2026 Movie Preview, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review

29:17An accident, huh? We dug you up. And we brought you back to life. I'm still not sure if I'm more or less excited about that fact. Right. But it's curious to say nothing else. And Jesse Buckley, who after Hamnet, I'm riding the Jesse Buckley high, and she's the bride. Christian Bales, the monster. Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Penelope Cruz also in it. And it's right around the corner, March 6th. So I will take the bride with my number two pick. Yeah, I had a feeling that that was going to be your next pick. I had it at number five on my list. And if somehow it wasn't your next pick, I actually was probably going to make it my next choice, even though I have my number two and my number four still available just because I thought, well, I know he's going to go with the bride ahead of these two.

30:17And now I don't know what to do because I think it's possible, even though obviously these are my next two picks. I'm not sure which one you care about more. And the fact is, I don't know that you care about either of them that much at all. I think it's possible. I think it's very possible. They're not on your draft board or they're very low. So I'm faced with a conundrum. I'm faced with a conundrum. And when I am in this situation, I am going to default to my draft board. And I am going to go with the movie I had at number two, getting with the fifth overall pick. Look, when Christopher Nolan has a new movie coming out, you go see that movie.

31:04Greta Gerwig has a new movie coming out, you go see that movie. You know who else fits that bill, Josh? For me, David Fincher. And David Fincher has a new film coming out this summer called The Adventures of Cliff Booth. Now, we're talking a bit about surprising material. I did not have on my bingo card David Fincher directing a movie about the character Brad Pitt played in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood written by Quentin Tarantino in a sequel, essentially, to that movie. Showcasing more of his backstory? No. Had no vision for that, but apparently David Fincher does because that is the film. And I really liked Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

31:52I really liked that performance by Brad Pitt. And that character was one of those mesmerizing characters that you saw and you knew he was the supporting character in the film to DiCaprio's character. And yet, I think most people watching that film, and this is no slight on DiCaprio at all, it just speaks to the strength of Cliff Booth as a character, as he's written, but also his performance, that most people probably walked out of that film and thought, I would really like to know more about Cliff Booth. I would like to spend more time on screen with Cliff Booth. And here we are getting more of Cliff Booth.

32:33So with that in mind, just the fact that it's Tarantino making or writing another script about him, but the fact that David Fincher is on board, lock, lock for me, one of my most excited films of the year. your instinct was right and my guess that we might both come away happy i think is starting to come to fruition here i'm intrigued as well number 20 on my board oh my god really that's that's not a slight it's just i think there's a lot of good potential stuff once upon a time in hollywood was i was a huge fan of and you know i have a tortured relationship with tarantino so So I think that's a great film.

33:18Agree with you about the performance and the character. I've just got some other stuff I'm ready for before I get to that one. And way ahead of it is a movie called Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. I mean, the title alone, out of my book on horror films, fear not, I have a chapter titled Sex and Death. So this is already something I'm immediately curious about, but more importantly, it comes from Jane Schoenbrunn of We're All Going to the World's Fair, of I Saw the TV Glow, World's Fair, a Golden Brick nominee here on the show, and TV Glow, a top 10 lister for me when that came out. that Criterion preview that I mentioned by David Hudson.

34:07He had a quote from Schoenbrunn about the movie. This is what they said. My best attempt at the sleepover classic, an insane yet cozy midnight odyssey that beckons to unsuspecting viewers from the horror section at the local video store. I don't know why, but maybe it makes me think maybe this will be a little bit more fun than Schoenbrunn's first two films. Not that they didn't have their elements of comedy and levity, but it sounds like they might be having a little bit of, I don't know, just a lighter touch on this one. We'll see. Either way, I'm in. Can't wait to find out. This is one of those that doesn't have a set date, but the way it's talked about in these previews is it's pretty much ready to go.

34:51So it's more a sense of strategy of best time of release than that it will be held until the following year. So that's my third pick, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Okay, so I was afraid that this would happen. It turns out that it worked out okay, but I was afraid that Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma was going to be on your list when I left it off my draft board because of the release date issue. I know that Brian Tallarico, who we love and respect on the Roger Ebert preview said, I think his words were no date, but a 2026 release feels almost certain. I trust you, Brian, but I looked at a lot of other previews and a lot of other places and I couldn't find that anywhere else.

35:40I kept finding things that suggested 2027 was still possible. It just didn't feel conclusive enough to me, Josh, to include it. and and and I thought oh what if Josh does and what if he takes it where I might have taken it my my whole my whole draft is going to be shot where it worked out okay where it worked out okay is that I would not have taken it I I actually would have had it sixth on my draft board and that means either way you're good I wouldn't have taken it in this slot so if it was down lower and you took it, you know, then we'd have issues. But the fact that you took it here when you did means I can't really complain about it.

36:23And I'm glad that it was mentioned here on the show, because yes, Jane Schoenbrunn, they're a filmmaker that we have, we have praised a lot on this show. And just honestly, that's a case where I was talking about Gerwig and being the director, her name being something that is enough to sell me on, on a film. That's true of Schoenbrunn as well to some extent, but in this case, it's the title of the movie. Just give me the title of the movie, and I'm going to be so curious to see what that film is about. But the meta levels that Schoenbrunn works on, that's really what fascinates me so much as a film fan and as a critic.

37:07That does mean that my number four pick is available, and I I don't know where this will be on your draft board. It's possible. It's possible here that it's your next choice. It's also possible that you have it at number 28, Josh, because I don't think you care about this director at all. I don't think you care about this director that much as a writer at all. But I do think like most of the world, you appreciate the first film that was the predecessor to this movie. and it's a pretty landmark movie. And I can't imagine not being curious about The Social Reckoning following The Social Network.

37:53That is my choice here. At number seven, which is expected to come out October 9th, Aaron Sorkin. We were talking about David Fincher just a bit ago with my last choice. David Fincher is not directing The Social Reckoning. Aaron Sorkin, the writer of The Social Network, is directing The Social Reckoning. And the cast includes Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison. Okay, those two alone, Betty Gilpin also, but Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison, those two alone should help sell you on the movie. Jeremy Strong, very good as well. But after all of our praise this past year in Sinners for One Me, Mosaku, that's another big sell for The Social Reckoning.

38:36The plot line here, I'll give it to you as I have it copied down. It follows Francis Hogg and a young Facebook engineer who enlisted the help of Jeff Horowitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter, to blow the whistle on the social network's most guarded secrets. Look, I've said this many times. I did not expect the social network to be the incredible film, to be the masterpiece that it is. And I believe it is after revisiting that movie a few years back. The social reckoning, another Facebook movie. Is this what we need? Well, it turns out we do, Josh. It turns out there's still a lot to say about the impact that these social networks have had for good and for ill and probably mostly for ill on our culture.

39:23so that matters that that is part of my thinking but also even though sorkin as a writer and as a as a director can be a little hit or miss i put him way more in the hit category as far as being that type of writer who makes me want to go to the theater and hear hear that patter hear that type of intelligent dialogue. Hear actors bounce that dialogue off each other and banter in the way, in that intelligent way that his characters do. I imagine myself always being drawn to the types of scripts that Aaron Sorkin produces. So for me, The Social Reckoning is a no-brainer 2026 movie I can't wait to see.

40:14Not on my board. There you go. So it's what you said about, you know, my attitude towards Sork and even the original is correct. It's not like I'm dreading it or anything. And also to be fair, I have not revisited, I think I've said it on the show, the social network, maybe since it came out, I would love to do that at some point in some form, whether it's a sacred cow anniversary or something, because I'm fairly certain I did underrate that. Though I remember one reservation being, I went into it thinking it would be about social networking and it was much more of a character portrait that, um, was involved in that milieu and background, of course.

40:53So to expect a statement about the state of social media now from a follow-up from Sorkin, I'm a little hesitant about that, which is the only reason, I mean, that cast sounds great. So that's, that's intriguing, but it's probably why it's not as high for me. Um, but yeah, who knows? Maybe, maybe it will be, um, something that, that captures what I agree with you. We need, we need a lot of really smart movies about at this point to really take that, take on that reckoning, which is deserved. So, um, I'll also just say, Josh, to be clear, though, I'll be fine. If the movie's about most of the same things that the social network is about, which are human, fundamental human things like ambition and greed and ego.

41:43That's okay with me too. And I'm imagining that the movie is going to be about those things in addition to the other things. I do think the title suggests that it is going to reckon with almost surely. Yeah. Yeah, it does suggest it. All right. So that means I've got a little flexibility here. Um, and I might jump around in my draft order and start going for things. I think you could grab, especially at this later date in the draft. Um, here's a filmmaker. I know you appreciate and are very familiar with because of an early film spotting marathon. I am going to take the new film from Pedro Almodovar, Bitter Christmas.

42:30and Almodovar, really a living legend at this point, but I would argue still vital. I mean, Pain and Glory 2019 made my top 10 list that year, not that long ago. And since then, I did like Parallel Mothers quite a bit. I was mixed on The Room Next Door. That was the one, the most recent film of his with Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. But it showed him trying something new still. English language production there and intriguing movie in many ways, just to my mind, not quite as good as Almodovar at his height. This new one, Bitter Christmas, follows a workaholic advertising director who tries to reboot by taking a trip with a friend.

43:10Meanwhile, her partner, a filmmaker, begins writing a screenplay based on her life. So you have this idea that for some reason I'm not always keen to, but I love the way Almodovar handles art reflecting life and artists reflecting their own lives and then how he processes it as a writer and a director. As we said at the top of the show, Adam, I'm in Spain right now and had a chance in Madrid to meet up with a listener, Alex Garcia. So glad that he reached out and said he was available. We hung out, had some beers, talked a lot about Spanish film. And he said this about Almodovar about his early films in particular being very political.

43:58And that's something, you know, I can grasp, but don't have a full knowledge of because the first Almodovar, the earliest Almodovar I've seen is 1998's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. So I don't have that context. That was fascinating to hear. Just made me more excited about him as a filmmaker and his entire output. And as someone who is, as I said, still vital. So So I'm very much looking forward to Bitter Christmas. Pretty confident this will get a release because it opens March 20 here in Spain and will roll out internationally after that. So going with Bitter Christmas for pick number four.

44:40Pick number four. Yes. Good choice. Smart choice. Because, yeah, I'm pretty easy to figure out. I tend to be, I am director driven and Almodovar is one of those heavyweights that I am a fan of. I had him at number 10. I had bitter Christmas at number 10 on my list, but I also at this point am, am darting around a little bit, Josh, and I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to go. Well, I think I'm going to take that back because I only have one pick left. And at this point, my first six picks are off the board, but my number seven pick is not off the board. And I'm going to take it here. I'm going to take David Lowery's Mother Mary with my final pick.

45:32Another director-driven choice, I suppose, in David Lowery certainly has had some films that have gotten very high praise here on the show, has made some other films that haven't gotten as much high praise, but I think a very interesting filmmaker. And the cast, I'm looking at the names, Michaela Cole, Hunter Schaefer, I'm not familiar with them, or at least I don't know if I'm familiar with them, if I've seen them in other films. But Anne Hathaway not only is obviously a very talented actress, but she's a force when it comes to performances that involve music. Any kind of musical performance, singing, and she is playing here a pop star.

46:13It says in the description she's playing an iconic pop star who has long buried wounds that rise to the surface. She's called Mother Mary. And they rise to the service when she reunites with her estranged best friend and her former costume designer as she's mounting a comeback performance. I hadn't seen her in over 10 years.

46:36But I could tell she was coming from a thousand miles away.

46:45Why don't you start with why you're here? Sam, I need a dress.

47:18a teaser out for a lot of these films, so it's irrelevant, but this is one where there is. And I started to watch it, Josh, and about 10, 15 seconds in, I stopped watching. I stopped watching because it was one I knew I did not want to know anything more about. It just felt, from watching the few seconds that I did, from knowing it's Lowry, from that plot description, from knowing Anne Hathaway, it felt mysterious enough that I wanted to just retain all of that mystery. I wanted to go into this without knowing anything more. I wanted to be taken on the ride of this movie. It sounds like it's going to be a little bit insane.

48:00And I am here for it. I'm ready for that. And I'm ready for Hathaway to be that force, that powerful force as a performer. And when I say that, obviously, she she's a powerful force in The Devil Wears Prada. She probably will be that in The Devil Wears Prada, too. But you know what I mean when she is the the character who is playing what's described as an iconic pop star in which the entire orbit of the film revolves around her and you see her wearing even in publicity shots or in the beginning of the trailer, any footage you see wearing those those amazing costumes that she's wearing. There's a power there that I'm eager to see.

48:41And that's why Mother Mary is my last choice. This one definitely, definitely on my board. I think it was an honorable mention for me in last year's draft. So yeah, had this one in consideration. Okay. My last pick. I mean, there's so many great potential movies on the board here, but I guess I've got to do the same as you and just rely on how I rank these going in. Can I make the pick for you? I know what it is. How can you not make this choice, Josh? Okay, yeah, I'd love to hear this. Expected December 25th, you're not picking Werewolf? Werewolf? Robert Eggers? Number 11 on my board. And here's the thing with me and Eggers, Adam, is like, it's, yeah, it's curious because Because everything he's done is a must see to me because I'm so intrigued by the ideas and how he's approaching them.

49:41Aside from the witch, I haven't really like gone over the moon for an Eggers movie. I've kind of appreciated all of them while having some reservations. The witch I think is like crystallizes what he might do and his interests and is digging into some of the most provocative ideas of anything. so Werewolf I had a little bit lower down because I'm absolutely going to see it but I just had others ahead of me and while we're on the topic we should just listeners probably know but yeah tackled Dracula now he's on to that other great legend and with a lot of the Nosferatu cast speaking of tackling Dracula Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe all back for this so I get why you went there I'm going a different direction with my final pick.

50:31Didn't know this movie even existed until started preparing. Ray Gunn. Ray Gunn. Two words. Ray. Yeah. G-U-N-N. Brad Bird. Returning to original animation after 2018's The Incredibles 2. And, you know, before The Incredibles 2, he had made the live action films Tomorrowland and Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. so he'd been on an animation break but of course earlier in his career bread bird ratatouille incredibles iron giant um so we have one of the premier animators of the last 25 years with a new feature and that is exciting stuff you'll let this one slide i hope because it probably wasn't on your board adam supposed to premiere on netflix sometime in 2026 again the previews i saw talked about it as a pretty sure thing.

51:26And just in terms of the story, basically follows the last human private detective in a futuristic world with aliens. I love all that stuff, but I don't need all that stuff. I just need to know it's Brad Bird returning to animation with an original idea, right? This was something, apparently, I think, an idea he's had for a long time. He wrote this alongside Matthew Robbins. And if you look up Matthew Robbins' credits, he's done a lot of work with Guillermo del Toro that I've liked. So I think I'm going to stick with my board order here and go with Ray Gunn as my last pick. I think that's a great choice.

52:03I'm a fan of Brad Bird as well. And you're right. I didn't see that one somehow, even though I am now in my quick Googling, I'm seeing enough places referencing it as potentially a 2026 release that I think it's fair. I think it should be on our draft board. So Ray Gunn closing out our top 10 most anticipated movies of 2026. We would love to hear your picks. You can email us feedback at filmspotting.net. But Josh, I'm sure there are some more honorable mentions. If we had a few more rounds, what are some other titles that would have come up? Yeah, and these are, I'm almost as equally excited as, you know, After Disclosure, which I took at number one and maybe The Bride, these could all be, and of course the ones you stole, these could all be right in the mix with the ones I did pick.

52:53But I Love Boosters is the new film from Boots Riley. So, you know, I've been waiting a long time for his follow-up to Sorry to Bother You from 2018. And here it is. Cannot wait for that. May 22. I'll also mention The Land of Nod. I forget, Adam, if you're angrier at me for making you watch Skinnamarink or if that's Debbie. Did Did you like, did you end up liking Skinner Marine? I liked it. I liked it well enough. Yeah, I think it's, I mean, I think it, I think it's effective at what it's trying to do. For sure. Fair enough. Well, the director of Skinner Marine, Kyle Edward Ball, is back with another horror effort.

53:26This one set in a secluded town in Northern Canada during a snowstorm. This one, I'm glad it didn't come up. There's no set date for the land of Nod, but hopefully it'll be this year. And, you know, you mentioned it at the top. I had it on my board here at number 10, Dune Part 3. I'm a Dune appreciator. I like the movies more than you do, Adam. I'm not exactly an enthusiast. I still, for whatever reason, perverse reason, perhaps, maybe this one will put me over the top, Dune Part 3. I am excited about it. And then, just because we mentioned it quickly here, Werewolf, I did have at number 11, so your instinct was not too far off.

54:06If we were still doing the 2026 or the year preview as questions, there would have to be a question about aliens, something related to aliens, because not only do you have Disclosure Day, the first pick that you made from Steven Spielberg, but we have the dog stars. I'm going with aliens slash creatures slash sci-fi here, right? You've got the Dog Stars from Ridley Scott, which is a post-apocalyptic world. Roaming scavengers called Reapers and a protagonist named Hig, who's a pilot. You've also got The Great Beyond, which is retitled from Ghost Rider. J.J. Abrams is back. Glenn Powell, Jenna Ortega, Samuel L.

54:52Jackson. This is a young newlywed couple struggling to survive against a supernatural entity. Okay, I did really like Super 8, and I've liked some other J.J. Abrams-directed films, so I'm curious about that. Dune, I suppose, could fit into that as well. And I'm actually a little bit surprised. I don't know if this is—maybe I'm going too broad with my alien creature approach here, but just as its own title, I'm a little surprised this didn't get mentioned by you, Josh, considering the director. it it fits with what i was saying about greta gerwig here is a series that i know zero about couldn't tell you the first thing what what any of the characters what happens in them what the stories are no idea but what might actually get me to go to a resident evil movie this september her.

55:50is the fact that not only do I like Paul Walter Hauser, who's among the cast, but directing the new Resident Evil movie is Zach Krager. I know He of weapons I can tell you I can tell you Resident Evil involves zombies I can tell you that Looking up quickly at my own Larson on Film Archives Resident Evil Extinction I was a fan of Apparently this is The Milya Jovovich era Of Resident Evil Wasn't such a fan of the first Resident Evil in 2002 Resident Evil Apocalypse 2004 four. Nope. Nope. Not a fan of that. I see, this is a case, Adam, of like, you're absolutely right. If Zach Kregor had been doing an original film, possibly my first pick after weapons, right.

56:41Or definitely in the top five, but the IP is, um, you know, it's just not doing it for me, even though it probably will do it for the box office and more power to him than, you know, he can go on and do whatever he wants after. And Hey, maybe it'll be great. Anything can be great, Adam. Anything can be great. That's Josh Larson's approach to life. It's so optimistic. I love it. Again, you can email us feedback at filmspotting.net. Tell us what we missed. Tell us what you can't wait to see. And you can view our draft results at any time by going to filmspotting.net slash LIS. Let's take a moment to thank some of the Film Spotting family members who support the show.

57:24And let us keep doing what we're doing. We want to thank Family Plus members, Cameron Newton in Reno, Nevada, and Robert Duffin in Glasgow, Scotland, for their support of the show. Cameron is at Cam B. Newton on Letterboxd. And if you want to follow Robert, Robert's at R. Duffin. We got a few notes from Cameron here we want to share. He says, I've been listening to Film Spawning for over five years now, and I first discovered it after seeing and loving Marriage Story and searching for a discussion of that film. in late 2019. I was in my first year of law school at the time, and I quite literally credit film spotting with saving my sanity.

58:04Law school was the toughest experience of my life, and I used movie going paired with this podcast as an escapist outlet to get my mind off things and persevere through the schoolwork. The film spotting podcast became a regular companion on my head clearing walks, gym outings, and drives around the country. And for the past five years, it has served as treasured listening, informing me of movies I've never heard of and provided me with insight and discussion that is smart and deep and good-natured. Here's to another 20 years of film spotting. I'm glad you made it through. I might not share that story with my daughter, who's my older daughter's probably going to be entering law school next fall.

58:42I don't think telling her to listen to film spotting is going to get her through it. No, probably not. I'll try to think of something else. Robert, our other Family Plus member, turns out has been listening even longer. Here are a few comments from him. I was hunting for film podcasts post-Oscars ceremony after discovering the medium for the first time in 2006. My first film spotting listens, technically Cinecast gulp, saying that made me feel like I'm on the beach from old, were episodes 83 and 84. The Bruce Willis Most Def starring 16 Blocks and Ozu's Floating Weeds, that was part of the Overlooked Auteurs Marathon.

59:19whenever I hear the name of that Ozu film, I think of the show. I'm sure the same would be true for 16 blocks, but no one ever talks about it. No, it's true. I mean, Sam had to look it up. I do remember. I mean, I don't remember reviewing it, but it is one that I can clock in my memory that we did talk about. Sam had to go back and prove to himself that we talked about it. It was episode 83. It included also a 2006 Oscars postmortem. So yes, Sam saw it and he reviewed it. It's true. On the record. All right. Cameron and Robert both have favored or at least memorable episodes. Cameron, no film spotting episode has ever made me laugh harder than Josh describing his experience seeing the woman king in one of those immersive theaters that sprayed him with water and shook his seat.

1:00:09Oh my God. It was gold. I repressed that. Thanks Cameron for bringing it back. In terms of more serious reviews, I love the Sacred Cow Godfather episode. All right, here's Robert's favorite, or at least memorable. This is not a favorite at all. Oh, but incredibly memorable. The argument between Adam and Sandbuck, double indemnity. I vividly remember walking down Buchanan Street in Glasgow and having to take my headphones off to take a breath. It was like hearing my parents arguing. Absolute trauma. Also, despite being from the UK and having no clue about the cultural significance of March Madness, I love film spotting madness.

1:00:46Yeah. You know, Josh, I was thinking, I don't know if you have if you have a movie that comes to mind or if there is a case for you like this. But I'm sure others or many people listening have an example of this movies where you feel like they're special to you because you you have an unlock. Take Shelter was one of those movies for me, right? Where once I had for me what I thought was a revelation about the ending, and in talking about it, I helped other people unlock what it potentially meant. That movie then became special to me. Double Indemnity. So that review was one where Sam had never seen it.

1:01:25It was part of that marathon, a noir marathon. I had seen it. and not only had I seen it, I think Double Indemnity was the first movie I ever unlocked. I ever felt like I unlocked for myself. I saw it in college. It was part of like a hard-boiled America class. It was an American studies class about hard-boiled fiction, but we watched movies too that were based on those stories. Like this one was based on James M. McCain. And I remember watching that movie for an essay I had to write and seeing things in that movie that I thought, I'm not seeing anybody talk about these things. I am seeing things that Billy Wilder is doing.

1:02:03I cannot wait to write these things down and share these brilliant insights with the world. And I was sure that Sam was also going to be wowed by all of my insights, only to find that he didn't like the movie. he was not only and yeah i i don't know that i handled it all that well because that for me was i think that was the first movie i i truly felt like i can't believe what i'm seeing in this film yeah not only did he not like the movie he didn't appreciate your insights no i i mean now that cameron has brought it up i think the only thing that has unlocked me is the woman king just shaking my brain in my head, the 40X.

1:02:45It was horrible. Yeah. Can we move on to movies that Cameron and Robert credit with becoming cinephiles? Sure. Cameron, I watched Buster Keaton's Go West in a college film class and was mesmerized by the magic he was able to make almost a century ago. Totally makes sense, Cameron. And here's Robert. American Beauty could lie to avoid the awkwardness, and I haven't rewatched it, but it really was the one. You know what, Robert? No shame in that. No shame. I get it, even though, yeah, I mean, I had reservations about American Beauty at the time, but the filmmaking going on there, I get it. I can see how that can hook you on the medium for sure.

1:03:25Robert, get a plastic bag tattoo. Go for it. It's fine. I mean, Robert, don't go that far. We thank Cameron and Robert for being family members and for all of those years, all of those years of listening. in addition to keeping us doing what we're doing. Membership does come with perks like listening early and ad-free, getting the weekly newsletter where Sam is dropping bombs all over the place, as Josh alluded to. You get exclusive opportunities like being part of the FilmSpotting family discord, and you get monthly bonus shows. Speaking of Sam dropping bombs, just wait till you hear what he has to say about Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights.

1:04:02Did not disappoint. Oh, you think it's good? You think Boogie Nights is good? Just wait. That comes to the family feed on Monday, January 26th. And we still have a few weeks left here in the month of January. We are running a promotion where you can join the Film Spotting Family at filmspottingfamily.com and get 20 % off any membership tier, any subscription. Just go to filmspottingfamily.com and use promo code Supreme or click the link in the podcast description. We also encourage you to go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and help an independently produced show like ours by giving us a rating or review.

1:04:48Adam, sometimes when I'm traveling on vacation, I'm able to squeeze in a movie. I don't mind doing that. Sometimes it's fun to see a movie in a different town. Sometimes you just get too busy and there are other things you have to prioritize. It's been, since I've been traveling in Spain, well over a week, maybe 10 days, trying to think of the last movie I saw before we left. It may be two weeks since I've seen a movie in a theater. And it's starting to get a little claustrophobic for me. Things are, skin's starting to itching. I don't like to go that long without seeing a film in a proper theater.

1:05:25And I know most of our listeners feel the same way to the point that they're going, I don't know, once, maybe twice a week, seeing films in theaters. Now, if you had Regal Unlimited, you could see one of those movies on your visits for free. Regal Unlimited is the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two of those visits. So think about that. If you are a frequent theater goer, how quickly that is going to work out for you. Right now, Regal is offering film spotting listeners endless movies for less. If you sign up for Regal Unlimited using code FILMSPOT25, you're going to get 10 % off a three-month subscription.

1:06:06That's a lot of movies you can fit in during that time. Regal Unlimited is the only truly limitless movie subscription pass. You can see any standard 2D movie anytime. There are no blackout dates or restrictions. Also, with Regal Unlimited, you won't just save money on tickets. You also save on snacks. Members get 10 % off all non-alcoholic concessions. So sign up now in the Regal app or at the link in the description and use code FILMSPOT25 to receive your discount.

1:06:41We travel the land. We search for souls to deliver to hell.

1:06:52Are you going to leave? Yes. But obviously we're going to kill you first. Our man in Spain, Josh, will return shortly. I now get to welcome in Vulture critic Roxana Haddadi to the show. We're going to talk 28 years later, the Bone Temple, which is just fun to say. Welcome, Roxana. How are you? Thank you. Thank you. I'm doing okay. How about yourself? I'm doing great. It's great to have you back here on Film Spotting. And yeah, Josh was angering me earlier by talking about how he was in Spain and it's so sunny and warm and beautiful. And where I am, it's five degrees, but it feels like minus 18.

1:07:37So I have that going for me. How are things where you're at? I am outside Baltimore. It was like 16 degrees today. And then we're going into a potential one foot of snow, one feet of snow over the weekend. So also incredibly cold. Yeah, not great. Well, let's hopefully move on to better topics. I don't know if they're warmer topics necessarily. Nothing with Jimmy Crystal can be too warm, but we will do our best. The Bone Temple picks up right where last year's 28 Years Later left off. The notable difference, Nia DaCosta takes over for Danny Boyle. DaCosta directed last year's Hedda, also the Marvels, and the 2021 Candyman remake.

1:08:26The screenplay is by Alex Garland, who wrote 28 years later and the original Days. Always returning, Ralph Fiennes, Dr. Kelson, and Alfie Williams, Spike, the kid hero of sorts of the previous film. New to this one, but memorably teased at the end of part one is Jack O 'Connell's Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, the aforementioned Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal. We can start really anywhere with this one, Roxanna. I believe based on the tweet of yours that I saw that you do like the Bone Temple. And I will go ahead and say, I like the Bone Temple as well, though I'm not sure I like it quite as much as I liked 28 years later.

1:09:07Tell me what you thought. I am nodding exuberantly because that's basically exactly where I am. And I was very, very doubtful of this entire project because a lot of Alex Garland's recent stuff has not been for me. I did not like men. I did not like civil war. I did not like warfare. So I went into this whole enterprise very hesitantly. Let me put that completely honestly up front. But I was incredibly, shockingly, I guess, moved by 28 years later in both like a horror space and in a surprisingly emotionally affected space. And I found myself with Bone Temple more in that continuing emotion space, which I really liked.

1:09:56I think the characters are doing really interesting things in terms of the constant zombie question of like, are we actually the monsters? I do think there are interesting shades to that here. I do think that the movie has fun with itself which is like yes something we've gotten in this genre for a very long time at this point but i feel like we lost some of the like deranged unsettling nightmarish visuals of the first 28 years later and i found myself sort of missing the abruptness like when we would switch to night vision i loved that or when we would do the bizarre like fish eye lens whip pans i just i missed some of that and i the first time i was watching 20 years later i was like what the hell is going on and now i found myself wanting it again so i i liked bone temple a fair amount i just i guess i missed danny boyle a little bit too yeah maybe i as well, even though there are also touches here of Nia DaCosta's that I really appreciated.

1:11:10And I'm glad you also kind of put it in a little bit of perspective with Alex Garland. I hadn't really thought about his more recent fare, but even just going back a little bit in terms of some of his other work as a director and writer or just as a writer, I love Ex Machina and I did like Annihilation quite a bit. And long time listeners know I am way in the bag for Never let me go. But yeah, I was really mixed on Civil War and mixed on men. And I honestly didn't even see Warfare kind of because of my feelings about those other two films. So I have mixed feelings, I suppose, overall on Alex Garland's work.

1:11:47But I do love what he's done with this series so far and where it seems to be going. And the idea is that he does seem to be exploring here. And it's exploring, this film is exploring exactly what 28 years later seemed to be suggesting it would about, you said it very well and very succinctly, but about humanity and about humanity's capacity for inhumanity. And I like so many things about those ideas and also about what, as I mentioned, DaCosta's direction and some of the choices, even just at the very beginning, opening on Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal. And we see just some of those choices with the visuals, the aerial shots, the kind of, you know, from God shots, or almost, I should say, maybe it's, you know, old Nick.

1:12:39You know, it's more like Satan shots, even though they're aerial shots or coming from through window shots. You know, she has a very good eye, obviously. And so we get interesting perspectives. And I love as well when we see or we meet Samson again and we get that. I don't exactly I didn't look up exactly what they're doing, but that effect that when they bring on or try to suggest his psychosis, if you will, or the rage. Right. That shake cam look where we're we're attached to him as his head swivels, I think is really, really effective as well. But I do think the Bone Temple is burdened by its gateway role, advancing old threads and establishing new ones.

1:13:25Here again, though, DaCosta's direction and Garland's ideas and sharp character work keep it compelling. But what I mean by that, and part of it, I'll say the burden I mean is with the first movie, if you think about it, the actual distance traveled by the characters, if you think of the scale of it, it's not that big. Right. But yes, but it feels it feels expansive. It feels like they travel far physically and emotionally. And on that front, too, I'll say, I don't know. Not only do we not maybe get, as you said, quite as much deranged, you know, quite as much craziness with this one. We also I don't know that we got anything quite on the level of the emotional heft, like the last 15 minutes of 28 years later.

1:14:12I don't think we get any moments here that match the power of some of those moments near the end of 28 years later. But also in this movie, I was very aware of how they really don't go anywhere at all. Like it seems like they just circle around Dr. Kelson's place, you know, it just, you really do, you really do notice it. But I'll dig into this more a little bit later, but I want to throw it back to you. In terms of the narrative, though, when I when I said gateway, you know, remember in the first one, one of the most memorable sequences in the in the film, the action, the best action sequence was probably the causeway scene, right?

1:14:50The causeway was that link, the connector. That's kind of my metaphor for this film, where you think about it as the second film. It's the bridge, it's the causeway. And that's what I'm thinking about in terms of it's the causeway linking these two. And it is doing some good character work. But at the same time, I was very aware of how much work it had to do to juggle between Spike, but also Jimmy Crystal and also Dr. Kelson. And then also introduced to us this wonderful character who we imagine is going to be a key part of the next film, which I want to make sure I get her name right. Erin Kellyman, who is one of one of Jimmy's fingers, Jimmy Inc.

1:15:39She's called. So I can explain a little bit more about why I think that that wasn't quite as effective as maybe it needed to be for me. But that that gateway aspect to this film, I think, was a burden for it. Yeah, because the first one has this very clear, I mean, you're getting like a three decade reset. We're basically walking through what happened in 28 weeks later. We're like sort of, we're sort of gesturing to it a little bit, but like, don't worry, now everything's contained again to England. And so I feel like it then had the opportunity to, of course, like introduce this community that happens to live at the end of the causeway.

1:16:21We can get a sense of what their rituals are, sort of what their culture is. There is this like old folk mythic sort of ideology that has taken hold. Again, something Garland is like very fascinated by. Men is like all about that. Right. Right. So you have this ability to create this community. I also, frankly, I I just I my frustration is almost that these movies have like too many interesting characters. Yeah, because I sort of missed the Aaron Taylor Johnson character who is so I just contradictory in the first film. Everything about him is sort of a performance. He is just doing this. He's really doing the like keep calm to carry on British thing, like lying to his son, lying to himself.

1:17:13And I think like we got such a strong coming of age structure in that first film that in the second one, we're not really doing like a coming of age, but we're really shifting focus away from Spike towards Samson and Ian. And then to your point, like all of the Spike stuff feels lost in time. Like, I have no clue how long they were wandering. We get the suggestion that like the Jimmies have been roaming the countryside for a number of years because we met Jimmy way, way, way back in the beginning of the first film. So we know he's been around for a long time. So I frankly was thinking, like, has he not seen the Bone Temple before?

1:18:06This gigantic artifact that we can see from the island? That did occur to me as well. You know, it's pretty noticeable, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I think, unfortunately, like, because we have to switch focus, because this movie is really, like, about Samson and Kelson and their relationship and this question, again, like, what makes a person? Is it your memories? Is it your physical form? Like, what is it? So, yeah, the Spike stuff becomes kind of muddled, which is unfortunate because I think Jack O 'Connell is doing like exceptional villain work. Of course, he is a little bit like a spike been with them for weeks, days, months.

1:18:48Like, I have no clue. I have no clue. Yeah. Or maybe is what makes you human just the desire to occasionally take some drugs and chill out. Yeah, maybe totally. Maybe that's all it is, honestly, you know, peace and respite, as Dr. Kelson says, you know, and that that might honestly be it. So, you know, what you're saying is exactly where I wanted to go. And keep in mind, I'm only somehow just now realizing that in this little breakdown that I've I've kind of jotted down in my notes, I hadn't even really accounted for Samson. And he's he's a fifth wheel. And he's such a fascinating character. And I, he truly is.

1:19:26And I love the performance too here in the movie by Shai Lewis Perry. He adds just another complication to this. The best way I can break it down is that you have Spike, who is the series main character. Clearly he's the audience surrogate. sure but here he's by far the least interesting character in the movie he's completely sidelined from the action and that's the action overall but also in the biggest action set pieces if you will he he pretty much is a bystander and poor alfie williams who i think seems like a pretty talented actor he's relegated to just looking terrified for two hours that's pretty much all he gets to do He's really good at it.

1:20:10He's very good at it. But that's all he gets to do. It's a very unfortunate, unfortunately, one note performance. The most interesting character, or I'm going to say now, I'll say characters. The most interesting characters who you wish, you kind of wish they had just made the entire series about are Kelson and Samson. And I'll now go back to just Kelson, played wonderfully by Fiennes. Naturally, of course, played wonderfully by Ralph Fiennes. I've been developing an idea about the nature of the infection. When the infected attack.

1:20:52What do they see? And and although he does play a much more significant role here than Spike, he's still not really the character who it feels like the movie is most enamored with. Because the character who gets most of the camera's attention, and I think you could say effectively, bookends of the movie is Jack O 'Connell's Jimmy Crystal. And I do really like, as you said, I really like what Jack O 'Connell is doing as the villain. And I like the character. There is, like with most charismatic villains, he's fun to watch. He's kind of terrifying and fun to watch. And I understand his function in the narrative as this sort of paragon of incivility in contrast to the civility that Kelson and Spike and possibly even Samson represent.

1:21:42But he's also just Jimmy Crystal. He's the antagonist, right? He's not Spike, ultimately. And then you add into that introducing, as I said, Jimmy Inc. And introducing Kellyman as well. So there's just so much character work that has to be done here. And I don't think I want to be clear. I don't think the problem here or the issue that's holding holding this film back just a little bit from from being as strong as the previous film is that DaCosta or Garland are mishandling all of it or that they they don't know how to find the right balance. I just think and I actually think that would derail lesser filmmakers.

1:22:19I just think it's an existential conundrum of the material as as a stop along this this longer journey. It actually just makes me more interested to see what the third film is going to be, quite honestly. Yeah. And something that I think like if I'm getting galaxy brained, I wonder if the point of one of the point, but if perhaps like a way to read Spike being sidelined is we met Jimmy at the beginning of 28 years later and then he was sidelined. Yes. In the years that passed. Right. And we got Spike's story. And so now it's almost like the inverse of that. Fair. Where we're like backfilling in who Jimmy was.

1:23:07The suggestion, I think, is that Spike could have turned out a very different way. Right. I mean, like the way Jimmy turned out was not that different, I think, from probably how a lot of people in this world dealt with what happened. So I think it's interesting that pretty much like all of these characters with the exception, I mean, I was gonna say with the exception of Samson, but maybe Samson is actually like the key to all of this. Just that all of these characters are really like versions of each other. Like Jamie and Jimmy are very similar. Jimmy as a child was very similar to Spike as a child.

1:23:45Like all of these characters are sort of maybe even interchangeable in a certain way. Yeah. And then all of them have the same, you know, unfortunate human weakness that would allow them all to be infected. And so Samson also then becomes like, you know, the central part of this like entire circle. And I will say it's really interesting to your point, like Spike is sort of just asked with being afraid. I do think that Alfie's standout scene is that opening pool, like hazing ritual, like he does a very good job being scared and confused and again serving as our surrogate to see like, what are these, what is this cult all about?

1:24:33but all of that is to say that I think that Lewis Perry also you could reduce what he's doing to that sort of like well he's just acting high and I think you would really be missing a lot of like the really internal excellent work he's doing with a character who has three lines of dialogue four lines of dialogue yes no I I think I'm really glad you said that Because I do think it's a very nuanced performance. And I suppose we also I don't know if we should be congratulating or praising the the special effects workers on the film or the makeup people. But for the subtle changes in the red eyes changing to brown, because it's not dramatic, but you can just slightly notice those subtle changes in his physicality, not just his actual physical demeanor, but in some of those augmentations to his body that reflect more humanity coming through.

1:25:40those are really interesting and they're there and and those those nuances add to the nuances in his performance but they're there in that performance and you're right it's large it's it really is primarily a wordless performance so i think it's a crucial a crucial part of the film something near the end that that i thought was i do think was a screenwriting issue and it's Oh, it's significant. And because it's near the end, I it would definitely qualify as a spoiler. But I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it, who's listening. And I also don't think it's it's a long enough conversation or we need to go into enough detail that requires a separate spoiler discussion.

1:26:23So I'm going to I'm going to try to raise it without spoiling anything. OK. And try to get your thoughts and see if we can have the conversation vague enough without ruining it for anyone. And I'll frame it this way. In the showdown at the end, the finale we get at the end, there was a thought I had that involves Dr. Kelson, Ray Fiennes' character, where we're supposed to believe as viewers that he acts in a way out of a feeling of a threat. because there's a certain amount of leverage that another character is using against him. Okay? And the only problem with that for me, especially because of some events that transpire right before that, which I think we can go ahead and spoil.

1:27:18This isn't a spoiler. I'm going to go ahead and say it. We do on the show we just did last week here on Film Spotting, our best scenes of the year. We have a category that's our music moments of the year. I already have an early contender, especially as someone who around the age of 14 went through a brief but memorable, at least for me, not for the people around me, Iron Maiden phase. Hell yeah. You can bet that the number of the beast, the sequence involving the theater guy Ray Fiennes putting on a show to that Iron Maiden song, that is going to make my list. That is quite the theatrical production within this cinematic production, right?

1:27:58to this to this song so we're supposed to believe that that he is he is putting on this entire show and acting a certain way out of a feeling of a threat and at that point my feeling as a viewer is well if he had just if he had just put all that energy into putting out the threat which i think he's entirely that he's entirely capable of we wouldn't need any of this happening at all that was my reaction is that is that not a fair reaction i just think that goes entirely against who the second movie has shown kelson to be that that is valid that is valid yeah like i think i think the person who has the leverage would respond absolutely in the way you suggested But I think that if you're tracing Kelson's actions throughout the two films, I don't think he ever harms anyone who isn't infected.

1:29:05And I also don't think I'd really have to go back and like watch. But do you think that he kills an infected at any point? It's a really good question that you're bringing it up. It makes me think that the answer, the answer almost certainly has to be that he is not willing, that he is not willing even under the threat of his life to kill anyone else's life. And he's not willing to do it based on what we see in this film. And in the previous film, he's not willing to do it without consent. And so that that is crucial. I suppose if I really wanted to try to stick to my guns and be stubborn and I'm not going to.

1:29:47But if I wanted to. No, but why not? No, why not? Yeah. If I wanted to, I would say this is still the guy who has managed to survive. And even in this film has managed to survive this long against much bigger threats than the threat we're talking about. And he's found ways to survive. Right. And to put out those threats without killing anyone else. And I think this goes back to your point just generally about some of the struggles with a 28 years later sequel. Because I think we're seeing people within the franchise do something for the first time. And it's difficult for us to know if this is the first time it's ever happened or the first time we've ever seen it happen.

1:30:32because I agree with you like in 28 years has Kelson never been found by like a raiding party of evil people like the suggestion is that there have been evil raiders like for the entirety of this time like I've watched enough Walking Dead to know they occur immediately so yes and again he's being pretty conspicuous yes you know so yeah so I feel like my you know I'm giving probably Alex Garland, the Ben for the Doubt, by being like, well, we haven't seen Kelson do this. But I think you're raising a good point that goes back to how far have these characters traveled? How what are some of the other things that occurred in the 30 years on the mainland that we have no idea about?

1:31:21And and the implication is that, like, all of the Jimmies stay with Sir Jimmy because the rest of the world is so terrible. And so I think that's also, again, sort of like a, I'd love to see who those other really terrible people are. Yes. To maybe understand how Kelsen has survived all this time. Well, if you were certainly looking to this film or any films these days or art in general to be speaking to our times, this is another movie that could speak to that. We're talking, of course, about humanity more broadly and how we treat each other, but also what is revealed ultimately. Not that we couldn't read into this, I think, very early on about what we know or what we think we know about who Jimmy is.

1:32:12But what is ultimately revealed is what we know about people like him throughout history and what they've always been like, right? And what people like his followers ultimately, what they need from leaders like that, what lost souls like that are looking for, matters of truth and whether or not facts really matter or not, right? so much as how they feel about whatever they need from that person. That may be, I was actually going to say that trumps the facts. And, you know, no pun intended there. There are quite a few of those moments where you can have those connections. But I wanted to say something else more about performance, actually, which is, I've already mentioned her name a few times.

1:33:10Erin Kellyman, something that struck me about her performance was she is like what she reminded me of in her moments where she, as one of those devout followers, something about that look on her face. And what's so amazing about her character as she's written is that we see in her someone who is such a true believer, she might have an even higher calling than Jimmy, right? I'll just leave it at that. And so the look she has is familiar to me in the look you would see when you look at pictures or you look at old footage of one of Charlie Manson's followers. Oh. That's what she looks like. And she has that same, she has that same look of, of dogged devotion.

1:34:07Right. But, but then you realize that, oh, this is like one of Charlie Manson's girls if she turned on Charlie, you know, which is then this added layer of, of complexity to it, which is something that just really struck me about, about her character. So, you know, there may be a lot of places you want to take this. But one thing I did want to ask you for sure was based on your tweet. You said something about your audience laughing at all the wrong moments, which is something that happens often. And we always sometimes we're watching a movie and for whatever reason we notice our audience seems to be reacting to things that are at odds with how we're feeling about a movie.

1:34:52What was the reaction? What was the disparity there for you, Roxanna? There were definitely some moments where they were laughing at the Samson-Kelson stuff, but like the emotional Samson-Kelson stuff. I think someone laughed at the like staring up into the sky sequence. And I was like, I'm crying. Yeah, this is legitimately emotional. What are you talking about? Yes. But then I think I laughed more at Jimmy than anybody else. So maybe I also was part of the problem. Yeah, what is that? And I'm with you. So what does that say about us that we thought Jimmy humorous? We're the perfect audience.

1:35:36I do think that what is really interesting about what you said is before you said one of the Mansons and we even get that with like the production design right like there are a lot of upside down crosses. And on the forehead the scar. Yeah, the jimmies have them carved into their foreheads. So there is, you know, it's fun to think of this group like raiding malls to find their accessories. But before you said a Manson follower, I thought that she reminded me of like Wendy in Peter Pan. And like this character who was sort of tasked, surrounded by lost boys, maybe a little bit more self-aware or mature or creative.

1:36:19curious about the world and Jimmy is like her Peter Pan. And I thought that was also sort of fascinating. This suggestion of like all of these, you know, Jimmy, I think we're meant to believe is what, like mid thirties, right? He was like eight or 10 when this happened. Um, and the followers are all teenagers. And for anyone who sort of knows the origin of what Jimmy Crystal is referencing the British media personality who after his death was revealed to be a pedophile. So I think, you know, I'm not necessarily suggesting that that is what Jimmy is doing with the Jimmy's. There's no suggestion of that in the film.

1:37:07But I think to your point, it is a very interesting portrait of like a cult of personality being led by a figure who is open about his own doubt. And I thought that was really interesting. And I think it's also interesting that the film makes very clear that there are some Jimmies who are probably like, you know, sociopaths because of their circumstances or whatever. But a lot of them also are just operating out of fear. And the fact that there are no other paths forward in this world. And that felt very timely to me as well. Yes. You know, what can fear, rightly or wrongly motivated, drive you to do?

1:37:53And I think the movie is like very insistent on that question as well. Very well said and very smart to point out that even the villain here, the the evil truly evil villain here is human and that humanity comes through and and i'm really glad that you said that it seems that he like everyone else is largely driven by fear and those moments of humanity do come through and they're the most striking moments for o 'connell in the film because he even his best line in the film is a moment when he's talking to kelson and he says to him something like, I'm enjoying talking to you. You're really easy to talk to.

1:38:38You're really easy to talk to. You're really easy to talk to. And I don't like anybody, you know, but he doesn't say it. He doesn't say it kind of the way I said it. He delivers the line much better, but he says it in a way that, that seems so genuine. Like it, it really is something that is just occurring to him that, that if, if we lived in another world, if we lived in another world, we could be mates and I could actually just be, yeah, I could be enjoying this. This would have been a lovely chat, just a lovely chat between two guys. That's it. Now then he, I think he then follows that with something that is completely horrifying.

1:39:13But I think, I think to both of our points here, what I really like about the O 'Connell performance is that it's the kind of line that is really menacing. And a lot, I think a lot of performers would have said in a way, even though it's supposed to be sort of sweetly menacing, I think they would have really leaned into it. I think they would have loved to layer on the sweetness or layer on the menace to it. And he doesn't. He doesn't. He says it so matter-of-factly. And I think there is something to note about O 'Connell being able to do that. For an evil villain to say a line like that, but without that extra kind of relish, makes it actually even scarier.

1:40:00Yeah, he's very resigned in the whole thing in a way that I think is really interesting. Like we start out with him sitting in a lifeguard chair like it's a throne. and then more and more it's like he's brought lower and lower until he is within the realm of the jimmies who he's supposed to lord over he meets kelson and it's very clear that as much as he enjoys kelson there's also of course like a level of intimidation i think because kelson can remember at least some of what the world was and jimmy can't do that so again like i think the trilogy and I say this because I hope A that there will be a third film and B that this will be present in the third film as well is there is a real like generational divide sensed between all of the various characters but I haven't found like any of the moments in the movie where those two generations or three generations speak to each other to feel like hokey or contrived i think all of those conversations are crafted very compellingly so that each party is trying to understand where the other is coming from and trying to get through like their own confusion or ignorance yeah i will deviate slightly by asking you how did you feel like o 'connell's performance here compared with his performance in sinners because i'm seeing a lot of people online who might not have known him otherwise, like losing their mind about that.

1:41:36Really? I'd be curious, I guess, what they're connecting or what is striking them about it. It certainly occurred to me that here we are watching Jack O 'Connell in what probably does seem like two fairly similar roles, right? Leading these gangs here, having these followers and being such a menacing character. I'll go back to that word, but also having to at least somewhat on the surface be genial, right? Yeah. Yet I'll have to give it more thought to come up with a good way to describe the distinction. I can only say for now, Roxanna, that I did not feel like I was watching Jack O 'Connell go through the motions or replay the hits.

1:42:25Like this is, Jimmy Crystal's a distinct, these are two distinct characters. And so for me, I certainly didn't, it didn't detract in any way that he played a character who in some ways checks some of the same boxes. I don't know, how did you feel about it? Or what's the, if there's a complaint, what is the complaint, I suppose? Oh, there is not a complaint. I was trying to strong arm this podcast into being a pro Jack O 'Connell all the time propaganda machine. No, I'm in. I mean, wasn't Jack O 'Connell, wasn't the first film, wasn't his breakout role, and I don't know if it was first or not, but his breakout was Startup.

1:43:06Yes. Was that the film? Josh and I on this show reviewed that movie and said, this guy's going to be something. This guy's a star. Great movie. So we've been on the Jack O 'Connell train since day one. And so we're all Jack O 'Connell all the time. And I mean, he's proving us right with these performances without a doubt. So, yeah. I did not find there to be any sort of overlap past the wonderful scream that he has in this movie. And when he, again, very threateningly in Sinners, really puts the stank on Sammy. Yeah, yeah. But otherwise, I feel like this was an appropriate villain for this film and like what this film was concerned with about who we are.

1:43:55I thought that he really met the material where it was. Yeah. Well, here's the biggest thing. I mean, now that I've had a little bit more time as we're talking about it, and you already touched on it earlier. I think the biggest difference is that that other character from Sinners, the wisdom, the age, the maturity comes through. That character knows everything. Yeah. And that is imbued in every word that comes out of that character's mouth, right? That character knows every move every other character in that movie is going to make, right, before they make it and feels like he's in control all the time.

1:44:37And Jimmy, even as this seemingly evil character and as the gang leader, he never quite feels totally in control, right? There's a lot of chaos happening all the time. And he lets you in and you see the facade breaking. Like you see that he's actually kind of still that scared boy, right? You see the fear. I think you said that. And you recognize that in him. You see the humanity. You don't see any of the humanity in the character he's playing in Sinners. You know that that is pure performance by that character, right? And here it doesn't feel like performance to me at all. I completely agree.

1:45:19And I guess this is where I need to maybe like eat my own words, which is to say, as much as I'm like, I really missed how Danny Boyle and his cinematographer made me feel like I was going to throw up during some of these sequences. because of how jarring and almost unnatural they were. Like, I think DaCosta's approach is really just to, like, put her camera on and allow the characters to dig into whatever it is they need to dig into. And I think that unfussiness really does benefit something like the Jimmy-Kelson conversation and something like Spike watching what the Jimmys, or hearing rather what the Jimmys are getting up to in this barn attack that is probably the movie's biggest set piece.

1:46:13Look, I actually do think that there is a certain amount of like incredible confidence in letting these frames and scenes and sequences go long and not doing the mixed media thing that Danny Boyle was doing. I agree. Yeah, I agree on that. Any closing thoughts or did we sort of get everything that we needed to get on the table out there? I think we got everything we needed to get. The last thing I would say is that I really love the use of the moon. And I'm curious if that sort of imagery, like metaphysical, existential sort of thing will come up again in the third one, because I was really surprisingly moved by a lot of that.

1:47:02Yeah, I'm with you. Good question. 28 years later, The Bone Temple out in wide release now. If you see it and agree or disagree with our thoughts, we would love to hear from you. You can email us feedback at filmspotting.net. I'll even pass along your thoughts to Roxanna, though only if they're interesting and positive. Thank you so much, Roxanna. It was fun as always. Thank you so much. How do you do, ladies and gentlemen? This is Orson Welles. I'm speaking for the Mercury Theater, and what follows is supposed to advertise our first motion picture. Citizen Kane is the title, and we hope it can correctly be called a coming attraction.

1:47:38It's certainly coming, coming to this theater. Our 2026 movie preview is over, but we are not done talking about the movie year or looking ahead, certainly to the movie year. We are going to preview film spotting in 2026. A few different things coming up. This is a tradition we've started here recently on the show. Give you a heads up about film spotting madness, even though we've already announced that. But maybe you don't remember what the topic is going to be. will hint at a potential live event coming up. And yes, we will also talk to you about the Pantheon Project. What is the Pantheon Project?

1:48:19No, Josh, I'm asking you. Explain the Pantheon Project. No, I would never do that to you. I would never drop that on you. You're already taking classes. You've got enough tests. My brain is stretched, Adam. The Pantheon Project would be way too much for me. I just hope I can keep up with the duties I have within it. Okay. I'm going to try to simplify it. It launched last year. The goal was just to formalize the process to nominate and induct films into our pantheon, our eccentrically assembled hall of fame. And the other goal was just to make sure that every film in it has been reviewed by the two of us.

1:48:59So we, we started with all of the titles, 50 some titles that were in there and we have now started this process so there were 15 i think that all of them but 15 that had been reviewed on the show by myself and you and we we've been taking an approach where movies that have anniversaries coming up that affords us a very clear opportunity to discuss those those are already in the pantheon obviously and and so that solves that that part of this goal so fargo for example is 30 in march citizen kane 85 in may yeah having to reckon with citizen kane it's having to re-reckon with the tree of life in may it turns 15 blue velvet 40 in september and a double dip of david lynch mulholland drive is 25 in October.

1:49:57So those are five Pantheon titles that we do have reviews on the docket for. But then we do want to have new films entering the Pantheon. And so what happens is in this dead time of new releases that is coming up in February, we will each nominate three films. And we don't have to get into how those titles are categorized. Just know that myself, you and Sam all nominate three movies. And one of those titles from each of us is a title that's never been talked about on the show before a brand new title. That's right. Last year, those titles were Grizzly Man, Cleo from five to seven, and believe it or not singing in the rain, singing in the rain had never been talked about on the show before somehow.

1:50:46So that's, that's why it was new. And so then we give those movies the sacred cow treatment. We talk about them and then we put it up for a vote and listeners get a vote as well. And the two films that rate the highest, those are the two movies that get inducted into the hall of fame. And the two films that were inducted last year, singing in the raid was one of them. And the other film was not one of the new titles, but a marathon title from the past Buster Keaton's Sherlock jr. So that's the approach. We'll do it again here coming up in February. We'll nominate three films each. We'll talk about three titles and then we'll put all nine films up for a vote, Josh.

1:51:26It's not that hard. I mean, I think that was about as streamlined as you could make it. Congratulations. I'm completely know what I'm supposed to be doing now. So thank you personally. More about the Pantheon is available at filmspotting.net slash Pantheon. We also will have coming up in march and april our 11th annual edition of film spotting madness our bracket style movie this i'm thoroughly confused yeah well you should you should have this one down by now you know it's just a bracket and 11 years 11 years now we've been doing this it is something like that last year's theme was the best of the 21st century so far the championship round pitted there will be blood against mulholland drive and there will be blood ended up victorious It had a competition in it, apparently.

1:52:16This year, we're getting back to our best of the decades theme. And that started in 2018 with the 90s, the best of the 90s. And we've just been going back. And we decided we do have to go ahead and figure out what the best film in the 1940s is, even though Citizen Kane is right there. We'll see. We'll see what our listeners think. I mean, it's been bumped from the sight and sound, right? So if it's been bumped from that, it doesn't necessarily have to take film spotting madness. Yeah. Last year was, was actually really fun to reassess, you know, this recent two and a half decades, but I love these decade by decade ones, even though they're getting older because it's the chance to fill in the blind spots.

1:52:59And I don't have them offhand, but I know there's, you know, between five and 10 crucial ones from the forties. And now I got the push. This is going to force me to do it, and it happens every time we do one of these decades-long brackets for Film Spotting Madness. So pretty excited about this year's going back to the 1940s. Discovery has always been a key goal here for the show in general, but also behind a lot of these segments in Film Spotting Madness. That's definitely the case as well. Best of the 1940s, Josh mentioned he's got a few blind spots. I've got a few blind spots I have to take care of.

1:53:37And something we decided to do this year that we've never done before, instead of just putting out like a hundred titles and not telling you exactly which ones we're going to make the final tournament bracket until the end, we made it official. Now, I do have some film spotting family members, Josh, in the discord who are lobbying hard, lobbying the selection committee for William Wyler's The Heiress. and the selection committee is listening and it might be added. But other than that, the list is the list. So if you go to filmspottingmadness.com or filmspotting.net slash madness, or you go to letterboxd and search for filmspottingmadness2026, you will find all of these titles.

1:54:22And these are the lists. These are the films that will make the final list. Now there's more than 64 because we do play-ins as well, but these are the titles that will be in the tournament. So check out the list and see how many films you need to fill in and make sure that you've seen so that you can vote in every single poll. That's what we want. And it's coming up too. So check that list out, start your viewing and be an informed voter. There you go. This is a little perk we give just to our film spotting family members, specifically the film spotting advisory board. We like to do marathons here on the show.

1:55:02We have done them since the very beginning of the show. It was not planned at the very beginning of the show. It came out of feedback from listeners. We've done over 50 of them at this point. Speaking of blind spots and discovery, it's all about filling in our cinematic blind spots. We will have another film spotting marathon scheduled for April and May. We do not have a topic yet. Usually on this preview show, or at least last year, we did know. because at our November, I think, FAB meeting, we did settle that. But we had other things to settle this past November. And so we're not going to get to that until I think our February FAB meeting.

1:55:39So it's still TBD at this point. And how that works is me, you and Sam come to that meeting with a few different topics that I think we each bring two to the table, two potential marathon topics. Could be an actor, an actress, a genre, a regional cinema, whatever it is. And we present them to the FAB and we get their feedback. They can throw out ideas as well. And we hone that into a list and then we put that up for vote. I can't remember if we actually give the film spotting audience as a whole a vote or if we just restrict it to the FAB, but we do then look at those poll results and whichever one ends up with the most votes is the marathon topic we go with.

1:56:25Yeah, the advisory board is great in terms of just that initial response to our ideas, which ones they find most intriguing or suggest other spinoff possibilities. I've got one idea I'm kind of excited about, and yeah, we'll find that other one. And hopefully, time zones are tricky now, but I'd like to see if we can make it work for this film spotting advisory board meeting, because that's a rich one, talking about our marathon topics. Just as you said that, I remembered that I had a really good idea a week or so ago, didn't write it down, gone. Uh-oh. I don't know if it'll ever come back. I mean, if you're like me, it'll be in the middle of the night when, you know, you'll just wake up.

1:57:06And then it's if you remember to keep the pad of paper and pen next to the bed. So I'm really hesitant to mention anything about this, but as you know, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of film spotting this past year. And we did that with film spotting fest in March. We felt that was only appropriate because it was the actual 20th anniversary of the show. Moving forward, we have thought about doing more film spotting fests and potentially making them an annual event. though if they're going to be annual, at least not in the milestone years, they will have to be smaller, more pared down events, maybe two day affairs, fewer screenings, but still a lot of fun, still bring in a few guests here and there.

1:57:55And we are looking at doing that this summer, just like Christopher Nolan with the Odyssey. We're looking at our tentpole event and our tentpole event. Of course, we won't try to compete with Christopher Nolan, but we are looking at this July. So we'll try to give you more information as soon as we have it all settled, but we are excited about it. We're pretty sure it's going to happen. We have dates and a venue at least penciled in. So that's something, Josh. And some good ideas for programming too that we think would go over about as well as our great film Spotting Fest titles. So yeah, hopefully that'll all come together and we'll have some news for listeners soon.

1:58:38And really, we just thought, and we did get this feedback, not that people were complaining, and they weren't, but would you rather come to Chicago in the summer or in March? I mean, I'd rather live in Chicago in the summer than March. Exactly. If you would like to stay on top of our schedule, visit filmspotting.net slash episodes. Next week here on the show, let's just look more short-term, Josh. We'll have reactions to the Oscar nominations. and yes, you're hearing this after they've already been announced but we're recording this a couple days before so sorry, you're living in the future we don't know who got snubbed we don't know what all the outrage is about yet we're living blissfully in ignorance at this point but we'll be outraged I'm sure next week here on the show also, the shortest span of time between a movie's release and a Sacred Cow review yeah, one battle after another we're going to be talking about PTA's film that was the number one film of the year for three of our roundtable folks, including you, Josh, my number two of the year.

1:59:41I just felt like I had to be a contrarian, obviously, just going against the grain there. It's your nature. Yeah, it's the film of the year. It's clearly the film of the year along with Sinners. And I haven't seen it. It's one of those films that came out early in the year, only saw it once. So much to talk about. Not a lot of new stuff coming out that you feel like you have to discuss here on the show. And this is just a great excuse to revisit this movie and dive into some of those topics. That's why we're doing it. I almost always have the chance and try to see the movie I choose as my number one of the year a second time before we record that show.

2:00:19It didn't happen with one battle after another. So I'm in the same place as you and also very intrigued to watch it after, you know, our revisit for our bonus show for film spotting family members on boogie nights you know it'll be interesting just to have those two so close in my mind um when i do take a look at one battle again in like what five days a week or so uh and yeah that'll be i'm sure there will be plenty of new stuff to uncover in that sacred conversation that sam wasn't going to join us because he's been banned anyway, preemptively banned from that conversation. But Sam is like, he's just so open-minded and so unconcerned about, you know, I would say how his perception is going to be received that Sam could have, Sam could have like hated one battle when he saw it in the summer.

2:01:13I don't know that that's the case. I forget, to be honest. No, it's his film of the year. Okay. So then, but then knowing Sam, he could watch it. this week and come on the show and be like, well, actually, I don't know what I was thinking last summer. Yeah. He's just such an open-minded guy. Bookie Nights is better than one battle. He really doesn't, you really don't know what you're going to get. But this is, you're describing the beauty and the folly of Sam Van Hulgren. Exactly. But now that he's been banned, we'll never know. So that's true. Maybe I should unban him. It makes for good content and isn't that all that matters.

2:01:51Josh, speaking of good content. our sister podcast the next picture show looking at cinemas present via its past if you haven't listened to it yet now's the time to check out their best of 2025 episodes see where one battle after another fell on all of their lists new episodes of the next picture show drop every tuesday and you can find them wherever you get your podcasts i need you to come with us the sun is dying

2:02:22We have a doctorate in molecular biology. And I ride a bike to work. And it's not for exercise. If we do nothing, everything on this planet will go extinct, including us. Poll results time. A couple of weeks ago, we asked you to name your most anticipated film that's scheduled to be released in the first half of 2026. So we are only going up to Memorial Day, trying to make it a little bit more manageable. And it's interesting now, Josh, having done the preview, we look at these titles and after our top 10 that we did, the draft and all those honorable mentions, only two of these films actually got selected.

2:03:03So maybe we're out of touch with the populace. I don't know. Maybe. I also think this, I think if we, you know, put together a Google spreadsheet, the Memorial Day, pre-Memorial Day thing is throwing a real wrinkle in this. Fair enough. But yeah, interesting to see where listeners are, at least in these first half of the year releases coming our way. Okay, the options. And then Josh will provide the results. Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights. Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride. Lord Miller's Project Hail Mary. Zendaya and Robert Pattinson in the drama. David Lowery's Mother Mary. The Devil Wears Prada 2.

2:03:42Or you could go with Other and right in your choice. Josh, how did it come out? Devil Wears Prada 2 in last place with 3%, The Drama with 5%, and Other Here at 6%. So maybe, Adam, people chose different titles as you and I did in our draft. 13 % of the vote went to David Lowery's mother, Mary, and 14 % of the vote went to Wuthering Heights, 23 % for The Bride. But winning our poll is Lord and Miller's Project Hail Mary. That film received 36 % of the vote. Now, no aliens, but space, more sci-fi-ish territory with this film. I think for you, Adam, just say weird. Zombies, aliens, sci-fi. It's all weird to you.

2:04:28Is it fantasy? Is it fantasy? Does it count as fantasy? Are there creatures in Project Hail Mary? There might as well be. I'm a little surprised, Josh, that The Devil Wears Prada 2. I am too. I mean, how pretentious is our audience that that film got only 3 %? Come on, people. You're allowed to have fun, too. Sam Van Hulgren will tell you that I vastly underrated that film and did not show it near enough love that it deserved, apparently, upon our initial review of it. Were you anti? I don't remember. I would have to go into the archive to find the star rating on our old website. It's possible.

2:05:09It's possible that I was actually anti or just like right at three stars. is you know what i got you i got you reminding myself um right now one and a half out of four stars one and a half yeah get this get this thing even get it off our poll if if i had had a chance no i i don't know i could have been crabby that day who knows great let's get to some feedback here's tanner hoysington he says i had the privilege of watching danny boyle's sunshine for the first time in december and it has skyrocketed to one of my favorite sci-fi movies see sci-fi josh adam calls now i get another now i get another movie about sunshine is kind of weird actually now i get another movie about our son dying starring my man crush ryan gosling i'm in okay this is from stevie b naw brah what what is this avatar anyway in this house we sit eagerly planted for good luck have fun don't die apparently releasing in the u.s on february 13th return of the verbinskinator okay is this a gore verbinski reference i guess so he stevie's thrown a lot at us here sure many are excited for that other new sci-fi you know quote-unquote weird the ryan gosling vehicle but this one stars academy award-winning dance daddy himself sam rockwell throw in hayley lou richardson michael pina and zazie beats this did come up in my research and I do find that intriguing Stevie B not enough to draft it but I'm intrigued okay here is Rob Steger who says it's got to be the bride come on Jesse Buckley I can't imagine better casting yep you're right Josh Josh took it and if he didn't it was going to be selected by me during our draft I got you Rob and so does Rachel who said absolutely it's the bride the cast the costumes of the production look?

2:07:05Can't wait. And here's Patrick and Sam has decided to clarify one pronunciation here for us. He says, David Lowery's Mother Mary takes this easily for me. And while it isn't Ghost Story, my favorite Lowery, the trailer has some of the mood of that film. I've also not seen Michaela Cowell in a while. Very excited about that. Now, you know, I'm a big pronunciation guy. I like to look these things up and check the phonetic spelling. I'm not sure I trust Sam, but we can we can put it in the pronunciation channel on slack josh if if you'd like just as a placeholder until i've approved it okay well mr pronunciation you you've forgotten we have an official film spotting pronunciation guide it's a google doc i created probably like i thought i thought it was our slack channel 10 years ago no nobody how is that how i've been updating the slack channel what have you been using every time you put it in i roll my eyes and go copy it over to the pronunciation guide which is alphabetically listed as any normal resource i should be i literally had no idea that document existed well of course because i created it i've never opened you about it years ago you know what next time you have hours to kill you should go to it because you will have a field day correcting what i put down there the great irony there is like you you call me mr spreadsheet you finally create a spreadsheet i never look at it that seems only appropriate it's so true okay we do thank everyone who voted and left a comment it's time for our new poll in a couple of weeks we do finally get to honor the late great diane keaton with a top five and we are going to do that by sharing our top five diane Keaton scenes.

2:08:51So we're not going with movies. We're not going with characters. We are going to identify individual scenes. There probably will be a lot of crossover with characters and movies, but not necessarily. And I say that because that could apply or that could be relevant to these poll options here. The question is to choose one Keaton character. And we are throwing out Annie Hall because the right answer is almost certainly Annie Hall. We think it would win pretty decisively anyway. And after much deliberation, we have decided to give you these six options. Kay Adams, The Godfather. Erica Berry, Nancy Meyer, Something's Gotta Give, that one with Jack Nicholson and Kenna Reeves.

2:09:40Louise Bryant from Warren Beatty's Reds. J.C. Wyatt in Baby Boom, That one written by Nancy Meyers, stars Sam Shepard and a baby. Anna Paradis. Now every pronunciation I'm double guessing. Yeah, and I just watched this movie. I just watched it and can't remember how it's said. First Wives Club. That one, Ben Midler and Goldie Hawn. And then Mary Wilkie from Woody Allen's Manhattan. You can also write another. Do you have a clear winner, Josh, in this poll? I do, but I don't want to say at this point because my research is not completed. But based on those options and the ones I've seen, yes. Okay.

2:10:24I will go ahead and say that maybe because it's my favorite movie on the list, I would say by far. But there is one other movie. Well, okay. The Godfather is there. But I'll get to that in a second. There are two other movies here that I think are pretty great. And those are Manhattan and Reds. It is Mary Wilkie in in Manhattan that would be my choice. Very memorable, intellectual that she plays in in that film. And I do think she's she's wonderful in it. So that would be my vote. Here's what I want to say. Vote how you want. but if you if you vote for k adams my response to that would be tell me you haven't seen any of these other performances without telling me you haven't seen any of these other performances because as much as i of course love the godfather or the godfather part two and look a scene from one or both of those movies could end up on one of our lists it's hard for me to believe that the best Diane Keaton performance or character is Kay Adams, a pretty, pretty thinly written character in that movie.

2:11:31I'd be, I'd be very surprised. Sam and I are worried, Josh. And, and look again, we'll see how it comes out. We're a little worried that the Godfather just being the Godfather, the juggernaut it is, it dominates this pole. But does that feel like a Diane Keaton performance to you? Like, like, like the performance that harnesses her talents, but that that's, then I would vote that way. I don't think you have to worry so much about how other people will vote. I'm asking you, do you think it's the performance that best harnesses her talents is my point. It wasn't the one that I was thinking of when I said I have a clear option.

2:12:08I think it's fun to judge people for their choices. That's what I'm making clear. I get it. Okay. Great. That's what poll questions should be about. They should be about fun and that's the fun I'm having. So leave your vote and also leave your comment. And I hope you leave a snarky comment telling me that I'm wrong and we'll read it on air. And if you choose Kay Adams, you better justify yourself. There you go. That's what I'm saying. I want to read it. I can't wait. That'll be fun. Vote and leave a comment at filmspotting.net. We will share your results and hopefully your feedback in a couple of weeks.

2:12:47Josh, that's our show. If you want to find Adam I'm in the show on Instagram, Facebook, Letterboxd, or YouTube. He's at FilmSpotting. You can find me at those places as Larson on Film. We're independently produced and listener supported. You can support the show by joining the FilmSpotting family at FilmSpottingFamily.com. That way you'll be able to listen early. Also, ad-free, you'll get Sam's weekly newsletter, which is stirring up a lot of stuff this week. Monthly bonus episodes, where Sam's also stirring up a lot of stuff, actually, in our Boogie Nights conversation. And you also get access to the entire show archive as a film spotting family member for show t-shirts and other merch.

2:13:28You can go to film spotting.net slash shop. Here's a thought. Maybe we should have a Sam spinoff podcast. I mean, it's kind of getting to that point. Why not? In our archive, you could hear our conversation about last year's 28 years later. That was episode 1020. Guess what? Sam didn't like that movie. I saw it with him. we also have reviewed Nia DaCosta's Hedda you review that on episode 1038 I didn't catch up with it until later but I was also a fan the Marvels episode 945 well that had to be you actually all three of these are you yeah I somehow have missed all three of these Nia DaCosta movies until I caught up with Hedda you know what I deserve I deserved that review off of the bone temple.

2:14:11Okay. I'd put in the word. Let's go with that. Streaming or VOD, if you can still get a ticket, you can watch movies that are playing virtually at the Sundance Film Festival. Those become available January 29th, but the fest is going on January 22nd through February 1st. Expanding in limited release is The Testament of Anne Lee. In wide release, you can see Claire Foy is in H is for Hawk. It's adapted from the best-selling novel. And Josh, I believe it stars a hawk, like an actual hawk. I think I saw this trailer before I forget a certain film a couple of months ago looked quite intriguing, actually.

2:14:52You might have to catch up with it. Okay. Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson, they're in the near-future thriller. That sounds weird. Mercy. And the director is Timur Bekmambetov. And I remember that name because I had to learn how to pronounce it and talk about his film. I believe it was Nightwatch. I want to say 2006. Sam and I reviewed it. We reviewed it positively. Here's a little bit of film spotting lore. I believe it was the first show, that review, that was ever played on WBEZ. How about that? Now, I have no idea what Tamur Bekmambetov has done in the past 19 to 20 years, but I do remember Nightwatch.

2:15:36Yeah, pretty sure that's the only film of his I've seen. Okay. Return to Silent Hill. That's the third film in the Silent Hill series, and that's adapted from the horror video game. Next week, one battle after another and our reactions to the Oscar nominations. We'll see if we have any other content for you. Film Spotting is produced by Golden Joe DeSoe and Sam Van Hagen. Without Sam and Golden Joe, this show wouldn't go. Our production assistant is Sophie Kempinar. Special thanks to everyone at WBEZ Chicago. More information is available.