‘Matilda’, ‘Enola Holmes’, and ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ make up a family-friendly feast in our first episode with Susie Youssef and Alexei Toliopoulos.
Cult favourite ‘Matilda’, Netflix Premiere ‘Enola Holmes’ (starring Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill) and Aussie icon ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ make up a family-friendly feast in our first episode. Expect teen detective hijinks, adolescent antics, and...dolmades?
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Alexei:
When I was seven years old, I made my parents throw me a Sherlock Holmes themed birthday party.
Netflix:
Shh.
Susie:
Hello. My name is Susie Youssef.
Alexei:
And my name is Alexei Toliopoulos.
Susie:
And this is The Big Film Buffet.
Alexei:
Where we serve a three-course feast of movies inspired by today's film.
Susie:
Which is Enola Holmes.
Alexei:
We'll begin the way every good meal does, with a perfectly paired starter, a classic piece of motion picture history that will prepare your palette for our film du jour.
Susie:
Then we'll carve into the main meal, the Netflix flick of the week. That will always be hard to say.
Alexei:
And we'll finish up with a sweet suggestion of films that compliment the main course, because we know you'll want a little more.
Susie:
It's pretty important that we distinguish who is who. So I am Susie Youssef.
Alexei:
And I'm Alexei Toliopoulos.
Susie:
And if you can't tell our voices apart all you need to really know about us is that we're comedy pals. We've known each other for a while.
Alexei:
I think we've definitely formed our friendship over just talking about movies. We love talking about actors together. So I'm very excited that we get to do this together every week.
Susie:
So am I. This is barely work, apart from all the preparation we do.
Alexei:
Oh, yeah. The immense amounts of preparation we have to do, being forced to watch these movies week to week.
Susie:
We train for this. We eat healthy. We get up early. This morning you even had cereal.
Alexei:
Yes. I had cereal for the first time in 17 years, I think. I had a lovely puffed wheat treat for breakfast.
Susie:
Also known as Rice Bubbles.
Alexei:
I had a Rice Bubbles meal. White chocolate Coco Pops, which is a new item, I believe, from the grocery store.
Susie:
You waited 17 years, and that's your entry back into the cereal world.
Alexei:
It's like I got to try these white chocolate cocoa pops. I got to try them.
Susie:
Which milk did you use?
Alexei:
I used a normal cow milk type thing. A skim perhaps, a light milk of some kind.
Susie:
Wow. Showing off your lactose tolerance there.
Alexei:
But a splash.
Susie:
Just a splash.
Alexei:
I didn't want to risk it before record day.
Susie:
No, you can't. Totally.
Alexei:
But also, I'm not the biggest milk guy. I've never drunk milk from a glass.
Susie:
You've never had a glass of milk?
Alexei:
Never. I don't plan to. It terrifies me.
Susie:
It's probably pretty important to point out at this point that we won't be talking about food during this podcast. It's not a food podcast. It's a movie podcast, because in many ways Alexei and I were brought up by movies. Did we have parents? Yes.
Alexei:
Yes.
Susie:
Did they put us in front of a television most of the time? Also, yes.
Alexei:
Absolutely, yes. My mother is my source of cinema love. My mother showed me too many movies I should not have seen at the time.
Susie:
Yeah, I feel damaged by some of the films that I saw growing up.
Alexei:
Oh, that explains so much of who we are.
Susie:
Yeah, definitely. It really does explain a lot about you.
Susie:
Now, we should get onto the first film of the day so-
Alexei:
Let's move on to Enola Holmes.
Susie:
Let's roll the tape.
Enola Holmes:
Now, where to begin. My mother named me Enola, which backwards spells alone. And yet we were always together, and it was wonderful. She was my whole world, which leads me on to the second thing you need to know.
Enola Holmes:
A week ago, I awoke to find that my mother was missing and she did not return. I'm presently on the way to collect my brothers, Mycroft and Sherlock. Yes, Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective, my genius brother. He will have all the answers.
Speaker 1:
Enola, a wild woman brought up a wild child.
Speaker 8:
Who will make her acceptable for society?
Speaker 1:
She seems intelligent.
Speaker 2:
There are two paths you can take, Enola. Yours or the path others choose for you.
Enola Holmes:
It is time to find my mother. The game is afoot.
Speaker 3:
You've progressed nicely.
Speaker 5:
Is she safe?
Speaker 6:
She's had company.
Viscount Tewksburg:
I'm Viscount Tewksbury.
Speaker 7:
A useless boy.
Speaker 4:
You have to help me. I'm not ready to go on a train.
Speaker 9:
I'm not ready to die at all, and I was going to before I met you.
Enola Holmes:
I'm tired of planning, mother.
Speaker 10:
She always had a reason for everything. Her own way of doing things. Perhaps she wants to change the world.
Enola Holmes:
Perhaps it's a world that needs changing.
Alexei:
I think that is a very charming trailer.
Susie:
I think it's a great trailer. I think any trailer that has celebrity skin by help, that is a good trailer in my book.
Alexei:
It's a banger.
Susie:
Absolute banger.
Alexei:
And it sets the tone for this what should be a lovely, charming period piece adventure with this very cool, modern, contemporary edge to it.
Susie:
Oh yeah. You can tell right off the bat that Enola Holmes is a genre mashup.
Alexei:
I think that's what I liked about it so much. But also what made it so difficult for us to pick our first paired meal, or what our starter is going to be today, because Enola Holmes is all of these things. It's a teen film. It's an adventure movie. It's a mystery investigation. It has all these great themes of mothers and daughters and family. I struggled to come up with something, but once we did I thought that there could not be a better pairing of this.
Susie:
No, this is the only place to start. So our starter for today is Matilda.
Little Lavender:
I can't look, is he going to puke?
Matilda:
Without a doubt.
Susie:
There are so many iconic scenes in this film. I will never forget the moment where Brucey is in front of the class and he has to eat the cake that the Trunchbull has put down. That enormous chocolate mud cake, that image is burned into my brain.
Alexei:
I recon it's my first memory. It's when I switched on for the first time.
Susie:
Also, it set the bar so high for what cakes should look like.
Alexei:
Yes, they should make you feel sick, but delighted at the same time.
Susie:
Yeah, it should be a goal that once you get to the end of that, you've achieved something. I don't think I've ever been able to recreate that cake. If you had to, have you ever been able to do it?
Alexei:
I've tried Susie. I've tried. I once bought 15 Woolworths mud cakes and mixed them up with just probably a litre of melted butter. Just mixed them up and crushed them together, like it was basically a giant cake pop there. Then I just poured a chocolate custard on top.
Susie:
Ah, you've gone too far.
Alexei:
And yes, this is slightly exaggerated, but not much, not much. I did try to create something like this. And I'll tell you, I was sick.
Susie:
You ate the whole thing?
Alexei:
I ate the whole thing Brucey style.
Susie:
You did not eat the whole thing?
Alexei:
There again, the number of cakes was exaggerated, but my preparation was to the T how I prepared it. And yeah, I felt absolutely ill. I'm still recuperating, I think. Directed by the iconic filmmaker, Danny DeVito.
Susie:
Danny DeVito. Also, starring Danny DeVito.
Alexei:
Oh, my lord. And it really does star him.
Susie:
It really does star him, it features him heavily.
Alexei:
I know so much about Danny DeVito.
Susie:
How much do you know about Danny DeVito?
Alexei:
I reckon I could answer any question you have about Danny DeVito.
Susie:
Okay. Where was he born?
Alexei:
New Jersey.
Susie:
Okay. Correct. That's very good. How many kids does he have?
Alexei:
He has one beautiful daughter.
Susie:
I'm sure that one of them is beautiful, but there are three.
Alexei:
And seven sons. I don't know. I don't know, I'm guessing.
Susie:
Can you just name three Danny DeVito movies?
Alexei:
Yes. Danny DeVito has directed the movie Duplex, starring Drew Barrymore, Ben Stiller. Danny DeVito also directed Death to Smoochy. Edward Norton, Robin Williams. He has also directed the movie, Hoffa, starring Danny DeVito and Jack Nicholson, his best friends. Those are just movies he has directed.
Susie:
Are they best friends?
Alexei:
They're best friends. Their families co owned, or used to work together, in New Jersey at a beautician.
Susie:
Wow.
Alexei:
So beauty is in both their bloods.
Susie:
Okay, you're very good. Fine.
Alexei:
This is to me a very specific genre masterpiece, because Danny DeVito in the 1990s, this is going to sound crazy if you weren't around for it at all. Danny DeVito was such a major motion picture star that he owned an entire genre as both a filmmaker, producer and star, which was black comedies, where he could just get them made. He directed a bunch of them. He produced a lot, including Pulp Fiction. So we got a lot to thank for Danny DeVito for starting independent cinema.
Susie:
Oh, we're so grateful.
Alexei:
Danny, we bow down at you.
Susie:
Bow down to you, Danny.
Susie:
This is also a film that has a killer soundtrack, a lot of magic in it. It's something that I used to play the soundtrack over and over again at home. I used to open and close the blinds, and I would have it tied to my wrist so that they would open and close as I danced. My little sister was terrified. She was absolutely terrified of this.
Alexei:
My god, you put your sister through the chokey.
Susie:
I totally put her through the chokey, the metaphorical chokey.
Alexei:
That's terrifying.
Susie:
Yeah, it's awful.
Alexei:
You're a bit of a Matilda yourself.
Alexei:
I think what Danny DeVito does in this is something that I find so important when I go back and look at childhood movies that really resonated with me, is that he invents this genre, which is like a very specific translation of black comedy with tinges of horror for children.
Susie:
Yeah. In caricature that's always overdone but it works.
Alexei:
Yes.
Alexei:
It works, the way that everything feels heightened. For kids, I think this is such a beautiful introduction to something that's pushing their comfort zone a little bit, something that's a little less soft, but it's still cushioned in all this nice family gooey-ness.
Susie:
He plays Matilda's father. Rhea Perlman plays Matilda's mother. Matilda has a brother. None of the family appreciate her at all. She is sent to a horrible school with a horrible principal called Miss Trunchbull, played by Pam Ferris, who was amazing.
Susie:
She basically tortures her and all of her classmates, but there is the kind hearted teacher, Miss Honey, who basically encourages very intelligent Matilda to use her powers.
Alexei:
Literally and figuratively.
Susie:
She literally has telekinetic powers.
Alexei:
I must say this, I got to get this on the record right now while we're recording. I think that this is the kid's version of Carrie.
Susie:
You have a lot of strong thoughts on Roald Dahl adaptations as well, because the Americans often do their adaptation of these British classics. You've got a couple of thoughts there.
Alexei:
I've got a few thoughts on them. I love them. I think that there's something so universal about Roald Dahl's writing, that kind of charm, that kind of grotesque wholesomeness that he does, where it's like this take on this childhood sweetness, but there's always this little grubbiness underneath it. I think that it works so well in the translation of an English text coming to America and making it so universal, but also making it this weird little storybook world. These work so well as modern fairytales.
Susie:
Absolutely. They're kind of horrifying, but there's always a lesson. Also, this is another example where the female lead is really powerful and smart, which is why we've chosen it for our starter today. Mara Wilson plays Matilda in the film, and this is in the era where she's done Mrs. Doubtfire, and she's just nailing everything.
Alexei:
One of the biggest child stars in the world. I think this is a lovely, precocious performance by her. The dynamics between her and her parents are set up so well, where her dad and her mom are these shysters, these grubs.
Susie:
These total idiots.
Alexei:
Yeah, and they just have no respect for her. They just don't connect with her at all. I think DeVito and Rhea Perlman are so perfect in this.
Susie:
Perfect.
Alexei:
They just capture that essence of slime and selfishness, whereas Matilda is full of warmth and heart, and wants the best for people.
Alexei:
I think that we must talk about Miss Trunchbull.
Susie:
Yes.
Alexei:
That is one of the great iconic villains for me in cinema.
Susie:
And Pam Ferris is terrifying.
Alexei:
That performance is so powerful in how heightened it is, and how funny it is. I think it grabs that balance that is very rare for a character like this. To be genuinely scary and genuinely funny. All the tension that this character creates is either relieved through the scares or through the humour.
Susie:
And the humour can be really dry at times or really over ... There's this moment where Miss Honey is teaching the kids how to spell, she's teaching them how to spell Mississippi. And she's saying, Mrs. M, Mrs. I, and The Trunchbull walks in and just yells, "Why are all these women married?" It's just perfect. It's so perfect.
Alexei:
It's such a good line.
Alexei:
I think what makes Matilda be one of those childhood classics that resonates still to this day, why people hold it in such fondness, is because it really is one of those great films that sums up those childhood feelings of belonging and needing to find your place in this world. It ties it all in this beautiful idea of a chosen family of, maybe the people you're born with are not the people that you're meant to be with, the people that you call your family, but you will find someone out there that will nurture you, will hold you, and will cherish you.
Susie:
Yes.
Susie:
This film is a perfect starter as a mischievous female heroine, who is smart, and daring, and adventurous, and it's a very irreverent adaptation.
Susie:
Another beautiful example of that is our film du jour, which is Enola Holmes.
Susie:
Netflix describes this movie as, "While searching for her missing mother, intrepid teen Enola Holmes uses her sleuthing skills to outsmart big brother Sherlock and help a runaway lord."
Susie:
I mean, I'm sold.
Alexei:
Absolutely, I'm sold.
Susie:
It's directed by Harry Bradbeer, who you would know from Fleabag, one of my favourite series ever. It stars the excellent Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, and Helena Bonham Carter, but a huge shout out to one of my favourite actors, who you would've seen in Killing Eve, Fiona Shaw.
Alexei:
Most famous for Aunt Petunia as well in the Harry Potter films.
Susie:
Yes.
Alexei:
This is an amazing performance from her, great supporting villainous character.
Susie:
So good.
Susie:
This is kind of an investigation film, it's a detective film, as the title would lead us to think. But it's taking the classic story and handing the baton to this incredible young character, who is really bad-ass from the beginning.
Alexei:
I would have loved to have had this movie as a kid, because I was obsessed with Sherlock Holmes and detectives and stuff. Every detective that was based on Sherlock Holmes, I'm talking frickin' Colombo, Adrian Monk, all of that stuff. I was obsessed with it. I wanted to be a detective so bad as a kid.
Alexei:
When I was seven years old, I made my parents throw me a Sherlock Holmes themed birthday party, because I just wanted it to be so bad.
Susie:
Did you dress up?
Alexei:
I had like a little deerskin cap with the little flaps on my ears, and I had a little pipe, a little plastic pipe, which I think was, just now that I'm thinking about it, it was one of those little teaspoon measuring cup thing. It just held a tablespoon of liquid in it.
Susie:
And did you have any games at the time that were mystery games?
Alexei:
I played Mr. Sherlock Holmes himself and my dad was Watson. My dad set up this entire little mystery around for us to find. It was basically an egg hunt. It was beautiful. I think this movie really nails all of those elements as well.
Susie:
Something that I found upsetting about this film was to realise that Millie Bobby Brown plays 16 year old Enola Holmes, that she has self is 16 years old, and that she produced the film.
Alexei:
Oh God, don't you feel ancient?
Susie:
Oh, I don't feel like I've achieved anything, is what just happened.
Alexei:
What were you doing when you were 16?
Susie:
Not anything worthwhile. She is brilliant. This is such an incredible example of these powerhouse women that are coming through Hollywood at the moment.
Susie:
I loved Millie Bobby Brown's performance in this. I think that she works so well with the director, who is Harry Bradbeer, as I mentioned before.
Susie:
She does break the fourth wall a few times in the film where she talks directly to camera, but it works.
Alexei:
It works. You were saying that it reminded you a lot of Fleabag, the director's previous work.
Susie:
Exactly, and I adored Fleabag. How did you feel about Fleabag?
Alexei:
I've not seen it?
Susie:
You haven't seen Fleabag?
Alexei:
I don't watch TV very much.
Susie:
That's fair enough. How would you have time when you digest 20 movies a day?
Alexei:
Basically, I can watch at least a movie every day.
Susie:
Wow.
Alexei:
I'm trying to break my record and watch a movie at all times. I'm going to get Google Glass so I can just always be watching a movie in one eye. The rest of the eye's looking around the world.
Alexei:
I agree. I always have this thing about the fourth wall where it's broken, where a character talks directly to the audience. I try and figure out what is the purpose of this? Why are they doing this? I always go to films like Wayne's World's my big example of this.
Susie:
That's a great example.
Alexei:
It's my go-to example, because it's got two characters that break the fourth wall to address the audience. They do it for different purposes. Wayne is always there with confidence to present and show off this world that we live in to the audience. And also Garth is there to confide and to confess.
Alexei:
I go in with that in mind, how does she talk to it? It's a great encapsulation of this character, because it said throughout the movie, probably countless times, that Enola is alone backwards, and she feels very alone. It's just her and her mom and the people that work at the house.
Susie:
She doesn't feel alone until her mother leaves. That's a huge moment in the film. It emphasises that feeling of being a solo traveler on this journey.
Alexei:
Yeah. I think that's what this is saying, is that she doesn't have friends around her. She is alone. When she addresses the camera, when she dresses the audience, it is with this fun, friendly vibe where it feels like she's connecting directly to the audience, as we're her only friends.
Susie:
Totally. She's inviting someone into the story, and she does it in a really good way. She's exceptional in this.
Alexei:
Yeah. I think it's done with such humor. There's a great moment, which is my favourite break on the fourth wall, where she is in a fight scene, and she's got her head pushed into some water, she's being drowned. Then we see her face and she just winks, showing us that, "No, I'm just playing dead," gets up and gets the upper hand. I love that moment. Was done with such good humor in a really dark and twisted way.
Susie:
Spoiler alert: She doesn't die.
Alexei:
Spoiler alert: Enola Holmes does not die in Enola Holmes.
Susie:
No, and I'm so glad that she doesn't, because it feels like the beginning of a whole series of adventures for this character.
Susie:
There is a moment where we leave the English countryside and we head into London, grubby London, beautiful, beautiful palette of colours there with London.
Alexei:
You came alive seeing this.
Susie:
Oh, gosh. I just love that muted palette, it's my favourite thing.
Alexei:
Susie, you've been to London a many time in your life.
Susie:
I have been to London many times.
Alexei:
Did this feel like the London that you love?
Susie:
This felt like a portrait of London and I very much enjoyed it again. Again, the colouring is something I really loved, that washed out grey, when will the sun ever come out again London. Those dark alleyways, that industrial vibe, those big warehouses, like it's so grubby in the best possible way. But you haven't been to London.
Alexei:
I've never been to London. I believe that I have seasonal dissociative disorder where grey skies make me feel grey. Grey skies make this guy feel grey. I think that, as well, the London of this movie is really fun because it captures, not unlike Matilda, that fairytale story book vibe of this caricatured London where everyone's like, "Oh, hello love, you know, you go buy fish from here. Here's the news. Hear ye, hear ye. We've got a report here saying that women are equal now. I think that's crazy."
Susie:
What do I say or make of it?
Alexei:
Come on love. Join me with an accent.
Susie:
There are definitely less rats than in most films about London. There's only maybe one rat featured. I have to say that Enola seems to adjust to London life very quickly for a 16 year old who's never left her country house. She gets her corset. I think what I'm saying is I'm jealous, that I am in my mid thirties and Heathrow still scares me and I haven't quite dealt with Spanx and she puts on a corset and gets in London and she's fine.
Alexei:
Yeah. Well, it sounds like she's been mentally preparing for her whole life and it sounds like you've been avoiding it.
Susie:
This 16 year old is more adjusted than I am. It's fine.
Alexei:
It's okay, Susie. They're fictional.
Susie:
There's a couple of really beautiful relationships in this film, and the central one is the mother/daughter relationship between the mother character played by Helena Bonham Carter and Millie Bobby Brown with Enola Holmes.
Enola Holmes:
She was not an ordinary mother. She didn't teach me to string seashells or practice my embroidery. We did different things. Reading, science, sports, all sorts of exercise, both physical and mental.
Alexei:
Yeah. And because it's the central relationship that the entire film hinges on, it's important for them to build that chemistry together. You love seeing them together. You want them to be together, and then the whole movie sets up that you need to see them get back together again, because the whole movie is about them not being together.
Susie:
Yeah. And it feels like the relationship is dangerous, but it also works. It feels dangerous in an exciting way, not in a detrimental or abusive way.
Alexei:
Yeah. It leaves you with that yearning to see them reunite, so you're on board with Enola the whole time. You understand why she needs to be on this journey to find her mother, reunite her family.
Susie:
Yeah, exactly.
Alexei:
There is really lovely mother/daughter thing where we see that Enola as a young girl is exemplified by having this little porcupine that she's made out of pine cone, and she would drag it around with her. She called it Dash. Her mother has saved it for her her whole life, and it comes back in this really meaningful way.
Susie:
You don't get to see the mother character as being terribly sentimental because she is this harebrained mad woman who does these experiments and teaches Enola how to play tennis indoors. It's like everything's being broken or there's these fight scenes being played out. The education of this child is questionable at best, but it's exciting. It just really sets up that this is a different sort of education that the mother is giving her daughter.
Alexei:
Susie, you and I love talking about actors. This movie has got a great monster cast of some great British character actors. Let's round them up.
Speaker 11:
Okay. So Sam Claflin plays the mean brother, Mycroft Holmes.
Alexei:
He's like this nasty counterpart from another world. He's like the villain of this movie, basically.
Susie:
And we're used to seeing Sam as this... Sam, we're on a first name basis. We're used to seeing him as this romantic leading man, but he's actually really great as the villain character. And you do hate him, but he plays it really, really well. He has a great line in it where Enola says that she doesn't want to get married. And he says, "Well, that's another thing that we need to educate out of you." And you're just like, damn.
Alexei:
Damn. You're a beast, dude.
Susie:
Beast.
Alexei:
Can we spend about 500 weeks talking about Fiona Shaw in this movie?
Susie:
That won't be enough time. Fiona Shaw is heaven in this movie. As a lover of the film, Three men and a Little Lady, I was very happy to see her come back. You might know her from Killing Eve, so she's on a bit of a hot streak at the moment, but she does have that Trunchbull-ness about her.
Alexei:
Oh, big time, big time. I think that she's got that perfect level of humorous menace in this as well. Where you're just like you love to hate this person.
Susie:
And why are you leading a school of young women, when clearly you hate people?
Alexei:
Susie, before we wrap up our discussion on Enola Holmes, I want to ask you who should watch this movie?
Susie:
Alexei, I'm going to be honest with you. I think there is a little bit of something for everyone. I think there is adventure. There is mystery. There are these beautiful mother/daughter themes in it. There is this classic story that's been adapted into this beautiful English countryside that moves into grubby London, which you know I love.
Alexei:
You love it.
Susie:
I love it. The cast is incredible. The timing of this feminist film is perfect. I think that there's something for everyone.
Alexei:
This encapsulates the perfect thing a family movie should be. There's something in there for everyone. And especially if you yourself are a parent or someone with young people in your life and you love stuff like Fleabag, you love stuff like Killing Eve, you love detective stories. This is a great movie to introduce a young person to your tastes into these bigger stories if you want to shape a young person's taste to be just like yours. It's a great starting off point.
Susie:
So, if you're listening to this right now and you're going, "Alexei, Susan, I could not agree with you more. You shaped my movie tastes," then maybe you want to follow us on Spotify and comment wherever you get your podcasts, because this little baby will be in your feed every single Tuesday.
Alexei:
Before we dig into dessert, Susie, I want to cleanse our palates with a little comedic based game. And this is a game that I have played with my friends in the past as I am a film expert. This is a game called film or movie. Film or movie is a game where these two film buffs, you and I, put their emotions to the test and declare whether a title is either a film or a movie.
Susie:
But Alexei, what is the difference?
Alexei:
These are two very different words to describe something similar, but vastly different. A movie is entertainment. It's popcorn, it's comfort.
Susie:
And a film?
Alexei:
A film, that's art, baby. I'm talking themes. I'm talking existentialism. I'm talking [inaudible 00:06:53]. I'm talking about the human condition being explored, the cinematic arts.
Susie:
I understand the game, let's play.
Alexei:
So, Michael here, our producer, has prepared a title that he wants to find out whether it's a film or if it's a movie.
Susie:
Hello, producer Michael.
Michael:
Hello. The motion picture of the week, it's another raucous detective story. One of the most iconic ones. It's Scooby-Doo: The Movie.
Alexei:
Oh my word. Are you trying to play tricks on me by bringing something called Scooby-Doo: The Movie?
Susie:
This is a film. This is about the tragedy of a peroxide hair colour gone wrong. This is about a beautiful man called Freddie Prince Jr. who has taken on a role as Fred and had to say farewell to his delicious brunette locks. It's a tragedy in many ways.
Alexei:
And I think the fact that he's called Fred in the movie must have felt so resonant for him. Every time someone's calling him Fred, he's like, "Oh, that's me."
Susie:
That's really is me.
Alexei:
That really is me.
Susie:
So, it's a self exploration. It's a mystery of identity. It is... Yeah, sure. It's set on Spooky Island and there is hi-jinks involved. But I think that this is a piece of art that not only explores Freddie Prince Jr. and his adventures of hair colour, but it's really about how we're all, in many ways, a dog that can't articulate their feelings.
Alexei:
Wow. Wow. My life as a dog.
Susie:
Yeah.
Alexei:
And that dog's name is Scooby-Doo.
Susie:
Yeah, that's right.
Alexei:
I would declare the opposite of this.
Susie:
I'm shocked.
Alexei:
Tragically, I would say Scooby-Doo: The Movie, is just as the title says.
Susie:
Wow.
Alexei:
It's a fricking movie. And here's my main reason why. It has got a remixed version of the classic Scooby-Doo, Where Are You song, as sung by reggae artist Shaggy. And no, I'm not talking about Scooby's friend. I'm talking about the reggae artist-
Susie:
You're talking about Mr. Boombastic himself.
Alexei:
Yes. The guy who said it wasn't me. Well, guess what? This time it was him. I'm lifting up the head. I'm lifting up that mask, and who's underneath it? It's Shaggy. Mr. Boombastic.
Susie:
Okay. That's your argument but it's not for us to decide, it's up to Producer Michael and it will be every week. Producer Michael, film or movie?
Michael:
It is a film. But, Susie, it's not for any of the reasons you said, unfortunately. It is because I have just found a fun fact online; Scrappy-Doo's real name is Scrappy Cornelius Doo. It's a film, baby.
Alexei:
There's no arguing that.
Susie:
Okay.
Alexei:
It's official, Scooby-Doo: The Movie is renamed, from henceforth, Scooby-Doo-
Susie:
Scooby-Doo:-
Alexei:
The Film.
Susie:
Alexei, our dessert today is something that is very close to your heart, and also very close to my heart.
Alexei:
For dessert, we want to recommend a movie today, for some extra viewing, that encapsulated a lot of the themes, and weirdly enough stylistic choices, of Enola Holmes, as well. The movie today is one of our shared favourites. It is Looking for Alibrandi.
Josephine Alibrandi:
In case you're wondering, this is Tomato Day.
Susie:
A movie that has shaped us both as people and film lovers. It has this beautiful mother-daughter relationship in it, which is not dissimilar to Enola Holmes. Looking at you right now, are you tearing up?
Alexei:
I'm tearing up. It's my favorite movie of all time. Like you said, the mother-daughter relationship is so well done. They both have these really fun, spunky, irreverent narrators, that are ... the narration's throughout the entire movie, and it's done in such a way, and I feel like the movies end in almost the exact same way.
Susie:
We can't give that away, but-
Alexei:
No, can't give that away.
Susie:
... this story is about Josephine Alibrandi, who is trying to find herself, coming of age film, it's set in Australia. It's so close to my heart, still. I feel like I read the book, loved it, watched the movie, loved it even more, which is very rare.
Alexei:
Yeah. I have such a strong personal connection to it, because I think it really speaks to that idea of representation in film, where if you see something that feels like your reflection looking back at you, it just feels so powerful and so special. There's not a movie that does it more personally for me, because I see that movie, I see Pia Miranda as this high schooler in Sydney at that time, living in this diasporic community. I'm like, that's my life. That's what my life was like exactly, growing up as a little Greek boy in the same house as my mum and my yiayia. It feels like such an accurate representation of what three different generations of evolution of migrant life in Australia feels like.
Susie:
I genuinely couldn't agree with you more. I think I've cried every single time I've seen this film. There's memories of growing up with your grandmother, of being this immigrant child, of having that ... it wasn't Tomato Day for us, it was Lebanese Pizza Day in the outdoor oven.
Alexei:
For me it was Dolmades Day.
Susie:
And I could not think of a better day than Dolmades Day.
Alexei:
I mean, we're talking about what an authentic experience this film is, and it's coming from two people that lived it. So it's such a beautiful movie, share it with your friends and family. If you haven't watched it in some time, or if you've never seen it before, it's one of the all-time great Australian films that speaks to a very specific Australian experience. The other theme it really captures is that there is a mystery at the heart of that film, as well.
Susie:
A family mystery. Yes.
Alexei:
Just like Enola Holmes. So, yes, it does sound like that we shoehorned in our favourite movie as the recommendation for this first episode, but we proved why it should be.
Susie:
Yes, we justified it. Will we do it again? Almost definitely.
Alexei:
Yeah, I'm sure we'll be dessert many, many times in the future.
Susie:
I think it is also a really great way for us to bring up that you have met Pia Miranda and it was an excellent experience in your life.
Alexei:
I cried. I met her in a professional setting, and I was like, "That movie meant so much to me. Can you please sign the book that I stole from my high school?" I just started crying. I couldn't handle it.
Susie:
Enola Holmes is a genre mashup, so if you're looking for a little bit more adventure, I highly recommend Kick-Ass. If you're looking for a bit more female empowerment, can you go pass Mulan? The answer is no. If you want a bit more hi-jinks and mistaken identity, then Shakespeare in Love is what came to mind for me. A classic.
Alexei:
That is a good pick for this.
Susie:
A great film, and to round off our petit four of dessert, extra recommendations here, I have to say that the doco, RBG, is the most wonderful film I have seen in the last 10 years, that I have probably watched 10 times, in honour of that incredible feminist icon. That is is for today's feast.
Alexei:
And let me tell you, I have had my elegant sufficiency of food film today.
Susie:
I have unbuttoned the top of my jeans. I am walking around the block. This is hurting, but I loved it.
Alexei:
I'm waddling away from the buffet table.
Susie:
Let's just recap the menu today. We started with Matilda. We moved onto Enola Holmes, our film du jour, and then we finished with a dessert that is close to both of our hearts, the cinematic tiramisu that is Looking for Alibrandi.
Alexei:
Well, Susie, as we look off, as that plane flies away, it truly does look like this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Susie:
We have been friends for quite a few years now, so ...
Alexei:
This looks like the continuation of a beautiful friendship.
Susie:
I agree.
Alexei:
But if you want to hear more movie talk from me specifically, you can head over to Total Reboot. It's a film podcast I host with my friend, Cameron James, all about reboots, remakes. So obviously, Susie, I do love remakes, which is why I am so excited and tantalise by next week's film du jour, which is a remake of an absolute iconic queer cinema classic, The Boys in the Band. It's a film adaptation of the latest revival of that classic play, and it has such a great cast of contemporary actors like Zachary Quinto, Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, to name a few. Cannot wait for this film.
Susie:
This episode was hosted and written by Alexei Toliopoulos and Susie Youssef. It was produced by Michael Sun and Anu Hasbold, edited by Geoffrey O'Connor. Executive produced by Tony Broderick and Melanie Mahony. What a good bunch of eggs.
ENDS [00:33:04]