Best Performances of 2025, Wake Up Dead Man and Hamnet Reviews

27:55And I think you can argue that there are shades of all of those things I just said in this character, but that's just it. Shades. He's a very nuanced human being. And the performance that Skarsgård gives doesn't insist on his character's worthiness for redemption. That's what lingers with me about that performance in a film that is overflowing with wonderful performances. man adam i'm just gonna have to take your word on this one i am so left out when it comes to sentimental value just cannot see it there's no way for me to see it neon distributors are so good about giving those actual physical disc packages every year which is wonderful but that's sitting back home in chicago and it's not playing anywhere here in scotland so i'm seeing all of these nominations from different critics groups rolling in.

28:58And this is one, man, by the looks of it, I'm going to even miss for our top 10 show. So unfortunate, but everything you said, knowing Trier, knowing Skarsgård rings true to me. So you want me to check and see what the postage is on sending my neon box over to Scotland? Only probably about 250 bucks. If the film spotting budget allows, I would love that. Yes. Overnight. Overnight. Yes. I'll, I'll look into that. I'm sure that won't jack up the price at all. Are there any other names that we haven't mentioned that you don't want to leave out, Josh? I mean, William H. Macy in Train Dreams was probably my number six.

29:34Just a wonderful performance there. And the other one I'll throw out there is Archie Mattaquay in the very small film Lurker, which is a golden brick contender, actually. He plays the pop star in that film and is quite good. So those were two that were kind of hovering around the edge just outside of my final ballot. I'm glad you said that you had such a long list. I think this is the category where I had my longest list of people that I was at least giving some consideration to. And when I look at these next six choices here, Josh, the honorable mentions, they could be my top five. It kills me.

30:13When I saw Train Dreams, I was sure that William H. Macy was not only going to be on my best supporting actor ballot. but I thought he was probably going to win it. And now here he is at number six. And he's in this grouping with Andrew Scott from Blue Moon. And with, yes, I think he's that good in this film, a movie that everybody overlooked this year, except the two of us. We'll see if we give it enough credit here at the end of the year fully. Joel Petrikas in his film, Vulcan Isadora, is really, really good. ASAP Rocky, Josh, I'm with you. not only good in highest to Lois, but in if I had legs, I'd kick you.

30:54I didn't even recognize him at first when he appeared on screen. And he's great there. I like Michael Cera. You know, I like him as much as you do in that film, even though you like that film a bit more than I do the Phoenician scheme. And we're going to talk about it a bit later, but I'm going to go ahead and throw Daniel Craig for Wake Up Dead Man into this category. My favorite turn by him as Benoit Blanc. I think he's worthy as well. A reminder, you can see all of our choices over at filmspotting.net slash lists, and we do have more picks ahead. Movies you might be able to check out for free right now as a Regal Unlimited member.

31:40Marty Supreme, number nine on Alison Wilmore's list, an 11 through 20 pick for me, incredible performance from Timothee Chalamet that is playing right now at Regal. And we've talked a little bit about some of these picks. We've highlighted some of these repertory movies, the limited engagements, Josh, that Regal has been showing at some of their theaters. And I'm looking at regmovies.com And they have a limited engagement right now for its, what is it? It's 40th anniversary? It's 30th. Okay, only 30 years. Shouldn't age it like that. 30th anniversary of a movie I somehow, I can't believe I'm admitting this.

32:25I have somehow never seen this film, despite the fact that it stars two incredible actresses, including one who I've always claimed to be a huge, huge fan of. And I may have to rectify this now by seeing it on the big screen, getting a chance to see it on the big screen at a regal cinema. Sense and sensibility. Ang Lee. That's a way to do it. Great director too. Kate Winslet, the actress I'm referring to, the great Emma Thompson. Never seen Sense and Sensibility. And if you're like me, maybe you're embarrassed about it. Like me, you can check that out now. Regal Cinemas and maybe see it for free with that Regal Unlimited membership.

33:07Regal Unlimited is the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits, and Regal is offering film spotting listeners endless movies for less. All you have to do is sign up using the code FILMSPOT25, that's FILMSPOT25, and you'll get 10 % off a three-month subscription. It is the only truly limitless movie subscription pass, and you don't just save money on tickets, you also save on snacks. You get 10 % off all non-alcoholic concessions. You get to see any standard 2D movie anytime, no blockout dates or restrictions. We encourage you to sign up now in the Regal app or just click the link in this show description and use that code FILMSPOT25 to receive your discount.

33:58We're giving out accolades on this show, Adam. Let's give out some thanks as well to our film spotting family members, especially family member Laura, who's in Paris, France for joining the film spotting family. Now, Laura's letterbox handle, this is getting a little tricky. It's, it's with a W it's Laura with a W. So L a U W a Lawa. Is that, is that is that like perhaps how she pronounces it? I don't know. I don't know. We should probably move on before we make Laura mad. Here are some of the comments that she shared when she did sign up for the Film Spotting family. I've been listening to the podcast for about 15 years.

34:39I think I discovered it via the AV Club's recommendations. Film Spotting is one of the first podcasts I ever listened to, and it remains one of my favorites. Intelligent reviews, fun banter, incredible tension with Film Spotting madness, an awfully cruel and entertaining feature of the podcast and always pushing me to discover new films and directors. The best cinema podcast on this planet. Wow. Wow. Put it on a t-shirt or billboard or something. No kidding. We asked, what movie do you credit with becoming a cinephile for Laura? Easy answer. 2001, a space odyssey. I watched in the cinema at 15 years old.

35:16I already loved cinema by that point, but 2001 was a complete sensory and emotional revelation. I had never experienced anything like before. Since then, cinema has been one of the most important things in my life, something that can touch me to the core, rip my heart open, and put it back together. As far as books about movies or movie making that Laura appreciated, she said I'll name two, the Stanley Kubrick Archives published by Tashin. It made me understand how Kubrick worked on his films, how meticulous he was, and how he made use of every potentiality cinema can offer as an art More importantly, how filmmaking is a collective, essentially practical endeavor, far from just the realization of one genius director's idea.

36:00It could not exist without the equal contribution of all its participants, and Kubrick reminds us of this constantly. Another book Laura mentioned is Roads to Nowhere about Kelly Reichert, one of my current favorite filmmakers and insightful exploration of her work. I can't recommend it highly enough. How about that? I didn't know there was a Kelly Reichert book out there. It doesn't shock me. I just wasn't aware of it, Josh. And it seems like one that maybe we should pick up. We do thank Laura for being a family member and for all of those years of listening and for the hyperbolic comments about the show.

36:33In addition to keeping us doing what we're doing, membership comes with perks. You get to listen early and ad free. You get our weekly newsletter. You get exclusive opportunities like being part of the FilmSpotting family discord. And you get our monthly bonus shows this month here in December. Once we finish recording that epic films of 2025 roundtable where we share our top 10 movies of the year just for family members, you're going to hear me and Josh and producer Sam. Well, the two of us, we're going to share our 11 through 20. And then producer Sam's going to jump on and he'll regale us with whatever he thinks are his favorite films of the year.

37:08I don't know if he'll get to 20 or not, but he'll certainly have strong opinions about his favorite films of the year, regardless of what number he gets to. Yeah, that'll be fun to do with Sam. And this is new for us. And you know what I like about it, Adam, after we decided on it, it's given me some relief about that number nine and 10 choice for my top 10 list. Because now I have a place to talk about those movies that are getting cut in the 11 to 20. and we can share that with film spotting family members. I just, I feel much better about those, those movies not making the, you know, official completely arbitrary 10.

37:47There you go. More about joining the film spotting family is at filmspottingfamily.com. And there is another way you can help this show, an independently produced show, which film spotting is. Take a minute to go to Apple podcasts or Spotify and give us a quick rating or give us a quick review. You don't even have to say those super nice things that Laura did. You can just give us a rating if you want. It doesn't matter if you're brand new or you've been around for all 20 years. It may help us reach new listeners. Thank you again to all of our family members and hopefully to some future family members.

38:24I have a purpose. Okay. Let me ask you something. Do you make money at this little table tennis thing? Not yet. Do you have a job? No. We're getting back into our picks for the best performances of 2025. That's a clip from Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme. It doesn't come to theaters until Christmas Day, but you heard star Timothy Chalamet. He's already in the best actor conversation. The Chicago Film Critics Association, Josh, has him in that conversation. When you look at the list of nominees, they've got him there with some other formidable talents. This is another one like Best Supporting Actress where there were six finalists.

39:09So a tie doesn't usually happen. And here we have two categories with six picks. Chalamet is right there at the top. Well, we're going in alphabetical order. But Chalamet for Marty Supreme. DiCaprio, One Battle After Another. Joel Edgerton for Train Dreams, Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon, Michael B. Jordan for Sinners, and Wagner Mora for The Secret Agent. So where did you have crossover? Where did you diverge? What would you like to highlight from the best actor category, Josh? Chalamet is on my honorable mentions, Adam. I think everyone who got a nomination from the Chicago film critics is on my honorable mentions.

39:52Actually, I went in completely different directions. So let me just run down from five to one here. I had at the number five slot, Sargi Lopez from Sirat, which is a movie that hasn't come up at all. I think it opened in the States in November at some point. I just caught up with it in this blur, this recent blur. And I'm still wrestling with the full meaning of this existential exercise, to be honest with you. But I do know, let me tell you what it's about for listeners who are like, I've never heard of this movie. It's about a father who goes to a rave in the Moroccan desert in search of his missing daughter.

40:35And he ends up on the road with this caravan of itinerant partiers. So, yeah, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around everything. But what I do know is that Lopez, as the father, he's bringing a human gravity to this story that is crucial for me. It's anchoring for me because this movie becomes more metaphorically abstract as it goes on. Still fascinating, still hypnotic. That's a word that comes to mind for me with Sirat. But the thing I'm anchored to right now, to the point that he made my list, was Sargi Lopez in that performance as the father. Okay. My number four is Theodore Pellerin from Lurker, which I mentioned earlier, a golden brick contender.

41:19He's the sort of stalker of the rising pop star that Archie Matakoy plays. When I talked about this on the show earlier in the year, I described his nervous, needy intensity, and it was strong enough and potent enough for him to, that performance to last for me to the end of the year here. Number three, Denzel Washington in highest to lowest. I think people are writing this off as an old man performance and kind of corny. I don't like to do this, but that's part of the point. It's like, yes, the point of this movie is this losing his touch music mogul, getting shocked back to life by this kidnapping, and then finding his artistic integrity again, regaining it.

42:02And Denzel, I think, brings a lot of subtlety and dexterity to walking that line between corniness and awareness. On the chorus, ad lib a little bit. Layer the vocals differently. Something like, where's my money? I got the four pounder sitting right here. Don't try nothing funny. Something like that. You know, Nazia, 93, 94. And all that old s*** you're talking about now. Something more like, I got the blicky on me, OG, so don't try nothing tricky on me, OG. I got mine too, young G. Nine millimeter. And a lot of reasons why you shouldn't fuck with me either, young G. I'm the one that can pay you.

42:38I don't need to be the one that's going to slay you. Is this a battle right now? Number two, Robert Pattinson. I have not forgotten about Mickey 17. I know the movie year has moved on. A lot of people didn't like it. I loved it largely because of Pattinson's Three Stooges inspired performance. He's still in my number two slot. And I've been trying to rush through this, Adam, because I know we're going to talk about wake up dead man, but we've promised each other. We're not going to go super long because we're trying to keep this show relatively tight. So give me a moment here to talk about Josh O 'Connor in wake up dead man, a knives out mystery, father Judd, the Watson to Benoit Blanc's homes in Ryan Johnson's latest knives out mystery.

43:20I thought Adam knowing he was in this, this was going to be the fun Josh O 'Connor performance in 2025, right? The light counter, say, to very good, serious work, like A History of Sound, which he's fantastic in and I liked quite a bit. Turns out, yes, he's hilarious in Wake Up Dead Man, but playing, by the way, we should say he's hilarious because he's playing this foul-mouthed priest who's got this violent past. And nonetheless, he's still trying to uphold a vision he has of Jesus Christ as a healer in a world that is, to his eyes, trying to claim Jesus to justify political violence. I mean, this is an incredibly political film we might get into more later, but as far as O 'Connor is concerned, the key to me for this performance is that Judd isn't a saint.

44:11So he's preaching this forgiveness because he's still wrestling with accepting it for himself, being forgiven himself. There is a great early scene in which Blanc and Judd engage in this theological debate. Blanc's not just a skeptic, but you could probably call him an avowed atheist. And so they have this nice exchange. And as Judd offers his side, his testimony, these tears start welling up in his eyes. And we know, at least this is how I took it, thanks to the depth of O 'Connor's performance, is that it's not so much he's trying to convince Blanc of anything. I think he reads him as a lost cause right away.

44:46It's because he's trying to reassure himself and bringing that level to this performance on top of all the solid laughs he delivers. It was like, I was already in the bag for Josh O 'Connor. And then this movie came around. I'm hopeless at this point. I'm with you. And first I want to say, I'm so disappointed because you make my list look so pedestrian and boring. You go completely off the grid and here I have four crossover picks with the CFCA. I had DiCaprio. I had Chalamet. I had Wagner Mora. I had Ethan Hawke as well. But I want to say this about O 'Connor. I had him at number five on my list, Josh, and he could be higher.

45:31Again, ranking is so hard and arbitrary with these lists. I had him at number five up until the very last minute. I mean, right up until I hit submit on my ballot. And I could have just stuck with it because I knew that DiCaprio, almost surely DiCaprio was going to make it whether or not I voted for him. And my pick for O 'Connor probably wasn't going to put him on the ballot. So either way, it didn't really matter. But I then had that little voice in my head that was already the voice that came out of me earlier this year, maybe, maybe actually out loud, or it was just via Slack. When I said to Sam, I think it was producer Sam, maybe you as well, Josh.

46:17I said, you know what? We just at this point take Leonardo DiCaprio for granted. I think we just assume that he's going to be great every time. And he is, and it seems so boring to praise him. And it certainly seems almost like Meryl Streep. So boring to give him awards. I'm bored. I'm bored with the thought of giving him awards. I don't want him to get I almost don't want him to get an Academy Award nomination. I didn't want him to get a CFCA nomination. That's where I was. And then I just I couldn't do it. I said, wait a second. No, this is absurd. He's great. He's great in that film. And I'm putting him on.

46:55But my point is, I love Josh O 'Connor in that film. And we are going to talk more about that film here in a little bit. So my exceptions, Joel Edgerton on the ballot and Michael B. Jordan in Sinners, those are two honorable mentions for me. Those are two six through ten choices for me. So here again, I am, I guess, in lockstep with the CFCA. My pick, the choice for me that was not among the Chicago Film Critics' final picks is Lee Byung-hun from Park Chan-ook's No Other Choice. I said on Letterboxd just a quick comment that Park Chan-ook was, you know, if you talk about tone management, Park Chan-ook's the president and CEO.

47:38You know, forget the manager of tone. Like, nobody does it better than him. Well, you need an actor that that can also carry that, that can perform that, can walk that tonal line and have us reckoning with the moral weight of the choices that he's making, that that character is making. And then maybe even one second later, have us laughing at the utter absurdity of the choices that that character is making. And all the while, he can't ever lose that man's humanity. If we can't see ourselves in this person, no other choice does not work as a film. And as it is, it's one of the best films of the year.

48:25And I do think that he's a major reason why. So I had to make sure he got some credit on my list. Yeah, and that's one I do still need to see. So yeah, I just had to prioritize a few others before I could get to it, but glad that you're giving it some attention. I had Ethan Hawke from Blue Moon at number one, and nobody needs to hear me wax more poetically about Ethan Hawke. So I do actually want to talk, Josh, a little bit about Wagner Mora in The Secret Agent, because I don't know if this is a film that's going to come up on our top 10 films of the year. Is this a movie you were able to catch up with?

49:01Nope. It was the next one up, and then time just got away from me. So I know he's getting a lot of love. I know when I put the screener in or when I clicked on the link, I knew he was getting a lot of attention. And so I had high expectations. It was kind of like, show me, you know, show me what all the buzz is about. And man, did he not disappoint. As I'm watching it, I'm thinking this feels like a new face to me. And yet he's somewhat familiar. And so afterwards, I looked him up. I'd never saw Narcos. So I didn't have that to go off of. Turns out he was in The Gray Man. But Josh, that Netflix movie, I barely remember that Ryan Gosling was in.

49:42He was in Civil War. He's Joel. He's the colleague, the journalist colleague to Kirsten Dunst's character Lee. And that now that that then rung a bell or whatever the visual version of rung a bell is. I saw that face in my head once I saw that on the on the page. But otherwise, I don't know his work. And I'm thinking back on the character he plays in this film. And it really is. It really, for the most part, is one character and one performance. We spend the bulk of the film following Maura as Marcello. This is a film set in 1977. He's a professor, teaches technology, and he has to move from Sao Paulo to a smaller city during Carnival.

50:30We don't really fully understand why at the beginning we have to start putting together the pieces. We understand that he's running from something that seems pretty heavy, and it does have to do with this dictatorship and the pressure and the violence that may actually be coming for him and that was previously coming for some of his colleagues. At the end, though, Josh, this isn't a spoiler. At the end, it does become a double performance. And I'm going to suggest that it's really a triple performance because we learn that Marcello is really Armando, who we meet in flashbacks. And this is a secret name, of course, that he's using to protect his identity.

51:17But the man that he is now and the man that he is in these flashbacks, they're not just different in name and in hairstyle and the hairstyle is very different. But Mora really just very subtly distinguishes them by how they carry their weariness, how they carry their understanding of the depth of the corruption that they face and their fear and how they're trying not to show that fear. Carlos Aguiar did a really nice profile of Mora in the LA Times that we'll link to, and he describes the performance as simmering. And there really is no better word to describe a man who's filled with rage toward this fascist regime, but is powerless and has to really focus only on staying alive.

52:05If I'm going to put it in those stove terms, Josh, Armando is always set to medium, maybe medium high. He's ready to flip to high. Marcello's a notch below. He's at medium low. And then this final character we meet that Mora plays, he's maybe not even at a boiling point. And if you see the film, when you see the film, you'll understand why. And that arc, that historical arc and the jump that the film makes is really significant. And that jump in temperament is significant to the film as well. There's a scene about halfway through this one, Josh, where Armando Marcello, but reflecting on his his time previously, has to tell his story to a couple of new characters that we meet, which in turn means, of course, that he's he's now filling us in as the audience on his story that has been elusive up to this point.

53:07And I remember thinking, okay, this is going to be really tricky because for the filmmaker here, which is Kleiber Mendonca Filho, and I'm sure I just pronounced that very terribly. I apologize, but I did my best with the name. I thought Filho has a really tough task that he's given himself because this is essentially an exposition dump. this is the point where we are going to get all of the backstory on this character all the political backstory that we need and i thought even if it is that exposition dump i'm okay with it because i'm so curious and i'm so in on this film i want to know but i still want it to be as as acutely handled as everything else has been up to this point and it is just as intense this conversation Josh and the way it's it's shot the way it's handled the way the way Maura portrays it the way he acts the scene is is as intense as any other scene in the film any other sequence in the movie and he just doesn't embellish anything he doesn't need to burnish the wickedness of the events that he's recounting it's it's almost deadpan how how he how he recalls some of it And there's a great line where he's talking about this one man in particular, this one evil man.

54:34And he says that I'm not a violent man, but I'd kill this person. I could kill this person. And one of the guys that he's talking to says, do you carry a gun? And he says, no. He says, no. He says, for this man, I would kill him with a hammer is what he says about him. And the guy he's talking to says, do you carry a gun? And he says, no, but I do know how to use a hammer. And that's an amusing sort of line, but it's not said with any sort of amusement whatsoever. It it's said by a man who fully understands the the the complexity and the and the weight of what he's saying there in the moment and and what what he as a character is trying to navigate emotionally, politically, in terms of his family, everything that that he has been through at this point.

55:27So highly recommend The Secret Agent if it's a film you haven't, everyone listening, not just you, Josh, if it's a film you haven't been able to see yet. And the Wagner-Mora performance is everything everyone has been saying it is. Yeah, definitely saw that praise going around. And it was, it was, like I said, the last one I could have watched before the deadline, it would have been the second film of that day. And I think it's like, what, 220, 240, something like that. And I was like, yeah, it was like, oh, OK, I'm just going to take a pass. Totally. And we've both been honest about this at various points over the years when we're when we're in this haze of trying to prepare for the top 10 films of the year.

56:11And not only are we hoping for movies that are under two hours more often than not, I know I'm often hoping for movies that are just lighter. I, you know, we're watching enough this time of year. Exactly. Right. And so the secret agent is one I put off quite a bit because I knew what the subject matter was and it was two hours and 40 minutes and I knew it was going to be difficult treading. And all I can tell you is I still put it on one night. This was my mindset. I put it on one night about 10 or 1030 and my mindset was only let's just see if I can get an hour done because if I can get an hour or so done and if I have to return to it the next night to finish it.

56:54at least I've made progress. I watched it the entire way through. I had no problem. I was that transfixed by the movie, despite the heady subject matter, despite the length. I couldn't stop watching The Secret Agent. Yeah, I'll get to it at some point. And it's funny when you talk about what it's like this last week. I think in that mix for me was also we have not only CFCAFace, but we have our golden brick. award that we give out and want to fit in some that listeners have been suggesting to us. So I did what I did instead was knock out a couple of animated films. I was a little short on that this year and some golden brick crossover there.

57:36So yeah, we've got to make, we've got to make hard choices and you feel bad. There's always going to be like two or three movies, no matter what you do, no matter what you prioritize by the time we get to our top 10 show, two or three movies that we wish we'd seen. That is definitely the case. That brings us to our final performance category. Best Actress. Here are the nominees, at least according to the Chicago Film Critics Association, Jesse Buckley and Hamnet Rose Byrne. If I had legs, I'd kick you. Jennifer Lawrence, Die My Love, Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Anne Lee, and Tessa Thompson for Hedda.

58:12Josh, what say you on best actress? All in contention for me. That is a strong nominee list. I have in common Rose Byrne. If I had legs, I'd kick you. This is, you know, another, I think we can call it a mom going through it as you and Mariah Gates called it for a top five earlier on the show, Adam. Yes. And she is, my goodness, this movie opens. So she's playing a mother, I should say, of a child who's seemingly suffering from an extreme eating disorder to the point that her daughter has to have a stomach tube. And, you know, Byrne has some big breakdown moments in this movie. A lot of them are darkly funny, but the film opens with her face almost entirely filling the screen.

59:01and it's because that's how close the camera needs to get to register the astonishing subtlety of her, her strained performance here as the, as this mother, I think we hear off screen, the daughter saying something like, um, is it mommy is stretchable describing her mom to like a therapist. Mommy is stretchable. And when we hear that, we noticed just this, the slightest of tremors going below Byrne's eye. And so, yeah, the levels of register, the registers of this performance are what are incredibly impressive.

59:44I try very hard to be in control of her and everything, but it may as well not even get there at all. I don't like how it feels on my side. Just stay there, okay? Just hold on. I'm also all in on Jesse Buckley and Hamnet. She here in this Chloe Zhao film, along with Paul Mescal, they really anchor the movie. And I don't know. I have to dig into what people are hating about this movie so much, because I know they are, but until I had processed it myself, I didn't want to look yet. So So I'll get there. I didn't know there were haters. I'm fascinated. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. There's some real anger about Hamnet.

1:00:24And we're going to talk about this a little more, but I'll say now, as far as Jesse Buckley is concerned, from the world-melting smile she gives to Paul Mescal early on during the romantic sections to the roaring anguish she shares later, it just sucked me in. Um, I think without her balance of loveliness and tenacity, I don't know that the emotional climax of this movie would work. It does for me. Maybe it doesn't for others. Um, but I think that's largely due to her and you know, Buckley is interesting for me. I've, I've been an admirer of her from a distance. I'll say, um, when others have been deeply smitten for a long time now, this one made me a true believer.

1:01:05So I'm, I'm all in at this point. Uh, I'll go quickly through the others here. I've mentioned Kiki Palmer earlier in one of them days. She made my ballot at my number three, actually, this hilarious buddy comedy. She's opposite SZA as roommates facing unfair eviction in an LA apartment. And yeah, I've talked about just how she's balanced not only the laughs, but made a real character in Drew, who she plays there. Ava Victor, Sorry Baby. I mean, talk about tone management. You were mentioning early, Adam. This is a golden brick contender. She's the writer, director, star, and she handles the tone in all three facets.

1:01:48She's playing a literature professor at this small town university who's attempting to move on from a traumatic experience and just the way she balances wit, deep emotion, and she generates a lasting empathy here. So you're going to be thinking about Agnes, this character, and how she's doing for a long time. You're just going to wonder, is Agnes okay? Like, is she still okay? And that's all due to Victor's performance. My number one, though, Adam, I'm going to go back to On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. And this is the lead performance by Susan Chardy, who is a relative newcomer to acting. And here she's returning to contemporary Zambia for this multi-day funeral for her uncle.

1:02:34She's very reserved. It's a quiet performance. But I don't think that's because of her inexperience. It's because of what the character needs. And her reticence opens up as we learn more about her family and her deeply conflicted relationship with them. and Chardy is another one of those who, yeah, like, like Agnes in sorry, baby, you're like, is she better now? Like it's been, it's been six, eight months since I've seen that movie. Is she, is she doing a little bit better maybe than where she was when I saw it? So, so those are my five. I had three crossover here again with the CFCA. I, I never had any fewer than three.

1:03:18I had Seyfried for The Testament of Anne Lee. I had Jesse Buckley for Hamnet quite high at number two. And Nina Haas was number one, Josh for Best Supporting Actress for Hedda. I ended up being quite a fan of Tessa Thompson for Hedda as well. I think there's a lot to that performance. I had her at number three. I think that that very precise kind of overly staccato enunciation that she gives that character is actually really effective as someone who it's not that she's not not comfortable in a way with who she is because she's she's always it seems in control or feels like she can be in control but she is always playing a character of sorts and i think that that is really really perfect for hedda that that element that that tessa thompson brings just in terms of her voice alone but there's a lot of other wonderful aspects to that performance.

1:04:20The two exceptions, the two then that I didn't have, Jennifer Lawrence, I love as an actress, but you know, I'm not as in on that film Die My Love as some others are. And I then am not as favorable on that performance either. Rose Byrne, if I had legs, I'd kick you. That performance is definitely one I had in my six through 10. And you mentioned the camera and how close it is. One thing you realize about Mary Bronstein, what she's doing with the camera in that film, there are some exceptions to this, but very few, Josh. And if you talk to some moms, they rarely get a moment to themselves. And even when they have a moment to themselves, it never really feels like psychically they have a moment to themselves.

1:05:09In this film, the camera smothers Rose Byrne in a way that makes it feel as if there's no escape. It feels exactly right. And I think it is a wonderful performance. I'm with you on Susan Chardy, though. I had her at number four on my list. My number one, someone who was not among the final five choices. I'm going to go back to the movie you haven't seen, Josh. sentimental value. It is Renata Reinsva. I'm going with that pronunciation. I got corrected on Letterboxd, Josh, and I hope I'm saying it correctly or closer to correctly. Wait a minute. How are you mispronouncing things on Letterboxd? What's going on here?

1:05:56Well, Letterboxd is just the venue they chose to correct me. I see. They chased you down on Letterboxd. Exactly. No, they haven't added all the video. I know. Exactly. You can chase me down anywhere. I'm happy to get scolded. That's completely fine. The director I mentioned earlier, played by Stellan Skarsgård, the daughter that he is roundabout hoping to reconcile with that he's written this movie for, is played by Reinsva. And of course, listeners may know I have been smitten with her as an actress ever since Joachim Trier is the worst person in the world. there, there is the opening of this film.

1:06:38I believe it is the opening there. There's kind of a prologue, but then the actual opening of the film, Josh is her. And this is a theme of the year that maybe we'll get into a little bit in the top 10, something I'm noticing here at the end of the year, a lot of performances within performances. And she plays this actress and she's, she's about to go on stage to do a, a theatrical production going through a bit of not a bit going through a major freak out, having some major anxiety here on opening night. But when she finally gets on stage and she has to deliver her first, her first line, it's really more of a sound.

1:07:13It's been a while since I've seen it, but when she lets out that sound, the way Reinceva delivers it, you just know the force that she carries as an actress. And then what's so interesting about it is that for the rest of the film, when that character is not on stage, she's so, she's so largely withdrawn and closed in and all of the emotional angst. And there is a lot of it, all of the turmoil that that character is experiencing. And it's, it's the, it is the conflict that inner turmoil is the conflict that's driving the film. It, it is all something that she is, she is largely just wrestling with internally.

1:07:57And the way we see that and feel it, we understand that. And yet we as viewers still do understand and we see it the way she is processing it. And the subtle way that Ryan does it. There's a scene in the movie and it's one that's available online. We'll link to it in the show notes so people can watch it. Sam may include it here in the show, but of course, it's not in English. So I don't know how many of our listeners, Josh, will get much use out of it. But there's a scene in the movie that just encapsulates so much of what makes this performance great where she's talking to her sister and she's already turned down her father.

1:08:38This is early in the film. She said no to this part. She does not want to work with her father. She is not interested in reconciling. She can't work with him. This is all in the trailer. and then all of a sudden the dad shows up at the house with Elle Fanning's character this famous American actress who has taken on the part who has taken the part he's gotten financing for the film she thinks this has all gone through Josh that this has all fallen through that when she said no the film fell through and it was not going to happen and within a 60 second span all on mainly just on runs of his face You see that character, the trajectory of her character, having to reconcile feelings of jealousy or later jealousy that the film is getting made without her, that the part that he wrote for her, even though she turned it down, that it's getting made without her after all.

1:09:38that she then is disappointed in herself for feeling that way a little bit. And then she has to try to get herself over it in the moment instantaneously. And then when the actress and her dad show up at the house and are about to walk in, she actually, there's this bit of physical, what I thought in the moment, Josh, when I watched it originally, I thought it was physical comedy where she actually, she's so petrified by it that she stumbles backwards and almost trips and has to has to run out of the house. She won't she won't let herself be seen. And when I rewatched it just earlier today, I realized there's really nothing funny about it.

1:10:18She's legitimately terrified. It's it's actually something that is it feels more like something that is that's anxiety that's that's eating away at her. And And the thought of them walking into the house at that moment, it's as if she would, it's not just that she's nervous about it or she would be embarrassed. It's as if she would maybe dissolve in front of them. That's how much it would hurt her if she was seen in that moment. Again, it's about a 60-second scene. And yet you feel all of that just within the performance, even though there's not a lot of dynamics in terms of the volume to the performance.

1:11:03I just think she's a force as an actress. And I love the film. And it's another one of those movies that we may hear more about as the month goes on here on Film Spotting. you know you'd think the fact that i'm part norwegian could have gotten me at least a screening link adam i mean come on no kidding are you in trier like old friends at this point or something yeah i'm sure we're probably related i was gonna say somewhere down the line right well those are our favorite performances of 2025 again you can look at all those pics maybe view some of the scenes we've talked about over at filmspotting.net slash lists.

1:11:50Everyone thinks I did it. I didn't do it. This goes way beyond normal police work. This is something you and I have not experienced.

1:12:02A perfectly impossible crime. This case is solvable, right? I'm incapable of not solving a crime or you'll see it's fun. Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc is back in Ryan Johnson's Wake Up Deadman, the third Knives Out mystery among the suspects this time, Josh O 'Connor, Glenn Close, Jeremy Renner, and others. In addition to being well-crafted mysteries, the films have been used by Johnson for some playful satire. The first Knives Out in 2019 tapped into issues of class and race. The follow-up Glass Onion in 2022 satirized the ultra wealthy. And now Wake Up Deadman takes aim at the church, specifically here, a Catholic church in upstate New York, but more broadly Christianity and the way it intersects with politics and society.

1:12:46I don't know. We might throw just MAGA in there as well. Josh, what did you think about Wake Up Deadman? We know you love Josh O 'Connor's performance and he is a major, major part of this film. So I'm guessing you were a fan of the movie overall. Yeah, I'll let that speak for itself. My choice for him is the best performance by a lead actor this year. and I've appreciated the satire in all of Rian Johnson's Knives Out films, but this is the one that hits very, very close to home. I did not expect it. I knew Joshua O 'Connor played a priest. I'd seen the trailers, but maybe I should have knowing that he likes to weave in some satire here, but man, was this potent on point.

1:13:29What we need, throw this in the group of wake up movies in 2025, trying to shake those who still need to be shaken about what's going on in this country. And yeah, it is absolutely perceptive. It's, let me just say quickly, also very fun and twisty murder mystery. It's hilarious, but it has a provocative claim at its center. Interestingly, Johnson's a filmmaker of incredible talent. So he wraps this up in a potent image right away. What do we see at the beginning of this movie, Adam, in this church? The fate outline of a cross. So imagine there's a picture that's been hanging on your wall for 15 years and you take it off and you've got that outline.

1:14:15That's what's in this church. There's no cross there. There's the outline of it. There are practical plot reasons for that, but this is the symbolic statement the movie is making that something is missing. that something essential is missing from the most prominent expressions of American Christianity these days. And that's where the MAGA comes in, which is not Christianity, but it's claiming it. And Johnson knows this and has built a fun, twisty murder mystery around it. That's what kind of just knocked me out about the film, maybe simply because it was unexpected. and I just want to keep emphasizing, people are going to see this.

1:14:57They love these movies, so I don't need to encourage anyone to see it. But I do want to emphasize how fun it is. This is not a dry theological treatise, right? I mean - No, it is not. He's also having a ton of fun with the religious setting sets up a ton of sharp gags. The title alone hints at all the resurrection imagery he's going to play with here. O 'Connor's performance is very funny. So many performances are funny. But yeah, it's just the wisdom at the center of this is what I'm going to treasure about Wake Up Dead Man the most. The wisdom. That's a really interesting point, and I don't disagree, though I think it's something else that I'm going to or that I am treasuring most about this film, even if it's a word I don't know that I can completely put my finger on yet.

1:15:43We'll see if I can get to the right word as we talk about the film a little bit more. It's unfortunate in a way that these movies always come out around Thanksgiving, because even though we have reviewed, given a full review to at least one of the films previously, sometimes we aren't able to give them the full film spotting lengthy discussion treatment. And this is an example of that. Here we are. We're already doing our top five or we're doing our best performances of the year. And we're kind of just sandwiching in this conversation. We've both alluded to this already. There is so much that we could dig into with this film, not just culturally and politically and in terms of the satire, but in terms of visually, in terms of the writing and the gags and the performances.

1:16:28I said it before, Josh O 'Connor, I think, is so good in this film. And why I say he's so good gets at what I really want to try to underline about what so surprised me with this film. And it's been a while since I've seen the other two films. And I didn't look at my notes either. So maybe I'm not doing these films justice with my memory. though I want to be clear I'm not saying these films had to deliver anything more than they did not only did they give us some really potent fun playful satire they worked as the murder mysteries the really smart murder mysteries they needed to work as yep full stop that that's what made them very good films that we both positively very positively reviewed and I was really expecting nothing more from this film.

1:17:22And not only did we get the very pointed and very playful satire and the very smart, fun murder mystery, but I got something that hit me on a very, very odd emotional level. And I can't, I can't, I can't fully unfortunately articulate it because it would involve me. It would require me to get into spoilers. But what isn't a spoiler is to say that, of course, this is a murder mystery where you know that Benoit Blanc is going to reveal the killer and there's going to be a confession. That's how these movies work. We are going to eventually find out who the killer is and the killer is going to explain something about why they did what they did.

1:18:13I don't remember previously in these films, not that there wasn't depth, some depth to it or some drama there to it, maybe, or in other murder mysteries like these films. But watching this one, Josh, that final scene between O 'Connor and this performer and the different directions it goes, both intellectually and emotionally hit me in a way that I, I, I, I want to say I could have never expected, but of course also is completely in line with everything I saw for the previous two hours. It was the perfect culmination of the film that I saw except, or all I'm trying to say is I didn't, I didn't expect that murder mystery.

1:19:03I didn't expect a murder mystery to be able to do that somehow i'm still trying to figure out how how ryan johnson made this fun murder mystery satire that that left me that left me actually getting a little bit a little bit teary-eyed watching a killer confess at the end of the film because of the different ways a person the two the dynamic between the two characters in the scene, the, the levels that they are, the layers of that scene and where they go with each other. I think that's what I'm trying to say, where they go with each other in that scene. It, it's a surprise moment to moment. And I, I loved it.

1:19:52And I'll just add that you're right about the ways it works. It works on the level of the film's theology as well. I would also argue, and maybe we can dig into this further. It sounds like you have a potential most moving moment from Wake Up Deadman for our year-end wrap party. My, for sure, most moving moment is coming from this film, but it will be from an earlier scene in Wake Up Deadman. So, yeah, maybe when we get to that in January, we can talk about these in a little bit more detail. Yeah, and maybe I can articulate everything I was trying to say a little bit better then. speaking of moving and emotional let's talk a little bit about hamnet

1:20:53okay yeah this uh yeah Yeah, this was a lot. Hamnet is the adaptation of the 2020 novel by Maggie O 'Farrell. Paul Meskel here is Shakespeare. Jesse Buckley plays his wife. And we should also note this comes from co-writer and director Chloe Zhao, a favorite here at FilmSpotting. The movie is about these characters meeting and their marriage. And then it goes on to deal directly with the death of their only son, Hamnet. and what came from their grief, including the play that is his namesake. So, Adam, what do you say? This is going to be difficult because we've already touched on this. You weren't aware at all about the pushback to this movie, it sounds like.

1:21:42I am only vaguely aware by seeing star ratings and angry blue sky references to it. I don't know in detail, but there is some pushback from people. and how would you pre-defend Hamnet? Because I do know that you're a fan. Well, I do like the movie. I don't love the film, maybe as much as I thought I would considering the talent that's in it and the director and everything about the creation of art, you know, is usually going to be a subject that is going to appeal to me and it does appeal to me here. But I also think it's a limitation of the film as I'll get into here in a moment. I'm not sure exactly what the hangup is other than maybe folks find it a little bit too demanding of our emotions, wanting too much to wring every last tear out of us.

1:22:42I went into it knowing very little about this movie, honestly, other than the basic story that you mentioned there, Josh. And if we gave star ratings based on how many minutes we spent crying during a film, then I would give Hamnet 20 stars and it would be the greatest movie I ever saw. Okay. I'm telling you my experience with the film and I'm, I'm not, I'm not trying to suggest that I am somehow some virile man who watches films and never gets emotional. But when I watch movies, I can get a little, a little, you know, a little teary or I can, I can feel emotion welling up and I have to stifle back tears.

1:23:33I don't often, Josh, that I can recall actually cry, you know, where I'm actively sniffling and like the tears are, you know, rolling down my face. And there's a 20-minute section of this film where it nailed me. And that's what I was doing. I was sitting on my couch watching this film crying. So if you're a person who maybe wants to avoid material, especially if you are a parent and thinking about dealing with a movie that's going to depict the passing of a child and and having to to watch that kind of grief portrayed, maybe maybe the movie isn't for you. It was, for me, an emotional watch. But that's not something that was then a negative about the film, Josh.

1:24:31It also isn't then the basis for my positivity on the movie, that it got an emotional reaction out of me. I think that the first half of this film, when we're especially getting to know these characters, Paul Meskel's Will, who I love how the movie doesn't call him Will or refer to him as Shakespeare until near the end of the film. very clearly by design they just call him husband and they call her agnes and you if you came in with no knowledge of of what this was really about or that it was going to lead to the production of hamlet you you wouldn't know hand raised that was me but go on i think that's maybe why i like this movie so much but go on there you there you go you could you could come into it and not know that It has anything to do with Shakespeare for a very long time.

1:25:23And and I love that aspect of the film because I think Shao does a very nice job of of balancing this relationship and making it about both Agnes and the husband and making it about Buckley and Meskel. But still the emphasis, Josh, and I like the movie most when it's about Buckley's character. Yes. And the movie then at some point has to become the movie it has to become. It has to become the Shakespeare movie. It has to become the William Shakespeare movie that's about the production of Hamlet. And you said this earlier, and I agree with you, because of Buckley's performance and also very much because of Paul Meskel's performance, the moments that the movie needed to deliver emotionally still very much delivered for me in the second half.

1:26:16half of this film, but that, that turn that the movie needs to make or that it does try to make, I, I never felt, I never felt completely in, in lockstep with, I never felt like that turn to then becoming the Shakespeare movie was, was as satisfying as the, the Jesse Buckley Agnes film. I was getting up until that point. I think that's totally fair. And that may be part of the pushback that this movie is getting, which I could understand as I was just saying, I went in totally blind. I, I heard this was Chloe Zhao had these two actors somehow related, obviously from the title to Hamlet. I'm in don't want to know anything else.

1:26:57And so I really did go in blind until I was like, oh, okay. He's Shakespeare. Huh? Interesting. And then you do start to get the Easter eggs. I was fine with it. I think there is a scarecrow moment that that would be, you know, what they're doing in wicked for good. I got it. But we can talk offline maybe about what we think that is. But other than that, I think it handles it fine, the transition. Overall, I'd agree with you. To the crying question, I don't cry. Interestingly, the – well, I should say I don't cry during movies very often. I almost interjected, but I let it go. The last film I probably did was another Paul Meskel film, After Sun, where, yeah, things got wet.

1:27:41Uh, but yeah, I usually, this is what's interesting about Hamnet Adam is that movies like this, where you can sniff out early on that they want you to cry. No way is that going to work. The defenses come, the gates go up. It's like you try no luck. And I don't think the movie's being manipulative. Did you feel like the subject matter is the subject matter? This is what I was going to say is that I think it's a credit to Hamnet that it is so explicitly emotional and I still found it to be that. Maybe not to the point of tears, but my defenses did not go up. I never felt like I needed to protect myself from the manipulation of the movie because, again, the performances are genuine.

1:28:29And I think Zhao's conviction behind the camera is equally genuine. And so I didn't feel manipulated. I maybe didn't get to the emotional point you did, but I was on board with this movie all the way through to that ending, the climax, which, you know, was fairly profound. I feel like in the term, in terms of the communal compassion, it evokes out of this work of art. And so that's where I am with it. I'll, I'll dive into what some of the other objections are. I think I'll probably be able to understand just about all of them, honestly, as they might relate to the emotionality or the, you know, the use of Shakespeare and the Shakespeare Easter eggs or whatever you want to say.

1:29:12But for me, it all worked pretty well. Yeah, it worked pretty well for me, too. And it is largely because of those those performances and not just Buckley and Meskel, Jacoby Jupe as the young Hamnet. Oh, man, is he good? Wow. Gosh, and the stunt casting, if you will, but so smart to cast Jacoby Jupe and his brother, Noah Jupe, who you may know from the Quiet Place movies. That's his brother who we meet later in the film. And it makes sense whether you know that or not. And I didn't at the time in the moment watching it. But you feel it. You feel it in a way that you need to feel it. And that's all that really matters.

1:29:58And Meskel, I already I already said something about this or hinted at it. But the moments of performance within the performance that maybe we shouldn't be so impressed with, because that's what that's what actors do. That's what they get paid to do. But when you have to deliver some of these lines on a stage and we know the weight that has to be carried by them and the entire movie, Josh, is really being balanced on the emotional catharsis. The construct of the film demands that at a certain point, Paul Meskel is able to deliver lines that we feel the totality of the crushing, profound, the profundity of what his character, and not only even his character, his character within a character is expressing.

1:31:08and if it doesn't work, if it doesn't work, the whole ending fails and if the ending fails, I feel like the movie, the movie then doesn't work and maybe that is part of what's not working for people but because of Meskel's ability and Buckley's ability to make those moments that have to be transcendent actually be transcendent, Hamnet does succeed. Yeah, without these two actors with far lesser talents, it could have been disastrous. It really could have, but I think they manage it quite well. Hamnet is currently playing in limited release and will expand throughout the month. Next week here on Film Spotting, it is that Best of 2025 roundtable.

1:32:01Michael Phillips will join us as he has every year since, I don't know, at least 2007. And for the first time ever, how about this? Back, you know, even before COVID, Josh, we used to try to get her in the mix. She's part of the Film Spotting family, has been forever. And there was even a time where she was scheduled. And then it fell through at the last minute. Well, it's not falling through now, knock on wood. Vultures, Allison Wilmore, formerly of FilmSpottingSVU. She's going to be here as part of the roundtable. Can't wait. Super exciting. We've done at least two live shows that Allison's been involved with, maybe more.

1:32:40And yeah, she's incredibly fun, incredibly perceptive, and has a very interesting top 10 list that we've already gotten a sneak peek at. Um, and so, yeah, I can't wait for her to be in the mix for this great show, which is honestly, you know, one of our favorite to do favorite shows to do every year. And I got to ask you a question, Adam, also on the docket for this show is our golden brick finalists, right? We usually announce those films from new or upcoming filmmakers that we've been excited about from this year under scene films. And we nominate them for the golden brick. Can I throw in at least one, one more here before?

1:33:25Okay. So this was part of my cramming session. I mentioned how I needed to pick up my animation game for this year. And so I did watch Boys Go to Jupiter, which is directed by Julian Glander. It's sort of a lo-fi animated effort about a bunch of teenagers, including like a Grubhub gopher, essentially hanging out in Florida. And I can't say much more about it except to say that it is a strong shot at being in my actual top 10 this year. It is kind of a kinder, gentler South Park variation on what it's like to live in the United States today with some incredible electronic songs. also, as far as I can tell, written by Julian Glander, that make this like 80 % a musical that I've already been listening to just outside, just doing regular work because they're so fun and witty and smart as well.

1:34:30Eggs again. I think I'll have eggs again. There's so many different ways to have eggs. you could have a different way every day. So Boys Go to Jupiter, I absolutely want to throw in. It's Glander's feature debut as a golden brick contender. And then another movie I want to throw in because we both loved Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You. This is, I think, the second film from director Mary Bronstein. but the first we've seen feels like something of a breakout beyond Burns performance. Do we want to throw this in the mix as well? Where are you at here? Yeah, this is tough. It's a case, Josh, I threw out via Slack a couple of weeks ago.

1:35:22What do we do with Bronstein? I feel like she probably does belong in contention. If you look here again at the Chicago Film Critics Association, they have a breakthrough filmmaker Award. And Bronstein is among the candidates there. And I put Bronstein on my ballot. She's on my top five. Now, we don't have to have exact crossover with the BRIC and Breakthrough Filmmaker Award, but they are very similar. And I will tell you in having some conversations offline with Eric Childress from the CFCA who puts those ballots together, I don't I don't say this in any way disparagingly. He's in the same boat we are, which is we're all just making it up as best we can.

1:36:08It turns out, you know, there's no hard and fast criteria. It's not like it's not like there's there's exactly a set of rules that means you you qualify as a breakthrough filmmaker. And the CFCA is largely thinking in the same terms we are, which is, does it feel new to us? Does it feel like it has been a break out whether or not they've made previous films before? Or are those movies that maybe were not just shorts, but were they movies that maybe only played the festival circuit and really didn't get a release? That's one thing the CFCA really considers. And that does seem to be the case with Mary Bronstein.

1:36:46What's harder is when you talk about a breakthrough or emerging filmmaker, and they have films that go back. It's 2025, and Bronstein's work goes back to 2008 and 2009. Is she a breakthrough filmmaker? But there again, if it's just festival circuit stuff, and this is where we're really encountering her work for the first time, then she does seem to fit that part of the criteria. Well, then what about the fact that it's an A24 film and it did play in a lot of theaters? Is that too big for our golden brick? it's very tricky and i suppose at the end of the day i do think that the movie is still one that most people listening to us right now probably didn't get a chance to see and mary bronstein's a filmmaker that most people listening are just like us a month ago not familiar with and those two things being the case if i had legs i'd kick you should probably be a golden brick nominee.

1:37:44Yeah, that's where I fall to. On the long list anyway. Yeah, for the long list, for sure. The whole idea behind this is to highlight underseen films and up and coming filmmakers. And I think that applies at this stage to if I had legs, I'd kick you. So let's throw this on. Let's throw Boys Go to Jupiter on. And we have a very healthy list of contenders at this point to whittle down to our finalists, which we'll reveal on our next show. You can look at that list, that very healthy, long, long list over at filmspotting.net. You can go to the Golden Brick page. It's available at filmspotting.net slash bricks.

1:38:24This episode is brought to you by Peloton. Break through the busiest time of year with the brand new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ. With real-time guidance and endless ways to move, you can personalize your workouts and train with confidence, helping you reach your goals in less time. Let yourself run, lift, sculpt, push, and go. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus at OnePeloton.com. A few notes. Housekeeping here, Josh. Our producer, Sam, recently appeared on the podcast of a friend of our show, Aaron Newworth. The podcast is out now with Aaron and Abe.

1:39:02They talked about Noah Baumbach's Jay Kelly. I don't know if that's a movie that's going to get much discussion here. I don't know. Is Jay Kelly going to make your top 10, Josh? spoilers? No, it won't, though. I'm a mild fan. Can I say I'm a mild fan? Me too. I know that Sam is a much bigger fan, so I'm sure that's a good conversation he's having there with Aaron. And yeah, he'll be able to sing the praises of Jay Kelly. George Clooney, yeah, didn't come up on our performances list. I like him quite a bit in it, though. That's true. George Clooney's fine in Adam Sandler is excellent in it. Could he have used a little more Adam Sandler?

1:39:44I would have liked considering the great work he's doing there. But yeah, definitely check out Sam on Out Now with Aaron and Abe. And yeah, you can find it wherever you get your podcasts. Real quick, I think there's some interesting things to discuss with Clooney. Sam and I were having a discussion offline that I have to find a way to bring online here to the show about the only other actor. that could have played the J. Kelly part and would have made the film better. There is one other actor. I think Sam and I are on to something. Yeah, I think there's one. Well, because Clooney, I mean, if you think about it, and I know a lot of people are saying this, but Clooney anyway fits the part.

1:40:30Every shot in that movie of the posters of the classic Hollywood movie star, And when he looks himself in the mirror at one point and says Gary Cooper and he recounts the names and Jay Kelly, you know what? Clooney's face fits the bill. He fits that bill of those types of movie stars. I think we can see him in that litany. but there's another actor. It's not just that they're a better actor, Josh. It's about the persona and our relationship to that actor and that actor's relationship to their persona and their work that would have made Jay Kelly a very different film, but maybe a better one. So that's a discussion for another time.

1:41:12It is. I'll just add, I don't think it's necessarily a Clooney issue because Clooney is capable of something more than what we, what I got here, exhibit A, Michael Clayton, I think it's more an issue of how Jay Kelly is envisioned from a conception standpoint than how he's necessarily performed. See, we should have reviewed Jay Kelly. This is a crazy year, too much going on. This is ridiculous. Yeah. And I, you know, you know, I'm usually a Noah Baumbach guy and I am because I like the film. I do like it and I do recommend, I think that it's, I think it's worth seeing, but it's worth seeing. I have some reservations.

1:41:49Definitely worth seeing. All right. But we have to move on. I have to move on. I'm, I have to get up in like five hours to catch a flight to London, Adam, because, and only because, only because there's a film spotting meetup in London. I would not be going otherwise, but no, I cannot wait for, for this. It's going to be a lot of fun. I'm also seeing the Wes Anderson exhibit at the design museum in London. Great couple of days, including an evening with film spotting listeners. You know what? Why am I saying all this? It already happened by the time people are hearing this. Here's why I'm saying it.

1:42:24Here's why I'm saying it. I'll report on how fun it was. I want to do another one and I want to do one in Madrid. So please let us know if we have film spotting listeners in Spain, preferably around Madrid and you're available, let's say mid January. That's where I'm looking to head out to those parts. If you could let us know by emailing us feedback at filmspotting.net or through social media, you can find Adam at film spotting. I'm at Larson on film, bunch of places. And yeah, if you're out there, let us know and I'll try to put together another meetup next month in Madrid. That'd be fantastic.

1:43:06You know that I looked up via our backend system that we have downloads. this past year in Spain. So there have to be some listeners out there. Absolutely. Yeah. So let's make it happen. Quick note also about our sister podcast, The Next Picture Show, looking at cinemas present via its past. They've got a new pairing for you right now. It's their Eternal Question pairing. Speaking of the onslaught of films coming at us this time of year, Adam, here is one that I'm only vaguely familiar with, eternity sounded vaguely intriguing as so many movies do this time of year the next the next picture show host they're going to dig into it in depth and not only that pair it with a movie that i like quite a bit and can't wait to hear them discuss that would be hirakazu koreda's 1998 film after life you can get new episodes of the next picture show every tuesday and find them wherever you get your podcasts.

1:44:08All right, it's time now for Massacre Theater, where Adam and I perform a scene and you get a chance to win a film spotting prize. Last time, we massacred this scene. You sell some! It's all bullshit. All of it. The cabinet minister, the whole business, got us in here to do your dirty work. Look, we just stopped a major invasion, and three days later been across the border with this stuff. Why us? Because nobody else could pulled it off. You pissed about the cover story. I knew I couldn't get you in there without it. So what story did you hand to Hopper? Look, we've been looking for this place for months.

1:44:43My men were in that chopper when it got hit. Hopper's orders were to go in and get my men and he disappeared. He didn't disappear. He was skinned alive. And my orders were to get somebody and who could crack these bastards. So he cooked up a story and dropped the six of us in a meat grinder.

1:45:00What happened to you, Dylan? You used to be somebody I could trust. I woke up. Why don't you? That's Carl Weathers and Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1987's Predator, written by Jim. Sorry, I know Predator people take seriously. I just chuckle whenever it comes up. It was written by Jim and John Thomas, directed by John McTiernan. The Massacre was part of our Running Man show a couple of weeks back, which also featured a review of Richard Linklater's Nouvelle Vague. There's always a tie-in. So why that scene from Predator? Apparently, there were a lot of tie-ins. Here's Pavla Masik writing from Toronto, Canada.

1:45:42That might have been my favorite Massacre theater performance. I instantly recognized it. Maybe that's because I've seen Predator dozens of times. But more likely, it was the spotless Austrian accent. Was it spotless, Josh? Oh, thank you. Yes, I worked for weeks. Uh-huh. It was an utter delight to hear this movie receive your attention. While I would not count it among my top 10 movies of all time, seeing it on the big screen with 1 ,000 like-minded fans who all quoted, if it bleeds, we can kill it and get to the choppa in unison is a top 10 movie going experience. Tie into the episode. See, you need that experience, Josh.

1:46:18Yes. That's the key. Tie into the episode was the lesser Schwarzenegger vehicle of 1987 being the original and, sorry, Edgar Wright, superior The Running Man. Yeah, it's true. Jesse Ventura was also in both films that year with Arnie. He was Captain Freedom and Blaine. There are also connections to Nouvelle Vogue. Okay. Richard Linklater also directed Running Man 2025 star Glenn Powell in The Wonderful Hitman, a connection you may have touched on in the episode and earlier in Everybody Wants Some. Linklater also directed Lawrence Fishburne in Last Flag Flying, who notably appeared in Predators with Adrian Brody.

1:46:57Wow. Yeah. Deep cuts here. Other interesting connections. Jean-Paul Belmundo, you're going to tell me he was in Predators, aren't you, was a boxer before becoming an actor. And of course, Carl Weathers, who played Dylan, also played the great fictional boxer Apollo Creed after boxing in college before focusing on football and playing in the NFL and served in the French military in Algeria before training as an actor. Jesse Ventura served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. Insane. Can't wait for the next performance. Thank you. pavla i that was dizzying dizzying pavla all i have to add to all of that is predators good film like predators of course josh loves the sequels way more than the the cheesy originals always all right here's one more comment this comes from dan p in hillsborough virginia kudos to you guys for a fantastic massacre theater no more than a month goes by where i don't casually slip, get to the chopper in casual conversation, much to my wife's chagrin.

1:48:02So I knew this one, the moment Josh said, chopper, but if that hadn't sealed the deal, the name changed to Apollo would have cinched it. Adam, I think we can all understand and forgive you breaking character on this one. Thank you guys for years of entertaining movie commentary. I'll take it. I haven't forgiven myself, Josh. I really haven't. Breaking character, unforgivable. And what is the context in which Dan is constantly talking about Chappas? Just helicopters all around? Do you really need one? We'll have to ask Dan's poor beleaguered wife. Yes, let's do that sometime. Okay, reach into the pretty brimming film spotting hat because our listeners have really good taste and they love this film and pick out this week's winner.

1:48:50Our winner is, speaking of film spotting meetups, a regular at the film spotting Boulder meetup, Jonathan Anderson. He's from Denver, Colorado. Congratulations, Jonathan. We will say that when we saw your name come out of the hat, we both immediately assumed you've won this at least like 17 times before. This is true. Yes. I can't find proof of that. And you're our winner now. So congrats. You win your very own FilmSpotting t-shirt or tote bag or trial membership to the FilmSpotting family. Yes, friends, Massacre Theater will return whether you like it or not in 2026. Jonathan, email us feedback at FilmSpotting.net.

1:49:29Okay, forgive me. We have not met. Is that right? No, I don't think so. Okay, phew, because I was relatively certain I'd remember. I know I've met. Let's wrap things up with some poll results. A couple of weeks ago, we asked you to name your scene stealer of the year. The way we phrased it, not their movie, but they made it their movie. The options we gave you were Amy Madigan, Weapons, Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another, Marisa Abela, Black Bag, Michael Cera, The Phoenician Scheme, One Me, Mosaku, Sinners, Ray Fiennes, 28 years later as well. or you could write in other. Now, every one of those names, Josh, except for Ray Fiennes, who I do think is quite good in 28 years later, got mentioned previously here on the show, either actually is a Chicago Film Critics Association nominee or someone who one of us felt should be.

1:50:28How did the results come out? Well, first off, validation for Sam. I mean, come on, listeners give him crap about his polls, calling them flawed all the time. I think this This shows how strong of a poll this was. And yeah, let's look at some of these results because it's pretty tight until we get to the winner. So other 4%, Marisa Abela from Black Bag, 5%. Wumi Mosaku from Sinners, 7%. Michael Cera, 9 % for his performance in the Phoenician scheme. 11 % of the vote went to Ralph Fiennes, and 28 years later, we jump up to a 19 % vote for the second place actor, Amy Madigan in weapons, but no one was going to take this from Benicio del Toro in one battle after another.

1:51:16He won the poll with 46 % of the vote. Almost 50 % of the vote, Josh, despite all of those really strong candidates. Eleanor Dodson says, I feel like the answer is always Benicio del Toro. Maybe Sam should just put Benicio in regardless of what the question is from now on. Let's see what happens. I love it. Here's Rory Dunn. While del Toro is rightfully running away with this, I still want to give Michael Cera his flowers. He was the best part of the Phoenician scheme, standing out amongst greats like Tom Hanks and del Toro, and made us all realize that he should have been in every Wes Anderson film since the Royal Tenenbaums.

1:51:50To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that the scene in which he reveals a truth about himself may be his best moment of acting in his career. You might not be wrong about that, Rory. Yeah, he might just be right. Here's Ken Link. I looked at this not just as the scenes or movies being stolen, but the actors from whom it's being stolen. OK, by that metric, Marisa Abela takes every scene that she is in out from under actors who have commanded the screen while concealed beneath crime scene scrubs Blanchette Night of Cups. That's a reference, I guess, Josh, or a paper mache head fast bender Frank. I get that one.

1:52:25Taking focus away from these two attention magnets is like taking gold out of Fort Knox. Man, I think we got to add to this Odessa Azayan in Marty's Supreme. I know this performance came too late to be included in the poll, but I mean, she kind of takes that movie. She takes her scenes. Let's just say she's Timothee Chalamet's equal in every sequence she's in with him, if not more. All right. One more comment from Trent Robb. I voted other for Tiana Taylor in one battle after another. I thought her section of the film was the best and the film suffers when she is no longer in it. Here's Holly Boyd.

1:53:07The correct answer is probably Del Toro. Oh, I love this, but I have to mention Patrick Kennedy's wonderful turn is EB white and blue moon. Maybe more the perfect scene partner to Hawk than a scene stealer, but his warmth and presence is crucial to what makes the film work. I completely forgot about Patrick Kennedy, but called out that great performance during our review. We both did. I considered him for my ballot, but the whole Stuart Little thing, I know we differ on it, but I just, and it's not, it's not Patrick Kennedy's fault. That of all the things to be sacred player needs to go that direction.

1:53:44But you know what? It cost him. It cost him my ballot, Adam. That's all I can say. Our final comment comes from Devin Suber. a lot of very good options this year, even going by my own standard of cameo performances or similar. While I consider John Carroll Lynch in Sorry Baby, oh, that's a good one. Ultimately, I want to throw my weight behind Bridget Everett in Wake Up Dead Man. I know how you feel about this, Josh. Oh, are we going to spoil anything? Okay, I'm going to be careful reading the rest of this comment from Devin. I was on board with the movie before she showed up, but she instantly grabs attention and reveals the film's beating heart.

1:54:24It's a small demonstration of what she does so well on HBO's Somebody Somewhere, pivoting from broad comedy to heart-wrenching drama without breaking a sweat. Honestly, it's miraculous. At this time, Adam, I can't comment any further. Okay. I got it. You're saving it. I understand. We have a few weeks left, at least a month until our end of year wrap party. We mentioned him earlier, but I think William H. Macy, in Train Dreams is an appropriate choice for this, for this poll, because he does feel like almost more of a scene stealer in Train Dreams. And we talked about Jay Kelly earlier, you know, who almost fits in this category as well is Billy Crudup.

1:55:09He has two scenes in that movie, Josh, here again, performance within a performance and he has to nail it. And boy, does he have fun with those scenes, those, those one or two scenes that he gets in the film. Once again, are we going to have to do a J Kelly bonus episode for the film spotting family at some point, maybe in January? You didn't like Billy crud up in J Kelly, Josh. I know that's not what I'm saying, but his character is coming back to the, it's coming back to the screenplay.

1:55:47if only we had if only we had more time okay well we have just enough time to give you our final deeply flawed film spotting pool for 2025 even though I think we're going to contend that it's not deeply flawed at all we're asking you to choose your film of the year and yeah we're only giving you two options though I suppose the flaw is that that's not true because we are allowing you to write in other in this case it's not a Redford poll where we only gave you truly those two choices though. We could, we could usurp Sam, Josh, like we are wanting to do. We could take out other, you know what he's he's, he did so well with the scene stealers poll.

1:56:27And this I think is really good. I don't want to step on his toes now. He's he's riding high. He's on a hot streak. Okay. So here it is. Your film of the year, 2025. The options are what Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. Ryan Coogler's sinners or yeah, Sam is allowing you to choose other. You know what? It'll be interesting for comments. I see Sam's logic, his producer mind at work. I get it. That's good. But really, come on. You got to choose between those top two. One battle, sinners, or take the field. You can vote in that poll and leave a comment at filmspotting.net. We will share the results and your feedback on next week's best of 2025 roundtable show.

1:57:14That is this show, Josh. Until then, if you want to connect with us on social media, you can find Adam and the show on Instagram, Facebook, Letterboxd, and YouTube. He's at FilmSpotting. I'm at all those places as Larson on Film. We are independently produced and listener supported. You can support the show by joining the FilmSpotting family at FilmSpottingFamily.com. If you do that, you're going to be able to listen early, ad-free. You'll also get a weekly newsletter, monthly bonus episodes, and access to the entire show archive. For show t-shirts and other merch, go to filmspotting.net slash shop.

1:57:52In the Film Spotting archive, you can find reviews of Rian Johnson movies like Knives Out, the other parts of that mystery saga, 755, which we put back in the main feed this week, Glass Onion, episode 898. And of course, we've talked about Brick before, Josh, going back to 2006. Chloe Zhao, the best picture winning Nomadland was episode 805. We also shared our top five Frances McDormand performances. We talked about the writer on episode 679. Wake Up Dead Man is on Netflix now. We suggest that you see it. In limited release, Dust Bunny, an eight-year-old girl asks her scheming neighbor for help in killing the monster under her bed that she thinks ate her family.

1:58:35it stars mad mickelson mads mickelson and sigourney weaver and our friend at roger ebert.com brian tallarico says this is going to be a future filmmaker's favorite movie as a kid interesting the shining is getting an imax re-release this got the sacred cow treatment from us way back wow episode 419 merry christmas everybody yeah no kidding in wide release you can see Ella McKay. This is James L. Brooks's first film in 15 years. He of broadcast news, as good as it gets, terms of endearment. It stars Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Woody Harrelson. And yes, Merry Christmas indeed, Josh. Silent Night, Deadly Night, a remake of the cult 80s film that terrorized kids via its VHS cover.

1:59:23That was enough for me. Next week. Let me just try to pull this. I've never seen this film. A Stocking on an Axe? are those involved? It has to be. That's what I'm saying in my head too. I think we have to be right. Next week, Michael Phillips will be here. Allison Wilmore will be here and we will share our top 10 films of the year. Film Spotting is produced by Golden Joe DeSoe and Sam Van Halgren. 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 at WBEZ.org. For Film Spotting, I'm Josh Larson.

2:00:02And I'm Adam Kempinar. Thanks for listening. This conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

2:00:25Film Spotting is listener supported. Join the Film Spotting family at filmspottingfamily.com and get access to ad-free episodes, monthly bonus shows, our weekly newsletter, and for the first time, all in one place, the entire Film Spotting archive going back to 2005. That's filmspottingfamily.com.