Eavesdropping At The Movies

Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs is a stop-motion story of the utmost beauty and wit. We discuss its cinematography, compositions, lightness of touch, allegorical relationship to reality, and place in Anderson's body of work. We also reserve particular praise for Bryan Cranston's vocal performance and Alexandre Desplat's score. Recorded on 1st April 2018.

Ready Player One is a strange beast, crammed full of energy and references on the one hand, amounting to nothing on the other. Jose dislikes it. Mike kind of likes it. To say it's flawed is understating it, but there are interesting ideas to probe. Who is the film aimed at? How does it have its cake and eat it? Is it making interesting decisions, mistakes, or both simultaneously? What can we make of a film that references other work not as Easter eggs but as the very cloth from which it's cut? Mike wishes it was more cutting, more biting, about the ideas it raises and the nerds it seeks to please. Jose just wants it to end. Also: It was shot in Birmingham! Mike even went to go and see it during filming just one road over from his flat. What he saw was a couple of cars driving, once, and almost nothing else of note. He would never admit that though. As far as he's concerned, he is best mates with Steven Spielberg. Recorded on 1st April 2018.

Alex Garland's curious sci-fi adventure comes to UK cinemas - for one single evening. A theatrical release in the US that Paramount feared wouldn't make money elsewhere, it's on Netflix worldwide, but we waited for the special event to see it properly. And it was worth it, its stunning visual design singing on the big screen. But what did we make of the rest of it? Has it stayed with us? Does it cohere? What would we have liked to have seen more of, what surprised us, what did it do well? No matter what we make of the details, it's certainly deserving of a second look, and now we can be grateful rather than rueful that Netflix gives us that opportunity. Also, Mike bangs on for a bit about Ex Machina, Life, Anomalisa, and The Beach, because he can. Recorded on 30th March 2018.

Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here tells a story of vigilante justice with a tapestry of elliptical editing and interwoven flashbacks. We consider its themes, the deliberate way it depicts or conceals violence, the effect of trauma on its protagonist and his need for human connection. It's a complex, almost ergodic film, that requires attention, rewards visual literacy, and yields great pleasures. We love it. We also praise Amazon Studios for respecting the theatrical release window, and round off by discussing the recent Oscars. Recorded on 11th March 2018.

We finally get around to seeing the one Best Picture nominee we were missing, Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird. It's been highly praised, but has the hype hurt it? We discuss its female-centric twists on coming-of-age teen movies, the mother-daughter relationship, its attitude to sex, and the Everyman Cinema in Birmingham, which we visit for the first time. Recorded on 27th February 2018.

We try out Mubi, a curated streaming service that gives you 30 films at any one time, and only 30 days in which to watch them. Our choice is Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, a 1970s Italian satire on police corruption and the politics of power. It leads to discussions on its expressive imagery, its topsy-turvy plot, sexual kinks, peccadillos, and lifestyles, the performance of power and authority, and male jealousy and rage. Recorded on 26th February 2018.

The story of Tonya Harding raises all manner of issues for us to delve into. I, Tonya is a film about class, domestic abuse, celebrity, opportunity, achievement. We examine its visual design and use of competing aspect ratios, its use of direct address to camera, and the conceptualisation of the working class characters and mother-daughter relationship. Mike believes it insists upon Tonya Harding's fame too heavily, not aware of how she's only really remembered in the USA. Jose finds its portrayal of working class people uncomfortable. An energetic discussion. Recorded on 25th February 2018.

Mike's brother Stephen joins us to discuss Phantom Thread in further detail. We look at the power struggle between Alma and Cyril, the visual verticality that contributes to an Academy ratio feel, the film's relationship to fairytales, the way the score augments the images, and whether the dresses are actually any good and why. Recorded on 24th February 2018.

Guillermo del Toro's gorgeous, bizarre monster romance is one of the films dominating the awards conversation, but what do we make of it? We discuss its characterisation, its performances, its cinematography, its relationship with the classic cinema and fairytales from which it builds. We use the word "beautiful" about two hundred times. Recorded on 21st February 2018.

Jose's been away for a week, and while we've been apart we've each seen Black Panther. You join us after our second screening, in the midst of an already feverish conversation taking place online and amongst friends. So much to discuss! How does the film build compelling conflict between the characters, what are the nuances of its commentary on racism, colonialism and masculinity, what were our shared experiences with the audiences, what did we draw out of its costume and character design - and is it really really really obviously the best Marvel film? Recorded on 20th February 2018.

Eavesdropping takes a look at the nominations for the upcoming Oscars and chews the fat on what we like, what we don't like, what's been left out, and what will win. Plus Mike gives a brief rundown of four films from 2017 he liked but feels have been forgotten, and never got a chance to talk about because we hadn't been doing the podcast at the time. Recorded on 7th February 2018.

Finally, we sink our teeth into Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson's highly-anticipated romantic period drama. The performances, aesthetics, direction and so much more are simply enthralling and give us much to discuss. We consider Daniel Day-Lewis's style and how likeable he is in this, Anderson's mastery of tone and ability to lighten with unexpected humour what could be a rather dry film, the beauty of his cinematography, the range of female characters and some aspects of their portrayal, the way in which the work of an artist is depicted, and more. Jose is simply beside himself with the film's beauty, and Mike questions its flirtations with cliché so often that he becomes a cliché himself. It's clear that there's more to discover than one viewing can reveal, so we look forward to seeing the film again and talking on it more. Recorded on 7th February 2018.

Mike doesn't believe that Liam Neeson is a normal person with real problems, and wants him to do proper acting again. Jose admires the film's social conscience and visual flair. It's The Commuter, a film that exceeds the low expectations set by its dull title. We discuss its portrayal of society through the characters on the train, how much we like its premise, and where it stands in the cheapish high-concept B-movie canon. Recorded on 2nd February 2018.

Mike is in a tailspin of grief. José likes Matt Damon and little else. It's Downsizing, a film that looked good in the trailers. Ostensibly a light satire on middle class life and aspiration, it leads us into discussions of its attempt to weave several themes together, its lack of humour, the way it constructs its worlds, whether its use of stereotypes drifts into offensiveness, and most importantly, how unbelievably tedious it is. Mike reminisces about the few movies he saw at the cinema that inspired him enough to leave the film for a bit to play on his phone, or just leave. And Sideways is rubbish too. Recorded on 1st February 2018.

José revisits Call Me by Your Name, Luca Guadagnino's romantic Bildungsroman, and re-evaluates it, both seeing some flaws where he initially hadn't and also continuing to appreciate it in ways he had. It's Mike's first time seeing it, and he appreciates it from a distance but is primarily consumed with rage at his own lack of any type of this fun during his teenage years. And to make matters worse, José tests him on his knowledge of Judaism, revealing him to be a fraud of a Jew. Recorded on 28th January 2018.

Feeling he gave it short shrift the first time, Mike's keen to revisit Three Billboards, and drags José along for the ride. With the clumsy handling of race issues clouding the film less, we pick up on listener feedback that leads us into ruminations on Frances McDormand's Mildred, particularly her defiance of the misogynist society in which she lives and zealous attitude towards collective responsibility, and whether the character arc of Sam Rockwell's Dixon truly is a redemptive one. We also double down on our criticism of the film's use of derogatory terms, Mike's been reading about Flannery O'Connor on Wikipedia, and we consider what would have been gained and lost had the film been written and directed by the Coens. Recorded on 26th January 2018.

(Mind out for spoilers, we don't do a good job of warning of them here. After the plot synopsis at the beginning, expect spoilers throughout.) Pixar's extraordinarily vivid, rich Coco tells the story of a young Mexican boy who dreams of life as a musician, stranded in the Land of the Dead. Themes of sacrifice for family, liberation and expression through music, remembrance and commemoration of loved ones and more are explored, and a culture that is typically ignored or stereotyped - or walled off if a certain someone has his way - is allowed to explode onto the cinema screen. It's as warm, funny, and imaginative as anything you'll see all year, and we adore it. José is reminded of his dear abuelita. Mike cries. Recorded on 23rd January 2018.

Spielberg. Streep. Hanks. Nixon. A political thriller that adopts some clichés and slightly sidesteps some expectations, The Post is a historical drama that follows the internal conflict at the Washington Post during the Pentagon Papers scandal. We find plenty to talk about in its parallels with the Trump White House and the current President's attacks on the news media; its careful but stilted style; its relationship to the 70s cinema it evokes; its central figure of a woman out of place in a world of men; and the balance between its nationalistic boosterism of the US Constitution and American exceptionalism on the one hand, and on the other, its surprisingly direct denunciation of the powers that be in Washington. You can literally hear Mike learning about the Nixon era, live! Also discussed: Mike loves Bridge of Spies, José doesn't love Bridge of Spies, Mike thinks Spotlight is uniquely brilliant, José espouses his theory on Meryl Streep's stardom, and old people are pricks. Recorded on 22nd January 2018

An extraordinary, near-Shakespearian meditation on misdirected rage, guilt and grief, deeply marred by clumsy lunging into a loud theme of racism and a strong sense that the film neither knows nor especially cares about the culture it's portraying. Frances McDormand excels as the bullish, bellicose, foul-mouthed mother, but the film suffers as it shifts its focus to Sam Rockwell's stereotypical racist hick. The central premise is brilliant; its treatment is ultimately uneven, and although there are elements we absolutely adore, we can't get its lurches between tones out of our heads. Rewarding to watch, though, and it would benefit from a second viewing. Recorded on 18th January 2018.

A chamber piece about history which evokes a combination of Rembrandt and an old photograph. We discuss how Joe Wright might be getting short shrift as a director and the excellence of the performances: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn and Lily James are all marvellous. We discuss how the film is not the life of Churchill but a few defining weeks in his life, and how it depicts the political side of the chaos in Nolan’s Dunkirk. Mike highlights how the cemeteries of Belgium and northern France tell a very different story from the official one in relation to Britain’s ‘going it alone’ in the two World Wars, and declares that one scene of clearly fabricated fantasy undermines any notion of historical verisimilitude. We discuss how the film’s emotional manipulations are cheap but how one finds oneself responding to the film’s jingoism. We are in agreement that Nigel Farage wants to be Oldman’s man-of-the-people Churchill – the entire film is rather Brexity. José would really like to see a film