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The Cinema Chronicles, Vol. 40: 'Obsession' and More! · Nashville Movie Dispatch

• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Here we are with another volume of the Cinema Chronicles
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: right here on Nashville Movie Dispatch. I'm your host, Brandon
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: vic I'm a member of the Music City Film Critics Association,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: a board member, i think, and just a regular member
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: of the Southeastern Film Critic Association.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: And obviously you.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Can find all of our work on Nashville Movie Dispatch
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: dot substack dot com. So we're coming a little later
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: than usual. We usually try to do with the last
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Monday of the month, but obviously that was a holiday
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: and there was some traveling going on, and so we're
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: here to kick off your Friday instead. And I would
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: like to let you folks in on my private life
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: for the past two weeks almost or two weeks now,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: my son had his tonsils removed and it really affected
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: It affected his sleep and.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Energy behavior.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: There's a lot that's linked to tonsils that honestly I had.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: I had no idea.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Now I should have, because apparently his tonsils were huge.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: And so but trying.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: But the recovery it takes two weeks. They can only
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: they can only eat basically solvet stuff. They can't use
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: a straw. They have to drink all the time. You
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: keeping high raded. They can't jump, they can't play, they
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: can't run, And let me tell you, telling a three
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: year old you can't do much, And let me tell
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: the TV and stuff only only works for so long.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: And so.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: I I was amazed of just how challenging the first
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: few days were. He also has to take medicine every
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: four hours on him, like all day, every day for
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: I mean it was at least three or four days.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: He didn't want to do that. He didn't want to drink,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: and I mean, I'm sure it sucked. But I will
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: tell you one day, I'm gonna tell my son that
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: he had it easy because I got my tonsils taken
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: out when I was thirty, and I was the biggest
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: baby because I I mean, you wake up at three
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: in the morning, and I mean it it's not just
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: your throat, it was like your tongue and your mouth
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: and it was everything. So you couldn't there's nothing you
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: could do to not feel the pain. But I did
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: have good pain meds. I do remember that. But I
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: do remember my wife having to my fiance back then,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: maybe my girlfriend, I don't know, but she had to
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: get up and literally go get the medicine because I
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: didn't want to move, I didn't want to talk. There
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: are two things I remember in my recovery. I watched
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: all of the seasons of Game of Thrones and just
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: in time when it was like two weeks before the
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: final season was gonna air, and I got into the
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: very first season of that f one show on Netflix
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: and I've been watching it ever since.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: So I remember that. And I remember.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: I got accepted into the Music City Film Creek.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Association during that time.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: And I remember when I finally was able to have
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: a peanut butter sandwich and it was heaven on Earth.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: So my son's doing great, he's he's a freeman now,
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: and his father me, I'm I'm still I still have
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: PTSD from it, but I just I just want him
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: to know that he had it easier than his old man.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: And I'm gonna try and tell him every year. So
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: soie that. I hope everyone had a happy Memorial Day.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Summer's here. The summer movie Blockbusters season is here, even
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: though I'm not sure if it quite feels like it,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: but let's get into it.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Let's let's start.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: I got four good ones even while I was at
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: home stuck at home. I was able to get get
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: a few. So let's start with Adam Scott returning to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: the horror genre after that blockbuster scary Christmas movie crampis next.
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  Speaker 2: Hokum.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: So this is per rotten Tomatoes. When novelist Ombauman played
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: by Adam Scott, retreats to a remote end to scatter
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  Speaker 1: his parents' ashes, he's consumed by tales of a witch
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: haunting the honeymoon sweep, disturbing visions, and a shocking disappearance
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: forces him to confront dark corners of the past. So
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: this is from director from the director of Oddity, Damian McCarthy,
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  Speaker 1: and this is he is bringing us a haunted hotel
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  Speaker 1: tale where things are creepy, though at times conventional, really
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: trying to tap into kind of the brother's grim stuff
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: with this one. I saw if this has an amazing atmosphere,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: a great use of location. This one takes place in Ireland,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: which all three of McCarthy's films have been set there.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: There's just this constant feeling of eeriness and distress, and
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  Speaker 1: it's also set at Halloween.
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  Speaker 2: Nice touch.
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  Speaker 1: It's at the fictional Bill Barry Woods Hotel and it's
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  Speaker 1: very much a character in the film, and it is
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  Speaker 1: creepy as hell. Hocum definitely sets out to scare the
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  Speaker 1: hell out of us, and it succeeds for the most part.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: It does take a while to really get there, though.
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  Speaker 1: The jump scares are hit or miss, but become rather
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: predictable as the film goes along. But luckily McCarthy doesn't
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: go overboard with him. His ability to slowly crank up
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: the terror in Dread is well executed, making us the
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: audience hold our breaths in more than a few scenes,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: and the film really gets good once on gets to
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  Speaker 1: the honeymoon suite. It gets tense and spine Tingling.
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  Speaker 2: Enjoyed Scott's work here. He's good.
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  Speaker 1: He's going darker than we are certainly used to as
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  Speaker 1: he's battling different forms of demons. Though as as far
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  Speaker 1: as Hocum's themes, the themes of guilt and regret, childhood trauma,
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  Speaker 1: they are very familiar, especially in this genre. Uh. There's
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: also some Irish folklore and it's all right. I mean
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  Speaker 1: it's not totally original as it's centers around like witches
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: and you know, circles being drawn out in chalk. I
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: wish I wish the film could have dug in, dug
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  Speaker 1: in more on on that stuff. And the kind of
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: real villain of the film is a bit of a
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  Speaker 1: bummer too. It's not nearly as exciting as the supernatural
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: horror threats that we get to see and experience. I mean, listen,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: a human threat is I mean, it's basically requirement. But
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: as it takes up more and more time, the momentum
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: really sort of starts to slow down for Hocum. However,
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  Speaker 1: through it all, it still does deliver when it needs to.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: As I said earlier, once on breaks into the Honeymoon suite,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: the film really kind of heightens the horror and it's
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: in its loud and quiet moments, and I will and
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: I gotta say, almost any scene involving this dumb waiter
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: elevator is terrifying. It It's kind of like, you know, give.
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  Speaker 2: You nightmares kind of shit. So I liked Hokum.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: I liked, I really liked, like I said, the atmosphere,
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: the energy of it. Some thing's again conventional, predictable. But
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  Speaker 1: I think it, like I said, I think it delivers
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: when it when it needs to. So Hokum is getting
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: three out of five stars Vic Flick's rating and coming
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: up next Meryl Streep and Hathaway and that Sassy Stanley
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Tucci are back together wearing I'll talk about it next.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: Per IMDb.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Andy Sachs reunites with the Miranda Priestley as they navigate
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: their careers amid the decline of traditional magazine publishing. Yes, almost,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: I believe twenty years later, it is The Devil Wears
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Prada too. The most surprising and interesting part of this
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: legacy sequel is it does acknowledge and actually does have
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: something to say about the floundering state of journalism and
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: the world of media at large. It feels refreshing and
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  Speaker 1: real in this day and age. This is a piece
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: by the Hollywood Reporter called the Media is melting Down
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: and the Devil Wears Produce sequel rolls with the punches.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: It says, with the benefit of hindsight, it seems that
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: two thousand and six is The Devil Wears Prada was
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: released at the pinnacle of traditional media's grip on our attention,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: a moment when magazines and legacy media seemingly ruled the
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: world and held unbridled influence and power. The Devilwar's protat Too, meanwhile,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: serves as something of a eulogy for the industry's sad decline,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: abiding sat tire that will hit close to home for
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: anyone in media. The Internet existed in two thousand and six,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: of course, but Facebook was still only open to students.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Twitter was founded two months before the film's release. The
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Huffington Post was only.
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  Speaker 2: A year old.
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  Speaker 1: Blogs like Gawker had a lot of buzz, but it
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: was real world magazine editors like Anna Wintour that were
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: so often the subject of its focus and curiosity. The
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: Devilwar's product captured the wanting heyday of legacy media. The
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Devilwares Protatuo captures the tumultuous and uncertain current moment. So
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: knowing all this and kind of seeing what the first
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: one sort of sort of had to say, and obviously
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: it's take on it, and here we are twenty years later.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Things have obviously changed.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: And the the sequel there is there's some less sassiness
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: in this and less satire and there and this sort
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: of leans really into being more sentimental, and that's for
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: better and for worse. It is sort of laughable to
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: tell a story about the demise of journalism. And like
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: these widespread cuts but overly indulging in this ultra wealthy
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: and glamorous world of fashion. It does kind of come
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: across as insincere at times. There are also there's two
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: This one has too many subplots. There is two that
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: instantly come to mind is the great actor slash director
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: Kenneth Browna. He is totally just wasted in this one.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't mean like drunk. I mean, like I
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: any body could have kind of come in. I'm kind
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: of surprised he took this kind of role. It just
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: seems I mean, it was almost kind of boring for him.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: He plays Miranda's husband, and I don't know, there's just nothing.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: His character adds nothing to the story. And I don't know,
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  Speaker 1: I was I really thought with him, with him being
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  Speaker 1: a part of the film, that he would be doing
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  Speaker 1: something more and he's and he's not. And there's also
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Andy kind of they kind of start this new love
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: interest for her, and it's just it's totally unnecessary.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: I really, it's it.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: You want to talk, Kenneth, Bronna is more important than
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: this love interest plot thing with Andy, And anyway, there's
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: no emotion put into that.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: The stakes.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: Also for Devilwaar's product, they feel really low and they
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  Speaker 1: also it can't help but feel familiar in a lot
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: of ways, and I think that's equally comforting but also monotonous.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: These movies, the Prada The Devil Prada movies have and
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: do have fans foaming at the mouth when it comes
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: to costumes and design, which I get, and it's all
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: very gorgeous and exquisite. This is per Paper, how The
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: Devil Wears Prada to blends realism and fashion fantasy. It
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: says that I knew it had to feel bigger, better,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: more glamorous and glossier. Prada production designer Jess Gonscher, who
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: worked on both the original film and its sequel, told Paper, fortunately,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: we had the resources to make that happen. These resources
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: led to collaborations for exclusive Venetian fabrics from femed House,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: rebelling and painted tablecloths for a Miligan Gallad dinner license,
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  Speaker 1: a Wayne Theobald painting from Miranda's townhouse, and of course
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: clothing the lead stars including core forsm Hathaway Street, Emily Blunt,
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  Speaker 1: and Stanley Tucci, plus franchise newcomer Simon Ashley in a
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: stunning fashion that complemented the set design. Goes on to say,
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  Speaker 1: we understood that the fashion set dressing was very important
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  Speaker 1: to this film and it had to be spot on
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  Speaker 1: Set director Stephanie bowen Tell's paper. We worked closely with
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: costume designer Molly t k and it truly was a
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: team effort. They talk about the production designer Gonecher is
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: such an amazing designer and a great collaborator. I quickly
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: discovered that he loves beautiful things as much as I do,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: so it's fun to see his excitement over some of
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: our furniture selections and fabrics. We wanted the sets to
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: feel beautiful but also functional, layered, authentic. Great care went
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: into the details each book, each lamp, every piece of art,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: which was thoughtfully curated for each step. The design choices
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: felt instinctive putting together mood boards for these larger than
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: life characters. We were also fortunate to have the support
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: of some Covenant and emerging fashion brands that were willing
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: to loan out clothing for filming. It was quite the
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: collection and a feast for the eyes enjoyed by us all.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of the Devilware Proda fans would certainly.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: Agree with that. A feast for the eyes.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: So for me, the Devil Wears product too. I think
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: what works the best is having movie stars doing movie
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: star things. There are four delightful performances. Streep is great,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: even if Miranda had sort of has been watered down.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: It really feels like Hathaway was born for this role
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: of Andy, and she's carrying a bit more confidence these
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: days and wears it well. Blunt gets quite a boost
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: in this one and has quite the scandalous scene that
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: makes her coming back worth it. Then there's Tucci, our MVP.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: He's so endearing and I think we all admire his
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: loyalty to Miranda and we want to see him get
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: his flowers too. There is a very sweet scene between
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: him and Andy at the end that we'll have fans
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: loving him that much more, if that's a possible. The
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Devilwar's Protatwo has I think made over. I don't know,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: six seven hundred million dollars, so clearly people went to
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: see it. People have enjoyed it. Me. I think it's
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: kind of right there in the middle. There's things to like.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure if it's to love, but Devilwar's Product
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: two gets a vix flicks rating of two and a
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: half out of five stars. And coming up next, Boots
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: Riley is back and he's more bonkers than ever. I
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: Love Boosters. So in his first feature film called Sorry
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: to Bother You, writer director Boots Rally, he runs wild
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: and it's a sharp, fucked up satire about race relations,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: modern day work, slavery, and what society in general is
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: willing to give up for the almighty dollar. It was original,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: it's relevant, it was extraordinarily off kilter, and while demanding
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: and not for everyone, it was a basey film that
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: wanted to provoke and wasn't scared to tell us that
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: we only have ourselves to blame.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: So with I Love.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Boosters per Rotten Tomatoes, professional shoplifters embark on a wild
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: adventure as they target a cutthroat fashion mogul. So I
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: Love Boosters is his sophomore outing and as yet another
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: bold and audacious and inventive effort that's fearless and unapologetic
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: and his maximalist, absurd and savage satirical dismantling of capitalism,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: his style, whether it's for you or not, of storytelling
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: is unrivaled.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: This This is a Geeks.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Vibe Nation review by Ezra Kubero says it's rare to
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: see a filmmaker create a piece of art that's so singular,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: feels almost indescribable. That presents a daunting task for any
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: credit to take on the task of articulating the magic
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: that they've just witnessed. Riley continues his call to action
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: approach to storytelling design to embolden his audience to demand
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: change within our class divide while immersing them in a
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: sensory overload of awesome. While I Love Boosters. With I
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: Love Boosters, Riley dares to challenge what films can look
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: like and what impact they can leave on the world.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: His ferocious, scathing takedown of our capitalist society comes from
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: a place of deep care for the people who are
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: left the most harmed. His film I Love Boosters constantly
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: reinvents itself, breaking free from the confined many filmmakers might
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: find themselves in Now I Look with While distinct and provocative,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: I do think Riley creates also with a purpose. However,
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I think he's trying to accomplish a little too much here,
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: resulting in his message that he's wanting to deliver and
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: I love boosters to become rather convoluted. I really dug
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: the performances, even though again there's there's too many supporting
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: characters that are not developed enough for me and it,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: and it leaves relationships feeling somewhat empty. Keiki Palmer stars
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: in this. She's fabulous Naomi Aki who's also great. She's
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: fantastic playing sort of the only friend we understand as
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: far as where she's coming from. But damn do we
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: need more of Don Cheatle's Doctor Jack.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: Now?
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: Don Cheatle was unrecognizable and this he is. He is awesome.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: He he only has like a couple of scenes, but
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: I I would watch a film just about Doctor Jack.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: There are also some side stories that feel incoherent and unfocused,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: and then with a just comes a sweeping sci fi
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: twist that needs further explaining. Yet is also something the
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: Hire film becomes too dependent on, leaving its third act
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: pretty chaotic and messy. Even so, the artistic skills that
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: are at play are stellar, colorful, funny, vibrant, with a
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: killer score slash soundtrack by the Tune Yards and some
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: mad fashion. Again, Riley's vision is inarguably a visceral one.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: And is mentioned earlier in that geek ViBe's Nation review.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: He applies his mind bending vision to embolden his audience
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: to demand change, and in this case it is art.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: This is via Rogertibert dot com. I'm trying to create
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: visceral things. Boots Riley on I Love Boosters.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: This is by Robert Daniels and it's an interview. And
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: in this interview he asks, in your projects, you sometimes
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: emphasize different kinds of labor. If I'm a virgo, you
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: have the labor of the body, which is a show
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: that Boots Riley did. Sorry to Bother You is the
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: friction between labor and art here with Kiki Palmer's character,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: it's her intellectual labor. Riley says, there's also the labor
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: of the people working in factories in retail. I think
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: also Sorry to Bother You, obviously there are both the
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: folks who are producing things and folks who are selling them.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: So yes, this is another aspect of it, although I
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: think it's a small aspect of the movie. It's a
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: starting point, it's a motivation. It's not everything the movie's about.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: He goes on to say that he thinks I love
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: Boosters is about art in general and the real world.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: He says, the the analogous messed it up analogous.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: Thing.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: I'm not even talking about one designer getting their stuff stolen.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: I'm talking about how the fashion industry, depending on the place,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: uses the styles of people of color and working class
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: folks in general to create ways of wearing and combining
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: things that can be marketed. So in this film, it's
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: just a simpler way to talk about it, and to me,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: it's more about It's more about what that relationship is
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: to the communities that have nothing and the folks who
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: are making millions off fashion taking it from communities that
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: then wish that they could get that stuff because it's
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: been remarketed to them. So I'm talking about something that
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: I don't even think people would call ip. They might
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: call it appropriation. That's how all things happen fashion wise.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: So with I Love Boosters, I think Riley goes a
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: tattoo hard and his revolution of collective power and the
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: film becomes overstuffed while being bogged down by unnecessary choices
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: that I believe cheap in his critiques, but it doesn't
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: in no way change the fact that he is a radical,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: gifted filmmaker who will always be exciting to watch and
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: that will always have me coming back for more. I
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: Love Boosters gets a vix Flix rating of three out
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: of five stars and coming up next to take Us Home,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: It's the Sensation sweeping the Nation. Next Obsession, That's right, Obsession.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Curry Barker is a YouTuber and part of an internet
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: sketch comedy duo called That's a Bad Ideas he started.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: He kind of does that alongside Cooper Tomlinson. His first
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: movie is Milk and Cereal and it was on YouTube
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: and it's really better than it has any right being.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Performances in script aren't the strongest, but it's quite smart
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: and fresh with its film footage gimmick and being only
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: an hour also works in its favor. And you can
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: actually check out a review of this on sobrosnetwork dot com.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Stephen mccash did a little write up on that a
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: couple of years ago. Barker basically was the entire crew
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: did everything for Milk and Cereal and with Obsession, his
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: second feature, it's sort of the same. He wrote it,
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: he edited it. Barker takes a very simple premise and
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: happily twists it into an unforgettable tale of an innocent crush,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: quickly escalating into a devilish game of devotion per Rotten Tomatoes.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: After breaking the mysterious one Wish Willow to win his
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: CRUSH's heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: he asks for, but soon discovers that some desires come
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: at a dark, sinister price.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: So first of.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: All, the one Wish willows it's at a great price
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: of six ninety nine.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: And Bear played.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: By you know that one guy, Michael Johnston. Bear sure
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: as hell gets his money's worth. This is uh. This
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: is via Indie Wire. It's a filmmaker interview with Curry Barker, says,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: Curry Barker's current obsession just making great genre films. This
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: is by Christian Zilo. As he tells it, the whirlwind
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: of success all he arted with his own simple obsession
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: with obsession itself. The genesis was the idea that we
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: as humans can obsess over things, Barker said. Movies like
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: Misery inspired me. Oh, this is about a woman who's
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: obsessed with an author that she's fantasized in her head.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: What this type of man is and she has an
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: idea of who he is, and she captures him. That
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: was the general idea, and then when I came up
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: with the wish part of it, it all started to
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: click for me. This is Christian Says, as I detailed
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: in my Toronto and Nurse Film Festival view last fall.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: Much of the film's brilliance lies in Barker's decision to
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: portray a heinous series of events from the perspective of
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: the perpetrator rather than the victim. The result is a
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: film that's far more complicated than its premise suggests, forcing
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: audiences to consider the idea that being the person who
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: did something horrible can end up seeming almost as scary
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: as having it done to you. It doesn't necessarily mean
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: that I'm going to point the camera and tell you
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: how you're supposed to feel, as far as if you're
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: supposed to feel bad for Bear or if you're supposed
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: to be angry at Bear, Barker said, But whether you
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: feel bad for him or not, the story is told
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: from the perspective of Bear. Say all that to say. Obsession,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: in its own unhinged, disgusting way, dissects the difference between
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: love and obsession, and it's gleefully horrifying on several levels,
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: relentlessly disturbing while distressingly funny. And what is probably the
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: most thrilling is how unpredictable it truly is. And it's
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: mostly because of Nicky. Now, Indy Novarati is nothing short
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: of astonishing, her incredible emotional range that undoubtedly gets very unnerving,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: as well as her petrifying physicality. You're laughing one second
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: and squirming or flat out screaming the next. Now I
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: talk about Johnston, he's the other half here, and he
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: as great as bear. You do sympathize with him, as
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: so many of us can probably relate to just being
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: a decent person who just wants their crush to like
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: them back, but there's also realizing that he's a bit
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: of an asshole who's getting what he deserves. And Barker
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: pushes through the obvious shallow parts to explore the darker
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: and more deranged aspects of what appears, you know, rather
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: harmless on the surface, things like control, the selfish, the
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: selfishness and fragility of us dudes, and emotional manipulation, to
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: name a few. So and these all roll into these
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: questions that Barker is wanting to ask. This is per
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: and Entertainment Weekly, so his Obsession director Curry Barker reveals
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: film's original ending and why his dad told him to
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: change it. Barker knows he's not the first to tell
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: the cautionary tale about being careful what you wish for.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: The basic premise for Obsession, He's noted, is loosely inspired
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: by the first segment of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror two.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: It's self a parody of W. W. Jacob's short story
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: The Monkey's Paul. What separates his take on the narrative archetype,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: it says, is the way Obsession explores questions of control
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: and consum I think what's interesting is that there is
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: media that has tackled this idea and hasn't really delved
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: into the fact that love should be earned and what
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: that actually means when you're wishing for someone else to
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: love you without their consent. And he explains so at
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: the beginning, once he kind of makes this wish and
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: things kind of change at the beginning of Baron Nikki's romance,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: and again I have romance air quotes, if you want
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: to call it that.
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: It comes off as cute and innocent.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: There's even kind of this like rom Calm Montage, which
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: is kind of funny. But What's to come is such
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: a wild ass ride, and it's equally fun and frightening.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: The sound design is terrific, but there are so many
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: scenes that are anxiety inducing or creepy or chilling, and
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: the clever camera viewpoints, the heavy shadows and outstanding lighting
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: truly intensify everything it It gets under your skin pretty easily.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: There are a few scenes that instantly come to mind,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: but but listen, I'm not going to be the dickhead
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: to spoil those for you. So uh. There are some
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: little things that Obsession I think could have done in
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: more to add, to add some depth and to get
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: kind of at least maybe a better understanding of Nicki.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: Yet there is again, as as mentioned, there is this
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: understanding before that this is all from Bear's perspective, So.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: But listen.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: Even so, what what Novarati I hope I'm saying her right,
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: her last name right accomplishes in this is superb. Feeling
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: constantly uncomfortable is the film's real specialty, and Nicki is
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: unyielding and delivering just that. With sudden shocking scenes to
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: get your heart racing. She has us and total upheaval
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: physically and mentally, so my advice is to buckle up.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: I'm also a big fan of the ending. If any movie,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: or in any movie, the ending can make or break it,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: and that's especially true for horror. But it's highly rewarding,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: and come to find out, it actually wasn't even the
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: ending Barker originally had. I'm gonna get into this without
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: spoiling anything. This is from the same Entertainment Weekly article.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Barker says, we had shot a ton of different versions
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: of the official ending, the one that's in the script,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: the one that I was excited about, and I was like, Okay,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: we'll do one ending where something, and then we'll do
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: one take and then we'll move on. The director talking
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: about Curry allowed only one take for this version because
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: of the complicated setup. The scene unfolds without any cuts
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: and involves a complex upside down camera movement. Barker says
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: it was a very technical shot, so we only gave
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: her one take. But Navaretti's performance was so good he
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: had to reconsider his initial plan. I'm gonna skip this
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: little part because it explains what happens at the end,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: but he does. I will pick it up where Barker says,
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: I just remember my dad and multiple people, multiple people
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: around me being like, dude, I think it's way more disturbing,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: and he was like, ah, you're right, and so we
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: switched it. So when you watch this, that ending was
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: a one take ending and it's and it's superb.
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: I'm happy.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: I'm happy Barker listened to those he loves most because
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: it it I think it's quite perfect. I love how
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: it all comes full circle in the end. Intriguing and
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: insane with completely committed performances. Obsession irrefutably astound much as
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: Barker as a filmmaker with a vision and voice unlike
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: anyone else. So honestly, at this stage, who's not pumped
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: about his version of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So I
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: am giving Obsession a Fixflix rating of four out of five.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: I not and I remember every Buddy Sean talking about
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: how the bar isn't really that high. But it's definitely
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: the best horror film of the year, also one of
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: the best films of the year. I'm so impressed with
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: what Curry Barker was able to do, especially from milk
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: and cereal to this and so anyway, it was so
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: four out of five stars.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: And that's it. That wraps up the volume.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Forty of the Cinema Chronicles right here on Nashville Movie
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: Dispatch Again. All of our work can be found on
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Nashville Movie Dispatch dot substack dot com. And I'll see
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: you back here next month.
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: And until then, just go see it. Damn movies.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: M