Bong Joon Ho & Mickey 17 (2025) featuring Josh Fadem

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Dear Movies, I Love You"
Episode: Bong Joon Ho & Mickey 17 (2025) featuring Josh Fadem
Release Date: April 1, 2025

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Introduction & Setting the Stage

In this episode of "Dear Movies, I Love You," hosts Millie De Chirico and Casey O'Brien delve into the cinematic world of acclaimed South Korean director Bong Joon Ho and his latest film, "Mickey 17." Celebrating Bong's unique storytelling and filmmaking prowess, the hosts are joined by guest Josh Fadem, an actor, comedian, and film noir expert, to enrich the discussion with his insights into Asian cinema.

April Fools’ Day Banter

The episode kicks off with Millie and Casey addressing April Fools’ Day, humorously discussing their shared aversion to pranks. Millie shares a personal story about an April Fools’ prank that left her wary of being tricked again:

[02:15] Millie De Chirico: "No. I hate pranks."

Casey echoes this sentiment, recounting a childhood prank involving a fake broken ankle:

[02:37] Casey O'Brien: "One time when I was in grade school, a girl said she broke her ankle... it was a prank."

Film Diaries Segment

Millie’s Film Diary: Millie recounts her experience watching "Olivia" (1983), directed by German filmmaker Uli Lamel. She describes the film as intense and sexually charged, noting its exploration of a young girl's schizophrenic episodes and disturbing murders:

[07:02] Millie De Chirico: "Olivia was wild... a lot of sex. It is kind of like there's some weird murders happening."

Casey’s Film Diary: Casey shares his recent viewings, including:

• "Challengers" (2024) starring Zendaya and Josh O'Connor: Praised for its complex love triangle and engaging soundtrack.
• "Asriel": A dialogue-free film set in a post-apocalyptic future.
• "Wanda" (1970) by Barbara Loden: He describes it as an influential, independent film that delves into themes of purposelessness and societal roles.

[12:57] Casey O'Brien: "Wanda's about a woman who doesn't want to be a mom... she just wanders through life aimlessly."

Main Discussion: Bong Joon Ho & "Mickey 17"

Evolution of Bong Joon Ho: Millie and Casey explore Bong Joon Ho's cinematic journey, highlighting his transition from Korean-centric stories to more globally themed narratives incorporating Western actors and addressing American societal issues.

[18:15] Millie De Chirico: "He makes movies with very big American and Western actors... and then we'll talk also about sort of American issues."

"Mickey 17" Synopsis: Casey provides a comprehensive overview of "Mickey 17," set in 2054. The protagonist, Mickey (played by Robert Pattinson), seeks to escape Earth and a vengeful loan shark by taking on a perilous role as an expendable crew member on a colonization mission to planet Nifheim. The film explores themes of identity, mortality, and the ethical implications of cloning.

[24:35] Casey O'Brien: "It's the year 2054, and Mickey... the only job Mickey can get that will get him off the planet and into space is as an expendable on a ship that's set to colonize the planet Nifheim."

Performance Highlights:

• Robert Pattinson’s Portrayal: Both hosts commend Pattinson’s nuanced performance, emphasizing his ability to convey vulnerability and physical comedy.

  [37:59] Millie De Chirico: "I loved his little voice and his little, I don't know, tics were so cute that I was like, I like him."

• Supporting Cast: Naomi Ackie as Mickey’s girlfriend and Mark Ruffalo as the colony’s leader are noted for their compelling performances, though Casey expresses reservations about Ruffalo’s portrayal of a Trump-like character.

Themes Explored

Masculinity and Identity: The conversation delves into "Mickey 17’s" exploration of masculinity, contrasting Mickey 17’s non-confrontational nature with Mickey 18’s aggressive demeanor. This dichotomy serves as a commentary on traditional male archetypes and the societal expectations placed upon them.

[33:09] Casey O'Brien: "His character is really kind of an interesting example of masculinity. He is not... he doesn't want to... he's not very overly ambitious."

Cloning and Expendability: The ethical dilemmas surrounding cloning and the expendable nature of individuals in corporate or exploratory missions are scrutinized, highlighting the film’s critique of capitalist exploitation.

[48:49] Casey O'Brien: "Mickey 17 is just like such a sensitivo guy... he would never act the way that Mickey 18 acts."

Guest Segment: Josh Fadem on Asian Cinema

Introduction of Josh Fadem: Josh Fadem, known for his expertise in film noir and his work on various projects including "Here Come the Details" podcast, joins the hosts to discuss Kwei Chi Hung, a filmmaker associated with the Shaw Brothers Studio.

Kwei Chi Hung’s Legacy: Josh shares his admiration for Kwei Chi Hung’s inventive and boundary-pushing films, especially "Boxer's Omen" (1983). He emphasizes Hung's willingness to embrace the grotesque and the unconventional, contributing to a distinctive style within Hong Kong cinema.

[54:58] Josh Fadem: "He seems to be the guy amongst the Shaw Brothers directors... he seems to be the guy, as far as the ones I've seen that's not afraid to just get nasty and get weird."

Challenges in Preservation and Appreciation: The discussion touches on the obscurity of Hung’s works despite their creativity, attributing it to limited distribution and the niche appeal of grindhouse and martial arts genres.

[57:24] Josh Fadem: "Not enough people are talking about this guy... trying to get people back on board."

Listener Engagement: Film Advice Column

Listeners are encouraged to send in their film-related questions for advice. The hosts respond to a voicemail querying the perfect pairing of movie and meal ambiance, with hosts sharing personal anecdotes and creative suggestions.

[80:15] Casey O'Brien: "I could watch one of my favorite movies, 'Blue Velvet,' and have a Heineken or Pabst Blue Ribbon... served with an ear-shaped cake."

Employee Picks

Millie’s Recommendation:

• "The Lighthouse" (2019) by Robert Eggers: Praised for its unique performances by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, immersive location, and atmospheric storytelling.

  [85:24] Millie De Chirico: "I loved Robert Pattinson in 'The Lighthouse.' It was so fucking funny and weird and wild."

Casey’s Recommendation:

• "High Life" (2018) by Claire Denis: Described as a dark, violent, and thought-provoking sci-fi film exploring themes of loneliness and survival in space.

  [86:31] Casey O'Brien: "It's a very interesting, violent, frightening movie and it deals very much with the loneliness and vastness of space."

Closing Remarks

The hosts wrap up the episode by encouraging listeners to engage through various platforms, endorse guest Josh Fadem’s projects, and tease future episode ideas, including a potential deep dive into food and film pairings.

[90:28] Casey O'Brien: "This episode was mixed by Tom Bryfogel... Our incredible theme music is by the best band in the entire world, the Softies."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Millie De Chirico on Pranks:

  “No. I hate pranks.”
  [02:15]

• Casey O'Brien on "Wanda":

  “Wanda's about a woman who doesn't want to be a mom... she just wanders through life aimlessly.”
  [12:57]

• Millie De Chirico on Bong Joon Ho's Global Influence:

  “He makes movies with very big American and Western actors... and then we'll talk also about sort of American issues.”
  [18:15]

• Casey O'Brien on Mickey 17's Masculinity Theme:

  “His character is really kind of an interesting example of masculinity. He is not... he doesn't want to... he's not very overly ambitious.”
  [33:09]

• Josh Fadem on Kwei Chi Hung's Innovation:

  “He seems to be the guy amongst the Shaw Brothers directors... he seems to be the guy, as far as the ones I've seen that's not afraid to just get nasty and get weird.”
  [54:58]

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting the in-depth discussions on Bong Joon Ho’s "Mickey 17," the exploration of Asian cinema with Josh Fadem, and engaging segments like Film Diaries and Employee Picks. Notable quotes are integrated with timestamps to provide clarity and reference points for key insights shared by the hosts and guest.

Transcript

[Millie de Chirico]

This is exactly right.

[Paige DeSorbo]

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[Millie de Chirico]

Hello, Casey O'Brien.

[Casey O'Brien]

Hello, Millie de Cherico. How are you?

[Millie de Chirico]

I'm hanging in there. I gotta admit, I'm a little groggy. A little. A little jet lagged. I just got back from Japan a couple days ago.

[Casey O'Brien]

Amazing.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes. I feel like shit. I gotta be honest.

[Casey O'Brien]

Cool.

[Millie de Chirico]

What's up?

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, hey, that's a great energy to be bringing into this episode today. You know, it's April Fool's Day. Have you ever pulled any really righteous pranks on anybody on April Fool's?

[Millie de Chirico]

No. I hate pranks.

[Casey O'Brien]

I do, too. I hate pranks. Very anti prank.

[Millie de Chirico]

Here's the thing. Y'all can do pranks. Do pranks on each other. I'll watch, I'll laugh. Do not prank me. I don't wanna be pranked. I won't prank you because I just. I don't like. I don't like not being in control, Casey.

[Casey O'Brien]

I hear you. One time when I was in grade school, a girl Said she broke her ankle and wore a cast to school the week leading up to April Fools. And then on April Fools, she stood up and was like, april Fools, that was a prank. And everyone was kinda like, well, we, like, carried your books all week.

[Millie de Chirico]

What a bitch.

[Casey O'Brien]

So it was ingrained in me from a very young age. But, yes, we will not be pranking today because this show sounds so good that it sounds like it could be a prank, but it is simply not a prank. Today we are talking about Bong Joon Ho and his newest movie, Mickey 17. That's true. Which is. I'm very excited to get into that. And we've got an exciting guest today, don't we, Millie?

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, we do. We have our great friend Josh Fadem. Actor, comedian, noir expert. I'm calling him a noir expert. Sure, absolutely. But he's gonna be here to talk about his area of expertise, which is actually not film noir. It is something even more exciting, but also in the Asian cinema realm. So we've got kind of like maybe a theme going. We've got Bong Joon Ho, we've got Josh's area of expertise. I've just come back from Japan. I still have sushi running through my veins. So this is gonna be a very, like, I don't know, Asian episode, wouldn't you say?

[Casey O'Brien]

I love it. I would say. And it's thrilling.

[Millie de Chirico]

That's right. Well, listen, stay tuned, everybody. This is perhaps your favorite podcast. Dear Movies, I love you. Dear movies, I love you and I've.

[Casey O'Brien]

Got to know if you love me too. Yes or no?

[Millie de Chirico]

Check the box below. Yes, that it's right. This is Dear Movies, I Love youe. My name is Millie. That's Casey. Right?

[Casey O'Brien]

That's me. Yep. Hi.

[Millie de Chirico]

And we are doing a podcast again about being in love with the movies, being obsessed with the movies, being down, bad for the movies.

[Casey O'Brien]

That's right.

[Millie de Chirico]

So we have so much to say in this episode. I have a lot to say about our feature film that we're going to talk about, Mickey 17. Because I have. I have such a story around seeing that movie that relates to a film grape that I expressed many episodes ago now.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, I'm. I'm at the edge of my seat. I. You hinted at it before recording, so I can't wait to dig into it more when we discuss that movie. But like, we start every episode, we have to get into our film diary where we talk about the movies. We most recently saw this from this past week. So, yeah, let's open up those film diaries. I included A sound effect last episode that I was very proud of. And so are you gonna play it again? Forward to that. Look forward to that right here and in all future episodes.

[Millie de Chirico]

So you mentioned how it is. It was a lot of hard work creating labor noise.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. I felt like a sound designer. I felt like. Yeah, I felt like Ben Burtt, you know, creating the C3PO and R2D2 beeps or whatever. But, yes, thank you, Millie. I'm glad you noticed the sound effect, and I'm glad you appreciated it.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, I like how it took you a long time to create basically the sound from the beginning of Michael Jackson's Thriller.

[Casey O'Brien]

Absolutely.

[Millie de Chirico]

So. And I'm happy because you did it for me, and I appreciate it, but. So my film diary is very short because we actually had to watch a lot of movies this week for the actual podcast.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, we did.

[Millie de Chirico]

Or at least I was, like, feeling like I needed to just to get my bearings. But I watched one film, a Little Wild, I have to say. I watched a movie called Olivia from 1983. It was directed by a German man named Uli Lamel. And if you don't know Uli Lamel, I hope I'm even pronouncing that right. Apologies. He was. Was.

[Casey O'Brien]

He's dead.

[Millie de Chirico]

He was an actor, a director. He worked a lot with Rainier Werner Fassbender. And so he was kind of in that. In that world a little bit.

[Casey O'Brien]

But then Enfant terrible.

[Millie de Chirico]

Enfant terrible. That's me doing a bad guy from a Jean Pierre Melville movie. But he directed a lot of kind of nutso films. But then towards the end of his career, he was primarily doing these kind of weird serial killer movies. A lot of them were like, Lionsgate released a bunch of them. I don't know if that has. I don't know what that means. I know what it means a little bit. But maybe to some folks, you'd be like, oh, I can't believe Lionsgate released all these fucking weird serial killer movies, but he did movies of the Zodiac Killer and the Black Dahlia.

[Casey O'Brien]

The Green River Killer.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes. And every time I look one of these up, there's invariably, like, some dude in, like, a black horror movie T shirt on a YouTube channel being like, this movie was fucking trash. And I'm, like, very intrigued by it. You know, it's like when you disturb that crew of those guys, like when there's, like, a fucking maniac in front of a huge shelf of DVDs with, like, a black, like, you know, sort of like. I don't know, like a giallo T shirt on. And he's like complaining about the movie.

[Casey O'Brien]

I'm like, what's this?

[Millie de Chirico]

This movie is like, must be so interesting. So anyway, that's for. That's for y'all, if y'all want to get into the movies of Uli Lumel. But anyway, Olivia was wild, actually. It was like. It's about this, like, it starts off with this, like, little girl whose mother is a sex worker and she kind of like, watches her mom work and then, like, it cuts to, like, her life and she's having like, like schizophrenic episodes. And it's kind of crazy. It's a lot of sex. A lot of sex. It is kind of like there's some weird murders happening. I don't know. So it was kind of. I was like, oh, a German guy made this. Okay, duly noted. But anyway, I. I watched it because a lot of my friends on letterbox had actually watched it. So I was like, oh, let me check this out. So, yeah, that was all. That was my entire film diary for this week. Olivia. It's very, kind of like De Palma. Ish.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes, I would say. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I can see that. Very good. Thank you, Millie. I watched a lot of movies this week. For some reason, maybe because I like movies. I finally watched Challengers. I had not seen challengers from 2024 with Zendaya and Josh O'Connor and, oh, what's that other actor?

[Millie de Chirico]

Mike Feist.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes, Mike Feist. They're all fabulous. I loved it. And I keep thinking about it and just the politics of this sort of this love triangle. And I don't know, it was just really interesting and like, just. Who loves tennis more in this? These three. And who loves the game outside of tennis more? I don't know, it was just like, there's like so much going on. It was just fabulous. And the soundtrack's great. Yeah, everybody loves this movie. And I see why.

[Millie de Chirico]

I'm gonna give you a tip if you're a TikTok user, if you follow. If you go into the search bar of TikTok and you search the term, men who yearn are men who earn, you will find a lot of clips of Mike Feist from Challengers. I'm just throwing it out there.

[Casey O'Brien]

Fascinating. Men who yearn are men who earn. Interesting. Interesting. The kids then I watched a movie called Asriel, which stars Samara Weaving, and there's no dialogue in the entire movie. And it takes place in the post apocalyptic future where this, like, tribe of people have cut out their vocal cords because they're in a cult. And it was just fine. Just fine.

[Millie de Chirico]

Okay.

[Casey O'Brien]

Okay. And then I watched something that was fabulous. This movie from 1970, directed by the actress, starring the actress, written by the actress, Barbara Loden.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes.

[Casey O'Brien]

It's called Wanda. Wanda.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes.

[Casey O'Brien]

It's her only movie she made. It's awesome. It's kind of like a Bonnie and Clyde type movie. If Clyde hated Bonnie and Bonnie was kind of out to lunch. Wanda's about a woman who doesn't want to be a mom. And she kind of just wanders around the Rust Belt, Pennsylvania, kind of like coal mining country. And she's just kind of like, out to lunch a little bit, but she doesn't really have any desires or wants, and she's kind of, like, lost and has no place and teams up with this guy who's like an angry bank robber. And she kind of helps him, but, I don't know, she sort of just wanders through life aimlessly. And it was very interesting and really good.

[Millie de Chirico]

It's really. I mean, for those of y'all who don't know Barbara Loden and don't know Wanda, it is a very influential film. Like, if you go and look it up, you'll find lots and lots of people who have written about it and who. There's. There's usually screenings of it a lot, I would say, at, you know, most major movie cities. I think a big part of why is exactly how you said it a is that she did it herself and.

[Casey O'Brien]

It was like an independent. She's an established actress. She was, like, on Broadway and stuff and was married to Elia Kazan, the famed director. But, yeah, she made it for $100,000 and shot on 16 millimeter, which is like a lower grade stock of film. But, yeah, she, like, did it all herself. And it's really inspiring.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah. And I think that, you know, 1970, like, late 60s, early 70s. I think that at that point, nobody had really seen a woman sort of being that dispassionate about being a mom and being like.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

You know what I mean? So I think it was kind of like a moment for women to be like, oh, wow. This is like a different. Like, this is like a woman who, like, doesn't want her life and doesn't care much, and it's just sort of like, aimless and not doing the thing that, like, we had all been told women do, which is their, you know, happy moms and wives. And they just sit at home. Right.

[Casey O'Brien]

Can I read you a quote from Barbara Loden about the character because she's a really interesting character. She's almost like a slacker. Yeah, like. Like a slacker character. Character directionless and doesn't really have any desires. So. Quote. It was sort of based on my own personality. A sort of passive wandering around, passing from one person to another. No direction. I spent many years of my life that way, and I felt that. Well, I think that a lot of people are that way. And not just women, but men, too. They don't know why they exist. And that is the character of Wanda. And it's really interesting. It's a really interesting, gripping movie. It's on hbo. Max. Yeah, you can watch it on Max. Or the Criterion Channel, which I chose to watch it on the Criterion Channel because I'm a film snob and I wanted it to, you know, log that. I watched it on there. So anyway, Barbara Loden.

[Millie de Chirico]

Barbara Loden is our extremely based goddess throwing it out there.

[Casey O'Brien]

Absolutely. Anyways, that's all I watched. Let's close up our film diaries. I need to make a different sound effect for the closing, and so I'll do that right now. Put that in close. Clunk.

[Millie de Chirico]

Just put the clunk clunk from Law and Order in there.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, yeah, I'm sure legally that would be totally fine. Actually, I know it's not because I work in a law and order podcast and we're not allowed to use that.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, they just put Lisa and Kara going dun dun.

[Casey O'Brien]

Okay, very good. All right, that's our film diary.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons N. Safeway. Spring is in full swing, so take some time for self care this spring now through April 22. Buy two self care items and save $2. Shop in store or online for self care essentials like Tom's Toothpaste Soft Soap, Liquid Hand Soap, Colgate Optic White Toothpaste, and Colgate Total toothpaste. And save $2 when you buy two participating items. Offer ends April 22. Promotions may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Target spokesperson]

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[Casey O'Brien]

Okay, and we are so back to talk about our main discussion today, which is Bong Joon Ho, the director and his latest movie, Mickey 17 Millie. Do you have a relationship with Bong Joon Ho? And if you do, what is it?

[Millie de Chirico]

I do? I'm a fan. I'm gonna tell, I'm gonna say the thing that they don't want you to say.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, I'm trying to imagine what that could be. But what is it? What? Say it.

[Millie de Chirico]

Which is that I had seen his films in the past.

[Casey O'Brien]

Uh huh.

[Millie de Chirico]

Liked them, sure. Then when I watched Parasite, I was like, oh, I gotta go back, baby. Like, I gotta go back and revisit some of this stuff. And then I was like, oh, yeah, now I'm really getting a more comprehensive view of this.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, are you saying that you were like, not absolutely blown away by him pre Parasite?

[Millie de Chirico]

I. Blown away that term. Blown away, huh? No, I just, I like, I love, I love him as a director. I think that he's doing this like, really interesting thing, which is that it feels like, you know, as a Korean director, he's, he's very, he's doing a lot of stuff with the west, you know, in that way where like he makes movies with, with you know, like very big American and Western actors, you know, like Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal and that kind of stuff. And then, and then we'll talk also about sort of American issues, which is also like, I always like that about certain foreign directors when they kind of try to tackle like American political institutions and American financial. And I guess it's because America influences everybody. Like, you can't live in the world.

[Casey O'Brien]

Without particularly South Korea. I would say absolutely.

[Millie de Chirico]

But in that way where it's like, you know, I think there are other Korean directors, but also a lot of Asian directors that primarily kind of just do movies that are, you know, of Asian influence and Asian tradition and Asian. I don't know, cultural norms or whatever. So it's interesting. I mean, he, like. But Parasite to me. Parasite to me felt kind of mostly Korean. And I think it's just because it was pretty much all Korean actors, right? Yeah, but it is.

[Casey O'Brien]

I think it's connective to United States because it's so much about capitalism.

[Millie de Chirico]

Sure.

[Casey O'Brien]

And power structures. I mean, obviously. But it is a very Korean movie, which is interesting that it became this huge. Because it's so Korean. It became such a. It became his biggest movie to date, I would say. Bong Joon Ho. I first became aware of him in 2006 when the movie the Host came out, which is a monster movie he made, and people were going ape shit. I was in film school at the time, and people were going ape shit about it. And I remember watching it and being like, I like this. I don't love this. This movie is a little long. And then after that, I saw, I think the next Bong Joon Ho movie I saw was Snowpiercer with Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton. And I was like, I don't know about this one either. And then I saw Okja and I was like, I don't know if I like this. So I would say my opinion of him, it wasn't negative, but I was just like, I don't love what this guy's doing. And then, much like you, I saw Parasite and I said, okay, time to go back. And I watched Memories of a Murder, which is a fabulous, like, true crime murder kind of mystery movie that felt more like Parasite, a little bit more grounded, I would say. And. And then when I watched his movie that just came out a few weeks ago, Mickey 17. And so now, and with all those accumulate, me seeing all of those movies, I'm. I'm back on and a big fan of Bong Joon Ho. But my journey, I would say I wasn't like as obsessed with him. He wasn't like one of my top tier directors until Parasite, I would say.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, and I mean, this. It's not to say that. I mean, this is basically going back to what I just said, really, which is that sometimes it is that where, you know, directors are primarily working in their own countries, using actors of those countries and sort of. It's more kind of set in those countries, you know, and then as they get more commercially successful, that's when they start kind of, I don't know, widening the scope a little bit in terms of who they have in the movies, where the movies take place, the ideas get bigger. And are sort of becoming, I guess, a little bit more not as centralized in sort of their, you know, their immediate sphere of influence. I guess if you say that.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

And that's kind of how it feels with his filmography, too. Right. Because if you look at stuff like the host and mother and, you know, memories of murder and stuff like that. Yeah. You start kind of moving more towards Okja and Snowpiercer, where, you know, there's a lot of white people in those movies. And then with Mickey 17, I mean, that's like this whole other thing where I was just like, wow, okay, this is really interesting.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, I felt like Snowpiercer and Okja, And, I mean, Mickey 17 is this way a little bit, too, but like, Snowpiercer and Okja, I felt like, are so cartoonishly over the top, to the point where I was like, this is the. This is too crazy. This is too. This is too zany for me. And. And I like zaniness. But it. I feel like Mickey 17 did a. It is also a zany movie, but I feel like it reeled it in a little bit more. Weirdly enough, as crazy as that movie is, you know, I don't know.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, let's just say this up top. This movie is out now in theaters, so there's probably a lot of.

[Casey O'Brien]

It's been out for a couple weeks.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah. Probably a lot of you who haven't seen it yet. So there's probably gonna be some spoilers.

[Casey O'Brien]

That's true. But we'll try not to give away the very end. End. But can I do a quick synopsis of Mickey 17 for the Peeps?

[Millie de Chirico]

Sure, of course.

[Casey O'Brien]

Of course. All right. Well, it's the year 2054, and Mickey, played by Robert Pattinson, he needs to get off of Earth to escape a mob boss loan shark that wants to kill him and his pal Teemo, played by Steven Yeun. The only job Mickey can get that will get him off the planet and into space is as an expendable on a ship that's set to colonize the planet Nifheim. And an expendable. Basically, that job consists of uploading his memory to a machine so that they can make clones of him at will, because he's basically used as a science experiment or to do dangerous jobs that will kill him and he dies continuously. And they just kind of keep reprinting him out until one day, he barely survives an encounter with the Snuffleupagus, like, alien life form of the planet Nifheim. And another Mickey gets printed out Mickey 18. What are they gonna do?

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

All the while, Mickey has a wonderful girlfriend, Nasha, played by Naomi Aki, and has to deal with the political goings on of the leader of the new colony, failed politician named Kenneth Marshall, played by Mark Ruffalo, who is like essentially Donald Trump. So there's a lot of stuff going on in this movie. Millie, what were you. How was your theater going? Experience. I heard it was zany in and of itself.

[Millie de Chirico]

Zany. Zany is a very nice word for it, I have to say. So as you have probably heard in an earlier episode, there's a local multiplex near my house, very, very near my house, that I might have an upgraded membership to. Let's just say that. Where maybe I pay by the month. And then you can see movies per week, right?

[Josh Fadem]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

Exalted elevated status. You get your own popcorn line. All of these things. Ooh.

[Casey O'Brien]

Eat your own popcorn line.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, yeah. You don't know about.

[Casey O'Brien]

Incredible. I didn't know about that. Anyways, continue.

[Millie de Chirico]

Now, it's all contingent upon whether or not the person behind the counter recognizes your status. Of course. That's a whole other gripe for a whole other time. But this theater, the gripe that I originally placed with the podcast was that it's completely. It's just anarchy, right?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

Like, most movie theaters probably run and definitely staffed by like high school age type kids or maybe a little bit tiny bit older, college maybe. But it's just the. It's like the one central theater in the city that everyone's kind of going to a lot. And it's just. It's absolutely madness. It's like so much shit has happened at this movie theater where. This is the movie theater that. Where, you know, I talked about the screening of Furiosa that I saw that was interrupted by a firecracker, a lit firecracker that was thrown into the crowd. This was also the movie theater where my friends and I were essentially bullied by a gang of high school girls. Another time, the fire alarm was pulled because people were smoking cigarettes, actual cigarettes, not vapes, but cigarettes in the bathrooms of the movie theater, which the doors are very close. You don't need to smoke inside the restroom. And so. And like. And this is just my story. It's like every. Like everybody has a story of the fucking shit that happens at this theater. And I went to see Mickey 17. It was a Sunday night. It was a later screening. I figured probably nobody would be there. Cause Sunday night, I don't know, people don't really kind of Stay home and watch their shows and whatnot. Church. Late night church. So I go to this movie theater thinking, oh, God, it's gonna be great. And then 10 minutes before the movie ended, the fucking movie goes dark, the lights come on, and the fucking fire alarm goes off.

[Casey O'Brien]

Jesus Christ.

[Millie de Chirico]

And so we all run out of the theater and I'm like, it happened again. It is happening again. As the giant in Twin Peaks would.

[Casey O'Brien]

Say, it's happening again.

[Millie de Chirico]

I swear, dude, I was like, I can't catch a break.

[Casey O'Brien]

So have you seen the last 10 minutes of this movie?

[Millie de Chirico]

I have not. Oh, so when you just, well, this is perfect.

[Casey O'Brien]

You won't be able to reveal what happened at the very end. That's.

[Millie de Chirico]

I was about to butt in when you said that and be like, well, there's no way I could spoil it because I don't know what happens in the last 10 minutes.

[Casey O'Brien]

Not a problem for me. Oh, my God, Millie. There's something so horrible about a movie theater going experience being compromised, you know, it's just. Is terrible. Oh, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that.

[Millie de Chirico]

No, no, no.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, I can. After we are done recording, I can go beat by beat through the last 10 minutes.

[Millie de Chirico]

Okay, I would appreciate that. Because I will tell you, the first two hours and ten minutes were great. I was enjoying it. So I was fucking pissed, man. And I still don't even know if there was an actual fire. Could have been some rogue teenagers again.

[Casey O'Brien]

Could it be a lit firecracker? Lit but not thrown yet.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, I mean, it's hard. It's hard to say at this point, but anyway, the. That.

[Casey O'Brien]

So that's what happened. That's what happened, yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

What about you?

[Casey O'Brien]

Sorry to hear that.

[Millie de Chirico]

Did you.

[Casey O'Brien]

I had a great. I went and saw it at Alamo Drafthouse in Woodbury, which. I have some thoughts about that.

[Millie de Chirico]

What's Woodbury? Is that near you?

[Casey O'Brien]

Woodbury is a suburb way out side of St. Paul. So I had to drive like 30 minutes to go there. But, you know, I love Alamo Drafthouse, I really do. And this one kind of bums me out a little bit because it's such a suburban version of the Alamo Drafthouse. The one in LA was such a favorite place of mine and I've been to the ones in Austin and I've been to Fantastic Fest in Austin, so it just doesn't have that cultural center that a lot of these other Alamo Drafthouse locations have. It feels like a mall movie theater, but it was still good. But I really loved this movie, I think it is a bit of a mess and it is a little long, but I kind of enjoyed the world so much and the characters were so fabulous and funny. I thought this was maybe Robert Pattinson's best performance. I thought he was really funny and sweet and heartwarming. And it is a very sweet movie. I think that's something that I really enjoyed about it. It is romantic at times, it's horny at times, and it's very funny. And I just really enjoyed. I mean, I think this could have been a TV show. I just enjoyed the goings on, on this ship and on this colony and it was really funny. And there's like a lot of slapstick kind of comedy and it really was all just working for me.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

Like, I loved it. I was, I was all about it.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, you're right that it was. It was romantic. And I kind of my. My one notes. Not that anybody gives a fuck.

[Casey O'Brien]

I wonder if he's still accepting notes for this movie. We can see about that.

[Millie de Chirico]

I'm sure he's listening to this podcast, being like, what is Millie de Jericho? What does she really want from me? I wish that they had more romance. I thought that that was so lovely.

[Casey O'Brien]

They had great chemistry. I had never seen Naomi Ackee in anything. I didn't see the Whitney Houston movie. She plays Whitney Houston in the Whitney Houston biopic. But she was so charming and funny and I thought she had great rapport with Robert Pattinson. And I just, I loved it.

[Millie de Chirico]

I mean, talk about a man who yearns is a man who earns. This is the thing I loved about. So even from the camera angles, like, there was a lot of shots of Robert Pattinson's character, Mickey. Seventeen, by the way. Seventeen is much different from eighteen, by the way.

[Casey O'Brien]

Very different.

[Millie de Chirico]

Which is a big part of the story at some point.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

But there were shots of him like on his knees, like, looking up at his beloved. And I was like, holy crap. I'm like, this is really, really getting me into a good headspace. Yeah, this is nice.

[Casey O'Brien]

I feel like it's interesting because I really related to Mickey17 because I feel like I've had to eat a lot of shit in my life. But also his character is really kind of an interesting example of masculinity.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes.

[Casey O'Brien]

You know, he is not. He doesn't want to. He's kind of non confrontational. He doesn't. He's not very overly ambitious, but he's not aggressive. And there's all these, you know, it's in kind of an. You know, it's in a future, a dystopian future, where, like, people need to be. All these men are aggressive. They're all trying to get something by getting one over on somebody else. And he's just kind of pure of heart and can't understand how to operate in that world. And I found him very sweet. And I feel like I related to him not feeling. I don't feel like I'm a very aggressive guy. And I feel like I don't understand kind of hustle culture. And I feel like Mickey 18 was like, why aren't you, like, pissed off and fighting this person? It's like Mickey 17's just like. I just. I'm. He's just not that guy, you know?

[Millie de Chirico]

And he was a little bit of a sensitivo. You know, he doesn't. You know, his job, his duty is to die. Right. Because they can just print him out. And, you know. And by the way, the printer looks exactly like an MRI machine. And if you're like me, who has had a lot of MRI trauma in my life, it may be a little triggering for you. I'll just throw that out there. But they print them out. They basically are like, hey, we need a vaccine. Let's test you. And it's fine. Cause you'll just die and we'll print you back out, no problem.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

But his sensitivity, he's like, I actually don't like dying. It sucks to die. And I'm a little bit sensitive to the fact that you guys are just being super cavalier about me just fucking dying all the time.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. And I thought that it's a runner in the movie where everyone's like, what's it like to die? And he's just kind of like. Like, he never really answers the question, but he's just like, I hate it. It sucks. Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

He's like, you know, you think it's, like, kind of cool and unique, but I don't know. I'm a little bit of a tender baby about it, which I loved. And it was a total simp for his woman, which I loved, you know? Cause she was very, you know, she was like a soldier. She was very powerful. She was, you know, won a bunch of awards on the. On the ship or whatever. You know, she was like a very assertive, confident woman. And he just was like, I love her. And there are times where, you know, his character is getting maybe potentially wooed by another character, and he's just like, I. I'm true to my woman. Which I was like, this is so sweet. How come this can't be the entire movie? I don't know.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Paige DeSorbo]

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[Casey O'Brien]

Can I say something about Robert Pattinson real quick?

[Millie de Chirico]

You clearly, yes.

[Casey O'Brien]

So I'm a big fan of his.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes.

[Casey O'Brien]

And I think you are, too.

[Millie de Chirico]

Me too.

[Casey O'Brien]

I like him and I like what he does. But I will say I was like, in some of his movies, I'm like, here you are again, Robert Pencen doing your funny little voice.

[Millie de Chirico]

You didn't like his voice at first.

[Casey O'Brien]

I was like, are you doing your funny little voice again? But for this movie, I loved it. I thought it worked. I liked his voice a lot. And I was. Because I, you know, sometimes I get a little bit like Robert Pattinson's like the hottest man on the planet, you know, and it's like you're playing. He's playing like this goofy, dorky kind of guy. You Know, and so it's. There has to be a little bit of a unbelievable leap for audiences, you know, but his little voice and his little, I don't know, tics were so cute that I was like, I like him.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, good, you liked his little 1930s dead end kid voice or whatever.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, exactly. Yes, exactly.

[Millie de Chirico]

It was like a little scrappy chimney sweep guy from like a 1930s movie. I thought it was adorable. I gotta be honest.

[Casey O'Brien]

I did too. And I also thought just as a. This is a very physical role. His physical comedy in this was outstanding. And I didn't. I truly did not know that he contained that skill. And it was, it was very impressive to me. I was totally won over by. I not won over. I already liked him, but I was just. I just was so. I was just so charmed by him in this movie.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, I really like him too. I said this in an earlier episode. I think it's when we were talking about Twilight, about how you're like a secret midnight opening night.

[Casey O'Brien]

I've seen every installment of Twilight at the midnight showing on the first day of its release in theaters.

[Millie de Chirico]

Listen, when you told me that, I was kind of like, man, I should have done that shit. Well, what did I do? I just sat on my couch and watched them high, which I feel like.

[Casey O'Brien]

I mean, that seems like another very nice way of viewing the Twilight films.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes. I mean, it was fun as hell, but honestly, I was like, if I had a crack, if I was like a Mickey 17 and knew that I could just kind of like do things and get to live again, I'd probably go opening night at midnight too.

[Casey O'Brien]

Sure.

[Millie de Chirico]

But I said this. I am weirdly happy that him and Kristen Stewart, the stars of Twilight, have kind of gone on and done kind of interesting movies.

[Casey O'Brien]

Absolutely.

[Millie de Chirico]

There's people I know actually who are huge dorky cinephiles like we are, but that they're very eye rolly about it. They're like, oh, yeah, these two, like, you know, teeny bopper stars. Oh, cool. They're in like, you know, French movies now and shit. And I'm like, come on. Like, life is so stupid at this point that if we have a tiny win like that I'm fine with it.

[Casey O'Brien]

Totally. Like, well, I was thinking of. I actually was thinking of Kristen Stewart while I was watching Mickey 17, because Kristen Stewart is in a movie called Crimes of the Future, a David Cronenberg movie. And she plays kind of a. Kind of a weirdo little ticky kind of character like Robert Pattinson played in this movie. I was like, it's so funny. They're kind of playing these sort of similar characters in these weird dystopian future movies and I'm delighted by it.

[Millie de Chirico]

Speaking of Steven Yeun, she was in that movie that came out. Was it like not too long ago? About. Is it called Love Me? Where they're like, they play. It's kind of a weird, like a romantic sci fi type of thing.

[Casey O'Brien]

Ooh, I missed this movie entirely.

[Millie de Chirico]

What? Oh, Casey, it looks kind of up your alley.

[Casey O'Brien]

I know.

[Millie de Chirico]

It's like a thing where they play like bodiless beings that end up sort.

[Casey O'Brien]

Of inhabiting human buoy and a satellite.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes. So they're basically inanimate objects that become human and they have a relationship and it's like, it's kind of like I haven't seen it. So I'm just throwing, I'm just seeing, I'm telling you what I saw in the trailer where they're kind of like, I don't know, replicating the lives of like online people or something. Like they're just, it's like data, Data life. Where they're just kind of like, huh, I'm being programmed. Like what a human being would do in the modern era.

[Casey O'Brien]

Fascinating.

[Millie de Chirico]

So, and I, I was like, oh man, I want to see that. I haven't seen it yet, but it kind of like when I watched Mickey 17, I was kind of thinking, oh yeah, this is kind of maybe, I don't know, maybe a tiny little bit of a comp. But who knows?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[Millie de Chirico]

But I, but I like, I like Robert Pattinson. I actually heard. This isn't my story to tell, but I want to tell you anyway. I have a friend in LA that was at a party once with Robert Pattinson. Was there like maybe a couple years ago. I think he was dating a famous musician perhaps. And she was like, he was so humble and self effacing that it was kind of alarming for her. Cause she was just like, oh, I was just expecting him to be this like you know, really famous like Hollywood guy. And he was like basically going like yeah, I'm just like a huge piece of shit like everybody else. And I can't believe this like hot woman wants to date me. And I'm just like, like a total whatever normal guy. And she was just like man, it was kind of amazing. And every time I heard, every time I think about him, I think of that story and I'm like. And again, I don't know, maybe this is just a one and done deal. I don't know how he is. I don't know him. But I was, like, really, really taken with that story. So.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, I feel like he. He. He actually seems like a normal guy. I mean, we don't know him, so he couldn't be a horrible weirdo. But he. He seems like a normal guy, but without doing that, like, movie star thing of being like, I'm just a normal person. I feel like Johnny Depp was always like, I'm a bit of a. I'm just a bit of a weirdo. That I'm just kind of a normal guy. Like, he would kind of do that sort of thing and. But I feel like Robert Pattinson is sincere.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

I believe him for some reason.

[Millie de Chirico]

He's based, as I like to say. He seems based, I guess.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

But he was really great in this movie. I loved his accent. I liked his physicality. I liked, you know, everything. The. To go back to your earlier point about it being kind of. There's a lot going on.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

I felt that too. And that's why I think I was kind of like, okay, maybe we can just distill this into, like, the framework of it being a love story. Amping up the love story and then taking out a couple. A couple of things, perhaps. I don't know. Again, my stupid notes. Like, no one gives a shit. But the thing I wanted to talk to you most about, about Mickey 17 is the whole Trump commentary. The Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette characters, which, by the way, Toni Collette is in the movie. She's one of my favorite actresses ever.

[Casey O'Brien]

Me too.

[Millie de Chirico]

And they play essentially like the president of this new. It was like a failed presidency on earth that gets taken to this other colony.

[Casey O'Brien]

A new colony.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, yeah. And they're kind of like megalomaniac psychos.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

And Mark Ruffalo has these insane veneers, much like Tilda.

[Casey O'Brien]

It's the same teeth as Tilda Swinton and Snowpiercer.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah. And also she had weird teeth at Okja too. Right. Did she have braces or something in that movie?

[Casey O'Brien]

I don't know.

[Millie de Chirico]

Anyway, maybe that's a thing about Bong Joon Ho. He's like a weird teeth guy.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, maybe. Or maybe he's like, you don't look American enough. You need to have bigger faker teeth.

[Millie de Chirico]

Anyways, that's his Hitchcock blondes. Continuum is the big ass teeth. But anyway, because again, I mean, it's just an interesting thing for me to see a foreign director making commentary about this American loser. Let's just Put it up there. Right. Which is like, again, like you said, the whole. The world is influenced by this loser, unfortunately.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

Right. But just in the ways in which, like. And you can just also tell, too, that Mark Ruffalo had such a meal playing this character.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. Like, he was really chewing it up. I think this was the weakest part of the movie for me. I felt like. I actually think what they were saying was right on, because there's, like, this race of aliens that are so cute, that are in danger, and I was really worried about them. And it did make me think about just natural resources and the way we take care of people in this country. And it was getting my blood boiling while watching the movie. But Mark Ruffalo's portrayal of this character, it is basically a bad Trump impression. And he kind of looks like Trump. And I was just like. It just felt cheap a little bit. And I wish it would had been a little different. I guess I was just kind of like, okay. I mean, we've seen so many portrayals of Trump that I was just kind of like, I don't need this. Let's just do something a little bit different. But maybe he needed to be kind of Trump, like, to get the point across. I don't know. It just. I didn't love that aspect of it. And there were times where I was like, he looks like my man Walton Goggins. Why didn't they just get Walton Goggins in here? But so I. Yeah, that part I didn't love. That was a little distracting, I guess.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, and, like, okay, if your assessment about the theme or one of the themes being about masculinity, ultimately, yeah, that had to happen in a weird way. Like, you had to have this big swing, buffoon type of character to remind us all that those types of men suck and that we're much more at peace with, like, a Mickey 17, right?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

Let's talk a little bit about Mickey 18. And I know people, again, sorry, were spoiling it a little bit. But, you know, he gets printed out before 17 dies, so there's two, and it's a problem because. What are they called? Multiples.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, they're. In this world, you're not allowed to have multiples. And actually, cloning is illegal on Earth, but you can do it in space. So it's like this whole thing, and the issue becomes.

[Millie de Chirico]

The issue is that you can't have two the same dude. But anyway, it creates this panic where people are like, we gotta kill the multiples and also destroy the original box. That houses the personality so that every iteration of him is gone. Essentially, he ceases to exist. And each iteration of him is a little bit different, right?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

And personality wise. And then the new one is definitely more keyed up. Definitely way more aggressive. Feels a little bit more like. Like you said, oh, my God, like, why aren't you fucking going and beating.

[Casey O'Brien]

The shit out of that guy?

[Millie de Chirico]

Ouija Mangion, this guy. Like, what the hell? Like, he's awful. And, like, what's your problem? Why are you being such a pussy or whatever, you know? And that is like another interesting component, I think, to the masculinity conversation, because it is that feeling of technically a good guy. Right. Wants the bad guy to die, but comes across it in just like such an aggressive way that you're kind of like, well, ultimately, okay, you're a good guy, but you're, you know, like, you act like the bad guy. You have the aggression of the aggressor.

[Casey O'Brien]

If that makes any sense. But I think historically, this is like the kind of guy we want to be. The hero. He is virtuous and his heart, you know, he's trying to protect people and. But he's like, we'll do what it takes to, like, seek justice, you know, and it's sort of like, sort of the prototype of, like, what we think of, like, heroes in a way.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

But, like, Mickey 17 is just like such a sensitivo guy, you know, and would never be. Would never act the way that Mickey 18 acts, you know?

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, and that's, I think, kind of, again, to the idea that this is a movie about masculinity, it just makes that conversation a little bit more complex and nuanced, if you will.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes, absolutely.

[Millie de Chirico]

Which I actually thought was kind of cool.

[Casey O'Brien]

Fabulous. Well, that is our conversation about Bong Joon Ho, Mickey17, Robert Pattinson. Moving on. All right, everybody, we are back for another segment of my area of expertise. And we have a true expert, a film expert on the show today. He was a previous guest on I Saw what yout did and a fan favorite. So we needed to bring him back. You can hear him on his new podcast, Here Come the Details. You've seen him on Better Call Saul. He's in Twin Peaks, the Return, Reservation Dogs. He's in so Many Great Things. Josh Fadem. Josh, hi. Welcome back. Welcome. Well, not welcome back. Welcome to our new show. Welcome to.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm very excited to be here.

[Casey O'Brien]

Absolutely. And so your area, your film area of expertise that you brought to us, I'D actually never seen any of his movies before. Kwei Chi Hung, the filmmaker. Kwei Chi Hung, why did you pick. Why do you want to talk about this. This dude?

[Josh Fadem]

Well, a couple reasons, because the email where you're like, okay, you want to do our new podcast was like, you know, pick an area of expertise. And I was like, well, yes, you know, I mean, we talked about noir on the last one, and. And. And I. And I. And I feel like, notably for myself, I went down the deep film noir rabbit hole, and I got just, like, obsessed. And that's kind of how it works for me. I'll go. I'll get obsessed, and then I'll be like, all right, I've kind of run the. It's run its course. I still love noir films, but I've kind of seen all the major ones. You know what I mean?

[Millie de Chirico]

Sure.

[Josh Fadem]

There's still, like, one or two that. And I, you know. You know, in America. So, you know, honestly, trying to think of, like, well, what's something that they probably haven't talked about? And I know that, like, a lot of people have seen Boxer's Omen, and a lot of people that it had its moment where it was like, God, look at this movie we found, like, maybe 18 years ago, you know?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Josh Fadem]

And everyone's like, boxer's Omen. Boxer's Omen. But I feel like it got a little overshadowed by, you know, Houseu, which also got kind of pointed out around then. And everyone's like, well, how Sue's the one? But in my mind, I was like, I kind of like Boxer's Omen. And I one time went down a rabbit hole of. I was like, well, what did the guy who made Boxer's Omen make? And he made a lot of films that are. He's a real, like, cinematic clownster, you.

[Casey O'Brien]

Know, I think it said he made over, like, 40 movies. And he retired when he was, like, 61.

[Josh Fadem]

I think he died when he was 61, but it looks like he died.

[Casey O'Brien]

When he was 61.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, he died in 1999. And it looks like he. The last movie he made was Boxer. Someone was his penultimate one, and I couldn't. There's a lot that you can't find, too. But so anyway, I just thought, this guy's interesting. Not enough people are talking about this guy. You know, not everything he makes is. Is as good as Boxer's Omen, but there's a lot of stuff. And some of it was like, I started a couple ones, like, the few I could find on Amazon. And like, there was one I believe was called Killer Constable. And then there was another one that starred Bruce Li, the double from Game of Death, who's not Bruce Lee, or he. One of the doubles, you know, and that one was kind of slow. You know, they have things about him been same like Killer Constable was, you know, kind of slow. But there were. I went. I tried to review some of his movies years ago. Like, he has a series called Hex and the first, and Hex is really good. Hex is like a weird supernatural remake of Diabolique. And. And then there's a sequel called Hex After Hex, which I can't remember if I've seen. And then there's one called like the third one, which sounds crazy, called Hex Versus Afterlife or something like that, but those are a little harder to find. And then I. I started. Sorry, I'll stop talking.

[Casey O'Brien]

I.

[Millie de Chirico]

No, no, no, no, go ahead, go ahead. Good.

[Josh Fadem]

Well, I was gonna say there's also this one that. That I liked called Corpse Mania, which was kind of like. Like a Hong Kong giallo.

[Casey O'Brien]

And it sounds beautiful and it.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, it's got some cool, cool gore to it and just go. Just stylish. And then there was one that I started, but I didn't have time to finish it before this podcast that I was really liking called Bewitched. And I found that on archive.org that you could find that on archive.org so I'd like to finish Bewitched, but that was. That was felt right in line. And then I watched this one called the Killer Snakes, which is advertised as warning. Contains extremely sick and disturbing scenes. Not suitable for most people.

[Millie de Chirico]

That's not us, obviously.

[Casey O'Brien]

That we're not most people.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, we're. It's suitable for us.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, I want. I wanted to ask. So, you know this director was involved with the Shaw Brothers, right? Was making movies with the Shaw Brothers. So I'm curious because I gotta be honest, I feel like as a director, I feel like he's pretty obscure. I mean, honestly, like, when it even like to like cult movie heads and. And Asian cinema folks. So I was wondering if you had any thoughts as to like, maybe why he seems to be like, not as well remembered as some of the other Shaw Brothers folks.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, I mean, do you just want to say what.

[Casey O'Brien]

Real quick? What the Shaw Brothers, who they are and where they're from?

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, they were a production company in Hong Kong and made. They were around for almost what, 100 years or so. Like. Like. Yeah. And they're probably the most famous Chinese studio, wouldn't you say?

[Casey O'Brien]

Like, yeah, yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

But yeah, I mean, they're legendary and had so many arms and so many films that came out of that organization. So, you know, kind of in that American way where they were kind of bringing new directors into the fold a bunch. And so, yeah, I was just gonna, you know, ask about how, like, I just wonder why his movies, because they're so insane. So I'm like, I just wonder why, you know, like, for example, not more of them are on, you know, physical media or whatever.

[Josh Fadem]

That's why I wanted to talk about him. Cause there's a lot of these questions. I don't personally know the answer. I was almost kind of hoping that you might know, you know, more than me. But, like, just basically my digging around, you know, online to try to get some information about him was like he would get real obsessed and stressed out about his films. I think I saw a quote just from his son or something, said an interview, maybe you saw this too, where you get real stressed out about making his films. And then he'd think that, oh, that was no good. And then he'd get excited to make another one and then he'd again, that was no good or whatever. But if you look at, like, he seems to be the guy amongst the Shaw Brothers directors, and I have a general, like, I know the basics with the Shaw Brothers films. There's always more, you know, with that. Yeah. But he seems to be the guy, as far as the ones I've seen that's not afraid to just get nasty and get weird, but also get inventive. It's very inventive. Very.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Josh Fadem]

Also not afraid to just be like, this is the best we can do. So let's go 10,000. You know, let's turn it up as high as we can go. Like, okay, we don't have these type of special effects or we don't have, you know, it's not. We have a sloppy story. Yeah. I don't know, you know.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, I just watched the Boxer's Omen from 1983, which is probably his most famous movie in the United States anyway.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

And like, you know, they're doing a. They're doing effects in that where it's like, okay, we need to like have a giant crocodile and cut him open. It's like, well, we don't have that. Well, I think we'll make like a paper mache one, essentially. But we do have, you know, guts and intestines we can put inside of that paper Mache alligator. And so we'll cut it open and pull all these guts out. And it's like, oh, my God. This is like. It's visually striking and horrifying, but also inventive. Like, you know, it's not real, but it still gets the job done.

[Millie de Chirico]

I think it's. I think it's cute. I don't know why. Like those little spiders in the boxers. Omen and the fucking, like, little. Yeah, just like the little creatures that come out and just, like, do weird shit. The bat. The bat is cute to me. Even though it's supposed to be scary and gross, I think it's cute.

[Josh Fadem]

I think some of it's supposed to be funny. I don't know. The guy who's like, the. The guy who's like, the demon. I couldn't even actually, while when I watched it, I'm like, I can explain this plot, but afterwards, I'm not sure I can explain this plot. There's a boxer. Well, first of all, there's a boxer, and his brother gets beaten up real bad by Bolo Yung, who is kind of like the martial arts MM at Walsh, you know, if. You know the Roger Ebert quote, you know, where no movie can be completely bad if Mm at Walsh appears in it. I feel that way about Bolo Yung with martial arts films. If it's got Bolo Yung, you know, you can't go wrong. But anyway, so Bolo Yung beats the shit out of someone, and. And he's pretty good in it. It's like, he plays a great bad guy, but he beats the shit out of the guy. And then that's. This guy's brother, I guess, is like. He's. He's like, I gotta try to beat him too. Or then I. Then I. I lose my ability to be articulate.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. So the brother of the guy who got really beat up has to seek revenge by fighting the guy who beat up his brother. But on the way to seeking revenge, he's visited by, like, a deity or a Buddhist monk who's like, we were twins in a past life. You need to defeat a separate demon that's bothering. That killed me. The. The twin from a past life. So then this boxer gangster guy has to become a monk, which is very hard because he loves to have sex. He loves sex, and he has to give it up. And I mean, yeah, like you said, I think it is supposed to be funny because there are these scenes where it's like, okay, you're ready to become a monk. That means you can't drink alcohol. And then he, like. He's like, have you drank alcohol? And he, like, looks to his right, and if a candle goes out, it means he lied. So it's like, have you drank alcohol? He looks to his right, the candle remains. And then it's like, have you had sex? No. Looks to his right, candle goes out because he has had sex. But so I think it is supposed to be funny.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah. Also, the guy, the little guy who's controlling the bats, he's like that scene where he's like, go get him, go get him, go get him. And the bat's, like, you know, inching along. You know what I mean?

[Casey O'Brien]

It's like, clearly someone's pulling a string off screen to pull this little bat across. Yeah.

[Josh Fadem]

I think there's no way the movie doesn't know that that's funny. You know what I mean?

[Millie de Chirico]

I mean, and it's funny that you mentioned Hsu, because you're right in that this did seem to kind of have the same resurgence. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was like, I think people. This is. I truly believe this. I think people really loved how sue, because of cat. I think the cat was the one that grabbed people. The cat that spits blood. If you've ever seen HouseU, aka House, which you, you know.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, it's.

[Millie de Chirico]

It's been shown so many times here. It was on Criterion and everything. And everybody I knew was, yeah, Houseu.

[Casey O'Brien]

Is a 1977 Japanese horror film where a bunch of teenage girls go to a house to visit a friend, I guess, and the house kills them in. Very silly and crazy movie.

[Josh Fadem]

You're gonna want to get stoned before you watch it. You're gonna want to toke a few before you watch.

[Millie de Chirico]

It's really crazy and, you know, visually just, like, chaotic in the same way that the Boxer's Omen is, too. And so. But for my money, I feel like this. There's more cute, weird shit happening in the. In Boxer's Omen beats per minute. Beats per minute than House. Like, I really. And I feel like maybe we should have, you know, split the difference a little bit in terms of our fascination with these two movies.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, I think so, too. I think that the. The revival house world really gave it all to House sue back in. Back in the day. And Boxer's Omen kind of got swept under the rug, and I feel so did the other films. I'm always looking for, like, what's everyone not talking about? You know? And I remember when I worked at Cinephile, you Know, we. I was like, everyone was all about how soon. Well, I'm gonna look and see what this Boxer's Omen guy also made. And so we had a lot of his films, and so I was able to watch a bunch. There was another one I watched called the Delinquents, which is like kind of just a crime, young crime movie. Crime, crime. Kids in the street type movie set in Hong Kong. It was in the early 70s. And I remember liking that one, you know, as well. But, yeah, the. I also just find. If you think about, like, you know, I just find a movie like Boxer someone very inspiring because the way that they're just making. They're just pulling everything, you know, and totally, my girlfriend's a little smarter than me. I watched it with her. She was like, oh, there's a lot of Buddhism in this film. And I was like, oh, I'm going to say that when I talk about this, but I couldn't quite tell. And then there was when he went to one of the other countries. I forget which one, but she was.

[Casey O'Brien]

Saying, that's in Nepal.

[Millie de Chirico]

Thailand.

[Josh Fadem]

Buddhism and Hinduism kind of meshed together.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, that went over my head. I didn't quite.

[Josh Fadem]

Well, that was what she was saying about if it wasn't Nepal, it was one of the other countries he went to. And she was saying, ah, this is. She was like, this is kind of Hindu. She was stoned when she was watching it.

[Casey O'Brien]

But she was on another level.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, she was. She was experienced on another level, I guess.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, I guess the question I have, since you've seen a few of his other movies, is there as much? I think the thing. My one critique of this movie is there is a lot of munching on, like, rotted meat and guts by men and then spitting it out, like men chewing it, spitting it out into other vessels. And I was eating a turkey sandwich when I was watching this movie, and I did have to stop because it was so gross. Is there an element of that in any of his other movies?

[Josh Fadem]

This guy loves gross. This guy loves gross. And. But it's sort of like. What I'm trying to articulate is, like, he's not afraid to go gross from any angle he can find it. You know, whether it's slimy, sloppy, whether it's, like, super sexual, whether it's eat and puke, like a character actually puking. There was that. There's a scene where, like, an eel or something comes out of his mouth.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, man, that was so. That made me gag. Yeah, there's like an Eel coming out of his mouth. His mouth. The actor must have actually had it in his mouth for a part of it.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Josh Fadem]

I mean, I was trying to figure that out too, because you could see the clever editing where, yes, they cut to the mouth and then it's a real eel. Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And.

[Josh Fadem]

But the face is paper mache looking.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Josh Fadem]

And then they cut to a face and the eel looks fake, you know, and like weird and elastic. But then they cut to that wide and it looks like that eel, whole eel's coming out of his mouth. How do you know? I don't know.

[Casey O'Brien]

Absolutely.

[Millie de Chirico]

I have. Okay, so I have a general question, I think for both of you. I'm just curious what you think about this, because I was talking about this at work, and I'm a programmer, a film programmer, and I work at a television network that I'm working on, basically. What's a. They call a grindhouse channel. It's like a channel that plays a lot of, like, that's kind of 70s and 80s, like, grindhouse type of stuff. Right. And I was talking to my boss about this because we were. We play a lot of martial arts films, like old school martial arts films. A lot of the, like, fake Bruce Lee movies, by the way, which is really great. But I. We were, we were talking about this. We were like. We feel. We kind of feel like there isn't as much appreciation for these types of movies as much as there was maybe when we were kind of growing up in film culture. Right?

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

Like, do you think that. Do you think that the kids perhaps have forgotten the magic of things like these movies or just basically any of these kind of like old school martial arts films? I mean, are they even really still making films like this anymore? Like, at least where we could see them in America? Like, what do you guys think about all this?

[Josh Fadem]

I have an opinion.

[Casey O'Brien]

Let's hear it.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, I think that when I was a kid, I mean, I'm 44, we might be around the same age, all of us. I, you know, in the late 80s, early 90s, you know, we had Seagal, Van Damme, you know, all the guys, Dolph Lundgren, Bolo Yung, you know, Cynthia Rothrock. And they. And all these HBO movies were marketed. And then that was one way in. And then there was stuff like Wu Tang Clan and the Beastie Boys and Quentin Tarantino and all the. That popped up in the 90s. And they're like, here, these are the real martial arts things and Bruce Lee and all that stuff and Jackie Chan and. And and then if you got real into it, you started digging deeper into the stuff that you're talking about, the grindhouse stuff, the Shaw Brothers stuff, you know, And I just wonder if kids even have a way in, you know, today to that sort of thing. And, and like, like I mentioned the hip hop stuff and even like the Beastie Boys. I feel like I don't know why I'm linking the Beastie boys in their 70s kind of exploitation aesthetic right in the 90s, like sabotage and Sabotage. And I feel like there might have been some sampling as well, or just that kind of funky music sampling that I kind of put it all together with that kung fu stuff.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yep.

[Josh Fadem]

And so that's. That was my way into that being, you know. But also that the stuff that you're talking about has a lot of cool stuff. I don't know, the kids, if there's a market for it or if the kids are finding it or whatever.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, it's interesting. Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

No, no, no. Go ahead, Casey, go ahead.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, I was just going to say I find that that's really interesting that you say, like, you kind of stumbled upon that stuff, Josh, on tv, because I do think that nowadays there's a lot less random sort of stumbling onto things that are not curated specifically for you as like a young person. So, like, you won't just be like, flipping through the cable channels that are like, not meant for you and finding something totally off that. That you was not geared for you at all, but now you're watching it, you know?

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

And so I think there's one that's one aspect, but also with like, old school kung fu movies and movies like the Boxer's Omen, where it's like this sort of creative, funny and slapped together types of movies, like doing whatever you can to make these movies, they feel a little like, sloppy, but in a good way and kind of not totally polished. And I feel like nowadays young people, I sound so old saying this, but I feel like there's less patience for movies that look sloppy in a way. Like, it needs to be more of like a finished product. Or it's like, this is stupid and bad.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

You know, like, whereas I feel like maybe we had more patience or like were gravitated towards something that wasn't a totally polished, totally finished product, but still, like, it's still appreciated as a, like a movie, whereas I don't know if people now do as much. So that's sort of like my two thoughts on it.

[Josh Fadem]

I find sloppy inspiring in a way. And especially if It's. I didn't mean to cut you off, Millie, but, like, you know, like, when I think about, like, Lucio Fulci and stuff like that, if you're getting into those movies, he's like. If he were to take, like, you know, on set, if you were to some of those edits and shots and stuff, if they were to take a few more hours to, like, get those zooms and everything and hitting those marks a little tighter, well, it would just look amazing. But at the same time, that would really kind of ruin the movie, you know? You know, and you're just like, boom, bop, zoom, step on that mark, splash the guts, you know, cut the throat, spray the thing. And it's just. We gotta go. Okay, moving on. It's just the feel I get from it, and that's also kind of exhilarating, you know, in a weird.

[Casey O'Brien]

Totally. Yeah, it feels alive.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, we're alive here.

[Casey O'Brien]

And for those who don't know, Lucio Fulci was an Italian director who worked in the 70s and 80s, known for his giallo and horror movies, which were frequently messy and violent and they sort of seem sort of sloppy kind of. I guess all giallo movies sort of feel that way, but his especially feel that way.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, I think. I think, Josh, we're really close to the same age. And so I'm. I'm totally with you on the idea that, you know, when we were growing, I mean, first of all, I remember in the. Being a kid in the 80s and, like, martial arts was such a huge thing. Like, all the kids on my street were in karate and like, you know, and also like, pro wrestling, which is kind of like an extension of that. And like, you know, every. Everybody was into, like, ninjas and, you know, like. And. And because of that, there seemed to me to be this kind of proliferation of these, like, huge martial arts stars, you know, like, like you said, not just Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, but like Jet Li and, you know, I mean, even people, like, you know, like.

[Josh Fadem]

Man, I know people get real into Donnie Yen. I was kind of already out of it when he came up. Sorry, go on.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, no, but like, even guys, like, I mean, you still kind of have a little bit of like, that in, like, I don't know, maybe like a Jason Statham or, you know, I mean, and the Steven Seagal movies and the Van Damme movies and stuff. I'm just. I'm wondering if there is an opportunity. Opportunity for that to come back. And, like, part of me wonders if it's like, again, Maybe there's not, like, a taste for it as much as it was when we were kids. Like, I don't know, maybe people just don't like the violence as much as we liked it back then. But I'm like, are we gonna ever have another Jackie Chan? Or, you know, I mean, I have.

[Josh Fadem]

A thought, like, it also might be the star power, you know, like, because I re. I watched Game of Death actually for the first time that I just, like, kind of slept on it for years because, you know, friends who watch, oh, it's bad, you know, when I was a kid, and so I just never bothered. And then I was like, I better watch it. So I wasn't quite, totally sure what it was. And when you're with this double the whole time, he's good and the fights are good, and that motorcycle. There's a motorcycle fight or whatever, that's really cool. But when Bruce Lee, real Bruce Lee shows up, you. You do get a sense that this is a star. You know, he is a movie star. He's a trained actor and a trained movie star, and he really knows how to be an American movie star and a. An international star. And so there was something like, the star part is key. So I wonder if there were someone. I mean, you know, the John Wick movies are huge, and that's kind of like kung fu with guns, you know?

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, there is, I think, an appetite for that type of stuff somewhere. And I mean, I fucking love the John Wick movies, obviously. So, you know, I'm just. But, yeah, this. When I was, you know, thinking about you coming on and talking about these films and rewatching the Boxer's Omen, it just really kind of put me back into a place of when I was, like, kind of a budding, you know, movie freak or whatever. Like, I was, like, watching stuff like this was, like, the thing that I, like, wanted. I want. Because it felt like, I think, to your earlier point about when you were working at Cinephile Video, which, by the way, for those people who don't live in LA and don't know, Cinephile Video, very legendary video store. And you worked there, right?

[Josh Fadem]

I worked there for 10 years.

[Millie de Chirico]

That's right. And if it felt like almost everybody that had worked there were they. They were all stars to me. Were you living in la? You up? Yeah, I was. I was in LA a little bit.

[Josh Fadem]

I worked there from 03 to 2013. So if you came in around then. Yeah, that probably would.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, but it's also, like, I don't know. To me, there was always that whole. I don't know, there's. Dare I say, there's a mythology around the LA video store folks. They just seem to be a little bit more keyed in, a little bit cooler than a lot of others. But, yeah, in that way where I was seeking out weird stuff on purpose and being like, oh, I gotta watch all these really crazy martial arts films, like the Story of Ricky. I remember that being a huge thing when I was coming up. And so, yeah. I mean, this is. But I think that for you, coming on and talking about this director and trying to get people back on board. Right. Is important.

[Josh Fadem]

And also the director, this is a real strong voice. And you look at his other movies and the voice is pretty consistent, you know?

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Josh Fadem]

And that's what I think is most. What I most wanted to come on here and say, like, Kui Qi Hunger is he's got something to say. He had something to say and he had something to do, and I.

[Casey O'Brien]

It.

[Josh Fadem]

And it's got something to do with sex and sloppiness and puking and, you know, guts, phallic and vaginal. And animals. He uses a lot of animals, too, like the snakes. And even in Bewitched, there's a lot of animals and bugs, you know, so they don't do it like that anymore. Not necessarily saying they should, but this happened, you know.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, thank you so much, Josh, for being on the show where. And I know you have. You. You. There's a movie night in Tulsa.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

Honestly, anytime.

[Josh Fadem]

I mean, I got all kinds of stuff here that are all different. I got that. I got a shelf across the room that, like, it's all noir. I got lots to talk about, so.

[Casey O'Brien]

Anytime.

[Millie de Chirico]

I love this, like, direct cinema. Look at your. The room that you're in with your stacks of DVDs.

[Josh Fadem]

This is awesome. If you. If you ever have someone fall through last second, reach out to Josh.

[Casey O'Brien]

Josh in the Lifesaver. Yeah, absolutely.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

But what. What do you. What do you got going on, Josh? What do you. What do you want people to check.

[Josh Fadem]

Out if you're in Tulsa? I. I run a noir night called Noir Nights with Josh Fatum, and that's a. Become a very popular screening night at the Circle Cinema. And then I also started a podcast show called Here Come the Details. And, you know, you can find it on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, all the places that people watch or listen. And so, I don't know, that's kind of been, you know, got some acting things coming up here and there but that's been kind of the. The thing I've been most focused on is this podcast show, you know, doing that kind of thing.

[Casey O'Brien]

It's a great show.

[Josh Fadem]

We also have a movie part of the podcast called the Tape Pile, which is. It's like all these different things where I do characters. And so it's me and my friend Randy. There's a great band called Chat Pile. You should have my friend Ray on. On the show because he's a real movie guy. And so we play these characters who we just talk about VHS tapes, but we're like, you know, white trash dudes in a storage unit. And we're saying this movie's like, this movie's so good, you know, and. But we're with. We're with tapes, but they're usually art house films, you know, so that's. There's the joke. This was directed by Maurice Pilot.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, my God. Yes, definitely. Check that out. It's a great show. Josh, you're wonderful. We love having you on.

[Josh Fadem]

So much fun. I wish we could talk all day.

[Casey O'Brien]

Check out Josh's stuff. And thank you so much, Josh.

[Josh Fadem]

Yeah, thanks for having me.

[Millie de Chirico]

Thanks, Josh.

[Casey O'Brien]

Okay, we are nearing the end of our show. Millie. Again, it's ending. I can't believe it. And we have a voicemail in our film advice column. If anybody wants film advice, please write in, but we've got a voicemail for you. Let's listen to this.

[Millie de Chirico]

I'm Millie and Casey. My name is Casey2. I'm wondering, what would you pair your favorite movie with in terms of a meal to create an overall sense of ambiance and environment? For example, one Valentine's Day, my husband and I watched the Godfather and had spaghetti and meatballs. What comes to mind for you for a perfect pairing of film and food? Thank you. Love the show.

[Casey O'Brien]

Thank you so much, Casey. You know, I'm gonna answer a question from another Casey. Well, this just reminds me of something. I'm bringing up my mother again. One time we had a Napoleon Dynamite party and my mom made steak and tater tots served with a glass of milk. And we watched Napoleon Dynamite.

[Millie de Chirico]

Very cute.

[Casey O'Brien]

That was a great pairing that, that, you know, that was a. Created a sort of ambiance for that. I was also thinking about, I could have. I could watch one of my favorite movies, Blue Velvet, and have a Heineken or Pabst Blue Ribbon. And I could serve that with, I don't know, an ear shaped cake or something. I don't know. Did you. Did anything come to your Mind for you for this, Millie.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah. I mean, so many things, right. It's the best thing. Like when I. I've talked about this before. I have a group of individuals that I'm friends with here in Atlanta that we've had this erotic thriller movie club for like a long time. I want to say it's probably going on seven, eight years at this point.

[Casey O'Brien]

Wow.

[Millie de Chirico]

Early adopters to the revival. I'm just throwing it out there again. We usually do a table, what we call a tablescape, which is we have to create a table that is representative of the movie we're watching. So there's all kinds of food tie ins. You know, I gotta tell you, one of my proudest moments as a person who bakes occasionally. I'm not gonna call myself like a baker. I'm just saying I like to make food sometimes. I made a Boxing Helena cake. Oh no, there's pictures of it. I. That was one of my most fun things that I ever made. And I literally made it like I. I made a topper. Like a wedding. Like a wedding topper. Actually, you know what's. I'm gonna, I'm gonna bring this back to Director Bong again.

[Casey O'Brien]

Uh huh. Well, just for those who don't know about Boxing Elena. It's a 1993, I guess you could say, erotic thriller about a rich surgeon played by Julian Sands, who operates on the object of his obsession, his grotesquely disfigured, aloof neighbor, Sherilyn Fenn. So there's some unnecessary surgery going on in that movie directed by David Lynch's daughter.

[Millie de Chirico]

Right.

[Casey O'Brien]

Jennifer Lynch. Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

And shots go on in Atlanta, down the streets from where I live. I know. So yeah. So I'm gonna bring this back to Director Bong.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

So there is a dish that is in the movie Parasite.

[Casey O'Brien]

Uh huh. Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

That is called Rom Dawn.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

Right. That the mom of the family makes for the child that's coming home. When I first saw that movie, I was like, I gotta have this. Like this looks fucking delicious.

[Casey O'Brien]

Totally.

[Millie de Chirico]

And before I even really knew about Korean food or anything, I was just like, I don't even know what it's called. I just gotta google it. But. And I'm not saying I know a lot about Korean food now, but I'm just saying it's basically like what, what they call Chapagehetti, which I don't even know if I'm saying that. Right. That's the brand that I know, but it's basically like the noodles, the Chapagetti noodles. But then you put I think there's like maybe some spicy udon noodles in there and then like steak essentially.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, steak chunks.

[Millie de Chirico]

So when I was like, we were preparing for this episode, I was like, well, I just saw Parasite fairly recently, so I'm not gonna watch it again. But I swear, if I watch it again, I'm making that shit and I'm eating it when I watch the movie. So.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, well, I think we should do an episode on food at some point. A food movie episode.

[Millie de Chirico]

I agree. I think that's an absolute no brainer for us.

[Casey O'Brien]

It's in the cards. Anyways, thank you so much, Casey, for writing in, or I should say sending us a voicemail. If you want to write in and you need advice, you need help from us, please Write in to DearMoviesExactlyRightMedia.com youm can send us an email or you can send us a voicemail like Casey did. Keep it under 60 seconds. And please record in a quiet place. Just not the quiet place because there will be monsters there trying to kill you, but please record in a quiet place. Is that, what is the name of that movie? A Quiet Place. Right, okay. Yeah. So don't, don't record in, you know, the movie A Quiet Place, but record in a quiet room, I should say. And yeah, and then you can just email that to Dear movies. Exactly. Right. Media.com. anyways, Millie, we're at the end of our show. It's time for employee picks. What you got?

[Millie de Chirico]

All right, so our employee picks. I feel like I extended this too. I don't know if you did. Maybe either Bong Joon Ho, the director, or Robert Pattinson.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes, anything's allowed. Anything that is inspired by the movies.

[Millie de Chirico]

Okay, fantastic. I will tell you to watch The Lighthouse from 2019. I feel like I briefly mentioned it when we did. We talked about Nosferatu a couple episodes ago. This is my favorite Robert Eggers movie so far. I. I loved Robert Pattinson in the Lighthouse. I thought this movie was so fucking funny and weird and wild and like, honestly couldn't have gotten like two funnier dudes to be in a movie together like R. Pats and Willem Dafoe. It was insane. Funny, gross, hilarious, looked amazing, great location, great costumes. So like, I don't know that to me, if you haven't seen the Lighthouse in a while, I didn't. It didn't come out like super long ago. But it's a good watch. You gotta watch again.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. Yep. It shows. R. Pats is funny and can do physical comedy. You know, that's where the, the, the seeds were planted. I feel like.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes.

[Casey O'Brien]

In the minds of many that he can do that.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes.

[Casey O'Brien]

So, yeah, fabulous. I was interested while I was watching Mickey 17 because I was like, you know, Robert Pattinson has been in a. A different space movie where his body is basically being used as an experiment.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh.

[Casey O'Brien]

And it's a very different movie than Mickey 17. It is a movie called High Life from 2018, directed by Claire Denis. Now Mickey 17 is a funny, fun movie. High Life is a scary, sad, dark movie. So tonally they're completely different. So if you don't want that experience, don't watch High Life. But basically all of these prisoners, a group of criminals who are serving death sentences, are sent on a mission into space to extract alternative energy from a black hole. And it stars Robert Pattinson, Mia Goth, Juliet Binoche, Andre Benjamin, aka Andre 3000. And it is a very interesting, violent, frightening movie and it deals very much with the loneliness and vastness of space, but it also deals with what happens when you put a bunch of crazy people together on a spaceship that's headed for a black hole. Yeah, a fascinating film. Really, really fascinating sci fi. And if you like Claire Denis, she's a famed French director, she did a movie from 1999 called Beautreweille. She's done so Many Trouble. Every Day is another great movie of hers. But yeah, definitely check out High Life if you're ready. If you're prepared for a really rough ride through space. That's my wreck.

[Millie de Chirico]

Good one.

[Casey O'Brien]

Wow, Millie, can you believe we're at the end of another episode? Unbelievable.

[Millie de Chirico]

I know. I'm hungry now.

[Casey O'Brien]

Me too. I think it's because it's just about dinner time.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, in my brain it's like. I don't know my brain, it's like 5:30 in the morning or something. But that's cause I'm on Japan time. I just got back from Japan.

[Casey O'Brien]

That's right, that's right.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, and listen, if you guys are interested and want to contact us, want to, you know, talk about your favorite Bong Joon Ho movies. If you want to send us a voicemail, all of that stuff, we are at. Dear moviesexactlyrightmedia.com Like I said, film recommendations. If you've got a film gripe, love a film grape, as you have heard, but email us. We're monitoring 24 7.

[Casey O'Brien]

We're monitoring 24 7. Yes, we have people on it 24 7. Every time an email comes into the inbox, it's noted within seconds of its arrival. Please follow us on our social medias. Our socials earmoviesiloveyou on Instagram and Facebook.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, and yeah, we're all letterboxd, obviously. We are Celia O'Brien and Decherico.

[Casey O'Brien]

That's right. Well, Millie, thank you for another great episode of this wondrous podcast. Thank you, Josh Fadem for a great conversation. Love that guy. Check his stuff out and yeah, that'll about do it.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yep, that's it. See you guys next time.

[Casey O'Brien]

Bye.

[Millie de Chirico]

This has been an exactly right production. Hosted by me, Millie de Chirico and produced by my co host, Casey O'Brien.

[Casey O'Brien]

This episode was mixed by Tom Bryfogel. Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain, our guest booker is Patrick Cotner and our artwork is by Vanessa Lilac.

[Millie de Chirico]

Our incredible theme music is by the best band in the entire world, the Softies.

[Casey O'Brien]

Thank you to our executive producers, Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark, Daniel Kramer and Millie de Chico.

[Millie de Chirico]

We love you.

[Casey O'Brien]

Goodbye.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Spring is in full swing, so take some time for self care this spring. Now through April 22nd. Buy two self care items and save $2. Shop in store or online for self care essentials like Tom's Toothpaste Soft Soap, Liquid Hand Soap, Colgate Optic White Toothpaste and Colgate Total toothpaste. And save $2 when you buy two participating items. Offer ends April 22. Promotions may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

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