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 15: "DÌDI"
"In my opinion, OSCAR-worthy 2025, very easily" is how Ofili starts off talking about the feature directorial debut from Freemont, CA filmmaker Sean Wang, DÌDI (弟弟). Together with Steve, TCA covers the coming-of-ager and how Academy Award nominee Wang draws inspiration from his 2008 California summers showing learning to kiss, the struggle to fit in with your peers, and the importance of learning to love your mothers. TCA Verdict: 10/10.
Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube at @CinephilesAisle.
Hello. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to another episode of The Cinepel Tower. Your favorite podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Period. Alright. Well, your favorite semi. What's the word I use for how frequent semi-frequent we are?
SPEAKER_00:You know, we don't have to be like we're still a part. There's podcasts I don't drop on a pretty regular basis. So like I don't think we're bad, bro. Like some of these, it's once a month. Some of these other well-established podcasts are like once a month, bro.
SPEAKER_01:I I will I will say that I will say that we at least drop an episode a month.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you, bro.
SPEAKER_01:No matter how bad we are, we hit a month. And when we miss a month, we average it up by hitting two in the same month. Exactly. At some point. Yeah, no. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:How have you been since we last spoke?
SPEAKER_01:Um I think I've been pretty okay. Just like really locked in at work, which you know is the vibes is kind of exhausting. Uh AMC has been, you know, my best friend had that AMCA list. Uh hitting an ungodly amount. I think I actually do hit that three movies a week.
SPEAKER_00:Oh wow.
SPEAKER_01:Like for the free ticket.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But yeah, I think I I see quite a bit of stuff these days. It's like a Sunday or a Saturday. I like one of my favorite you know, it's summer, there's like a high turnaround stuff. And I love like watching the low art seasonal stuff. So I'm just like, alright, let's go watch. Let's uh let's toss that in. How you been doing, bro?
SPEAKER_00:I've been good. I've been good. You know, not so much using my movie membership though. Because so I have Rego, which you know it's unlimited whenever, but I feel like there's weeks I go by or maybe even a month without using it at all, and then I make up for it. There can be a week where I'll go to the cinema like three times, four times, you know. Um, but I've been good. Same, same. Working. Uh my brother just got back from Nigeria back to school. You know, I used to know when school started and when school closed, and for a second I haven't really realized that there's an actual calendar of people that are planning their summer around school and stuff like that. So when you told me what's going back to school, I'm like, oh damn, I completely forgot about that. And so now everyone is backing taking classes and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_01:It's crazy. I think for me, I take it, I've started, I've I've kind of locked uh like clocked in on that a bit more of two things. When my when the people I work with, when they're you know, like because it's like you know, finance stuff. So when they're out of office, when all the out of office emos start hitting, I'm like, okay, yeah, summer's about to end because people need to go spend time with their family. Yeah. Do you get me? Exactly. And the second thing is when the interns, when there's a high influx of interns, one, yeah, just new faces, mad new faces always hit in like June. And when you know those faces they disappear, you get me. It's just back to seriously. Yeah, I get that completely. Yeah. And every every summer you now see some like returning faces from the last year. You're like, you got the offer, you got the offer, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I have this consultant that takes um every Friday off in the summer to spend time with like you know their kids and whatever. And last Friday, yesterday, she was in the office, she was working, and I'm like, oh man, kids are really back, and yeah, man, we're back to business. We're back to normal business. That's crazy.
SPEAKER_01:Back to regular, regular days, man. Yeah, it's so interesting. That's a great thing. Shout out to them, though. Being a present parent is really tough with yeah, like the requirements that we have for some of these jobs out here. It's kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Um, I know this is not what we're talking about today, but I just wanted to quickly you know, recap some of the films that I have problems with. Toss it in, toss it in. Let's go. Let's run it. So I saw Trap, Shyamalan, Trap. Okay, okay, okay. Very fun movie, I will say. Which Shyamalan is a fun guy, contrary to popular belief. He's a very fun guy, actually. I really do enjoy his movie.
SPEAKER_01:Something that you'll be disappointed in me right now. I have not seen Trap. Wow. Therefore, because I have not seen Trap, I don't understand any of the backlash that he's getting. Like, I genuinely don't get it. And like the funny thing about Shyamalan is that he only gets backlash during the like literally like the first two weeks after the movie or the first week after the movie. Like, I feel like Shyamalan's hate is really just like first viewed, then for some reason a couple months go by, people are like, Yeah, exactly. And I'm just like, I like I'm I'm always just there not reacting, and I'm just like, okay, like yeah, so I want to watch trap, but I feel like certain things just keep coming in the way. Or I watch like a similar vibe film, uh-huh, and I'm just like, I don't think I wanna, you know, I wanna film my you know, yeah, my space.
SPEAKER_00:No, that's fair. I think for trap, the one if I had to give a one-sentence review of that, it's that it sets up as a thriller, it sets up as oh, there's something sinister happening. But then as the movie goes on, you realize that this is a comedy, and if you take it as a comedy, then it's a lot better than if you're expecting a real drama thriller type film.
SPEAKER_01:I'm gonna say this. So I think I kind of expected that to be what was going on because there is no way, so it's marketed as like this R-rated film, and it's like you know, thriller, serial killer thing, and it just there's no way that that would be rated PG 13.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. And I'm like, uh, I don't know, felt felt a little gimmicky, but you know, we like the gimmick sometimes. I think I've said this on one of my one of the previous episodes. Like, for example, Hot Ones as a podcast is mad gimmicky. The entire premise is a gimmick, but we love Sean and the questions he asks. Yes, the only problem is like, man, how can you like sometimes you gotta repeat yourself because these man like their mouths are burning? Like you gotta go slow, like so episodes just kill me. But yeah, uh some silent plug, silent plug. Uh Sean from Hot Wands actually used to, I think he used to live and work in Chicago. He was uh one of the architecture tour guys. Okay, oh wow, yeah, that's how you go historic, apparently.
SPEAKER_00:Talking about Chicago buildings to burning.
SPEAKER_01:Basically, bro like four or five trips a day, and I was like, oh, that sounds exhausting.
SPEAKER_00:Um another one I saw, a bit controversial, It Ends With Us.
SPEAKER_01:Um I saw that too, bro.
SPEAKER_00:Funny enough, right? The films or TV shows or whatever that I've seen this year that I have spoken the most about in real life are like they range from like Dune, which was like warranted, to films like It Ends With Us and like We Shoes Episode from Industry, you know what I mean, which is good as well. But there's just so much conversation in real life about this film, and people are making it out to be this really complex story.
SPEAKER_01:Mostly people that read the book and as well as the things that happen off-scene, you know, the fights and the disagreement with the Clive Lee and but Baldoni and I feel like what is dominating that film is more the off-screen drama with Baldoni and Blake Lively. And I just feel like it's a bit smart, man.
SPEAKER_00:It it is because the film itself it's very like I I think I give it a high rating just because I liked it. I give it a high rating just because I like certain things that I could clearly see were Baldoni's touch, and I could see like there was a disconnect somewhere, right? Um, but itself it's it's kind of not that great, you know. Yeah, it's like people are people are applying all these I don't want to call them juvenile, but people are applying all these layers and saying how it addresses how abuse can be subtle and how you know we are juxtaposing the mother's abuse with the daughter's abuse and seeing how both of them were abused by different ways. It doesn't have to be beaten and punched. And I'm like, that's not like that's that doesn't take much to infer. Like that's what the film is saying. That's that's literally what's being displayed, you know.
SPEAKER_01:That is it's not complex the intent. That's it, right? That's not brown groundbreaking information. Like the whole like, oh, this has been happening for a minute realization that she had is not like a shock. It's like it's it's like a very obvious technique that was done for the reason that it was done. Yeah, like it achieved the goal. I don't know why people are making it seem like ah, yeah, you guys are not clocking in, you're not locked in. Like, good movie. My problem is very clearly the difference in uh production styles, marketing styles, like the general, like really and truly, we have the situation of people acting in two different movies. Exactly. Like the same way it was marketed is the situation that was happening in the film, and God knows whoever the the um whoever the stylist for Lily Bloom was.
SPEAKER_00:Everyone has complained about this man.
SPEAKER_01:Man, whoever the stylist for Lily Bloom, I don't know, maybe Blakey went in and picked up clothes herself, but I'm like, this person is meant to be like a 21-year-old.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so apparently, apparently she took it upon herself to use her brand, like it was advertising for her clothing brand or something like that. Which when she realized that it makes so much more sense.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's so because you know it's when like you're you're with your coworker, and it's like when you're with your older co-worker and they start trying to hit you with like some young slang. You get me. Or like they um what's another thing that they do? They coworker gets like your no, it's their meme selection, bro. Their meme gif selection is always like what exactly it's very chaotic. Yeah, yeah, very chaotic, yeah. So it makes sense that this is her view of what someone in their twenties in this time would dress like because oh, like it was it was choices were made. Yeah, choices were made.
SPEAKER_00:Very on serious, very unserious, very chaotic. I just I wasn't, you know, I was like, there's definitely a disconnect here. The different films, like people on set, people on the same set, but thinking they're making like working with different productions.
SPEAKER_01:But I hate that we talk about him so much, but it just remind tell me a movie reminds you of that. This this happened, and I want to see if we're like where that connected. We're on the scene.
SPEAKER_00:Um I don't know if we're thinking, I'm thinking 365 Days, the really bad, terrible Netflix one that came out.
SPEAKER_01:No, that's not what's on my mind. I'm gonna give you one more chance, Persky. Okay, 50 Shades of Grey. Uh no, no, okay. I don't know why you're doing this. Why did you select this specific niche film? Because I know what's going on. That's what it reminds me of. Like if we're saying what's the Stockholm syndrome, you know, what pad book ish, you know. Side note with the shades of grey. I just want to let everybody know if he was poor, he'd be in prison. If a poor man did that to you, then he's going to jail. Like, what? But I'm just gonna fucking move on. But for me, one of the most um one of the most glaring examples of this, like you're two like two important characters acting in very different movies, and like you can tell that in the way that they're carrying the movie is House of Gucci and Adam Driver. Okay, Adam Driver's doing the biopic thing, Gerard Leto's doing a parody.
SPEAKER_00:That makes sense.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah, checks out. Yeah, and I I always I always fucking die at that because Jared Leto's performance will always stand out to me in not a go way. Like it just like this is the opposite of what you want people to like remember your character as in that film. And I don't know how dramatic the real Paolo Gucci was, but geez, I would hate to actually think that Gerard Leto did not fuck up on that. Like if that was like an accurate portrayal, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I remain a Gerard Leto believer, I remain a Hassel Gucci enjoyer, so I have no comments here, okay.
SPEAKER_01:Before we jump into what we're talking about, let me give you a couple of my films that I've seen recently. Um and I think one of them stands out to Steve because the shockers. Um, I'll just tell us, I'll tell us on three. So, first one that I would say is Blade. Um I think I watched Blade. This is the first time I'm watching Blade as an adult. Kind of shocked by this because um, yeah, Wesley Snipes. I see why you got like that cult fan following, but at the same time, there's just something about Blade, and I I feel like if I say this, it's going to throw me very, very off. And it but it's kind of slightly a spoiler in the movie. But Blade being biracial and being acted by Wesley Snipes does not make sense to me. Text him this right up to the film. It's really not like it was like a thing, and then it just my head it did not it didn't stick. I was like, wait, what? Yeah, and me and the group of people that I watched this is this was like our joke throughout the movie. Like why is he? Yeah, um next movie thing some everyone should go see. This is pretty great. Blink twice was pretty great. Um shout out to Kravitz. Shout out to Kravitz. It's a director of debut day, actually, because that was Kravitz's director of debut, and yeah, what we're about to talk about is a director of debut, and the last movie that I've seen recently that you know throwback to the to the people is Love Jones. Love Jones do not love Jones though. I don't I personally do not love Jones, but I don't love Love Jones, I I I hate Love Jones, quite honestly. Love Jones, do not I was really it's kind of weird because I have this thing about these like little cult following like black rom-coms from the late 90s to the early 2000s, very early 2000s, very short-lived. It's like 1995 to 2006. They just Jesus Christ, they just have a lot of things that you are you're watching them right now and you're like, damn, this this is just this is very sus. This is very weird, and I don't know why this is like what we're aspiring for. Favorite example, love and basketball, where one of the NCs is like the play me for your heart one-on-one. Bursky is bad, he's he's injured. He's injured, you know. You expect him, he like they've loved each other from kids. You expect him to throw the game, you get me, or make it easy. Why does he cook her with an injury? That's how you know he hates her, bruv. That's how you know he hates her. And Love Jones has very similar pure pieces of hate in my heart. And you know, Steve, when we get to it at some point, we're gonna bring a guest on, and we're just gonna like speak about a lot of my hate for the movies in this specific timeline. Okay, the black movies in this specific timeline, because Lord. Yeah, but like we mentioned slightly earlier, directorial debut episode. You know, we always love to highlight the new directors, and when they're doing great things, we love to talk about Sundance films as well. And in my opinion, Oscar worthy 2025, very easily. I agree. So, Steve, take it away. What movie are we talking about today?
SPEAKER_00:We're talking about Didi. It's the feature directorial debut from Sean Wang. Um, Sean Wang actually, fun fact, he he made a short film that was nominated for Best Short, which rightfully should have won. 99 Y poll um last year. I saw that. But Didi is a film about a teenager. I think it's said in like 2008, summer 2008. Um is this 13-year-old boy whose sister is growing up to college, and he's learning, you know, his it's a coming of age where he's learning things, regular 13-year-old things like how to skate, how to flirt with girls, how to get a girlfriend, how to be an annoying brother to your sister, you know, how to most important recent years with your mother.
SPEAKER_01:Man, I hate that you you phrase it that way, because bro, truly, it is something that like it's a it's a it's like a learning curve kind of vibe. Yeah, and yeah, you gotta learn how to love your mom, bro.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, how to love your mom, you gotta learn how to love your mom.
SPEAKER_01:And I think for people like us who ones who were like locked away in boarding schools, it's a very different experience because we we kind of like skipped out on being able to like spend that time learn them on a day-to-day, yes, and ex exist with them in the same home throughout the majority of this period. Man, yeah, you get me, you you're you're like locked up for the year and let out for Christmas or summer.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and you know what's like as you're talking, I'm realizing something because while we're away, they're also growing. Like, life is not just your life isn't pause, and your life is going, like their life is going on, they're growing as well, they're changing in some ways, you know. So you're growing, they're growing, and you're not able to spend that time with them, like whatever changes.
SPEAKER_01:I think realizing that your parents are people who are going through life and developing and experiencing life for the first time as you doesn't really hit you until you're either moving to a different country for school or you're like in your 20s, yeah, and you're like, damn. Wow, yeah, damn, like you know, like you it like they're just like certain milestones that happen, and you're like, you my parents don't have the answer to like some of these because they're just people experiencing life for the first time as well.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly, bro. Yeah, so the things that have happened in my life, like some of the things that I've been through, you know, typically my mom, especially, is my go-to person. She's like, I say she's my best friend, and I go to her to talk to her about these things, and she has no idea what to do because she's never gone through something like this before. Like immigration stuff, for example, you know. Oh my god. I'm like trying to talk to her about this and level with her, and she has no idea what to even say to me. She's just like trying to be there for me and comfort me, but she has no solutions. I come up with this solution, she's like, good idea. It doesn't work. I come up with another solution, she's like, good idea. Like it's just because she doesn't have the answers. And like that was a sombering realization for me because wow, like this is really just a person, you know, trying to figure things out as well.
SPEAKER_01:And I feel like a lot of like immigrants are like genuine first gen. Like, you can you kind of relate with that because your life is really drastically quite different from what your parents experienced. Yeah. And it's just it's like a crazy humbling learning curve and everything. And sometimes like there are like immense privileges that your parents did not get to experience, that you're getting to experience. Like, but it's I think for the most part, it's just like, man, like they can't really help me that much. So and I think it does do something of either creates immense stress or you bond a little bit, you kind of have to shift your focus. Like instead of talking, like when you talk to them, you're teaching and also a friend. Do you get what I mean?
SPEAKER_02:Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:It's like trying to build a friendship with your parents. It's it's like such a dicey thing.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but anyway, back to the film.
SPEAKER_01:So back to the film.
SPEAKER_00:Um Sean Wang takes and Nine and Waipo, the other short film that I talked about, was also similar being in that he's casting his like real members of his family in these films. So the grand the mother-in-law is his actual mother, like his mom's mother-in-law.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, like 99 in in Diddy is his actual grandma.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, exactly. And so I he's taking aspects of his life, you know, he's taking so like I was saying earlier when I was describing this film to my friend, they were like, Oh, so it's a documentary. And it just got me thinking, because I it's not a documentary, definitely not. But if someone's taking real aspects of their lives and real people from their life, and you know, telling the story of his childhood through obviously heavy fiction, like you can make an argument for that, but obviously it's not. Um, but that's how I'm going to describe the film. You know, he's taking things that really happened to him, and it's not an autobiography, it's not a semi-autobiography, even. It's really like it's a work of fiction. But he's taking aspects of his life as an Asian American um, you know, who had a sister, who had a mother, and all of that, and telling, retelling a story of a summer. Um bigger than a slice of life since it happened, you know, over a course of the period, but basically a slice of his life and telling that through fiction. Um I think one of my favorite things about it, which we've just talked about, is the connection with the mother. Because the film is about Didi, is the kid, the kid himself. Yeah, right. Wang Wang.
SPEAKER_01:That's my guy Wang Wang.
SPEAKER_00:But um we're learning, you know, a huge plot line is his mom, and some of the things are in shown, some of it is subtle, you know. There's a scene where the mother is fighting with the mother-in-law in the kitchen, and Didi comes down, needs her to take needs Didi needs his mom to take him to go hang out with his skater friends, and the sister just runs down the stairs and grabs him. And in that scene, you see that the older sister is more familiar with this, like the fighting that goes on, the bickering that goes on between the mother and the mother-in-law, and she doesn't want she's trying to shield Didi's. She's trying to protect her brother and she's obviously seen this before, she's more aware of her.
SPEAKER_01:And honestly, she's also I would say she's also trying to protect her mother from having to withhold punches. Because it when you're like you see the parallel when she's at the dining table and the kids are present, and it's like she's she's accepting being her mom, the grandmother or the mother-in-law's punching back. Yeah, because the children are there.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_01:That's yeah, yeah, so there she gets to like fight back, kind of, and like she really, yeah, the kids aren't there. Yeah, so I think, yeah, shout out to older sisters, bro.
SPEAKER_00:Shout out to older sisters for real, you know.
SPEAKER_01:I don't have any, but you know, shout out to older brothers, I guess. I think it's it's like such an interesting parallel. Um, there's so many things being explored in that film, and I feel like every exploration runs for the perfect amount of time. Yes. I'm starting to noticing or started being more cognizant of when I'm like, oh, I wish we'd we looked at this. I wish we looked at that, I wish we like what happened to X character, that or that. And for me, I think growing older, just like growing in my experience, I'm like, that's kind of like an unnecessary exploration, though. Why do we have to take that journey, that trip? Yes, like what does that add to the story that's trying to be told right now and the way they're trying to tell the story? And it's just more of being less critical or more being accepting of things not going exactly the way I want them to do, and just like seeing what is being presented to me and how do I feel about that, yeah, and how I feel about Diddy is that this was fucking amazing. Yeah, because a lot of coming of age movies, this comes, it just like you know, we focus on the 90s, we focus on those guys, yeah. You don't know, you don't know the the trenches I was built in, bro. Early MySpace, Facebook going through apps, yeah. What do you mean? YouTube heavy culture, grainy low res pictures, bro. What man, being like being so young, but not understanding that you're young as hell is one of the funniest parts of like this film, and like and I guess like also just like some of the slang that you're using that it's not really you're like, oh my god. Like I'm cringing at some things that he like that were said. Honestly, you know what I'm cringing the most about? I'm cringing at the the post, both the Facebook posts and the YouTube researches. Bro, how to be a ninja took me out. I was like, that was me, dog.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think that's one thing that Sean Wong does really well is even though I'm not able to relate to being an Asian American and some of the you know stereotypes that portrayed in the film, bro. I don't know if this is crazy to say on a podcast, but at some point in my life, I definitely looked up how to kiss. You know, I definitely made like learned from the internet, like try to do that, and like the whole rawness of him, you know, typing up how to kiss, watching a video, playing around with like what the two fruit lips or whatever.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think it was like two pieces of like tangerine or something like that.
SPEAKER_00:Like it felt, which is why again, when I described it to my friend, she said it's a documentary, you know. That's one of my favorite things. Like, and he shows that in various ways in the film.
SPEAKER_01:It's not I like I think like for me, like when I'm describing it, I I didn't do this at work because my for unf unfortunately I've now become like the guy that loves movies. So Mandem will be watching some random thing on Netflix and be like, oh, how did you enjoy that? And I'm like, I didn't watch that. Why would I watch that? Yeah, like and I'm like, oh, it was okay. Because you know, you still have to be like, you know, you have to play the game. But back to what you were saying, I think one of my favorite things about the film, again, like in what I've described and in what you're saying, is it really pulls out some very raw and relatable experiences, and honestly, because of how far back they are, how much you push them back or you know, repress some of them, because honestly, we're learning a lot of firsts, and those were some horrible firsts, yeah, you repress them, yes, and truly learning how to kiss via try YouTube, going on YouTube to ask how to kiss.
SPEAKER_00:That's like a core memory like that that you don't even have, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Because it just displays your anxiety and not wanting to mess this up, yep. Because everybody, well, not everybody, but like a lot of people, just like in the J. Cole song, you know, we gotta, we all, we all played ourselves up a little bit, you know. I'm a pro, but you know, you gotta sell yourself a little bit, yeah. Yeah, but it's it's insane.
SPEAKER_00:Back to the mom, um bro, there's so many subtle things again. So remember when the kids come to the house and she's freaking out about her art, and you know, she really wants to be a painter, and her son is making comments like, Oh, all you do is just sit around painting clouds, you know, and she applies for that thing. You know, she's downplaying the competition that she submitted her art in because she doesn't think she's gonna get it. And then unfortunately, she doesn't get selected, you know, but at least she put herself out there. And then her son comes and she's already like she's freaking like her son comes back with a group of random kids and she's been on mom behavior already, like worry, like over.
SPEAKER_01:Immediately, have you guys eaten? How you doing?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and then this random kid who looks like he smokes with compliment her art. And so long like that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it looks really unlike just like a minute amount, just a tiny dress. It's just like tiny, right? And for well, you can see how she lights up.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Jeez, man.
SPEAKER_00:Bro, I think I thought that was genius. I thought that was because he doesn't dwell in it. The camera doesn't focus on her too much.
SPEAKER_01:Dog, there's no zoom in, there's nothing. John Chen is a great actress.
SPEAKER_00:Very divine. Actual chan is a great actress. Very divine. Because her face lights up in that moment, and all that is conveyed. Like, wow, somebody sees this. Like, someone sees me for this, you know. And then in that same vein, you know.
SPEAKER_01:I think she also executively uh she was also an executive producer on D. So maybe that's also why we got a fleshed out version of this. Yeah. Like a better fleshed out than what I feel these coming of age movies really don't give us much of a core. Yeah. They don't really give us much for the parents. Like this film was very much still like focused on Sean on Wang Wang.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But like it's you just get so much more. And even in for a Viv like the older sister, you're getting she's she has less screen time than both of them, but you're still getting a healthy dose of her. Yeah. And I really, I really like that. I really liked how this film, it it's I think calling it like mid-90s sequel is kind of lazy. I think calling it Lady Bird uh sequel is kind of lazy, or like Taiwanese Ladybird really lazy comparisons that I've seen. Really lazy comparisons that I've seen. But I understand the desire to like equate it to something that you know. So Lady Bird, so I would I guess I'll forgive Lady Bird for that. But man, I just feel like there isn't a movie or a TV show that has captured that really weird Gen Z millennial transition era.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_01:Where we have access to the internet and all his fucking evils so early on. Yeah. And yeah, it was just so good.
SPEAKER_00:There's a there's a there's a film, 8th grade, which I saw a while back, but it's similar vein. It's a girl, it's about a girl and single dad, and kind of navigating through you know things like this, like having a crush on a boy and becoming friends with people on the internet, and you know, trying to get likes and you know, etc. So I think that's a better comparison than Lady Bird. Lady Bird was a coming of age in that way, and and obviously, you know, romantic interest in the boy, but romantic interest, moving to a new city, all of that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think Lady Bird is more so like within its name, it's really about like freedom and like all of that. So it doesn't feel as much, it doesn't hit me in my core the way Diddy hit me. Because Diddy is truly about growing up in one summer, because the changes from the start of the summer, the awkwardness, discovering passions from things that you know your parents let you explore, like to like signing up to be in like your first like little experiment, which is like you know, the skate group, then like ending the movie like by joining an organized club.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Like there's growth there. Great, yeah, great bloody film. Yeah, I think it's really everything I feel like is it's really everything good that a coming of age can be. It's sweet, it's very true, it's very scrappy, you know, and just like a lot of times people talk about how personal stories don't connect with audiences, but I find that really ridiculous because like this is a very personal story that just hits hard.
SPEAKER_00:It's hard, regardless of hits the packages.
SPEAKER_01:And it's so relatable. So I don't know, man. Keep churning out some of these personal stories, dog. Yeah, we need to support. I don't need I don't need a fourth serial killer movie about what's their man's name and what the serial killer is about Ted Bundy. Dammer, Jeffrey Dammer, and uh and I forgot in the other guy. Yeah, yeah. We don't need those, we're tired.
SPEAKER_00:We really do need to, I think young and budding filmmakers who have shown that they have something to say, these stories matter. My my theater was full and it was very diverse, you know. Again, Asian American film, but it looked, it could have been, you know, opening night for whatever film because it was very packed. I was somewhat in front, even because of how packed it was. And I thought it was rated R, but there were a lot of kids in there for some reason. But that didn't they didn't take it away, that didn't take anything away from the experience. So I think stories, stories like these matter, subtlety matters as well. Nothing feels like it's overly in my face, you know, like everything I'm picking up on is from little things here and there, little comments, little you know, focuses on the camera, and etc. Um, I'm grateful to Shan Wang. I'm glad this exists, and I'm glad that we got to dissect, you know, uh some part of his life with this. Yeah. I thought it was funny with the skater, with the skaters again, when you know he was being rude to his mom. Because we all have that need, like, as you're growing up, you want to fit in, you want to find your clique, you want to be cool, and then like he slams the door, closes her eyes, and slams the door in her face, and they're like, dude, chill out. Like, what are you doing? Yeah, like that's wrong.
SPEAKER_01:And that's what I was saying about like that. Like, once you you hit like an age group, you're like, damn, like, why was I so mean to my mom? Like, like, you just hit like I don't know, man. Like, you get it, man. Yeah, you get what I'm trying to say. Like, there's no real better wording for it, but just the way that they were like, hey, like, be nice to your mom. Like, she's not as bad as like exactly, yeah. Wow, like she wasn't even bothering us, bro. Like, she was especially like your four kids with her young son in the in like that doesn't run into the house. Of course, of course she had something to say, and like she wasn't even being rude or kicking them out. She was just like, Oh, she just talked about her aurant and stuff, and yeah, but I think another part that is so funny is how they have their own pressures and how like that comparison thing is just so she was a great mon, I'm not gonna lie, because that whole like before the tutor thing, yeah, it was like Max has a 4.0 Chris Chris makes videos. It was like oh director. You see, she was trying to like cover her boy, but at the same time, yeah, just not like have to like lie or embellish, and like you know, I really like that part that she didn't because that like I don't know, like there's just something about like African parents and Asian parents are like that comparison.
SPEAKER_00:That comparison thing is it's always going to exist. We can't hate our parents. We know where we know where it comes from, like we know where they're coming from, and they really just want the bet like sometimes they take it too far with the whole like constant, if it's constant and constantly nagging and comparing or whatever, then it becomes like annoying. But I don't think I've ever let that like uh be this repressed thing that I can't forgive my parents for because it's just there, and it's not just me, it's all my friends, they went through that phase with their parents, so it's uh it's just like a very it's a very honest experience, and it's something that does happen quite a lot.
SPEAKER_01:But yeah, I I think I think um I was talking to a friend, we didn't watch it together, but we watched it really very frequently. I think this movie made us friends. Okay, and she's probably gonna hop on the podcast as a guest at one point. Amazing, and it was just her talking about like, yeah, she was bawling, she was crying, she was like reading the subtitles through her tears because it just didn't stop. Like, it just didn't stop, and man, I talked about it.
SPEAKER_00:I'm surprised you didn't talk about my emotions.
SPEAKER_01:Maybe, maybe that scene where like after you're kind of dead inside, you've been dead inside for a little minute.
SPEAKER_00:That's crazy. That scene where after he runs away and then he comes back home all sunken and goes up to her room, and it's like, man, I ran away. Why didn't she come look for me? Like that one was a little crazy, and then she gave that monologue where you know she's talking about how much she loves both of them, and she's like, Sometimes she has dreams, like sometimes she dreams of becoming a poster.
SPEAKER_01:That line, yeah, that line. I used to have dreams, or or sometimes I have dreams, but when I grew up or something, my you and Viv became my dream, yeah, and I was like George and you cooked, man.
SPEAKER_00:You freaking cooked, yeah, cooked, man.
SPEAKER_01:That that that watered me down, dog. That was because it also speaks to something that I like feel very personal as an immigrant. It's like dog, I can't chase any dreams right now. Yeah, it's all stability.
SPEAKER_00:That's it, bro. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:All stability, every sacrifice I'm making, every push I'm pushing for, it's all stability. If I end up going to get a PhD, it's all because of stability. Yeah, like none of the I very few of the things that I've done right, like in the last like almost decade, has been to ensure stability, and it's just so interesting that the whole point of this is and I I don't like to think this way, I don't like to do a lot of like, oh, it's for my kids. But the people who are definitely going to have the freedom to like push for their dreams, you need a foundation, you need that stability, and I like that's gonna be me. Yeah, like it is my kids that are gonna get the opportunity to push and dream as hard as they can. Exactly. If everything comes, you know, all well and good, you know. But yeah, that's it's it's so interesting.
SPEAKER_00:The power to make something that's relatable across audiences. I think that's what I want from every filmmaker, really. Yeah, I think that's that's what I want. Anyway, loved it, you know. Great film. Thank you, Sean Wong. Thank you, Joan Chen. And yeah. What is our rating? What are we giving this?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I gave this. I I think you saw you saw this on my letter vlog, and then you were like, wait, what?
SPEAKER_00:I saw five stars.
SPEAKER_01:I gave it, I gave it a five-star, gave it the light. This is my this isn't my Oscar worthy list. This is my Oscar list.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think I'm I'm fine with I'm fine with the official. I gave it a nine, but I'm fine with it being a ten. I gave it a nine because uh I think some of the some of the plot lines, especially with that his friend, the uh I forget his name.
SPEAKER_01:I forgot I know who you're talking about. Yeah, the friend that group that cringy the the cringy situation, yeah, which was rightfully so that they left man.
SPEAKER_00:Sometimes you need like to actually be ex- No fuck cancel culture, you need to actually physically be excluded so that you get something through your skull, you get me, yeah, but that I I I just did not like because with the black girl and the guy who was Moroccan or something or Arab or something, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I didn't like that. I know who you're talking about. I know what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_00:I didn't like that troop at all, it didn't say too well with me, but I'm fine with us keeping this at 10. He really, really and truly Fahad. Fahad, Fahad. The two girls and Fahad, Soup, Donovan.
SPEAKER_01:Like I didn't love his friend group, but at the same time, it just I also didn't love some parts of like Sean's character, like Wal Han's character, but like it's very true for kids growing up in certain areas and like certain interests in general. Like you just, you know, yeah, yeah. Yeah, he like meshed with the friend group, but at the same time was a little bit out of you could tell that he wasn't completely comfortable there. There were times where he was like good, yeah, but other times things were very shaky, so I didn't mind what happened at the end. Yeah. Because now it just kind of like balances out a little bit. Shout out to I forgot what her name is, but shout out to her for like, you know, really kind of driving the so she didn't drive a wedge, but like, you know, that was like his first point of separation. Yeah, then the the skate group, then you know, the rest of the summer came. Shout out to him though. But yeah, another I feel like the only other 10 I've given this summer has been Sing Sing. Cause that was that was great.
SPEAKER_00:Maybe I've seen that. I've seen great things about that, so maybe I'm gonna see that.
SPEAKER_01:I think you shouldn't. I I I watched that with uh Miss Ghana, my friend, who's probably gonna hop on the pod, and that was that was great.
SPEAKER_00:So speaking of watching next, what are you what are you looking forward to?
SPEAKER_01:Um okay, so next I'm I'm watching Thicket on Monday. Yeah, that is Peter Dinklage. Um who else is in that? Let me just do a quick search. It's relevant is rather new. It's Elliot Lester, it's directed by Elliot Lester, it has Julia Lewis, Levin Hawke, uh Bengal King Baggy, Akin Agbe. Okay, um Andrew Schultz is in it as well. Oh the comedian guy. Yeah, the comedian guy. So yeah. Okay, that looks good. It's like a Western cutthroat bill type thing.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Peter Dinklage, man, he commits his his. I don't I don't know if I'll call him a method actor, but he commits. Like he's you know, really, really with whatever plot like you give him a script, he's going to sit with that script and like really commit to it. So I enjoy like every time I get to watch him, it feels like a treat.
SPEAKER_01:So I'm yeah, Peter Dinklage is like it's great, great actor. Um and I think I was wondering why he was on the Schultz podcast.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Because I've been seeing that on I was seeing that on TikTok like a couple weeks ago, like Andrew Schultz's podcast. And this makes sense. This is like the connection that they were both in this movie, exactly. Yeah, yeah, because like yeah, they don't really seem like they hang around in the same like circles and vibes, yeah. But yeah, I'm gonna see that on Monday. Hopefully, that is phenomenal. Um, watched Blink twice, you know, that was great. What about you? What are you looking forward to?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, bro, I I didn't even mean to see Diddy. I just went to the theater and I was just like, let me pick something because nothing was out there. But that was a week or two ago. I think now Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice is number one on my list that I want to see.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I did see Beetlejuice, yeah. I forgot that. I forgot that I saw that. Um, did I give you my review?
SPEAKER_00:No, no, I don't think so. We need to talk about that.
SPEAKER_01:We we can talk about that later. Okay, um, yeah. But yeah, watch Beetlejuice. And I got one very niche artisanal piece that I'm gonna watch very soon. Probably I'm thinking about maybe I don't want to hit that. I really like to like space out my my my movie watching. Okay. So I don't like to like hit very hard like two days in a row, unless like I really need to. But very niche Tokyo Cowboy. Tokyo Cowboy. Yeah. Okay. Don't know what that is. It's it's basically huh, man. It's really like an interesting coming of age type film.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Uh, you know, salary man, Japanese salary means like the stereotype, like, and like his company, he convinces his company to send him to Montana.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Like, and it's just so it's it's very interesting because there's like a lot of films or a lot of like discussions of tropes of people going from like heavy metropolitan cities like New York, and you end up in, you know, bloody, you know, like a more countryside Japan. Do you get me? Or so or like Korea, the South Korea, I mean, and it's just like hmm, I want to see what's going on the other way. And yeah, reviews on it are phenomenal. It looks like a good watch. It's not super popular, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, sounds good. Sounds good. And then my other one would be His Three Daughters. Um, it's a film about this dying father who has three daughters as well, and you know, his days are coming to an end, and he gets his kids, he's gets his three granddaughters to come spend time with him as he dies. It's meant to be like a drama comedy. Uh Natasha Leon from uh she was in Orange is a new black, she's been in a bunch of stuff, and she just had she led uh Fargo, I think it was Fargo, the new TV show or whatever. So she's in a Elizabeth Olsen, um Scarlet Witch, whatever. She's in it as well. So I think it's going to be great. I I I enjoy films where we have you know actors who can hold their own just coming together and uh oh absolutely, you know, clashing, clashing on on screen.
SPEAKER_01:So I think Natasha Leon and Elizabeth Olson on their own in a film is gonna be pretty interesting. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:So I'm looking forward to that. And then last one is not in theaters, but The Boy and the Heron just got released on VOD. I think it's streaming on Max. So shout out, shout out, please watch it. Um had a lot of I had a bit of an existential moment after that film. My letterbox review for that is pretty long because I was sitting like trying to like you know decipher. It was my first studio Ghibli um ever, so I have a lot catching up to do. But um, yeah, I think people should see that on Max and whenever you have a chance. It's there's a lot of underlying themes and so much at play, and I don't want to give anything away. So I would recommend that we see that.
SPEAKER_01:I feel that. But yeah. Um, ladies and gentlemen, this has been a great part episode. It's one of our shorter ones. But I hope you guys enjoy this equally. We will probably, we will most likely have. I feel like we have at least two guests on the docket right now.
SPEAKER_02:We got that people like that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you're gonna hear more than just our voices. Uh-huh. For sure. Uh, and also realistically, if you guys have anyone who putting out the call right now, quite honestly. Putting out the call right now, we're looking for we love short film directors. That is one of our like very heavy like watches and lists, and like you know. So if you know anyone who's doing a short film, either maybe starring in one or directing, or you know, even if you're just like a screenwriter for something, you want to get ideas out there, you want to talk it out. Because I do love like these conversations that we have, yeah. Especially honestly, we like Steve and I also talk about movies like off the pod.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But yeah, you want to hop on the pod, talk about some of your favorite movies?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, just give us a shout.
SPEAKER_01:Just give us a shout, really and truly. Um, you know, the Cinephiles Isle. We are Cinephiles Isle on Instagram and on Twitter. We are, I think we're also the Cinephiles Isle on in on Twitter, right?
SPEAKER_00:I think so.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. We are Cinephiles Isle on Twitter and Instagram, same thing. So, yeah, giving out the call. You guys want more guests? We've been told that we should have some more people hop on. Maybe that will add that'll make us be a little bit more frequent. So, choice is yours.
SPEAKER_00:Until next time.
SPEAKER_01:Honestly, also, if you hear us hating on a movie or a TV show or something, and you want to talk about it, cool. Cool. Down for that. But Steve, before we sign off, give me one thing that you're hating on this week. One thing that I'm hating on doesn't have to be movies, but mine is gonna be a TV show. So chaos, or you know, I know it's chaos, but for a minute, I was saying chaos. Chaos, yeah, but yeah, chaos that's on because bro, brosky, like chaos, ch AOS, not KOS. Please get out of here. But yeah, chaos. The Greek, the Greek thing that's going on on Netflix with Jeff Goldblum for me is falling so flat. So we are episode three or four. I am not loving it. I'm not loving it.
SPEAKER_00:I didn't bother with that one at all.
SPEAKER_01:I was not going to bother with it, but some people were talking about it. You know me. I'm always up for a little Greek thing, like you know, Greek Roman lore. Toss in some African lore as well. I'm gonna be popping in. I didn't even bother. But yeah, chaos is not it for me. Kind of very much hating it. Not gonna complete it though, but very much hating it. Um okay. Alright. So, Steve, you're gonna remind us next week with something that you're hating on. I got you. Next time. All right. All right until next time. Ladies and gentlemen, this has been the Cinephiles Iowa. Thank you so much for listening.
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