60: Gaspar Noé’s Lux Æterna (2019) & Vortex (2022)

Alex and Nick wrap up Gaspar Noé’s filmography with thoughts on his Saint Laurent short film, “Lux Æterna,” and his emotionally devastating sixth feature film, “Vortex.”
The guys also have extended conversations about Lars Von Trier's "Antichrist," and Céline Sciamma's "Petite Maman."
Listen to our previous podcast on Gaspar Noé here.
Follow @WAYW_Podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Watch Alex's films at http://alexwithrow.com/
Watch Nick's films at https://www.nicholasdostal.com/
Send us mailbag questions at whatareyouwatchingpodcast@gmail.com

Transcript

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Hey, everyone, welcome back to what you watching? I'm Alex with our own. I'm joined by my best man, Nick Dostal. How you doing there, Mother? Excited to be here. I hope everyone listening to this episode has checked out our previous episode on the Great Gas Bar and Away because this episode right here is going to be a direct extension of that and we're going to kick it off. When we recorded the gas bar pod, we both had not seen his latest feature film, Vortex, and you had not seen Lux Eterna, which is his 51 minute long, very experience dental art film. And I had seen it, but you hadn't. So we kind of glossed over that in the pod and we promised that we would be back for a mini episode on Vortex. And this is that episode, and since then you have seen Lux Eterna. So we're going to talk about that first and complete everything gas bar here. Direct extension. Baby direct extension. Exactly. We're going to carry it over because I never it didn't sit right with me that, you know, we weren't going to talk about all of them, that episode, but we were together. And it was a really good opportunity to talk about those core five films that are, you know, still just as extreme as ever. We really appreciate everyone who's tuned into that gas bar episode, and we hope you enjoy what else we have to say about him. So let's just jump right into Lux Eternal, shall we? Oh, we shall go ahead. Good. We also didn't get to see this one together or vortex. That would've been really cool to watch it together. But I guess we've only seen I stand alone and climax. Do we ever check that one out together? Oh, no. We've never seen Climax together, so we've. Just seen I Stand Alone. I think it's actually really funny where I was, like, standing over your shoulder half watching because I've seen it so many times. Lux Eterna again, this is very experimental. It's an art film. Gaspar was commissioned by the Fashion House, Saint Laurent, to make this, which is why everyone is dressed in such fantastic clothes and they have great bags and they have sunglasses on all that shit. They made this in 2019 very quickly. He shot it in March 2019 for five days, and it premiered at Cannes in May. Just a few weeks later, he shot. Exactly. I don't know how he does this. Oh, he shot it using multiple cameras because he knew he wasn't going to have a lot of time. And then he decided in post to utilize split screen. And because he had shot so much different footage, he's like, how much? I had three, four cameras going. Not even all of them. Real camera, some of them were like, you know, kind of handheld on purpose. So I don't have a lot of time to edit and this movie's not going to be that long. So how do I get to see a lot more of what we shot? Okay, let's use split screen. And one of the main reasons we're talking about Lux Eterna as well is because this split screen narrative is so important to Vortex. And this is his first time really playing with it in an extensive level. So what is Lux Aeterna about? There's an actress, Charlotte Gainsbourg, whose name is Charlotte. Every character name in the movie is the first name of the real actor, and it seems like she's preparing to film a very climactic scene for her new movie, in which she's going to be playing a witch that is burned at the stake. And there's a long split screen conversation with Charlotte and a famous French actress, Beatrice Doll, who it's not really clear she is the director of this film. Within the film, we're not really sure. But once this conversation is done and they're talking about, you know, filming scenes, bad directors, they've worked with good cast members. If you've ever shot a scene in which you're burned at the stake, you're like, What the hell's going on here? Once that conversation is done, we spend several real time minutes watching this set. This movie set barely function amidst constant fighting, star fucking technical disasters, emotional breakdowns, an agreed upon nudity and scenes that don't make sense when you see it. It's just complete and utter frenzy the moment that conversation and it's like a good 40 minutes of downhill, chaotic frenzy. And now we're seeing double it. It's not just like irreversible where we have one horrific screen to look at. Now we get to. So how would you feel like entering this world into Lux Eterna? I loved every second of this one. Oh yeah. So glad. This one was just it was a treat to watch from start to. Finish. Because it had all of the Gaspar isms, I suppose it had all of this familiar traits. It had his personality all through it. It's actually very cool to know that the split screen was discovered post. Right? Because. Yeah, yeah. And I think, I mean, we'll get into it more, but I think that that makes sense with the way that that movie came off with the split screen and how four text is a little bit different in that way, you know? Yes, we will talk about this. You're right. Vortex is often showing us the same exact scene from two angles. Aren't even that far apart, like they're often right next to each other. Lux Eterna they do that in that first for that first session. Yeah, yeah, that first conversation. And then we split and were, you know, following different characters who were in completely different rooms. Yeah, you're right. You're right. And with Lux Eterna, I think for the most part it worked. Oh, yeah. There were a couple of times where you did want to have your focus on one or the other, but there was something going on in the other one that you did want to kind of go to, but you didn't want to leave what the like commotion was. There is dialog going in one and the other one was more just sort of visual chaos. So I think it was a little tricky to kind of know as an audience member, which one to give your attention to. But at the same time, that was not at all a bad thing, correct? I don't think it's a bad thing necessarily either, but I can tell when you if you do what we did and you like watched Lux Eterna and then you go to Vortex in vortex. He's very good about you can stray over to this right frame if you want to, but the main action right now is going on in the left, and that's what you primarily need to focus on. Not to say the right isn't important. I'm including it because I want it to be in your peripheral. And then sometimes it switches and it's like, all right, now the right is important. Sometimes in looks at turn of they're equally as important and you're kind of bouncing around. And the first time I saw this, I went, Well, I'm definitely rewatching this movie and just going to focus on one side the whole time. Yeah, yeah. Not a bad thing, but definitely stimulation overload. A little bit shocking for a gas far away movie. I know, right. You know, and I got to say, that opening conversation between Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beatrice Dalle, that may be one of my favorite conversations, dialog wise Gaspar has had in any of his work. Yeah. And he didn't write a word of it. It's Yeah. It's all improvised. It felt very real. It felt like two actors talking and not that pretentious kind of way that you might see actors talk, right? They're just talking. They're actually more just women talking about their experience. That's more of what that seems. I think that's why it works is like, yeah, you could that could be any occupational backdrop. And two women are talking about what their experiences have been. And this was just happened to be in the film industry. But I like savored every word. Watching Charlotte Gainsbourg is so cool. She is. She's like the epitome of cool in here. She's playing, you know, clearly they're having fun with playing versions of themselves. Yeah, she's she seems a little, like, nervous, like, because this scene that's being built out of they're talking about you feel all that tension her and yeah with like the leather jacket, the hair. She's just she's so effortlessly cool. Yeah, I love her. I love her and everything, especially and including this. Yeah, exactly. And it's so cool because she is like, you know, one of France's like main leading actors and she's never really worked with Gaspar in in one of his bigger movies. So it's great that like, actually, like everyone who is in this, like, oh my God, I got such a kick out of seeing Abby Lee in this. Oh, it was great. Yeah, well, that's okay. Oh, yeah, that's. Going to do it's. Good to see her because according to Gaspar, he wanted to work with Charlotte Gainsbourg for this specifically, and he was trying to reach out to her people the way that the whole thing's done. And he heard that she was nervous about working with him, which I found hysterical since she was an Antichrist, melancholia and nymphomaniac for Lars von Trier. I mean, the director's cuts of nymphomaniac are a combined five and a half hours total. So the fact that she was intimidated by gas bars, 50 minutes short is just it really says something about his reputation. It's very true, him as a person, not him as a person, but the kind of movies he makes. And I'm sure a few dozen people vouch for him to her and was like, Yeah, no, go do this. And where I don't want to say where the movie ends and where it arrives, but it rests on her and she was given full carte blanche to go however far she wanted to. That's not directed by Gaspar. That's not the way he directs. He goes, There you are. Give us whatever you want. Action. And it's just it works so well. She fits into his world so well. I would love to see her in a feature. I agree. Quick side quest here. If we're talking about two crazy ass directors between Lars von Trier and Gaspar Neu, which which one do you have a harder time with their movies like in terms of like the audience experience? It's a good question. It's a whole damn podcast. Yeah. On this one, one of their movies, each Irreversible and Antichrist. You know, I wrote an article awhile ago like what are what are some great movies that you never want to watch again? And I only had two. It was irreversible and Antichrist. I might only seen them once. I've since broken those rules and gone back to them, but those were so assaulting to me. However, Kasbah and away's films do not really come from a place of hate. They come from a place of intense curiosity about the way people behave when they are in incredibly extreme situations. That's what he's motivated by. Curious about. Those are his exercises. Antichrist, however, comes from a place of intense, horrible depression, which Lars von Trier has been very open with. This is medicated depression. This is depression that has made him hospitalized, suicidal, all that terrible stuff. And when you watch Antichrist, you feel that that movie feels like it is coming from a place of pure and utter hell. And he says that's one of the most fun movies he's made because he is working through his depression the whole time. So I don't I think there are some things in gas, far away movies in all of them that leave you with a sense of love, if not longing. I think all of them have moments of slight tenderness. Not I stand alone. Actually, that one is probably we can cross that one out. But all of them you can see gas bars, heart, even if it's playful. Lars von Trier I mean, you can say that for a lot of his movie movies, Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark are so longing and so fucking brutal in their just emotional attachment. They're, Oh, my God, they're perfect, perfect movies. But I mean, I'm rambling a little bit because I guess I can't make a clear delineation. It would be, you know, von Trier also has made substantially more movies. And, you know, he got into like the Dogma 95 thing, which is very grainy. You don't use lights. It had all these, you know, kind of fun rules of stripping away all the esthetics of cinema. And Gaspar seems to like the toys a little too much to do that. But I don't know. I think I would say as a whole, Lars von Trier's filmography would be harder to stomach. I think like the house that Jack built would be a harder movie to show people maybe even the near reversible, because at least with the irreversible, you know, there's one scene to get through. And once we clear that we're done, it's just heaven for 45 minutes. Not like heaven, but it's. There's nothing bad that happens. That's it. House that Jack built is just a train literally barreling down to hell. I mean, antichrist. Holy shit. That thing's only getting worse as it goes on. Not all of his movies are like that, but, you know, I mean, Irreversible has one rape scene. Dogville has, like, 20, but none of them last 9 minutes, so I don't know. Dogville also has a slaughtering of babies. So, you know, take your pick, folks. Take your pick. I'm not making a joke. It's just babies ordered to be slaughtered at the hands of Jimmy Caan. And and it's a great movie, folks. SIRICO Yeah, I think I think you said it best. I think I think there is something. Oh, I said enough. Jesus, sorry. Everyone I like went for so long. It's honestly, it's a great fucking question. It is. And Lars is someone where it's coming from a little bit more of a personal place. And Gaspar just a. Personal hell. Yeah. And Gaspar movies really is. They go to that hell there is. It even feels like there is a bit of distance from the filmmaker to the material that you're watching. Like there's a it's not that close. Even if we are being presented with crazy, uncomfortable stuff. Well they're both so heavily influenced by Tarkovsky. Yeah. I mean so they're, they're drawing their inspirations from a lot of the same places. But we all have different life experiences which informs our art, not only how we make our art, but how we view other people's art. So that and you can see right there, like that, we talked about this a lot in the Gaspar podcast, like a childhood, great relationship with his parents, married to the same lady. I mean, I don't know as much as I don't know as much about von Trier. I only know what he's told us. But that's that his current living situation is just really, really tough on many, many occasion. And he will often use his films to work through that. But, you know, they both have made very good they both have made movies that feature very good roles for women. Oh, you know, that, you know, maybe haven't even been better than they have in their films. They both like to work with actors. You either don't see a lot or actors who haven't ever worked, which I really appreciate. I mean, Emily Watson's first ever role is breaking the Waves, and she was nominated for it, and that's her best performance. And I love Emily Watson. Yeah, it's just it's crazy. They're both really, really good. Lars von Trier, his movies, if we're talking me personally, I prefer Gaspar because von Trier's movies just there's you got to really kind of reach out for stuff like when we were doing Gaspar, we're like, there's listen to this, everyone. There's humanity in each of these movies. And we do believe that. I mean, we were really we were really on it because we we were passionate about it and we believe it. But trying to find, like, humanity in the house that Jack built is pretty tough. Or even Antichrist, like, yeah, tough. And I think that's because they are deliberately they're being stripped of humanity, like the whole thing. So all that, I don't know, every von Trier movie kind of feels like irreversible to me are fools. Maybe that's maybe that's an easy way to sum up my thoughts. Yeah, you definitely know what you have. You have to prep for yourself before you go into either one of those movies as an audience member. Yeah. Back to Lux Eternal. That was fun, though. That was very fun to like. Yeah, go down and then and I'm about to mention another director here who I make a lot of comparisons to Gaspar because Beatriz, well she was the blind woman in night on Earth. She is in Time of the Wolf by Michael Handke, who that's who I compare to Gaspar a lot. And Haneke, his films are very like very forlorn, very foreboding and, you know, cold and detached. He's not having a lot of fun with, like, pop music and stuff. This is not what he does. Inside is a hell of a horror film, not for the faint of heart starring Beatrice Tall and Then You in the Night, directed by Yann Gonzales. The score of which is by M83, John's brother Anthony. We mentioned that we're back on our Favorite Soundtracks podcast. And then, I mean, just to fill out this cast, we have Karl Glassman. Yes. Play, I assume, a version of himself. They would have worked together on love. And his role is like he's he's the premier stereotypical L.A. douchebag just coming into this set and I assume they're filming like in Paris and he just won't leave Charlotte alone, you know, like, I think it'd be perfect for, you know, he hasn't directed a feature. He's just written a script. And if we get you attach, he'll get funding in the worst possible time. So he's try to get her attention. Oh, God. And then, as you mentioned, Abby Lee, who's playing a version of herself, who's going to be in this movie and she's great. I love that she's giving it right back. She's like, That's not what we fucking agreed on nudity. It's not my contract. And, you know, it got to women. Yeah, I love it. She gives Karl shit for bothering me all the time. You know. Better. There's a moment there that I thought, like, really kind of, like, explore the craziness of sometimes how this industry can be, because she's basically wearing a very, very cool, stylish outfit. But like, you know, her, like, she's completely topless in it. You can see through it, you. Can see through it. And she's just like going through this crazy, hectic, you know, chaos going to get, like, something to eat at the craft table. And then there's dudes everywhere. And in Karl just kind of like looks at her and he sees two things. He sees one, he sees a topless girl, but then he also sees like in a in like a switch, you can see it, oh, here's an opportunity to get her in my new movie. Right. And exactly it. And all of this just makes no sense. Yeah. It's not the way that humans behave in any sort a way, but yet it's normalized in this industry, which, in a weird way, I kind of thought that this movie really summed up a lot of the female experience in a movie set. Sure. Seems like that's kind of that's where I took it. I kind of was like, this is really just all about what women go through because all the guys that are represented in this movie are either idiots or they're like like the two old guys that are like trying to, like, flip flop directors get her fired because I don't like her. So there's a peculiar dynamic that's at play. And then the really the only guy who's actually just trying to do a good job is the DP. Yeah, well, that's that was one of my because we talked about Gaspar in that main episode that he does. He is very funny and it is not a sense of humor that I would call anything less than very, very dark. But he always injects humor and that DP is just so furious at the way. Like, he's like, No, I want to direct it for a while. You're like, Who is a director that you realize it's Beatrice and she's just like a tyrant to him. He's a tyrant to her, and there's all this crazy shit going on, but it is supposed to be funny. But their argument is what creates all this tension? It's like, Wow, just imagine if they got along and could agree on this one shot, then everything would just calm down. But they can't. You just let it take. Everyone's going crazy. You get, like, all the people in the makeup room that are like, this is just a disaster. Yeah, but your notion of this is how it can feel on set for a woman. Like what happens to Abby Lee, how she's being fitted for wardrobe and she's in what she's in. And they're kind of like, Oh, but they said they really think you look better in this, like, oh, this is okay. Yeah. And then you see it happening like before her eyes, like she doesn't wait. So I'm putting this on now and that now, okay, now it's all in now and topless, like, but this isn't fucking fair. Like, I mean, we know that shit happens, although hopefully not as much anymore. Hopefully not at all anymore. But yeah, we've heard countless stories like that and you don't. And it shows so well amidst all the other chaos how she, like kind of blankly and blindly is like, wait, what? And people she's not even putting it up. People are putting it on for her like, no, no, darling, darling, this is great. And then she's leaving like, wait, this isn't right, but they're ushering out of the door. Yeah, it's again, it's amidst a bunch of frenzy, but he's still showing you poignant stuff to, like, hold on to and how it is. And the mother aspect for Charlotte who. Oh yeah oh yeah. Gets a call that her kids spend like basically hurt at school. Bullied it sounds like. Yeah yeah. And so she's come in from like a phone call that's just like, I need to make sure my kid's okay before I go out and do this crazy witch burning bird. Yeah. And yeah. So that that was kind of where I went with it. And again, it's not necessarily that's not at all like specifically what the director is giving us, but that's how I took it and I loved it. I love that. That was the ride I went with. Yeah, because he keeps stacking on the chaos because like when the movie begins and that long conversation ends, the only real tension there is like, wow, she's getting ready for this really tense scene. And then fast forward like 30 minutes as she's now, she's finally starting the scene and there's so much more weight on her. She's got the phone call about the kid. She's got the on set, quote unquote journalist who won't sit up pestering her. She's got the weirdo creep actor, director from L.A. who won't stop pestering her. Who's all this nonsense? She's got the PR who's like, We have to get you to set. Oh, no, I need to have this phone call like it's all this frenzy going on. And it feels so real that by the time she is actually up on that cross, about to be burned and her hands are bound and she can't move and she flips out. And that all feels very, very well earned. And it's awesome. It is. It's this would probably be the most accessible gas bar experience that I think I could give to somebody. We talked about climax being that even though this is a short so maybe it doesn't really fit into that. If someone were to ask me, all right, show me a gas spa, I feel like I would start with this one and be like, All right, if you can get with this. Well, yeah, there's no violence, sexual there's no violence. That's why. So it is an easy thing to take, not necessarily those last 5 minutes, which I'm not going to give away, but, you know, when the movie if a movie opens with a very big warning that this film is going to feature strobe lights, just take that warning seriously because this thing is going to, you know, it's leading up to one of those infamous long Gaspar endings where you're just strobing out or spinning out or whatever it is. He's going to hold it for a really long time, but yeah, this is definitely accessible. It's never like gruesome. It's it was designed as a very experimental short film. Yeah. All right, so we go without saying what that end is. What was your experience with that? Well, yeah, that's just a lot of fun because so the thing is, this is a this is a great question because right now Lux Eterna is playing in one theater in Washington, DC. It's where I sell Vortex Landmark E Street Cinema. Love it. I have an art. They have an article framed by me still up in the lobby. Really? Yeah, I swear. Oh, well, it's my favorite movie theater ever saw. Shame there. I've seen so many. Oh, my God. Met Woody Harrelson. They're a real delight, I must say, if you're, you know, not surprised to know. What was your question? Oh, it was so. But they're only showing it at midnight. So it starts at 1159 and it's like it it's going to take me as long to get there. Yeah. As long as the movie is in that. As long to get back, as long as the movie is. But this is all by answering your question. There are going to be some poor, sad folks will go into that screening. Let's say, not sober. Let's see, they'll be in a different state of mind. I think the fact that they're showing it at midnight, I think they're maybe even encouraging that a little bit. And it depending on what state of mind you're in, if you just sit there in a dark theater and watch blue, green and red strobe lights for 10 minutes, I don't know what the hell you're going to be like when you stumble out of that. So yeah, when I watch it, I watch it at home. Just yeah, it wasn't that was the only way for me to see it. And I'm like, okay, like, here it comes. He, he has these very long endings on purpose. This is a huge point of conversation for me for Vortex, because you need to use those endings as end credits because he doesn't have end credits. So like if you're watching Lux Eterna in a theater at midnight and you've just seen 10 minutes of strobes and then the house lights, boop, come up, you're going to be like, you're not going be able to walk. You're not going to be able to see. And I'm saying if you're sober, there are going to be a few people in there who are not. And I just part of me wants to go just to see those. Folks, just try to. Go. Yeah, but oh God, it would be crazy. But watching at home, it's definitely like, I mean, if you're going to stare at the screen the whole time, you're going to be put in some damn trance. The strobes are really intense. It's intense as hell. Yeah, I watched it just from my computer screen. Oh. Like there was like there was a part of me that wanted to resist it and because, because it's sort of like one of those things where it's like, okay, it's happening, but you don't know how long it's going to go. But then I realized I was watching a Gaspar Noé movie and I was like, Okay, this isn't going to end anytime soon, so I'm just going to settle in. And then once I did, it was awesome. Like, I really enjoyed it. You had to like, hold on. And there are certain people who cannot take that. Yes, certain people who can seizures. I mean. Yeah. Like that. Well, that's a real of course of course. Like epileptic. You shouldn't be watching this. But there it is. Other people who don't have that condition, who it makes them very uncomfortable, which is Casper's intention. I mean, irreversible ends with a few strobes. Climax even has that long fade to white, and you're kind of strobing into the void has strobes it's. Yeah, that's part of this thing. Love has lasers pointing like right in her eyes, you know, he like strobes. No strobes and vortex. It's an emotional strobe. Yes. Let's round up Lux eternal. Yeah. I do have a question for you. I think you've already answered it. Do you think it would have been cool to see, like, a 90 minute version of this or like an 80 minute just like a feature length film? I think this could have been like this could have gone 2 hours. Yeah, I think I could. I could have sat with however he wanted to do it. If you want to sit with a little bit more of like building it up like that conversation in the beginning or if we just wanted to spend more time in this craziness, right? That of, of this chaos, I would have been game for a full length feature no matter what length. With this one. I wonder how many more of those director's quotes he would have gotten in a feature. I read an interview where the interviewer was like, Why did you include those quotes there? He will occasionally just cut to these massive quotes by Carl Dreyer, Jean-Luc Godard, Fassbinder, Bunuel and Gaspar immediately goes, Oh, to be pretentious. So that's the only reason I want to do it. It's an experimental short film that I wanted to be pretentious, so because the quotes are kind of pretentious and it's funny, it's just so him. But I want to end our comments on Lux Eternal by just dishing out a few words of appreciation for actors and crew members who take short seriously because even though this is 51 minutes, it's right up there against a feature. Like there was probably some pressure along the way for him to turn this into a feature. Like if he doesn't have split screens and we're just seeing that footage one at a time right there, you're already going to add like ten, 20 minutes. It would be a much slower paced movie, but he could do it and I liked it is stuck to his guns and he's like, no, it's a short so whatever. And he took it seriously. Everyone involved took it seriously. This is one of Charlie Gainsbourg's best before it's like, go, go watch it if you like her work and I know a lot of people do because she rocks. You know, there's an interesting conversation about short films that we have had with many people ourselves and people within the industry of the difference between a short and a full length. And there's a lot of camps that that people will stick by is that one could argue that this is not a short film, right. Because it functions like a full length feature. It moves like a full length feature. It just happens to be under a time limit even. There I go is like that 30 minutes. Yeah. This is a short that wants to be a full length and I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with that. But there is an argument that a short film should just be a certain length of time, that has a beginning, middle and end and service is a story as a complete short narrative. I think both work when they're done correctly. Mm hmm. Yeah. And yeah, there are shorts that leave you longing, like, okay, that's definitely intended for a feature or to be a feature because and then sometimes we see that. We see I mean whiplash. Great example the shortest yeah that one scene and then that he made that to specifically turn it into a feature and then yes some of the shorts are just complete packages and from beginning, middle to end and yeah, both can be messed up very easily. Both can be successful. Not easily. Yeah. With a lot of work and a lot of dedication. And the hardest thing about shorts is that there's literally no market for them. There's no way to sell them because they don't play in theaters unless it's, you know, a midnight showing at a Washington, DC theater, which people definitely will not be inebriated for in any way. I didn't want to slam that theater at all. Yeah, you almost you almost have to be a director of a certain name or following to where that short will get any type of eyes on it. It won't make any money, that's for sure. But you'll get an audience like Peeta when he did the the music video with Thom Yorke. Oh, my God. Well, well, that's exactly because he's a name and Radiohead and Thom Yorke are names. They can put that on Netflix. Most people don't have the luxury of putting our short films on Netflix and then being like in the number one or, you know, that top ten list. That's complete bullshit. But yeah, just being bumped there. But that's like, I love that fucking thing. Oh, my. So now watch that thing so many times already. Here we go. We're going to enter into the void and work our way up to gasp art away. Sixth Feature Film Vortex. After filming Lux Eterna Gas Bar had a massive brain hemorrhage, nearly died. He recovered, he got sober, he got a bit more humble. These are all his words. And he made vortex. Vortex is early in vortex we see that gasp bar has dedicated the film quote to all those whose brains will decompose before their hearts. When I saw that. Oh, my. Yeah. Enter the void. Abandon all faith. This is a movie about an aging couple in Paris dealing with the woman's all encompassing dementia. The main thing, as we've mentioned here, the main narrative device, is that this movie is pretty much like 95% of it is split screen. One side focuses on Dario Argento playing a man only known as father. The other side focuses on Francoise Le Brun, only known to us as mother. And it's not like one owns the right side and one owns left the whole time. That's kind of the fun of it. Sometimes it switches and you don't even notice and you're like, Holy shit! But as we watch these split screens, we come to notice that he cannot help her, even though they live in the same small Paris apartment. Not really small. It's a big apartment, just cramped and cramped and crammed with shit books and posters. He's a film critic. It's beautiful production design. It's so lived in there like 88 years old. But he cannot help her. She cannot help him. They can barely help themselves. We meet their adult son and he has a lot going on in his life. He has drug issues, mental issues, baby mama issues, kid issues. He is not perfect and he is in no. And he is in no position to take care of all or part. So that's what the film is. We're watching these two older folks dealing with this terrible, incurable disease and go through all the stages of it. They are in denial about it, not her. It's mostly the father who's in denial about it and then trying to deal with it. And not a lot of time is passing. We're spending long, long scenes with them, getting out of bed, trying to make tea, starting their day by writing. So when we were introducing our gas bar in the Way podcast, the very first thing you said on that podcast was you were not afraid. You were not afraid to watch these movies and you were not afraid to speak about these movies. Quote, You have to approach a gas bar in a way, movie without fear. End quote. Tell me how you feel about those words now, having seen Vortex. I stand by those words. You have to. And I did for this. And I guess I'll start by saying that I think this movie was fantastic. I think it is. It was a Supreme movie, supremely well-done movie when I'll talk about all the things I liked about it. But this was probably the hardest movie I've ever had to watch it. It was the I almost walked out of the theater, not because I didn't like it. I mean, it's hard to say like like is like when you're put through such an emotional experience like that. I appreciate. That is a. Good word for him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And but it was hitting chords that I was like, I can't, but I didn't want to leave. I did. I didn't. I wanted to. I trusted this filmmaker with my emotions. He he did it to me. You use the word early before we jumped on. Mortifying. It was a mortifying experience for me that I've since had to block a bit in order to kind of function. I went with a friend of mine when it was over. I said, We need to go out in public. We need to go out and I need to see people having fun. I need to see couples, need to see friends. I just need to see life happening in a positive way. And, and, and to at least cool down from this movie. I've never had to do that. I've never had to make an active decision to go out into the world seeking levity in that way from a movie, which I think is awesome. It's all of the things that we're talking about. Gaspar That that he does I've never felt like this after a movie. I've never been this upset, emotionally affected, in touch with myself and things that I don't want to deal with. I mean, what can you say? That's art. That's a testament to a true, true artist. Now, like we said from our Gaspar episode, these movies are not for everyone, right? I could probably say with 100% certainty, I will never see this movie again. Maybe I will. Maybe. I mean, who's to say never say never? But that was where this movie took me. And I'm glad I went through that. And I'm glad that this is a part of his filmography. We knew this was going to be intense. We didn't know how far he was going to push it. I had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to push the emotional brutality of it. And boy, oh boy, that is what he did. This isn't something that has anything as physically assaulting as you're going to see in irreversible. That is not the exercise. The exercise is why you're going to watch two people wither away. Yeah, and two people that don't have anyone else who barely have each other. And, you know, I was really curious as to what because I saw this a day before you. So I was curious to what your reaction was going to be, because I know you know some of your trigger points and we all have our different stuff in life. And it was a very interesting experience for me watching this because I was kind of paying attention to the crowd. There were some poor folks who just like, I guess liked the poster or they just wanted to see the new movie this week and the E Street Cinema attracts a largely older crowd because it's a fully independent movie house. And there was only one walk out. He was an older gentleman with a cane, but I think it was just too much. It was way too much for people and yeah, fuck it, I'll go here. So there's a death scene in this movie, and because the whole movie is split screen, the way that the character dies is that there's just a slow fade away, like a nice it's not even too white. And I'm not trying to spoil anything, but it's just a slow, slow fade away and I watched my mother die right in front of me. I watched her drawl, her last breath, and then exhale her last breath. And then you just sit there and it's so quiet and you turn off the machines and you turn everything off. It's so still and so quiet and in that like 60 seconds, whatever you want to call it. But I saw like just a fade go literally the color from her face, literally. I could feel her skin getting colder by the second. And you just. I just saw it fade, fade, fade. And I've never seen what I felt portrayed in a way that I could express on film until now. And I fucking leaned forward and I started nodding in appreciation. And I just kept saying like, thank you over and over in my head. And I appreciated this so much because Gaspar watched his mother die as well. He also filmed it with a 3D camera. That's a bridge up for me. But yeah, I relish the opportunity to engage with art in that way. Now. Now, we said this loud in the Gaspar pod. I don't want to see every movie like this. Far from it. But I like that one person knew how to express what I went through in the exact way that it felt for me, even though I've never met him and never been able to put it into words. And I think there are a lot of people who are going to feel that way. Some people may be incredibly turned off by this. Like you, it just might be too much like, Hey, this is too much for me. Any film and Gaspar in a ways filmography. It's okay if it's too much for you. If you tap out, can't do it, couldn't do it. You know you did it once in 2022. Maybe you'll do it again. I don't know. But it's all fair to me. I said in such fond appreciation for what he was doing. Most everyone was crying and I wasn't crying. I was just sitting in such like a a still place. And then, you know, I had to go to the parking garage and I'm like, Oh, that's going to be a whole thing. So then I just like walked around the city a little bit and then when I got in my car, I sent a few like really intense text messages to a few people close to me, you included. And then I just lost it. And I started like bawling. And all the text messages were just describe how important these people are to me in my life. And it was like the same way you had to go out and be around joy and fun and happiness. I had to let the people in my life know, like immediately. This is what you mean to me. This is why you mean that to me. Love you. And that's because of this movie. And that's just like. That's really powerful. You're never going to watch this movie again. I'll bet you with 100% probability. There's no way I'm seeing a better movie this year than this. There's absolutely no way I'm not in a rush to rewatch it. I will rewatch it because I'm just going to I'm going to watch it again and focus entirely on the right side of the screen. That entirely on the left. I mean, I'm nuts, but it you know, that's a grand statement because we have Scorsese Z coming out later in the year. We obviously have Top Gun it but seriously like I don't know I won't find a more emotionally affecting film this year. There's not a chance. There's not a chance. I may see something more entertaining. Sure, I'm sure I will. Maverick is going to be more entertaining. And for text, don't get it twisted. But I think this was a deeply, deeply important film. I think for a specific type of person, when you look at Gaspar, his entire filmography, this could be accessible. I'm using that word very, very carefully. But because there is no grotesque violence, other people of a physical nature, this is a very emotionally violent film. I recommend this wholeheartedly, but with reservations, as I do with the rest of his work. Climax is fun. Parts of Enter the Void are fun. None of Vortex is fun, virtually none. But it is important. It Is important. And I think the best word to describe it is effective because that scene that you were talking about, I have never seen through film, through the art form for the medium of film, that moment so effectively done. The fade, you're talking. Fade. Yeah. I mean, and it really knocked the wind out of me. And not only that, it also is because of the split screen that is. Yes, that is why and and that's the thing is like this has never been done before. And to go through a narrative story with this split screen like this one you will never achieve that moment with you would still if that was in the full frame you would absolutely have a moment with that. But because of the split screen, it just adds something else that will. Because it's watching someone, yeah, we're watching that person die. But then in the other side of the screen, we're watching, life goes on, life goes on. But they don't even know that this person's dying. Yes, it's their loved ones. So it's yeah, that juxtaposition is like, oh, my God. And we're just we're fading out here. But yeah, life keeps on a truckin on the other side. And that's what happens in life. And that's even close. To you. And you have to make a decision. Do I don't like speaking generally, I had to make a decision. Do I want my trauma to define me? And I went, No. My father made the same decision when he lost his oldest son to suicide. Am I going to let this trauma define me? No. So that's why, again, I'm not rushing out to rewatch Vortex. It's not going to be one that is put on nearly as much as Climax. I mean, you know, I might tap out on this one after a couple more viewings, but wow, I just really, really appreciate someone else who's locked into that, that pain and that horror and going, Yeah, here, this is what it is like. This is what it looks like. I've had relatives pass away from dementia. I've had friends whose parents or grandparents have passed away from that. I've, you know, sat and spent time with people with dementia. It is just so shockingly real. We're going to get to the actors. But there wasn't I didn't see any acting in this movie ever. No, ever. It was like it was like cameras was following them around this apartment. Yes. So I think when you said, like, there's not going to be a better movie made this year in this way, I don't think there will ever be a movie this year that will be able to touch the emotional effectiveness through the art of film. Then this movie. Yeah, take that how you will. I do want to like add before we transition to the actors because I had such a hard time with movie. I do want to talk about my absolute favorite part of the movie. Yeah, go. Yeah, do it. Because then after that, I'm going to talk about how the hell they made this thing and then we'll get to the actors. The only thing that I like to think about now with this movie is when the movie first starts, there's a beautiful, beautiful song being sung by an extreme close up of like the most beautiful face I've ever seen with this most, like, beautiful voice. And the lyrics you read in the subtitles, I just absolutely fell love with that whole moment. It's beautiful. It's a lullaby. Yeah. You're taking a slow elevator ride down to. To the darkness. But we can see how even their first scene in the film is one of quick whimsy and joy and, you know, dreams and such. But how did they make this? Why do they make this according to Gaspar, he was it was pitched to him by producers to do a cheap movie with two or three characters in a single location, because a lot of directors are doing these kinds of movies during COVID. So he comes up with this idea that he had had largely because of his mother passing and because of this brain hemorrhage he had, he wants to make vortex. He gets his dream cast and he shoots for a few days without fully committed to the split screen idea. He doesn't know if they're going to do that and then they decide after a few days, No, I'm committed to this throughout. So we have to go back and either reshoot the stuff we already did or pick up the other actors coverage and match that perfectly. And Noé said he loved the playfulness of the split screen because it gave him so many decisions in editing and post-production. I like playing with the language. There are many directors who play with the language. One of my favorite quotes from him, and when you start watching this early into the split screen, is the way he starts. The split screen is so cool. I just kept nodding my head in appreciation. Like, it doesn't just boom, it's there. It's like it's a slow progression into the beginning of the split screen. And I wondered similarly to, like we were saying for Lux, eternal is how confusing is this going to be? How much am I really going to have to like, look here, look here. Oh, God. And we have to read subtitles, you know? Yeah, yeah. American audiences do. You know, we don't speak French. So I'm like, okay, is this going to be too tough? And it never was. After like 7 minutes, I got used to it and then I went, Oh, okay. He's doing gentle pass off's here. To where? I'm not saying it's never unimportant to look at one side of the screen, but there is focus and intention often put on one side. Sometimes there's stuff going on. It's really cool when the cameras are almost overlapping and they're like, reach into the other frame and grab stuff. But it's not gimmicky. It just it is so effective. It works so damn well. And I absolutely loved the exercise of watching it and the engaging aspect of watching it. And I will say, when he decides to not use split screen, it's very effective. Yeah. There's nothing about this movie at any point, technical or emotional, that is not being effective. I don't I would love to be on one of his sets so, so much because, for instance, none of this dialog is written. They're making it up. It's all improvised. There's an outline like a three page outline. They may have certain things that they have to say, you know, like characters in Irreversible. They had say, this guy, the butcher has to say time destroys all things. Or that animal quote, we kept the thrown around. The Pierre says, animals don't even act out of revenge. That's a line that they fed to him. But so beyond Dario Argento and Francois LeBrun making up their own dialog as they go, Gaspar has been very open in saying You don't direct Dario Argento and you know, we should say this is one of the most famous Italian directors of all time, probably most notably for directing the original Suspiria. But he's done a number of really good classics Deep Red Inferno, Finnerman Nina, starring a very young Jennifer Connelly. I mean, he's nuts and he's never had a major acting performance. Never. He's done cameos in his movies or other movies. This is his first major acting role at 88 years old, and he's directing himself. Essentially, Gaspar goes, okay, here's like, here's your situation, here's the scene, here's where you have to sit. But however, like, I'm not going to tell you that that kid's going to start playing with trucks like kids. Do you have to decide how you react to that? And then you have to it's just it's fascinating. Like he doesn't tell you when to light a cigaret. Gaspar doesn't you go for it. That's what you're going to do and sit here do. It's so incredible when you understand that that this is not lines they're memorizing. This isn't blocking, they're memorizing. It's fucking nuts. It's just it's so inspiring on an artistic level. Francois LeBrun I've seen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Julie and Julia, the nun. I do not remember her in those. She is the star of this notorious French film from 1973, The Mother and the Whore. It's one of gasp bars favorite films because of course it is. It's nearly 4 hours long and I've never been able to track it down. Son available anywhere. I'll get there. But I mean, what she does in this movie is so incredible, you know, it's not. We've seen movies where this happens. I think the biggest comparison that Vortex is getting is probably more by Michael Haneke, because that's a movie about an older couple. The woman has a stroke and the man is desperately trying to take care of her, but he can't handle it. It's too much. They have an adult child. She has her stuff a little bit more together than the kid. Alex Lutz in this movie, but I just I want to give it up for her because I thought she was totally spellbinding. It was, oh, she was so good. Yeah. Everyone was. Everyone was. You know, we waited till like the hour, 45 minute mark and that gasp bar in a way, podcast to mention what he does with credits, which is funny because his credits are so, so impactful and so important. This one, they're very muted. You know, he's got the same font, he's got the extra bold content's Futura, same as Kubrick on a lot of films. What I want to say about ways credits because a lot of foreign films have their credits before the movie. America often has them after the movie, and they go on now. They go on for ten, 12 minutes sometimes it's just it's too much. No way. Puts his credits at the beginning of his films, as he does with Vortex. Now, as mentioned with Lux Eterna, every gas bar in and away movie takes a while to end on purpose. There's a long crane shot where you're just resting and listening to all this inner monologue, and I stand alone. There's the techno crane shot and irreversible. There's Enter the void. I'm going to say there's just he takes a while to end. I don't even want to say how vortex takes a while to unwind. It's very, very poignant and very, absolutely beautiful in its own gasp our way. But if you see this movie in the theater for the Love of God, sit in those final minutes because they're going to be going on. Don't be like it. Why is the movie taking a while to end? Use those as your end credits because the second you see the last frame of film, the house lights are turning on. And as soon as that happens, people are going to be walking. I mean, people after vortex looked like drunk. They were walking out in a daze like, Oh, there's no end credits. Like, okay, I just leave. It was so, you know, leaving when like all the lights come up. We're used to leaving the theater dark. Excuse me. Excuse me. And if it's something like this, which a lot of people were very affected by and they were clearly crying, it's you know, people are like covering their face. I got these red faces. It's just it's intense. But enjoy those, you know, enjoy gas are just holding your hand out as you leave his world. I sat there for I don't even know how long I like there was there I've never had more of a dreadful moment emotionally. After the house lights came up on the theater, I was just like, No, no, I don't. I can't. I can't move. I can't get up. I can't I can't face these steps. I have to walk down. This is a really I've always wanted to do a whole episode on this. Like, what are some great movies that you've seen once we could say, you know, once or twice that you never want to watch again, but that you fully endorse, that you would like stand behind, that you that's going to make your top ten, top five of the year. But you're like, that was just too insulting for me to sit through again. This is clearly going to make your list, but it is a cool you know, it's a cool idea. I don't most movies I won't watch again or because I just didn't get anything out of them, whether they're boring, whether they're gross, whether they're grotesque on purpose, shocking. I can handle most anything, but I'm like, okay, I don't need to watch that again. The Human Centipede. Like, I got it. Okay, I got it. Yeah, yeah. I get you. What once is fine. Like, I'm not going to rewatch that one, but there are some you know, I already talked about how I contradicted myself by saying the first time I saw Irreversible in Antichrist, I went, I really appreciate those for what they are, but I don't want to do that to myself again. And then, you know, now here we are plotting about one of them extensively. So let's move on to our gas bar rankings here. That's going to be quick because we already did it. We did it at the end of the Gas Bar podcast. Here's I kind of have an idea where you're going to go here were yours five into the void for I standalone own three irreversible two love one climax mine five I standalone four enter the void three climax two love one irreversible I'm a psycho, huh? Where is vortex fitting in your world? So now that we've got six. Yes. Vortex will take the number five spot. Really? I thought it would be dead last for you, given your reaction. No, I'll never watch it again. But yeah, like I said, as I say that. But the thing is, is like and I want to say the shoes, I do recommend this movie. I just I just cannot like say enough, go into it without fear and without having have space for appreciation, because that's what I did. Like when I wanted to leave everything that I wanted to leave emotionally and with, I was like, No, let me just appreciate what this movie is doing and what it is. Because of that, it was so powerful and effective that I in a lot of ways, I think it might be one of his, if not his most well done film. But because of my experience with it, yeah, it'll, it'll get the number five as some of mine will go enter the void vortex I standalone irreversible love climax. Those are great rankings and it's funny because vortex is actually my five as well I put it. So I standalone is six and then vortex five and then the rest into the void climax love irreversible. And I totally understand what you're saying that you do appreciate this movie and you are recommending it, but recommending it with caution. I'm recommending irreversible not to every single person in the world, not to every single person listening to this podcast. I hope if you haven't seen it and we've made you interested in seeing it, I hope we've also let you know what you are getting into. I think we've, you know, Bridge that gap. We're not just underselling these. We've talked pretty openly about what all these are about, different levels of appreciation for them. I also think that this could end up being his best reviewed film. I don't know if it's is like number one on Rotten Tomatoes right now, but we're getting really good reviews for a gas bar movie in real time, which he isn't used to. You know, a lot of people find these movies later and I don't know, I'll be interested to see what happens with this as the year goes on. I'll be interested to see if it pops up. Not talking about Oscars, but, you know, will it be submitted as France's foreign film submission? I doubt it. But I mean, they submitted Titane last year is I don't know, will this be will we see this pop up other places? You know, will this get a great American Blu ray release treatment with a Gaspar or commentary that everyone can listen to? Or am I going to have to buy yet another Region B Blu ray for it? And that's okay. That's what I'll say. I hear he goes, I do whatever I'm going to say. Only if he does the commentary for it. You have to watch it. I will only watch this movie again with the commentary that. Which means I'm going to spend the next year downloading gasp our interviews from YouTube and making my own commentary for it so that you have to watch this because you just have to watch exactly some fucking tough work. Well, the thing is, is like because with the commentary, there's a separation. I can tell you myself and maybe I need that. Maybe I need to see that this is just a movie. No, you have to. It's that's what helped me engage with Irreversible so much more, because he's saying that the whole time he's talking about it like a director who's seen this movie like hundreds of times because he made it. He's not talking about it with any sort of shock value. Just. Yeah, very, very calm, very happy. Oh, here's how we did this. But wow. Looks to turn a vortex to more heavy hitters from gas far and away I with the popularity of vortex, I do not want him to stop. You know, sometimes it's like seven years between gas for movies. Sometimes it's not long at all. He has said he did split screen and he's done with it. He said he's going to find a new game to play in. You know, he he does like different games. I do, too. He's like, I did it. It's cool. But what will he think of next? I just there's no director. There's very few directors I'll say whose films I look out, look forward to more than this. Yeah. So but I do think that it's a smart idea is in terms of like a complete narrative storytelling device. Leave it for vortex. Yeah, you already nailed it, dude. Like, yeah, you're not going to improve on. That, right? It's a championship season. There's no know. Yeah, yeah. All right, here we go. We move on to. What are you watching? It was fun. I'm looking at a few pre-written notes, so I promise I'm not. I'm not tagging here. I've just happened. Just so happened to talk about this movie a lot in this podcast because of your props. I'm going to go first this week because I don't want to hear you cry. Oh, Antichrist 2009 Directed by Lars von Trier. It's the perfect movie to recommend in tandem with any gas powered movie. I already said so much, but there are a few people out there who consider this von Trier is best. Whoa. It's tough. I would definitely say it's his meanest and most nihilistic. The movie stars only two people. Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg. This could be her best performance. Honestly, she gets to a really rare place in this and they play a couple who retreat to their isolated cabin in the woods after experiencing a terrible tragedy, to say the least. You can attempt to guess where this film goes as you can with gas bars, movies, but you have no fucking idea. Antichrist goes there and then some. And it as it is as brutal and nasty, some of its scenes as movies get. But but it also contains one of the friendliest depictions of depression that I've ever seen and one of the most realistic von Trier, as I said, made this film as a way to work through his own crippling depression. And this movie's gorgeous to look at. It is very grim, but it was shot by Anthony Todd Mantel the year after winning an Oscar for shooting Slumdog Millionaire. And like Gaspar in the ways movies, Antichrist is unlike anything you've ever seen. It's Bergman and Tarkovsky with the gloves off, with no ratings board, with free reign, chaos reigns indeed. Antichrist. I like that. Bergman and Tarkovsky with the gloves off. That's great. That's a great way to put it. It would have been cool to see them. Part of what makes them so great is because of the restraints they had to work with and what they got away with and what they managed to break through despite those restraints. But imagining those people living in, you know, an unrated movie world where, you know. BERGMAN You can put your next movie on Blu ray straight. It's just unrated. Who cares? That would have been something. Who knows what they could have come up with? I wish Michael Haneke would make more movies for this reason anyway. All right. So I'm going to continue the the French cinema recommendations here. Nice. And honestly, it's funny where I saw this movie because I won't say the name of the movie that I saw. First, I went to theaters to see one movie that I just truly did not enjoy and not in the same way I didn't enjoy Vortex. And so I looked at what else was playing, and then there was this one hour and 12 minute French movie by the director of The Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Celine Sciamma called the movie was called Petite Mamma. And I was like, Huh, an hour and 12 minutes. I don't know why, but that actually enticed me to see it because I was like, I want to see what it kind of like. Looks at turnout 15 minutes, really talking about a 20 minute difference. And I sat down and for one hour and 12 minutes, I was brought into one of the most simple and beautiful. And I mean this with all like best words, little stories I've ever seen. And I don't even think that's a bad word to use because petite my mom, little mom, like the cinematography was gorgeous and it's simple. Like, they are not like like the camera's not doing a lot of movement. They're they're pretty much long takes camera just sets itself up, lets the scene play out right then and there. And it's everything is gorgeous and but the the way that this story unfolds is just it's it's just beautiful. I say this a lot with certain movies that it's a poem, but this is one that is it's it's a one hour and 12 minute poem. From that it's you can tell it's a very personal story from this director to her mom. And it's it's just lovely. It's a complete, lovely, lovely movie, highly recommended. I don't know. It's still in theaters in L.A. in certain little indie theaters, but I don't think it's probably going to stay very long. And I don't know what the future of it's going to be for streaming. I'm so glad you recommended this so well. This is this is an emotional day. Podcasting. This is, by my definition, a perfect film. This is a 72 minute long, perfect film. It is exactly what I want out of a movie now, out of every movie, this isn't. I just so appreciated what this movie was doing for its story. It's so unique, it's so lived in, and you go along with its journey and you believe it the entire time. And I loved everything about I loved this movie so much, in fact, that we are absolutely going to do a mini episode on this. It will be one of the next few episodes, maybe not the direct next one. But we have to talk about this more because this movie deserves it, deserves it. Deep dove. But we also want to encourage as many people as possible to see this. You made a good point about streaming. This movie is only in one or two theaters in the Washington, D.C. area, including E Street, which I've mentioned, but the studio Neon appears to have an exclusive streaming right. With Hulu. There are a lot of very popular neon that are still on Hulu, such as Portrait of a Lady on Fire Parasite. So I am confident that this film will land on Hulu eventually, and whenever that is we will be there to part about it. Even if we part about it before it comes on Hulu, we have to do our part to get this movie in the conscious because it's just Jesus. It was so, so good. I'm I'm holding a lot back because I don't want to say a lot. Cinematography. Claire Matherne is the DP. The cinematography in Portrait of a Lady on Fire was one of my favorite aspects of that movie. They shot it an eight K, they had so much range to play with color. That's why her pastels look so different, because they're they're working with this really huge color space party. Mama has the same thing. The colors are there. Like these beautiful pastels in the cinematography of these movies are as important as any other aspect. She's a great DP. I mentioned her in the Spencer Mini, so because she shot Spencer in Stranger by the Lake, which is a great movie as well, a great DP, stay tuned for more. What are you watching? Insight on Petite Mama, though, for sure. Or if you do see it in theaters and you don't want to feel like you've spent like oh, I've spent only like a bunch of money on a one hour and one minute movie. Dude, I did see this double feature, right? You like you get your money's worth. There you go. Anyone. If you're venturing out to vortex in the theater, let us know what you thought and w aiw underscore podcast. We did it but as always, thank you so much for listening. Happy watching. Hey everyone, thanks again for listening. You can watch my films and read my movie blog at Alex Withrow dot com. Nicholas Dose Tor.com is where you can find all of Nick's film work. Send us mailbag questions at What are you watching? Podcast at gmail.com or find us on Twitter at W AIW Underscore podcast you know what movie we both loved Top Gun maverick. So next time it's all about Maverick and Tom Cruise's 40 year career. Stay tuned. I went to theaters to see one movie that I just truly did not enjoy and not in the same way I didn't enjoy. Vortex. No, just. Just a bad. I guess that was a bad. Movie. Bad, unfunny movie starring Nicolas Cage's himself. Keep going. Oh, my God. I won't included. Yes, I will. So.