Encounter is well worth seeing. the only thing i d say is don t find out too much about it before you see it. 0k, well, that s always a good tip, if that s the case. and the christmas film. mark sighs. it is december, gotta have a christmas film. ok, but this is. it is a christmas film and it isn t. it starts out michael buble, a bunch of poshos arriving at a country house where they re all gonna have christmas together. they ve got their kids, but something is out of whack. the kids are swearing in a way that kids would not do, they are all telling each other stories that you would not expect them to and they are starting to behave like there is no tomorrow. here s a clip. simon. sure. um, where to start? er. god? god, yes, dear god, - may we thank you for. ..my wife s culinary talents. also an important.ah. um. for our beautiful friends? yes. for our beautiful children. um, for the food on our table. for, er, the lives that we ve shared.
Yeah, i told you that s how me and mom do it. if it makes sense for your mom to do that, that s cool, - but it doesn t make sense to me, and that s what i was explaining to you. why doesn t it make sense for you? because it s ridiculous. isit.? it s sad. the question is why i do you want to do it? you are just terrible at this. the whole film s got that kind of, you know, slightly low key, slightly mumblecore feel about it. that feels like it s improvised. it does, absolutely, and kind of beautifully shot, but also unobtrusive. what happens is ok, at the beginning, they re chalk and cheese. obviously during the course of the movie, they will find a bond, a relationship. he takes him to new york. there is quite a lot of them walking around new york that has a similar feel to something like manhattan, that kind of. they re talking about everything, but they re talking about nothing. and the weird thing about the film
Movie goes to hell. and it sounds like an interesting idea. i have to say for me, it did not work and it doesn t work for two reasons. the first one is that for the first part of it when it is a comedy with irritating poshos, i did not find them funny and i did not believe in them. and the second part of it, when it becomes the kind of apocalypse movie in which it is dealing with a lot of very dark material, it didn t feel earned. it felt like because i don t believe in these characters and because you are still doing the knockabout comedy stuff, none of this is earned. now, that said, i know some people who thought oh, this is great, you know? it s like an acerbic christmas i like an acerbic christmas film. i like, you know, silent night, deadly night. i like gremlins. there s that joke about, you know, christmas slay he knows if you ve been bad or good and he s got an axe. all that stuff is fine. the problem with this is it doesn t know how to do the balance between the comic and the horrific. so it s an interesting idea, but it. for me, it doesn t work. others think differently, but i ve watched it twice now and both times, it didn t work. ok, so, yeah, twice is enough, by the sounds of what you re saying.
Look slightly distanced. it also gives it a i know some people have sniffed at it. some people have said oh, well, itjust makes it look arty . i actually think it works quite well. i mean, here s the other question why not black and white? why should colour be the default? if that s the register the director wants to shoot it in, you know, do it in black and white. it looks lovely. yeah. 0k! well, interesting! your second choice for this week? encounter. so riz ahmed, who is brilliant in everything, is a decorated marine, hadn t seen his boys for a couple of years. he suddenly turns up in the middle of the night and says he is taking them on a road trip. then he says it is not a road trip, it s a rescue mission. he is a decorated marine who is now working on a mission because the earth has been invaded by extra terrestrial spores that are getting inside people, they get into the bloodstream, they take over the hosts and they turn people into basically it s like invasion of the body snatchers. but the film is a cross between invasion of the body snatchers and a psychological film about father and sons and there s also a family road trip in there and, at times, it s an adventure movie. it is written by.
what would we do in that circumstance? so it starts out like a christmas movie, but it s the christmas movie goes to hell. and it sounds like an interesting idea. i have to say for me, it did not work and it doesn t work for two reasons. the first one is that for the first part of it when it is a comedy with irritating poshos, i did not find them funny and i did not believe in them. and the second part of it, when it becomes the kind of apocalypse movie in which it is dealing with a lot of very dark material, it didn t feel earned. it felt like because i don t believe in these characters and because you are still doing the knockabout comedy stuff, none of this is earned. now, that said, i know some people who thought oh, this is great, you know? it s like an acerbic christmas i like an acerbic christmas film. i like, you know, silent night, deadly night. i like gremlins. there s that joke about, you know, christmas slay he knows if you ve been bad or good and he s got an axe. all that stuff is fine. the problem with this is it doesn t know how to do the balance between the comic and the horrific. so it s an interesting idea, but it. for me, it doesn t work.
Joe barton did the original script and then michael pearce, who made beast, did work with him on it and directed it. the really smart thing about it is it starts out like a m night shyamalan movie and then, about half an hour through, you think no, this is a movie about family. this is a movie about his relationship with his sons. own relationship with the world. and there s a film by william friedkin which i m sure you have not seen because nobody s seen it called bug and it s based on a tracy letts play and it is brilliant, and this owes a great debt to bug, which, again, is a film about ideas getting under your skin and the whole idea of an extra terrestrial invasion that spores, that get into your bloodstream, and the paranoia that that would induce. i think, i think it s really remarkable, and riz ahmed is just great. there is nothing he can t do. well, he s so talented. he is so talented. really smart. i don t know this is worthy of his talents, is it? yes, it is, absolutely. incidentally, he has that short film, the long goodbye, which i think is now eligible for an oscar, so very soon, ithink, yeah. i mean, he s great, he sjust great and this is very, very good. it s a very good film.
Genius. she is so clever with child actors. and it looks beautiful wistful, but in a very gentle way. i think it is about children dealing with grief that was perhaps the main thing i took away from it but there is a lot to absorb. and i noticed everyone in the cinema just sat and watched all of the credits roll because i think we were alljust thinking and thinking about that and absorbing it all. and there s that wonderful use of that tune at the very end the kind of, the kids anthem, which is just overwhelmingly great. i mean, there is nothing wrong with this film. it is as near to a perfect film as i have ever seen and i, i really. i m so glad you loved it. i loved it, i loved it. ..because otherwise, we would ve had to stop doing this programme. chuckles. quick final thoughts about dvd or streaming? on dvd, candyman, the new version of candyman, 2021 reboot. the original was based on clive barker s short story, the forgotten. this one is produced and co written byjordan peele and it takes an old horror text and does something new and inventive with it and i really liked it. lovely! well, good. that means. but not as much as petit maman. laughs. and the good news is we can be
I don t know this is worthy of his talents, is it? yes, it is, absolutely. incidentally, he has that short film the long goodbye which i think is now eligible for an oscar so very soon, ithink, yeah. i mean, he s great, he s just great and this is very, very good. it s a very good film. encounter is well worth seeing. the only thing i d say is don t find out too much about it before you see it. ok, well, that s always a good tip, if that s the case. and the christmas film it is december, gotta have a christmas film. ok, but this is it is a christmas film and it isn t. it starts out michael buble, a bunch of poshos arriving at a country house where they re all gonna have christmas together. they ve got their kids, but something is out of whack. the kids are swearing in a way that kids would not do, they are all telling each other stories that you would not expect them to and they are starting to behave like there is no tomorrow. here s a clip. simon. sure. um, where to start? god? god, yes, dear god, - may we thank you for. my wife s culinary talents.
Able to choose. maybe we can just take this process slowly and see how it feels. - hmm mmm, yeah. i m just really sorry that your children died. um, you know, i don tl think i can do that part. yeah, i told you that s how me and mom do it. if it makes sense for your mom to do that, that s cool, - but it doesn t make sense to me, and that s what i was explaining it to you why doesn t make sense for you? because it s ridiculous. isit.? it s sad. the question is why i do you want to do it? you are just terrible at this. the whole film s got that kind of, you know, slightly low key slightly mumblecore feel about it. that feels like it s improvised. it does, absolutely, and kind of beautifully shot but also unobtrusive. what happens is ok, at the beginning, they re chalk and cheese.
Yes. is it a ghost story? on the other hand, it is a story about a child dealing with grief. and it s i thought it i mean, ijust love i think this is my favourite film of this year and i think celine sciamma is my favourite director. you re going to work your way through her back catalogue? oh, i m absolutely determined now. i thought it was beautifully made. the two little girls in it that are extraordinary. genius. she is so clever with child actors. and it looks beautiful wistful, but in a very gentle way. i think it is about children dealing with grief that was perhaps the main thing i took away from it but there is a lot to absorb. and i noticed everyone in the cinema just sat and watched all of the credits roll because i think we were alljust thinking and thinking about that and absorbing it all. and there s that wonderful use of that tune at the very end the kind of, the kids anthem, which is just overwhelmingly great. i mean, there is nothing wrong with this film. it is as near to a perfect film as i have ever seen and i i really i m so glad you loved it. i loved it, i loved it.