WEBVTT 1 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:26.519 We're Tom Lorenzo and this is the Bitter Kitten Movie Club. 2 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:28.559 Hallo Kittens, Welcome back to another edition of the b 3 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:31.519 k MC is supplemental edition of the PSO podcast where 4 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:33.880 we take a look at one film and unpack it 5 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:38.240 and I want to say terror to shreds, but although 6 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:41.759 we might actually tear this one dish, this week's film 7 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:45.840 is Mac Is the Bride, directed by Maggie and written 8 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.880 by Maggie chillenhol starring Jesse Buckley, Christian Bill, Annette Benning, 9 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:56.079 Uh Peter Sars, Guard Cruz Jake, all of Maggie's friends. 10 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:57.679 Family, family she hired. 11 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:05.159 I was really looking forward to this entry because we 12 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:07.719 hadn't seen it, and because it's modern, it's from the 13 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:11.359 last year, and you know, a lot of the films 14 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:14.480 we've been doing lately have been films we you know, 15 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:18.560 really really well, or films that are like thirty or 16 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.519 forty years old. So it's nice to return to the 17 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:25.000 modern era and also to unpack a film that, honestly, 18 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:28.319 I didn't have a lot of information going into it. 19 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:30.719 I wanted to see this film when the trailer first 20 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:35.879 dropped like eighteen months ago, and it looked amazing to me. 21 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:39.840 And I know I read a few reviews when it 22 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:43.519 came out, but I genuinely did not know what the 23 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:46.280 film was. I knew it was a Bonnie and Clyde 24 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:49.000 take on the Barida Frankens s liign, but I really 25 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:50.280 went into this one cold. 26 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:53.359 I was surprised that he kind of disappeared. 27 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:55.120 I mean, it was there was a well it didn't 28 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:00.159 get good reviews, right, you know, and well, I do 29 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:08.039 want to say, let's start with this Magigillen. Hall's directorial 30 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.000 debut was twenty twenty One's feature debut was twenty twenty 31 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:13.919 ones The Lost Daughter, which we talked about on our 32 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:16.439 podcast at the time, which is a very good and 33 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:22.400 it's a very good film. However, I came away from 34 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:28.479 this film with the idea that, Okay, she's not fully 35 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:31.919 baked as a director yet. She really she's got skills, 36 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:35.520 she's got a perspective, she's got a great visual sense. 37 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:40.039 But I don't feel that. I look at the Bride 38 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:41.840 and I'm like, this is the this is the work 39 00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:44.080 of someone who's just not there yet. And I do 40 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:48.479 want to say that part of this was colored by 41 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:52.319 her appearance. A couple of weeks ago, Magagillen Hall she 42 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:57.520 appeared on Turner Classic Movies to introduce some films in 43 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:59.840 one of the one of their programs they bring on 44 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:00.960 yes and they and. 45 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:03.599 They usually a director or an actor, y, yeah. 46 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:05.439 And they and one of the and one of the 47 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:08.120 films that she introduced was Bebbet's Feast, which we had 48 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:12.800 just done a b KMC about. So we were watching 49 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:16.879 it and I was alarmed. Actually, I was like, oh, okay, 50 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:19.000 she doesn't know what the hell she's talking about. Like 51 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:22.039 Ben Mangawitz, the host actually had to push back again 52 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:25.639 she got a couple of things wrong, and you know, 53 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:27.759 it's fine if you don't if you get a few 54 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:30.520 things factually wrong in the discussion of a film, but 55 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:32.960 it was more like her perspective on that film was 56 00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:36.120 just not correct. It was you know, she at one 57 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.199 point she said all of the elderly actors were not actors, 58 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:42.000 and he was like, actually, no, they are like legend 59 00:03:42.120 --> 00:03:45.719 legends in Danish filmmaking. And then at another point she 60 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:49.360 said the director was only interested in Babet and he 61 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:52.120 made everybody else look terrible, So that Babbitt and it 62 00:03:52.199 --> 00:03:54.879 was like, no, that's not what's going on in this story. 63 00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:59.240 So I did come away from that thinking she's interesting, 64 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:01.759 but I don't think she's quite there yet as a director. 65 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.280 She doesn't seem to get certain nuances. And I understand 66 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:09.080 I'm laying all this groundwork because I know that people 67 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:11.520 are going to think that sounds condescending or dismissive of 68 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:15.360 a female director. I can't really help that. Like I said, 69 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:19.439 her debut film I thought was amazing, amazing. I think 70 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:23.600 she's very talented. But between that interview and this film, 71 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:26.480 I came away thinking, Okay, she's just not there yet. 72 00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:28.240 I want to see more from her. It's sort of 73 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:33.040 like Olivia Wilde when she did Don't Worry Darling. It 74 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:36.360 just wasn't a fully baked film. And my understanding is 75 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:39.480 that her new film, The Invite, is supposed to be amazing. 76 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:45.319 I'm not diminishing a female director. I'm pointing out that 77 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:48.160 a lot of times when actors move into directing, they 78 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:51.360 don't always get it right right, and some of them 79 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:54.439 need time to figure it out. And that was my 80 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.839 take on The Bride, was that great ideas, really great ideas, 81 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:04.959 great visuals. She pulled out some amazing performances, although really Frankly, 82 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:07.839 the only truly amazing performance was Jesse Buckley, and I 83 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:10.040 think probably you just need to point a camera at 84 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:14.639 Jesse Buckley, But I don't want to diminish her as 85 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:17.839 a director and as a writer. It's an accomplishment this film, 86 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:21.519 and there's a lot about it that I actually really 87 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:24.439 really loved, and very little about it that I hate. 88 00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:26.480 In fact, I can't say that I hate any part 89 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:29.759 of it. I just kept getting frustrated with it because 90 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:32.800 it just didn't feel like she was following through on 91 00:05:32.839 --> 00:05:35.879 some of her concepts. That's my intro. 92 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.279 What do you want to say? True? Is that Windy 93 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:41.040 announced The Bride the movie. I was very excited about it. 94 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:43.319 I was like, that's interesting. It's a different take. We're 95 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:45.720 going to focus on the bride and not on freakancy. 96 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.759 And then when I read that she was going to 97 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:50.480 be directed in the movie, I was like, of course, 98 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:54.480 she's a feminist. She's a wonderful person. She's actually very 99 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:57.439 interesting as a person. 100 00:05:57.600 --> 00:05:58.360 And as an artist. 101 00:05:58.439 --> 00:06:01.959 As an artist, she has very interesting things to say 102 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:05.439 about the industry, about women in general and all that. 103 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:07.360 So I was like, she's perfect for that. So I 104 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:10.600 was very looking forward to and then when it was 105 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:13.319 also announced that Jesse Buckley was going to be the Brider, 106 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.800 I was like, all right, perfect match. So I was 107 00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:19.199 curious about it. I watched the trailer and I was like, 108 00:06:19.240 --> 00:06:21.319 all right, great, let's see. And then I kind of 109 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:24.720 forgot about it because people stopped talking about it and 110 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:26.839 it didn't get very good reviews, as you said, and 111 00:06:26.839 --> 00:06:28.920 then I just was like, well, i'll watch it later. 112 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:32.959 So I watch it. We watched it separately, we didn't 113 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:36.480 watch it together. My first reaction, I'm. 114 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:38.199 Not because I was watching The Pillies game less. 115 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:41.879 Yes, while I was watching The Bride. Yeah, my first 116 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:44.879 reaction was like, what the hell am I watching here? Yeah? 117 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:45.560 You were annoyed. 118 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:48.680 I was like, what is going on here? It's just 119 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:50.839 felt like too much. Then I read a ton of 120 00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:59.879 interviews with her and the pretty much. She admits that 121 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:02.319 it was too much for her, that she was a 122 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:05.839 little scared, and that she felt like overwhelmed most of 123 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:08.360 the time. And then every interview. 124 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:10.959 She's sorry to say that comes across, and every interview. 125 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:13.920 She gave, she talks about how today most of the 126 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:19.120 movies are don't really are defined by a gender, I'm sorry, 127 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:23.439 a genre and she feels like, and then she mentions 128 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:26.399 like one bet or after another or whatever she talks 129 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:28.720 about that, well, look at that movie, for example, you 130 00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:32.839 know what is that? So she every interview she kept 131 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:37.000 repeating the same thing that movies today are not really 132 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:40.160 defined by one genre, and she felt like she wanted 133 00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:43.120 to do something like that. And I feel that's why 134 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:46.439 the movie feels a little all over the place. Sometimes. 135 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:48.720 You know, it's it's a musical, it's a horror movie, 136 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:52.480 it's a love story, it's all that, which is fine, 137 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:56.360 But at first I don't. I don't think. I think 138 00:07:56.839 --> 00:07:59.360 for a movie to succeed, that's just my opinion, you 139 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:02.199 really have to have a core. You have to have 140 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:06.319 a basic understanding, right of what message you get? 141 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:08.000 What are you trying to say here? What is the 142 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:09.560 point of making this movie? 143 00:08:09.639 --> 00:08:12.040 What is the message here? I agree, what is the 144 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:16.160 takeaway here? Otherwise the audience is lost, you know, the 145 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:18.399 viewer is lost. That's how I feel about it. So 146 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:21.120 in the beginning, I was like, what am I watching here? 147 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:25.000 I had no idea, and so that was it. I 148 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:29.600 appreciate many things about it. Anyway, we'll talk about all 149 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:30.120 the details. 150 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:32.679 But let me that was my first thing, so generally 151 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:34.519 on the same page, and I don't think there's gonna 152 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:38.279 be much disagreement about where we where this film fails 153 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:42.960 for us. So before we turned on the mics, I 154 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:45.039 brought this up and we both said, all right, let's 155 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:48.960 talk about that on the mic, which was I really 156 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:52.440 didn't get the whole Mary Shelley thing. I just didn't 157 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:55.879 get it. It felt very confused to me. It had 158 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:59.279 me running off. I mean, I knew the broad particulars 159 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:05.720 of Mary Shelley life and everything, but the idea to 160 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:09.799 portray her as this sort of I mean, she came 161 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:16.039 off fairly crazy, right, she came off like unstable. She 162 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:19.000 came off I don't know. It's not for me to 163 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:22.000 unpack who Mary Shelley was. If that's the version of 164 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:24.039 her that you wanted for this film, that's fine. I 165 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:28.519 just I what are you doing here? Like, what's the point? 166 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:32.039 You know, Mary Shelley is the author of the Frankenstein story, 167 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:35.600 but you actually placed her in this story and then 168 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:41.039 you had your lead character possessed by her. What is 169 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:44.840 the point? First off, it confuses the viewer because is 170 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:48.000 this meta or not? Or are we I mean, at 171 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:51.799 a certain point. I guess we were supposed to believe 172 00:09:51.799 --> 00:09:55.799 that Mary Shelley from the Grave is telling another version 173 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:59.159 of this story, and but that's not how the film 174 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:02.440 plays out, or the film gets very confused about how 175 00:10:02.440 --> 00:10:05.360 that sort of thing plays out. Another example of this 176 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:08.480 is and yeah, you can be you can interpret these 177 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:10.639 things anyway you like. But I feel like if you 178 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.639 don't as a director, if you don't have a point 179 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:17.080 for showing me this, then you're just confusing me. At 180 00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:19.440 the very end of the film, when they're in the 181 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:23.320 drive in theater and he's talking to her and then 182 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:25.480 they both appear on the screen. Now they had that 183 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:28.080 happen earlier in the film, and yeah, that's a subjective 184 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:31.240 thing there in the movies, and they see themselves up 185 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:34.960 on screen. But the way that scene was shot, Penelope 186 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:38.440 Cruz also saw them up on screen. She kept reacting 187 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:42.120 to them on screen, And I'm like, you can do this, 188 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:44.759 you can do this sort of fantasy based thing, the 189 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.600 interpretive sort of thing, but you have to have a 190 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:50.279 reason for it. And I don't understand what's the reason 191 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:51.080 for that, right. 192 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:55.360 I think there's too many elements tried to be injected. Yeah, 193 00:10:55.759 --> 00:11:00.000 at the same time, My understanding is she gave interviews, 194 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:05.039 She gave me interviews, and she talks about how well 195 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:08.799 the writer Mary Shelley, Well, apparently I don't know much. 196 00:11:09.080 --> 00:11:10.960 I don't know all the details. But apparently it was 197 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:13.080 kind of a dare when she wrote the book, you know, 198 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:15.519 because she was a woman and she wanted to prove 199 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:18.600 that she could write a book as a woman to 200 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:20.960 her friends and all that, and she told that story. 201 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:26.639 So I think in the idea here was to what 202 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:29.480 if she had a different story in her head, or 203 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.639 if she framing does not support that, what if she 204 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:35.399 had a different character, or what if she wanted to 205 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.360 develop the Bride more, you know, as a full on, 206 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:44.320 you know character, because the apparently this movie is based 207 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:48.120 on the nineteen thirty five version of Frankenstein correct the 208 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:51.480 Bride of Frankenstein. And apparently in the movie, the nineteen 209 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.279 thirty five version, the Bride only appears for like two 210 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:57.600 minutes or whatever, like she's not right. And so the 211 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:02.120 whole idea was to write a movie and direct a 212 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:06.080 movie about focusing on the bride. And so what if 213 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:09.679 Mary Shelley had all these ideas that she never used 214 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:15.039 for the Bride? But and I got that, all right. 215 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:17.240 I'm looking at Mary Shelley here in the beginning of 216 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:19.480 the movie, but why is Jesse Buckley playing her? 217 00:12:19.879 --> 00:12:22.200 So that was very confused, Bob of me as much 218 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:24.919 as what are you trying to everything that you were 219 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.720 saying that's lovely? That does not come across in the film, right, 220 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:37.440 But that's I think I I think it's very clear 221 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:43.279 that she wanted to look at this from a feminist perspective, right, 222 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:45.679 I mean in a way that's almost like, well, why 223 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.600 would you not? I mean, you're a female director making 224 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:50.600 this movie in twenty twenty five, how could you not? 225 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:52.360 And focusing on the bride obviously. 226 00:12:53.639 --> 00:13:00.000 So, so she cast a woman as the mad scientist, 227 00:13:00.200 --> 00:13:02.799 and she cast a woman as sort of the lead 228 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:05.639 constable who's trying to track down these monsters. 229 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:05.879 You know. 230 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:11.639 So all of the basic characters of Frankenstein were gender switched. 231 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:17.960 But then she did nothing with that. There's a little 232 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:21.320 bit of time where Annette Benning unpacks her own history 233 00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:24.840 as a mad scientist and her own history with these 234 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:27.519 kinds of experiments, and apparently she had a husband that 235 00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:31.799 she res but she doesn't go anywhere with it, and 236 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:33.679 a net Benning just drops out of the film for 237 00:13:33.720 --> 00:13:38.879 like an hour. Similarly with Penelope Cruz, I get what 238 00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:44.120 you're trying to do. I do, but at the same token, 239 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:47.279 if you're not doing it in a way that's strong 240 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:50.440 and makes sense, that I am stuck asking a bunch 241 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:53.120 of questions like why is a Spanish woman working as 242 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:56.919 a detective in Chicago in the nineteen thirties? Like of 243 00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:59.879 course I'm taken out by that, And yeah, I mean, 244 00:13:59.879 --> 00:14:04.639 I guess you could just throw you know, history and 245 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:07.320 just let her be a female detective in the nineteen thirties, 246 00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:11.600 as if that was something that existed, Like sure, just 247 00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:13.879 you don't have to explain. But then they had a 248 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.080 male cop, go who are you? And why am I 249 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:19.080 taking orders from you? Like you can have it both ways. 250 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:22.799 You can gender switch these stories in a way that 251 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:25.320 is historically inaccurate, much in the same way you would 252 00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:28.960 have all these for instance, black aristocrats in Bridgeton. You're 253 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:34.759 deliberately switching it up. But then you can't have characters 254 00:14:34.759 --> 00:14:39.080 act like you know, you can't have characters comment on it, essentially, 255 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:42.320 because then it pulls you right out of the story 256 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:46.720 and we'll get into the performances because I know you 257 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:49.399 have things you want to say about Penelope Cruise's performance. 258 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:52.840 We'll do that after the break, but right now I'm 259 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:56.320 just focused on conceptually. This film did not work for me. 260 00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:59.679 You pointed out that it is a musical or horror film, 261 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:01.799 a love story, or it tries to be all three 262 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:05.600 of those things, And as soon as she said that, 263 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.200 I was like, well, that actually sounds like an interesting movie, 264 00:15:08.279 --> 00:15:11.960 Like it's not impossible to do a musical horror love story. 265 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:15.200 The thing is that I never got the sense that 266 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:18.480 that was what she was doing. In fact, it wasn't 267 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:23.120 until the final shot of the two monsters grasping hands 268 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:25.799 as they that was when I was like, oh, she's 269 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.720 really doing this as a love story, because it was 270 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:31.200 pretty confused up until that point. And this is what 271 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:34.279 I keep coming back to. Fine, you want to do 272 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:36.360 this as a love story, well you can't spend the 273 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:40.320 entire film having Frankenstein lie to her about what he did, 274 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:43.440 about what her name is, about who right, and then 275 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:47.519 have her what just forgive that. They never get to 276 00:15:47.559 --> 00:15:52.720 that point. They never really explain why she makes that 277 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:54.360 shift at the end of the film, like she was 278 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:56.320 really angry when she found out that he had lied 279 00:15:56.360 --> 00:16:02.200 to him and then okay, no, it's a love story. Similarly, Listen, 280 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:05.399 I did laugh when they started doing putting on the Ritz. 281 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:07.080 I don't know if you got the reference, but it 282 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.240 is a reference to young Frankenstein. It's an iconic reference 283 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:14.559 to young Frankenstein. But again, there needs to be some 284 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:17.799 consistency when you apply that sort of thing. Similarly, at 285 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:19.759 the end of the film, when the credits were rolling, 286 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:22.879 they played the monster match, and again it's like, if 287 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:27.200 you wanted a campy take on the iconography of Frankenstein 288 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:30.000 and you wanted to make all these references, I would 289 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:32.039 be on board with that, But you can't drop in 290 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:36.879 one every hour and then not follow up. So yeah, 291 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:40.559 I actually thought the musical number was fun. It was 292 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:42.960 fun to watch. They were all screaming their heads off, 293 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:47.080 and the choreography was really great. Didn't really wasn't really 294 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:49.480 well explained about what was going on in that scene. 295 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:52.919 But the thing is, you can't just have one musical 296 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:54.759 number dropped in the middle of a movie. You got 297 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:57.279 to follow up on that. There has to be an aesthetic, 298 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:00.279 there has to be a consistency to that world. So 299 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:03.200 quite frankly, there should have been more than one musical number, right. 300 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:06.759 She explains a lot about the process of making the 301 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:10.079 movie and why she did certain things. She talks about 302 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:15.519 the you know, very much inspired by nineteen thirties musicals 303 00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:19.960 and how fake there were, the Hollywood fantasy of the 304 00:17:20.039 --> 00:17:21.279 nine thirties and that's why they. 305 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:24.559 Had which is not a very sophisticated take on that 306 00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:27.279 at all. It's just like, I'm sorry, it's not I. 307 00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:30.519 Feel that, like things are not very consistent, and they 308 00:17:31.160 --> 00:17:34.960 I don't know, they feel like separate elements in the movie. 309 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:36.160 It doesn't feel like. 310 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:38.359 One now, there's no cohesion to it. 311 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:44.920 Yes, there's not one big thing. But anyway, I, like 312 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:46.440 I said, at first, I was like, I have no 313 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:48.279 idea what I'm watching, but I'm gonna watch it and 314 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:52.680 you know, go with it, and again everyone is great. 315 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:55.920 I also, I actually thought that that Benny did a 316 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:58.119 very good job with whatever she had. I mean, she 317 00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:02.119 came across as this intelligence and I liked that that approach, 318 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:07.960 that she was an intelligent woman, didn't wasn't surprised by anything, 319 00:18:08.119 --> 00:18:11.359 like you know, she you know, just yeah, all. 320 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:12.720 Right, why don't we take a short break and then 321 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.200 we'll get into some of the performances, and also some 322 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.480 of the things like you just did that we actually 323 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:20.480 like about this because I have to. I don't hate 324 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:23.039 this movie. I just think it's a deeply flawed one. Okay, 325 00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:26.559 all right, we'll be right back. We're back chatting about 326 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:30.039 The Bride. And I did want to get into some 327 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:33.240 of the performances. I mean, the performances are fun across 328 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:35.039 the board. I don't there's not a single one that 329 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:39.160 I didn't like. Jesse Buckley fucking amazing, I mean seriously, 330 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:42.440 and especially when she had to do the rapid fire 331 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:45.440 shifts between she was playing Ida, she was playing the Bride, 332 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:48.079 she was playing Mary Shelley, and she would sometimes have 333 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:51.519 to do all three in the same sentence. Fun to watch, 334 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:55.559 great to watch. And when she does that primal scream 335 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:58.720 thing like just you just feel it coming up from her. 336 00:18:59.119 --> 00:18:59.799 She's wild. 337 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:01.799 Yeah, she is completely wild. 338 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:04.279 I did not understand the split personel and in the 339 00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:07.000 beginning before she actually died, So I don't get that. 340 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:09.319 I don't get any of that stuff. The Mary Shelley's 341 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:12.079 I don't get it when she's not well utilized, when. 342 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.640 She's at the restroom with everybody else or the club 343 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:18.279 or whatever, and then she started like, well, speaking in 344 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:20.640 tongues or whatever. It just made no sense to me. 345 00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:21.799 I was like, why is she doing that? 346 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:24.720 I said, we were going to talk about the performances 347 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:27.319 and what we liked. But that is one of the 348 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:29.720 main flaws of how the story is told is that 349 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:33.000 we are never told who Ida is. And I mean 350 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:37.400 there is a certain as you pointed out, in the 351 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:40.279 original BRIDI Frankenstein Elsa Lanchester is only in it for 352 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:42.559 like two minutes and all she does is scream. She 353 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:46.400 gets no lines, she gets no name. So this film 354 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:49.000 is a response to that. So it's it's we're going 355 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:51.880 to have her speak her truth throughout the entire film 356 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.359 over and over and over again, and we're going to 357 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:58.480 have her seek out her name, right, you know. But 358 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:03.119 that quest to find out her name, to find out 359 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:05.799 her identity has no weight to it because we the 360 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.319 audience don't know who that person was. And I get it, 361 00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:10.359 there's like this twist at the end because she was 362 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:14.519 working with the cops and blah blah blah. But I 363 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.240 think the tragedy of Ida would have been a little 364 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:21.880 bit more, a little easier for the audience to grasp 365 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:25.279 if we had actually seen Ida as a fully realized person, right, 366 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:28.440 We never got to see that. She started acting crazy 367 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:30.200 in her first scene and then she was dead two 368 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:30.880 minutes later. 369 00:20:31.079 --> 00:20:32.920 I think the scene's in the car when they actually 370 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:37.039 having a conversation about when she questions him and then 371 00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:39.119 he finally tells the truth and she goes like, well, 372 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:41.039 who was I? I don't know who I am. I 373 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:41.880 don't know who I was. 374 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:46.960 More of that, more of that exactly you had. She 375 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:52.240 also had that idea about Ida or the bride inspiring 376 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.880 women all over to go foul in, and it was 377 00:20:56.039 --> 00:20:58.799 just dropped in with no follow up. And I know 378 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:02.200 that there was a post credit scene or whatever with those, 379 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:05.559 but that was actually a good concept. You had an 380 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:08.680 idea there, and you just didn't go with it because 381 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:11.160 you kept throwing everything at the screen and. 382 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:13.000 The Bonnie and Clyde thing, and then they're in the 383 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:16.119 paper and that's why every women in the country was 384 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:18.240 trying to write it's just be her. 385 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:20.599 It was trying to do too much, all right. More 386 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:24.359 about the performances, I thought Christian Bale gave a great profile. 387 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:27.079 I thought he was also he actually found humor in 388 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:32.680 that character. And you know it's you kind of inevitably 389 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:36.119 are going to compare it to Jacob e Loordi. Both 390 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:38.960 of these films came out in the same year Gamma 391 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:43.079 Del Torros Frankenstein and this. And I had my issues 392 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:49.920 with Del Torros Frankenstein, mostly because I don't think Frankenstein 393 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:53.880 is a is a sexual slash romantic figure. I don't 394 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:56.279 think he works that well. That's more of a vampire 395 00:21:56.359 --> 00:21:59.960 thing than a Frankenstein thing. So and then Jacob Elordi 396 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.559 was this highly romanticized version of the character, borderline beautiful. 397 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:06.440 I mean, they did make him look like but he 398 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:10.279 was borderline beautiful. And I didn't agree with that, and 399 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:13.160 I didn't like it. And Christian bale I was like 400 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:16.240 that that's closer to what if you want to do 401 00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:19.160