The Big Picture - The 21st-Century (American) British Movie Canon, ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,’ and ‘Paddington in Peru’

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

Sean and Amanda are joined by ‘Bandsplain’ host Yasi Salek to discuss ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,’ the fourth installment in the franchise (1:00), before breaking down ‘Paddington in Peru,’ the third film in the beloved ‘Paddington’ series (35:00). Then, they sketch out a loose American vision of the British film canon for the 21st century (50:00). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guest: Yasi Salek Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner Video Producer: Jack Sanders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi everyone, it's Amy Poehler, and I'm launching a new podcast called Good Hang. In preparation for that, I asked some of my friends to send in some videos and give me some advice. "...just be yourself and the guests will come." Don't be the celebrity that this is their, like, sixth thing they're doing. "...I love True Crime and Cooking podcasts. Is there any way you could combine the two?" Well, everyone has an opinion and a podcast.

So join me for Good Hang. It's rough out there, we're just trying everyone has an opinion and a podcast. So join me for good hang. It's rough out there, we're just trying to lighten it up a little. Get groceries delivered across the GTA from real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. I'm Sean Fennessy. I'm Amanda Dobbins. And this is the Big Picture, a conversation show about British things. And also women's things. Women's things, absolutely. A woman is here. It is not

Amanda Yassi Salek. Hi Yassi. Hi. I'm so proud to be a woman. You are. Are you a British woman? Spiritually? Yeah. You're adorning the Union Jack on your person today. You've also brought a flag. Yeah. I'm a known Anglophile. Like, to the point where I'm like,

we shouldn't have fought for our independence. You would still like to be under the King's reign? Well, yes. King Charles. King Charles. You would still like to be under the king's reign? Well, yes. King Charles. King Charles. You believe he's a fearless leader? I mean, I don't believe in the Marquis, but I believe in British culture, so.

OK, and you agree, actually. Well, I was, at first I was like no, but then I looked around. And then I was like maybe yes. I'm just saying, we didn't do that good on our own. I mean, they're also having some issues, I would say. Yeah. I mean, this is an interesting way to set up this episode. Because one of the things that we did do here in America

is we did create the movie studio system, right? Oh, OK. You're talking about Hollywood. Which was an amazing thing. Sure. But what we're going to talk about today is mostly the British movie studio system and British movies.

There are two new British-ish movies that are out in theaters or streaming at home. The one streaming at home is called Bridget Jones, Mad About the Boy. It's the fourth Bridget Jones movie. We're also going to be talking about Paddington in Peru. This is the third Paddington movie, and we're going to use this as an opportunity to build a canon. You know, last two years ago, Chris and I created the 21st century sci-fi movie canon. We talked about the best science fiction movies

that were made this century. This is the first one we're doing since then, I believe. This is an odd wrinkle. These have to be British movies, but they're British movies that American people like. Now, Bridget Jones and Paddington really fit well into this delineation. Americans really dig Bridget Jones. They also really dig Paddington.

There's a lot of other kinds of movies like this. Yeah, so do they, when you say they have to be British movies, let's drill down on that definition. British actors have to figure prominently, or they have to be stories set in Britain, or they have to be filmmakers who are British with a particular sensibility. But it doesn't have to be like British filmmaker only. No, no, I think there's some loose delineations around this. There can be an American's interpretation of Britain with British actors, for example.

Which there is a lot of on this list. I'm sure that we're just going to really endear ourselves to our British listeners. No, they're going to be mad, but I don't care. You've been making them mad for months now in Bansplain. Yeah, when I said it was Northern Ireland and regular Ireland, that didn't go over well. And I do apologize.

I apologize. I'm doing my best. We're going to be as informed as we can be today on this podcast. So we're pre-recording because it's wellness week next week at Spotify. And over the weekend, interestingly enough, the BAFTAs are occurring.

I wish we could have been here, honestly, on Monday for the BAFTAs are occurring. I wish we could have been here, honestly, on Monday for the BAFTAs, because that would have made this the perfect British episode. Any predictions for what's gonna go down at the BAFTAs? What's gonna win best picture? Better man. I don't believe it's nominated.

Let's see, they could go for Conclave. They could go for The Brutalist, I think. Well, what do you think is gonna happen, if you had to guess? Well, I didn't, Conclave. Let's go with conclave. Okay. Any guesses? You've been catching up on the Oscar movies. Yeah. Can I ask a question? Do you feel like the BAFTAs lean a certain way

because of Britain's great care for art? No. No. No. I think they're like any other awards body. Okay. So they just... And in fact, they're like a little weird because in their response to... So along with Oscar's So White, there is an ongoing Bafta's So White. Sure, colonialist. Which is, you know, they have literally never nominated Denzel Washington for an award.

Crazy. Even when he was Shakespeare. Exactly. So they made their own revisions to their system, but they're like very, very confusing. Um, and there's like different jury systems and lots of things. So it's really hard to predict what's going on because they've got so many new rules.

Right. And yet it is still weirdly kind of predictive of the Oscars. At least it's very, at least it shows us how certain contingents are thinking. Got it. I could see Conclave for sure. I'm a Conclave Stan, I'm Pope Movie Stan. I would be happy with The Brutalist. Same. I think those are two good guesses.

Conclave and The Brutalist. If Enora wins, we can kind of just go home. Yeah, right. You don't have to do your... And just be like, this is what's happening. Maybe we shouldn't even record. What if we just have a nice party? But not record like, hey, Anora won, we like Anora. It would be great, it would be a nice thing. But it would say a lot.

Anora, a very American film, I guess a very Russian film in some ways too, but the five nominees for best picture, there are Complete Unknown, Anora, Conclave, Amelia Perez, and The Brutalist, probably the five leading contenders to win best picture. So we'll see what happens there. I noticed they didn't nominate Wicked.

They did not nominate Wicked. It's interesting. It is interesting. Are you a Wicked person? No. I don't like musicals pretty much 90% of the time. I don't like modern musicals, so I'm with you. There is another category.

Outstanding British film. Sure. What do we got? Well, Better Man Not Recognized there. Bird, Blitz, Conclave, Hard Truths, Gladiator 2, Kneecap, Lee, Love Lies Bleeding, The Outrun, and Wallace and Gromit Vengeance Most Fell. Any faves there? Um, what happened to our Hard Truths episode? You said that we would get to talk about it. Yeah, I kind of want to wait until after the Oscars. Oh, when it's more widely available.

I also think it's going to get a lot of attention on the alternative Oscars discussion. So I felt like it could be wedded into that. Have you seen this film? No, unfortunately not to bring up my burnt down house again, but I had tickets the week of The Fire and I was so excited. You're a Mike Lee fan.

I love Mike Lee and, you know, it was not the right timing for me, but I'm dying, and now it's on the theaters anymore. I'm so sad. It is on VOD. I do honestly think that there's like a little bit of, it's good to have some distance between the fires. Because I saw it the week after. Yeah.

It's a very hard thing. It's a hard thing, yeah. I mean, it's incredible. It like knocked my socks off. But I also was like feeling very emotionally wrong. Not as emotionally wrong. It's OK. It's not my socks off, but I also was like feeling very emotionally, not as emotionally wrong. It's not a contest.

It's not a contest. And I was like, oh, okay, this is a lot. So, you know, when you're ready. I'll view it, not with my parents, because I don't think it's their bag of chips, per se. It would be my pick of all these films for sure. Okay. Love Lies Bleeding I haven't seen,

but every time I hear it, I believe it's a line in a fuel song or something. Also what I thought. Love lies bleeding. I think you have some love lies bleeding energy. You might enjoy it. Yeah, I'm happy to see it. I'll see anything where people have British accents.

Do they have British accents? It is pretty good. It's an odd nominee for best British film because Rose Glass is a British filmmaker, but it's a movie set in like Arizona or Nevada. I thought it was Vegas. It's a wrestling movie. Uh, no.

There is a bodybuilding element of a bodybuilding. Yeah, bodybuilding, noir, sex, body horror, basically. I won't watch with my parents, but... Yeah, set that one out. Can you watch Bridget Jones mad about the boy with your parents? Yes. Yeah, did you? Well, I didn't because. Can you watch Bridget Jones, Mad About the Boy with your parents? Yes. Yeah, did you?

Well, I didn't because I watched all four Bridget Jones movies yesterday. And so there was a really tight, that's right. It was a great day, best day of my life, honestly. Not for the first time. No, no, I had Memory Hold, the third one, to be honest. I had as well, so I rewatched it the night before, and then I watched Mad About the Boy.

By time it was time to watch the... Also my parents have the most... I'm living with my parents. They have the most complicated TV system of all time. Like it's like you have to like turn the cable off, turn the sound of the cable off with your phone in order to bring the streaming apps on. And Peacock is not available on their smart TV.

Okay. And I couldn't figure out how to get it with them. And I was like, I'll just go watch it on the laptop in my bed. And so that's what I did. Well, thanks for mentioning this movie is streaming right now on Peacock, despite the first two Bridget Jones movies being big box office successes, not just in England, but here in America, the third film didn't do as well. It was nine years ago.

You could make the case that there's an audience to go see this movie in movie theaters, especially on Valentine's Day weekend. Babe, I would have had a whole bottle of Pinot Grigé in one hand and a Kleenex in the other, ready to fucking party. So you cried. And they denied me that. Yes.

I wept throughout this movie. Okay. You want to talk about what this movie is about and what it is? Yeah, I guess so. Were you, have you read the book? I've not read the book. Okay.

Are there more than? Yeah, so there are three, there are three Bridget Jones' books. But this is not handled in the book or is it? This is handled in the book. So the third film, Bridget Jones' Baby, kind of like went out of literary canon, if you will. Kind of a quantum mania situation.

And so they like alternate ending it. But the book, Bridget Jones, Mad About the Boy, is a book that Helen Fielding, the author of all the books, wrote, kind of based on her life. Right, she also, I couldn't tell if she was actually widowed or just the father of her children passed away. Either way, it was out of her hands.

So I had read the book and candidly wept through that. So I knew a little bit of what was coming. But anyway, nine years. So in Bridget Jones three, Bridget Jones one, she's Britain's Carrie Bradshaw. Right. And it's a light adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. And at the end, she does end up with Mark Dorsey,

spoiler alert, with a speech that literally was read at my wedding. So. I'm dead. I wrote it in my notes. God tier romantic comedy lines is, I like you just as you are. That whole little speech, like the jumper and the something.

Do you have a video? Can I watch it? No, I don't think we had videos. Do you know what Sean read? I filmed the whole thing on 70mm. Do you know what Sean read at our wedding? It just takes on a different valence this year. But in 2016, you know what? Not my choice for the record. Listen, in 2000, sometimes, I think we have to be honest.

Like we're millennials and in 2016, we cared about Drake. And he read the Take Care outro. Yes, he did. But I Take Care is the only Drake song I like. Yeah, of course. It's the best album. It was beautiful. So, all right, so Bridget Jones picks Mark Darcy.

Bridget Jones too Mark Darcy. Bridget Jones too, high jinks in Sue. And once again, she picks Mark Darcy. Number three, what is Hugh Grant's character's name? Daniel Cleaver. Daniel Cleaver. Thank you. Daniel Cleaver has like quote unquote died in the bush. We're gonna get to that. Which is funny. We'll get to it.

But it opens with his funeral. And then... It's a very funny scene, actually. Yeah, it's all has some redeemable things. I can't even remember. I'm sure I watched it when it came out, but I had no recollection. One, I remember his funeral.

Two, a little bit. I definitely saw it and was paying attention. Three, I don't know if I memory hold it, but I couldn't remember any of the decisions that they made. Um, so it opens, well, it opens with her doing, like, the signature credit pajama dance to, um... Jump around, right? Yes, yes, yes, yes. They do great music in these.

They do do great music, and that is... I would like to talk about it. Okay. So, Daniel Cleaver dies, and so then she goes to a music festival. I believe it's supposed to be Glastonbury, but we don't say. Ed Sheeran is there. Ed Sheeran, yes. He plays himself.

And she doesn't recognize him, which is funny. She thinks he's a barista at her local Starbucks. Yes. And then... Oh, Bridget. She sleeps with Patrick Dempsey in their glamping yurt. And then she sleeps with Patrick Dempsey in their glamping yurt. And then she sleeps with, she runs into Mark Darcy at a christening.

Yeah, of one of her, Jude, I believe, one of her friends. And she sleeps with Mark Darcy. And she uses dolphin condoms with both, so. That are like 20 years old. So she's pregnant and she doesn't know which one is the father. And so then it's a she doesn't know which one. Um, is the father. And so then it's, you know, a recreation of like, which one will she choose?

No recollection. The seat is not bad. It's, I think the execution could have been better. Well, respectfully to McDreamy, but it's just not. What my mother said, I did watch that with my mom, and she was like, so handsome, he should not speak. Yes, exactly. Wonder where you get it from.

We should bring her on the big picture. But even that one, there's like, so handsome, he should not speak. Yes, exactly. Wonder where you get it from. We should bring her on the big picture. But even that one, there's like, you know, like the one rom-com moment where he's like, we never got a second date. So he comes and he brings out. I liked it. I mean, it's good writing.

It's good rom-com shit. Brings the Swedish furniture for them to build. Spoiler alert, at the end of Bridget Jones three, she has the baby, it's a boy. She marries Mark Darcy finally. It's his. We get Emma Thompson, which is incredible. She's the gynecologist.

Emma Thompson is the gynecologist. Which is very funny. And then the very last shot of three is a newspaper of like publisher found alive after one year. They do say at the funeral, they never found his body. And then the last shot of Bridget Jones three is like, he's still alive. Daniel. Yeah, then the last shot of Bridger Jones 3 is like, -"He's still alive." -"Daniel." Yeah, Daniel. Okay.

So, Bridger Jones 4. I mean... Did you know going in? Yes. You did know. Okay, did you know going in? Like, the, what was... The premise of the movie? Um, not really, no.

Again, like, I'm really happy for you guys because you're having your, like, Star Wars mythology moment here, you know, where you're, like, recapping all the, you know, the somehow this character returned thing. Um... You don't care about women's issues. No, I... I'm excited for you to have this moment. I do understand that it was, like, my cinematic universe.

Yeah. This is a little bit like the British sex in the city. It's, like, the best way that I can compare all of this, like... But, I mean, and it's interesting comparison because they kind of use the exact same premise to start the sex in the city that we have now, which with Mr. Big dying in the beginning.

Right, yeah, so. In the movies at least, yeah. I'll point out some differentiation that I find interesting, that maybe is just cultural. I mean, I think it is cultural, but like in the sense that Helden, Bridget Jones started as like a newspaper column that Helen Fielding was writing,

that then turned into a book, that then turned into like a movie series. She wanted to write a book about a woman running a refugee camp in the Sudan. And then they were like, we want you to write this. And she was like, okay, whatever. This is stupid. Best intentions. Real brutalist vibes there. Yeah. Yeah.

Anyway, it worked out. Yeah. So Mark Darcy is dead, which they like, they kind of tease out. I thought the first like cold open 15 minutes of this movie were like fairly devastating because Colin Firth is like briefly in it as like a ghost thing, and then... They give us a flashback early on, and then he's kind of apparitional through the movie, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, but even like when she meets him on the block... To walk to the... To walk to the thing, he's apparitional. No, that was not a flashback. Got it. It's like the anniversary of his death where she gets together, which is also so great because it was like bringing, they brought back so much stuff and then bringing back

the interrogational dinner. Yes, with the same actors 20 years later. With the same actors. There are like a lot of, and I'm sorry to use this phrase, Easter eggs in this movie if you are like a Bridget Jones person. Comes for us all, Amanda. It comes for us all and I did notice that.

But primarily this is a movie about grief and raising children by yourself. And I... Very much about middle age. Yeah, and I... In a way that is unusual in big movies like this. And I do think like both romances are sort of... There are two romances, like in every Bridget Jones movie,

but they're not quite afterthoughts, but they aren't the center of the movie. Yeah. They don't feel as essential to the mechanics as the first three movies. Yes. So, you know, we haven't mentioned the stars. Renee Zellweger, of course, is, as always,

Bridget Jones, a not-British person, who's been playing this British character for quite some time. However, I did pull some British friends, and they were like, her accent is perfect. This has long been true. This was true on the first film. She got high marks, right, for her ability

to embody this character. I think everyone was outraged when she was cast. An American was cast. So you like her. She's a good Bridget. Yeah, she's great. I was reminded once again watching this movie, like a great comedic actress.

She is very funny. like the scene in the elevator where she doesn't know how it works and is just doing like physical comedy. Yeah, like funny. This is what she does best in my opinion. Completely, and they give her like some dance sequences. They give her... Also, she looks fabulous.

Yes, she does. Um, so this movie is the first of the four films to be directed by a man, which I thought was notable. It's directed by Michael Morris. You may recall him from the film To Leslie, which very few people saw, but did garner an Academy Award nomination for Andrea Riseborough. Okay, great. Quite surprisingly. This was like the call-in campaign where Queneth and Edward Norton were like,

see this film, To Leslie. And me being like, I don't know who that is. Yeah. Um, I would not have guessed Bridget Jones 4 would be how he would follow this up. He is British though. I think so, when I Googled him. Yeah.

And in addition to Zellweger, you know, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth apparitionally are back. Oh, yeah. Emma Thompson is back. No, Hugh Grant is back. He's back. I have a lot to say about him. He's wonderful. True until Ezio 4 and Leo Woodall,

you may recall from the White Lotus season two. And Love Actually. And Love Actually and Prime Target, the new show on Apple TV, Leo Woodall having a little bit of a moment. Isla Fisher, Weirdly, Briefly. It seems like they had a whole thing with her and they cut her.

Yeah, but she was very funny, the one thing she did. And yeah, as you said, she is single. Haley Atwell? No, that's Paddington in Peru you're thinking of, right? Oh yeah, as you said, she is single. Hayley Atwell? No, that's Paddington in Peru you're thinking of, right? Oh, yeah, you're right. Sorry. OK, thank you. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. We'll get there. Got your appealing British actresses confused.

Well, it is really random when Hayley Atwell shows up in Paddington, and I'd like to talk about it. Bridget Jones is a TV producer? Yeah. Yeah, she has been since the first film. That's her job? OK. I couldn't remember that. Here she's no longer working.

She's a stay-at-home mom. She's a stay-at-home mom. She's a stay-at-home mom. She's got two children. Eleven and eight, something like that. A boy and a girl. Yeah. I don't even think eight. I feel like... Seven? Yeah, or something.

Something very young where she barely knew the dad. And I want to be gentle about how I characterize this, but next month, Renee Zellweger will be 56. Yes. And so I couldn't really figure out the chronology of these stories. They say it in number three. She's 43 when she has the first child. Which is possible these days.

So she was 47 when she had the second child? That's not true. I'm not saying it doesn't happen. It definitely does happen. But it's actually a little bit of a stretch. It's way more common than you think. So the thing is that once you have one, it's quite easy to have later. Let's ease up on quite easy.

I don't mean easy, but the thing about the first one is hard when you're older. But once you've had one, they do say that age is less. The dams burst. We got you. We got what you're saying. I hope 47's not dead, John Jesus. I am 42 and I'm dead, so let me tell you. Her uterus is functioning beautifully.

Yeah, I mean, that's the other tricky thing about... It's like, they do work until they don't, you know? Absolutely. They made a nice funny comment about it. There's a woman in her mid-50s raising young children by herself. That alone is like pure empathy, you know? I'm like, this has got to be fucking hard. It's like LA. But there's usually like one who's 32 and one who's 56, you know? It's not usually two 56-year-olds.

And in this case, of course, she has lost her husband. I mean, pretty soon you're going to be the 56-year-old, so... Yeah, but my daughter is going gonna be 17 when I'm 56. That's so different, 18. When she drops, when she's dropping the kids off at school and she runs into Mr. Is it Waddington? Wallacher? Wallacher, Mr. Wallacher.

Played by Chiwetel Edgeworth. And he's blowing the whistle a bunch. And some kid comes up, it's like, why is your granny wearing pajamas? They do kind of like... That was the big... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which I thought was good.

I appreciated that they acknowledged it. They weren't like, this is normal, it's totally normal. They said something. They did. I don't want to make too much of it. It just, it did jump out to me. I was like, I've been watching Renee Zellweger in movies for a very long time. Going back to like 1993, so anyhow.

And she was that exact age, I looked it up in, she was 43. At that time. At the time of three. And then. Do you think they thought there would be a fourth when they made the third? Which was nine years ago now.

Maybe that's why they put the newspaper part. I mean, I think they want, that's a good point. Because they do keep it open. I mean, when I saw the third, I remember thinking, oh, interesting, they've like decided to take this off book in a happier direction because four is just so devastating. And I was like, oh, I'm actually happy to see this character that I like get a slightly happier ending than what we see.

So I don't know. Did you like the movie, really like it, love it? The fourth? I loved it. I don't know. Did you like the movie? Really like it? Love it? The fourth? I loved it. I really liked it. But I am fully aware that I'm just like in the Bridget Jones Matrix and was also crying a lot. Is it as good as one? Of course not. No.

Is it nearly as good as two? I'd say it's on par with two. I mean, it is just a different movie, right? I'm curious, what do you think? Not as a man, but as a movie watcher, because... A film critic. Yeah.

I thought it was solid. It's very long. It's very long. Very long for a movie like this. And I tend to think a movie like this is a really good one hour and 43 minute movie. And it felt a bit extended in its set pieces. You know, there's a long camping sequence where I was like, we are really making us wait for the payoff. That's how they fall in love. But it's a rom-com. I mean, we know where we're going here.

It's more that like, Chihuahua Ejiofor, who is the new Mr. Darcy character, doesn't have anything to do for the first 90 minutes. It's true. They're kind of like hoping to trick you into thinking he's not the romantic lead, but it's very obvious the first time he comes across the screen. Leo Woodall... I thought he was great.

He's very handsome. And they gave him ample opportunity to show it off. I had not really seen him before, because I didn't do one day. Oh, before. He didn't watch White Lies. Oh, no, I didn't watch White Lies. I am thinking about doing the third season. Yeah. Season two is really good.

It's really good. And he's great. Okay, well... I really liked season two. His gays are trying to kill me. And he is hilarious in season two. His character particularly is very good. Anyway, I mean, he has the charisma.

When he shows up and the tree climbing, I was like, oh, I get this, okay. Yeah, is he like every 55 year old mom's dream man? That's kind of what the movie is pitching. For me, he looks a bit young even for a 42 year old. I thought so as well, but also like he showed up on screen and I was like, I get it, as opposed to the idea of you guys, what's his name?

Nicholas Gazel team? Where I was just like, no. Like this is not. Oh, that's the Anne Hathaway. I didn't see that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's, I mean, you either have it or you don't. And he has it.

Yeah, and his acting. I thought the part where he came back after ghosting, he did a good job. Like that acting was pretty good. Like you believed it. But he did a great job. I have to say, I don't want to hear what you guys have to think.

The Chihuahua-edufor, as I was saying. It did feel like they didn't develop that enough. Like that was the one part where I was like, I'm not buying that you're in love. I didn't... That's sort of what I'm saying. I know, I agree. I get it that he's a Mr. Darcy, and I'm gonna sit in this relationship and it's not flowering.

I get that he's a Mr. Darcy and I get that he connected with the son and that's blossomed in her heart. Oh my God, sorry, I forgot about the scene. That's by far the best scene. The performance you're talking about? Yeah, when the kid is... I mean... I was moving like that. Holy cow!

Echoes of Love Actually. It was, it was. Which seemed like a very knowing nod to that thing. He was Peter in Love Actually. Yeah, but I mean, but singing for the death, I mean, I can't, I was like weeping. Yeah, that part is great. There's too much in this movie.

And I was like, this is like my MCU problem, where I was like, okay, so you're trying to get like, Shazer and Jude and Tom, like the friends in, who are like barely in three, because they're her 30s friends. But like... Oh, no, it's two that's broke down palace. Bridget Jones and the broke down palace.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got this extended world and you've got like, um, actresses and actors like, you know, Jim Broadbent and Shirley Henderson. Oh, that was so sad when Jim Broadbent died. But that was great. I mean, there's really, really good scenes. That was another one of those god-tier lines, like, promise me you'll live.

It's the same thing as in all the boy IP movies where they cast overqualified actors, and you get one scene where you're like, holy shit, Jeremy Irons is in this? He was the dad the whole time. No, no, I'm just saying, throughout this whole series, by having the Jim Broadbenton and Shirley Henderson's, you're like, okay, this is always gonna be

never less than solid. Right, and so you want all of them in the movie. Right, and that's what they're trying to do. That's what they're trying to do, but it's too much, and so you don't get as much time on the new characters, and you don't get as much time on, and then they're trying to bring in the perfect mom, who I thought that was a funny character.

Persian representation, we love to see it. Yeah. And the perfect nanny who I thought that was a funny character. Persian representation, we love to see it. Yeah. And the perfect nanny seemed like another slightly under... Like a thing where they filmed a lot more and cut it out. That was Nico Parker. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, is there like a four-hour cut of this film? It kind of feels like it.

Maybe it's supposed to be a TV show. I kept thinking that it would have been a great series. It opened in cinemas in England. So, you know, the fact that it wasn't a streaming movie there is notable. But, you know, it has that feel of like the extensions of early aughts shows become, or films become shows. So you could be on to something. Can I ask one more question? You can ask as many questions as you'd like.

I love it here. More Maline Sandwitches. Well, it crossed my mind again and again, the feminism sometimes does be re-entering my body. Where I was like... I know it's not a Bridget Jones thing to do, but I was like, it would have been so interesting to have it end with no love match. Like, to be like... I don't need this.

I don't need... Or like, which is again, not to galaxy brand then, it's like, it's too feminist, like, oh, I'm a woman, hear me, I don't need anyone. But like... Right, right, right. I was trying to think of how they... Or even like, honestly, for her to end up with Leo Woodall would have been really interesting.

Because he did, he did clearly, he wasn't like, the Daniel Cleaver character where it was so clear that he was just like a womanizing shit bag and like she shouldn't end up with him. Like he actually seemed like a viable. He's just like a ghosty Gen Z kid. Yeah. But he came back and he was like,

I'm ready for it, I wanna be a stepdad. And like, you know, I was like. Yeah, you can't do that. You know. Why are you trouncing on my dream? You can. I love that for you. I do that. You know. Why are you trouncing on my dream? You can. I'd love that for you. I plan to Aaron Taylor Johnson.

And if any Aaron Taylor Johnsons are watching, I'm here. Also an artist. I think they... That's right. Like they did that whole last scene where it's like, it's about, you know, everyone, it's about the community. And like everyone's in the kitchen. It's a very sweet New Year's party.

I did love the Italian womanizing 16 year old son. That was really, really funny. It's about the community. And like everyone's in the kitchen. It's a very sweet New Year's party. I did love the Italian womanizing 16 year old son. That was really, really funny. Enzo. And so like, Chiuotel Ejiofor is like there. And you're signaled that he's the partner or whatever, but it's like not emphasis. Odd line sign on the piano.

It's not like three and two and like the rest end, but just like, Mark Dar and like the rest end, but just like Mark Darcy, Mark Darcy, Mark Darcy, you know? And this is more like, look at my beautiful life and it's gonna be okay. But I mean, I agree with you. It's not a criticism per se. I liked his speech in the snow.

Yeah, it was, they were like, what would he, what kind of Mark Darcy would he be? Yeah. And his, his assignment is. And I mean, it echoes the first, you know, Mark Darcy in the snow. Newton's law of third law or whatever. Right. I feel that we're not giving enough attention to Hugh Grant,

who's one of the great unbroken streaks of success in movies in the last 10 years. Unbelievable. He's very, very funny in this movie. I'm sorry, but he's never shown up once for me in a film that I wasn't like, absolutely yes, standing ovation. Amen. He's a great movie star. He standing ovation, you're... Amen.

He's a great movie star. He's such a, he's so charming. And you know, Helen Fielding, I did listen to a little research as I do, she said that he writes a lot of his own lines. You can kind of tell. Yes. There's a, it feels like his press tour in the movie.

Not in a bad way. It's a really interesting thing though, because it is, this has always been true of this character as I remember it, but it is the inverse of the persona. I mean, it is him almost like rejecting the bumbling, adorable Brit thing that he trademarked, you know? And when he did it in the original Bridget Jones diary in 2001, it's like right after Notting Hill.

And like he's doing it with Richard Curtis, it's almost like, okay, finally we get to be, he's always talked about it, like I get to be closer to who I actually am. Very few men have ever been more gorgeous and attractive than Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones one, or honestly in Notting Hill, or in Four Weddings and a Funeral,

or I could, you know. It's really, truly a... It's really, really powerful. But he also is, looks fantastic. He looks amazing. And I just want to say, across the board, everyone over the age of 50 looks amazing in this movie, including Emma Thompson.

Emma Thompson looks gorgeous. Yeah, who's got like the Miranda Priestly hair at this point. They have hair and makeup in these films, you know. No, no, no. Yeah, but like, they don't always get it right, as you never notice. Allow me to point something out.

These people are rich movie stars who are beautiful, and that's why they're in the business. But the thing about, okay, the thing about A. Renee Zellweger is that she looks her age, but phenomenal. Which is not the same as looking, and also, let me say something about the British canon, which I believe so firmly and strongly in, they still keep their teeth.

American movie stars, American movie stars, please relax on the veneers. I can't take it anymore. I can't watch another film. I needed to hear this because I was thinking the other day about, maybe I would do some, I know I can't. First of all, it's a first of all.

Hugh Grant has his regular masterpiece. YouTube insidious. No it is, of course it is. No, it's actually that I was just like watching Instagram and someone was like, here's how they put it on your, I'm not gonna do it. Your teeth are perfect. They aren't, but thank you.

But I have a bit of a British situation on the bottom and you know what, that's fine. I have sort of like a Ben Affleck, they're just like a little small, you know? And so Ben Affleck got that money to, um... Go back and watch, like, what is my favorite after hours? The Martin Scorsese movie? Yes.

The teeth are teething in that movie. I listen to it. And you look, Nicolas Cage, what happened? He was so wonderful. And then what he made the, it was so good. Kirsten Dunst has kept her teeth, and that's really important. It's just so charming.

Even she would tell... People should do what they want to do, honestly. I think people should do what they want to do, honestly. I think they should do what they want to do. If you want to get veneers, honestly, I'll make a point of it every episode forever, but you should do it. Both my parents have them, so every day in my house, I'm like, OK, we're at the TV set.

OK, yeah. There is a good, they look great, my parents, if you're watching. So another subplot in this movie, because there are too many. There are like 45,000. But one of them is the TV producer, the TV show where Bridget goes back to work

with her friend. Talitha, the original woman character. Yeah, and they're doing like the fourth hour of the Today show, but in the UK. And they talk about like how the HD camera is like the worst invention for TV presenters of all time, which is very true. We talked about it recently on an episode. Jack and I were just talking about like filters. Shout out Jack for all the work that you're gonna do.

Let Jack know if you guys know about filters. Or let me know, you know, because we're all learning together. We're doing our best. And then the lip thing was funny. That was, It was funny. Especially because it was like, she got ghosted, let's help you out. The implication was like, you could... If you're just hotter, you wouldn't get ghosted. Interesting double feature potential here with Baby Girl, I feel.

I thought about Baby Girl while I was watching. Are you pro or anti? I'm like total neutral on Baby Girl. I thought it was like... Did you watch Harris Dickinson's Criterion Clubs? Yes, and he is so hot. I mean, it's like on. Harris Dickinson.

It's good we can all have a little bit. It's like really powerful. Are you watching? I'm here. Do you feel threatened though? Threatened by what? Oh, could a man so beautiful also be such a cinephile dork? Yeah, well it's just kind of like.

It is like you're on my corner handsome guy. Yeah, exactly. It's like none of the rest of you can pull that off. You know? No, I mean for me it's just like ball no or salute., handsome guy. Yeah, exactly. It's like none of the rest of you can pull that off. You know? So... No, I mean, for me, it's just like ball-nower salute. Like, I gotta say. This man is recommending obscure Filipino cinema to hot women around the world. This is super cool.

He really sealed the deal. Put me on that one. We need more men like him, to be honest with you. Couldn't agree more. Yeah. I also was just reading, I didn't realize that Baby Girl is a big hit in England as well. And in Europe, it's doing very well financially.

It did okay in the US, but, um... Europeans are more sexually free and pro age gap relationships. I do think that's what, I do think that is a huge factor, is it just feels like a very French movie in a lot of ways. And of course, the filmmaker is Dutch. And like a French understanding of, or a European understanding of America. And even like this slightly simplistic girl boss whatever.

And then let's just like add a lot of sex. Yeah. Amen. When you sit on your aeroplan points, it's like you're sitting on your next trip. Like a sunny getaway, sitting on a terrace. But instead, you're sitting on your Aeroplan points. So the only place you're sitting is in your car coming back from work. Use your points and go from sipping on your leftover latte to sipping on the local vintage. So stop sitting on your next trip and start enjoying your Aeroplan points.

Let's pivot to something more childlike. Okay. Paddington in Peru, we are gifted by marmalade sandwiches by you or by you? By you. By Asi. Very kind of you. Of course. I don't know that I've ever had just a straight up marmalade sandwich.

Me either. I was just trying to be true to the, I looked it up. I don't know if I've ever had marmalade. Oh, I've definitely had marmalade. Marmalade's great. It's brown bread, specifically whole wheat bread. So that's what I got. I looked it up. And that is what Paddington likes.

Yes. Paddington, of course, is a bear. He's a bear from, as you would read in the story, Darkest Peru. Is that a real place? Did you look it up? I believe it's just a reference to Peru, but more like within Peru, there is undiscovered country.

It does feel lightly racist, but I'm gonna let it go. There is definitely some colonialist vibes to the story. You know, and they're, you know, Paddington is like the lost immigrant is definitely a sub theme in the original story. Yes. Learning to assimilate in the Brown family. We re-read the original story last night

and they don't, they don't really get into the politics of it all. But it has, like, they found him at the train station, and he's orphaned, and you know, it's kind of a classical stand-in for a boy from another country, basically. In the original movie, though, they try they draw the parallels to World War II. And they're like, they sent the tag, and so they, you know, sent kids away, and were like, please take care of this kid.

So that's not in the book. Makes me cry. No, that's not in the book. OK, yeah. That was added. The book is very slim. Got it. I mean, it actually has a lot of words. Yes, I read it all the time.

I mean, it's like, it is one of the, when the child requests original Paddington, it's like, are you going to do the edited version, ordington, it's like, are you gonna do the edited version or are you putting away 15 minutes? I can't do the edited version anymore because my daughter knows every word to every story. No, not access to now. I will do tonal shifting.

Me too. But no British accent. More excited if it's a female character, a different register. Excuse me? That's, excuse me, wow. Sean's like, I go more shrill. I'm not doing this to put out a fire. Yeah, just more annoying is really what I go for.

No, just like- Don't give these YouTube commenters anymore. Does the energy go up? Does the, you know, the- Yeah, sure. Do I go like this? No, I don't do that. Okay.

Paddington Peruse, third Paddington. I do actually do that for the dads. The dads talk like this. Yeah. There you go. And then like, and you'll see size, like eyes light up. I don't know whether like he's a budding misogynist or whether it just gets his attention.

We're just like, hey, a man is talking. Kids love performance and they love Paddington. This is the third Paddington movie. It's directed by Dougal Wilson, the first Paddington movie not directed by Paul King, who really made his name as a filmmaker on the first two Paddington films. I would say especially Paddington 2,

which is one of the most beloved movies of the 21st century. It's one of the best films of all time. Many people are saying that. I don't know if I'm quite at that level, but I do like it quite a bit. It's wonderful. Okay. This movie had a lot to live up to because of the reputation of the first two Paddington films. Paul King still did work on the story before moving on to Wonka,

which is a movie that I don't like, but Amanda does. OK. Oh, you like it? I cried. Is it not a musical? It is. It's more musical than even these movies, so you might not like it. Hugh Bonneville's back. Julie Walters is back.

Jim Broadbent is back. Olivia Colman is here. Antonio Banderas is here. And of course, Ben Whishaw has returned as the voice of Paddington. Right. But who's not back? Yeah. But I was so upset and angry.

So I didn't know this. And I sat down. I didn't know it either. You didn't know it either, right? And I was like, excuse me. And I also had to go get popcorn for Knox because I took Knox to his second theater experience of all time to see this movie.

And I bribed him with popcorn to sit through all of it. So I was like, did I miss, is this like Mrs. Brown's sister? You know, like what's going on? And they just like hard recast Sally Hawkins. As Sean put it, they Aunt Viv'd it. Yes, this is a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air situation where one day you turned on the Fresh Prince and Aunt Viv was just played by a completely different actress.

And they did kind of acknowledge it. See, they winked. This was my biggest criticism. How easy would it have been to write a funny little line when Paddington is like, Mrs. Brown, did you cut your hair? You look different. That alone might have mollified me, but I was like, I was angry the whole time. I was confused.

I know the difference between Sally Hawkins and Emily Mortimer, two great actresses. Emily Mortimer is great. We love her. So it's kind of weird because you're like, I know who difference between Sally Hawkins and Emily Mortimer, two great actors. You guys love and respect. Emily Mortimer is great. We love her. So it's kind of weird because you're like, I know who that is. This isn't just a random British lady. Kind of looks like Sally Hawkins.

She doesn't look like Sally Hawkins is the other thing. No, so I guess it's more noticeable. They have dark hair. Yeah, but blue eyes, isn't she? I'm with you. I was just kind of like, please don't insult her. It's a bit strange. It's like the one thing that insults the audience

is intelligence. This is going around, you know, with Harrison Ford replacing William Hurt and Mark Ruffalo replacing Edward Norton in Captain America 4. Did you get any Tinseltown intel from the biz about why Sally Hawkins didn't do it? No, been pounding the pavement, been knocking on doors. Can't get any word on this. Where is Sally Hawkins

and why is she not available? I'm sure somebody out there knows why. Anyhow, this third movie, an adventure film. Yes. Paddington headed back to old Peru to find out what's going on with his aunt. With Aunt Lucy. Aunt Lucy, something's happened to her.

She's disappeared. She's contacted him. The whole Brown family needs to go on an adventure. They're stuck in the malaise of middle age for the parents and adolescence for the kids. Mix it up. Be fearless. Hugh Bonneville, he's, I don't know,

he's doing something in the corporate world. And that's why Haley Atwell's there. Haley Atwell plays his boss. I think I missed that scene. She's an American girl boss. Kind of a baby girl situation also for her. No sexual. I totally missed that scene.

So at the end, when she's just like in the boardroom, I was like, what is going on with my British wife? She comes in, she's like, we must embrace risk. Yeah. That's the big thing. Which I would say plot wise, not coherent, but that's OK. The family decides to go to Peru together, they get into some adventures.

Yeah. Some shit goes down. I also saw this movie with my kid. She loved it, but was absolutely terrified for about 18 minutes in the third act. Yeah, what part was terrifying for her? Just as soon as there was like storming, and they were on the boat, and the boat was getting destroyed.

Oh, OK. That was like, she was like, no. She was like, get me out of here. I will say this morning when I asked Knox, because, you know, we're in a phase of life where you can't like ask direct questions and like get answers. So after the movie, I was like, did you like it? It's called For the Rest of Your Life, yeah.

Yeah, and he was like, yeah, sure. But this morning I was like, hey, do you remember what movie we saw? He said Paddington in Peru, and he said there was yellow, there was yellow in the boat. And I was like, oh, do you mean the life jackets? He said, yes, they were yellow in the boat. So I guess that also did stay with him. It's really funny.

The life jackets also resonated in our home because Alice keeps doing this to represent life jackets, which I thought was pretty creative. What did you think of Paddington and Puri Yasi? Well, much like Bridget Jones, I will watch 27 more Paddingtons of varying levels of being good, and I will enjoy all of them. I had a great time. Once I got over the Mrs. Brownness of it all,

I thought it was an anti-capitalist, pro-immigration tome, which is a cool thing to do, you know, to indoctrinate the children. El Dorado, it's oranges. It's not gold, babe. I enjoyed that as well. That is lovely. I love these movies. I do too. I think Antonio Banderas is also having,

to a lesser extent, a Hugh Grant ear. He was great in Baby Girl. He is doing very well, of course. He recurs in Baby Girl. He was one of the better parts for me of Baby Girl. There's something kind of weird in this, where he's playing a somewhat similar character in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, where he's also a man with a boat.

I had completely forgotten that. I had, like, literally, that doesn't exist. Isn't that kind of odd? Well, I didn't remember that. So, also, this movie, these movies do like, they love other movies and they do homages and they reference. So I mean, he even does like a little Zorro thing

at one point, right? With the boat. He does, yeah. We're talking about Antonio Banderas. I mean, he's an actor I've always loved. The former guest of this show. We love him. He's fantastic.

He still looks gorgeous. And he brings an energy that is fun to the movie, but I think actually kind of scared Alice a little bit because the multiple versions of Bandera, so it's a little intense. Yeah, it was pretty sinister. Also, I did get upset about his name. What was his name in the movie? Cabot? Hugo Cabot?

It was actually Caballo. I was like, this man is Peruvian, his last name is Cabot. I did also. And it was like Martin Cabot or somethinguvian, his last name is Cabot. I did also. And it was like a Martin Cabot or something. No, it's like Mr. Hunter, Mr. Something. I think there had been like maybe a Spanish conquistador in his family, but then also an American prospector. I think they were trying to show that, you know,

the immigration throughout the family lineage. Great boat. Great boat. I mean, the production design in these movies is wonderful. Olivia Colman was phenomenal, I thought. She's so enjoyable. I laughed everything I could. She plays a nun with some suspicious intentions. Her face acting.

She's locked in to the frequency of the bulking movies. It's really, really funny. Agreed. Also, like, the sound of music, the whole, like, montage song, like, very funny. So whatever they're doing with however they make The sound of music, the whole montage song, very funny. So whatever they're doing with however they make that Paddington bear CGI or whatever, the minute he is lightly upset about something,

I start crying. It is just the most moving. I agree. I love it. They're knocking him out of the park with my Paddington CGI. Where do you, is this the third best of the Paddington movies? What? So...

It's kind of, it's pretty different because of its locale. Well, it's not, it doesn't have the whimsy of the locations of the first two, because the Browns' apartment has all that, like, cuteness and whimsy, and London in general is such a portrait as whimsical. Even the train stuff in the second one is, like, pink and colorful and exciting, and some of that comes back, but, I mean, this is like,

we're in the jungle in this movie, you know? It's kind of the apocalypse now of Paddington movies. Okay. Heart of Darkness. That is true. It's a Heart of Darkness quality. It's a very heart of darkness. And they're definitely doing, like, they also do Raiders at one point, which is very funny.

The rolling giant. I, you know, there was a boat and a plane, so in that sense, the three-year-old I was with was, like, absolutely out of his mind excited. And then the orange stuff was so nice and friendly, and then they all make marmalade together. I enjoyed that. And then the speech, the ending speech.

My tribe and my family. I wept. I was literally weeping. Yeah, and then they all get to, and then everyone goes to London. So I'll tell you a quick story. Yasi and I saw this at the same screening. And Yasi met Eileen, Yasi met Alice. She'd not met them before.

Best day of my life. Eileen was very friendly, thankfully. Alice a little less friendly, as you know, first timers. Sure. You never know with Eileen. So beautiful. Sean's wife. I was taken aback.

I used to have it back in the day. Not so much anymore, but I'm holding on tight. No implication there, just praising your gorgeous wife. Alice, you know, a little shy around Yasi. And then we didn't speak of Yasi until two nights ago where we're sitting at the dinner table, me, Eileen and Alice, and she said, Dad, I need to make a podcast with Yasi. Talked about Yasi for 30 minutes straight. Said, Dad, I need to see pictures of Yasi.

Okay. We need to talk about Paddington. Okay. Yes. And is, is pretty obsesseddington. OK, yes. And is pretty obsessed right now. That's awesome. So that's really special.

Once again, I did cry when he sent me a video of this. And I go, you know, I'll say something. I'm very popular with children. Can't explain it. But one thing I've noticed is I have very long hair. And young children associate that with princesses. And so often I have a bit of a leg up over other adults. I would say Yasi also has a princess name vibe. Totally. And I have a childlike whimsical energy about myself. I see it as well. I understand the

response but that's very exciting. Alice doesn't just choose anyone. I literally cry. She's a bit picky, to be honest. I mean, I'm going to put aside how alarmed I am that she's like, I want to make a podcast, because that's what you do. This is a whole other thing. This means she was like, I want to be a movie director. Like, I don't even.

I'm not even like telling her. I'm not like, dear, Steven Spielberg in 1987, I'm not doing that with her. We don't need to curse anyone to become a podcaster. I think she's just, she's absorbing the general experiences of our lives. And she's thinking that this is just what anyone does, you know? Knox just likes to use microphones. So anytime he can like scrabble up and get access to my whole microphone,

he'll sit there and he's like, I'm podcasting. I do a podcast. Dead. He's gonna be a star. They're both gonna be stars. I hope not. He's gonna be a star. They're both gonna be stars. I hope not. Um... Paddington 3 is really, is a really fun movie. A good family movie and also a good movie if you don't have a family, honestly. They're just really well made.

They are, they are like, they're the best. I tried to borrow a child to take with me to the screening, but my little, my little nugget, Leo, was unavailable. Leo Woodall. Leo Woodall. He was busy that day. My little nugget, Leo, was unavailable. So I did it. Leo Whittle. Harrison Dickinson. He was busy that day. He was in the container closet.

And I went with my adult friend, and we had a blast. It's a good movie. Can we close the loop on Hugh Grant and his year with movies? Yes, of course. That's right. There's so many intersections of this movie. Jim Broadbent in this movie as well. Knox was just like, Knox started pointing. It was like, him, him, hey, Paddington.

From Paddington, knowing Paddington too. Yeah, because I mean, that's obviously... That was our favorite. Post credits, right? It was. We might have, I might have missed it if I hadn't come to like... Because remember the theater was empty when we saw that happen. I came to hang and talk to Iren Alice and we were just chatting, and then all of a sudden,

empty theater comes up here. I'm like, I'm so glad I caught this. That's something that always happens for us, because Alice is like, I want to stay for the credits for everything. Like, even if we watch a movie at home, I'm glad it worked out. And now she knows about Stingers,

which is great for her. She can get right into the MCU now. We can start right off with The Incredible Hulk. Once again, Hugh Grant, very funny. He did great. He's an international treasure. Yeah, it's funny, it does feel like, and this is perhaps a segue to our conversation,

you know, that there's like 87 people making movies together in England and they're all kind of all doing the same stuff in different tones, different genres, but then their worlds are all interconnected. They have 87 of the best people. They're very good at what they do. Obviously, there's a long and storied history of British cinema. We're not talking about that today.

No, Withnail and I today. We're not talking about the old coward and David Lean. We're not talking about all those wonderful people. Withnail and I just announced to join the Criterion Collection this morning. It's just now? It was not now. Just in time for me to go to the closet.

What's wrong with that? There was an Arrow release for a long time, which is very good. No one cares. Arrow, British company. No. Also announced how to get ahead in advertising, which also stars Richard E. Grant, another Bruce Robinson movie.

Also announced another British filmmaker, one of your favorite filmmakers, The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers by Richard Lester, who of course directed Hard Day's Night. Oh, hard day's night, yeah. Criterion, just a banner morning. Thank you to them. 21st century British movie canon.

As I said, films with British stars and or directors, filmed in England or in the extended kingdom, detailing British aspects of life, from love to crime to war to governance. What do you think of that? Are you counting Australia and Canada? No. I don't think so. I think that's a separate vibe.

You know how I feel about Australia and Canada. I mean, Australia and Canada. No. I don't think so. No, thank God. I think that's a separate vibe. Because you know how I feel about Australia in that sense. I mean, Australia and Canada are not parts of the kingdom anymore. Well, at one point. I think that the queen is, or the king is still on the money. We're not really talking about that. No, no, no, no, no, no,

but I think that the king is still on the money. In which country? In Canada and in... Prince Charles is on the money in Canada? Well, he's the king now. Well, the queen was for sure. King Charles, gotta go. Not shadow Prince Charles cinema, by the way.? Well, he's the king now. Well, the queen was, for sure. Not shadow Prince Charles Cinema, by the way.

Yes, hopefully they're doing well. Please support them. Can you still sign the petition? I don't know. If you can, go do it. Yeah, if you can. If you live in the UK. To the UK?

No, to the Prince Charles. No, but I'd like to. It's really cool. I honestly, Paul the programmer is the best in the business. He is. It's a great place, and I hope more people are patronizing. Not to get the sub mad at you, but Ireland is not part of, as you know, only Northern Ireland. I don't think I included any Irish films here. I don't think I did either.

You didn't put the one that you just talked about in the musical. Oh, Sing Street? No. What did we just say? It was nominated for Best Picture. Oh, Kneecap. Kneecap. Kneecap. It is cited as best British film at the BAFTAs. I got yelled at a lot on my sub for this, so I'm just not hyper aware.

Well, okay. It's a thorny issue that has provoked significant strife over the years. So Kneecap is Belfast, right? It is, which is in Belfast, right? It is, which is in Northern. Yeah, so that's, it's very complicated. I recommend the TV show Say Nothing.

Yes, wonderful TV show. Shout out, Brad. Okay, so I've broken this into a handful of categories. You've added some categories as well. Hopefully, thank you. This is all gender essentialist, generational, and frankly- This is like 45 of my favorite movies.

...overstated, but we will be naming a lot of good movies. The categories are for the lads, for the lasses, for the normies, for the cinephiles, and for Gen Z. Gen Z. I mean, Gen Z, I think. Gen Z. It was very easy for me to make the list for the lads. This was one of the easiest jobs I've ever had on this podcast.

Every movie I name is a movie that I care about deeply. I think that you've claimed a couple that go beyond the lads. Yeah, 24-hour party people is not for the lads. What is it for? Who is it for in this category? Music-loving people. But that's not one of the categories. I'm just trying to squeeze it in. I think Tinker Tailor is broader for...

Tinker Tailor is a film that barely features a single woman. But it's also for dads. It is, oh, for the dads. Yeah, for the dads. For the lad dads. Yeah, lad dads. The dad lads. In the loop is for anyone who likes to laugh.

Everyone can come into the lad tent. Come join us in the lad tent where we also have the film Snatch. Of course, we love Guy Ritchie here in America, in Britain. The Cornetto trilogy, we love the Edgar Wright movies, especially that trio. Layer Cake, which Chris would take a bullet for Sienna Miller in that film. In Bruges, which is from an Irish-British filmmaker, Martin McDonough.

He kind of straddles the line. Okay. Sexy Beasts, really any Jonathan Glaser movie, but some of them are for the cinephiles and some of them are for the lads. Yeah, but isn't... You're gonna get yourself in some hot water with these distinctions. Yeah, I was gonna say also, like, isn't...

What's the Nicole Kidman one, Birth? Sex, uh, Birth, yeah. Yeah, Birth is like a New York. It is. It has a distinctly British sensibility, I would say. Yeah, birth is like a New York. It is. So, I mean, I understand that he's a... It has a distinctly British sensibility, I would say. Sure, but, like, it's not... Danny Houston being an American with a British accent

has always been confusing to me. I mean, I think, like, I think birth is, like, the most underrated of the... The phenomenal thing. ...maybe the best of the Jonathan Glaser films, but it's not on this canon, in this canon. Uh, Kill List, the Ben Wheatley movie. Sure, yeah. In the Loop, you mentioned.

Attack the Block. Yeah. Sunshine, that's the Danny Boyle movie that the lads like. And Four Lions, Chris Morris's incredible comedy. For the last is, I took a shot at a couple and then you've added some more. Do you guys want to talk through these? I think you could do more honestly on this list. You could do more.

Well it's 94. I mean that's the thing. Yes. These are all movies in the last 25 years. Yeah. I'm a love actually truther, just so you guys know. And like a. Like I love it.

I don't care. And the truth is that it's fucking terrible and should be abolished from society. No, here's the thing. It's powerful. And I like watch it every year. I don't know if we can be friends anymore. It's like.

I'll tell Alex. It's deeply problematic. And- Oh God, not Bechtel Tass, leave me alone. Let me just enjoy a film. It's not even Bechtel Tass. It's just like, how many different secretaries can we have affairs with?

You know what I'm saying? Listen, if the shoe fans, babe. Okay, it's true. It's how they be. Emma Thompson, like all time in that movie, really, really beautiful. Listen, we talked about this. And you know, like, in many ways, you can't have Landman without love, actually.

So, because the Billy Bob Thornton character is just sort of, that's what happens next. It's like George W. Tham and George W. Tham. I hadn't really put that together, but that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, so there you go. Okay, so love actually, obviously. Atonement. Where are you on atonement? I could only watch it the one time

because it's devastating, but I did really like it. Had you read the book? Did you know it was coming? I didn't read the book. Okay, so how did that twist work for you? It was very painful. Okay, yay. I'll never forget, the book is one of the great novels

of our lifetimes, but it's buried in the last paragraph, and I read it, and then 30 minutes later, just started weeping uncontrollably in my parents' home. I'll never forget it. Okay, I told him it. I can't remember when I read it. Wuthering Heights. Love.

Love, actually. Joe Wright, Pride and Prejudice, OVE, About a Boy. Yes, it's the Hugh Grant of it all, Bridget Jones Diary, the original, 2001. The Holiday, which for the record, I do not endorse, but it's undeniable. What do you think of the holiday? It's not, it's fine. Yeah, it's not very good.

The misuse of Kate Wendler. Yes. And... Everything, like the three movies before and the two movies after Nancy Meyers. Right. Great. Love them. But the holiday is sort of like the cults. I mean, it is the Christmas aspect of it.

People love it. Whatever. It's no Hot Frosty. Young Victoria. Yeah, I like this movie too. That's a really good movie. Have you seen this? Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend. Sort of, it's like pre-Crown.

Yeah, pre-Crown, but like Crown-esque. I saw this on a plane one time and I was like, cool, this is gonna be better than I thought it was gonna be. Yeah, it's just kind of like a romance. It's pretty nice. Paul Bettany plays Lord Marlborough, I think? Mm-hmm. Yes. Prime Minister, yeah. It's a good movie. Okay. The Normies.

So, these are the movies that break through. They're usually box office successes. They sometimes get awards attention. They feel distinctly British, I think is the thing. They're almost about, say, the tropes of British life, dashing spies, the class system, the king, the queen. The empire.

The disintegration of empire. Their spies are better than ours. I think they're considered cooler for one obvious reason, because, you know, Casino Royale and Skyfall are... You had Casino Royale, I, as always, the Skyfall stand, but it also, like... They're both great. I think Casino Royale is more this. No, but like...

Because it was the first one. But Skyfall is like about the Empire. It is. And like, and mommy issues, and it has the, you know, the shot of like all of the coffins and him like running through London, like while they're doing Tennyson. Like it's about... It's like about the UK. What you're talking about are high-minded ideas.

Yeah. You could make the case that Skyfall is for the cinephiles and the Casino Royale is for the normies. Well, that's fine. It's on the list. Skyfall is incredible. 1917. It also has Javier Bardem. It does. Mommy was very bad.

1917. Paddington too. Yeah. Okay, do you guys know a little piece of trivia? How beloved Paddington is in the UK. That apparently when the queen was ill, she did a little video. Do you remember this?

It was for her Jubilee. It was for her Jubilee and she did a little video. Do you remember this? It was for her jubilee. And she did her tea and marmalade sandwich with Paddington. And there was like public outcry, people being like, Paddington, no, she is anti, you're an immigrant, Paddington. How dare you sit and take tea with the queen? Which I love that. People were really upset about Paddington.

That's interesting. Aligning with the monarch. It is like their... Like, Knox is fully Paddington-pilled, but in large part because loved ones have gone to the UK, including like Chris Ryan, and they're just like the only souvenirs to buy. There's a whole Paddington store I've...

Yeah, no, I mean, but it's just like everywhere. They have like fully exported that. Do we have one of those? You could say Mickey Mouse, but Mickey Mouse has no like, um... Like, national... Ethical and moral compass that I'm aware of, you know, like... Well, just like America, you know. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Maybe Winnie the Pooh,

but that's fallen on hard times. Also, isn't Winnie the Pooh British? I tend to think the Muppets occupy the space, and like the Sesame Street Muppets, like... That's the Sesame Street Muppets. That's the Sesame Street Muppets. That's a good one. Elmo? Big Bird and... Yeah, Grover is giving us some life lessons, for sure.

I think Big Bird and Kermit are kind of like the moral center of those two properties. Yeah, but they're like not as big as Paddington internationally. No way. Elmo is probably... Yeah, Big Bird is not what he wants. I just saw Follow That. Elmo's just like a dumb kid, you know?

He doesn't bring anything to the table. But the UK is trying to, like, is pushing Paddington. Like, Big Sesame is pushing Elmo. It's like Elmo is doing SponCon with Roger Federer right now. Which on the one hand, like, target audience. On the other hand, like, what are we doing? Well, I think the thing that Elmo does that is nice is that he preaches a kind of sincerity

that I think the world could use from time to time. Which is what Paddington does as well. Listen, I love Paddington, I love Elmo, I love Roger Federer. Like, why are we advertising for on running? Grover would never, babe, that's all I'm saying. It's a good question about what are the equivalents. We don't really have are the equivalents. We don't really have quite the same thing.

Sorry to bring it back to Paddington. We can continue to the canon. Slumdog Millionaire, a bit of a thinker here. Obviously not a film set in England, made by a distinctly English filmmaker. A huge hit. Kind of sort of empire bound because of the history of India and England. And I wasn't sure of whether it should go in. It's a tougher call than something like Darkest Hour,

which is about Churchill and about the country we're during World War II. Same for The King's Speech and The Queen. These are very standard, entertaining, sometimes better than average movies about this space. I saw The Queen, I didn't say The King's Speech. King's Speech has a dreadful reputation now because it beat the social network at the Oscars,

but it's not bad. And it was also like a Harvey Weinstein engineer. Well, he did leave some stains. Did you like it when it came out? Uh, yeah, sure. Who was the star Colin Firth? Colin Firth. And Guy Pearce.

Wonderful Guy Pearce. Oh, right, he plays the... Brother Who Can't Step Up, what's that guy's name? Uncle David is what they call him. What was it, Edward something? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dick, went off and married an American movie star. Helena Bonham Carter plays the...

Oh yeah, I love him. Yeah, great story. He's great in the crown too. Yeah, what an asshole. That's right. For The Cinephiles, there's been a lot of really good British films in the last 25 years. So ones that popped into my mind,

you guys added some too. The Souvenir, in part two I suppose. Weekend, Andrew Hayes movie. I've got two Andrew Hayes movies here, 45 years this year. I guess All of a Stranger should be considered too. I was gonna say, yeah. Fish Tank. Love Fish Tank. One of my faves.

Andrea Arnold's great movie. Hunger, Stephen McQueen's first film. Happy Go Lucky was my Mike Lee pick. One of my favorite Mike Lee movies, maybe like top three. It's a favorite of mine as well, and I feel like it's the most British until Hard Truths, you know, about life. And obviously a lot of his movies in the 80s and 90s and 70s even are about that, but that one in particular is not like a period piece.

Morvern Callar. I love that Morvern Callar. Bloody Sunday, Paul Greengrass's first movie. The Deep Blue Sea, the late Terrence Davies. I don't know if it's his most, maybe not his most recent movie, but the movie before that with Rachel Weisz. You had a Dunkirk, which I think is a great call. Now, Dunkirk to me occupies basically all of these categories.

Of course. I mean, it's definitely Lad Dad. Yes, Lad Dad. Something for the last is with Hardy at the end. The Normies, of course, love Dunkirk. Yeah. Gen Z loves Dunkirk. Gen Z. Oh, that's right.

Gen Z, yeah. An education. Is an education for cinephiles or for the last? You know what? Excuse me. Excuse you. It's really well-made. My wife loves this movie.

This is a huge favorite of hers. Yeah, so why does it just have to be for girls? Why can women enjoy all cinema? Because we are so superior. And then simply cannot bear to watch anything that doesn't have a war or a spy in it. Yeah, great. There you go. Also featuring Emma Thompson.

I mean, this is like another subset. It's like, does the movie have Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Tom Hardy? Peter Sarsgaard pulling a Renee Zellweger in that movie. Very credible British guy. Keira Knightley. I love Keira Knightley. Keira Knightley, she's in the Hall of Fame of these movies.

And then Phantom Thread, you know. Yeah, I say yes. It is. It's PTA, but it is. One of my faves of all time. For Gen Z, I'm glad you added this. Yeah, just because I like, I'm glad you added this. Yeah. Just because I don't need the children yelling at me about What A Girl Wants. I know.

It's very important to them. What is What A Girl Wants? So, Colin Firth is another person of like, if Colin Firth is in the movie. So... What A Girl Wants in my head is a Christina Aguilera song. And it is an incredible song. And I think it's like What A Girl Wants, the Aguilera song is titled. So it's an Amanda Bynes film where Amanda Bynes

finds out that her dad is Colin Firth. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so then she like goes to London. It's actually a great movie. Yeah. Amanda Bynes. That's some Princess Sophia vibes there.

Sophia the First. Princess Sophia becomes a princess because her mom marries the king, OK? Like, it's not, yeah. I don't acknowledge that part of it. It's like a, you know, a combined, a joined family situation. Have you seen Sophia the First?

No. I watched it with Alice. And then like... And it was not a fan. I mean, it was total garbage. I love watching it with Alice. It's like a computer CGI animated show. And Sophia finds out that...

Sophia was not born a princess, but then she becomes a princess. And the episode that we watched was about Mother's Day, and how Sophia used to celebrate it with just her mom, but now she has to celebrate it with her stepchildren, with her stepbrother and sister as well, who are the reason that she's a princess. But anyway, so I came into this Sophia cold, and so I was asking Alice a lot of questions about kind of like family structure

and Alice wasn't really willing to engage with me during the... She was kind of locked in the show. It's a little hard to talk to. She was like, can you not talk to Auntie Amanda? No, she didn't even say anything. And so then I start yelling to Sean, I'm like, so Sean, is this a stepdad situation?

And the whole time, Alice was like, will it make a shut the fuck up? No, Sean's just like on his computer being like, no, I am like emailing about, you know, episodes in 2028. It's really amazing what you can do with an hour free time. I've been meaning to say that to you. It's just like... I'm very productive.

I know, but it's like the light goes on. At what cost? And... We're gonna find out. And I hear from you and then I know what's gonna be happening for the next three to five years. Yep. I know how to plan. What else is in Gen Z?

Ben Delay Beckham, speaking of Keira Knightley. Never seen it. Oh, that's nice. Not for any reason, I just never saw it. I was in college when it came out. You should also show it to Alice. Eileen and Alice should watch it. Great. I'll let them know. I believe it.

Parminder Nagra, is that the star? Yes. Harry Potter movies? Yeah, this is a good point. This believe it. Parminder Nagra, is that the star? Yes. Harry Potter movies? Yeah, this is a good point. This is kind of for normies too, right? Yeah. They've been tinged a bit with a Weinstein-esque... Sure.

...afterglow. But movies innocent though. Fabulous movies. Yeah, I like them too. I didn't add Sing Street, so. Sing Street Irish, so maybe not Sing Street. Any other movies that we haven't listed here? Spring to Mind?

I'm sure there's a great many that people are like, how could you not have named? So it, so everyone, just to be clear, we're doing 21st century only. So like a lot of Hugh Grant movies, like The Parent Trap for all my Gen Z kids, which is also, it's, that's a bridge between my generation and your generation. But that's 98. So... What about Philomena? Keep it to yourself. Oh, sure. Yeah. That's a good between my generation and your generation. But that's 98. So what about Philomena?

Keep it to yourself. Oh, sure. Yeah. That's a good one. Right. Or the trip movies. Judy Dench is another one where if Judy Dench is in your movie, then yeah. Judy Dench is there.

If Steve Coogan is there in many ways, there's some angle file. Yeah. Uh, honestly, if Stephen Freer's directed it likely. Totally. It's a part of this family. You know, I noticed you didn't include Better Man. Well, yes. You know, I'm mixed on Better Man. Would Mamma Mia count? Mamma Mia? Yeah.

Not a film I've seen. I actually haven't seen Mamma Mia, either. OK. We talked about this last night. Yes. OK, so it's like the biggest ever British movie, but I guess it's filmed in Greece. With half American cast.

Right. But the other half of them are British. British movie, but I guess it's filmed in Greece. With half American cast. Right, but the other half of them are British. I guess it doesn't count. Okay. It's more international. In Mamma Mia 2, I think like Donna was in London. I wish someone here could work with me on this. Maybe I'll just show Mamma Mia to Alice and she'll love it.

And then you have to watch the whole universe for... It's all in play. It's all in play. Honestly, I encourage her to have well-rounded ideas. I don't want her to just be a vessel for my taste. Oh, I thought of something by doing a Google. Okay. Sean of the Dead. I saw the Cornetto trilogy. That's what that is called.

My bad. Yes, okay. Sean of the Dead. Uh... Really showing my lack of cinephile knowledge. And you were being a little bit of a letterbox nerd just then. I'll be honest, I didn't know what the crowd knew. He's a great fan. Very excited for the right man. Aren't they all?

Do you think Harris Dickinson uses letterbox? I would be surprised if he doesn't, based on that level of correspondence out of the Criterion closet. But he doesn't really seem like a phone guy, you know? So... She said aspirationally. Yeah, I know. She said longingly picturing herself beside him.

He's just like, I don't really look at that. You know, it's really powerful. I think, um... I mean, it's just like, he's reached a level where he doesn't have to be on his phone like the rest of us. I think his accent is camouflaging an unfortunate truth for you, which is that he's more similar to me than he is to you.

Um, but like, yes, but there are some material differences. I'm sorry to say to you. Again, sorry to say to you, I'm gonna be... I don't know. He was in his bag. He was like, oh, of course, World Cinema Project Volume Two. Thank you, Martin Scorsese. That was really... No, I get it, but this is what I'm saying. Like, I know you think that's good for you,

but I don't know if it's good for you. Do you think he's market correcting me? Yeah, I'm just sort of like, if that's available, then we don't have to accept this. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, you don't want someone to be the best version of what you could be. It's one of those things where

should I invite him on the show or should he never be allowed on the show? Right, it's really... If you invite him on the show, unfortunately, I will have to be under the table. I literally, I can't be anywhere near him, you know? He's a handsome guy. I was also kind of thrown. He also had a side part and I was like, side part too? Like you're really, you're in all my spaces right now, which is much better. It's tough. He's very tall. Did I ever tell you about the bizarre interaction I had with Jason Statham?

No. Well, this is a great way to finish British. In one of my many lives, I was in St. Bart for the holiday season and visiting a… Was St. Bart a British isle at a certain point? It's a good question. I think it was French. I think it was French. French, yeah.

And there, you know, all the rich people go and they have their yachts. And what they do is they host celebrities on their yachts. That's kind of like their fun little game. Sweet, get all the paparazzi opportunity. Yeah. And then you go to parties on yachts via small boats. So we've gone to a party on one yacht.

This was witnessed most recently in a season of industry. Oh, OK. So they got it on the truth of the matter. So we're at this one party. I'm like 27 or 28 at this point. The pussycat doll performed on this yacht. Who's your favorite pussycat doll? Well, I only know the one. Scherzinger. Yeah, Scherzinger.

She currently on Broadway and Sunset Boulevard. And the world is so strange. Nicholas Hexham and Amber is the color of your energy, I believe is about her. That's right. That's right. Yes. So they're performing. Martha Stewart is dancing over here. Anthony Kittes. I'm losing my whole mind to being like, why am I here? Why were you there? My college roommate is a billionaire. Okay. So me and my cousin are together. We all live together in college. And so now it's time to go to another party. So we are getting on the mini boat and you know,

I have to think I had my makeup like this. I always wear makeup like this. I get on and I'm separated from my cousin. I'm sitting next to Brian Grazer and his wife. I don't know them. They're just sitting next to me. And then Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whitelegan on the boat. And he looks at me and he goes,

wow, you were phenomenal in there. Implying that perhaps he had mistaken me for a pussycat doll. Now, everyone on this little boat looks at me and we're talking Brian Grazer, we're talking Laurence Bender, we're talking, you know, and I'm horrified, mortified. And then I go, and then, because then he realizes I was not a pussycat doll. And he goes, oh, no, no, sorry, that wasn't you, my bad. And then everyone's still looking at me and I go, I was amazing in there.

I'm amazing all the time. And you are mistaken. And then everyone claps. They start clapping. And then I was like, I don't understand what just happened. Wow. So that was my... And then how much longer are you on the small boat?

Exactly. Like, a long enough time that it's awkward. Okay, yeah. Incredible. Like seven to ten more minutes. Yeah. That's off to you. That's really good. And no one was like speaking into their wrists, getting you assassinated or... No, I should have really... Yeah, because that's sort of like... I had to think on my feet to avoid further humiliation.

Thank you. Are there any Jason Statham films that belong in this conversation? He's frequently playing an American guy with a very clearly bad American and covering up a British accent. I mean, obviously he's in Snatch. Do you guys watch Snatch with the subtitles? Because I do, I have to. Or are you able, at this point, to determine exactly what they're saying?

Dug dogs? I mean, I don't totally understand everything, but it doesn't really matter. You know, I just kind of let it wash over me. Yeah. Any closing thoughts here? Do you feel we did great work? Should we try the marmalade sandwiches?

Yeah. Okay. Let's try one. Pass them around. People love to listen to people eat. Well, I can just give a review. There's a whole cottage industry. Okay.

Okay, thank you so much. I do love whole wheat bread. I looked it up and that's the bread that Paddington uses or Aunt Lucy used. Oh yeah. Oh, this is great. So, marmalade first time. I think so. I mean, it's just orange jam.

What did you think about the machine that they built instantaneously at the end of Paddington and Peru to create jam in Peru? Well, why did they have sugar? I think that the... Where did the sugar come from? Where did it even come from? Jars.

Really good question. This is good. You know, I thought that the son needs to get his inventions out in the world, you know? So as a boy mom, I found that inspiring. It's how to bring your son's, you know, gifts to the broader world. Get them away from the video screen. I'm so sorry. Tiny, tiny extra criticism. Yeah. They showed a close-up of the daughter's hand at one point.

She had hand tattoos. And I was like, she's supposed to be 17 and not yet at college. Who let her get hand tattoos? And I think perhaps the actress is older and has them, and they forgot to put makeup on them. So should I not have let Alice get hand tattoos? Is that what you're saying?

I'm going to take her. So back when the moths... That's the kind of aunt I am. Venice Beach, we're going. The minute she turns 10. Sounds great. Please don't do that. She's getting a belly button piercing. I'm gonna take her. So back when the moths- That's the kind of aunt I am. Venice Beach, we're going. The minute she turns 10. Sounds great. Please don't do that.

She's getting a belly button piercing. Okay, my verdict is this is good. Same. Yassi, thank you. Great job. Thank you, Yassi. Great job. Thank you for having me. You really brought the Anglo spirit. Three Americans here talking nonsense.

I was keen on it. I'm willing to go back to the UK anytime. We were talking about this last week, just wherever you need me to come and talk to people. We should do a big pick, Bandsplain crossover live event for the end of the British season of Bandsplain, which we then make into a film festival. When is that season ending fairly soon?

In June. That's a lovely time to go to the UK. It's a beautiful time for us to go to the UK. Maybe once you're done golfing. Well, I'll never be done golfing as you know. Uh, thanks Yassi. Thanks Jack Sanders. Thanks to our producer Bobby Wagner for his work on today's episode.

Later this week, we're drafting best picture winners here on The Big Picture. We'll see you then. picture winners here on The Big Picture. We'll see you then.