Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey Ashley.

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Hey sushi.

SPEAKER_01 0:02

I was thinking about how we have ADHD and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

And how that comes into play on the show. Because how else do I constantly start off the show with things like this week we're chatting about two movies that weirdly both share moments where characters do double thumbs up in response to awkward and or uncomfortable situations?

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Yeah, I guess that's true. It's that pattern recognition, you know?

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

This week we'll be chatting about primetime and Hotshan Shake Your Booty exclamation point.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

For TV, we will be discussing season one, episode seven of Lanterns titled The Jordan Boys' Legacy.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

I'm pretty sure that's a that's a penalty, right? I love it.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

That's pretty much your legacy as far as TV reviews go. But yeah, this is we did watch that episode 27.

Movie Review: Primetime

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Okay, weirdos. Today we're talking about prime time, where Robert Pattinson plays Chris Hansen. Yes, the Chris Hansen from To Catch a Predator Notoriety. It's the scripted feature debut of Lance Oppenheim, who made Renfair and co-directed the upcoming Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything with Nathan Fielder, which, oh my God, I'm so excited for. Yeah, me too. But back to prime time, the movie takes us back to 2006 when To Catch a Predator is absolutely blowing up. Pattinson's Hansen and his producer, played by Merritt Weaver, are setting up sting operations where, as you all know, I'm sure, adults posing as teenagers lure suspected predators to a house where Hansen is waiting to confront them on camera. You know the setup. Skylar Gizondo plays Dan, an aspiring actor who gets hired as one of the decoys and quickly gets pulled into this whole weird operation. So, Seosh, what'd you think of Primetime?

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Well, I was aware of To Catch a Predator and Chris Hansen, but never actually watched the show back in the day.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

In general, I'd say I'm just uninterested in shows where people seem to be making money or gaining recognition off of showcasing something that I feel like everyone should really be doing their part in preventing or reporting to the proper authorities. So it's probably no surprise that aspect of it wasn't what made me want to see this movie. I don't know if I was interested in seeing this when we saw the teaser, since it had limited footage of Robert Pattinson playing Chris Hansen. I assumed that the style of the trailer would be limited to the marketing or graphic design for the film, I guess. But later when we got the first full trailer, that's probably when I was a bit more on board. I definitely feel like the more weird voice acting Pattinson seems to do for a character, the more interested I am in seeing it. Ashley, you mentioned that this was probably your favorite recent performance of his.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Since like Mickey 17, and I agree. But I was thinking specifically about the voice instead of the overall performance.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Also, I like that the second full trailer made the movie seem like it was a look at the overall existence of to catch a creditor within the history of like TV news and popular culture, as well as how it affected the people who worked on the show.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Sure, we do obviously get to see the immediate effects of everything that took place for the suspects, but I like that this movie doesn't at all prioritize that, nor the consequences for them, really, who are no doubt affected by what happened since we all kind of know and can easily research that type of stuff ourselves. Instead, it seems to explore the cycle of how those who worked on the show or worked closely with it were both affecting and affected by the events covered in the movie. Seeing the movie, I definitely feel like I was on the right track with my assumption. This wasn't meant to serve as any sort of documentary on Chris Hansen, nor to catch a predator. What I understood it to be, which I arrived at primarily based on what I've read about the writing and production of this movie across interviews and articles with those involved and my personal experience with the end product of what I saw in the theater. I felt like it was more of a stylized thriller that tries to convey the feelings surrounding the phenomena that were a TV show to catch a predator, its iconic host, Chris Hansen, and maybe a little bit of a growing obsession surrounding not simply prosecuting suspected child predators that were found guilty, but actually hunting and some might argue creating them in this process of hunting these suspects. While I initially felt like this movie took a definitive position and had a strong opinion on the phenomena it was covering, the more I learned about how the idea for the movie first came about and the development of the screenplay following the movie, the more I started believing that it truly was pretty much about the show host and their place within popular culture. Instead of choosing a side regarding any of that stuff that it covers, this was definitely one of those movies where the viewer's personal experience reveals more about themselves than I think anything about to catch a predator, Chris Hanson, or anything like that made me realize how smart it was, and I appreciated it so much more beyond just the style of it. While I'm on the topic, I might as well discuss the design elements. Obviously, there's this surreal, almost frantic style that covers most of how this movie is edited and shot. Though I don't know if I have the film vocab, I guess, to properly describe everything. In general, it did do a good job of visualizing what I guess were the feelings of those involved and maybe energy of the spaces where the show was taking place. One of my favorite aspects was how the way a specific scene was colored or composed within a frame really seemed to do a great job affecting the tension across different scenes. The score for this movie is pretty sparse, but like the visuals in this movie, I think there's so much going on with the sound design beyond just the score, especially with the effects and editing being leverage for sound, much like how they were with the visuals, that it's really a non-issue since your eyes and ears rarely get a moment to rest in this movie. Oh my god, yeah. Not a lot of costume or practical effects stuff, since the events of this movie are at least rooted in real-world events, even if they didn't actually play out exactly as they did in the movie. Uh, but I gotta say, you know, I love Pattinson's hair in this at least.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

Great character hair.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Yeah. Speaking of Pattinson, I might as well move on to the cast highlights. He obviously was amazing in this movie as Chris Hansen. Even from the trailer, I thought he was playing Hansen more as a character than the real life person, regardless of whatever someone's opinion of Chris Hansen is. There's definitely some artistic license to Pattinson's version. I don't think the vibe, especially within the context of this movie, is too fictitious. I mean, the real guy is a character, so I think it's the worst thing in the world to portray him as one, even if how Robert Pattinson plays him isn't exactly how he is in real life. Uh Skylar Gizondo as Dan Plum, who is the actor that plays the underage boy for the sting operations for most of this movie. I thought that character's whole journey was really well written and interesting. If anyone's performance really makes you think about how much this movie really isn't trying to get you to have an opinion about any of the phenomena, I think his does. I guess you could say. Merritt Weaver is Andy Bender, the dateline producer that worked closely with Chris. I thought Weaver played her really well, and she was definitely one of the more grounded characters within the show. But I do appreciate how the character also changes as the popularity of To Catcher Predator grows and things get more unhinged. Bakim Woodbine, I thought, played a great over-the-top police chief character. Yes. A Phoebe Bridgers character, Del Harvey. I admit I initially didn't really like her character, but I came to like it a bit more when I realized they did have limits and boundaries and seemed to behave more realistically later on, or at least, you know, how you'd expect a woman in her situation. Lastly, I think Matthew Mayer, as the guy running perverted justice, did a great job, especially later on in the movie. I obviously wouldn't say they're more disgusting than the suspected child predators, right? But it's at least incredibly disturbing how much they seem to get off on coming up with some of the really disturbing things to say to the guys that they're trying to catch.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

It's just strange. So moving on to my ratings, I gave this a four and a half for enjoyment. Oh, and a four and a half for quality. Wow. If it wasn't clear from what I've already said about the movie, I personally felt like the most impressive aspect of this movie, which really sets it apart from a typical documentary on To Catch a Predator biopic on Chris Hansen, is it really looked past any discussion regarding the subject matter the show deals with, and instead artistic rendition of the phenomena surrounding the TV show, its hosts, and the ongoing socio-political discussions regarding the pursuit of child predators and trafficking rings, that was really what got me to such a high enjoyment rating. Honestly, I was initially going to give this a four immediately following our screening, but after I started reading more about the production and saw a few interviews with the director and realized how even myself, in some cases, provided with sparse or biased information, or possibly even a messenger who seems genuine and incredibly passionate in their delivery, could easily cause me to join in on something that ends up becoming rooted more in revenge than justice.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

That could eventually harm even more people unnecessarily in the end. So for quality, I also rated it at four and a half, not just due to how smart I thought the movie was, and hilariously how much of a phenomena it's kind of become itself. I already thought this movie was really impressive as far as the overall design. The visual composition is just really frantic, but not so much that you can't appreciate the crafter effort. Uh-huh. But yeah, like I spent so much time complimenting this movie on. It really knew what it wanted to set out to accomplish, which I think was just present the phenomena as the director personally experienced it. But also this wasn't oblivious to the fact that it would ruffle feathers.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

And I wouldn't be at all surprised if he felt like it would bother people for the exact reasons it has that it's seeing, which are ridiculous assessments that this movie is somehow demonizing the prosecution of child predators. Oh god. It really is not. I honestly think it is just reflecting on this specific show and host. And maybe like I did, you can reach a bin and assume it's trying to provide a personal experience instead of saying anything about the subject matter the show dealt with. Just how much it created a dialogue, I guess, really lent to that higher quality rating. As far as related recommendations go, a less controversial movie that's also trying to say something about mass media news.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

I'm recommending 2004 comedy, Anchorman.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Legend of Roger. Starring Will Farrell. Now, if we can't all agree on Anchorman being funny, regardless of your political beliefs or whatever, I don't know what we can agree on. I mean, I put aside my own dislike of Steve Carell. And I'll even go as far as saying he's kind of funny in this, but beyond that, it's got Paul Rudd. Everyone likes Paul Rudd, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:22

You gotta love a Paul Rudd. Now, those two movies, imagine if those were in one of those Walmart double movie packs together, you know.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Oh, that would be great.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

They just sort of loosely correlate. Oh, that would be excellent.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Yeah. What did you think of Primetime?

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Oh my god. I think Primetime is basically a weird movie starring a weird guy playing a weird role. It's just it's weird, man. And I knew it was working for me pretty early on. There's this great scene where the to catch a predator staff is really tense. A car pulls up. We get this ominous shot of Chris Hansen. Over and over, we start hearing, oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit. And I was like, what the fuck is this weird sound cue? What is happening? This is so surreal. Then we cut to the car of the would-be predator, and in the car, he is jamming out to London Bridge. It's Fergie. Everybody's dead serious inside. And this guy is driving up listening to Fergie Ferg. It cracked me up. It's one of the many ways this movie takes the wind out of the whole premise. Like, okay, this is not going to be a traditional biopic. It's going to get weird. And yeah, it really does. I'm surprised that the memes haven't hit yet because Robert Pattinson does such an amazing heightened performance here.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

He sounds enough like Chris Hansen that you recognize him, but he's doing some really weird stuff. Okay, there's this line. He's practicing a voiceover. He goes, When we come back, a parade of men begins, and some of them come bearing gifts. Every other word is doing some weird emphasis, and he tries it several different times. And then the version they end up going with is the one where he says, Some of them come bearing gifts.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Oh my god. Did you also catch that he just does that in general before pretty much every shoot?

SPEAKER_00 16:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

Like he'll prep his enunciation, I guess. Everything that he's going to say. It's like, how can you do that? How scripted are you trying to make this confrontation when it's supposed to be something that's happening naturally? You know, it's strange. Yeah. I guess that's really the phenomena is that we're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

I know. The enunciation thing really got me. And I can't remember if I told you this, Sush, but when he says that um bearing gifts, yeah, I realized both you and the stranger next to me were going under your breath. Also, side note, why are Chris Hansen's lips so red? I have a theory. All right, folks. There's this scene where he randomly gets out a fruit roll-up while he's on set. Now, they just show him taking it out, they don't show him eating it. So, I mean, come on, he's gotta be licking it and rubbing it on his lips, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Here's some interesting trivia, actually.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 17:34

I kind of believe that because that's a thing that dudes do in prison.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

No, that's oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Once you like dress up more effeminate, that's what they use in lieu of lipstick in order to lips things like fruit roll-ups or things that have red dye in them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

Oh my god, it's perfect. And Pattinson, oh my god, you get him doing all this really, really bizarre character stuff, and then the movie throws you back into those setups where people are saying horrifying things to lure someone in, just like you said, it's very creepy, it's weird because one moment you're laughing, and then I remember what everybody's actually doing here. These are people who are luring in people that they believe to be child predators, but they're doing it by, like you said, using provocative language, and like it's very difficult to watch. And the more time you spend with Chris Hansen and the production staff, the more I'm like, whoa, these guys are the most fucked up people ever. The movie definitely has no qualms about portraying Chris Hansen as a delusional dirtbag. He finds these weird ways to justify his behavior. But at the bottom of it all, this is just a guy who wants to do whatever the fuck he wants. You see it really in the relationships in his life, from his family to the people he works with. This is just not a good guy. And his producer, Andy Bender, oh, she knows how to work with that. I think Merritt Weaver is so good in this. I loved seeing how she and Chris Hansen are both experts at manipulating people. But they do it in very different ways. He's all bravado and pompousness, but she speaks really softly. So people stop and listen, then suddenly she's controlling the conversation. While she's doing it, she's being very calming, you know, very calming voice. It's so interesting to see those different ways that they work. You see how that works in the relationship with one of the characters decoy Dan. He is so fascinating. Skylar Gazondo plays this sweet, naive kid. In the movie, you get to just know how much he loves what he does. He is someone who thinks of this as art. And I think that's such a fun spin. I don't know, I didn't research if that's what the real life actor was like, but it sort of plays into the movie's overall theme of theatricality and just over-the-top behavior. I think the way the movie looks makes me think about Chris Hansen as a performer. They really center him in unusual moody ways. Like every shot feels like something cool that a cinematographer's been wanting to do for years. But just like, let's do them all. There's one that I've seen in some of the promotional images too, where it's rainy and we see Chris Hanson, half of his face is clear, the other half is all distorted from the rain going down the glass pane. Sometimes he looks straight up demonic. It's crazy. Sometimes we see what they see in that old square TV format, and you feel like you're watching the show itself. So there's a lot of really interesting ways that they shoot this movie. I think the acting is spectacular, but I think I mean in the end, I was just like, fuck these guys. So as much as I enjoyed so many of the aspects, I think the reason why I wouldn't give this my highest score is just that these people are so horrible. I don't know how much rewatch I can get out of it, but we'll see. We'll see. That being said, for enjoyment, I'm giving it a four out of five. I laughed the whole time. I cannot wait to watch clips of Robert Pattinson making crazy eyes and being like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

That'll be hot. You could put a little Santa hat on him, like when the holidays arrive, and you're trying to figure out what to get for people. You could just have one of him saying yes, and he's got a hat on, and he's just repeating it.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Okay, let's remember this for the holidays.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Okay, nobody better steal that from lesser elder.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

We gotta make money off of it.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Oh my god. So for quality, I also gave it a four out of five. Again, the acting's amazing, it looks beautiful. The humor caught me off guard. And I just came out wanting to see what else the director has done and has coming up. Renfair is something that's been on my list to watch for a long time. And really, oh my God, I can't wait for the Elizabeth Holmes movie.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

So oh yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

Oh, I can't wait. So, really a fun. It feels weird to say fun about a movie about to catch a predator.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

Well, I mean, we have to also say that it's a quality entertainment.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

Oh my god, it is.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Who knows? Some people would say we're just as much of a problem as this movie is that that's the case. Whatever. Let's move on to something I would say is probably less controversial.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Yeah, absolutely. Next

Movie Review: Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!

SPEAKER_02 23:21

up, we're talking about Hachan Shake Your Booty, Exclamation Point, which is a title that sounds like it's promising a very different movie than, well, Woman Processes the Death of Her Husband. But somehow it is both. It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that. It's directed by Japanese Polish filmmaker Joseph Koboda Vajatka, who is probably best known for his TV work on Tokyo Vice and Narcos. Rinko Kikucci plays Haru or Hachan, who competes in Tokyo's ballroom dance scene with her husband Lewis, played by Alejandro Eda. But when Lewis suddenly dies, Haru basically withdraws from everything, including dancing. Until her sister and friend, played by Yo Yoshida and Yu, that's one name, you like Cher, get her back into the studio where she meets a new dance instructor named Fidir, played by Alberto Guerra. Haru develops a pretty intense crush on him while also still very much grieving her husband. And basically, that's where the title comes in. Because this is a movie about a woman who's trying to figure out how to live again. And the answer is literally shaking her booty. So, yeah, what'd you think, Seush?

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Well, I recognize Rinko Kakucci, though I didn't immediately realize it was probably from Pacific Rim.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

Which I love, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Oh my god, yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

And just as an aside, because we were just talking Guy Richie last week, and this ties in with both him and Pacific Rim.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Due to Charlie Hunnam being in both of these movies.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

I wanted to say that King Arthur Legend of the Sword movie that he did. Man, I I know critics didn't really like it, but I actually really enjoyed it. That's all.

SPEAKER_02 25:16

I've actually always wanted to see that. So let's put that on our watch list.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Okay. Admittedly, I didn't give too much thought to the plot of this movie. I only caught the trailers maybe once or twice. But I really enjoyed the visual style of it. And I think the overall quirkiness of like the hair outfits and even graphic text, whatever layout design, those were the things that actually sold me. But seeing this movie, yeah, it definitely didn't disappoint. But I have to admit that the plot, and I'm talking about the actual events we know happened in the movie beyond any artistic visuals that have been employed. Uh wasn't exactly what I was expecting based on the trailer. The story I did get was heartfelt, beautiful, fun, and just felt really genuine. So I think I only bring it up to say that there's definitely more surreal scenes. Uh, like the one we get in the trailer of our lead Aru and her husband, Luis floating into the air as they dance.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Than I was expecting. As far as writing and direction go, I just appreciated that this movie handled such a heavy, devastating life event. The Death of Partner with so much humor and fun. Some of this movie can be pretty silly, but I think there was a lot of care taken to make sure anything a bit more weird still worked with the overall tone of the movie.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

As I mentioned with my experience prior to seeing this movie itself, I love the visual style, even though I didn't expect it to go as far as it did. As far as the quantity of surreal moments, the visuals really do balance out the heavier aspects of the movie and keep them from weighing the viewer down. Since I feel like they would have easily done that if we were just forced to deal with everything more literally. But as Ashley will probably tell you, this doesn't at all mean you're safe from crying.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Specifically, I love the quirkiness that seemed to permeate over a lot of the design elements, namely the sets, costumes, and wardrobe and hairstyles, even. There's just so much use of color and fashion that seems a bit timeless. I remember Ashley saying she wasn't sure when this was taking place. I initially thought it might be the 80s. Then we realized that we were all using cell phones. Yeah, it took us a while to figure it out. Also, even though I'm not really a fan of movies dealing with this type of dance, there are a lot of fun dance scenes.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

One of which was my favorite because while it is in the trailer, I never expected it to happen in the course of the plot. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

That actually ties in with the last design element I wanted to mention, the soundtrack. I assume most of the music in this movie would be associated with ballroom dance scenes, even though there's less music in it than I would have liked. There actually was a lot of great music throughout the course of the movie for both those scenes and more personal ones. If you're a fan of pop music from throughout history, from around the world, I think you'll likely enjoy it. Ending off with my cast highlights, Rinko Kakuchi as Haru. I personally haven't had any experience seeing her outside of Pacific Rim, so honestly, I didn't know what to expect. But I think that she played Haru beautifully and genuinely, including what could be seen as careless missteps, someone dealing with the loss of someone so close to them could reasonably make. Yo, Yoshida and Yu, who played Haru's sister Yuki and cousin Hiromi, respectively. I felt they were the perfect characters to have around her. Haru seems somewhere balanced between a stereotypical stable adult and a pure pleasure seeker, so it totally makes sense to have each of these two kind of providing extreme opposites that balance her out. Alberto Guerrera as Fadir, the dance instructor. I don't think I ever bought his character the way the writer probably wanted me to. I don't know. I can't really get into the specifics, but I just found his character to be greedy for having the ideal experience with this movie. Came to that realization probably way sooner than I should have. But I still don't think it took that much away from the total experience. Uh and Alejandro Edda as Luis, Aru's husband. Man, I really love this character. Yeah. Edda plays the character with so much heart and authenticity that even the sillier moments with him don't seem too absurd.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:55

So for my ratings, I gave this a four and a half for enjoyment and a four and a half for quality.

SPEAKER_00 31:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

As I recall saying to you, Ashley, after seeing this, this is definitely in my top five movies for this year. And with the exception not having action scenes, this had a lot of things I really enjoy in movies overall. Yeah. You know, fun, surreal visuals, quirky design, dance performances, pop music, especially Japanese city pop.

SPEAKER_02 31:25

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:26

All of which easily would have gotten this movie to an enjoyment rating of four. But I think that the creativity and storytelling that handles the themes in this movie in new creative ways helped bump this up to a four and a half for me. I think that aspect of the movie also carried through to my quality rating. There's definitely this indie low budget feel to this film. However, I think save for maybe a few questionable moments later on in the movie, it really manages to leverage a lot out of what budget it has. Even though I'd mainly consider this a foreign drama, throughout the runtime, we seem to incorporate elements of other genre movies, sometimes to a surreal degree, but whatever they do always seems to work well with the plot in any given moment. My related recommendation, which is definitely more vibes-based than I think most of these usually are for me, is the 2004 movie Napoleon Dynamite. Oh. I mainly picked it because it also had a feel where it was hard to pinpoint the time period it took place in because of the fashion and mannerisms making it seem like could have taken place maybe 10-20 years earlier than it actually did. Beyond that, I also think it's one of those movies that really funny and kind of goofy, but at its core is really trying to deal with serious or hardfelt themes. Like while Hachan was obviously about mourning the loss of someone close, I think Napoleon Dynamite is more about friendship and finding those you fit in with, whether that be family or friends. Uh, but both stories are told with similar visual styles. So Ashley, uh, what did you think of the movie?

SPEAKER_02 33:23

I loved it. I loved this movie. I think it's one of my favorite movies of the year. Um, I cried for the first time about something that wasn't even sad. That's how moving I found this movie to be. Hotshan and her husband get to this dance competition. And instead of showing the competition from the outside, as if we're the spectators, the camera just gets in there with the dancers. You almost feel like you're standing amongst them in the middle of this crazy makeup and outfits and the grace and artistry. And I got teary watching that. We hadn't even gotten to the tragedy yet, and I was shedding a tear. So definitely bring tissues to this one. But like you were saying, the style of this movie is so fun, all the hair and costumes. Like you said, I went back and forth like five times on whether this was the 80s or modern day. But no, it's just uh in the ballroom world where people look like it's the 80s, I guess. Um, oh my God. Yeah, the hairdos, the makeup, the costumes. Hachan has this big, tightly curled perm and a very delicate little septum piercing. She's cool, she's got her own sense of style. When you watch her dance with her husband, Luis, you absolutely believe in their marriage so quick. It's amazing. And they're so cute and home. You see them practice, you see her being a little more picky about things than he is. And he supports her emotionally. They in a really short period of time at the beginning of this movie, give you such a wonderful feeling around this couple. And then obviously tragedy. It's awful. But you've got these beautiful scenes of like you're saying the dancing in the air, and then it crashes so hard. I mean, I have to be honest, I had to hold Sushi's hand to calm myself down. I did. It was rough, it was rough. But once her sister and her cousin start trying to get her out of the house, yes, this is great. I remember you turned to me and were like, hell yeah, in Japan, they make middle-aged lady movies too. Because I'm sure we've talked about this before, but we love middle-aged and older lady friendship movies. It's like one of our things. So very pleased. And her cousin Haromi, oh my God, she has such a dirty mouth. She is funny and outspoken and frankly quite horny. Um, I loved her, and it's just wild how this movie will make you cry. But then these women, they're going through something horrible, but hey, they still want to talk about boys. And I love that. Her sister Yuki's calmer. And I loved how both of them are so dedicated to getting Hachan back on her feet. They really don't let her hide away, they lure her back to dance pretty much with the promise of a cute new teacher.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

And this guy, okay, he is the sort of straight guy in a dance troupe or a theater troupe who knows he's the only straight guy in the room. So he is a rarefied commodity. Everyone perks up when they see him. He knows it, he loves it. And almost everything involving Hachan's crush on him made me laugh. And it takes turns you will not expect. I definitely didn't expect. But watching her dance with him, you can see why they wanted to get her back in the studio. She's having fun, she's awkward, but she's a beautiful dancer. It's so fun to see these different parts of her and just the way that dancing puts her into her body, places her firmly in life again. Rinko Kakucchi is so good in this. I've always liked her and things I've seen her in. I think Brothers Bloom is when I first was like, oh, this girl's really cool. She plays this very quirky character. Here, she does such a great job. She's so elegant, but then she has great chemistry with both of the men, both in their awkwardness and conversations, then in their deeper connection, depending on the moment. She's playful, but then in complete despair. I mean, it's an amazing performance that really runs the gamut. And I ran the gamut of emotions watching this movie. Oh my God. I cried and I cried and I cried. But the laughter is such a huge relief. So it sort of goes back and forth. You have a light moment, then a dark turn, sometimes the opposite. But somehow it didn't feel jarring. It just felt like, well, shit, sometimes life is that way. You know, people don't go neatly from one stage of their life to another. They have starts and stops. And they have all these really beautiful ways of representing grief and connection and memories visually. There's some really wonderful stuff they do to show her connection with her husband and different things throughout her life. So for enjoyment and quality, hey, it's a double 4.5. I really cared about literally everything that was happening on screen. I want everyone I know to see this. I really want my family to see it. I think my mom would love it, but she'll need tissues. And I don't know if I'll watch it over and over like some of my other favorite movies, but that's mostly just because I want to continue to breathe through my nose. I literally started just pointing at my nose every time I cried. I'd be like, God damn it. Because it kept happening. But afterward, it felt like, you know, when you have a really good cry, at first it feels awful and your body feels exhausted. And afterwards, there's this kind of lightness you feel, a relief. I think that's what this movie is about. Sort of working your way through. It definitely made me feel that way. A movie about art and relationships and friendship. I mean, those are the best things for a movie to be about. Except for murder. I do love a murder movie. Like you, action really takes a movie over the top for me.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

But well, this is also a quality entertainment award.

SPEAKER_02 39:48

So my God.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

It's two for two this week. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 39:51

All right.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Valid week for movies. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:54

We must savor it because they're not all like this.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Well, I have a feeling we might also get lucky with TV. So let's move on to lanterns.

SPEAKER_02 40:02

Okay, cool.

TV Episode Recap: Lanterns - Season 1, Episode 7 - "The Jordan Boys' Legacy"

SPEAKER_02 40:05

Heads up, guys. Our discussion of this episode of Lanterns includes talk of suicide. So please take care of yourself while you're listening. And if you're struggling, you can call or text 988 for the suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. Hey Sush.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

Yeah, what's up?

SPEAKER_02 40:24

You know that waitress slackmailing John Stewart on lanterns?

SPEAKER_01 40:28

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 40:29

What kind of math is she doing to end up with $315,000? Like, I don't get it. It seems like it should be more.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Yeah, I guess that's true. Maybe she has an exact piece of real estate in mind around that ballpark. You could also buy a really nice car. Something really fancy. I'm talking really fancy. Like a Ferrari or a Lambo.

SPEAKER_02 40:56

A Lambo?

SPEAKER_01 40:56

Something like that. Yeah. Oh. You definitely can do that.

SPEAKER_02 40:58

She wants a Lambo.

SPEAKER_01 41:00

You can also get a catamaran, like a nice boat. Not exactly. Like a super yacht, but you can get a decent sized boat. Like that's gotta be like a five forty-foot boat. But yeah, that's the only few things I could think of off the top of my head that would be exactly $315,000, or would be something like that.

SPEAKER_02 41:22

Yeah. So uh what else is going on in Rushville?

SPEAKER_01 41:28

Well, in episode seven, titled The Jordan Boys Legacy, we opened in 1975, where a young Hal Jordan is in trouble following a baseball game. Hal's father, Martin Jordan, is called in and told by the coach that Hal caused their team to forfeit the game. When his father tries to confirm this with Hal, he tells them that he was within reach of a no-hitter when the coach decided to bring in Danny Bachner. Apparently, the incident forced his team to forfeit, and his angry teammates subsequently beat him up. When Martin confirms Hal's story with the coach, the coach again blames Hal, focusing on Hal's unwillingness to be a team player. However, Martin stands behind his son rather than making him apologize, as he, like Hal, is more focused on winning, resulting in Martin getting into a physical confrontation with the coach. Afterward, Martin spends time alone with Hal and talks about the Jordan family's supposed fearlessness. He explains that Hal's grandfather gave him a key before leaving for war, allowing Martin to open a private safe if his father failed to return. Martin now gives Hal a similar key, telling him that his own box contains money, keepsakes, and other things Hal may someday need. He calls this practice the Jordan Boys' Legacy. Martin also encourages Hal to throw away the baseball he's continued carrying, telling him how exhausting it is to hold on to something forever. We then jump ahead to Martin's funeral, where a young Hal stands beside his father's grave as military aircraft perform a missing man formation overhead, leaving him to grow up under the weight of the responsibility Martin placed upon him. Returning to 2026, the holographic century of Hal, created by his Green Lantern Ring, who the show apparently refers to as Halogram for the subtitles, stands at the same grave with Jon Stewart. John explains that the real Hal was murdered and 10 years have passed since it was last updated. The Halogram initially assumes John eventually became Earth's Green Lantern and congratulates him, but John admits that he no longer holds that position, cannot recharge Hal's rapidly weakening ring. He needs the Halogram's voice to open the secure box Hal left behind. When the hologram asks him about his funeral, John falsely claims that several familiar intergalactic figures attended. The halogram catches the lie and becomes suspicious of John's motives, prompting John to basically shut down the halogram, calling it back into the ring. Meanwhile, John remains under pressure from Maggie, the waitress who witnessed his final confrontation with the living Hal. She is demanding $315,000 in exchange for her silence. John calls his brothers Aaron and Marcus and asks them to help him obtain the money. During the tense conversation, he explains that Maggie saw him fighting with Hal shortly before Hal's death. Aaron asks John directly whether he killed Hal, but John refuses to give him a satisfying answer. At the storage facility, John summons the Halligram again and asks it to open the voice activated vault. Unknown to John, the Halligram is still listening, even though John believes he has it switched off and it refuses. Now wondering whether John could be Hal's killer. John angrily recounts some of the real Hal's later mistakes, including his imprisonment and the disastrous events involving the Manhunter. When John mentions Hal's relationship with Sheriff Kane, the Halligram becomes fascinated by this part of the future and ultimately insists on meeting her before he will cooperate. As John takes him through Rushville, the Halligram sees the memorial bearing the names of those killed during the Manhunter attack. He's horrified by what apparently happened and insists he would never deliberately kill anyone. However, when John starts loudly singing along to outcast Spotty Dottie Dopolitious, he's eventually able to block all thoughts of hell from his mind, causing the hellogram to disappear, giving John an unusual way to dismiss. Noah postpones his decision, however, and elects to just focus on playing in that night's football game. John then gets Carrie alone in a science classroom and carefully prepares her for what she is about to see. Carrie is overwhelmed when the Halogram appears. She touches its face and struggles with the sight of Hal standing before her, even though this version of him has no memory of their relationship. The Halligram asks whether he was in love with her, while Carrie explains that the living Hal had spoken to her about John. According to Carrie, Hal compared John to a football team that repeatedly disappoints its supporters, but still gives them enough hope to keep believing. Carrie wants to accompany them to investigate the box and Hale's storage unit once her obligations are finished. After leaving, however, the Halligram tells John that Carrie's emotional reaction looked like guilt and suggests that she might have killed Hal. John doesn't accept its conclusion, but the two decide to not wait for her and return to the storage facility on their own. When they arrive, the Halgram's voice opens the vault. Inside, they find a backpack containing basic survival supplies, including food, a canteen, a poncho, and a gun. They also find a portable device that creates an Einstein-Rosen bridge, a tunnel between two distant points in the universe, which was the same technology used in the slaughterhouse John and Hal were at previously. The Halogram suggests they relocate the tunnel before continuing. In the event, Carrie investigates the storage unit while they're away. So they end up moving the device inside the fallen water tower. They activate it, and before John steps through the opening, he requests the hologram, ask him whether he's afraid, with John firmly replying, fuck no, before both of them pass through the portal. On the other side, they emerge in a deserted alien world covered with the remains of its inhabitants. John soon realizes they're on Anton's home planet, whose civilization was destroyed after the manhunter released the substance that induced uncontrollable terror. Driven mad by fear, the inhabitants turned on one another or took their own lives. John and the Halogram crossed the ruined landscape on foot, heading towards a beacon flashing where John believes Hal's boat is at. We cut to the Halogram and John on the boat, crossing a large body of water. They eventually get into an argument, which causes John to again start singing the earlier outcast song loudly, but the Halogram decides to leave before John presumably forces him back into the ring. As John continues the journey alone, a storm develops, exposing him to the fear-inducing substance still present in the environment. He begins hallucinating his father and a younger version of himself, reliving the childhood ordeal in which he was expected to shoot apples above his own head. His fear turns inward. He reaches for a gun from Hal Supplies, but luckily the Halligram intervenes before John can harm himself and saves him when he falls into the water. As John recovers, the hologram finally reveals the truth about Martin's death. He didn't die accidentally in a test flight. The truth being he deliberately crashed his plane after years of concealed emotional pain, leaving behind a note in his safe because he believed his family would be better without him. Martin's own father had experienced the same struggle and met a similar fate. This inherited suffering rather than the family's supposed bravery was the real Jordan Boy's legacy.

SPEAKER_02 50:08

Man.

SPEAKER_01 50:09

The Halligramph admits that Hal's apparent fearlessness never came from courage. Instead, it was from something inside him that was already broken. The revelation causes John to wonder whether the living Hal also took his own life and whether Carrie discovered the body and concealed the weapon. John apologizes to the Halogram for his treatment of it, and for the first time addresses him simply as Hal rather than regarding him as a glorified recording of the real man. After reaching the opposite shore, John and Hal approach the mysterious structure. A shrouded figure ambushes them, seizes the halogram, and threatens to cut his throat unless John hands over the boat. The halogram tells John that he's playing their song as John nods, then makes the halogram disappear from the attacker's grasp, providing an opening for John to knock the stranger to the ground. The attacker looks up, revealing themselves as Sinestro, as he says, You must be John Stewart. Ashley, what'd you think of this episode?

SPEAKER_02 51:17

Well, you know, this is a penalty. I do love a penultimate episode. But I gotta say, for a lot of it, I felt like we were running errands. Like go to the storage unit, find the sheriff, go to the school, go back to the storage unit. And when we eventually leave the planet, I'm somehow left thinking, okay, when's something gonna happen? On my first watch, probably my least favorite episode of the season.

SPEAKER_00 51:46

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 51:47

I think it's because when I look at how this episode, where we get a lot more how backstory is handled versus episode three, where we get John's backstory, I think they did a much better job on episode three. Uh they paused the main mystery to explore his backstory. And that episode was so rich in information about his family and how he became this person. Here, though, I felt like they got near the end of the season and just went, oh my God, we forgot to tell them this stuff about Hal. Let's do an episode. That's not to diminish some beautiful scenes and some interesting reveals here. Because learning the thing about Hal's father did definitely affect me. Felt so much empathy for Hal. And I was angry at his dad. His father was clearly suffering. But what bothered me is telling his little boys that this suffering is the legacy of the men and their family. He literally says, it's in your blood. That makes me feel like, wait, are you cursing your child? We knew Hal was broken. I guess I just didn't realize it went that deep. I was thinking that a lot of it came from what happened with Sinestro, but it really does go back all the way. And I guess I just wanted to know more. I would have loved to know about his mother and how he grew up carrying the weight of his father's death, knowing what really happened versus what the public thought happened. And I think with John, we got a fuller picture. But I love the stuff with Halligram. Um in particular, when Hologram compliments John about his ability to keep Hal there without the ring. That was really a great scene. John gets all stiff and awkward, like he has absolutely no idea what to do with this information. And Hal is not someone who's going to praise you just to be nice. You know, he was genuinely impressed. So that would mean a lot coming from someone like him anyway. But then to John, who's been rejected over and over by Hal, that's pretty huge. The apology he gives John also, I think, was moving. John has a very good point. He doesn't want it from the halogram, he wants it from the living Hal, which I understand. But for me, I was thinking it's cool to see that there's a version of Hal who can be considerate and recognize what he put John through.

SPEAKER_00 54:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:19

And I wonder how much everything changed because of Sinestro of not being able to trust people. The halogram is still sarcastic and difficult, but he can appreciate John. And that just made me wish we saw more of that relationship. Because I did really like how those two characters grew together in this episode. And the sheriff scene showed another side of the hologram. At first, I thought it was like, ooh, this is romantic, the way he was so intrigued by her. She's obviously feeling a lot of things. This man she loved died and now he's in front of her. And halogram seems curious and surprisingly vulnerable, asking whether he opened up to her about his father. First, I thought he was moved by her. Then I wondered, oh, is he thinking she's lying? And he would never tell someone something like that. But then afterwards, when he talks to John, we learn that he thinks she's guilty of killing him. She touched his face and he sees it as evidence that she killed him because she was guilty. John asks him, Well, do you recognize love when you see it? And I thought that was a real question to ask him because Hal is really seeing people with a lot of suspicion. Then there's oh my God, John's hallucination on the boat.

SPEAKER_00 55:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 55:43

When that version of him said you don't want them to know the truth, that you never wanted to be a lantern. Wow, that was interesting. Because maybe he didn't, but also maybe he's scared. This version of John is scared that that's the truth and doesn't want to confront it. You know, his younger self weaponized his love of drawing too against him. Oh, that felt like the kind of self-hatred that people get when they're feeling really down. I know that version of myself, don't love it, but it is there. So those moments really worked for me. I don't think they made the episode as a whole as engaging as I hoped it would be. Part of that is my own expectations about penultimate episodes because they usually are moving fast towards the finale, and this one pumped the brakes. But maybe next week we'll change how I feel about this episode once I have more context of what's gonna happen. So yeah, and what do you think, Sush?

SPEAKER_01 56:45

Well, I think that since we've had our action-packed episode ending the 2016 timeline back in episode five, uh, we return to this more kind of true detective vibe, I'd say.

SPEAKER_02 57:00

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 57:01

That we kind of started the whole season off with, which is an aspect I think the show does handle well, mostly because I feel like we're reminded that sometimes details we might think are only included for emphasis for a specific scene actually have some relevance later on in the season. The most obvious one this episode being the experience Anton put John through when he was captured. Yeah. Having him experience the pain, the inhabitants on his world at the hands of the manhunter, obviously, that comes back into play and they travel off-planet. We also have another callback to the portal or whole thing that was also used in what I call the techno slaughterhouse.

SPEAKER_02 57:52

Oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:53

I'm glad that it led to an off-planet scene that the episode basically just ends with because you know, I was always hoping for more space stuff. As far as things I wasn't as thrilled about, I guess another time jump.

SPEAKER_00 58:09

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 58:10

Or maybe so many time jumps. While I did enjoy getting to see more of Hal's past and his relationship with his father prior to him passing, I still don't quite exactly understand how living with pain could somehow translate directly into fearlessness. I mean, if the Jordan men are presumably just appearing fearless, masking their fear in front of others, I gotta presume that the ring sucks at determining whether someone is truly fearless, right? Oh my god. I mean, am I supposed to believe that there's this weird on-off switch men in Hell's family just had to switch off fear and departmentalize it so well that it never manages to creep through, you know, until it does, causing them to just unalive themselves? Like even if you want to create a tragic backstory as an opportunity for the audience to regain sympathy for Hal, I thought this Jordan Boys legacy angle they tried to leverage for it didn't quite work for me. Honestly, even if it's kind of simple and maybe a bit messed up, I would have even taken something like someone telling Hal his dad messed up and died because he was probably afraid of flying the plane he was in. Or something like that. At least that gives me a specific fear-related incident that I can see being the catalyst for a young Hal to believe he can never allow fear to exist within himself. I don't understand how details that we're given though lead to that. Something I'm kind of wondering after this episode is whether or not Carrie or anyone in Rushville will really play any significant role in the finale now that we're off planet. I mean, sure, I expect us to get some kind of closure about Hal's death or murder that somehow ties back to someone in Rushville, since I don't really think that Sinestro or anyone outside of town or off-planet just popped in and out of Rushville to kill Hal. Uh, but I guess I just don't know if I can think of any other reasons for the plot to return to Rushville during the finale. Then again, there's also that weird plot thread with Maggie extorting John for like 300k. Uh I gotta assume that has some kind of relevance because they carried it across like two episodes, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:36

Maybe she's somehow connected to Sinestro. I know the obvious twist could be that she's somehow responsible for Hal's death.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:45

Ooh.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:46

But wanna believe that given how smart the show has been overall, this isn't all her connection is to everything that's going on. Overall, I didn't think it was as bad of an episode, but it didn't seem to answer the questions I thought it might answer being an ultimate episode. Instead, it seemed to kick the can to the next episode and provide some additional backstory. I do at least half assume that most of the events where I wasn't sure why uh they were included in this episode were expressly included in order to set something up for the finale. So I guess I shouldn't just assume they're pointless until we're done with the finale.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:33

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

Again, I enjoyed getting some more of Hal's backstory and everything, but it almost makes me question how the ring works even more than I did previously. Right, right. Not like I ever thought the Guardians were perfect, especially being revealed as the creators of the Manhunters and knowing what I do of them from the comics. But man, the whole Jordan Boys legacy somehow being the key to them being fearless still confuses me.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:04

Aside from that, and part of the episode taking place off planet, this episode's almost felt a bit short to me.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:12

Uh-huh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:13

I know the runtimes are pretty much the same across the board, but I just don't feel like it progressed the plot as much as I think an ultimate episode would, like you were saying. Especially for a show where we just concluded a story arc that took up most of the season, only two episodes ago. Right. Yeah, I'm just completely clueless how they're going to close out the show. I thought it was a little better than you did, but yeah. Also had some uh criticism.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:44

Yeah.

What We're Watching Next

SPEAKER_01 1:02:46

Ashley.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:47

Sushi.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:48

What are we watching next?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:50

Next week, we're gonna be watching Alejandro Gonzalez in Ritu's new insane-looking Tom Cruise movie, Digger. And then we're gonna check out our fourth and halfway movie of the year, Verity.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:02

Well, for TV, we're ending the final season of Lanterns. We'll be discussing the season finale. After that, we'll be taking a break from TV until the October 16th episode, where we'll begin covering the new Disney Plus Marvel Studios series, Vision Quests. So in the meantime, you might get some special segments or whatever from us.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:31

Cool. Well,

Outro

SPEAKER_02 1:03:34

thank you so much for listening, guys. We really appreciate you taking the time to hang out with us two weirdos over here.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:40

And remember to subscribe, rate, and review, preferably positive. Like how I'm positive Hachan Shake Your Booty is gonna end up in our top five faves for 2026.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:56

Right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:59

Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Other than that, we will catch you guys next week.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:07

All right, bye guys.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:09

Later.