You're listening to the downbeat on ninety seven one the Freak Just Life is a highway. You bet your buns it is you like this song? How did you find this? How does it spoke to me? Just the words on the screen? How do you know that happening? Go? This song? Going close? I don't know if Floryd's Oh this is the updated country version? Is ah? There was another version of this? Who is Rascal Flats? Oh? Yeah? The original is John something is that? It's really
good? It says two thousand and six Rascal Flats. That's that's not the Oh. Tom Cochran, Tom Cochran, you're right, Tom from nineteen ninety one. Yea, it is a nice song. You know. Tom Cochran is a Canadian. I know I'm looking at I'm looking at the picture of him. That's Danny Baylesstu Suee, Michelle Sidawah, Kevin Turner. Not here. Today's off, Today's off, Tomorrow's off, Mondays off, Tuesday, and of course Thanksgiving week. I'm off Wednesday. Then be me and Katie.
You and Katie, sweet little Katie, You and k Pax, A little baby, little baby kt a little boy who might be from a different planet. Funny funny kid, isn't he I miss him? Don't you? Oh? Absolutely miss him? You really are the most devious Boston in Neil yach sit here, well, wow, Mosdevia's bastard of New York City is on the streets going to some borrow. I swear to god, I don't know. He's so funny. I would watch KT cam Would you not watch
kt? Does? Man takes Manhattan just to watch? Yes, the way watching the hamster on the wheel spin as he's gearing up for something yep, and then just the random nonsense that spews forth as a result of all those calculated decisions going into something he's about to say. It's never what you expect. Now, it's a pleasure to be around. Can you imagine New York. He's crossing the street, he's got rocks sweet Roxy there and he's okay, here we go, you know, and like Clade gives himself pumped,
and he kind of does a point. He's across the street, We're gonna go over here, you know, like trying to be decisive, and he does. I don't know if he's even convinced himself about the decision. He's about to make and she just gets it. Yeah. I've done Kat for a long time, but until we've done this, I don't know. I don't know if I even appreciated him enough. Yeah, he works hard, he loves this stuff. He's legit funny, like I think, he's excellent
radio. He's one of the most unique people that I've ever met in my life. And it's positive, yes, and it's not like disingenuous either. He is very genuinely exactly whoever the hell he is. And I don't even know the I don't know what that means. But I love him beyond all. He's one of the most lovable people. Yes, that we've all had the fortune of encountering. All that kindness. That's integrity, that's that's doing something when the other person's not around. I'm sure the same things were said
about me when I had to take Monday off last week. Yeah, he's got diarrhea. He'll be back tomorrow. He's here. Who cares me well anyway, No KT Moyana, but my brother Cash, former co host of The Certain de Surroy, he is going to kick it with us tomorrow and we might have our special guests from London zooma in and talk a little f one. Not scared. Cash likes f one stuff, right, yeah, he loves. I don't know how the time he's gonna work. When I'm
gonna get the boys on, well, we'll figure it all out. It's gonna be a good little Friday show and then a nice weekend and then we're we made it all Thanksgiving week, the countdown to Crimbo begins. We neither one of us knew what Crimbo was until I got a text from one of my dear friends who lives in Liverpool, born and raised there. He sent me. We were trying to, like I do have to use like the British slang dictionary sometimes to decipher what it is that my my buddy Mark is
saying. And he is something about a song you'd make a good Crimbo. What does that mean exact sayl Yeah, yeah, I had to look it up and it's like, oh, it's the British sling for Christmas. It's like okay. Next Thursday, Thanksgiving begins the countdown to Crimbo. The official count right here at ninety seven one freak something else we only have here on nineties having one the freak as someone is talented and lovely sweet JJ Jackson,
who is a movie expert. She sees things early and lets you know if you should see these things when they come out for the normal people. It's time for press play, J j oh oh, wait, that's in five minutes. Yeah, that's a good five minutes. Ron. So let's do a couple of stories real quick. I read about a lost cat, Graham Prairie, the owners. Oh I'm sorry, Harriet. Oh yeah, it's time once again for rest play with JJ. The Lady coup with the Syling
in cinema. So, without further ado, we got movie reviews with the original screen queen herself, the twentieth Century Bucks Miss J. J. Jackson. There it is, love Boom, here it is. We love talking movies with JJ, especially this time of year because I think big ones are popping. We all talked last week about The Iron Claw, the movie that we went and checked out at the very very exclusive premiere at the Texas Theater. That's a great thing about JJ. She's got the exclusive access to see
these things before the public does. Yeah, and she's also bound by rules sometimes and what she can and can't talk about. And I don't fully understand it like the other day after Iron Claws, she kind of wasn't allowed to talk about the movie, and you're not supposed to until December twenty seven,
so the week it comes out. Yeah, okay, but we as morons, I don't know what's not bound by the same standards because she's in the cinema world and they have a strict set of guidelines on what they can and can't talk about when they're privileged enough to go see these films at such an early release. So we went as just members of the local media, but you go as a as I press press. Yeah. So yeah, the
PR company that I specifically worked with, I mean for this film. That's one of the things you you have to keep in mind when you sign up for these things. They're like, okay, well you know you got to go buy follow the rules, and you know, so there's embargoes on certain films at certain periods of time where okay, you can do social media reactions but you can't do a full review, or you can do partial review but
you can't. You know, it's you get those regulations per Yeah. So with the Iron Claw for instance, you know, even I spoke with them like at the after party. Then I was like, so, what exactly is because I had a feeling embargo and there was still pretty sure. They're like, well, you can do social media reactions all that, obviously because of the premiere and everything, but no reviews, like review reviews of the film until like the week of the film, because I looked it up on
Rotten Tomatoes just last night and there's nothing. No reviews. You'll hear like little quotes or comments, and obviously they probably be taking them from socials like the greatest before, you know, stuff like that. Yeah, that's what I was the other day when I was talking about how this the Iron Claus. There's been more screenings nationwide specific for you know, media and people to and I guess what what did our buddy Jordan from Alamo say that that a
lot of it are film buyers. Yeah they were at the first couple. Yeah, that are there to determine whether or not they feel like this film would perform in their cinemas. But the reviews that I was reading were one sentence quips that were called from social media. I'm sure, yeah, yeah, but no official, documented published reviews are allowed right until we of Well,
if you haven't heard the segment. Yet JJ is one of the one of the important people who gets to see all this stuff long before we do we the general public, civilians, and you've seen like five new ones. Let's start with Napoleon. Napoleon I think so is that? Okay? I figured that's the one that maybe I'm most was most intrigued by these, although Hunger Games I'm very interested in. But yeah, dide you rock a trailer like that with the Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon. I am intrigued. I know
you're probably about to say it's really long. I mean, of course, it's a period dramas a piece, it's always going to be two plus two and a half. They're going, yeah, I will say, though, you have a week to watch this as it doesn't come out until next week. Okay, and it comes out and you have a week, let me get date. Yeah the twenty second, oh a week until a wee can all watch it? Yeah, that's that's when the film drops. It's gonna be Wednesday. The twenty second is theater only or are we doing it?
Okay? Why you saw it the other day? I did? I saw it? Yeah Tuesday? Okay, right, Yeah, I've seen a lot of moves. I can't remember. Yeah, Tuesday, it was a news showing, so it was right after this show. I mean knowing, knowing Joaquin Phoenix, knowing the history with him, and really Scott, you know, obviously they did Gladiator together. Incredible film. Is probably one of my favorite period dramas. I mean, it's probably one of the of all time in my opinion. You can put that in that list. I mean,
it's it was. It was great. It was everything that I expected it to be. Great acting. I wouldn't expect to know anybody else outside of Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kurby because I don't care to know anybody else besides those two, because that's what the story was about. It was about Napoleon, his rise to becoming emperor and friends, which I was already shaky on the
story. History isn't my cup of tea. I slept way too many times in history class growing up in school, so I wasn't too short like wrapped around the story of Napoleon. But I thought they did a great job of showing where he started, how he conquered and became the empro France, and how you know, he got exit all that stuff. They go all through that, his relationship with his wife, his first wife, Josephine. So it it was, it was awesome. There's a one fight scene in particular
sequence that everyone's talking about and it is awesome. Yeah to see. I think it was the Battle of Arbelitz. I don't know if I can't remember the names, but it was a specific bat only it had to do with the ice. And oh yeah, they show a little bit of that trailer. Okay, Battle of Austerlitz where the opposing army is approaching and he just lets him go but they're on like an icy lake and then they fire cannon balls. They all sink it was beautiful. That's crazy, that really happens.
I don't know they if it didn't. They did a damn good job of strategy him out of the ice and then busts of the ice. He was known for that, like they his tactics were. He was a sneak attack type of a guy. Like that's what he was known for as a as a fighter in the Yeah, some people will say he was the blueprint for gorilla warfare. Mike. Yeah, yeah, so they you know,
they really, you know, showed that and hint that a lot. Like like said, I didn't know much about Napoleon, but I mean, Phoenix one of the best actors of our time, and it's it's it's surprisingly funny and and it'll keep you. I mean, you know, sometimes they can period dramas can drag it. There's no there's no question about that. But it did kind of do a really good job. I guess. I don't know if that's how his personality was was because he was kind of like awkward,
especially when it's first meeting Josephine, his wife. He was kind of like awkward, like and and it was funny because John locking Venus can kind of He's kind of awkward in a way anyway, So it was awesome to see. I Vanessa Kirby. It's just she's just a cherry on top. She's she's amazing and I'm she's becoming one of my favorites to watch too. So now this movie is not stupid long. It's you know, a half when you factor in credits and all that stuff, you probably under too thirty
Yeah, I think it was about two thirty five. I think, well that's part obviously official eight. Yeah, So yeah, I mean of course you're gonna You're probably gonna be hearing about this a lot come January, throughout throughout War season two, at least about at least him, right, he'll probably get the and Ridley Scott, I mean, honestly, Vanessa Kirby, you she might come in and get a nomination herself. But yeah, but you know, keep, yeah, definitely keep this on your list of this.
Does the story follow his life all the way to his death or it does okay, cool, all the way to you know, the exile all that. Does it start with him as a kid, No, he's man r at the beginning, and I think, yeah, yeah, it was kind of it kind of come in right in of a film giving them giving him a task, and he's like scoping out the land and and you know, he does a little sneak at tech, uh, you know, on a on a city or you know, I don't know, I couldn't keep
up with the cities and all that, but yeah, it was. It starts off when right before he becomes you know, the the guy of France and becomes the Emperor. And so someone who didn't know too much of the story and just saw the movie, would you say Napoleon good guy or bad guy. I mean he's I guess he's a good guy for his people. I'm it's it's it's it's a crazy line to draw because obviously it's war. So he's obviously the bad guy to some people, to some countries because of
everything that he did. He's not like America, who's just always the guy always yeah, okay, at all. You know, he kind of walks that line a little bit, and you know, you show his struggles of with his personal life, with you know, him being emperor and him trying to trying to you know, juggle and kind of find his way, you know. And so with sequences was their Holy S set pieces like for the I mean you see like heads chopped. I mean you're seeing all of it.
It's literally just you know, they're they're not sugarcoating nothing. You're seeing all of You're seeing legs blowing off, heads blown off. I feel like in the modern era when it comes to war violence, I don't think there's really anything that can be done that will I don't know, gross us out right more than starting with saving Private Ryan, maybe ending with Game of Thrones.
The level of blood and guts and gore and violence. When it comes to battle scenes, I don't know what you can do to take it up a notch. I mean, Game of Thrones just absolutely blew the lid off of what was capable of depicting when it comes to the horrors of war. That was fantasy. We can go further than that, The Patriot. Yeah, Like, for me, the first movie that comes to mind with that gore war like and being realistic of how war is and how war was back
then was The Patriot. And there's something about all that, like when they were you know, going through the camps and you see all the injured soldiers and they're cutting legs off. Yeah, there's something about that type of conflict, that type of battle that to me is even more affecting when you start getting back into Napoleonic times and American Revolution times, Civil War even for that matter, it just seems even more horrifying than than something like World War Two
or Vietnam. Medical advancements is almost the main reason. Yeah, what do you do with an amputee and Napoleonic times or you try your best, or you're bleeding out from a poke from a bayonet, as opposed to just getting a stepping on a land mine and getting you know, pummeled to pieces. There's just something more I don't know, visceral about that type of fighting modern age. Were there te's and d's in this film? There's sex scenes, so yes, some d's. There's no there's no teas, just sex scenes,
just know ds. If there's no teas, gentle love making? Was here? Was here a good lover? That's another thing? Okay? So the word there's the word napoleonic or Napoleonic complex comes with a story. And he was notoriously short. I guess is that amplified or is there light shed on that in this film? About short? Oh no, you've ever heard of anybody having a Napoleon complex. It's a little man with a big boys. Yeah, yeah, really they never talked about Nobody ever makes fun of
him for being diminutive in stature. No one called him a small fry. Yeah, I didn't pick up led to a massive invasion. Does he appear to be particularly short next to his counterparts in the film, Because I mean, I don't think right, So you can't really unless you start putting giants around him. Cool. See we are we always screw this up. We had five movies and we did one time Napoleon the whole time. All right, let's do Hunger Games. Yes, the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Yeah, is this out yet? It's out this weekend? Okay, all right, so you can start watching it today. I think you are on like three o'clock or something. That is it holding up with the rest of the franchise. Man, I always going into watching like a prequel. I always think, like, you know, kid, this have come first before
they introduced us to this story. But I think they dropped this in perfect time, you know, setting the Hunger Games up first and then bringing this in because this is generally the story your presidents know when he's young and you're you know, he's eighteen, and this is early early Hunger Games, because we're this is like the tenth Annuel Hunger Games, I believe. So it's
just sixty four years before we even introduced to Catinus. And the panem that we were introduced to was like Burent, like big and colorful and glorious, and it didn't seem that way in this film. So you could tell us the earlier days. And they did a really good job at depicking that. And I thought this movie was so much darker than the first four films.
And obviously the situation with sending your kids off to fight to the death, it's that doesn't sound great at all, it's you know, and they in the first few films they try to make it as beautiful and glorious as they could, you know, send them to the capitol, you get to eat, you get to die, and you get it. Was none of that
in this movie, because this is the beginning of it. They were treated like crap, like animals, and and you're seeing the early, the early processes of them trying to maintain a brand in a market because they're trying to keep hold of it. They're like, we're not getting many views. How do we amp this up to make it as big? And so you're seeing the early processes of how they came up with these ideas. And you're following
President Snow who happens to be a good guy at the beginning. So you're seeing how how he turns and becames becomes who he he is and who we know him as in you know, the Hunger Games franchise. And I thought it was really good. I loved it I might have loved it more than the than the first feelings that I need to go watch it again. It was just I mean, it was great that Tom Blith is the guy who
played President, so he's amazing in this. And Rachel Zaggler, who I thought would be a one off because she came she was started a West Side Story, the Steven Spielbrook film a few years ago. I thought she'd be in one off. Honestly, she was actually pretty solid. She's she's, you know, becoming pretty good name. She's gonna she's gonna be in the Snow White Live actions, so she's she's gonna she's got a few f coming
up and dropping it. But man, I I was all in from the beginning and I was like, on my head, was just like oh God, Like it felt so much darker, more violent and more and it's still kept that same message of you know, of like how bad like this is and just how the uprisings, you know, like this is how because that's how it started. It was the uprisings of the district and they did not divided the districts and took the kids, and it was just so much more.
I don't know, I was it was just so much more darker. It was crazy. Concept of this movie is so good. I almost want to go back and read all these books. And I've never read the book, so I kind of go went into this whole franchise in college. I think it was the first one came out. It's such a cool no thought of what this was a full idea for what would happen in the future. I've never seen anything outside of the very first movie. Does this movie Hunger
Games, the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? Does it follow the same format, like introduce the young sure, set up the whole thing, and then they go to battle, Like, yeah, so it's someone in that way, it's not like I said, it's not as glorious as they made it out to be. In the first few movies. It was broadcasted on television, and because the whole bliss of this thing is they're trying to find a way to keep it interesting, to keep it because they were losing. They're
like, how do we keep viewers? Like what do we do? How do we empt this up to make it big? Because because this might not last, we want this to last, you know, it's just trying to And then so they're coming up with these ideas and these little things, and so you're like, so that's where that came from. So that's where this So you know, you're seeing this on how they how the games really became the games and built and Viola Davis is who's the game maker incredible. The
look that she had with the two colored eyes was brilliant. I don't know who came up with that. I think it was one of the designers. It was amazing. Yeah, Peter Dinklic was incredible, Like it was. I'm excited to see it again. I really really am. I really want to go back to see it again because I'm sure there's little things that I've
missed there. But you still get that heart like that, you know that, because you you just really feel for those kids that are in And obviously there's some who who they team up and they're out killing these I mean, but they're all victims. They're trying to you know what I mean. So you're seeing President Snow and you're seeing why he becomes who he is. He's fall you know, he's falling in love and and then yeah, you start to realize, Yeah, you know, once once you get a group of
you know a power who you really become. You know, Jesus, you really stop asking her that I want people. I want them to bring their children. Don't want to bring the tease. I don't know that's inappropriate. All right, Hunger Games, How many dumplings? I say, three and a half, five and a half four? Napoleon Napoleon dumplings? Same, all right, three and a half four four? Yeah, so real good.
Okay, that's press play JJ, brought to you by our good friends over at Alamo Draft House Cinema. Miikey, Yes, we go our movie, though we shout out to the marbles. Well, we go to see the marp okay, top of the next one. All Right, the Marvels will be reviewed, dumplings will be given. We're gonna find out if there's any t's and d's in that movie, because we gotta know. And we're gonna do the hot mop with all your talkbacks. But thank you to Alamo
Draft House Cinema. Watch any of those movies. Hell, any movie, Well, don't go anywhere else. Go to Alamo Draft House. I got a ton of locations, and they make movies cooler than they already are. And tomorrow Night's gonna be cool because Almo Draft House Theaters. We have the Bastards of the Soul album release party and documentary scene viewing party. Danny Bayliss and the whole band, most of us from The Freak are gonna be there.
There's still some tickets available. Go to Bastardstsoul dot com or Alamo Drafthouse dot com and get tickets and join us tomorrow night. The Hot Mop with your Talkbacks is next on ninety seven to one, The Freak