was the terminology that was used. And I think that Lerman does a very fine job of acknowledging all of that and getting the tenor of it just right. Also, I should say that my experience so far is that the more you know about and like Elvis, the more you like Elvis, the movie, I had always suspected it would be the other way around that what the movie would be doing was to playing to an audience that didn't really know Elvis.

My experience has been contrary to that. All the Elvis fans I know and I was talking to my doctor Mike Hammond, you know, I'm in the Dodge Brothers' with, you know, he's from Alabama and he's steeped in this stuff, absolutely loved it. Sanjeev, who said that he didn't mind me reading out his text, absolutely loved it. People who love Elvis love that film and I love it. I think it's great and I just think it was so well put, short of lerm and stopping the film and coming out and explaining what he was doing. Number two here and in the States minions, the rise of Groove, but the buzz, Clint Kamer says, is a recent van Gogh Eastern. I've just finished listening and this taps in directly

to the previous conversations we've had about this and the strange phenomenon of young boys dressing up and going to the cinema and then causing trouble. Yeah, gentle minions. I've just finished listening to this week's program and I feel compelled to share my experience at an attempt to watch minions the rise of groups. I am currently in therapy for some mental health issues, which has had decidedly more impact than I had expected. Most experiences outside of the house are now an issue for me as I very quickly get overstimulated, which makes me want to leave.

After Marx chuckling review last week, my wife and I booked tickets for a midday showing of the new Minions film, expecting some low-stakes shenanigans. Imagine my surprise to find the theatre literally overcrowded with adolescence that had bought tickets for a different film, only to sneak into hours and proceed to throw bananas and shout like they were at Glastonbury from the illumination logo onwards. I fled the cinema, in Blind Panic. Mark's notion of how a child would have experienced this type of behavior has helped put things into perspective. Imagine this being your first trip to the big screen, disturbed by bigger boys with more

bananas than wits. Oh, well, I have to see this film when it eventually arrives on a streaming service, but I hope all affected children get another chance at seeing it on the correct screen in a code compliant way. Thank you for receiving this message, writing it has helped me a lot. So what's interesting about that is what I hadn't heard about before is that clearly, to get round this ban, people buying tickets for another film and then somehow going into

grew and then making life merry-hell for people like bass. Yes, I hadn't heard that either and I find it absolutely shocking. It is really, really disheartening that something as charming and funny and innocent as minions can have become the center of this. If you are one of the people who has partaken of this, if you are the child's duty listening to me is non-existent, but can I just say shame on you. If you are, I mean, if you are the child's, if you're listening to me, is non-existent. But can I just say shame on you. If you are spoiling cinema for other people, shame on you. If you are bullying other people in a cinema, shame on you. If you are preventing

other people from having the glorious and often life-affirming experience of just pure slapstick comedy in a cinema shame on you. You should genuinely be appalled by your own behaviour. Utterly, utterly shameful. Well, Baza, I hope you get to watch it at home in the privacy of your own house and enjoy the movie. Thank you for the email, which was very eloquently. Number one, in the UK, number one, in the US is Thor Love and Thunder. Colin O'Brien. Dears Simon, clearly, thank you for standing up for Thor Love and Thunder

against Mark's egregious assessment. He obviously viewed the film through angry eyes and with an agenda to prove himself right, the JoJo Rabbit wasn't as good as his fellow critics claimed. Four, four, four, some more, as he's calling it, it's not a perfect film, but Mark was irrationally angry, going so far as to call you a liar, when you're dead to suggest you found the film funny,

which is basically true. The film was hilarious. I believe it's actually not. I didn't say you were a liar. You didn't, I think your tone implied it. You could say, what? What did you like? Tell me the bit that you liked.

Yeah, but I did say it. I believe part of the backlash with the film is that audience expectations were misaligned. Instead of the usual action adventure with touches of comedy, we got full on comedy with touches of drama. I for one found that refreshing. Thank you and keep up fighting the good fights. Sariana from Espoon Finland. Dear Axe and Hammer, I didn't go into Thor Love and Thunder with terribly high expectations,

but a fair amount of goodwill. I'm a big fan of Tyco with TT. Our flag means death is my favourite piece of media in a long, long time, and Thor Ragnarok is the only MCU film aside from Black Panther that I've enjoyed since the first Avengers. I really enjoyed it. The plot was standard superhero guff, but the theatre laughed throughout. You could hear what the characters were saying and make out what happened in the fight scenes. It was colourful, except when it wasn't, and a good dozen frames would not

look out of place airbrushed on the side of a van. The voice of a narration didn't work and some jokes didn't land, but I forgave everything for moments of high camp, like dropping into the intro of Sweet Child of Mine. There's been some discussion on the LGBTQ plus representational lack thereof. Honestly, as a queer person, I don't trust the Disney Marvel machine to handle a major queer storyline well. The incidental moments in this film didn't feel tokenistic, so I'm perfectly fine with what we got. Mark might enjoy the fact that the title card for one of the trailers, something called ticket to Paradise, has George Clooney's name lower down to the left,

and Julie Roberts' name higher up on the right. Anyway, one for Hardline. Followers Steve from Esprit and Philan, thank you very much indeed. That's Thor 11th under number one. I was with Brett Goldstein as you are. Yeah, on Monday I'm doing a live show thing. And of course there's a connection because Brett Goldstein is going to be hurt Gilly, so he's now connected to this universe. And he said to me very pointedly, was Simon Mayo liked it. Oh, he's a fan. He's a fan.

And so no, I've had plenty of people expressing that view to me. You're all wrong. You're all in a state of complete denial. The film's rubbish. Just it occurred to you that it might be you that's wrong. No. And that you went with angry eyes. I didn't go with angry eyes.

I went in thinking this will be fun, because it's like a TT and I, and I like Thor Ragnarok. No, it's terrible. I mean, the film is absolutely all over the place, and you are all sleeping in, you know, sleepwalking your way through the collapse of the mainstream cinema, false consciousness, exactly. And you will come to realise later on that actually it's a terrible film.

It's very badly written, very badly constructed. It's smug and I guess this jokes aren't funny. I guess this and I, you know, and I absolutely, I just want to say 100% and even more so, double down on what I said before, Terrible, terrible, terrible film. I'm right, you're all wrong. I guess this week you shared in Smith, OBE. She came to prominence in the Royal family and has gone on to give a series of acclaim performances

in Mrs. Briggs, Silla, C. Word, Blackwork, and the more side. Her feature credits include Tower Block, Quartet, The Huntsman, Winters War. She's the recipient of two Lawrence Olivier Awards, a BAF Awards, a BAFTA, a National Television Award, and a BPG Award as well as two International Emmy Award nominations. She stars in the railway children return and you can hear my chat with her after this clip. He's probably here. He's in clean. We can scrub and cook. No, once in a while.

Please, we take us. No one's chosen us. We're too many. Or maybe it's because he won't take that off. Come on, Ted. We won't be able to feed three of them. We'll manage. No, Mom.

Look at their little faces. And he just look at them. Right? That's agreed. No, Mom. Look at their little faces. And he just looked at them. Right. That's agreed. Good. That's excellent. I'm Bobby. What's your name? I'm Lily. I'm Paddy. Paddy. Paddy. Adolf.

Come along then, Adolf. Bring the Gestapo with you. This is my grandson, Thomas. What's the teddy's name? It's Teddy. Teddy. And that's a clip from The Railway Children Return. I'm delighted to say that I'm joined by one of its stars, Sheridan Smith, Hello Sheridan, how are you? Hello, thank you for having me.

A lot of people are very excited just to see a movie poster with the words railway children on it again, because there's so much heritage that comes with this. Tell us how you see this story. Is it a sequel? Is it a remake? How would you describe it? It's definitely a sequel.

So, I mean, you can't remake such a classic. It was an amazing film. The great thing that we've got is that we've got Jenny Aguita who was obviously in the original and is now playing my mom in the railway children's return and so this is World War Two and it's you know a whole new group of children of railway children who are amazing and yeah get to post Jenny's daughter, it's amazing. What an honor. Just saying, Jenny Aguator is my mum. That's an amazing line to say. Isn't it?

I know, I was so star struck. And when we'd been filming for a little while, and then Jenny came for the later part of the filming schedule, and when she walked on, it was like royalty, everyone was so nervous. And because it's filmed where the original was, when she walked on that platform, she was really emotional.

And the whole experience was just, you know, it gave me goosebumps. So yeah, absolutely on. That's Oakworth Railway Station. That's right. That's the one. That's it. And the locals all come out and support it.

Because obviously it's a big part of their, you know, history as well. Yeah. So Jenny Angator is back. We've got a few decades on. To tell us about Annie, the head teacher and how she fits in with all of this. Yeah. So I play Jenny's daughter Annie, who is the head mistress at the local school. And then we have a vacuumese coming from Manchester into the Yorkshire where we are. And Jenny's character has been like a

software jet since the first one, you know, she's a real powerhouse of a woman. And so when the children arrive, the evacuees arrive. There's three children that are on principle characters, the poor. Lily Patty and Ted. That's right, yes. And they are wanting to be chosen and no one's choosing them. And my character is much more kind of strict and a bit together and saying, no, we're not taking three children, but Jenny, obviously, her character, Bobby, says, come on, we can take them. And so that's how it all begins. And my character is quite strict when she's a headmistress, but she's got a big heart and a child of her own, which I could relate to because I've got a little boy myself now. But it's just a beautiful,

it's a beautiful, beautiful story. I'm rambling on, but I'm just so thrilled to be a part of it. The scene in the school where, which is still quite shocking, where the grown-ups are picking the children, I think was one of the most terrifying things, more terrifying than a lot of horror, I think, because I was instantly back in the playground and you're all lined up against the wall and the captains Picking teams and some of us are always the last people To be picked and so though when those three kids are the last you just think you might this is almost barbaric I know everyone is doing it for all the best possible reasons and get the kids out of sauthored, but it's still a awful process. Oh, it really is and I had to do a speech just before in that scene, I say,

and if you could all start choosing. And I remember the time it choked me to say it, and it was all more than our director did a lot of improvisation. So we didn't have to stick to the script. And I remember being choked myself even saying that, that is how, you know, to choose these children, choose which one you want to take home. It's awful. Like you say, I was always the last picked in the playground too.

But yeah, it was just, it's horrific, isn't it, that that is what had to happen and that those three little siblings were going to be separated. But of course, yeah, Jenny Aguetz's character comes to the rescue. So Jenny Aguetz has sorted all out? She does, she, as always. Tell us more about the improvisation though, because that is maybe unusual in a drama movie like this. It is, yeah. I mean, I've not done lots of improvisations, so I find it quite nerve-wracking, but what Morgan the director did with the children, I think, is phenomenal, because he was constantly having them improvise and not stick to the script. And so there's so many beautiful moments in the film that you can just, it's so real because

they were genuine, they're a great group of friends, you know, offset as well. They're all living together and it just comes across on screen. I think he's captured it so well and brought out this incredible performance from all the young stars. You and Jenny, of course, have been stars for a long time. So remember what it's like being a child star or the young stars. You and Jenny, of course, have been stars for a long time. So remember what it's like being a child star or very young star yourself. I wonder if that kind of helps a bit when dealing with three kids

at the very beginning of their career. Do you know, well, for me, it's lovely. I mean, when I first came on set, the kids had been filming for a good three weeks because obviously they're the huge part of the film. I just do certain scenes, so I joined a bit quite a lot later and they were leaving me little notes on the makeup truck welcome evening. Oh, and honestly, I felt like a proud mom.

So I do, I remember kind of starting out, I wasn't as young as those guys, but then so not be precocious, you know, they're not stage school kids. They're real beautiful little souls and they're amazing. So I'm just, I'm very fond of all of them, but Jenny must find it, you know, very fascinating because she was a kid himself, yeah. Does it give a different rhythm to, to a day's filming if you have children on set? Because obviously there are different rules and regulations at that point. It must make it, I don't know, more relaxed, is it?

If you've got children on set. It's great. I mean, there's just something isn't the, I mean, the film's about it really. Seeing the world do the eyes of children, it's just, it's a joyery and to be on set around that constantly, you know, and to be in family-friendly film as well, which have done a lot of kind of more heavy dramas and things that my son won't be able to watch, but it's something like this. You will, you know, it's a real family film. So it was lovely, it was a lovely atmosphere having them on set all the time.

That innocence and simplicity, the grown-ups will like, and the grown-ups who watched it back in the day. I wonder what young kids will make of it. You know, the kids who've grown up with computer games and with Marvel movies and with Pixar, you know, I wonder, what do you think they'll make of it? i'n gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio gweithio g nostalgia there for people like us, but for the younger generation, I think seeing this as a fresh film is still really hopefully educational to them and enjoyable for them. What do you remember watching the film, the first film? Because it's so we're talking about 1970. Right, so I was born in 1981, but I do remember my mum and dad loving it and I remember

we sat down at Christmas to watch it, so I vaguely remembered it but I knew how passionate like my family were about it and everyone I mentioned I was doing this film all had a story about oh gosh I know where I was when I watched that film you know it really hit home for a lot of people so yeah and like I say to have Jenny on board it's like getting her seal of approval you know it's her baby it was her baby, it was such a huge star from the original. So to have her in this and for her to be loving it and she seems very proud of it, which is lovely. That's all we want it. I guess it's worth just emphasising that when people watched it in 1970, it was then an old fashioned movie in as much as the book was said in around 1905, 1906. So it was an Edwardian film being watched in the 1970s, so even the original film still was an old fashioned film. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I remember that very

vividly. I know that Jenny Wool was saying that they, when she walked on set, I mean, I would watch her. She was going through all the trinkets that they'd put on set or the old fashioned Victorian things and the way they'd thought out her story from when she was, you know, in the original. So, I mean, yeah, I was quite young when I saw her. And I don't totally remember it all, but I rewatched it when I knew I was going to be in this one.

But like you say, yeah, it was dated then. And it's great. I mean, it's a bit of history, isn't it? I'm excited for young children to see this and for them to be educated with, you know, there's so many topics in it as well, isn't there? That are really shocking and hard hit. And I mean, there's so many funny moments as well, which are lovely with the kids, but there are some really heart hitting.

Yes. So, it's old fashioned in one hand, but it has a very modern sensibility, because it deals with race, and also deals with the fact that Churchill might not have been the biggest supporter of the suffragette that he could have been. So, there are those angles in there, which just give it a bit of grit. Yeah, absolutely. There's those things that I think, you know, that I'm not sure some of the younger audience would understand, but there's a lot in there for the adults that,

you know, it's very shocking. Can you just explain a little bit about what that bit of the story involves? Yeah, I mean, there's a character called Abe and he is this beautiful black boy who and he's an amazing KJ who plays him is wonderful. And it's about the soldiers that were fighting alongside them were beating them, and there's a horrible scene where they're attacked in a bar. And what's lovely is the scene where the kids, the railway children, they don't understand it because through their eyes they're seeing all that for the first time. So I think it's educational, it's hard hit in, but it's full of heart and it's all a big family warm film, you know.

So all of those things and Tom Courtney? Oh my fave, I love him. Oh, now you've got me on my favourite topic. Why is he your favourite? Well we worked together on a film called Quartet, which was Dustin Hoffman director. I'm the first one to do Dustin Hoffman for that. Did you? What a nice man.

And Maggie Smith and Pauline Collins and Billy Connolly and it was just the nicest film. Do I come out as retirement home? Yes, that's right. It was a set in an opera, an opera singer's retirement home, that was it. And so, me and Sir Tom, I call him, and we got on great on that job. So, when he was on this, I was thrilled. And he was like my little best mate, I'd be linking his arms so that he didn't fall as we were walking to the... I mean, these greats in great spirits, but you know, I would always be getting in a chair and cooking... linking his arm and we're walking down the train platforms,

we don't pull. But he's just brilliant. He's such a brilliant actor, such a lovely man, whole boy, proper Yorkshire man, I can't make Yorkshire last. And yeah, it was lovely. In the hotel every night, we'd have dinner together. And yeah, it was just a joy working with him.

As soon as he turns up on screen, he said, oh great, Tom's in it, okay. I know, as soon as he so easy Tom, it's just wonderful isn't it? Brightens up the film I think as well at that point as well and it's going very heavy and these are just brilliant times. And for those who are looking for the moments there are nods to the original with steam references to daddy. There are trains that are stopped with signs, you know, so that is a sequel but it's kind of nodding to the original. There's a lot of nods to the original, yeah, which is lovely. I think that needs to be there,

you know, so hopefully people will feel that nostalgia when they're watching it, if they've seen the first one. And did you at any stage think when you're going through the making of a new movie, did you ever think I can't wait to be on the stage again? Because that's what I want to do. Do you know what? I have misbeam on the stage and actually I have accepted to do a play on the stage so it's not a musical but I'm, yeah, I'm going to be in a play beginning of next year hopefully. I wish I could tell you now and I'm like, I know I'm not allowed.

Okay, is it London West End? In London West End, yeah. Is it a play we've heard of before? It's a one-woman play. Oh, that's a big clue. I'm not allowed to say anymore. I'm getting a head shake, don't you think? Shaking.

I'm sorry, but as soon as I'm allowed, I'm coming straight to you, if you want me. Oh, we absolutely would. Sheridan Smith, thank you so much for coming. Thank you for speaking to us. It's an absolute honor. Thank you, Simon March. I'm now going to write down the name of the...

Richard, I just asked you. What is it? Okay. But we've got cameras in the studio. So, actually, okay. I have to keep this up. Oh, okay, fine. Yeah, that's good.

That's good. It was one of those things. She could not wait to tell me about it. Yeah, fine. That's good, that's good. It was one of those things, she could not wait to tell me about it. Clearly, there's a publicist in the corner of the hotel room where we were clearly thinking, you don't need to say anything now. No, you shouldn't have said that. Oh, you're going to tell him that as well. Okay, fine.

Anyway, I said it wouldn't tell anybody. And of course, I haven't. Apart from you, so you can't say anything now. Anyway, so that's still to come. Thanks to Sheridan Smith for coming on the program, the Railway Children Return. What do you think? Well, it's interesting. Very early on in that interview, you talk about the heritage of the Railway Children, which is obviously based on the novel by Edith Nessbitt, which I think first appeared as a serialisation but is also based on the film by Lionel Jeffries who had

bought the rights to the novel to make into what is now accepted as an absolute British classic. I think the original railway children came 66 in the BFI list of the top 100 British films of all time. It should arguably have been higher. I mean, Jeffries was a masterful filmmaker. This and the amazing Mr Blondon are an absolute double whammy and just extraordinary. In the new movie we have Jenny Agata who had appeared in the 1969 BBC adaptation of the railway children before appearing

in Lionel Jeffries film and then played the mom in the 2000 TV adaptation. So she's back as Bobby who, who's now a grown woman and grandmother who persuades her family to take in these refugees from Manchester, or Salford. She's also a supporter of the suffragettes, as you pointed out, who points out that perhaps Winston Churchill wasn't the strongest supporter. You know, might have done something else. And the update has a contemporary age, again, as you mentioned in the interview in the form of African American soldier who experiences racist bullying from the military police,

and who then becomes part of a subplot in which it is revealed that he is not exactly who he would appear to be. And his circumstance causes him to form a bond with the new group of children, much as they did with the injured runner in the first film, and to hatch a plan to save him, which involves flagging down a train using homemade signs. And so there's an awful lot of callbacks to classic scenes from the original, because of course if you're making a sequel to the railway children, how are you not going to do that?

This is very good-natured, very well-me, I don't mean that as damning with faint praise, but it's good-natured, well-meaning fare made by people who I would think evidently love the original, which I do. And it was evident from Sheridan Smith's interview there that she feels the same way. And they're talking about, you know, when Jenny Aguid to arrive on set and looking through the trinkets quite a moment. I don't think it's gonna end up on any

best of British film lists. I think there was some things in it that are slightly creaky. One thing, I, this is a genuine question. I mean, people have talked about, you know, anachronisms, which I don't have a problem with, but it was touching cloth of phrase

that was actually used in World War II. I mean, it's a difficult thing to research. Well, I tried to research it and I came up with something which said it's from this century, which I don't believe, because obviously Viz was saying it in the 1980s. I think it's an ancient thing. Okay. A genuine question to our incredibly erudite, erudite, see what I did there? which I don't believe, because obviously Viz was saying it in the 1980s. I think it's an ancient thing.

Okay. A genuine question to our incredibly erudite, erudite. See what I did there? I corrected myself. Erudite listenership. If anyone knows the first use of the phrase touching cloth, please let us know because I genuinely don't know. But I think that what it is, I mean, if you compare it, for example, to Thor Love and Thunder, which I think is a cynical, I think you've made that point. No, but excuse me, I am making this point because I think if you compare it to that, which I think is a cynical and smug film, neither of those adjectives apply to this, I think

that this has certain dramatic shortcomings, and I think there are things about it that are creaky sometimes. But I think it is made with heart and I think it is made with all the right intentions and it lands in more places than it might do. And there is very little family entertainment of this type available in cinemas at the moment. Most family entertainment now is corporate CGI animation. And much as I love minions, I have to confess that that would fall into that. So it's operating in a kind of vacuum. And it's, you know, you raised a very good point that the railway children, the original version, was old fashioned when it came out in the early 70s.

And this, I mean, I was doing the sums on, okay, so that's 1904, 1905, and then 19, okay, fine, so that adds up. If you love the railway children, it's impossible not to be charmed by this. As I said, I don't think it has the magical time as quality of the original, but I would also qualify that by saying, few things do, and again, I would remind everybody that the amazing Mr. Blondon is Jeffrey's real masterpiece.

But I think it looks like it's heart is so solidly in the right place, it's kind of hard to take against it. And if the kids are gonna go and see it, they'll be taken by their parents and grandparents, that'll be why. Yes. And I think that everyone will be able to watch and enjoy it. And I think, you know, we talked about that. Railway Children was recently back in UK cinemas for just one Sunday.

And anything that takes people back to seeing the work of the Great Lionel Jeffries is always a good thing. The railway children return is the release this week. It's the ads in a minute. Mark, but first it's time once again to step with gusto and enthusiasm into our laughter lift. Second floor, carpets, travel goods, bedding, materials, soft furnishing, restaurant and teas, going down Hey Mark, Hey Simon, Why is Billy Joel's laundry still wet? I don't know he didn't start the dryer Thank you bad news mark We had a barbecue at the we so niche that joke is it's good thing We had a barbecue at the weekend and put on some fun party games for our pals

Then overnight someone stole our limbo stick. I mean how low can you go? Anyway. Oh I see some limbo stick. The limbo stick. I was from I couldn't I would think limbo stick was something to do with between heaven and hell. I was thinking limbo in the theological sense. Yes I'm sorry. Where is your mind? Constantly. What is a limbo stick? The... I always take the high ground. There's a war of theology going on in your head. Anyway, falling on from last week's Trump joke,

I've got a depefuffle one for you. Very good. Why is Alexander Boris depefuffle Johnson like the month of April? I don't know. Because he didn't last as long as May. For every season, listen, this is very good. This joke refers to Theresa May, Alexander Johnson's predecessor in number 10, all the good old days. As we refer to it.

Sometimes it's referred to. What's still to come, Mark, by the way? I will be reviewing the Gray Man, which is the new film by the Rousseau Brothers, and also Macon Row, which is documentary, which I know you've seen and enjoyed. Yes, I saw about John Macon Row. Anyway, we'll be back after this. And we're back. An email correspondence at www.curb covidemode.com from Ashley, Mark and Simon Heritage List and first-time writer and avocado advocate.

I enjoyed Mark's mention a few weeks back of a rather unfortunate screening of paranormal activity. See previous pods for details. It reminded me of a similar, more physical experience I encountered, working at a large cinema chain a few years back whilst at university. The particular multiplex I worked at was undergoing significant renovation, and one of the first new screens to open to the public was the cinemas and cities, very first 4DX screen. Remind me what happens at 4DX? Shake, shake, shake, shake, and blowy, blowy wind, spray, spray water.

For anyone who isn't familiar with this futile gimmick, a 4D X-screen is quotes, I mean you've heard what Mark thought, an immersive, multi-sensory cinematic experience, whereby you pay three times the usual ticket price to feel like your seat is being aggressively kicked and you're spurted with water and cold air, but hey, ho, each do their own. Christmas 2018, the computer animated Grinch film

was a popular choice for moviegoers, particularly ones trying out the new 4DX screen. However, construction was still ongoing throughout the cinema, and one morning, some of the building work caused the electrics to trip. This seemingly caused little disruption and things were up and running for the cinema opening and the first packed screening of holiday favourite, The Grinch.

Umbernance to cinema staff, or Goa's at this point, the tripped electrics had caused the projectors to fall out of sync with the programme that controlled the motion and weather simulations on the aforementioned 40X screen. This time the cinema was also screening Overlord, the Julius Avery wartime horror about Nazi zombies. This was the film, the 40X screen thought was being played during the first screening of the day. So while Benedict Cumberbatch's Grinch, Hemden, Horde about stealing Christmas from the

who's and the whoville, an entire theatre of mostly juvenile viewers were thrashed around in their seats while simulated thunder and lightning crashed through the screen. Surprisingly, nobody complained about the bonkers viewing experience during the film. Mooney guess is that they thought, oh well, this must be cinema now. Since overlords runtime was 20 minutes longer than that of the Grinch, seats remained very much in motion, even as viewers left the cinema. This was when a rather disheveled dad pointed the mishap out to a member of staff. Luckily, no one was injured, everyone was refunded and it's likely made for a rather unforgettable viewing of 2018's The Grinch,

loving the new show James. Anyway, and hi to Jason. Hello to Jason, but we haven't mentioned that. Anyway, correspondence at Kermitamayne.com. I'm intrigued by the Grey Man because at the top of the program you were talking about it in terms of the incredible budget and Netflix of Throne At It. So tell us more. So it's directed by the Russo Brothers who famously made Avengers Infinity War and game, but then followed that up with an adaptation of Nico Walker's novel Cherry starring Tom Holland, which I reviewed with you previously. So this is a kind of bond inflected, I suppose, espionage thriller starring Ryan Gosling and

a day RMS, who of course was in no time to die in absolute, you know, butt kicking form and Chris Evans. So you can see all the connections based on a novel by Mark Greening, which I haven't read. Are you familiar with the Grey Man novels? Okay, fine. So it opens in cinemas today and Netflix on the 22nd. It is reportedly their most expensive production in the region of $200 million. And designed, I presume, as a franchise starter. So Ryan Gosling is a convict to whom Billy Bob Thornton offers sentence commutation

for work for the CIA. He says, you will be part of an elite unit. You'll exist in the grey. Grey man. It work for the CIA. He says, you will be part of an elite unit. You'll exist in the grey, grey man. You'll exist in the grey. And you will be indefinitely useful, which means we'll get you out of prison, but you'll work for us forever more. 18 years later, he's doing just that. He's called six. He's never called six. In fact, there's a gag when somebody says, that's a weird name. He says, well, 007 was taken. Very good. There we go. He's on mission. He's on a mission to kill bad guys. And 11, of course, that's a weird name, he says, well, 007 was taken. Very good, there we go. He's on a mission to kill bad guys.

And 11, of course, is busy in stranger things. Very good. And so the mission that we meet him on early on turns out to be not what he thinks it should be. He is being conspired against by his superiors and now finds himself being hunted by freelance maniac Lloyd who is played by Chris Evans, sporting no socks, Nazi hair, and a very bad moustache.

His Eclipse. Oh man. Hey son, Shade. You must be Lloyd. What gave it away? The white pants, the trash, the ashes, it leans Lloyd. Where's the drive? I gotta hear some words to start to see. Is that in?

Over here. Again, a very visual clip. Yes, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, Again, a very visual clip. You want to explain what happened there. So what happens in it, he says, is this it? He pulls the pin out of a grenade, he drops the grenade, and then the whole room blows up. And I have to say, that happens quite a lot in the film.

The film narratively has an internal flashback structure that kind of resembles a rather more head banging version of pulp fiction. So everyone talks like a hard-boiled Tarantino character, including the young girl who, there's a, remember that thing in, once upon a time in Hollywood, in which there's a young child who talks like Tarantino.

It's full of kind of card hard-boiled slang. You've got to get loud means, you've got to do the job. If you like breathing, you might want to fix this. Hit that meatball like a train and my favorite, you want to make an omelet, you've got to kill some people. Okay, that's not quite the version that my mum told me. It's exactly.

They're also kind of, you know, knowing sarky references to Shopenhau. And Goddain's character choose gum or choose a toothpick because this is, you know, it's the kind of hardboard cliché stuff. Visually, it reminded me, and I, not necessarily in a good good way of Michael Bay's ambulance.

You remember all the drone stuff in ambulance? If two people were standing next to each other having a conversation in the street, we could have a drone camera in the studio, that would be quite good, it would just flip around. But you were saying that whenever you see anyone doing that, you see a camera spin around somebody, all you can think is it's amazing that you're concentrating while that camera is good. Which has happened in movies since forever, but I find it quite distracting. There are some big set pieces, including a big fight on both in and out of a plane. And then a chase sequence on car, on foot, on tram, in which a major city is smashed to pieces in a kind of team America way. I mean, I have to say that those scenes are spectacular if CGI heavy. Since Top Gun Maverick, Top Gun Maverick,

I think we've all become more conscious of CG because there is the thing about the physicality. Whatever else you think of Top Gun Maverick, the physicality is very, very physical. There's also, I mean, this is an example of how cranked up to 11 it is. Early on, there's a fight sequence with two people beating seven bells out of each other in the middle of a fireworks display. You remember that scene from Mary Popping? Step in time, it's all be powels, and then all the fireworks start going off. Well, imagine that, but done with people bashing each other's faces in.

I like the sound of this. Andodiumus is terrific and is really turning into the action hero, the high watermark. There are a couple of fights in the Middusch, is involved in a fight scene, which actually looks like a fight sequence, which is quite nice when it gets physical. You go, okay, fine, finally, that most of the time, however, it's bigger guns, bigger bombs, bigger explosions, really, really big dumb fun, too loud, too long, no substance whatsoever. It's like somebody rabbit punching your brain for the best part of two hours.

And there's a certain enjoyability in that. I mean, if what you want to do is literally, you know, that old phrase about leave your brain at the door. Well, bring your brain with you and let it get kicked around for however many rounds it is. It is, it is empty spectacle, par excellence. And I could have done with a lot less CG because I'm just not crazy about it. And I did want the camera to just stand still for a couple of minutes, but it does what it says on the tin.

It is a movie in which everything is cranked up to 11 and then some, and every single moment, the guns, the explosions, the fights, the everything, just gets bigger. Their motto appears to be, when in doubt doubt turn it up. Maybe I should wait for it to appear on Netflix. I mean, I saw it in a screening. I saw it in Dolby, which has got a big sound system. And I was thinking, I was funny, I was thinking if this is a Netflix production, but actually to really enjoy it, you need to see it with everything.

And then I'm sure that you've got a good sound system at home. So, quick way to what's on. Now, this is where you email us a good sense system at home, so. So, quick way to what's on now. This is where you email us a voice note about your festival or special screening from wherever you are in the world. You send it to Correspondence at comada mayo.com. This week we start with Kevin. This is Kevin from the newly minted City of Donkaster, promoted our monthly sci-fi screening at Donkazabur, itap on Yonge Street. The master brewery in will be showing the Michael Anderson Classic Logan's run on Fridays Wednesday at July at 7pm. Fish and plankton and sea greens.

It's all here, ready, fresh as harvest day. Hello Simon and Mark, this is Token Homo from London based film club, Queer Horror Nights. Our next screening is a rare double bill of the psycho sequels. That's Psycho 2 and Psycho 3 back to back at the Cinemar Museum on Sunday 24 July at 6.30pm. Join us from 5.30 for a bar social, then check into the Bates Motel to find out what Norman did next. So, thank you. That's very good. Thank you Kevin. That's very good. Thank you tokenhomo, as I believe he introduced himself. So, you can send your 22nd audio trailer to Correspondence at CurbinMero.com. A couple of weeks up front would be good, and then we can boost your numbers as best we can. So, Correspondence at CurbinMero.com and we'll see what we can do. So I spoke to John McEnroe this week because he was on my drive time show.

Because you're about to promote it, but John McEnroe is not on this show. So if you want to hear John McEnroe talk about this, you can go to the greatest it's radio app where you can listen again to the John McEnroe interview, where he's talking about the movie, which Mark is about to review. Yeah, so here we go. McEnroe is Barney Douglas' very deliberately dramatic documentary about the tennis player.

I would say formerly famously troubled tennis player who earned the nickname Super Brat in the 70s and whose achievements and temperament have previously been addressed in there's a 2017 film Bulbas, Macarabal, Macarabal, Macarabal, as it was sometimes called in which he was played by Pshalla Buff and Then the 2018 nonfiction work in the realm of perfection. So this doc basically has him walking through the streets of New York his hometown Cropuscular streets like like a kind of detective,

or the anti-hero of a modern neo-noir, he receives phone calls in phone boxes that are ringing. It's a bit weird there, but... And with that bit, we've got somebody on the phone, how are we going to dramatize that? And there are also snippets of life interviews. I think what you're meant to get is the sense that he is prowling through

his past. He is sifting through his past because you also see a more straightforward interview with him, as he is now, he's looking back on his past. We also get interviews from likes of Bjorn Borg, who's sudden retirement from the game really seems to have kind of wounded him in the past. And the great Billie Jean King. Here is a clip from Mac and Brook. You could not be aware of John Mac and Oak. They don't usually show a clip on the news of him like throwing his racket or yelling or something so you either loved him or hated him. New York, it's where I'm from. But it's all so two I am. Wimbledon is a title lady giving you a high tee and a well manicured lawn. The American Championship is Dolly Parton giving you a hot dog and soda out by the playground. They're different and they should be.

The fans are crazy. I'm telling you right now you play or it's a game. You have 30 seconds. You say something to me? I kill you. And that's Ilina Stasi in a match in New York against John McIntyre. I do like that comparison about, you know, one of them is being given tea and the other is Dolly Parton. So we learn a lot about McIntyre's life, about his relationship with his dad,

who was a taskmaster, also his manager, and he was, he then found himself at something of a loss when McMurray said he wanted to move on to someone else. We hear quite frankly about addictions, about his troubled maritata, about Neil, about his very public unraveling, and also I have to say, about finding happiness with his wife, Patti, who's a musician,

and we learn that one of the things that he wants more than anything is for somebody to say to him, I think you're a really good guitarist. It's like, it's like people like Stephen King, all these very successful writers who really want to be rock stars. That's what he wants to be. Kind of lovely. I mean, the film is very conscious of being a film. It is, there's a lot of, look at me, visual contrivance.

There's a soaring score by Felix White for the Maccabees, which really kind of ups the dramatic ante and sort of tells you it's a film, it's stuff and it's in cinemas, and there's a reason for it to be in cinemas. Look at this stuff happening. It's very watchable. I think it makes a very strong fist of addressing

the obsessive behavior of Mac and Re. I mean, it gets to the heart, one point it talks about him being a mathematician and how when all this stuff is going on, well you said it's actually geometry, isn't it? That what he's doing is he's making split second calculations about geometric possibilities and probabilities. And that, I think that description of him is a mathematician

and somebody who has kind of absolutely obsessive in that detail, but almost completely unable, or was almost able unable to control his persona, you know, you cannot be serious. Bear in mind, people of our age, I knew Mekhan Row from, you know, not the nine-club new sketches, in which Gryffory's Jones would play him

coming down to breakfast, and he drinks some orange juice, and his father goes, would you mind not slipping? The orange juice was not slurped. You cannot be serious. That was the joke. That was the whole thing was, you know, was a gag.

I'm not sure still that the doc actually gets right under the skin of what makes him tick. I mean, I have to say he still remains an enigma to me and when you said you'd interviewed him, the first thing I said was, oh, what's he like? And I've just watched a two-hour documentary about what he's like, but I still don't really know. But I think it's a very, very watchable doc. Also, from my point of view, I can never remember who won what game win. So every time

they cut to one of those clips of the matches that we are told have been seen to death, I'm still going, I don't know how this plays out. Well, it's like watching Dad's army, you go, I haven't seen this one before. That's right. Must be a newer one. What did I see? I think.

I enjoyed it very much. He has mastered the art. He's just instantly interesting and informative. That's why he's made the step into TV commentary so successfully. Which he is apparently very brilliant. He's absolutely fantastic at it. And I thought it was honest and painful in places, but actually in the interview,

I actually referenced our conversation with Ron Atkinson. Right. When a couple of weeks ago, he was telling us about being a perfectionist, and but not in a good way. And actually how it's a condition that needs to be understood. And John McKinnore said,

he has learned to live with it and to back off. Yeah. Did you think one of the saddest moments is when he says that thing about, here I was, you know, the greatest player on the planet or whatever it was for reasons, why wasn't I happy? Because he was a perfectionist and it can always be better. And I think that's where he's sort of come to a greater understanding and acceptance of what he managed to achieve,

which he didn't perceive at the time. And therefore, I think it is rather lovely that you do see him at something that approaches peace and as far as the documentaries, as I know, nothing other than what I saw in the documentary, it appears to me that his relationship with his wife has been a massive part of that. And Pat, his wife says, I married a bad boy who became a good man. Yeah, which is okay. Yeah, you just think what a lovely thing to say about somebody. So Mac and Row is worth seeing in the cinema.

It'll probably turn up on a small screen at some stage. But it is a cinematic production. A cinematic, self-consciously cinematic. That's it for take one production management general all-round stuff, Lily Hamley, cameras, Teddy Riley, videos on our tip top YouTube channel, Ryan O'Meara, Johnny Socials was Jonathan Imiere, Studio Engineer Josh Gibbs, Flynn Rodham is the assistant producer, guest research Sophie Ivan, and the red actor Simon Paul.

Mark, what is your movie of the week? I've been really struggling with this, but I think on the basis of Javier Bardem's performance, it is the good boss. If you meet the good boss, it's the same as the old boss. Very good. Anyway, next week, Desi Edgar Jones, star of Where the Craw Dad's Saying. Thank you for listening.