Amber Alert with Kerry and Summer Bellessa  + Movie Review: The Substance + Trailer Park: Thunderbolts

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to movie Mike's movie podcast. I am your host Movie Mike. Today, I'm sitting down with director Carrie Belessa and his wife, slash producer Summer Blessa.

00:00:08
Speaker 2: We're gonna talk about.

00:00:09
Speaker 1: Their brand new movie, Amber Alert, why this movie took ten years for them to make, how they handle their professional and personal life as husband and wife, and why this movie changed my perspective on Amber Alerts. In the movie review, I'm going to tell you about the Substance. It stars Demi Moore and she gave a fantastic performance in this movie. Can't wait to tell you about that one. And in the trailer park, why I am underwhelmed after watching the Thunderbolts trailer? What is Marvel doing right now? So thank you for being here, thank you for being subscribed, and now let's talk movies.

00:00:40
Speaker 3: In a world where everyone and their mother has a podcast, one man stands to infiltrate the ears of listeners like never before in a movie podcast. A man with so much movie knowledge, he's basically like a walking IMTB with glasses from the Nashville Podcast Network. Is this Movie Mike Movie Podcast I've bout.

00:01:03
Speaker 1: To get into my conversation with Carrie and Summer Blessa their new movie Amberlert, which is in select theaters and on demand now. It stars Hayden pennety Yeer and Tyler James Williams, who you would know from Avid Elementary. Here's what this movie is about. Now. I've always wanted to do a true crime podcast. My problem with true crime podcast is I always feel it's a little icky to cover cases when there are still people alive, so I feel bad even listening to them or watching specials on Netflix. So a movie like Amber Alert is a little bit more my speed because it kind of has that same vibe even though it's not based on a true story. So I've never done a true crime podcast. But this is how I want to do this intro. Let's see how as it goes. I sat down with director Carrie Blessa and his wife, Summer Blessa at the Kimpten Arts and Hotel in downtown Nashville. It was the night before the premiere of their new movie Amber Alert at the Nashville Film Festival. Carrie and Summer met after an accidental double day because everybody that we're going out with ended up bailing, so it was just them too at the batting cages in Sherman Oaks, California. That's what they consider their first day. They got married four months after.

00:02:11
Speaker 2: And had been together over twenty years.

00:02:13
Speaker 1: They have three kids together, so this is a very personal movie for them, and it took ten years to get made. Amberler is about an ordinary ride share that becomes a high state game of cat and mouse when Hayden Pittedtier's character and Tyler James Williams's character receive an Amberler of a.

00:02:29
Speaker 2: Child abduction on their phones.

00:02:30
Speaker 1: Quickly realizing that a car behind them matches the description of the kidnappers, they desperately race against time to save the child's life. Amberler is in select theaters and on demand now. So let's sit down now with the filmmakers, director Carrie Blessa and producer Summer Blessa. Here's our conversation. All right, So I just watched the movie last night, and I have to say I have so much anxiety. I woke up with my heart pounding still. As two of my favorite things movies that start conversation, but also movies that you put yourself in that situation and think what exactly am I going to do? And I was watching it last night with my wife, and the whole time we watched thrillers, I'm trying to figure out what is going to happen, and she is trying to shield herself because she does not want to know what is going to happen. She likes thrillers, but there's that emotion that it gives off that she's like, I can't watch this, but I'm going to keep watching it because it's so irritating.

00:03:21
Speaker 4: That's great, That's exactly what we want. We want that suspence that you're invested in these people and wanting to know what happens. I am also I can relate to your wife's too much to handle it even I know what happens.

00:03:34
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, yeah.

00:03:35
Speaker 5: I Also I love kind of like ordinary people I guess that are just in extraordinary situations and do they what do they do? Is there right answers that wrong answer? Do they set the challenge? I find that like fascinating and things that I'm drawn too, like realism, that things that could happen.

00:03:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you're able to put yourself in a situation easier when they're not like jumping off the car over a bridge. You know, like there are things that you as a human being couldn't do. They're not like you don't have to be a superhero.

00:04:07
Speaker 1: And the thing about this movie is I loved how you get right into the action and it sucks you in from the very beginning. Is that because like, did you want this movie like an under ninety minute runtime? Because I clocked it like one twenty four. I'm like really big on just how long movie times run. And I also love movies with very like limited cast because I think it puts an emphasis on the story and it really puts a big emphasis on your actors because it's so dependent on their performances on how this movie is going to carry out. Was there like okay, we got to make this under ninety minutes.

00:04:39
Speaker 2: I think films like.

00:04:40
Speaker 5: This like you want to this chop off the spat, you know, and we don't want to board the audience sall. We wanted to be a roller coaster, right, you know those ups and down to we're ramping it up and then you you know, you drop down the roller coaster. Then we ratteted back off. So I think this is a good run time for a film like that, and we also have it years to rate this thing, you know, different iterations. It was optioned here, it was going to get made there, so we had had a lot of time to really think about this, and so I think it all kind of started with the concept and then just a super strong script a few.

00:05:15
Speaker 4: Little moments that we ended up cutting in the beginning because we felt like we didn't necessarily need it. We wanted to get right in and we wanted it just to be like, feel that action from the get go.

00:05:27
Speaker 1: I wondered about that because I don't know if it would be a time thing or also a maybe this is going a little bit too far, because what I do enjoy about it is they have to go a little bit further, a little bit further, like like me in that situation, I'd be like, yeah, Carlic sim like, I'm not going to follow it. I'm not doing anything. I probably wouldn't even call it in just because you see those amber alerts and you don't really think too much about it. After watching this movie, I think my perspective has changed. But now I put myself in that situation of having to move it further further, like Okay, we're gonna chase this car, We're to call it in. We're gonna keep going kind of following them. They just the characters keep having to go further and further.

00:06:04
Speaker 5: The great thing that I love about this story is my partner crime Josh, who I wrote it with.

00:06:09
Speaker 4: He is just like you.

00:06:11
Speaker 5: He is like, there's no way I'm getting involved with anything. I don't even I'll call. Maybe I will, but I don't want to be, you know, jammed up in any type of situation. I'm the complete office where I'll probably use up a stupid thinking to not doing something great, and then summer it's great about her as she is right down the middle. So it was nice to have like these three perspectives what we're putting it all together, so it wasn't too far.

00:06:35
Speaker 2: You know.

00:06:35
Speaker 5: We didn't want to like like make a film that was like, you know, some moral dilemma in the sense of we're not trying to tell you what is right or what is wrong, but we want to put some things out there to have you, as the audience member, think about it and what would you do. Like, I love that your perspective about amber alerts now have changed a little, so I think that is great, and you wouldn't.

00:06:58
Speaker 4: I mean, they're obviously be a movie if it's like the Lobster in the hot Water, Like if you know what's gonna happen at the end, men, you wouldn't have you wouldn't have done all those steps.

00:07:08
Speaker 1: But in each.

00:07:09
Speaker 4: Moment you're like, Okay, yeah, I guess, I have I guess I'll do Yeah, okay, I'll guess, and then it just keeps going.

00:07:14
Speaker 1: I think that's the thing of a great movie is because I think I put myself in the situation of watching it in theaters, and I love the commentary from other people, like I enjoyed that aspect of going to the movie. And Amberler is a movie like that where you go in and you hear the other people reacting like, don't do that, But it's that don't do that moment that it's all I'm actually watching something compelling here and worthy of like, Okay, they have to do something outlandish in order to make a movie.

00:07:37
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, you know, the end of the day's entertainment. But we still wanted to, you know. So when I have three kids, you know, to me, this is our worst namemare you know I'm not worried about Freddy or Jameson or anyone like that. Like this gives me anxiety, and you know, worries me. I lost my kid at the time in the supermarket for like a minute and it felt like four hours, and my heart was racing and pounding and I was like screaming. I felt this adrenaline for a minute that was you know, I don't know how you could you can sustain that.

00:08:12
Speaker 1: Which I think what the movie shows from the very beginning of it can happen so fast. Not wanting to give away anything about the end, but the last slate of like the actual stats of what the Amberiller has done that also kind of opens your eyes too, of like changing my perspective on that actually has them effeck there and what you were talking about that like that fear you don't fear Jason or like Chucky or anything. I feel like there was a moment in the movie where almost shifted tones a little bit where I think every great movie like this has that oh hell no moment where it's like, Okay, this is the part where they're like kind of going way over the edge and me, as a normal human thing, I would not do that. That is the oh hell no moment. That movie has this and it almost feels like it's just from a thriller, almost a full on a horror movie. Was that intentional this? I think it is a horror movie for me. I think it's a horror movie for parents.

00:09:04
Speaker 5: I mean, we've invited so many people that are film and I have so many like moms especially who are like, I'm a little worried, and that is I mean, the sad thing is is there's people out there, those things that have happened that are for horific and I think we ramped it up enough, but it didn't like go too far.

00:09:22
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think a lot of moms will enjoy it, and it does put that different perspective and one of our ferens like I'm bringing my guard because I want her to see, like, you never know it's out there. But yeah, I feel like most parents will really enjoy it because they have those moments where the fired, it was lost, or that you've you know, had moments like this where you're like, would never want to experience that, And I think they'll be able to relate to the characters a lot.

00:09:50
Speaker 5: You know, you don't just need to be a parent to enjoy this film. My wife and I don't have kids, but we felt ourselves like feeling this that is Sayida also are awesome nine one one operator. We talked to her a lot about that she doesn't have children, but had some good insights about you know, these things and not having kids that it's still you know, freaked her out and made her a little more aware.

00:10:16
Speaker 1: And so I think I really felt it through Katie's performance, who plays Charlotte's mom. The moment that got me was whenever daughter goes missing and she asked to bring the photos of them having a good time. It's kind of a dark question, but you talked about your family. What is like the best photo you have of your family that just represents like this is us, that our happiest. There's a great one on Summer's computer that she gave to me. Summer always gets the new stuff and I.

00:10:43
Speaker 5: Get the hand me downs. We were on the beach, we were all holding hands and jumping together. I remember that one. It was another good one that I have on my phone.

00:10:52
Speaker 4: And Yeah, how sad is it to think that one of those happy memories would be something that you have to pull to like identify what your child is wearying or terrible.

00:11:02
Speaker 5: And the other part that like kind of think gets is when she, you know, everyone gets Amberlewers and then the mom gets Katie gets an Amberler, and that's an Amberler of your daughter and a picture of you two Like that seems surreal and.

00:11:20
Speaker 1: That also puts into perspective of you thinking I've seen these Amberlers all the time, but that is actually that is my kid.

00:11:27
Speaker 2: And was weird doing research for this too?

00:11:29
Speaker 5: Uh there was this nine or and one operator that may in a good little relationship, but she worked there for fifteen years. She said, in the fifteen years that she has put out Amberlerts, there hasn't been one person that actually got a correct meaning she had thousands and thousands of calls because everyone wants to think that they saw so call with the right car, but they would miss a license plate number. But everyone would call in thinking that this is it, but when you know it was never it, but everyone is kind of like, I want to help. So I found that interesting.

00:12:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, I never really thought of that before until watching this movie of them even being hesitant to put out amor Alert with such a generic car that is literally everybody's going to call in because it's going to cause an influx of people not necessarily wanting to do anything wrong.

00:12:17
Speaker 4: They're just trying to help, even how sad before the system was in play, knowing that there literally was nothing that you could do, where at least we have this technology that I think it's getting even more accurate, and I think, thank goodness and have stuff like that, and I think the more serious we take it, the better it will do in finding and helping solve primes. But even before that, be a milk curtain, you have to wait for a milk carton to be printed and the pictures would be on there, like by then, It's like, this doesn't seem very helpful.

00:12:48
Speaker 1: I'm curious enough about your dynamic as a couple, how you balance working together but also being married and having kids. Is it like right now in the situation, it's all work and as soon as you go home it's completely shut off, or you still talk about work at home.

00:13:04
Speaker 4: I was that we enjoy working together and we enjoy discussing work, but we enjoy pitching each other ideas, talking about scripts, talking about different after for different things. We constantly are discussing work, but in a way that we both really enjoy.

00:13:21
Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree with that and love work with Summer because she I trust her more than anyone. She's got a great eye, and you know, sometimes it's a blessing and curse. Like she'll be the first one to say like that sucks.

00:13:37
Speaker 1: Don't you kind of want that though, because it usually there's a lot of yestimen and the yet a lot of yes wing and Summer has no problem with just and that the truth and that's great.

00:13:48
Speaker 4: You clear do you when you know it is good and we're like, yes, we work with this. It was amazing that you know.

00:13:54
Speaker 5: That it is. Yeah, yeah, and your script has to be so good. You know, making movies and get in a movie made is so hard.

00:13:59
Speaker 1: It is.

00:14:00
Speaker 2: It is so hard.

00:14:01
Speaker 5: It's so difficult. You're just pushing that boulder up the hill, and you have some control over the script, so it's like, let's take the time, let's get it right, and you know, it's fun to rewrite stuff at times, or but then you just find gems and it's like, I can't believe we're going to try to make that movie without that. But it doesn't the ego sometimes but that'll good.

00:14:22
Speaker 1: I'm learning, But then you know, when you have something good, she says it's good, and it's actually good. I feel like a lot of being a filmmaker, being an artist is observing the world around you. I feel like that's really the thing that defines like somebody who's actually going to follow through with it is you observe it, also write it down and then execute it. Like you've been talking about the filmmaking process. Just like the inspiration of this movie, it came from seeing the Amber learning thinking, WHOA, that should be a movie. Are you constantly observing things and writing things down? Because the other day, like I was on a flight and I sat down on the exit rod and they're like, hey, if you know something to do that whole thing something goes wrong, like are you willing to help? And I just, you know, willing to say, ah, yeah, thinking in that moment of like what if I actually had something actually went down and I was put in that situation of I actually have to do something now, and I was like, hey, that could be something. Are you constantly observing things like that? I made it.

00:15:17
Speaker 5: I definitely, yeah. Truth does a lot more interesting than fiction. Just reading the news, I mean I have a whole little bookleted news art culseut are just freezing for me personally. I like things that should possibly happen and that are real.

00:15:32
Speaker 4: How about you, Oh, I mean I feel like I kind of going more in the fantasy or the romance brom calm world burns less. I mean, it's still human nature, it's still based on you know, relationships, but maybe the less less news driven or reality.

00:15:50
Speaker 5: I like observing it, seeing things and like, oh, that might have to be all filmed. But like what you're talking about is like it's like some type of little scene there or set up.

00:16:00
Speaker 4: You know, you just got to write it. Yeah, the next step.

00:16:03
Speaker 1: As a filmmaker, what would be my next step on that idea? Is it writing a title, writing a synopsis? What is that when you sit down to like you just had this idea, what is that next step to flesh out a script?

00:16:14
Speaker 5: You just need to put it in the paper, like everything. I mean that that's the hardest thing is just getting and even if you don't have the entire film down, or you just might have a scene, write the scene. You know, if you have a first act, rite the first act, I just think and it's still difficult to like sit down, you know, a blank piece of paper. It can be so overwhelming and so but it's just it's just couldn't in the work.

00:16:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, No one will make a film of just an idea, So you need to have eventually it flushed out into a full script and then you can share it and have people give you insight and hopefully up people who are like, yeah, I see the vision too, let's go maink it.

00:17:00
Speaker 1: That's the great thing about art, though, You literally just start with a blank piece of paper, like nothing, and then it's all the ideas that you could in there that actually turns into something that people can feel.

00:17:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, especially this, I mean, this has been a crazy ride. Like this has been over ten years trying to get maimed, and you know, lots of different meanings. There's been tears of joy, tears of sadness. There's been are you good enough?

00:17:24
Speaker 1: Are you?

00:17:25
Speaker 5: All of those things? And the fact you know that we're finally here is kind of that, you know, and we talk about this like, oh, this is so awesome.

00:17:34
Speaker 2: We finally made it.

00:17:35
Speaker 5: Like you know, I think it's just about the journey, you know, it's about the hang, It's about all of those ups and downs. I don't think there's gonna be on September twenty seventh, the release date, and we're gonna look at each other and just it's like, ah, the heavens are going to open and it's like we're being elevated somew.

00:17:53
Speaker 4: But you do have to take the time to celebrate, celebrate twins. And it took so much hard work to get near. And I think as artists, we all want more. We want that next film, Like we already have a next script that we're pitching and developing, and you know, I think it's our nature to keep wanting more and keep wanting to create more. And so it's going to really look at your successes and be, you know, grateful the moment for what you have, because this September twenty seventh is your ten year ago thousand, only a dream that you could possibly be here with a film that's you know, awesome, and people are going to get to watch it and experience it.

00:18:35
Speaker 1: That leaves me to my final or two questions. We're sitting here the night before the premiere here in Nashville, are you feeling the overwhelming joy of it finally being out after ten years? Or are you feeling nervous about people are going to react to it this week? Because I know, as somebody who deals with reading the comments, reading getting all the messages, I don't see the ones they say, hey, and that was a great episode you did, I was a great interview. I see the ones they say this sucks, like why did you put this hell? Like I used to feel terrible.

00:19:04
Speaker 5: The positive things and then some ding dong says you suck, yeah, and you just focus.

00:19:10
Speaker 4: We feel it so hard. Yeah, it's definitely human nature.

00:19:13
Speaker 5: I mean, I think now, being the old wise man that I am, that I don't read comments. I read comments and before I remember specifically a long time ago, and like the comments made me feel like I was like the grade I was Spielberg. You know, some of these people are like this so bazy. I don't ever read comments. You take it with the great to take it with a grain of salt, like I love what we do, and I love this path that we've chosen his career, but I just love so many other things in life that bring me joy that no one's going to take us down over some comments that you're not doing. You know, yeah, you're not going to.

00:19:52
Speaker 4: Make everybody happy with every film. Yeah, you know, there's films that we love that changed our lives that some people don't like. At the end of the day, that's we just want to make something that's entertaining, to make it people thinking and talking.

00:20:05
Speaker 5: And we're like risk takers and gamblers. I'd rather you absolutely hate my film and talk about it and be so passionate about your disdain instead of just making something that they're like, uh, it's okay, like it was like forgettable. But yeah, we're we're excited to just get it out there and hear what people think and their response. And we're very confident in the film too. We think it's a great film. The feedback's been really good, and I.

00:20:35
Speaker 4: Think people are really gonna enjoy seeing Hayden and Tyler and the Yeah.

00:20:38
Speaker 1: Yeah it's Tyler, like I've really never seen it, Like I've been watching one have an elementary and it's like, oh, this is a totally different side of it.

00:20:43
Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah, he's a killer, Like he is just so locked in. It's so good, so insightful at Hayden too, like they were just like we're the perfect people at the right time to have this, you know, Yeah.

00:20:57
Speaker 4: They both brought such humanity the roles and personality, and it was really really fun to work with them and see what, you know, their perspectives on their characters, and they s brought so much.

00:21:09
Speaker 1: And my final question is why Louisville, Kentucky. I'll give you why I think you picked it. After watching the movie, I feel like that city which I've been to, I love Louisville. It makes it feel so much more real, like you.

00:21:23
Speaker 2: Could happen to anybody.

00:21:24
Speaker 1: If you said this movie in La, it would feel like, oh, it's just another movie in LA where crazy things happen all the time, or in New York. But for me, like just seeing them, like at the beginning, they just had a random park and that's where it happens. Is that the reason why it's in Louisville or is it just I just want to say Louisville, Kentucky is awesome, great people.

00:21:44
Speaker 5: Our crew was like we missed those those people they were so awesome and just like genuine down the earth and they kind of knew our story like that we've been hustling for ten years, that we were gonna make it, that we were no one's gonna let us and they just like got behind us like family and really helped us make an amazing film.

00:22:05
Speaker 4: As the producer, I will say was because of there was a few different places that have great test incentives that we were debating over. And I think exactly what you said though, is you know, one of the strengths of the film is that it could be anywhere except maybe La but in general, like this happens all over the country.

00:22:24
Speaker 5: And it was originally written in Phoenix, Arizona, because the Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of the country.

00:22:31
Speaker 4: Yeah, we wanted to make sure it didn't feel like it could be anybody.

00:22:34
Speaker 5: Yes, so we just kind of tweaked it a little and it was couldn't I couldn't imagine anywhere else now. And I love the lushness, the beautiful degree, Like I mean, I do want to fight a lot with the rain. The weird day, we didn't shoot for a whole morning because the rain that you know, it was. It were some challenges, but it worked out worked out well.

00:22:56
Speaker 1: I really appreciate the time. I hope everybody goes to check out the movie. I feel like anxiety feel like this is perfect for that. But you also I feel you still learn from it. It's going to change your perspective on live. It's gonna start a conversation. So I really enjoyed it, really enjoyed talking to you guys.

00:23:15
Speaker 2: Let's get into it now.

00:23:16
Speaker 1: A spoiler free movie review of The Substance. I'm gonna say at the beginning of this review already putting The Substance in the running for horror movie of the Year. It is a movie that completely blew me away. I knew very little going into it. I'm actually recording this review the night after opening night. I went to go see it on September nineteenth, right when it came out, and I wanted to capture this energy and this feeling that I have right now because I am so enamored with this movie. There are very few things I did not like about it. And obviously you're watching this and hearing this at a later date, maybe it has picked up more steam on social media through word of mouth. That is actually how I was reminded of this movie. I was getting a haircut yesterday and the person who cuts my hair we always talk horror movies, and she told me about this movie, and I kind of forgot about it. The only thing I'd really saw before was like an article and maybe not even the full trailer, and I thought I'll go check it out. I like Margaret Quaeley. She's been in some good movies this year, like Drive Away, Dolls, Kinds of Kindness. I can't remember the last Demi Moore movie I saw. Dennis quay to me, he kind of gives me the ick. I don't really enjoy any particular movie that he's in except for The Day After Tomorrow The Rookie, But outside of that, his movies don't really speak to me. Don't get me wrong, he's a great actor. I just think his movies aren't really geared towards what I like. But he blew me away in this movie, and all I really knew about it it was Demi Moore taking some kind of drug that made her younger.

00:24:46
Speaker 2: So yeah, just a reminder. I know. I share it with you guys all the time.

00:24:49
Speaker 1: But there are original movies like this coming out every single week, but they don't have the same marketing as some of these other movies from the Big Studio, so they don't get the Burger King meal tie in. You don't see them at the grocery store on cereal boxes. These are movies you do kind of have to seek out a little bit. But if you are not going to see and support movies like this, you are missing out. And you also can't be in that conversation to saying everything's a remake, everything's a reboot, everything's a sequel, because this is proof that great original movies are being put out every single week. And I will say at the beginning of this review too, that don't think it's a movie for everybody. It has a lot of nudity, has some blood and guts, So if that's not your thing, I get it. But man, if that is your thing, you have to put this on your list immediately. So that's why I'm recording this review now to share with you later, to capture this energy and hopefully by now it has generated some more word of mouth, because I think this is a movie that we do have some more horror movies coming out later this month and in October, but it's in the running for my favorite horror movie of the year and possibly my top ten movies of the year. So what is the substance about. Well, Demi Moore plays a character who just turned fifty years old and she is struggling with the process of aging. She was a big star maybe a decade or two decades ago at the start of the movie, and she is looking back on all those times she is working in this morning show, doing this aerobic style workout class that is aired on TV, and she walks through the halls of all the memories.

00:26:27
Speaker 2: Of her when she is younger.

00:26:29
Speaker 1: Dennis Quaid plays this big executive who is over the top, very hokey, very campy, and on her fiftieth birthday, he essentially wants to get rid of her because she's not young and vibrant anymore, and that is something that greatly affects Demi Moore's character. So what does she decide to do. Well, she finds out about something called the substance, and the substance allows herself to create a better version of herself. So it's this black market drug that you take and another version of yourself is spawned from you. But you together are one the catches that every seven days you have to switch back. So for a week you are your old self and for another week you are the better version of you. But you have to keep this balance in order to keep everything right. So that's the question that this movie asks you. Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? The movie is rooted in feminism and the pressure that women have to look young, which is unfair as guys we don't have the same pressure. I don't know about me specifically, but guys are supposed to get.

00:27:34
Speaker 2: Better looking with age.

00:27:35
Speaker 1: I've never been good looking whatsoever, so maybe I'll just get less atrocious as time moves on. But I know that there is this pressure on women, especially in Hollywood, for women to look young, and women in Hollywood always get compared to the younger version of themselves. Again, it's unfair because it doesn't happen to men in Hollywood as much. The roles that are pitched to women as they age get smaller and smaller, a little bit more pigeonholed. And again this is completely unfair, and that is what this movie is focusing on, and it does it in a very disturbing and unique way. And this movie felt so original to me, even though it pulled a lot of inspiration from old monster movies, and I wouldn't even consider it a traditional horror movie.

00:28:19
Speaker 2: It very much feels.

00:28:20
Speaker 1: Like a scary fairy Tale kind of like an episode of Black Mirror, but expanded on and add so much more visual substance. And depending on who you are, you could see this movie as corny or you could see it as campy, and there is a very fine line in between those, and I think it comes down to intent, and I could see how some of these scenes could be viewed as being a little cheesy, but I think it's all intentional. It's from French director Cory Lee Farjas, who did an amazing job with this movie, and for me personally, I think it's the best movie I've seen. Demi Moore in Above Ghosts, Above Gi Jane, because I feel that she took this movie for a very specific reason, because she digs really deep in this movie, gets very vulnerable, and I think that's something you would only do if you felt a very personal connection with wanting to bring this character to life, and maybe a little bit the character mirrors her career and her experiences in Hollywood. If you see this movie and all the things that her character goes through, it is pretty brutal to watch at times, and to think of being an actor putting yourself in those situations, putting it all out there and just giving an amazing I would even dare to say Oscar worthy performance. This isn't traditionally what I would think of an easy Oscar contender. I think it would have a pretty uphill battle to be in contention for an Oscar. Horror movies are often unfairly left out of that conversation, even though I think it's movies like this that spawn a conversation that really have something to say and do it in a very stylistic way.

00:29:56
Speaker 2: They need to be considered more. Horror movies often get the shaft.

00:30:01
Speaker 1: Maybe it's because they usually come out in September in October that by the time Oscar season runs around, everybody forgets about him. But I think if there was one horror movie in the last five years that really needed to be considered, it would definitely be the Substance. And then you have Dennis Quaid, who plays this executive very.

00:30:17
Speaker 2: Over the top.

00:30:18
Speaker 1: He's like this little burst of energy, this kind of gnat that's always in your face throughout the entire film, saying these things that will make your blood boil. And it's so over the top and so superficial that it really works. And I didn't really know that he had a performance like this in him or even want to do a movie like this. And even though I don't love a whole lot of his recent work, I think The Long Game was the last movie I enjoyed him in, even though his character was probably my least favorite in that movie. I will go back to his OG movies like The Rookie, The Day Actor Tomorrow. He's great in those, but I know he's a great actor, and it really shows in the Substance. And then you have Margaret Coiley, who kind of won me over in her show made on Netflix and since then it's at a pretty good run just this year alone. I think as an actor she is still on the search for her one signature film. The Substance is definitely in contention, but I think Demi Moore steals the show overall.

00:31:12
Speaker 2: The only real.

00:31:13
Speaker 1: Criticism I have with this movie is I do feel it goes on a little bit too long at two hours in almost twenty minutes. There are also a couple of moments that I feel in the movie goes a little bit off the rails and confuses you just a little bit as the viewer and kind of loses its identity and at times it kind of does feel like this free fall that it goes on, But I think director Corley was trying to capture that chaos, and it is a risk to do that to say, I don't care how absurd this is going to be, how some people might feel disturbed. I might even lose some people, maybe even run the risk of have people leave the theater a little bit early. But she committed to it, and I can respect that. For the substance. I give it a strong four point five out of five syringes.

00:32:02
Speaker 2: It's time to head down to movie. Mike Traylor Paul My three.

00:32:08
Speaker 1: Word reaction after I saw the trailer and the poster to Thunderbolts. This looks terrible, so uninspired, so flat. It's like taking all the worst parts, and maybe all the worst parts a lot of the BC level characters.

00:32:29
Speaker 2: And putting them into a movie.

00:32:31
Speaker 1: And I think at this point in superhero movies, I am so tired of the formula of it's just a bunch of rag tag group of individuals, all these outcasts who don't get along with each other.

00:32:46
Speaker 6: You got an evil boss pitting them against each other, using them for their personal gain, and it's gonna be real messy in the beginning, and then eventually they're gonna bond and become real strong. And this movie is going to leave you with cinematic blue balls because it's gonna be all of the building really just trying to gear up to the next movie. That is exactly how I feel and what I know. The Thunderbolt is going to do nothing about. This trailer feels exciting to me, which is a bummer. And I am a long time Marvel stand The only reason I.

00:33:19
Speaker 1: Do this podcast is because of the MCU, and I'm just growing to accept that there are going to be a level Marvel movies, the ones I would consider top tier, the gold standard, and then they are going to be silver. I would almost contribute those to the Marvel shows on Disney Plus, which are really great, they just don't quite have the budget. They kind of reach their capacity there. They're good and forty two to forty four minute increments and they don't necessarily move the entire MCU along, but they are enjoyable and they're more bite sized. That's like my silver level, and then the bronze level is going to be this level of movie where I would also put movies like the Marvels and the Thunderbolts is supposed to close out Phase five, which is in most people's eyes, been not great. I feel that it's been pretty weak overall if you look at what's in Phase five. Kicked it off in twenty twenty three in February with ant Man and the Wasp Quantum Mania. I thought that was a pretty decent theater experience. Haven't really thought about that movie much since. But then we got Guardians of the Galaxy Volume three in May twenty twenty three, one of the best conclusions to a trilogy of all time, not even just in the MCU then took a down turn with the Marvels.

00:34:38
Speaker 2: So if you look in my theory here, it kind of goes back and forth between those levels.

00:34:43
Speaker 1: And I know there's that meme that always goes around like MCU is dead, MCU is back. I don't think it is dying and coming back to life. I just think they have to kind of space out their movies and in effort to have everything still have this cohesion, have this synergy, you're gonna have have to go back and forth.

00:35:02
Speaker 2: It's the same.

00:35:02
Speaker 1: Way that a Sony, a Warner Brothers Universal aren't going to continuously put out good movie after good movie. Marvel is just its own giant entity now, so I think what they are trying to do is just introduce so many new characters and build back this level of Avengers that we had in that first phase, and I don't think we're gonna quite get there yet.

00:35:25
Speaker 2: But then this year we only had Dead Poole and Wolverine. That was it.

00:35:29
Speaker 1: That was fun and I think a big win that Marvel needed. And I enjoyed that movie at that time, but it didn't really stick with me, and it was, I don't want to say forgettable. It just didn't really have a lasting effect on me like Guardians of the Galaxy Volume three did. Then after this next year, in February, we're gonna get Captain America Brave New World. That looks top level. That trailer looks fantastic. I am excited for that one. And Thunderbolts is coming out after that on May second, twenty twenty five, and that will mark the end of phase five. We'll get into more about what's going on with Marble after that, but we're gonna break down this trailer first, and before I do that, here's just a little bit of the Marble's trailer for Thunderbolts, and it does have an asterisk which I think is gonna lead to something.

00:36:15
Speaker 2: But here's just a little bit of that. Now, who are you? I'm Bob.

00:36:20
Speaker 1: Who sent you? Bob?

00:36:21
Speaker 2: Nobody were you all? You were all sent?

00:36:29
Speaker 4: Everyone here has done bad things, shadow ops, robbing, government labs.

00:36:37
Speaker 2: Contract kills. Yeah, so someone once has gone.

00:36:43
Speaker 1: So this movie is going to center around Yolena, who is played by Florence Pugh. And in order to understand this movie, you have to watch a few projects. To fully get it. You of course had to have seen Black Widow. It would also help if you watch Hawkeye and then the Disney Plus series Falcon in the Winter Soldier. Also would help if you saw at Man in the Wasp because some of the side characters came from that, And then you kind of have to see all the Captain America movies because Bucky Barnes is back with Sebastian stand back in that role. And then really it just kind of helps at this point to watch all the Avengers movies. So does feel like a little bit of homework, which I think is going to hurt this movie in the long run. And it's also just focusing on a lot of characters that aren't that familiar. And my theory right now as to why some of these Marvel movies aren't doing as well for me, it honestly comes down to the design of these characters. And I looked really closely at the poster for The Thunderbolts. It's all the characters on top of each other, very photo shopped. And what stick out to me about that poster is the fact that nothing stuck out to me. It is so flat and monochromatic, and none of these heroes and I know that this is a movie where it's supposed to be a bunch of anti heroes. Even in the trailer here they talk about they are all sent there because they've all done bad things, stealing from government agencies, killing people, doing secret black ops. They're all not technically superheroes. But looking at that poster, looking at this trailer, none of the designs of these characters really pop out to you, and that makes it a little less exciting.

00:38:28
Speaker 2: And in order to create.

00:38:30
Speaker 1: A spectacle again at the theater, Marvel can't rely on all of the things that made their movies spectacles in the twenty tens, and I think they're trying to resort to having a little bit more of a gritty style, which is some of the glimpses that we have here with the action.

00:38:47
Speaker 2: That's probably the one redeeming.

00:38:49
Speaker 1: Factor that this trailer has, but it doesn't feel like anything new. Just to see a bunch of people fighting against each other using B level special ability is task Master. You have ghosts in this trailer who is back from ant Man in the Wasp, who has the ability to face through objects. It looks fine, but you don't really have that big star power from a superhero. You don't have the cool superhero abilities, and you also don't have a signature look here, which is why all of those movies in the early phases of the MCU.

00:39:24
Speaker 2: Stuck out so much.

00:39:26
Speaker 1: Becaustor has a very distinct look, Captain America has a very distinct look.

00:39:32
Speaker 2: Iron Man.

00:39:33
Speaker 1: Obviously that all of those characters pop out of the screen, they pop out on the promotional materials, and they have people identify those characters with those movies combined with the actor who is portraying them, and that is so important that draws your eye into wanting to see more things about it.

00:39:53
Speaker 2: Online.

00:39:54
Speaker 1: It draws kids to want to see and want to go watch it in a theater, which is super important. Otherwise, to me, this feels like something that should just be dropped on Disney plus spend less money on it and instead focus more on the bigger projects. And I think in a genre where we're already having a bit of fatigue, we're over the superhero formula, and obviously they're trying to do something different from that, but it feels like trying to do their own suicide squad when that has been done twice already in DC. We also have the Peacemakers show in its second season, which also kind of feels in that Sam Vein. You also have TV shows now like The Boys that does it the best when it comes to R rated gritty nature in a superhero show or movie. So this, no matter how gritty it is, is going to feel like even a watered down version of that.

00:40:50
Speaker 2: So I know they are working within their.

00:40:52
Speaker 1: Own world, but they also need to look at and focus on what's going on around them and all these other universes, because you are essentially battling for attention, and why is somebody gonna focus on a movie like this?

00:41:06
Speaker 2: With even though you have an A.

00:41:08
Speaker 1: List actor with Florence Pugh, maybe in the general public she's a minus, but she gets fantastic and doesn't have to do a movie like this.

00:41:19
Speaker 2: Even with her star power.

00:41:22
Speaker 1: I don't think that is enough to get people to want to go watch this movie, and she is by far the most famous person in the cast. Even with Sebastian stand returning as Bucky Barnes, I kind of just view him as Captain America's sidekick. I honestly think that character has kind of run his course, and supposedly he is going to be the one in charge of the Thunderbolts, but I feel like all his best movies have already happened before him, and unless it's him and Chris Evans, I don't really think it works the same way that it did back with those Captain America movies. The one character that has my curiosity is Century, who is finally shown in this trailer. He is played by Louis Pullman, who is the son of Bill Pullman, and he is said to be Marvel's superman of sorts. He has the power of a million exploding suns and the serum that gave him his power actually came from the same super soldier serum that was given to Captain America back in that first movie, but it's said to be one hundred times stronger. You see him in this trailer whenever they're all gathered into this one location and start fighting against each other, he kind of falls out of a crate. It's almost like he's this experiment maybe made by Julia Louis Drevis's character who was placed in this box not supposed to get out because he has this crazy super powerful ability, said to be at least in theory, quite possibly the strongest character now in the MCU. I really take that with a grain of salt, because in the MCU, it really doesn't matter how powerful you are, it matters how good of a story that they can write for you.

00:43:02
Speaker 2: Because by no.

00:43:03
Speaker 1: Means was Iron Man the most powerful Avenger, but he is the one that is the most memorable. So I'm not really going to get super hype on the fact that he has this crazy superhuman ability. There's this point in the trailer where all these guns are pointed towards him, they all fire and all the bullets fall and he doesn't even have a scratch on him. So it's kind of cool and probably the most unique part of this trailer, but that for me is really nothing to write home about at this point. So the way I see this is a new Captain America movie next February is going to be great. It's gonna be that real high point that we need going into phase six. This is kind of going to be the closing action and really set up what is coming. Because the title Thunderbolts even has that asterisk, which leads me to believe that they're either going to change the title by the time this movie comes out, or at the end of the movie they're gonna go by a different name, because really, Thunderbolts is a terrible name, and if you look at all that Marvel has built and putting so much into this movie, and having a name that not a lot of people are going to recognize, that really tells you nothing about the movie whatsoever. And it would probably be more beneficial to them to put the word Avenger in there in some capacity. The New Avengers, the Young Avengers, they have to be building towards something else, especially if they have that asterisk on the title, which is intentional. So that's how I envision Phase five closing out Phase six. We'll start with a Fantastic four on July twenty fifth, twenty twenty five. After that we're supposed to get a Blade movie. I haven't seen a whole lot of details about that, but nothing else is announced until May twenty twenty six with Avengers Doomsday that is bringing back Robert Downey Junior, and then Secret Wars in twenty twenty seven. After that, Man, I gotta stay alive until twenty twenty seven because I have to see that movie. But again, this movie is coming out on May second, twenty twenty five, so I don't think it's gonna have the best time at the box office next summer. And hopefully we get at least a B level story and a B level amount of action, and then let's close it out and move on to Phase six.

00:45:13
Speaker 3: And that was this week's edition of Movie Line Tramer par and.

00:45:18
Speaker 1: Is that is gonna do it for another episode here of the podcast. But before I go, I got to give my listeners shout out of the week this week. I'm going over to my Instagram dms and Vicky six two nine, you are this week's listener shout Out of the week, Vicky, you sent me a DM replying to the story I posted about last week's episode where I did a Hispanic Heritage Month episode and shared all of my favorite Mexican American movies that I identified with growing up, shared a lot of stories about my family. So if you missed that episode, just go back one in the feed and VICKI wrote, I love it when you talk about you and your parents' story. Now you have movie crew listeners that get to see themselves in you. I appreciate that, Vicky, and when and I do those episodes, sometimes I wonder is anybody else goingna care about this? And actually had a lot of nice messages saying, hey, I'm glad you talk about these movies and share your story because this was also the way that I grew up. And those messages means so much to me hearing other people who not even just their parents are from Mexico, but then themselves immigrated here from a very young age, which is also a whole other crazy level that I love hearing those stories as well. So thank you Vicky for that DM. Thank you right now for listening. Shout out to the entire movie crew. Next week is a really great episode I'm having on Robert England, the one and only Freddy Krueger.

00:46:39
Speaker 2: Here's a little tease of how that interview went. Thank you lot a math in that interview. There you go, So be sure you subscribe.

00:46:45
Speaker 1: If you have a friend or a family member who is a big Nightmare on ELM Street fan, a big Freddie fan, you gotta tell them about next week's episode because we went in hard on the history because it's celebrating its fortieth anniversary. So thank you for listening, thank you for being subscribed, and until next week, go out and watch good movies and I will talk to you later.

00:47:08
Speaker 2: M