Weekend Watchlist: Pearl, See How They Run and The Woman King
[Izon by Trent Walton fades in, plays alone, fades out]
MIA Hi! Welcome to Weekend Watchlist, a look at what’s screening and streaming brought to you by The Letterboxd Show. I’m Mia, they’re Slim...
SLIM Hi!
MIA And together we’ll dig through what’s dropping this weekend, last weekend, recent trends on Letterboxd and we’ll also take a peek at our own watchlists—all under 30 minutes or your money back.
SLIM Mia, I don’t want to shock you right now, but... this could be the biggest episode we’ve ever done. And it’s brought to you by our friends at A24. A24 presents Pearl, an origin story from Ti West’s world of X starring Mia Goth and critics are calling it a “blood-soaked and unforgettable technicolor slasher” and not gonna lie, that sounds legit to me. You can only see it in theaters this Friday. So add it to your watchlist and Mia, there are whispers that you’ve already seen it?
MIA It’s true! The whispers are true, Slim. I got to see it in my beautiful hometown of Portland, Oregon with one of my besties and we were cheering for Miss Pearl and her blood-red revenge dress. She and Mia Goth are stars. We’ll get into it more in a little bit but, oh my god, so much fun.
SLIM You were cheering for murder in the theater.
MIA We were shooting for murder in the theater. Yes, yes. [Slim laughs] No, we were hyped, like we were rooting for her. It was like, ‘Yes, Pearl, do your thing!’
SLIM It’s a Portland tradition to scream for it at theater screen, I think. So we’ll talk about that movie, we’ll also talk about See How They Run, The Woman King, your community reviews that are tagged ‘Weekend Watchlist’ and of course we’ll talk about our own shuffled watchlists later in the show.
MIA Pearl! Let’s do Pearl though.
SLIM Let’s do it.
MIA Right? Pearl, Pearl, Pearl, Pearl. Pearl is directed by Ti West. It is on 51,000 watchlists and it’s coming out in theaters. Here is the synopsis: “Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl’s ambitions, temptations and repressions all collide, in the stunning, technicolor-inspired origin story of X’s iconic villain.”
SLIM I saw, when I first saw the trailer I vividly someone exploding in the trailer and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. So you’ve seen the film. You’ve seen the murder. How’d it go?
MIA Yes, I have seen the murder. And as I briefly mentioned before, I love when Pearl gets to kill, her red dress, I love when she’s screaming, she screams a lot. I love when Mia Goth gets to act with a capital ‘A’. She delivers this incredible long take monologue that rivals Resurrection’s, Rebecca Hall’s monologue, she kind of, she gets her own Resurrection moment. And then on top of that, it’s also a pastiche of like old, technicolor Hollywood movies like The Wizard of Oz, it’s very Wizard of Oz-y, as well as the Douglas Sirk melodramas, so...
SLIM Hmm.
MIA I know, right? So it has like that stuff, but then there’s also a bunch of blood and gore mixed in, which is fun because Ti West does practical gore like no one else, and it’s made by our buddies at the New Zealand-based Weta Workshop—hope I’m saying that right.
SLIM My god.
MIA They did the effects for [The] Lord of the Rings as well, so you know it’s gonna look good.
SLIM Ti West has been able to do these relatively quick—I mean, I’m no expert. But then also, there’s another movie announced. So another one in the world of X.
MIA Yes!
SLIM Don’t Google that by the way, you’ll probably get some other websites. [Mia laughs] But MaXXXine, and that one looks like it’s filmed in the ’80s and I wonder if the way, like the speed at which and maybe like, you know, the quickness that they’re able to kind of like play around with effects, like that technicolor—and maybe in the MaXXXine, the next one, that’ll be amped up to be almost like an ’80s homage, so I’m pretty excited about that one.
MIA Oh yeah, it’s fun to go through the different time periods and see what kind of gore we can get in each one.
SLIM Get me gore! Get me the gore!
MIA Yeah, well you have different murder weapons in different decades, so it’s fun. [Mia laughs]
SLIM BlazBad left a review for Pearl: “Finally, the origin story for the grandma’s horniness.”
MIA That’s what we were all wondering during X. [Slim laughs] It was like, ‘Why is she so horny?’ And now we know, you can find out. [Mia laughs]
SLIM Matt Neglia also left a review: “Pearl is a perfect complementary film to Ti West’s X precisely because of how different it is while retaining its dark humor and gnarly violence. Mia Goth goes all in and slays the demented titular role, especially with a show-stopping monologue in the film’s climax.” As you mentioned earlier.
MIA Oh yeah, and I’m always rooting for actresses named ‘Mia’, no reason.
SLIM Of course. No particular reason.
MIA Yeah, no particular reason, but I’m just hoping they do well. [Slim & Mia laugh]
SLIM Next film on our list, See How They Run, directed by Tom George. 31,000 watchlists. This is in theaters and the synopsis: “In the West End of 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered. When world-weary Inspector Stoppard and eager rookie Constable Stalker take on the case, the two find themselves thrown into a puzzling whodunit within the glamorously sordid theater underground, investigating the mysterious homicide at their own peril.” Mia, what’s the buzz on this movie?
MIA Oh, man. So this sounds right up my alley. I when the trailer came out and it looked like so much fun. I love a comedic murder-mystery, and then on top of that, you’re throwing in Saiorse Ronan and Sam Rockwell, and then like Adrien Brody’s also in it. It has such a fun cast. And Letterboxd has been kind, it’s got a 3.5. Other reviews have been a little more lukewarm, but I don’t care, because I’m going to see it no matter what. [Slim laughs] I just don’t believe that a comedic-whodunit with Saiorse and Sam could be bad, like I just don’t think that’s something that is possible.
SLIM Scientifically impossible, in fact.
MIA Scientifically impossible. So I’m very excited. I will be seeing it.
SLIM Tyler left a review: “The Wes Andersonification of Knives Out” I mean, that’s a pretty positive take, in my opinion. I’m into that.
MIA That’s what the trailer was also was kind of projecting to me. It seemed to have some fun Wes vibes. I mean, Adrien’s in it as well, you know, his noted collaborator. Yeah, so get hyped for [Glass Onion: A] Knives Out [Mystery], as well.
SLIM Oh my god, there’s so much—I need to mute ‘Knives Out’, I need to block any app that could potentially spoil this movie. We have another two and a half months or something, right?
MIA Yeah, we have to wait a long, long time even though others are already getting to see it. We’ll get into all that soon, don’t worry everyone.
SLIM Soon. Soon.
MIA Ohhh, you know, there’s been a lot of murder these past two movies... [Mia laughs] Some light-hearted murder, some dark-hearted murder. Now we’re going to get into some bad-ass murder with The Woman King, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood on 16,000 watchlists, it’s coming out in theaters. Here’s the synopsis: “The story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dah-ho-may in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen, and General Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life.” Yessss!
SLIM I watched the trailer for this, I’m ready to get effed up by Viola Davis.
MIA Yes, yes, me too. She’s amazing as always, and is getting rave reviews out of TIFF. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood did Love and Basketball, so she’s a legend as is Viola, of course. And I hear it’s based on real events.
SLIM I couldn’t believe this was based on real events. And I watched some press ahead of the movie’s release and even the cast and the director herself were like, “Why didn’t I hear about this in school?” Like this amazing women’s soldier team—and if you haven’t watched the trailer yet, do it right now and you’ll want to see this movie in theaters. Sara has already seen it, left her review: “Epic. She is a goddess. I loved the music, the action, the kick-ass women in this. I knew nothing about it going in and by the end I’d laughed, I’d cried, I’d internally screamed my warrior cry.”
MIA Yes! And David Sims says: “Just an absolute fastball down the middle.”
SLIM Oh my god, it looks great. There was a few other reviews like, “This is how you make a PG-13 action-drama,” and it looks awesome. Looks really good. We also have two other mentions that we want to quick do a lightning round for, Moonage Daydream, directed by Brett Morgen. 17,000 watchlists. This is on IMAX only. “A cinematic odyssey featuring never-before-seen footage exploring David Bowie’s creative and musical journey.” You a big David Bowie fan, Mia?
MIA I like his song ‘Queen Bitch’ quite a lot. I like to listen to it and walk down the street and pretend I’m in that last credit scene of The Life Aquatic [with Steve Zissou], when they’re all walking to Queen Bitch. [Slim & Mia laugh]
SLIM This is a mental image for everyone listening right now, they have it in their heads.
MIA You should try it! It’s very empowering.
SLIM I’ll do that today. When I’m walking the doggo, I’m gonna put that on in my headphones and see what happens.
MIA Yes. Yes.
SLIM The last lightning round, God’s Country, Julian Higgins. It’s on 3,000 watchlists, this is hitting theaters. “When a grieving college professor confronts two hunters she catches tresing on her property, she’s drawn into an escalating battle of wills with catastrophic consequences.” And really want to highlight this one, we had a very fun conversation with Julian with Mitchell that we had on the Four Faves Letterboxd Show this week. And at times we talked about his like bleak set of four faves. But there’s a cool thread running through all of them that really connects back to his film. So that was Mitchell’s debut co-hosting a four-faves episode this week—the Golden Eagle themself.
MIA Yes, I was listening to it this morning actually.
SLIM Ohh!
MIA Yeah, it’s true. It’s true, I was, before this. Yeah, getting some inspiration.
SLIM Fun episode, fun conversation about those movies. They’re very bleak pics from Julian.
MIA Yeah, I enjoyed the Rashomon conversation.
SLIM Yeah, the Rashomon conversation was fun, was my first time I watched that, and actually any of his picks were the first time I’d watch them. So recommend for folks that don’t usually listen to that show. Check it out.
MIA Oh... Slim...
SLIM Yes.
MIA It’s TIFF time. [Slim gasps] Yeah! Yeah. So before we look back at last week, film festival season is ramping up and we had some Letterboxd crew in attendance at the Flynn Slicker from our incredible social team. They were kind enough to take a break from the screenings and let us know what they dug from the festival. Here we go.
BRIAN Okay, Slim said that we had 90 seconds to parse through the twenty movies, seven red carpets and seven studio parties we went to at TIFF, if we go over we might get fined. So Flynn, what was the best movie you saw that premiered at Toronto?
FLYNN I’d have to say Biosphere, it stars Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown. They intended everyone to go in not knowing anything about the film, and I think that’s the best way to watch it.
BRIAN For me, I’d say How to Blow Up a Pipeline, another acquisition title here that I wanted to give some love. It’s a tense eco-terrorist indie that has more in common with Reservoir Dogs and Ocean’s Eleven than you might think going in. I loved it, and it invigorated me.
SLIM It’s a great pitch for that, How to Blow Up a Pipeline.
MIA I really want to see it. Not to brag, but one of my friends is an actress in it...
SLIM What!
MIA Miss Olive Lorraine acted in it. Yeah! And now the movie is blowing up much like the pipeline, so I’m very excited for her. [Slim & Mia laugh]
SLIM I think a few hours after Brian had sent this, it was acquired by NEON.
MIA Yes!
SLIM Right after the screening, so props to that movie. And then props to Flynn, this is Flynn’s first appearance in the pod. Flynn has been lighting up TIFF on our Letterboxd social-media s. Everyone wants to get a job at Letterboxd in the comments. You see all those comments?
MIA I know, I have been watching her TikToks that are like, “Day in the life of Letterboxd at TIFF” and yeah, the comments are like, “I would be freaking out if this was my job.” [Slim laughs] It is a dream come true.
SLIM Letterboxd . There is another clip that they sent over, it’s related to if they’ve been starstruck by any of the actors that they see perusing around, because there’s been a lot of interviews by Letterboxd with some pretty big stars. Let’s find out.
BRIAN There are celebs everywhere here. They’re getting in and out of black cars. They are at after-parties. They are picking up tickets like normal people. Actually, they’re probably not doing that. So who are you most starstruck by?
FLYNN I’d probably say Paul Mescal, he’s my biggest celebrity crush and meeting him was a little surreal and then also Park Chan-wook, because Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is one of my top five movies. How about you?
BRIAN I don’t get starstruck... just kidding. It was surreal to be in the room for The Fabelmans premiere with Steven Spielberg, Paul Dano, Michelle Williams. I met Seth Rogen at a party so it wasn’t too starstruck by that but it was, you know, it’s surreal to watch a movie which is basically his superhero-origin movie while he’s there delivering it to you.
SLIM Pretty pretty big names that they’ve met, during TIFF, right?
MIA Yeah, I saw that she, Flynn also met like Nic Cage and Ralph Fiennes. I’m like, get me out there... [Slim & Mia laugh] Let’s go record right now.
SLIM Flynn, WTF with these names, unreal popping up in my IG and the Twitter and it’s like, you know, it’s old hat for Flynn already. Makes me sick. And then one final clip from our friends at TIFF, one recommendation really that they can give to add to our own watchlists after this festival.
BRIAN We both highlighted movies that don’t have distribution yet for our favorites from the fest, so what’s a movie that we saw here that you really wanted to get on people’s watchlists that is coming out soon?
FYNN Definitely Aftersun, I gave that a clean five stars. It’s in my top ten now, that was my most anticipated coming in and it’s a good father-daughter story, tear-jerker. So I think everyone’s gonna enjoy that one.
BRIAN I concur on that one. I will also just had another title that the first film that I saw here, actually Aftersun was your first film, but Women Talking was my first film. And that’s something that wanted to get on people’s radars as well because Sarah Polley is back.
SLIM Wow, what do you think about those picks, Mia?
MIA Well, I’m super excited for Women Talking. I love Sarah Polley’s work. Her documentary Stories We Tell, I think about it all the time. And I also really want to read the book. So this is based on a novel that I own but haven’t read and I will finally pick it up off my bookshelf and read it because, yeah, this one’s getting great reviews and I’ve been looking forward to it. It has Jessie Buckley, who’s one of my favorite working actresses. So yeah, Women Talking!
SLIM her in Men?
MIA Ugh... hmm... [Slim laughs]
SLIM That was a trick question, Mia. You don’t have to comment on that.
MIA Woo. She’s innocent, Jessie Buckley is innocent. She did nothing wrong. It’s not her fault. [Slim laughs] Okay, that’s all.
SLIM We have to look back at last week. We had, you know, some big movies come out last week. And just real briefly, I have seen Barbarian. My wife and I had a little date night—[Slim in Borat impression] my wiiiiife. We saw it in theaters, walking out, she said to me as we’re walking out, she said it was almost a perfect horror movie. And she never says that about horror movies, but loved it. I gave it four-and-a-half stars. I think the hype, for some of the middling reviews I’ve seen, I think the hype is working against some folks, but I had so much fun. It was a hoot. We laughed. We had so much fun. It was a fun horror movie theater experience.
MIA Yeah, I also saw it with a good friend. She’s practically [Mia in Borat impression] my wiiife. Yeah, we were laughing, we were screaming, we were yelping. Like it was really the most fun I’ve had in a theater in a long, long time.
SLIM How ’bout Justin?
MIA Justin, our scream king. [Slim laughs]
SLIM The first ever scream king crowned by Mia on Weekend Watchlist.
MIA Because he looks like a rom-com guy and he’s done a lot of rom-coms and everything but then he’s also in all these cool horror movies these days. Yeah, big fan of Justin. He’s also kind of an ally for doing this one, because he has to do some humiliating stuff.
SLIM Oh yeah, very much so, very much so. So that’s sitting at a 3.9 average on Letterboxd right now. Emma left a review: “Barbarian is a pretty wild ride from start to finish. It’s definitely the scariest film I have seen in a long time with twists and turns that keep the audience in the dark. You have no idea what you’re getting into with this one, so buckle up! PS: Say nice things about Detroit.” I have seen some reviews that really just put Detroit down, so maybe Emma is from Detroit, I’m not sure. [Mia & Slim laugh] What do you want to spotlight this past week? Anything new?
MIA Pinocchio—no, I want to spotlight...[Slim & Mia laugh] No, I got to see—okay, so I’m going to be vulnerable for a second, Slim.
SLIM Please.
MIA I never fully finished David Lynch’s Blue Velvet...
SLIM Wooow.
MIA So I started it twice in high school and I never finished it. I don’t know what happened. But I finally finished it! I caught the 4K re-release that is going around the theaters these days too, if you want to see it in beautiful 4K. It was recently remastered. And I loved it. One of my new favorite Lynches—not new, I guess.
SLIM New to you.
MIA Yes. New-ish to me. I’m very, very glad I got to see it on the big screen. I’m a big fan of Kyle MacLachlan. I saw you liked a review calling him boring. I did see that, Slim! [Slim laugh] I saw that!
SLIM My buddy’s Proto’s review, co-host on 70mm. I’ll just read a snippet from his review, it cracked me up: “Everyone talks about David Lynch’s work as mysterious, but his most confounding choice has to be making Kyle MacLachlan the lead to all of his movies. So viciously milquetoast, as interesting as a loaf of bread. Putting me to sleep as he reads his lines off the cards just out of frame.”
MIA It did make me laugh and like I love Kyle MacLachlan. [Mia & Slim laugh] But it did make me laugh, because I see where he’s coming from. But I think it works, that blandness that he brings to it. And you know what? He looks amazing. So I can’t complain.
SLIM He does.
MIA Yeah, Blue Velvet.
SLIM He’s got an A that won’t quit, back there.
MIA Truly! Truly.
MIA That was what I ed most from when I was watching it at sixteen. [Mia & Slim laugh] After he first shows off the A, I think I just tapped out. [Slim laughs] I was like, ‘I got what I needed...’
SLIM You ed out? Maybe that’s why you never finished? You just ed out.
MIA Yeah, I just ed out. [Mia & Slim laugh]
SLIM That’s great. That’s great you’re able to finally revisit. One other callout, Speak No Evil, which came out last week in limited theaters. I believe it’s hitting Shudder this weekend, that’s at a 3.4 average. Pinocchio, from the king Zemeckis, 2.1 average right now on Letterboxd. Your mileage may vary.
MIA Let’s do our Top 50, let’s check in on what’s going on with that Letterboxd Top 50 of 2022. Let’s see what is at the top of the list for things released this year. So we got some Jack’s Facts. Rian Johnson’s Knives Out follow up Glass Onion[: A Knives Out Mystery] debuts in the top ten, landing at number ten after a string of exciting TIFF screenings. But again, two-and-a-half months until it’s streaming on Netflix.
SLIM We’re gonna sit on it for two-and-a-half months, pisses me off.
MIA Yeah, so we know it’s good. Great. And now they’re gonna make us wait. Okay, awesome. Yeah, cool. [Slim laughs]
SLIM Fantastic.
MIA Cool. Oh, we also have a Brazilian drama called Mars One that debuted at Sundance this year and it’s jumping up from number seventeen to number five, over RRR and Top Gun: Maverick.
SLIM What?
MIA Yeah, yeah!
SLIM What?
MIA I know, I know that’s blowing your mind right now. You’re malfunctioning.
SLIM That ratings bump means, if Jack is correct here, it’s the number five film of all-time by a Black director, Mars One.
MIA Oooh! Mars One!
SLIM So I added it to my watchlist right away.
MIA Oh yeah.
SLIM That’s some pretty strong buzz and trends happening right now for that movie. That’s exciting.
MIA And then closer to the back-end of the list, our beloved Barbarian is dropping in at number 45! And the David Bowie acid-trip Moonage Daydream is snagging a spot at number 48. So maybe it’ll go higher after a few rounds in IMAX—IMAX exclusive!
SLIM [Slim in a terrible Bowie impression] Ground control to Major Tom... [Slim & Mia laugh]
MIA Spot on!
SLIM That was not a clip from an album! That was me!
MIA If you could believe it! [Slim & Mia laugh]
SLIM Big week in trends. But let’s go back to our watchlists, our very own watchlists. Let’s see what our community is spinning. Let’s see what they’re shuffling. What did you get last week when you shuffled? And how did it go?
MIA So I am continuing my Joan Micklin Silver adventure with Between the Lines. As you may recall, I got her films twice in a row the week before I had watched Hester Street, so I don’t know what’s going on there, but I’m thrilled that I got this one because I loved it. It’s one of my favorite shuffle picks I’ve ever gotten. So yeah...
SLIM Oh wow! Holy cow.
MIA Yes, I really, really—I mean, I’m a little biased because it takes place in like an alt-weekly underground newspaper. And I used to work for an alt-weekly, shout out Willamette Week in Oregon. So there’s some nostalgia there. But it’s also very prescient, so I just want to read the synopsis real quick. “The staff of the Back Bay Mainline, a Boston underground newspaper that rose to prominence in the 1960s, struggles with the shifting social climate of the ’70s amid rumors that the paper is about to be sold to a media giant.” So it’s very, like that stuff is very relevant. It has stayed relevant. It’s especially relevant now. So it was really interesting to see it from the perspective of 1977. And then on top of all of that, it’s just like the performances are so natural. Everybody has so much chemistry, it feels like you’re friends with these people. They’re like shooting the shit and complaining about only getting paid $75 a week. It was just like so realistic and fun. It made me miss working in the newsroom, but not the low pay of $75 a week, because that is, that sounds about right, is how much you get paid.
SLIM Yes. [Slim laughs] Yeah, I last week, I remarked that the font on that poster is, I’m in love with it. It’s so gorgeous.
MIA Yeah, I love the poster in general. It’s so much fun. Yeah, I cannot recommend that one enough. It’s streaming on Kanopy.
SLIM And Tubi right now as well.
MIA Oh, and Tubi! Shoutout Tubi.
SLIM Jeff Goldblum, 1977.
MIA Yes! So he’s like a little baby Goldblum, and he plays the hotshot music journalist and everybody makes fun of him like, “That’s not real, music criticism in journalism isn’t real.” He’s like, “No! No!” [Slim laughs] It’s so funny.
SLIM He does look like a music journalist in some of the images that I’ve seen.
MIA He’s got this slick, red jacket on. Oh my god. Yeah, loved it. What did you watch?
SLIM I shuffled and I got Cast a Deadly Spell...
MIA Ooh!
SLIM Let me pull it up on my diary here, see if I got the date right. And I had this on my watchlist, I had forgotten about it, but it looked very strange. It had Fred Ward, David Warner, Julianne Moore, Clancy Brown, from 1991 directed by Martin Campbell. So GoldenEye director, Casino Royale, Green Lantern. But it’s “In a fantastical 1940s where magic is used by everyone, a hard-boiled detective investigates the theft of a mystical tome.” And this is one of those like HBO movies from the ’90s, like it was an HBO Original in the ’90s. So it was like a made-for-TV movie. It reminded me a lot of Nightmare Alley, believe it or not, like in the setting. Some of the shots of the old-school cities were really cool. Unfortunately, I started to fall asleep after 30 minutes, I was pretty bored. [Slim laughs] But it was a pretty cool premise. Fred Ward’s name is literally detective Harry Lovecraft in it and his boss’s name is Morris Bradbury. So you can kind of get the idea of like what this movie is about. They do have some like ghouls and creatures in it, pretty old-school literal physical effects. Magic is ingrained in this world, where I can see this being redone today as an HBO Original, I’m not sure if they are going to make those anymore, those movies just for the streaming service. But it’s a really great idea that I can see being remade. Unfortunately, just didn’t vibe with me. So another dud for me on my shuffle.
MIA You keep getting duds.
SLIM I’m tired of the duds.
MIA I’ve been having a great time, honestly.
SLIM You’re having the time of your life shuffling and I’m in dudsville. [Slim & Mia laugh] So let’s spotlight some reviews from our community, I have to say, I think we got like seven or eight Marcel the Shell [with Shoes on] reviews tagged ‘Weekend Watchlist’ this week. So thank you everyone for tagging. We can’t read them all, but I did like a few of them. Greg left one: “Yeah, I could give Marcel 4.5 stars and then think about that for a year and rewatch it in 2023 just to give it five stars, or I can just get it over with now and rewatch in the future stress-free.” Five stars from Greg for our dear friend Marcel.
MIA Our dear friend Marcel. Ooh, MattyJ watched Wong Kar-wai’s Fallen Angels: “Despite the fact that no one has gold guns, this has to be the stylistic pinnacle of ’90s movie cool.”
SLIM My word. Okay, Kayla left a review for The Conversation with Gene Hackman: “Was I confused for most of it because they wanted me to be or because I am overthinking it? The more paranoid Gene got, the more we wondered what we were missing.” So I love The Conversation. That’s a great movie.
MIA Me too. I got to see that on beautiful film earlier this year.
SLIM Ohhhh my god. Your theatrical movie going life, I’m very jealous of it over there in LA.
MIA It’s the main thing I do, that is the reason to go there.
SLIM Amazing.
MIA Let’s shuffle again, shall we?
SLIM Oh, I’m ready. I’m ready. So let’s head to our watchlist. I am going to filter by Stream-only on my watchlist because I only want to get movies that I can watch right away. And then I’m going to sort by Shuffle. Let’s start with you this time. What did you shuffle and get? [shuffle sound plays]
MIA Oh, okay! This is a weird one. This is a weird one. So it’s Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour.
SLIM Whoa.
MIA I don’t know if you’re familiar with the riot-girl band Le Tigre, but it’s Kathleen Hanna from Bikini Kill, she started another band. Which I love, love, love. They have a song called ‘What’s Your Take on Cassavetes’? [Slim & Mia laugh]
SLIM No wonder you know about them.
MIA Yeah, so I am into them. But they’re like one of my favorite bands and they have a concert movie. So this is that concert movie that I actually recently bought from Oscilloscope, they had like a big sale.
SLIM Ohhh.
MIA Yeah, so this is one that I own.
SLIM Exciting!
MIA And yeah, wow, I’m excited to watch this. Only 267 people have clicked ‘Log’, so... [Slim laughs]
SLIM Oh my god, okay. Very low, low activity. It’s about to ramp up a little bit. That’s an exciting pack. I got... [shuffle sound plays] 1973, Robert Duvall, The Outfit. A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother’s death. He’s a small-time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother. Poster is great. Karen Black is in it. And it’s streaming on HBO Max. Let’s see, some of my friends, let’s see... Aaron from Letterboxd has four stars. Brandon, friend of mine, has four-and-a-half stars. This year, watched it in April. Okay.
MIA Wow. Karen Black. Yeah. Robert Duvall. This is cool. I’m looking at the poster right now.
SLIM Right?
MIA I love the little hat she’s in...
SLIM What a hunk, Robert Duvall. 1973.
MIA 1973. Wowww. HBO Max, streaming on HBO Max.
SLIM Is this is the greatest year in film? 1973?
MIA 1977 is mine but... very close. [Mia & Slim laugh]
SLIM We’ll come back to what the greatest year in film is next week.
MIA Don’t worry. We’ll solve it for good once and for all.
[Izon by Trent Walton fades in, plays alone, fades out]
SLIM Thanks so much for listening to Weekend Watchlist, brought to you by The Letterboxd Show. You can follow Mia, Slim—that’s me—and our HQ page on Letterboxd using the links in our episode notes. And if you have the time, maybe consider rating the podcast on Spotify or leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts as it helps spread the word about the show.
MIA Thanks to our crew and thanks to Letterboxd member Trent Walton for the theme music ‘Izon’. Thanks to Jack for the facts and Sophie Shin for the episode transcript. And to you, for listening. Weekend Watchlist is a Tapedeck production.
[Tapedeck bumper plays] This is a Tapedeck podcast.