DeepSummary
In this episode, Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins discuss the movies 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die' and 'The Watchers.' They analyze the successes and shortcomings of these films, as well as Will Smith's return to franchise moviemaking and the directorial debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan.
They then briefly talk about Viggo Mortensen's second directorial feature, 'The Dead Don't Hurt,' a Western starring Mortensen and Vicky Krieps. Fennessey interviews Mortensen about the project, its creative origins, the importance of casting Krieps, and his favorite Westerns.
Mortensen shares his thoughts on why Westerns have fallen out of fashion in recent years and the challenges of subverting genre expectations while maintaining respect for the traditions of classic Westerns.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Will Smith's return to franchise moviemaking with 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die' was met with a mixed reaction, suggesting he may need to take more creative risks going forward.
- M. Night Shyamalan's daughter Ishana's directorial debut 'The Watchers' was viewed as a disappointment that failed to fully capitalize on its intriguing premise.
- Viggo Mortensen's 'The Dead Don't Hurt' was praised for its subversive and artful approach to the Western genre, centered around a strong female lead performance from Vicky Krieps.
- Mortensen emphasized the importance of meticulous preparation and openness to collaboration when directing, lessons he learned from working with acclaimed filmmakers like David Cronenberg.
- The decline of Westerns as a popular genre in recent decades was attributed largely to changing business interests in Hollywood, rather than diminishing audience interest.
- Effective storytelling shouldn't underestimate audience intelligence by over-explaining or spoon-feeding exposition.
- Casting the right actor for a specific role is crucial and can make or break a film project.
- Nonlinear storytelling can enhance audience engagement by revealing information in an unconventional way that generates intrigue.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “When you make a movie that's like, there's a movie about rules. If you're gonna undermine the rules, you have to undermine them in, like, a profound way, the way that a movie like the village does.“ by Sean Fennessey
- “I took something similar from him. I mean, I've been really lucky. The list of people I've worked for is, you know, really amazing. I took something. No matter how different they are as people and kinds of movies they make, I got the same thing from him as I got from Jane Campion, Matt Ross, you know, people you've never heard of. Ana Pitte duag in Argentina. I was tin Diagianes in Spain. David Olhofen France. Ron Howard, 100% Peter Weir. You know, all these people do two things extremely well. They prepare meticulously. They don't leave any stone unturned.“ by Viggo Mortensen
- “Yeah, I didn't have a bad time. But I never.“ by Amanda Dobbins
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Episode Information
The Big Picture
The Ringer
6/11/24