Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Next Generation (ft. guests Stockard Channing & Dianne Wiest)

20:59Chris Hewitt:Yes, and Deck, stacked on top of each other or stitched to each other in a human centipede style or back to front? How are we doing Ant and Deck as Geordie the Forge? I think we can just stand next to each other as is traditional. And do they speak at the same time like Rudy Mara and Kate Mara in Werner Herzog's new movie, Bucking Fastered. Yes. They do. This is perfect. And do we change the character's name to Geordi's La Forge? Sure. Oh my God, this is perfect. And got blinded in Biker Grove. That's true. He can't see, man. He can't see. He has a backstory already why he's wearing the visor.

21:41Chris Hewitt:This is it. We have nailed this so much. We've ruined Star Trek. This is great. Curtis Tigers Aaron Pierre Reggie Champage Mark Strong Florence Pugh And of course as Councillor Troy Lupita Nyong 'o Lupita Nyong 'o Why? Troy Oh Troy She's the Councillor from Troy Yeah okay I'm on board with that let's go alright we gotta go for the crushers we gotta go for the crushers Beverly and Wesley are there any other members of the next gen crew that I'm leaving out none that really matter yeah no we're fine Chief O 'Brien really I associate with Deep Space Nine oh Chief O 'Brien Chief O 'Brien oh my god is a Gleeson available is a Gleeson we don't care which one no we will take any available Gleeson we will but I'd lean towards Donal.

22:47Chris Hewitt:Every episode could have Chief O 'Brien played by a different Gleason and nobody ever comments on it. It works. I'm bang up for that. I'm in. Okay, so Beverly Crusher and her dickhead son, Wesley. Hey, some of us were of an age where we fancied Wesley Crusher. All right. Show me you're working. Some of us were of an age where we fancied Beverly Crusher. I think that's it. Most edges, to be honest. I was very young, all right? I was like I want to go in the Starship Enterprise 2 he's got the best job in the world come on I'm so glad the segments happened because now I can cut out the other segments and just pretend they never happened so that's good so this is a good one alright Beverly Crusher the doctor has a will she won't she thing with Picard she has more of a we have and we will again with Picard I know but they never they kind of did but they also kind of didn't Jessica Chastain Jessica Chastain

23:47I think that was broad agreement.

23:50Chris Hewitt:Yeah, that works. But can you see her having sexual chemistry with Mark Strong? I can see practically everyone having sexual chemistry with those two people. Oh, Gillian Anderson. Gillian Anderson. Gillian Anderson has sexual chemistry with everybody. Yeah, that is accurate. That is true. Okay. and as Wesley Crusher A's at Butterfield I mean it makes a certain amount of sense in a sex education vein in a sex education way because they were mother and son in sex education I'm assuming there'd be fewer wanking montages but other than that I have few notes I think actually that was one of the few things that Next Gen lacked well they did have Jeffrey's tubes and they'd go up and down in them a series of montages featuring Wil Wheaton furiously flogging the bishop is what that show needed.

24:47Polishing the Jefferies tubes, as they call it on the Enterprise.

24:51Chris Hewitt:Setting his phaser to stun. What other... Shills up, red alert. No. I'm angling the main deflector. You know, honoring the prime directive. It's a miracle none of us are casting directors really, isn't it? Beaming himself up. No, come on. All those things. Yeah. So there we go. Guys, I think we have done it. I think we have done it successfully. I think we've recast the Next Generation cast brilliantly. Guinan. Guinan. Oh, we'll be Goldberg. Yeah, you're right. She's still around. Guinan's still around. Makes sense. And Ben Whishaw could play Q? Q. Because he's already played Q. Because he's already played Q.

25:34He actually would be quite good. He'd actually be good.

25:37Chris Hewitt:Yeah. He has reigns. I can see that. Hello, Picard. he'd be like that. Would he? Yeah. Would he? Now, he's in cheers. Oh, boy. Anyway. Oh, God. Okay. All right. Listen, I enjoyed that segment, and that's all that matters. If you want to have your question read out on the Empire Podcast, get in touch with us on Instagram. I am ctah1976. That's where I'm taking my questions these days. And wait for a panicked shout-out or a slightly panicked shout-out every now and again if you want to do that. All right. Should we have a little break? Let's do it. All right. Make it so. Okay, we are back, folks.

26:15Chris Hewitt:And now it's time to dig deep into the week's movie news, which mainly arrived, I think, in a barrage of trailers. Lots of trailers for you to see and to consume and for us to talk about here on the Empire podcast. What trailer did you see, consume, and wish to talk about? There was a sort of mini trend in trailers about... The shorter versions of the movies? Okay, yeah, that wasn't the specific one. I was going to talk about the fact that billionaires and wannabe billionaires are perhaps behaving oddly in trailers this week. So Digger, first of all, definitely about a billionaire, played by, of course, Tom Cruise and a shit ton of makeup, basically trying or just not trying to save the world, much like the billionaires this week who were warning us that AI is going to destroy us all and they're not going to do anything to stop that.

27:11That seems to be the sort of hook. They're like the anti-John Connors. Yeah, that seems to be the hook of Digger as well, essentially. So it still looks like an incredible performance from Cruise and a weird film, and I'm very excited to see it.

27:24Chris Hewitt:I haven't seen this one. What's new about this trailer? There's just a little bit more, I guess, with the interplay between himself and Riz Ahmed as his kind of seems like aide-turned-whistleblower. kind of character and just quite a lot of him facing off against all the many many interested parties in I don't know keeping the rest of humanity alive okay interesting Jimbo did you see that one? I did not see that one no alright what did you see? I saw the trailer for Remain which is a new Shyamalan movie which stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor and it's like it's a story by M. Night Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks and weirdly that's sorry what Exactly.

28:09It seems incredibly obvious from the trailer that it is those two unlikely worlds colliding. So Gyllenhaal plays this... I fall in love with dead people. Right, it's literally that. I fall in love with dead people. So you've got Jake Gyllenhaal, who's kind of this architect, and he's moved to Cape Cod after. And the logline says, after leaving a psychiatric facility, I wonder if that sentence is going to prove important. And while he's staying at this kind of B &B, he meets a mysterious woman who, as the trailer leads us to believe, may or may not be, you know, alive. Right. or maybe a figment of his imagination or maybe a figment of his imagination

28:40Chris Hewitt:or maybe probably he's dead because that would be the only thing they won't do that again M. Night can't go back there again but that's what I mean like it can't just be as simple as what the trailer makes it look like which is she doesn't exist she's a ghost so which would be the obvious Nicholas Sparks thing but like Shyamalan's done that so is it something else is what I'm saying is he dead not her and he's like it's like the others or something do you know what I mean possibly the person you think is the real person is actually the ghost. Or is the psychiatric institution such a thing and as you say, she doesn't even exist.

29:11It's Shutter Island. It's Shutter Island. It's Shutter Island. Yeah, exactly that. Oh, gosh. So many ways this could go.

29:17Chris Hewitt:But I really want to see it. What if it doesn't go anywhere? Like, it looks spooky from the trailer, but the Nicholas Sparks-iness of it makes me wonder if, like, what if this has a happy ending? What if the two of them fall in love? His often don't. She manifests. His sometimes don't. Oh, that's true. Look, all we know from the Nicholas Sparks thing is that there'll be two beautiful white people on a coastline, you know, near clapperboard houses and a love story. That's the only thing that guarantees. It doesn't guarantee a happy ending. Impeccable interior decor. Usually, yes. It's not Nancy Meyers impeccable.

29:52Don't get me wrong, but it's up there. Yeah.

29:56Chris Hewitt:Do you think this might start a trend of A-list directors teaming up with unlikely novelists? Novelists, yeah. John Woo and E.L. James why 50 Shades of Hard Boiled 50 Shades of Killer any of that yeah absolutely that then you got the sex you got the violence you put them together I don't know that John Woo does sex I mean I think he has children no but on screen on screen on screen the sex is usually if it's there it's metaphorical so gunplay not foreplay I was going to suggest Gaspar Noé and Sarah J. Maas I know one of those people but perhaps that's two on the nose Sarah J Maas is she the romantic she's the fairy born person yeah okay that would be unreleasable but yeah it would certainly be interesting who would you team Chris Nolan up with if you were to team him up with an author you're both well read Woodhouse I'd have to have on me alive PG Woodhouse is not generating new material Admittedly, fine.

31:04Steven Spielberg and Bronte, because he loves dinosaurs.

31:10I see it. Because she'd be a Brontosaurus. No, we've got the Brontosaurus fun. I think he's just complained about my writer not being alive. You've chosen somebody even longer ago. We're fantasy casting.

31:22Chris Hewitt:Of course, Chris Nolan just teamed up with Homer, of course. Of course. What about the two Stevens? Could King and Spielberg come together? Oh my God, that'd be amazing. To do something in the horror? I feel that Spielberg's horror is probably too tame for Stephen King. I would say. I don't think he'd be prepared to push the boat out quite that far. He's pushed the boat out pretty far in the past. Do you think? Yeah, all the way out to sea in Jaws. I mean, that's fair. But Jaws is frightening, but I don't think it's quite King level of Twisted. Of Gnarly. But they both have that small-town Americana thing.

31:57They do, that's very true. They could lock into that very, very easily. That is very true. They speak the same language. They'd go pretty damn well together. But then Stephen Spielberg's talked about wanting to make maybe like a proper Western. So maybe someone like Stephen Graham Jones, who wrote The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. I haven't just had a stroke. The word hunter is repeated. It is a hunter of buffalo hunters, you know, the buffalo hunter hunter. Yeah, okay. So, incredible book. Actually very chilling, actually kind of horror, but also kind of old West, kind of a Western sort of thing.

32:30Chris Hewitt:Right, so they'd come together to do a new Western. To do a new Western, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. What about Louis L 'Amour? Is he still alive? No, no, he's very dead. Okay, but why are you allowed dead writers? We're not. Because I can't think of anyone else. Okay. All right, okay. So I thought the trailer looked pretty good. Obviously, Endless Shyamalan these days, it's a coin toss, isn't it, as to the quality of the film, it feels. But when it works, it really works. when it works it works you know Trap was fun yeah enjoyed Trap was that his last movie I think it was so yeah it's been it's been a while so yeah so there were talking about billionaires being dickheads Artificial the trailer for Luca Guadagnino's Artificial which is the kind of the story of well the rise of AI and the people who are seemingly locked in a race to develop AI even though they suspect that it might have bad consequences.

33:29Oh, yeah, they fully believe it will. Anyway, this is, yeah, Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman in a story about, as you say, the rise of ChatGPT and the rest. I am really struggling here. I don't want to see these fuckwits. I don't want to see them in real life. And I don't know that I want to see them in the cinema. And I think Guanyino, while he has done incredible films in the past, maybe has to re-earn some trust after his last one after the hunt which I thought was not good and I'm slightly worried that he doesn't have a sure hand on the present moment sort of politically after that one so I really hope that this will be will be good but it certainly looks like a bunch of sad little dweebs who have delusions of grandeur and are being given more money than God to develop something and that could be I guess an interesting drama.

34:31I've just asked ChatGPT

34:32Chris Hewitt:and it says it's going to be great. Well there you go, wow. True story. Somewhat connected, there's a new documentary coming out called You Can See Everything It's too late. It's too late, starring Mark strong as Patrick Stewart and this is a documentary from Lance Oppenheim who also directed Primetime which is the RPAT as Chris Hansen the host of To Catch a Predator, Predator Badlands which is coming out very very soon, very very busy guy and he's teamed up with Nathan Fielder to direct a documentary which the early reviews because I think it's screened at a film festival or it's about the screening of the film festival Telluride, I believe.

35:17Chris Hewitt:Telluride. So some people have seen it already. It's nearly three hours long, and it's about Elizabeth Holmes. And apparently it is extraordinary, this film. Yeah, jaws were on the floor. And even the little clip here is incredible. So Elizabeth Holmes is the person who was convicted following her attempts to launch this startup called Theranos, which was all about, like, it basically said... She wanted to get six stones of incredible power. She wanted to get six stones and then snap her fingers. And the idea was that you could, it was like a blood test kit, but they made all these grand promises, like from a single drop of blood, we can basically diagnose you for like 16 million different illnesses.

35:56And of course, it never worked properly. It never worked. But she kept telling people that everything was cool and it was all working and everything was going great. And she kept getting more and more and more startup money and eventually fell foul of the law and was being sent to prison. And Nathan Fielder went to spend the last few precious days with her and her young family, young children, before she went into prison. So she invited this documentary crew on purpose into her home for those last few precious days of freedom. and Nathan Fielder the master of cringe comedy the guy who lives and thrives off awkwardness in the way that the rest of us require oxygen appears to be genuinely discomforted by this weird weird woman so I am I'm very intrigued by this trailer I'm very intrigued by the early reviews for this and even though all of these people are awful I'm interested to see how this one turns out

36:50Chris Hewitt:well Nathan Fielder is not awful no but I'm I'm talking about the tech people those tech types. Yes. I'm sure there's nice ones. Let's not tar them all with the same brush. Sure. Yeah? Okay. Theoretically. That seemed to go down well with Helen. Infinite universe. That's good. One last trailer. Did anyone see the Street Fighter trailer? Yeah, I didn't have any emotional connection to it or knowledge of what's going on. Yeah, it's one of these films where I am absolutely confident it's going to be terrible but I really want to see it.

37:23Yeah.

37:24Chris Hewitt:I don't remember much about Street Fighter, but it seemed to have all the things in there, people with terrible hair. All of it, yeah. I keep confusing it with the other one we had earlier this year. Mortal Kombat. Yeah, and I do feel a little bit like the problem for both of them is that if I want to watch a martial arts movie, I'm doing it because I want to see extraordinary people do extraordinary things, but I don't necessarily want them to do the extraordinary things with the help of CG. Do you know what I mean? So I kind of struggle a little bit with these films because I'm like, well, ultimately, I feel short-changed a little bit by the fighting.

37:55Well, the games do have an awful lot of superpowers. No, I get that. It is absolutely necessary to be... I get that. I'm not suggesting they're doing anything wrong with it. It's what the fans want. It's what everybody wants but me. I just... I don't... I don't care about the games. You don't want to see E. Honda do his 100-hand slap on someone. Is that... I get it. Is that the thing he does? It's the thing he does. Now I'm a bit like, maybe I do. I mean, that sounds kind of fun. That's a very Honda Civic of him. Come on.

38:26Chris Hewitt:But of course, the original Street Fighter, the original version of Street Fighter, the original movie, is famously one of the worst movies ever made. Yeah, I've seen it. So this is already a step up. And it's got a decent cast. Noah Centineo. Jason Momoa, is he in the trailer? Yeah, he's Blanca. Okay, is he in the trailer though? He is in the trailer. We've seen the footage I've seen. Okay, Andrew Koji, David Dasmalchen. Smulchan as M. Bison. M. Bison. Cody Rhodes. Not Vega. Yes, Cody Rhodes as Guile with the terrible hair. Eric Andre's in it. Ah, yes. So, yeah. Kalina Liang as Chun-Li. So, yeah.

39:06Chris Hewitt:Oliver Richter's, Olivia Richter's rather, who was the guy who beat up Reacher in season three of Reacher. He's playing Sangeef. Oh, yes. I thought I saw him in the trailer, yeah. He's a Russian wrestler. So, yeah. Could be good. Could be good. Could be good. Every day is Christmas Eve. Looks fun. Doesn't look unwatchable like the last one. So that is good. Good news indeed. There was one weird trailer, well not weird but just unusual, that hit this week, which was four guys getting into a car and driving off. And this caused a big kerfuffle on the internet because those four guys are the in-betweeners.

39:46Yes, I saw this. Who saw this coming? I guess they're accountants presumably I had no idea that it was coming they must have been paid quite a lot but yeah but you know it's the original crew back together again I'm not a massive Inbetweeners fan but I've seen all the films I've seen all the episodes of the series it's got a massive following I'm fascinated to see what we do with them now in you know middle age but fuck it

40:09Chris Hewitt:fuck it fuck it let's do it they're back back back they are The Inbetweeners 3 is filming right now and unlike the previous two Inbetweeners movies both of which were huge hits by the way this is going to be a Netflix jobby which is really interesting to me because again the aforementioned Inbetweeners and The Inbetweeners 2 were huge hits so how has no studio got this like a traditional studio got this because it seems like a license to print money doesn't it it seems very very strange to me but this is the Inbetweeners and I really really like both I like the I'm just a big Inbetweeners fan, but the Inbetweeners 2, I know this is unusual opinion, but I thought it was hilarious and was just a gag machine.

41:01Chris Hewitt:And so it's Simon Bird returning as Will, James Buckley returning as Jay, Blake Harrison back as Neil, and Joe Thomas as Simon. Damon Beasley and Ian Morris, the creators of the Inbetweeners, have written this. Ian Morris is directing it. I'm cautiously optimistic about this. because there's no reason I know you're going to be cynical and say bucket loads of cash but there's no reason for all these people who are all successful independently of the in-betweeners to do this apart from the aforementioned bucket loads of cash so I've got to assume that they have a way in I've seen a lot of people going but aren't they old now?

41:41Chris Hewitt:yes they're all 63 now no they're all in their 30s and 40s now I guess so Simon Bird is 42 yes so they're all around that age so this is obviously going to be about them I guess navigating middle age parenthood all that sort of stuff that could be fun and are they still the same collection of idiots Jay for example James Buckley's Jay he can't be that same clunge loving lying dickhead there's got to be a change there in him have you met men? I mean, you know, not to rule out the possibility of development, but it's entirely possible that he has not grown up at all. What's this going to be? Like, they're lads, lads, lads.

42:31They're going on a, I don't know, a stag do or something. One can only imagine it's some sort of stag do or like a lads holiday or something.

42:40Chris Hewitt:Maybe it's Grosse Pointe Blank. Maybe they're all going down to Dover. Ten years, man. 10 years. But I'm excited about that. I think that could be potentially good. So, nah, there. Take that. Yeah. No one's arguing with you. Okay, good. I don't like them, but I get that they're loved. I just assumed an argument. I could feel an argument coming, but I headed it off at the pass. Quick draw once again. Just a couple of very, very quick things. There are a couple of projects that are in very early development in Hollywood, but they are of note. One is that Paul Feig is apparently circling a sequel to The Italian Job.

43:22Chris Hewitt:Not the good one. The bad one from 2003. It was fine. I mean, it's not good, but it was fine. Was it? It was of its time. It certainly was. Good cast. And they're kind of all pretty much still around. They are. But I don't think they have contractual obligation bringing Edward Norton back. Sorry, Edward Norton. sorry Edward Nortonward back to the gig that's true I don't know if he yeah did he die in the last one anyway he probably did or ended up in prison or something but Mark Wahlberg Jason Statham there might be a tussle for top billing at this point I guess because the Stath the Stath wasn't the Stath yeah he was just he was just he was just guy in movie but now he's huge yeah still handsome oh he could play Picard he would be a terrible Picard I know engage H.

44:16Chris Hewitt:Make it so. It'd be pretty, actually. It'd be amazing.

44:23Chris Hewitt:Yes, anyway. Anyway, yeah. Charlize Theron, apparently the best driver in the cast, they all said during the original press tour. I don't know why I remember that, but I do. Yeah. Is that because Mark Wahlberg couldn't see above the wheels? Anyway. Yeah, it's happening. Cool. All right. Let's see. There we go. James you excited about this one you a big fan of either Italian job yes within reason I'm with Helen the second one actually was alright it was fine it's fine it's totally fine but the first one's a classic yeah but do we need this one I don't know we didn't need the other one well you don't need any films really so let's give it the benefit of the doubt yeah okay but Paul Feig is circling it once he finishes The Housemaid's Secret which he's filming with Sydney Sweeney oh yeah right now and Kirsten Dunst cool It's exciting, isn't it?

45:13Isn't it?

45:14Chris Hewitt:Yeah. Not really. Okay. Other exciting news. John Mulaney. Yes. Is apparently in early talks to star in a remake of Get Smart. I'm open to that. I have no emotional or physical connection to the original TV show, nor really the Steve Carell film, which I thought was a little bit underwhelming, if I'm honest. There's a couple of good gags in it, but really meh. So yeah, by all means, let's give him something like that. Because I think he could do that sort of, he's very good at channeling that kind of mid-century energy. You know, if you watch Kid Gorgeous or something like that, and you should all watch Kid Gorgeous, it's incredible.

45:58I think he's really good at just like that kind of old-fashioned character. And I would really like to see him in almost, maybe even as a 60s set gets more. I think that would be fun.

46:10Chris Hewitt:I like John Mulaney. I'm surprised that he hasn't done more movies. Because I know he's not an actor, but he is working at it, and he is getting better at it. And I think if you can hold your own in something like The Bear, then you can probably hold your own on the big screen. Anyway, shall we have a guest? Let's. Shall we have two guests? Oh my God. Shall we have two ruddy legends? Let's. Shall we have Stockard Channing and Diane Wiest, who are two of the stars of Practical Magic 2 which is returning which is returning Practical Magic 2 which is in cinemas as of this week a long awaited sequel of course to 1998's Practical Magic which saw Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play Witchy Sisters who felt that they were cursed that they couldn't fall in love and this is right Hellspells they couldn't fall in love if they fell in love with someone that someone would die that's basically the story it wasn't like they felt like they were cursed They were cursed.

47:08They were 100 % cursed.

47:10Chris Hewitt:All right. So, obviously, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are the stars of Practical Magic and Practical Magic 2. But Diane Wiest and Sokhar Channing are fantastic in the first movie as their aunties as well, who are along for the ride. And they are legends. Absolute legends. Diane Wiest has two, count them, two Oscars. Ordinarily, with a movie like this, it has these big, big name stars. We would go, we want the big name stars, please. And sometimes we get them and sometimes we don't. That's fine. That's the way it is. And then if we don't, sometimes studios will go, do you want the other members of the cast?

47:48Chris Hewitt:And most of the time we'll go, no, we don't want them because then, you know, they're just co-stars. But not all co-stars are Stockard Channing and Diane Wiest. Exactly. So I just said to myself, you know what? Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's get three legends in a room. And by three legends, of course, I mean Stockard Channing. Diane Wiest, Helen O 'Hara. Enjoy. One of these things is not like the others. Well, I was trying to be kind. I mean, I have to ask, did you have it in your contracts that you had to have the best costumes before you would agree to come back? Yes. Was that a condition?

48:22Absolutely. It's the first thing we did. We voted on line one. We had the best and most beautiful costumes. Yes. We certainly did. We did. So, I mean, did you ever expect this? Has this been talked about through the years? because it's been 28 years. No, I mean, it's not even talked about as I knew. No, once in a while, some stranger on the street would come up and say, we hear there's going to be another practical magic. Is that true? And I said, I'm sorry, I don't think so. No, it's not true. Yeah. And then you hear it, and then you hear it more and more and more. And then my agent, I think, called and said, they're really talking about doing practical magic too.

49:03He said, you're kidding. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Stockett said it better than I do, but the fans made it happen. Yeah, possible. This completely comes from the people who have watched and talked to other people who have watched this movie over the years and how that process actually happened. I really don't know, but it's the first stuff I've ever heard of in all these years that I've been doing this in this business. That the fans have made the movie. Yeah, yeah. Manifested it into being. It's quite witchy, actually. It is quite witchy. There were books. I mean, there's some problem with books.

49:36There was a plot line or something. But, you know, this really is the power of persuasion of these wonderful people that have seen it so many times over the years and are still seeing it, I suppose. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah. So, I mean, what are your memories of the first films? That was Griffin Dunn, obviously, directing, but, you know, very much the same sort of quartet at the heart of the story. Yes, at the heart of it, exactly. There were more women in it, in the community. That was a plot line. We sort of missed them because we became friends at the time, and there was that. That was slightly different in atmosphere.

50:12What's his name? Burying the evil guy, all those women who we needed to cast a spell. Right, right, right. And we don't have them this time. And this time it's dangerous. It's really. I think this time the magic is being exposed to the outside world, to the evil in the outside world. If it doesn't work, we will be hurt. Yes, yes. Absolutely. I feel like, you know, even though you're right, there were more sort of supporting women in that film maybe than this, but at the same time, it's still quite unusual even today, never mind in 1998, to see a film centered so much on a group of women. Like it's still, you know, I think, I don't know, but your experience is all the way through your career, but like there have been times I'm sure where you were the only woman in the cast or the only woman in the principal role on sets.

50:58And it feels quite refreshing. Including the crew. Yes. You know. Yeah. Transportation. There's no women. And I don't feel like we get that many stories about sisterhood, about, you know, aunts and nieces, mothers and daughters, in the same way that, you know, every guy has a father complex in every movie. Or a mother complex. True. With an old mummy. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. No. No, this is different. It's different. It's unusual. Yeah. And it was so, it was like putting on a cozy sweater to go back into it, even after 30 years. Because we, although our lives have taken us various places, up and down and stockered, and Nicole and Sandy, there are huge changes in their lives, but they're still the same person.

51:59And so you look in her eyes, and there it is, and you're home. You know, there's not much acting required. No, and we just slid back into it, and we were all very happy, I think, to see each other. Yes. And happy to have the safe place away from the outside world. Yes. What was it like filming in the UK this time? Did it feel different, or was that kind of? Well, the crew was different, I suppose. Yeah. I live here now, so for me it wasn't a big switch. I honestly couldn't say it was different. No, I love it here. I just love, I'm an Anglophile. I just love the crew. I love everything about being here.

52:43I was so happy we shot it here. That's awesome. And you get to go out and do London while you're here and see everything. Right, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, amazing. So where does this rank in terms of what you get stopped and asked about in the street? Like, you know, is it the West Wing? Is it Lost Boys? Is it, you know, your theatre work? Like, where does practical magic sort of come in terms of that? Well, it would pop up more frequently. It's a very strange timeline because when it first came out, I had a little bit of a whip, and a lot of critics didn't quite understand it. I didn't really read them, but it would pop up, and I would, oh, that's too bad.

53:19Because I really had a great time, that's too bad. So what I really don't understand is that why now? I think it's an accumulation of viewing and the technology involved, absolutely. But there's a lot of films out there in this category. Why Practical Magic? I have no idea. I'm the last person to answer that question. I wish. But the only people that can answer it are the people that were so crazy about it that they persuaded Warner Brothers to do a sequel. So what an interesting phenomenon. But in terms of being very rarely, but then it would pop up more frequently. You know, and it's almost like with everyone that would ask me, did that represent 10 ,000 people who saw it?

54:01I have no idea what these numbers even mean. Yeah. I just, I find it, I do find it really interesting because I think you're right. I think I feel like it has, its profile has risen in recent years. I don't know if people are getting a little bit woo-woo and kind of getting into their magic a little bit. I don't know, but it feels like it has kind of raised itself. I think it has something to do with the feeling of being outsiders that has increased with our technology, with our loneliness, that the Owens women are outsiders and despised by the community, even the community that they heal, that they help.

54:41They're despised. But when you are an outsider, you really cling to your sisters. you really because that's about all you have your family and maybe there's some connection between the loneliness and being an outsider in the film and trying to conquer um evil that's a very good point because it might be about just trying to reconnect again with family but also like i mean this is again maybe me being a bit woo woo but like reconnect with nature and they're They're very grounded. They're very sort of connected to the gardens and the house and the place. I mean, Nicole's a botanist, you know. Yeah, the healing process of it.

55:24But it is also, even though whether there are not, I mean, I think sometimes we pick our families. Yes, absolutely. So any bond between people, male, female, doesn't matter. That should be reinforced and returned to over time. It reminds me who we are as human beings, you know, And that kind of humanity that is in this film, you know, it happens to be in an extended strange family. I mean, Nicole and Sandy are not our children. They're our nieces. And even the whole thing of the curse going back generations, that's our bond that we choose to honor and we have. And it's also a – but basically that's it.

56:06There's connections between human beings as opposed to greed and avarice and destruction. They represent healing. And that is a very admirable aspect of humanity. It's reinforced. I mean, I don't think it has to do with gender or sisterhood or that. It's about humanity. And they have an enormous amount of humanity and a bit of a sense of humor going along with it. I wanted to ask also about the newcomers, about Joey and Maisie. coming in. It's nice to see that kind of generational love, generational respect. It's not just about, you know, the younger generation fighting with the older generation.

56:45There is that sense of community between all three kind of layers here. Yes, but also a very important plot point is that Sandy's character is not comfortable with her witchery heritage and has not necessarily informed her children of what is in their blood, as it were. So that comes back to bite her in the horde, of course, of the thing, which is another very interesting plot point just about what we have to, how we have to educate our children, how they have to deal with the world, in her case, a very specific aspect of their world. To avoid repeating the same mistakes, essentially. Yes, yes.

57:22Absolutely. So how about Joey and Maisie coming in? Did they fit into the gang immediately? I think so. Of course, they're much younger and this, that, and the other. But, you know, I mainly was working with Maisie, and it was delightful and incredibly professional and adorable and wonderful. And I thought, but, you know, so it's almost this, as you've seen, it's like two movies. They sort of overlap and interact. But, you know, a movie is not, we don't make it all straight the way through. So I didn't have the pleasure of working with any of the men, one young man, but only one out of the three, whatever.

57:56So my personal experience, whereas I don't, but you? I? No. No, no, no. Yeah. Yeah, no spoilers here. No spoilers, though. Is it true that you all, or some of you at least, got drunk on bad tequila in the first movie? Is this the case? I don't think it was bad tequila. It was good tequila. It was very good. Yeah. Very good. And did you celebrate on this one with Midnight Margaritas? Did that become a part of, like, the wrap party for this one? Was that key? No, not for me. No, we didn't really have of it because the way the structure of it, of the shooting was... We were separate. Yeah. Of course, yeah, yeah.

58:33You've got to, oh, that's a shame. Yeah. Or maybe it's a blessed relief for your head in the morning, I don't know. Again, I'm not getting to any kind of spoilers, but there is a prequel series in the books. There's prequel stories in the books about your two characters. Did you ever hear anything about that? You were never asked to, like, I don't know. They were talking about a TV series at one point. Were they going to get you to narrate or do anything fun like that? No. I don't know. I don't know. I've never heard of that. Okay, so we maybe need to get the fans to manifest it out now as well.

59:02They want a TV series. It's up to them. They'll do whatever they're told. Warner Brothers will do it. They have to put it in motion. Yeah, the fans have the power. I mean, Suzanne works on TV as well, right? We can pull it up. We can get her to do that. She's brilliant. She's brilliant.

59:17Chris Hewitt:Okay, that was Talkard Channelian, Diane Wiest, talking to Helen. How are they, Hells? Delightful. Yeah. Absolutely delightful. Amazing. I look forward to listening to it. I look forward to editing it. I'll cut all your bits out. Is that okay? That's fair. Excellent stuff. Should we talk about Practical Magic 2 now that we have reached the reviews section of the show? A lot of movies to discuss, but this is the biggest game in town this week, isn't it? I feel like this is probably the one on widest release, yeah. And certainly on every bus stop in London, I've noticed the last week. This is the return of the Owens sisters, who are Sandra Bullock's Sally and Nicole Kidman's Jilly.

59:51so they are back and by now Sandra Bullock's or Sally's two children who are now played by Joey King and Maisie Williams are growing up and beginning to live their own lives obviously the ants who are the Stalker Churning Down Weiss characters are getting on a bit in years still surprised still wonderful and basically some things happen that make it clear that the curse that they thought they'd lifted on their family where every man who falls in love with an Owen's woman dies is still very much in play. And this becomes a particular matter of pressing importance when Joey King's character, Kylie, falls in love for the first time and her boyfriend is left in a coma because the curse.

1:00:34And so she must find a way to save him.

1:00:37Chris Hewitt:A Sandra Bullock movie with someone in a coma. I know. Luckily, she's not in love with the guy in the coma, so it's fine. And Bill Pullman is nowhere in sight. Although I would be open to a While You Were Sleeping 2. I don't know what would happen in it. Absolutely, it would be open to them. That would be cool. Yes. Anyway, so Kylie basically goes off looking desperately for ways to, you know, save her boyfriend's life and then her mother and aunt go after her to try and find her, rescue her before she starts messing with dark magic and they recruit Lee Pace's Ian Wright. Professor Ian Wright.

1:01:10Ian Wright. Ian Wright. I assume this name must come from the novel because otherwise, I mean, this film's shot in the UK and somebody would have said, guys, I think you might want to reconsider his name, which is going to be wildly distracting for all the UK audiences. Anyway, they recruit Ian Wright to help them track down Kylie and basically save the day. And you will be shocked, shocked, I say, to know that romantic sparks fly there as well. Well, she finds Mr. Wright and romantic sparks fly, surely not. I know, it seems so unlikely. This is, I would say, pretty much exactly as good as the first one, and you can take from that what you will.

1:01:51I think there are moments of real loveliness. There's a whole thread about sisterhood and relying on your family and stuff that's really, really nice. There are still far too few films about women's relationships with each other, about sisters, about aunts and mothers and daughters and that kind of thing. So all of that kind of stuff I was into. I'm kind of into some of the witchiness as well and the woo-woo. you know, oh, let's light a candle and wave some sage around. Like, that's fun. I'm sort of here for that. And they all look incredible. No woman in this film ever wanders into a patch of bad lighting.

1:02:24Like, every single... They are glowing.

1:02:29Chris Hewitt:Right, yeah. Glowing at all times. So all of that stuff I loved. And you know I'm very partial to Lee Pace. So I say this with love. You're very partial, yes. I say this with love when I say that either it's bad acting or bad scripting, or possibly both, but almost all of his scenes are terrible, genuinely bad. And really, somebody should have taken an axe to the script and just sorted some stuff out there. An axe to the script? Wow. Some of these scenes are all unforgivable. The writing is bad. You know, Sandra Bullock can sell a lot. She is a very charismatic person. Lee Pace can sell a lot.

1:03:06They are not selling these scenes. They are straight-up terrible, terrible scenes.

1:03:11Chris Hewitt:So we should say that this is directed by Suzanne Beer. Yes, who I was about to get to. So she does, I think they wanted to, with love and respect to Griffin Dunn, who made the first one, they wanted to bring in a woman's voice on this film. They both worked with Suzanne Beer before Bird Box, of course, your beloved Bird Box James. I do love Bird Box. And she worked with Nicole Kidman on, I think, The Perfect Couple, was that the one? Yeah. So she's clearly really comfortable with both leading ladies. And I think it's really nice Nicole Kidman in this one gets to essentially be the comic relief a lot of the time.

1:03:41and Sandra Bullock is trying to be all uptight and straight and play it very sensible, but also her character makes mistakes and gets annoyed with herself and stuff.

1:03:51Chris Hewitt:They're a double act, but it's Sandra's movie, ultimately. Yeah, I think it's the same here. I think Nicole is very much the supporting role and they've kind of done that dynamic again because it works so well. But when you bring in Ian, when you bring in the daughters, when you bring in the aunts, it gives them something to play off and they generally do it pretty well but I do think the script is not great and I would have really, especially the romantic scenes, they needed. They badly needed another pass. There's also a scene that got real titters the other night where Sandra Bullock discovers custard for the first time.

1:04:24She's visiting the UK and the custard just looks bad. It's lumpy. They should have given it a bit more of a whisk. I quite like lumpy custard. So anyway, we've given it two which I think is a little bit on the harsh side because I definitely had at least three stars worth of fun but at the same time you know I can't really argue with that

1:04:44Chris Hewitt:maybe we were influenced by the title Practical Magic 2 so they just went Practical Magic 2 stars I thought you meant the magic bit no no no see that's a mistake that's a mistake if you want your sequel to have a good review in Empire get the number 5 in there somewhere Practical Magic 5 yes call it Practical Magic 5 and then who knows what will happen that's a shame that is a shame although honestly you've sold me on those bad scenes I want to go and see this movie now to see two people seriously struggle what is it they now have romantic chemistry what's the deal what's happening I just thought that the lines were literally laughable like there were titters around me in the cinema it wasn't just me I've seen it twice I saw it with a really packed house the second time and not laughing in a ha ha this is peak comedy this is peak romantic comedy way laughing in a what the fuck are they saying kind of a way.

1:05:38Yeah, I'm afraid so.

1:05:39Chris Hewitt:Okay, sounds good. Ian Wrong, more like. Hey. There we go. Boom, boom, boom. Pick up Lee Pace. Two stars. Two stars then for Practical Magic 2. Now, there are two movies out at the moment that you would be forgiven for getting confused. One is called The Runner and doesn't star Jack Reacher. The other one is called Runner and does star Jack Reacher. Now, Jimbo... got confused and watched the wrong one. How long were you into The Runner, which is directed by Kevin MacDonald and stars Gal Gadot, before you realized that Jack Reacher wasn't showing up? Oh, a good 90 minutes, and I'm not even sure it's 90 minutes long.

1:06:23So it was a surprise to me. It has to be said. I kept waiting for him to turn up, and then he got to the end, and I was like, oh, maybe he's in the post-credit Sting. Turns out, no. No?

1:06:31Chris Hewitt:No. Was Sting in the post-credit Sting? Funnily enough, yes. You've got to run. That's my Sting impression. Really? Sounds like Dobby.

1:06:41Chris Hewitt:I've got a message in a barata for you, Harry Potter. But we didn't cover The Runner last week, and I had to watch it, so we should definitely cover it now. Is there maybe a reason we didn't cover it? Okay, I'm going to do this really quickly. It's Belkanot. She's running. It's like Forrest Gump. She spends the whole film running because Damien Lewis has kidnapped her son, and she has to do a thing for him, otherwise he'll kill her son, and that's basically the setup. And how much effort would you say Damien Lewis put into his performance in this movie. Look, I think that was a really, really difficult afternoon's work that he put in for this particular role.

1:07:17But he's largely on the end of the phone. I mean, to be fair to her, her cardio is off the chain. She spends his entire film fucking running along. But, I mean, look, if you're looking for a film that gives you a walking tour of North London, this does it. You get to see Primrose Hill, you get to see Kentish Town, you get to go all the way through Camden. It's nonsense. It's not very good. the ending is maddening. Don't watch it. He's a badden.

1:07:40Chris Hewitt:He's a badden. Damien Lewis is a badden. He's kidnapped her son. She's a lawyer. So the whole point is that she is a lawyer. There's an important trial. Someone's about to go down for murder. Multiple murders, in fact. She's the defense lawyer. So she has access to a key witness. So he takes her son to try and make her kill the witness. That's the plot. Okay. And she has to run there. For whatever reason, and this is genuinely brilliant, she's like, how am I going to get there? He goes, you're going to run. And she's like, can't I just take a cab? He's like, no, no. to make you run so that I can monologue to you over your headset over the next 90 minutes.

1:08:10Actual land violence. That sly dog. She got him monologuing. It's extraordinary.

1:08:14Chris Hewitt:Helen saw the other runner. The other runner. The other one. The one that has Jack Reacher in it. This runner is two stars, by the way. This runner is two stars? Oh, yeah. Okay. Hell's Bells. Yeah. You saw the other runner? I saw runner. You saw runner? Yeah, not the runner. It's not called the other runner. It lacks the definite article. Yes. But it does have Jack Reacher. It does. Once again, going by his nomd actor, Alan Richson. No, I don't know. And he stars as Hank Malone, who is an American, of course, ex-military dude, who's now living in Brisbane for reasons. And, you know, he's a loner, he's sensitive, he's wounded, but he's trying to get it back, you know, back to himself, back on his feet, as it were.

1:08:54And he's working as a delivery guy, and he does difficult or complicated or sensitive or whatever deliveries around town. For example, he picks up a very expensive bird belonging to a billionaire to deliver to his ex-wife, that kind of delivery, right? So he is hired to go and pick up a human organ, which is being transported by courier Ben Bishop, played by Owen Wilson. Wow. Bring this desperately needed organ to a very sick young girl who is lying sympathetically in a Gold Coast hospital and with her single attractive mother with her. And yes, Hank Malone and Ben Bishop very quickly find themselves targeted by ne 'er-do-wells.

1:09:41Chris Hewitt:No, not ne 'er-do-wells. I know. I was as shocked as you are. Rodrigo Santoro's kind of quote-unquote cartel boss they don't really get into details is working with a local biker gang to try and steal this human organ which belongs to a very rare blood type it's a very hard one to get it's come all the way from Hawaii you know the clock is ticking time is running out and they must get this human organ to this small child you don't need to see the rest of the film you know everything that's going to happen I did however quite enjoy this it's absolutely business as usual for Rich then Reacher he is he's you know he's giving it a little light and shade it's not literal Jack Reacher he's a lot better with people but he's still gruff and monosyllabic as much as he can get away with Owen Wilson's being Owen Wilson and being very charming and loose and relaxed and chatty and everything else classic kind of double act stuff and then of course oh no oh, people are chasing us.

1:10:43Woo, car chase. Woo, guns. Oh, no, I can't believe it. But this is quite an effective MacGuffin, I think, for an action movie. The idea of, you know, there is literally a ticking clock on organ transplants.

1:10:55Chris Hewitt:There's another movie coming out soon with a very similar ticking clock. There you go. So it's very stupid and very basic, but it kind of worked. The action was decent. Directed by Scott Waugh, father of Rick Roman, former stuntman. Responsible, of course, for The Expendables 4. Yes, he is. Yeah, yeah. But he escaped from movie jail. He's out now and he's made this. And I think it's totally fine. I do feel like, though, there is one thing I will say. I feel like setting action movies like this in Australia rather than America, I think runs a little bit into the same thing we have when they're set in the UK, which is like, our police don't feel ready for this level of carnage.

1:11:37and I kind of got the same vibe from the Australians. Apologies to any Australian police out there who are absolutely ready for carnage. Maybe you are, I don't know.

1:11:46Chris Hewitt:I'm ready for carnage, mate. But it feels more like they're out there writing parking tickets and then this kind of craziness happens. Do Australian police have guns? Because obviously British police don't. Well, Northern Irish police obviously do, but British police don't. Yeah. But do Australian police have guns? Well, I don't think they need them because there's so much poisonous wildlife or venomous wildlife. They can just pick up a spider or a brown snake and just throw it at someone. But they have them in like a little holster. Yeah, like a snake holster. Oh, yeah. Snake holster. I've got a cock-biter here, mate.

1:12:11Chris Hewitt:I've got a cock-biter. There you go. It's a tip-nipper. Put the bag in the ground or bloody cock-bite you. I didn't see that in the film, but it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. All right. Yeah. Okay. So anyway, three stars for this one. I wrote the review, so three stars. Three stars. Helen agrees with herself. Geographically, both films. It feels like there was more running in mine. No, but geographical fidelity. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I was... Were you okay? I was 100 % on point with her. She wasn't in Camden one minute and then counting to the next. I mean, to be fair, but she runs very fast. So she covered a lot of ground.

1:12:45Chris Hewitt:She is a Wonder Woman. Yeah, in the 90 minutes or so that this film lasts, I would have probably made it from the top to the bottom of Camden High Street and that was about it. She covers much more ground than that. And there was a bit where she outruns a train. What? A tube train. Someone nicks her train at one stop and the door's closed. And so she runs and heads it off and gets on when it reaches the next stop. That is impressive. You can do that between Manor House and Cannon Street if you're very, very fast. Mansion House and Cannon Street. Yes, but you've met us. Yeah. We are not fun. We are not going to be able to do that.

1:13:13One theoretically could do that. Gal Gadot can do that. Between Mansion House. She's a one woman.

1:13:17Chris Hewitt:I imagine you don't have a lot of speed, but you have a lot of stamina. Stamina. Yeah. I hope. I haven't either. I've got two halves to do this weekend, so fingers crossed. You put those together, you get a whole. That's true. That's true. Not in the sex way. Keep them apart. Yeah. And I've got 100 half marathons. A hundred half marathons. Same. Or 50 marathons. Just do 50 marathons. I do 50 marathons. Easy. They're called Snickers now, James. Oh, damn it. All right. Three stars for Runner. Two stars for The Runner. Yes. What else? There's lots of movies. Pressure. Pressure? Pressure. Oh, yes.

1:13:51The film about weather. Do not knock the film about weather. This is, of course, Anthony Maher's film based on David Haig's stage play, which I'm going to go out on a limb and say Helen has seen at least once. Have you? I actually didn't know. That surprises me. Well, anyway, this is set in the kind of weeks, then days, then hours, and the lead up to D-Day. And it begins, interestingly enough, with a title card which talks about Exercise Tiger, which is a thing that is actually taught in schools now, but I think most people have no knowledge of, which is the dry run for D-Day, in which 749 American servicemen were killed due to a colossal amount of fuck-ups involving friendly fire and then Germans and all sorts of stuff.

1:14:27And they managed to keep this classified for years. But anyway, this sort of sets the scene for this film, because a lot of shit has gone down, and they are very, very keen, for reasons of, you know, the war, that Operation Overlord, that the D-Day landings be a success, and it all comes down to the weather. So you have Andrew Scott here playing Captain James Stagg, and he's been brought in. He's like the chief British Army meteorologist, and he's a very kind of abrasive, difficult, not particularly likable man, but he knows his fucking science. He knows his weather. He is, if you will, the John Ketley of this film.

1:14:58Then, of course, you've got Chris Messina, who plays Colonel Irving P. Crick, and he is the American meteorologist, and he's a bit more sort of fast and loose. He's like, yeah, it's going to be great.

1:15:05Chris Hewitt:The sun's going to be shining. You'll be fine. Captain Stagg, however, says, no, you won't. It's going to be raining. This is England. There are going to be problems. Then you've got Brendan Fraser here as General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Damien Lewis, who plays the terribly brassy field marshal Bernard Montgomery. Is he phoning it in from the same room as he is? Well, I think he nips away at one point, and I'm pretty sure he does the runner during that 20 minutes. You can see him in the background on his mobile. Yeah, just quickly phoning in his lungs. But the whole point of this is, genuinely, this entire film is just, what is the weather going to be like in June in Normandy?

1:15:39That's the whole plot. Is the weather going to be okay? Are we going to be able to land our troops? Are we going to be able to take the beaches of Normandy? And obviously, we kind of know how this ends, right? We know when D-Day happened. But that aside, I have never been more invested in weather than I was in this film. It is incredibly tense. There's lots of pouring over meteorological charts and calling people at distant fucking pressure-gaging things and them wrangling over sort of historical weather documents. And it sounds incredibly dry, and on paper I think it really is. It is very stagey.

1:16:09It is a stage play. But it's great performances. I think Brendan Fraser's really good in this, I think. But Andrew Scott, it's all him. He is so forthright and earnest and unmovable. And when he stands up in front of them and kind of speaks truth to power, like there's kind of part of you that's going go on tell him about the rain son it's great like so I had a really good time with it obviously you know how it ends but it's a lot of fun getting there so yeah yeah you do forget during the film that you know how it ends a little bit it's like oh yeah we did do you it actually went quite well do you because the other thing about this I think what's fascinating is Andrew Scott is not or Stag is not going up against them from a position of certainty he's actually refusing to say he's certain because he's not.

1:16:54He's like, basically in 1944, to suggest that you could accurately predict the weather, they're looking for three days in advance, was very much on the limits of what was even theoretically possible. So he's very much couching this in, I think this is going to happen, but like, I can't guarantee it. Whereas Crick is all like, look at these charts of what's happened in the past. This is definitely fine. And so it is all about uncertainty and it is all about, you know, fidelity. to the facts and it is all about integrity as well. And it's a really fascinating movie in that there is no antagonist.

1:17:31I mean, Montgomery can be a bit of a dick at times to pretty much everybody. I'd say. Yeah, the weather is probably the antagonist. The weather is the antagonist. Yeah, that's true. But apart from that, it's not like Hitler doesn't feature in this. You don't see any Germans in this. It's really all about a bunch of people with the same aim trying to figure out how to get there. And I think it's really well done. We have mentioned Kerry Condon, who plays Eisenhower's loyal aide, Summersby, who plays a key role in trying to slightly, I guess, broker peace or find a way for these guys to talk because they are just not communicating well.

1:18:07And it is, of course, based on a true story. Yeah, very much so. Is it? What happened? There was a whole landing thing. Troops, Normandy. It was a whole thing.

1:18:15Chris Hewitt:Many beaches. So this is a prequel to Save and Private Island, of course. It is, actually. All right. I am very, very surprised I must say because when I first heard that they were making a movie about someone predicting the weather I thought, nope. Ian McCaskill, a life. Two hours of people talking about the weather should be the biggest movie in British history. I genuinely think in this country it's going to kill. Out the door. It's going to absolutely slay. All right. We shall see. But we gave us one? Four stars. Four stars. Now I'm wondering why we didn't start the review section instead of talking about the bad films but anyway yes four stars in for pressure Hell Spells there's pressure of a different kind in Oasis Don't Look Back in Anger which is a documentary concert film about the reunion of Liam and Noel the Gallagher brothers last year we know how this one ends as well but there's pressure because they're so combustible you're watching this movie going when's Liam going to fuck it up and he doesn't.

1:19:20He does not, no.

1:19:21Chris Hewitt:Yeah, spoiler. Right, look, if you went to the concerts last year... I didn't. Well done, you've got more money than we do. I mean, you just spent lots of money to see Stevie Wonder. Yeah, I did do that. So you've got as much money as I used to have before I bought tickets to Stevie Wonder. But look, if you went to see it last year, this is a film you're going to enjoy, first up. If you wanted to go last year, this is a film you're going to enjoy. If you are in any way an Oasis fan I think this will be quite fun. If you're Gallagher agnostic? But if you're looking if you're Gallagher agnostic and or if you are looking for the inside track on really anything this is maybe not going to be satisfying because I'm going to tell you straight up this does not address why they fell out or why they came back together.

1:20:11It starts on the first day of rehearsals for the tour and there is a bit of tension there is a bit of pressure about is Liam going to turn up and what's it going to be like when he does? And then they get through that and then it sort of gets into, okay, and now we're basically on tour and everything just kind of clicks into place and they seem to find a groove again together, the brothers and the whole band, and they just have, frankly, a whale of a time. And then it's about people who have been estranged for over a decade, kind of, you know, finding their way back to each other. it's really actually lovely at times in terms of them appreciating what each other can do i think there's a lot of acknowledgement of what each of them brings to the kind of oasis equation here um and members of the band as well like there's a lovely bit with noel paying tribute to bonehead that i actually really liked where he's going we spent years looking for this sound after he left and i didn't think he had a thing but it turns out he really did and that's what it was um so there were there were great moments it's very feel good the two of them are funny fuckers like they really are um and and that will give you a lot of entertainment out of this film and the music is still like there's a lot of bangers here yeah but i was really frustrated because i wanted i wanted a little bit of meat from this i wanted at least to know a little bit more about what went on i have now decided my personal headcanon is that they fought over the pettiest shit imaginable and the reason they don't talk about it is because it would make them look stupid.

1:21:44And that is now my personal fixed headcanon and it is partly because they have left that gap for me to fill in. How does this measure up against Matt Whitecross's Supersonic? I think Supersonic is actually a lot better in terms of getting really into the nitty gritty of what Oasis was and what they did when and so on. This is really a glorified concert movie but it's a pretty glorious concert, like don't get me wrong. So I did have a good time watching it, but I think if you're looking for depth, you know, insight, I don't think you're going to get that here. The only thing that I think this is really insightful into is this newer, happier relationship between them.

1:22:20And that is kind of lovely to see, especially for two total fuckwits who spent years feuding. I think it is genuinely lovely to see them in this more sort of like growing up, maybe enlightened, maybe just back to themselves kind of a place. And I think there is there's real charm in seeing them kind of come back together as a team. And like there are bits when Liam speaking and Noel's just sitting there looking at him like, this is amazing. Who are you? My God. Harvey Brothers. It's lovely.

1:22:50Chris Hewitt:Liam just word salads his way through life. And he will start a sentence sometimes and he'll say something daft and then profound and then go back to daft and then maybe profound again in the space of a sentence. And it's absolutely wild head spinning stuff. Also, this will be on Disney Plus one day. And the cavalcade of c**ts that is unleashed in this movie is phenomenal. I love that this is going to live on Disney Plus next to Mickey's Christmas Carol, which held the record previously. for the number of C words, of course. I really love this. I take on, I think I'm a bit like you with The Odyssey.

1:23:28Chris Hewitt:You can take on all the criticisms and all the arguments about this movie. But I had such, but still love it. Yeah. And I had such an emotional reaction to this. I'm a big Oasis fan. Unabashedly, unashamedly, unironically, I'm an Oasis fan. And I didn't go to the concerts when they reunited because I had my Oasis experiences at Slane Castle in 95 and Nebworth in 96 and I couldn't afford it also but I regret not going now having seen this and I was genuinely tearing up at several points during the documentary the bit where Liam and Neil walk out on the stage in Cardiff for the first time I thought that was incredibly moving these two brothers the rapprochement after all these years of being at each other's throats 15, 16 years yes I'd like to know more about who actually made the first move how did they get together again what was it like in the room when they were discussing like the rehearsals Liam turns off the rehearsals in this but how did they decide where the rehearsals were what songs are we going to do on the set list all that sort of stuff I'd love to have seen that but we didn't there's footage of a young Oasis fan after the Cardiff gig who's just sitting there and he missed all of us he couldn't have been really alive well he was alive but he couldn't have been cognizant of really what was happening when Oasis split up in what was in 2009 and then all of a sudden he's just there at this gig and he's stunned by it and he's in tears afterwards and I found that incredibly moving and there's various things I got throughout the movie so I loved it on that level I think the music is terrific Liam has lost a little bit of his upper register over the years but he has worked on his voice and he sounds incredible he doesn't sing these songs he snarls them but they have such power still I'd like the set list to be a bit more varied and if they come back which I believe they are for more gigs soon I would like to see them incorporating something from album 3 and beyond but you know but still just nitpicking but I had a great time with it we gave a 4 I would concur with that we only have a couple minutes left so we're not going to talk about Guy Ritchie's In The Grey we're going to leave that for next week is there anything else you want to say real quick Fall 2 Fall 2 Fulham Nil very quickly this is a sequel to the fall where people fell off the thing and then there were the heights and there were scary scary heights incredible yes so this is the sequel that's directed by the Spirit Brothers and stars Harriet Slater and Arsema Thomas as two girls, one of whom is the sister of one of the girls from the first fall, who go to a mountain in Thailand with one of those incredibly rickety plank walks around the mountain.

1:26:01And they're going there, you know, to process trauma from everything that happened in the first movie. And wouldn't you know it, there's a rock fall. They're left sitting on a plank on the side of a mountain and the whole thing happens again. If you're afraid of heights, don't see it. I'm terrified of heights

1:26:16Chris Hewitt:genuinely terrified even sitting in his chairs giving me the shits yeah don't oh no gross don't do it but also I think it's fine you know it works as a little scary movie but I don't think it's not adding anything I think what was unusual about Fall was it was so tall so precarious so skinny they were on this basically just like a spike in the desert like and it was kind of a bit unusual and weird and this just feels like a climbing disaster my understanding is having known someone who's read the Wikipedia entry is that there's a lot more plot in this. There is a bit more, but it's not... That feels ill-advised.

1:26:52Yeah, it's not necessary or really helpful, I think, that there is a bit more plot. And really, that only comes in at the end of the movie, the sort of last act. I don't think you needed it, but also, you know, it's fine. It does what it says on the Tim, but it's not going to change the world. We give it three stars.

1:27:07Chris Hewitt:Three stars then for Fall 2. All right. Exciting stuff. and on that note folks on that bombshell that is it for this week's Empire Podcast join us next week for more film related fun when we'll be joined by the director and the star of Resident Evil Resident Evil sorry I should say the director and the star of Resident Evil Sack Kreger and Austin Abrams that is very very exciting is Austin Abrams battling against all the odds to stay alive season. We've got Resident Evil next week. We've got Wellfall in October. This is an exciting time to be hopefully alive. So there we go. Those are our guests next week.

1:27:54Chris Hewitt:But until then, until we meet again, until a suspicious occasion, it is goodbye from my two colleagues of such lethal cunning. Goodbye to you, James Christopher. How are you, Chris? Oh, God. He got me. Gotcha. I got him. I got him. Subscribe to the Pilot TV podcast. Who have we got on the Pilot TV podcast this week, Chris? Oh, can I guess? Yeah. I don't care. Okay. Who was it? Oh, well, in fact, I have someone speaking to Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan at this very second. Ooh. Yeah, for Mobland. Really? Yeah. Are they doing a bad Irish accent? It's very possible. To be sure. Oh, dearie me. Is it Tom Hardy?

1:28:31Chris Hewitt:Have you heard Tom Hardy's raps? We'll get into it next week. We'll get into it next week. Goodbye, Helen. Toodaloo. And it's goodbye for me. I am off to get Ant and Dec together for the perfect Star Trek fingering salute. Oh, no. Thanks for listening. See you next week. Bye-bye.