The Cinephile's Aisle
Two film haters and a microphone covering cinema classics, box office blockbusters, and everything in between!
The Cinephile's Aisle
Episode 5: "Trinity" feat. Camden
Episode 5 of the podcast sees Ofili and Steve joined by a guest for the first time on The Cinephile's Aisle. Camden, a fellow cinephile, joins our hosts and they discuss Jacob Elordi, Richard Linklater, Jodie Comer, and... well, more movies.
Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube at @CinephilesAisle.
Hello. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of your favorite podcast, The Cinephile's Aisle. Today we are joined by a very special guest, or special to me. What's by the name Camden? So you want to go ahead and introduce yourself to our listeners, Camden?
Camden:Yeah, um, I'm Camden. I uh I met these guys through a mutual friend of my coworker in the actuarial world. And when I'm not working as an actuary, I'm just watching a lot of movies. I've been doing this for um several years, just watching and watching and and I'm excited to talk about it.
Steve:It's good to have you, Camden. Thank you. How are you doing, Leo?
Ofili:It's been an interesting week so far. And you know, with my stressful weeks, I have to find a new Apple TV show. So we're cruising right now.
Steve:We're cruising. I feel like when when I meet when I talk to you in front of someone else, I say Leo, but then when it's just me and you guys say Ofili, and like it's weird having to balance that out in my head.
Ofili:I d I don't know. I don't know why you do that. Because you also did that in Chicago around my friends, and my friends called me Ofili. So that's just weird awesome. But it doesn't matter.
Steve:Leo Ofili, same, same. Um, how's your week though? Other than you know, the new TV show and the stress.
Ofili:Um, week was chaotic. Uh had to change up my thesis again. You know, one of the one of the things that we hate about going back to school is just more work and things not working out. Beyond that, I went to bingo like three times this week. Three times on bingo. It just kind of happened. It just fit in my week. I'm so sorry. It just happened and I went three times, and yesterday I was actually meant to go watch The Haunted in Venice because you know me, am I who done it? But yeah, just couldn't make it, so I'm probably gonna go on Tuesday. How's your week?
Steve:My week was good, um, very work-heavy. I'm studying for an actual exam right now, so kind of you understand. Um, my nights are just torture of trying to get through another module. Um so when like I feel guilty trying to watch something or like enjoying a TV show or a movie while I'm studying, because it's like I should not be doing this. Like I'm rubbing myself, but I'll just say I had to go see like a few movies. Um I spent most of it re-watching The Morning Show though. Great TV show. I don't know if you guys dabble, but um I'm re-watching that and it's just as amazing as the first time. Um, but yeah, that's my week. And then today I'm doing the the The Dark Knight, the trilogy, because that's out in theaters, it's like Batman Day or something. So I'm going to go watch that three three very dark films back to back to back. Never done something like this before. So hopefully I can sit through that. Um how was your week, Camden?
Camden:Um, you know, not too shabby, you know, just just working, getting stuff done. I also have a act career exam coming up. Not as soon as yours, so I have a little bit of time, but getting serious about that. Um yeah, just watching movies, uh playing my cello, you know, taking things easy.
Steve:Sound. Sounds good. I wish I could play an instrument.
Camden:Yeah, the the don't do that one. It's too expensive. It's it's a lot of money and it's big and it's annoying to maintain.
Steve:That's crazy. Um yeah, I used to play the keyboard as a kid. Um I hated it because my instructor used to like beat my fingers like with the stick thing, he used to like tap the like, oh, you're not meant to rest them, you're meant to like sit them or something like that. And I'm like, I just want to play.
Ofili:I don't know why that it's such a common thing of having like a traumatic like music instructor. And like because I played drums, I played drums like starting just for a little bit, and I'm like, Yeah, I it wasn't as traumatic as Whiplash, but I'm like, no, no, I had to quit because it was just getting yelled at. And that that little tempo thing pissed me off. Yeah, bro. Like let me just play, let me just play like that rushing or dragging scene and whiplash gave me so much PTSD.
Steve:Anyway, what have what have we been watching this week? Or so far, what have we been watching?
Ofili:I think I can start with my usual Apple TV prop. Uh I'm on foundation now. So uh Cameron uh Steve has a running joke that Apple TV should basically sponsor me because I currently I consistently watch things on Apple TV. I'm being honest, it's quantity-wise, it's not the best because it's like a limited amount of stuff, but quality-wise, the quality is there, it's actually insane. Because I'm watching Foundation and I've never really been like that deep of a sci-fi guy. But when I tell you this is this is up, this is there, this is there.
Steve:Yeah, I haven't I haven't started foundation, but I've heard like very good things about it. So I don't know. Maybe I'll dabble after. Because I'm done with hijack now, I'm done with Silo. Um I'm done with most of the other Apple TV shows. I went into their movie collections and I've basically run through every single movie on there that's interesting. So I might have to do foundation after the morning show.
Ofili:It's a good watch. It just can be like it just can't it can absorb you a little bit too much. Can't lie. Yeah.
Steve:So I mean sci-fi tends to tend to do that. Um I saw Dump Money. I don't know if you guys have seen the trailer ads for that.
Camden:Yeah.
Steve:Yeah. They had uh they had a limited screening in New York on I think Thursday, Wednesday and Thursday. So I went to see that. I didn't know what it was about really. I just knew it was like Wall Street related. Yeah, I don't know why, because I didn't see the ads with the trailer. I just got the email like, oh, one thing about me, if you want me to watch something, and even if it's trash and I don't know anything about it, just put the words exclusive and screening in front of it, and I'm going to go just because so I went to see Dog Money, and then it started up. I'm like, oh, this is about the GameStop thing. And I felt like I related because I put money in GameStop, like I was, you know, active in the market around that time. So it felt like representation of some sort. I felt like, oh, I'm on screen right now. And like I followed the user Roaring Kitty or Deep F in Value on Reddit and like his YouTube page and all of that, and I watched his videos, so it felt like and it wasn't too long ago, it was like two years ago.
Ofili:Yeah, it was like two years ago, yeah.
Steve:Um, but yeah, I wasn't expecting it to be good because I thought it was like a parody or like a black comedy, but it was actually really, really good. Like I'm when I tell you that that is a must-watch for me, like for for me to like recommend to people, it's very good.
Ofili:Yeah, someone told me it's it's basically like a 2023 version of like the big short in terms of like the value, not like the not like the impact they had, but so far like the the entertainment value of that. And it's also funny that you're watching another thing with America Ferrera because Yeah, you talked about her, and this time around, she was good.
Steve:See, thank you for bringing that up, Ivan, because my problem with her in Barbie was she wasn't satirical or comedic enough. In this, she actually like she's very funny. Her delivery is in line with the rest of the film, it's very comedic. So, like, I think again, I'm going to keep saying she could have been better in Barbie, she could have been utilized better in Barbie, and I don't like how she was utilizing that because this is an example of her being, you know, amongst other funny people, and she does just well. So Dumb Money must watch.
Camden:Cool.
Ofili:Okay.
Camden:What have you watched? Uh well I wanted to I wanted to go see Dumb Money on Wednesday for the AMC early screening, but instead I had to go review a movie called After Everything. Are you familiar with the after series?
Steve:I am familiar, but I haven't seen any of that.
Camden:So like it's the it's based on these like teen romance books from like Wattpads, like fanfiction-esque stuff. It's like it started out as like Harry Styles fanfic, but then evolved into like 800-page books. Anyway, this is the fifth movie in the series. I don't know why I've gotten this far, but it's garbage. But I was watching that instead of Dumb Money, unfortunately. And I wanted to see that because you know I'm I'm a big Craig Gielepsi fan, you know, he's a good director, and also I'm just like a massive Paul Dano fan. I've been in love with that man for like several years of my life. You know, and that's why I'm kind of glad like he got a lot bigger. Like he was always really big in the 2000s and early 2010s, but I like how the Batman made him even bigger because you know, yeah, he deserves the attention. He's a brilliant, brilliant actor. But um, I'll I'll see you when it comes out. But um other than that, I've been watching a lot of just like really random stuff. Like yesterday I watched uh three movies. I watched Anthem Body Saints, which is like one of David Lowry's earlier movies with Casey Affleck and Rooney Maher, that was you know a lot of fun, really, really tender. Then I watched uh Be Kind Rewind, which is the Michelle Gondry movie with uh Jack Black and Mosteff, where they have to like recreate these VHSs they um they erase or like they're making their own versions of Ghostbusters and stuff like that. Oh yeah, oh it's Michelle Gondry, so it's like really playful and fun. And then yesterday to cap off my movies for the day, I watched Strange Days, uh directed by Catherine Bigelow, if you've ever seen that.
Steve:I have not seen that. I'm looking at your letterbooks right now, and that's 1995. So that's a great one.
Camden:That's Ray Fines and Angela Bassett. That's uh I think at the time it was like a huge commercial failure, but it's definitely developed a big following in years since. And you know, Catherine Bigelow, very talented director, you know, and the Oscar winner for the Hurt Locker, so it's good watching your earlier stuff. But aside from that, I've been watching like just random like Mumblecore movies because I kind of like those. Like I don't think they're great, but I really enjoy them. Like I watched um like two Kentucker Adley movies that don't have like 200 logs on letterbox. It's like really just here stuff. Yeah. It's a I mean, do y'all like Mumblecore as a genre? Like the um like if you think of like early like Greta Gerwig, like Marc Duplas, like like Francis Haw or like the puffy chair, like stuff where it's just like millennials with like cheap cameras just talking for an hour and a half.
Ofili:Yes. As soon as he said Francis Hall, I was like, yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about.
Camden:Yeah, it's just it's just a fun genre. I think a big thing with me is I think when it comes to the craft of filmmaking, I just like when stuff is affordable. Because like you have people like Jordan, uh Jordan Peel, who again, great director, but when he's promoted promoting Nope, he's like, Oh yeah, anybody can be a filmmaker, just take a take your phone and film something. And I'm like, dude, it's easy to say that when you're making like $60 million movies.
Steve:Yeah, exactly.
Camden:But I that that's why I like Mumblecore a lot, because these people get like $200 cameras they get from their dad, or cameras you can get at Best Buy and make a movie. I think it's you know really uh inspiring and really motivating for a lot of people, so that's why I really respect that genre a lot.
Steve:Interesting. I think I love that you said um I don't think it's great, but I really enjoy it because I feel like that's the tagline to a lot of stuff I watch, you know. It's like I recognize that this is trash, but it fills me with so much joy, you know, these two hours. So that's I really heavy to that.
Camden:Yeah.
Steve:Um anyway, good stuff.
Ofili:Paul Dano, I also was not into I do I wouldn't say I'm a big fan, but I also this week I saw I just saw the Fablemans for the first time, and he's that's that's insane because I remember when I was talking about it. I was talking about the Fablemans with you, and you were like cooking down on it. And I was like, I feel like you haven't watched it.
Steve:I was like, I feel like you haven't watched it. That's why you were talking about it. My thing is I hate I hate this so much that like when a bunch of people in the community, and it's happening to Babylon right now, which is weird. I don't know if it just got released in streaming or something, but like when a a film that you know it's not like revolutionary or isn't like I don't know, like groundbreaking, either positively or negatively, gets a lot of commentary on Twitter, and people are just obviously missing the point. So my thing with the Fable Minds was always like the the final shot, like that last horizon shot, or the scene with like David Lynch, or like people just took it and like placed so many layers on it. So that's what made me hate it. Like I was reading following the commentary because I wanted to watch it, but I missed it in cinemas, and so I really just followed it from film Twitter or like film Reddit, and the commentary in it was driving me absolutely insane, and all these layers and all these oh, this means this, or this actually translates to this, or you know, and I'm like, I don't think it's that deep. And I've seen clips from it, and it's just like you know, but I watched it because I had to watch it, and Paul Dana was actually amazing in that, but it wasn't even him that did it for me, it was the lead Michelle Williams.
Camden:Michelle Williams, yeah.
Steve:Yeah, she's the one that like stood out like absolutely you know, should have won something for that.
Camden:Well, I'm just baffled they kind of dropped the ball with her uh nomination for the Fablemans because uh what was it? You know, they uh submitted her as lead actress, which I mean like I get that, but at the same time, the lead actress category is just at the like for this this current year, it was two-stacked.
Steve:Yes.
Camden:Like she was never gonna beat Michelle Yo, she's never gonna beat Kate Blanchett and Vertar, you know. So they needed to go for the uh supporting actress because like Jamie Lee Curtis won that, but I feel like Michelle Williams in supporting easily wins that category.
Steve:I personally don't even agree with um Jamie Lee Curtis winning that. I don't think anyone I don't I don't want to get into that right now, but I don't think she got into that. I think I think Michelle Williams should have been lead actress, but that's because the lead I like the lead in that is like Steven or whoever Sam. I think that's the lead in that, and I don't think she would have won supporting actress because there was there was obviously this agenda to have Michelle Yo win it. And even if Michelle Williams was nominated for supporting, I still would say you should go to Stephanie Sue or Angela Bassett for last year. Oh, 100%. Because both both of them were just, you know. But as lead as lead actress, she had no chance. It was either Kate Blanchett or Michelle Yo. So she like they did drop the ball on that. She would have had a better chance at supporting than as lead, but I still don't think she would have won either. I'm just glad she got the nomination. So that's enough for me.
Camden:Um I do want to go back to what you said about Babylon, and I think also with Babylon, it's the kind of movie that n is meant for theaters, but the audiences just aren't gonna find it there. It's uh hard enough to market original movies as it is, but to do it in December of all months, whenever you have multiple big franchises coming out, like you can't expect families to want to see Avatar, see Puss and Boots, see a bunch of other things, and then still have the money to see Babylon, a movie that's again three hours. That was it for me.
Ofili:For me, it was just like like December is really family time, and I don't really see that many families like coming together to go watch Babylon in theaters, especially because it's three hours of like and I don't wanna I don't wanna talk I don't wanna say it's chaotic, but it is chaotic. Babylon is chaotic.
Camden:Yeah, the length is a big I think it's a big factor. That's why like even me as a huge like movie guy, there are parts of me that's considering like do I see Killers of the Flower Moon like in theaters or do I wait two months to watch it on Apple TV? Cause like that's three and a half hours, man. I got my limits sometimes.
Steve:Yeah, I feel like I think I'm go ahead.
Ofili:No, no, you go, you go.
Steve:I think I have to see it in theaters. I just feel like I have to because I know it's pretty lengthy, but if I don't see it in theaters, I'm not going to see it in one sitting. You know, I'm thinking like looking back to I don't even have to go that far. Something more recent, like The Irish Man. I don't know if you ever. I don't know if you ever had a theatrical run. But what I saw at home and I had to say it in one sitting, because I'm like, if I leave this, I'm not even gonna come back to it at all. So like I think I have to see it in theater because in the theater it just forces you to sit still. Plus, like the clips that we've seen so far, it looks like it'll be better on the very big screen, kind of like Babylon and kind of like Revenant, you know, than like seeing it on a 65-inch at home or something. So I don't know.
Ofili:Yeah, and I can't definitely think it's like it's definitely a movie that you have to see in person, like you have to see in cinema. Because for me, it's okay. So a thing I've been getting into now is which is like only the only time this didn't happen is when I was with Steve and we went to watch Barbie and we were like, how many minutes late? But I love getting early, like I've just new simple pleasure is getting early to movies and like watching the trailers for the other movies because the cinematic trailers just feel so much different. So better, yeah. It feels so much different, and I feel like with how busy life gets, you're not really going on YouTube to like watch trailers or stuff, so like it just feels a lot better. And like the way Killers of the Flower Moon is in like the trailer just hits, man. The trailer hits so much, the soundtrack hits so crazy. I just feel like I have to watch it in theaters just to continue that vibe.
Camden:Yeah, and like I'm I'm generally okay with longer movies in theaters if they earn that runtime. My problem is with movies that don't need to be long, so I don't think Scorsese has that problem, and I trust him there. But like take a movie like uh this year, you had like Indiana Jones, the new one. There's no reason I need to be two hours and thirty-five minutes. I felt every single minute of that thing. I'm like, you could have shaved half an hour off this and I would have been happy.
Steve:We should have a whole segment one day, you know, a different day on like films that don't warrant your runtime and compare them or contrast them to movies that understand we're here for 90 minutes and we have 90 minutes to accomplish our goal, which is we should do that one of these days, but that's fine. Um that's for another day. Okay, um, so we've talked about like Ophelia and I have talked about our favorites from this year so far. Um, but do you we would like you to share what your favorites from 2023 so far have been? Of course.
Camden:Um I will say though, um, even though I have seen like like a hundred new releases, my top five are pretty pretty milk toast. It's uh nothing too crazy here. Uh number one, I got you know John Wick chapter four. You know, I love the franchise a lot, you know. It's and speaking of movies that warrant their runtimes, I'm never bored in a John Wick movie, no matter how long. Three hours I can sit through that because it goes by instantly. You know, that like the action just keeps overdoing itself. You know, I the third one was amazing, and I'm like, there's no way they can make one that's even close to being this good. But they they figure it out somehow, and I'm just a little impressed that they keep finding new ways to like do the same thing. But no, that was a lot of fun. Love that. Uh next will be you know across the spider-verse, one that is you know generally beloved by all. And I think I'll say the same thing everyone else says, just the craftsmanship in terms of the animation, it's just mind-blowing in that. Yeah, that with the music, just the performances everyone. It's just all around a fantastic movie, you know. And again, another thing, that's like like two and a half hours, it goes by in like 90 minutes. That was probably the most insane um difference between a movie's length and what they feel like. Because there are plenty of movies that are two and a half hours that feel like two hours, but I've never seen a movie that's two and a half hours that feel a full hour shorter than it actually is. Because that one just goes by so quick. I agree. Uh third one would be Past Lives, which was beautiful, uh very tender. It's uh again, I like as much my my first two movies, uh my top two are you know big, you know, uh set pieces, big action, adventure, but past lives is a very small scale and tender story of you know friendship, love, and you know, converging routes in people's lives. And I think it's you know, it's a beautiful movie, you know, almost made me cry. It's uh Yeah.
Steve:Maybe we should have had you, maybe we should have had you for the last episode because that's where we really dove into past lives.
Ofili:No, I think past lives was two episodes ago. But definitely should have had definitely cabinet on it.
Camden:And this is uh Celine Song's like first movie, and it's like one of the most impressive debuts ever. And you know, looking at her background, she does work in the theater, she works with plays, and I think that's why Past Lives just works so well because you have someone who knows how to do that smaller scale characterization.
Steve:I love, sorry to cut you up. I love that so many different people have so many different reasons for why past life just works. Like there's like different reasons and like different like wide skips. Mine is more so immigration, you know. Nothing to even do it, like mine is more so her being an immigrant, and some people it's like more so her having been in love or like you know, just understanding everyday people better, but it's like different reasons why it works, and it just works.
Camden:Right. It's uh a beautiful one that I do want to revisit. You know, I don't do a whole too too many rewatches, but that's definitely one I'd consider. Um next would be Still, uh a Michael J. Fox documentary on Apple TV, I believe. Saw that one. Um, you know, everyone loves Michael J. Fox. You know, I'm not like I'm not, you know, saying anything groundbreaking by saying I love him too. But uh just seeing that documentary, it's not like any other documentary. I think what really m appeals to me about this is a its story and just the beautiful story of Michael J. Fox, but also just the editing and construction of this documentary. It just seamlessly incorporates new um interviews, old B-roll footage from his movies, but also recreations. Like I think there's this one part where he's talking about the hectic uh work uh life balance he had whenever he was making Family Ties and Back to the Future, and you just see this recreation of him, of his uh routine in the mornings and nights, and it just seamlessly uh cuts from the recreation of him going to the family ties set to him entering in an actual episode. It's just like that kind of editing and like storytelling is just really brilliant, and I just fell in love with that movie.
Steve:I haven't seen that one yet. I I think Ophelia, you've seen it. I have seen it.
Ofili:I have seen stuff.
Steve:I haven't seen it.
Ofili:I think I it was part of my my biopic bins for this year. And at first I didn't watch it as soon as like everyone, as soon as it like came out and everyone was talking about it. Took me a minute, and I think it was because like I was working a lot, then I watched Blackberry, then I was like, oh, I'm just in the mood for another one, so yeah, put on still and completely different vibes to Blackberry, but like I loved it. I loved it.
Camden:Yeah, well it's uh it's funny you mentioned Blackberry because that's my number four. Uh number five, sorry, my number five of the year. Uh Blackberry is another one that I was expecting to like but not love, but was really surprised with just how you know well made it was. It's uh directed by Matt Johnson, who kind of came onto this scene in 2013 with a indie film called The Dirties, which was really interesting and it kind of caught the attention of Kevin Smith at Sundance and that kind of like propelled his career further. Uh The Dirties is something you should worth checking out. Another one that I really respect just for its craft and being super like budget friendly and a perfect example of how to do low budget cinema. But yeah, Blackberry uh was just a great story. I think there have been there's been like a oversaturation of like corporate movies, especially this year. You know, you had Air, great movie by the way, but you had Air, you have um the Hot Cheeto movie, you have the Beanie baby movie, like you just have all these like corporate sponsored things. Yeah, and I was worried that Blackberry would fall into that same uh hole, but no, Blackberry's just a fantastic story. It's it's like you you know how the story ends, you know the fate of Blackberry, but it's just really interesting to see its rise and fall like that. Um surprisingly, Jay Barishal is brilliant. Like, yeah, he's a he's a funny guy, he's he's done these comedies in the past, but to see him in such a wildly different role is just kind of mind-boggling. You don't expect something that insane from Jay Barishell of all people. And then you have um Glenn Howardson playing as his co as the co-lead, who's also a very talented guy. You know, yeah, you know him as like the always sunny guy, but he's a he's a talented dude as well. For that, Blackberry was a great one. I think it's one of my favorite endings of the year of any movie, just the uh final scene of that movie is just fantastic.
Steve:So of these five that you've mentioned, my heart is breaking because there's one I haven't heard, and I'm gonna give you a second chance. I know what you're gonna say because you you get you get to pick an honorable mention or a dark house or whatever you want to call it.
Camden:Well, the thing is, my honorable mention is not what you want me to say. Oh my goodness, Matthew, come on. Uh the one you want me to say is number 12 of the year for me. Okay, yeah, yeah, no. Yeah, honorable mention, I'm sorry, it's Barbie. I I loved Barbie with every fiber in my being. That's just it's a great movie. You know, I was always expecting it to be campy and fun, but I didn't expect it to be so genuinely intelligent.
Steve:You think Barbie's camp?
Camden:I know, I was saying whenever um it got announced, I thought, oh, it's gonna be you know, fun, it's gonna be fun, campy, like mess, like who cares? It'll be it'll be enjoyable. But when it came out, I'm like, wow, this is like genuinely very intelligent. You know, Better Gerwig and Noah Bombok wrote a brilliant story.
Steve:I do not doubt Noah Bombach's pen. Like I go in knowing what I'm going to get, and I've never been disappointed. His pen game is unmatched.
Camden:Yeah, Madagascar 3, am I right? But yeah, Barbie's great. I mean, there's nothing I can say about Barbie that hasn't been said a million times already by uh literally everyone. But I'll I'm gonna say reiterate that again, performances from literally everyone is fantastic. Michael Sarah's a great standout. I love Michael Sarah, obviously.
Steve:Thank you, thank you. So we had a whole conversation on the podcast as well about Alan, Michael Sarah, and I was like, so it was like who's your winner and who's your loser from Barbie? And my winner was obviously um well, not obviously, but Billy Eilish because I'm a fan. But I'm like, I can't pick a man as a winner in a movie called Barbie because it's all about it's all feminist, and you know, but if I had to, my true winner would be Michael Sarah, and you know, Leo did not feel the same way, but I think it's I feel like even as my winner finished the movie, as soon as we came out of the movie, he kept on going about Michael Sarah.
Ofili:And I'm just like, I I loved Alan, but I don't know. Just for me, I feel like there were so many other stronger, stronger actors for in for it for me.
Camden:Well, I think it's um I think I saw somewhere that it was like implied that Jonathan Graf was the first choice for Alan. And as much as I love Jonathan Graff, I don't see anyone other than Michael Sarah doing this.
Steve:He's Alan, like he literally is Alan. That's him.
Camden:Yeah, I'm re-watching uh rest of development with uh my fiance right now, and just seeing Michael Sarah like as a kid, it's like he never changed. He's the exact same person. But yeah, but I know you wanted me to say Oppenheimer, and I'm sorry I didn't, but uh I I did like it enjoyed a lot. I saw it, I saw it twice. It's a great, great film.
Ofili:12 Oppenheimer twice. I'm not gonna lie, I've seen Oppenheimer twice is a it's a massive thing.
Camden:But I mean, like it's 12 of 100, that's pretty good.
Steve:Yeah. 12 of 100 in this year, though. I I mean there have been some good this this year is good. Like this is a very, very good year. It's stacked and like you know, better than last year for sure. Um I don't know. I think Warrior Quam, did you have issues with it? Like, do we want to dissect those issues?
Camden:Well, I think Think Oppenheimer Hard It's one of those movies where I watch it, I had a great time. I don't think I could pinpoint anything wrong with it, but also it's just I didn't think it was amazing. Like I didn't think I didn't love it. I think it's a fantastic movie, very well crafted, acted, written. Everything's great about it, but for something, for some reason, this didn't click for me the way my top ten did.
Steve:Did you hear the score? The score is brilliant.
Camden:So I'm like a again, I I love Hans Zimmer with Christopher Nolan, but I'm I've like been I do like uh Ludw Ludwig Gogor. I do like him, I like his work on Tenet, and then I like his work with Oppenheimer and the main theme, like as a music guy, I was just in love with that main theme because like I don't know if you like you hear it, you definitely feel it, but the key the the time signature changes in that main theme for Oppenheimer is ridiculous. I think like within the first minute, there's like seven time signature changes, seven tempo changes, and it's desperately done. And in my head, I'm thinking, how on earth did like actual people like follow this as like musicians? It's it's insane.
Steve:I have to I have to get back into I have to re-watch that. Because I've been I've been pushing it off and off and up, and it's about to end its IMAX run, so I have to watch it before it goes.
Camden:I saw it in uh the only 75mm IMAX in Florida in Fort Lauderdale. Second row. Insane experience. Um second row. Yeah, we can get the early row looking off. I guess during some of the uh close-up shots of the faces, it looks like family guy characters because of how close you are, but otherwise it looked amazing.
Steve:Yeah. Um, I I had to see that in 75mm IMAX as well, just to get that, like, because that's the way it was intended to be seen. And you know, the only one in New York is Lincoln Square. And so I saw it opening night, it was very packed. There were there were people like sitting on the bleachers and stuff. So like the excitement was real. And the Trinity sequence, if you haven't seen it by this point, sorry, like you should have seen it. But the Trinity test, because there's uh maybe like a whole full minute or two between when the bomb goes off and when the sound hits to reflect like you know, naturally, like light travels faster than sound. And so, like when it went off, I like leaned forward, like leaned forward in my seat to like see because we're getting close ups and all the everyone at Los Alamos and their reaction to like the bomb and like people like taking up their classes or like just reacting. And then the sound hits and it physically threw me back. Cause I was not expecting that. Like when it hits. Because he says that now I'm become that the shirt worlds, and then you hear it. And I literally feel it going through my buddy, it push me back. So I'm just imagining being in role two when that happened, bro. I may have like died really.
Camden:I I kind of left a theater and I was like, okay, that was that was Amadeus, but for Astro for physicists. And um I felt I felt very validated by that statement whenever I saw an interview a couple days later by Christopher Nolan saying that he told Killian Murphy to watch Amadeus in preparation for the movie. And I'm like, okay, great. I feel very validated because have you seen Amadeus uh with Ford Abraham? So it's about you know like Mozart, and like obviously Oppenheimer would be Mozart. Yeah, and it's like other than like Oppenheimer, this the main focus of the movie is Robert Downey Jr.'s character, and same with uh Amadeus, it's about a man who simultaneously respects, admires, but also despises a genius.
Steve:Oh, I see. Oh, I see.
Camden:And it's it's just it's the same also kind of like structure. You have the um the storyline of the past, aka like Trinity, and then you have the modern one with the congressional hearing. Same thing with Amadeus. It's you have the future and past kind of section that divides it, and that's why I got big Amadeus vibes from it.
Steve:I see. But yeah, no, needless to say, Up and ammo is my number one. We have some similarities in our top five, I guess. Um Spider-Verse would be two for me, and past lives would be three for me. So um, yeah. I really liked um Dungeons and Dragons, so I think that was my number four.
Camden:Yeah, Steve.
Steve:I don't know why that's number four for you. I don't know why either.
Ofili:I think that was okay. For me, I don't know. Number four is kind of crazy.
Steve:Like, I feel like it's one of those things where you either got the film or you didn't, you know. I'm not getting like understand. Everyone understands it's very simple, it's a very simple story. But like I'm saying, get what um John Francis and Jonathan were trying to like get us to get, as opposed to I don't know, like just some fantasy games maybe being put out on screen.
Camden:Yeah, it was a one of the biggest surprises of the year that it was like I thought it was gonna be I thought it was gonna be okay, but no, it's a great movie, it's a lot of fun.
Steve:Yeah.
Camden:Mm-hmm.
Steve:Um, and then my five would be Guardians of Galaxy, because I'm a big MCU fan. I just eat up anything he puts.
Camden:I love MCU. Like I'm actually one of the I think I might be in like a minority that just thinks that phase four has been like great so far.
Steve:We are definitely in the minority, but I'm with you there. Like I'm having a good time.
Camden:Everyone's like, oh, Doctor Strange 2 is garbage, uh you know, like uh She-Hulk's garbage. I'm like, I I like those man, I'm I'm having a good time, I'm enjoying it for what it is.
Steve:Yeah. Um you have a you have a solid top five plus Barbie, I guess. Um that's crazy though. I wish I really wish you would have connected with Alpenhammer in the way that the rest of us did, but that's fine.
Camden:Yeah, I think as far as Nolm goes, I think it's like middle of the pack, middle of the road for me.
Ofili:I definitely think I'm I'm like very surprised for you, Steve, that 1001 isn't in your top five. It's not a good one. When you watched it, you came to me like someone who had lost their way. And you were so stressed about the movie, and I was just like, oh, okay.
Steve:Um so a thousand and one, it's very I get the same vibe from I'm trying to think of this other film I saw this year. I think it's the lesson or something, but it's very like well, well done. I think it's also a directorial debut, and for me it's the lead, it's Tiana. She makes the film, she's she is the film, and it's just not something I've like I've seen stuff that she's done, and I just did not think she had this in her bag. I personally would like to see her on there, like the nominees at the end of the year, but again, this year it's just insanely stacked that she's not going to get there. But it got the grand jury prize, so you know. I personally think yeah, it's number seven because obviously there's been a lot better films and there's some qualms with it. Like, I didn't give it a rating on Letterboxd, I just like reviewed it. Um, I can't think of a fair rating to give it, but I still don't think I'm gonna see five better performances from like female leads this year, and it's just so well done. And I have a I have a very soft tool for people that do black stories but do them very well because we don't get that a lot. Like, I think for the longest time, black stories were cliched, and this is I'm looking directly at you, Tyler Perry, but black stories were very much cliched and like they fit into the same bucket. I think that's the same reason why a lot of people resonate so strongly with Blade, because I've if I'm correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that was the first um big money black superhero or like comic comical character. So, like, because that was different, that was groundbreaking. Same thing we're all feeling with um like the reason why Black Panther was so because that was the first MCU lead black, like when anytime like people do black stories and do it in a way that doesn't fit like the stereotypes of the cliched, I just have very strong like so affinity for it. And this story is very cliched and like stereotypical, but the filmmaking is is not. So, like you're writing about the hood and a single mom and an absentee father, but you're doing it in a completely different way, like not fitting into the same lingo, like showing that the same way you would for any other movie. Like, why wouldn't I love that? So, but yeah, I I personally love the thousand more.
Ofili:Yeah, okay, I get that. I get that. Um, but I think before I drop out my top five, I just need to recall uh and correct me, but did how to blow up a pipeline come out this year or was that late last year?
Camden:I think as a theatre release, it was this year. I want to say played at a festival 2022 though.
Ofili:Okay.
Camden:But I think again, for my personal list, it it qualifies as 23 for me.
Ofili:Okay, yeah. So for me, I think I would definitely start off with past lives, then go to how to blow up a pipeline, then go to Barbie, then um Are You Their God is Me, Margaret? And that's amazing.
Steve:Amazing.
Ofili:That is simply because I love Kelly Freeman Craig and her work were edge of 17. That was amazing too. Um last thing on my list would be I'm kind of torn because um Steve is not gonna like this, but I loved Rylane because I'm a big rom-com guy. That was a fun movie. That was so good. I liked this thing. Steve was like, you better not make that in your top five. I'm like, I'm I'm sorry, bro. It was a great time.
Steve:Okay, don't get me wrong. I liked Rylan. I think I give it a four and a half. I really liked it because again, same thing I just said with Black Stories. Um, I just would not see it in my top five. I think a lot of it was experimental as well. Um, so like they do this thing with the fisheye lens, like the wide camera thing that is good, but is also trippy in a way, and I did not think it belonged. Like as I as at the time I was watching it, I I just didn't think it belonged. But then like the more like as I sat through the film and as I watched more and more, I realized like a lot of it was like like a stage, like a stage play. Like a lot of the sets felt like you're watching a play, and so like hence the wide angle lenses and stuff like that.
Camden:The way I saw someone describe it was it was you know almost like Wes Anderson-esque in the way it's the way it had its sets created and the way they did their cinematography and their just the overall palette of the movie. It's a colorful movie, it's great.
Ofili:Generally, the scene transitions, everything, the the amount of colours in the movie, how like the camera is just like an added character to things, amazing stuff. It was a great fucking time for me. And I wish I could have seen it in cinemas, but it's you know, Hulu release, it was great. And um, I think the last thing I would say is probably I I want I really want to say Oppenheimer because of the effect they had on me and how like I spiraled and like I was texting you, and I was like, oh, I'm so happy that my life is just like you know, ha ha funsies, I don't have a big role to play in the world. But um, but so it's either between Oppenheimer, but man, I really love Tetris. I loved Tetris. I still need to watch that. Yeah, I told everyone to go watch Tetris.
Steve:Yeah, Oppenheimer man, Oppenheimer, don't worry. You will get the love you deserve from me. It's okay. I'm here, I will champion you do it all. But okay, moving on. Um, so we again we've also talked about what we're excited for to come this year. So I think now like that has just changed a lot because you know we've had a bunch of festivals. Um TIF, Telluride, and Venice, I think have all gone on in the past few weeks or so, and we've gotten to see like um some excerpts from people there, like some like reviews. I think most of them have an embargo or like uh NDA or whatever, so they can't really like give us details or like uh plot plot summaries or whatnot, but like we've gotten to see their reactions and the reviews from it. So that has just changed over the course of the year. But given what we have now and what's been available and all the cancellations, what are you looking forward to for the rest of the year?
Camden:Um, yeah, I I took a chance to like look at everything else really coming up because my I think off the top of my head, like when I talked to you before, I said, Oh, uh Anatomy of a Fall, because uh, you know, I heard great things out of Can won the Palm Duor. I saw Justin Triet's uh last movie. But now that I saw like everything else coming out, I'm like, wait, that's that's like top ten. That definitely not number one though. So I'm like, wait, I forgot everything else coming out. Um I will say the one that I was super excited for like start of the year that I just lost a lot of interest for due to reactions was uh Maestro.
Steve:Okay, really?
Camden:I'm a big music guy.
Steve:You ever fancy no Philly?
Camden:Well the thing is like I'm I'm a big music guy. I loved uh Cooper's uh work with the stars born, so I was like really excited for this. And then as reactions come out, I'm like, oh, this isn't gonna be as like I thought it was gonna be like a really like creative like biopic. I don't want I'm sick of biopics, like boring ones, and I'm afraid this might be some of it, some more of like the same old you know, biopic schlock that we've been getting these last couple years, and that's that's maybe lose a little bit of interest.
Steve:But I saw I saw this um I don't know if it was it probably wasn't a review, I think it was just a tweet that said it's um um a star is born meets tar. And I don't know if that even makes sense. I think that's just like taking yeah, I think that's just like taking that just taking like the superficial elements of it.
Camden:Bradley Cooper's conductor, like that's exactly I I exactly maybe they have a point, but that's just not the really superficial stuff.
Steve:A lot of themes in that are so different and so removed, like the central well not central themes, but like the characters, like the lead characters in both of them, the central plots of their lives are so disconnected that there's no similar there's no like there's no like union in the Venn diagram, you know, of the of the film. So I don't know. But if that was the painted picture, then I would be excited to see whatever you know union of those movies makes, but I don't think that makes sense.
Camden:Yeah, but um my most anticipated, um, I think everyone's most anticipated poor things, uh The Lobster is my second favorite movie of all time. I love Yorgos Lanthimos. Uh I think I've seen all of his movies at this point, and I've loved almost all of them. And from what I'm hearing, combined with just the trailer and uh Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo, it just looks like it's gonna be a knockout. So I'm just super excited for that one. Uh I'm a little sad that I think Lanthimos isn't writing it. I think he's just directing.
Ofili:Oh, so it's gonna be like the favorite, you know.
Camden:But again, I love the favorite, so I've always did find that his directing is also the stronger part of his uh repertoire, not so much his writing, even though his writing is great. But yeah, poor things super excited for. Uh next one is uh Richard Linkladers Hitman, just because a couple reasons. Richard Linklater is one of the first like directors I really got into when I first got into movies, because I mean the first one I got into I won't say just because it didn't age well at all.
Ofili:Um no, I want to hear this.
Camden:So for in my defense, I just went to a library when I was like a teenager, found some DVDs, I saw one that looked interesting, watched it, and fell in love with movies like that exact day. At the time, I didn't know about their history, but the movie was Annie Hall, directed by Woody Allen. So that's why I don't really say that too much. Uh again, I didn't know about this at the time. I just saw the movie and thought it was amazing and started watching it. I think I at this point I watched like 30 of his movies before I figured it out. That is like that's once the library's gone, as many as I could find, I just watched them all back to back. And then I'm like, I wonder I'm gonna look up this guy. I'm gonna go to his Wikipedia page, I'm like, I'm Legations. What's this? Anyway, but um no, Richard Link Later is another one that I really loved. Um, because when I first started getting into movies, I found you know, uh Slacker, I found his before trilogy, and I just fell in love with almost all of his movies, even the bad ones I fall in love with. But yeah, Hitman looks great. Uh I'm from Houston, so I love seeing some representation. We don't get a lot of movies in Houston, so it's cool to see that. And Glenn Powell has been I I I loved him and everybody wants some. He was good in Top Gun Maverick, so I'm excited to see what happens here.
Ofili:It's great in Maverick.
Steve:It's great in Top Gun. Yeah.
Camden:Yeah.
Steve:Um this is a sidebar, but just because you said Woody Allen. Um what was it? What was the tweet that do you did I see that tweet about what's his name? Paul Mesko? And the film that he I don't even remember what it was.
Ofili:Is it the one about wait, what movie? Oh, is it the one I sent you?
Steve:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ofili:His like this like this film that his favorite film is Blue Valentine or something like that.
Steve:And that was I don't I don't even remember how someone was able to. Anyway, never mind. We'll talk about Paul Mescal another day. We had talked about him on a previous episode and how you know he's great, but he's not so great. And people take him as a second coming of Jesus.
Camden:But wait, do you mean did he say Blue Valentine or Blue Jasmine? Because Blue Jasmine was Woody Allen.
Steve:Blue Jasmine was Woody Allen, so maybe I just made that connection in my brain. I think I think you made the connection.
Ofili:I reminded me of the tweet. The thing the tweet was about how his like it was someone had asked Paul Mescal what one of his favorite movies was, and he said Blue Valentine. And we know about Blue Valentine and how he is it's a great time, but like Steve and I have Steve has this agenda against Paul Meskow and how he's like perpetually sad. And yeah, he and like it was about how um we made this joke a couple episodes ago about how like he can't be James Bond because he will probably have like a panic attack in the middle of a mission. Oh god.
Camden:But he has uh he has two movies coming out later this year that I'm looking forward to. I hear all of a strangers is really good.
Steve:I heard that too. It's on my watch list right now, actually. Yeah, but um let's see.
Camden:Number three, most excited, uh the holdovers. I'm super excited for that one. Just because again, I love Alexander Payne as a director. Um election, phenomenal movie. He did uh Sideways, uh The Descendants, Nebraska, downsizing, and like he's just great at what he does. Like, um have y'all seen any of his movies?
Ofili:I wouldn't uh definitely saw downsizing with Wahlberg.
Camden:I think downsize uh not Damon, yeah. Downsizing is his weakest one, but um there's something about his style, it's like I don't want to say it's pathetic, but he captures pathetic men so well.
Steve:Jesus Christ. What a descriptive.
Camden:Yeah, so um I'm excited for the holdover, especially with Paul Giamatti. Um the trailer looks great. So Giamatti plus Alexander Payne, it's always a winning combo. So I'm really excited for that. And let's see, um, and for my honorable mention, I would have to say that's the zone of interest, the new Jonathan Glazer movie. Because uh he did uh Under the Skin with Scarlet Johansson, which was a creative movie, if nothing else. And the zone of interest just sounds really good, and it sounds like it works really well with the style he's established. And yeah, it just sounds like a lot of fun. I'm I'm excited, I've heard really great things. Jonathan Glazer's kind of an enigma, like in an almost David Lynchian way. Like he's yeah, uh I don't understand the man. I don't think I ever will, but he has my attention.
Ofili:Okay.
Steve:Go ahead. No, no, no, go on, go on, go on. I was just gonna say me and him, me and you have no common well, I guess I'm excited for Hitman, but we have no common um similarities in our look the ones that we're looking forward to. Um but yeah, I have Hitman. Um I have the Fincher movie The Killer. Um I'm excited for poor things, but not like like super super excited because I think I know how it's going to play out in the sense that it's going to be good and all, but I think like people are going to eat it up a lot more and then it's going to end up skewing like like come awards time. I think it's just going to which is a good thing if it's good, like if it's really good, but I think people are going to have a okay. The reason why I say this is because of Spencer. From the reviews I've seen, I get a lot of Spencer vibes from it. And I'm hoping it's not gonna be another Spencer in that we have this like like high school type, high school play type acting from the lead actress, but for some reason everyone thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread, which to be fair, like she did carry Spencer, but like you know, at the end of the year, I'm seeing all of these shouts for Best Movie and Best Actress, and I'm like, I don't know if you watch the same thing. So that's just the vibe I've been getting so far. Plus, I think Jared Carmak Jared Carmichael is in it, and I don't like Jared Carmichael. I think he's yeah, I don't like his. I don't know why you don't, man.
Ofili:I told you how on the kind of changed my life, bro.
Steve:I'm sure he did, but I don't think he's funny. I've seen like he's not funny in SNL, he's not funny, he wasn't funny last year. What what did he host? Was it the globes? I think he hosted the golden globes last year. Yeah, it's Golden Globes, and that was torture. I was live tweeting, I was live tweeting through the globes, and every time he made a joke, I was just like, no, boo, get this man upstage. So I think he's in that, and I'm like, I just have little qualms here and there, but I'm still excited to see it. Um, so yeah, Hitman. I guess I want to see Priscilla, but that's more so because I saw um Elvis and I want to see like the other side of it. I think this is like a proper retelling, and no, like you know, all the proper rounded, no original Elvis songs are used in it. I really want to see um why am I blanking on his name? Jacob Elordi. I want to see him do something more mature. I think he's for time for time and time again, he's always said like he's bigger than Kissing Booth. He's always like he's bigger than Euphoria. He's trying to bury that reputation really hard. He's really trying to get that. I want to see if he can actually like like come through. And yeah, so I think I'm excited.
Camden:He's in Saltburn, right?
Steve:Yeah, he is in Saltburn as well. Yeah, um, so yeah, I think those are the ones I'm looking forward to. I would have said June. Dune was my number one, June has always been my number one, but that got postponed. So yeah. I would have also said challengers because I'm a Luca Guardanino fan, but I also got postponed. So yeah.
Ofili:Alright, I'm gonna start with what kind of the same way Camden started with like what kind of like you've lost interest in um because of what you're hearing. So for me, I was looking forward to next goal wins. I love Tyker with you. I love Tyker, I like Michael Fazbender. I was oh a movie about soccer, thought this was gonna be a great time. But everyone's saying that it's ass. I'm just like I feel so bad. Everyone's saying it's a two-pack of ass. Um, yeah. Also, um when I saw the casting of Hunger Games, I thought that was gonna be great. But again, I think like the vibes have just gone to me and like I've just like lost interest in it. Um so now moving on to things that I've been really excited about. Bike riders. So excited about bike riders, ready to see another Jodie Karmer masterpiece. Um, I also like um Jeff Nichols, I think that's who the main director is, especially with like his work on MUD. I love that. Love MUD. Uh get me Matthew McConaughey, I'm there. I'm there. But bike riders, I'm so excited, especially because um majorly because of Tom Hardy and Jody Commerce. So like you get me those two, I will be sealed. Also looking forward to what is what was I thinking about? I've been looking forward to a couple of movies coming. Ferrari? Definitely.
Camden:Okay, I've been on a bit of a Michael Mann fix lately, so I'm looking forward to that.
Ofili:Yeah, I've been excited about that. Um I'm excited to see how bad Wonka is gonna be. Because I can tell I can tell it's gonna be ass. So I'm excited to see how bad it's going to be. Um, I will only go on like a Tuesday, of course, so I don't waste my money. But yeah. Recent excitement around Rebel Moon. So that's another thing I'm looking forward to seeing. Um and lastly, I feel like I'm forgetting something like that's like relative Napoleon. Napoleon is what I was forgetting, and I'm ready to see that too.
Steve:Yeah, I think if you're excited for so when you said Jodie Comer, I'm like, I don't know the bike riders, I haven't heard that because I know she has an upcoming one, and so I just went and searched, and I'm thinking the end we start from. I don't know, I think that may have premiered at TIFF, not Venice, so maybe that's why it hasn't gotten as much coverage. But that one I'm looking forward to because um Austin Butler. Um no, Austin Butler isn't. Yeah, I guess. Yeah, he is. He is, he is. I'm saying I'm saying the end we start from. Oh, my bad whoops. Yeah, it's a different one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's also Judy Cummer's coming out this year, but it's like uh it's like an indie, and I think Cummer Batch is in it as in like a supporting role or something. Um so but that's what I'm saying. I don't think it premiered at one of the big ones, I think it premiered at the smaller festival. It was Tiff. I think it was Tiff, yeah, that's probably why. So that's the one I was thinking of when you said that, but I'm like, I didn't think the name was the bike riders. But yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm excited for the end we start from as well. I think Comer has largely not been as appreciated through her career as she should have. You know, like even just think Killing Eve, like why am I blanking on the name of her colleague? The co-league got Sandra Hope got most of got most or all of the praise, like rightly so, but I just think you know, same thing with the last duo, she didn't get a nomination, which I think was you know because of release more so like the film itself as opposed to her performance. I just think like largely she's been underappreciated in her career, and I you know I'm hoping like this year things change from that. So, yeah.
Ofili:I definitely think so. But I I think like I like her fun little roles, uh, especially like with Free Guy, and she does through like a couple guys. Yeah, like I love like the fun little roles, like it's I I thought Killing Eve was like fun little stuff. People were like, oh, it's so serious, blah blah blah. I'm like, yeah, but like it's she her character just has so much fun.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah.
Camden:I'm looking at um the Oscar nominees, and I see I can I can see whody comer didn't get the uh Oscar nomination for uh last duel. Yeah, it was just a really stacked year. She can have a shot.
Steve:Yeah, well, I just I think I think she could she could be better liked, you know. That's just how I feel about uh yeah, yeah, that's fair.
Ofili:Alright. Alright, guys, this has been a great episode, and Camden was so grateful that you could join us.
Camden:Of course, thank you guys for having me.
Ofili:I hope you had fun. I had a good time.
Camden:Lots of fun, yeah.
Ofili:I had a great time talking about movies. Um, definitely we'll be definitely gonna go and see how we can get Camden to come down, come back for another episode, hopefully. Um especially when we get like maybe towards the end of the year. Let's see whether the list changes. Hopefully, Oppenheimer rises and Steve can stop crying over here. But yeah, it's been a great time. This has been our first guest on the Cinephiles Isle. I hope you guys have enjoyed this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Okay. All right. So I'll see y'all same time in a couple weeks. In a couple weeks. Hopefully, we can be more in time with this. But yeah, see you guys.
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