These are fun. Off the cuff discussions on movies and streaming series, both new and old together will attempt to bridge the gap between Hollywood industry insider and the casual viewer. This is Alec and I’m Ben and you're listening to the Cinema: A to B podcast. Hey, everybody, Welcome back to another episode of Cinema: A to B. Alec. On the docket today, we got here the Ben Affleck directed story of Nike closing the deal with ole MJ here. So why don't you kick us off?
So I saw this in my own home and didn't get to theaters for it. But I'm going to say obviously kind of know the ending to the story. So I mean, try not to spoil it, but if you don't know, I don't know how, but that's beside the point. It was really good. Like they paced it really well. They gave that, you know, there's tension in the scenes. The acting was outstanding. Absolutely outstanding.
I mean, when you have Ben Affleck being probably the weakest link in the entire movie, like it's that's a fantastic cast by by you know, by far. So I'm not I mean, shot wise, it was fine. It wasn't like I didn't walk away thinking, oh, my goodness, this is the most beautiful movie you've ever seen.
But it did a great job of focusing on the characters and kind of getting you to like, feel like you're a part of the situation, feel like you're part of being in the moment and kind of getting that energy. And the pacing was really right. So this was I did not expect high things from it, but I got what I walked away, entertained, really enjoyed it. Definitely think it's going to get a couple of noms as possibly possibly like Viola Davis for best supporting Actress and Cowboys on that.
I really enjoyed it. I thought it was great. So we just watched as Gwen and I did here at the house Amazon Prime is running it. Yeah, and I had a ball with it. And my big thing is, you know, this is my era of NBA basketball, or at least the front end of it. The NBA nerd in me was when they're, you know, they're running through the draft order for the 84 draft. And by the way, the 84 draft was sick there there for like bonafide Hall of Famers in the 84 draft.
And it was really funny the whole hindsight 2020 thing, like looking at that draft because you had Seattle came Olajuwon and then you had Michael Jordan in the three spot and then I think five or six was was Barkley, Charles Barkley. And then they had John stocks in it like seven like, you know, they're talking trash about everybody, including Stockton. They're just like, I'll use that. Of course, you know, he's top three point guard of all time. But he that that really cracked me off.
I was just like, wow, you know. Yeah, we we just you take it for granted how hard it is to judge talent. So who are you going to try to close for your shoe deal? And that was right in the beginning. And I was I was cracking up. So style wise, I really I was pleased with it. It looked era appropriate. There was some nice film grain in there. I haven't bothered to check to see whether they bothered to shoot film or if they added that later. They added that later.
So they So what I read I believe is that you they shot on digital and then they printed it to film and then kind of read the old Dune method. Yeah, exactly. So but it wasn't 35 millimeter. I think they shot it down to like 16 or something. To get that. You had to get that really grainy eighties feel. So like, which totally worked.
I mean, like that opening sequence of when, you know, Damon's at the high school basketball like just felt right in place so yeah you get really big film grain when you shoot super 16 millimeter or if you print back to it. That's the beauty of that film stock. That's what being the brothers was shot on was Super 16 and then scanned in and it adds a little bit of something.
Yeah, yeah. There's there's a some Darren Aronofsky well-known director that loves to shoot a lot of Super 16 for that very reason. It gives that this heavy grain organic. You know I really enjoyed this. I can't think that Phil Knight is real happy with this movie. I mean, and like, I give so much props to Ben Affleck for for basically being the giant butt of the joke of this movie playing Phil Knight the way he does.
And and then but you still get that great chemistry that you're always going to get with Affleck and Damon. And it's a wonder we haven't gotten more pairings with them, but I think they've even talked about it that it's they've they've meant to team up and it just hasn't happened and it kind of got away from them when they're getting pulled into so many other things and so busy and also like they've got kids now. I mean, it's, you know, it's very different.
And I think they wanted to do something special together. I my biggest joke is always going to be like, so now that Ben Affleck is directing this, is he going to harp on people following the script and making sure they're saying the lines in the script? Because he is absolutely terrible, Like everything I've read is that he constantly he barely ever says the lines straight.
He's always adding ad libbing and adding things, making up jokes, going off on tangents and all this stuff and like, So how is it on the other side, you know? Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. He's he's an exceedingly talented director, though, right? Like there were this is his third outing as director cause he did the town and then Argo a little bit more than that because he did live by night. Yes. Okay. Which didn't do well. His track record now is really good.
Like it's it's firmly established that Ben Affleck's a good director, maybe even a better director than he is an actor at this point. I would completely agree. I mean, I don't want to dog on him, but I have never thought he was an amazing actor. He definitely a good actor. I mean, there's reasons why he's in these films, but he definitely doesn't hold a candle to Damon. Damon is just absolutely amazing.
It's a reason why he, you know, did the Bourne films and they rested on his shoulders and he's done so much elsewhere. He's been the main character now, I will tell you, one guy who really did impress me, or at least sorry, he's been impressing me, but kind of felt held his own. So Jason Bateman, I love and I've always seen him in TV shows or he's always been in movies where he's kind of one of the leading guys.
He's never been like the truly bad guy to head up like a serious film or, you know, something more. But he really stood toe to toe with Damon, and I kind of was summed in like cases. My eyes were drawn more to Bateman than they were to Damon. And I was like, okay, somebody needs to give him his own movie and let him just sell it, you know, something serious, dramatic, you know? Yeah, I mean, he but, you know, if nobody's seen Ozark. Oh, he's fantastic in Ozark. Yeah, he is fantastic.
And he's shown that he has more range than what Hollywood and television have been offering him. And then the other pleasant surprise, there's I was just happy to see him was Chris Tucker, who was not playing himself at all, or at least wasn't the typical Chris Tucker. I was really happy to see him just act as this person. I mean, obviously there's some tucker that comes out, but it's not like fifth element. It's not like rush hour. It's not that.
Chris Tucker, this is a acting Chris Tucker, who's in a slightly dramatic but yet funny comedic role. So kind of he bridges that gap and does a really great job. And I if to the best of my understanding, the Chris Tucker ness that he brings in, he is accurate to the real guy. And so yeah and I think that's a lot of the reason he was cast. But his career trajectory has been kind of interesting.
And if I'm not mistaken, he's turned down a lot of roles in the past because he just didn't want to work in a bunch of stuff where his characters were expected to deliver a lot. Of course, language just a personal preference. And so unfortunately we haven't seen the guy in a long time. So he's, yeah, super pleasant surprise. Well, supposedly what I read was that it was actually Michael Jordan who said, Chris Tucker has to play. Well, then that's then that's two actors that he hand-picked.
So yeah, it's two actors that he hand-picked because I know the other one obviously is Viola Davis, or Viola Davis is effectively what got the movie made. Yeah. And by far, like when she comes on screen, even with Damon, like it's a vial is so much better. Like she just commands the screen. I mean, obviously some of it is the character in it, the two characters based, but like the moment she's on, I'm just like, Oh my goodness, you're fantastic. Just how you're handling yourself.
Everything done, You're amazing. But this character was always the one in more of a position of power. So it makes sense that you cast her, that you cast viola. Now, who's the the actor? Because I recognize him. I don't know his name. That plays James Jordan. Okay. This Julius Tennon. Oh, and I just I know I've seen him on other stuff. When Damon walks up to the house and he's working on the car and he turns around like, Oh, what a nice casting decision.
Yeah, it looks like he could be Jordan's father. You know, like, has a look. Yeah, definitely feels like that. Doesn't not feel like it's bad casting at all. No. Another performance that I want to single out because I leaned over to Gwen. I try not to talk too much during movies, but this one was kind of You're at home. Chris Masina that plays David Fault.
I lean over to her because one of our favorite movies to watch together is Julie and Julia, where the girl cooks through Julia Child's cookbook and Chris Masina plays the husband and dude crushed it. Playing fault. Oh, Blake was. Yeah. Stole the scene in every every time he's on the phone was hilarious and he's kind of always happy go lucky like kind of typecast. So he he got to kind of flexes. I don't know. He's definitely channeling like Ari Gold.
Yeah. Oh, there's definitely some are similar There are some Ari Gold phone ranting in there. See for me it was I really relate him to newsroom so and I enjoy that and so this character a little bit more in that vein so like for me it wasn't obviously you know it wasn't as big of a kind of like, Oh my goodness, this is against type because I'm like, Man, this is kind of what you do. But I mean, still fantastic, still like, like you said, holy held his own laughed every time he was on screen.
Just the banter between him and Damon was fantastic. Now, I did want to bring up something I've mentioned before. I think when we discussed everything everywhere, all at once with the minimal locations that they shot on, and this is another one, and you could tell they spent their money where they needed to, which is building out that recreation of the Nike headquarters. And you could I could tell that they had built it out in like heavy detail.
And it was a full I mean, a full, full set, like took up a full soundstage because they there were a couple of moments near the middle and then the end where they physically move around heavily in the space and you can't see the edge of the set. It just keeps going and going and going. And I thought that was really smart because when you do that, then you don't have to be as picky with your camera shots and your camera angles.
You can just kind of live in the moment and shoot it the way you want to shoot it. And this is a big I was reading an article, This is effectively what Christopher Nolan's been doing his last several movies, and there's it's how he's shooting up. And he shot Oppenheimer because they built Los Alamos in full detail, the whole town and test bed. And and it enabled him to just like almost run in gun the way that they shot it.
And you could tell with this they were able to do that with the night with everything that was a Nike super smart super smart. Then you allow your actors to just play in the space. And that's what it felt like they were doing. And then, yeah, they get you know, you get the cutaways when they go to Wilmington. I'm pretty sure that was probably Georgia. I'm just guessing. I know I love North Carolina.
Shout out to North Carolina, folks, because I know we've got some listeners from Carolina, but I wish they would have gone down to Wilmington. I don't think they did. It looked it looked like it was definitely Georgia. But yeah, it's the tax breaks are not that not anywhere near what Georgia's are.
Yeah I to tell you my favorite choice in this movie and this is kind of spoilery but not really but I love the fact that you never see Jordan's face in the entire except for like, you know, actual, like, games or pictures of the real Michael Jordan. But the actor who plays it, you see basically the back of his head, maybe a profile shot at best. And I loved that like is like this story while kind of about him is not about him. And you're never like everyone knows what he looks like.
You're not going to get anyone who looks remotely like him. So they made a fantastic decision just to do it that way. And I'm trying to I'll try to speak around it because I, I, I'm with you. I don't want to spoil too much of this stuff for people that have not seen this movie yet. And again, I would implore you to watch it on Prime to give it a give it a look that speech. And I won't even say with a character that gives the speech, but the speech and the intercut, all the editing.
Yes. Oh, I mean, knocked it out of the park, the performance, first off, the script, the dialog, and then the footage. They cut over it. That was his emotionally resonant moment in the whole thing. And it really it really hit right like they they got it right. Like, it wasn't like they overplayed their hand with that. It was paced really well. They didn't try to rush through it, but they didn't try to elongate it.
They just kind of kept going and kept hitting you and kept kind of pushing this, you know, into until finally was just overwhelming and just kind of really broke and was great. So, yeah, now was how long was this in theaters? I don't think very long. So I know I missed it by a week or something like that.
And we see because I know, like, I just I was just curious because unfortunately, this is just one of those that the previews were good, but they didn't really grab me to get me to want to pay the money to go and see it in cinemas. And for most of it, I didn't I wasn't part of the unlimited plan anymore. So, you know, again, it was like, do I really want to spend 15 bucks to go see this in theaters when I know it's going to be in streaming in another couple of weeks? It's just changed.
It's changed where you know, we've heard you've heard both of us. We've both kind of harped on the movie theater experience. And I think the subscription models are definitely the way to go or the way to at least kind of keep theaters in. However, it also doesn't work with a lot of you know, a lot of people, you know, especially those who have kids, because it's like for me, I can just, you know, Lauren, I can just pack up and go, Hey, we're gonna go see a movie tonight.
And I just I wonder I don't I'm floating this. I don't think they'll ever do it, but I with a movie like this, with the content and it not being, you know, a big tentpole action adventure fantasy movie, I just wonder if they're going to have to start tearing the pricing, depending on the genre or gauged interest or is this an $8 ticket?
And then and then Guardians three is a $12 ticket like I don't go I'll take I told you all kinds clearly I'm out of touch with movie theater ticket prices because those are dirt cheap numbers. But I wonder if I think they've explored doing that, tearing the pricing, because I think if this would have been a lower tier ticket, maybe you would have gotten more people to to go to it. But I think a lot of us are thinking the same way.
Just going to watch I'm going to watch this style of movie at home. Yeah. And as much as you know, I've talked about, I really feel that most movies should be watched in the theater because that's the format that they're kind of shot for. There's definitely movies that are more likely.
Like you definitely need to see it in theater or you need to see an IMAX, Whereas something like this, while definitely would benefit from being in a theater, especially if you have some type of amazing like Atmo sound in addition to, you know, the huge screen, you're not going to lose that much by just watching it in your home theater. So your TV and living room.
No, I mean, we in frankly with the set up, I have I didn't it didn't feel too much different than if I had gone to a cinema and watched it. And so it was it was a really you know, I had a yeah, I had an absolute blast watching this. I'll probably watch it again at some point in the not too distant future because it is a really fun story. I was kind of suspicious of how engaging the story really would be when it was announced. I was I was like, really?
I mean, I know it was a big deal. We know how it ended. Yeah, I know it was a big deal that they landed him. And, you know, there's there's lots of wild stuff about his specific contract with Nike, and I won't give that away for anybody that's not completely familiar with the story.
But there is you know, there's plenty of intrigue with the way all this went down and what an effectively what Nike was in 1984, which is a not only were they a smaller company, they're just a vastly different company altogether as far as who they sold shoes to. Like it just they don't even look like themselves today. So that was really you know, it's cool to see. As far as the shooting style, it kind of reminded me a little bit of the Big Short, that kind of energy. I could see that.
Yeah, You could tell that they were looking for creative ways to keep the energy up because it's it's just really a lot of people talking. Really. It is. It's not nobody's there's no shoot outs at Nike, you know, There's no it's no one gets you. No, there's so I thought they did a good job of like mixing up the camera angles but it didn't feel over edited. Nice lens choices, color grays. Great.
It's like we said, we got that heavy film grain on some of it to make it feel eighties and then the production design I mean they've just went nuts. I love all those those old pieces with the CRT monitors. I'm not old enough to remember like the orange like screen font on some of those pieces. Like by the time I got one, it was still dark, but it was like either white or green. And those suckers were orange at Nike HQ. Yeah, all the all the old technologies hysterical.
And then the other thing I want to mention is the soundtrack is like, just starved for us from the, from the time the opening credits like come up It's just one early eighties after the other. Yeah, Laura and I almost had to stop and just kind of like go back and like, listen to some of these songs as they came back on and just were like, No, this is a banger. This one was also a banger. Like the whole soundtrack.
It's just like, we just need to make a playlist called Air Soundtrack and just listen to all. I'm not pulled it up on Spotify yet, but I'm I'm sure it's already up there, and I'm sure it's for sale, too. They were already ahead of us with the marketing. Now it just is such a good job. I mean, the attention to detail the way they did it. Like you said, go back to the kind of they shot it like there was. It was a lot of medium shots and close up shots.
So you can kind of have that. You're in the mix with them. You can kind of see their interactions, their emotions a little bit better than these like wider shots. So it's definitely different from like, say, one of those like fantasy shows, like Game of Thrones or like they show you the big table with everyone kind of talking around like this. Kind of got you much more into the mix.
And it was just I think that helped like, like you said, kind of was able to see some of the tension on the different characters faces and kind of be able to, like, empathize with them a little bit more, sympathize with them. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Totally recommend it if you haven't seen it. Yeah, it's and it's not that long.
I mean, it is an R-rated movie, so obviously keep, uh keep an eye on that yet you're earmuffs the kids because it is a the language is substantial but a lot of it emanates for just one or two characters. It's it's kind of weird like that, but so going out of this, I'm going to say I'm really excited to see what Ben does next. Directing. Well, I think we're going to wrap up Cinema: A to B on Air again and go off air. Go off air. Yeah, yeah.
No, Again, we totally encourage you to watch this if you haven't already and let us know your thoughts and see you next week. Thanks for catching us. Thanks everybody.