Him my signal and leishall.
Who is he I'm required to kill? So I kill? Tell me your name.
My name is Maximus Desmus Meridius, the father of the Armies of the North, loyal sovereigant of the true Emperor Marcus Aurelius, father to.
A modered son, husband to a modered wife. And I will have my vengeance in this life. For the next win the crowd, win your freedom. Why are not a time today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor Rome. I will give them something they've never seen before. What are we doing? Live echoes and welcome to Dorky Out. My name is Sonia Mansfield and are
you not entertained? Joining me is my podcasting sister from another mister and the co host of Dorky Out, Marco d Hello, my friend, this is so I goes so much yelling, and by God merciful, we are dorking out about two thousand's Gladiator. I wonder why we're doing this one. It's it's almost like a sequel has come out Weekend or something. It is directed by Ridley Scott, screenplay by David Franzoni, Sure, John Logan and William Nicholson. This movie
made so much fucking money. By the way I wrote it down, it had a budget of like one hundred million dollars, which was a shit ton of Now that's like catering money for Marvel, but like that was a high budget back then. It made four hundred and sixty five million dollars.
I am gobsmacked by that.
Yeah. It also won a ton of awards, which we will talk about later.
And it started Gobs backed by that as well.
Stars Russell Crowe, Walking Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Derek Jacoby, John and Hansu and Richard Harris. Let's start, like we always do. Did you see this in the theater?
I don't think I did. I don't have any memory of this except seeing it on a smaller screen, So no, the answer.
Oh well, I wont hunter percent saw it in the theater, and I remember really liking it, like thinking it was super entertaining, and I was like, oh, what a very entertaining, fun movie. And then it proceeded to be on like a million best of lists and be nominated for stuff. And I was very surprised by that because it really is just like it is a very good entertaining movie and it's that it's I'm all the best movie of the year. Yeah, it's something well, and Russell Crowe was
like he had like such a good run. So like the year before this he does The Insider, which is and is so good and yeah, and then he well actually, and then like a couple of years before that, he did La Confidential, which is great, and then he does A Beautiful Mind, which I don't really like but people love, and then he does Master and Commander, which is really good.
Like and in the middle of all that, he did Proof of Life, which is the movie that like ruined Make Ryan for the World but somehow made Russell Crow super cool.
But is that the one where she had the affair with him and that of her marriage to Yeah, what's his nuts?
Disappointing, Yeah, which at the time we were all like, everyone's all make Ryan. That's very disappointing. But knowing what we know now, we're like that good for her, Yeah, I get it. Like, also, Russell Crows he's very hunky.
He's a he's a hunk.
He's a hunk, and he's he's a total hunk in this movie, So I get it. But did it deserve all the awards that it won. Debatable, So shall we go through it? Please? Okay, So movie by the Way is like two and a half hours long, and I was like, this is unacceptable. I am now one of those people that just complains how long movies are. I'm like, those too long? But whatever, So it.
Opens, I think I posted sorry, I posted one of our groups, one of our pages on Facebook.
It was something I found.
Meme I found was like the unique joy of looking up a movie and finding out the runtime is only ninety minutes.
You're like, yes, I feel like a jerk because there's there's definitely movies that I super love and I don't mind that they're long, and if it's a really good movie, I really don't mind. It's when I don't know, there's just some movies where I'm like, it didn't need to be this long, it just didn't. And I think this is one of those movies. It just didn't need to be this long. But so it opens with a big battle and this is you know, we're establishing that this
is like, this isn't your mother's gladiator movies. It's all like dirty and serious and bloody. It's it's Yeah, it's just very disturbing. Lots of people getting their heads chopped off, lots of horses, horses falling over, which takes me out of movies.
It seriously does too.
Okay, I'm not alone in this. I don't like now fight on horses. I spend the whole time worried for.
Thinking about the horse.
Yes, right, yeah, same, Yeah, I don't like it. And I know logically, like I was like, hey, there's people on this set that are making sure the horses are okay. But even in the terms of the story, I'm like, oh, horses don't deserve this. They just theyll parted everywhere. I hope they I hope they made their presence known. Yeah, I would be fine with that. I'm fine with that. So there's a huge battle, lots of people died, blah
blah blah. But Russell Crowe like it establishes that Russell Crowe's character Maximus is this like really smart, honorable leader. He's very inspiring to his men. You know, he is super loved by the like general who is or not the general the Emperor who is that's Richard Harris, right, yeah, Richard. Yeah, And he like thinks that he would be an amazing leader in Rome instead of his no good, whiney son. Who is Joaquin Phoenix, who just can't wait to be king.
He's very excited. He's one hundred percent sure it's gonna happen for him, and uh he's it's not gonna happen for him. He is the Donald Trump junior of this movie. Like he thinks it's gonna happen and the Daddy's gonna give him all the hugs and love him, and uh no, it doesn't happen. Also, he's hot for his sister, which is really gross. I know that's really creepy. Yeah, and he is Joaquin Phoenix is doing a thing and that he is. He is all in.
He is absolutely and I do appreciate him as I get older, I appreciate what he puts into his performances, Like how committed he is, Yes he is. He should be committed.
He's committed and he should be committed to So like Joaquin Phoenix is like hanging around, He's like, this is gonna be my moment, Like I'm gonna be I'm gonna be king, And instead the Emperor's like, hey, Maximus, you want to be king? And He's like, nah, that's cool. I Like he really just wants to go home. He just wants to go home.
He wants Yeah, he misses his family.
Yeah, he misses his family. He's not interested in like the politics of Rome. Like he was a good soldier and he's like, I've done my job, you know, good luck to you. Not interested. And the Emperor tells Joaquin Phoenix, whose name is Commodus odas Commodus, it just it looks like commode to me, Like I'm like commode, he's a commode. So he tells Joaquin Phoenix like, hey, it's not happening for you, Like your false is a son is because I'm a shitty dad. And I'm like that's a nice
way of saying that. But he then he smothers his father, which is intense, very intense and really fucked up. And then he's like, you know, the emperor's dead, and he asks Maximus to like pledge his allegiance to him now because he's going to rule Rome. And yeah, Maximus is like a fuck off with that shit and tries to leave. And now he's committed tree. He's basically committed treason in Joaquin Phoenix's eyes, So he like is going to kill his family and kill him. Oh, I totally skipped the
part with Connie Nielsy and Nielsen. Sorry I'm still a little congested people. Sorry Connie Nielsen, who's playing the sister who would actually be a great leader, but she's not a man right, If only she had a dick, then she could be the King of Rome or Emperor Rome or whatever the fuck these titles are. Because I don't know, I'm not one of those people that thinks about the Roman Empire every day?
Do you No? That's stupid?
Do you ever hear? That was a meme thing that was going around on social media. It was like that men think about the Roman Empire like once a day. And I was like, oh, is that? I don't know? And so I have a coworker who is Italian and I was like, hey, Felipo, do you like think about the Roman Empire at least once a day? And he's all more than once a day for sure.
It's like, okay, so is it this movie they're thinking about?
No? He well, he was telling me that. He just he's like, I don't know. I'm interested in like how they built the things that they built, and he's like, I don't know, oh, just comes up once a day. But in his defense, he works and designed, so I guess that's why.
But that makes sense.
Yeah, other dudes. I was like, they're probably just thinking about dudes in like skirts and sandals, right, they just but they don't want to say it. That's what they're really thinking about. That's what I think. That's when I've been that. That's I can't yes say that. Sorry, continue, I'm like, that's what I'm thinking about when I think of the Roman Empire. But anyway, her and Maximus used to like have a thing together, like, and she has a son, it's about the same age as his son.
It's very strongly suggested that her son is Maximus's son. What happens then, Oh, so then they they kill Maximus's family, which is fucking brutal, awful, really really brutal, Like I mean, I appreciate that they don't show too much, but still even what they show, I was like, brutal. And they try to kill Maximus, but you know, he's a stud
and he kills like can't you can't kills everyone. He rides for like fucking days trying to get to his family, and you know, he's not there in time, and he it's super sad, like he buries his family and he just kind of collapses. And at that point he is picked up by like a slave trader, and that's Oliver Reid, who's doing a thing. He's also going everyone's going big.
I would say this when you when I read about Oliver Reid and he apparently was a real pain in the ass, had a big ego, bit a bit of a drinker. And then I read the I was reading the trivia and apparently he didn't get along with Russell Crowe was kind of mean to him, and so I was like, why even bother? This guy's a pay in the ass. He's old. You know, you can get anybody do that part. And I started watching this movie last night. I'm like, fuck it, this is his movie.
He's great, he is really good. He's amazing. Yeah, and he's doing a thing like yeah, and again this movie needs that because it's Yeah, it is like dirty, grimy dark, and the performances that are like big feel it makes it feel not so grimy and dirty and dark. I guess it makes it more watchable for me. Yeah, but other people like I have friends that like, they love this movie and it's one of their favorites. And I'm like, really, like you watch Gladiator like a couple times a year.
This seems weird to me, but again, whatever you do, you if you enjoy it, maybe that's their thing.
Oh.
So he gets picked up by the slave trader and that's Oliver Reed, and he is training all of these men that he has picked up to be glad and so they do like kind of the local road shows, I guess of the off Broadway versions of Gladiator fights, and immediately like Maximus is such a stud, like he's just murdering everybody because he's a very experienced warrior and a very experienced leader. And he gets all the gladiators to work together and he forms bonds and friendships and
that's when we meet there's no I in team. So yeah, there's no I in team. That's when we meet jam and Hansu, who's he's really good too, as like one of the other gladiators that he he partners up with, and they give the they give Maximus this nickname of the Spaniard.
Yeah, and he's which really threw me off sometimes. If there's anybody who looks Australian. If that's a thing, it's Russell Crowe to me. Yeah, I've watched enough Below Deck to think.
That using below Deck as the standard here and I agree. I agree.
He definitely Africa or Australia, like that's where he swaps Spain.
Yeah, he definitely looks like Captain Jason from Below Deck down Under.
Yes, yes, and he can have this too.
Yes, all of it. He could have all of this. I would love to think about the Roman Empire if it involves Captain Jason Jason, yes, or Russell Crowe during this time period, he was very handsome. So they do all that, they do their like off Broadway gladiator stuff, and eventually they learn that Joaquin Phoenix wants to like celebrate his dad, honor his dad by bringing back gladiator fights even though his dad didn't like them and got rid of them because he's a piece of shit. Who
he's a disruptor. Yeah, he's a disruptory. He's he's just trying to make Rome great again.
Margo the I had to see I had to like stop myself from contextualizing it into twenty first century.
Yeah, politics, but it's kind of.
Hard when you're watching a movie where they're talking about a senate and talking things about and policies, and then you have this dipshit that's like I'm in charge, though this bores me, like make some games and kill people.
That'll by the way, same the same shit is going on. And Gladiator too, by the way, where I was like, Okay, this movie is Gladiator two is more fun than Gladiator, and like Denzil Washington is like like chewing the scenery and like every actually they all are except for like
Paul Meskal and Pedro pescal are not. They're like they're in a more sincere version of the movie and everyone else is like I'm the leader, but like they're just like doing all this and it's very hard not to read like current state of affairs into these movies because it's all about distracting the masses with like fucking gladiator fights and shit that doesn't matter while they strip away
their freedoms exactly, and that's happening in this movie. And Derek Jacobi's character is a senator who actually says, like you know, that's what he's doing. He's the walking Phoenix characters throwing having all these Gladiator fights so that they are all distracted while he strips away all their freedoms and rights. That's what he's doing. And yeah, and he's just, yeah, he's not a good leader. He's not merciful. He's screaming later,
he's a real piece of shit. And so he's bringing back his gladiator, bringing back the gladiator fights, and Russell Crowe and his leads all the gladiators out there to fight, and he's just such a leader. He's like, let's all work together. This is how we survive this. And what do you think about the fight scenes in this movie?
I think they're over the top and gruesome. Yeah, but I also think it's really entertaining.
I have to say, Yeah, I think there's a get the Spectacle. Yeah, yeah, I think they're really well done. There's one that involves tigers that that's really great. Yeah, that's really really well done. I mean spoilers. I don't like that one of the tigers gets hurt of it, because again, yeah.
They don't get really get hurt though, no I know.
But also I was like, but they have sharks on the new one. Yes, Okay, So my sister and I chatted on the phone yesterday because I was like, she knew I was gonna watch Gladiator last night, and she had also just seen Gladiator too, and she's like, I'm not buying it the whole Like there's a thing where they like fill the Colisseum with water and sharks and like they have all these boats in there and they're
recreating some naval battle and it's again very entertaining. And my sister's like, well, how do they water proof the coliseum? Like how did they do this? How did they get the sharks in there? And I was like, I don't think we're supposed to think about that stuff, but yeah, I mean you can't. You can't overthink it.
I wasn't more interested in I am interested in the Roman Empire in that they were so highly evolved. Yeah, and then it was destroyed and that like man had to start all over again, and so the whole thing with the I was fascinated by the fabrics that were flowing over the Colisseum. That was like they think that's
what really they used to cool it down? Like they were very very advanced, right, So there's parts of it are really interesting to be because they had like underwater systems, they had bathrooms they had saunas, they had they had a whole thing. Yeah, then plumbing and irrigation and exactly exactly, and it was very very highly enlightened and then it was crushed. So it is interesting to see all of that.
But yeah, Joaquin Phoenix is playing the petulant child who's having these people be slaughtered in front of him as a way of throwing chum to the masses to keep them distracted from the things that are happening, like he's crushing the Senate and other things.
Yeah, and he he wants the people to love him and respect him and fear him. Well I don't know if Yeah, he does want them to fear him, but like he doesn't want to do things to like earn those Like he's like I should just get them because of who I am, which is so fucking artistic, yes, and also is just so yeah, it's yeah, he's entitled
to those things according to him. So there's a huge fight, and of course, like Russell Crow like kicks ass and like they murder all these people, and well he's defending himself, so.
I okay, yeah, they're going to kill him.
Yeah, yeah, so I use the word murder, but I was like people died that they were going to kill him first, so he uh oh. And then Joaquin Phoenix is like, I want to meet this spaniard that everyone because it's kind of like progress. They all have like character names, and he's starting to be kind of famous,
like the crowd super into him. He's trying to win over the crowd, and so Joaquin Phoenix takes the little his little nephew Lucius down there to meet the Spaniard and when he takes off his helmet, of course he's Russell Crowe and he's like ooh, you know, the big reveal, and but the crowd, he he immediately wants him killed because he's supposed to be dead, and the crowd loves him.
They love the Spaniard, so he spares his life, and then we then cut to Russell or not Russell crow Joaquin Phoenix up in his like room where he's terribly vexed, terribly vexed. It vexes me, it vexes me. I'm terribly vexed that the Maximus is still alive, like this is not supposed to be a thing that happens. And then he's like so gross with his sister, like just yeah, like just touching her and peeping on her and like stay the night with me, and she's like peace out,
Like she doesn't want any part of that. And she is she is trapped like women didn't have a lot of power back then, and she is dependent on her brother for survival and he's super fucking gross and she's afraid of him because he's a monster, and he's you know, close with her son, and she's trying to protect her boy. So she's in a really shitty situation. And her her kid seems lovely. He seems like a nice boy.
He's a nice kid.
He's a nice kid.
Nice boy. I like their flat American accents kind of everywhere. That's kind of I mean that really is, because you know sometimes it's like European and people kind of like, oh yeah, I think it's Yeah, it's really well laid out. I mean it's it's visually, it's a beautiful movie. Yeah, it's just the script At times I was like, oh yeah, kind of cheat.
Well, I mean just the first half hours, like all like battle and it's just to show how badass Maximus is and I don't think we needed that. So then by the time everything else starts happening. I'm like, I'm already tired, so but that's me what Oh what was I gonna say? Oh, there's like a scene where they're like walking around in some market or something and there's a bunch of guys and they're just like playing a game with a cobra. Did you see that?
No?
And I was like, what the fuck I just wrote in my notes? Were they also that fucking bored in rome that they're just like, let's play this game of checkers but it somehow involves a cobra. Maybe No, but.
Cobra's terrify me.
Me too.
I'm always scared that they their venom is gonna blind me.
Yeah, I'm scared of them. I'm scared of snakes, well, snakes and spiders, Like, no, I don't want spider legs touching me. I don't want snake eyes looking at me like bla Like anyway, what happens? Then? Oh, there's like a whole thing where Walking Phoenix is like I'm gonna make Maximus fight like the most undefeated, decorated gladiator. And that's when we get the tigers, and that whole scene is very exciting, like and but of course Maximus wins
because again, duh, Maximus. Yeah, he's a fucking stud. It's right in the name. He's He's max He's the Maximus. He's the most He's the Maximum, and the crowd loves him, and he wounds the other gladiator, but and the crowd's like kill kill because they're so gross, and he doesn't because it's a big fuck you to Woking Phoenix. He's like,
I'm not doing what you tell me, you know. And immediately the crowd's like Maximus the merciful, like he just whatever he does, They're like, we love you, He's the he's the hairy styles of the Gladdie. We love you Harry, like no matter what he does. And then Joaquin Phoenix,
he's again such a piece of shit. He like goes down there and he's talking to Maximus and he says the most fucked up shit about his family to try to make him mad, like you know your wife, did you know all the awful things they did to his family basically, and Maximus doesn't take his bait, which makes Joaquin Phoenix even more vexed, I'm sure because he purposely was trying to get a rise out of him, so he could kill him and he doesn't take the bait. Uh,
then what happens? Then what happens? Oh, like someone from Maximus's army is lingering around. He had like a like a servant or something named Cicero who was hanging around, and he shows up and he he wants to help Maximus like escape and like reunite with his army and fight for the freedom of Rome and all of these things. Yeah, I'm all that stuff's fine.
Yeah, yeah, it doesn't even like I'm kind of like, oh yeah, that was a thing. It goes on for so long. It's it's it's two and a half hours. Yeah.
After a while, I'm like, okay, I get it. Can we just hit the high marks? Yes? Yeah, there's all this like back state like backroom dealing stuff that's going on that is not the stuff I remember about the movie. Like what I remember is, oh, he fought and they're tigers and like all and you know how over the
top woaquin phoenixes and all that stuff. And then I'm watching it this time and I was like, oh, yeah, there's all this like political intrigue that's happening in it too, And multiple scenes of Joaquin Phoenix trying to get it on with his sister, which is again super yucky. Yeah, and threatening her son like reading him stories and like holding him really close and telling her without telling her, like I'm fully gonna kill your kid if you don't
tell me everything that is happening. And at some point there is like Joaquin Phoenix sends all of his men in and they just start fucking shit up. They kill a whole bunch of the gladiators, they kill Maximus' like assistant guy, and threatens his sister and tells her like, you're going to give me a pure blood air and if you even look at me wrong, I'm going to kill your kid. And that's when we get thats like, wow.
He's doing a thing. I gotta say, they're all I like all the actors. There's nobody. I think they're all committed, and they're all treating it like it's real, and I think that's what people respond to, Like that's the only way you can do it, is just treat it like it's real.
Yes, exactly. And in gladiat Or two, it is Denzel Washington is the one that is like just chewing it up and like the most entertaining way in a way that we haven't seen Denzel Washington be in a really long time.
I like this phase of Denzel Washington's me too. I was giving all kinds of email. I don't Yeah, you were sending me some stuff on TikTok and yeah he's doing all kinds of interviews and he's just like, yeah, I was bitchy then, yeah, I took that too seriously. Now you just care about this or I you know. I like is like, that's how I want to be when I'm his age.
Yeah, he he seems like he's out of Fox and he's Yes, he's just having a good time. Yeah, he raised his kids, he's in a good marriage. He's got his oscars.
You know, he's got I think he's won Tony Awards. He's done stage work, he's brilliant.
Yeah, he's put in his time. He should enjoy it. So good for him. That's what we all want. He's a movie star. Such a movie star, he really is. That's the other thing about the second one. Not to keep going back to a movie you haven't seen. I'm sorry, but like, he is such a movie star. And I think Pedro Pescal is a movie star. I wasn't getting it from Paul mets school in this and Gladiator too
likes as much as these two like. And I love Paul Meskal like, I think he's great and I have loved him in other movies, but this was like a really big blockbuster with a lot of like sets and costumes and visual effects. And I'm like, he wasn't screaming movie star to me in that movie, but I think he He does a good job in the roll.
I'll let you know in a few months.
All right, let's go. So then there's a it all comes down to this, like now Joaquin Phoenix is like, I am going to fight Maximus in the coliseum, Like this is how I'm gonna win the people's love by murdering their hero in front of them, apparently, But of course, because he's such a fucking coward, he like goes in before the fight and like stat Russell Crowe and then hides it with armor so that he's already wounded, yeah, wounded, and like on and he's gonna die no matter what
because of this asshole. But even though he has an injury, he kicks his ass, and uh, it's pretty satisfying.
It's very satisfying, like snickers satisfied.
It really does. I was like, I will allow it. Like he is such a sniveling, shitty coward that when he finally gets killed feels pretty good. I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm cool with that. I'll allow it. I'll allow it.
And you know, it's very sad because Maximus is dying, and but before he's dying, he asks for all these political reforms, he asks for the Gladiators to be free, he you know, and then he collapse and he has this vision of the after life and he's running to his wife and son, and it's very sweet and it's what we all want the afterlife to be.
Like, yeah, just a wheat field that I'm running.
I was gonna say, see our loved ones, but but sure, wheat field.
Well that's how it is with him, Like every five seconds, he's like running his hand through.
A wheat field. Right, Yeah, I get Well, maybe that's where his passion lies, Margo. He really just wanted to be.
A friend to make bread.
I just wanted to I just want to eat bread. I would be a perfect wife to him, like I just want to eat that bread. And uh, you know, they carry his body out and he's a soldier of Rome and all of this stuff and yeah that's the end. Okay, there we go.
Yeah, there's yeah, there's That's why it's like for two and a half hours. I'm like really because because there's I mean, it's it's great. I mean, I will say this, it's very entertaining. I was completely absorbed with it. I Mean sometimes I was like, this is the transitions were weird, Like I wonder, like was there a day like the light the light got away from them or they ran out of time and so they had to insert this here in order to go there. Because it's very choppy.
The transitions are really choppy sometimes, so I wonder if that's what it is. But overall, I can see why. I absolutely see why people loved seeing this in a movie theater. I bet it was a hoot with like a big audience.
Yeah, I mean, it feels like it's made for a big screen. It's made for a big audience. It's it does it desert? Is it worthy of all the things? We're going to go through it? In like a second? I did read that Antonio Benderis was considered at some point for Spanish I Wonder and I'm like, I I think Antonio Binderis would have been really good in this absolutely no, that's my point, Like, yeah, yeah, I get a Spaniard if you're going to like all the Spaniard oh different things now we didn't.
Yeah.
True. They also apparently considered Mel Gibson and I'm like, he already did this with Brave Heart, like yeah. And the other one was Tom Cruise because everyone considers Tom Cruise at some point, and uh, Jennifer Lopez reportedly auditioned for Connie Nielsen's role. But I think Connie Nielsen's great, Like she's perfect.
I really like her in this movie. I think she's really good. Yeah.
And Joaquin Phoenix like immediately got the part. He sent in an audition tape and they were like, that's the guy. But apparently Jude Law also wanted the part. I'm like, which I can see. Yeah, he might be an actor.
He would have been good too.
Yeah. Absolutely. Uh So this movie was nominated for twelve Oscars. I'm sorry that baffles me. It was what else came out that year? Exactly? Yes, and it won five. I also want to tell you it was nominated for a bunch of MTV Movie Awards that I get. Yeah, but we're gonna go through the Oscars. So it's nominated for Best Picture. It won. Uh, it was nominated against Oh sorry, my little screen here went away. There we go, There
you are other movies chuck a lot. Yeah, okay, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
That's an excellent movie.
I love Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Aaron Brockovich. That's a good movie. It's a good movie. And then Traffic. No, you don't like Traffic, No, I don't. I find it.
I actually like the British one better. It's based on a British series, and I thought that was a little more. I think it's fine. I just don't love it as much as other people. That's it.
I think, like a lot of people who saw Traffic, I really liked the Benicio del Toro stuff.
Well yeah and.
Hello yeah, And when I think about the movie, that tends to be the part I think about and I don't. And then I'm like, oh, yeah, there was the whole thing with Michael Duns's.
And the pregnant Catherine Zeta Georges. Yeah, like driving around looking for crack. Yeah.
Yeah. So it was nominated for Best Director for Ridley Scott, but he did not win the other ones where Steven Soderberg was nominated for Aaron Brockovic but he won for Traffic. He directed both of those. Yes, it's that bananas. Wow?
How did he have time?
I know? And then ang Lee also was nominated for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which he should have won for. This would have been my That would have been my pick, like Crouching Tiger, Hitten Dragon. And then Stephen Daldry for Billy Elliott, which is a good movie, which is a good movie too. So Russell Crowe won for Best Actor against who Javier Javier Bardem for Before Night Falls.
I never seen that.
I haven't either, Tom Hanks for Castaway he was great and Castaway Yeah, Ed Harris for Pollock, Oh I hate that movie. Yeah. Marcia gay Harden won Best Supporting Actress for that, and I'm like, I love Marcia gay Harden but.
The long suffering wife to the genius.
Yeah. And then Jeffrey Rush was nominated for Quills.
Oh God, I remember, God, that's so two thousand. Yeah.
I think Russell Crowe's win here is like a makeup oscar because the year before he was nominated for The Insider.
Yeah, and he was really good not and he was so good.
And I don't remember who won, but I mean Tom Hanks had already won twice I think by this point, so I don't think they were going to give him another one. But he was so good in Castaway, and we did a whole episode on Castaway. Joaquin Phoenix was nominated for Gladiator, but he did not win. Benicio del Toro won for Traffic. Some of the other ones, you'll love this one. Jeff Bridges for The Contender.
I love that movie.
We did a whole episode on The Contender a long time ago, so your first time on the show. I think it might have been. Yeah, that's when we realized that we need to get rid of the other person. The show originally had a different co host, and then the minute Margo came on, both of us were like, oh, this is our show now bye by sorry Smith anyway. William Dafoe for Shadow of the Vampire. It's a good movie. And then Albert Finney for Aaron Brockovic, which he was good. Yeah,
he was good in that movie. Yeah, it was good in that too, And then it was nominated for things like screenplay, but almost Famous One.
Okay stop That screenplay was nominated for an oscar Yes, which, by the way, in tons of interviews, Russell Crow's like there was like thirty pages of a script and they they had to like write it as.
They were going along, and yeah in the like whole like, am I not Percival? Like that's ad libbed? Like I'm like it's bananas to me that it was nominated for screenplay and it did not win because again like almost famous one, and that feels very appropriate because that's very well written. Was there? It was, you know, And it was nominated for other things like sound, Yeah, you know which that I get. Yeah, it won for sound. It
didn't win for art direction because Crouching Tiger won. It was nominated nominated for cinematography, but Crouching Tiger won that as well, very well deserved. It won for Best Costume Design and it lost for film Editing, and it won for visual effects.
So with the tiger scene alone, it deserves it.
Yeah. The other things for visual effects were hollow Man, did you ever see that? And then the Perfect.
Storm that is that could have been That should have been such a great movie because it has everything that story has everything and it just doesn't add up for some reason.
We should talk about that movie something.
Yeah, because and I've seen it a dozen times at least. Yeah, I'm always like, how did they fuck this up? That's always the way what I want that, which is not the way you should do it.
Yeah. Do you want to hear some of the MTV Movie Awards stuff? Sure, Okay, why not? Let me go down here. So it won for Best Movie. The other best movies, though, were Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Aaron Brockovic, Hannibal, Hannibal, Hannibal, and The X Men movie, which was the very first like which I've ever seen. Yeah, one of those, like one of the first like comic book movies to come out in a really long time. But I love the MTV nominated Aaron Brokovich. That seems like.
Well Julia Roberts, Yeah, like she was having a year when that movie came out.
Yeah, it was nominated for Best Action Sequence, but it did not win. It lost to a motorcycle chase from Mission Impossible Too, which is come on, yeah, I mean it's Mission Impossible too. Russell Crowe did not win Best Male Performance because he lost to Tom Cruise for Mission Impossible too. Let's see other things. It was nominated do do do? I know there's one here you're gonna love.
Uh.
There was a best Fight and it was Russell Crowe and the Tigers, but he did not win because the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon where she totally destroys an entire bar. That one, yeah, that's the best. And then there was It was nominated for Best Line for it vexes me. I'm terribly vexed. It did not win because it lost to my favorite movie, Meet the Parents, where it says are you a pothead? Fucker?
Sure?
Everyone one remembers that line, So I hate the I hate it. Oh. Also, Joaquin Phoenix was nominated for Best Villain, but he lost to Jim Carrey for The Grinch.
Are you fucking kidding me?
I am not fucking kidding you.
Oh that Grinch movie is terrible.
I do eat. I hate it.
It's so ugly, yes, and just ugly ugly like and it's like it's shot with like broken light bulbs.
It's so dark.
I hate it. I hate that movie.
This is why you and I had to do the show together. Younger people love that version.
They didn't have it. They didn't grow up with the other one, which, yeah, the animated one so and which is superb.
And so that's why I think there was.
Yeah, Jim Carrey did a Yeah, that one annoys me, but he did do a Scrooge one of the Scrooge movies.
Yeah, Christmas Carol Wich. I thought was pretty good. Yeah, yeah, I really don't like it. And thankfully the younger generation out so like my thirteen year old, he has no interest in the live action Grinch, and he watches the original animated Grinch, and he watches the more recent animated Grinch that came out in twenty seventeen, which is actually really good.
Yeah, people tell me that.
Yeah, Like I watched it with him and I was like, oh, this is actually really delightful and fun and has a really good message. It's not mean, it's not dark. It's very very good. So I recommend that one. And that's it. That's it for that, all right.
Do you want to hear about the top ten songs for when this came out.
I'm not going to know any of these.
I I okay, some of them are.
So it starts number ten Sonic Sonic s.
O N I Que it feels so good. Nope, lone Star Amazed.
Okay, I do know this one.
Yeah. Number eight Vertical Horizon Everything you Want. Okay, that's stupid song.
Okay, I do know that one. That one is still played all the time on all the like SiriusXM Pop Rocks channel.
You can't get away from it. Number seven somebody I thought would be bigger, Macy Gray.
I try, Yeah, I agree. She Oh here, I'm gonna admit something that everyone's gonna make fun of me for I loved the Dave Matthews Band and saw the Dave Matthews Band like a gazillion times back in the day, and Macy Gray opened for them, and she was so good and so fun and funky, and I was like, she's gonna be huge.
And then where, yeah, where'd she go?
Uh? Here we go?
Number six in sync Bye Bye Bye, which is a really good song. I'm sorry, that's a bop and that video is great. Number that was Number six sorry. Number five Destiny's Child Say My Name.
That's a good one too. I know more than I thought.
Number four Cisco the Thong song.
Oh yeah, Well you couldn't get away, We coudn't escape that.
There's another one you couldn't escape from. Number three Faith Hill with Breathe.
Oh yeah, yeah, that was. It's a slow song, yeah.
Very slow song. Number two Tony Braxton, He wasn't man enough.
I love Tony Braxton. I don't remember that song, but I don't.
Remember that song either.
Yeah.
And number one Santana Maria Maria.
Thank god you didn't say smooth.
We hate smooth. We hate the song smooth.
Well. I don't like Marie Maria either, but I would take it over smooth, fucking smooth. Now it's gonna show up on my radio, like every time it comes up on the show. I get in my car, turn it on, and fucking smooth comes on. I swear to god, my friend, what else are you jarky out about? I am really enjoying Netflix.
Cobra Kai is back.
Oh yeah, you've been faithful, you've been watching I'm very faithful.
So that's that's been a fun distraction. I I'm loving Shrinking on Apple Plus.
Oh my god, such a good show, the best, the best. I love Shrinking so much.
On Peacock I saw I started watching Making Manson and then I had to stop because yeah, they attempt to humanize him more, which he does.
It need no, thank you. Yeah.
The whole thing is like, don't you feel sad he had this really sad upbringing, Like yeah, millions of people do. He's a shit He's a shithead, like yeah. So then I was mad at myself, like why am I watching this? I knew this is gonna happen. So then I went back to my real housewife. So Beverly Hills this week premiered.
It was great.
It's worth if you put the ten twelve years into.
It delivered, just could you just pick it up this No, you would be like you would miss stuff you would miss.
I mean maybe you'd think it was fun.
I mean it's not. It's very stylized. If you like selling.
Sunset, Yeah, it's kind of looking like that these days. But you're not going to understand the little things that happen, and that's that's a shame. But Yeah, Dorey who was going to get fired was everyone's been talking about she needs to get fired, like a couple of years ago, and she split with her husband and she's just decided everything's burning around me, Like she's going to get her house foreclosed on, like that's what's happening right now.
She's just she's getting divorced from her husband.
Turns out she keeps saying he's an alcoholic, like they never mentioned it for years, and so she's anyway. So it was really fun. It was a good distraction. And then of course SLC so.
We say this every week. It's the best.
It's the best show. These women are insane, they're batshit crazy. Yes, they take no accountability for their behavior.
They are so fucking petty too, like Jeddy and immature. Yes, so good. It's so great.
And they're all like in their forties and fifties, but they might as well be like fifteen.
Yeah, I'm like, you're too old to be acting this way. Like they just they're so shitty. They just hold grudges, they take no accountability. So petty, so good, but it's so great.
So the woman that named Mary, she runs a religion in Salt Lake City. That's that's not Mormon. Yes, And she inherited, Yeah, she inherited from her grandmother and her grandmother and her mother didn't get along and Mary didn't get along with her mother. So when her grandmother died, Mary married her step grandfather, in order to inherit the church and all of the businesses attached to the church.
One of the funniest things from season one was like it had to be like Jenshaw was like, yes, let's all take advice from the lady who married her own grandpa.
And she was so offended that she had a conversation with this idiot woman named Brittany, who's who's like on the Tinder apps like dating all the but apparently the Mormons they're not supposed to they say, Look, they say they're not supposed to drink and they're not supposed to have sex unless they're married. Yeah, and these women are not following those rules.
Literally they pick and choose which one of the which of the things they want to obey, and then right, yeah.
And when Mary first met Brittany, who's dating a third tier Osmond by the way, that they're all like, woo, third tier you're generous society of being generous there, but they were. When they first met each other, Mary said, oh, when I was growing up, there was five kids.
We never had enough of anything. We did have food, and so.
Brittany said, oh, I grew up poor too. I know that it feels and Mary was so offended, like we.
We're not poor, we just ended just neglected. Yeah, So Mary decides to run a breakfast at Tiffany's party in her home to prove that she's not or it seems like a lot of going to great lengths to prove Brittany wrong. But so she invites everyone and they're all supposed to dress up, and like, some of them do and some of them don't, and like Mary's breakfast Activity's party.
So she's like, I want you to do your style, be your stylish best, be a stili on.
So if it's breakfast activities, it's what is it?
It's Audrey Hepper little back dress, you know, up due simple, it's simple but but classy.
So Bronwin shows up first. Beautiful, Yeah, she's beautiful, Like looks great. Yeah, she's got a little clip on bangs to like right, do the like party, Yeah, do the little Audrey hepburn like short bangs. She looks lovely, she looks so cute.
And she's like me, she showed up too early, and so she's awkwardly standing around, which I've done.
She showed up right on time because she was afraid of Mary, and like even Mary's not down there.
She has to make and it's odd is that, like those are parishioners that she's recruited to be.
Her waiters and staff. But then Meredith shows up, and Meredith is.
She puts a wig on her head and it looks like it's put on backwards to provide a bang effect, but it looks like she's wearing a two pay backwards.
It's the bang starring. The bangs look like Russell Crow's Caesar cut in Yeah, Laddie, Like it's all pc and weird and like it just looks bad, and like all of the women are like shit talking her by her back about these fucking bangs. She butught she thinks she looks great. Yeah.
Yeah, she's so proud of herself. And then just throughout this, you know, there is a whole thing where Bron wented and Heather didn't get along with it. Don't get along, and Heather's like an og. So Heather hates everybody that's not an og. That's her whole personality. So she's roo
to bron Wyn. So Bron and her husband are having their tenth anniversary in Palm Springs and she's like, we're going to invite people to come and celebrate with us, and she didn't bring the other because either was an asshole.
Yeah, why would you to her? Why do you want to invite someone?
Her?
Or Brittany by the way, who are have been so shitty, rude and right just like you know, well, why don't you have a prenup? It's because you're a gold digger, blah blah. Why would they invite Why would she invite you to her anniversary party?
First of all, it's exactly it's not.
Your business if she has a prenup or not mind your business. Heather and Brittany and two like you both acted like a couple of cunts. Of course she's not going to invite you and the like.
Yeah, they tried to like goadly, you didn't invite us, Well why didn't you? And she says to Bron when bron Win said, I wanted to bring you, And for whatever reason, Bron and her husband flew everybody private there and then when they flew them back, it was on commercial and that was a power move on her part. Yes, so she and her husband were in first class and the rest was coach. Now, Palm Springs to Salt Lake City is an hour flight. It is not a big deal.
It's like flying to San Francisco from LA or something. It doesn't matter where you sit, you know, it's an hour flight.
You'll be done.
But of course Lisa had a meltdown about it, and so then Heather's trying to weaponize that, like how come you put them and coach and you got the first class seat?
She says, because it was my goddamn credit card.
Yeah, and just shut them the fuck up.
Yeah, because it's my fucking money. Fuck you.
Yeah, you were rude, you were mean, you said shitty things, and they kind of had to deal with it. So then they had a moment where Heather's like, you know what, let's try to move forward, like okay, okay, and then Brittany just shoots up and says and Nobody's like, no one knows you, no one likes you. All you do is talk about men that you talk about him like you're twelve years old.
Yeah, and you and it's just I'm sorry. It's so great.
It was so good.
It's so good, Like we could do entire episodes just about Salt Lake City, Like these these brods are crazy.
They're amazing. And then lastly, there's a podcast that I've been listening to that's really good. It's called Radioactive and it's all about Karen Silkwood. We've talked about Silkwood, but it's an investigation into her death and what really happened. It's shocking, like it's been fifty years and people still don't know what really happened to her. She was in
a car accident. She's a whistleblower at a nuclear power plant, which is also something that's you know, fifty years later, Like she was talking about regulations and how important it is to watch these industries to make sure they don't poison the water or kill their employees. You know, like shit we're dealing with now. She was treated like she was a pain in the ass because she's a woman, and she was of course was from you know, she was a single mother, she didn't have custody of her kids.
People just thought she was kind of trashy and they didn't And when you listen to this podcast and this Silkwood was the movie directed by Mike Nichols and it stars Mellow Streep Share and Kurt Russell, and it's been in a rights issues for many many years and it's finally available for streaming on Hulu.
And we're definitely going to cover it. It's oh yeah, yeah, maybe I watched it last week.
It was really good. So then I found this podcast and it's basically the Investigators. They are going back fifty years to the original reports and to try to figure out like how this woman died because they said, oh, well, she fell asleep at the wheel and boom she crashed. And then when you look they described the crash seed it's like she was dragged like one hundred and fifty
yards was it was? It like she just hit a barrier in boom And so when you look at you're like, what the fuck happened to this woman?
So anyway, that's what I'm listening to. Well, that's a good one. I'm writing that one down. I have a couple of things too. I started last night Interior or Chinatown, which is a new show on Netflix that's really really good with it stars Jimmy O Yang and Ronnie Chang
from the Daily Show. He hosts The Daily Show once a week and it's it's set in like a crime drama, like a law and order type thing, and he is like a background character in like a crime drama who's working with like another detective to become like a main character on the show and solve a murder. It is very weird, an action comedy, very funny. I've only watched the first two episodes. I like where it's going, so I'm gonna keep Goings based on a graphic novel that
apparently is pretty popular. So Hulu did not promote this at all. I just like heard some good things on TikTok and Blue Sky and was like, I'm going to check it out, and it's really good. I'm enjoying it so far, so I recommend Interior Chinatown. And what else am I watching? Oh? I saw Wicked. This movie called Wicked. Yeah,
I've heard about it. Yeah, I saw that. I have never seen the stage show, which apparently is a bananas thing to say when you live in San Francisco because it like opened here and people are very precious about Wicked and the fact that the you know saw it and it's many many runs here. I have never seen it. I know like two songs.
I've never seen it either. I tried reading the book in like two different book groups and could not get into it.
Oh, interesting.
But I heard that the play is pretty different from the book, the original novel.
I don't know.
I just for some reason, some of them, I just you know, they get expensive, it's hard to get a ticket, and then like, yeah, it'll be made into a movie one day, So here we.
Are and here you are. I really I liked here's another one. I'm like, it's like two and a half hours long. So if like musicals, you're like, hmm, then I don't know if this is where you want to start. But I liked it. I thought the performances were really good. I think they have amazing singing voices. I love the sets and the costume. I love musicals, so I'm very entertained by that. The movie was surprisingly sad in some spots that I was I didn't know that's where it
was going. Other people in the audience are like super fans and they know all the songs and they loved it, and they were telling me afterwards like it could go on forever and I would be so happy, and like they loved being in the world, and they really really loved it for me, like two of the songs were catchy and the rest I don't remember. Already and hasn't even been a week, so it's and it's a part one, which again it's quite long, so I'm curious what part
two is going to be. Like, I still I really liked it. I thought it was good, and I know that it's insanely popular and it's bringing a bunch of people into the theater because I went to see another movie I'm going to talk about in a second, and Wicked was playing in the big theater and it was packed three hundred and fifty people on a Thursday night,
So pretty good. Yeah, no, good for them, Yeah, and they and they it was a lot of younger people and they were really excited and they were taking pictures and the standis and the posters, and I was like, I love that. Anything that makes people excited to go to the movies makes me happy. So it's again another one that considering everything that's happening in the world. You
can't see me, but I'm waving my arms around. There's definitely things that you will react to in the movie that you're like, well, that feels appropriate, and in one way or another, it's a good one. And then I will end it with I saw a real pain with Jesse Eisenberg and Karen Colkin and it and Jennifer Gray, isn't it by the way, Like it took me in really yes, And I was like, wait a second, I read her book, Oh did you like her book?
Something? It was okay, it was it was it was good, you know, something about baby in the corner, something about being in the corner because obviously that line.
Yeah, but yeah, yeah, she got a nose job in the nineties and it made her pretty unrecognizable. So it took me a little while. And then I was like, oh shit, it's Jennifer gre took me a minute. But it's really about kieren Co. It's written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, who was in like The Social Network, and
Karen kolkaan everyone knows who that is. And they play cousins who are going to poland their grandmother has their their Jewish grandmother has passed away, and they are going on this pilgrimage to learn more about what it was like for her when she's growing up and like visit the house she grew up in and things like that, and they join like a tour group and then they kind of separate from the tour group and do their thing, and it's a lot about like their relationship, about you know,
difficult family members. You grow up with people and then you kind of drift apart and trying to stay connected to It's very sweet and funny and sad, all of those things. And it's like this like small, quiet, little movie that was such a pleasure to watch. And I was like, I can't even believe it's playing in a theater because it's not Wicked. It's not Gladiator too. It's small and quiet and sweet and something that you would have seen in the nineties during like the indie movement,
the indie film movement, I feel. And they're both really good in it, and I really loved Kiaran Kulkin in it. He is could get nominated for stuff. I think he's really really great. And now I think I'm finally ready to watch Succession, so maybe I'll do that. Did you watch Succession? Yeah?
Of course?
Okay? Was he good at Everyone says he's great in it, so yeah, of course. Yeah. Like I'm like, okay, fine, I'll watch six Session now that it's over and nobody cares anymore. But uh, that's a pretty good list. We've given people here, I think if you like the sound of our voices. We also co host a podcast called What a Creep, where we talk about creeps of the
past and the present. Our episode out Right Now is about some asshole named Ken Star you might remember him from The Star Report, Yeah, and just being a real piece of shit, So enjoy that episode. But we always end the episode with someone who's not a creep, so you don't think the whole world is a dumpster fire. And Margo picked an excellent non creep for that because she's really good at this. Ah speaking of really good at this. Where can people find you on the internet, my friend, you.
Can find me at Brooklynfitchick dot com. I'm at Brooklynfitchick for threads and Instagram, and then I'm at Brooklyn Margo on blue Sky and TikTok, and then I'm at my name for YouTube. Margo Donahue.
Yes, follow her on YouTube. She's always sharing cool clips and she's going to be promoting her book soon. No big deal, no big deal, just a book that she wrote.
It's kind of way next year, so I'll try not to bombar y'all with it until it's time.
But you get ready, please bombard me. You can find me at the Sonya Show dot com and the Sonya Show on Twitter. Sorry, oh my god, that was habit. You can't find me on Twitter. I'm not on Twitter anymore. You can find me on Blue Sky and threads and Instagram and Facebook and the TikTok. And you can find dorking Out at dorkinoutshow dot com or just dorkinout dot com. By the way, I found out that I bought both, and you can also find dorking Out on threads and
Blue Sky and Instagram and Facebook as well. Thanks for talking about Gladiator with me. This was really fun.
I am not vexed, but you're very merciful.
Have I not merciful? Margo