Feeney Talks With Friends

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #160 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Jake and Max Markowitz.

It was great to talk movies with my #friends, Max and Jake! 

Max is a film critic and author of the blog "The Film Critic's Ticket - Admit One!" Jake was an extra in Marty Supreme!

We talked about:
Carlito’s Way (minute 1)
Jake was in Marty Supreme (minute 2)
The #160 in movies (minute 4)
Max’s update on Revolution, Resistance and Reclamation (minute 7)
Matt Damon’s quote about the audience being on their phones (minute 10)
Attending The Venice Film Festival (minute 12)
Venice: First, Last, Best, Worst (minute 14)
The Philadelphia Film Festival (minute 18)
AKA Hotels (minute 21)
Speaking with Dennis House about movies  (minute 22)
2025 Oscars recap (minute 23)
2026 Oscars predictions (minute 25)
Inspiration for their love of movies (minute 28)
MOVIE REVIEW: One Battle After Another (minute 31)
MOVIE REVIEW: Sinners (minute 39)
MOVIE REVIEW: Train Dreams (minute 51)
MOVIE REVIEW: Frankenstein (minute 58)
Upcoming Events (minute 1.07)

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Creators and Guests

Host
Eric Feeney
After teaching for nearly a decade at his alma mater in Waterbury, in 2014, Eric Feeney began teaching at Wolcott Elementary in West Hartford. Shortly following, Sam Sohn, the father of one of his students, passed away suddenly from a heart attack. He left behind four beautiful children and a loving wife, Nancy Wallace-Sohn. Eric saw first-hand the toll this took on the family as they navigated their way through this unthinkable tragedy. The following year, Rashad Collier Sr., another father of a student in Eric’s class, passed away in Hartford as a result of gun violence. Rashad left behind two fantastic children and a loving wife, Denise Villegas. The impact of these tragedies weighed on Eric and motivated him to build an organization that could provide assistance for similar situations. With that, Friends of Feeney was born. In 2019, Friends of Feeney Inc. became an official 501©(3) nonprofit organization, allowing more funds to be raised and expanding the range of services provided to children and families in need. Today, over a decade since Eric’s idea to build a community organization dedicated to supporting our friends in need, Friends of Feeney has burgeoned into a reputable and recognized organization capable of providing financial and resource support to numerous families and individuals across greater Hartford and beyond. Through this work, an incredible community of children and families has been recognized, who care for and appreciate each other’s kindness.
Producer
David Chmielewski
David started his video career in the early 1990s working on video crews as an independent contractor for such companies as Martha Stewart Living, IBM and Xerox. After graduating Southern Connecticut State University with the degree in Corporate Communications, David continued his video production career and accepted a position at WFSB in Hartford, CT. Within a few years the news and production studios became his charge and David designed, installed and maintained the televisions sets for the various programs at the station. At the end of 2013 David founded DirectLine Media, a video production company that specializes in creating memorable and compelling video content for businesses.
Editor
Stefania Sassano
Stefania's acting journey began as early as the fourth grade, where she took on the role of Scarlett O'Hara in a stage production of Gone With the Wind. This early experience sparked a lifelong passion for the arts. With a background in musical theater fueled by her love of music and singing, Stefania stepped into larger roles, such as Fraulein Kost in Cabaret during her sophomore year at the University of New Haven. This performance earned her a nomination for the prestigious Irene Ryan Acting Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival—an honor she would receive again in her junior year.

What is Feeney Talks With Friends?

Eric Feeney talks with #friends! Eric is the founder of the nonprofit organization Friends of Feeney. Their mission is to help children and families who need assistance after heartbreak and tragedy. www.friendsoffeeney.com

All right, all right.

Feeny talks with friends.

Episode 160.

I guess I owe Matthew McConaughey
some a check.

Do I have to send him a check now?

I heard he copyrighted.

All right, all right.
What do you think about that?

I hope he didn't.

We're

having a great podcast today
with some good friends.

Jake. What's up? Jake?

Hello. It's nice to be here, Max.

Really, really excited to be here.

And a great friend and a good friend
and a good supporter.

Billy. Be a good friend.

That's the motto of Friends of Feeny. And,
Let's go.

I brought my two best friends,
Jake and Max.

The boys just turned
28 today, and movies are.

They just love them. So yes they. Do.

Yeah.

From animation of the first movie,
they adult movie, The Italian Job.

And, they've since then they
they'll tell you the rest of the story.

Yeah. Movies are a great way to,

you know, do you guys talk about them
after as a family?

Do you guys compare and contrast notes
and how you feel about them?

Yeah, all the time.

Yeah, I've been doing that

with my daughter, and,
I just find it so interesting.

And Bill, as a dad. Yeah.

Rewatching movies
that we grew up with, with your children,

it's like watching them all over again.
Isn't it amazing?

Totally different perspective. It's great.

No one's a big scene is going to come up
and watching your kids

and not watching the show,
seeing how they're going to react to it.

Yeah, so much fun.

Like the end of Carlito's Way,

when you want Carlito to get on the subway
and just be free to Miami.

My daughter sits up and she's like,
and then Benny Blanco gets him at the end.

And she was like, no!

And I knew it was coming, but she did it
and it was just so amazing.

Movies are fantastic.

We're here with the movie critic Dot
today.

Amazing, amazing podcast.

Our amazing, website. Yes,

site.

I write reviews for it.

Yeah.

You write reviews
and we have a cameo actor

who just starred in and a famous movie
that's killing it these days.

How was that?

It was a very interesting experience.

It happened very randomly.

And which movie was that? Jake?

Marty Supreme,
which now has, been nominated

for nine Academy Awards,
and I got to be in it.

For the first

five minutes
as a background in the background.

So he was a an extra.

An extra?

Yeah. Timothy Shalamar.

He's the hottest star in Hollywood
these days.

He seems to be a nomination. Yes.

You get to meet him and Gwyneth. Yeah.

No, I didn't.

Gwyneth wasn't in the scene,
so I didn't meet her.

But I did meet him. Yeah.

And he seemed like. The real deal.

He was very nice.

He said hello, and we said hello,
and he just got right, right to work.

He didn't goof around on set at all.

He was all business.

Yeah, I noticed that.

Yeah,
he worked really hard for that role. Right

when I was there.

He certainly did. You sure. So, yeah.

And I think the rest of the movie,
it shows each other as well.

So yeah, I know we have four movies
that we're going to talk about.

That was one movie I didn't get a chance
to see just yet, but it is on my list.

You'll enjoy it. It's really.

It's excellent.

Okay.

And how many Golden Globes did it
just get?

A couple of weeks ago.

He won best actor in a comedy.

Is it a comedy?

I don't know, I don't think. So.

Yeah, well, to break it down, how
they do that in Best movie in the Oscars,

it's a little different than best movie
in the Golden Globes right out there, too.

Yeah, the Oscars don't divide categories

until Sandra's, but the Golden Globes do.

And the usually they do it
based on what's going to have enough room.

So kind of like how the Emmys does it.

So they'll have best comedy and comedy,
best horror movie drama movie made.

Probably not horror, but,

where the Oscars is just best movie.

Yeah. Oh, interesting.
Okay, learn some new.

Thank you for sharing that. Yeah.

Yeah. Really excited.

Episode 160 plays a role.

I mentioned that earlier. Number 160.

When you're talking films,
when you submit a script, it can no longer

the pages can be no longer no shorter
than 70 pages and no more than 160 pages.

Look at that.

And it fits our podcast,
Talking Movies today.

All right.

Also,
Sir Michael Caine has acted in 160 movies.

How many how many awards has he won?

He two Oscars, I think.

Right. Two.

Very good. Yeah. Very good.

That was trivia question.
Regarding the four of us.

There's only been one person in the movie
and that's Jake.

So congratulations, Sonya. Thank you know.

He was in a movie, so.

Yeah.

So your dad was telling me

a little bit, you're
walking down the street in New York, and.

I was just honestly, I it
this was when I was in my old apartment

on 72nd Street, and I was honestly
just out getting a hot dog one day, and,

some and a woman approached me
and she said that she was a casting agent

and that she happened to, like, my luck,
she thought it was 1950.

If I don't know, I didn't.

I prefer a thought about it,
but that's what she said,

and she wanted to know
if I'd be interested

being an extra in an A24
movie with, Tommy Fish Army.

Obviously I said yes.

And, I went and,

probably a week or so later
and the it was.

Yeah, I, I've never been a, an extra
before in a movie.

So I got to see how that worked.

And there's a lot of standing around,
a lot of waiting around.

But I got to see myself up

on screen in the theater,
and that feeling was just as awesome.

So super cool.

That's great.
Yeah. Jennifer Venditti is. That.

I believe that's her name. Passing agent.

So when Jake told us we,
you know, we said, kind of,

you know,
we checked her out. She's totally legit.

And then when she said that,
Jake looks like, you know, he had a look

that maybe he would look like
he's from the 50s.

I told the Sanders.

I mean, we were from the 30s,
you know, but, yeah, it worked out great.

And we saw Jake on the big screen
Christmas Day.

That's what we did for the holidays.

Can't wait to see it. Yep.

Oh, that's so cool. I'm jealous.

I want to be in a movie.

Maybe Matthew McConaughey
when I saw him, the check for the.

All right,
all right. He'll put me in a movie.

Or maybe Timothy Qomolangma lying.

We'll put me in a movie now. It's great.

Were you smoking a cigaret in the movie?

I heard rumor has it.

Faking on on set. I was pretending to.

Yeah, yeah, I pretended to.

Well, we were filming.

I think that

scene didn't end up going into the movie,
so it wasn't really necessary.

Okay, I think I only appear on screen
a few times, but I'm in the same position.

I'm leaning over the pulled
that ping pong table.

Very cool.

Yeah, yeah.

And dark. Dark.

You know, he's playing
ping pong in a bar. It's totally cool.

Great opening scene for the movie. Yeah.

Nice. Yeah. What's a good opening film?

That's awesome.

Are you getting paid
still again, checks in the mail.

Oh, no. It was only a one time thing.

One night.

No, at, like 500 or something,
and they're not bad.

Yeah. I had a student once.

Jordan Booker, my guy.

He was in a couple of Law and Order
episodes.

He did modeling, and they had the face,
and they needed a kid.

That's it.

Good for him. That's so cool.

And then Max, Max, you guys,
all my listeners,

you may have seen Max in episode 127
almost a year ago today.

Yeah, a lot's happened since. None. Yeah.

So how's let's get right into it.

How's resistance?

How's revolution?

How's reclamation?

It's. That's going really good.

I finished the first season,
writing the first season.

I'm. I'm still in the beginning of,

Revolution.

The first episode of which
will be an eight episode miniseries.

And then I can move on
to season two, of resistance.

And then when that's over,

you know, season three
and then reclamation.

But the first season
and the miniseries are intertwined,

so that kind of requires
a certain level of focus.

But when I'm done with that, I think that
the writing will go much faster.

How many episodes
have you written from season one?

Ten? Ten? Ten? Ten? Wow.

Yeah, it was so cool to then
you and you stuck there

because on podcast 127, I highly suggest
everyone go back and listen.

You said you're going to do season
one of resistance,

and in between season one and season two,
you're doing a mini series. Yes.

Where'd you get that
idea? That's a amazing idea.

Never seen it done before.

Well, there's more,

I I already had a lot of characters

that I wanted to write, before,
I actually started,

but once I started, I ended up adding more
than I had anticipated,

and it just made more sense to have,

that kind of.

There's more room for back story.

Thunder is in film usually.

So, yeah,
you know, some characters will appear

like very briefly,
but then later on during the series

you'll see certain scenes again,
but from a different point of view.

So you'll see things in a different way.

Oh, wow.

In your ultimate goal,
do you want to watch that on.

Netflix? Hopefully.

Maybe HBO Max will say nice.

Yeah, yeah. Oh,

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
just had the rip that's on Netflix. Yes.

Did you see that? They.

Matt Damon came out in an interview
and said that Netflix encourages

the movies to really be

prominent with the storyline
and not pull anything away

or hide anything
because viewers are on their phones.

Did you hear that? Did you see that?
Do you agree?

I didn't see the interview,
but I heard that he said that.

I think that, you know,
I certainly am not someone

that would ever want to alienate
or disrespect audiences.

But, you know, I'm more than happy
for anyone within the film industry

to do what they need to to fix
a lot of the problems that are going on.

But audiences really have got to step up
and do their share, too.

Yeah, I know, and back on 127
you were like, audience members

also need to stop complaining about
do you remember the runtime?

Like, why would you show up for wise?

Yeah, it's interesting that you said that
because watching movies

with my daughter, I'm like, two hours
and 30 minute, two hours and 40 minutes.

And I remember Max telling me, hey,
Feeney, don't worry about the runtime.

Sit back and enjoy the movie. And, some.

Audiences
are like a good chunk of the time.

Are often like children
that won't eat your vegetables.

They're very restless.
They don't know what's good for them.

They just they they're just
they're just very shaky.

And anxious and they can't like,
it's like a lot of audiences

have such a hard time focusing and,

I don't know, it's like they, it's treated
very simplistically, like, oh,

I'm going,

you know, I'm going to the movies,
but there's something so much bigger to

it than that, you know?

They just, I don't know, it's a luxury,

but it's a luxury that a lot of them
seem to take for granted.

But of course, there are so many amazing
audiences still.

And, I'm always grateful for that.

I, I'm sure we are going to see
more of that this year,

because there's a lot of good stuff
that's coming out.

So nice. Nice.

All right, guys, well,
I'm going to head off and you know

like you break it down.

All right I can't wait to see. All right.

Be a good friend.

Be a good friend. Take over. All right.

Now let's talk about something
that you both, participated in.

And I really want to hear about this,
Venice film fest in Venice Beach.

You guys go to Venice,
Italy? We did. That was,

that was very unexpected.

And, it was it?

Yeah, it was in the, September of 24.

And it was, actually a gift from our,
paternal grandmother.

She surprised us.

I really don't know what
the occasion was, but

I guess she just be.

Yeah, I for whatever reason,
she decided that that's, what?

She was going to surprise us with that.

So it was just
Max and I who attended the film festival.

She and my mom kind of taught there
during the day.

Grandma went to, Billy's mom? Yes.

Yeah, she. Man, she's 90 plus.

Right. Bill 1991.

Yeah, I see pictures. Billy said.

Oh, she's amazing. Worcester. Yes.

Oh, wow. She went to Venice.

Yeah, she did.

Oh, nice.

All right.

We'll play a game in Venice.

What was the first thing that you did?

The last thing that you did,

the best thing that you did
and the worst thing that you did.

The worst thing I did was,

the, evaporators
at the end of not just one,

but every time we went to go see a film,
I, I hated using them.

I could not figure out how to do it,
and I never will again.

Oh, I'm a third grade teacher.

Never been to Venice. What?

Can you explain what you just said?

And what was the.
Proper way to start a water taxis?

And it's just it's so hard
trying to figure out how to think.

Just figuring out how to use them,
you know, they never like we go

to where they say we're going to go
and then they never show up.

And it's just and I know it's
because I wasn't looking at it

right or reading it right.

It's just so confusing.

It's, I thought it was a movie term.

It's the way the transfer function.

Sounds like one. Sorry about that.

Now I was confused.

Oh, wait,
do you take it like a like a bus?

Like you hop on.

Like exactly.

Exactly like a water bus. And it's

it was really hot when we went,

so that didn't help, but,
you know, a burrito.

Fat burrito?

Yeah.

At the end, like,
every time we saw a movie, I was like,

God, I wish I could just enjoy this

without having to think about
how we're going to get home afterwards.

And, but,
no, we enjoyed the movies we saw.

I mean, the films that year were so great.

We picked a good year to go.

Well, we didn't peck,
but we got lucky with a great selection.

So, grandma, thank you. Grandma.

Yeah.

All right.

Worst thing vaporetto, what about best?

First and last.

The films.

That auditorium was absolutely ginormous.

I've never seen anything
so big and grand in our lives.

And, you know, and we didn't have the same
seats for the entirety of the festival.

So it was really interesting
watching movies from various viewpoints

throughout the time.
Some one of the times we were,

like the far, far left side.

And at the very front.

So the screen looked very different

and say when we were sitting
in the way, way back.

And then sometimes we were like towards
the front, never directly in the middle.

But it's it does it is interesting.

The various that people audiences do have

very different preferences, on seating,
how they like the screen to.

Yeah.

To look, you know, some audiences
really prefer being like way up front

and having to, you know, look up,
which is kind of unusual, but,

it's it's interesting for sure.

Jake.

Best worst first, last.

Yes, though I don't

I mean, honestly, I would probably say
the worst was probably to heat.

It was really hot over there.

They don't even have.

They don't I don't think
they really have ice there either.

So I mean, they do, but, they, it.

Yeah,
they, they sell it in like a big bag.

And so we kind of had to organize
that in our freezer.

And it was just a beautiful city.

But it's not it's traditional.

It was.

Well, it was it was hot.

It was, it was hot.

But, that would probably be
the worst thing.

And, the best thing,
I agree, were the films we got very,

lucky that that year with a great lineup,

the, the brutal,
it was, 100 films in competition

and that was nominated
for a bunch of stuff.

So we got to see that there.

We saw,

a few episodes as well of the,

the Apple TV miniseries
disclaimer as well.

They did that in a other section.

So that was cool. We,

yeah, it was,

we saw Angelina Jolie and, and in person.

In person. Yes.

We did, you know, witnessed
not like, engage where she was

stepping off of a bow and looked like
she had stuff to do other than, you know,

did not time for us enough within our
our eye range that we truly like.

We truly saw her get out and.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then we saw, Vincent London,
who's a, French actor who we like.

And he ended up actually
winning the best, actor prize at Venezia.

And we,
he was in the screening of his film,

I think it was called The Quiet
or something like that. Yeah.

And, yeah, we gave a big applause at
the end for him, and that was really nice.

So, that. Yeah, it was just.

I mean, that's really why we went
there was the festival, and we were.

I was happy to be able to experience that,
with you, Max.

That was.

Yeah, definitely.

I had a great time.
Yeah, it was wonderful. And then,

Yeah.

So that was the best and worst,
I would say.

And I don't know what your.

Other first thing you did
in the last thing you did.

Oh, yes.

First thing I did, first thing we did was,

find our, driver

who got us to our villa
that we rented, and, man.

Live in it. Up.

Yeah, yeah. That's badass.
I say that right.

But what was.

I think so, no, no,
the water transportation apparatus.

What is it?

Evaporate us. Evaporate us?

I'm a fool. Don't know that one.
All right.

Evaporate as I'm going to remember. Yeah.

And then the last thing we did,
I believe, was,

before we left, I think I had,

crap that morning. I think that. Yeah.

Which are very good.

So they tell us. Strawberry banana cream.

Yeah. Yeah,
that's the only way to go. Yeah.

What about a couple years earlier?

Philly film festival? Yes.

You know what?

This year, I thought I thought I won,
I think this past year of 25

I think was probably my favorite
because first of all, I, I'd seen the most

films started and I'd ever seen, I think

how many 20 something, at least 21.

Maybe 22 of the films,
that one you saw all 21?

No, 22 films
I saw this year at the festival in Philly.

Some of them were from,

had premiered in Venice,
some of them from Kansas.

But, no, I'd seen,

yeah, you'd seen 21.

I'd seen one.

Yeah, yeah, it was 21. But,
you know, we go

there are free features there
in Philadelphia that we used.

One of them had just completely gotten,

redecorated.

So it looks gorgeous.

One of the figures
I'd never even been to before.

So this year,
I finally got to go to all three.

And, yeah,
it was so many people showed up.

Philadelphia has a great community
for sure.

Yeah.

Is it by the Liberty Bell?

Is it by where the Sixers play?

Where you know what, it's interesting.

They're all sort of spread out.

None of them are particularly there.

There's an East theater. Yeah.

Then there's the main theater,
which is near,

I think the, I don't know
what building it is that's in the center.

But, like, kind of like,
right in downtown Philadelphia.

And then there's.

Oh, yeah, Broad Street. Right.

And then there's, the new one
that we went to and I.

Where is that located?

Max, do you know that is located?

It's it's,

it's I don't remember either,
but it's on, like,

I probably the other side of town,
but it's beautiful. Yeah.

They did a great job. Yeah. How many years
have you been going to that?

I been going since 2019.

2020 was virtual.

So, yeah, but I have every
I've partaken every year since then.

Very cool. Just sponsored by.

Aka hotels Larry Korman.

He is wonderful.

And he is, as passionate about cinema
as I am.

And yeah, it's been great.

We've gone on such a long journey
together.

Yeah.

We mentioned Arc Hotels
minute 26 of our last podcast.

So when's the last time
you, interacted with them?

All right.

I think it was the first of all.

I mean, he and I really don't
get to see each other that often.

It really sucks.

But, he's he's so phenomenal,

and he's very generous,
and he does so much great work.

For people, he's very selfless
and he's just very passionate

about cinema and the arts in general.

So, yeah, I'm very proud of him.

We did stay at his new arc in Boston back
in December, so that was a great year.

Way to end the year. So yeah.

Very cool, very cool.

You ready to break down some movies?

I am.

Oh, yeah.

What happened last year after my podcast,
someone reached out to you,

saw our podcast. What happened?

Dennis house. He had me on.

And it was a really fun experience.

And, getting to share my productions and,

I hope to do it again this year.

We'll see.

So. Yeah, so we definitely have a lot
to talk to him about. Yes.

So it was great that Dennis house
gave me a nice little shout out,

prior to that episode or prior
to at the beginning of your episode.

So thank you, Dennis.

He was episode 25, great friend.

You were awesome on the show.

Your predictions all hit, right?

They did. Yeah.

I know,

did your predictions change from the
predictions that you made on our podcast?

No, I don't think so.

My recap.

Let's go over your 2025 recap you had.

Best picture was, brutalist.

You had that.

Picked I did yeah.

So I thought that was going to
when it did.

Director

I think you said brutalist.

No it did.

Well, it didn't,
it didn't when I for one incorrect.

I was one year and, actress

remember who he said and who won?

I mean, I changed my predictions
from when I went on.

Oh, nice. What made you do that?

The Sags had come. The SAG Awards.

And sometimes you you do,

your,

your predictions do change.

It's it's tough.

I think this year is harder now.

I think that there are quite a few

categories
where surprises could be in order.

Yeah. No, you were great. You.

Those are the two out of 20
that I noticed.

But I still have to see the brutalist
because of that.

And, Adrien
Brody one. Year, he was perfect.

No, it was great.

Any predictions?

I want to get into your.

So that was review of 2025.

He he changed and you hit him on the head
at Dennis house.

That was amazing. Channel eight.

Be on the lookout for Max.

He will be going on again
for the Oscar previews.

Again. Dennis house, good friend.

Episode 25 I just saw him today.

Oh very good. Yeah.

Right.

Want to get into 26?

Who's going to win?

Let's make some predictions.

And NY best picture.

Are you guys together different?

We're probably different.

Oh let's see. Why don't you go first, Max?

I think one battle after and off
her will win.

Picture and director,
I do think Salomé will win.

Lead actor, best actress is tough.

It's either going to be Jessie Buckley
or Rose Byrne.

I do think it will be Jessie Buckley.

She's. She's been very popular.

And she was she was great.

So I'll be happy for her if she wins.

I think that I think that Jacob Elordi

will end up winning,
Best supporting actor for Frankenstein.

I think that

I think that

I think that Stellan Skarsgard
is probably the only other person

who could beat him,
but that would be for sentimental reasons.

And he wasn't even nominated for the SAG.

So I think I think, Elordi will end up
winning.

We'll talk more about Frankenstein Centers

one battle
after another in Train Dreams next.

But before we do that, Jacob Elordi,
is he Frankenstein in the movie?

Or is he.

Is the creature the.

Creature great,
because Frankenstein is the doctor.

He's the Frankenstein's monster. Yes.

And then best supporting actress.

Well, I'm hoping Teyana Taylor will win.

If not, Amy Madigan will win for weapons,
which I also loved very much.

That was really entertaining.

It was

probably like, just it was
it was really fun.

It was, it was definitely,

good escapism.

That movie was.

But, yeah, I think to honorable win.

And I really think she deserves that,
so I think so when.

She was,

Not in the whole movie.

No. She was the mom.

That kind of.

She was in the movie
for only the first 30 minutes.

I mean, that's, I guess what
you would call it, supporting performance.

All right. The point. Yeah.

All right.

We got Blue Pan out.
We did Max's picks with the blue pen.

Let's hear Jake's picks for Best picture.

And you go down the list.

I mean realistically, I mean, I think that

as of this moment, it looks like

it's going to be one battle
after another for picture in director

I. It's not impossible if,

sinner surprises everyone

and gets those two awards,
which is kind of what I'm hoping for

because it's already made history
so far by being the most,

receiving the most nominations
for a single film.

16 and,

I think I
yeah, I mean, I think that for like

a mainstream Hollywood film,
it broke, a lot of barrier barriers. Yes.

It was.

So, that could probably surprise
all of us.

In many ways.

I do think that, actor
will most likely go to Shalom.

And actress
will probably go to Jessie Buckley,

which I'll be happy for her.

I would rather go.

I would rather Roseanne.

But, you know, we'll see.

And, Best Supporting Actor,
I think will be Stone scar.

Scar?

He's an old timer
and a veteran actor and really good. And,

I think that, Did you guys see
sentimental?

Well, yes. And it was great.

And I also think that, that will win
Best Supporting Actress as well.

The, sister in that movie and God,
she's a Norwegian actress.

What's her name?

And gossip starter.

Lilith.

If I'm pronouncing that right.

Yeah, yeah. She's great.

You seem to be in agreement on all of them
except supporting actor.

Yeah.

All right, well, we're really excited

to see your predictions come true.

You hit it on the head last time.

Also last time, amazingly,
you went down from 1978

to present day and did every action Oscar

picture winner in order.

Super impressive.

That was minute.

It was amazing.

56. Go back and check this guy out.

He did every every winner from 1978.

Can you do that?

You don't have to now, but can you?

I can, yes.

Wow. You guys are amazing.

Your movie knowledge is through the roof.

Where did that inspiration come from?

Where did you guys learn to love movies?

Why? How?

Probably my child.

I mean, you know, probably my childhood.

Yeah.

I just, I guess

found it
cool that, visuals could move on screen,

and they could talk
and they could make you feel things.

I thought that was like magic in a way.

And I remember,

just, you know, as a kid, you like bright,

shiny colors, and you like things
that kind of draw your attention.

And, I always felt that way
when I saw the,

old, Paramount logo
with the stars coming down.

Like, I thought that was really cool.

So I.

Yeah,
I have very, vivid memories of that. And,

you know, and I have a very strong,

photographic memory,

so I'm able to, like, remember,

the way that certain shots line up
and I just, you know, it's.

Yeah. I'm just. Yeah.

My memorable movie.

I saw it in the Drive-In.

Right?

Cried like a baby when it went home,
and I was.

She stayed with Elliot still to this day.

Icon gets me.

Great movie. Yeah.

So one of those movies, like,
makes you fall in love with movies? Yep.

What was your E.T movie?

Do you have a good movie that you remember
that just like, man, this is it.

This is what I love.

I at that age.

Yeah.

Probably not.

When I was young.

Yeah I probably there was a lot
of anticipation I think when we were young

chilled out,
there was going to come a time

when we were going to see something
that was going to completely blow us away.

But we didn't quite know what that was
going to be, but it was whatever it was,

it was going to be great.

Cool.

Yeah, I would say, yeah,
I would say probably,

I mean, you know, as
I got older, you know, in Ingmar Bergman,

you know, all his stuff,
particularly cries in Whispers, it's just,

Yeah.

All his stuff is so good.

Yeah.

The older I got,

I probably saw, like, a lot more things
that really stick out to me.

Nice, nice.

Noah and we were on a text chain
and we talked movies.

We were going to pick for movies
that we wanted to talk about.

You guys want to talk about your movie
you picked and why?

What movie do you want to start with?

I'll let you start.

You can pick,

I got some notes.

What movie did
you want to talk about first?

We'll talk about one battle
after another first.

I it's it's stayed in features
for such a long time.

First of all, that always helps,

I think how long was it in theaters,

give or take?

Almost three months.

Wow. Almost.

What's the record for a movie
in a theater?

Oh, I don't know.

It was. A Titanic or something.

Maybe. Maybe the,

I think The Dark Knight
was also in theaters

for a really long time, too.

I mean, you know,

with streaming move,
it doesn't take long for movies. To

what, once
they leave figures to go to streaming,

they don't go directly, but it doesn't
really take as long as it used to.

So, depends on,

It does depend on the box office. Nice.

You know,
if something is getting a lot of traction,

they'll keep it on their.

What do you have,
like a scoring rubric or a report card?

How do you break down in judge movies?

And if you if so,
how are we going to break down this movie?

One battle after another.

Storyline characters like,
you know, it's interesting.

I didn't,

I sort of knew what it was about

before I saw it, but I sort of didn't.

I think,

I think when it was over,

the first time I saw it,
I kind of had to, like question.

I did just see that.

Right? Like, I'm not just a match. Yeah.

Then I see it again and I'm like,
okay, that's the confirmation.

I think the first screening
was the invite, the second was the

confirmation.

And then every time after that, I just
I really enjoyed it many times.

Have you seen it?

Five I think.

Jake.

I think I only saw it twice and there.

Yeah. In the theater. Twice. Nice.

Great soundtrack

ends with American girl Tom petty.

I thought that was very good. Yeah.

Such great touch. Yeah, definitely.

The code that they say to each other,

Green acres, Beverly Hillbillies, hooter,
ville junction.

Yeah. That's from.

No, I don't.

Those are all classic TV shows.

Green acres was a TV show,

Beverly Hillbillies was a TV show.

And Green Acres took place
at who Deville Junction before my time.

It was on Nick at night. Black and white.

Seems like something Paul PTA would do.

Oh, yeah, PTA.

I did some research on him.

That's something.

Yeah, and the Christmas Adventurers Club,
that's like a real thing.

You guys know that? Oh. That's horrible.

That's crazy.

Yeah, I did not. Well,
I mean, I know that there are,

you know, ridiculous organizations
like that.

I didn't know that
that was actually a real one.

It doesn't surprise me.

It's Hungarian
and the Hungarian name stands.

It's like KKK.

Two three cards in a row.

Obviously. Makes sense. Right?

Did you think?

We're spoilers.

We're going to do some spoilers.

It is the 16 year old daughter

lock. Jaws are Leos.

She is. She's, Sean Patten's. Right.

That's crazy.

Did did she tell Leo?

No, I don't think so.

Do you think I think he I think
they all know they don't really care.

Does Leo have the right to know?

It wouldn't change
how Leo feels about his daughter.

It will always be his daughter.

Agree or disagree?

No, I agree.

I think

I think
hearing perfidious voice at the end,

you know, you never forget that
throughout the entirety of the film

that she was even there,

she it's

it's not really clear
whether or not she finds redemption

for selling out all those, all her,

all her friends. But,

it's easier to judge her
when you're not in that situation.

I think that she behaved

very recklessly, and foolishly at times.

But, you know, the very
the most necessary things to do

and even the greatest people are kind of
like that.

So, she's definitely just

she's going to go down as, like, such
an iconic character as she has already.

Yeah. I that was just,

you know, you and the film with her and
you, I mean, you opened the film with her,

you and the film with her daughter,
and they're both going out to do

the same thing.

Very cool.

We see the apple doesn't
fall far from the tree.

And then the car scene.

The car chase scene.

Fantastic. Oh, well, the dessert.

Dessert too.

I mean, you really understand the title
one battle

after another when you keep seeing
that held are so steep.

I'm interested,
you know, just, like, up and down.

Up and down.

Like, it's just.

It's so repetitive,
which is exactly what they're doing.

And I think Benicio del Toro
was probably the most,

he was so,

calm in the face of all that chaos.

Like, he had done this a thousand times.

He knew exactly what to do. Yeah.

I loved that character.

Now, was he there for.

Did he know Leo situation,
or was he more for the immigration side?

But Benicio.

He's there forever. There for everyone.

That's because he knew.
He knew the whole deal.

Like the plan where to go. So.

And he was in it such a short time.

He can still be up for supporting actor.

Yeah. That's amazing. I hope he wins.
I love that.

He was great. He was great. He's cool.

It was great in Sicario.

If you've seen. That,
I got to see that too.

Now there's a cool, cool actor.

He's cool. He is. Yeah.

Know that

in a car scene, Chase was seven minutes
long and you're in it.

I was in it.

And then the way that they show
the rearview mirror,

the road, the driver's face, it was good.

What's the word I'm looking for?

Camera work.

Maybe cinematography. Cinematography.

And also,
I thought, as a 16 year old with her hands

bound to know, to park the car
right over a hill.

Amazing, brilliant.

And then she hit in a perfect spot,
said the code word guy didn't say it.

He had to go.

He got slimed
because my my daughter would say

anything else on one battle after another.

I don't think so.

I mean, obviously it's

it is

art that kind of reflects
this current moment,

but I think that
kind of speaks for itself.

I know I

was thinking
two you think this is happening?

Like, how true is that?

Underground rebellion, I hope.

Oh I don't well, that I don't know about
I mean, well, I know, I mean,

I don't know, but I know that,

there's obviously a lot.

Of it has to some. Yeah.

Maybe not.

Not that intense or involved,
but there's some of it, right.

Yeah. For sure.

Get you thinking it's one of those movies
that gets you thinking very much.

And it like you said,
it does tie in to current

stuff going on,

good or bad, mostly bad or good?

Cool.

What would you score out of ten?

I mean, I

probably like a,

probably like an nothing lower than eight.

I thought it was very good.

Next, I'd give it a ten.

It was a rare bird.

Rare bird. I like it.

All right.

What's the next movie
we're going to talk about?

Centers.

Yeah.

That was, ranked seven on my top
ten list this year.

I thought it was fantastic of the year.

Yeah. I make a top ten list, every year.

Just kind of like the critics do. It's
just something that's fun.

I enjoy doing it.

And, center is is ranked at seven.

Yeah, I, I saw it,

actually,

and I joke with my, one of my friends
in New York about it that I, today

I went to I went to see it,
I actually did see it on Easter.

And, I was packed that day, too,
so it wasn't just me, but, it was,

I, I actually knew because

it's interesting, because I kind of like
to recommend that movie to people

and not let them know what their about,
what it's about, because then it just,

you know, once the like,

I mean, I knew immediately
that it was going to be like

a supernatural vampire centered, that
that was kind of going to be the twist.

Like, I knew that already. Yeah.

And I but I wasn't expecting it to be as,

layered and I guess nuanced and crafted.

Yeah.

The way that Ryan Coogler did it.

I, I mean, I really like to that,

I felt that that movie had

one of the things I really liked about
it was that

I just think that it had like,
a lot of really great characters.

Eg I mean, you know,

obviously the brothers both look the same,
but they're both kind of different men.

In a sense,

and you know,

I really like the, harmonica player.

I liked,

Did they call him the drunk?

Delta Sam? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.
They met him at the bus stop.

Yeah, yeah, I like town. I like.

He's famous.

Yeah, yeah.

Delroy Lindo yeah, he's a he's great.

I, The preacher man.

Sammy.

Yeah. Yeah, I liked him very much.

Mary.

Yeah. She's awesome.

Yeah. And I love Hailee Steinfeld.

Anyway.

Yeah. Josh Allen sports. Sports.

Josh Allen's wife.

Do like who?

She's dating a football player
now, I think.

Yeah,
I don't yeah, I love, I loved yeah, the,

ending scene
where she comes in, you know, and,

and I like that they both, like, made,

because she and him both looked

very much 1930s wear when it was set.

And then 1992 at the end, it looked very
much kind of like they were from 1992.

She kind of had, like, a Kendall Jenner.

Like, I thought it's just a way
that she had her jacket on and was,

you know, he had. Yeah.

In the way he had his arm around her.

I was just like, yeah, this is like

or something.

But I was. A freshman in high school.
1992.

Yeah.
Brought me back to the good old days.

Yeah, yeah.

But I really, I like the music.

Was fantastic.

Fantastic music,
fantastic cinematography. Was,

you know,
I mean, if it went cinematography,

it would just break a barrier for,
you know, the cinematographer is,

is a woman,

and every no woman has ever won
that category before, so it.

Yeah. It's great.

Yeah.

But I loved how,

you know, and obviously
I think that's a great thing,

but and, you know, regardless,
I thought that the way that it,

you know, framing got taller
and then shorter,

was really.

Yeah, was really good.

And specifically the scene where,

he's,

singing that song,

you know,

that about,

he Barry dedicates to his father,

and you know, I mean, he thinks so.

Well, that you, you see, like,
kind of all the different genres of music

over time and how that was
just such a great scene, like, if that.

I mean, that was really it.

I know could have been a musical.

That part, the part where they,

they show turntables of a DJ,
they show African dancing.

It was just amazing mix. And I loved it.

Yeah, that was so cool.

I didn't know it was a vampire movie.

I know, like, you got 20 minutes,
but I'm like, no, you got all of that.

And it's like,
it feels like a regular drama.

And then you throw that in there.

I just thought that was like
daughter was laughing.

She goes, how did you not know?

I just didn't watch the news or was
I was an up.

I yeah, I yeah.

So the Irish guy run to the house and
I'm like wait a second, what's going on?

Here?

She goes. You didn't know.

Oh that's. Fine. Twins. How'd it feel?

Which one are you. Smoke.

Are you stack.
Are you stack. Are you smoke.

I mean, I'm,

I feel like

smoke was probably more rougher
and more like.

He said, color wise,
he wore red because he's aggressive.

The other guy wore blue.

He was more chill.

No, no, actually,
the stock was the one who wore red.

And he was more,

I think that he was.

Yeah.

No, I think that, smoke was the one
who, was more,

he was the more aggressive one.

I mean, okay, yeah.

And so I'm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I mean, yeah, they they did.

Yeah, they both did very well.

No, it's the same actor.

Yeah. I. Be.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. He he was so proud
he got nominated.

I'm really happy. He's so. Good.
I liked his wife, too.

She was really good as well.

And the movie. Yeah. Yeah.

The one that gave him the bag
to to help him survive.

That wife.

Yeah, though.

Yeah. Though.

Mary wasn't the wife.

Okay. You're right.

Yeah. No, though. Yeah, though.

Yeah. The one he was separated from.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It was a.

Good storyline too, because they
quickly mention that they lost a child.

Yeah.

And then she's holding him at the end
I thought was great.

Part of me I was like as soon as it went
vampire movie

I'm like, oh here we go,
supernatural blah blah blah.

I'm not a big vampire guy.

Yeah, no, I got. A fantastic movie.

And then

didn't like it. Complained a little bit.

But that ending credits scenes
when they go to 1992 to piggyback on that

amazing tied it in, made me think
this is the greatest movie of all time

because it's a. Great rewatchable movie.

Some of these are better
the second time. Yeah.

You know.

Stack or one of them, Stack or Smoke
made him promise not to mess with Sammy.

Yes. Yeah.

And they they visit him
and they let him know. Hey.

My leaving you my location.

Who was Sammy?
This was his first role ever.

He never did any acting before deaths.

And also, I thought it was interesting

that they kind of spoil it
because they show him.

Come back to the church
smoking with the scratch.

You're like, stood it.

No, it was a vampire movie.

But then he goes the day before.

So you're like, now
you know, where we end.

A lot of movies do that, right?

They'll give you the end
and then we'll get you back to the end

and show you how and why.
We'll just show you parts of that.

And but they don't give you the context
of what happens.

They'll show you what's something.

They'll show you something
that's about to happen.

They don't show you exactly what happens.

And there was like a Wakanda Forever
tie in.

Did you see that at the church?

I don't think so.

I heard that, and then the day.

So in 1992, they go to

October 16th, 1992,
and that day has relevance.

You know, that's when Candyman came out.

Candyman was a horror movie.

Yeah. For an American. Right.

So they they they did a callback.

It took place in Chicago.

So in honor of Candyman,
they had them come to life.

Yeah.

On October 16th, 1992,
which was pretty cool.

And the ring he was wearing
can also be seen and do the right thing.

Oh yeah. Yeah.

Radio Raheem had those rats, right? Yep.

So, the stores were segregated.

You know how the Chinese couple had
two stores?

Yes. Yeah,
they had a black store and a white store.

Right.

Watching the movie,
I didn't catch that part, but after.

Yeah,
because cast out Jim Crow. John. Yep.

The guy, the

the musician at the end
was a real jazz musician.

No, it was just a great movie. And,

again, interesting kept me.

I was I know, yeah, because I yeah.

Because what I loved was that
because again, I knew the vampire element

going in,
so I wasn't expecting it to be that,

crafted and layered and nuanced as it was,
I thought it was just going to be like

a regular,
you know, kind of supernatural movie.

And, it had all this weight to it
that was just.

Yeah, I was, I was I was very impressed.

And it was and I like that.

I mean, it wasn't, a it's not like a,

I mean, it's a mainstream movie,
like, it's not an independent film. No.

But I think that for a,

I like that the Warner

Brothers decided to pick it up and,
you know, instead of, like,

doing all this, I'm could for I like,

constant sequel stuff, like, like,

I mean, they took on an original project,
and I, I like I loved it.

So, let's score out of ten.

Oh, I would,

I mean,

it's, I mean, I'd probably give it a ten.

I thought it was just.

Wow. Yeah.

Max. Shame.

And then one last thing.

Why? You know, I'm Irish.

Why the vampire?

You know why the vampire have to be Irish?

Why not?

Well, they.

I mean, well, anyone,
I guess, could be a vampire.

I really like, I was thinking the other.

I was actually telling
Max the other day that, like,

because he mentioned that too.

He was like, you know, Oh, yeah.

He was, an Irish vampire. And,

you know,
I didn't make any thing out of it,

but I was it made me think for a moment
that if they had put

in, that,

you know, I mean, there's
so many cultures within the movie.

Yeah, yeah. Which.

Yeah, but I was like,
I thought to myself, they didn't have,

I noticed that
they didn't have a Jewish vampire,

but I thought to myself, if they did,

then that probably would have gotten
a lot of controversy because there's like

an anti-Semitic, date.

Like it's ridic.

Obviously it's ridiculous.

But, there are,

like online,
like just anti-Semitic trolls,

saying things like,
Jews used to drink the blood of children.

So frickin stupid and ridiculous.

But, that was, I was like, yeah, that's
probably why I didn't put that in there.

But I was probably like,
yeah, I mean, you know,

maybe they could have throw that in there,
you know, makes sense. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

All right. We got to move
on. We're gonna wrap it up.

Let's get to next to.

Yeah. Can I do train dreams? Yeah.

That was actually
my favorite movie of the year.

Oh, that was your number one.

Yeah. Train dreams.

Yeah. Number one.

Yeah. It was just.

Let's hear why this is interesting.

Because it really,

I just thought
that it was a beautiful movie,

obviously visually striking, but just the,

I mean, simply put,

it just had the layers of an entire life.

And, you know,

main Robert Crane er,

just I think reflects,

every,

you know, man who was like,
who gave us our infrastructure,

our way of life, and had to watch a,

you know, the world around him
change for out the decades.

But he stayed in
the same place forever. And,

you know,
he never really complains about it.

I honestly, I keep went through deep pain,

but also just loved deeply.

And every interaction felt very special.

Specifically in the beginning
when that guy was dying

and he gave him, like,
a final drink of water out of a boot,

I was like,
oh my God, that's working deep, man.

It felt very much like a,

I mean, it's based off of a novella
by Dennis Johnson, who was very great,

but, it had but yeah,
I mean, it had the feeling of a,

of like a all time

great American novel, and it's just like,
it's such a it's such a great story.

And, yeah, I was,

Yeah, it really, it was just.

Yeah, I loved it.

I agree you had something really wonderful
on text that you shared, but I

very you just touched on it.

But I was joking with you.

And I go, man, I was waiting for someone
to turn into a vampire.

It's not. You know, I understand.

It's not like that kind of movie.

I mean, most of the time
I'm into, dramas and human

centered stories that aren't like that
don't have that kind of stuff.

And occasionally
I'll be able to make exceptions.

I think that,

Yeah.

But I mean, I thought, yeah,
I yeah, it's I'm not expecting it to,

win anything that it's nominated for.

But, the only thing it would have a chance
of winning is cinematography.

But I do think since this going
to get that.

Rightfully so.
Yeah. With the trees and the landscape.

Yeah. It may.

I thought about my, late grandfather
watching it because he was such,

he was such a,

phenomenal photographer of nature.

But he also
he would have loved that movie.

Yeah, but he also,

when he took pictures of people, he would,

he would talk with them first and say,
can I take your picture?

And I just felt like he and,

that character would have hit it off
really well.

Yeah.

You mentioned it
reminded you of a Terrence Malick film.

Yeah, yeah, if you can. You have. Yeah.
I don't know who he is.

The director.
He directed, death of Heaven,

the Tree of Life,
the thin Red line, Knight of Cups?

Yeah.

His movies have a very ethereal and,
spiritual, element to them.

He likes nature, both physically
physical nature and human nature.

And that's kind of what,

I feel like this movie reflected
that a lot, and there were a lot of people

that were like,

you know,
this is like a rip off of his movie.

If I thought, I don't think so.

I think it's its own thing. But, yeah.

Poor guy.

I feel like everyone around him
died, though.

It was so like, he's been through it all.

The poor guy can't.

I know, I know, yeah.

And then there were just.

And the.

Airplane ride. And then the movie ends.

I mean, is there significance there?

Yeah. Well, I mean, I think that that was,

I mean, it's,

I mean, I would imagine I mean, he

that was probably the moment where he felt
the most,

I don't know, high on life,
I guess is free.

Yeah. Like, connected to everything.

Yeah. Yeah. Like.

Yeah.

He's probably been having so much burden,

stress and pain
where he's flying for the first time.

Yeah. Yeah, this is living.

That's what I took.

But it was small, poetic.

It was like a little life.

The setting

was played
a major part of the whole movie.

The setting.

Like, again, the trees. Yeah.

A time period, the change.

Like, all the hard work, they.

That's when men were men.

They say that like,
I, I'm a third grade teacher.

These hands, you know, I get blisters.

Sharpening pencils.

Yeah.

Those guys were carrying
axes, cutting down massive trees,

working hard day and night,
leaving his family for long periods.

Of time, which was really hard.

And I think that there were like,
moments in the movie that were just,

one in particular where, he,

it's just trying to make his daughter
laugh by putting his,

hands over the council,
and he's doing this and smiling

because he's just trying to make her laugh
because he doesn't

hardly ever sees her, so.

Oh, yeah. His interactions. Yeah.

She was very physically,

capable to.

I mean, just the work that she did
in building that house and.

Oh, yeah, I know she had, they
they both had a very,

Yeah.

They both. Yeah,
they were lining up the stones,

envisioning
what it was going to look like.

Like they both, yeah, they were.

They reminded me of a Gray's Anatomy.

They did candles
when they built their house.

And she's like,
I want the house here next to, you know.

Your house is here.
Yeah. Beautiful log cabin.

Yeah, yeah.

Was that his daughter that snuck in with
the broken leg, or is it a random person?

I think how did she come in and out?

I was like, I. Don't even know.

I don't even know if that happened.

I don't think. Was that a dream?

That may have been a dream. Yeah,
but it would.

It would have been her that was supposed
to be an invasion of her.

Yeah, but, But then she had a broken leg.

So how did she sneak out of the window?

I was like, I had a lot going on.
I don't think she was really there.

But he saw the moon.

Then he saw the moon landing on TV
in the city before he took the plane ride.

So he lived a long life, 80 years.

He saw a lot of friends pass.

He saw a man get killed in front of them.

He saw.

Did the tree log hit fall on him?

No, it fell on his buddy,
his bike. His best.

Friend. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he. Yeah.

I also loved that moment
when the when the tree falls.

You see it
from the perspective of the tree in a way.

How when the tree, like, just falls.

Really?

Like slowly and you kind of hear
that noise, it makes us it falling.

Yeah.

Like where the opening shot of that scene
where it's like towards the top

when the tree falls,
the camera doesn't leave that spot.

And so it's like the you're sort of
with the tree as it's falling.

All right. I like that perspective.

Any more.
We gotta move on to Frankenstein.

That's him.

I the thing about Claremont del Toro.

And I thought this,

even back,

ten years ago with Crimson Peak
is that he is a world builder.

He creates worlds.

And, he.

Yes, he has.

He's a master at visualizing things.

He's a visionary. But,

I think that

there is something very,

There's some he.

I don't think he's ever explicitly

says that he's not going to do, like,
modern films

that take place in a modern time.

I think he has maybe done a few of those,
maybe a couple.

I don't think so.

But I think there are some filmmakers
like him who are more comfortable

with that past era stuff,
because the person is just it's so scary

and not like the way that they're able to,

you know, he made a good point to that,
storytelling.

The origin of storytelling was,

was fairy

tales, and not it was the kind where,

and this is something that I actually
think weapons has in common as well.

Not it's it's
not like a once upon a time fairy tale.

It's more the kind of fairy tale
that parents would tell their kids

so that they don't,
you know, do certain things.

It's like fairy tales were sort of used
originally to instill fear.

And I think, culturally
that changed at some point.

But, no, I think most films in particular,

what sets them apart
because there are a lot of filmmakers

who have like a sort of fairy tale element
to the way they make movies.

I think even centers have thought
in a way.

But, I think with Karamo specifically,

his films
make you question who the real monster is.

Yeah.

That's what makes that's
what makes this film.

So, I was empathizing with the monster.

Yeah.

And I think the. Doctor was the villain.

Yeah, I think that was his goal.

I think that The Shape of Water was,
which I loved.

I was obsessed with that movie
when it came out so many times.

Kilmer.

Karamo del Toro.

Name all his movies.

A couple of them with Crimson Peak,
The Shape of Water, Nightmare Alley,

and that's.

That's all I own. Pan slapper. Enough.

Okay, so this is like his fifth film
that I've seen, but,

Did you read the book Frankenstein?

No, I didn't, but I know a lot about.

You know, any of the movie
book comparisons.

Yes, I know some,
I know a lot about Mary Shelley.

I think she was a very interesting person,
it seems.

And I think that, actually,
I think that the story of Frankenstein

as a whole is really in the past
couple of years

has had this real resurgence
that I find very interesting.

I think it really started with,

poor things, with Emma Stone.

You know, it's not like directly inspired
from Frankenstein, but it has those,

similar themes and plot sort of devices.

And then, of course, you have

this was a real passion project for Gamow
making this Frankenstein.

So he did that.

And then we have Maggie Gyllenhaal,
Star bride coming out on, March

6th, which is,
you know, to Bride of Frankenstein.

So you can
that's all he wanted was a partner.

He was super lonely. Yeah.

And all he wanted was something else. So.

And it's Jessie Buckley and Kristen Bell.

So the doctor refused to make him
so in the in the book, he gets caught

memory.

He helps the blind neighbor.

Yeah.

I know there was a blind neighbor.

I don't I didn't read the book, but.

So the book he's helping a girl
drowns and Frankenstein

goes to help the girl and everyone thinks,
oh, he's hurting the girl.

So that's when they shoot him.
Where in the. In the movie.

He's helping the blind guy.

Yeah. And everyone's like,
oh, he's hurting the blind guy.

He the,

the doctor shoots, accidentally shoots

his brother's soon-to-be wife

in the book, Frankenstein
actually chokes her out of rage.

Yeah, there's some.

Some changes comparing and contrasting.

It's always interesting
when the when it was a book first.

Very much. Didn't read it.

Especially my daughter.

Read it came out so.

Long and told me a bunch of,
she kept going.

It didn't happen in the book.
It didn't happen in the book.

You ever watch a movie with someone?

It's like it didn't happen in the book.

The books are, social media vultures.

You know, there are peop
there are certain audiences

that will go to movies solely for what
they're going to say about it afterwards.

I can't do it.

And that Frankenstein took a beating.

He got stabbed, shot
and he just kept coming.

His physicality
was so incredible. Blown up.

Just such a good movie.

Good movie.

It really was.

It wasn't like the creature

with the thing in his head and the
the bolts in his neck and the green.

He was like a human person.

He really did look like a real person.

Very well done.

In the book, the doctor doesn't
lose his leg in the movie.

He does. There's like, a lot of.

Standing in front of the sun
because it was such a dark movie.

I mean, The Shape of Water
was dark, too, in a way.

But I think that
it was a very hopeful film.

I think that this was Frankenstein.

It was definitely more dark
in a traditional sense, but I'm I thought

the ending was hopeful, you know, standing
in front of the sun for the I think

what was probably the first time for him,
that was really beautiful.

It was a relief in a way.

He pushed over. The ending was great to.

Pushing that ship out of the ice. Yeah.

And then where were they heading off to?

They were going back home. Yeah.

They were on an adventure.
They were going to.

They want they were going to the Arctic
and they decided to go home as they were.

So meeting him. After meeting.
Hearing his story.

Yeah. Yeah.
You caught that part. Yeah. Yeah.

You know,
I know that audiences, most audiences

don't when you give them the advice.

This is like the kind of movie
you have to see in theaters.

Most audiences
don't really have that luxury,

but you say it
just because it's like, for cinephiles,

it's like saying, excuse me
when or bless you when someone sneezes.

You know, it's just what you say.

Because a movie, there's such an urgency
to seeing it in a feature films

hit differently and movies,
regardless, are meant to be seen twice.

Why would you ever see something
if you're only going to see it once? You?

We got to quote you on that. I like that.

Why would

you ever see something
if you're only going to see it once?

I mean, you know, if a movie is bad,
obviously that's different.

But if you're if you're,

if something is worth your time,
you know, you aren't

you interested in what you might take away
from a second time?

Yeah.

And plus
you get to go with different people.

I do like the band.

It's called an audience for a reason. It's
not just.

It's never just you.
It's always bigger than you.

Even when you go alone.

It's bigger than you.

I love it.

What would you score?

Frankenstein?

I mean, I put a ton for all of them,
but they're very different movies,

and I judge them
in very different ways. But,

You. Know, I think,

I am exploring Frankenstein.

Yeah. I would give a

yeah, I'd give it, an eight as well.

And, and we didn't score train Dreams.

Oh ten
my best movie to year, in my opinion.

I know that's why I didn't really
I didn't really have to ask that.

I figured that
because it was the number one movie.

Yeah. Also, there are movie.

I think there are movies where you see,

there are movies where you wear.

And I think a lot of the movies this year,
two, you watch them and you think,

you know, I'm really glad
that this person played that part.

But I could also really envision
this character, this actor

playing this character.

But with train Dreams, I truly don't think
anybody could have played that part.

But Jill Edgartown,
I don't. What are the movies?

Has he been in? Oh, he's been in so many,

Master Gardener, Red Sparrow, Boy Erased.

Bad sermons, great Gatsby. Yes.

Zero Dark 30.

I know that one.

Yeah.

He's he's he's done.

He's done so much.

He's one of Australia's biggest actors.

Well, I can't thank you enough.

We're here with Max and Jake.

It was so good to talk movies with you.
Thank you.

We have Max here from movie
critic Dot today.

He also wrote a blog on Train
Dreams on December 21st, 2025.

Go back and check it out.

He wrote a nice three minute read on train
dreams.

Critics ticket movie critic Dot today.

Jake, you go back and see him.

Marty supreme.

Yes, he made that. Mike.

He made that movie.

Okay.

He's a know him.

That movie would be all right.

I want to think. I want to go back.
This is Feeny talks with friends.

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Feeny talks with friends episode 160.

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