Requiem for a Dream (2000)
This episode delves into the profound and unsettling narrative of "Requiem for a Dream," a cinematic exploration of addiction and its devastating repercussions on the lives of four individuals in Coney Island. The discourse commences with a critical appraisal of the film's impact, notably its provocative themes and the performances that propelled actors Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly into the limelight. We express a complex relationship with the film, recognizing its artistic merit while grappling with the overwhelming darkness it portrays. We engage in a thorough examination of the film's pacing and narrative structure, contemplating whether certain elements could have been executed with greater efficacy to enhance the viewer's engagement. Ultimately, we arrive at a collaborative consensus regarding its rating, acknowledging both its brilliance and the heavy emotional toll it exacts on its audience.
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Transcript
And it, it launched Claire Danes and Jared Leto into the stratosphere.
Speaker A:But it was stupid.
Speaker A:It was angsty damn 90s teenage.
Speaker A:And I was like, oh my God, this is terrible.
Speaker A:But like all the girls my age, like Jared Leto was like the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Speaker A:And I was like, go away.
Speaker A:Like this, this show sucks.
Speaker A:Welcome to the what's Every podcast.
Speaker A:We fashion ourselves cinematic judge and Jerry.
Speaker A:My name is JJ Carter.
Speaker A:I'm here with my co host Alec Burgess.
Speaker B:Let's get it.
Speaker A:We appreciate you tuning in.
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Speaker A:Tell a family member about us.
Speaker A:Yeah, again, I don't know that we want.
Speaker B:Really don't tell nobody about this month.
Speaker B:Yeah, skip this month.
Speaker A:This, this movie.
Speaker A:I don't know that this movie's wild, so I don't know that I want anybody that's related to this movie.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Coming and hanging out.
Speaker A:But with that, we're in week two of our NC17 movies.
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Speaker A:So let's get into week two.
Speaker B:Let's do it.
Speaker A:We are reviewing Requiem for a Dream.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:It was written by Hubert Selby Jr. And Darren Aronofsky.
Speaker A:It was directed by Darren Aronofsky.
Speaker A:It stars Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald, Luis Lasser, Marsha, Jean Kurtz and Mark Margolis.
Speaker A:It is about the drug induced utopias of 4 Coney island people that are shattered when their addictions run deep.
Speaker A:I sure that'll work.
Speaker B:More or less.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Requiem for a Dream so this one was your movie, but I would have picked it if you hadn't picked.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Because this one goes way back for me.
Speaker A:But I'm curious as to your, your reasoning besides just looking at an NC17 list.
Speaker B:That, that was most of it, but the other part of it was I hate this movie.
Speaker B:I hate this movie for stupid reasons.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:But irks me.
Speaker B:And it's one of those where I, I heard the main theme of the song of the movie.
Speaker B:The main theme of the movie first.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I was like, wow, that's pretty cool.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Let's watch the movie.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Terribly misleading.
Speaker B:It's a stupid song to put in this movie because it does not fit at all.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:And it's such a good song.
Speaker B:And then on the flip of it, Requiem for a Dream.
Speaker B:I am convinced whoever wrote this thought it was Requiem for a Dream and they don't know Latin and they were trying to make it rhyme fair.
Speaker B:And that has bothered me for so many years for no.
Speaker B:No reason.
Speaker B:And so when we had, when I had the opportunity, I of course put it on there.
Speaker B:I don't think it's necessarily a bad movie.
Speaker B:There are parts of it where I'm like, the world.
Speaker B:Were they thinking?
Speaker B:Yeah, but I, I can sit down, I can watch it, you know, once every six or seven years and not feel gypped.
Speaker B:But everything else surrounding this movie I hate.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:What about you?
Speaker B:Since you're gonna put this on the list?
Speaker A:I have a love hate relationship with this movie.
Speaker A:So if I look at it objectively, it's a good movie, it's well acted, it's interesting, it's weird.
Speaker A:But it's also very, from what I've heard and listen, I've never run in big drug circles, at least not like heroin and cocaine like those kind of big drug circles before.
Speaker A:Like I've known people that have done them, but not like pure on full on addiction type thing.
Speaker A:So I, I, I've heard though that it's pretty accurate to a lot of like the nuance and like the, the unfortunate situations that you might find yourself in in a drug addict status of this level.
Speaker A:Again, that's not from personal experience, that's from hearing from other people who have had personal experience on some level.
Speaker A: But I hate it because in: Speaker A:And I sat down and watch it and went, no, it's really not like it's good and it's interesting and it's weird but like everybody was all up in arms.
Speaker A:And then there was like this whole, the whole.
Speaker A:And I realized you were still a child when this came out.
Speaker B:I was like seven.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:But I was a, I was a ripe old like 19 year old kid.
Speaker A:So it was like.
Speaker A:Yeah, so it's one of those things where there was so much hype around this movie because of Jared Leto and he was fresh off, I mean at this point he was still pretty fresh off of that stupid ass MTV TV show that he was on that launched his career.
Speaker A:And then Jennifer Conley, it was a big switch for her because she'd always played like the, the heroine child actress or you know, some young good girl.
Speaker A:And then this movie comes out and she's showing off the top of her bush and she's getting naked and doing all sorts of crazy drugs and sex acts.
Speaker A:And so everybody lost their minds a little bit about that.
Speaker A:But I think the thing that it just drove me nuts.
Speaker A:And then there was this big hubaloo about the fact that it got the NC17 rating when I mean if you look back on it now, it's really kind of stupid that it's Sensei 17, it's an R rated movie.
Speaker A:But there's so much worse.
Speaker A:Like there's R rated movies now that have full on, practically full on intercourse that you can see.
Speaker A: as a As a country back in the: Speaker A:So it was one of those weird or actually it was over zealous, you know, values or whatever you want to say.
Speaker A:But anyway, like, so I was just.
Speaker A:By the time I I was into movies as an adult and like appreciate a good film, I was already so sick of hearing about Requiem for a Dream that I was like, stop it.
Speaker A:This movie, get out of here.
Speaker A:So it's a very love hate.
Speaker A:Like, like I said objectively, I like this movie and it's very good and it's very well acted.
Speaker A: was so sick of it by the time: Speaker A:I was like, if someone says Requiem for a Dream is their favorite movie, I'm gonna smack you in the face.
Speaker A:Especially because you have no idea what you're talking about.
Speaker A:Most of these people by that time I'm in Utah, right.
Speaker A:And so these guys are like, oh, it's the greatest movie.
Speaker A:This was so good.
Speaker A:I'm like, you don't eat.
Speaker A:You've never even seen a drug that wasn't prescribed to you.
Speaker A:Dude, let's not talk about how you think you can relate and do get the out of here.
Speaker A:You can't relate to.
Speaker A:I can't and I've done drugs.
Speaker A:So let's not go down this road.
Speaker A:So anyway, like it's, it's such a weird one for me, but it's such a staple like movie from that time period.
Speaker A:And even now, like if you bring up Requiem for a Dream, it's on lists of greatest movies and whatnot and this, that and the other.
Speaker A:And whether I agree with that or not, like it's hard to do an NC 17 month and not go well.
Speaker A:You kind of need.
Speaker A:I mean we've got the two staples that I was like, we have to have them.
Speaker A:When I was thinking through my list, like you have to have this one and you have to have next week's if you're gonna do it.
Speaker A:Because they're to me, the ones that are the most watchable, that aren't like these niche over sexualized or over violent.
Speaker B:It's not last week's movie, that's for sure.
Speaker A:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So it's just one of those things.
Speaker A:So that's where would have ended up on my part of the list if you hadn't chosen it because of all of those reasons.
Speaker A:And it deserves to be talked about.
Speaker A:I think it's.
Speaker A:It's an interesting film.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:I do think that the.
Speaker B:Maybe it's by Design.
Speaker B:But the, the story could have done for me a little bit more with the wide angle of what's happening around them.
Speaker B:Like, I really like instead of the sequences where you have his grandma for 10 minutes just flipping through TV channels or him when he's in a like coming down from his high or whatever it is, and he's just kind of like sitting on the couch and there's that sequence like five minutes long just showing him on the couch.
Speaker B:I, I would, I appreciate it a lot more.
Speaker B:The scenes where they show like the, there's a crackdown happening, gang violence is going on and so they can't get their, their drugs anymore or it's way so expensive to get that they're having trouble having a supply.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so that was far more interesting to me.
Speaker B:Like, my favorite part in this actual movie is when they're trying, you know, they got the foolproof plan to go get out of a truck.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And just have all these, you know, druggies around, like, oh, let's see how this goes.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And then you even, even after you have everything, you know, gunshots going off and everybody split, you still have them.
Speaker B:Ch.
Speaker B:Found the produce citrus truck.
Speaker B:And I was like that, that to me was one of the best scenes in this movie because it, it just hammers home that when you're that almost far gone, that much of an addict like you are, you do not care aside from getting your next fix.
Speaker B:And so, you know, even, even though you had shots fired, everything my ass be going the opposite way at the truck.
Speaker B:Okay, you know what?
Speaker B:Maybe not for me.
Speaker B:Let's go.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:But at that point they're so deep into it and then that just sets off, you know, kind of the third act of the movie where you have this big downhill spiral.
Speaker B:Because that was almost the last shot.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I would appreciate it more of that happening because I could have gotten by with maybe one or two sequences to really show that grandma's messed up, Grandma's messed up, these guys are messed up.
Speaker B:But, but the 9, 10, 11 sequences that we got, I was almost like, oh, I get it.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:No, I completely agree.
Speaker A:Like, it's over.
Speaker B:It's overdone.
Speaker A:It is, it's overdone.
Speaker A:Like there's too much of the sitting around trying to show these drug induced stupors and like.
Speaker A:And I get that they're trying to show, at least from what I can tell, they're trying to show what it's like to be high as much as they can without you being high.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker A:Because that's.
Speaker A:I mean, that is one thing that I will say that the couple of introductions that I did have to Very strong drugs like that, like heroin and stuff is like, it is especially heroin.
Speaker A:Or.
Speaker A:And hopefully, I mean, we.
Speaker A:I might get.
Speaker A:We might get attacked on this one for.
Speaker A:From B2 for saying heroin and drugs so much.
Speaker A:But it is what it is, especially heroin.
Speaker A:Like, it does turn you kind of into like a puddle.
Speaker A:Like they're just kind of.
Speaker A:You just chill.
Speaker A:And so there is some level of that, but I don't need to see it every time where Jared Leto or Jennifer Conley or, you know, Damon Way or Marlon Wayans is on the screen.
Speaker A:Like, I just don't like, show it to me.
Speaker A:Fine.
Speaker A:And then like you said, give me something that actually talks about the existential dread or the difficulty of trying to balance both.
Speaker A:Living a life, having the money to get your drugs.
Speaker A:And then what happens when you have your drugs and then the trouble that you get into because it's this, this fine tightrope walk that you're doing to like keep your life together.
Speaker A:And then of course, by the time they.
Speaker A:And it's funny because when they get to the part where starts spiraling, that third act and the.
Speaker A:You hit the.
Speaker A:The pinnacle of this movie where everything kind of goes into the toilet forum, it's so fast that I'm like, whoa.
Speaker A:All of a sudden we went from slow, drawn out sequences of nothing or laying on a couch waiting for your girlfriend to come back with money so you can go buy drugs to full on, like, running away, trying to find drugs, doing drugs in the car to keep yourself going, realizing that you're gonna lose your arm because your arm's super infected to weird lesbian sex on the table with a bunch of weird ass businessmen watching and cheering you on and grandma getting electric shock therapy, I'm like, whoa, give me whiplash all of a sudden.
Speaker A:What the.
Speaker A:And, and so I think if they had done one of two things, they either cut out some of the middle of it of some of these slower sequences and then drag out the final act so you even get more, because that part's impactful.
Speaker A:You're like, oh, now we're seeing the results of making these choices in your life.
Speaker A:And this is the shitty part where the reality of what you're trying to show in this movie, the raw just.
Speaker A:We're not hiding from anything in this movie is actually impactful versus it feels like most of the movie.
Speaker A:Hey, I'm gonna go figure out how to take some drugs and then learn how to sell them.
Speaker A:Because, yeah, real quick, this doesn't seem bad at all.
Speaker A:But then when it gets bad, it gets real bad.
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker A:But it's just so hurried.
Speaker A:Like, the timing of it is a little wonky from middle to end.
Speaker B:No, I agree.
Speaker B:Because I think you can fix that with just a couple brief glances.
Speaker B:Like, we never see anything with his arm until he's shooting into the most infected arm on the planet.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so throwing in something like that or even a line about like, hey, my arm hurts a little bit, this or that, but they don't.
Speaker B:And so you go from thinking like, oh, hey, you know, these guys are actually starting to get a control of the whole thing.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:No, it's not.
Speaker B:It's bad.
Speaker B:And that arm's coming off.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And then same thing with grandma.
Speaker B:Like, you know, it turns out she's been on these uppers and like, only these uppers for 18 months.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:But at no point do they really talk about, you know, there's no intervention from her friends or anything like that where you think that there'd be somebody who might mention it or there might be an instance.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so having almost that last chance, we'll call it, Right.
Speaker B:Where you have, you know, doctors off a visit.
Speaker B:You can't be doing that.
Speaker B:Can't be doing that.
Speaker B:Because we get a little bit of it with Jared Leto's character.
Speaker B:But that's way at the beginning before you have all these consequences coming.
Speaker B:And then same thing, like, aside from the, you know, couple of sequences showing her, you know, flipping out, you really just kind of once again, nosedive off a cliff to electric shock therapy.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And so having just a couple sequences to bridge that gap, I think, you know, you maybe lose a little bit of the shock and awe that you get, but you don't diminish any of the consequences.
Speaker B:And you're still able to tell the ending of the story with these real consequences.
Speaker B:But, yeah, because I did get whiplash, I was like, what is wrong with his arm?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because you haven't told me yet.
Speaker B:Aside that he's an addict, you know, you haven't told me or show me specifics.
Speaker B:And then you have, like, Marlon Wayans character.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Who for all intents purposes, doesn't have the same level of addiction, clearly.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Or same level dependency.
Speaker B:But throughout the film, that's not.
Speaker B:You're not being led to believe that.
Speaker B:You're led to believe that they're both kind of on the slippery Slope.
Speaker B:But he turns out just fine.
Speaker B:You know, at least from a physical, you know, there's no arms coming off.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And so that.
Speaker B:That, for me, was like, okay, so he's.
Speaker B:Jared Leto has been way far gone, way far longer.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But you don't get any kind of hint, I guess, at that happening or that being the case until it's time to lop off the arm.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And by that point, it's like, dude.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Yeah, it's.
Speaker A:Yeah, well.
Speaker A:And there's one little scene that's like a blink, and you miss it when he's in the bathroom and he looks at his arm and you see, like, a little red mark.
Speaker A:But it looked this.
Speaker A:In that scene, I always noticed that the red mark feels like it's way lower.
Speaker A:Then you see it in the crook of his arm later.
Speaker A:And on top of that, to me, it looked more like a lesion.
Speaker A:So the first time I saw it, I thought, oh, no, he's gotten himself HIV or aids, and he's.
Speaker A:He's starting to show some lesions, and he's just ignoring it.
Speaker A:And so that's how this is gonna go.
Speaker A:And then you're like, the next time you see anything about it is 30 minutes later, and it's in the car and it's like, that's not red anymore.
Speaker A:That's gangrenous.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, your veins are all black and, like, you're up.
Speaker A:And so there's.
Speaker A:You're.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, there's no indication other than that one little moment that's blinking, you miss it and doesn't even look like what they end up having it be.
Speaker A:And so I've often wondered if, like, the original thing was to have Jared Leto's character and Jennifer Conley's character, at the very least, have either HIV or aids.
Speaker A:And it would be.
Speaker A:If they're getting lesions at that point, most likely it's AIDS already.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Because then you're talking about that whole, like, the whole epicenter again, of what your drug addiction has done.
Speaker A:Like, because now at least the.
Speaker A:There's two guys that probably have AIDS from her, trying to get drugs or money for drugs from her from them.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And then who knows if we saw the whole party at the end.
Speaker A:So it's like, I'm wondering if that may have been the original intention.
Speaker A:And then they were like, well, let's walk it back and make it an infection versus AIDS or hiv.
Speaker A:And maybe I'm wrong, but that.
Speaker A:I'm telling you, if you go back and rewatch that, it's about the middle of the movie.
Speaker A:And I don't remember, but he's in the bathroom and he's looking at himself in the mirror.
Speaker A:And then he looks down at his arm.
Speaker A:It's like at the red mark.
Speaker A:And it looks like it's more in the forearm area than the like the actual elbow crease.
Speaker A:And so he like looks at it, swipes his arm on it, and then walks out of the bathroom.
Speaker A:And then you don't see again about it until you get to the car when you see that it's seriously infected.
Speaker A:And I'm like, that's so weird.
Speaker A:And again, maybe I'd missed something somewhere along the line, but that, that one always bothered me too.
Speaker A:I'm like, whoa, how'd that get there?
Speaker A:And we didn't even notice it.
Speaker B:That is weird.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But yeah, it's.
Speaker A:I will say though, we've been poo poo and a lot of the weird stuff.
Speaker A:I will say that when it comes to acting, though.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Jesus, dude.
Speaker A:Like, it is primo.
Speaker A:And I will say the one that always shocks me in this movie is Marlon Wayans.
Speaker A:Like, he is so good in this movie.
Speaker A:And listen, Jared Leto, we all know Jared Leto is a phenomenal actor.
Speaker A:We all know Jennifer Conley is the same.
Speaker A:They always have been, they always will be.
Speaker A:But Marlon Wayans is always just the goofy little Wayans brother that's like been in silly comedies or been in that his brothers make.
Speaker A:And so he's just automatically in this.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But he kills it in this.
Speaker A:I think in some ways he has some of the best performances in this movie.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I always, I do appreciate the, the full on acting in this movie.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's very good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because like again, you know, my first introduction to really Marlon Wayans, but really just the Wayans family in general is white chicks.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:And yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:That's the goofy comedy, you know, just kind of off the wall that, you know, he kind of flapped himself with.
Speaker B:And then you have this, which is the exact opposite.
Speaker B:And he carries pretty much most of the movie.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Just from.
Speaker B:And it's not even with necessarily dialogue or, you know, lines that he's talking about or having a scene that's focused on him.
Speaker B:It's everything that's going on in the background, like a lot of glue character going on where he's always there.
Speaker B:But he's the one that's really kind of connecting all the dots.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:He's got the tie back to the greater world as a dealer and supplier or whatever.
Speaker B:So he's the tie into what's actually happening outside of, you know, their Coney island apartment.
Speaker B:And he's the one who just kind of connects everything together.
Speaker B:And he does such a good job at it.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:For us older folk, we were introduced to the weigh ins with In Living Color, and then Damon Wayans did all sorts of.
Speaker A:And then all of a sudden, it was like every weigh ins under the sun started popping up and getting, like, doing like, scary movie and all.
Speaker A:That was where.
Speaker A:Damn Marlon.
Speaker A:And I don't remember the other one that was always in.
Speaker A:They had their own TV show and anyway.
Speaker A:But yeah, I was shocked every time I see this.
Speaker A:I'm like, that's Marlon Wayne.
Speaker A:What the is going on?
Speaker A:Because he's just so good and it's such a dark movie, heavy movie.
Speaker A:And he's not.
Speaker A:He's not funny.
Speaker A:Like, it's not like he's funny either.
Speaker A:He's not even, like, not.
Speaker B:No comment.
Speaker A:Entirely comic relief.
Speaker A:Like, he's just serious and, like, it's dark.
Speaker A:And so I really appreciate that.
Speaker A:That he could do.
Speaker A:And I've always said that I feel like comedians make the best dramatic actors because being funny is hard.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that timing.
Speaker A:And if you can get that timing down, I. I fully believe you can get any timing down because some of the best dramatic performances that I can think of came from comedians.
Speaker A:Robin Williams.
Speaker A:Oh, God, Now I can't think of the other.
Speaker A:And the.
Speaker A:Oh, God.
Speaker B:Will Ferrell.
Speaker B:We know you love Will Ferrell.
Speaker A:That guy.
Speaker A:But he does have some great serious performances.
Speaker A:When he tried.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:There's one where he's like a.
Speaker A:In a writer's mind or something.
Speaker A:Or.
Speaker A:That one's really good.
Speaker B:Stranger than Fiction.
Speaker A:Yeah, that one's really good.
Speaker A:No, I was thinking.
Speaker A:I keep thinking going back to.
Speaker A:He was in Living Color too.
Speaker A:Pet Detective.
Speaker A:Why can't I think of his name?
Speaker B:Jim Carrey.
Speaker A:Jim Carrey has some of the best dramatic performances, period.
Speaker A:So I always think back.
Speaker A:I can't think of very many of the really great comedian actors, comedy actors that don't have some serious dramatic role that I'm like, holy, that was great.
Speaker A:So he does great.
Speaker A:I can't.
Speaker A:I cannot argue with the fact that Marlon Wayans kind of steals every scene he's in.
Speaker B:So it really makes the movie watchable.
Speaker B:Because I don't think I could deal with Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly moping around for two and a half hours.
Speaker A:Jared Leto made his bones early on being the depressed white boy Junkie.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah, Exactly.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't even remember the name of that.
Speaker A:Goddamn.
Speaker A:There was an MTV show that he did with Claire Danes.
Speaker A:It was so stupid.
Speaker A:It was so.
Speaker A:Everybody loved it.
Speaker A:And it.
Speaker A:It launched Claire Danes and Jared Leto into the stratosphere.
Speaker A:But it was stupid.
Speaker A:It was angsty.
Speaker A:Goddamn 90s teenage.
Speaker A:And I was like, oh, my God, this is terrible.
Speaker A:But, like, all the girls my age, like, Jared Leto was like the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Speaker A:And I was like, go away.
Speaker A:Like, this.
Speaker A:This show sucks so much ass.
Speaker A:But anyway, so I should rate this thing.
Speaker B:Let's do it.
Speaker A:All right, brother.
Speaker A:Your movie.
Speaker B:You're rating my movie.
Speaker B:My rating.
Speaker B:I'm gonna give it a four.
Speaker B:I think it is a very good movie, objectively speaking.
Speaker B:It is something that I have gone back to multiple occasions.
Speaker B:Not frequently because it is heavy and dark and not a.
Speaker B:Not a fun watch necessarily.
Speaker B:But I've gone back.
Speaker B:The only problems I really have with that are my personal problems, which are.
Speaker B:One, the name.
Speaker B:Because I'm pretty sure whoever doofus wrote the script thought it was gonna rhyme.
Speaker B:Because there's no other reason for opinion.
Speaker B:Because.
Speaker B:And then the song.
Speaker B:Because the song belongs on some sort of, like, epic spartan battlefield type thing.
Speaker B:And them pushing a TV down Coney Island Boardwalk.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:While this is playing just irks me.
Speaker B:This song deserves better, but I'll give it a 4.
Speaker B:I will watch it again.
Speaker B:I know that much.
Speaker B:And I. I do sit down and as hard as it is, I do kind.
Speaker B:I don't have a problem sitting down and watching it.
Speaker B:I wouldn't go as far as, say it's an enjoyable watch, but I don't have a problem sitting down and actually watching it.
Speaker A:That's fair.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Four for me.
Speaker A:I'm also going to give it a four, begrudgingly, because I have to.
Speaker A:I have to do it from an object.
Speaker A:I try to do everything objectively.
Speaker A:There's something.
Speaker B:Objectively is so much more fun.
Speaker A:It is way more fun.
Speaker A:But objectively, it is a really good movie.
Speaker A:Mostly it does have its issues.
Speaker A:It has some pacing issues.
Speaker A:It has some.
Speaker A:Really.
Speaker A:Yeah, some.
Speaker A:A lot of the same things that I always.
Speaker A:About a lot of independent films.
Speaker A:This has those issues, like, tries too hard in a lot of areas and leans into the dark, which I'm okay with as long as it makes sense.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I think it does, for the most part.
Speaker A:But the acting is outrageous.
Speaker A:The direction, the filmography really puts you in the frame of where you're at.
Speaker A:Like, you can't help it.
Speaker A:But that's like I said, I don't seek this movie out because like I walk away wanting to do push ups in a saltwater bath.
Speaker A:So it's like, you know what I mean?
Speaker A:Like, I don't, I won't finish the rest of that statement, but it's just, it's depressing and I don't like, I don't typically enjoy being depressed after watching a movie.
Speaker A:I watch movies for entertainment.
Speaker A:So I want to come away feeling better or at least entertained.
Speaker A:And this movie doesn't entertain me on that level.
Speaker A:It just makes me appreciate good acting and the fact that it's a gritty movie.
Speaker A:But I can find gritty movie and entertainment other places.
Speaker A: reason I watched this back in: Speaker A:One of the very first movies I ever watched as a kid that I remember is Labyrinth.
Speaker A:So Jennifer Connelly is like.
Speaker A:Was like my crush as a kid.
Speaker A:So anything she was in, I would watch it and I'd still to this day I have a fond affection for Jennifer Connelly because I think she's a great actress and she's Jennifer Connelly.
Speaker A:She doesn't do a lot any these days and hasn't done a lot.
Speaker A:But yeah, back then I was like, ooh, Jennifer Conley.
Speaker A:And I was like, what the am I watching right now?
Speaker A:And so anyway, but.
Speaker A:And it was my so called Life.
Speaker A:That was the TV show that Jared Leto and Claire Danes.
Speaker A:Angsty ass teenage.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So four for me.
Speaker A:Four from you.
Speaker A:Good movie.
Speaker A:I don't know if I've like, I don't run out and go, you should go watch this movie.
Speaker B:But like if you want anybody, they should watch.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like I would never sit down and go, yeah, you should definitely watch Requiem for Dream.
Speaker A:Like, I mean it is what it is.
Speaker A:Like the title in and of itself tells you that this is a depressing ass movie.
Speaker A:Whether it was purposeful or not.
Speaker A:I mean it's the death of a dream basically, is what it's talking about.
Speaker A:So take that for what it's worth.
Speaker A:So anyway, there it is.
Speaker A:Alec, tell everybody they can find us when we're not staying sober.
Speaker A:I had nothing else that blew off top of my head.
Speaker B:Happy too.
Speaker B:It's functional when best place to see us is on YouTube.
Speaker B:So you see the smiley faces going back and forth as we discuss all sorts of movies.
Speaker B:But aside from YouTube, the best place to get involved with the podcast is on Patreon at what's our verdict?
Speaker B:Reviews we have coming up on I think we might even pass this point.
Speaker B:700 Extra bonus episodes.
Speaker B:Everything that ranges from bloopers and outtakes all the way up to full length movies that we could not put on the regular YouTube YouTube channel.
Speaker B:So that is available behind a small paywall on Patreon.
Speaker B:But to join the Patreon and to get involved in the content selection is absolutely free.
Speaker B:So the way that we've been doing it for this year is that we have a topic and we select movies to go into the topic and then based on who wins, they get their list taken off of the their movie list they don't want to watch taken off of the Patreon and the person who lost their list gets put on.
Speaker B:So you can go in and select movies that neither one of us wants to watch.
Speaker B:We picked each other's lists but to vote and get involved in content is absolutely free.
Speaker B:So join us there to do that.
Speaker B:Special thanks to our current patrons, Rich and CB for.
Speaker B:Well, not so much cb.
Speaker B:We just got our topic for next month and I am not excited about it, but Patreon is the best place to get involved with the content.
Speaker B:Hope to see you guys there one last time.
Speaker B:W GG Go get the energy powder.
Speaker B:We partner with them so we do get a little bit of commission on any sale that uses the code R. Verdict?
Speaker B:All caps.
Speaker B:So 10 off your order.
Speaker B:W GG and with that, I'll kick it back to The Maharajah of Mash.
Speaker B:Jack Dunn's baby.
Speaker A:A J.J. that's right.
Speaker A:Appreciate it, sir.
Speaker A:Yeah, go check us out.
Speaker A:A lot of fun things you can do.
Speaker A:And as always, we appreciate you tuning in.
Speaker A:We'll catch you on the next one.
Speaker B:Hasta la vista, baby.
Speaker A:Cinematic.
