Between Screenings
Between Screenings is a film podcast hosted by Neil Jeram-Croft and Tom Percival — two critics who live for cinema and the conversations it sparks.
Each episode dives into what’s new on screens big and small — from festival discoveries and arthouse standouts to the biggest blockbusters and hidden gems. Expect honest reviews, spirited debates, insider perspectives from the festival circuit, and the kind of film chat that usually happens in the lobby, between screenings.
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Between Screenings
Manchester Film Festival 2026: Highlights and Insights plus your usual movie chat
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Join Neil Jeram-Croft and Tom Percival as they discuss the recent Manchester Film Festival, their favorite films, industry insights, and upcoming events. This episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at festival highlights, film reviews, and future plans for film enthusiasts.
Hi, and welcome back to Between Screenings. It's been a little while since we last uploaded a pod, so we thought we'd better get back to it. I have had enough sleep now since the Manchester Film Festival wrapped just over a week ago, as has Tom. It was an amazing festival. Tom, how are you?
SPEAKER_00I am finally recovered. After I saw you last, I got on a bus to drive back down to London, fell asleep as soon as I sat down and woke up as we pulled into Victoria Coach Station, which, considering how uncomfortable National Express seats are, I've killed them off as a sponsor, I think is a miracle and a testament to how tired I was after the uh last day of the festival. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, you did go out on the Saturday night with the boys from Life Hack till four in the morning as well. I I managed to go to bed at about one o'clock that night. So Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But I was trying to do the sensible thing. I did say, I want to go, let's go back to the hotel. And Emily and Clarice, I'm gonna throw them under the bus, two members of our jury, said no, they wanted to stay up. So we'll go for one more drink. It was not one more drink. And also Jules, and it's her as well. She was like saying, No, let's have one more, let's have one more. So that was why I was out till 4 a.m. on Saturday, Neil. It's not because I like a Bevy.
SPEAKER_01And it wasn't the Life Hack Boys, sorry, they'd gone home already, so they couldn't collect their golden bead for best feature. It was the Littimate boys who won the special jury.
SPEAKER_00Yes, it was. Yes, it was. Uh big fans of that film. But I will say, like uh to take the lead here a little bit, um, obviously you were at the jury breakfast when we were discussing what we were gonna give awards to. It was a very, very difficult year. And I know that's like a platitude that people say in terms of like, you know, oh, it was a tough year. Like, it genuinely was. Like um, the jury was split on so many different things. I, you know, I think we all agreed that we loved littermates, you know, and we all agreed we love Life Hack, but everything else was like, well, I like this person, will I like that person, which did make it a little bit of a headache. But it's testament, I think, to the good work that Carl and his team of programmers did this year. Because, you know, I mean, I don't think I'm betraying any secrets to say some years it's easier than others. Uh and this year was a tough one, it really was.
SPEAKER_01I think it's testament to the growth of the festival. I mean, we had just under 5,000 submissions last year. I think we had 4,995 or something daft. So, you know, we've got a lot of those are short films, but then the obviously the feature count goes up as well. So with the numbers, just comes the the the quality as well. So you're gonna have more of a decision to make, and you can not put in the films that maybe only scraped in a couple of years ago, they probably now aren't making it. Um, and some of the films that got in quite easily a few years ago possibly now aren't aren't making it. So I think the the the strength of the overall program is is growing, and I think that's reflected in audiences trusting us as a festival to come out and watch stuff. I mean, we had record pre-sale numbers this year, so record number of passes sold before we'd even announce the lineup, which was mad. Um, because obviously we're a film festival. People are just happy to buy a pass and come along and check out what we're gonna have, hoping it's gonna be good. And then obviously, once the lineup went on sale, we then ended up with record sales, record admissions, um, record sold out screening. So, yeah, the festival's going from strength to strength. We've had loads of press coverage, which has been very positive, which is also lovely. Um, people really enjoy it. I even got recognized when I was meeting someone for a coffee. Uh I was queuing to pay, and a guy goes, Oh, I really enjoyed uh Manchester Film Festival. And I was like, Oh, thanks very much. That's that's very gratifying.
SPEAKER_00One of my earliest dates with Emily, I was in the Manhattan bar. I'm unsure if it's still there in Manchester. And um, I was telling Emily, what a big deal I am in the film festival world. And she was like, Yes, of course you are. And the bartender behind the bar went, Do you do the QA's at Manchester Film Festival? And I was like, Yes, I do. And he was like, I think you do a brilliant job. And Emily was like, You paid him to say that, didn't you? And I was like, No, genuinely didn't. Uh, that's the one time I've been recognised from the festival.
SPEAKER_01I think this is the only time I've been recognised at the festival as well, to be fair. Um, but it was quite nice. It was out in Didsbury, so it wasn't even in the city centre. So that was that was nice knowing that people are travelling in from the slightly outer suburbs to come and watch films at the festival. But no, it was a it was a really great year, and I think California Scheming was a was a fantastic closing film. You can now talk about the fact you've seen it. Um, so that is definitely a film we've both seen since we last saw each other. Carl had uh seen it and yourself and other people had seen it before the festival, but I actually waited to watch it at the festival with that unbelievably booming sound system in the Viva Studios. Um, do you want to give us your little review of California scheming now, Tom? It is out this weekend, so I think, I believe.
SPEAKER_00It's out this weekend. Um, I think it's absolutely I think it's such an impressive directorial debut from James McAvoy, I think. Um so what I saw it back in November last year. Um uh truth be told, listeners, I did accidentally review it for one fast one podcast and then made Neil cut it out because I realized there was embargoed up to the wazoo. Um and basically, yeah, uh James McAvoy came in to do a little talk ahead of my screening and he said that he wanted to make something. He said that he loves Scotland and so often the cinema that comes out of it is, in his words, misery porn. You know, it's about drug addiction, it's about failure, and he wanted to make something slightly more uplifting. And I genuinely think that this is an uplifting movie. You know, there are shades of there are shades of grey in there. It's not all happy plane sailing for the boys. Um, but I think it's a super strong directorial debut. I think the two main leads in it are brilliant. Um, is it Seamus and I'm blanking on the other guy's. Samuel, obviously being a little bit more. Who got their names right now?
SPEAKER_01Seamus McLaren Ross and Samuel Bottomley.
SPEAKER_00Well done, Neil, who didn't get them right on closing night. Uh, I thought Sam, I mean, when he started came out on stage and started talking in that mank accent, I was like, Jesus Christ, so you're a mank pretending to be a Scot, pretending to be an American.
SPEAKER_01Who also does a posh English accent when he's at the school uh call center.
SPEAKER_00It's it's an amazing performance. I I think you know, I think Seamus does incredible work. I think he's got the slightly tougher role, to be completely honest, because he's the slightly darker, more complex character. But yeah, uh, brilliant. And the music. I know the music is written by uh the real uh syllable and brains. Uh but I I mean for them to go out and rap like that on stage in front of everyone at the Barrowland, and when they said they did that for real, I was like talking about yeah, three times in front of a crowd of what, like 2,000 people or something. I think it was more than times.
SPEAKER_01I think it was more than three times. I think they did it solidly on repeat for about a couple of hours.
SPEAKER_00Uh it's it it's it's a really risk, really, really impressive debut. And I hope we see more from James McEvoy. Um, I think it's an impressive start, basically.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was really interesting actually having Danny Page, the producer, on the QA panel as well. I'm always slightly dubious about having producers on the panel because audiences don't tend to be that interested in what they have to say, and sometimes they aren't the best interviewees. But Danny was fantastic, and it was really interesting hearing him talk about how low budget a film it was. Um he was on board it very early, it was kind of his baby. He sent it, he'd heard on the grapevine that James was looking to get into directing, and he sent um James's agent the script, and I think within a very short amount of time he got an email back saying, Do not offer this to anybody else, because this is this is the film James wants to to go with. And I saw James on Claudia Winkleman uh this weekend, he was saying it's you know, a lot of the chat uh you're a director and you're acting and you're trying to get more, and then someone's badgering you in the ear talking about Portaloo's, and we can't film tomorrow because there's not enough toilets. So it was a it was a proper low budget film. I I don't like talking about budget, so I won't, but Danny told me what they spent on the film, and it is a really it's a low budget film. You know, it's probably a budget on a par with the other stuff we had at the festival. Now, a lot of the other stuff, a lot of the other low budget stuff we have at the festival doesn't have Studio Canal now behind it. Um, so you know it won't get as widely out there, and having James on board as director obviously elevates it, means James can go and do the press tour with it and get the word out there. But yeah, I think as you say, I think Seamus and Samuel are two to watch because I really think they they are gonna be fantastic.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely agree. And I'm I'd be an idiot not to talk about my favourite promotional tie-in ever. There is a Scottish shop down here in London called the Old Hag, which specializes in Scottish food. So you can go there, you can get your slice, you can get your haggis, you can get a pint of tenants, and they are doing a uh California scheming in an oot burger, which I went and ate the other day and is bloody delicious. Don't mind I don't mind saying, even though it is like 3,000 calories. Like the thing is massive when it comes out. Really good though.
SPEAKER_01So go watch California scheming. If you're in London, pop along and get an in an oot burger, which uh sadly you can't get in Manchester, I don't believe. But no, it was a it was a really great way to end the festival. Seamus, I know, was probably out later than me on closing night because he was still in Mojo's when I left. So that was at three o'clock in the morning. So I dread to think how he felt the next day.
SPEAKER_00Sure is fine. Scots are made a different sterner stuff than us, Brits. That's a third place.
SPEAKER_01I think he'd been out in Dundee the night before as well. So, you know, not dissimilar to ourselves. He was doing several nights on the road.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. I do I do think we should probably talk about our opening night films as well, very, very quickly. Uh, Good Boy and Psychopomp. Um, I'll start again as uh as I brought them up. Um obviously I did the Q ⁇ A for Psycho Pump. Uh this is Kit Harrington's directorial debut. Uh really interesting film about a man who hires a hitman to kill himself, to kill him, basically. Um and again, I know I sound like I'm blowing smoke, but a really, really impressive directorial debut from Kit Harrington. Um again, I don't think I'm betraying any confidences when I say that he made it because, you know, he wants to you made it as a calling card almost. And I'd be surprised if we didn't see more from him in future because it's a like I was talking to um someone from the Shorts jury, and they were like, you know, I wish they were all like this, basically, because it was such an impressive, so strong. And, you know, there was a little bit of chat at the festival where, you know, people were saying, Well, it's Kit Harrington, you know, he can just call Harry Melling because they're mates, you know, he can call the cinematographer from Game of Thrones to come and shoot the movie, but that's not what made it so good. He wrote that, and you know, and it's it that itself is like it's such a sharp, clean, clever story. It's so impressive. Like, you know, you you can't take that away from Kit. And I again I thought a superb opener, even though you know it's not set in Manchester, sadly.
SPEAKER_01No, but it is set in the north, Tom. So I'll take it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thanks, Screen Yorkshire.
SPEAKER_01It's it's definitely in the north. Um, but yeah, no, I mean, I think like you say, I think the fact that he wrote it as well, wrote, co-produced, and directed it. And yeah, you know, you're not gonna begrudge him for using his mates and people he knows to to to come and take help out in a short, because that's what everyone who's making shorts does. I imagine he probably paid them, I don't imagine he paid them mates' rates though. I imagine they still got a decent well, yeah, decent fee for their work. And then any other highlights from the festival for you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I was gonna say, I I I think we should probably shout out Lettermates. I think it was a really, really impressive film. Um, like very, very I mean, almost the exact opposite of some of the films we've been talking about. You could feel the low budgetness about it, but there was a scrappiness and an energy that like the jury just absolutely fell in love with. Um, I adored uh Lifehack, um, slightly slicker um uh feature, thought really, really good. Again, though, it was the stuff that you never expect to be interested, you know, like not necessarily you don't expect to be interested in, but you sort of get like, oh, should we go out for a drink? No, I want to go see this film. So um, what was the film that Max absolutely loved? Um, one of our QA hosts and was quoting for the entirety of the festival.
SPEAKER_01Anything that moves, which is probably the the sort of muckiest flick we've had at the festival yet. It's about a male prostitute and his escapades, and then people start getting murdered.
SPEAKER_00And apparently it's absolutely brilliant, as well as our hero, you know, uh my hero Balthazar?
SPEAKER_02Hero Balthazar, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Our hero Balthazar. Again, everyone at the festival was tasking me, oh, is Arthur Hero Balthazar winning anything? Is our hero Balthazar winning anything? It wasn't in competition, I just want to stress, uh, which is why it wasn't considered by the jury. Um, but again, it's I think it's testament to like the quality of the films that people kept coming up to me at parties, you know, like during after Q ⁇ A's and saying, Oh, have you seen this? Are you going to see that? Like there was a real excitement and a real buzz. Um, another highlight, and this is a slightly self-indulgent one, is that I've been doing QAs now at the festival for 12 years. And the Q ⁇ A's have been sometimes slightly poorly attended. I think I'd say, you know, some some I get it, you're at a festival, people have tired, you know, people may have to run off to get their sort the parking out, whatever. But sometimes at the end of the film, people just file out and you're doing a QA to, you know, maybe 10, 15 people of an audience screening of like 50, 60. I would say this time 90% of the audience stayed in their seats and listened to the Q ⁇ A and were talking about the film afterwards. Almost sometimes to an annoying extent. When me and when, you know, we were trying to get the volunteers in to clean the screening, but people wanted to talk to the filmmakers. They wanted to build those contacts, you know, whether they were filmmakers themselves, just fans of the movies. There was a real we've always said, you know, that the you know, it's a filmmakers festival first, not, you know, like we don't, we're not pretentious, we don't try and be pretentious, we make it's a film festival for filmmakers. And I think not necessarily that in recent years we've lost that. I think that just as the festival's grown, we've become slightly disconnected from it because we've been so busy, we don't get to see that. But this is this time I saw so many filmmakers making friends, hanging out, you know, just like interacting. It's great to see. Uh, especially, you know, as you say, it was the biggest festival ever. In another world, it was just loads of people who didn't know each other in a room. But it wasn't like that. Small communities built, you'd spot people and you'd be like, oh, well, that means that person's there, and that means that person's there. And even on the last day, on the uh Sunday, you know, there were people in the lobby of the Odeon as we were selling t-shirts. Um, you know, like just filmmakers walking by and saying, I need a t-shirt before I go. I genuinely think it was one of the best years we've ever had. Um that's again, sounds like a platitude. I'm sure we'll say it next year after the festival. But it was just, it felt like a special year.
SPEAKER_01I mean, that's my job, isn't it, to make sure we are saying it again next year after the festival. Um, and I kind of keep thinking, well, if maybe actually we've grown so much year on year, maybe if we just stay the same next year, we'll be all right. But then we end up growing again. Like I sort of took a little bit of a risk and almost tripled the number of industry talks we had this year, massively upped the amount of sort of investment into the industry side of it, and didn't know quite if it would come off. And it 100% did. We had three venues running on the Thursday, we were at Met Film School, we were at uh home, and we were at Cupra, the City Garage, and each one of those venues was absolutely rammed, and the talks were really good. That again, the filmmakers and the the film students and everyone else who came out to watch the talks and attend the talks were really enthused with with what they heard, and there were some really great questions from the audience. And I don't think there was one and there wasn't even one talk that was poorly attended, even though we were in multiple venues, so it was really great to see that side of the festival grow. And then, yeah, like the closing night, the the Sunday, often is a quieter night for us, and we sort of have a bit of a chill because we do our awards on the Saturday night. But this year I put on a closing party and it was rammed. It was absolutely rammed. Literally chase people out of the bar at the end of the night. Yeah, so it was yeah, it was a fantastic festival, and it's you know just something for me to aim to replicate and build on and make even better next year. So I'm sure we'll manage it, but it does sort of unnerve me slightly every year. I'm like, what? I've got to manage to do that again. No pr no pressure, Neil. For you and Carl. It's not been a fluke so far, because again, we our audience numbers were up, I think, 30% on the previous year, which is mad uh growth, just absolutely mad. So like I said, I'm kind of happy now. We're at the point now where if we just sort of maintain, I'm happy. But if we get another 20 to 30 percent growth next year, that I'd just that'd blow me away. But we will we will see how it goes next year. But yeah, we're already on the Scout films, we're already looking out for for what we can be doing differently, different venues in Manchester. You're already thinking and planning and and getting ready for next year's.
SPEAKER_00One night. One year you'll let me do my midnight screening. One year.
SPEAKER_01We can we we'll we'll get you in a midnight screening, Tom. Excellent. We'll get you in. You want to stay up till three in the morning to do a QA.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I want you no, I want you to pay some staff to put on a movie that I like, basically. At midnight. Yeah, at midnight.
SPEAKER_02Right, fine.
SPEAKER_01Cool. Well, let's move on. Since the festival, I've got uh a bit of a time chance to relax uh and I have been to the cinema, and I've also actually snuck out to the cinema during the festival to watch a mainstream blockbuster movie, which is a bit naughty of me. Uh I actually did it during the daytime, so there's nothing else on. Um I've seen Project Hail Mary and the drama since we've last spoken in the venerable tools of a cinema. What about yourself?
SPEAKER_00I have also seen the drama because I think everyone this weekend was like, I need to go and see the drama. And I've also seen a horror movie called Undertone as well, keeping within keep you know, keeping up the I love horror and you hate horror vibe of this podcast.
SPEAKER_01So I went to see the drama with my wife, and one of the trailers that we got leading up to the drama was the trailer for the undertone. And in terms of horror films, that trailer was pretty terrifying on its own. So, how terrifying is the actual film, Tom?
SPEAKER_00So and I caveat this with it it is immensely creepy because it's doing something that I have never seen a horror film do before, and it's using the 3D sound that the cinema is capable of doing to create audio hallucinations while you're watching the film. So you will hear voices like coming from one side, but not the other, if you know what I mean, like while you're watching it. So, for context, this film is about a woman is caring for her dying mom. She and her friend make a podcast about the paranormal. He uh she's an ardent skeptic, he's a true believer. He finds these 10 audio recordings and he basically says, we're going to listen to all 10 of them through the night and we're gonna make a podcast about it. What could go wrong? Shockingly, everything could go wrong. So they start listening to them, and it's this mounting tension as they go through. They are genuinely quite unsettling sounds. Sometimes it's just as simple as someone playing a nursery rhyme, sometimes it's a baby laughing, but it is genuinely quite creepy. And there are moments where the characters will say, Did you hear that? And they'll replay the sound. And you won't, and you'll be like, Did I hear that? And then they'll replay it again. And obviously, they're changing things, they're changing the pitch, they're changing the tempo. But it was this really, really unusual experience. Well, I have no, oh, listen, I like horror movies. Part of the fun of a horror movie from me is hiding from the screen. You know, like when it all gets a little bit too much, I'm just gonna cover my eyes and away I go. All right. Uh actually didn't do that because you cover your eyes, but you can still hear these horrible sounds all around you. It was a really, really intense experience and quite distressing at times. What I would say is this is still a visual medium. Like filmmaking is a visual medium, and there were while it's fantastic and it plays with empty space in a really clever way. So, like you'll see someone literally like we are now across a screen like this, and you can see this black space here. Your eyes are drawn to that while this music essentially builds, or they're hearing these horrific things, and you're like, something's in the dark, something's in the dark. I won't spoil whether there ever is something in the dark, but I did find myself sometimes wishing, oh, I wish they'd done slightly more with the visuals because as like while the sound was terrifying, eventually you sort of acclimatize to it and you're like, right, I know what's coming now. Um it goes off the rails in the last 20 minutes in a good way. Like it genuinely becomes at that point, like all horror movies, the the thing is in the house at that point. What are you gonna do? Um, I had a great time with it. It's that said. It's not a film I think I'd ever watch at home. Like, and I quite often what re-watch horror at home because I think without the sound system, you're going to be a little let down. I think it's a film that requires going to the cinema to see. And I'd like to see where they take the concept next, because it's only 80 minutes long, but an 80-minute movie about people listening to audio files, at times you are a bit like, okay, yes, I get it. It's a scary sound clip. Keep it going, keep it going. So I really, really like, really, really strong concept. I would recommend it absolutely if you can see it and definitely see it in a modern cinema with a cracking sound system. But I don't think it's a film that is gonna you're not gonna get much out of it on a rewatch. And I don't think, because I was I watched it with someone who hates horror, and he came out of it and went, that was a bag of shite. And I was I don't know, I don't know how you could say that about the film, but he was like, no, I wasn't even scared. So that's my take on Undertone. I do rec as I say, big recommend from me.
SPEAKER_01I probably won't go and see it, but I know you will. Sounds too scary for me.
SPEAKER_00It would be it would play if you you are one of the few people who has a nice enough uh home cinema setup where it would work in your home.
SPEAKER_01It possibly would work in my front room. I have got quite a nice uh 5.1 surround. I don't have Atmos, it is just 5.1 though. Um and then we've both seen the drama. So you want to start on the drama? Yeah, I went to the drama with my wife. Uh I obviously I knew what I was in for, uh, partly because the sort of twist had been ruined for me by Elizabeth Taylor, our uh lovely Pierre, who decided to tell me what the twist was. And I was like, thanks for that. Um it didn't actually affect the film too much, in fact, knowing the twist. I'm not gonna give it away now. Um, but yeah, I enjoyed it. It it makes you questi yeah, there's it I makes you ask lots of questions, and it also makes you squirm in the way that outrageously awkward things in cinema can make you squirm. I think at one point I was sat in the cinema like this, going, I can't watch it, I can't watch it. Not because it was scary, but because it was just so awkward and uncomfortable to watch. I I really enjoyed it. I think it followed on from his last two films nicely in terms of what he does, playing around with visuals, making you sort of question what's real and what's not real at certain bits, and also just question yourself like what would I do in that situation? How would people I know react in that situation? Is that person being over d overly dramatic? Is that person in the wrong? Oh, now this is how it and it builds to that final scene at the wedding and uh yeah, excruciating. Uh just some excruciating, excruciating moments.
SPEAKER_00I completely agree. I love the film. I thought it was a like a really powerful piece of cinema in that few pieces of art can make me feel as uncomfortable as this movie made me feel. Because I, like you, knew the twist. So that like for work, the twist had been revealed to me because I'd subbed a piece of writing that had explained what had happened. So I was like thought I was gonna be bulletproof going into this, you know, like I know what the twist is, I don't care. Um, when Zendaya's character explains what they did, uh I genuinely was like this the awkward silence in my cinema was, like you say, excruciating. Like you just wanted something to break the silence. And I don't know if you found this, but there was a lot of laughter in my cinema, but really, really awkward laughter. It's like it was almost like right, we need something to diffuse the tension in here because it feels you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. Um I was that's such an impressive thing for a film to do. Um, I will say my cinema of going experience was slightly marred by the young teenagers sat behind me in the cinema. Uh yeah, I'm gonna put them on blast here because you know how we're often told about uh second screen viewing and how the audiences are getting a little dumber. Um these teenagers didn't seem to understand what fantasy sequences were. So the film's full of fantasy sequences, flash forwards, flash sideways, imagined spots, all the things that you see when you're watching a film. Um the film doesn't hold your hand, but nor should it, because you should be able to you know, the grammar of cinema is such that while watching it, it's pretty easy to understand. The teenager sat behind me was like, wait, why is what's happening now? Who's that? Why, wait, we didn't see what happened there. Who's she? And I genuinely was like, How do you people make it through life? This is not a complicated movie to understand.
SPEAKER_01Just to be completely clear, at no point was I confused as to what was fantasy, what was reality, what was a flashback, what wasn't. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I also would like to shout out, uh, so I was sat next to a couple, uh, and it was very clear that the woman in the relationship had convinced her partner to come to the film, uh, to come see the film. Uh, because as he sat down, he was like, What's this about? And she said, It's a rom-com. Uh, listeners, it is decidedly not a rom com. Uh you will let it.
SPEAKER_01If you've gone thinking you're getting a rom com. If you've gone thinking you're getting the materialist, you're not getting the materialist.
SPEAKER_00You are certainly not. And at the when we were putting on our coats at the end of the movie, she was stood next to me, and I heard her turn and say, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize what this was. And his response was, What the fuck have you taken me to? Um, so I think that's what you get if you didn't know the twist. Uh but in all seriousness now, I think it's I think it's brilliant. And it's a really, really like a great piece of filmmaking. Um, just fantastic. And I think Robert Patterson and Zendaya, just brilliant in it.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna say, who doesn't want to spend an hour and a half with Robert Patterson and Zendaya?
SPEAKER_00Yes. Uh and he's making some absolutely terrible decisions in this movie, which I found really funny until I found them not funny, like you, and had to hide underneath my coat. Because Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01It's also one of those things like if that conversation had happened four weeks before the wedding, I think it would have been fine. It's the fact that that conversation happened three days before the wedding was the real problem.
SPEAKER_00It's you know what it is? Like, it's the I think the film really obviously no one has done anything as extreme as what Zendaya's character did. Nearly did. Um didn't.
SPEAKER_01Or nearly did, sorry. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But I think, but I think it's the the walk back afterwards. Um, he's saying, Why do you drink so much? And then she's sick on the floor. And it's like, show me a couple who haven't had that argument at some point. And it's like it's very, very relatable, despite, you know, obviously, like the um the friction between the couple is played to extremes, but I do think it's remarkably relatable in that way of like just the way you can under like the way your insecurities about your own relationship can sort of get under your skin and make you think about things. Yeah, just brilliant. Really, really like that.
SPEAKER_01Also, I think Alana Himes' character did get away with uh people not thinking what she did was pretty freaking horrific.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So we were talking about this at work today. She's the villain. Yeah, she's the villain. She's the villain of the film. Uh again, no spoilers. She plays um uh uh Zendaya's maid of honour. Her speech. I know by that point, you know, she's got a big one. Just don't go.
SPEAKER_01If you're gonna be like that, just don't go.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. Like, and also not only are you the chief bridesmaid, you're also the best man's wife. Like, you know, make sure, just tell them you're ill. That's the excuse on the day. Uh, you know, oh, I'm poorly, I can't go. I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, she is definitely the villain of the piece. And the the so the the the twist comes out of them all having this conversation about the worst things they've done. And the worst thing she's done was, I thought, pretty bad. Could have been absolutely awful. And she, you know, it's one of those easy things where you do something really bad, but then luckily it doesn't turn out as bad as it could have been. And then you convince yourself, well, actually, but if it had got that far, I would have done something. And you have you have known, you don't know that. You might have doubled down. You haven't got a clue if you would have actually done something because you didn't have to worry about it, because someone else solved it for you.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's to me, my favourite thing about that is how low stakes uh Robert Pattinson's best mate, worst thing ever is. Basically, they were him and a girlfriend were attacked by a dog and he used her as a human shield. I'm not saying that that's a gallant thing to do, but then everyone else's is really brushed, except Zendaya's, of course, is really brushed over. Like Robert Pattinson's. Well, he says he cyberbullied someone, and I'm like, that's a pretty bad thing to do. Like he sort of underplays it, but anyway. Uh I must ask, because I waxed lyrical about it last time we spoke. What did you make of Project Hail Mary very quickly?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely loved Project Hail Mary. Uh it's runtime is too long for me. It's two hours and 20 minutes, whatever it is, but I didn't realise it was so good, it whipped past. Uh, when I see that runtime on a uh on the cinema website, I'm like, oh god, I've got a car of two and a half hours out of my day. It it absolutely flew by. I thought it was brilliant. And considering it's just Ryan Gosling and a rock on screen for the vast majority of it, I thought it was really, really impressive. Uh I yeah, I absolutely loved it.
SPEAKER_00Rusing up to about 700 mil, I think, at the box office.
SPEAKER_01It's doing pretty well. It's doing pretty well. It will be overtaken by Mario, which I've not seen. Of course it will. And based on my children's review, I won't be seeing. So when I went to see the drama, me and my wife went to see the drama, this is the first time we've been to the cinema. My wife had no interest whatsoever in seeing the Super Mario Galaxy movie. I would have gone with the girls to watch the Super Mario Galaxy movie, but it happened that there was a screening of the Super Mario Galaxy movie that started 10 minutes after a screening of the drama in our multiplex. So the girls went off to see the Super Mario Galaxy movie, and me and Amy went off to see the drama, and then we met in the foyer afterwards because we both came out at pretty much the same time. I must say they were underwhelmed. They really enjoyed the first Mario movie, as did I, because it was just silly and fun. And you can argue about the nonsense of the plot and Chris Pratt not doing uh his uh the Italian accent and all the sort of reasons what not to like the first Mario movie, fine, but it was fun, and you got to see them whizzing around in Mario Karts, and you got to see Donkey Kong doing silly things. It was it was there was enough of a plot to enjoy, and it was it was fun. My kids review of this one was there was literally no story, uh, it wasn't stressful in any way, like as in you they want to be stressed. Like, is he gonna rescue the princess or whatever it is? Like, you want to be slightly stressed, like is it gonna they said there was zero stress. The sort of plot ended from what they were saying, like the story ended three quarters of the way into the film, and then you were just it just carried on. Uh, it it just they just they were fairly underwhelmed. It certainly isn't one we'll be rushing back for a repeat viewing of.
SPEAKER_00Well, I'm gonna go see it, I think, not this weekend, but the weekend, but probably during the next week. Uh, I can't say I'm particularly thrilled, I'll be completely honest with you. Um, it's sounds to me, I know quite a few people who've seen it, including um Clarice, who was on the Master Film Festival jury. She hated it. Um, you know, genuinely loathed it. Uh, whereas Cameron Fru, who was also on the jury last year, he said he had an outstanding time. So it just touches to you. Opinion is a broad church.
SPEAKER_01I think if you're going in just for some silly fun and not expecting anything else, then I'm sure it's fine. Yeah, but thanks. As we've discussed before, it is essentially review-proof and we'll do a billion.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, me and Emma have been talking about it all week, haven't we? So it doesn't matter. It's getting making a bill. We're like when those reviews broke and we were like, apparently it's terrible, but who cares? It's making a bill.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's not. Universal and Illumination aren't worried.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely not. I'm sure we're gonna get it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I imagine three's already in heavy development already. Or production.
SPEAKER_00If I mean, considering what I've heard about the film, if not several spin-off films as well, about the other characters who they introduced during it. I mean, they've already teased Falco from Star Fox in one of the trailers. So I think it's pretty clear we're getting that Nintendo shared universe. I mean, the Minecraft movie had terrible reviews, but still still was the highest grossing movie of last year, wasn't it? Yep. It's family films or where it's at. Yeah, entirely. But they'll just you know. I'll go watch it. I'm sure it's okay. I'm sure it's fine. I'm sure it's fine.
SPEAKER_01So, in other film festival news, I'm gonna be down in London next week at the Picture House Creates, which is kind of I believe what Sundance London morphed into. So I'm gonna be there for some filmmaker brunches where I apparently sit at a table, eat some uh pastries, and people come over and chat to me.
SPEAKER_00You're very good at eating pastries. I've seen this man eat several pastries, and you'll be astounded by his skill.
SPEAKER_01I I will it I mean, I think people are coming to talk to me just so they can watch me eat pastries. I think that's I don't think it's anything to do with the film festival or learning about Manchester Film Festival or uh the film festival circuit or anything like that. They just want to watch me eat pastries.
SPEAKER_00The amazing traveling Neil, watching me a panel chocolate like a like you've never seen before.
SPEAKER_01Yep. And they've got several films on there at Picture Centre at this uh festival over the week. One that I'm mildly upset, well not mildly, very upset we didn't get the festival, finding Emily who's gonna be playing there. I think we were just a few weeks too early because it's the most Manchester film I've ever seen in my life.
SPEAKER_00So that trailer played. I mean, Carl showed me the trailer at the festival several times because he was so annoyed you couldn't get it. But it played before our screening of um the drama. And me and Anne turned to each other and we're like, yeah, you really do understand why they're so annoyed that they couldn't get this over the line for the festival.
SPEAKER_01Because it's it is as much manager in a trailer as you can fit in a trailer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I walk on my way to the festival every morning past about four of the filming locations. It's like just on my way to the festival, on my way to the Great Northern. It's like, oh, there's the sound, there's the unit, there's there's the library. Like, yeah. These things happen though. Sometimes it's not meant to be.
SPEAKER_01No, I think if we'd just if if it had just been released, getting it released two weeks earlier, I think we probably maybe would have been alright, but it's just a bit too late. Um, and then in next month is Cannes. So this will be I think be my fifth or fifth year in Cannes. Uh, I used to think, why do people go to Cannes? And then I went, and I was like, oh, now I understand why. And when people say to me, Oh, do you do you think Manchester will be as big as Cannes? I laugh in their faces because nothing will be as big as Cannes. It is the biggest film festival in the world for a reason. It's absolutely you know, the entire film industry goes to Cannes for that week, ten days. It is something completely and utterly different and something incredibly special. And I'm I'm really looking forward to going. They've announced a couple of films in the lineup. The opening film's never that exciting for your sort of General Punter, and this year it's a film called La Venus Electrique. The Electric Kiss by Pierre Salvadore. By Pierre Salvadori. And it they have a thing where it has to the opening film at the Camp Film Festival has to then be on wide release in French cinemas the same day, I think, or the next day. Um so you know, it's always a slightly odd one. It it looks fun enough. It's not something I would be that excited about. I'm not going to be there opening night, so I'm not too bothered. Obviously, I will be able to go and see it during the festival because it's on wide release in French cinemas. Um but it it looks very, very pretty, set in Paris in the 1920s. So, you know, it looks gorgeous. Uh, I'm sure it will be great. And but what we're all really excited about, Tom. What we're all really excited about is the the bomb they dropped that we are gonna get some airplane porn from John Travolta. Propeller one-way nightcoach, his directorial debut. Propeller one-way nightcoach. Which is you know, it's an adaptation of the best-selling novel written by John Travolta.
SPEAKER_00Wow, can you believe it? Do you think he how do you think he got managed to get the right? I believe he wrote it as a story. Did he write as a story for his son? Lost. I mean, I genuinely don't know. I read the I read the log book. He did.
SPEAKER_01He wrote and illustrated the book for his son, which is inspired by his childhood memories of flying on aeroplanes. So it's it's very much gonna be um it's gonna be interesting. Because I mean, uh let's let's be honest. We're all happy John Travolta has made a film, directed a film, gonna be interesting. At least it's not about Scientology.
SPEAKER_00Yes, that is very true. Although maybe it'll sneak some, you know, Xenon references in there. Like, you know, if you play it backwards, it will say, what is it, your ore guns are um negative and you need recharging, whatever crap they talk about. Um, yeah, I think like this is the is this the I know there's a few things, because there's like paper tigers, I think they've announced and a few other bits and bobs, isn't there? But this is the thing I would want to see. I mean, I'm I'm astounded that Apple TV have poured money into it. Maybe that maybe they back it. Maybe they think it's really good. Yeah, who knows? You'll have to let us know. You'll have to be our correspondent from the festival on the ground.
SPEAKER_01I'll definitely, definitely be heading to to go and watch it. I don't think they've announced any of the films yet. Um so there might be some there might be some that are tipped, but I'm not sure they've actually announced any yet.
SPEAKER_00I'd heard that Michael Serra's new movie, like Love Is Not the Answer, had been like rumoured to appear. That's one I'd be interested in. Um like, but yeah, a lot of it, like just looking now, a lot of it is these are rumors or sidebars, you know, that may show during the festival, basically. Um But I think because we know how to time a podcast, Neil, they actually announce the full lineup in two days.
SPEAKER_01Perfect. So we can talk about them two weeks after. Yes, they do. You're right. The ninth the 9th of April, but we will find out what exactly they're showing. And I can start planning my viewing.
SPEAKER_00I'm really glad that you're not as big as Ken, uh, because obviously, well, I'm the head of the jury at Manchester Film Festival, a position I've had for two years now, if you can believe it. Uh this year they've got Park Chan Wats uh as their uh director of the jury. He's a bigger deal than you, Tom. I kind of feel like Neil, if you got the offer of, you know, Park will come to the Manchester Film Festival, but he has to be head of the jury. I kind of feel we'd have a difficult conversation.
SPEAKER_01I don't think it'd be a difficult conversation. I think it'd be quite an easy conversation.
SPEAKER_00I'd love to add Park to the jury WhatsApp. Yes. Do you think he'd uh where do you think he'd like to go for food in the morning? Do you think he'd be have voted for Rudy's for lunch or um Moose Coffee for breakfast?
SPEAKER_01Moose coffee for breakfast. Who knows? We'll we'll it's something to for us to keep an eye on in future. We'll ask him next year when he's when he's head of the jury. We will. So on that bombshell that Park Chan Wuk is not going to be head of my superpersonal jury 2027. I think we'll wrap up for today. Uh it's been a delight, as always. We'll be back with uh my picks of what I want to go and see at Can and Tom's picks of what he wants me to go and see at Can uh in the next episode in a few weeks' time. Keep listening, keep subscribing, keep downloading us wherever you get your podcasts, and we'll see you next time between screenings. Bye bye.