Intro

SPEAKER_02 0:00

This week, man, the universe is funny because at this point I'm not even reaching to make these associations. But this week we have two movies that are about boosters.

SPEAKER_04 0:11

Yeah, you're right. That's crazy. We'll be chatting about I love boosters, and then a movie that has, well, a lot of rocket boosters, The Mandalorian and Grogu.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

And for TV. So great to have purpose again. We'll be discussing Spider Noir episodes one and two.

SPEAKER_07 0:30

Anyway, let's uh blast off.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

This is We Should Watch that episode nine. All right. We should watch that.

Movie Review: I Love Boosters

SPEAKER_04 0:56

Our first movie is I Love Boosters, the colorful new sci-fi crime comedy from Boots Riley, the creator of the film Sorry to Bother You, and the very weird TV show I'm a Virgo. Now, if you've seen either of those projects, you already know that he's not interested in making normal movies. The film stars Kiki Palmer, Naomi Aki, Isa Gonzalez, Poppy Lew, Lakeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, and Demi Moore, amongst others. And it takes place in this surreal version of the Bay Area where a crew of fashion-obsessed boosters steal designer clothes and resell them cheaply as a form of both income and anti-capitalist community service. But once Demi Moore's fashion mogul steals one of their designs, the movie spirals into this completely unhinged mix of labor satire, sci-fi weirdness, and some of the wildest production design I've seen in a long time.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:58

So, oh man, Sush, what did you think of I Love Boosters?

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Well, we're big fans of Kiki Palmer in this household. So, really beyond that, I think the weirdness of Boots Riley coming across and the teaser was what sold us on this movie. Oh, and also after the substance, I'm honestly open to seeing anything new Demi Moore is in because now that Hollywood's done hounding that lady to play boring leads, I think she's deciding to take on roles that are really outside what she's done previously.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

I did see Sorry to Bother You, but I think the fact that I didn't see it in the theater probably had to do with why it stood out less than I probably feel like it should have. That's basically my way of not really admitting to likely watching the movie uh in the background. Yeah, uh, because I recently re-watched it, I realized how surreal it was, which I definitely would have remembered, but I didn't. Beyond that, I was familiar with most of the remaining cast from various recent films. What was funny is that I think we both pointed out how we just saw Isa Gonzales in another movie last week in the grade. But the characters she plays in each movie couldn't be more different than that. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 3:14

Totally different.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Yeah. The main trailer revealed a bit more about the premising characters, but still continued on with more of the fun, weird stuff from the first trailer. Honestly, not much to say going into this movie outside of seeing that initial teaser. I just think that given how often we see movies, we do tend to prioritize seeing movies that are radically different than most of what's shown in theaters, which I definitely think describes this movie. So several weeks ago, when we reviewed Mother Mary, I mentioned how I'd probably advise against seeing it while on mushrooms. Well, if any movie we've seen lately would cause me to recommend consuming mushrooms before seeing it, uh, I think it'd definitely be this movie. Not that I'm suggesting you do anything that would be considered illegal in the area where you live, but you know, if you were considering a movie to pair with that experience.

SPEAKER_04 4:10

It's got the right vibe, baby.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Yeah. Comparing this to sorry to bother you, this movie, it felt easier for me to determine whether what we were seeing in a given moment is actually happening or some sort of visual representation of the thoughts or feelings of a character. While I feel like that's the case, I'll admit that it could just be that going into this movie actually had some context of what to expect from Boots Riley beyond what I saw in the trailer. I mean, considering that I probably wasn't paying as much attention to uh that movie as I did to Isle of Boosters, given that I only watched Sorry to Bother You at Home. That's a valid argument. But I still feel like it was easier for me to come to those kinds of conclusions as a viewer, regardless of how wrong I might be. It's honestly really hard for me to comment on the cast when each of them play characters that are so very much that, just characters in the most literal sense. They're just representations of people because some of them just seem so extreme that even though they might share some attributes with real life people, they're just too surreal to believe. Given that's the case, while I still think that Kiki Palmer and Naomiaki and Taylor Page did a great job as our titular team of boosters. I really want to call out the amazing work by Ison Gizalis, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle, and me more. I felt like given how extreme the personalities were for those characters that they played and how makeup or costume heavy the roles were, yeah. Those four actors really went outside of their wheelhouse to play these characters because they're ones that we often see in a lot of very grounded roles. So anything outside of that seems to stand out. But I think anytime I'm able to forget for a moment who's actually playing a given character, which was the case with this movie, I think it really says something about how convincing the performance is. So yeah, also, this is the first movie I've seen Happy Lou in. But when I looked her up, I caught that she was in an upcoming film titled What the Fuck Is My Password. That's apparently from the dude who directed Hot Tub Time Machine.

SPEAKER_04 6:24

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

So yeah, I I mean, chances are we're gonna see that.

SPEAKER_04 6:29

I've I've already seen it in my own mind's eye. I can see it and it's glorious.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Oh my god. But one of the major aspects that contributes to the weirdness of this movie is definitely the score. Oh man, that score is great and oftentimes hilarious. It just does such a good job of providing an audio representation of the visuals you're seeing. Yeah. And given how wild the visuals can get in a Boots Riley movie, yeah, it should be expected that the music in this movie gets really, really weird and wonky at times. And obviously, we can't have a discussion about a Boots Riley movie without talking about the visuals. I love how everything, no matter how grounded or surreal in this movie, was just bursting with bright colors. Later in the movie, there's definitely a literal plot device that kind of sends this concept into overdrive. But even before that, we just got crazy design and colors all over the place. If you've seen the trailer, rest assured that the actual movie delivers like five times the color over the course of the movie. Also, in most other movies, I feel like it's easier to separate and discuss the different visual elements, like the cinematography, set design, costume, makeup, BFX, et cetera, because they all play a different part in delivering or contributing a different specific aspect of the movie. But I think for this movie, uh, the visual elements are so interrelated and intertwined. It's kind of harder for me to pick something out and say, like, this is helping to make the viewer feel this or think this. And while I'd normally be frustrated at something like that, I honestly feel like this is a movie where the more I think about what to say about it, the less I can, because I really have to call it more of an audiovisual extravaganza or experience than a cool looking movie about some ladies stealing clothes. I mean, for anyone like me that can sometimes get into a habit of thinking too much while seeing a movie, I really think that this movie does a great job of pulling you out of that kind of funk and getting you in a mindset to just watch and enjoy this thing that's happening and just experience it and not really think about it. Uh so I really think that the movie delivered it's just as fun and honestly, probably more funny than I expected it to be uh based on the trailers. But what I really thought was cool is that, like, sorry to bother you, this movie also kind of deals with topics that most people probably would rather not talk about.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

Mainly reports, well-known designers stealing designs from those trying to break into the industry and discussions regarding fast fashion uh in a way that doesn't feel preachy and definitely leverages some absurd humor to kind of deliver them. So ratings, I give it a four for enjoyment and a four for quality. I really enjoyed this movie, though. This is definitely one of those movies where I'd say I could see a general movie going audience having a stronger opinion about one way or another. Just based on things like age and maybe how and where somebody was raised. Uh, I mean, I completely understand some arguments I've seen from people who didn't enjoy this movie or took issue with something or things that didn't align with them uh for one reason or another, and that's fine. But I also feel like that's a pretty invalid stance if you took time to really pay attention to the trailer and at least get an idea of what Boots Riley is as a filmmaker. Um definitely not for everyone, but as someone who sees a lot of movies, I mean, we're talking like two plus movies per week consistently. Something like this definitely stands out.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

And sure, that means there's a higher chance of us seeing a movie like this over something that looks and feels like something else we've seen several times before. But I know we've been equally excited about other uh visually striking films like Mother Mary. That's a great example. Because yeah, that didn't end up providing anywhere to the level of enjoyment expected when we actually saw it. So even with my enjoyment, I still think I assess the quality of this movie based on how well the different aspects were done. For the most part, all the outstanding visuals and audio elements in this movie only served to contribute towards the overall quality rather than taking away from it. Even the aspects that were surreal and not at all grounded in reality, if they didn't help to aid in the specific storytelling in the in a moment, uh, they'd still kind of contribute to some aspect of a character's personality or the development. Most importantly, I think why I gave this movie such a high quality score is that all the performances and creative decisions, as far as visuals and sound, all seem intentional and serve a purpose. Even if it wasn't organized in a way that makes it easy for a viewer to really pick out each aspect and say, hey, this is really well done. This is very much a movie where I feel the best experience would probably come from just feeling and being in this world of the movie as it happens, and maybe spending some time afterward by yourself or with people close to you to maybe have some discussions about what happened. As for recommendations, uh the only thing I could think of to even come close to how this movie maybe feel was the animated show Lucas Brothers Moving Company, which is part of Fox's animation domination or ADHD show that features different uh animated shows across different weeks. Very much the same vibe of the leads being engaged in real life and at times pretty mundane scenarios that tend to have very surreal elements and kind of get progressively more nutty. Probably less of an actual message on that show than in I Love Boosters, but hey, probably not a bad thing for anyone that finds stuff like that maybe too much to deal with in a live-action movie, since it is probably more easily palatable in an animated offering. So what do you think?

SPEAKER_04 12:32

Oh my god. Okay. Well, I mean, first of all, I think Boots Rally made this colorful, anti-capitalist panic attack nightmare comedy. And somehow it feels more emotionally true to me than some other grounded comedies do.

SPEAKER_03 12:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:50

And this movie is an ADHD dream. Okay. It is maximalist and overstimulating and funny and anxious and constantly mutating into something weirder and wilder. And as someone who's very prone to heightened anxiety, I weirdly loved how the movie physically manifests that feeling. Like, oh my God, the world in this movie feels loud and ridiculous and emotionally overwhelming in the same way that I kind of feel like the real world feels to me sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

You want to know what's kind of funny about that statement? I think his filmmaking is very much like a, hey, I don't care. This is what I'm gonna make.

SPEAKER_03 13:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

If you can't deal with it, then sorry, but you know.

SPEAKER_03 13:37

Yeah, sorry for bothering you.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

I kind of have that feeling when I was watching. It's like, oh, okay, there's no apologies for this, it's just take it or leave it kind of thing.

SPEAKER_04 13:46

Yeah, it's unapologetically its own thing. And it made me think about something. So we're gonna be talking about Nicolas Cage later with his Spider-Noir, but it reminded me of one of the reasons I love him as an actor and an artist in the general sense, is this quote I heard him say years ago. I don't remember it exactly, but he was complaining that in Western film, people consider naturalism or realism as if it's the highest possible form of filmmaking. And he was like, why? That's not how it is in visual art, in painting and sculpture and everything else. Why uh can't movies look like pop art or surrealism? Actually, that reminds me, his acting, he said he does uh surrealist acting and nouveau shamanistic acting. But in a similar way, I just think, hey, I've had enough of just natural realism being considered the height of art because there is just as much, if not more, thought that goes into every visual and sonic aspect of this film being exactly what the director wants.

SPEAKER_03 15:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:05

And creating a feeling, you know. Um for me, I really look for movies that um make me feel something or make me think differently. And this movie did both. Absolutely. You sort of talked about it too, but the movie runs on its own dream logic, I guess you could call it. But everyone in the world treats it as normal. So the whole experience becomes you constantly recalibrating your brain every five minutes to whatever insane thing Boots Riley throws at you next. And every single time I thought the trailer was exaggerating something for effect, the actual movie is even crazier in context.

SPEAKER_03 15:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:48

Like the giant building in the trailer that's practically at a 45 degree angle. I thought that was symbolic. No, that's just the building. And then there's this introduction of a sci-fi element during the movie, which was the moment when I fully realized, okay, this movie's not interested in any way at behaving normally. And then from there, it just keeps escalating and mutating. It reminded me of the experience people had watching Sorry to Bother You for the first time. There's something that comes in like the latter third movie where reality suddenly splits and the movie reveals what kind of brain it has. Except in I Love Boosters, there's not one moment where it does that. It is constant, the whole runtime.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Like, yeah, but I don't think it's as crazy. I don't think it pulls you out of the movie as much as no, no, I don't think it pulls you out of the movie. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:45

I think in sorry to bother you, that moment is meant to like jar you and rethink what happened in the beginning. Kind of. But in I Love Boosters, it's more you're getting up to pace with the the world of the movie.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:02

And things are evolving in crazy, unpredictable ways. There's one moment that's a little um lurid, I'm gonna say, in my mother's parlance. Yeah. There's a lurid moment that's kind of shocking. But other than that, things sort of sneak up on you in an interesting way. And honestly, despite all the surreal insanity, the movie still feels emotionally honest because I mean, modern life is absurd. Corporations do try to sell morality as branding. Rich people do behave like self-important cartoon aliens while everybody else is barely surviving. I spent half the movie trying to decode to me more's company. Like, what is it supposed to be? Is it luxury fashion, fast fashion? Is it a free people or an Akira type place? Yeah, yeah. Because it's in some weird strip mall, but it's also high-end.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

Yeah, it was very weird.

SPEAKER_04 18:00

It's very weird.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Have you ever been to Discovery? Yes. It seemed like a discovery to me, but then when you get inside, it's super fancy.

SPEAKER_04 18:10

Yeah, it's like the stores.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

It has like the size of a discovery, but it's nice and exactly in the environment.

SPEAKER_04 18:16

But then inside there are all these monochromatic technical.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

I think it's basically like an amped-up version of a forever 21 RIP forever 21.

SPEAKER_04 18:26

But high-end is the weird thing. Then eventually what I realized is I think some of the confusion I was having is the point. Company represents kind of all of it. It's every corporation that's like our fabrics are ethical while spiritually crushing everyone underneath them. It's all of those things. And uh Demi Moore is unbelievable in this movie because she's not playing a normal villain. She feels like this terrifying, almost like a Cruella Deville, but running a fashion house. She's this visionary, but she delivers every line like a billionaire tech CEO, a cult later, and an alien trying to imitate human emotion simultaneously. And I loved it. I couldn't stop thinking watching this about how dramatically different the world view around fashion is between this and a movie we saw a couple weeks ago, The Devil Wears Prada 2. Like it is a world apart. Um, this movie is so nuts, guys. The the whole cast completely understands the wavelength of the movie. Like Kiki Palmer, oh, I love her. Just at base level, I love her so much. But she's absolutely great because she's playing a heightened, funny character who somehow has real emotion and heart underneath the chaos. Naomi Aki is the kind of friend who's always looking out for her friends, but also her wallet. You've got Taylor Page, she's weird and hilarious. She has probably one of my favorite hits in the movie involving shopping. I'm just gonna leave it at that. You'll know when you see it. And then Poppy Liu is great as this weird and wild person, but she's also deeply committed to labor rights. And then you've got Isaac Gonzalez as this like vape girl fashion gremlin. Yeah, we were just feeling her vape girl.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:19

With these teeny eyebrows and Will Poulter. Uh Will Poulter was incredible as this deeply pathetic corporate asshole who feels realistic and cartoonishly heightened at the same time. Visually, the movie was just really for me. You know, the costumes are aggressively creative. And all I wanted, I kept thinking about it like I don't take photos while I see movies in the theater. I would never, but I kept thinking, I want to take a photo of just this outfit. I'm gonna want to look at this outfit later. I want a coffee table book of every single outfit in this movie. There's this one ascot tie thing that Kiki Palmer wears. I don't even know how to describe it, so I can't, but it's red. You'll know it when you see it. I can't stop thinking about it. And I was thrilled when I found out the costumes were designed by uh Shirley Carrata because she did everything everywhere all at once. And that makes complete sense because both movies feel like they exist in alternate realities where every outfit was handmade by a fashion genius having a nervous breakdown. These are crazy outfits. Um, I was also really excited on the creative fret to see that Natasha Brer did the cinematography because I really love her colorful kind of moody work in the Nicholas Windingreffin movie, The Neon Demon, which I think we talked about recently, but you can really feel some of that DNA here. Like the colors in the movie are so gorgeous, but also can be overwhelming.

SPEAKER_03 21:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:00

Really cool way. Everything's like beautiful and fake and dangerous at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Right.

SPEAKER_04 22:06

Even the typography in the movie is crazy. I'm sorry, but the fonts in this movie could only be selected by someone who is absolutely uh blasted off on mushrooms before. Getting back to mushrooms here. It's unavoidable if we're talking about this movie. These are not sober fonts. This is not a straight edge typography. CM Punk would never approve of Boots Riley's font package.

SPEAKER_03 22:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 22:34

And the score. The score is amazing. It's like there's all these weird, catchy but circus-y energy coming through. It can be feel hypnotic and vaguely threatening at the same time. I mean, I wish I could even do an impression of it. There's just songs where someone's going like, hey, hey, ha ha. It's bizarre. The whole movie feels like a carnival ride. You know, they could fly off the rails at any second. And the music constantly reinforces that feeling. Every time the score kicked back in during certain scenes, I got genuinely excited because it has this mischievous, chaotic energy to it. Okay. And now I'm just going to tell you some moments out of context that I love. All right. The turquoise lazy boy chair.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:26

The holding your breath sequence. Katamari ball. The Roadrunner tribute. The phrase Boostellarian bitches. And what might be genuinely the best escalator scene since Forbidden Fruits. I just, oh man. I also really love the way this movie depicts people coming together. It's not just all fashion and spectacle. There's something genuinely human and hopeful in the movie that really worked for me. Now, I will say, and I think I I led into this a little bit earlier. The movie does have a lurid moment that is very wild. So if you plan to invite your artsy parents to see the movie with you, which I had initially planned on doing. It's a lot. But that's just a word of warning. But honestly, one of my favorite things about the movie is how difficult it is to explain to another person. Like today, we were talking to someone who asked, Have you seen anything good recently? We said, I love boosters. And then we really struggled.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

Okay, but we managed to talk almost 20 minutes about it, or probably more than that.

SPEAKER_04 25:01

Oh man, I loved it. It's crazy. I mean, every scene you talk about, if you tell someone out loud what a scene is about, it sounds like you're lying.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Like why would they do that in a movie? Right.

SPEAKER_04 25:15

And then somehow the actual context makes it crazier than the description. Like I spent the whole drive home trying to figure out how I could possibly discuss this movie without spoiling anything. But I think the key is just to tell you all of the visual and audio is just perfected and heightened and colorful and wild. And so is the plot. So overall, I absolutely loved it. I think it's hilarious and overwhelming and politically sharp and visually unbelievable in a way that movies almost never are anymore. But more than anything, though, it feels like a movie made by someone with a very specific brain who was fully allowed to go for it. And there's just not enough movies like that anymore. So getting into my ratings, I gave it double 4.5. I loved this movie. Again, this is a classic. I turned to you and said I loved it. And I think that it's very, I almost want to say off putting. It's very overwhelming, but in a way where you really feel something. It's really uh funny and entertaining. It's a great time. It's like a carnival ride, man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

If you can handle stimuli, if you can deal with uh an onslaught of it, then yeah, it's totally fine. ADHD perfect for watching a movie like this.

SPEAKER_04 26:52

You know me, I love an onslaught uh of overwhelm.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

So I mean it yeah, it really does make sense why that we specifically did like it, but I think that if you're artsy or you like artistic movies, then yeah, you'll still enjoy it. So I was just gonna say that this is a quality entertainment.

SPEAKER_07 27:13

It is quality entertainment.

SPEAKER_02 27:15

We haven't been calling them out lately. I just realized yeah I wanted to point this one out and uh yeah, definitely go see it if it's up your alley, because it is everything and more. It is everything everywhere all over. Check it out.

SPEAKER_04 27:34

And and I do want to end it by saying when we saw this, uh, there was an older couple who were sitting behind us, and as we were walking out, I saw the husband say, the movie has a quality kind of like this, and then he just sort of did a dramatic gesture with his hands.

SPEAKER_02 27:52

He was waving his hands in the air like air.

SPEAKER_04 27:55

Sort of in an artistic way. And I thought, yep, that sounds right. So that is I love boosters, and guess what? We loved it.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Yeah. All right.

Movie Review: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

SPEAKER_04 28:09

Hey sushi.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:12

It's Grogu time. Oh yeah, that little guy's looking is what we've been waiting for. The Mandalorian and Grogu is the big screen continuation of the Mandalorian story, directed by John Favreau and co-written with Mandalorian co-creator Dave Fellone. It takes the DNA of the Disney Plus series and blows it up into something bigger, stranger, and more cinematic. The movie brings back Pedro Pascal as Din DeJermin, alongside everybody's favorite tiny little chaos goblin, Grogu, with new additions including Sigordi Weaver and Jeremy Allen White both voicing Rhoda the Hutt. It also is the first theatrically released Star Wars movie since Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker. Ooh, which gives this a weird sense of pressure and importance to the franchise. The story follows Dan and Grogu getting pulled into a new mission involving Imperial remnants, bounty hunters, and growing conflict spreading across the galaxy, all while keeping the spaghetti western vibe going. Even with the larger scale, it still feels like following a space dad in his chaotic little green sun, stumbling into increasingly dangerous situations together in the space west. So, sushi, what did you think?

SPEAKER_02 29:39

I know I normally start off talking about any awareness I had regarding the production of the movie, including the franchise. But this is a Star Wars movie, and I was raised in the US from like 1983. So I think it's a reasonable assumption. I was already familiar with Star Wars. Beyond that, I also watched more than my usual share of trailers and promotional content for this movie. So I wanted to spend some time to talk about that for context. Compared to other Disney-owned properties like Marvel Studios, though, I'm probably less knowledgeable regarding lore and characters of Star Wars stuff. Same. With most of my knowledge kind of tied to major movie releases and live-action TV series, including the Mandalorian TV show. So while I'm not as immersed in Star Wars as a fandom as I am with Marvel Studios MCU stuff, I have enough awareness to know what more diehard fans typically expect from a Star Wars movie or TV show at least. So seeing the trailers, I admittedly didn't need much convincing. I mean, the first look literally had no dialogue in it. Just a montage of scenes from the movie. I did enjoy the fact that it seems like we'd get to see Gorogu moving around more freely on his own, uh, especially as someone who felt like his earlier appearances were clearly limited to him being seated in or on something. Cool that we see more of the Anzelans, which I admit I didn't realize the Babu Freak species was called before looking it up. Uh, but we get some interactions between them and Grogu, with the latter being slightly larger than them, which makes for some fun goofy moments because Grogu is usually smaller than those characters. Right. Uh second trailer, we get some dialogue, and the premise of the movie seems to be presented, even though I could admit that it very much felt like a side quest kind of that could have otherwise taken place in the Mandalorian TV series. I think the idea of being able to finally see one of these stories presented in its entirety on the big screen was the greater selling point for it. At least for me. Uh basically, I think this trailer was trying to draw in anyone who mostly just watched the Mandalorian TV show, but maybe hasn't been as committed to going to theaters to see the movies. A third trailer, it's clearly trying to sell the father-son story angle. That's been an ongoing theme within the Mandalorian TV series. Reflecting on this trailer after seeing the movie, I do think that it covers the right plot points with some dialogue and scenes from the movie that play up the father-son angle, which I definitely think was by design. I really think that this was meant to draw in any other viewers who might have had less buy-in in general over Star Wars movies, but might also have a friend or family member that is bought in. Like if you have a child or a friend that's really into Grogu, but you're kind of on the fence for this movie. I think it'd present a good case that you could still enjoy it as a father-son story. Beyond the trailers, I actually did kind of watch some other promo content for this movie, specifically the special look for this movie, which you can find on Disney Plus. Just a heads up, that actually includes the first four minutes of the movie, I believe. And the trademark Star Wars scrolling text at the start to provide you with some context as far as when this you know movie takes place in the timeline. Other than that, I honestly just checked out a few promo appearance videos with Pedro Pascal and Grogu. I usually don't watch that kind of stuff, but I mainly got caught up in it because I was so captivated by how well Grougo seemed to operate independently now. It didn't look like he was installed into a seat or some other fixture. So I imagine the animatronics are all enclosed, uh, and the puppeteers are somehow controlling them wirelessly, which I think was just technologically impressive.

SPEAKER_07 33:32

That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 33:33

Given that we're essentially dealing with the same writer-director team of John Favreau and Dave Filone, uh, I was expecting we'd get something that would at least be similar in tone. And I think that definitely was the case in seeing the movie. It ended up being a tonal match to the Mandalorian TV show. The plot I think worked fine within the runtime. However, I admittedly did feel like there was a point as I was watching the movie before the final act where I almost felt like the movie could have concluded naturally, but it didn't.

SPEAKER_04 34:07

Oh, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:08

Yeah, I don't know if this was intentional because after seeing that final act, I definitely feel like it provided a more satisfying conclusion. Yeah. But I did want to bring it up at least because it's probably the only moment during this movie where I didn't feel completely immersed in it. With that said, I should mention that we saw it in IMAX 3D, which I definitely felt helped with the feeling of being more immersed. Uh we do usually see movies in 3D when they're offered either IMAX 3D or real 3D, and sometimes it feels really gimmicky when the 3D stuff seems to be carrying more weight of the movie by presenting obvious like 3D moments. But for this movie, I really think it was more of a nice addition or upgrade that didn't really remove your focus from the movie itself. So in case you're on the fence about maybe seeing it in one of those formats, some insight there. Aside from Pedro Pascal is Dindajaren, aka the Mandalorian, aka Papa Mando, and the cutest animatronic character of all time, Grogu. We're dealing mostly with the cast of new characters. I think the only returning characters really are the Anzelans, uh, again, what most people know as the Babu Freak species. But yeah, really, everyone else was new for this story for the most part. Uh Jeremy Allen White, like you said, voices Road of the Hutt and was a really pleasant surprise, actually.

SPEAKER_03 35:35

That's it too.

SPEAKER_02 35:36

Yeah, I honestly didn't think he would be as involved as he was in the movie. Uh, but after seeing the entire movie and thinking about the themes that this movie deals heavily in, he's kind of the perfect character to have. Also, Zeb, Mando's pilot in this movie, who was actually in the last season of The Mandalorian, and I think had some other live-action appearances, uh, isn't several scenes where lead characters are traveling across the galaxy, but otherwise he's used pretty sparingly. He used in some fight scenes too. Aside from the characters I've already mentioned, sure, we see Sigourney Weaver as Ward, the leader of the team that Mandela has been accepting missions from. And we get a few fun moments with her. Uh, we also get appearances from Dave Filone himself and Paul Sunchiang latter, probably known best for his role as Mr. Kim and Kim's convenience. But they reprise their roles as X-Wing pilots. Feel free to let me know if I've missed anyone else. People listening out there. I think the only other notable appearance was Martin Scorsese, as he's gonna be.

SPEAKER_07 36:37

Oh my god, yes.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

That was the multi-appendage Ardennian who operates a food truck kind of thing that was also in the trailers. Very fun. Very Scorsese as far as his cameos go, too. So, as I mentioned in a previous podcast, I'm trying to get better about mentioning sound design, mostly in terms of score, soundtrack stuff when it comes to movies. Luckily, this movie was a standout in this area, so I couldn't forget. While it should be expected that sound effects, you know, and foley artistry type stuff is done amazingly, and definitely was for this movie. Uh, I was just expecting the standard fair Star Wars score treatment. Ah, you know, lots of orchestral music with ample use of wind instruments incorporated as they've kind of uh become a signature for the Mandalorian score, uh, which I don't have a problem with at all, but just to illustrate that I assumed it would be usually as good as it normally is. Well, that wasn't the case at all. A good way though. The score really does a great job of enveloping you in this world that the movie takes place in. While it shares characteristics with much of the score we've heard across the TV episodes, I'd say for the majority of this movie, the composition seemed to combine the sounds of what we've come to associate with the Mandalorian with other sounds that do a great job of kind of conveying the given setting or moment that we're in in the movie. For as sappy as this movie can get sometimes, it really makes up for it with how cool the score sound.

SPEAKER_04 38:10

Oh my god, the coolest. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

And just to give you an idea of what you can expect, they actually had a boys noise remix of the theme of the Mandalorian for this movie's soundtrack. So if you're familiar with that style of EDM that he produces, it's like in the electro house subgenre, I guess. You'll probably have some sense of the way that the score kind of leans in this movie, which is kind of interesting. Visual elements, amazing.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:37

It's hard to be critical toward a movie that prioritizes practical effects so heavily in a time where so many others will easily just look to VFX to handle the task. But I couldn't help but feel that doing this also allowed the actors to engage with the otherwise inanimate objects in a way where they too were able to forget. I mean, I just can't see, regardless of how experienced an actor is, uh, how dealing with something or person with some dots on their face would ever yield a more natural reaction uh than something closer to what like the audience actually ends up seeing. Uh, I really like the design of some of the creatures that we got a glimpse of in the trailer. I mean, I enjoyed the fact that we're still getting somewhat original creature designs this deep into the history of the franchise. I think Star Wars still knows how to create compelling creatures that make us stare in amazement or wince in fear. So even if we've already seen uh that we're getting another serpent monster in this one, I think I felt more a sense of comfort in these similar moments over any sort of boredom. But beyond the creature effects stuff, I also really enjoyed the sets. And even though I don't think the types of locations we see are dramatically different than other landscapes we've encountered in other Star Wars movies and shows, as I mentioned before, I think catering the score to fit the sets just gave them more character overall. Also, great cinematography overall, but I did feel like in this movie, compared to the TV show, there were more occasions where they really utilized it to convey emotion, especially in those scenes in this movie where we see Grogu on his own.

SPEAKER_05 40:23

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 40:25

I think one of the hopes I had for this movie was that we'd get more time seeing him on his own, which we definitely get in this movie. But being a character that doesn't yet speak, I had some concern like how relatable he could be in those moments. But yeah, I think one of the ways that they kind of dealt with that was just by leaning more into the visual elements, like the cinematography and set. So we wouldn't feel like they were just trying to occupy us with a cute puppet by itself.

SPEAKER_04 40:52

Gotcha. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:54

I think this movie just ended up being pretty true to the tone and vibe we get from the trailers. So if you like what you've seen in them, I'd say it's a pretty easy recommendation to follow through and just see the movie. There's definitely surprises in it. And while I can definitely say that they're not like any we've seen in the Star Wars franchise previously, I think they fit well with the themes covered by this movie.

SPEAKER_01 41:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

Going into my ratings, I gave this four for enjoyment and a four for quality.

SPEAKER_01 41:23

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 41:24

I had such a fun time with this movie.

SPEAKER_01 41:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:27

While I could certainly see the story from this movie taking place over a season on Disney Plus, I think the runtime it was given was probably a better fit. Since I couldn't see this being better as a season of The Mandalorian, and now that I've seen the movie, I could really understand if bringing these characters to a theatrico release was maybe a way of positioning them so they could be more naturally incorporated in other Star Wars films in the future. Goku was as cute as I expected it to be in the big screen. And fuck yeah, Disney definitely milked the hell out of every second of his cuteness.

SPEAKER_03 42:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:03

And all the heartfelt moments that he shared with Mando. So how could I not enjoy this movie? Like at worst, I was expecting a two-hour-long episode of Mandalorian, but what I ended up getting was a pretty solid standalone movie that delved pretty heavily into the father-son dynamic between these two, but also delivered on all the moments of action and humor that we've come to expect from mainline theatrical Star Wars movies. I gave this movie a high quality score, mostly based on it building on the already high-quality output that the Mandalorian TV show was giving us. While we may not have gotten as many world-building elements as we seem to get out of the show, I think that's fine since the core of the story is more about the bond between Mando and Grogu. To put it in gaming terms, again, uh, this movie very much feels like a required side quest in that we get something like what we've experienced from the TV show, but the specific story being told in the movie kind of delves deeper into these characters and their bond, and probably was meant to serve their purpose more than paying off larger events occurring between the New Republic and what's left of the Empire at this specific point in time. As far as related recommendations go, I really don't have any outside of maybe just seeing some of the other Star Wars anthology films like Rogue One or Solo.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:24

I know I personally really enjoyed Rogue One, even with the criticism people have regarding some of the CGI for like Ramloff, Tarkin, and Leia. Mostly enjoyed it because of the story. And I know Ashley enjoyed solo, even though yeah, not everyone was a fan of Alden Aaron Reich as young solo.

SPEAKER_04 43:45

I think they did a little more of the uh on the nose type of moments in that movie. That's the only criticism I have of it. But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:53

Yeah, sometimes I honestly think that these movies get a bad rap because they're not proper Star Wars or whatever, but you If you like this movie, I can't see either of them being dramatically worse. Honestly, if you're like me and have ever felt a bit tired of how some elements are repeated across mainline Star Wars movies, I think the anthology movies are a nice break from that too.

SPEAKER_04 44:15

So yeah, they can be a breath of fresh air. Not everything's a skywalker, you know.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

Yeah. So Ashley, what'd you think?

SPEAKER_04 44:24

Um, well, I mean, okay. So one of the most interesting things about Mandalorian and Grogu is that it barely feels like a traditional blockbuster at all. The stakes are way lower than normal Star Wars. Nobody's trying to save the galaxy. Nobody's trying to stop the collapse of the Jedi. Mando and Grogu are basically just on the job. And honestly, I loved it. I think the movie feels much closer to a hangout adventure than a giant operatic space fantasy. There's a long stretch of the movie where it basically becomes all Grogu all the time. And I am all in on that. Because I think this movie fundamentally understands that people are showing up because they love spending time with these characters, especially Grogu. And it delivers. And honestly, okay, the audience around me completely ate this movie up. It was so cute. Literally, two minutes in, a kid behind me said to himself, good job, honey, after Grogu using force.

SPEAKER_06 45:34

He also, when the characters were in peril, he'd say stuff like, he's just injured, he's not dead.

SPEAKER_05 45:45

And I loved it because that's what you want in a movie like this. The whole theater was laughing and reacting and awing to Grogu the whole time.

SPEAKER_04 45:55

I mean, it's clearly designed as a giant crowd-pleasing family adventure. And honestly, it works. I completely understand why hardcore Star Wars fans looking for huge mythology and giant dramatic stakes might be less into it. But as a come hang out with these characters you love for two hours movie, I mean, I had a blast. It's a little good.

SPEAKER_02 46:19

Yeah, I have to tell you that I tried so hard because I knew going into this, like, it's like, man, do not squeal or squee with a delight or anything like that. But I think at one point I kind of did because I'm like, god damn, man, that goddamn puppet. We were all like, oh it's just like every time he jumps onto Mando's shoulder, you're just like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_07 46:43

Oh my god. And he makes these cute little baby breathing sounds, and it's so cute. And I mean, okay, listen, I love the Mandalorian show.

SPEAKER_04 46:54

I love Grogu. Okay. There was a period of my life, I don't know, like a year or so, where I fell asleep every single night watching YouTube supercuts of Grogu's cutest moment.

SPEAKER_01 47:07

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 47:08

And honestly, I highly recommend it. It's a magical way to drift off to sleep. Oh my goodness this movie absolutely understands why the character works. The giant eyes, the squeaky little noises, the mouth breathing, the way his little armor basically looks like someone strapped a metal plate to him because he's too small to build proper armor for. I'm still completely charmed by the puppeteering.

SPEAKER_01 47:37

Yeah, that's where it is.

SPEAKER_04 47:38

I think that's why Grogu works so well. You can feel the care and the craftsmanship behind him. Grogu's not, quote, realistic, you know, but he's real. There's something so great about him. And the movie also understands the physical comedy of him, too.

SPEAKER_07 47:56

Oh my god, the way he waddles after Mando, his teeny little feet. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 48:03

He's quietly causing chaos in the background of scenes. He gets whipped around when Mando rocket packs through the air. I mean, at one point I genuinely thought this movie is a movie star performance from a puppet. It is. And oh, okay. I was obsessed with the little Anzellen mechanic guys. The Anzelans were first introduced in Rise of Skywalker, right? Babu Frick. Okay. And in this movie, if they're basically like, what if we gave you more of those little guys you love? I know. It was so great. And they're so funny because they genuinely feel like mechanics. Like, we got jobs to do. You can't do their voice. But like, we're helping you because you're our friends. But we're not going to be able to do that. Yeah, we're not trying to deal with this baby.

SPEAKER_02 48:54

What the hell?

SPEAKER_04 48:56

I hate that, but we're going to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_07 49:03

Oh my God. The scene where they roll up and you think they're in a gigantic ship, but it's a teeny tiny little ship for them because they're teeny tiny little dudes. Oh my God.

SPEAKER_04 49:17

It destroyed me. And the show hinted at this for a while, but the movie fully commits to Mando is Grogu's dad. Okay. Yeah. He's not his mentor. He's not his protector.

SPEAKER_02 49:29

No, he doesn't correct anybody when they call him his dad.

SPEAKER_04 49:32

No. And honestly, that emotional simplicity really works.

SPEAKER_07 49:36

I mean, the movie is basically, it's like that Reba song, like a single mom who works too hard. Just don't know. Okay, if you don't know the song.

SPEAKER_04 49:45

Anyway, he's a single father trying to work and care for his weird magical son. Okay. And there's a scene where Grogu saves someone with the force. The theater erupted. The movie knows what it's doing, it is pushing emotional buttons and they are working.

SPEAKER_00 50:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:04

I was also really surprised how much I like Jeremy Allen White as a cut character. Jeremy Allen White genuinely brings a surprising amount of warmth and humor to the role. And yeah, the movie lets the character dynamics breathe instead of rushing through them, which I thought was nice.

SPEAKER_02 50:23

I want to know what the conversation was with Jeremy Allen White because seeing this movie almost made me feel like the initial conversation was like, Yeah, we want you to play this role. And he's like, Okay, great. And then he's like, I got some ideas. I definitely was going into it thinking, ah, yeah, we're gonna get like 15 minutes with this guy. We're gonna be done. We're out of here.

SPEAKER_04 50:44

But yeah, he's like, Oh, he's a good chunk of it.

SPEAKER_02 50:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:47

Also, Ludwig Gorenson's score is incredible. You've got this huge sweeping orchestra, the spaghetti western Mandalorian sound everyone already loves. But then, yeah, it gets surprisingly weird. You guys just go listen to the track Shakari. It is so great. It layers Star Wars sounds with synths and a trap beat.

SPEAKER_03 51:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:11

And then every time that music kicked in, me and Sush were like dancing in our scenes. It was great. And I think visually the movie looks good overall. I mean, that the best thing about it is the creature work. Yes. Grogu looks so good, and uh the effects are ambitious too. I mean, I okay. I think you can sort of feel the limitations of the volume stage they shoot on. So the volume is the name of the floor to ceiling sort of um projector thing, semicircle projector thing. And it is synced up to the cameras. So as the camera moves, the background moves as if it would look like it was moving if it were a real place, which is an amazing technology. And I couldn't tell if it was a psychological thing that I know that it's shot on a volume. So there were parts where I thought it looked a little less real, or if it really did.

SPEAKER_02 52:08

I think it also might have been like what I was saying that we've seen some of these similar landscapes before. Like the cityscapes are not exactly like ones we've seen before, but they're similar. For me, I think it was almost like we're used to seeing this sort of.

SPEAKER_05 52:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:25

So maybe not as much the limitation on the area, but it's more like our eyes have been trained to see something like that already. So yeah, it's it doesn't seem as profound to us, or it doesn't draw our attention as much as like you know, something completely new would I do think that a city that they visited one, I think Shakari, I believe, looked really good.

SPEAKER_04 52:49

But weirdly, it had kind of a blade runner energy.

SPEAKER_02 52:52

Yeah, that was kind of like I think that was the one I was thinking of when I was mentioning that. It's something we've seen before, but it's not exactly like what we've seen before. Maybe that has an effect on us thinking that it's more limited or it's not as outstanding. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 53:08

Yeah. And then okay, one thing I absolutely loved was seeing Brendan Wayne and Latif Crowder credited right alongside the rest of the cast at the beginning of the movie, their names written on the screen as it started, because those are the guys who are physically performing Mando. They're the ones who are in the suits, and they are amazing stunt men. Latif Crowder, by the way. Okay, if you have seen the Projector with Tony Ja, he is the Capoeira guy in the temple that's like flooded and on fire.

SPEAKER_01 53:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 53:42

Really amazing. And I think it's cool. Like we're here for Pedro Pascal, you know, and it's in the trailer. So you know you will see his face at one point. But Wayne and Crowder do most of the physical performance and movement and stun work that makes the character feel so cool and believable. So I felt like it was so awesome to see them get properly acknowledged for their role. Because physical acting is acting. Okay, that's my hill to die on about stunts. But anyway, and the movie, it's not trying to be the next Empire Strikes Back, it's trying to be come hang out with Mando and Grogu for two hours. And honestly, yes, yes, yes, 10 times out of 10, that's a yes. Um, I laughed a lot. The audience had a blast, the creature work was fantastic, the music ruled, and Grogu remains impossibly adorable. Like when will it end? Never. He is the cutest, and the whole movie had this energy of what if a Saturday morning adventure serial had a gigantic Disney budget? And you know what? It's a pretty good time. So I'm gonna get into my ratings. I gave it a four for enjoyment, had a lovely time for quality. I gave it a little lower. I gave it a 3.5. Um, I have to think hard about why I did that because I think it's more that it doesn't feel complet in the way that some movies do.

SPEAKER_02 55:16

Yeah, and I do think there's definitely, like I was saying, with like some of the set design stuff we've seen before, you know. It's not very original, but it's not done poorly. So yeah, I think that's why I was at a four. I I don't think you're very far off with the three and a half at all. I think I could understand somebody being anywhere between like a three to a four, mostly because you're so focused on trying to just tell this very personal story, uh-huh, and the rest of it is just ancillary. You know, it's cool Star Wars stuff, and you're saying it because you're in the Star Wars universe, but if you really think about it, it's not really central to what they're trying to convey.

SPEAKER_04 55:54

They could have done it with other events, but honestly, that's one of the things I did like about it is it is Saturday morning serials are what inspired Star Wars in the first place. Not necessarily it being an opera, or at least that's not all of what it was. So I love that about it. I don't know if I'm gonna remember everything about it. I think that's why I knocked it down a little bit, but I had a blast. I'm definitely gonna watch it when it's streaming, like all the time. This is gonna be a wonderful laundry folding movie. Oh my god. And I'm absolutely gonna watch it to fall asleep to baby Grogu. And hey, that's a wonderful thing.

SPEAKER_02 56:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:37

So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:38

I was gonna just say, this is basically the movie version of going to like a kitten or puppy cafe.

SPEAKER_07 56:48

Oh my god, if they had a Grogu Cafe.

SPEAKER_02 56:53

Of course, yeah. This is basically the closest thing you can get to being in a Grogu Cafe.

SPEAKER_07 56:58

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 57:01

Come to the Grogu Cafe at your local Cineplex. There you go, Disney. I just made you a hundred million dollars.

SPEAKER_02 57:10

Pay us.

TV Episode Recap: Spider-Noir - Episode 1 - "Step Into My Office"

SPEAKER_04 57:20

Hey Sush, what's going on in the Spider-Verse?

SPEAKER_02 57:23

Oh my god, it's weird to be back with TV.

SPEAKER_01 57:27

Yay!

SPEAKER_02 57:28

But yeah, we're watching Spider Noir. I don't know if we mentioned this, but we're gonna be tackling two episodes per week until we're done with all eight of them. We're kicking off with the first two episodes, uh, recaps and our thoughts. So let's get into it. Episode one, titled Step Into My Office. In 1930s, New York City, or what looks like it, former vigilante Ben Riley, once known as the Spider, essentially the Spider-Man of this universe, our story takes place in, now works as a disillusioned private investigator, haunted by the death of his girlfriend Ruby, from five years prior, which drove him to abandon his heroic life. The story opens with Ben at a lounge, tracking down a fugitive named Addison. When an employee at the lounge calls out to return Ben's hat after he'd already followed Addison outside, it results in his cover being blown. Ben chases after Addison into the street, where he's knocked unconscious by a car door, revealing the driver of the car is coincidentally also after Addison. When Ben finally recovers and catches up to him, his spider sense is triggered as he approaches the driver being confronted by Addison, as the latter reveals unexpected fire-based powers before being shot to death by the driver of the car. Unaware that his gunshots would also lead to a leaking fuel tank violently exploding, hurling the man into the wall. Ben approaches the man and checks his wallet, revealing the man to also be a private investigator, Patrick Donegal, who had also been hired for the same job. We catch up with Ben the following morning at the office where we meet his secretary, Janet, who he seems to be lucky to have, as it's implied that she's been keeping the place running, given that Ben's neglected to do things like pay the phone bill, and nearly even sends away a potential client that shows up in person at his door before she puts a stop to it. Later, we're introduced to journalist Robbie Robertson, who urges Ben to return to his role as the spider. First, directly, in person as they're meeting to exchange information at a diner, and later indirectly through articles he's written about the spider for the paper. However, Ben refuses, still burdened by the guilt over Ruby's death. Ben reaches out to Donegal to meet at a bar. Realizing their cases overlap, the two agree to work together to look into the man who hired the both of them. Afterward, Ben follows up on the request of the man who stopped by his office earlier, who wanted evidence of his wife's affair. This unexpectedly leads him to witness an argument where another man is about to attack the woman, and Ben shooting a web just as he's about to slap her, leaving her an opening as the man storms toward Ben's direction, allowing both the women and Ben to escape. The next day, Ben arrives at his office to find the man who hired him and Donegal, Winston, already waiting at his office ahead of schedule. Ben confronts him about hiring another PI and demands additional compensation for his trouble. And as Winston points a gun at him, about to threaten him, he soon finds that Janet isn't about to allow that to happen. Ben even tells Winston he's willing to tell him where Addison is as long as he follows through with the additional pays requested before sending him on his way. Outside, we see Donegal waiting and watching Winston from another car, eventually following Winston as he drives off in his own car, and we discover that Winston is connected to Silvermane, a powerful crime boss who exerts major control over the city. Back at Ben's office, Janet just finished developing some photos, including a photo taken when Ben was looking into his most recent client's supposed affair, with Janet realizing the man uh the woman was with was actually the mayor. This leads to Ben deciding to lie to this man about her, confirming his wife was faithful to keep a safe distance from any case that could involve the mayor. However, Janet, seemingly out of desperation, suggests that Ben try blackmailing the woman so maybe he can finally pay for work. Ben decides to meet up with Robbie at a hospital for more information on the woman who turns out to be Kat Hardy, a nightclub singer. Robbie happens to be following up an unusual death where a man supposedly died of a fire, but upon seeing the body, he sees no burns, only gunshots. And as he asks Ben for his insight, Robbie notices his frustration and realizing the body happens to be Addison. Given the situation, Ben realizes he probably needs to get a hold of Donegal before he attempts to try to extort Silvermane. So he stops in at the bar they previously met at, asking the bartender to pass a message along to meet him at the alcove at 9 p.m. We catch up with Ben as he arrives at the alcove himself. But when Donegal doesn't arrive and he tries calling him, we cut to him being tortured by Silvermane, who assumes Donegal might know who's hired Addison to burn his house down, but he's soon murdered once Silvermane realized he doesn't. Back at the alcove, Ben's attempt to blackmail Kat also goes poorly as she has Flint Marco kick him out and follow him to try to retrieve the negatives. Ben and Flint fight it out at the rooftop, revealing the latter to have superhuman abilities as well, eventually leading to Ben being knocked off the building by Flint. However, at the last second, we see Ben decided to use his spider powers to swing back to the rooftop, eventually defeating Flint. Kat arrives on the rooftop, running over to check on Flint, pleading to Ben to leave him alone, as Ben leaves the negatives to her before leaving the scene. The following morning at his office, we see Janet finally deciding to quit after finding out Ben just gave Kat the negatives without getting paid. But as she's packed up and about to head out, Kat appears, looking to hire him to look into the recent disappearance of Flint Marco. Ooh. So, Ashley, what'd you think?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:44

Oh man. Okay. So so far, I feel like Spider Noir feels like somebody found an lost prestige noir from the 30s, shoved Spider-Man in it, and then was like, hmm, let's get the most unhinged actor of our time, Nicolas Cage to star in it. And here you have it. It's such a winning combination. So this uh show is released in both color and black and white, which I think is so cool. I watched the black and white version first, and honestly, I think it was absolutely the right move because the thing is stunning in monochrome. And I'm getting such a kick out of the style and look of the show. This is not a modern superhero show with little noir references. The thing is full noir. Like the dialogue is all crisp and snappy. Everyone talks like they're in a Raymond Chandler novel. The lighting is incredible. The shadows, they look so good. And there's always these sharp backlights and Dutch angles everywhere. So it's really accurate to the time period in a way I love it. And it kept reminding me of Orson Wells' the third man, um, as well as some other noirs. But that's the one that really stood out to me because they have this sort of exaggerated, warped perspective. And I really am glad I watched it in black and white first and switched to color because, and I will get to the plot eventually, but I'm just so into the look of this thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:13

But uh when I switched to watching it in color, I was like, oh, this is interesting. So it was actually shot in color to be converted afterwards. I noticed all these little details. They were specifically designed to make the black and white version look better.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:30

Oh, right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:32

Yeah. So in old Hollywood movies, um, in the black and white era, they used completely different makeup colors than what audience thought they were seeing because everything had to translate correctly to grayscale.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:44

Right.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:44

So lipsticks could literally be green or blue toned because they'd photograph on camera in a way that made them look red to people. And here I noticed that Kat Hardy's makeup has visible glitter in it, which is Something that obviously wouldn't be period accurate makeup, but I suspect it's there because of the way it catches light and adds reflection and depth and texture to her face in the black and white version.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:13

Yeah, I think you noticed that too in one of the characters' beards. It looks sparkly. And then I remember you mentioning to me, because we were watching the color version, and you were like, yeah, that's kind of a common technique that they use to bring out contrast for something like that that would otherwise probably not be picked up because of the lack of color or like the lighting or whatever. But because they add that element to it, it pops a little bit more. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:41

Yeah. So I thought it was interesting. And honestly, I spent a lot of the time thinking about the visual aspects and how they were achieved because I've I've watched a fair amount of Noir films and black and white films, and they really, really get it right. Then, oh my God, Nicolas Cage. He's one of my all-time favorite actors. And he is so in his element here. He's basically playing this exhausted old private dick version of Spider-Man, and it works. I love how they portray the spider sense. Seems like a migraine.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:16

What? They portray it as a migraine.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:19

Yeah, a migraine. The things look warped. In the first episode, I think this is probably the most subdued that we'll see Cage, because as we'll get into in episode two, he does sort of slowly get to his more exaggerated self.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:34

Um but I thought it was so cool the way they did that. And then the actual mystery, I think, is pretty fun too. It starts with this classic noir setup. A guy hires him to follow his quote wife, and Ben's like, believe me, buddy, you don't want to know that type of vibe. But then he decides to follow it, and then things spiral outward in this giant web of corruption and secret. I mean, that's a common theme in the classic noirs, like getting into even Chinatown in the 70s version of it. There's a lot of that. And then I just thought it was very fun. The Silvermane angle, first of all, the casting is so good. Brendan Gleason is amazing. There's the mystery of the body that started a fire, but there's no burns. And he's hunting someone related to it. And the mare secretly with Kat. And then Blint starts stalking Ben to get the photo negatives back. And hanging over everyone is this idea that the city's falling apart because Spider-Noir disappeared. And I think the show does a really good job of making uh the city feel like rotten in that like old school noir type of way where everyone seems to know more than what they're saying. The cast, I love it. I love it. Karen Rodriguez's Janet is so great. She's like his fast-talking Girl Friday assistant. Lamarne Morris, who's always a favorite of mine, he really, I think, is great as Robbie Robertson. Which side note, Robbie Robertson is the lead singer of the band. And they every time they say his full name, I get distracted thinking of the band. But he already knows Ben is Spider-Noir and to spend the whole episode trying to convince him that they really need him. So I think it's cool that he has a friend like that on his side, but also someone who can get out and sort of fill in the plot by doing his investigating. Then I think overall, there's kind of some melancholy around the show. Like Ben's already broken down and semi-retired before it starts. I'm liking the plot. And honestly, maybe my favorite sequence in the episode is the nightclub scene with Kat Hardy. She is fantastic in the role. Ben goes to this club, The Alcove, and we get a gorgeous torch song performance with smoke and dramatic lighting and this halo headpiece. I love it. I love this shit. It's exactly the kind of heightened melodrama that I love. Now, the only thing though was it did weird me out when her song transitions to sounding more modern as it goes on? I was like, ah, stop it. You're doing the period thing so well that it jars my brain when they go into more modern influence. But did that strike you at all as someone who maybe hasn't watched as many old films?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:29

I think I definitely approached this more as a fan of comic book stuff. So honestly, leading up to the premiere, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the show. I think I was more into Spider-Man from the time between the Fox Kids cartoon from the 90s to the introduction of the MCU than I am now. Without getting into depth about it, I just feel like Sony's management of Spider-Man and associated characters in live-action movies has been kind of hit or miss.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:00

I wasn't sure what this would be like. Yeah. But ultimately, what at least piqued my interest was Spider-Man Noir's inclusion in both the Miles Morales-led Spider-Verse animated films and the fact that they already had Nicolas Cage voice the character in the second of those films. And I thought that worked out pretty well. I have some awareness of film noir, both through seeing examples of it through the film courses I took in college and with some popular, probably more neo-noir films. Like the live-action film adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:34

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:35

Or one of my favorites, Michael Mann's Collateral. But I definitely wouldn't say that it's one of my favorite genres. So I think most concerns I had about how much and how long I'd be able to enjoy this kind of show are were kind of rooted in that confession, I guess. Also, while I have some experience with Spider-Man Noir from the comics, mostly from major Spider-Ver events and maybe looking his page up on some Marvel wiki. It seemed like this TV series is going to take a more grounded approach to the character because for people who don't know, in the comics, and I assume the Spider-Verse animated movies, Spider-Man Noir and the universes that he's from conceptually are kind of silly. I mean, he's literally from a universe where it's perpetually 1930s New York City, and they live in actual black and white. Like nothing in the universe they existed in color.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:30

I love it.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:31

So after seeing the first episode, I think I felt a lot more sold on the show. Oh, good. Sure, Nicolas Cage did a fine job voicing the same character in the animated film. But that role just involved a few lines of dialogue which were very much focused on just differentiating that version of Spider-Man from all the other varieties in the movie. While I think this role specifically in the show not only had to define the character, but also help with the overall presentation of this universe and that the show takes place in. I like how the show ended up being really kind about including mostly the most recognizable attributes of film noir, in my opinion. And beyond that, it doesn't seem to shy away from the fact that part of its identity is that it's a superhero TV show.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:19

By including the visual elements that definitely lean more towards comic books than anything we'd expect to see in the more grounded TV show. I also appreciated how the show kicked off with Ben introducing himself and this world, but avoiding the need to spend more than a few minutes to lay the foundation.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:38

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:38

I really think that leaning into the mystery, organized crime, and the investigative aspects of film noir work really well for this show specifically because these elements are also like shared with typical comic book stories.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:53

Yeah, that's true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:55

But I feel like this balanced approach to keeping the attention of the viewer through progression of the investigation into the mystery, along with the superhuman action elements, was what really made it easy for me to want to follow along with what was happening. Nick Cage is acting, obviously, and this is great, especially because his voice always had me wondering if the guy is trying to sound like a detector from the 1930s, or just trying to sound like himself.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:22

Yeah, it's all right.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:25

But in the end, I really didn't get it anywhere, but maybe accepting that it's probably a bit of both. Like prioritizing one or another based on what the moment calls for, I guess. I mean, he definitely tries to lean into the 1930s accent when he's trying to deliver some absurd dialogue or do something silly, and then he eases off of it quite a bit in more serious or sensitive moments. Yeah, that's true. I love the web slinging and other superhuman action stuff in the first episode. So while I get why that was a bit limited in the premiere, I I definitely wouldn't have been upset seeing more of it. I'd say that's probably the aspect of the show that I'm looking forward to the most as we progress through the season because it's kind of unique in the way that it's done in the show. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:11

The set and costume design were amazing, given that there's very much a feel of the show being shot in a constructed film set, but still managed to immerse the viewer in all the other aspects of it that place this in like a 1930s New York City setting. I think the moments where I felt most immersed were being in Ben's office or when we went to the alcove. Uh-huh. Overall, just a great start, I think, to the series that doesn't waste too much time trying to lay a foundation for the story and just keeps it moving steadily. Even in the first episode, it seems like once the given story beat finishes, it's immediately followed by another one that was either set into motion earlier or somehow develops following the results of the one that just ended. Like with then looking into whether this guy's wife was having an affair, only to realize this lounge singer lady's investigating is not only involved with the mayor, but also other superhumans.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:07

So yeah, I hope that continues through the season in order to kind of maintain the pacing, because I do think that sometimes film noir uh for me can kind of drag when it's in a really slow burn moment. But I think the balance of the show being a film noir show that also has superhuman stuff in it, too, probably keeps it from getting too boring. So yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:30

Cool.

TV Episode Recap: Spider-Noir - Episode 2 - "Tread Lightly"

SPEAKER_02 1:16:33

All right, let's get into episode two. Excellent. I don't tread lightly. Uh the second episode continues where we left off in the premiere as Ben is drawn deeper into a dangerous case that begins to connect the city's criminal underworld with unexplained superhuman phenomena. Kat explains to Ben and Janet that Flint had been suffering from a strange condition, gradually transforming into something resembling living sand. But she offers few concrete details and pushes Ben to uncover the truth himself. Her vague answers quickly raise suspicions for our investigators, who sense that Kat is deliberately withholding information. We cut to Silvermane, planning a meeting at the docks despite recent attempts on his life. Concerned for his safety is Lieutenant Winston advises caution, but Silvermane remains focused on business and orders Winston to locate both Flint and Ben Riley, indicating that the detective has now caught his attention. We follow up with Ben at Flint's apartment, searching for clues. After slipping inside, he uncovers remnants of Flint's past, including wartime memorabilia and a photograph that reveals Flint served alongside Addison. Before he can examine much further, Winston and another thug arrive unexpectedly, forced to lock himself in a closet, then narrowly avoids being discovered as they search the apartment, escaping detection only after they leave. Meanwhile, we see Janet show up at the police station. We get an amusing scene where she bribes an officer with a deli sandwich. Meaning that Flint has an extensive criminal history, which led him to becoming an enforcer for Silvermane. Meeting back at the office, Ben and Janet begin to question Kat's role in the situation, realizing she never mentioned Flint's connection to Silvermane or his past, adding to the growing mystery surrounding her motives. Armed with this new info, Ben confronts Kat at the alcove. During a tense conversation, he shows her the photo and presses her for answers. Kat admits she was aware of Flint being in the war, but continues to deny any knowledge of Addison. She also reveals that Silvermane owns the alcove and that she deliberately hid uh Flint's ties to him, fearing Ben would refuse the case with that knowledge. Although he finds her deception frustrating, Ben ultimately decides to continue his investigation. As he leaves, however, the episode reveals that Flint isn't gone. Rather, he's alive and keeping an eye on Kat from a nearby rooftop, adding a sense of looming danger and further uncertainty. Ben's involvement soon places him directly in harm's way. After returning home, he's ambushed by Silver Main's men and forced into a car to be brought to the crime boss. However, after an amusing exchange between him and the goons, he manages to escape and avoid capture for the moment. Ben catches up with Robbie, who's still working on looking into Addison, as he ignores Ben's warnings to stay out of it and uh pursues his own leads. His search brings him into contact with people closest to Addison, including his widow, who reveals that Addison had been deliberately setting fires in the months leading up to his death, though she does not disclose who hired him. This thread begins to tie the arsonist, Flint's past, and Silvermane's affairs into a larger conspiracy. Back at Ben's office, Silvermane's reach becomes clear when his thugs show up looking for him and threaten Janet. The encounter shakes her confidence and she tells Ben she plans to quit, highlighting the escalating danger surrounding the investigation and the toll it's taking on those close to him. Confronted with mounting threats and the realization that he's in over his head, Ben makes a pivotal decision. Disguising himself, he returns to a hidden stash in one of his old apartments and retrieves a briefcase containing his long-abandoned spider mask and costume. This moment signals a turning point in the episode. Ben is no longer just a private investigator working on a case, but a man preparing to reclaim his past identity as the vigilante known as the spider. By the end of the episode, the various threads, Flint's mysterious condition, Addison's arson activities, Cat's secrets, and Silverman's growing interest in Ben are all drawing closer together. Ben's choice to put the mask back on marks the beginning of his return to vigilantism, setting the stage for a deeper and more dangerous conflict than the episodes that follow. So yeah, Ashley, what'd you think about this one?

SPEAKER_04 1:21:09

I mean, I love it. So I think that it's cool. Episode one really set the stage, got you into the style. Episode two is getting you into the conspiracy.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:25

I did catch that.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:26

I thought that was cool. We're finding out more about Silvermane and Flint and Kat Hardy and the mysterious arson case. And everyone seems connected through the old war history as well as corruption and secrets.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:39

That's true.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:40

So that actual noir mystery is getting more interesting. And again, I I love the cast. I think Lamorne Morris has a really fun episode as Robbie Robertson. He's funny and charming. And the show lets him explore parts of the world that Ben wouldn't see.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:57

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:59

For example, when he goes to see Addison's widow at a hotel, there we see a whites only sign. And the way he gets in is he sees the doorman who's also black standing in the alley and gets in through talking to him. So we see how hey, in this world, we got the same racism, the same bullshit we have in our universe in the 30s. I like the sequence where he's investigating and he goes and meets with Addison's widow. And man, she is classic femme fatale. Like she's completely glamorous, completely cold, totally unbothered by her husband dying. The makeup's gorgeous. I'm sorry, I have to keep talking about the makeup because everyone looks so good. But the makeup's gorgeous. And I really loved there's a fun sequence where she blows out cigarette smoke at the end of the scene, and that cigarette smoke acts as a transition to the next scene. So there's a lot of cool visuals. Again, Janet is awesome. I love her dynamic with Ben. She's bribing cops with food to get background checks.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:12

Oh, that was great. I like how everybody knew her too. Yes, like all the cops kind of look at her as she's entering, like they're aware that she brings good sandwiches.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:24

Yes, she's got the food. It's so good. It's like, hey, that would work as well today as then, I feel like.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:31

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:32

Uh, I love the way she's always annoyed with him, but she also like really cares about him.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:37

Oh, yeah, definitely. You know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:39

And then the episode gives her this genuinely emotional confrontation was after Silver Main's men threaten her, she finally snaps at Ben and basically tells him, Hey, ever since Ruby died, I've been waiting for you to become yourself again. And I care about you, but I'm not dying for you.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:56

Right.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:57

That whole scene really works because underneath the pulpy detective fun stuff we have going on here, yeah, there's real feelings and connections. And clearly Ben's grief is hanging over him constantly. And then, oh my gosh, I love when he gets his suit back. That leads into probably my favorite.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:15

My God, yeah, that whole where he poses as a maintenance man. Yes. And appears at the door of his old apartment.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:23

It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:24

Like and like talks the resident into letting him.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:28

There is such a joy in seeing Nicolas Cage playing a character who's pretending to be another character. He gets so over the top. It reminds me of uh in one of my favorite of his early movies, A Valley Girl. There's a part where he's pretending to be someone else and he does a weird voice like this. It's that level of commitment. Yeah, it really is insanity.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:51

It's the glasses and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:53

Yes, I love it. Um, the homeowners are pretty freaked out.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:58

Well, I love them too. I got crazy.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:00

Oh, she was so it's both of them. The man's face, he has such a good face for comedy. That's not about his appearance. I'm just saying he has such a good deadpan.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He does have a deadpan look.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:11

Then in the bathroom screaming, water, water everywhere, and like thrashing through the walls. And then when one of them asks what's happening in there, he casually responds, a bit of an existential crisis, if I can be honest.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:25

That killed me. Damn. And he heard it under his breath. That was the best part. The guy's just like, What about the toilet? Yes, yes. It's like, oh man.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:36

I am so grateful for when Nicolas Cage gets to do Nicolas Cage, when he gets to lean into his nouveau shamanistic style, as we discussed earlier, when he gets to just go uh all out. Like this is great because he's someone who goes crazy, but he's also someone who's extremely knowledgeable about film and art and history. God, and everything and everything. So he goes crazy, but he's able to do it in a way that totally fits within what they're doing.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:13

And then once he gets the costume back, hey, the episode's kicking into another gear. I love the scene where Spider Noir is uh following and attack Silvermane's convoy. So he's on the roof of a moving car. The show keeps finding clever visual gags. There's one point I loved where he literally uses his webs to grab a radio, one of those big old sort of semi-structor-looking radios from that era. And he yoinks it out of someone's second floor window and knocks someone's head with it. I love after smashing two henchmen's heads together, he goes, see, Tai Chi. So that's great. And I really like the suit design. So again, this is one where I think I'm going to continue watching each episode both in black and white and color, just because I'm a nerd and I love it. But uh one of the things I noticed is in black and white, you could tell there was a texture to his mask, but you couldn't tell what it is. And when you see it in color, the mask looks, it almost looks like a wool fabric.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:18

Yeah, it looks like a knitted mask, actually, in a way, because there's like texture for the web aspect of it that's not as noticeable, I think, in the black and white, but you really do see it in the colorized version of it.

SPEAKER_04 1:27:29

Yeah, it's very cool. Because at that era, they wouldn't have had synthetic stuff like we have now. Certainly not whatever weird nanobot thing they have making Marvel suits in the lore now. But yeah, the fabric looks textured and worn and wool-like, but you can still see that there's a spider web pattern on it. And it feels handmade and period appropriate in a way that really fits the world. I also think episode two gets slightly funnier overall. Like the first episode had huge. Humor more in the form of banter, I feel like. But this one really embraces how ridiculous this version of the world is. Like I loved Robbie calls Ben's bruised up face. He says, You look like hamburger meat.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:15

Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:18

I like that one of uh Silvermane's henchmen is just like complete moron for no reason. I loved that.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:25

All right.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:25

I love Ben pretending to fall out of a moving car only to realize he's secretly hanging underneath it. I mean, the show's feeling confident about balancing that pulpy noir melodrama and absurd comedy, which melodrama and absurdity. That is Nicolas Cage's wheelhouse, man. I love it. And you know, it still has emotional weight. We've got Janet worrying about Ben. We've got Robbie trying to convince him the city needs him. We've got Kat dealing with her missing partner. Also, she's great as well. Just all the acting. This lead from sinners is incredible in this. Overall, I mean, they keep the atmosphere and the style going, but more characters, more mystery. It's funny and stylish. I'm so happy for Nicolas Cage. This man, I feel like he was almost trapped in doing mainstream movies when he was young. I feel like the work that he's doing now that he's a bit older is so much more in line with I would guess what interests him.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:31

Yeah, I like how a lot of very popular actors from when we were younger are now just doing really out there roles. It's great. Like to me more over time.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:43

Yes, absolutely. I think once actors get over that thing of, well, when you're in your prime, you have to be attractive in a certain type of way. And you have to be serious in a certain type of thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:55

I don't think they're under the same type of pressure to be leads uh for very high profile movies anymore. I think they're just satisfied being able to play the roles that they want to a bit more. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:08

Yeah. And you know, I love people getting weird with it. And Spider Noir is getting real weird with it. So I'm loving it. Yeah. What did you think, Sush?

SPEAKER_02 1:30:18

Well, I think one of the aspects I'm starting to enjoy as a fan of Spider-Man and other comics associated with the character is that it doesn't seem like the specific iteration of Spider-Man Noir is exactly like the version from the comics. Oh, interesting. Yeah, maybe not even the Spider-Verse animated film either. I mean, I've noticed some details that haven't matched to the comics, but I think it's still a bit early in the season to know whether or not some of the details from the comics might be brought into the show, maybe just at a later time. Uh I know I'm probably not supposed to like Winston, also.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:52

He's fun.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:53

And I honestly really don't like the character per se, but I will say that I am amused at how he's so characteristically a 1930s no nonsense right hand of someone like Silvermane, not at all afraid to be really direct with the speech. Yeah. I'm like, who says that to somebody that scary, you know? But this guy doesn't care. That's just how he is. And that's probably why he hasn't his right hand.

SPEAKER_04 1:31:30

Yeah, of course. And I was just thinking about it. Lucas Haas plays that character who we know from his childhood acting, but he's done another great modern noir, which is Ryan Johnson's brick. He's also in that. So this is, I think, a realm he's comfortable working within.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:48

And yeah, we somehow forgot this is some weird 1930s setting. We're definitely reminded of it in this uh episode when we're presented with some examples of segregation.

SPEAKER_07 1:31:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:59

Which makes sense, but honestly, I wasn't expecting given that I'm assuming that this isn't really 1930s New York, but rather some alternate universe where it's perpetually 1930s New York. Uh yeah, I just thought it was interesting that they wanted to kind of ground it still in that kind of way. I'm like, okay, whatever. Even though we do get some cool action scenes with Ben as the spider in this episode, overall, and I'm not saying this due to any sort of boredom or anything like that, but I kind of felt like there was less excitement, I guess, watching this episode compared to the first.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:32

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:33

But I'm willing to give that pass because we do get quite a bit of world building in the show and character development stuff. So yeah, thinking about it, it makes sense that it's, I guess, a bit of a quieter episode. But I also enjoy that the show continues to work on defining the exact tone for itself because I'm definitely starting to feel like it's wildly different from most of what we see on TV. While there's an obvious effort to put the film noir elements in the forefront of the show, even though this is actually from Sony and not Marvel Studios, Sony managed to somehow deliver a very Marvel Studios feel, I think, that really kind of permeates through in this episode, especially in scenes like the one that we have where Ben as a spider confronts Silvermane as he's been driven across the city. He just like pops in his car and like they have a chat. It's like okay. But yeah, overall, I think this was just another solid episode that, like I was saying, felt significantly calmer than the premiere, but like I said, understandable. The big aspect of the show is supposed to be film noir, so I suppose I need to get used to the slower, quieter moments than like it's showcased as we deal with the story beats involving investigations and revelations that I'd argue can be more exciting but less dramatic than those typical comic book shows.

SPEAKER_07 1:33:55

Ah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:56

Uh it's great that we officially get Ben com recommitting himself as being the spider, too. Yeah. But yeah, even without all that much action, I guess, happening in this episode, I expect there to be significantly more moving forward, given he's not followed through with putting the mask and and everything on. So yeah, definitely looking forward to it. There's something very unique in the way that even though this is the Spider-Man of this universe, it just looks so characteristically different than any other Spider-Man character that we've seen like web slinging because it's just the design of everything. Cool.

SPEAKER_04 1:34:41

Cool. All right, join us next week for two more episodes.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:46

Yep.

What We're Watching Next

SPEAKER_01 1:34:48

Ashley Sishi. What are we watching next?

SPEAKER_04 1:34:53

Next week we are watching the movies Backrooms and the Breadwinner. Which by the way, Backrooms and the Breadwinner? That sounds to me like a 90s indie movie. Like tell me Steven Soderberg didn't direct that.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:08

Okay. But uh yeah, for TV, we're just continuing our coverage of Spider Noir with episode three, Double Cross, and Episode 4, A Mistake I'll Never Make Again.

SPEAKER_04 1:35:23

Well,

Outro

SPEAKER_04 1:35:24

thank you so much for listening, guys. We really appreciate you taking the time. We hope you have checked out some of these movies. Let us know what you thought in the comments on YouTube or wherever uh you interact with us.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:38

And remember to subscribe, rate, and review positively, as if we're both as cute as Grogu.

SPEAKER_04 1:35:47

Oh my God, I wish.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:49

And also follow us on social media, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, like we've been saying the past two weeks. We've been posting a lot of shorts. So yeah, check them out. But other than that, thank you everybody for tuning in again. And we will catch you next week. Yay! Bye, guys. Bye bye.