Laughter and Larrikins: Unpacking the Charm of 'Spit'

First on film and entertainment. Football season is here, Peter Grause, Are you excited like I am? What is he watching films? No? No, you can do both. You can walk and chew gum, can you not? Gregory King, who barracks for the team that never wins? Hello Gregory? Hello, Peter and Alex and. Jackie and Jacqueline. A good morning. You're the sort of person who would go to the snow because you're a Melbourne supporter rather than watching the football. Is that true? Oh no, Alex, I'll go to the south of France. Thank you for the warm weather in this winter. I don't want the snow, but I can get your get your joke. I get your joke, but thank you. I'm very nice. Listen, I tell you what it'd be damn hard being in Europe given what's going on in the world. Oh boy, you know, is America sort of We've gone crazy? It's just. Every morning when I wake up and I look the news and I'm thinking, hang on, am I living in a parallel universe? Is it only me, Jackie? Or are you doing similarly? No? I read the other day that. Mister Donald Trump is doing this time in this time, that he's president. What he actually wanted to do last time but didn't quite get there. So last time he talked about it a lot, but there wasn't a lot of actual action. And in the interim he's actually worked out how to do it, and that is you just come in guns glazing and you just do it. You just do it. What people who will say yes, whatever you say run. Last time he had people who actually say, no, you can't do this, you can't do this. That's true. Well, that true. It was the first thing he did was bring his cronies around him to make sure he would be backed up. There must be a film in the making here, Peter, don't you think down the track the Apprentice to. The Boss. I was going to say, he's no longer on The Apprentice. Let me tell you that. Some days in May. Yeah, yes, okay, I thought. The Apprentice was actually a very fine film. I really enjoyed that seeing my film. Yeah, part of his life where you know, dramatize or read it, of course, but you know, some of it might have been guess work, but I think a lot of you know, it sort of rang true, really, that part of his life where he went from being a kind of under his father's thumb to you know, stepping up and being told to step up and how to step up, and that's made him. The man he is today't I don't think he endorsed it, Jackie. No, he didn't, no, no, but he made lots of noises about suing them, which helped the film do quite well. I believe, Well, it was a nomination. He never The. List of people who Jonald Trump and threatened sue is longer than. Well. Is that a badge of honor? Greg? If somebody's threatened to be sued by it. I think it must be in the people's setting the sue and never followed through with Well. I mean bear in mind, what was the gentleman's name who was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. For Sebastian Stan Yeah understand, Yeah, oh sorry, I'm thinking Jeremy Strong, wasn't it who was playing Roy Kaine? And him too, Yes, they're both nominated. Very good, very good. Well. Talking of films, there is an Australian movie which I reckon is going to divide us that I saw and I thought, hey, lowest common denominated humor. But we must talk about it and it's called Spit and it runs for rather than two minutes and is rated M. Now do any of you remember getting Square back in two thousand and three? Greg, do you think it needed a sequel? Oh? You didn't? Okay, what about you, Peter? I also see the original film and I thought the sequel was very, very good. Yeah, and I this is where I reckon this is going to be split, no pun intended, Spit is going to be split down the middle. But anyway, they have dip back into the well, the filmmakers, and they've reprised this iconic Australian character and he's got a decent mullet, Peter hasn't he. You know, I'm kind of envious because I'm losing my thatching and I kind of need a little bit more. I keep I keep telling my daughter that who's got a lot of hair? It's not helping me, right. And when I bent down the other day, I think I told you this story, Jackie. She commented with she was a ghast at how little there was up top. What does one do about that? Greg? Any suggestions? But what? Sorry, Yeah, don't don't worry about it. Let's go back to the film. There was a reference to my lack of hair on the head. Right, perhaps some fertilizer might help. Fertilizer, Well, thank you, how it sorts. Of winning first and wisers. It can help? Oh, very good. Now, okay, So the character we're talking about is Johnny Spitteriri aka Johnny Spit hence the title Spit, played by David Wenham, who's a mighty fine actor, and he relishes in this role. I got to say, really he's sort of thrown himself into. Is this sort of disheveled man with a what is it on his lip that he's got It looks like. A cold saw. Yeah. Anyway, Okay, So this is a news story even though it sort of harks back to two thousand and three in Getting Square, and it brings together several of the actors and the key behind the scenes creatives from the movie that was released in the early noughties. So Gary Sweet is there, who again plays Chick Martin, the writer Chris Niss and the director Jonathan Teplitzky, and as well as the cinematographer Gary Phillips. I haven't named them all, but you know they're key players in all of this. So the Johnny character, Johnny's fit character has been hiding overseas for a couple of decades and he returns to OZ with a new identity. But he's still got that mullet that I spoke about, the unmistakable mullet, the skinny jeans and the thongs. And I should say that mullets are still being worn by modern AFL footballers. Does that make it any more legit? I don't know, but there you go, the idea of hair appeals. Having said that, Johnny is a small time ex crim and he slips back into the country on a false passport, but he looks super suss That initial scene is quite something, and he's busted on arrival in Queensland and I've got no idea why, but he's sent to an immigration detention center rather than to an Australian holding cell, being a jarle. But obviously at an immigration detention center there are a lot of other detainees from around the world, and he seems to be the only Aussie. But anyway, his method of handling the authorities is a. Well worn one, deny. The problem is that he has a massive target on his back. Johnny as old enemies, including the drug kingpin that I spoke of chick at Martin. They've got scores to settle. And what he does, he struggles really to stay ahead, a step ahead actually of them marauding pack. So I suppose he's nothing if not resourceful. And he endears himself to the other detainees by teaching them his own brand of She'll be right, mate English, and he gives all of them ossie names, and he goes into partnership with one of them, guy called g Had Caliph played by Arlo Green, and that. Partnership will over time prove to be quite useful. The reason that the authority is, or at least some of them are after him is because looking to use him to bring down a crooked cop. So that's what it's all about. I thought it was very funny, and there was I went to the Classic to see it, and there was laughter ringing out throughout this movie from the patrons, but of course humans in the eyes and ears of the Beholder, and I mentioned at the outset, some might suggest this is the lowest common denominator material. A lot of buffoonery in play here, and I thought when was quite endearing and hilarious. As the evasive centerpiece the disheveled character that he played. He really nailed that role. He does slippery as a snake better than most, and the cameras trained on him for the Lion's she here at the time, and I thought the cleverness in spit was in both the one liners and also in the sight gags. And I was quite impressed by the warmth that lah Green imbed into his character g had Khlif. He came across as quite natural sort of authenticity being the key here and Gary sweet while he revels in the bad guy persona, you can see he loves playing mean. One of the noteworthy elements of this story is actually the diverse cast characters that capitalize upon the alaric and humor. And there's quite a couple of scenes involving Maori's They're memorable because of the submittable representation of them, but in truth, there are many memorable moments in the picture. I was also impressed by the creativity of Gary Phillips cinematography. He did The Railwayman as one of the movies that he was responsible for cinematographer. I like the choices he made in this one and basically spitt his feel good entertainment, you find yourself sort of rooting for the underdog. So let's start with a good apart from mine, Peter, what did you think? I really liked it? I had a long chat to Chris Neist. That's how it's created. Who's the screenwriter of the original film Getting Square, And of course now spit Johnny Spittai his story and he told me that even though they had nailed down the script and everything, David Wenham was very keen to improvise. So some of the very funny scenes of when I'm running and going up escalators and doing all sorts of other things was improvised completely by when them as the film was shot. Look, there's a lot of really funny humor, good Australian laric and humor in this film. I don't accept that it's a low humor or unpleasant humor or anything like that. I think it's very Australian, very clever. There are some very amusing moments that I really enjoyed in the film. It's Loy Brown. I mean, you know it's not we're not talking about intellectuals here. Well, it depends how you defind low brow. I mean some of it is satiric, and some of it is slapstick, but so what, it's humor, and humor is going to have different impacts on different people, and I thought this worked very well. Yeah, I mean, I think that it's worth mentioning. Like sometimes, you know, you've got intellectual rigor and there's humor associated with that, and then you've got others that are bumbling characters, such as in a sense that the spit here, But obviously he's also you know, is not without the intelligence of how to get out of circumstances. But he's still not you know, he's he's not a PhD in applied science. That's what I'm getting at. And why does he need to be. I really don't understand the distinction. I don't he needs to be. But I think there is a distinction because some people are going to go in, Okay, you can see a spy movie, and we'll talk about one here today, which is very intelligent. But can you also see a spy movie which is very silly? And I think there is a distinction. Some people are going to go along to one and won't go along to another. That's all that's the right. I think they'll go along because David Wenham is the start, because as it's Australian comedy, and because they'll enjoy a number of the set pieces. I really also liked the way language was used to teach the migrants English. I thought that was. We have to adopt a detailed intension centers. Is that correct? Absolutely? Yes, that'll indraculum. Now she'll be She'll be right mate. Everything's cool. Yeah, that's Australian Americ it is. It's what are those guys called the Mango that the three boys run a restaurant, Go Chutney or something not Mango Chutney. Would play the Kings of Mumba for some reasons. Yeah, they were. They were for a very great Now now I'm going to google Mango Mango Boys. No, it's too I heard an, I heard any Come on, Greg, you're not helping here, Jackie, You've got no idea what I'm talking about. They've got one point five Bidian views or something that they've gone absolutely ape and they also run a restaurant in Carlton. None of none of you can help. Somebody's and saying. Do they have lots of followers who pick up warmbats? Oh? Yeah? She hit back this morning. I don't know what you've heard. She's actually had to go right the yeah, basically saying we should look at our own backyard sushi, mango sushishi has double ice. Yeah, mango chutney. That's like, yeah, I knew sushi. We're sort of close to Africa, Artley Pletter and your your your geography, Yeah, Africa just next door. Sushi mango, very funny guys, right, and they sort of go with the traditional European Italian type humor and. Borrow a cup of coffee. Pardon if Africa's just knit thor I have to walk down it just to buy a cup of sugar. That was the reference to Peters saying I got close with mango chutney. Very good. I think we've gone right away from humor, but we we're back to spit. Yeah, okay, so boys, keep going. Is there are other things you would like to say about this movie? No, I just want to say I like the film very much, and I'm hoping when I spoke to Chris that there might even be another follow up. You know who's going to really like that. Somebody who's here with us today, which is Jacqueline Hamilton. She thinks this is. This is sliced sliced bread on a stick. You love this, don't you, Jackie? Just go for it. I really liked Getting Square. I don't remember the detail of the film, but I remember that I really enjoyed it. I think I keep dropping out. Have I dropped out? Hello? No? Hello? You are Oh? I haven't Okay, I've had some trouble with the call at kick say, poor connection and dropping out. But anyway, I'll just continue to rattle on. And if you miss my pearls of wisdom, well there you go. But anyway, you know, maybe Spit was a decent character in a small role in another film a while ago, but to have. His own movie did not work for me. You used words like endearing yes and hilarious yes, And I didn't see. The same thing at all. I've just seen it at least, I span Jackie, you see it again, seid third time? Eh, I've got a. Life, thank you? And I certainly you've mentioned and I'm just I only heard very little what you said. I'm sorry as I say that I just missed most of what you've said. But I did hear you say that there was some improvisation and I could have told you that, because it certainly looked like that. And the thing about an a laconic Ossie character is but it seemed to be all It made the film laconic and slow. So the humor didn't go bam bam bam. It was drawn out too long, too tedious. For example, I'll give you a couple of examples. One was the scene with the migrants, you know, teaching them what their Ossie monikers would be. So you know, whatever this long convoluted foreign name, you know, exotic name we might say, it might be it. Came down to Wazza or Gaza or you know. And I mean, you know, you can say a couple of those, but did we really need to go through every single one of them? And with the same you know, slow thinking about it drugs out And I actually find quite a lot of Australian so called humor does that. It just labors the point to the where it's just not funny anymore, because you know, the next one, you know, it's not going to be any more clever than the last one. So anyway, it's one example. No, so I didn't really love this film at all, but I mean, you know, I didn't mind the character, but it was just too much. And also I kept looking at him as David Wenham. You know, I didn't say, oh, this is David women when I'm you know, playing a odd ball character sort of thing. You know, he wasn't. He was too recognizable. I think it's interesting if this was up for obviously it's it's probably too late for the whatever the Australian Academy Awards the eld. Yeah. Yeah, I would have actually had him up there. I reckon he absolutely deserves it for this. I thought it was a ripper of. Did I think he did what he was asked to do? I think he did what the character was. Exactly, but it just got the whole the whole film just didn't work for me. It just wasn't funny for me. Okay, I thought it was very funny, Greg, do you have any you're more in Jackie's camp? I thought recent discussion on that was more funny than this film. Actually, I didn't like. I didn't enjoy this much at all. And unlike you guys, when I went to the cinema said I was the only person in cinema, which makes it even harder to judge the result impact of the human because you're on the ad that's maybe that's saying something about you. Greg. I'm just kidding. I'm just but I thought there was a lack of subtlety annuance to some of the characters, particularly David Field's corrupt cop. I thought a lot of. The humor was cringeworthy, reminiscent of some of those lame ass comedies we made in the seventies. There, it was just cringeworthy. I agree to David when might have done a reasonable job there as di severl dumb criminal. But as I said before, I didn't think Getting Square needed a sequel, especially one twenty years later. So yeah, no, I didn't. We've seen that. I didn't really enjoy this one at all. Which set Beer in mind. We've seen this though, I mean, we saw a sequel to Top done how many years after. Yeah, but you can't compare to check the different types of films. This was just work for me. No, no fair, I mean that's fair enough. I mean, so you and Jackie are in a bad boy and girl corner. I thought that I thought when it's character was grading too rather than funny. Okay, so let's get some scores for spit one hundred and two minutes m rated and let's start at the lowest coming to nominator. So Jackie, Yes, Well, I will add a couple of words to that, because I was struggling with the technology just earlier, and I wanted to agree with Greg that one of the things I would have said about it would be that it was so cliched. But it was so clich based on trying to be kind of vintage retro to kind of a nineteen nineties TV show or something that it wasn't need, So I didn't have any kind of fresh feel to it. Nothing to me, they would, you know, really cliched roles, the corrupt cops and all that, And so that was another point I would make about the whole film, although I will say I like the migrants, thought they were terrific characters and given quite strong roles too, which I applaud enjoyed them. Spits the film of four out of ten. Four out of ten, Wow, yep, it's a fail. Well, if it's comedy, you've got to be able to laugh, right, while we didn't laugh, we didn't laugh. Okay, Well, okay, what about you, Greg? Is that I can. Pretty much the same I thought some of the treatment of the migrants was actually borderline offensive. Okay, right in my opinion. There, you know, so I'm an four out of ten. Two okay, A right, Peter, Well, I'm. Going to disagree vehemently with both of you. I found it funny. I found it a good example of Australian laric and humor. I thought there was some very funny set pieces. I thought it was very not offensive to migrants. I thought it was for a positive and in fact, that's the way the story does develop. And David Winnhem is a real showstopper in the film. And I really loved it seven out of ten and. I'm giving it a seven out and ten. Oh well, we've never had quite I mean, this is identical scores at both levels, right, yes, So honestly, in all the years we've done this, how many years have we done this, Jackie? How long has the show been going? I had it in twenty seven years, and I like to drop in the bucket for you. You were born when Adam was a kid, So I mean, you know, but in all of these years, we've never had two identical scores at either end of the spectrum. So you know, basically it means that that Jackie and Gregor wrong. Doesn't it be the new Recalcitrance, the new Recalcitrans exactly? You know, I'm may the wrong, maybe I'm may be right. It may be a loner ship you're looking for? Tell you thank you? Which song is that from Bill Joel? Oh? Is it? What's the name of the song? You may be right? I think? Which was ironically the song you were performing at Madison Square done when you had. A little accident. That was bad because he realized he's had an operation since Mustter have been. And had to cancel shows and everything. So yeah, it's sad, very sad because I've seen it a couple of times on YouTube and whilst it looked bad, it looked reasonably innocuous, but clearly it wasn't. So yeah, I don't think we know why the ops have been performed, do we? I said, I'm not aware of it, but yeah, with Billy Joel all the best to does it come back? All right, let's go on jay ad IDFM. If you want to contribute, please, fifty four bucks gets you membership. Just get to j. Dash air dot com dot au and we love having our members, because that's what community radio is all about. So let's go. From one to another where I dare say we are all going to like this. Okay, I'm putting it out there, black bag. What a super intelligent British spy thriller it is. And I'll tell you what some good, good characters and really fine acting as well. George Woodhouse is played by Michael Fusspender, and he is an elite operative at a British establishment called the National Cyber Security Center NCSC National Cybersecurity Center. He can't stand liars, and he seeks them out and exposes them, and that happens to have included his own father. Now there appears to be a mole in the ranks of this organization, and he's tasked with uncovering that infiltrator before they can activate a destructive cyberworm called Severus, and that is actually that is malware that can destabilize a nuclear facility. Now there are five suspects, and they include his beloved wife, Catherine Saint Jean played by Cate Blanchette, our very own, who is one of NCSC's most powerful and trusted agents, and in fact she is George Woodhouse's one big weakness because whatever she wants, she gets, and vice versa kind of thing in the relationship that they have. Also in this mix is Freddie Small's Tom Burke, who's a fine actor. He is an inveterate Mormonizer who's been with a younger fellow operative, a tech whiz called Clarissa Dubos played by Marissa Abella, for eighteen months. Right, so they're in a physical relationship, which is rather thought, I've got to say. But she in turn has a poor schot for older men. And then there's the agency psychologist, doctor Zoe Vaughan. Naomi Harris plays her, and she happens to enjoy erotic fiction. She's been getting up close and personal with a rising star in the organization, Colonel James Stokes Reggie gene Page. Woodhouse's first salvo to get to the truth comes via dinner invitation to the quintet, in which he does the cooking and he adds a little something extra. Once lips loosened, he asks each of them to participate in a game in which they're charged with making a resolution. You know you got New Year's resolutions, Well, this is a resolution for the person sitting to their right, so they make a resolution on their behalf and that sparks the first in a series of revelations much later in the movie. There's also going to be a line detect test. So, as I said, most sophisticated and tense spy thriller is black bag and in which the identity of the rat remains well disguised. So getting the heart of the truth is no walk in the park. Really well conceived, written, acted, and directed. Steven Soderbergh is the guy in charge, proves yet again what a master filmmaker he is. It's the third time he's actually teamed with the writer David Kerp, and they work together recently actually on Presence and Kimmy. I think they've known each other for about thirty years, isn't that true? That's what I read somewhere. But the characters are all very very smart people trying to outsmart each other. So Michael Fassbender perfectly cast in a straight as a die roll which requires his intellectual prowess to shine cop well, he's exploited the quirks, the peccadillos, the vulnerability of vulnerabilities plural of the players in this one. Weaving a rather twisted tail as the writer of the focus moved from one to the other. Tom Burk's another stand out as a dedicated agent whose predilections make him susceptible and honored goes. There's a wickedly twisted, playful treak about Melissa A Bella who was in a really good film Back to Black and she blades orsa Debos, And then Lanchette is Katine Saint Jane with a sense of entitlement, and then Pierce frozen. It also pops up with a confident. Air as the agency head, the Stiglitz. In fact, one of the traits that characterizes all of them is self belief. And I also like the musical choices by David Holmes that accompanied this sort of cat and mouse concoction. And I should say because when I read black Bag and black Bag seems to be an out, it's sort of like a secret word. Well, Greg, you've gone to. The International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, haven't you? Yes, I have, and I've been there too, And. Kim was a time in a bookshop. But yeah, well there was the wasn't there the was it the code of silence? Or was it the phone. The shoe phone, shoephone. Yeah, I really enjoyed the International Spy Museum anyway that According to the International Spy Museum, black bag refers to secret entry to steal or copy materials. Watergate seeing was a black bag job when they wrote. Into the So were you familiar with the term? Were you? Yeah? Okay? Were you Jackie? Or have you seen this? No? And I'm hearing for the first time that it was a it? Is it kind of a generic term? Is that? I called it? Just your agd tyra? Yeah, oh okay, I thought it was made up for this film. No, I've read enough spice rollers to come across. Oh, yes, you would have agreed. Yeah, I like you. Jackie thought the same thing. What about you, well read individual who was born when Adam was a boy? Did you know? Did you know the term black bag? Did you? No? I didn't. I thought it was a reference to something or other. But that's okay. I'm more interested in the Starzi Museum that I visited in Germany, which looks at how the spy they spied on people, and that was absolutely incredible. Well, it's funny you say that because I went to the Russian one where you literally go down, there's a door and you go. Down in a lift and oh my golly, talk about the Cold War. So I'm presuming yours was a similar type experience. Who don't, not quite. It was more a standard sort of display, but it looked at real life examples of people telling their stories about being spied on and being arrested. Quite incredible story about the stars, the lives of others. Sport of demonstrated that. Well, in my case, I believe this was I think it was real. I think it was exactly as it was in the Cold War era, but I could be mistaken. But my wife and I found it really extraordinary because I mean, we went to Russia obviously before many years before the current situation, have been there a couple of times, and we were very surprised that Moscow was very, very modern city. Saint Petersburg, the architecture is stunning, right, I mean, but obviously, you know, in terms of what's going on now, it's terrible, you know, the Ukraine War and so on. But the Black Bag, the movie undoubtedly hits the right notes. It's a real beauty. It keeps you guessing, and I thought it was thoroughly delectable. I really appreciated it, and we got a very late invite. I'm very grateful that that invite came along. So Greg, tell me about your views of black Bag. Okay, Well, despite the fact that this starts a couple. Of people from the One University universe, which Peace prosent and Naomi Harris, this is actually more stylish literary. Spy movie. It's more like in the kin to the fiction of John mccare or Lenn Dayton. So rather than car chase and gunfights that are the staple of those kind of films, here we get into the gritty, nearly gritty of intelligence work, the the personality of spies. A very dialogue driven film, but when the couple of action sequences or violence happened, it is suddenly and sudden and shocking. There. It's got a. Great cast there. Model Fastbend's character with his horn room glasses and everything remind me a little bit of George Smiley, and also the Michael Kaine character Harry Palmer from films like The Iparus File and everything. There, very dialogue driven, great production designer. I thought, especially design of the National Cybersecurity Center officers they're very open, very bright, and design of George's house there is also very spacially so that the design is all good. And the way the film opens with that long tracking shot that follows George down the street and into his nightclub where he has his. COVID meeting with. It an informant who very soon afterwards is also a strong way to open the film. Good performances from the cast. I thought they all had well developed personalities there. Yeah, and I thought it was really well well done. Even though there's not a lot of action in it, it's still quite intriguing. Oh, exactly, very much intriguing. And again it's funny. We talked about humor at the start of this and the different forms of humor see Peter. To me, this is a really intelligent form of spy thriller and again with very intelligent script and so on and so forth, so you know, you can get silly spy films as well. This is not you know, this is not based on humor, although there is some you know that there is a lot of playing around with one another in this. Isn't there, Peter, there is. This is not carry on Spain. It's not that type of film. It's a very contained film, and that's what's so good about it. David Cope is such a good writer. I mean he wrote The Paper and A Part zero and an even Jurassic Park. So it's always about the script. And and that's where Soderberg didn't have to do a great deal in terms of directing the film, because the script spoke for itself. Yes, well, acted, well, cast, some nice little twists here and there. A good solid spy film. But I wouldn't say it's it's brilliant or fantastic. But I liked it. I thought it was well done. I'm disappointed that you didn't enjoy it more. When was the last really good spy film we've seen? Does anybody when you're. Proper tinker tailor Solder spy? Sky Fall? Yes, sky Fall? Yeah, I mean there's lots of spyre films of differing types. But yeah, no, I liked. I liked. I just didn't think it was that fantastic. It's one of those films that will go straight to streaming very quickly. Oh okay, it's interesting you say that. I actually think it really stands out quite frankly, Jackie, you said you didn't see this one correct. No, now have I saw its? Storr shly, Oh, well, you've got a fresh, fresh take on it. So yeah, did you enjoy it very much? Right from the start. It had that mister and missus Smithfield to it, you know, of the spy married couple in a spy situation, but it didn't have all the action, and it didn't need it because it was all about the dialogue so much so that I felt the narrative and the dialogue like it felt it came from a book, and I. Believe it didn't, so you know, there you go. But it was. That's how well written it was. And I agree with Peter that you was it plantal Greg that you start with a good script and you're more likely to have a really good film. So and yet, even though it was beautifully written, it wasn't a that was overly convoluted, like they didn't have to feed. In all these red hearings and all that sort of stuff. Instead, it was more about everybody having secrets, and even secrets that other people knew some of the secrets of the others in a n Agatha Christie kind of way almost, but we don't know it all until it's slowly revealed, as is the actual plot slowly revealed, and I really enjoyed the way it the way it kind of leached out that that was really good. I thought all the characters. Were great, except it wasn't so keen on the character playing James, was it. I just found he didn't he some of the dialogue was a bit muffled and not not in the dinner party though the dinner parties, these are the dinner parties I don't want to be invited to. I'd go to be a fly on the wall. How I've listened to listen to the discussion, but I don't want to be a part of a dinner party like that. Than did very much. I'm very disappointed to hear that. Yeah, I really so, I have. We're talking about you're talking about the chap that Colonel James Stokes, the Reggie jene Page character, Yes, rising star within the end. Did you find that too? Did you find him difficult to There was a particular scene where they're out on the he's with the Mike Fassbender what yes, character's name, and they're going out. He's at the back of the car and they're having a conversation there, and there just seemed to be something wrong with the post impost production or something. Oh really, no, no, I gotta say I didn't. I just thought the characters were well drawn. We could have we could have had a little bit more of him, actually, I think, but overall so well, I. Went off him because of that. But the characters that really really did it for me were the matching of Cate Blanchett Michael Facebender as the married couple with a real bit of in their marriage and to see them, you know, in their personal lives and their domestic situation and romantic situation and at work and hosting. These dinner parties. To see them, I just thought they were fantastic as a couple. They really, I mean that was That's a great spot of casting there. Did you think that, Yeah? I did. I thought they were good. I also I mentioned Marissa Abella. I reckon that she's a rising star. We're going to see more of her because I think she she made the most of quite a complex character, you know, it was a bit twisted. I thought she was really good too. I look Kate Blanchette, I mean, she's a mighty fine actor. And you know, you think about the diversity of performance that she's put in over the distance. But obviously, what was the last I. Thought she looked like Sandy in this film? She did. I agree, she spines and the I wanted to say that to Sandy, our colleague, our fellow reviewer, Sandy. Who's not with us today. But I thought, Kate she just every time, you know, the high cheekbones. And that she had a real Sandy face. Well, there you go. But what was the recent movie that came and went with Kate Blanchett? Do you guys remember it was only here for it didn't do well? Yeah? It was a political thriller, a meeting. Yeah, did you see Petter, Yes? I did, trying to remember what the title and it was. It was it average or. It was unusual? It had a centerpiece of a brain, and it dealt with the idea of the potential destruction of the of the world. A unique concept, the potential distruction of the world. Yes, it was called Rumors. Rumors. Thank you, very good, very good. All right, so let's get some scores, Jackie. You start off with Black Bag, which is a rated m It runs for ninety three minutes. Yay, eight short movie. Out of ten Jacqueline. Hello, are you there? What is going on? She's disappeared? Sorry, I just no, no, I've just got this poor connection going on again. I'm really sorry. Do you want my score? It's seven and a half out of ten. Good on you, okay, Gregory King, Yeah, I'll do it to seven and a half out of ten, as well as a lean manuscript which is an economical. Excellent And Peter yeah, I quite liked it, not as high as both of you. I gave it six out of ten. Well you're wrong. You've gone back to the Telston corner and it's an eight out of ten for mine. Well, a really good movie, unexpected, just sort of dropped, and please go along and see it. Well, well worth your coin, I reckon. I mean, you know it's all about which money, which which coin do you pay for? Which movies do you pay for? This is it's certainly better than average, now talking about one that's spent a lot of money in coin but has not lived up to expectations. And I was very disappointed when I saw it and thought, what the hell is going on? You can see where they've put the money, but it's not on the scripting. It's called Mikey Mickey Mickey seventeen. I get the confused with the actress that won the Oscars where it hasn't got to see Mickey seventeen. Is runs far too long, keeps on going, and it then keeps on going two hours, seventeen minutes rated. M Now it reminds. Me of Alex talking about the football. Yeah, the bombers, you know, a good effort, Jackie. Wouldn't you say I shouldn't have said that, wouldn't you go? That kid? Where's the jumper? I reckon? I reckon bringing the Carlton fans would be absolutely distraught. It warms the cockles as somebody listen, I. Was making a one line joke there, Well go on for launch, you launch you back into a discussion. I regret it. Or no, regret it all you what? We can talk about football as the cows come up? Are you interested in the Sheffield Shield Final that's coming up as well? Sorry Peter, you're not interested in softball? Sorry Peter. Well, it's ridiculous that the football stasion started before then had the Sheffield Shield Final. Yeah, and they can't play it where they want to play it. They've got to go to a Karen Rolton. I think is the Oval that they're playing it in rather than the Adelaide Oval, because they could and the South Australian Premier got involved, Greg and even he couldn't solve. It, So thing right along what we weren't actually better. You want to talk about it before about football, do you? We can can do that. Eighteen teams, you know. We need to talk about the seventeen Nickeys, the seventy. Yeah, we'll take the mickey out of it. Yeah, exactly. Now if I'm not for saying it's twenty fifty four. In this movie, yea. And Earth's in trouble, isn't it? And droves of people are taking up the opportunity for interplanetary relocation that's. My term anyway. And a man who's got himself in all sorts of trouble financially destitute is Mickey Barnes played by Robert Pattinson. Now, without digging too deeply, he seizes the chance to start afresh as a new human colony is about to start populating on a planet called Nilfheim, and those behind the initiative are a former congressman, supercilious though he is Kenneth Marshall is his name, played by Mark Ruffalo and his scheming wife. I'm not sure he pronounced his name. Why her name rather, why lfa ulfa something like that. Tony Collette has our own Tony Collette. So Mickey signs up to become what's known as an expendable, and that's not the expendables as in the movie. That means he'll be given all the dangerous tasks in this hostile, freezing environment that the new planet is located in, all the planet that they're going to. Now, when he dies, which he does a lot, he'll be reprinted another word for cloned again and again. And the one person who is sympathetic to him is an elite agent called Nasha played by Naomi Aki. And she is, when I say an elite agent. She's a soldier, she's a policewoman, she's a firefighter. She can do no wrong, and he regards her as his soulmate. Now, as Greg said, we're up to the seventeenth iteration of Mickey when he's incorrectly assumed to be dead again and prematurely replaced. So suddenly we have both Mickey seventeen and Micky eighteen, and they don't see I do I. And then, to add fuel to the fire, a woman other than Nasha shows more than a passing interest in Mickey. So there's interpersonal relationships at stay here as well, But the real enemies are the oppressive leaders governing the colony. Now, like most movies, I went into Mickey seventeen blind, not knowing anything about it, and I emerged after those two hours and seventeen minutes feeling let down disappointed. Why because what I saw was this over extended political satire that lacks substance and appeal. Notwithstanding the brilliance of the writer and director Bong June Hoe's last film, which was the Oscar winning Parasite, this one suffers from average writing and direction. The longer it. Went, the more I wanted it to end. And there's only really so much of a bad thing I could take. The movie is actually based on the novel Mickey seven by Edward Ashton, so I reckon if it was called Mickey seven, it wouldn't have to run for two hours seventeen minutes anyway. Robert Pattinson, well, he does most of the heavy makes a decent fist of it. Yeah, plays opposite himself and makes it. I mean, he's the centerpiece of the film. Mark Ruffalo is but a pompous buffoon with bad teeth. Tony Koled full of expression, as is Manipulaity better half. Naomi Aki, Well, he has a moment, although I can't say that she seemed all that stretched. Now, one thing I should say about. Mickey seventeen is that in Dune we got sandworms. Here we have what are termed creepers, and they're kind of like large caterpillars or armadillos. They call it what you will, but you know that's what they are. So enough, said frankly. I found the whole thing too silly. I mean, Jackie, have you seen this or you've avoided it? Hello? Are you still there, Jackie? Maybe she's gone, Okay, maybe she's not there anymore. Having said all of that, what about you, Peter, what did you think of it? Yes? I was disappointed. Bong Junhoe is such a good filmmaker. I mean, o Kier a snowpiece at Pista Parasite. As you've mentioned this one, he's been given too big a budget, and the adaptation of the original novel, not that I've read it, seems to be rather odd and at cross purposes. For example, why is there only one person being replicated? I didn't understand that process, because you would think that if they want to take people away from the planet and go elsewhere, that they'd be working on lots of people and replicating them and remodeling them and keeping their memories and all that sort of thing. The other thing that annoyed me is that the yin and yang of Mickey seventeen and Mickey eighteen got on my nerves because it was just so stupid and ridiculous at times. So there was a lot to disappoint me. I know, the film was optimized for IMAX, and that's where we saw it at a previous screening, and because it was optimized for IMAX, it actually looked a bit grayer and a bit murkier than perhaps if it was a stand getting all this noise. In the. Jackie, are you re arranging the furniture. Or what is or assembling it? Or Greg, are you doing thecano or what's going on here? Okay, Jackie, can you hear us? Jackie king in and out on and off? I did. I didn't say I didn't. See Jackie didn't see it. Okay, But anyway, seventeen was was a disappointment for me. I would have liked a much stronger film. Groundhog Day did it better in some respects. So yeah, I wasn't a great fan of this one. But you asked about the cloning and why there weren't more, Well, bear in mind that there were. I got the impression there weren't many expendables, right that, That's what Mickey was. So you're only cloning the expendables because they die, So I mean I kind of got that. But they obviously focused on one and it wasn't as if there was a troop of expendables. But if it was so urgent, then they would have had many more being created and that we would see that process. By the way, Mark Ruffalo's character is a ridiculous Trumpian type character, and Tony Collette is wasted in the film. Yeah, Jackie, you moving around? Jackie? Can you hear us? No, it's my Yes, I can hear you. Can you hear me? There's a lot of hash and we're wondering. I'm sorry, that's my puppy, that's your puppy. What is it a great name? Is it? I mean, is it? Ryan rhinoceros. Is it? Well, look, you know you. Watch the dog name Now the dog's part of this podcast. Yeah, this Pipper, she'd like, she's just giving her opinion of the tennis ball. Pippa, can you go Pyton and play with that ball? Maybe? Now, I'm sorry to tell you this that she actually can't go quietly, So I'm just going to leave the. I do apologize to that. And I'm hoping it wasn't. No, you just we thought there was. I mean I was worried because, let's be honest, Peter lives in a paper thin house. That that a Butt's the Grand Prix track? What's happening up the Grand Prix as we're speaking. Just watching there are two helicopters trying to land at the moment, and the actual Grand Prix racers don't start until the afternoon. But hopefully with the noise suppression that I've pressed on Skype. You don't hear all of that. Fine, I mean, maybe you can hitch a ride with the helicopter pilot and with a. Round view heasie viewer of the. Ground ground conditions, and or it dogs over you, Yes, it dogs over you exactly. No, it's it's that's no. All right, So you've said all you wanted to say about. Yes, yes, that was disappointed. What about you, Gregory? Well, well, this is a film of interesting ideas, but not all of them clicked. A black comic fi fi film. There's for some big things like cloning, science, colonization, space exploration, religious fanaticism and all that kind of stuff. But as I said, not all the ideas are fully developed there. The Trumpian Alborty with Mark Rufflow's character is a bit obvious and heavy handed at times. Some of the special effects are really good. I thought there that they create this other world con cineratography. I thought it was also quite good of this other world that's snow covered, and the creepers and most of it's two hundred million dollar budget can be said on the screen there. And I like the way now remember back. In the fifties and sixties and those tear these shows when some character is playing a twin and they were always positioned in near a doorways that they could have that line down the screen and play opposite each other. At least special effects and visual effects have come along way now so that you're going to actually have Robert Pattinson interact credibly with his other self there on screen, so that that works well, I thought. I thought he did a good job of playing your personality. Yeah, he gave each one eferent physical appearance and look with little subtle nuances and gestures and that so I thought that worked well as well. I thought Juno directed with a bit of energy and flair there, emphasizing the black humor where possible. Yeah, so Look had. Crementiisting ideas, and it includes all sorts of elements from some of his other films as well, like Yustapian Snow Pierser and Plautiful social satire in Social Commentary. A parasite or play here as well. I agree, though it is a little bit bloated with. A lot of intertwined spots, some of which don't go anywhere, and it could have been tightened up in unison suite. Yeah, so what are you going to give it? Out of ten? Greg? Six out of ten, six out of ten. For Mickey seventeen, which runs for two hours seventeen minutes rated M and Peter. Krauss I gave it five out of ten. You're spot on today, Peter. Not all the time, but sometimes so yeah, I'm giving it a five as well. It's I mean, I get excited when I get invited to Imax. I think it's a brilliant venue. It's my favorite cinema, and it's all well and good to spend two out of million bucks, that's us, I think on a movie. But you've got to have a. Decent script, don't you. But you know I think that that's thought. Why is somebody ringing me while I'm on air? Don't they know how how important it is that we get our thoughts out about the mighty fightings and football machine. That's a third reference to football. Are you appreciative of that? Greg you're kicking goals today, Alex. Oh, very good, Gregory. Now we've got to go. But I've got to say, folks, please, if you haven't seen Hard Truths, that's the other film we were going to talk about. But we'll run out of time. That is as well. It hadn't thought for all we might have got to it. Yes, I know, football for much more important, no, no, equally important. Hard Truths are what a strong film and a brilliant performance. And I actually felt very sorry for the lead around whom the whole movie Gravitates. I thought she deserved a nomination for Best Actress. And I'm talking about mari Ane Jean Baptiste. Lovely name too, very fine actor and what a character. I mean, really something different. So if you get the chance. It was on as part of the Brittain Film Festival. It's only a ninety seven minute movie. It's rated M and I you know, it's a combination of shock, horror and sympathy into there's a bleakness and undoubted bleakness about hard truths, but it's also compelling. It's kind of like like watching a train wreck unfold and that's where the shock, horror and sympathy come in. So well that might be Alex's opinion. Perhaps again you can be wrong, Jackie. It's you. Are you going to be wrong again? Yeah? Oh good, Well we'll. Have to talk about that on another occasion. Well, okay, very briefly then without I mean, we're really run out of time. But what would you have given it? Out of ten? Jackie? Quickly hard truths? I think they gave it six, but it was I didn't. I didn't find it entertainment and I didn't feel leavest the cinema feeling happier entertained. Well, what was your score out of ten for hard truths? Are you for me? Yes? Another great Mike Lee film. Eight out of ten from that. Yeah, the perfect that's three out of three for you today three out of four And what about you, Greg? Six out of ten, so again split the same. My golly, what is today all about? We're gonna stop where it was, quitting while we're ahead. Go mighty fighting essen and football shape. You go for it boys, that's it, he says. Oh, I'm so excited. We'll see you soon. First on Film and Entertainment, signing off, thank you guys for your contributions.