First on film and entertainment, and we have got a cavalcade of champions with us, Sandy Kay, Peter Krause, Gregory King. Fabulous. It has taken us forever. I've got to say that technology and people who collectively, I reckon we must be getting to two hundred and fifty years. It's kind of like an old tree. It needs a lot of watering. Is it me or is it the technology? Gregory King? What do you reckon? I think it's a combination of both. Yeah, fair enough, And Peter Krause, I tell you what I have. I've pleaded with you and things have never gone right over the last four weeks when we've used this new technology. What is it? Is it you or is it I? Yes? Good and Sandy you're a spring chicken compared to the rest of us, of course, and you've got it straight away. I had no idea why. I'm technology savvy, Alex. That's what it is. Well, you've got your own highly successful World of Clayton program. So did you have did you have a problem when you had to sort of set all of that up or was that just sort of straightforward or did somebody else do it for you? That's what I had scuse. Somebody else has to teach you. You always need a bit of a guru in your life, don't you. I reckon you need more than the guru. I think that that's that's the case. I have no idea why this is the way it is, but it is so. Now the difficulty is my computer is also frozen. Can you believe that? But that's just that's just typical. I can't actually access any of my folders. Now, that is just magnificent. It just keeps on getting better, just when, just when you think it couldn't get possibly get any worse. I wanted to start, by the way, talking about a great movie, a movie that really surprised me. And by the way, I think there's a misnomer Alex Garland Pleader. You'd know this. People mistakenly believe that he's Australian. He's English, isn't he? Yes, he is English, that's right. So why do we get the impression? Because if you look up google Alex garlandy it starts by saying he's not Australian. So why did people think he was? Do you have any understanding of that? It might have lived in Australia or been making a few films in Australia for a few years. I don't know, Well, I'm not getting confused with that documentary Australian Alex Gibney. It's perhaps yeah, maybe they got him, Maybe they got him confused with that well known Australian Alex. First, thank you very much. Indeed, now there is going to be another twenty eight days later, isn't there? There's sort of it's a Alex Garland follow up as well. Let's been here, come out twenty eight yay later, Thank you very much, x mcina. He did Civil War, which was a terrific movie anyway. Warfare firstly, huge plaudits because it's ninety five minutes Sandy. Now that that's got to immediately get a green tick correct and absolutely then we've got to say that I've been I'm traumatized having seen this movie. It is intense, it's authentic. It's an MA rated movie with good reason, and it continues the co writer and co director Garland's positive trajectory. I mean, he's just making some excellent movies. Now. It's based upon memories of an incident that occurred, and it occurred in two thousand and six on the nineteenth of November, and that's when a platoon of American Navy Seals was on a surveillance mission in insurgent territory. It was controlled by al Qaeda, and it was in Ramadi in Iraq. The goal of the seals. A couple of Iraqi scouts was with them, and or were with them, and then a couple of Marines as well. Their goal was to slip into and to keep a close eye on an urban residential area, and they were to do so under the covert of darkness. They were sent there to ensure the safe passage of ground forces in the area, which was going to happen the following day. So this team of seals was divided into three groups. The first operation was embedded on the second floor of an apartment building and amongst their number there was a medic and a sniper. Elliott Miller was his name, played by Cosmo Jarvis, who we saw recently in another movie, and leading petty officer Joe Hildebrand who I don't understand why, but he was renamed Sam in the movie, played by Joseph Quinn. Perhaps there was a Perhaps he's still an active soldier or something. I'm not sure, but the communications officer is called Ray Mendoza played by de Pharaoh woun Ai Tie and the officer in charge of the op is an excellent actor who keeps on keeping on. His name's Will Poulter, and he plays a guy called Eric. So what was meant to be a dangerous but straightforward operation for the Navy seals became anything but so. Almost two decades after this incident in Ramadi, right, I said two thousand and six, Mendoza, who was one of the characters I spoke about. The communications officer, by then retired from the Navy, was working as a Hollywood stunt man. He was specializing in choreographing gunfight sequences through a stunt coordinator. He met Alex Garland and he became a consultant on Civil War. He specifically designed battle scenes and that included the assault at the end of the movie on the White House. These two collaborators, and I'm talking about Garland and Mendoza became friends. Halfway through filming Civil War, Mendoza shared the Remadi story with Garland. Subsequently, Mendoza became the co writer and co director of this movie Warfare so the pair set rules for themselves not to embellish or dramatize events just for effect, to basically keep it as real as they possibly could. So it was anything but to glorify war. So incredibly tense is warfare from the get go. We are embedded with the soldiers, we being the audience. We're watching. We're waiting for something to happen, and the minutes really do tick by, and from the sites of a long necked machine gun positioned behind a hole in an outside wall, we see the comings and goings in the building opposite. Now in an adjacent room where members of the platoon have set up, there's a video surveillance happening and communication via walkie talkies. So they're talking to the other I said. It's divided into three groups of Navy seals. They're talking to the others. So the American troops are in full battle dress. I should also add also in the house where they are embedded, they've chosen as their base. Obviously this home they didn't know, but there's a family they surprised while they are asleep in the middle of the night, and this family's now huddled together under guard. They're told to keep quiet, keep their hands where they can be seen. So what a realistic approach to this subject matter doesn't pull any punches. It's in your face for its entirety. So there's this sort of boots on the ground story. It's visceral, takes you the heart of combat in a way that I can't say I've seen before, and I've seen a lot of war movies. It's shocking, it's terrifying. It's about young men doing a job, caught in the crosshairs, and as difficult, as painful, as disturbing as it is to watch, I really admire its conceit. It's like we're they're alongside the soldiers in the heat of battle. The filmmakers, they're intent on showing us what it was like to be surrounded and trapped under fire. So the sights and sounds that we see, the discipline, the frustration, the fear, the screams, they are long going to remain with me. Remarkable picture. It really is brilliantly conceived and executed, featuring a litany of outstanding performances. You do need a strong constitution to sit through it. I actually felt like crying out for a few times. Enough already because my discomfort was so palpable. But it's got a ring of truth in its DNA, and that adds enormous gravitas, does it not, Sandy? I loved this film, and I really don't like war movies. When the invitation came to us and it was like, you know, get in the battle with all of these guys, I thought, nah, I'm bother going to see that. I'm not one for war action type stuff. And I dare say there are a lot of people of my gender who would probably feel the same. I can't tell you how pleased I was that I went. I absolutely loved it. You sit on the edge of your seat from the minute that it starts, and it builds really quietly. It's about thirty minutes before you get any action. Yes, And the opening scene where this group of well I didn't even know they were Navy seals at the time. The GI's are mucking around and leering at women's bodies on a screen. It just paints this picture of the camaraderie between this platoon and they and that's exactly what they were. They were really all great friends. And it goes for about thirty minutes before any action happens, and I kind of sat there and thought to myself, well, what's going on here? Where's the war? But my goodness, once it starts, it just doesn't let up. There's absolutely no respite. One sequence on the street is so immersive that I found myself ducking to avoid a bullet spray. I mean, it's quite insane. It's like one of those three D movies where you just impregnated into the. Action and it's it's like virtual reality, the equivalent of I agree, it's interesting that you talk about the thirty minutes. I was really conscious. I snuck a look at my watch or my phone as it was, and it was twenty nine and it's in sandy, and like you were gripping your seat because you knew something was going to happen, but you did you know when. And yet that's part of the beauty of the filmmaking here. I mean, I don't know, have you seen many action war films or not? Well, I mean I have you know, like in the old days, you saw some those sort of classic ones. I remember seeing, none of which I could actually name. Now, did you see Saving Private Ryan? Yeah, that's exactly the one I was thinking oh, thank you for that. Yeah, but I mean that didn't I. Mean that was eminently forgettable. I mean, yeah, it was a good film and well done and you know, well acted and all of that. Warfare is something that I am never going to forget. And I've got a really bad memory. I see that many films you could ask me about one I saw a week. Ago and I wouldn't remember about it anymore. Warfare will stick with me always. It really is an incredible portrait of pain and horror. You know, you see close ups of the dry, cracked lips, the faces caked in dust and debris, the sheer terror in these guys eyes. But what was most amazing I think about it is because it's so loud. That sound, as you mentioned, Alex, is such a key here. You know, there's pounding gunshots and ground shaking explosions, the ear splitting roar of the fighter jets, and of course those agonizing screams of the soldiers. And there's also no there's no massive script here. It's really lean mean storytelling everybody. You know, there's no score, and there's no dialogue that really carries it forward. It's just the action, the looks on their faces that shows you everything. I think that this is a film that's not going to convince anybody to sign up to the military in a hurry, but it really is a tribute. To those who do. As I said, totally. Unforgettable and whether you're of my gender, persuasion or not, and you know most men would go so yeah, I mean, I really want to see this, and you're right you do have to have a bit of fortitude to sit through it all because at times it's quite uncomfortable. But you know, ladies, go with your partners. It's an experience you're not likely to have again. Less is more is the way that this is played, because there is a lot of waiting for something to happen, and that is what makes this movie so special. I must admit that I thought like Saving Private Ryan was a remarkable movie, so I still do remember that, but this is at a different level. So what about you, Greg King? Did you get as much out of this movie as Sandy and I did? Well, this is another example and what I call combat porn that chakes you Rynnie at the heart of battles. You mentioned you o being seen of Private Ryan. There's been a lot of other films like that one in Benghazi that chakes from the heat of the combat as well, but this one is apparently unfold in real time, so you know, Chase places all that action Chase Place. I've able, of course, for about forty minutes there. But you mentioned the sound design. The soundscape and sound design is particularly effective here. You know, the sound of the guns, the screen that the soldiers wounded, the bombs, the plane flying over that scene there is tremendous. And also most of the fact that most of the casts are not really well that known, allows you to go into it without those sort of heroics you get from having big name actors in the lead roles. There as claustrophobic, as intense, as fisceral, but it also shows what it's like under fire and immerses us in the heat of battle here, and you sort of can't get away from it as unvarnished and realized. You said, the pain is almost palpable there. We're immersing this situation and yeah, it's hard to look away. So yeah, it's an interest intriguing little film. I reckon if this was in the Oscars for this year, it would have received Oscar nominations. It's that worthy. Old with you, probably worth while as the way it goes in a lot of handheld camera work. Obviously there has follow the soldiers and changes inside. What's happening? Well, Peter, we've got three for three. Surely this is going to be up there for you as well. Oh look, I very much founded a very strong film and it's certainly classified as a docu drama, so it recreates a particular event and does it very well, indeed in a very visceral. Sort of way. However, I have seen a number of other films from other countries Korea, China, et cetera, which go immerse the viewer into a wartime situation. I remember the hurt Locker, which was very strong, I mean Three Kings, which also dealt with somewhat similar So I've seen similar sorts of films, so it didn't hold out for me anything special or unique. But it was very good, very well made, and is a good visceral experience as a docu drama. I must admit that whilst I'd seen those as well, and they were most impactful, I didn't get the same jolt from the others as I did from this. Peter. You obviously did. I didn't get the same fold. No. I thought it was okay. It was well made, it was convincing, but I didn't find it especially impactful. Wow, I agree. I was flashing back to some of those other films which seen it have been really intense combat scenes Loan survivor that one about the soldiers in ment Ghazi fighting for sixteen hours, and all those other films as well. Remind me I saw a lot of those elements in this film as well, and especially the open DJ landing secret in saving Private Ryan, which was unforgetable in and It's gooky and this all approach. To war it was certainly that. So all right, well, Sandy, you and I are going to have high marks on this. I'm not convinced now about the others. So let's start with you, Peter, as the I think you'll be a lower mark. What are you going to give warfare which is rated M and runs for ninety five minutes. Oh look, I was still very impressed by the film, and Alex Garland is such a good filmmaker, so I still gave it eight out of ten. Okay, which is a very good mark. And let's go for you Greg seven to seven and a half, right, so you're the low one, all right, Sandy. Oh, I'm going a nine. I'm going a nine too, So there you go, folks, it's really up there. It's since the Oscars this has more had more impact than any other movie I've seen. You probably would agree with that, Sandy. Yeah. Absolutely, Now because my computer's not working, Sandy, what was the second movie that you want to talk about today? We could talk about Drop if you like. That's I reckon, Well, now I reckon. We should definitely talk about Drop because this is MA rated. It runs also for ninety five minutes, so exactly the same as we've just spoken about, but it is totally different. It's an entertaining psychological thriller and it involves some seriously bad I'm talking life threatening trolling in the most unlikely of circumstances. So you've got a widow who's also a psychologist, whose name is Violet played by Megan Faye. And that's Megan spelt Megha double n. I've never seen Megan spelt with a double n. But there you go. So Violet is a mother, she's got a five year old son called Toby played by Jacob Robinson. She is still traumatized by the domestic violence that she experienced, and Toby was younger obviously, but was privy to this domestic violence. Now, since her husband died, she has not been on a date, but over the past three months she's been speaking to this guy, a photographer, and now they've agreed to meet. She is clearly nervous, as you would be, so violet sister Jen played by Violet Bean comes over to babysid Toby. So it is that Violet heads off to this They're in Chicago, to a Swiss high rise fine dining establishment which has killer views. That's where she meets this photographer that she's been talking with. He's thirty two years of age. His name's Henry played by Brandon Skealner, and he has actually been the mayor's photographer for the past five years and he does seem like a pretty good guy. Henry he arrives a few minutes late, so while waiting at the bar, Violet receives a rather mysterious and creepy text message from someone she doesn't know. So once Henry arrives, they sit down at their table, which is by the window, and she gets bombarded by more messages, and these messages are known as drops, hence the title of the movie Drop. They include one threatening the life of her son if she does not adhere to the Texter's demands. At first, Violet shows her date that she's receiving unwanted online attention. He dismiss it, dismisses it as a prank. But once the Texter tells her to keep her mouth shut or else, she tries to navigate this date while doing what the Texter wants her to do. He appears to be tracking her every move, listening to everything that she's saying. It's quickly established that the drops she's receiving are coming from within the confines of this high class, high up restaurant, and she can't put a finger on who the perpetrator is. The Texter doesn't just have an extra grind with Violet, but with Henry too. That's why he doesn't want her to leave the restaurant. So there's desperation, there's tension. The situation goes from bad to worse. So who's the Texter? What's he? She theay after? Why? That becomes clear as the plot develops. So it's a high stakes game. It's a cat and mouse game, really, with all those in that restaurant, the patrons and the staff under suspicion, and among them is an older man on a blind date named Richard played by Reed Diamond, who Violet meets at the bar. There's also a charming bar worker called Kara Gabrielle. Ryan Matt Jeffrey Selth is an awkward oversharing waiter on his first day on the job. Lindy Sarah McCormack is his boss. The host at the restaurant, Phil ed Weeks is not backward in coming forward. He's the piano player. And Connor played by Travis Nelson, is a fellow diner that Violet reportedly or rather repeatedly keeps bumping into. These texts accompanying the drops help ratchet up the intrigue, and they're writ large, literally writ large on the screen. The contention for the movie inspired by real life. If you can believe that one of the producers and his friend fell victim to a series of drops while they were holidaying with family overseas, and their experience translated into a script from Jillian Jacobs and Christopher Roach. I like the high stakes guessing game they created due to the inherent danger. It's kind of edge of is said stuff. But like with many films of this ILK, it does push the envelope, and to fully enjoy it, you'd be well served to suspend belief a speed as drop reaches its conclusion. And talking of that in terms of the action, that final scene in the restaurant, it's not the final scene in the movie, but the final restaurant scene certainly memorable. The director's Christopher Landon, does a good job working with the incendury material at his disposal. He's the one ultimately responsible course for tightening the strings. The whole idea is that Violet seems destined to run into a dead end every time she tries to find a way out of her invidious predicament. I really thought the gorgeous restaurant setting with a sparkling nighttime views that at was the perfect backdrop to it all. It added something. And then we've got the acting talent Megan Faywell. Really like what she has to offer. She plays vulnerable and on edge well. Brandon Skelner calm voice of reason as Henry taken on a bit of a roller coaster ride by a woman that he likes but becomes unsure about Violet Bean Will gives a spirited performance as the sister Chen, and there's warmth about Gabrielle Ryan as the bar worker. Jeffrey selves deliberately over the top showing as the gay waiter impossible to ignore, and each of the other actors also make their mark. I actually thought over all the casting choices were strong and drops a wild, playful, nerve racking and a deadly ride. Is it not, Sandy, Yeah, it really is. You said the words yourself that I'd describe it as, and that's it's a rollercoaster ride. It's really good fun that Megan Fay we saw her in White LOADUS. I don't know if you ever saw her as the TV. Yeah, she lights up the screen. She is just absolutely beautiful. And this whole concept of digi drops, I was questioning, is it a real theme? Can you actually or is it just a fake construct that as you can you know, what's it called when you send messages to one another on very sharing plod there Yeah, no, on the phone when you can bluetooth it messages anyway, I don't I still don't know if a digit drop is a real thing. And I guess if it isn't, it soon will be. But it was. It was really, it was really fun. There is a lot of holes in the script, as you know, but it's playful and it gets dark really quickly and you can't take your eyes off her. I thought she was just fabulous. It's a bit like a game of Cluto. It draws the audience right in and going who was it? Who is this? Sending the messages? What's this all about? So you're hanging off who done it? For a long long time. I liked it. It's fun, Well, it's fun. It's interesting. When I googled digit drops while I was listening to what you just said, said, there's an Instagram provider called DIGGI drop, but it's not exactly what you were talking about. What about you, Greg, did you enjoy it or not? Yeah? This was an entertaining shriller. I made a good use of the claustrophobic sitting there and that restaurant books fantastic. Yes, a great production design there. This is a start off like a romantic movie, a first date between these people. But because the film's produced by Blumhouse are a bit known for their horror films, we know that this is gonna be something different than a MIXU rom com, and it certainly. Turns out that way. I thought director Christoph Landen, who's better known for some of the paranormal Activity movies, she did a good job of ractioning up the suspense there. You've had a number of possible suspects, including all those characters who've identified who could be the guilty one there. And I like the way that the phone messages were actually portrayed on the screen there. It worked out well, it holds your attention, as you said, ed you deceit stuff. I thought it lost a bit in the final atgo. Which is saided in the cliche. But apart from that, I quite enjoyed this one. Yes, what's that board game? Is it? Cludo? Is it? There's a lot of poor teams. Yeah, and then sorry, yeah there are greg thank you, some a bit more boring and others well, well, well mister Green in the whatever whatever, well Pludo with Professor Plumber in the study with a pipe wrinch or whatever it was. Yeah, exactly. So it's kind of it's kind of a bit like that, isn't it. You actually turned Pludo into a film, you know. Did they Yes, I don't. I don't saw that. Okay, you would know, you would have seen it, Peter. Have you have you seen the Gluto movie? Yes, there is a Cludo movie, yep, and you've seen it? Yes, oh years ago? Yes, of course you must have seen one of the cast in it. You must have seen something in it was Bekistan that was made in the nineteen thirties as well. Beto, Well, I was playing Cludo when they were still inventing electricity. So you're read well, well, you know when when you're a relic, you're a relic. Let's be honest. Is the handleholder? Oh yeah? Okay, So did you drop to your knees having seen this one? I didn't drop to my knees, but I must admit I was quite impressed by the clever construction of the screenplay. Who done it quality? That's already been mentioned, the twists and turns in the storyline. I didn't mind the way concluded, but I won't say any more about that. Look, it was a good example of a mystery type thriller where you have to guess over a period of time about who is responsible for this situation, about whether any romance can come out of this situation and also just understanding. I suppose what can happen in a short period of time when you have to think fast to make decisions. And I thought that was very cleverly done. Yes, Greg, I agree with you about the set. They built a very clever set for the restaurant, which is where the film is largely set, although we do get to see another venue. And I was for. Please the latest film. I didn't think I was going to like it. Just remind a little bit of those other films in result, like phone Booths and Origins. What you know, one person being through it minutes in a confined location. Yeah, it's greatly I really love that claustrophobia. I think it works extremely well. I don't know as personally, but yeah, it does. All right, So look, let's get let's get some scores for this movie, which is m I rated ninety five minutes. It's called Drop. So in terms of I'm just going to try and who's going to give the lowest mark here, let's go with you, Greg. Well, first of them, Okay, I'll give it seven. Sandy, Yeah, seven, Peter? What how what a coincidence? I also gave it seven and I gave it eight, so there you go. I agree. I think you know at the very end, once you leave the restaurant that it loses a bit. And yeah, I suppose I didn't really when giving it an eight, I didn't give it. Perhaps it would would have come down by half a peg. But it's around that mark. So that's a good fun film. Absolutely. There was a problem with those other films. I mentioned Phone Booth and Locked when they moved away from that initial construction setting and tended to lose something. What was the There was another one that didn't. I think it won an Oscar for a female actor and Room Room well done, Greg, I thought Room was extraordinary. Did you see Room, Sandy, Sandy, you're with us, she's disappeared still here. I loved Room absolutely. I think Room was a complete package. Peter, Yes, Room was very good. Buried is another one. But Buried was scary as it. Did you see Buried, Sandy? I don't know about that. I don't think I did. Oh my golly, right, turn the lights out and see Buried. Oh it's an amazing film and extraordinary. The Yeah, the other one, what was that? This wasn't well, it was callustrophobic. Of sorts. That German movie Peter or Greg that was made into an American movie where people come and attack people in their own home in games of funny games, funny games. Oh my golly, oh, the Michael Henneker film, Michael Hanneker film. You saying he no for that, you haven't seen it? No, no, I'm writing these down. Those you've got? Really these two? Yeah, you really see it with your partner, both of them. I mean, they are amazing. Those two films are phenomenal. So you know, great funny games. But see the German version. I reckon, what do you think even. Though the same director get the American version, it loses something in the cultural translation. The dilemma is I've got no idea. Okay, Like in a situation like this, if somebody says I want to see a movie, and I know you can get all these streaming services, but is there any sort of I don't know, comprehensive something on the internet that you can put in a movie and sort of see where where you can see it. I don't know that I've never tried it or any of you aware of it, because you know how certain things are out of print. I mean if you don't if you put in Funny Games German version, do you? Maybe AI these days will tell you where you can get it, because otherwise. Well I can tell you that that film and others are screening in Melbourne as part of a season of Michael Hanneker films. Right as we speak. Yes, wow, Sandy, there you go. You got the Now I worried, but thank you looked. You've looked it up already, you've looked it up. Yeah, no, I'll. Wait for another opportunity. Can we talk about the Correspondent, because that's what I did see and I think everyone should go. To Yeah, okay, well to it? Well, I mean most people, I reckon I would remember the story about Peter Grestor the the ex ABC Journal and actually is he still working? I don't know where he's working? Now, do you know? Gap? Does anybody happen to know where where he's working? Peter Grestor? No? Did you? Did you know how to find out? Yeah? Did you? Did you know about the Peter Grestor story Peter before you saw the movie? Yes? I did? And Greg? Yes? Okay, so all de child behind you? Well, that's the that's the thing to story. Well, I wonder about that, Greg, when you see a movie made really I mean within earshot of I mean it happened a long time ago, but you think you know it. Do you believe there needs to be more distance before making a movie or do you think that making a movie even sooner than than when this one was made is a good idea because it's got people's sort of you don't have to spark too much memory in people's Well, you're. Asking how soon or too soon for a film? Yeah, I am, I am. It's a bad way of saying it, but yes, what do you think? What's the answers? No answer, But Peter wanted the film to be made. He wrote the book of his story, yes, and then was heavily involved in making sure there was a film made of it. And I suppose the other aspect is the prescient nature of people being detained in other countries, which needs to be highlighted in a story like this, and the. Day it's facing journalists now just for doing their job. That's right, and unfortunately it's happening a lot. So this is a two hour movie, one hundred and nineteen minutes to be exact, m raised and it concerns the journo. The Aussie journo arrested by Egyptian authorities in Cairo on the twenty ninth of December two thousand and thirteen. In fact, I found it hard to believe it's been that long. You know, we're talking more than eleven years now. He was working for Al Jazeera at the time, and he was on a two to three week cover over Christmas for another journo who was presumably on leave. So it was taken into custody alongside two other Al Jazeera reporters, one called Muhammad Fami and the other Bahir Muhammad. This has been written by Peter Duncan and it's based on, as Peter said, the twenty seventeen memoir, which was named the First Casualty, and it's an account of what happened. So Gresta was detained on trumped up charges including fabricating the truth and smearing the name of Egypt. He was sentenced to seven years jail. His colleagues that I have referenced, Mohammed Fami and Bahir Muhammad received seven and ten years respectively. So it shows them being moved around the Egyptian prison system, reveals how on occasions they turned on one another. It champions the family support that Gresta received. Peter's brother Andrew was a great source of comfort in Egypt. His parents also flew over there. The film captures what Resta was subjected to, how he coped, and what he thought about while in captivity. Notable throughout is the fate of a fellow war correspondent, a brit called Kate Peyton. The pair was working for the BBC in Mogadishu in two thousand and five, eight years before Peter Grestor was arrested in Egypt. That's in two thousand and five when a bullet struck Peyton, and those memories loom large for grest Without doubt, there's extra clout associated with a real life story, and we talked about that earlier on the film Warfare. So it is with the correspondent, and what the film does go into detail about is the fine attention to detail here that you may not have known about, as Greg referenced earlier. We become invested in what happens in the injustice of what's been perpetrated and continues to unfold. One of the benefits of this movie is you've got an excellent actor in Richard Roxborough really well cast as this sort of cool operator that grest was, and he comes across as intelligent and disciplined and basically showing to keep his wits about him throughout his ordeal. The tension in the relationship between he and Muhammad Fami is a really important subplot, and Julian Maroon wears his heart on his sleeve as the highly opinionated Fami more sympatico between grest and Baha behind Muhammad. The pair gels over backgammon, which they play regularly just to pass the time. Rahel rom Mahan is measured as Bahir Muhammad while initially sorry rather when initially imprisoned. Gresta forms a relationship with a young activist called Allah Abd al Fattah. His advice is Sage Mageean Aria presents Allah Abd al al Futa al Fattah as decent and wise beyond his years, despite the invidious situation in which he finds himself. Kate Potent, by the way, shows himself as being in the same mold as Gresta, dedicated to uncovering the harsh truth of war torn regions, and as Peyton your al Stone comes across as a valued confidante and friend. Peter Grest's path hardly straightforward, and the director kriv Stenders pays attention to the twists and turns. We witnessed the mental toll, and I left admiring just how Gresta worked his way through what turned out to be four hundred days of captivity to come out the other end intact and still sane. So it's a film worth scene The Correspondent. Do you agree with that, Sandy? Yeah, I really liked the Correspondent. I mean, I think partly because we lived through it, and also because being a working journalist during that time, it was so important and so heavy what was happening to him, and nobody could do anything. I think the acting here, Richard Roxbury was really good at it. And then I was shocked when the credits roll at the end to find out how many journalists are still incarcerated in today's world. It just blew me away completely. Yeah, it's a good story. It's told well with a lot of fine acting right throughout, and I think it's a story that's important that everybody knows really that these things keep happening. But you know, moral of the story is, don't take anybody's Christmas shift, do. Your own thing, Do your own thing. But I mean, beyond that, I think what you spoke about just before is important. I was aware of how many journals had been in prison for doing their jobs, detained and so forth. I mean it's a dangerous profession, it is there, and especially dangerous when you're covering civil war and when you're covering dissent and speaking out. I mean, you can be in so many places in the world and they don't want anybody to have an opinion that's other than the party line. And that's again very much about this movie. And yet, to be a journalist, I mean you need whistleblowers, you need, you want, you do want nicely manufactured pr releases. You get down and you get dirty, and you get people revealing the truth, and that's what gets journos into trouble. So well, Urno may be a thing of the past, the way America is going. Right, Well, yeah, I mean it's also interesting. And again I'm not trying to have a go specifically at one side or another, but you know, when you've got certain people invited to news conferences not others, right, Traditionally, the idea of a news conference was that jurno's that are legitimate journos are invited to a news conference. But now they seem to pick and choose exactly who can and who can't go, which which is you know, it's not the way that it should work in terms of giving people freedom of the media. Greg, well, sorry, Peter, we haven't had you long. You go to Peter Alex and I'm going to love you and leave you. And give me a said, won't give me a score out of Tank corresponded, great at end, I'll give you correspond an eight, and I'm going to give it an eight as well. So what about you, Peter. I was very. Impressed by this film. We told a story so well about Peter Grest and about his incarceration and about his accusations that he was a terrorist because he was working for a news organization that was getting the other side of the conflict that was going on in Egypt at the time. So there are a lot of aspects to the story. There's the issue of the journalists who journalists who are treated quite badly because no matter what their involvement is, they'll be accused of being one sided one way or the other. I also was impressed by the handheld camera and the way that crib Senders directed the film, especially because he also did such a good job with the recent film on the Vietnam War Danger Close, another excellent film by Kriv. The screenplay by Peter D. Duncan, who wrote Children of the Revolution et C. Was a very close collaboration with Peter Greste and Peter was on set most of the time to be part of the filmmaking process to make sure that everything was done exactly as it happened, and Richard Roxburgh was a terrific choice as Peter to play that role. I was very impressed by this film. It is a powerful Australian film and we should be making more of it and not dismissing it. Oh, it's just. Another Australian film, and people tend to dismiss Australian films somewhat, which is a great shame because this is an excellent film and deserves much more recognition. We spent a lot of money on more esoteric material, Peter, and I think that's one of the problems that not us as film reviewers have, but that the public has getting access to movies that This feels much more mainstream to me, and I think it deserves to do well as a result. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with doing off center films. I don't know. Have you seen The Surfer yet, which we'll talk about in weeks to come. No, and don't forget. Canada makes lots of off center films and they are very successful. It's realin Yes. That's true, they do. We don't seem to tolerate as much. Have you seen The Surfer yet? Greek? Okay, this is the new Nick Cage movie. Yes, I know what it is on waving to see it? Yeah, thank you very much. Yes, so, Peter, because we've already got Sandy score and my score as eight out of ten. What are you going to give this one? I was very impressed by the film. It deserves a lot more recognition. Nine out of ten. Oh my golly, wow. I didn't. I thought it was good, but I wouldn't go that far obviously. What about you, Greg? Well, that's all I just want to say. How time that is at the moment as a reminder of the constant threats to freedom of the press that we're seeing at the moment and journalistic intevity which is under threat at the moment too, and there's scenes seem even more urgent and relevant today. It's a fairly grim film at time, so not quite as grim as Midnight Express, but it takes your inside the prison routine and there. I thought Richard Roxby did a good job. There of conveying both his attitude. He's despair in the prison there. It remains me it was shot in Sydney. Actually, it looked so real that he thought it was stunning. Must be us in Cairo, and the injugation of archive will foot you through the riots on the seat, which is quite seemless. He's done, so I was surprised when I read there was actually shot on location a couple of disused prison outside Sydney there. But yeah, it's a really. Impressive story there. The trial sequences had a bit of tension to the film, even though it's a sort of kafkaesque nightmare what he went through there looking at the corrupt in just system of Egypt there. Yeah, the performance is really good. I like the Julian Maroon as Muhammad and Rahel romnand there as Bahir. These two colleagues who are also arrested in charge alongside him. The film caught this sort. Of daily routine, the grind, the routine, the tedium of prison life quite effectively. I thought, so, yeah, it's a good film, and no flashback sequences to his timing. Mog issue with Kate Bayton, had a bit of contexture the guilt and frustration he feels there. And I thought, Jeffrey haul did a good job at the cinema job with you there, handel camera is working in close up, all that kind of thing. And yeah, so good film. Out of ten, seven to seven and a half. Okay, so we're all recommending it, which is terrific. Now you're on j eighty eight FM. Please join up by all means. Fifty four bucks gets you membership for the year, and it helps sustain the radio station, which is obviously our desire to entertain you for twenty four hours a day with lots of interesting news views and also music. Let's talk about a program, a movie called Sinners So Evil Pervades. It's the fifth collaboration between the writer and director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan Black Panther, fruit Vale Station, Creed and there's a sequel to Black Panther as well, So this one's. Quite long that you, Jordan, you're even Creed too. I'm thinking Creed to there you go, very good, so thank you for the correction. This is M rated Sinners and it's one hundred and thirty seven minutes. So we're in Mississippi in nineteen thirty two, which is where identical twin brothers. They said they're cousins, but they're twins, aren't they. They're known as Smokestack, Smoke and Stack like the names, both played by Jordan return after seven years away, and they were part of the Chicago gangland scene. I think they work for our component at one point, helping in the water. At the moment in Hollywood act just playing. Model roles you Robert Yeah in. Midey seventeen and Robert de Nuo in The Alto Nights. I don't think there's ever been a period where three do it in such close succession. I agree, three films, but they were also in the trenches in Germany in World War One, so they're very very close to these brothers and now wearing fancy threads, pockets full of cash, and they've got a truckloaded liquor. They buy a disused mill that they want to turn into a duke joint, and they renew acquaintances with former love interests and folks they knew that with the right incentive will help them out in terms of setting up the duke joint for a bit of fun and fun and games and people dancing and so on and so forth. See in terms of the love interest. For Smoke, the love interest is a hoodoo conjurer and a healer called Annie played by Wooden Meet Masaku, And for Stack it's the now married Mary Hailey Steinfeld, whom he left high and right. So with them is their cousin, the young sharecropper called Sammy Moore played by Miles Kayton, who is the son of a preacher and he's known as well logically Preacher Boy. He is a gifted blues musician and he's also a singer, so Smoke and Stack are going to headline him alongside a local blues legend called Delta Slim. Delta Slim played by Delroy Lindo, who can't say no to a drink, that being his choice of poison. To help out with the hospitality is Grace Lejiun Lee and her husband Bao Cho played by Yoo, and they run a couple of local grocery stores, and also in the picture a hefty sharecropper called corn Bread Lad by Omar Miller who's been engaged to serve as dorman at this dute joint. For his part, Sammy, this is the cousin the young sharecropper. His head is turned by a good looking young lady called Perline played by Jamie Lawson, a woman in a repressed marriage with a taste for the blues, so obviously the fact that he can sing and he can play is attractive to her. The Duke Joint is up and happening very very quickly, and a good time's being had by all until the appearance of a very charismatic white missionary Remick played by Jack O'Connell and is too offside as a preaching and singing about peace and love. And they're looking for entry to the Duke, but Smoke and Stack are wary. They block them, and as it turns out, with good reason, because their true purpose is far more sinister. This is a blood sport. Sinners is a movie with two distinct parts, and perhaps we'll call them before and after it swings wildly, and the before is the lead up to the opening of the joint and it's immediate acceptance by the patrons crying out to let their hair down. The latter it's the mayhem created by the arrival of Remick and others. This is a horror with a uniquely Southern Gothic lens. I was intrigued. I was involved. Had a lot to do with the look and feel of the movie quite atmospheric, like the attention to period detail, the sets, the costuming, the prosthetics created for the soul possessed characters, and also the music. I like Michael B. Jordan, I really do like him most of the time. Excels in the dual lead roles, brim full of confidence of smoke and snake, each keeping the other in check. The pair is stronger together. They know which ways up. They balance each other out. Miles Caton brings youthful exuberance to Sammy Moore. His eyes wide open, He's looking to absorb as much as he can as he begins living his dream being a musician. There's a world weariness to Delroy Lindo's representation of Delta Slim get the impression that it has lived through a great deal. Hailey Steinfeld brings a yearning to Mary would me Wusaku as spiritual as Annie lind ju Lynn will lead you. Linn is nothing if not pragmatic as Grace and Jack O'Connell's Remick is a wolf in sheep's clothing. So smoke and stack, live on, Live out the adage, which is also a line that's dropped in the film, if you can't keep dancing, If you keep dancing with the evil, one day, he's going to follow you home. I like Ryan Kugler's direction. He's at his creative best. Lots of surprises and shocks, and among the many highlights is Sammy singing an original lumber. I lied to you to the receptive crowd at the juke choint. And lest you walk out when the final credits start rolling, you stand and miss part of the narrow thread. You've got to stay at the end. When we saw the media screening, it was quite extraordinary that ninety six is ninety seven percent of the audience had left and there were still things happening on the screen. So please do not do that. Peter, What did you think, Peter, he's fallen asleep. I experienced it. Yes, I'm still here. Well we can't. We couldn't hear you, So now we can go. Now you can, oh, okay. I was very impressed by this very distinctive film. This is such a multi layered story set in nineteen thirty two and then it flashes forward, but we won't explain a bit more about that. It deals with so many issues related to the Black experience, to the Ku Klux Klan, and I have to mention it because it's a significant part of the film. The way encroaching evil in terms of vampires, part of the narrative. It's amazing, it's amazing. It's amazing. Now we've only got very little time, Peter, so I'll ask you to sum it up very quickly with a score out of ten. And all right, very quickly. But it's really well directed. The two post credit sequences. Yes, when I saw it last night, people had walked out. Everyone missed it. But it was a terrific, unique, distinctive film which was very impressive. And you Greg. Yeah, I like the way that the two model the Jordan characters interacted here. They were so similessly. Don't you'd almost were there given actors there. I also thought Miles Caton was defined there as the young, pretty siable. It doesn't, yeah it was, I agree, but and in fact that this. Is African American vampire film as a far cry from those black piltation films like Blackular and that from the seventies Cruise. This one does as predio missions. Going into all that sort of generational trauma of African Americans with the slavery, the ku klutz kan and all that sort of stuff as well. That touches on that when the violence does come, the vampires getting into the picture, it does turn bloody and nasty quite quickly, but a little bit of a slow build up there, but that's part of the character building and the setting of the scene. Quite good, Quite a good little film and a bit of an unusual take on the. Vampire or excellent and score out of ten Greg again another seven only is only seven and a half, okay, Peter, I gave it nine out of ten. Greeg oh my golly, and I gave it an eight out of ten. Folks. We are out of time again and I wish you well in your cinema going, Greg King, thank you so much, and Peter Kraus likewise and Sandy, who had to leave unfortunately early, appreciate her contribution. Till next time. Over and out. First on Film and Entertainment,
