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Oh yeah!
Greetings Empire member and our members.
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Because it's time for another home show.
You know what I'm saying?
Number 446 for those of you playing the home game welcome.
My name is Rob. I am the executive producer of the clubhouse podcast.
And we're about to talk about a movie.
That's all I'm going to say right now.
But I'm not alone as I rarely ever should be, although have been recently.
Sitting in the co-host chair is my co-host.
And a man who I think is going to be very intrigued about to talk about.
And I do mean it's Chad. He's here. Welcome, sir.
Nice to be here, sir.
Good to have you back. Thank you.
Rounding out the days is the official fact checker of this show.
And a man that I don't think I've ever seen wear green.
I could be wrong.
But that would also mean he'd have to wear something the rage of the Packers.
And he can't handle that.
Or Igboonu.
But his mom and even Don Ford, I'm going to call him Don Ford. What's up, sir?
Do boogers count?
Really?
Oh, my shirt.
Wow. Wow.
It's been so long since I've gotten to say this.
Wow. That's your boy.
No. I will not claim him. You cannot make me.
Whatever we do, one of these things, it is to review something.
And this is no exception.
We're about to talk.
Angela Ali. We're about to talk.
Vigo Mortensen. We're about to talk.
Green Book.
For something? Yes, sir.
We got to think our good friends Mary Ann and everybody at Slipbox.
Zee-Nee. Zee-Nee. Zee-Nee. Zee-Nee.
We love our vendors.
They let us see movies early.
And I saw this one real early so that we can talk to you guys about them
and give our honest opinions.
I actually saw this like three weeks in advance.
Is that all? Wow.
I got this one way ahead of time.
And there have been multiple screens.
I was like, nope, I'm getting up on this now.
Because there was a lot of buzz going into this screening.
A lot of people have been saying a lot of things.
And a lot of things are good.
Here's what you need.
This is also the first time this was directed by Peter Farley.
Not both of them.
Oh, wow. He also co-wrote the script.
First time that either one of them has directed a dramatic film.
Yeah. I didn't realize that too was behind this.
Wow.
Also co-written by the son of the subject.
This is basically a true story.
Right.
Takes place in 1961.
Ali plays Dr. Don Shirley,
who is a very accomplished piano player.
I'm not going to say the other word because then it turns into...
I can't get you to this.
That's what she said.
That's what it turns into.
But he is so accomplished and so world renowned.
He lives in an apartment that sits above Carnegie Hall.
Wow.
So he's got skins.
But you don't meet him right off the bat.
The first person you meet is a guy by the name of Tony Lip
because Tony Valalanga is not one that people like to say well.
He is a bouncer in a club.
And the club is going to be shutting down for a couple of months
over the holiday season for remodeling.
I was assuming this is Vigo's care.
Correct.
The great Vigo Mortensen.
So he's looking for a job in the off time
and he gets a call about a job to be a driver for a musician.
What he finds out is this is a two month tour
that ends on Christmas Eve
for Ali's character in the deep south.
In 1961.
Yeah.
Driving.
No quick getaways.
Do I need to go deeper into the dynamic here?
No.
So he's part of a trio.
He has an American playing base
and then he has a very accomplished Russian playing violin.
It's jazz.
Jazz and classical.
This runs to 10.
You also have the great Linda Cartelini playing Vigo's wife.
I'm such a fan of her.
She's been everywhere lately.
You also have the great comedian Sebastian Manescalo's in this as well.
What are we going on?
He's a very popular comedian right now.
You also have actual members of the Valhalla family in this.
Really?
Really family members.
So like I said, a lot of hype going into this film.
A lot as I walked into this thing.
So I'm going to ask the question.
Watch gauge.
No, it's not the one I'm looking for.
Was it worth it?
Was it worth it?
I guess that's a yes.
Yeah.
Jazz looking at the recording screen right now.
Good God.
This movie is incredible.
I mean, first of all, all the feels.
All of them.
Good.
Secondly, the perfect blend of drama and comedy.
Because there are some subplots.
I mean, the obvious ones.
But probably my favorite subplot.
And I'm not going to go into it.
But Ali being a man of the world.
He's very distinguished.
Right.
Dr. Shirley.
As his story unfolds, you learn more and more about him.
So being 1961.
You know, Tony can't call his wife every night.
There's charges involved.
So she makes him promise to write her every day.
The subplot of Don Shirley.
Working with Tony on how to write his letters home.
Is nothing short of brilliant.
Because not only do they show him writing the letters.
As it's being dictated to him by Don Shirley.
You're seeing the reaction of his wife and her sisters.
As she's reading them.
And her sisters in law.
Because his family is coming over to take care of her.
While he's gone.
So is this basically him being like.
There's like a zero zero no diversion.
On certain levels.
Because he learns as the film goes on.
But there's a lot of why can't you write letters to me like this.
You know, a lot of that going on.
So question.
What was the watch cage?
40 minutes.
Okay.
It's charged in 10 minutes.
It seemed long.
Not that much at all.
Okay.
Because this story.
It's told very vividly.
They move.
Okay.
For a three month tour.
They move.
But not in a way that I felt like I missed anything.
Because there's a little bit of them learning from each other.
Right.
It has not enjoyed certain things in this life.
And one of those being Kentucky fried chicken.
I love that.
I love that scene in the trailer.
But there's a give and take there too.
Because in the trailer he said, what do we do with the bones?
We throw them out.
So they're throwing the bones out the window.
Well, at one point Tony throws his cup out the window.
And Shirley's just staring at him in the rear view.
And the next shot.
Back here.
Backing the car up to pick up the cup.
You see, here's my thing with Mortensen especially.
Because martial law always been everywhere lately.
Yeah.
I mean, the guy's got an Oscar.
Do whatever he wants.
Vigo, I have forgotten how good Vigo Mortensen is.
Man, it's got range.
Because he hasn't done anything like so long.
Do you ever see Eastern promises?
I've seen pizzas.
My mind goes to a history of violence as well.
I want to say a little bit of the same vein.
I have forgotten how good he is.
Because this is kind of different from a lot of roles he's played.
He's just this New York Italian guy.
You know, I got to find some work.
I'm going to go down to the deli.
I'm going to eat this guy and some hot dogs.
They show that in the trailer too.
About as far from Erragorn from Lord of the Rings as you possibly get.
Now, I wouldn't say that he's too stereotypical.
There are some social mores that he learns more about.
But he's not a guy that this isn't one of those I resent you but then learn to be friends with you.
This is a, hey, you're paying me.
I don't have the issues with you as a person.
This is just a job.
But at the same time, I have to be realistic.
Because not everybody around me feels this way.
Right.
There are a couple of scenes where you're laughing because of something Tony does to teach surely.
But there's also moments where I laugh because there were stuff that surely was doing that was teaching Tony.
It's the perfect balance.
And I say in my written review, which is currently located at www.theclubhousepodcast.com.
That's our website.
If there were a major award for Best Duo in a Film, this is it.
I wish they would do something like that.
I don't know that I could award them separately because the sum is so much greater than the individual parts.
Do you make lead and who do you make supporting?
Vigo would have to be the lead because it's really his journey through this whole thing.
It's Tony's journey because his kid is a co-writer of the script.
Sure, he's just as important.
But he would be the supporting character.
Now, there's no female because Cartelini's as close as you're going to get.
And she's only in it a quarter of the time because it's not about her.
It's about these two gentlemen and their journey.
And the credits roll at the exact perfect point.
And I'm not going to spoil it.
You can ask me off air and I'll tell you.
But there's nothing about this film I didn't like.
However, I can't guarantee you it lines up in my top 10 at the end of the year.
And we've been talking about this a lot lately because we tend to talk about this a lot in the fourth quarter of the year.
The field is getting deeper and deeper and deeper every year.
And it's getting harder and harder.
And I'm probably even going to rearrange my top 10 before the end of the year rolls around because
the way I feel today may not be the way I feel tomorrow.
It's the weirdest thing this year.
Well, we did a review that you saw.
And I actually saw in the theaters after about a correspondent.
Is all we want to say a female or correspondence?
Which one's higher?
The narrative version versus the documentary version.
Which one's higher on your list?
This one or that one?
That is a very good question.
Because I didn't see that film after it.
And did you enjoy it?
Yeah, but not as much as you.
There's an apples and oranges element to that.
Which one's going to be higher on the list?
I have to pull the list up to do that.
Okay, it's close.
Listen in on January, whatever it's going to be.
But they're real close to each other's own sins, right?
On January 14th, January 5th somewhere.
But they're going to be pretty close.
Yeah.
I'm actually, I'm also on a mad dash to the end of the year because my number of films I've seen this year
I'm a little bit behind where I normally am.
Shame on you.
Well, you know, all of you had to take most of August off.
So, but this movie is phenomenal.
It looks great.
It lives up to the hype.
Like all these things that they're showing and they're rating on Rotten Tobages.
It's all totally worth it.
There's no, there's no...
I would say, I can't say there's no political part of it.
But the political part of it is so tiny.
Versus what the rest of the film is.
They don't make it about that.
It's not.
I mean, you can't avoid it because it deals with the social worries of the early 1960s.
Right.
But it's addressed in a way that fits the story and tells the story.
That and watching that front because it's kind of funny because the resistance more comes from
Shirley's side of it than from Tony's side.
And that may be because again, because his kid wrote to help write the story.
But watching Tony slowly but surely just kind of chip away at Shirley's walls.
And then finding out why as the film goes on.
Because there's layers to both of these characters.
That you see glimpses of but don't really manifest themselves until it goes on.
That made it that much more fascinating to me.
And even some of it...
It's mentioned you get an illustration of it we move on.
There's nothing that dwells on it.
Which I really liked about this too.
And I would say that this isn't a film.
I mean, it's...
It is...
It's PG-13 and that's about right for it.
You could take some of the older kids and not worry about the subject matter.
Right.
The younger ones won't get it.
But I think this is a really great film that in a time where we seem to be becoming more and more divided every day.
One more intolerant of each other.
I wouldn't even say intolerant, just divided.
That this is a film that reminds us as a people that it's okay not to be.
That it's okay not to be.
That it's okay to look at somebody and say, you know,
I don't love you in spite of our differences.
I love you because of them.
Right, okay.
And I think this film really, really does.
It looks at both sides of that argument.
It makes a compelling argument on both sides.
Exactly.
Well, I was a compelling argument.
I would say it illustrates it well.
Okay, yeah.
Well, it shows both sides.
And it shows how one side of it kind of goes.
Yeah, you can't get a point there.
You know.
But I love this film on every level.
Well, if you could, if you were the director, what's the one thing you would change?
What's the one thing that's keeping it out of your top 10 list is what I really wanted.
I can't answer that question.
Because there's some amazing films this year.
I know, but if you're the director, what's the one thing you would have changed?
If you had the free rate.
I don't know that there would be anything I'd change.
And there's a couple of things I wish they would have gone into a little bit deeper.
Okay.
But if they had it, it would have ruined the impact of a couple of moments in the film.
Okay.
But maybe go into those a little bit more.
Okay.
I can't say anything because I don't want to fall down.
I don't want to fall down the rabbit hole.
But say no more.
This movie is so good.
It's so good.
I'm definitely intrigued.
I was intrigued the moment I saw the trailer.
All right, then let's go to the final analysis.
So we do the final analysis on this show.
We don't give you thumbs up, thumbs down.
We're not going to give you letter grades numbers.
You know.
We're not going to give you letter grades.
We're not going to give you letter grades numbers.
You know.
KFC.
I was going to say,
Plymouth Fury's anything like that.
And that's the thing about this plot too is
this tour was set up by his record company.
And he only gets half the money up front.
He only gets paid fully if they make every date on time.
Oh God.
So there's dynamics that come with that too of things that hold them up.
And things that don't.
But there's two questions involved.
Question number one is,
would I see this film again?
If the answer's no, then we're done here.
But if the answer's yes, then the question becomes,
how far would I be willing to go to do it?
From the best of the best of the worst of the best, here's how it goes.
Full price at a theater.
Down to seeing a twilight showing.
Down to a matinee.
Down to early morning on the weekend.
Down to second one at the dollar theater.
Down to actually leaving my house to get it from red box.
Down to streaming on Netflix.
Down to waiting for it on cable.
Rob, yes, requiring mine to want to know.
As I'm told, would you see this film again?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
What level?
That's how you know?
Wow.
This film is that good.
The company big time.
There's no other way to say that this film is that good.
I cannot recommend it enough.
Again, it runs the entire gamut of emotion.
It's funny, it's serious.
It pulls the heart strings.
It does all of the things.
Is it opening in limited release or in wide release this week?
I think it's already, by the time we recorded this, which would be the day before Thanksgiving Eve,
I want to say it's already limited now.
Okay.
But I think by the time this people have access to this, they can actually see it wide.
Okay.
And do that.
Oh, I will.
Do that now.
I will.
Do all of the things that were required for you to see this film.
Like, if you're not on the way to the theater, you should be right now.
It is Peter Farley directing Green Book.
By the way, I didn't say what the Green Book refers to.
Okay.
Let me say what the Green Book refers to.
In the early 60s, there was a thing called the Green Book.
And what the Green Book does is for, especially for African Americans that were traveling,
it would tell them what places were African American friendly as they were on the road.
So they wouldn't show up at a hotel or something.
Oh, really?
And not be welcome.
Okay.
Do you start taking Green Book?
I thought those G&G stamps.
Not the Green stamps.
Okay.
But this is what Tony carries with him so he can make sure he gets, surely, to the right hotels,
the right restaurants and stuff.
Are you following this whole thing?
Yes.
And we've got, I think, Mary Ann, your band's live.
Fox, were they invited?
Zee-ee-ee!
Zee-ee-ee-ee!
Yeah, we did, did we?
Okay, fair enough.
Short term memory.
It's only been 15 times.
Yeah, you did.
I had to do it.
We love our vendors.
They take care of us more than they ever have to.
And Sly Fox is no exception to that rule.
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to come see this.
And I can't wait to hear what the guys think when they go get to see it.
All right, let's do the blogs.
Visit our website, the app for mentioned, www.theclubhousepodcast.com.
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So until next time, for Don for Chad and the Empire,
I'm Rob.
Clubhouse is closed.
I mean, there's so much room for Britney Palmer in this.
Come on, man.