Episode 17 - Past Lives

[00:00:01] Speaker A: I love you in the morning. Kisses deep and warm your hair upon the pillow. [00:00:11] Speaker B: You know, I was trying to have a moment, but we have some people already laughing in here, so we're just gonna go ahead and start the episode. Because if you're laughing at doing Leonard Cohen, well, we're gonna see how much my co host is a monster today. It'll be interesting to find out. Hello, everybody. Welcome to. Well, that was too the audience, but that's fine. You guys can say hello back. That's fine. We're gonna pretend that was the audience. Welcome to Watch this. This is a movie review and discussion podcast. I am your host, Paul Klein. Sitting in front of me is a monstrous person. What is your name? Rahr. [00:00:49] Speaker C: Stephanie Gablano. [00:00:51] Speaker B: Gablano. Sitting to my left is our host, Alex Bello. Alexander Graham Bello. Today we're talking about Past Lives, a delicate, beautiful film. One of the best films of 2023. Apparently there are some people here who [00:01:11] Speaker A: do not agree with this and they are currently making. [00:01:13] Speaker B: Yeah, they're making like thumbs down. [00:01:15] Speaker A: Like children. [00:01:15] Speaker B: Like children. Because, you know, about 10 minutes ago you were asking how to be classier. One of the first steps would be to enjoy classy movies. [00:01:24] Speaker C: I did not. I said I should learn how to become classier. [00:01:27] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. Because you're right now. [00:01:29] Speaker C: Not starting now. [00:01:30] Speaker B: Right. [00:01:31] Speaker C: I am trashy as possible during this podcast. [00:01:35] Speaker B: It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be good. It's gonna be a good hour. I hope you guys will enjoy. Let's get started. As I said, we're talking about Past Lives, a romantic drama directed by Celine Song in her directorial debut starring Greta Lee. Greta Lee and Teo Yu. [00:01:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:01:57] Speaker B: And John Magaro. So those are. That's like the three core casts. I think they are the people that have most dialogue in movies. There's like nobody else. It's a small scale drama, takes place over 24 years. As we follow at the beginning, a boy and a girl who somehow keep orbiting around each other and keep being drawn to each other every about 12 years or so. Maybe showcasing a case of In Yun as they talk about in the movie, which we'll talk about in more detail before we get started. Or let's get started with this. What are some overall impressions of the film, Stephanie? Shut up, Alex. Oh, and I just did a horrible, horrible thing. We have a special guest in the audience and I just completely ignored her. I am so sorry. Joining us as a special guest today is Jessica Rodriguez. [00:02:51] Speaker A: Yay. [00:02:53] Speaker B: Who also watched the movie. She is. She Is our number one fan. [00:02:56] Speaker D: Amen. [00:02:56] Speaker B: Number one. Because she's our only fan. And she's watching all the movies with us. She watched this one. We had a long discussion yesterday about it. And I thought that her impressions were. I thought. She said several times to me yesterday, I like the movie. I liked it. That's a good impression. But now it seems like she is making gestures, obscene, rude gestures that are not called for for this movie. So I feel like she's been brainwashed by Stephanie Cabrado. So let's start with you, Jessica. Put the phone down. I don't. I cannot believe that you are a special guest. [00:03:32] Speaker C: I have. [00:03:32] Speaker D: No. [00:03:34] Speaker B: Okay. I am sorry. I am. So I've been. I've been trained by Miamians, by Miamiists, that when people have their phones out, they're just staring and scrolling like a. [00:03:44] Speaker C: You came prepared for this? [00:03:46] Speaker B: Yeah, it was a suggestion that we did not. I have my note. Let me take my notes out. [00:03:50] Speaker A: Check out. Check it out. Check it out. [00:03:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:53] Speaker A: What's up? We didn't talk about the song, by the way, but will we get there? [00:03:57] Speaker B: Let's do it now. Yeah. So Alex picked the song today. [00:04:00] Speaker A: Yes, I did. [00:04:01] Speaker B: And, Alex, why did you pick that song? What is that song? I. I gave it away a little bit. [00:04:06] Speaker A: But that song is. Hey, that's no Way to say Goodbye by Leonard Cohen. Leonard Cohen, who I only recently discovered. And we had a conversation about him when I first discovered him. Singer, songwriter, kind of in that same New York sort of scene as Bob Dylan. Very similar. Often compared to Bob Dylan. They make the best out of their kind of odd voices, but they're beautiful writers. And this song, in many ways, talks about one of the big themes in the movie. And it plays, which I was so proud of myself for catching it. It plays at the beginning of the movie when our main character enters a room where her parents are in Korea. And they're organizing the room. It's playing on the radio in the background. And in that moment is when she asked her father, oh, what name should I. What should. My American name was? [00:04:52] Speaker B: Yeah, American name. [00:04:53] Speaker A: And while the song is playing by Leonard Cohen, he says, lenora. And I was like, oh, yeah, it was good. [00:05:02] Speaker B: Yeah, it was. That was a nice catch. I did not catch that. Yeah. I don't know if we set this up. I didn't mention that. The boy and the girl are Korean. [00:05:08] Speaker A: Yes. [00:05:09] Speaker B: And they are separated. They like each other at about 12 years old, right? Yeah, 12 years old. They're sort of like, I like you, and they go on a quote unquote date. And then soon after, Nora leaves for the United States, for Canada. Excuse me. And Hae Song. Yeah. Hey, Song. [00:05:26] Speaker A: Hey, Song. [00:05:27] Speaker B: Hey, Song. He stays in Korea. And let's go back to our impressions. I think that's where we want to leave the story for now. [00:05:34] Speaker A: We'll fix this all up in post because we jumped around a little bit. [00:05:37] Speaker B: No, we didn't. It's fine. Yeah, yeah. I'm just. I'm impressionistic. Versus. [00:05:43] Speaker A: What were your first impressions? [00:05:45] Speaker D: So I watched it one time, and I liked it. And then after talking to Paul yesterday, I was like, okay, let me re. Watch it to see. I learned from you guys, from listening to watch this, that you guys analyze a lot. You guys look at little details, especially for my favorite podcaster. Stuff she analyzes and everything. [00:06:10] Speaker C: You guys are great. [00:06:12] Speaker A: We turned down. [00:06:13] Speaker B: I turned down Mike because she did not pick me as her favorite podcaster. You can leave now. You're done. [00:06:19] Speaker C: All right. For the people. [00:06:21] Speaker D: For the people like me. [00:06:23] Speaker B: I'm an elitist. Is that what you're saying? [00:06:24] Speaker C: Yes, it's true. [00:06:25] Speaker B: I am. It's pretty much true. [00:06:28] Speaker D: So then I watched it yesterday, and I still. Still like it, but I do have different feelings now that I was, like, looking at it more, trying to read it more. Maybe I'm wrong in some of the things that I've read when I was watching it, but some things bother me. [00:06:43] Speaker A: Okay. [00:06:43] Speaker B: Okay. I think we'll get to those things that bother you. Yeah, let's go with our first impressions of the film. Just overall, before we get, like, deep into it. Stephanie, shut up. What? What are some of the things that stood out to you as you were watching it? What's the style like? Is it, like, loud and bombastic? [00:07:00] Speaker D: No, it's very chill, very mellow, delicate, a little depressing. Yeah, I don't know. I like. It's very real. [00:07:09] Speaker B: You know, there's a lot of detail that creeps in because it sort of takes its time with its shots. And. And the sound design is very important. And what I liked about it is that, you know, a lot of movies, especially the more artsy films, do slow cinematography and editing, but always. Okay. So for the audience at home, Alex just showed a his phone to Stephanie, which said nicely, fuck you, because Stephanie is making faces the whole time. [00:07:44] Speaker A: Jessica is over here pouring her heart out, sharing everything that she felt about the movie, and you're over here going, [00:07:53] Speaker B: what do you have to say for yourself, Stephanie? [00:07:56] Speaker A: You did it without making the noise. [00:07:57] Speaker B: That's what I heard. Yeah, that's what I heard. You know, I'm sorry. I'm gonna stop talking now. We're gonna let Stephanie talk. [00:08:03] Speaker C: Okay. [00:08:04] Speaker B: All right. I'm actually. You know what, Stephanie, go, go. I turned our microphones down. [00:08:09] Speaker C: Okay, I agree that the movie was slow. It was very, very slow. To the point where at one. Thank you, Paul. I love your input. [00:08:19] Speaker B: Sorry, no microphone on that one. [00:08:22] Speaker C: One point. I put the movie at like 1.5 speed and I could not tell that the movie had been sped up because it was originally so God damn slow. [00:08:37] Speaker B: Are you done? Okay, sorry. [00:08:40] Speaker C: It was so slow that. [00:08:43] Speaker B: Stephanie, did you consider you slow? [00:08:45] Speaker A: Oh, get fucking dunked on. [00:08:47] Speaker C: Paul just implied that I was mentally retarded. [00:08:53] Speaker B: I think I stopped implying. I'm just saying. [00:08:57] Speaker A: Okay, I'll shut up. [00:09:01] Speaker B: You know who's slow right now? You [00:09:06] Speaker A: get it. Slow. [00:09:08] Speaker B: Good, good. I'm glad you cut it off too, because that means we're not going to be banned in Russia, in Belarus. [00:09:12] Speaker A: Now, Stephanie, continue. [00:09:15] Speaker B: So for me, can I just say something? Can I just say that, like, I have no respect for anybody who watches a movie in 1.5 spe. That's just not how it's done. [00:09:25] Speaker C: I was about to blow my brains out watching these people stand in place for five full minutes doing and saying nothing. [00:09:36] Speaker A: Okay, seven. Let me ask you something. Does slow mean bad? Oh, are you gonna talk? Paul? Where's she going? What the fuck is going on? Was that a reaction to something I said or. Stephanie, Paul has exited the room and [00:10:00] Speaker B: I yelled you through the window. [00:10:00] Speaker A: And he's yelling you through the window. This episode is off to a horrible start. [00:10:07] Speaker B: It's fine. [00:10:07] Speaker A: It's fine, Stephanie. [00:10:09] Speaker C: I think when it's done right, and there are moments in a movie where having it be that slow and drawn out makes that scene meaningful. It makes you have to, you know, sit there and take in. But when you do it for the whole movie, that entire movie does not need to be focused on that much. I. It was the hardest movie to get through, I think. In this. In this podcast, how does it feel [00:10:39] Speaker B: to be a moron? [00:10:40] Speaker C: It feels great. [00:10:40] Speaker B: Do you feel good? [00:10:41] Speaker C: I feel amazing. [00:10:42] Speaker B: Okay, good. [00:10:43] Speaker C: You know what doesn't feel amazing? Having to sit through this God awful movie. [00:10:47] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh, dude. [00:10:48] Speaker C: I listen to you guys hype it up. [00:10:52] Speaker A: I am so glad that I'm not gonna have to see you for another two weeks after hearing this. [00:10:56] Speaker B: This is the perfect time to take [00:10:57] Speaker A: the hiatus because, yeah, my eyes almost got watery while you were on this movie. [00:11:01] Speaker C: We're all gonna need time to cool off after this podcast. Yeah, yeah, but I'm having. [00:11:06] Speaker B: Can I. Can I just point out how many things are actually happening in those long shots that you were. You were bored out of? [00:11:12] Speaker C: Point them out. [00:11:13] Speaker B: Well, let's go through the shot that I showed you yesterday that I was so impressed by. Think about what the bridge represents. It represents the divide between people. There's a reason why you keep the camera on that that long. You can make all the faces you want. There's no camera going on here. [00:11:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:28] Speaker B: The carousel was also a representation of their relationship, how it goes around in circles and never actually gets anywhere. [00:11:34] Speaker C: You mean like her marriage? [00:11:36] Speaker B: What. [00:11:36] Speaker C: What are you. [00:11:37] Speaker B: Who knows where? What do you mean they got married? [00:11:40] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. And the whole time she's sitting there daydreaming about some Korean guy. [00:11:44] Speaker A: Did we watch the same movie? [00:11:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Who says she's daydreaming about is going on? She doesn't even think about him. [00:11:50] Speaker C: She's in bed and her husband is like, oh, are you happy? She's like, well, I'm here, right? Yeah, that pissed me off. [00:11:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:57] Speaker C: Yeah, that's. [00:11:58] Speaker A: She's being honest. You know what? Hold up, hold up. Let's finish first impressions so we can fucking argue. But also saying that nothing happens in these scenes. This movie has one of the greatest fucking, like, compositions of scenes ever. Beautiful. Like, that's the scene where they're diverging paths. [00:12:13] Speaker B: He's. [00:12:13] Speaker A: She's going up this stairs. He's going this way. In Korea, it says so much by just showing, and yet it lingers for five minutes. [00:12:19] Speaker C: It's beautiful. I can't argue that the shots are beautiful. It looks very nice. [00:12:25] Speaker B: And then you have that beautiful soundtrack. You have the beautiful soundtrack from Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossin from Grizzly Bear. [00:12:31] Speaker C: All of this is beautiful. But it's so hard for me to appreciate the beauty in these choices when all I can think about is why the fuck is she standing there on this date? [00:12:42] Speaker B: I'm glad that you lowered your fuck on this one. Yeah, that was good. That was classy. [00:12:46] Speaker C: With this Korean guy. [00:12:48] Speaker B: You know what? Why the fuck was she what with the Korean guy? [00:12:51] Speaker C: Like, why? It's also beautiful. But all I could think about is how upset I am about how she's choosing to navigate these relationships. And I was just so upset by it the entire time. I couldn't appreciate anymore. [00:13:04] Speaker B: Tell us, actually, how do you see her navigating the relationships? [00:13:07] Speaker C: I think she's just selfish. The whole movie. The whole movie all she's thinking about is what she can get out of these relationships. [00:13:15] Speaker B: Really? What. What would you use to bolster that argument? [00:13:20] Speaker C: Okay, so with the Korean guy, right? Hye Song. Thank you. I feel like the entire time it's. It's his fault that he doesn't want to drop everything in Korea to live in New York. And for her, so that relationship doesn't work, so they need to break up. And then when she's, you know, she gets married and she meets him again, she just wants to see him. But then it's like there's still. [00:13:46] Speaker B: She wants to see him. Did she reach out to him or did he reach out to her? [00:13:50] Speaker C: Well, she made the effort to go see him. [00:13:52] Speaker A: Well, no, he came to New York to visit. And as someone does with a friend, when they come visit you, you show them around town. [00:13:58] Speaker D: She also reached out to him when they went to go get married in South Korea, but he never responded to [00:14:03] Speaker A: the email because she went to see [00:14:04] Speaker D: her friend before she got married when [00:14:06] Speaker B: they were in Kore, Korea. [00:14:07] Speaker C: Reason. Yeah, when they were. [00:14:09] Speaker B: She said that she was in Korea. [00:14:10] Speaker A: Yeah. With her husband. [00:14:11] Speaker D: She reached out to him. [00:14:12] Speaker B: She was with her husband. [00:14:13] Speaker C: I'm just saying, as a woman, if I went somewhere with my husband and reached out to a male friend, I did not reach out to that male friend because I wanted to see a male friend. It's because I wanted that guy to give me a reason to. [00:14:26] Speaker A: Okay, but see, this is. You're. You're saying that if you did that. But this is Celine song, almost autobiographical. [00:14:33] Speaker C: Woman in the room. How do you feel about that? [00:14:36] Speaker D: I feel. [00:14:36] Speaker A: I. I agree with stuff closer to the mic. [00:14:40] Speaker D: Oh, my bad. I agree with Steph. I think, like, as a guy, how would you feel if you were Arthur? [00:14:46] Speaker B: Like, I feel like Arthur. I'd feel like Arthur. [00:14:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I feel like Arthur. He's making an effort. I mean, all right, you gotta think [00:14:51] Speaker D: you're making an effort, but this guy. [00:14:53] Speaker A: No, go ahead. [00:14:54] Speaker D: Like, I don't know. [00:14:54] Speaker C: You're in. [00:14:55] Speaker D: Like, I would feel insecure. [00:14:56] Speaker A: Like, well, he is insecure. Okay, well, I think we should circle [00:15:01] Speaker B: back to this because we getting kind of deep into it already. [00:15:05] Speaker C: Life is making him insecure and she's not offering him any reassurance. [00:15:09] Speaker A: No, she does. [00:15:11] Speaker C: In what way? [00:15:12] Speaker B: Okay, she actually does say the reason I'm with you is because I love you. [00:15:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:15] Speaker C: Okay. Yeah. Half assed. Yeah. At the end of the conversation, she's like. She's like, oh, yeah. And you forgot that. Like, I love you. [00:15:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Which is kind of very important. [00:15:24] Speaker C: Yeah. But when he asks, oh, are you happy? It takes her bit to say. A little dry to say, yes, I'm happy. She kind of has she, like, hesitation. She's like. She's like, well, I'm here with you and I love you, so that must mean something. That is the most half assed response to a man that you love that needs reassurance. [00:15:44] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know if she loves him, you know, I. That doesn't. That doesn't affect whether I like the movie or not. [00:15:50] Speaker C: It affects it for me because I was upset the whole time by this plot. [00:15:55] Speaker A: Okay, okay, okay. [00:16:00] Speaker B: So, Alex, you speak now. [00:16:01] Speaker C: Okay. [00:16:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. First of all, just to get the first impression out of the way, I think this is one of the greatest directorial debuts of all time. [00:16:07] Speaker B: Agreed. [00:16:08] Speaker A: We know. Sorry. [00:16:11] Speaker B: Say one more time. Say one more time. [00:16:13] Speaker A: One of the greatest directorial debuts of all time. This her first movie. Her first movie. She only has two. This is her first. We know Celine song to be a playwright. And this movie works very much like a play. It's cut up into chapters. It's slow. [00:16:27] Speaker B: Now you're making me hate it. I hate movies that are based on place and that feel like a play [00:16:31] Speaker A: based on a play. [00:16:32] Speaker B: But it does okay. [00:16:33] Speaker A: In many ways. It's theatrical is what I'm trying to say. Doesn't. There's not many locations. When you are in a location, there is many locations, but when you are in one, you're there. It's not like you're, you know, moving around through this big, like, set sort of thing, you know, it's kind of shot on location. [00:16:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:50] Speaker A: Feels like a. To me, it felt like her playwriting abilities came through to me. [00:16:54] Speaker B: But it's so cinematic the way that she presents it. Oh, 100. You know, it's not this. So when you. So when you sort of say that, it makes me think of like these flat presentations. Like, we were just talking about Darren Arnofsky's the Whale, which really killed me, how it was clearly a play. And this. I. I see what you're saying. [00:17:09] Speaker A: Yeah. The playwrighting influences are there, but this was written for the screen is what I'm trying. [00:17:12] Speaker B: It's clearly. It's clearly a movie. [00:17:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:15] Speaker A: That said, this. This movie is not showing what a good relationship is supposed to look like. I mean, it's not saying, hey, look, you're gonna like this movie because this is a pretty romantic movie about everything that a relationship should be. No, it's showing a. A relationship that is in many ways very real because it has its flaws. But despite the flaws, they still remain very, very honest with themselves. I mean, more honest than a lot of. [00:17:40] Speaker B: We've seen a lot of companies. [00:17:41] Speaker A: Like, it's one thing to, you know, be reassuring, but it's not coming from a place of pure honesty just because you want to make better and just because you want to say, hey, yeah, yeah, I love you. Don't worry, Everything's fine. [00:17:52] Speaker B: Right. [00:17:52] Speaker A: But that would be a lie. She's not lying. She's being honest. Because really, she doesn't really know. Or if she does know the answers to these questions that he's asking her. I mean, she'd be lying if she said. If she said one way or another. I mean, she's kind of figuring it out. [00:18:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:05] Speaker A: As the movie goes on. And just to add to another thing that I think is very influential to the movie, which I hate saying, oh, you need to know this so that the movie feels better. But this movie is in many ways like an autobiographical movie because Seline Song is a woman who immigrated from Korea and had an almost identical experience to Gretaly's character in the movie to Nora. And the whole sort of impetus of the creation of the movie, the whole reason she kind of decided this would be a good story to tell, is because the scene at the bar that plays out where she's sitting between, you know, her past self and her future self in the forms of men that have known both parts of her life actually did unfold. She sat in a bar in Greenwich Village or in the East Village between her husband, her white American husband, and her child Korean boyfriend. And he came to visit her and they showed him around town. And now in real life, they're all good friends. It doesn't end like it does in the movie. Well, we don't know how their relationship goes on. [00:19:08] Speaker B: I don't think there's any. I don't know. It's funny. Like, I find the ending bittersweet. Y. I. I just think it's about much more than just, is she a good person? Is she being nice in that moment? I think it's very complicated. And I think that I've never seen, I think characters being that honest with each other. And so while they don't say, like, oh, lovey dovey, I feel that with everything that she says and where she's thinking about it and not overdoing it, when she does finally come and say, well, the reason clearly is because I love you. And again, in a tone of someone who's in bed falling asleep, you know, after a long day. I think it meant a lot, or possibly, yes. It didn't mean anything, but I thought that that was interesting. There's just so much going on in everything that they're saying, I think even things that I didn't even realize. Jessica brought it up. You know, like when he's talking about how he is learning Korean, and. And then he's talking about, like, well, because in your sleep, you speak in Korean, and it's like. And I'm like, oh, isn't that nice? He wants to know what. What she's saying. And then Jessica pointed out, it's like, yeah, he wants to know because he's afraid that she might be, like, talking about her old boyfriend or whatever. You know, not everything comes from a wonderful place. Right? Like, and. And that, to me, is sort of like the human element of it that. That you really can go in and sort of try to understand all the different layers of meaning of just what they're saying. And then when you put on top of it all the things of the. And I'm gonna say it again, but it is appropriate. The mise en scene, the way that Celine's song is setting things up within the shots, the things that she is showing. I was thinking about, you know, I mentioned to you guys with the bridge. I keep going back to the bridge because, like, in that shot, the camera's on the bridge, and then it kind of goes down. The bridge is so huge and, like, imposing over them. And then I was like, dude, is there any more bridge imagery in this movie? And then when you see Haesung in his hotel room, the camera pans by. There's a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge again in his hotel room. That has to be on purpose. [00:21:09] Speaker A: And the final scene, and then the [00:21:10] Speaker B: final shot, I almost got up out of my bed and cheered when I saw, like, that he's driving. The last shot is him on a bridge driving away. So I'm not just trying to be pretentious. I really feel that Celine's song is really packing every image with analogies and metaphors and things that we are supposed to be. That's why we're taking so long with this, is that we're supposed to be drinking it in. And also, it really brings out the place. Like that shot near the end when they just walk to the Uber, and it's one long take. It's not this showy long take, like we get in so many movies where it's. It's like you know, you have to actually remind yourself, oh, wait, they didn't cut. But all we're really hearing is just the city. You know, we're hearing buses, we're hearing dogs barking. We're hearing all these different sounds. Even Nora when she walks back, how, like her foot sounds different when it hits the pavement. And then when she runs over a grate, it all kind of puts you in that place. You're suddenly in the East Village. And it just sort of like it's so evocative. And I love that. And I will say in your defense, okay, when she's going around the house in Montauk, I wrote in my notes, I was like, why are we spending so much time here? Because that was a long time when she's walking from, like, room to room. But again, this one I didn't catch myself. I was reading about it just now during lunch. There was a person, a critic, who was going fully in depth of what you were seeing in that scene when she's walking room to room. And now I did catch this, is that there's a lot of things, and I mentioned it to Jessica yesterday, there's a lot of reflections, images of reflections of water, of mirrors. And again, like, when she's walking around her house, what's one of the first things that she does? She kind of looks in the mirror and checks herself out. And again, mirror images, right? Like, it's almost. It's you, but it's not you. It's kind of like these. These different lives that they're kind of imagin happening or lives that haven't happened or that may have happened, where these characters may have run into each other. All these things are baked into the movie. And I think it's quite beautiful. And again, then you have that soundtrack that's just sort of making you kind of like dreamy, but, like, not sleepy. For me, at least, it's kind of dreamy. And it just kind of moves everything forward. And I never felt that the movie was stagnant. I just felt it was putting me into a place. And to put all that together and so much thought into it, I just think it's so beautiful. And I just feel that if you are kind of focusing on certain elements of it and just kind of ignoring everything else around it, I think it's a shame. And I would recommend watching it again at some point in the future. And don't let so much their actions be like their actions are their actions. Sometimes they're pretty shitty. There's a lot of things That I wrote where Arthur says things where I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, do these people actually love each other? Same with. With Nora. Like, they're not perfect people, but, like, geez, like, don't. Don't they remind us of ourselves? [00:24:05] Speaker C: I can appreciate how much you appreciate it, but I think for me, it was. It was too much for a plot line that I just plain wasn't interested in. And I think that's. That's just a me thing. Like, the story of these lives. It just. It didn't. It didn't pique my interest at all. Like, I didn't find myself at any point in this movie really caring about these people or what they were doing. And I. I don't know how to. What to do about that. I mean, I've watched this movie twice, and in both times I watched this movie, I really. I really didn't care about. About these characters. And I think if I did care about what they were doing and whether or not their lives coincide and the story of these people, like, I would have been more interested in those aspects of the movie. But I think because the whole time I was watching this, I was like, why am I. Why. Why should I care about this woman and her two boyfriends that she can't. You know, that she keeps going, never her boyfriend. [00:25:17] Speaker B: But, you know, [00:25:20] Speaker C: I don't. Like, I just. I couldn't find myself being interested in. In who this woman chose. [00:25:26] Speaker B: You know, I didn't care who she chose either. [00:25:28] Speaker A: Yeah, she didn't choose really anyone at the end. We don't know kind of what. [00:25:33] Speaker D: Well, she did. [00:25:34] Speaker C: She chose her husband. She decided that she was. She was no longer with this man privately. [00:25:40] Speaker B: Saying it's not privately. Her husband always knew she was going. [00:25:43] Speaker C: Well, the Korean guy literally told her husband, we're not gonna meet alone anymore. [00:25:48] Speaker A: No. He said, I'm sorry that we're speaking alone, because when they were at the bar, the two of them were having a conversation alone and leaving him out. [00:25:55] Speaker B: He's like, we're not gonna do that again. [00:25:56] Speaker A: He's like, I'm sorry. He realized after the fact how uncomfortable it must have been. [00:26:01] Speaker B: Like, it's great. I love that. That long scene where they're talking to each other, and it's just like really intense scene where they're kind of getting these things out and they're speaking in Korean and like. Like, Arthur is just not in the shot ever. But yet I always feel him there. Yeah, I'm just like, poor Arthur. [00:26:15] Speaker C: Shots. At some point, he just Looked like [00:26:16] Speaker B: he went, no, no, but I mean, in that, in that sequence of that particular scene. Yeah, like, where they really get into it. It's just. It's just overhead, you know, over the shoulder shots. [00:26:25] Speaker C: At the beginning of that scene, though, you see, like the same. [00:26:29] Speaker B: You see it in the opening scene when you first see. [00:26:31] Speaker A: And what I think is so special because I saw them talking about it in an interview is that it took them two days to film just the beginning part of that scene. So up until the part where Arthur and Haesung are left alone and have their, like, sort of man to man conversation, which I thought was actually really sweet, that moment that they had together. But the. The whole scene was shot over the course of two days. It took a long time to film. And Celine song forced Arthur's actor, whose name escapes me right now, John Majaro, John Majoro, to sit there the whole time as we see him as they're doing the lines, he is sitting there quiet, bored out of his mind, feeling the awkwardness. And it just adds to, like, the overall feel of the whole scene. But I want to backtrack for a second, Stephanie, and maybe throw you a bone because, like, okay, I will say Arthur, I. I feel really bad for him. Like, I really do feel bad for him. As many mistakes as he made, like you said earlier, it's a shitty situation to be caught up in. I mean, I totally understand where he's coming from. Like, I will never be that guy who is, you know, your childhood sweetheart, who's more like you, who's culturally. Which culture is such an important part of the movie, who culturally has this connection to you that I will never achieve. I'll never speak the language of your dreams is what he's. What he. What I think he says, if I remember correctly. But this guy does. However, that said, I can't help but like Arthur's character. [00:27:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:52] Speaker A: Because despite everything, I think he handled that situation better than myself or any guy I know ever would. I mean, for as. As I remember you said, like, when you first watched, you were like, oh, this was a kind of cuckish. [00:28:04] Speaker B: Oh, don't. Please, please. [00:28:05] Speaker A: For. For as much as I get highs. [00:28:07] Speaker B: When you say that, y. Forever. [00:28:08] Speaker A: For as much as you can try to, you know, play that card. I mean, the guy is really, really just emotionally mature. Like, more emotionally mature than I think I will ever be in my life. And I just. I can't help but love his character despite everything. And he still sticks it out for it. I mean, he even says, you make my life feel so much bigger. And she kind of, like. Which that was up because she's like, I'm just a girl from Korea. Like, my life. I shouldn't make your life feel bigger. She doesn't say that, but it's kind of what she's trying to get at. You know, you're still your own person. But, man, I loved his character, and I couldn't help but feel bad. And. And, I mean, I don't think Haesung is, you know, spiteful towards him. He's actually very nice and respectful. [00:28:48] Speaker B: I love when he says, like, this is so much harder because, like, I really like your husband. [00:28:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:53] Speaker B: I. I will say again to throw a bone into that one. I felt exactly as you did about Arthur the first time I saw it, but the second time I was, you know, I kind of knew what was happening, so I could also sort of focus in on certain things more. And I think Arthur is trying to be emotionally immature. [00:29:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:08] Speaker B: But there are things that. That kind of start peeking out when you're watching again, and you're like, yeah. Like, you start to see, like, the real imperfections there. [00:29:14] Speaker A: And I feel like that's a given. I mean, it's gonna happen. [00:29:16] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:29:16] Speaker B: Yeah. But I. I like that that was there, and I kind of pushed him away the first time at this time. I'm like, oh, yeah, he's not a perfect guy either. [00:29:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:23] Speaker B: And I mean, Jessica and I were talking about those exact same lines when he was talking about, oh, you know. You know, your world is so much big. My world is so much bigger because of you. Yeah. And it's kind of like an othering kind of thing where it's like, oh, you're this exotic Korean creature, and you've brought your culture to me, and what am I? I'm just, you know, a Jew from the. From the east side of New York. And it's kind of like, well, don't diminish yourself and don't put her on such a huge pedestal. And that's why she kind of says, like, I'm just a girl from Korea. [00:29:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:50] Speaker B: They have clear things to work through 100. And again, I think even to go with what Stephanie was saying, I mean, the lines in that. In that bedroom scene, which. Wait, can I be pretentious for a second? Reminded me a bit of breathless, 100%. Because they have. They have that whole long, long bedroom scene, and they're also talking about dreams and where do we go when we dream and things like that. Like, I wonder. I wonder if that was maybe just sort of supposed to be a little bit of a homage to that. And. And I apologize, as I'm being super pretentious man who's like, you've never heard of Breathless? You didn't understand the movie because it's. You didn't understand that she was referencing Jean Luca Dodd. But I still said it anyway, because I'm an asshole. But the. There were some interesting things that they say there. And, like, for instance, Arthur says to her, he's like, I won't tell you that you can't see him, because, I mean, the guy flew 13 hours to see you. Who would I be to tell you not to see him? And I'm sort of like, well, wait a minute. Wouldn't you rather be like, I wouldn't tell you not to see him because I love you, and I. You know, like, I would not stop you because I love you and I trust you. And instead, he puts it on the guy and is just like, well, that dude took 13 hours to get here. You know, you got to throw him a bone, which is. It's a very weird thing to say. And then the other thing that. Then Nora says back, you know, when he's like, well, would you give up everything for him? And she's like, I'm not gonna miss my rehearsal for some dude. So she's putting her career in front. Like, she's really saying, like. But again, like, I love that about that, because it's sort of like, these are the things that I think that we really go to go through as people where things aren't. You know, I. And I think. I think you said it. You're like, you're in a great relationship, and so maybe you have good communication, and you and German aren't feeling this, you know? And so that's. That's awesome. But the rest of us are in. You know, I'm 48 and single, and. And mostly going through this, you know, So I love seeing that. Yeah. [00:31:42] Speaker A: When you were standing by the door earlier, watching it and, like, pissed off at it, I said it out loud. And I don't know anything about your life, like, your personal life, so if I'm. You could stop me immediately. But I was like, this is a person in a really healthy relationship watching a movie about a really, like, flawed relationship. And I think maybe that's why there's not that, like, connection. Like, those dots are just, like, not clicking, right? [00:32:04] Speaker C: Because the whole time I was watching, I was like, if this ever happened to me, I would fix it. So easily. [00:32:11] Speaker B: Yeah, but I don't think you would be able to. I don't think it is that easily. And maybe there is even. Doesn't need to be fixed. [00:32:17] Speaker C: If there was some guy that, like I dated when I was 12 that was like searching for me online, like, wanted to meet up, like, I'm married. And he. [00:32:27] Speaker B: She wasn't married at that time. [00:32:28] Speaker C: Well, you know, like later on. Oh, yeah. [00:32:32] Speaker B: Can I just do like the plot, just so we know. So, like, they have a date when they're 12 years old. They hang around, they love each other, quote, unquote, as you can as a 12 year old, which is not much. 12 years later, they come back into orbit with each other and they kind of have this intimate long distance relationship with these, like really intimate conversations through zoom. But that's basically it. And that probably would last maybe for a month or two. I'm not, it's not kind of clear how long that lasts. At that point. She was not married, she was not dating anybody. And then she feels that relationship is interfering with her goals in life, which is she wants to. She wants to become a famous. Something she keeps changing. So when she's 12, she wants to be a famous Nobel Prize winner. Nobel Prize winner. Then she wants to be a Pulitzer Prize winner. Now she's a playwright, apparently, is what we're kind of gathering, which kind of mirrors also Celine Song, the writer, director, with her life. And so she puts that on the back burner and says, you know, you're causing me to lose focus on what I need to be focusing on. And then she says, we need to stop talking for a little bit. And as these things always go, when you say for a little bit, suddenly 12 years pass and you haven't spoken in those 12 years. That's when she meets her husband and that's when they get married. Yeah, continue. I'm sorry. [00:33:42] Speaker C: So, like, what I'm saying, like, if I was married and like this guy, I, you know, he flies to where I'm living and we dated and then met and then kind of dated. Like, I would be well aware of what this guy's intentions are in meeting me. I think she is like, you don't meet up with a guy that you dated in the past and go, oh, he just wants to be friends. Like, you're fully aware that this guy has romantic feelings towards you. And I feel like if you value the relationship that you have and you respect your partner at all, then you would respectfully tell that person, I'm not comfortable meeting you. Alone, Because I don't want you to get the wrong idea, you know? And I feel like by her putting. Like, she had to have put some kind of effort to be like, okay, I'm going to throw you a bone because you flew all this way and I'm gonna meet you like that. That's what made her husband insecure, of course. And I'm, like, watching this movie and I'm just thinking, how could you do that? And I'm just. I'm not feeling any connection to these characters. I'm just feeling frustrated and upset by this. And, like, I'm watching this, I'm like. I'm like, I don't care. There's a bridge there. Sorry, Paul. I appreciate that you appreciate it. I understand why it's there now. But, like, as I'm watching this, I'm just, like, I could care less about the intricate relationships of these people. Like, you're a bitch. And, like, that's just how [00:35:07] Speaker B: I hate that. [00:35:08] Speaker C: I don't. That's just me watching this movie. [00:35:11] Speaker A: Okay. [00:35:12] Speaker C: I don't think as many times as I would watch this movie, I'm ever going to find myself liking these characters. [00:35:20] Speaker B: Let's check in with you in 12 years. [00:35:21] Speaker A: Okay? [00:35:22] Speaker C: I think that's fair. [00:35:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:35:23] Speaker C: I think. I think to give you guys credit as film critics, maybe I'm just not romantically or mentally mature enough to really. [00:35:37] Speaker A: I don't think. I don't think it's a romantic or, like, emotionally mature thing. I think it's more so, like, until you live certain things that happen in the movie, not like a hundred and I. God forbid. I really hope that you don't have to live any of the stuff that happens to in the movie. I hope your relationship continues healthily forever. But if you do end up living through some of those things, even just shades of what happens in the movie, it all makes so much sense because it's so real. And to, like, kind of elaborate, because I thought the same thing. Like, why would he. She even go there? I kind of had to put myself in the mindset of these people. They're artists living in New York, working in New York. Dating is very different in these kinds of big cities in the sense that, like, I think people are more comfortable, like, going out in groups of, like, I don't know, people like that and, like, being around people professionally where it's like, yeah, if my girlfriend has to go be with, like, a friend, I don't care if it's, like, a dude that she works with or Like a dude that she knows from her hometown. Like, you kind of just gotta let them do that. Because I feel like it's a different type of social environment than we have, like, here, where we're, like, very, like, sort of sheltered. And it's kind of like, oh, if I'm going out with my friends and my girlfriend comes with me, like, that's fine, but she's not gonna go and, like, you know, hang out with another dude alone. Like, I think that's normal here. But maybe in that situation, it's not. That's giving the movie too much of an out. But I will say this. I think that the whole movie, as Celine Song said, is about closing doors. And Nora tries to rationalize the whole thing to herself as like, oh, I'm not the little girl that I was when I was in Korea. You know, I'm not that crybaby anymore. I'm not the child that you once knew. So it's okay for us to meet because that door is closed. But I think neither of them, Nora nor Hae Sung have closed that door. And that's what the whole thing that's happening here is that when they finally do close that door, he leaves. He realizes that door is closed. She lets him go and closes that door for herself. She breaks down crying again because really, she was trying to rationalize to herself that she's not that crybaby anymore. But we end up finding out that she still really is. And several times throughout the movie when she's with him is when we see that crybaby come out when she tells him, hey, look. Well, for the first time, when she. When she's in school, then the second time, in the second goodbye, when she's telling him, you know, we can't keep talking, she gets watery. And then in that final goodbye, when that door is finally closed, is when we see her be that little girl again. [00:37:55] Speaker B: That's fantastic. Yeah, I didn't. I didn't make that connection between her saying that she's the crybaby. [00:38:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:00] Speaker B: And then she's crying at the end, [00:38:01] Speaker A: and the whole time it was the bar, she's trying to rationalize it, like, oh, you don't know that they're trying [00:38:05] Speaker B: to say, I'm different now. And it's like, well, you are different, but you're not as different as you may think you are. [00:38:10] Speaker A: Exactly. It's like, oh, that stuff is behind us. It's okay for us to hang out because I'm different. [00:38:13] Speaker B: It really isn't. [00:38:14] Speaker A: It really isn't. We see that because we're outside looking there. But for them, it's like they're telling themselves these lies. For as honest as they are, they're still telling themselves lies. [00:38:23] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. And. And again. And I'm going to leave it alone after this because it's sort of like all we can agree to do is to disagree at this point. Right. But just to try to illustrate where I'm coming from again, is that, yeah, I know she's lying. Right? He knows she's lying. And I find it really entertaining when she's trying to rationalize it after the fact. That whole scene where she's in the bathroom and he's asking her like, oh, well, so is he handsome? And this kind of stuff again, what is she doing? She's looking in a mirror. Reflections. [00:38:52] Speaker A: And he's in a mirror, too. [00:38:52] Speaker B: And he's in a mirror too. And there's that whole. And I think this is very funny when she keeps saying, he so Korean. Oh, my gosh, the way he behaves. And, like, you can just tell that it's that, like, she's talking to herself and you're like, do you not hear what you're saying? You know? And her husband's kind of like, don't you hear what you're saying? I just find that so fascinating. I like that, to me, is just human behavior. And it's not great. Right. But, like, I'm just like, dude, I know this stuff. [00:39:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, to. To her, she's not trying to uplift him. She's trying to knock him down a peg by saying, he's so Korean. He's so much of like that masculine Korean that I left. Left behind. But she's for this new life. But to him. [00:39:30] Speaker B: But even to herself, like, she's trying to deny it, but, like, she likes that stuff. [00:39:33] Speaker A: Yeah. She's like, oh, it's so outdated. [00:39:35] Speaker B: Like, so Korean, so traditionally still attracted to it. She's. Yeah. [00:39:40] Speaker C: I mean, there's nothing much. There's nothing more that I can really say. [00:39:44] Speaker B: Agreed. [00:39:44] Speaker C: Except that I think. I think you guys are right. Like, those types of people are so alien from what I know. So to me, watching this movie, it's like I'm watching a soap opera of the types of people that I hate the most. [00:39:57] Speaker B: Okay. I. And that's really why I say, wait 12 years. I don't mean to belittle you and be like, you're just too immature, but it's like these are kind of these experiences that you're going to pick up and that'll become, I think, more interesting to you as you kind of get to, you know, get to you, like, oh, I've. I felt that, or I've seen someone who behaves that way. I recognize this. [00:40:17] Speaker C: I think right now it's just. It's so far out of my home field that I'm kind of just like, yeah. And I don't know who these people are, and I don't care much to learn. [00:40:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And I just want to second what Paul said. It's not to on you and be like, oh, you. You know, you haven't lived that. So you don't get it. [00:40:31] Speaker B: Right. [00:40:31] Speaker A: Because that. That's not. That's not an excuse. A movie is very personal. How it hits you is how you. You'll feel about it. And maybe you'll never get the movie and you never will like it. [00:40:40] Speaker B: And that's fair. [00:40:41] Speaker A: And that's. That's understandable. [00:40:42] Speaker B: Despite my childishness. That is fair. [00:40:45] Speaker A: Yeah. As much as we're on it, like. Yeah. [00:40:47] Speaker B: It's just that, like, I really. I didn't want to watch it a second time because I had such an emotional experience watching it the first time. [00:40:53] Speaker C: Really? [00:40:54] Speaker B: Yeah. That I was. I didn't want to watch it again and see that it wasn't true. And so I had a hard time. And there were again to sort of lean into things that you were saying. When I was watching, I had to watch it in pieces this time. There were moments where I was like, oh, maybe this isn't as good as I remember. And then, honestly, once it gets to him, coming to New York, I just think it's just. Everything from that point on is just fantastic to me. And then now we're kind of looking back. I'm like, I like the opening stuff, too. [00:41:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:21] Speaker B: But it really becomes something special when it comes to New York. And just. Even the package, you know, we were talking about, I think, with Eddington, the package that he comes in. [00:41:28] Speaker A: I love the package. [00:41:29] Speaker B: I love the package. You know, I'm not a huge Grizzly Bear fan, but I like a couple of their songs. And what I liked hearing was that the stuff that they put in the background of their songs is at the forefront of this music. [00:41:40] Speaker A: Okay. [00:41:41] Speaker B: And. And for me, it works much better, like, when it's not, like, within the confines of a song, where it just doesn't necessarily build to anything. It's just kind of mood. And I mean, I was listening to the soundtrack just now, and. And I love it. And the shots of New York just rainy New York and Rainy Soul as well. Rainy Soul as well. It just really. It hits me. And then when she cries at the end, it's like, I can't tell you 100% why she's crying. I don't think she can tell you why it's 100% why she's crying. But it just is this beautiful moment where she kind of lets loose, where she kind of lets everything out. I think she also feels guilt and also just like, despite the things I said about Arthur, I wish I could be like Arthur in that moment. How he is just relaxed, sitting on. On the. On the stairs, smoking a cigarette. Not relaxed. I mean, clearly not relaxed, but. But trying to be just like, it's okay, you know? And again, even when he hugs her, I noticed it now that she doesn't hug him back. Her arms stay prone. And I'm like, oh, what does that mean? But I'm also like. That could also become of guilt that she's. There's a lot of things going on there. [00:42:46] Speaker A: But she does the same thing for hey Song when she. When he hugs her at the end in the final scene, when he reaches out to hug her, she doesn't hug him back. She keeps her arms by her side, if I remember correctly. [00:42:54] Speaker D: I think she hugs them. [00:42:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:42:55] Speaker A: I think at the end, right? Yeah. [00:42:57] Speaker C: She wrapped her arms, like, around her shoulders. [00:42:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:43:00] Speaker A: But it's those, like, complexities of relationships between people that I think are really hammer the whole thing home for me. [00:43:05] Speaker B: Like, yeah, like, when they meet the first time in New York. Like, I love how they're looking at each other and they're sizing each other up and they're, like, speaking without speaking. And then when they actually kind of go in for a hug and they hold each other like, God, I. I felt those 24 years that had passed. Well, I just think it's lovely. I don't know. [00:43:21] Speaker A: I thought it was so cool. Because Celine's song specifically instructed both Greta Lee and Teo, you. Teo you. To not touch at all physically until that scene was filmed. Because they were saying how actors are very prone to, like, hugging and being very, like, touchy in general, like all actors. And so she told them while they're on set, do not touch each other because that final, like, that first hug is going to be reserved for when you shoot the scene. And then the same thing between the actor for Arthur. And they had never seen each other on set. They were escorted through different doors on set until they get that first reveal between each other when they first meet in the apartment. [00:43:58] Speaker B: And it comes when he comes through, like, because you're expecting him to. To pretend to put on this face of like, hey, nice to see you, or pretend. And he just stares at him and he's like, sizing him up also. And just the way they spoke to each other, all these things that just. I loved it. I can't help it. I just think it's a really well made movie. [00:44:16] Speaker A: I cried both times that I've seen this movie. [00:44:18] Speaker C: I was watching it, waiting to get an emotional reaction. Especially with how emotional I've been this week, because I've been like, super emotional. I've cried for everything. I've cried from, like, videos of like, babies, and I don't. And I hate kids. And I watched this movie. I was like, waiting. I was like, I was like, oh, my God, this is gonna make me cry. And I was watching it and I got zero emotional reaction out of it. I think that just me and this movie just don't fit together. [00:44:42] Speaker B: And I think we just have to accept it. [00:44:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:45] Speaker C: And, you know, knowing how much you guys appreciate it makes me second hand appreciate it. [00:44:51] Speaker B: Okay. I think that's all I live by Carrie. That's a lot. That's a lot. I appreciate it. Yes. [00:44:55] Speaker C: I can understand. Understand how much it means to you guys. And I think that makes the movie more meaningful for me. See how other people like it. [00:45:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:03] Speaker C: But I think for me personally, it's just not my movie. Okay. [00:45:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And we have to respect that. And I think that's perfectly fine. [00:45:09] Speaker C: Yeah. Wholesome moment. [00:45:12] Speaker B: Especially after the chaos of the opening, which is hilarious. I just, I come from a. Like when I love something like a work of art, and then someone comes at it, like, I just go. I'm like, I'm gonna fucking kill you. [00:45:26] Speaker A: Oh, no. I don't think I've ever gotten this angry at Stephanie. But this is also, I think, the strongest you felt about a movie. So it's like I get defensive. [00:45:32] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all get defensive. It's okay. [00:45:36] Speaker A: I just want to say not to. Not to blow smoke up your ass, Jessica, but I love the way that you, like, come in to the podcast and like, like brought stuff and you're actually watching all these movies and rating them. [00:45:46] Speaker B: Jessica made actually a really good point that I would like her to tell our audience what you noticed about the color coding of the clothes. [00:45:53] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. So I noticed that. So their first date, they're wearing blue [00:45:57] Speaker B: and yellow when they're 12. [00:45:58] Speaker D: Uhhuh. When they're 12. Then when they meet in person for the second. Like, for the second time, he's wearing blue and she's wearing, like, a cream. It seems like yellow. [00:46:09] Speaker C: Uhhuh. [00:46:09] Speaker D: So it was like their second date, I think, like, in a way. And then after she spoke with her husband, I think she had an awakening. Like, she can't have her cake and eat it too. And then their second outing, like, she's just wearing, like, all black. He's still wearing blue. Like, he's wearing blue throughout the whole New York experience. And I feel like, because he was in it, like, he was ready. Like, if she wanted to run away with him, I think he would have. [00:46:32] Speaker B: That's why he was there. [00:46:33] Speaker D: Yeah, I think, like, he was ready for it. And she closed that door after she got that realization from her husband that it was like. Because even in the bedroom, like, she can be tired, but she sort of kind of her facial expressions, like, she was sort of kind of down because I think it was like, I can't have my cake and eat it too. Like, yeah, this is my life. Like me with. Yeah, with you. [00:46:54] Speaker B: Like, it's not romantic, but it's. It is realistic. [00:46:56] Speaker D: And that's my life, I think. Like the movie. I love the movie. I liked it on letterbox and. But I think her character is unlikable just because it's like, okay, there's not a likable character. Yeah. Like, I don't know. I could understand her completely. Does she piss me off? And I think that's what makes a movie so great, is that you get an emotional reaction. [00:47:17] Speaker B: But can people piss you off and you still like them? I mean. [00:47:20] Speaker D: I mean, I can understand her, like, but it does piss me off. Even, like when she. The carousel. Like, her with hey Song. Like, when they were. She would talk about Arthur. She was like, it's a green card marriage. I wrote it down. I'm like, okay, a little bit. Yeah, I did some maths. [00:47:35] Speaker C: Okay. [00:47:35] Speaker D: Yeah, I did some maths. Because they were like him when he was with his, like, homeboys. Hey Song. He was like, oh, she's been married for seven years. So 12 years passed. She was with Arthur for five years. [00:47:47] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. [00:47:48] Speaker D: Yeah, That's a long time to be like, it's a green card marriage. [00:47:52] Speaker B: And then they even said that they married earlier than expected because it was a green card man. [00:47:58] Speaker D: And then it's like, oh, me and Arthur get in fights. Like, they have dates here. So it's like, yeah. And then she's like, talking hang up. When. With Arthur, like, he's manly. Like, that stuff bothers me. [00:48:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:09] Speaker D: Because it was like, she sort of. Kind of. If you're the Korean dude, you'll be like, maybe stuff is rocky over here, you know, like, maybe it's not all good. [00:48:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:18] Speaker D: Liberty thing. She's like, oh, you've never taken me here. You know? She's like, what? [00:48:22] Speaker A: I do. I. I do think all of those, except the fighting one, are like, a criticism of the relationship, because I think the fighting one was more so to compare, like, the cultural differences between. Between, like, his relationship with his girlfriend in Korea and their relationship. Because, like, they don't really argue like that, but she does. [00:48:36] Speaker B: And I think she's almost saying, like, well, we argue, and that's a healthy part of relationship. [00:48:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, it's a normal thing to argue with your partner. [00:48:42] Speaker C: I guess. [00:48:43] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, she does. She does say weird things. And those things stood out to me much more this time than they did before. And, I mean, even the things that we're saying in that fight, you know, where she's. You know. But they're both kind of it up. Like, they're both saying, like, really weird. Like, I said, she's. She's not saying, oh, you know, I'm not gonna turn him down. I'm not gonna run away with him because I want to be with you. You're my husband. She was like, I'm not gonna give up my career for him. You know? [00:49:07] Speaker D: And then those are some things, like, piss me off. [00:49:09] Speaker B: It's weird. It's weird. [00:49:10] Speaker D: It seems, like, unlikable. [00:49:11] Speaker C: Like, if I was Arthur, I don't think that's unlikable. [00:49:13] Speaker B: I just find that human she is focused on. She must be in her early 30s at this point, and she wants to make something of herself. And I think she sees that time kind of going away. [00:49:23] Speaker D: I think she's just always been selfish her whole life. Cause even as a kid, like, when [00:49:27] Speaker A: she's a dream, like. [00:49:29] Speaker D: Yeah. But, like, I don't know. [00:49:31] Speaker B: She's definitely not perfect. I mean, you know, and, like, nobody is. But I just don't think that that really. Maybe it's also, you know, Greta Lee's performance that I. I think she's effervescent. [00:49:43] Speaker D: She's too chill about the whole. [00:49:44] Speaker B: I like her chillness. [00:49:45] Speaker A: She looks cool on camera. She has the right. [00:49:47] Speaker B: She looks great on camera. And. But even the same with. With hey Song. I mean, and. And Arthur also, is that. [00:49:53] Speaker C: That. [00:49:53] Speaker B: I don't know. I like these people. I. I like being around Them and. And they're not perfect. And they say some stupid. But, like, they're trying, and I like how they're trying and I don't know. [00:50:03] Speaker A: And the whole thing that she tells him, like, oh, she. What she says to her husband, she also says to Hae Song earlier in the movie, like, when they're on. On Skype, she's like, I left Korea to go to Canada, did everything there to come to New York to live out my dream. And now I'm kind of finding myself stuck back in, you know, the things that I had in my past of Korea. What I. [00:50:24] Speaker B: Looking up flights to Seoul. [00:50:25] Speaker A: Exactly. Looking up flights to Seoul. And then she says the same thing in a way to her husband in saying, like, I wouldn't throw it all away and miss my rehearsals. Like, you know me. Like, she's basically saying, like, my career always comes. My dream has always been my career, and, like, the things I want. Yeah, that is pretty selfish because you don't like, but you don't engage. Like, if you know that about yourself, you don't waste somebody else's time getting into a relationship and, like, letting them love you and loving them back. If you know that your career is always going to come first. Like, you can. But not to the extent that I think that she does it. I think she's also kind of dumb to say it in that way. Like, you don't phrase that like that to your partner. [00:51:02] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:51:03] Speaker A: Like, she could have said it better. Yeah. [00:51:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:51:05] Speaker D: Arthur's too good. Like, he's too understanding. [00:51:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think that's. Like, he. We said it yesterday. Right. Like, it's like, he's so understanding. It's almost very simpy that he's kind of like a sim. [00:51:20] Speaker A: Like, but. [00:51:21] Speaker B: But at the same time, like. Like, I. When he's there waiting for. At the end, it doesn't seem like a simp move. It just sort of seems like this is the woman that I love and she's going through something, and so I'm gonna be there for her, even if it is confusion over this guy. But at the same time, I mean, she. She's not sitting there being indecisive. Yeah, she lies to herself a little bit. She. She maybe kind of goes to the edge of some things, but at the same time, I think she never. She never instigates anything truly. And she always makes it clear from the beginning, no matter what the reason. It may not be Arthur, but basically, she worked too hard, changed lives too many times. You know, from going to Korea. To Canada. To Canada. To New York. To give it up for. For a dude. Whether it be Arthur or Hae Sung. [00:52:06] Speaker A: And this movie rocks. I have to leave. Bye, guys. I love you. The audience. I'm not saying I love you because [00:52:13] Speaker B: it's not really awkward, guys. [00:52:16] Speaker A: I'm saying I love you to our audience. Yeah, You, Stephanie. Four out of four. Paul's. And watch this. [00:52:27] Speaker B: Are we okay? Are we picking a movie? [00:52:30] Speaker A: I have to. [00:52:30] Speaker B: I know how to go. But I mean, like, am I still doing it when you leave? [00:52:33] Speaker A: Materialist. Double feature. [00:52:35] Speaker B: Okay. [00:52:36] Speaker A: Double Celine song. [00:52:37] Speaker B: Okay. Are you okay with doing another Celine song? [00:52:39] Speaker C: I like Materialist much better than this movie. [00:52:41] Speaker B: Okay. So. And then we can compare. I think that that's fantastic. Yeah. Watch. I'm gonna hate the Materialist. [00:52:46] Speaker A: You probably. [00:52:47] Speaker B: I might. I might. Okay. [00:52:49] Speaker C: I don't like the Materialist, but I like it better than this movie. [00:52:52] Speaker A: God. [00:52:53] Speaker C: Hey, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans. I'm not complaining. [00:52:56] Speaker B: Here we have John Majaro. And, well, Tao U. Is. [00:53:00] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:53:01] Speaker D: He's. [00:53:01] Speaker B: He's a dreamy man. [00:53:02] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:53:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:03] Speaker C: Captain America is my weak point. [00:53:05] Speaker B: So. [00:53:09] Speaker C: What did you just say? [00:53:11] Speaker B: I like Captain America. [00:53:13] Speaker C: You're gonna tell me Captain America's not sexy? [00:53:15] Speaker B: Of course he's hot. But I. I just feel that there's something deeper with Greta Lee and John Majoro. [00:53:25] Speaker C: As much as it wants. [00:53:26] Speaker B: Huh? [00:53:27] Speaker C: I don't care for them. You said you wouldn't mind being in a room with these people. If I walked into a room and those three people were in there, I turn right around and leave. [00:53:34] Speaker B: But you just want to be in a room with Chris Evans because he's hot. And Pedro Pascal. Wait, which one was the Pedro Pascal? Yeah. I'm just getting tired of him. He's in everything. [00:53:43] Speaker C: Yeah. Have you heard the allegation about Pedro Pascal? [00:53:47] Speaker B: Yeah. When you were. When. When Alex was talking about how Celine's song wouldn't let them touch each other, I was like, a good thing. Wasn't Pedro Pascal. He would have been hands all over. [00:53:56] Speaker D: This is giving me too much anxiety. [00:53:58] Speaker B: This is giving me too much anxiety. [00:54:01] Speaker C: I love this. [00:54:02] Speaker B: That's a good one. I have anxiety. I'm gonna just start putting hands on people. No, just strangers. Don't worry, you're good. Just random people on the street. I'm gonna be like, I have anxiety. [00:54:14] Speaker C: You're just gonna put your hand on Alex's head. Sorry, I have anxiety. [00:54:18] Speaker B: I said strangers. Nobody that I work with. All right, so we're only down to three of us. Let's go. Ahead and wrap up. We're at 58 minutes, and I think I kind of reached all the things I wanted to say. I could talk about this movie for hours, just not with Stephanie. [00:54:37] Speaker C: Where's my. My ambience book? [00:54:41] Speaker B: Okay, let's wrap this up. Beau will not be making an appearance today. I guess because we picked the Materialist, we're gonna watch that for us here in live in real life. We will not be recording for a couple weeks. Shouldn't affect you people at home. You people. Shouldn't affect you. Dear listener. At home. [00:55:00] Speaker C: You people. [00:55:04] Speaker B: Stephanie, shut up. [00:55:05] Speaker C: You animals at home. [00:55:06] Speaker B: You animals at home who dare listen to us. We thank you. [00:55:10] Speaker C: You're disgusting. [00:55:13] Speaker B: Hey, and if. If you agree with Stephanie, you are disgusting. [00:55:16] Speaker C: So, hey, hop on the Stuff squad. [00:55:23] Speaker B: We should start making T shirts. And yours is going to be like, past Life sucks. [00:55:27] Speaker C: No, it's gonna be Step Squad in the front. Past Life Sucks in the back. [00:55:31] Speaker B: Yes. I like it. Alex and I are gonna have. On the back will be Better Man Sucks. [00:55:37] Speaker C: You're gonna be Klein Club. [00:55:38] Speaker B: The Klein Club. Yeah. And on the back, it'll be like Better man, question mark. More like Worse Man. [00:55:43] Speaker C: Alex would be the Bellow Boys. [00:55:44] Speaker B: The Bellow Boys. The Klein Club and the Bellow Boys. And the Steph Squad. Steph Squad. I love it. Yeah. Okay. I. You know what? This. We're not going to ask how many Pauls you give it, because it's just going to make me angry again. Is it 0.0Paul's.0Paul set of four. Dear listener, I think you should send me money for sitting in a room with Stephanie for an hour a week. [00:56:08] Speaker C: I think I should get paid for having to watch this movie. [00:56:12] Speaker B: Do you, Listener? It's a good place to end. I give the movie four out of four Pauls. If I could give it five, I would. [00:56:18] Speaker C: You can give it five. Pause. Out of four. No one's stopping you. [00:56:21] Speaker B: I already did that for Magnolia. I just didn't want to go into that again. I'm just saying how much I love the movie. Materialist is next. Wow. We're gonna turn off the microphones and I. It's gonna be. It's gonna be Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Two. One man leave. [00:56:37] Speaker C: Okay. [00:56:38] Speaker B: I can guarantee you I'm the one leaving. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening to this contentious podcast. We will see you sooner than later. [00:56:49] Speaker C: Watch this. [00:56:50] Speaker B: What? Yeah. I'm not even asking you. I say watch this. [00:56:53] Speaker C: Don't watch this. [00:56:54] Speaker B: You, Stephanie, [00:56:58] Speaker A: like a sleepy golden stone. [00:57:01] Speaker C: Yes. [00:57:02] Speaker A: Many love before us. I know that we are not you.