Transcript

Smile 2 · Citizen Frame

0:02
At least I could feel what it's like having to live inside my head.
0:08
I've tasted a sense of awkwardness. No, please, no.
0:13
Please. No.
0:18
No, no.
0:26
No, no, no. Welcome back as we continue Halloween year.
0:37
Hope you enjoyed the Beetlejuices. They've done well for us.
0:40
We do appreciate it. We're finally getting to Smile 2.
0:45
And this is a film I was not looking forward to.
0:48
Because if you listened to our last podcast on Smile, we did not really enjoy
0:53
it. It was missing quite a few things.
0:55
But the real thing was it wasn't scary.
0:58
It wasn't gross enough. it was boring, and there was way too many long, drawn-out moments.
1:05
Parker Finn, like I did with Robert Eggers, well, Robert Eggers is still,
1:10
they're still out until I see Nosferatu.
1:12
I actually gave him a pass because of the witch.
1:15
So he's still waiting. Apparently, I've heard that Robert Eggers is actually
1:21
breaking himself, waiting on your sort of review on to give him a pass or not
1:26
overall, when Nosferatu comes out. He called me.
1:30
He called me, the Citizen Frame hotline. Yeah.
1:34
And he goes, man, this is Eggers. Is there any way I can get you a screening?
1:37
I go, go fucking check. Sorry, hold on, hold on. Citizen Frame has a hotline?
1:43
Oh, yeah. Right? Uh-huh. Yeah. Is that like for panicked movie fans? You know?
1:50
Where's the latest episode? I can't live without another episode. Yeah.
1:55
What were you talking about? So Rubber and Egg is, yeah, so we're still waiting. Vertix out.
2:00
Park and Finn, I said the same thing. I said exactly the same thing.
2:03
I said, Smile, there's something there. This guy's creative. He got some great shots.
2:08
This guy will show up and do something wonderful. I said that on that podcast,
2:14
even though I wasn't a fan of Smile.
2:16
And I'll tell you what, they always talk about sequels, and we see some sequels
2:20
are better than the original. The perfect example is The Godfather 2.
2:23
And one thinks a lot of people think godfather 2 is just
2:26
a pair from the godfather i can i like them
2:29
both so i'm not really there to judge them but i'll tell
2:31
you what if those kind of people are thinking godfather 2 or the godfather this
2:36
does it smile takes what did not work from the original smile and they fucking
2:44
give it to you hard and i'm not tooting our own we're not gonna toot our horn here.
2:50
I won't, I don't do that. Trevor does all the time, but I wouldn't,
2:55
but I will say now everything we said on my podcast, what went wrong with Smile, he fixes in this one.
3:03
He's obviously a listener, you know, he's like, guys, I know Smile is a hit
3:09
and a lot of people are liking it, but what are those two fucking idiots?
3:13
What do they think of it? I got to see what they think of it first.
3:17
Yeah. We were top of his list And he was taking notes while listening to our
3:21
podcast No doubt, you know Yep.
3:26
You know every time I was watching this Because I watched both smiles,
3:29
back to back And then I watched Smile 2 like 3 times So, I can't get that song
3:34
out of my head You know that song, Smile Though Your Heart Is Aching Smile Even
3:39
Though It's Breaking Yeah,
3:42
It's a great song. You know who wrote that, right?
3:46
Don't Google it. No, no. Charlie Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin. Right,
3:50
right. I didn't know that, to be honest. I knew the song.
3:52
And yes, that makes sense, actually. Yes, of course. Yeah. In the movie Chaplin,
3:57
Robert Downey played him. Yeah.
3:59
Robert Downey sings a cover of
4:01
it. It's actually, it almost reminds me of Imagine by John Lennon. Yeah.
4:06
I think Smile's an underrated song. That type. No, it's not underrated. It's a classic.
4:12
I don't think I don't think it's on the radar I don't think a lot of people
4:14
don't know you didn't know who it was,
4:16
I know the song it's a very well known song yeah but you didn't know who it
4:19
was I know but you know it wouldn't be my smile even though of music
4:24
oh oh I was just you know I was just such a perfect rendition of it there too
4:28
Kieran you know beautiful what can I say well you're welcome you know you're
4:32
wasted well people have been coming to the Supreme Hotline just doing podcasts
4:35
the chaplains you know the chaplain family could be going oh my god it was like
4:40
hearing my father sing again,
4:42
yeah it's just a frame hotline if he was drunk and a part you know,
4:49
and screeching at a cat well you know you know chapel's history it would have
4:52
put it past him well you know what I mean they all did back then well who made
4:57
it judge alright we're back with Smile 2.
5:03
Parker Finn is back and yeah so I'm curious what Parker Finn can do after Smile
5:10
I know he's working on a Possession remake film.
5:14
Right. And he's not giving away the title, and he's not telling us what the remake is of.
5:20
Maybe it is the film Possession. Yeah. So I think the entity I know was supposed
5:26
to be remade. That's a disturbing film.
5:29
I remember back in the day. Yeah, Barbara Hershey. So I'm curious what he's up to next. All right.
5:36
So, Smile, we've got, i'll tell
5:39
you right now and it's gonna suck and sting
5:42
during awards i don't like awards anymore
5:45
any world's programs because they're all fixed never have
5:48
really they're all fixed and they all suck yeah i basically have absolutely
5:53
no interest and the oscars i've never liked the oscars and that it's just like
5:57
i basically a loving with every a load of like these super rich morons basically
6:03
back slapping each other and
6:04
sucking each other's dicks you know it's just it's not for me. Wow. Okay.
6:10
Wow, I apologize for that rant. Do not call Citizen Frame Hotline on that.
6:15
Please don't. The defense line?
6:17
Do you remember that? The number, though. Do you remember that?
6:20
If you need it, then would you? You got to be.
6:24
He says, I'm sorry. I don't know what's going on with Trevor today.
6:27
If you want to file a complaint, you can call us at 555-555.
6:33
976-EVIL.
6:35
5521. We reference her. That'd be funny if that number's real.
6:40
Yeah remember do you remember that film actually it's terrible
6:43
film why are you bringing that fucking piece of shit up well you're giving
6:46
a phone number so might as well you don't make any of these video reference what's
6:50
that tom what's that tommy two-tone song jenny jenny what's your number oh i
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don't know i don't know it's a song six five three oh two oh nine six five seven
7:02
two that the funny song he actually sang that song and it actually was the girl's number.
7:07
She had to change her number because that's her real number. That was nice of us.
7:10
Yeah. Yeah. I got to ring the Citizen Frame hotline and sing down the phone.
7:14
I just called to say I love you. Okay.
7:19
Did you think I was Stevie Wonder there? Was that good? No. No. No.
7:24
But I wish I was deaf and blind.
7:27
That's where you're going. Well, I think you are sometimes with your film reviews,
7:30
but anyway, that's another argument.
7:31
Fuck off. My film reviews are fucking spot on. Back to Smile 2.
7:36
Okay. Yeah, yes. To the point. As I was fucking really uninterrupted of his
7:41
massive rant and his hatred toward filmmaking.
7:47
So, Naomi Scott, she was in Charlie's Angel, that terrible film.
7:52
I haven't seen it. She was in Power Rangers. She's kind of an up and coming.
7:55
She sings her own music in this, too. I didn't know that. I know she does.
7:58
Plus, she wrote a lot of the songs as well. So...
8:02
Anyways, as I was talking about awards, you know, months coming up here,
8:06
the BAFTAs, the Oscars, the Golden Globes, blah, blah, blah.
8:10
This actress should be nominated for all of those. I 100% agree.
8:17
Dee unbelievably steals this film.
8:21
Every scene is gut-wrenching to watch.
8:25
She's incredible. I have never felt so sorry for a fucking character.
8:30
You know the last time I felt so sorry for a character was Father Caris from
8:36
The Exorcist I thought this girl broke,
8:41
it breaks my heart and it gives an
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amazing performance I agree she
8:48
totally carries this and more
8:52
not just with the acting which is
8:55
she totally 100% gives
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it her all and totally sells it but also the
9:02
fact as we've just said she also i think she
9:04
comes from a musical background as well but she also
9:08
with the you totally buy her as the pop star you know the troubled pop star
9:13
the very troubled pop star and yeah apparently she as we were saying she wrote
9:18
a lot of the songs here for the film and also obviously performs them as well
9:23
brilliant she's Absolutely.
9:25
I didn't know of her before this, but you know what?
9:28
She is a 100% authentic talent.
9:33
Yeah, she's going to be up there with the talent. I'll be like Mia Goss, pretty hot right now.
9:38
She's a better actress than Mia Goss, and I like Mia Goss a lot.
9:42
Yeah, I mean, she's a scene stealer. I'm not a scene stealer.
9:45
She's supposed to be, but we'll jump into it. And then you add Rosemary DeWitt,
9:50
who plays the mom, who I really like.
9:51
Small role, but effective role. This young kid, Lucas Gage, who plays Lewis.
9:56
You've got Ray Nicholson, Jack's kid, playing Paul. And then you've got great
10:01
characters, Gemma Morris, Darius, Joshua.
10:03
And what I like about these characters, they're actually all there to support her.
10:08
The mom, I kind of have a problem with. But all the characters are likable,
10:15
and you're on their side.
10:16
Where Smile, you had the fiancé, who's kind of a dick.
10:22
You didn't have any likable characters. The one character that they did bring
10:28
back is in this one, and we're going to jump into it. I like him.
10:31
Joel is back, the cop from the
10:33
last of the first movies. I like him as a character on the actor as well.
10:36
But I would say as well. Kyle Goldner has done a lot of horror films.
10:40
He's pretty he's a fan oh yeah yeah but yeah the fact that this is set in the
10:45
world of superstar popdom and the fact that that is a very alien world to like
10:51
some me and you the fact that we become so invested in it and her as a character
10:56
speaks volumes for the writing and the performances,
11:00
well listen i'm gonna jump on that and i'm gonna say something this is gonna
11:03
take a little while to get out so please trevor let me finish go ahead,
11:06
Did you see how I said that? Please, Trevor, let me see how I did that.
11:09
Begging me not. Yeah. I was planting a seed to please just shut up.
11:16
Wow, you've changed your tone. That must have been the complaints to the hotline.
11:20
You know, usually it's Trevor, would you shut the fuck up?
11:24
Now it's, please, please, mister. This is going to be a long one,
11:28
so bear with me. All right.
11:31
I didn't like Smile for the reason I said, and I'll still back that up.
11:36
However, the attack on the individuals, I see more clearly on what the director is doing.
11:44
We'll go back to Rose, the original one, original smile. You put a woman in peril.
11:50
She's a shrink. She works for the mental ward, the health ward, whatever.
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And her, she has to deal with patients who are dealing with traumatic,
12:00
you know, their own mental illness or whatever.
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All of a sudden, she's seeing images, ghosts and dead people and grins and blah, blah.
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She brings this to her superiors. They think she's becoming what her patients are.
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So no one's really believing her. She's put in a situation where,
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what the fuck am I supposed to do? No one's believing me.
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Now you got a girl, rock star, diva, princess, thinks she's the world's greatest.
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ODs, drugs, drinking, cocaine.
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She starts seeing the stuff she's she's clean
12:35
now a year later and now she's starting to
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see these images blah blah blah and losing it and losing the
12:40
plot goes to the mother first thing the mother says are you using again these
12:46
women are both put in situations where no one's going to believe them yes it's
12:50
far-fetched what she wants to tell them but no one's going to believe them because
12:54
of the current circumstance or the circumstances they were once in and that's why I kind of,
13:00
I'm gearing towards liking Smile a lot more.
13:03
A good sequel should keep the original concept of the first one and then make it their own.
13:09
This guy did that, but then upped the game.
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And it so upped the game with the story of this girl.
13:17
And you literally, you said, just said, Trevor, you literally can live a life
13:22
of a pop star because she's thrown in to this mix of getting this big concert ready.
13:27
She has to do a charity event, autograph signing, and at the same time,
13:31
she's got this demon in her head that's eating at her. And...
13:36
And that's kind of what Smile was doing.
13:39
So I can appreciate Smile more because of it. And because of that,
13:43
I can watch both these films back to back and have a massive appreciation of both now.
13:47
Yeah. There we go. Yeah. No, no, I would just add onto that.
13:52
There is, this is multi-layered storytelling with Smile 2.
13:56
There is all sorts of subtext here about addiction, self-harm, mental illness.
14:02
And it is very, it is almost, you know, it's near perfectly handled.
14:06
So it is, in terms of the writing and also the performance of Naomi Scott,
14:11
this is bang on in terms of all of the sort of layers of the storytelling and stuff.
14:17
And, you know, also, you know, the things where they're not believing her and,
14:21
you know, because of her dark past and not trusting her and all that thing.
14:25
I also found that there was perhaps sort of allegories here to the pop industry,
14:32
you know, overall, in terms of people like Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears,
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when she had her breakdowns, all that sort of thing.
14:39
And, you know, the whole stuff with Britney Spears' dad being her manager,
14:43
then, you know, like controlling her and stuff.
14:44
You get this here with the mother here. So there is a lot going on here.
14:49
But ultimately, what sells it
14:51
through the writing and the performance by Naomi Scott is a human story.
14:58
And that's not me being a pretentious knob or whatever.
15:02
But really, it's about the humanity of what this girl, despite her billions
15:07
and her fame and everything, ultimately, she is a deeply flawed person.
15:13
And it's sold beautifully.
15:16
Well, I think, yeah, you're spot on, especially with the Miley Cyrus and the
15:21
Britney Spears and the parents' management.
15:23
I didn't catch that. It's a good shout.
15:25
But as you watch the film a couple times, yeah, she's dealing with,
15:31
but she's been a year sober.
15:33
And she has taken some Vicodin. We'll get to that scene. But she's dealing with it.
15:39
But at the end of the day, and
15:42
it's told in flashbacks brilliantly is her
15:45
whole thing is she's living with guilt yes and
15:48
that's the guilt of her boyfriend yes and i
15:51
would say and i'm sort of gonna break character a
15:54
little bit here i'm not gonna go into details but as
15:58
someone personally in recovery this is
16:01
completely nailed so it is you know
16:04
and you know hats off to them you know for whatever
16:07
research was done this is done bang
16:10
on you know to hold the guilt and to not be entrusted which is understandable
16:14
by the way by people due to you know past behavior and stuff and they 100 nail
16:20
this on top of all that we've got a really good horror story lots of gore and
16:25
a really cool lovecraftian monster you know so yeah yeah,
16:30
Yep. Actually, and the monster was created by Alec Guinness.
16:35
Alec Guinness. I was going to ask you there.
16:39
Alec Guinness? Yeah. Alec Guinness, the guy who created, the guy who did all
16:43
the aliens. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I think I might have read that somewhere.
16:47
All right. So let's just jump into it. Obviously, we're going to give this a wonderful review.
16:52
Now, as we go further, common sense here, spoiler filled.
16:56
This movie will be certain this podcast will certainly have it so but at this
17:01
point for already listening yeah fuck it,
17:04
alright so I love the introduction having Joe back in here all it is is Joe
17:10
sitting in the car obviously we know he has the demon because he witnesses Rose
17:14
death Rose does have a cameo and supposedly it's her in that,
17:20
CGI suit whatever it is it's kind of a great shot because we saw Rose demise
17:26
through the eye, through the pupil of Joel at the end of Smile.
17:32
But this one, we get to see her on fire.
17:34
He's just seeing glimpses because obviously he's being fucked with.
17:37
He's only got a few moments left to get rid of this demon. So he decides what
17:42
better way to do it than to kill a drug lord in front of another drug lord and
17:47
he'll take over demonic possession.
17:49
He's basically looking rid of it, but with people who deserve it.
17:53
But if things go wrong when the gunfight goes off and he actually kills the
17:59
guy who was supposed to take over.
18:00
And then he didn't realize it was a witness all the time, a guy who wants to buy some drugs.
18:05
That's Louis. He's the one who's going to pass it on to our girl.
18:09
But this whole opening sequence, yeah, it's a horror film, but you don't really
18:14
think of it as a horror film.
18:16
It's something I remember from NARC, from Joe Carnahan's film with Ray LaOda.
18:20
Oh, yes. or the remake of Assault on Precinct 13 with Ethan Hawke where I think
18:27
I'm watching a cop film. A gritty cop controller?
18:30
Yeah. Yeah, he's going like French Connection or something. He's going in there
18:33
and he's taking out the bad guys and he's panicking and the other bad guys are coming in.
18:38
It's like, wow, this is a great little action film. She has a Tarantino. Yep.
18:42
Yeah, a little Tarantino and then it just, boom, he gets hit by that car.
18:46
Scared the fuck out of me. And you see, and it's brutal because you see,
18:50
I mean, He gets completely mashed and you see like his severed foot and all sorts.
18:55
Yeah. I see his guts and then you see his reference body underneath the truck
18:58
and then it looks like a grin.
19:01
And what an incredible opening. I can't, I'm not, we're not going to do it justice,
19:05
but long story short, we just need to know how Lewis gets obviously the smile demon guy.
19:12
And I thought they were going to do this because the film has a lot of flashbacks
19:16
with her in a car accident with Paul, her boyfriend at the time.
19:20
And I thought that was the car that hit.
19:23
Joel. Right. Yeah. I didn't pick up on that. I mean, it's not,
19:27
but I didn't. I know. You find out pretty quick it's not.
19:29
But that's what I was thinking when you talked about in the car action she was in.
19:32
And her boyfriend is also, in flashbacks, is played by the son of Jack Nicholson.
19:37
Yes. Yep. I said that when I read off his name. Yeah.
19:41
You know, the director says, oh, it's just a coincidence. She showed up. Oh, bullshit. Yeah.
19:46
That smile he has is so Jack. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
19:50
Then you get the smile credits. what a great
19:53
intro and i it sucks because joel i like the character of
19:56
joel and smile yeah he was the best
19:59
character in it and the most likable character it was yeah but what an intro
20:04
i mean what a fucking intro yeah it is pretty it sort of sets a tone so it does
20:10
it's like we're not fucking about here we're you know this is like sort of you
20:14
know balls to the wall stuff coming up Yeah, it sets it up very well.
20:19
There's a nice shot when we're introduced to Sky, and she's on the Drew Barrymore show.
20:25
What is it with Drew Barrymore popping up in all these films as herself?
20:28
You know, she was in that stupid Christmas one we watched. That's your favorite
20:32
film. You said that was your favorite film. Yeah.
20:34
A Christmas in Scotland, whatever it was. A Castle for Christmas. Yeah, yeah. Oh, dear.
20:41
You said that was your favorite film. Oh, absolutely, yeah. Like The Wicker
20:44
Man, so it was. Wicker Man, oh yeah.
20:47
Wicker Man meets four weddings and a funeral. Castle of Christmas is better than Wicker Man. Was it?
20:52
Fuck. A hundred times better. I could make a film now on the phone with me and
20:56
you. It would be better than Castle of Christmas.
20:59
Intriguing. Better acting. Yeah. Better scenery. Yeah. Not batshit crazy.
21:09
Yeah, so we're into this guy. There's a scene where he's being interviewed with
21:12
the cameras at a distance and we are panning in slowly as we get closer to her
21:16
face and she's kind of confessing what has happened to her in the past year,
21:20
the death of her boyfriend, and she starts, I first of all want to start to
21:24
apologize to everyone for my addictions, putting what I put people through,
21:27
my family through, my fans through.
21:29
I promise you this won't happen again. And it was kind of a nice way of foreshadowing
21:33
that we're telling the audience, by the way the camera comes in close on her
21:38
as she's confessing this, it's letting the audience know she's fucked.
21:42
And those are the kind of shots he gave us to smile and so
21:46
that's where parka finn shines he knows where
21:48
to place the camera and the what what heard about
21:51
smile is the stupid jump scares with a fucking cat
21:54
and shit like that well this is the thing here there are jump scares here but
21:58
they're but they're used for a reason and yes they add to the they're part of
22:02
the plot and they work here whereas before they were just like throwing in for
22:06
good measure type thing you know in the previous one here they work and they
22:10
actually have a point and they're effective.
22:14
Yeah. No, I mean, they are. The whole point of a jump scare,
22:16
it has to be relevant to the story. Yes, totally.
22:20
Not, oh, the kettle, the kettle is boiling. Oh my God. Yeah,
22:23
like fake-outs and scares. Yeah.
22:25
Fake-outs. Yeah, there's a difference. Yeah.
22:28
And I do like my fake-outs, don't get me wrong. There's a good time and place for them.
22:31
But when you utilize it, when it becomes a crutch, then it kind of...
22:35
Yeah, it becomes pointless. Yeah, exactly.
22:40
So she goes to get the painkillers from Lewis. Now, Lewis, obviously,
22:43
he's the guy we met in the beginning. So he's going to end his life in front of her.
22:47
And holy shit, he gets a dumbbell with a smile on his face.
22:52
And he's just not a dumbbell, but a weight of some sort. Yeah.
22:56
And he's doing what long legs did pretty much to himself on the table.
23:02
Yeah. Just pounding in his face. It is so cool and so creepy.
23:07
And the way she sells it as she's watching this is awesome.
23:10
Yeah. and then because of course that's her incriminated she
23:14
runs from the scene and actually she vomits first
23:17
of all because it's so you know horrific what happens and the
23:20
first thing i was went through my head was
23:23
she's left her dna through the vomit but to
23:26
be fair it's saying she does google that on her phone
23:29
later on you know or shortly after you know
23:32
so there is attention to detail here which i
23:35
appreciate yeah because the minute she did that
23:38
i was like well she's going to be part of that yes yeah she's
23:42
part of the crime scene but again this
23:44
tell this head this takes place within seven days yeah so i
23:48
would say as a minor niggle it's never really followed up that she was part
23:54
of the crime scene it's mentioned a couple of times but for dramatic purposes
23:58
i think they could have made life even worse for her by having the police find
24:03
out that she was at the scene.
24:05
No, because I think that would be too much then.
24:08
Maybe it was done and it's been edited out. I don't know. No, it's two hours long.
24:15
Yeah, no, we don't need to. I mean, he's a drug dealer. It's been seven days.
24:19
They might not follow him. By the time they look, they find the puke,
24:23
research the DNA, whatever, they wouldn't get anything back right away.
24:26
Yeah, but they do plant the seeds, and so there's no real fault.
24:30
Well, they plant it because she's researching it, and then you've got Morris,
24:34
who contacts her by text. Yes.
24:37
Yeah. So they do follow up with it somewhat. Yeah, but I think it would have
24:42
definitely added more to the tension.
24:45
If they would have had the police after her.
24:48
No, you've got so much going on here.
24:51
You can't. Come on. I mean, your head will implode. We talked about that with Beetlejuice.
24:59
Beetlejuice is how they could have cut some of these dramatic moments out of
25:04
the film because in focus on these stories instead, you start piling on all these things.
25:10
Then it just becomes roll your eyes. I think there's a good chance there were
25:14
scenes filmed of it, but they've been trimmed because it is quite a long film anyway.
25:19
Now, the first 40 minutes of the film, we jumped through the first 40 minutes
25:23
because this is a lot longer than I thought because Trevor's rant about Oscars.
25:27
Oh, you loved that selfie they all did together that time a few years ago, Ellen and all.
25:32
You know, it's funny, anyone in that selfie in their career hasn't done anything.
25:36
Yeah, oh, it's just pure fringe.
25:39
Now, the first 40 minutes of the film is, I talked about it in the beginning,
25:44
is really the focus on the day in the life of this singer and she's pulled in different directions.
25:51
She's got the dance class. She's got to do the fancy dress.
25:54
She's got to do the autographs. She's got to do press, dress rehearsals, all these things.
25:59
At the same time, she's dealing with guilt. She's dealing with withdrawal.
26:05
I don't think she's actually going through withdrawal. I think she's just dealing with the guilt.
26:09
The reason she's actually no no she's well over the
26:11
withdrawal the reason she went to that
26:14
guy to get the drugs was for basically heavy
26:17
duty painkillers because after the accident her back still
26:20
still screwed she's brought back and she's scarred
26:23
yeah well she messages that she goes i'm only going to you because the doctors
26:27
won't give me anything but tylenol because of my addiction problem yeah so she
26:31
wants some vicodin and they that's a nice little you know they put that in there
26:35
too that's what i'm saying she's not i didn't mean withdrawal she's not addicted
26:38
anymore yes exactly But that's also true.
26:41
If you do have a history of addiction, the doctors will not prescribe you things
26:46
like the azipan or anything that is an addictive drug, even if it's prescription.
26:52
So when she goes to the autograph signing and you meet that freaky guy with a skin rash. Yes. Yeah.
27:01
Then you see him again and she sees
27:04
that his clothes that he was wearing with the skid
27:07
marks and his boxer shorts and all it's fucking gross yeah
27:10
and then you see him at the end in the in the dark pretty much shaded but you
27:15
know he's naked yeah and he's just smiling at her yeah so does this yeah i kind
27:21
of forgot the smile monster can be anybody wants her to see but that person doesn't have to be dead.
27:28
He's not really there in her apartment.
27:31
Alright, that's just something. That's just an image. That's a bad image to her.
27:35
That's why Smile Man makes that image known to her.
27:39
He was probably there at the meet and greet thing and being Mr. Creepy McCreeperson.
27:44
But because it's sort of like lodged in her head and freaked her out,
27:48
that's the Smile Entity playing with her head, playing with her mind.
27:53
Okay. I thought, for some reason, I thought the Smile had to take over the body
27:56
or something. I don't know. No, no, no, no, no, no.
27:59
It's more like a mental thing where it can cause hallucinations and all sorts, you know, I think.
28:05
The, one of the best rug pulls of the film is Gemma.
28:12
Yes. That's a big twist.
28:15
That is a nice twist. Spoiler alert people, because when she leaves the message,
28:21
Hey, I miss you. Can you come talk to me? Blah, blah. I apologize.
28:26
And then when all the shit hits the fan and Gemma's still with her,
28:30
she gets a phone call from the real Gemma.
28:32
Hey, sorry, I just got your message and she's in the car with her.
28:35
It's a great fucking misdirect. I had no clue, but they do plant the seed when
28:40
Gemma's in the apartment and the mother doesn't see her when the mother comes to get her. Yes.
28:44
But the mother doesn't see Gemma or acknowledges her, which you would because
28:49
she kept telling her to reach out to Gemma.
28:52
So it was a wonderful misdirect. it's one
28:55
of those things that you'll notice more on rewatch the
28:58
more you watch it you know like films like you
29:01
know the sixth sense and stuff you know and you notice
29:05
these things obviously a lot more um whenever you're
29:08
rewatching them yeah it's a very good twist but you know there's another you
29:12
know we'll get to the end where it sort of pulls the rug on basically on everything
29:18
that we've just seen and it can be interpreted in a couple of ways at least
29:22
yeah it's one of those can it be open to your own interpretation kind of thing?
29:26
Yes. I don't think it does.
29:28
Anchors to interpretations. I think there is an answer. I think there is an answer. Okay.
29:32
And that's right, people. Kieran will let you know.
29:35
And if you don't agree, phone the Citizen Frame hotline and complain.
29:41
It's 555 something something something. 976 Evil.
29:46
Yeah, I like how the fact this demon is just fucking with her.
29:51
Like when Joshua comes out of her room with a big grin, we know that's not Joshua.
29:55
We know that's demon monster.
29:57
And then she goes in, her room is trashed, and she fucking goes ape shit at him.
30:03
But it wasn't him because it was obviously demon monster, man.
30:06
Yeah. And the mom asks, are you using?
30:09
And it's just playing on her paranoia now, and it's playing on everything in her mind.
30:13
She's I
30:16
almost would like to see more of a happy ending because I
30:19
would like to see how they really get out of this but there is a sort of happy
30:21
ending we'll get to it but you know my interpretation of it anyway do you know
30:25
what scene is really well done the scene where all of the although it's not
30:30
really happening it's in her head but all of the dancers really well choreographed
30:34
are coming at her like in this real jerky manner.
30:38
Yeah brilliant scene really well put together It's creepy.
30:43
Yes. And it's not over the top. But that is the scene I was about to talk to you about.
30:49
That is the scene where the minute that scene happens and it cuts away,
30:54
she's in the hospital room. Yeah. Everything's fake.
30:58
That scene where the dancers were coming at her with the big grins,
31:03
one of the dancers puts his fist down her throat. Yes.
31:07
And that is them fully. That is the demon, the smile monster man.
31:12
Taking over full control she is
31:15
no longer no longer getting control
31:18
yeah everything she's doing is the
31:22
monster he's totally taking control of her head basically her
31:25
mind yeah everything you see the hospital the cut
31:28
leg gemma in the car and the
31:32
morris sequence which didn't make any sense to me at all and where i'm gonna
31:36
kill you and then you know if it doesn't have the host after you die it will
31:40
die and I'll wake you back up and he just disappears out of the scene and then
31:46
even the demon tells her I'm in complete control you have no control anymore.
31:51
I get that what you're saying but the first time I watched this my first thoughts
31:56
after watching it I have a completely different interpretation of it that while
32:02
there is a lot of playing around with reality from the hospital onwards.
32:09
The way i sort of see it and still sort of do but again i'm open to other theories
32:13
because and that's what's great about it another thing that's great about it
32:16
but one interpretation that i really like and i'm leaning more towards is that
32:21
from the hospital's real she's in the hospital right,
32:24
and she does kill the mother possibly and
32:27
yes there's a lot of playing around with what's real and what's
32:30
not but i like the thought of her actually being
32:34
put under by morris and the whole finale at the concert and stuff where she
32:41
sticks the microphone in their eye basically after we see the class looking
32:45
monster I like the thought of that being her dream while she's sort of in limbo after being basically.
32:54
Flatliners, he stops her heart and she's in a sort
32:57
of limbo world I like the thought of her basically stopping
33:01
the smile demon once and for all by sacrificing
33:04
herself while in this limbo dream sort
33:08
of realm which she sees as a concert and that to me is more the happy ending
33:13
but it's also for her character the full arc where she sacrifices herself self-sacrifice
33:21
for the greater good she becomes the hero because she's a really dark past full of guilt,
33:26
done a lot of bad stuff but I like the thought of her redeeming herself completely
33:31
by putting an end to the smile demon once and for all by self-sacrifice Well,
33:39
yeah, I mean, it's not a bad way to go.
33:41
It seems to me, though, that's something the Hollywood team would do if they wanted to do Smile 3.
33:47
Well, Smile 3 is sort of set up more with the other interpretation,
33:51
which is that she's infected the concert course.
33:56
The problem with the ending of Smile, this movie, if you end it the way I saw
34:01
it, where the demon takes fully control and she sacrifices herself,
34:06
She sacrifices in front of everybody.
34:09
Thousands and thousands of people are watching her die. That means thousands
34:13
and thousands of people are going to have a smile. Which is pretty cool, actually. Yeah.
34:18
And how do you write that? It would have to be some sort of over-the-top end of the world thing.
34:23
They would have to cop out now and go to your ending in order for them to do a sequel.
34:29
I do think the one that I first talked about, my ending that you called it,
34:35
is a proper character arc in a classic storytelling sort of way for her,
34:41
for the Naomi Scott character.
34:43
And I sort of do like that how she's redeemed herself.
34:46
I think then the film cheats itself in because if you're going to go that route
34:52
and I'm fine with that route nice little that would be a twist within a twist
34:56
and what they should have done then after she kills herself on stage and the
35:01
fans like ooh and then we're all like oh my god the fans are all going to get smiley monster guy,
35:06
and then it cuts to smile too and then
35:09
it cuts back up and she's lying dead and
35:12
it has Morris trying to resuscitate her that would have
35:16
been a better at least we knew what happened oh she actually
35:19
sacrificed herself that's the demon dying but
35:22
it's intentionally left ambiguous no that's not the way to do it because if
35:27
you do that now and you you don't if you're if if you're not going to stick
35:31
with my my ending where they the people are taking over smiley monster man then
35:37
you're going to cop out because you're doing a jason vorhees or michael Myers,
35:42
oh no, she was dead the whole time. You didn't really, you didn't even show it to you.
35:47
It's a cheat. I know what you're saying. You're going to ruin your ending then,
35:52
because they're going to do a Smile 3. That's going to happen.
35:54
Yes, and that's the problem.
35:56
And that's the problem. Because then your ending is a cheat.
35:59
Yeah, I know what you're saying.
36:01
I'll take it on board, but I would be more than happy if they just stopped here
36:06
at Smile 2 and left it with the interpretation.
36:09
Because I don't think, I think it would be for the start it'd be really hard to
36:12
follow this due to its high quality but yes
36:16
i know what you're saying but also the people at the pub concert in
36:19
my ending aren't real anyway they're just part of her dream in this limbo state
36:23
but yes with your ending it's the other ending it's more where that everything
36:28
it's like a fake happy ending where actually all the stuff with their mother
36:32
and all their mothers survive blah blah blah they're at the concert but then
36:35
she becomes infected just like all the other ones.
36:38
It's like at the end of the cycle and she then infects the thousands,
36:43
hundreds of thousands that are watching the concert.
36:46
I think they're hedging their bets. I think, you know, basically,
36:49
I don't think Scream 3 has been fully explored yet, or I'm sure they have ideas,
36:55
but I think they're playing it safe for themselves so that they're leaving themselves
36:59
open for multiple routes to go down.
37:02
Scream 3? No, sorry, sorry, I meant Smile 3. Yeah.
37:07
Wow. Oh, I apologize, guys. That's embarrassing. That's embarrassing.
37:09
That was a verbal typo. Yeah.
37:12
I meant smile three, obviously.
37:16
Yeah, I don't know. And if they do go back to your silly one where she dies, self-sacrifice,
37:22
they need to bring her back where she does die, and then it cuts to the next
37:28
one like they did with Paul bleeding off in the second one.
37:32
He's still – no, Joel, sorry. He's still alive, the cop.
37:36
And then he introduces us in the second one. Then what you could do if they
37:39
do a third one, then it opens up with Morris defibrillating her and bringing her back up to life.
37:46
Where she does survive, she killed the demon. That was the demon killing itself,
37:50
not her. That would be true.
37:53
No, that's the way. That would be a cheat. That would have to be the only way you do it.
37:57
But yes, I know what you're saying. But that would also completely remove her
38:02
self-sacrifice. It would render it pointless.
38:05
It would be like, oh, sure. We'll just keep her alive anyway, just for a laugh.
38:08
You'd still kill her, Allison. No, no. The power and the journey of her self-sacrifice. The power.
38:14
I'm damn serious. of her self-sacrifice would be rendered pointless.
38:19
It'd be like bringing back Emperor Palpatine in those recent Star Wars films
38:23
after him being killed off in such a great way in Return of the Jedi. You know what I mean?
38:28
But who knows? And to be honest, I don't think they should make a Smile 3.
38:33
But they probably will, let's be honest.
38:35
They will. Yeah. They will. Yeah. Let's be realistic here.
38:39
But I can't complain. Yeah. Because I wasn't a fan of the first one.
38:43
And this film totally turned me around. This surprised me. I was very surprised
38:46
in the best possible way.
38:49
If you bring back the original core members who produced and wrote this and
38:53
directed like Parker Finn and the gang, then you have me.
38:56
I'm not going to, I'd go to the theater and see it because I'm curious how they're going to do it.
39:01
But guys, if you're going to do it, you better cast somebody like Naomi Scott
39:06
because she's your savior.
39:10
That girl was fucking brilliant. yeah and
39:13
like you said at the start of this podcast you know her horror
39:17
is usually shunned from awards anyway you
39:20
know you had tony collette shunned for hereditary who was
39:23
fantastic in hereditary naomi scott is you know this this is brilliant stuff
39:30
mind-blowing performance you know she is 100% one to watch in the future and
39:36
then some yeah but on top of that brilliant script brilliant storytelling,
39:42
some great scars and gore, and also a cool monster at the end.
39:46
What more do you want? Best film of the year so far for me.
39:50
There you go. Pleasure and surprise for Smile 2, the one we didn't want to do.
39:56
But there you go. Yep. All right, guys. Listen, we're going to wrap this one
39:59
up, and we do appreciate it.
40:01
If you want to give us a shout, give us a shout at CitySaframe underscore podcast
40:04
on Instagram, and of course, Facebook.
40:07
The next one up will be.
40:10
Wishmaster, make your way, yeah, with the screenwriter of Wishmaster, Pete Atkins.
40:16
That should be a fun one. And then we, well, we were supposed to have a little
40:20
break, but now we got to jump into Christmas month because Trevor insisted on
40:25
Hallmark's A Christmas at Dollywood.
40:29
By the way, guys, do you know Ciarán watches these films, these Hallmark-type
40:32
films for fun, and not actually because he has to for the podcast?
40:36
He actually watches them for his own entertainment. He likes him.
40:40
No. Yeah. That's a lie. That is a lie.
40:43
Well, you know that's not.
40:45
Well, you called me. I remember I said, listen, I think we finally need to get
40:50
to Batman Returns, the Penguin.
40:53
And you said, and I quote, I fucking hate that piece of shit.
40:57
Right. I fucking hate Tim Burton.
40:59
I fucking hate Batman. I can't stand Christopher Walken.
41:03
And then you said, I want Dollywood. I love Dolly Parton.
41:07
That's what you said. that's exact quote from quote it was
41:10
more the opposite so it was but yeah we're doing
41:14
we're doing christmas at dolly parton land or whatever it's
41:16
called oh yeah like you don't know you got a
41:19
soundtrack and you sit there with your boots yeah go see the best about it i
41:24
actually like dolly parton but the sounds of dolly parton i do hallmark movie
41:28
sounds like my worst nightmares come true well she's got four of them so four
41:34
of them what oh i'm not doing four there's no way Yeah.
41:38
You got the box set, that's why. I would rather be infected by the smile demon than not just do that.
41:44
Actually, you'd probably be like, oh, this is fucking cool.
41:46
Yeah. Man, this is awesome. It's very Lovecraftian.
41:53
Yeah, it might well be, but for all the wrong reasons. Yeah.
41:59
All right, guys. Have a good one. We'll chat soon.
42:03
Music.