‘Planet of the Apes’, ‘The Midnight Sky’, and ‘Snowpiercer’ make up a dystopian degustation in this episode with Susie Youssef and Alexei Toliopoulos.
‘Planet of the Apes’, ‘The Midnight Sky’, and ‘Snowpiercer’ make up a dystopian degustation in this final episode of Season One with Susie Youssef and Alexei Toliopoulos.
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Alexei Toliopoulos:
It breaks my heart that George Clooney isn't Greek. I'm convinced that every Greek person believes that George Clooney is Greek, and it's a conspiracy theory that he's not. I mean, he looks so Greek and his name is George. It's one of the Greekest names you can have after Alexei Toliopoulus, I would say.
Susie Youssef:
That is the Greekest name anyone's ever had. Hello, I'm Susie Youssef.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And I'm Alexei Toliopoulus.
Susie Youssef:
Welcome to the Big Film Buffet.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
This is the film podcast for non-film nerds.
Susie Youssef:
But it's also the kind of podcast that's going to make you sound way smarter when you talk about films, whether you've seen them or not.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And that's because, let me tell you this babies, I freaking love movies.
Susie Youssef:
It's true. Each episode, we'll be sharing with you a three-course feast of films inspired by the Netflix Premier Flick of the Week.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
We fire up our engines with a classic cinematic startup.
Susie Youssef:
And then we take off into the unknown and rocket towards our main course, The Midnight Sky.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And as always, we'll finish with a protein bar-like dessert that may contain a secret ingredient.
Susie Youssef:
You're making that sound way more sinister than it is. It's just a recommendation of another film that you may enjoy.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well, I was trying to reference the movie Soylent Green, which is a classic dystopian picture starring Charlton Heston, where Soylent Green is the only food that they can eat-
Susie Youssef:
Alexi.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
... and slowly we find out that Soylent Green is actually. So we're looking at dystopian futures on the podcast today.
Susie Youssef:
Kind of speculative versions of life beyond earth, or visions of a world that we once called home, but now we can barely recognise.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Movies perhaps where there's a cataclysmic event or a slow shift into darkness and humanity is forsaken.
Susie Youssef:
So it's pretty fun stuff. Just super light, doesn't hurt your brain at all.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well, Susie, you're going to go bananas when you find out what our start-up for the day is.
Susie Youssef:
We're going to 1968 with Planet of the Apes.
Audio:
Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
When astronaut George Taylor crashes on an unknown world, he is captured by its ape rulers and shocked to discover that is, in fact, humans that inhabit the wild and are domesticated as pets. But all is not as it seems on the planet of the apes.
Susie Youssef:
Alexei Toliopoulos, you love this movie.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Straight up, this is an all-time favourite for me. I love the Planet of the Apes franchise. I think in my heart, deep, deep down bubbling to the top, I prefer Planet of the Apes to Star Wars.
Susie Youssef:
Wow, big call.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I got to go on the record and say this.
Susie Youssef:
Where is that button? I need to press one of these big red buttons, or I need a phone or something to call.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
We need the air horns. The air horns should be going off right now. But I love Planet of the Apes. I've got two Planet of the Apes posters hanging up in my study because I just think it's so weird and so cool. And I have this love of like ape creatures and stuff. I think they're cool and scary and they frighten me.
Susie Youssef:
Do you think that this film has shaped you as a film lover?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
As a film lover and an ape lover as well.
Susie Youssef:
Whereas I came to this from a different angle. So I kind of knew the characters from the Simpsons musical version of it first.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius or Dr. Zaius?
Susie Youssef:
I also knew Dr. Zaius because when Winona Ryder breaks the little Dr. Zaius figurine in Reality Bites.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
That's one of those moments that broke my nerd heart very early on in life.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. But I only watched it for the first time much later in life and so I knew all of those references. I went away with a bunch of friends who had seen Napoleon Dynamite and quoted it nonstop, and I'd never seen the film. Then when I saw it, I was like, "Oh, yeah."
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, yeah, that's a perfect reaction to that. Can I ask you a question? Were you shocked when you watched Planet of the Apes for the first time, that approximately one-third of it is a courtroom drama with apes?
Susie Youssef:
It's a totally courtroom drama.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Absolutely.
Susie Youssef:
I would say it is more a courtroom drama than it is an action film because that Mark Wahlberg version, which was 2001, that was an action film.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah.
Susie Youssef:
This is not an action film. It is, and I will say for the record, definitely a courtroom drama.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
We should have paired it up with the Trial of Chicago 7 we did that.
Susie Youssef:
We totally could have done that. We could have reviewed them together. It would have been perfect.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
You brought up that 2001 remake version. I remember seeing it in the cinema with my mum because we liked Planet of the Apes.
Susie Youssef:
And Mark Wahlberg?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And I don't think I even knew who Mark Walhberg was. I think I thought he was Matt Damon, and we went to go see Planet of the Apes. It's one of the only movies I've ever walked out of in my life and every three years or so, I come back to it thinking, I'm going to love this. It's going to be a hidden masterpiece that we don't know about because those costumes and the makeup is so fantastic. And it's a Tim Burton film, so it's got incredible production design. And literally every time I've watched it, I'm like, "This is a huge dog. This is bad. This is bile. This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen." Every year I go in, it's going to be the one, I'm going to love this movie this time.
Susie Youssef:
Alexei, you know that it's not going to change.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I know.
Susie Youssef:
Like, you know that it doesn't matter what meal you've eaten beforehand, it doesn't matter what clothes you're wearing, it's going to be the same celluloid every time, yeah?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think I'm hoping that I've changed, that I've come to it and I've awoken to the movie.
Susie Youssef:
I hope you never change.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This really is that classic ultimate science fiction film that really asked those big speculative questions that sci-fi often does. And this time it is, what if there were a planet of the apes?
Susie Youssef:
I think it's pretty amazing to think back to the origins of this film and to see how amazing the kind of makeup and design was for the era, like it's 1968.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, you're so right, because these costumes are so complex and so interesting. They took so long to apply this amazing groundbreaking makeup so the actors had to be kept in it all day long. So you feel them becoming the apes, I guess if they're just walking around dressed like that and so much so, that at the premiere of the film, Kim Hunter, who plays amazing Doctor Zira in this film asked Charlton Heston how he'd been going, what he'd been up to. And he had no idea who he was talking to because he just never saw her outside of the costume before. And he fricking kisses her in the movie.
Susie Youssef:
They kissed i.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. There was like a really beautiful moment, kind of strange, but ultimate beautiful moment. That is my worst nightmare.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
That someone, you've kissed someone and they have no idea who you were.
Susie Youssef:
Someone not remembering that they've kissed me is genuinely one of my greatest fears. An unmemorable kiss, like a bad kiss, fine. A good kiss, obviously better, but an unmemorable kiss? [crosstalk 00:06:18].
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I know. And he kissed her dressed as a monkey and he didn't remember her.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, that's insane. I also heard that because they had to stay in their costumes for so long, and this is human nature. They kind of gravitated towards their species. So the chimps would sit with the chimps and the kind of apes would sit with the apes and the humans would sit away, because it's just human nature to do that, which is bizarre.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
That's so cool. I mean, you can feel that authenticity in the movie, but I love that this movie has a making of that's like high school. It's Like Mean Girls. They stick to their cliques.
Susie Youssef:
It's the Mean Girls of the ape world.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
The planet of the mean girls. Susie, can I tell you one of my all time, favourite fun facts when it comes to film?
Susie Youssef:
I could not stop you if I tried.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Okay. You cannot. You could never stop me on this one in fact. In this film, Charlton Heston is the lead. We know that. Now, here's the stuff that you may not know. In Greek, the language that I grew up speaking, Heston or Heston means to shit oneself, or more accurately, shit on him. So in Greece, Charlton Heston's name on The Planet of the Apes poster is written as Charlton Eastern.
Susie Youssef:
So that nobody misinterprets?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
So that nobody would muck around on his name. He wouldn't get teased by a whole country of people. So Greeks, they just know him as Charlton Eastern, until one day they found out. And let me tell you, it was one of the most fun days that country ever had.
Susie Youssef:
They announced it was a Greek holiday and a day off work.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And they took a day off work and they took a new pair of pants.
Susie Youssef:
At the beginning of the film we're in a space ship, which a lot of these kinds of post-apocalyptic movies were in a spaceship, of course we are. But it doesn't stay in the spaceship very long, which I kind of love, the aesthetic of this film is unlike modern post-apocalyptic films because it's this barren desert vibe instead.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Instead of something being overgrown or something freezing over, it's like what we thought the world could be like, if it, once again became ancient or something.
Susie Youssef:
Yes.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And I love that crash landing at the start of the film. It's one of my favourite things, because it is so weird. It's like '68. They don't know how to do a crash landing. They can't do it with miniatures, it would look too weird.
Susie Youssef:
No.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Especially because this movie's trying to take things a little bit seriously. So they can't do CGI because computers don't really exist yet. And they just have to kind of invent what a crash landing should feel like. So it's like these weird cacophony of shots of just a helicopter zooming across the desert that they flip around and stretch out, and just gives you that really sick otherworldly feeling of some psychedelic interpretation of a crash landing. I think it's just so cool.
Susie Youssef:
It's so cool until we see the very first female character in the film age immediately.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And she's like 10,000 years old and looks hideous.
Susie Youssef:
And all Charlton Heston does is grow a beard that makes him look more handsome.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, he looks much better with the beard.
Susie Youssef:
It's much, much better. In the first 20 minutes.
PART 1 OF 4 ENDS [00:09:04]
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, he looks much better with a beard.
Susie Youssef:
Much, much better. In the first 20 minutes of this film, they crash onto a planet that they have not been on, or have they? And then they immediately get naked.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And they go for a freaking swim.
Susie Youssef:
They go for a swim. And it always makes me think. When you watch these post-apocalyptic movies, I always wonder what I would do. Do you ever do that where you're like, "Well, who would I be like?" Would I be the scientist who's brave enough to get on the spaceship or would I just want to hide away in a bunker on earth? I would never. There's no chance in any world or time that I'm getting off a space ship and getting naked and going skinny dipping. That's not going to-
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It could be acids.
Susie Youssef:
That's exactly what my thought was.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And you're like, "Hang on a second. This is a real trip."
Susie Youssef:
But they just get the gear up and they've also got these cool backpacks with all the stuff they could possibly need. They just discard it to one side and go swimming.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Chuck them out. I think I'm probably going to eat some berries. I think I do-
Susie Youssef:
I'm not eating the berries and I'm not going swimming naked. They are the two things I definitely know I'm not doing after the world ends.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And I think this would be my ideal apocalypse, would be an ideal dystopian future. I feel my heritage has led me to be quite a hairy person. I feel like I could blend in with the apes. They're just like, "This is the most handsome ape." And I might thrive there.
Susie Youssef:
Well, I think that considering my background, I could also compete for that.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
You and I are the prom king and queen or the Planet of the Apes.
Susie Youssef:
One thing that I found really interesting was the score of this film. And I think going back through films of the sixties, it's really interesting to hear how they use music because it's changed so much over time.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Especially something like this, they're experimenting with it, right?
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. And that's exactly what it sounds like. Soundtracks and film composing is such a massive part of cinema now. But at one point watching this, I was just picturing the composer just throwing instruments around the Foley room. It's really chaotic, it's really unnerving, it definitely works, but do you think it was on purpose that it's like this?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Absolutely. I think they were really experimenting with this. It's a very percussive score by Jerry Goldsmith. It's very evocative, it's very primal, it's intimidating. I think it captures exactly what you're talking about. And there is even in fact, a rumour that Jerry Goldsmith wrote and composed this score while wearing a gorilla mask to get in touch with his inner ape. So he very might as well been throwing stuff around the room, including his own heston.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well, Susie, it's time for us to escape from the Planet of the Apes and travel all the way to the planet of the mates.
Susie Youssef:
You did it.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes. George Clooney hanging out with a mute girl for a full two hours.
Susie Youssef:
It's time for The Midnight Sky.
George Clooney:
Come in Aether, this is Barbeau Observatory. Are you receiving this? Is anyone out there?
Susie Youssef:
So this maybe is a version of Earth after some sort of apocalyptic, probably climate change issue. And there is a lone scientist who is living in this kind of Arctic landscape.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
This bunker.
Susie Youssef:
This bunker. He's bunkering down and he's trying to contact a crew that has been sent out to find life on another planet or moon, and they have actually succeeded in doing that, and they're on their way back to earth, but he's warning them not to because it is no longer an option to live here.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, Earth sucks, dudes. Stay on Jupiter's moon. The Midnight Sky is directed by George Clooney. It stars George Clooney.
Susie Youssef:
All hail to George.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It also stars Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Tiffany Boone, with Demián Bichir, Kyle Chandler, introducing Caoilinn Springall.
George Clooney:
I have to warn them about the conditions on Earth before it's too late.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I was very much anticipating this movie because it's George Clooney's first acting role since 2016.
Susie Youssef:
I felt like it had been ages since we've seen him. Where have you been, George?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
He's raising twins.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, he's raising kids. [crosstalk 00:12:46] life.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Amal and George, they're living their own life now.
Susie Youssef:
I mean, he's saving the world, raising kids, and drinking coffee at the same time. He's living large.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's the Nespresso lifestyle, baby. I find George Clooney really interesting as a director because you really do get an idea of what his taste is.
Susie Youssef:
I totally agree.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It really does feel like a continuation of the films he chooses to star in as an actor, as a movie star as well. Some of his films feel like extensions of the universe of the filmmakers he works with very often, like the Coen brothers. And this feels like both his work with Alfonso Cuarón on Gravity and Steven Soderbergh's remake Solaris.
Susie Youssef:
I also think that there's a point in a lot of actors' lives where they become fathers and space movies end up becoming part of their repertoire.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes. It's like the daddyest genre that there is.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, it's the daddyest genre.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Because it's all about rescuing and saving people. Usually, it's someone younger or saving the entire world.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. And it's the whole idea of if the world is going to end, what have we all been here for? What's the point of any of this? And I feel like the idea of fatherhood, it comes up in almost every space movie I've ever seen in my life.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
This whole thing. And you watched this movie with your dad, right?
Susie Youssef:
I watched it with Dad. We both love George Clooney very much. When I spoke to my dad about this afterwards, he was like, "Oh, George Clooney. He's an all-time star." Like Matt Damon, who is his absolute favourite. If he's up there with Matt Damon, then George Clooney is a star.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I would love to sit down with your dad and watch the Ocean's movies to see them on screen together.
Susie Youssef:
Yes, it was his favourite.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I also adore George Clooney as a movie star, as an actor. The thing that I love the most about him is that he's such a precise facial actor. He can make his face twitch and all these really interesting ways that feels like he just has complete control over it. I think the way George Clooney can carry a movie with this sense of walled-off grief is really second to none. I'm going to get really personal here, Susie.
Susie Youssef:
Oh my goodness.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It breaks my heart that George Clooney isn't Greek. I'm convinced that every Greek person believes that George Clooney is Greek and it's a conspiracy theory that he's not. I mean, he looks so Greek and his name is George. It's one of the Greekest names you can have after Alexi Toliopoulos I would say.
Susie Youssef:
That is the Greekest name anyone's ever had.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I also read this review for this film that said he looks like a Greek fisherman in this film.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. I'm buying seafood off that dude.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
What Clooney does so well in this film, he just exudes all that movie starness on this role, in a way that harkens back to his Oscar win for Syriana. I think he really is the great modern movie star that knows how to use that movie star persona better than anyone. He knows when to go for it, like in Ocean's Eleven, when to satirise or burn off the reading for comedic effect, and when to shed it like he does here. Here he really is that sad, lonely man who's trapped himself away in a lighthouse. And might I also say, I simply adore when his beard gets those icicles, especially in the moustache area. I just want to crack them and put my fingers through it and see what it feels like.
Susie Youssef:
I could not agree with you more. I have to say, of course, throughout history people have wanted to kiss George Clooney, but I just want to kiss the icicles on his bed. It's weird, it's a thing that I might regret saying in the future, but I stand by it for now. It's how I felt.
Susie Youssef:
Alexei Toliopoulos, when you talk about George Clooney, your eyes change it into heart-shaped emojis. I don't know if you know that. You should look into mirrors as you talk.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
The gorgeous silver fox with heart emojis.
Susie Youssef:
You love him so much. Did you know though that he's been nomed in six different Oscar's categories?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Really?
Susie Youssef:
I'm pretty sure that if I tested you, you would know this, but he shares a record with Walt Disney and one other creator that you would definitely know. If you had to guess?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Alfonso Cuarón?
Susie Youssef:
Yes. Of course, you knew that. But can you think of what all of those categories would be?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Okay. I reckon I can get there. I know that he's won an Oscar for best supporting actor for Syriana.
Susie Youssef:
Yes.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
So best supporting actor, let's lock that one in.
Susie Youssef:
Lock that one in, that's true.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Best actor.
Susie Youssef:
Yes.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
But don't know what movies they would be, but I'm guessing he's been nominated. All the Descendants and stuff.
Susie Youssef:
Yes, that's one of them.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, Descendants. So he's best actor.
Susie Youssef:
He's actually been nominated three times for best actor. If you can get these, I will be so impressed because one of them I've never even heard of.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
The Descendants.
Susie Youssef:
Yep.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I would also suggest Up in the Air.
Susie Youssef:
Yes.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And the other one, I'm going to take a stab. Is it older or was it more recent?
Susie Youssef:
It's 2008.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Michael Clayton.
Susie Youssef:
I've never even heard of that film.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I saw that movie in the cinemas.
Susie Youssef:
Of course, you did.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Okay. So the other categories outside of acting, I remember watching those Oscars back in the day and seeing Good Night, and Good Luck get heaps of nominations. And he basically did everything with that movie, so I'm guessing he got a director's nomination for it. I'm also going to guess that it got a screenplay nomination.
Susie Youssef:
For?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I'm going to say best original screenplay.
Susie Youssef:
Yes, correct.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Because I remember his dad is involved. It's based on his dad's life or something like that. Something weird.
Susie Youssef:
So it's probably set in space or something.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, some space shit or whatever. I think he's a producer as well. So I'm going to guess maybe not for that film, but another film he's nominated for best picture somewhere.
Susie Youssef:
Yes. Do you know what the film is?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
He's not in it, is he? It's something weird. It's going to be a weird pick.
Susie Youssef:
It won.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It won best picture?
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, so it wasn't just nomed.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Argo.
Susie Youssef:
Yes, 2013. Well done. Last one.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Argo, I got it right. And then what else do I have left? One more.
Susie Youssef:
One more.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I'm going to say another screenplay-
PART 2 OF 4 ENDS [00:18:04]
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And then what else do I have left? One more.
Susie Youssef:
One more.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I'm going to say another screenplay nomination.
Susie Youssef:
Yes!
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Best adapted screenplay.
Susie Youssef:
Perfect.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I love your judging boy. So we talked about George Clooney a whole dang lot already, but he's not the only person in this film, even though he's this lonely guy on the planet. There's a whole spaceship full of other actors. We've got Felicity Jones, who's up on the space ship pregnant. I think it's an exciting performance from her. I really like her as an actor.
Susie Youssef:
There's also a Tiffany Boone who plays Maya in the film. And I think she's kind of the emotional heart of this. Not just because of the way that she performs, but the way that other actors kind of gravitate towards her performance. And Demian Bichir is one of those beautiful performers who, again, like you were saying before, really precise facial actor, who is so emotional. And just doesn't have a massive part but for me, he was one of the standouts.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Absolutely. I agree with you on both of those two. I also really like David Oyelowo.
Susie Youssef:
Oh I love him.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Who plays the captain of the ship. I think he's such a great actor as well. And I liked that we've got this interesting ensemble of actors in this almost kind of chamber piece on the spaceship. And also it's the first time I ever saw Caoilinn Springall because it's her introduction to film.
Susie Youssef:
But she's beautiful.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's a really great performance from a young star who kind of captures this cheekiness of this girl that's stuck with George Clooney who captures the heart of it all. And I think that's why it's a dad flick.
Susie Youssef:
Totally. You spend a lot of the film with George Clooney, kind of walking in his shoes in this really freezing cold lonely world. But there's a couple of really lovely moments where we're on the spaceship and they have this, I'm always interested in the spaceship technology that they choose to take with them. So the memory technology that they have in this projected scenes from their life, and they get to kind of sit with old family members and re-live conversations. And again, another beautiful moment with Demian Bichir where he's watching the character of Maya sit with her family. And there's just so much love in that moment. For me, that was one of the highlight.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think it's the best thing in the movie, in my opinion. I love that moment. And I love when we get to see the interesting designs of a spaceship.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, totally.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I like this one because we talked about this being a bit of a chamber piece. It does have that original Star Trek vibe, or even it reminded me of Black Mirror where there's an episode that plays on Star Trek with Jesse Plemons. And it also has that retro futuristic feeling, that ultra sleek design, but it's not quite the exact same.
Susie Youssef:
No, it does feel like an original design. And it also feels like a lived in space. You believe that these people have been together in this space for a while.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. I agree. I really liked the way the spaceship looks.
Susie Youssef:
Yes. But it's something I did not find pleasing to the eye is a very dramatic moment in the film where there is a...
Alexei Toliopoulos:
An accident, if you will.
Susie Youssef:
An accident, if you will. Yes. An accident involving blood in zero gravity is something I've actually never seen. I can't think of another film where I've seen it. It's quite intense and really visceral and just disgusting in the best possible way.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. It's creepy, right, seeing that CGI blood floating around.
Susie Youssef:
Oh, yuck.
Speaker 1:
This is Etha. Does anyone copy? We've lost contact with NASA and everyone else.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
One thing I found really interesting about this film is that it kind of resonated like it was this mix of sci-fi dystopian films that have come before it. It's elements of a doomed apocalyptic journey, like in The Road, there's a bit of a reluctant saviour thing going on, like in Children of Men. And there's this huge cli-fi, which means climate fiction.
Susie Youssef:
Thank you for educating me.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Element like in The Day After Tomorrow. I think this is what getting all the in movie geekdom feels like for me, because all of these movies, I'm like, "Oh, these are all hip and current movies." But then looking back, I'm like, "Oh, these are like classics now that are old enough to be referenced in a movie like this."
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. I think that there's a huge audience for sci-fi dystopian films. I think this year is a weird year for it though, because we're kind of living in a bit of an apocalyptic time. It makes me think about all the different types of dystopian films that there are. It's not my favourite genre by any stretch. I do love a little bit of sci-fi, but dystopian films kind of make me anxious.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, absolutely.
Susie Youssef:
Because I worry so much about what role I would play. I brought this up with you before. I'm so stressed out about how the world is going to end. And we know, will we go down in fire or will it be this kind of icy landscape or will it be some other sort of sensory thing where no one can hear anything or no one can see anything?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Like Bird Box.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, that sort of thing. Do you have a preferred dystopia?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes. I would prefer gluttonous dystopia. I want full on hedonism.
Susie Youssef:
We have to eat forever.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
That's what I want. I think you're so right, Susie, because I see some people talking about these kinds of movies and I'm guilty of it. I watched a few apocalyptic dystopian type films earlier this year as well. I think right now we have this sick fascination with it or one that's kind of like almost fantasy. And I'm like, "Oh, what's it going to be like?" Or this curiosity about it. But I also think there's a weird comfort to it all where you feel like, "At least things aren't as bad as they are for George Clooney here. Or at least things aren't as bad as they are for crazy old Mad Max or something." I think there's like a reassurance that things are pretty tough right now, but they could be so much worse and they likely aren't going to be that bad, this soon.
Susie Youssef:
And so that's why we watched these films. We're like, "Okay, I can watch this horrendous downfall of mankind because we're not quite there yet."
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes. But we are on the way, rest assured.
Susie Youssef:
We're on the way. I don't know if he felt the same, but I really thought about Cast Away when I was watching The Midnight Sky. I think there's a lot of parallels there. And I really loved Cast Away. When you're watching these kinds of movies, where there is someone whose kind of lost or alone for long periods of time there's not a lot of dialogue. I think it just depends on what your personal mood is when you watch it, whether you love it or hate it. When I first watched Cast Away, I needed some space and I really enjoyed that.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think Cast Away is such an apt comparison, Susie, because it is about a lonely guy who grows an extremely big beard, who is also companioned with a person that cannot speak. In this we've got the mute girl, Iris and in Cast Away we've of course got Wilson.
Susie Youssef:
Oh, Wilson.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
One of my favourite movie stars of all time. I love that volleyball. But I agree with you. I think that, who will vibe with this movie are those general sci-fi fans. Think there's a lot to love here with George Clooney coming back to the screen. I think this is a really fabulous performance by him. So if you're a big George Clooney fan, if you're a Greek person or someone who's attracted George Clooney, you haven't seen him for a long time. You miss the guy.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. So sit down and spend a couple of hours with George. Before the world ends. You might want to keep listening to a few podcasts. So why not follow the Big Film Buffet on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And send us a comment or an SOS if you're in space, we can't help, but we certainly will try. You should rate us, review us, tell your friends, call your dad, call my dad. He'll answer. And then go back to the beginning and listen to all the eps and send us your thoughts and your love and subscribe so that you know when we'll be back next year.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
We have come to that most celebrated time in this podcast where we play a little game called film or movie.
Susie Youssef:
It's so celebrated that I brought a cake. We're all wearing hats. It's a really special time.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
We're having a beautiful time because not just us in the room right now, we're joined by our dearest and most beloved producer, Michael. Hello.
Michael Sun:
Hello, hello, hello.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Whoa. That was a beautiful draw back.
Michael Sun:
I don't know why I did that.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I love that you sparkled in that moment and everyone is endeared to you now. We are going to be playing a game called film or movie, which is when producer Michael joins us with the title of a motion picture that we must declare is either a film, which Susie is?
Susie Youssef:
It's cinematic mastery. It is storytelling at its best. It is art.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Or it could be a movie which?
Susie Youssef:
Which I would say a movie is more popcorn. It's like the blockbusters of the world. It's something that's maybe a bit more commercial, but not a bad thing.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Not a bad thing at all.
Susie Youssef:
We love movie.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Watching a movie is one of my favourite things to do while I sit down. Well, produce a Michael, what is the picture you're placing in front of us to duke it out over today?
Michael Sun:
The title today is classic dystopian flick. It is Armageddon.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, Armageddon on the side of movie on this one.
Susie Youssef:
Oh, an interesting choice Alexei. Why is that?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well, because it's extremely silly. It's an extremely silly escapist movie.
Susie Youssef:
I don't know why you would say that. It's just a group of NASA astronauts who call an oil drillers to save the world.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes, that's actually the main reason I'm saying that. Ben Affleck himself on an audio commentary for this film said how ridiculous that was. And this is the actual quote. "Asked Michael Bay, why it was easier to train oil drillers to become astronauts than it was to train astronauts, to become oil drillers? And he told me to shut the fuck up. So, that was the end of that talk."
Susie Youssef:
I think that this is a film. I think that at it's core, much like the asteroid that is rocketing towards earth, it is about the speed at which we are heading towards our own end. I think it's about blue collar workers trying to find their purpose in this world, which is like everyone's purpose just to live and love.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh my word.
Susie Youssef:
And make something of themselves and try and help out the human race before they die.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Okay. It's got an Aerosmith song in.
Susie Youssef:
It doesn't have an Aerosmith song. It has the-
PART 3 OF 4 ENDS [00:27:04]
Alexei Toliopoulos:
... smith song. I ...
Susie Youssef:
It doesn't have an Aerosmith song. It has the Aerosmith song. This is the birth of I Don't Want to Miss a Thing. And let me tell you, I'm so glad I lived in the era where I didn't miss out on this song. I love this song more than anything.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Actually, I think I'm kind of getting convinced by Susie, because now I'm thinking about it, that Aerosmith song, that's like, I don't want to miss a thing. And do you know who missed a thing in their entire life? Fricking Steven Tyler, the father of Liv Tyler. They didn't even know that they were related until much later. She's in the movie. He sing to her from beyond. Oh, I'm like, I'm crying thinking about this now.
Susie Youssef:
Of course, you are. This is a film. This is Liv Tyler. This is Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Okay, wow.
Susie Youssef:
And all hail to Bruce Willis.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes. I love that fellow. I don't know. I could go either way. I mean, it is a Michael Bay flick. It is crazy. It is like that big blockbuster stuff.
Susie Youssef:
Fair enough. Michael Bay is known for his movies. He's a movie maker in many ways.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
He is.
Susie Youssef:
But I think what he touched on with this was us looking at our existential dilemma.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Wow. Wow. Susie, I'm crying. Mark, what do we reckon?
Michael Sun:
Let me tell you. I have a confession. I've never even heard of this movie, even ...
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Michael, what year were you born?
Michael Sun:
I was born one whole year before this title came out. I would have been one year old. This is in cinemas. I've never heard of this movie, but I will proclaim, it is in Data Movie because every night is titled as a movie QED, period, full stop.
Susie Youssef:
Wow.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Susie Youssef:
That's so cool.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Wow. Well, we love the movie.
Susie Youssef:
We love the movie.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Congratulations, Michael Bay, Ben Affleck, and of course Liv Tyler, you are movie stars.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well, it's time for us to chow down on the dessert of Soylent cream.
Susie Youssef:
No thank you.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
So instead we're talking about Snowpiercer.
Video:
And now, in front of our powered water supply section no less, you repay his kindness with violent hooliganism. Precisely 75% of you shall die.
Susie Youssef:
Snowpiercer is a film about earth's final inhabitants who are confined to a single train, circling the globe as a revolution brews among the class divided cars.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I really liked this movie. It's Bong Joon-ho.
Susie Youssef:
Probably goes without saying that Bong Joon-ho wrote and directed Parasite, which won best film. This is one of my favourite films. And if you haven't seen Parasite, because you're like, "Oh, I don't want to get on board that hype," hop on the Snowpiercer train and then take the express to Parasite because it is such a fucking good movie.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And this is his first English language film. I think this is one of the best modern dystopia films. It captures just the right amount of comic book campness that I love from a film that has a wackadoo far off vision of the future while still having this kind of mucky, grimy, Orwellian vibe. And the cast is pitch perfect. We've got Ed Harris and John Hurt doing their thing as political leaders on either side of the political spectrum and Tilda freaking Swinton.
Susie Youssef:
Terrifying Tilda Swinton.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Terrifying Tilda Swinton going full comedic caricature. I think she works so fascinatingly well with Bong Joon-ho in this film and also Okja. I-
Susie Youssef:
She's this comic relief character, or you think she'll be this comic relief character, but there's no relief. So it's just a kind of sinister comedy. It's such an unnerving performance. Every time she hits the screen, you're just like, "Oh, what are you going to do now?"
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, so beautifully put. And I want to ask you Susie, because I know you love Chris Evans.
Susie Youssef:
I don't know why you're saying that. I'm just wearing a t-shirt with his face on it.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think he's a great star, but this is my favourite performance of his. What do you think about him in this film?
Susie Youssef:
I think he's absolutely perfect. I think that there is a scene towards the end where you see a closeup of him just kind of processing what is happening and the enormity of what's just happened. And I'm speechless. I think he's phenomenal.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. I think he's so good in this film. If this chat has awoken a fascination with dystopian worlds for you, we've got a few extra recommendations. One of them is a bit of a discovery for me that I can't stop thinking about. It's a movie from 1988 called Miracle Mile. It is this weird genre mashup of romantic comedy and end of the world imminent apocalypse.
Susie Youssef:
Oh, two of my favourites.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think you'd really like this.
Susie Youssef:
I probably would.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's an LA guy and a gal who meet each other and instantly soulmates, but then he picks up a phone and it's a wrong number call that reveals World War Three has started and a nuclear missile is being fired off around the world.
Susie Youssef:
That old story?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, it's so weird. It's like this weird genre mix-up, but also it's got like cars of like 1980s and '90s character acts that you'd be so familiar with. You're like, "Oh, I've seen that guy in Seinfeld and stuff." It's very weird. It's very funny. I've never seen another movie like it. And I think it would make you so cool to watch this and just go, "Hey, check this out. This weird movie that I discovered." I'll let you claim it.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Also Solaris, the Steven Soderbergh remake starring George Clooney, huge influence on this film and it's worth checking out. It's a lot better than you remember.
Susie Youssef:
And George loves space. So if you love George in space, you should watch Gravity with Sandra Bullock, take your tissues. And if you want something a little bit closer to home, then you can't go past the dystopian treasure that is Mad Max: Fury Road.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, absolutely. So today on the menu, we gobbled up The Planet of the Apes. We filled our Tom-Tom with The Midnight Sky. And then we had a lovely dessert of Snowpiercer.
Susie Youssef:
Well, Alexei, if this is the end of the world, I think it has been the last three months making podcasts.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It was my pleasure, and I'd do it again in heaven where we will surely be. If you want to hear more from me in the meantime, you can head over to Total Reboot, the podcast where Cameron James, the comedian and I talk about reboots, remakes in cinema.
Susie Youssef:
And if you want to hear more from Alexei and myself, then subscribe to this podcast, and we'll be back next year with a whole lot more movies and a bunch of recommendations too.
Susie Youssef:
This episode and all episodes of the Big Film Buffet are written and hosted by Alexei Douglas Toliopoulos and Susie Catherine Youssef. They are produced by Michael Sun and Anu Hasbold, edited by Geoffrey O'Connor and executive produced by Tony Broderick and Melanie Mahony.
PART 4 OF 4 ENDS [00:33:19]