iTunes Exclusive Episode The Railway Man

The following is a sooner or gator production.
The following is a sooner or gator production.
The following is a sooner or gator production.
If you are hearing my voice right now, it means a couple of things.
Number one, it means you subscribed to the Clubhouse podcast on iTunes, which we greatly
appreciate.
We appreciate all listeners, but don't tell the other ones, we appreciate you more.
The other thing it means is it's time for another R.I.T.U.S.G.O.C.
My name is Rob and it is a pleasure.
It's a bring this one to you, as it always is, we love the Empire.
Especially when you listen to us live Sunday nights at 70's before Pacific, joining me
for this particular two news and two news.
Is a man who is looking forward to sleeping for about three days at his earliest possible
convenience?
He is the official fact checker of this show.
You may know him as fun, don't go, but his mom will call him Don Ford, I'm a call
I'm Don Ford.
Welcome, sir.
I might need sleep, I'm always here for the Empire.
You are, sir.
I will never hear me debate that.
Let me use the music.
But again, if you check out this episode, make sure you check out all of our coverage
from the 2014 Dallas International Film Festival.
We had so much fun there, and thank you to our friends at Allied Integrated Marketing.
It's kind of cool when you can say you know the people that were the first sponsors on
the big parade of sponsorship.
That's the thing.
Also I would take them, you know Ashley, Tonya, but for them getting into this film.
Not only do you say this film, but everything, everything they've done for us, we will never
be able to repay them for everything not done.
Today we're talking about a film called The Railway Man, directed by Jonathan Tepplitzky.
He's done a lot of things overseas, I don't think you would know any of his American
work, because I don't think he has any.
Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgard, Jeremy Irvine, who you may not have heard
his name, but get used to knowing you're going to hear it.
Tanro Ashita, basically, based on a true story, Colin Firth plays a young man by the name
of Eric Lomax, who during World War II, he was in the British Army, and his outpost
in Singapore was taken over by the Japanese, and that's part of a treaty.
So we thought, and they thought, this goes between the early 80s and World War II, and
in the early 80s as an older man, he meets this young lady named Patty, played by Nicole
Kidman, and they get married, and he starts acting very strange, and she doesn't know
why, and Stellan Skarsgard plays Finley, his war buddy, and basically, we find out that
he was in a Japanese internment camp, Alaw, the bridge over the river Kui, and he finds
out that one of his main captors is still alive, in present day being the early 80s,
exactly.
That's all I'm going to say about this film, it runs an hour, 56, so it's a solid
two hours.
I will say that he does medium, that's in the trailers.
Yeah, he does medium.
But I really don't want to give away more than this, because I'm not going to give
anything away, that's not in the trailers.
Agreed, agree fair point.
Let's start by talking about Teveliski's vision of based on a book, which again, is of
the true story written by Lomax, great feel to this film visually.
Historically correct, I thought, overall, I mean, there were LED lights on the train
and once seen and all that, but considering you look at the camp and the equipment and
everything, it was especially in the flashback scenes in the war, because this film is set
in the 80s, and also in the time of him serving in the war, so you go in the 1940s,
42, 43, whatever.
So it goes back and forth, but the time in the 40s, there, it looked, this guy did a good
job of trying to make sure it was historically correct, which is one of my little pet peas,
which I was very happy with.
What I loved about the film is, at a certain point, you don't feel like you're watching
a movie.
You're kind of feel like you're there with them, and just by the warmth of the colors
he used when he shot it, you knew when you were in present day and when you weren't.
For me, the standout performance in this film is an even, the three lead actors, the standout
performance to me in this film is Jeremy Irvine, who plays the young Eric.
At the end of the film, you do see a picture of Lomax at that age when he was in the
war, and the casting is dead on, and it was unreal.
In Firth said he wanted Irvine for the film, specifically, and you realize why, fairly quickly,
he was amazing.
I thought the casting of Skarsgarth's character as a youngster, you believed that he could
have been a younger, stellar Skarsgarth, who I'm a huge fan of stellar Skarsgarth.
Just the fact that I can actually say his last name correctly, makes me happy.
No one, I'm really, was going to try to pronounce this 10-rowed Ashida, who plays the
older, he played the, during the war, he played the, the character during the war,
okay, just his picture, his picture on IMDB, makes him look older, Sam Reed plays the
young Finley, this movie, so good on so many levels, the direction I thought was, was not
overdone yet not understated, the acting spot on, I can felt, you felt emotion, this
movie made you feel something.
And there were some 10 scenes where they're trying to do something behind the scenes, and
you really feel like, oh my god, what happens if they get, which is what leads to the big
torment.
I got, we got a war in the empire, there are some brutal scenes in this film, so we've
seen worse, but yeah, this one is definitely, it shows torture, there is death torture,
you know, so we got war in the empire in that, but I, the acting, I'd say, be on
belief, I could not, and me being, I'm not being a big, Nicole Kidman fan, I was
impressed by 32, I, I, I did not see anything wrong in the acting in any way, what, what
I loved about her performance in this film was, she really, she bought into it, like
you bought her in this film, as Patty, you, you, Nicole Kidman kind, and I think
the fact that she had the darker hair, and it was shorter, and she was a little bit like
the makeup was a little more understated, I think that played a role, and Patty was
a nurse, and she's trying to heal the guy, and that's, how do I, I didn't know what's
going on before I could even try to heal this guy, you know, and it's so hard for them
to talk about the horrors of war, you know, how can I help, and she wants to heal
him, and, you know, but you totally buy her, it's totally, yeah, there's, there's never
a thought of, it was Nicole Kidman playing somebody, you actually felt, you know, what,
she sinks herself into this role, which, like you said, you're not a huge fan of her, yeah,
I can, I can say I'm good either way, but I thought she did a great job in this film.
I'll say on the, on the direction, which surprised me, which it started off more in the
first 20 minutes of not really war anything like that, it's him falling in love, and
the movie's fine that way, you don't, you know, even though it's going to be a lot of
to do with war, you know, you're going, is this a love story, I wanted a war flick, you know,
but when you see the whole thing in the end, it's like, they played that right, you know,
not starting with a bunch of big war scenes and everything like that, it's just him falling
in love and finding the war, well, I did was life and how she turns to try to help him, you know,
so I thought in that direction, the story I'm telling was very, very spot on on that.
This is prob, I mean, I'm trying to find the downside to this film and I can't do it.
I mean, it was, it's one of those films that there's not, it's past perfectly, it did not drag.
It didn't drag at all. There, there were some times when you got a little bit uncomfortable,
but that was what it was supposed to do for you. And again, and a lot worse, but he didn't, you know,
I think he did a spot on on showing the torture, but not too gruesome, you know,
but no matter what the guy, the guy was tortured and brutalized, you know,
I found that part to be very incredible, too.
I'd like you, I can't, I'm trying to find something wrong about this flick, and I really can't.
And I will say this, if you're reading by reveal, it's going to be on the website, the kobaspakas.com.
Exactly. I start off thinking, okay, there's something has to be wrong with this film,
because you look at the cast, and I saw the trailer, and I'm thinking, okay, there has to be something
wrong, because one, it's not on a big name label, and they're not releasing this in October of
November, because this would be a pure Oscar buzz. Absolutely. And 100% I'm going, there has to be
something wrong about this for them releasing this party. Well, but in April, I think you're trying
to get the advanced word out. I think that this film could be really, you're going to be forgotten.
No, because I think what will happen, and this happens a lot, you release great films early
on the year, and then you re-release them in the fall. If they do that, you have a little
nation to start getting to start getting that Oscar push that Oscar buzz, that Oscar
contention, I could easily see this film garnering a couple of nominations. I can go ahead,
I can say with a fair amount of surety, I would love to see Nicole Kidman get nominated for this.
College furt is Colin Firth. I mean, the guy is greatness. You can't deny it, and if you do your
a communist, I mean, the selling scars, scars, scars. But again, he's just that guy that you know
what you're getting, and he's never disappointed. He's never disappointed. I mean, yeah, and the two,
the two actors, I thought you'd play the young and the old, the tormentors, the tormentor.
You tell me, a 10-row is Rita. This Nesagi, their guy plays the Nesagi. Guy who played the
young wonder in the war, and the guy who he meets up at the end of the movie, I felt the guy that played
the present day version. I mean, they were both good, but I felt the guy in present day was better,
because you really saw his pain, you saw that he knows that he deserves to not live, given what,
what he was a part of. And there's even more layers to his character than I really want to go
when we're not going to that now because that's something that I think our audience really
needs to see for itself. And this will be a discussion piece. Absolutely. I mean people come
out of this talking, this and that and that and there's going to be so many layers like just like
enemy and the counselor go with a group of people. I mean we went we went with friend of the
show Dave Scott and he actually put on Facebook right after the movie that it's one of the best
films he's seen this year, period. Oh yeah, me too. For me it's too early in the year to start
rank in movies. But so far it is one of the best films and they actually I believe didn't they
screen this at the Dallas or Nashville Film Festival? No, they did not. Okay, but there was a screening
one more that we didn't get to go to. Cannot thank our friends that allied in a great
marketing enough for everything they've done giving us the opportunity to see this film is it's
more of that. I was so worried that there's has to be some kind of catch and hopefully they you know
this the people in the DFW area where we transmit out of here is going to be at the Angelica
and probably Angelica and the Angelica is a change. I'm sure that Angelica is across the country
will be carrying. And if you were far from an Angelica still it's worth the drive on this one,
a hundred percent. If you live you know in Athens or someplace this is worth the drive to see.
If I'm not if it's playing in your area. Yeah, there's some way shape or form.
Which then leads us to the final analysis of this film. RPR audience R Empire is better
than your generic stars or rankings or believe it. We want you to understand how we truly
feel about this film and the way we do that is a two-pronged question. Question number one says
would you see this film again? If the answer is no then we're done here. If the answer is yes,
the question becomes how would you see this film again? Would you pay to see it in an evening show?
Would you pay to see it in a twilight show? Would you pay to see it in a matinee?
Would you pay to see it early morning? Would you red box? Oh, yeah, cable, rental? Would you own the
blue ray? So done. Would you see this film again? 100 percent yes. I would see it as well. How would you
see it again? If I went with the group and it was a big discussion afterward, I would go as a full
night time pay full mission. If it's going to be in a group discussion by myself, maybe a matinee.
But to everyone else, I recommend this pay the full price. This is worth it. Do not miss this film.
I would see this again and I would pay that in the evening show regardless of whether I was by myself
or with somebody. Like this movie is that good. For this movie, just stir emotion like it does.
You need to feel for the guy. You will see grown men fight tears in this film. I'm going to tell you.
You could sell when we're at that press screening there that there's some emotions on it. There's a lot of
people in that screening. Oh, yeah. Thanks again to our friends at Allied Integrated Marketing. We love
you guys. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to watch movies and support your kind of helping
support us do something that we love to do. Our normal show is live every Sunday night not for
Easter. We're taking Easter off. But we'll be back in studio on April the 27th with a very, very
special episode. 70 Eastern for Pacific. Of course, you subscribe on iTunes. So you can just listen to
this anytime you want to. But if you want to interact with us, you can do it live then. We also have
a an archive that you can look up as well. Shall we do the plug, sir? Totally. Check out our website
www dot the clubhousepodcast.com. That's where you can find everything you need. Like our page
on Facebook, look up the clubhouse podcast, put the word podcast on the internet so they can
completely different. Follow this show on Twitter at clubhouse show. You can follow me on Twitter
at yes. That Rob Irvin that has spelled ERV. I. N. My co-host normally on this show was Chad Womick.
You can follow him at chat N. P. G. 69. Now at Fondongo. In the email me at Don at clubhousepodcast.com.
If you would like our lunacy at your place, we love to do live shows there. You can email me.
I am Rob at the clubhousepodcast.com. Chad is Chad at the clubhousepodcast.com.
Charlotte Parker is on Pinterest because we are morally obligated to say that. And Jill's
Womick just does what she does, man. Remember, we are normally, our normal show is your
one-stop shop for all things sports and entertainment. So check us out on all of the episodes that we do
because you need comedy in your life. And believe me, we supply that. So for Chad, for Don,
for the Empire, I'm Rob. The clubhouse is closed. And I, you know what, Brittany Palmer could have
been sitting with me in this film, but I wouldn't want her in this film.