Ep. 800 - Gladiator II
Added 2024-11-26 17:00:12 +0000 UTCIt’s the 800th episode of The Filmcast! David, Devindra, and Jeff celebrate this milestone by playing listener voicemails recalling their favorite moments from the show. Then they take in a matinee with The Last Showgirl, attempt to find freedom with All We Imagine as Light, and assess the architecture behind The Brutalist. Finally, they return to ancient Rome with Ridley Scott for Gladiator II.
We're making video versions of our reviews! Be sure to follow us on the following platforms:
Weekly Plugs
David - Decoding Everything: Matt Goldberg’s review of Wicked
Devindra - Engadget Podcast on the DOJ pushing Google to sell Chrome + PS Portal cloud streaming
Jeff - Jeff’s Cameo Page
Shownotes (All timestamps are approximate only)
What we've been watching (~00:10:46)
David - The Last Showgirl, Arlington Road,
Devindra - All We Imagine as Light
Jeff - The Brutalist, Better Man, English Teacher
Featured Review (~01:07:34)
Gladiator II
SPOILERS (~01:23:01)
Support David's artistic endeavors at his Patreon and subscribe to his free newsletter Decoding Everything. Check out Jeff Cannata’s podcasts DLC and We Have Concerns. Listen to Devindra's podcast with Engadget on all things tech. You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993.
Credits:
Our theme song is by Tim McEwan from The Midnight. This episode was edited by Noah Ross who also created our weekly plugs and spoiler bumper music. Our Slashfilmcourt music comes from Simon Harris.
If you’d like advertise with us or sponsor us, please e-mail slashfilmcast@gmail.com.
Comments
Coming in a couple of weeks late, but congrats on reaching episode 800!
Caleb Masters
2024-12-09 17:10:35 +0000 UTCAcknowledge the Adam Quigley team.
Pablo Momene
2024-12-06 23:08:43 +0000 UTCI saw G2 with a couple friends and while neither of them liked it, they both thought it was just mediocre. I, on the other hand, really, really detested it. I was alternating between anger and boredom during the movie. I was so irritated that after so much time, their big idea for a sequel was to just do the exact same movie again. It would have probably been better if they'd just done a remake at this point. Right from the opening title crawl explaining that everything from the first movie was totally inconsequential and that we were starting right back at square one, I was like "are they kidding me?" Even if we are to believe that there was an immediate power grab in the vacuum left by the deaths of Commodus and Maximus (and Marcus Aurelius), under what circumstances would two totally inept, very young twins who were not part of the first movie be able to seize power over the Roman Empire in only 15 years? These characters were very obviously younger than Lucius, so how did these incompetent morons take control of Rome? Commodus did because he was the next male heir, but with him dead the next male heir in line was Lucius, so how did these guys take power? Are we really to believe they were either so politically savvy or backed by the military? It would have made more sense if someone like Macronus was already the emperor. This movie felt like "Studio Notes: The Movie". I hate when a hugely popular movie that fully completes every story and character arc gets resurrected for a completely unnecessary sequel unless they have an amazing idea for where it should logically go next. This felt to me like the Matrix sequels where the studio insisted on more of them and to contain popular elements from the first movie even though it makes no sense that they're still there in any sequels (in the Matrix it wouldn't make sense for Agent Smith or even the Matrix to still really exist after the first movie, but clearly the studio didn't think they could have a Matrix movie without them). A logical sequel to Gladiator would have probably not involved gladiators and battles in the Coliseum at all, but rather would have been about the political restructuring of turning Rome into a Republic ruled by the Senate, but I'm guessing the studio felt like that wouldn't really be a "Gladiator movie". So instead we get a bunch of nonsensical handwaving away of what makes sense and instead it's just the same thing all over again, only much shittier.
Stranger2Reality
2024-12-06 00:49:57 +0000 UTCI thought Crowe really deserved the Oscar the previous year for The Insider, but instead Kevin Spacey won it for American Beauty. The win for Gladiator felt more like a makeup award for having overlooked him the year before, especially since they weren't going to give it to Hanks for Cast Away since he'd already won two. I wish the Oscars would just always give it to the best performance rather than factoring in all that other stuff, like who hadn't won one yet, who had already won some, etc. There's far too many examples of people not winning when they clearly should have but then later winning for one they didn't really deserve.
Stranger2Reality
2024-12-06 00:31:57 +0000 UTCTo clarify on the statue scene: that was supposed to be Marcus Aurelius, so I think it's supposed to make Macrinus realize Paul Mescal is actually Lucius, and not just some random captured barbarian. It doesn't really matter whether or not he's related to Maximus, as far as Macrinus is concerned.
Michael Zhang
2024-12-03 17:28:30 +0000 UTCI have to say that, funnily enough, Robbie Williams is so big in the UK and, like Take That (the band he was in) they famously never "broke" the US. Spice Girls, One Direction, etc, all made it but not Robbie. Whereas, here in the UK he is right up there with those enormous UK exports. The fact that you were so unaware of him to the point that you were shocked you didn't know about him is so funny - because I can assure, he desperately wished you did know him and felt that way for the last two or three decades
Simon Columb
2024-12-03 14:20:25 +0000 UTCThere are dozens of us!!
Carole Mariani
2024-12-02 23:26:00 +0000 UTCTrue story: About 25 years ago, fresh out of high school, my friends and I took a day trip to the King of Prussia mall. While we were there, we were approached by an official-looking person with a proposition – watch 5 minutes of an unreleased film and provide our feedback. With nothing better to do, we accepted the challenge. So two of us donned a 1999-era VR headset and proceeded to watch a few minutes of an intense political thriller starring Tim Robbins and Jeff Bridges. We answered a couple pages of questions on Market Research Guy's clipboard and went on our way. I have still never seen Arlington Road.
Matt Rockman
2024-12-02 15:11:35 +0000 UTCFiduciary ferret? Financial foal? Banking bear? Currency cat? Good times.
Donald Ward
2024-12-02 04:41:36 +0000 UTCHappy happy anniversary, dearests. My longest running podcast pals, from when I was as starting out as a director in Aus to still feeling like I’m starting out, only now in the US. You are all one of the few constants in this wobbly little world. And only a few years to 1000! We got this x
Kess Broekman-Dattner
2024-12-01 14:59:08 +0000 UTCDoes anyone know which football podcast that Jeff listens to??
Randy
2024-11-30 17:23:48 +0000 UTCI'd like to leave a suggestion for the "forcening" (is that the term?): Inside Number 9 - a dark humor British series. It's amazing, the writing, the stories. And the huge advantage is that it's 30min episodes, and each has an isolated story, so they don't need to be seen in any order. If you guys ever mentioned this show, my apologies, I totally missed it. Oh, and thank you for the 800ish episodes. This podcast always eases my commute or whatever task I'm doing while listening.
Valesca Cerski
2024-11-30 01:13:54 +0000 UTCBig congrats and to y’all on reaching this milestone, and huge gratitude for all the enjoyment you’ve given me over the years; the “quality hang” you guys bring is unmatched. [Loved hearing other listeners’ voicemails, and what a treat to hear the legendary “money horse” moment resurrected!] Happy Thanksgiving to all y’all!
CDMatthew
2024-11-28 11:44:18 +0000 UTCArlington Road is pretty good. The director (Mark Pellington) also made The Mothman Prophecies, which holds up surprisingly well. One of the few supernatural thrillers that actually has well-rendered themes and a thoughtful point of view on the paranormal
DarmineDoggyDoor
2024-11-28 05:24:27 +0000 UTCwow, G2 I found to be a total blast. Not as good as 1, yes it retreads some story, but the fight scenes were amazing... I LOVED the sharks in the coliseum, that's movie magic lol
Jaxon Hampton
2024-11-27 21:06:10 +0000 UTCGiven the age ranges of our hosts, I'm actually surprised they don't remember the song "Angels" by Robbie Williams. This was a hit I heard on US radio in the 90s. https://youtu.be/luwAMFcc2f8
Papool Chaudhari
2024-11-27 18:44:36 +0000 UTCI add some flare and call them "my movie podcast guys", but same.
Cindy McIntyre
2024-11-27 18:30:12 +0000 UTCFWIW, I originally did think Better Man was about Pearl Jam and got excited 😂
Cindy McIntyre
2024-11-27 18:24:52 +0000 UTCI have really really strong reactions to the brutalist that shift HEAVILY for the last 20 minutes I would love to talk through/process, tempted to voicemail yall
Maddox Finkel
2024-11-27 18:05:14 +0000 UTCThe time gap between the film release of Gladiator and Gladiator 2 is longer than the time gap in the movie’s storyline. That really hit me when watching the opening text.
Nervous_NRG
2024-11-27 16:35:07 +0000 UTCI saw gladiator 2 with my parents and when they said they had a great time seeing it and asked me what I liked, I tried my best. There were a few moments I enjoyed but overall I wasn't into it and was curious if it was just me. Apparently not! you guys did a great job articulating what I was feeling but couldn't put my finger on precisely. My parents can sometimes be easy to please but also don't see movies in theatres that often so I don't like to yuck their yums. I'm excited to hear the Wicked conversation, I had a fantastic time and I'm only a mild fan of the musical. i like the songs and have seen it on tour and had a nice time but nothing life changing. I was mildly concerned going in it was going to look cheap and bad because some of the marketing did kind of look that way, but they crushed it and watching the BTS has been great, they really put everything into it and it shows.
Jacob Chimilar
2024-11-27 15:45:27 +0000 UTCthey may not be a native english speaker and the call quality wasn't great?
Jacob Chimilar
2024-11-27 15:39:16 +0000 UTCMoney Horse Forever!
Daniel
2024-11-27 15:00:00 +0000 UTCAnyway love you guys keep it up
Jeremy Thomas
2024-11-27 04:57:01 +0000 UTC"I would argue that you are a group of people that pursue truth and beauty"
Jeremy Thomas
2024-11-27 04:55:04 +0000 UTCIs Jacob's voicemail a computer translation? This doesn't sound like a real person
Jeremy Thomas
2024-11-27 04:52:06 +0000 UTCOh man. This one was a wonderful listen in one respect (800 episodes - Congrats!!) and a really rough one in another (your takes on Gladiator II). I (like Jeff before last week) am no fan of the original and a recent rewatch confirmed that fact. So for me, this film was superior on nearly every level. Yes Russell Crow is a movie star and Mescal could not compete with his level of charisma, but everything else succeeded higher than the first film in my opinion. I agree that the film was completely unnecessary, but it was a great time. I am shocked no one else appreciated this version. (Devindra was the closest I guess.) Congratulations on 800 - you are hands down my favorite film podcast and a weekly obsession, but I did shed a small tear this week on how disconnected I felt from the gang. Oh well - here's to 800 more!
Scott M. Adams
2024-11-27 04:31:18 +0000 UTCThere’s a Netflix doc series about Robbie Williams’ life and I think coming from a boyband and then being a much more successful solo artist and all the addiction issues that follows, I assume the connection is that for most of his career he felt he was a performing monkey. Can’t wait for The Brutalist.
Garry L
2024-11-26 22:29:24 +0000 UTCDevindra is the grounding element of the trio, tethering Dave’s airy philosophizing and Jeff’s fiery enthusiasm!
Dianae Weeks
2024-11-26 22:16:08 +0000 UTCLol. I call you “My Podcast Guys” too!
Dianae Weeks
2024-11-26 22:13:33 +0000 UTCI relate most to Dave Chen!
Evan Lambert
2024-11-26 21:55:59 +0000 UTCFriends call me a Chenetic. A Chenhead. A Chennoisseur.
Mountain of Conflict
2024-11-26 21:23:49 +0000 UTCMy avatar is Devindra!
Joy o Napping
2024-11-26 21:02:05 +0000 UTCWow, Dave, that accent…
Bram Welch
2024-11-26 20:08:17 +0000 UTCAnyone who doesn’t think Russell Crowe deserved an Oscar for Gladiator needs to check out Mescal in this film. Give Crowe two Oscars in retrospect
Mark P
2024-11-26 19:38:15 +0000 UTCA thanksgiving present thanks guys!!!
Reynaldo K. Cruz
2024-11-26 17:31:43 +0000 UTC
