May Wrap-Up / Mad Max Awards / Movie Musings
Our May Wrap-up episode. A time to reflect on MAD MAY, in which we watched all the films in the Mad Max franchise, including the latest, 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga'.
00:00 Reflections on the franchise and recent box office
03:05 Mad Max Awards
19:54 Ranking the Franchise
24:24 Movie Musings
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Transcript
Well, and welcome to back to the frame rates may wrap up.
Nathan:This is a monthly episode that we do to recap prior month.
Nathan:And this was quite a month cause we did the entire Mad Max retrospective,
Nathan:the whole saga culminating and furing out a couple of weeks ago.
Nathan:And this is gonna be a fun episode because we have some final thoughts.
Nathan:On the saga and reflections on it, and we're going to rank the franchise.
Nathan:And also we have some awards and superlatives to give out.
Nathan:Any thoughts before we begin this?
Sam:Hello.
Sam:I just want to say this was the best box office ever.
Sam:May was on fire and we had back the frame where we're there to witness this
Sam:incredible just, I just, what can I say?
Sam:Scorcher.
Nathan:Yeah.
Nathan:You know what is funny before we get to this, I see so much not so much hate,
Nathan:but like so much so many people are just kind of like, just digging at Furiosa for
Nathan:his poor box office, but you know what?
Nathan:It's the entire box office.
Nathan:And I hope that Hollywood is not just looking at Furiosa as
Nathan:like, Oh, this movie bombed.
Nathan:Every movie is bombing right now.
Nathan:So I am hopeful that they will realize this is not isolated to
Nathan:this movie, or any of these movies that are coming out this month.
Nathan:This is something that is a global thing that's going on, or a
Nathan:thing that's happening right now.
Nathan:And eventually, it probably will turn around at some point.
Nathan:They will figure out, they'll crack the code, and hopefully, Hopefully
Nathan:people will return or they'll figure out a way to get people back in.
Nathan:But right now people are not going to the theater for one reason or another.
Nathan:I have theories about the, the window that movies are coming
Nathan:to streaming and VOD so fast.
Nathan:That's one of my thoughts on it.
Nathan:But I hope that Hollywood doesn't think like, Oh, no more Mad Max
Nathan:movies because nobody's going out.
Nathan:It's more, it's bigger than that.
Bee:And if we choose movies that are going to be bellwethers, maybe we don't
Bee:choose the legacy prequel nine years later with none of the original stars.
Bee:Yeah.
Sam:Yeah.
Sam:It's, it's I feel like it's a marketing thing too.
Sam:And I also think there's this saying going around in in Hollywood and movie
Sam:theaters called survive till 25 because of the writer's strike, all the movies have
Sam:shifted, you know, big titles in the 2025.
Sam:But I do think that This has been a trend this month in May, but I also
Sam:think it has to do with the titles, just the movies themselves, like
Sam:maybe people were less interested.
Sam:I do think this, this box office of this summer will improve.
Sam:And I, it's, I can understand if people disagree, but I think I have a feeling Bad
Sam:Boys, Ride or Die is going to open well.
Sam:I'm just talking box office.
Sam:I think it could be.
Sam:I think it could do that.
Sam:And then a quiet place year one, I see hope for this summer.
Sam:So I don't think it's all doom and gloom, but I'm always an optimist.
Sam:We'll see.
Sam:Time will
Nathan:tell.
Nathan:Maybe when we get to our June wrap up, we can look back and see what happens.
Nathan:Well, let's get awards to proletives for the Mad Max franchise.
Nathan:And I, my apologies.
Nathan:I recycled some of our categories from last month when we did our
Nathan:Christopher Nolan Retrospective, but I think there's some fun ones in here.
Nathan:We can kind of see as we go, but I think obvious one we have to do is best villain.
Nathan:No,
Nathan:it doesn't have to be the main villain.
Nathan:It can be any of the villains on that from this franchise.
Nathan:No,
Nathan:it's good here.
Nathan:Who would like to begin?
Nathan:We just, we just rock, paper, scissors this.
Nathan:I don't care who begins.
Sam:I think B would like to begin, right?
Sam:B
Bee:I would thanks, Sam.
Bee:I.
Bee:You've heard me say for the last like four or five shows that I think the
Bee:this franchise has a villain problem That being said I love toe cutter.
Bee:I really like I never got over toe cutter But Dementus came Pretty close.
Bee:Mm.
Bee:Sam!
Sam:So, and, and, and forgive me, I'm a complete moron because I've been running
Sam:around today, but I forgot the rules.
Sam:Does that mean that I can't pick, pick the same villain now?
Sam:No, this isn't, this isn't, this isn't
Nathan:a draft, no.
Nathan:Okay,
Sam:gotcha.
Sam:No, you can, no
Bee:rules.
Sam:There's no, wow.
Sam:No rules.
Sam:What would the world be like?
Sam:What would the world be like?
Sam:No, so I, I gotta be honest.
Sam:It has to be Toecutter for me as well, because So good.
Sam:It's just his presence, and then one of my favorite lines in all the Mad Maxes
Sam:with his sarcasm, where he's like, Ugh!
Sam:I hate guns!
Sam:And just, the way he delivers that is like, perfect, bad guy, like, he, and
Sam:I will, I mean, I really like the, I do like the villains in, in The Road
Sam:Warrior, but I just think Toe Cutter, he's more of a mythic place for me.
Nathan:Mm hmm.
Nathan:Well, I'm, we're gonna go three for three here.
Nathan:I also like Toe Cutter.
Nathan:Runner up, though, was
Nathan:Hughie's
Nathan:other Mad Max villain, Morton Joe, who I think is terrific.
Nathan:I think Tina, I think Tina Turner is a weak character.
Nathan:Lord Humongous and Wes look cool, but there's not much to their characters.
Nathan:And I've already said last week that I think Dementus character I thought
Nathan:would have been stronger if he was a little bit more of an enigma.
Nathan:But I gotta stick with the OG, Toe Cutter, because he's so theatrical and
Nathan:enigmatic and he's just full of chaos.
Bee:And I
Nathan:think he's the scariest of them all because he's just so unpredictable.
Nathan:And
Bee:he feels so real when he goes after the wife's ice cream.
Bee:That for me is the moment from the original Mad Max that
Bee:sticks in my mind so clearly.
Sam:Yes.
Sam:He's scary too.
Sam:He's like a real life, like, like, like psychopath or
Sam:like, I just said, like, very,
Nathan:he's also rooted in the real world.
Nathan:This is not, this is before the apocalypse.
Nathan:So that's what kind of makes him scary.
Nathan:Cause this guy exists in a world that we kind of, Live in to some degree, you
Sam:know, Relatable terror.
Sam:Yeah, exactly.
Bee:In a bar somewhere.
Bee:And there's a woman covering her drink.
Nathan:Yeah.
Nathan:All right.
Nathan:We let's move on to our next category.
Nathan:I think we can all agree.
Nathan:This is a good one.
Nathan:Best vehicle.
Nathan:And this could be anything that flies or drives.
Bee:The gyrocopter.
Bee:It's not even a question.
Bee:What are we, what are we doing?
Bee:It's the gyrocopter.
Nathan:Gyrocopter.
Nathan:Okay.
Sam:Sam.
Sam:You look.
Sam:So I got to say, you know, I'm so my, my answer surprises me because
Sam:usually I would go for like you know, something from like the earlier films,
Sam:but I got to say specifically in Fury Road and excuse me, Fury Road.
Sam:I like
Nathan:Fury Road.
Nathan:Fury
Sam:Road.
Sam:I like it.
Nathan:Or
Sam:how about Fury Ode Suh.
Sam:Oh, I'm sorry.
Sam:Hey, I still got it.
Sam:No,
Sam:I would definitely have to go with the War Rig in Fury Road because
Sam:we spend so much time with it and it's one of the vehicles that lasts
Sam:a surprising amount of time and does not get destroyed as is often the case
Sam:with a lot of vehicles in these films.
Sam:And you get to just see how it's operated and like Charlize Theron's like trick
Sam:for starting it and it's just, it's, I just feel like I've been on a adventure.
Sam:I've been with that vehicle more than others, even though I love many of them.
Sam:It's a tough choice, but I have to say that.
Bee:I liked in Furiosa how we learned a little bit more about how it was designed.
Bee:You know, the practicality of what went where I thought that was cool too.
Nathan:Good pick, Sam.
Nathan:Cause I also went with that, but you know, I will mention, of course I
Nathan:had to go with the pursuit special.
Nathan:Mad Max's car because if there ever was a vehicle in the series that, I don't know.
Nathan:I think it's just, it's not featured enough.
Nathan:I wanted more from it, but you know, the, the Warwick has its own personality and
Nathan:I feel that that truck is just a beast.
Nathan:And hearing your story from a few weeks ago, Sam, where they, there's
Nathan:Moby Dick references to that, where there's whale sounds added to it
Nathan:and made me love it even more.
Nathan:I'm in awe of the, the war rig.
Sam:If we ever get the Wasteland movie, maybe that could be Mad Max's,
Sam:like, car survives all of the film.
Sam:Cause that would be great.
Sam:You know, it's been a while if we ever get to it.
Sam:I don't know.
Sam:I I'm optimist.
Sam:I'm forever an optimist.
Nathan:Okay.
Nathan:So.
Nathan:This is where I kind of recycled some of our awards from the past month,
Nathan:and, but I have our We just kind of
Bee:liked it.
Nathan:Our sidekick award.
Nathan:What character would you want to go into battle with?
Bee:Charlize's Furiosa.
Nathan:Furiosa.
Nathan:Okay.
Nathan:We'll just leave it at that.
Nathan:Okay.
Nathan:That's fine.
Nathan:No explanation needed.
Nathan:Sam.
Bee:Yeah.
Bee:I mean, she's badass.
Sam:Oh my God.
Sam:I don't know how to, you know, I'll be honest.
Sam:Sometimes you just don't think, you know, the first thing that came to my head
Sam:right away, I got to say the gyro captain.
Sam:Because he might not be like the strongest, but he's like clever
Sam:and he throws snakes at people.
Sam:So like, yeah, you know, he'd be cheerful about it.
Sam:Like if we were going to die, he'd be like, still be smiling
Sam:and that would help, you know?
Sam:But it's, I don't know.
Sam:It was a tough choice, but yeah.
Sam:He would bring
Bee:some levity to the team.
Sam:Yes.
Sam:Exactly.
Nathan:Yeah.
Nathan:This is, this is a tough choice.
Nathan:I'm going a little unconventional.
Nathan:I'm going with a character that we did not talk about.
Nathan:Enough last week.
Bee:Are you going to say Nux?
Nathan:No, but I was incredibly impressed with the skills of a
Nathan:character named Mary Jibasa, Furiosa's mother from Furiosa Mad Max Saga.
Nathan:Yeah, I know I sort of shit on this movie a little bit, but it's been
Nathan:growing on me the more I think about it.
Nathan:And there's so many incredible characters in this film, but one of
Nathan:those standouts was Furiosa's mom.
Nathan:So much that.
Nathan:I wouldn't even mind a movie about her character.
Nathan:Yeah.
Nathan:Now, I know that will probably never happen based on the box office, but maybe
Nathan:a limited series would be really cool.
Nathan:I don't know.
Nathan:Anyways, Like I said,
Bee:that opening chase, I think is one of the more interesting Mad Max chases.
Sam:That opening chase, I, is like my favorite.
Sam:I just love it.
Sam:My favorite in the whole film, I think.
Sam:Yeah, I loved it.
Nathan:But Mary Jabasa Fioris mom could kick all our asses.
Nathan:She's incredible.
Nathan:Yeah.
Nathan:Yeah.
Nathan:Next, this I'm calling the Wingman Wingwoman Award, and this is
Nathan:an award, but what character would you want to be your, your wingman on a date?
Bee:That's a really good question.
Bee:Wingman on a date that I probably would have to go, no,
Bee:no, I'm not going to do that.
Bee:I was going to say gyro captain, but no, I'm not going to do that.
Bee:Nux.
Bee:You know why?
Bee:Because I think Nux is like.
Bee:He just, he just is so devout and loyal, and he really like, he's someone who, who
Bee:quickly evangelizes sort of whatever side he's on, so I can see him really talking
Bee:me up to, to whomever I need him to.
Nathan:I like that.
Sam:I'm going to have to go in a slightly comedic direction and say
Sam:master blaster, because I think it would be wondrous fun if like they were my
Sam:wingman at a bar and like master was shouting like, Sam, go talk to her.
Sam:She nice.
Sam:Go talk now.
Sam:I'd be like, I'd be like, okay, this is amusing.
Sam:So maybe not the best choice in the world, but like.
Sam:Master blaster.
Nathan:I'd be worried he'd, he might scare off some, some of the ladies.
Nathan:I don't know.
Nathan:That's
Sam:the thing.
Sam:It would, it would be kind of a problem, but it would be, it would
Sam:certainly be a memorable evening.
Sam:Well, you know,
Bee:if someone's stuck around, that's a real one.
Bee:Yeah.
Bee:Yeah.
Nathan:For me, no doubt.
Nathan:I, I, I bring Goose along from the first Mad Max film.
Nathan:He's, he's funny.
Nathan:Outgoing.
Nathan:He probably tells some great jokes.
Nathan:I can really picture a fun night out on the town with Goose.
Nathan:Goose.
Nathan:Goose.
Nathan:And he'd definitely buy a couple rounds of drinks, for sure.
Bee:Goose is
Sam:a great, Goose is awesome, yes.
Sam:Yeah.
Bee:That's a good choice.
Sam:That's a realistic choice.
Sam:I, I, I yeah.
Sam:I was, I was going for the laugh on that one.
Sam:That one I want to
Bee:redo.
Bee:I don't know how to be funny.
Bee:I'm
Nathan:sorry.
Nathan:Alright, this is kind of a serious one here.
Nathan:This is kind of an award for a good performance, a little underrated here.
Nathan:Who is the, the secret, we're giving this one to the It's
Nathan:called the Scene Stealer Award.
Nathan:And this is wide open because there's so many performances
Nathan:in here that this could go to.
Nathan:So it's, it's just somebody who steals the scene in any of these
Nathan:movies here that doesn't maybe get the appropriate recognition.
Bee:Yeah, actually, Nathan, for this, I had Furios's mother.
Nathan:Yeah,
Bee:I mean, just such a powerful performance.
Bee:One of my favorite, most innovative chase sequences we've seen.
Bee:Total dedication.
Bee:And, and she, to me, sort of captures the energy of Charlize Theron's
Bee:Furiosa more than Anya Taylor Joyce.
Bee:So, huge fan.
Bee:All
Sam:right.
Sam:Sam, what do you got?
Sam:Oh my God.
Sam:Well, you know, the problem is, and he might not be enough of a A
Sam:character because he never speaks, but like, he is a scene stealer.
Sam:I'm talking about the guitar guy, the Duke warrior.
Sam:Yeah.
Sam:I just, because like, he's a scene stealer, but like he's, you know,
Sam:we don't know this character, but it's like, it's like the epitome
Sam:of like, what Mad Max is all about.
Sam:I love
Nathan:it.
Nathan:Good pick.
Nathan:Good pick.
Nathan:Mind Stealer Award goes to Wes from The Road Warrior.
Nathan:And I almost gave this to the gyro captain, but The Road
Nathan:Warrior is a very dour film.
Nathan:And even the color palette is quite muted, you know, tans and browns.
Nathan:We didn't get the lush colors of these later, until these later
Nathan:movies, but there's one big thing.
Nathan:Beacon of insanity in this, in this film, and it's in the form of this character,
Nathan:which looks like a rooster on crack with that blood red Mohawk he dons.
Nathan:And every time Wes is on screen, he knows something completely
Nathan:unhinged is going to happen.
Nathan:And he is my Steen Steeler because I love every moment that he's on screen.
Bee:You know, this is such a hard category for these films
Bee:because every character, no matter how small is really fleshed out.
Bee:Like I think of Road Warrior, I think of the Golden Youth.
Bee:Oh yeah.
Sam:Just
Bee:that random pretty boy.
Sam:There's 000 good scene stealer options in this, in this franchise.
Sam:Like
Bee:there's so many.
Bee:It's the every frame of painting of good characters.
Bee:Yes.
Nathan:All right.
Nathan:I'm going to, for time's sake, I'm going to jump ahead here.
Nathan:I'm going to, this award I'm coining, we probably could think of a more PG
Nathan:name for this award, but I'm calling it the most fuck yeah moment award.
Nathan:I like that.
Nathan:Yes.
Nathan:All right.
Nathan:Let's just
Nathan:keep it at that.
Nathan:So I think this speaks for itself.
Nathan:If you've seen these movies, you know what we're talking about.
Bee:Okay.
Bee:So I kind of have a tie, but they're very different kinds of fuck yes.
Bee:And I couldn't decide.
Bee:So maybe you two can help me here.
Bee:I know.
Bee:This is kind of cheating.
Bee:This is a bit of a cop out, but I really couldn't pick.
Bee:So my first one is Toe Cutter's death in the original Mad Max, the bulging eyes.
Bee:That's the first time we really see that camera technique.
Bee:I love that scene.
Bee:It's, you know, in a movie that I think can lull a little bit.
Bee:It's awesome.
Bee:But in my heart of hearts, I think it's the, the sandstorm scene.
Bee:In Fury Road,
Bee:I
Bee:think that's the one like, and when I think of the epicness of this
Bee:franchise, you know, I want to pay homage to, to the older films, but
Bee:God, Fury Road, such a masterpiece.
Nathan:Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's go with your heart.
Nathan:You know, it sounds like you already know, but
Bee:fine.
Bee:All right.
Bee:Yeah.
Nathan:Okay.
Nathan:I think that's the sandstorm.
Nathan:All
Nathan:right.
Nathan:Sam, what's your fuck yeah moment?
Sam:I gotta be honest, there is one of well, there's many in
Sam:Fury Road, and it is awesome.
Sam:But, but the ultimate choice I have to make I have to go back to, I got to
Sam:say for me, even though there are much higher Octane action moments and much
Sam:more fast paced, like wow factor moments.
Sam:I love the huge helicopter shot of the whole road chase taking
Sam:place in the road warrior.
Sam:When you see the gyro like captain in the sky as well, that just pullback moment of
Sam:that chase, all those vehicles are there.
Sam:There's no augmentation.
Sam:It's just like, that's pure cinema to me.
Sam:Yeah.
Sam:And that's, it was a tough choice because Fury road, like.
Sam:It's like, my God, you know, like the whole movie is a fuck.
Sam:Yeah.
Sam:Movie.
Nathan:Yeah.
Nathan:Sam, I, I agree with you a hundred percent.
Nathan:That's my runner up.
Nathan:I'm going to one up you because mine is a similar shot from fury road.
Nathan:I knew, I knew you were,
Sam:I knew you were going to one up.
Sam:I knew it was going to happen.
Sam:And it's the way of the force that the force wills it.
Sam:Yeah.
Nathan:I mentioned this on free road.
Nathan:I literally stood up in my seat and screamed out when excitement, when I
Nathan:saw the war party for the first time.
Nathan:Beating their drums, going off to catch the war rig, and we sweep over
Nathan:the war boys and the drums, and we settle to reveal the doof warrior
Nathan:playing the flamethrowing double bass and framing it perfectly as
Nathan:the war party is seen behind them.
Nathan:There's actually one of those car transport vehicles off in
Nathan:the distance with more of the war party sitting on that, riding that.
Nathan:And that's like the thought.
Nathan:And the composition of, of all of this is incredible.
Nathan:And I actually shouted in the theater when I saw this shot, I'm like this.
Nathan:Is incredible.
Nathan:This is what Mad Max is to me, that's the whole franchise in a nutshell.
Nathan:Just the, the, the balls on this movie to, to give me that shot is, is incredible.
Nathan:So that is, that is my award for that.
Sam:That is epic.
Sam:I could, that's like, yes, that's, it is incredible.
Sam:Oh, man.
Sam:Incredible.
Sam:Yeah.
Sam:So,
Nathan:And we have, I have one last one.
Nathan:We probably should have ended it with that.
Nathan:And maybe I'll swap these up in post, but I kind of like this award because it's a,
Nathan:this movie has so many incredible stunts.
Nathan:And I think we need to have an award for that.
Nathan:Now we could say like best stunt, but I want to call this someone
Nathan:should have died on the set award.
Nathan:And it could be your interpretation of the best stunt.
Nathan:Or it could be it may, yeah, it could be the best stunt or just like the most
Nathan:outlandish, you know, where someone actually could have, should have died from
Nathan:the stunt, but just submit to me what you think is something that just needs to be
Nathan:recognized for a stunt from the series.
Bee:You know, for me they, Trying to remember, like, one stunt is hard,
Bee:because there's
Bee:like a thousand stunts in these movies.
Bee:So I kind of was just thinking the whole first movie.
Bee:I mean, going back and watching the documentary of how the original was
Bee:made, it's astounding that nobody was hurt, but I think especially
Bee:all those motorcycle stunts.
Bee:That happened in the other ones, the jumps, the crashes into
Bee:the, into the big cars where you see them sort of break away.
Bee:Those breakaway stunts, geez Louise.
Nathan:Absolutely.
Nathan:Yeah.
Nathan:Anything you want to submit Sam?
Sam:I, you know, it's like in terms of like danger level and like most
Sam:spectacular, like life threatening stunt.
Sam:I don't know if this would be the one, cause they were really well
Sam:organized, but I got to say the, the like pole vaulting in fury road when
Sam:they're like, you know, jumping, like literally jumping onto the truck.
Sam:Yeah, it's just.
Sam:Amazing.
Sam:Yeah.
Sam:And I would say I had a hate to like a close second that the one I almost picked
Sam:is just the when like motorcycles like are coming down the hill and fury road and
Sam:they like literally jump over the truck.
Sam:Like, I don't know if that's augmented, but it's just, it's amazing.
Nathan:I'm also going with the pole cat, Sam, you know, there are a lot
Nathan:of options for this, but I went with that because, you know, there, he
Nathan:could have done that digitally, but practically, those are real stunt men.
Nathan:Pull vaulting from cars onto the war rig, which is incredible.
Nathan:And I'm sure there is some augmentation here and there.
Nathan:I mean, they probably weren't going super fast doing this,
Nathan:but they are really doing that.
Nathan:So yeah, it doesn't matter.
Nathan:It is incredible.
Nathan:Yeah, it is
Sam:amazing.
Nathan:All right.
Nathan:So quickly we're, that is our awards.
Nathan:I want us to rank the franchise.
Nathan:And Bea, let's start with you.
Bee:Okay, so number one, I have to go with Fury Road.
Bee:I just think it's, it's a perfect movie.
Bee:I could watch it over and over and over again.
Bee:And I have after that, I go for Road Warrior.
Bee:Yep.
Bee:Then probably the, probably the original Mad Max 3rd.
Bee:Then Furiosa, and then Thunderdome.
Bee:But Thunderdome's good, like, that's, you know, last place, but like,
Bee:it's a pretty good movie, you know?
Bee:It's fine.
Nathan:Sam, give us your five.
Sam:So, my five would be, number one, for me, just cause the experience of excuse
Sam:me, the experience of first watching it as a kid number one would be Road Warrior.
Sam:Hmm.
Sam:Two would definitely be Fury Road.
Sam:Three would would be Mad Max, the original.
Sam:'cause that movie's just what it created is so classic and amazing.
Sam:Fourth would definitely be fur, a Mad Max Saga, and fifth
Sam:would be Beyond Thunderdome.
Sam:And I, I like beyond Thunderdome, but like of those five, it's definitely the, yeah.
Sam:The weakest.
Sam:Yeah.
Nathan:All right.
Nathan:And for me is number one is Mad Max Fury Road followed by two,
Nathan:the road warrior three is Furiosa Mad Max that did slide into three.
Nathan:And I know that it was kind of down on a little bit, but as if you recall from
Nathan:our early episodes, I wasn't, you know, completely sold on the first Mad Max.
Nathan:I thought there was some production problems with it.
Nathan:And I was, I, you know, it is good, but I don't love it.
Nathan:Mad Max was fourth and of course, Beyond Thunderdome fifth.
Nathan:So I actually don't love Thunderdome.
Nathan:I, I, I think I gave that like a two and a half.
Nathan:I was pretty low on it.
Nathan:That's okay.
Nathan:Yeah, it's okay.
Nathan:I,
Sam:Remember you know, no, I'm not remember, but I was going to say that,
Sam:like, I have a feeling that Fury Road, I mean, excuse me, Furiosa might go
Sam:up on my list, like with a second viewing, like, because it is, I'd rather
Sam:watch it than the first Mad Max 79.
Sam:It's just cause it's so classic.
Sam:It's hard to, it's like those movies may oscillate.
Nathan:All right, so we've done our ranking, we've done our awards.
Nathan:I know I want to get to some other things before we're done,
Nathan:but any final thoughts on this?
Nathan:I mean, maybe, maybe we should just put a bow on this and we're done.
Nathan:Yeah.
Sam:I enjoy Mad Max films.
Nathan:Okay.
Bee:Big movies.
Bee:Yeah.
Bee:I like them.
Nathan:All right.
Nathan:I, I do hope that this is not the end.
Nathan:I do hope that we get to see more and, but we shall see.
Nathan:It's
Bee:really interesting that this is what broke out of Australian new wave
Bee:cinema and, and that of everything that came out of the country at that time.
Bee:This is.
Bee:The thing that became the sensation.
Bee:I'm, I'm grateful for that.
Nathan:I think the one thing that we really touched on lightly, but not
Nathan:that much is how influential the, these early movies were, we, you know, the,
Nathan:the, the action in these it really sets the tone for a lot of films,
Nathan:action in the eighties that Hollywood was trying to duplicate and not always
Nathan:successfully, but as you can see, you, you watched a lot of Australian new wave.
Nathan:So
Bee:power through a lot of that.
Bee:It's not, but what's, what's interesting is we talk about it in the context
Bee:of its influence over Hollywood, but really Australian new wave was
Bee:reinvigorating Australian's love for old Hollywood that sort of people weren't
Bee:seeing those movies come out anymore.
Bee:So in the context of that wave of cinema, you know, we talk about George
Bee:Miller, this one kind of sounds like it's kind of seems like a silent film.
Bee:This one seems like it could be sort of a Western.
Bee:That's the wave of cinema that they were doing.
Bee:They were emulating all those films that they, that people stopped making.
Sam:Agreed.
Sam:And Furiosa definitely had that like, Coming of age, epic vibe where
Sam:it's like, this is like, like a saga for like through time, a saga film.
Sam:I like that, which I think
Bee:speaks to how timeless those storytelling techniques are when we
Bee:think about film as a movement and its influences, we can always go back
Bee:to these ways of telling story and trust that they're going to live on.
Nathan:Great.
Nathan:Well, let's put a bow and a bow on.
Nathan:Our Mad Max retrospective.
Nathan:That was, that was a fun month,
Nathan:but we are going to be
Nathan:transitioning into the month of June where we are going to be featuring
Nathan:our subject is June pride, and we're going to be getting to that soon, but before we
Nathan:do that, we're going to just transition to movie musings, where we're going to just
Nathan:talk a little bit about some of the things that we've been watching the past month.
Nathan:And I, hi.
Nathan:I will, I high highlight a few things that I want to talk about.
Nathan:We don't have a lot of time tonight, but who would like to begin?
Nathan:I can begin first, or me or Sam.
Nathan:Go for it.
Nathan:Nate, I'll jump first because there, there's three things I want to mention.
Nathan:I did a rewatch of Rosemary's Baby.
Nathan:I haven't seen this movie in ages.
Nathan:Have you guys seen this?
Bee:Yeah, I rewatched it a couple years ago.
Bee:I'm super interested to hear what you have to say about this.
Bee:I don't have thought I, I've seen the film.
Bee:If you
Sam:can believe
Nathan:it, I've gotta see it.
Nathan:I saw this movie in the mid nineties in college, and my expectations of
Nathan:this movie were something that this movie is not, I thought this was
Nathan:supposed to be some like horror movie.
Nathan:All like The Exorcist with, right.
Nathan:It's like, but it's, this is really psychological horror.
Nathan:So I went into this with fresh eyes.
Nathan:And it made a world of difference.
Nathan:I, the basic plot, if anyone out there does not know Mia Farrow
Nathan:as a wife, she's married to John Casavetes and they move into upscale
Nathan:neighborhood in the Upper West Side.
Nathan:I'm sure most listeners know the premise, but if not, I don't want
Nathan:to spoil too much of this, but.
Nathan:What is a 55 year old movie, so who knows.
Nathan:Anyways, what this movie really isn't, it's not so much a horror movie in the
Nathan:traditional sense, but a critique on the oppression and the manipulation
Nathan:of women, particularly in the context of reproductive rights, which I never
Nathan:really Thought about ever, you know, when I, when I watched this the first time,
Bee:kind of the way that the exorcist, which you just brought
Bee:up as a critique of mental health.
Nathan:Yeah.
Nathan:Much of the subtext went right over my head.
Nathan:The first time I watched this back in my early twenties and seeing this now,
Nathan:especially with the current climate with what's happening with Roe v.
Nathan:Wade, this film, I think is even more prescient than ever.
Nathan:So I'm thankful I got to revisit this because now I kind of
Nathan:understand why it's considered one of the greatest films of all time.
Nathan:I had a really good time watching this.
Nathan:It really made me think a lot.
Nathan:So there's a lot of things I want to talk about tonight, but I, I really
Nathan:loved this movie now seeing it.
Nathan:Appropriately.
Nathan:And I got to see this in in on a Blu ray as well, which I think I saw this
Nathan:probably on cable in the nineties.
Nathan:So this looked really good.
Nathan:It was, I, I brought, I took it out of my library.
Nathan:There's, they have a, they have a criterion version of it, so I
Nathan:got to see all the documentaries that came with it and stuff.
Nathan:So it's really, really cool.
Nathan:John
Bee:Cassavetes deserves to be seen in high resolution.
Nathan:And I'll go again, but anyone else have something they want to mention?
Bee:Totally different vibes to Rosemary's Baby.
Bee:I went to the theater this week and I saw Babes, which was super fun.
Bee:It's like the
Nathan:Babe, right?
Bee:The Babe.
Bee:That's right.
Bee:That's exactly what it was.
Bee:No, you know, it's, it's good to see just an out and out comedy in the theaters.
Bee:It kind of was reminiscent of bridesmaids for me, which I'm
Bee:sure that's floating around a lot.
Bee:I haven't read a lot of the reviews on this film yet.
Bee:You know, is this like a perfect movie?
Bee:No, it's just a good movie to go.
Bee:Good Tuesday night movie.
Bee:You know, just go see it, go hang out.
Bee:It was funny.
Bee:I really like Alana Glazier.
Bee:I think she's awesome.
Bee:So I was glad to see it.
Bee:Yeah, fun, fun time.
Bee:Awesome.
Bee:Cool.
Sam:So I because it was the 25th anniversary of The Phantom
Sam:Menace, which I can't believe that that much time has passed.
Sam:I went and saw that and I honestly, I really had the same reaction that
Sam:I did to the film the first time.
Sam:I feel it's like overstuffed with like, Early CGI, some of which is good, some
Sam:of which isn't, the dialogue is kind of dull, but I do see George Lucas interest
Sam:in like, geopolitical situations and how like, the Senate can be manipulated,
Sam:and he's really interested in that, but he focuses more on that than the
Sam:storytelling I must say that, I, it does have two excellent, like, set pieces
Sam:from Star Wars Lords, the pod race as well as the battle with Darth Maul,
Sam:and Obi Wan at the end of the film.
Sam:So those are always going to be amazing to me.
Sam:I actually like Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith more.
Sam:I prefer those films, but I will say lastly, the funnest part of
Sam:going back to see the movie was not necessarily the movie itself, but
Sam:it, it brought back so many memories of 1999 that I hadn't thought about.
Sam:And so I was like, Oh, I remember seeing this at that age.
Sam:There was a nostalgia factor.
Sam:So it was fun.
Sam:I'm glad I went and saw it.
Nathan:Great.
Nathan:Great.
Nathan:I are all three prequels coming to the theater or did
Nathan:they already come in and out?
Nathan:I thought
Sam:they've been like they've come in and out a lot, but I think they'll
Sam:probably do like, so the 25th anniversary for attack of the clones will be
Sam:like, you know, two years from now.
Sam:And then for wrench, this is like, I'm sure they'll have it for everyone.
Sam:I thought I read that
Nathan:all three of them were coming out, like one after the other, this This spring
Nathan:or fall this summer or something, if they
Sam:are, that'd be great.
Sam:I would prefer to see the other two.
Sam:Yeah.
Sam:I mean, I haven't, I don't know.
Nathan:All right.
Nathan:I'll mention another thing that I saw.
Nathan:This might be spoiling our mid year top five, but there's always a chance
Nathan:that things could be shuffled around.
Nathan:But right now, this is my favorite film of the year.
Nathan:It is love lies, bleeding rose glass.
Nathan:It has its roots.
Nathan:Deeply, I think, in the Coen brothers aesthetic have you all
Nathan:heard the theory that all of their films are in a shared universe?
Bee:Yes.
Bee:Okay.
Nathan:It's, I, I, I feel like this is only internet theory and
Nathan:the Coens have never confirmed this.
Nathan:Right.
Nathan:But I personally would like, I, I buy into this.
Nathan:If that's a true fact, Love Lies Bleeding feels like it could share
Nathan:that universe, possibly living adjacently to the events happening a
Nathan:few towns over from what's happening in Raising Arizona or Blood Simple.
Nathan:This stars Kristen Stewart, who I think is perfect in this
Nathan:film, And who else is in this?
Nathan:I forget the other actresses name.
Nathan:Well, anyways, so one day, yeah, I think she is going to get the
Nathan:recognition she deserves, but also Katie O'Brien is also terrific in this
Nathan:and the supporting cast and Harris, Dave Franco, Jenna Malone's in this.
Nathan:A few months ago one of my most anticipated movies, of the year really
Nathan:disappointed me, driveway dolls.
Nathan:And this feels like it's, you know, every couple of years is like the
Nathan:doppelganger film that comes out.
Nathan:This is the much better film about a female couple who are on their
Nathan:road trip and they get in over the head in the world of crime.
Nathan:Highest of recommendations.
Nathan:I love this movie.
Nathan:This probably will definitely be on my top 10 list at the end of the year.
Nathan:I love this film.
Bee:I have heard so much about this film and I haven't seen it yet.
Bee:And I don't know what's taking me so long.
Bee:I love Kristen Stewart.
Bee:It sounds right up my street.
Bee:I got, I got to get to it, man.
Bee:This is the motivation I need.
Nathan:Yeah.
Nathan:Instead, I
Bee:watched Jim Henson's Idea Man and it was tepid, fine.
Bee:It's good to watch, you know, footage of Jim Henson and his kids.
Bee:I like that they shone such a light on their mom's work
Bee:and how instrumental she was.
Bee:They really glossed over the Disney stuff.
Bee:It was fine.
Bee:It's fine.
Bee:Okay.
Sam:I, damn, I'm really excited about that.
Sam:I was hoping for more but I'll have to watch it.
Sam:I'm, I'm hearing some, I love, I mean, I love Jim Henson, but yeah.
Bee:Me too.
Bee:I, I'm a huge Jim Henson fan and I think you know, it's just, it's nice to sort
Bee:of watch a, a compilation of his work.
Bee:So I think if you go into it with that expectation as opposed to like
Bee:a, a really great toothy documentary, you're not going to get that.
Nathan:Right.
Nathan:Sam, any, anything else you want to mention?
Nathan:Thank you.
Sam:So top five, you mean, or
Nathan:no, no, no, just anything in the month of May.
Sam:In the, God, I saw nothing.
Sam:In fact, I feel like I represent the average movie goer.
Sam:Cause I just didn't,
Nathan:according to Hollywood reporter, I think you're supposed to watch what was it
Nathan:supposed to be like two movies of a month in order to support the industry, right?
Nathan:No one or something like that or no 12.
Nathan:I forget there's a report and how many movies the average adult person should
Nathan:watch a year to support the industry.
Nathan:And it doesn't seem like it's a lot, but maybe if you think about it, it is.
Nathan:Yeah.
Sam:I mean, I saw Fury Road and I thought about seeing if, then I was
Sam:like, I actually do really want to see kingdom of the planet of the apes.
Sam:That's the one that's actually of those films.
Sam:That's like the most robust box office in May.
Sam:And like, it got decent reviews and like, I will see, I'm going to
Sam:get to the theater and see that.
Sam:Yeah, but
Sam:I've missed the fall guy.
Sam:I'm sure it looked good, but I, Hey, it's probably already streaming.
Sam:Yeah.
Bee:I saw, I saw I think 25 movies this month, but they,
Bee:they weren't all in theater.
Bee:So I don't know if that counts.
Bee:I, a lot of them were Osploitation, Australian new wave stuff.
Bee:So if anybody wants some recommendations for those movies,
Bee:hit me up, I've got letterbox lists.
Bee:It was, some of them were a really good time.
Nathan:All right.
Nathan:I have one last thing I want to mention that I saw.
Nathan:I So, late night with the devil.
Nathan:This is a one of a kind movie.
Nathan:It's, it's kind of a horror faux documentary found footage film,
Nathan:but it's so much more than that.
Nathan:I recommend everybody go out and seek this one out.
Nathan:It stars one of our most awesome.
Nathan:underused character actors, David Dastmalchian, who portrays a 1970s
Nathan:late night talk show host, Jack Delroy.
Nathan:Without spoiling anything, this entire movie is presented as if we're
Nathan:watching a found footage, lost episode of one of his episodes of a show
Nathan:called Night Owls with Jack Delroy.
Nathan:This film is so good.
Nathan:It's so good.
Nathan:It's so original.
Nathan:And I was really blown away and surprised by everything that happens in this film.
Nathan:And I'm being intentionally vague because I think everyone just needs to see this.
Nathan:I don't want to spoil the plot of this, but just trust me, this film is great.
Nathan:David Dastmalchian needs more vehicles to showcase his talents.
Nathan:It's on Shudder right now, and you can also, I think, get it on VOD.
Nathan:Love him in
Bee:Blade Runner 2049.
Nathan:Yeah, he is so, he's, he's, he's great.
Nathan:He needs, I don't know, he either needs a TV show or, or something.
Nathan:Like, I don't know.
Nathan:He's, he's really good.
Nathan:So check this out.
Nathan:Really is great.
Nathan:That's it.
Nathan:I saw a couple of other things.
Nathan:Bea, I don't know if there's anything else you want to mention.
Bee:I think we both saw Evil Does Not Exist.
Nathan:Yes.
Nathan:How did
Bee:you feel?
Nathan:Hmm.
Nathan:I haven't really formulated my thought.
Nathan:I mean, it was, it's, it's a slow meandering, but really beautiful film.
Nathan:And, and I like the fact that it's going in one direction and then characters
Nathan:who you think are just like minor characters end up being like the subject
Nathan:and the main characters in the movie.
Nathan:I And then it has, well, I don't want to spoil the ending of it, but I'm
Nathan:really puzzled still what it means.
Nathan:And I actually started researching online what the ending means,
Nathan:and there are no answers.
Nathan:And that kind of frustrated me that it's a movie that seems to be so rooted in.
Nathan:And Grounded goes in a direction that is such a head scratching ending.
Bee:See, I liked it because I thought the movie was, was
Bee:very ethereal and dreamlike.
Bee:And, and there's sort of this intangible quality about the ending, but I
Bee:definitely left the theater a little unsatisfied in it and it grew on me.
Bee:But again, I think Drive My Car is the better, the better movie.
Sam:By the way, I totally forgot to mention this at the Beverly Cinema in
Sam:in LA, this was in the month of May.
Sam:I did see Clerks and Mallrats.
Sam:They were headed to Devil's Features.
Sam:So that was, yeah, that was fun.
Sam:It was good revisiting them.
Bee:That's a good name.
Sam:And I know Clerks is the more like, well received like, you know, like,
Sam:independent like, breakthrough film.
Sam:But I do like the, I find mole rats very amusing.
Nathan:Alright alright.
Nathan:And also
Sam:I saw a part of Die Hard with a Vengeance on AMC.
Sam:But then I fell asleep, but it was good.
Bee:And that's May, folks!
Sam:I won't let you down, folks!
Bee:Woo!
Nathan:All right.
Nathan:I think we are going to wrap it up there and stay tuned for
Nathan:our June June pride episodes.
Nathan:We are going to be coming in next Monday with our first episode,
Nathan:which is the adventures of Priscilla queen of the desert with our
Nathan:guest Rob Chrissy, who joined us.
Nathan:So keep our eyes out for that and we'll see you next time.