Trainspotting Review (30th Anniv.), Pantheon Nominations (#1052)

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32:00I know that there are so many moments that we could sit here and talk through in terms of the filmmaking and all the tricks that Boyle employees. But actually what I want to talk about, Joshua, it stood out to me this time. And maybe it stood out to me so much because I was working on the graphics that we're going to post on the show page and that are going to go with the podcast when we post it. But of course, when you think about the poster for the show and you think about the art that accompanied the movie, part of the branding of this movie, it's that orange and it's the green and it's the purple.

32:36It's the super vibrant colors because of that. That is what you associate the movie with. And of course, when you watch the film, it is actually so much grimier and so much more squalid than you would imagine based on that. It, it, it is almost like it was intentionally the opposite, you know, to try to mislead you into thinking that the film was going to be something that it really isn't. But what I noticed this time and, and someone can write in email us feedback at filmspotting.net. If you can point out other, other scenes in the movie where Boyle does this and I, I miss them. There probably are.

33:14But what stood out to me, Josh, is that, is that those colors weren't, weren't just randomly chosen, you know, for the, for the movie poster to be, to be these glowing colors that would get our attention. There's a, there's a scene, maybe a third of the way through the movie, I don't know, halfway through where, where Renton is walking by an apartment complex, you know, a set of flats and it's, and it's still very gray and very dingy like the film as a whole looks, you know, this, there's nothing about this set of flats that would say this is a glamorous lifestyle. And yet the doors, or maybe it's the curtains, it's either the doors or the curtains.

33:58I'd have to get the scene back out. One of them's purple. One of them's green. One of them's orange. You know, I think there's a blue. It's like Boyle still finds a way to inject some color and some life and some vibrancy even into a shot and a scene, a moment like that. And then what about where he where he then revisits that exact use of color is at the end when they're in the hotel room and they're they're doing the crime scene. They're doing the not the crime scene. They're doing the exchange, right? The the drugs for money. The different some of the different characters there in the scene, like the guy who stays in the room with them when the other guys take the drugs away.

34:41Right. He's wearing the purple shirt, you know, and someone else is wearing like an orange shirt and the green shirt. So he's still being playful and being clever with those colors, you know, and finding ways to have some symmetry between the scenes. But that's where he's injecting the color into these otherwise like kind of squalid and, you know, these moments that are not, you know, I don't know what the right word is to describe a moment, you know, like an exchange, like a drug exchange like that. But it's not the typical type of moment we might expect just based on certainly the marketing materials.

35:17Yeah. And it's also an aesthetic reflection of the thematic quality we were talking about at the start. Vibrancy, you said. Yes. You need, you know, just as we said, you need the vibrancy of that experience of the high to also make you fully understand the low that we'll get to. And so in some of these frames and the use of such colors, you're getting both in the composition at once. And I consider orange, green, purple, those can be, depending on how they're used, the hue, the pigmentation, those can be nauseous colors. And I think that's kind of in the combination with these squalid settings, that's kind of how they're employed here.

36:00Let me give you my quick, maybe my nitpick and maybe it deserves a bigger, a bigger qualifier than that. Well, first of all, you're right about the scatological scene with Spud, you and Bremers, you know, the morning after with his sheets. I mean, that's just like the most disgusting toilet in Scotland works. Perfect. You know, we need that. That scene with Spud and next morning. Okay. You're pushing it a little too far. I didn't need that. But you know what? I don't know that we needed Kelly McDonald's Diane at all. And this is no fault of Kelly McDonald, um, who I think is, you know, very talented, does fine work here and has shown to do incredible work, like no country.

36:42Right. She she's like, right. Yeah. Maybe one of the best scenes and no country for old men, um, and, and other films. Um, I don't know why she needs, why Diane needs to be underage here. And I haven't read the Irving Welsh novel. Maybe it's there and they're just transferring, you know, narrative details. It just, you know, maybe you could argue Debbie and I were talking about this after watching it. Like she said, maybe it's supposed to be like another bad choice that Renton makes. Right. And other transgressions, right. You You could justify it that way. I just, I think just like, it's especially in my head just last week, we had to address this because our Diane Keaton top five, you know, brings in Woody Allen.

37:31So the underage thing you have to acknowledge we're swimming in the Epstein shit still. And it's just like, I put in a movie like this and I'm just like, why is this everywhere? What's wrong with us as human beings that we, we even casually in a movie like train spotting have to have to have that. So I don't know, maybe someone more familiar with the novel, you know, can fill me in on something I'm missing. Well, I'm just going to say taking out the distasteful part of it, honestly, there's just the dramatic element. Again, it feels like that character is introduced and could potentially be, I suppose, Josh, an interesting character, someone to play off of Renton.

38:12But then she just disappears until she shows up near the end of the film. You know, if if any character seems like someone who gets sacrificed because of the 90 minute runtime, it it might be that character. I don't know because I haven't seen those deleted scenes, but I wonder if there are some some good scenes involving Kelly McDonald's character that that were left on the cutting room floor, because I don't know why otherwise that character really is in the film. I think that's a fair point. Yeah, that makes sense. Back to the positive and back to the techniques and the aesthetic choices. Part of the reason this movie moves like it does obviously is because of the editing.

38:51So the editor on the film, Masahiro Hirakubo, looks like did TV before working on Boyle's Shallow Grave and then also worked on the beach with Boyle. That's why that opening sequence you called out works, the chase and bringing us through this headlong experience of what life is like for these guys when they're high. Um, I, is that where they, there's the fast edits of the sucking down the milkshake. I just think of that as like, it's a little detail, but like the multiple cuts for that one action is like, that's train spotting, right? That is, that is capturing how this movie moves, but even things like, remember when Spud is interviewing for the tourist job or whatever it is.

39:36Yeah. And there's that too much speed. Yeah. Yeah. So he's, he's sped up and then we just get nice touches where there's an establishing shot essentially of him in this big room from far away, turquoise rug, another potentially nauseous color. And while he's talking, we cut to a medium shot of him. Like we're suddenly up on him and then we're back away and, and stuff like that. And another cut that I love, this is where Renton, I think it might be after the bingo night. He goes out back. No, I think it's after Tommy's funeral. At any rate, he's clean. he's balancing on top of a cinder block wall and he decides he's going to go for a hit jumps up off the wall cut to him spider-man style landing in the middle of mother superior's flat right yeah i mean just like that's the sort of stuff we're talking about right exactly yes that's what we think of we think of that those kind of magical realist moments that yeah editing the editing provides yeah i i think you're exactly right and that reminds me too as you brought up the turquoise we see pink for example in the moment uh where tommy tommy's telling the story of what really happened with begbie playing pool he's lifting weights talk about the the degradation the de-evolution of tommy as a character as a man also obviously corresponds with his apartment and when he's lifting weights like his his flat has it's pink behind him you know it has this more feminine sort of touch, right?

41:04As he has this woman in his life and, and that all, that all fades. So that that's that injection of color again, that's there. And that, that completely dissipates as, as his life gets worse and worse. The thing that inspired my, my question that I set up in the intro, Josh, something I thought about, and, and here again, maybe this is, this is really obvious, but I was thinking about this movie as a generational movie, Just the fact that we were the age that in theory, this movie should have exactly appealed to, right? And I'm going to throw this out there and see what you think about it. Also, as I had the thought, as it occurred to me, that it really is more than anything, I think, a comedy.

41:48My thought is this, that Trainspotting is to Gen X what The Graduate was to baby boomers, including the indelible soundtrack. Choose Life replaces plastics and heroin replaces sex. Benjamin Braddock, he had the California sun and he had a swimming pool and he had Mrs. Robinson to numb himself with, right? Because he didn't know what choices to make. He was overwhelmed by now having to become an adult, by having to leave college and go out into the world and not know what he should be, right? So he numbs himself with sex. And you have a guy, you have the friend of his dad famously telling him at the party, plastics is the way to go because it will make him rich.

42:46And of course, if it makes you rich or if it makes you money, that will be the key to happiness. And Trainspotting just updates that for our generation. And instead of plastics, it's choose life. Think about how many things in that monologue are consumer related. almost all of it television washing machines cars compact displayers tin openers mortgage payments starter home three-piece suit right you could go on and on it's it's all about what you what you buy the fear seems to be ultimately more than anything that adulthood equals consumerism right and that you're you're just going to fall into whatever that rut whatever that routine is And that's what he is trying.

43:33That's what he's trying to avoid. And that's really the key. That's the key to the character is not only are you not only are you choosing heroin because it makes you feel really, really, really good. But as Renton says at one point in the narration, you know, it's just another type of full time job, which is hard. But at least there's only one choice to make. that choice is every day. I just have to do whatever I have to do to get the next fix. When you, when you choose life, you have to choose all those other things. There's so many more decisions. It's overwhelming. Who wants to make all those decisions?

44:10It's so much easier to just make one decision, right? And that's what that, that's what that character has to do. So I was thinking about the graduate a lot as I was watching this film, but I'll throw one last thing at you too that is a little more out there is it possible that we should think about this movie train spotting as danny boyle's first zombie movie i mean yeah that's connected to the you know renton as a ghoul for sure i the ghoul part absolutely but you know i i think that that's a great way a great way to look at it but if you think about adulthood equaling consumerism that's that's the allegory that we have often seen zombies representing right in horror films and and you can be the zombie who makes all of those choices right because they're not really choices at all they're they're predetermined they're inevitable for you or what you could be the junkie who shoots up and you basically go into a comatose state you're you're completely non-functional you're a different kind of zombie i mean almost the one-to-one the film that picked up that idea and is even more of a comedy is Shaun of the Dead, which almost literalizes that idea, right?

45:25Where the consumers are the zombies. And of course, Dawn of the Dead did that in pure horror form a lot earlier. So yeah, I like the zombie connection. You mentioned with The Graduate, the soundtrack, I do have to say it definitely works for the movie, but train spotting soundtrack, I should say, because The Graduate soundtrack does not work this way. It's more wallpaper than I remembered. I thought it was more, you know, we were talking about that with our poll about the best 90s soundtrack and the distinction between wallpaper soundtracks and those that are integrated into the actual scenes and how they're working as a scene.

46:03I got to say, and this is, it's just a choice. It's a different way to use music. It is more wallpaper here than I thought in terms of how Boyle employed it. um before we go at them i gotta i gotta report back on you know this is scottish film set in edinburgh and you went there yeah what did you learn over the weekend what can you tell us well first of all and doing some research toilet and you didn't walk in you didn't walk in in some terrible tourist gear to to some pub and go hi can i use your bathroom you look at him i was I think I was there for almost 12 hours and I held it the whole time.

46:44So I would not encounter that toilet. Good. Okay. Yeah. That's not entirely true, but where I was worried about it. So yeah, you know, research shows, of course, mostly this was shot in Glasgow, but set in Edinburgh and they make use of some crucial locations to kind of get that feel mostly in that opening chase sequence actually. So I was, I was down there. I wanted to track a few of these down. I have to thank Micah Rickard, a film spotting listener. He's pursuing a master's degree here in Scotland as well. Yeah. Critic. And I had the pleasure to edit some of his stuff back at Think Christian.

47:19So Micah and I kind of scouted this out and we did find from that opening chase, the first is obvious when they're running down the shopping street, that's princess street, which is like a major kind of tourist shopping street. So that's obvious, not all that distinct. Um, but there is the stairway that Renton comes flying down just before the tunnel that he runs under. I don't know if he makes it. I think it's actually Spud who's making it through the tunnel where Renton gets hit by the car. Gets hit by the car and it's tackled. Yeah. Yeah. That's leading to Waverly station. So, so I got an Instagram photo of myself standing there by that tunnel.

47:58Um, it's on my Instagram, Larson on film, if people want to check it out. And yeah, I think, you know, I think Boyle and the location scouts, they do a good job of, of capturing some of those distinct bridges, tunnels, stairways of Edinburgh. My only complaint as I'm going to call myself a pseudo local, pseudo local, uh, about train spotting as a Scottish film, not enough rain in this movie, Adam. Does it rain at all? I don't remember seeing it. It's been raining since January too. So they should have had at least a few scenes to really make it authentic to my mind at least. Okay. Fair enough.

48:37Train spotting. It seems, didn't learn this until a couple of days before we had to watch it, really difficult to find streaming or VOD, at least in the United States. Hopefully if you're listening from somewhere else in the world, you had a little bit of an easier your time finding it. And you could, of course, just stick with the soundtrack and your memories. We recommend skipping the heroine. We would love to hear your thoughts about the movie. If you did have a chance to revisit it or not, maybe it is so just imprinted on your brain, whatever previous experience you had with it, feedback at filmspotting.net.

49:16Adam, we like to take some time to thank our Film Spotting family members here on the show. We even more like to thank our film spotting advisory board members, those top of the tier folks who help us make decisions about the show. And so let's thank Evelyn from Manhattan, New York, for supporting the show. Evelyn is on Letterboxd. If you'd like to follow her there, you can look for Soful76, S-O-F-U-L-L-7-6. Evelyn shared this with us. I had just seen Joss Whedon's Serenity. It was looking for podcasts that reviewed it and found film spotting. I liked it so much. I went back to listen to all the older episodes when it was called Cinecast, if my memory serves.

49:58So yes, I've been listening for 20 years and it seemed time as they say to pay the piper, but mostly to say thank you for helping me keep my cinephilia alive. Yeah, I am blanking on what episode that was, but I want to say that's a pre Cinecast 20 episode. Yeah, it's going way back. A favorite show segment. This might be a bit self-serving, but I never write into podcasts, but I've been moved a few times to write to film spotting when the subject is exactly my speed. And each time I was lucky enough to get my emails read first and probably most infamously for the old school fans, the lake house.

50:31I wrote the email instigating the entire discussion. Who knew it would get so heated? It was also the first time I felt truly connected to the film spotting family. Thanks, Adam, for being on my side. Well, thank you. and runner up years later, the Judy Garland best scenes episode being a hardcore Judy fan. I had to write in about my favorite scene, the camera dip in summer stock with Gene Kelly. Apparently I wrote in at the exact right time and swayed Adam's choice to include that exact scene, listening to it being discussed and having Michael Phillips agree with the choice of forever highlight.

51:02I did go back, Josh, and I found that exchange and I was debating between two scenes like the day before we recorded. That was one of them. And so she, she clinched it. There is something deeply touching about how film spotting reads and engages with our listeners. While I've never spoken to Adam, Josh, or Sam, or been able to attend the events, I've always felt a part of this community. And in times like this, making the choice to actively join the community felt like a true necessity. Thank you so much for your work for all these years. Yes. Evelyn also shared a random film or filmmaker that she loves.

51:33Linklater and Wong Kar-Wai are all-time faves, but I'd like to highlight 1943's The More the Merrier, as it's such an unknown classic and I want more people to watch it. Unknown to me, Evelyn. So yeah, we'll have to track that down. Sam put a note here that The More the Merrier, a housing shortage romantic comedy directed by George Stevens and its stars, Gene Arthur and Joel McRae. the movie that Evelyn credits with becoming a cinephile vertigo. When I was eight years old, my dad had it on and I watched it with him and my very soul was rocked. I remembered it and didn't see it again until I was a teenager and it lived up to my memory.

52:13You know, I'm just, while we're talking, I'm looking this up briefly to try to see if I can find a date because, well, it says February 20. Yeah. February, 2025. Maybe this was before. Yeah, it was in fact, Josh, because I'm reading this and I'm going, wait a second. I've met Evelyn. So, so this intake form came in before I had a chance to meet Evelyn, which was actually like last, last July when I, when I went out with, with Sarah, we went out to New York city and saw the Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington Othello met up with some of our, some of our trivia spotting mafia, our New York listeners out there.

52:51Evelyn joined us for a drink. So I just did want to throw that in there. I'm like, I know, I know Evelyn. So this, this came in just, just before that actually, but we continue with Evelyn's thoughts. She has a few more. She says a favorite book about movies or movie making five came back by Mark Harris. And that is a good one. I like all of Mark Harris's stuff. We thank Evelyn for being an advisory board member and for all of her years of listening. In 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.

53:24You get exclusive opportunities like being part of the film spotting family discord. Heck, when I visit your town, maybe you even get to meet up with me and have a drink. That that that's an exclusive opportunity, isn't it, Joshua? You don't actually have to be a family member for that, but I shouldn't say that. That's true. Okay. And you get monthly bonus shows are February bonus. As we're taping this, we still have two days left in the voting and it's pretty close, but we have four 1940s movies, all pretty well-regarded, that are vying for that blind spotting spot. We are only going to pick one, and that film is going to be the one that me, you, and producer Sam discuss on a bonus episode.

54:05It might be Kurosawa. Drunken Angel is a Kurosawa that somehow the three of us haven't seen. Could be that. Could be something else. More information about joining the Film Spotting family is available at filmspottingfamily.com. And you can also rate us over at Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really does help us reach new listeners. So kiss me and let us both be damned.

54:34Next week on the show, Josh, we're going to be leaving drug-addled 90s-era Edinburgh for the wild, windy, and apparently quite lusty moors of Northern England. Are you ready for that? Oh, boy. Sure. Wuthering Heights, quote unquote, is here. We'll see if we're ready for the discourse on that. Joining us to be part of our discourse is going to be Mariah Gates. We'll talk Emerald Fennell and Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. And we'll also talk a little bit about her book that came out last year, Cinema Her Way. That'll be fun. I can't wait to do that. I think we were, we were hoping to have Mariah on last year and it didn't work out, but yeah, we'll touch on the book, which is great, which I enjoyed.

55:21And this movie, which people seem to be interested in Adam, from what I can tell, I've been avoiding as much as I can. Here's, here's where I'm at is just kind of scrolling letterbox trying to avoid the reactions. what I've been able to perceive is that, and maybe I'm wrong on this, they seem to be kind of all over the place, which I love. I like to know that because then I have nothing going in. I can feel like I'm at somewhat of a blank slate. Okay. I truthfully haven't even seen that. I have not been on Letterboxd much over the past week, unfortunately. Everything I know is what Sam has put on this document in front of the two of us.

56:02He is telling us that Mariah, it seems, is positive. based on her letterbox blurb, but I don't have that in front of us. And then we have Alison Wilmore. We have our friend Alison, and this is her letterbox blurb. And I guess this sort of sums up maybe what you're saying, Josh. Wuthering Heights is Fennell's dumbest movie. And I say that with all admiration because it also happens to be her best to date. Well, I mean, that kind of seems all over the place. I can hear Alison saying that for one thing, which I love. And yeah, Yeah, I think it's fair game at this point. So let's keep our blinders on, go see it, and we'll join Mariah to discuss.

56:45I'm down. Also next week, Pantheon review number one. What will that be? Well, you'll find out in just a bit. And poll results, we're asking you to choose life. Choose a 90s movie soundtrack. This was a fun one, and it will be fun to reveal the results next week here on the show. So vote and leave a comment at filmspotting.net. Adam, I want to put out one more call for a potential Copenhagen meetup. Haven't got any bites yet. I don't know how many listeners we have in the Copenhagen area, but I am going to be there the first week of March and would love to spend a night hanging out with any listeners who are nearby.

57:25So yeah, email us feedback at filmspotting.net or find me on social Larson on film Larson with an E I'm on blue sky. Instagram and Facebook. And let me know if you're in or near Copenhagen around the first week of March, we'll get together. Also wanted to share a quick note about our sister podcast, The Next Picture Show, looking at cinemas present via its past. They are offering part two of their both sides of the aisle pairing, I-S-L-E. So they are on to discussing Sam Raimi's Send Hell. Previously they talked about Lena Vertmuller's Swept Away from 1974. So a lot of comparisons between those two films will be part of this most recent episode on Send Help.

58:12You can find new episodes of The Next Picture Show every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, deep breath, because it's time now for Massacre Theater. This is where Adam and I perform a scene. You get a chance to win a film spotting prize. Last time we massacred this scene. Boy, did we ever. I want to say it as simple as I can. Try to shape it into words. Feelings in my heart. I don't love you. What? I don't love you. Already? Already what? Already? How do you know that? How can you be sure so quick? I'm sure.

59:20ouch Anderson. Our massacre of that scene was part of our Oscar nominations reaction show, came a couple of weeks back. Also on that show, we did a Sacred Cow review of Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. Yes, a Sacred Cow review of a 2025 film. We did it. We're proud of it. There's always a tie-in to Massacre Theater. So why that scene from the French Dispatch? Here's Mark Chorney in Portland, Oregon. Although the scene didn't sound familiar to me, I'm going to take a guess based on clues from the episode. The French Dispatch? I'm thinking this because the character of the dialogue sounded Andersonian, Wes, that is.

1:00:00I only saw this once when it was released, but I seem to remember one of the narratives being about French student revolutionaries, which connects to one battle. Del Toro stars in both films. They're both directed by Andersons. 2026 Best Actor Front Runner Timothy Chalamet is in the French Dispatch, and he says, to sign off, Josh, long live Massacre Theater. Wow. We're really getting the write-in vote on Massacre Theater, Adam. Yeah, I did it. I hope you're taking note. Here's a good old Tory light cap from Topeka, Kansas. The scene is from the French dispatch, specifically the concrete masterpiece section, as Rosenthaler, played by Benicio Del Toro, and Simone, played by Lea Seydoux, banter a bit before Rosenthaler proposes marriage.

1:00:46The superficial Benicio del Toro connection is immediate and obvious, but look deeper. In one battle, in the clip you played, Bob says, freedom's a funny thing, isn't it? When you have it, you don't appreciate it, and when you miss it, it's gone. In French Dispatch, in the same segment, in fact, as Rosenthaler and Simone, the character of Berenson observes how women enjoy incarcerated men because, quote, something about the captivity of others enhances the experience of their own freedom. Seemingly two sides. of the same philosophical coin. Did we look that deep, Josh? Ooh, holy. I don't know if anyone has ever, ever looked that deep into a massacre theater connection.

1:01:28Nice work, Tori. Here's Danny Hensel. Offending the French, which I think I did, and this director is known for his precision, which I think I also said, made me think it would be this movie. And then the rhythm of the dialogue as performed really recalled Anderson's work. Wow. Did it, Danny? Did it? I mean, that's either praise for us or an insult to Wes Anderson. I don't know which. All right. Here's Henry Kyneson in Maidstone, UK. Gentlemen, we don't come to your performances because they are Oscar or even brick worthy. It's your daring, your nerve, your ability to jump into a tangle of foreign words with no prep.

1:02:09Where else do you get that? Bless you both. Indeed. Where else do you get that? Finally, here's Botand from Budapest, Hungary. This was especially painful. Here's a counter to Henrik. This was especially painful to listen to. Since that scene is probably in my top five Wes Anderson scenes of all time, it resonates with me so much. You know what? Would you like to issue an apology to Botand? I apologize to Botand and yes, all Wes Anderson fans everywhere. all Wes Anderson fans everyone who's French all of all of Budapest everywhere cinema fans indeed okay Josh despite all the clues I gave and how Andersonian our our banter apparently sounded we didn't have a lot of entries no no the hat is it's not it's not overflowing what kind of hat Would a Wes Anderson character wear?

1:03:08Oh, come on. I mean, there's so many options. I know. There's not a signature hat. What's twee? I know we need something twee. No, no, no. Come on now. Reach into it and pick out this week's winner. Robert Gibbons from Kaysville, Utah. Congratulations, Robert. Email feedback at filmspotting.net, and we will set you up with your very own film spotting t-shirt, tote bag, or trial membership to the film spotting family.

1:03:49we move on now to this week's edition of massacre theater and yes massacre theater it's there in the title it's always been about performing badly about embarrassing ourselves but but producer sam really seems like he's on a mission now, Josh. He's on a roll. It's really about just killing us. He's definitely on a roll. That's why he's throwing accents our way. This time we both have to do accents. Now, in our Trainspotting review, I describe myself as a pseudo local, having lived here in Scotland for months now. I'm going to offer you a pseudo accent. A pseudo accent. Oh. Yes. I can't wait. I don't know what I'm going to do.

1:04:32We'll see. This will be magical then. Yeah. Okay. You started off. I'm going to give you the action. Are you ready? Nope. Let's do it. Okay. Here we go. And action. You're muttering. Adult mutter. Ah, you do. You mutter, lass. When something's troubling you. I blame you. Stubbornness. It's entirely from your side of the family. Who? I take it the talk didn't go too well then. I don't know what to do. Speak to her, dear. I do speak to her. She just doesn't listen. Come on now. Pretend I'm Carla Jean. Speak to me. What you say? Ooka, I can't do this. Sure you can. There, there. That's my queen. Right.

1:05:22Here you go. I don't want to get married I want this single let my hair blow and the wind is right to the glen firing arrows into the sunset and scene I don't sound like that that's a bad impression of me sorry I don't sound like that I think we did well Adam I think yeah let's don't worry about what comments are coming our way just feel this moment of pride and enjoy it yeah of course we did give you I don't know we maybe gave you a little bit of a clue we had to throw you off the scent a little bit though by changing the name so this movie does not actually have a Carla Jean in it in case you were wondering didn't didn't quite roll off the the Scottish tongue did it Josh no but another movie might have a character named Carla Jean yeah I'm guessing there's one or two if you know what film we just massacred emailed the movie's title your name and location to feedback at filmspotting.net Your deadline is Monday, February 23rd.

1:06:22We will select the winner randomly from all the correct entries and announce it on next week's show. Good morning. Good morning. We've talked the whole night through. Good morning. Good morning to you. The film spotting Pantheon 50-something movies, including a couple of trilogies that have been deemed so amazing that we have enshrined them in our own movie Valhalla. And yes, there are some movies that you would expect would be there. Citizen Kane, the Godfather films, not the Godfather 3, but the other two. Jaws, some oddballs maybe, Midnight Run, very deserving, don't get me wrong. 2002s in America, probably deserving.

1:07:09We'll find out in 2027 when we talk about it for its 25th anniversary. They're all films that we love. And speaking of things we love, a person we love, producer Sam, the co-founder of FilmSpotting, Sam Van Halgren, is here to participate in this crazy process that we invented last year, the FilmSpotting Pantheon nomination. I've got to remember this is the real show, not the bonus show. No wild hot takes. Okay, I've just got to keep it. Stay on track. Well, the film spotting family knows you well, Sam, and bears with you. The general public might not be ready for that. Sam? I'll be at 50%. Look, you can use your wild card slot on American Dreams.

1:08:01You can. And if you want. Just the Z. Or Temple of Doom. In American Dreams, Temple of Doom. You could. You know what? You have my American Dreams support, Sam. I know I do. I know. I was so happy to hear that. Not my Temple of Doom support. Okay. So up until last year, getting into the Pantheon, it's been a very informal process. We really have been making it up as we go. Last year, we decided for better or worse, we're going to try to make it more formal. and the the thing that's really driving all this and and sam this this came from you and obviously we we agreed is that it's important that these films ultimately get discussed yeah sure the whole point of the pantheon was we didn't want these films to keep coming up again and again in top five lists that would be boring but why have a pantheon if people say well i've never even heard you talk about those films like we don't know what you what you think about them how you feel about those movies.

1:08:57We want your thoughts on those films. So with that in mind, the goal has been to eventually knock out serious discussions, sacred cow type in-depth reviews, similar to what we did, hopefully in the previous segment with Trainspotting about every film that's in the Pantheon. And so that's why we've been doing these anniversary type titles with movies like Trainspotting that aren't in the Pantheon, but also other films that are. So setting that aside, we have also created this process for nominating other films. We each get to nominate three. Currently, that process is simply, we each have to pick a film that has previously been given a Sacred Cow review.

1:09:40We also have to each nominate a film. We each have to pick a film that has been a marathon title. Now, that's tricky because, of course, Josh wasn't here for all the marathons. And we're trying to get pantheon discussions that Josh and I have done. But some of those marathons were me and you, Sam. This is absolutely going to come up. We're Maddie and I. Right. In the course of this conversation. That complicates it. Lastly, we have a wild card slot. It can be anything, any movie, but we do require, you know, there has to be a little bit of a waiting period. Just like in sports where you can't get in the first year after you retire, the film has to be at least five years old.

1:10:24And again, just to set the table for anybody that's new, we've been doing this show for 20 years. You have. We started the show 20 years ago. There have been well over 50 marathons of four to eight films. So we're talking about hundreds of films to choose from in the marathons category. Sacred Cows also include oeuvre views or whatever. I mean, there have been a number of different categories of films where we've visited classic titles. So there are, again, hundreds of titles to choose from there. So lots of movies. Last year, after this whole process, this show, we nominated The Nine. Then what we did is we took the three that have never been discussed, the three wildcard titles.

1:11:10And over the course of three shows, we discussed each one of those titles. So then we had nine films that had all been discussed by myself and Josh. We put all those nine titles up to be voted on between the three of us and also film spotting listeners. And ultimately, the top two vote getters were inducted into the Pantheon. And you know what? I'm going to say it worked pretty well last year because the two titles that went in were singing in the rain, which is one of those films we couldn't believe. wasn't in the Pantheon to begin with. At many occasions, we all three thought it was already in the Pantheon.

1:11:45Exactly. Right? This is true. And Sherlock Jr., which is our first silent film to get into the Pantheon. And that feels like something we needed to check on. And Singing in the Rain, the first musical in the Pantheon. That's true, right? All except for Wizard of Oz, I guess you got that. Yeah, I suppose you can definitely count the Wizard of Oz. Here we are in 2026, year two of this process. And the only change that we've made, this is something I suggested. I think last year we just went in order, sort of, let's do our three sacred cows. Let's do the three marathons. Then let's do the three wild cards.

1:12:17Now, I suppose there's a little bit of gamesmanship, even though this isn't really a draft or a contest. Sam, you're going to get to start first. And you can pick. You can go with whatever you want. You can start wild card. You can start sacred cow. You can go marathon. Josh, you can follow that up with whatever category you want. And we'll go from there. Let's do it. Let's do it. Yeah, I didn't really think so much this time. I think I was aware of the fact with last year, with our first effort at this, that there could be some overlap, that we might be going for some of the same picks just because, to your point, there were several titles we thought collectively or individually.

1:12:55I thought this was already in the Pantheon, so Singing in the Rain, a great example. I wasn't so worried about that this time. I was more concerned, as I was last year, about filling in some gaps. What's missing? from the Pantheon. And so, you know who's not in the film spotting Pantheon is Akira Kurosawa. Not there. That's nuts. There's several filmmakers that surprise you when you actually take a close look. But I think Kurosawa for me is the biggest. And if it were me, I would say Seven Samurais. Just the no-brainer should be in the Pantheon. It's not your favorite. It's not in your top five Kurosawas, Adam.

1:13:32It is not. So I'm not going with Seven Samurai. Akiru might be the second most obvious pick that people are thinking. I know you guys both love it. I love three quarters of it. I don't love the last quarter of Akiru, so I'm not going to nominate that. Which means, fellas, we're going back to school. We're going back to film 101. It's probably, I would say, probably many people's first Kurosawa. It certainly was mine. Many people encounter it in school if they take film. It's 50s Rashomon. And I'm not nominating this as my wild card, even though it has been a marathon subject before, but it predated Josh.

1:14:11It was part of a 2009, I think, Kurosawa Marathon, Adam, that you did with Matty Ballgame, previous host. But this thing's been landing on top five lists since 2005. It made top five foreign language films back on episode number 37. Top five murder mysteries, episode 73. Top five movies about voyeurism, watching. Episode 151. Top five movies about memory, 171. And it was your favorite film in that marathon, Adam, back in 09. Sam, you're leaving out something important unless you're going to get there. Oh, I'm going to get there. Just let me get through. Let me get there. I'll let you get through.

1:14:47Okay. So then we get to episode 400. Is this where you were wondering where it was going? Top five things we learned from the movies, Adam. Do you remember? You paired it with Memento. okay will i lie to myself to be happy there you go a thing you learned from the movies rashomon it was also a top 10 film of all time for you back in 2012 that's where i was going my first sight and sound list i put rashomon on exactly where was it in 2022 it was gone uh which is why i'm excited for it to get another look i don't know when the last time you guys saw two years ago, a film spotting madness, best of the 50s, and made it all the way to the sweet 16.

1:15:32This is a beloved film, not only an academically appreciated film, but a beloved film. It's a pantheon-worthy movie. I rewatched it myself, and it really struck me that, you know, we love Kurosawa for his Shakespeare adaptations. This felt like his Beckett to me. It takes you to the very brink of existential despair, exhilarating, unnerving. Can't wait to hear film professor Adam, grad school Josh, dig into Rashomon, which again, as my wild card, would be one of the three movies we'd revisit. Yeah. I mean, it's astonishing Kurosawa isn't in the Pantheon, so we do need to correct that. And boy, Rashomon, I might not have seen, I forget how you described it and say I'm like the, the, the film school one-on-one or the, that's probably when I saw it.

1:16:26And unfairly, that's my memory of it is like it's starter Kurosawa. Um, it's, it's starter, you know, non-English language film. It's, it's like where you begin. And so now having seen so much more of that, it'll be interesting to return to it and see what else is there. What did, what did I miss? Like why, why maybe don't I hold it now in such high regard as something like Seven samurai or akiru or some of these other kurosawa so yeah i'm all in yeah i mean well argued obviously and i certainly noticed that kurosawa was not on the list i do think the pantheon also needs more foreign language films so checks two important boxes there i think you probably made the right choice as well with with rashomon i just looked at my letterbox list and i do have that in my number one spot for Kurosawa.

1:17:19I thought it might be Ron though. And I know you mentioned the Shakespeare adaptations. I thought it might be Ron and I have Ron right behind it, but I'm not going to quibble. I think it's a fantastic choice. Josh, you're up. I'm up and I'm not sure which category to go to before we started recording here. Adam kind of hinted that maybe one of mine from last year was going to come back in the mix. And if that's going to happen, I want to pick it. Yeah. I want to pick it. I tip my hand. And I'm being lazy because I'm being lazy because I am repeating my marathon in Sacred Cow Picks. Full disclosure, time got a little tight, but I also really think these are two important films.

1:18:03I'm going to go with the one that I think is perhaps a particularly film spotting film. and I do like that quality of the Pantheon. We are trying to make this respectable by including musicals, silent films, and Kurosawa. Yes, I think that's an important task and I'm glad this process is giving us a chance to do that. But we also don't want to just mirror every greatest films of all time list, right? That's right. Now, this one I think appears on a lot of those, but you don't hear it discussed as much. We discussed it, Adam, and loved it. It's the best years of our lives. Oh. Yeah, I thought you were going somewhere else too, Josh.

1:18:47I thought you were going somewhere else. Okay. Oh, crap. Now I'm not going to get that other one. You chose poorly. All right, best picture in our William Wyler marathon. Okay. Oh, great movie. You know, great movie. Three returning World War II vets, returning home in middle America, and what that means for them. We pulled our best scene of that Weiler Marathon from this as well. Adam, looking at star ratings, five out of five for you, four and a half out of five. Sam, I didn't get a chance to look at where you've got this because I do think consensus, when I'm thinking about what to nominate, consensus is important here.

1:19:27We want these films to be, you know, obviously we may love them to different degrees, but sincerely appreciated by all of us. So I know you do like it. Sam, I'm not sure to what degree. I'm looking at my, so 2024, is that when we watched the Wyler Marathon? Of course. Yeah. So what did I write? Every scene, a cocktail of hope and heartbreak masterful. Yeah, I loved it. There you go. I don't need to say anything more than that. I just, you know, I do think, the one thing I'll add, I just do think this might be unique in the two film spotting our level of love for the best years of our lives. So I want to throw that back in the mix.

1:20:08Okay. So I have to look something up real quick. Can I look something up? Because this is going to determine, this is definitely going to determine how I draft here and whether or not I decide to throw a life raft to Josh or not. I have to decide whether or not this movie is eligible in two categories or not. And I, ooh, it is eligible in two categories. That certainly helps you, Josh. too. I mean, there's, to Sam's point, there's plenty of films to choose from. Oh, there's so many. Yeah. And also you want, you know, we do have - You know what? Okay, go ahead. No, here's the thing. Here's the thing.

1:20:45I want, I don't care who nominates it. I don't care who nominates it. I just want it nominated. So I'm going to let you nominate it and I'm going to go with another movie that I want to nominate. Okay. The more the merrier. And, and so what I'm going to do is I am going to go with my, I'm going to go with my marathon choice and my marathon choice. This, this was one of the, I'm going to look at this real quick while we're talking to, I think this was, it wasn't the first marathon that you were part of Josh, but it was, no, it was, I was going to say it was one of the first. And it was, in fact, the second marathon that you were part of.

1:21:27And for me, still one of the most crucial, one of the most formative. And that marathon is contemporary Iranian cinema. I consider Iranian cinema to be a world cinema that is among my favorite now. I consider those filmmakers from Farhadi and Mahmolbaf and everyone that we have recently, Panahi, and I'm leaving out someone in particular for a reason. I consider these filmmakers to be among our most essential. And as I said to you, and most experimental, like most invigorating as a cinephile to watch. And I was only vaguely familiar with Iranian cinema prior to this marathon. That was the reason for it.

1:22:30The film Taste of Cherry was part of an earlier marathon that we did on the show with Maddie. It was a can, you know, Golden Palm Marathon films that had won the top title at can that we we hadn't seen. I think that was about it. and the movie that I believe was the first title in, it was the first title in that marathon. And it actually, it, it didn't end up being, I think Josh, it was your, it was your best picture. But for me, it was the movie that, that was my second best picture, but it's the film I'm going to nominate because I think it's the, the film that has the greatest legacy. It's a criterion collection edition.

1:23:16The filmmaker, I think, is the titan of Iranian cinema. And it also, when I talk about experimental, it crosses over into, it blurs lines in really interesting ways. The film is 1990s close up. And the filmmaker is Abbas Kyrostami. For all those reasons, Right. Because it's Kyrostami, because it's Iranian cinema, because it's a film in which if you're not familiar with close up, this is the this is this is the one sentence description. The film tells the story of the real life trial of a man who impersonated filmmaker Mohsen Mahmoudov, conning a family into believing they would star in his new film like that really happened.

1:24:00And the film tells the story of that. And it's shot like a doc, but it's sometimes shot like a narrative film. And there are parts of it that are fabricated, certainly, but they're the real participants and they're playing themselves. And it, it's, it's a trip in the, in the best way it can possibly be. And I, I think it's, I think it's a, an important film. And, and for that reason, and again, because it's Iranian cinema and we need, we need more international cinema in the, in the Pantheon close up is going to be my nomination. Yeah. I mean, as you said, my best picture from the marathon, no argument for me.

1:24:45I think you make a good case for it as being representative as well. So how many chances might we have to nominate a title from this marathon? I think this is a good one to start with and has a good chance of getting in. And also just, it's one of the great marathons. To your point, Adam, that it's the kind of high from a marathon we chase. It's why we do marathons. It completely opens your mind up into what is possible with movie making. And it becomes a reference point. and hopefully by putting close up on there, if it isn't on somebody's radar, it'll get them to go dive into that marathon, revisit, you know, and take a look at all those films, which are terrific.

1:25:33So, okay, good stuff. You're up next, Sam. Okay. I, I, I think I'm going to let this play out a little bit. I have a marathon pick, but also it could be a slot for something that was nominated last year that really deserves to be. So I'm going to wait. I'm going to go to my Sacred Cow, which was also a former marathon film. So last year I pointed out there are currently no documentaries in the Pantheon, which is especially unusual because you're both fans, but especially you, Adam. I pitched one last year, Herzog's Grizzly Man. It was a film we reviewed in the very first year of the film, so it felt right.

1:26:13Herzog was a huge discovery for us. First year of the show. I'm sorry, 05. Yeah. Herzog, a huge discovery for us. It just felt right. It placed well out of contention in the Pantheon poll. Also, my revisit was underwhelming. I don't need to go into that. This is the kind of like bonus Sam I will not reveal to the general public. I liked it even more. Yeah, I didn't. Anyway, so I'm trying again. We're back to documentaries. This is a film that's been reviewed twice on the show. First as part of the Doc's Marathon back in 06. It was Marathon number eight. Did I steal it? Oh, goody. I love it. It was part of our seven from, should we say it in unison?

1:26:53Seven from 76 in 2021. Was this a blind spot for you, Josh? I wonder. Let me just, I'm going to get there. Top fives it's made. Top five fight the power movies back in 07. Jerk. It came up in your interview with Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz in 2011, Top Five documentaries. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd forgotten about this. We did the top five movies that taught us empathy. I think that was a live show in October 2020. It was a bonus. Yes, it was. It was a live show. 1976, Harlan County, USA, Barbara Copple. Was going to be my sacred cow choice. Oh, boy. So I not only think the Pantheon needs a documentary, it also needs the two of you talking about a documentary.

1:27:40that documentaries there is a way to talk about documentaries as not just as as incredible documents but you know to the point of Iranian film which incorporates often incorporates meta fiction or documentary there is a way to talk about this and you guys are very sophisticated at it and so this is one yeah we've talked about a couple times documentaries will always have a hard time when put in the mix with some of these other heavy hitters like close-up like Rashomon when we put a poll up to listeners, to family members. But I love this as a documentary pick belonging in the marathon, even more than Grizzly Man, far more than Grizzly Man.

1:28:20This is such a great film. I mean, a film that's also incredibly necessary right now. As a film about resistance, that is also itself an act of resistance. So timely film. And just worth pointing out, I did fulfill, I suppose, a dream. I got to interview Barbara Thomas on the show at one point. So yeah, Harlan County was definitely going to be my choice. But Sam, that only worked because I could have taken the movie Josh is going to say next. And it was going to work out perfectly that I didn't. And I was going to take Harlan County. Whatever. Whatever. Fine. Now, now I don't know what I'm going to do next.

1:29:09Just go ahead. All right. Well, I'm going to be quick. So, um, you better think fast, Adam, because I spent time. Yes. Talking about this film on last year's show for the Pantheon. It is the battle of Algiers, 1966. This is not what you were expecting. Still not where I thought you were going. Nope, me neither. Well, then you're safe. You're safe, Adam. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, no, I really want to throw back into the mix Gilo Pontecorvo's docudrama. This is set during the Algerian War of the 50s. France's occupying forces in the film are trying to root out this network of militant cells who are seeking Algerian independence.

1:29:51And we did this as Sacred Cow slash Blindspotting. So this is my Sacred Cow pick for these purposes. That show, we did our top five political resistance movies. So we're thinking along the same lines, Sam. Yeah. I wonder why a year later I'm still thinking along these same lines. Can't imagine. But yeah, Adam, you four and a half out of five, me five out of five. This one was just kind of like, as you were describing the Iranian cinema experience, Sam, for me, it was just the concept of docudrama, I guess, is like this in-between space of, you know, real world political situation, recent political situation, documentary elements, but it is a drama and the questions that technique then, you know, allow the filmmakers to ask who is and who isn't a terrorist?

1:30:43What are extreme tactics? Are they ever justified? Increasingly relevant today. And, uh, it was last year is now. So also come on, significant shout out in one battle after another. So of course, exactly. That was kind of like the topper for me. I was like, okay, I got to throw this in again. Also, this was interesting. So, um, on that trip, I mentioned in the train spot and review to, to Edinburgh over the weekend, we went and caught a movie and just cause we wanted to see a movie. Cause as I noted, it's raining all the time. And so we just picked something random playing at the film at film house.

1:31:18Great, great film, venue here in Edinburgh, and it was Claude Chabral's The Butcher. So 1970 here, and a thriller set in a small French town that involves a butcher who returns after many years in the army. And that is incredibly interesting film. Very much could be read as a parable about France's involvement in Algeria. So this all circling in my head, and I just thought I've got to bring up the Battle of Algiers again. So that's going to be my Sacred Cow nomination. I probably said this last year, but one of my favorite conversations that you guys had really bringing a movie I found overwhelming in terms of its technique and subject matter.

1:32:09In a way, I found impenetrable as critically, personally, I didn't have a way in. I was so in awe of it. And your conversation, I found enlightening and just really impressive. So a great conversation for people to look up. And I'm just looking, I don't know if you considered how the family in particular voted in the past. And I was impressed by Battle of Algiers coming in fifth. So I'm glad you gave it another push, Josh, Because, you know, of course, Singing in the Rain and Sherlock Jr. ended up moving on. And we had Alien in there at number two with the family members. And then another title I think I might have to nominate unless you do, Adam, from last year.

1:32:56It's coming. So which, yeah. Okay. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Yeah. So I thought you might be going here. But yes, it makes sense that you would nominate Battle of Algiers, which I do think, I mean, obviously it's competing against different titles. so who knows where it will finish, but the one battle after another relevancy, along with the real world relevancy, I think will change things for that film in this year's competition. But the movie, I thought you were going to go with, Josh, and now it will work out nicely that I get to include this title. It was your wild card title last year, and then we discussed it, and so that makes it my sacred cow title this year.

1:33:38And just like we talked about last year, you laid it out very nicely. There needs to be an Agnes Varda film in our pantheon. And while there are many choices and we've done an Agnes Varda marathon, this film wasn't part of that marathon because we'd seen this film. but I think Cleo from five to seven may be my favorite Agnes Varda film. And when we rewatched it, we swooned for this movie. I gave it five stars. This is, this is a film that is very well known, especially in film school circles, which is where I watched it for the first time, kind of like Rashomon. It's one of those movies because of its, its technical approach, its formal approach.

1:34:23It's a movie that is, is, more or less real time. The main character, Cleo, played by Corrine Marchand, has two hours to wait. She's waiting for the results of a biopsy. It's life or death, right? That's what she's waiting for. And while she's wandering around Paris waiting, she meets a soldier. Now, here's a connection to your last film, Josh. She meets a soldier on leave from the Algerian war. That's right. Yep. And and and here it has another connection to one of my favorite movies and trilogies of all time, the before series. Right. It it it feels very much of a piece with those films. Linklater was clearly influenced by this film in those conversations that that this pair have as they walk around Paris.

1:35:14So it, it on its own deserves to be in the Pantheon. I think it's that good. The fact, of course, that it's an Agnes Varda film and the importance that she has to film spotting, I think makes it essential. And it did quite well last year. Yeah, it did. I don't know. I thought about not saying this stuff because I, I mean, who cares? You pointed it out. But I didn't want to sway things one way or another if that's even possible. But it really was looking, wasn't it, Sam, for a while like it was going to be singing in the rain in Cleo, not Sherlock Jr. And at the last minute, Sherlock Jr. just beat Cleo out to go into the Pantheon.

1:35:54So we'll see what happens this year. Yeah, I think that Varda, that marathon, for me, was one of the revelatory ones. And also, back to the consensus point, Sam probably loves, as he's showing his shirt right now, Sam loves Varda more than the both of us. Has two dogs inspired by Varda? I mean, named by? Yeah, absolutely. We've got Agnes Varda, exactly, over there on the couch right now. So it really makes us look like hypocrites if we don't have a Varda title in the Pantheon. Yeah, I think it was that revisit last year, which just made me appreciate how much she's thinking about and how light a touch she brings to all of these.

1:36:41I mean, she's— It's a great way to describe her work. She's as intellectually committed and engaged. Rigorous. Rigorous. But it's the light touch. It's the light touch. And it's also because she's more interested in life, in the life of her subjects, but everything they encounter. I just love her. Love her. So, yeah, you went where I was going to have to go, Adam. So we're helping each other out here. I'm going off the grid. I was going to do Umbrellas of Sherbrooke for my marathon pick. which I'm not against, but this other title has been like my second pick. It was already, it was in the mix both last year and it was this year and I keep knocking it back.

1:37:31But because we've got Varda up there now, I do have Agnes Varda the dog. I do have Jacques Demi the dog. I might owe it, but maybe I'll wait till next year. I'm going to throw Stop Making Sense in here. It was a consideration for me in the Sacred Cow category. Again, this is another one. Maybe my number two. Yeah. I mean, this is a film that is, I have had the experience a couple of times now and everyone should have in their life of seeing this in a packed space, whether it's a theater, it was a bar last year for me. It is ecstatic. It is ecstatic cinema and it is cinema. It is. And you guys did.

1:38:08It was part of, it was a sacred cow. It was part of our eight from 84 series. We packaged it with Purple Rain and... What was it? Spinal Tap. Spinal Tap, yeah. Yeah. Spinal Tap. But I think from what I remember of that conversation, still, you were able to convey the real power of it as cinema, as a film, of Demi's film. Not Demi, Demi. Okay, that's where I'm pivoting. I'm adding an M and an E. Yeah. Yeah. Stop making sense. Belongs, or at least it deserves a shot. It was, you'd seen it before, Adam, the 8 from 84 and Josh, you'd seen it? Yes. Okay. Yes. Yeah. Yes. And for the longest time, it was a movie, I love The Talking Heads.

1:39:02I know you were not a fan of The Talking Heads, Adam, but I always - Growing up, I wasn't. Right. After I watched Stop Making Sense, I was. Yeah, but you become one. I remember thinking and not watching it. I was never a fan of concert films. And it was like, well, how great can a concert film be? And really, if that's your opinion, you have a treat awaiting you because you discover right away from the very first moments of the film. you're taken on a very special journey as you see uh first a band and then what feels like the entire earth being created on stage you know uh celebratory thing so yeah stop making sense let's do it let's see how it does honestly it was going to be mine if cleo was gone that was probably where i was going to go for sacred cow so i'm glad you you went with it yeah josh your last pick.

1:39:54It's wild card for you and wild card for me. All right. Wild card. Do we have a John Ford film in the pantheon? We do not. We don't. Okay. Is there a chance that invalidates the entire project? Exactly. There's a certain school of thought that would say that. Yes. so i'm gonna propose i don't know if this is the right choice but i haven't seen everything of his seen a fair amount and one that i think deserves to be in the pantheon is how green was my valley from 1941 this is an adaptation of the spotting saying i thought it might be for both of you okay Okay. All right. Well, fun. That would be fun then to give you a chance to check this out.

1:40:50It's an adaptation, Richard Llewellyn novel about a coal mining family in 19th century Wales. Basically, it's a strange film because it chronicles the work stoppages, the hunger, the heartbreak, the illness, the death, the separation that defines this community's life. But it's somehow honestly warm and nostalgic. At least that's how it struck me. And that balancing act is a bit magical that Ford managed. It's a movie I've long wanted to watch again and to see if I was just like in a receptive mood, in a good mood or what's going on. I know the compositions here, especially of groups of how he frames this community are staggering and why you have to recognize just from the aspect of, yes, filling the frame and knowing how to do that and where to put the camera, Ford was foundational.

1:41:46So yeah, I've only seen it once struck me as one of the greats. I am kind of glad that neither of you have because I would love to hear what you make of it. So my wild card is going to be how green was my valley. I love that we're going to be watching Citizen Kane and how green was my valley this spring. Appropriate. Love it. Yes. Yeah. Citizen Kane as a Pantheon title that's having an anniversary, right? So when we were going to watch anyway and finally discuss an obvious pantheon title that we needed to have a conversation about and now how green was my valley as i said a blind spot what i always felt like was you know there's maybe more conventional edgier cinephile picks right but nevertheless it was a film i felt like i really need to see this and now now i'll finally have a reason so i'm i'm I'm excited about that.

1:42:41So what films will we be visiting or revisiting over the next few weeks here on Film Spotting? We know that we have Rashomon. We know that we have, I wonder if I'll have a different perspective on it this time. Rashomon. Well done. How Green Was My Valley? Do we have a third? And we are about to have a third because I am going to name it. I was looking at the titles. Final pick. I'm building up the suspense a little bit here, Sam. My third and final choice is my wild card choice. And I'm going to throw out a little test here. We'll see if you guys pass or if I fail, actually. If I was going to suggest that there was a first lady of film spotting, you might say it's Agnes Varna.

1:43:34You might say it. I wonder if you'll go where I almost went. Okay. Okay. So you might say that, but also you might not say that because, you know, she, she hasn't been around for, you know, she, she hasn't been making films for, you know, the, the bulk of the time that film spotting has, has been around here. Right. If you want to think of a filmmaker who's been vital during the period that film spotting has been around. If I said to you, who is the first lady of film spotting, who would it be? And this is not rhetorical, I'm asking. Yeah, I was going to go with Gerwig, but no, I know who it is.

1:44:17It's Reichert. It's Reichert. Chantel Ackerman is in the pantheon with Jean Dielman, of course, and it's awful lonely there for Chantel Ackerman. Sam, you're very astute. Yeah. I am considering for this spot, yes, I'm considering Greta Gerwig, but I think we've said it many times. the praise that we have given to Kelly Reichert's films over the years here on the show says everything we need to say. The fact that, that I have interviewed her three times on the show is, is also a key factor. The hardest part here is just which, which movie do you choose with, with Reichert? And I, I did give this a lot of thought and I've, I've gone back and forth.

1:45:04I honestly wondered if First Cow wasn't the choice because of how much I like that movie. I think it finished second or third that year. Has it been five years? In terms of my top 10 films of that year. But the movie, and here's part of why it is making the list, even is making the list because I do think it's the movie that belongs in the Pantheon. But here's an added bonus. These wildcard titles are movies that we are revisiting. It was reviewed on the show originally when it came out. It's a 2010 movie. So it was reviewed on the show before you joined, Josh. It was reviewed by myself and Maddie.

1:45:52I know where you're going and it's the right direction. What's that? I know where you're going and it's the right direction. It's Rikert's John Ford film. So there we go. It's Rikert's John Ford. There you go. And Josh, I know it's number one on your ranking of Kelly Reichert films. I don't have a letterbox ranking of Kelly Reichert films. Somehow it seems, even though I think I've seen all of her movies except for one. And if I had one, Meek's Cutoff is the movie that I would put there. I still feel like it is her masterpiece. It is if you if you could only watch one Kelly Reichert film that that summed up the entirety of her of her filmmaking skills and what she has to say, what she has said as a filmmaker.

1:46:37I feel like it's Meek's cutoff. I know that people could probably argue with that and would argue with that. And that's great that that's exciting about this. This too. That's exciting about this pick. That's exciting about Kelly Reichert as a filmmaker. But Meek's cutoff is where I would go. So we have pointed to that movie a ton. Josh, even on episode 500, I believe, at the Music Box, that live show we did, top five movies of the film spotting era. Now, granted, that was 2015, and we've had 10 more years since then, but it was my number five, I think. It made my top five in 2015. Top five movies of the film spotting era.

1:47:15So Meek's Cutoff is the film that I feel like is essential. Kelly Reichert is the filmmaker. You know, you talked about Kurosawa. Obviously, that's a little bit of a different scale, Josh or Sam. But in terms of the past 20 years, it's Kelly Riker who needs to be represented. it. I love this. I think to me, it's her masterpiece though. I think I've seen it two or three times. It's been a while and she's made some incredibly good film sense. So that maybe deserves some reconsideration. This works great, Adam, the film studies course I'm taking right now. We have a unit on like landscape cinema, echo cinema, the cinema of the West beyond Hollywood Westerns, I'm right in the wheelhouse.

1:48:05So my mind is going to be in that space already. And yeah, love this choice. A movie about a man whose job is to take these people to the promised land and instead takes them absolutely nowhere. I can't imagine if we might find anything resonant. I can't imagine. I don't know what we'll find. So 15th anniversary actually didn't get released, I think, until the spring of 2011. So I think we're looking at its 15th anniversary this April. So good timing. Okay. You may be right. There you go. Okay. Nine titles. We have laid them out for you. Rashomon, Best Years of Our Lives, Close Up, Harlan County, USA, The Battle of Algiers, Cleo from 5 to 7, Stop Making Sense, How Green Was My Valley, Meek's Cutoff.

1:48:53They're so good. I want to put all nine of them in. They're also good. I think we did well, guys. but alas only two of them can go in and yes we will have three of those titles that we will be discussing over the next few weeks here on the show and we will we'll just go in order i imagine the order in which they were mentioned we'll we'll start with roshomon fair enough great okay yeah chronological is good too yeah yeah that that makes sense that would be how green is my valley yeah it would go how green do you want to do let's do that chronological how green Let's do that. Okay. Yeah. Chronological.

1:49:29I like how green was my Valley. Then Roshomon. And then we'll end up with Meek's cutoff from there for more about the film spotting pantheon. You can find that at filmspotting.net slash pantheon. Sam. Great to see you and hear from you as always. Thanks for having me guys. So much fun. Yep. We'll see ya. See ya. That's our show for this week. If you would like to connect with Adam and the show on Instagram, Facebook, Letterboxd, or YouTube, you can find him at FilmSpotting. You can find me at those places as Larson on Film. We are independently produced and listener supported. You can support the show by joining the FilmSpotting family over at FilmSpottingFamily.com.

1:50:09You can listen early and ad-free. You'll get a weekly newsletter, monthly bonus episodes, and access to the entire show archive. For show t-shirts and other merch, you can go to FilmSpotting.net slash shop. If you're a Danny Boyle fan, you might want to become a film spotting family member. There's a fair amount of Boyle in the film spotting archive. 28 years later, conversation, 1049. T2 train spotting with Danny Boyle on the show. Top five Danny Boyle characters with the man himself, 626. Steve Jobs, 559. Trance, 441. 127 hours, 326. Slumdog Millionaire, 235. We're going out of order a little bit.

1:50:48Sunshine, 254. He's on that show talking about sunshine. and millions is episode number two also i reference blank check in my intro to train spotting i also did an appearance during their danny boyle series trains podcasting i talked about millions as part of that series on blank check if you're curious in limited release scarlet the latest from Japanese animator Mamoru Hosada. We also have Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie. This is the new film from Matt Johnson, who made 2023's Blackberry. I am very curious about this film. Out in wide release, Gore Verbinski's Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die.

1:51:32It's an interesting premise, Josh. A man from the future, that man is Sam Rockwell, arrives at a diner in LA where he must recruit disgruntled patrons to join him on a one-night, six-block quest to save humanity from extinction. I like that premise. I'm also a bit of a Gore Verbinski defender, so I'd have to catch up with that. Are you a Gore Verbinski completist? Is your list on your ranking on Letterboxd? Ooh, great question. After, what's the one he did about like Europe period set, like a spa, like a wellness spa? The Cure for Wellness. Cure for Wellness. That's it. Yeah. If he's made one since then, I haven't seen it, but I have caught up to that.

1:52:13has, but we're not going to take the time to look it up right now. Cold storage is out. Liam Neeson is a grizzled, well, what other kind could he be? Bioterror operative who helps two employees at a self-storage facility survive the wildest night shift ever. It sounds like you could merge his character with Sam Rockwell's character in the Gore Verbinski movie. They'd be pretty interchangeable. I do love Sam's note here for us. Is everyone in Hollywood okay? I think we know the answer to that Sam's such a caring guy Okay An elusive thief A disillusioned insurance broker A relentless detective It's Crime 101 With Chris Ellison, Halle Berry, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Kaogan I'm not going to do all the names There's a lot more people One heist connects them all Yeah, it's Crime 101 How's your throat?

1:53:06That seemed like it might have strained things a bit okay now this is this is also interesting josh goat a small goat with big dreams gets a once in a lifetime shot to join the pros and play roar ball with the fastest fiercest animals in the world so this is yet another sports movie i need to see it it's possibly inspired by the life and career of the movie's executive producer steph curry are you interested um i was increasingly confused with every word you said, but I'm now wondering if this is like a low key dig subtweet at LeBron goat. Steph Curry produces a film. Yeah, maybe possibly about himself.

1:53:50I don't know what's going on here. And I don't know if I have capacity in my life to find out. Okay. Next week, we'll talk about what is probably the biggest movie opening. It's certainly the one we're most interested in. It's Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights. Mariah Gates will join us for that. And we will talk about the first film that was nominated for our Pantheon. It is 1941's How Green Was My Valley. I have some homework to do. I'm looking forward to it. Film Spotting is produced by Golden Joe Dessau and Sam Van Halgren. Without Sam and Golden Joe, this show wouldn't go. Our production assistant is Sophie Kempinar.

1:54:29Special thanks to everyone at WBEZ Chicago. More information is available at WBEZ.org. For Film Spotting, I'm Josh Larson. And I'm Adam Kempinar. Thanks for listening. This conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.