One Battle After Another (2025)
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Transcript
Steph (00:00)
think it's just so different. So different. thinking about all the things that we've said that are like, you don't see that very often. Ooh, that's kind of different. It is just so refreshing. I think in an era of a lot of movies being remakes or casting just the A-list people with a subpar script I think this movie worked really hard.
Netta (00:02)
Mm.
Yeah, yeah.
Steph (00:20)
to be good.
Welcome to Popcorn Moms, the podcast for parents who love their kids most, but loved movies first. We're your co-host, Stephanie.
Netta (00:34)
and Netta, two movie lovers turned moms, join us as we reconnect with the things that make us whole outside of parenthood, namely watching movies. This week, we're talking about One Battle After Another, a 2025 black comedy action thriller directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, along with like a whole bunch of other stars.
When their enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own. And that's according to the IMDB logline. This was Stephanie's pick, so why did you choose this movie?
Steph (01:14)
I chose this movie because basically we watched Marty Supreme and it reminded me of not as good a version of this movie. And we'll get into that. the parallels when I was watching Marty Supreme, I was like, my God, because I had already seen one battle.
Netta (01:25)
Yeah.
Steph (01:31)
I had washed it over the Christmas break. and I think you said this too, the tagline, didn't really grab me, but I had heard good things. I watched it then and, it, like, blew me the fuck away. I love this movie.
Netta (01:43)
Mmm.
Steph (01:46)
So much. I just watched it and it's like, what is this? The first 30 minutes, I'm like, what is going on? What am I watching? And then it's like, this is one of the best movies I've seen in a very, very long time. Yes. High praise. You made a face. High praise. one, there's something about it, man.
It is phenomenal. Then we watched Marty Supreme and I was like, this is like a worse version. I want Netta to watch one battle after another. And I wanted her to think about that. And then I want to talk about them. And so that's why I've chosen it now. Basically. Did you like it? Did you like it?
Netta (02:10)
you
Very good. did.
I did. I did. Here's the thing. When I was watching it, I had a migraine and some pain.
Steph (02:24)
⁓ no. no. Yeah, it's long.
Netta (02:26)
And because it's like a two and a half hour movie, there was no,
I couldn't delay it anymore watching it. So I had no choice. And so like, I did, I did really like it. But I had like no emotional reaction to it. I think this is just like, this has been my experience when it like having migraines or pain and watching movies, it like really keeps you on the outside of it.
Steph (02:32)
no.
No kidding!
Netta (02:51)
It was
And so, I mean, it was interesting because it really highlighted how important emotional reactions are to making sense of a movie beyond just like whatever the plot is. So I'm very glad we're talking about this and I'm very glad that you're so passionate about it.
Steph (03:02)
Hmm.
Netta (03:12)
Because I think my experience of it was like a lot more muted. This is when I do want to rewatch for sure in a kind of better headspace.
Steph (03:18)
Mmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Netta (03:23)
Even though I understood what was happening in terms of like a course of events. But like, like what kind of movie is this?
Steph (03:25)
⁓ interesting. Okay. You didn't get like.
Netta (03:30)
In this case, it's like I wasn't along for the ride. It's like somebody was telling me about it rather than me being in it. ⁓
Steph (03:33)
Yeah
God. This is so not the A-Series
I wanted to- But maybe that's how you would feel about it. Okay.
Netta (03:43)
I don't think so. don't think so.
But I maybe this is sounding like more extreme than it is, But I wanted to talk to you about this because I want to know what is going on here. And I do have thoughts again, like the morning after. I feel like even though I didn't get to experience it the way I would have liked in the moment. I feel like the morning after I had.
Steph (03:52)
Okay!
Mm-hmm.
Netta (04:06)
was able to get a little bit of clarity in terms of like what I maybe think or like have some, some thoughts. So I'm not coming completely empty handed.
Steph (04:10)
Mm-hmm.
Okay, nor would I ever think that you would. But you can't mirror my excitement.
Netta (04:16)
No, but.
No, well, I can mirror your excitement to have the conversation.
Steph (04:22)
Okay, which is fair, which is fair. That's okay. I will take it and let the conversation commence. Okay. let's talk about the length. a lot of movies are long. This one was quite long. this movie for me is one of few that earns that length.
Netta (04:29)
Yes, you start.
Steph (04:40)
the plot and everything is so full. The characters are so full and well-rounded. And then the casting, like, so well-acted. We talk about Sean Penn, my God. Like, everything is just so intentional. And I can't think of anything that I would, want to remove because all the storylines do kind of converge and connect. you can't take out C because it explains why D and A...
Netta (05:05)
Mm.
Steph (05:06)
I feel this movie for being that long it was very tight in my opinion very full very tight it felt like to me like a very
Netta (05:10)
Mmm.
Steph (05:14)
full delicious meal. you have this very clean 30 minute prologue that when I started watching, was like, what is this movie about? Why does this all need to be here? But I feel like it really helps with the investment in the story and the explaining of the characters as the story goes. I feel like it got stronger as it went on versus other movies don't, or they lag in the middle. I feel like this one just kept...
moving and kept getting stronger and the characters and the absurdity of certain things, but it wasn't too absurd.
Netta (05:40)
I mean, it's interesting you bring that up because I think the like that first act sort of these two parts that take place 16 years apart. And that first act is like 50 minutes long.
Steph (05:48)
Mm-hmm.
Um, I feel like I actually looked at the clock. It's like they jumped forward. It's 30 minutes, like 35 minutes. Yeah. When you see her as a 16 year old, cause I stopped it and like looked at the timestamp cause I felt like it was about, but wait, there was another.
Netta (05:57)
Is it there?
Okay.
Yeah, no, no,
no, you're right. Because I think at 50 minutes is when Sean Penn's character starts the kind of the hunt. That's what I meant. Yeah. Yes. So like, in my mind, there was kind of a similar thing with Marty Supreme, because Marty Supreme also at the 50 minute mark is when the movie changes so much, right? Like the tone, the direction, everything kind of like shifts at that point.
Steph (06:12)
Yes. Correct. Yes. That is around 50. Yeah. Like things kind of kick off. Yeah. Yes. Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Yes, yeah. ⁓
Netta (06:33)
And I feel like with this one, to me, it was that 50 minute mark where things shifted. So yes, I guess like 30 minutes in, it jumps forward 16 years, but it's not for another, I guess, 20 minutes that ⁓ you get the story. again, it's sort of like, I don't know if I would say it's a whole other movie at 50 minutes, but it kind of has that feel where it shifts.
Steph (06:41)
Mm-hmm, yes.
Yep. You get the story.
Yes, it does. Mm Yeah, to your point, some movies like Marnie Spree, they have that shift, right? everything prior is laying that groundwork and letting you kind of have a good understanding of the characters that are going to be involved and everything. Where some movies that's not necessary. ⁓
Netta (06:58)
at that kind of same point.
Mm.
Steph (07:15)
Or actually, to your point, I wrote this down that a lot of movies don't do that, right? A lot of movies, they choose to be two hours or an hour and 50 minutes, and it's done in more of like a montage, or the characters talk about it, versus you actually getting to experience it as it's like full-on, like, independent length act. in other movies where it's maybe less connected or less...
driving of the story, like in Marty Supreme. This one, I feel like it really, really laid a groundwork of understanding the characters and what motivates them and why they're doing what they're doing. Whereas Marty Supreme, it felt very much like this could be two movies and the first act was so strong that then the second was like, whereas this one, feel like it knew where it knew what it was doing. It was setting a base. It was introducing you to characters.
Netta (07:42)
Yeah, yeah,
Mm-hmm.
Steph (08:04)
their quirks, their perspectives, and then the story can take off from there.
Netta (08:08)
Yeah, I feel like that first 30 minute piece that takes place the 16 years earlier, it introduces us to a world that is going to be very important. Those 16 years later, this world of these revolutionaries and like the way that they communicate.
Steph (08:20)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Netta (08:30)
and the infrastructure that they have and somewhat of like the ideology and what they believe in and the culture of it. That like, I think it could have been fine for that to be introduced later. Like you didn't necessarily need that. Like you're saying, other movies don't have this introductory piece, but it was just.
Steph (08:32)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
have it. Yeah.
Netta (08:52)
I don't know, it was quite fun. And I think also, like really what you get in that first part that you would not have at all if you were just in the 16 years later act is you get the mom, perfidia, yeah, who...
Steph (08:53)
It was, it was.
Mm-hmm. I know, I was gonna say that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Oof.
character.
Netta (09:15)
A character so interesting. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Steph (09:17)
Mm hmm. Yeah, I know I was
going to say that and then you don't see her this is why I feel like it's very full story because you like you don't miss her character like her character served this incredibly intentional and strong purpose. And then they have made their exit. And that is fine.
Netta (09:32)
Mm hmm.
Well, it's like she served her purpose, I think like in terms of the plot, but I think she's so much more than that. she I think is an important, almost like character study for what the
Steph (09:40)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Netta (09:49)
moral, ethical, political questions are in the movie as a whole. in her and Leo, through the mom and the dad and the different decisions that they make and the different outlooks that they have.
Steph (09:53)
Mm-hmm.
Netta (10:04)
I don't know, I think that is so important for understanding thematically what's going on in the whole movie.
Steph (10:09)
Yeah, like her and him combined. It's like the two different...
perspectives on life, is what you're saying? Yes. the ways to live one's life. he's into the revolution. He's a bit of a radicalist and all this stuff, but he still has this adherence to family and what that means. And so he's trying to like straddle the worlds, where she so firmly is like, no, I'm going to go live my life. I think it was very interesting, her jealousy.
Netta (10:14)
Yeah
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Steph (10:34)
of her own child. I think
there's a lot going on there for her around wanting to be very much the center person and the center character
Netta (10:43)
Yeah, so I mean, so she and Leo, Prophitia and Leo have their child together. They meet during this like, revolutionary activity, blah, blah. They have a child together. During the pregnancy, she, you know, a comment, think Leo's character makes a comment that it's like, she doesn't even know she's pregnant. Like she drinks, she does whatever, all of that.
Steph (11:02)
Yeah. Yeah, to a friend.
Netta (11:06)
They have their child and she feels jealous of the attention that Leo gives the child. She feels like she's kind of being cast aside now that she's a mom. She doesn't count for anything else. And he kind of leans more towards now, okay, now that we have a child, now we're a family and we have to prioritize that. And she leans very heavily into like, no.
Steph (11:17)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Netta (11:32)
like basically goes back to continue to do revolutionary activity as in like blow up civilian infrastructure and such. what she says is, you my life is gonna keep being about me. And his thing is, no, our life is now.
Steph (11:40)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Netta (11:48)
about this child and about this family. But I think when she says it's going to keep being about me, she also means about this kind of larger cause and her participating in it.
Steph (11:49)
Yeah.
Yes, I do think when she did leave, I found that interesting as he is the one who is now about this family moment and gonna keep this child and scurry away and raise this baby.
There's a lot of things I think this movie does that are interesting or different. that like, think is one of them. flipping the gender norm, she wants to go off and be the revolutionary and he wants to like stay at home and raise his family.
Netta (12:22)
Yeah. It's kind of a risky take. you don't often see like bad moms, I guess. Or if you do, it's like, yeah, no, no, that's not right. But like moms who abandon their children, I guess, is not common on screen.
Steph (12:31)
It's like I feel like...
Yes, I feel like, yeah, like like a cold abandon.
Yeah. I feel like there's it.
Netta (12:40)
Or who choose
things outside the family over family.
Steph (12:43)
Yeah. And do that cold, abandoned leaving and you see it on the film versus hearing about it.
I like that they did it the way they did it it's a different story had she still been in the picture and I really enjoy what it does for Leo as a single dad and trying to figure this all out, but he's a bumbling x-revolutionary idiot, which I love so much because he's just so out of it
Netta (12:55)
Yeah.
Steph (13:09)
As he said, his years of substance abuse really took their toll on his mental state and he couldn't remember any of the passcodes in the meetings. my God. loved all the scenes that he was on the phone with them. They were so good.
Netta (13:18)
Who?
that.
Like,
he can't enter the passcode. The guy won't give him the information he needs. Like, I want to speak to your manager.
Steph (13:31)
What kind of revolutionary are you? It's just so clever and interesting. But yeah, so if she had stayed in the movie, them now trying to find their daughter as a duo changes things. You don't get that really strong performance from Leo and that dynamic because she's obviously she wouldn't be the same. she would be so involved with the cause do or die. Whereas he kind of
runs away and hiding as they're all being tracked down, which is the appropriate thing for him as a family man to do. so I like that they remove her from that. And I like that they remove her from that in a way that's unsentimental, I want to say. they don't kill her in some sort of dramatic martyrdom way. making her a hero and this is all for her and
idolizing her. it's interesting. Willa, the daughter, she was told that her mother was killed and she was this great woman. But then when it comes time that she meets all the people involved, they're all like, your mom actually was the worst. Like she was a rat and turned her back on all of us. And I think that's more, yeah, it's a bull, it's interesting. It's less sentimental. It's different.
Netta (14:32)
Yeah, I mean, she chooses the revolution over her family, and then she chooses herself over the revolution.
Steph (14:36)
I know,
I know, interesting.
Netta (14:41)
the only point in which I was really where I really disliked her, was when she was being set up in witness protection. She's now in this like suburban home and blah, blah. I'm like, so you would do that for your own sake, but not for this. But then she abandons.
Steph (14:52)
Yeah.
Yes, she does abandon them.
Netta (14:59)
that life as well and I gained
more respect for her again. yeah, that she abandons the witness protection thing and I think goes to Mexico because I think what it spoke to was she just really at least at that point in her life, she could not do it.
Steph (15:03)
Really?
I also was like, you're the worst. she chose herself and the revolution over the family. at that point, you don't know, is she choosing herself or is she choosing the revolution as the greater cause? And I think then when you see her get caught and turned so quickly, she was choosing herself and her freedom and like postpartum, she was all wacky.
⁓ and it made her jealous and all of these things. And she just wanted out whatever the motivation was revolution or herself, whatever. then, yeah, she goes in the suburban witness protection, sells everybody out and then bails. Like to me, I was like, no, like, fuck you. maybe we read it differently
Netta (15:53)
Mm.
I mean, you do see basically everybody selling each other out. Like one of the things that happened is like, everybody gives up information once they're caught, which to me seemed so real. So I think it's like, maybe with that.
Steph (16:05)
Yeah.
totally.
Netta (16:10)
having happened afterwards or seeing that happen again and again. It just kind of seems like this is just the natural thing that people do. But also what she wanted was her freedom. And maybe this is the thing, right? she wants freedom from her family. She wants freedom from prison. And then she wants freedom from the kind of witness protection.
Steph (16:18)
I guess I just, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Netta (16:34)
from from being trapped into a life in which she's going to be I mean, I hesitate to even call it a relationship because like this guy was Sean Penn because he's just so like, it's just such a racist, like misogynist, everything thing. she I think what she wants is freedom.
Steph (16:34)
Mm-hmm.
⁓ it's so
Netta (16:51)
I guess, from all these things and why she finds it in the revolution is maybe, you know, kind of questionable or like what kind of freedom she finds there, I think is maybe a question. Social, yeah, yeah. I think maybe that was...
Steph (16:52)
Yes.
Mmm. Mm-hmm.
Just social norms, probably.
Netta (17:14)
her thing and that to me seemed consistent and if she had been willing to just stay in that suburban life I think I would have really lost total respect for her
Steph (17:24)
Yeah, I agree. It's very consistent of her character. I think when she disappears, she sold everybody out and then she abandoned ship.
Netta (17:30)
Yeah, but I mean
if she didn't sell anybody out she would have stayed in jail and then she couldn't have disappeared.
Steph (17:36)
I guess. for her touting the things she touted, it shocked me that she so readily would give people up because her message was very much not that. she sets herself up as the type of person who would take the hit to protect the revolution. And then she so quickly is like, actually.
Netta (17:42)
Mm.
Steph (17:57)
Would you like their names on a list? May I write them down for you? And so it's, it, that I guess shocked me like that quick. It doesn't talk to me that she then kind of abandoned ship. I think that is good. I'm happy the movie takes her out of it in that way. I'm happy. don't have to watch any more of the weirdo Sean Penn stuff. And so no, I, I, yeah.
Netta (17:58)
Yeah.
Mm.
Mm.
Steph (18:19)
Yeah, all to say, I just, it made me very angry with her because she didn't sell herself as that kind of character, I guess.
Netta (18:29)
Yeah,
I don't know. I think my reaction to these the revolutionaries was I was kind of eye-rolly anyway, like these people just strike me as being insufferable and self important.
Steph (18:38)
mess.
Netta (18:41)
I mean, I find it a really interesting world and It's not like they're responding to nothing there's this is a world of great injustice but there are no good guys, I think in this, which I also really like. I did really like that.
Steph (18:46)
Mm-hmm.
No, I agree. I know I was gonna
say the characters are not overly likable by any means. Like you don't really like anyone in the movie per se, but you also don't hate everybody. And there's degrees of villain, I guess,
but yeah, it's not like there's this great hero who is so awesome and we love them and we just want them to be united with their family. this is a messy guy who's fumbled the ball a bit in parenting. He stuck around, fumbled the ball, substance use. She seems to be a pretty well-to-do gal. He got lucky on that one.
Netta (19:28)
I mean, she's taking care of him. Where were you last night? You know, yeah, she's she's parenting him.
Steph (19:30)
Yeah, right? Like he's kind of a mess. Yeah, right? And like, she's
parenting him, so that's probably their dynamic. And so, yeah, he's not overly likable by any means, but it's fun to watch him go through this journey to find her. is she likable? When I say no one is likable. I don't know.
She's got that 16, oh, it pissed me so, so when the revolutionaries go and find her to save her and they do the whole secret passcode thing and she knows yes, okay, I will come with you. My life hangs in the balance. Say, do you have a cell phone on you? And she being a 16 year old turd says no. and then she does and they get found and it's this whole thing.
As much as I like want to like her, she's a 16 year old thing. She knows better. And that in itself is irritating.
Netta (20:21)
yeah it's like there's nobody who's just like does all the right things and is completely likeable which is I mean it is kind of weird that most movies have people that we are supposed to only like even their flaws are quirky and whatever and endearing yeah
Steph (20:36)
Yes, endearing or whatever,
Netta (20:39)
So it's, it's, yeah, I guess that's actually a bit strange that like, you know, yeah.
Steph (20:44)
What about Benicio?
Let's throw him in the mix. He's... I know, I was gonna say like... ⁓ yeah. Yeah. He's so good in this. So incredible. And like thinking about people being like likeable and the good guy, I think maybe him, maybe him.
Netta (20:48)
Love him. Love him as an actor. Love this character. Yeah.
Yes.
Ooh, say more. Yes. Yes, you're completely correct. Yeah, I stand corrected.
Steph (21:06)
I, yeah, I was going to like, I'm thinking about like, he
is, we can see in the way people interact with him. He's a pillar of the community. He's advocating for people. he's, he has the, what does he call it? I'm going to quote this wrong. The Harriet Tubman railroad A circle. Like he's doing good things for the community. He's protecting people
Netta (21:22)
yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Steph (21:29)
not part of the revolutionaries, but he's doing things to kind of push against, injustices in the status quo, while also being, a positive role model in the community, it appears, as the sensei. those kids on the skateboard who are, following him around, and, he's telling him what to do, and he's like, okay, sensei. he just seems to have this good code, you know, that he abides by, and he's, there to help people,
Netta (21:47)
Mmm.
Yeah, he's highly competent, which we always love. Yes, yes we do. Yeah, no, it's true. I mean,
Steph (21:53)
Yes. Yes, we love competency.
Netta (22:00)
I think there's an easy way to put him in a moral gray zone, if not as like a actually maybe probably mostly a bad guy, which is if the idea is that he's being paid if he's kind of paid him more as a smuggler, right? Which is not calling it like the underground railroad of migrants. That's not.
Steph (22:05)
Mm-hmm.
Mmm, yes.
I know it be what he's doing.
Netta (22:24)
how he's put forward in the movie.
Steph (22:24)
No, no, no.
Netta (22:26)
yeah. he's kind of an interesting like contrast to the revolutionaries too, right? he's doing the work.
Steph (22:32)
Mm-hmm.
I know, I was gonna say he's doing very real things. Versus blowing up a bank, or robbing a bank. Who does this assist?
Netta (22:38)
Not just like blowing shit up. Yeah.
It assists them to buy the weapons to blow up power lines.
Steph (22:47)
Oh, yes,
as they do say.
But yes, Benicio is doing that very on the ground, real work to help people.
Netta (22:56)
Yeah,
but he seems to hold that revolutionary group and high esteem and blah, blah, blah. it's not you know, antagonistic or anything ⁓ or seen as like being at odds with each other. But yeah, he's the only good guy, but he's not the protagonist, if that makes sense.
Steph (23:04)
No, no.
Yes,
which is very interesting and very fun.
Netta (23:15)
Yeah.
So, so, so good. Yeah. Okay, we have a good guy.
Steph (23:18)
guess he is the good guy.
And yes,
should we talk about a bad guy?
Netta (23:25)
Sean Penn. my God. Give him an Oscar.
Steph (23:24)
Sean Penn.
my God. this guy, He acted this so well. I think he is gross. Like this was acted.
Netta (23:34)
you
Steph (23:35)
Like I now as a person am like, ew, Sean Bennett is gross. Cause he did this so unbelievably well. Like, my God.
Netta (23:43)
Like,
good thing he didn't do this role early in his career, because then he would never be cast in anything.
Steph (23:51)
he would be, yeah, like the defunct, like, creepo, bad guy, weirdo. this movie excelled at having that, force that you are wanting to move away from on so many levels.
Netta (23:55)
Mmm.
Steph (24:03)
and it's just acted so well. he was just, Oh my God. I know his walk. I know his walk, his shirt when Will is like, your shirt is too tight. And I was thinking, wow, this guy's he's so jacked, but he's so short. just his lip thing that he kept doing, just the little nuances of the character were just so,
Netta (24:06)
The way he walked. Just give him an Oscar for that walk.
Steph (24:26)
It's this whole picture of this gross guy.
give him an Oscar, give him all of the Oscars, give him all of the awards because just exceptional and like.
Netta (24:31)
you
Steph (24:37)
I don't want to say funny because he was not trying to be funny, but his character and the things he said were he brings a good flavor of absurdity and the people he would like to run with the Christmas Adventurers Club.
Netta (24:41)
Mm.
⁓ my
Steph (24:53)
Sean Spent character is like he's kind of out there and absurd. And then when you dive more into the world of him, it's like, this is really weird and really absurd.
Netta (25:03)
like this is a guy that you learn more about as you go. that he's a white supremacist. But it's just not surprising at all. everything that is revealed about him, his motivations, it's all kind of written there.
Steph (25:16)
Mm-hmm.
Netta (25:16)
already from
the beginning, you can kind of see it and not in the sense of like, I saw that coming. But more in the sense of like, yeah, that tracks like this, it would be surprising if this guy wasn't a white supremacist. Yeah. Yeah.
Steph (25:26)
That's right, yeah.
Right? Yeah. And
it weaves in with his motivations so deeply.
they even build this world around him not only is he a white supremacist, but he's like, nth degree white supremacist. And he's trying to get in with these other white supremacists. And so, that are also completely off their rockers. And so...
Netta (25:48)
One of my favorite parts was
when he's meeting with these whoever it was, like the members of this white supremacist secret society. And he's not in yet, but, they're going to vet him and you know, they're explaining what they're about. And they're like, you know, we just want to.
Steph (25:55)
Yeah.
consider him.
Netta (26:07)
take care of the like, just no more lunatics. We want the lunatics in society to go. they haven't explained what this group is yet. But you already know, these are lunatics talking.
Steph (26:10)
Hahaha!
Yes.
Yeah, totally.
And I love that they give you little pieces of it. Like along the way, they meet with him or talking about him. Then you see them in the underground bunker. what do they say? Like, Nick, like may Saint Nick be with you.
Netta (26:30)
Yeah.
Steph (26:34)
And then they're just all these super creepy old white guys. you're just given these like little... you know there's so much more going on there. And it also does it in a very like... Non-villainizing way? it's like very matter of fact.
Netta (26:45)
Mmm.
Steph (26:47)
the way that you're like following them into the boardroom and then they're talking about them and the way they're talking about things. It's just so matter of fact.
Netta (26:54)
Yeah, it's sort of like this is how they would see themselves.
Steph (26:57)
Yes. Yes. there isn't this sinister music playing behind them or something like that. they're having a regular Tuesday meeting.
Netta (27:03)
talking
about like murdering somebody for having an interracial child. Yeah, and murdering the interracial child. Yeah. ⁓ my god.
Steph (27:09)
Right? Cleaning it all up. Yes. Like,
so insane. Yeah. So that whole storyline was just very interesting and wild. ⁓
Netta (27:23)
Yeah, totally.
Steph (27:25)
Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
While we are on the note of this white supremacist group, can we please talk about Sean Penn's demise? Spoiler alert. So Sean Penn goes on his journey and just takes a beating. This man is shot. He's, he hurts his leg somehow. He...
Netta (27:28)
Mm.
yeah.
Steph (27:43)
rolled in a car, his face is mangled. And he is pieced back together and goes to meet with the White's Premises Club or the White's Premises group who he thinks now like they're inducting him, you know, and he is so pleased and it's all very ridiculous as all of the interactions with this group are. And then they poison him but they let him, like, they say you're in.
and then they put him in an office and he's thrilled and they poise him and he is dead. And so I was just wondering how you feel about that.
Netta (28:11)
⁓ yeah, I mean, it's interesting.
Steph (28:14)
Mm-hmm.
Netta (28:16)
he gets taken down by his own. It's interesting, right?
Steph (28:18)
Yeah.
Netta (28:20)
I like it.
Steph (28:21)
Ooh, I love it. I loved so much that he's, one, taken down by his own people. I love that they make him think that he's in the club for some reason. it's very of that old white guy smarminess, passive aggressive.
Netta (28:22)
What do you make of it?
I
Mmm. ⁓
Steph (28:40)
to be like, you're in, and then they'll
go poison him in the corner versus just having him killed or something like that. it was like sweet that they gave him that. I don't know. I liked that for some reason a lot. And then I think, followed this character and he has such a big opinion of himself and all these things, and he's just discarded like nothing from these people. Like, I like that. Like, yeah, like...
Netta (28:47)
Yeah.
like a twist.
Steph (29:02)
I don't know what else to say. I just I like that he's taken out my zone. this guy is nothing to us, like let's just get rid of them. But they give them a little kindness of being like, you're in. This is your office.
Netta (29:13)
Yeah,
when I think about it though, especially because it's this office thing, which itself feels pretty ridiculous, this idea that this secret society of white supremacists has an office building and it's clearly empty. Like there's nobody there. There's no computer set up. there's some furniture that looks like it's just been unpacked.
Steph (29:20)
I As in-
Netta (29:33)
this is not being used as an office by this white supremacist secret society. They're meeting, they're meeting in their ridiculous bunker. And so it does feel like they're making fun of him. it's a kindness kind of in the sense that because he doesn't get that it's a joke in a sense that he's the butt of the joke. But
Steph (29:33)
No, meeting in this bunker, in that secret bunker.
does.
Yeah.
Netta (29:54)
It's like he is the butt of the joke.
Steph (29:55)
Yes, very much so, which I enjoy
Netta (29:58)
But can ask, like, why do you like what's the like you love this movie so much?
Steph (30:06)
I do.
do. I think it's just so different. So different. thinking about all the things that we've said that are like, you don't see that very often. Ooh, that's kind of different. It is just so refreshing. I think in an era of a lot of movies being remakes or casting just the A-list people with a subpar script I think this movie worked really hard.
Netta (30:12)
Mm.
Yeah, yeah.
Steph (30:30)
to be good. And I respect that a lot. And I think what's interesting, when we watch Magnolia, Paul Thomas Henderson's other film, polarizing as it may be, very different, very interesting, multiple stories. And I remember Sean said at the time, it seems kind of like a first crack, like a young director's or writer's first crack at this kind of story.
Netta (30:31)
Mmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Steph (30:53)
And they're just so
into themselves doing this. And he said, give 20 years to this type of director in this type of story and it'll be perfection. I don't know the time between the two movies, but this is, many people love Magnolia. Yeah, many people love Magnolia. So I'm not, it's, but it is, it's,
Netta (31:04)
I think about 20 years, yeah.
No, it is very polarizing,
Steph (31:10)
It's very polarizing,
Netta (31:10)
think, yeah.
Steph (31:11)
it's very wacky. This movie could also be polarizing, but I think in different ways. any criticisms I think that people could have of a Magnolia or like a Marty Supreme because they're like very similar. this movie just cleans it up so well. And it's kind of like you want to make a movie like this? I will show you how to make a movie like this in like 2025, dealing with these modern issues and these interesting things with
Netta (31:22)
Mmm.
Steph (31:33)
interesting actors and actresses who are very good, I love when Leo's an absurd, quirky, offbeat, fumbly mess. that's, feel like, his bread and butter.
Netta (31:38)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, the fact that he like spends that entire second part of the movie in a bathrobe. He's in the bathrobe.
Steph (31:52)
He's in a bathrobe.
I just love it because it's so different. great intentional choices were made. Very few, if no criticisms, like I said. I also love movies that have like.
There's movies that are really long or they do a twist or they do the ambiguous ending. I love when movies have the balls to do that and then actually pull it off. they earn it. I love when movies have a statement piece or a statement scene. And I know that this movie, the car chase was quite talked about. Quite a bold choice to go.
Netta (32:20)
Yeah.
Say more.
Steph (32:26)
like you didn't see, I saw some of those memes when the movie came out before I watched it, about this idea that Paul Thomas Anderson put a car chase sequence in the movie that's four minutes long, but it's like nothing happens. They're just driving. Ooh, I love that.
Netta (32:40)
Yeah.
You know what, okay, I had a thought a little bit about why that worked.
Steph (32:49)
Mmm.
Netta (32:50)
I think it's because there's a choice throughout the movie that when there's like a
big chaotic scene, that chaos is happening in the background and you're focusing on something calm, which is what the car, like when you're in the car with these people and all they're doing is driving, it's like you're already used to that and you're already used to that being exciting and being interesting, right?
Steph (33:08)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
⁓ yes. ⁓
Netta (33:15)
thing of setting it up so that there are.
So that like in a scene where there's a lot happening, you're focusing on the kind of calmer movement within it. I mean, I guess the car chase scene is a bit different because there's not a big to do going on. there's not fires in the background the way there are in some of these other scenes.
Steph (33:20)
Mm-hmm.
But it's like, know, the climate this is going to result in the end of this.
cars in one lane.
going over these hills. There isn't, there's tension. There's not oncoming traffic. They're not weaving. It's like a weird tension, it was like also therapeutic watching them go up and down the hills.
Netta (33:42)
attention.
Steph (33:52)
I brought this thing up because it was a strong ending. you remember it. there's something in from the end that's stand out much like Magnolia, like the frogs. though I have my feelings about that.
a lot of movies do car chase scenes. This one was so normal, but so exciting.
Netta (34:05)
Yeah.
Steph (34:08)
was also going to say another thing I love about this movie there's so many things that you can
look at and follow as storylines through the movie.
Netta (34:14)
And I think there's so many or a number of different ways that you can interpret it too, I think especially when it comes to the revolutionaries and like what their deal is, you could be eye-rolly about them or you could be like,
Steph (34:23)
Mm-hmm.
Netta (34:29)
viva la revolution about them. Less so with the white supremacists. less so with, like, I don't think the movie is not ambiguous. about how it regards white supremacists. But I think on the revolutionary side of things, there's a number of ways that you could engage with that,
Steph (34:29)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
hmm. Saying about them. Yeah.
Netta (34:49)
But I wanted to ask about this thing of it feeling very contemporary. Because in some ways it does.
Steph (34:54)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Netta (34:56)
And then in other ways, it feels like...
Steph (34:58)
I know.
Netta (35:02)
Like one of the notes that I wrote down the next day was it's like an Alice through the looking glass kind of a thing where it's like our reality but kind of twisted up a little bit. Yeah, and I think that on the revolutionary side,
Steph (35:11)
Yeah, it's slightly like a skew.
Netta (35:18)
it just felt much more disconnected from reality or a lot more imaginative. Like the type of technology that they use, that they're using very analog type of technology. it kind of reminded me of Weather Underground. I don't know if that's how they operated, but
Steph (35:23)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Netta (35:33)
this type of infrastructure, I think is not real. People in the US who organize around social justice stuff and who have radical politics do not really call themselves revolutionaries. You don't really get domestic terrorists in this way. I mean, I'm calling them terrorists.
I mean, if you're targeting civilian infrastructure, you know, even though their opening one does target an actual military operation. But otherwise, what you see is them targeting civilian infrastructure. it feels very, very old school.
Steph (35:54)
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Netta (36:07)
at the end when Willa is listening to that analog radio and she gets information about a protest that's happening in Seattle, you find out about that on Twitter or whatever. why is this some secret thing? It didn't make a ton of sense to me. but.
on the kind of military side, particularly the stuff around immigration, because so much of like the main baddie, Sean Penn's character is, is do we know what his rank is? Whatever. He's, he's, he's a, he's in the military. And he's involved in immigration roundups.
Steph (36:36)
I have no idea.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Netta (36:44)
and that part of it feels more connected to reality currently. But I wonder if at the time that this movie was being, like that the script was being written and that it was being shot, that it was being edited. If what's in this movie was supposed to be more dystopian.
Steph (36:49)
⁓ Yeah
Netta (37:02)
and less connected to reality. And then it just turned out that by the time the movie came out, it just is more actually reflective of reality. I wonder
Steph (37:07)
Yeah, like things, it echoed kind of.
Netta (37:13)
if it was supposed to come across as more of an imaginative I don't know, a play on reality rather than a reflection. And then it just turns out that it does reflect, the militancy of immigration roundups and the
Steph (37:13)
Mm-hmm.
I know you're trying to say like, yeah, yeah.
I
Netta (37:29)
kind of protests and clashes around immigration roundups. I don't know. I do wonder if when this was being made, if that was made to feel more distant in the same way that on the revolutionary side, it feels a bit distant.
Steph (37:35)
Yeah.
Yeah, like.
Okay, I think a few things. think one, I think that's very interesting as a point. And I would wonder if that's true, in terms of this movie being scripted, filmed as more of an exaggeration or a play on what could be happening. And then it turned out like, it actually mimics reality a bit. But I think to your point around revolutionaries terrorists, being a little bit old school and using the radio like they do,
To me, that seemed like a very purposeful choice to add to how kind of out there they were. Like they are off the grid and not connected with the technology they could be using to do the things that they would like to be doing. And I think you see that come to a head when we flash forward 16 years.
Netta (38:14)
Mm.
Steph (38:30)
he is existing in this very modern world and can't really keep up because of these old school ways of thinking. It's how I kind of took it. that they were very radical out there.
they're operating in this very weird way with this weird structure, using old school things. Cause you're right. it had very like seventies vibes maybe.
Netta (38:51)
Oh, interesting. But they're they seem respected. And they are effective not in terms of like policy or societal change, but in terms of like blowing shit up, like the the operation that this movie starts out with of them basically going to a migrant detention facility. they put all of the soldiers in, effectively handcuffs.
Steph (38:52)
Yeah.
The things that they're doing,
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Netta (39:14)
and
they get all of these migrants out. that's extremely sophisticated. Like extremely sophisticated in a way that like, there are not groups in the US currently that do this. this is more of like the kind of anti-colonial movements of like the 60s, I would say. Yeah. Yeah.
Steph (39:17)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
⁓ Yeah, that's like, it gives you the 60s, 70s vibes,
it's just more interesting and more fun, I guess, as a movie that we're watching them operate in this kind of old school boots on the ground way with like, radios and codes and code words
Netta (39:44)
Yeah.
Yeah.
But this is, yeah, I think it is. And I think this is why, I think this is kind of where this sense is coming from, that this is imaginative it's pulling on, you know, the weather underground from the US and I don't know when they were like the 60s, 70s, I think, like you're saying, or the anti-colonial movements and some of the ways that they operated and it's pulling on
more contemporary ideologies and older ideologies and kind of melding it all together in a way that I think is really interesting, those things have never existed altogether in the way that it does in this movie. And that's not a problem, but it does kind of give me a bit of pause about
Steph (40:29)
Hmm
Netta (40:36)
maybe why in addition to having a migraine while watching, why it felt like I couldn't really wrap my head around it. Because I think again, on the revolutionary side, it feels a bit more fantastical and imaginative and playing with these different elements. And on the military side, it felt more, more grounded in
Steph (40:43)
you
Netta (40:55)
very present day realities. And then I kind of realized it's such like very present day realities so much so that might not have been the reality at the time that they were actually making the movie. I don't know. I don't know.
Steph (41:03)
Yeah, that's probably the case.
Yeah, like the fun thing about this movie, it's all of, all of these things existing, they're just slightly askew or slightly amplified. And so you're probably right in that, it just ended up being very aligned with contemporary where they didn't mean it to be so aligned with contemporary. ⁓ cause then it makes the revolutionary stuff seem a little bit off, but.
Netta (41:13)
Yes. Yes.
Mm.
Steph (41:30)
I like it. I think it adds to the intrigue and fun. I was like, is this how this works? This can't be right. I like these ponies, but I think it adds to the absurdity. think when we're supposed to have that perspective, like when Leo is trying to figure out where they took his daughter and he can't answer the code word and he's like, you called me, you know who I am. You called me. And they're so adamant. I think we're supposed to.
Netta (41:30)
Yeah. Me
Yeah.
It's like a bureaucratic nightmare.
Steph (41:55)
feel how annoyed he is with how all of that worked.
Netta (41:59)
And one of the things that I loved about all of that, again, talking about all the little choices that they make is you're listening to him talk to this guy, who's part of the revolutionary group. And it's like hitting a brick wall, he's talking about being triggered and having safe space. he's just so hard lined about this process. And then you see him after this is
Steph (42:04)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Netta (42:23)
resolve because the manager got on the phone. And the phone goes back to the original guy who was giving Leo a hard time. And you see that he's an older guy. He's got a graying beard. this whole time, I definitely pictured him as a young kid, right? somebody who's going to have no sense of nuance and somebody who's
Steph (42:24)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yes.
Netta (42:44)
new and green and wants to prove themselves or it's just so into it and hasn't had a chance to kind of soften and learn. And then you see no, this is an old, this is an old guy. And it's just like, fuck this guy. what a piece of shit.
Steph (42:56)
Mm-hmm.
think this guy is just
like he's caught up in the bureaucracy and the old school ways of doing things, but then also layered on, yeah, the like young this and the other. it just makes for the most obnoxious of combos. Which I feel like they illustrated very well.
Netta (43:14)
Yeah.
Steph (43:18)
Sorry?
Netta (43:19)
Yeah, the other thing that I wanted to bring up about this movie that I really appreciated was the way it showed how people are excited by violence as long as they feel at least somewhat insulated from it.
Steph (43:25)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Mmm.
interesting, yeah.
Netta (43:36)
Prophedia loved shooting guns and loved blowing shit up, was turned on by it.
Steph (43:39)
Yes.
Mm-hmm,
mm-hmm.
Netta (43:44)
and you have Sean Penn who is a total sub.
Steph (43:47)
Yeah.
Netta (43:49)
And you have the military or the police at the protest who are, very ready to act violently and create circumstance in which they are allowed to act violently. You have the protesters who are themselves excited. The only people who are not excited by violence.
Steph (44:00)
Mm-hmm.
Netta (44:10)
are, I guess, Leo, maybe Willa, Regina Hall's character, the woman who actually rescues Willa, and the migrants that Venicio del Toro is helping out
Steph (44:15)
Yeah.
Hmm.
Netta (44:24)
because those are people that seem to have a real sense of danger.
Steph (44:27)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Netta (44:29)
But I think this movie does a really good job at showing people like violence, actually. People are excited by violence.
Steph (44:36)
Mm-hmm I think this movie does a good job to expand that showing there are people who like and are excited by violence and then there's people who like to think they are and then when it actually happens, it's like my god, and then the people who are not and why I say that is the upon second watch it was much more obvious,
have this revolutionary group and you can kind of see there's people who are much more into the control and the violence and then other people are along for the ride or this is the thing of the day or whatever. And then when Proferia kind of goes back out, she's left her family, they go to do the bank heist and you have the woman who's giving her great little monologue, walking on the tellers, very empowered, very bold. She's carrying a gun.
She's not to be messed with. And then you hear Profidia has actually shot somebody. This woman crumbles. She's like, whoa. What? We got to go. the actress I think did a really good job of showing that like, I am larger than in charge and here I am. someone is actually being shot. We, ⁓ God. Okay. Got to go. it flipped so quickly. that's where this idea of we're revolutionaries and we're here to change things. We're going to blow things up
but it's like, no one's getting hurt directly versus now this is a moment where someone has died. And I feel like it separated kind of the who romanticized the violence versus was actually into the violence, I guess.
Netta (45:59)
And I guess also because these are people who are committing acts of violence, right? Like they're blowing shit up. They can say that no people are being harmed. But I think that maybe part of what's going on is their worldview, their ideology, their worldview.
Steph (46:04)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
I know that's, yeah.
Netta (46:17)
puts them in a position of like righteousness. these are righteous people.
And by targeting buildings or power lines, they can maintain that position in their own minds.
Steph (46:29)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Netta (46:31)
But in the moment that one of them actually murders an individual face to face, that kind of crumbles. Yeah, and it is a person directly and all that. I think that kind of crumbles and actually it's violence in this, like that this is not a right, you know, robbing a bank is not a righteous act actually.
Steph (46:37)
Yeah, it's the face to face, I think, right? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
It's not faithless, like it's, it's not, yeah,
I don't know, the violence thing.
Netta (46:56)
and then you have Leo and Willa, who I think, especially for Leo, who does know what's possible, who does know what's at stake. His thing of just trying to keep your family safe in the midst of all this madness.
Steph (47:09)
Yeah.
Netta (47:10)
there is something very relatable about that feeling of like, there's all this madness going on around you and you're just kind of trying to weather the storm. And I think that that's the approach.
Steph (47:12)
Yes.
Hmm.
Netta (47:21)
that Leo takes until he can't do that anymore, you know, and until they come for him and for her. Yeah.
Steph (47:27)
Hmm. Yes,
absolutely. it's not totally ⁓ related, but kind of related. I love also the choice this movie makes to not have Leo be this super ex-commando competent guy. I feel like so many movies. It's like, his past is coming back to haunt him, which is what's happening. And they suddenly kick into gear and are like...
Netta (47:40)
Ooh, yum.
Steph (47:52)
the man that you didn't know they could be. And Willa's like, my God, Dad, you know what I mean? one of my favorite things in this movie is when Willa meets up with Regina Hall on the way to safety and she said, what about my dad? And they say he'll be fine. He's trained for this. And then we pan to Leo, who is stone out of his mind, doesn't know what's going on. I love that they made the choice to make him that washed up
Netta (47:56)
Mm-hmm.
Steph (48:17)
bubbling guy who is just trying to figure it out versus this great action hero. And I think that lends itself to this idea that there was a version of him when he was younger. He was excited. He had hopes and dreams and ideology, a cause. He fell in love with a woman and the cause. And then now he's just like a dad. He's just trying to keep his family safe. you know, like he's not...
climbing building. I'm laughing because that is the exact example. Like he is very he's driven to find his child. And I think this is what brings him success. his skills are highly questionable. Highly questionable. He relies on those around him and his drive to find his child. sometimes that is enough.
Netta (48:48)
Yes!
Steph (49:04)
And luckily she's pretty with it, man. she's very smart and very competent the way she kind of navigates her being taken. but, my God, when he falls into that building and Benicio meets up with the guy in the skateboard and like, where is he? He's like, your man, he off a building, he fell 40 feet and got dazed. Like that was just like, not what you expect, right? From one of these movies. So another reason I like it very much.
Netta (49:21)
Yeah.
No, no.
And actually
come to think of it, feels like...
It's almost like the heroic acts or qualities that would usually all be in the one guy, like in Leo's character, is spread out, right? So Regina Hall goes and does the rescue and gets her to a safe place. And the guy who transports her to the people who will eventually kill her sacrifices his life in order to get her out of that situation. Like he put her into that situation. He has like a...
Steph (49:33)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yes. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Netta (49:57)
⁓ Yeah, so he
Steph (49:57)
He doesn't feel good about it. Mm-hmm.
Netta (49:59)
goes back and kills all those guys who would who are gonna murder her and in doing so he dies. He is killed. that kind of thing. Both of those things are usually the acts of the main hero, right? Deciphering things, figuring out where to go, blah, blah, blah. even getting out of the situation with the police.
Steph (50:02)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Netta (50:21)
where, you know, like you say, he falls 40 feet and then he's arrested. And it's a very dangerous situation because now he's in the hands of the authorities and sooner or later they're going to figure out who he is. And he's rescued by this random lawyer and random nurse.
Steph (50:28)
Yes.
He is saved.
Netta (50:37)
I just feel like, that heroism is spread out over many characters and he doesn't necessarily have a lot of it. the heroic thing about him is his dedication to his daughter to just get to her.
Steph (50:36)
Mm-hmm.
It is, yeah.
Yes, to keep going. Mm-hmm.
and he lucks out along the way, in all the ways that you said, but, he just keeps going. in that end where you see the cars and he's trying to track them, he does a good job there of, trying to figure it out and noticing the different cars and stuff. So I think, that's where I guess his heroism comes into play.
Netta (51:07)
I think it also comes into play more psychologically or emotionally right at the end. So Willa kills the big baddie or the secondary baddie who's kind of a senior baddie, the white supremacist. She kills him, genius way, love that. ⁓ my God. And then Leo arrives on the scene.
Steph (51:15)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
my God, so smart.
Netta (51:30)
after the fact, right? that act of actually killing the bad guy goes to the daughter, which is amazing. Yeah, he just found her. But when he finds her, she is completely untrusting, right? She uses the pass codes, the password thing, and he kind of gets it, and she's clearly
Steph (51:33)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, like she saved herself more or less. He just found her.
Yeah, she's lost it. Yeah.
Netta (51:51)
on the verge, but he manages to reach her I think what you see in that moment is like, there is a version of this movie where she shoots him because she's just so paranoid now. she kind of in that moment enters into the world of the revolutionaries. And this is her worldview now. And this is the way she's going to interact with the world. And she's going to be part of that.
Steph (51:52)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. ⁓ yeah.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Netta (52:11)
But he pulls her out of that, right? He pulls her back. And I think that that's his act of heroism, really. It's just to get to his daughter and pull her back into the world where she can function as a person. And I mean, you do see her then afterwards, have this connection to this revolutionary group, going to the protest, of taking up the cause of changing the world.
Steph (52:13)
Mm Yeah. Yeah.
Hmm
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Netta (52:35)
and she is grounding him now he has his iPhone or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, it is. So there's like a different balance in their lives now, but they are still, they're not in either of these extreme camps.
Steph (52:40)
Yes, I love the winky does. I love that at the end. It's so snarky.
Yes.
Yes, I do.
Netta (52:58)
And he's
the one who keeps her there and who keeps her in the family as opposed to in the cause.
Steph (53:05)
Yes, I do feel like very well said, Nada. And I do think where he shines is yes, after he finds her and brings her back. And then I think how we see that kind of happen after they get home, he gives her the letter. I think he realizes I can't protect you the way one can protect a child. so this is who we were, this was our life. This is a letter for you from your mother. Do with it what you will.
I'm here, I will support you. we are a family. I think he kind of shines there to your point about, supporting her want of, falling in love, but also, being like, this is a family and we are a family. We come first.
Netta (53:43)
Yeah,
like he loves her and that's the most heroic thing.
Steph (53:45)
Yeah.
The only other thing that I had on my notes that we didn't talk about, and it's nothing, not a big kind of revelation, but the music I found very interesting. It was basically just a score and like...
Netta (53:56)
Mm-hmm.
Steph (53:57)
very long. the music would not relent sometimes for like 30 minutes following the scenes. it added a very fun energy, this is moving, something is happening, this is exciting, but it wasn't chaotic. It was more like a little bit frenetic And it just kept things moving. And then you don't get an actual song song until the very end, when the movie ends.
Netta (54:01)
Mmm.
Steph (54:17)
think also a bold choice to have a score play for like 30 minutes. basically the same thing, I didn't notice it the first time because you're just in it. And I noticed it the second time, like, ⁓ that is still going, but I liked it. It's fun.
Netta (54:30)
Hmm.
I think to me, I wasn't necessarily a huge fan of the score when I noticed it.
Steph (54:38)
Mmm, okay, interesting.
Netta (54:40)
And I couldn't tell you why exactly. I think because when I noticed it, it was when it was more abrasive type of sounds, harsh violins or harsh strings, whatever. And also, I don't know, you know, we're kind of, coming off of Marty Supreme.
Steph (54:48)
Yeah. Mm
Netta (54:57)
I fucking loved the score to Marty Supreme and the music in that movie so much. I've been listening to the score and the I've been listening to the Marty Supreme score. Well, my kid, sometimes she asks for Halloween music and sometimes she asks for princess music and sometimes she asks for Halloween princess music.
Steph (55:05)
Really?
Hmm.
⁓
⁓
Netta (55:17)
And the score
to Marty Supreme is Halloween Princess music.
Steph (55:21)
That's really, really cute. It's, yeah, it's like fun. It's so interesting you say that because I feel like when in my head I stacked up both movies, like I feel like far and away one battle after another comes ahead on everything.
Netta (55:23)
It's spooky, but it has flutes.
You
Steph (55:36)
but the, the length at which it undertoned a lot of scenes to add like a continuity to it. Like when Leo...
goes to meet Balneet Seel Deltoro and ask for help. the same score happens for the next 25 minutes or something. And it's just like bananas. same with the beginning. that first 16 minutes is all the same thing happening underneath it.
Netta (55:49)
Mmm.
Yeah. that is very cool about it. Bold choice. And I guess like, would you say the reason you thought about one battle after another so much while watching Marty Supreme is because they're both full of bold choices, but one battle after another.
Steph (56:00)
It was a bold choice. It's another bold choice that I think worked.
Netta (56:14)
you think just like did it so much better.
Steph (56:17)
I feel like it's the adult version. it's the polished version. it's the 20 years have gone by and I know what I'm doing as a director now version. I can clean up these things. I know what to cut on the editing floor. I feel like it's a version of that. And yeah, because they both are portrait movies of a guy doing their thing. wrote...
Netta (56:34)
Yeah, spell it out for me.
Steph (56:34)
Yeah, they're both.
Okay. Yeah. So a lot of it also is they're both nominated for the Oscars and they're coming out at the same time. but they both have this lead guy who's not overly likable. It's a bit off beat. They have a goal. There's a cast of characters. It's pretty absurd. it's pretty out there leaning. Um, there's that one singular goal, but multiple stories happening around it. And then they all kind of converge and are needed for that goal. Um, and I just feel like in this movie, like,
All of those stories are necessary. There's a clear villain. The acting is just all the acting full round. comes more together as a tighter story.
like I'm interested. this is a bold statement. Bold statement. the movies that I've had as favorite movies for my life, there hasn't been much adjustment to that list. And I feel like this one has added itself to my top. don't want to say it. I'd have to reflect top five, top seven, top ten. I don't know, but it yeah, for some reason, I don't know. I have a lot of reverence.
Netta (57:26)
⁓ wow.
I have to rewatch this movie.
Steph (57:33)
I think it just, I like that it was just bold different choice one after the other and it just, it hit every time. how often does that happen? You know? Yeah.
Netta (57:42)
Yeah, not not often. Yeah.
Yeah. Anyways, but yeah, no, it's definitely definitely one to rewatch for me. Yeah. Cool. Great. What's
Steph (57:49)
Hmm.
Well, well.
Fresh start? What's next?
Netta (57:54)
Yeah. What's next?
What? Wait, who's choosing? I'm choosing.
Steph (57:59)
You
were choosing like obviously you can follow this train, but this is also like.
Netta (58:01)
Yeah. Yeah.
Totally new. What are you in the mood for? What do you wanna- what do you wanna watch?
Steph (58:06)
So what are we in the mood for?
Netta (58:20)
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