We're back with Luca Guadagnino's CHALLENGERS! And he did not disappoint!
We sent out the call at the end of our A BIGGER SPLASH episode with CHALLENGERS releasing day. It may even be fate that willed us, catching an early preview screening the same week in an RPX ("shaky seats") theatre. There's nothing like a tennis movie in a vibrating seat with some phat, thumping base and Zendaya's moody staring. Along with a tonne of sweaty slow motion from the other stars Josh O'Conner and Mike Faist.
But honestly, if you've heard this film is good, they're wrong. It's great!
Ryan: Okay, here we go. This is how I am talking. This is test time. Talkie talkies.
Laura: This is talk time. Testy, testy. I got a couple of churros in my hands. Let's get to eating. Well, hello there. Welcome to On the BiTTE, the podcast that uncovers full frontal male nudity in cinema. My name is Laura, and I am joined by my co host, Ryan, my partner.
Ryan: I'm pumping you.
Laura: Pumping balls.
Ryan: I'm fucking pumping.
Laura: I'm gonna need everyone to grab a couple of churros or a banana, depending on what you have at hand, and come on down to the match, because we are uncovering the 2024 brand new film. Challengers.
Ryan: Whatever your phallic snack of choices, it.
Laura: Could be a hot dog.
Ryan: Could be a hot dog. Popsicle has to be cylindrical, long, and have some kind of, you know, connotation about it.
Laura: You know, anything can have a connotation if you really give it a shot.
Ryan: Yeah, well, like, the previous film, like a peach, you know, that has a connotation. But I would also say that, like, it has to be the sort of snack that if you eat it a certain way and you're looking at someone in someone's direction, it might make them feel a little bit uncomfortable.
Laura: Well, that's a, uh, churro or banana, which makes sense of this film.
Ryan: Has anyone ever eaten a churro, like, to the point of making someone feel uncomfortable, though? Like, I'm sure, like, slid it into their mouth, got it all nice and wet.
Laura: Or shared it with your best pal.
Ryan: Yeah, like, lady and the tramp tit. You know, lady and the tramp churros.
Laura: I'm into that. I like that.
Ryan: All right, well, maybe when we go on vacation, uh, we can, uh, try a lady in the tramp churro experience.
Laura: That sounds great. I'm really excited.
Ryan: Yeah. Good.
Laura: And it's weird because Wikipedia calls this a romantic sports film, but I would go as far as not too far to call this a romantic thriller.
Ryan: Okay, I guess so. It's helped in most part by the big, fat, bassy music from the nine.
Laura: Inch nails boys from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Ryan: Yes, I, um, know they.
Laura: Like, we said it during the film because we watched an advanced screening of challengers, and we did. It was in an RPX theater, which it immediately started. I go, are we just gonna feel tennis balls, just, like. And feel the seats move every time a tennis ball hits the ground? Or someone hits a tennis ball? But it was mostly just that thumping bass.
Ryan: It's that thumping fat bass.
Laura: It reminded me of Fight club in the way that you could put that on and just dance around.
Ryan: I guess I said that during the.
Laura: Screening and you didn't agree with me.
Ryan: No. Well, I think I was thinking too literally. I was like, come on, Laura.
Laura: These people, the feeling of it. The feeling of it doing. Because I love the fight club score. The soundtrack is very fun.
Ryan: Yeah, I guess, like, challengers has that Fincher connection because of the Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. But they've done other films other than the Finchers.
Laura: Um, of course. Well, they also worked on Luca's last movie, Bones and all.
Ryan: Oh, okay.
Laura: So they did the score for that one. Okay, if you didn't know, this is part two of Luca Guadagnino, the boy, the legends. Maybe one of my favorites. It's turning that way, but okay. Anyway, the synopsis from letterboxd for challengers is tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, art and transformed him into a world famous grand slam champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she signs him up for a challenger event close to the lowest level of pro tournament, where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend. Yep.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: There you go.
Ryan: Sparks will fly. Um, as will balls. As synopsises go. That's not too bad. Yeah. If you weren't aware, this is a tennis movie. Um, this is a tennis sports movie. Following in the rather humble footsteps of. This is way better than the humble footsteps.
Laura: Oh, hold on. Tell your joke before I tell my joke.
Ryan: This is way better than match point.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: And match point was a Willie Allen movie, right? That Johansson thing.
Laura: It sure was. Jonathan Reese Myers, I believe.
Ryan: What was the other one?
Laura: There's so many. There's Wimbledon.
Ryan: Yeah. There you go. Was that the Kirsten Dunst one?
Laura: Yes.
Ryan: Right.
Laura: With Paul Bettany.
Ryan: Paul Bettany.
Laura: That movie is very good.
Ryan: Jesus Christ. It can't be like. It just can't be.
Laura: That is a very good romantic comedy. Ask any person that likes romantic comedies.
Ryan: Okay. Is there any other tennis movie?
Laura: There is, because there's a weird. And I didn't write this down, so I don't have all the facts in front of me, all the movies, but it's. There's the Peter Parker Mary Jane connection also. Have you noticed that on the social medias recently? No, Ryan.
Ryan: No.
Laura: You got Houston Dunst, and I guess.
Ryan: I'm very rarely on the social medias. I find. I find the Internet, or at least my social medias, is just full of. Full of, um. You'd think everyone in their auntie is parading around with their giant tits and going, what did I look like in this lingerie? It's like. Well, I don't know. It's getting tiresome now. It's weird. And then obviously, you have people interviewing people on the streets late at night, giving them inspirational. Inspirational quotes, asking them what their dab is, all this fucking shit.
Laura: Maybe it's more of just a Mary Jane thing, because Emma, um, Stone was also in a tennis movie.
Ryan: What tennis movie was that?
Laura: Damn it. Why are you asking me so many specifics?
Ryan: I want these informations. I was just like, jesus Christ, what's going on here? So Kirsten Dunst was definitely in a tennis movie.
Laura: Um, she was in Wimbledon. Emma Stone was in battle of the sexes, which was, like, a jokey comedy. Tennis.
Ryan: Right. Okay.
Laura: Obviously, Zendaya is in this one.
Ryan: Isn't this in challengers? I will see.
Laura: You know what it was? It was a weird thing with, like, the boys. All the Peter Parker's being in these war movies and all the Mary Jane's being in the tennis movies. That was the joke. The boys weren't in tennis movies.
Ryan: So war movie was Tobey Maguire. And was it that, uh, movie? I like that movie. Yeah. The magic. The Jake Gyllenhaal. Yeah.
Laura: Jake.
Ryan: Natalie. Um, Portman movie.
Laura: That movie's awesome.
Ryan: Toby McQuai. Yeah, it's real good. It's same guy who did, um, that 30 cent movie, um, get rich or die trying.
Laura: He's gonna have me doing research on the fly, I guess.
Ryan: So. I'm sorry. I just woke up from a really long nap, so my brain is, like, going at a thousand miles an hour. As far as, like, tennis movies go. Tennis itself, I do find. Sometimes. I do find it.
Laura: Jim Sheridan.
Ryan: Yeah, there you go.
Laura: Jim Sheridan directed brothers.
Ryan: He did. And he also did get rich or die trying, which was. We were also. When we said that, we were just like, wow, this kind of white irishman doing this.
Laura: I liked both of those.
Ryan: Inherently. Quite. Yeah, black story. It was. Yeah, it was odd. Anyway. Yeah, I. The only times I've ever enjoyed watching tennis has been. Well, it was when Andy Murray was in the Wimbledon final. That was one of the few times I've actually enjoyed it. Wimbledon can be fun. At least the matches in this film are actually quite well put together and paced. And the sound design. Holy shit.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Like, uh, at one point, I was writing notes and I wasn't paying attention, and one of them hit a fucking tennis ball. And it gave me a frightening.
Laura: The tennis ball went right towards the camera, and I didn't realize that you got a fright at the time. But the woman next to me audibly was afraid. She gasped, and she moved as if the tennis ball was actually coming at her. This is not a 3d experience.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: But it was very effective for the audience.
Ryan: It was not a 3d experience. It did feel like an extra sensory experience.
Laura: Yeah. Cause of all the vibration.
Ryan: The only thing I would say, and it would probably be like a little knock against it, is that the ball coming towards the camera trope, it got a little bit tiresome after a while. I was like, oh, here comes a ball coming towards the camera. There is one instance where it goes into slow motion. You see a close up of the tennis ball, and I was like, that looks a little bit like shit when you look at the fibers on the tennis ball.
Laura: Didn't bother me at all.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: Not even a little bit.
Ryan: Yeah, it didn't, to me, didn't look great. But that really doesn't kind of take you away from the fact that, ah, this is a big beats extravaganza. Like, the music. The music really lends a sense of style and identity to this film. Um, it's insane. Yeah. And the soundtrack's very good. Like, very, very good.
Laura: Yeah, I put it on while I was doing dishes and preparing for this podcast.
Ryan: It pumps you up. Pumps you up.
Laura: I was dancing.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Uh, I felt great. So you were saying, ryan, that you weren't and aren't maybe particularly into tennis, and neither was, uh, the man who wrote the screenplay, Justin Karitskis, who said that he got the idea from that 2018 match between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, where apparently Serena got a call, like a penalty for getting coaching from the sidelines. And I don't know rules about tennis, but apparently that is against the rules. Um, and he said he thought about how in tennis, you're all alone on your side of the court, and what if you needed to talk to someone on the other side or get coaching? Or what if you had to have a conversation with someone that was really burdening you? That's not. That's, like, in the audience or something, and you can't do it, and you're just alone, and you're playing this game for a really long time. How would you display the tension of that particular situation? So that's how he ended up.
Ryan: That's interesting, coming up with that idea. Tennis, much like similar, uh, middle class to upper class sports, um, has a pretentious amount of rules and regulations.
Laura: I know nothing about it.
Ryan: Even to the point where, like, what they're able to wear and stuff and what kind of shoes are. It's like, it's not. It's probably not as bad as, like, golf. Um, but it's as bad, um.
Laura: Well, I've seen happy Gilmore. He kind of wore. Whatever. Are there rules?
Ryan: Yeah, he was. Well, yeah, but, I mean, that's.
Laura: That's for him.
Ryan: Yeah. I don't think you're allowed to happy Gilmore on, uh, an actual golf course. I don't think you're allowed to do.
Laura: The, uh, run up hockey stick.
Ryan: You can't bring a hockey stick on. No. Um, chip it in. To.
Laura: Just chip it in.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: As they say, I eat pieces of.
Ryan: Shit like you for breakfast. Yeah. It's like you eat pieces of shit. It's like. Whoa.
Laura: That's a great line from Happy Gilmore.
Ryan: It is. Yeah. I like happy Gilmore. I don't know why we're talking about it now, but there's. There's a. There's quite a, uh. I'd say it's quite like a staunch. It's bit very kind of upper crusty. That's all I've kind of ever felt about tennis in general. It's this kind of. This sophisticated game.
Laura: I've never cared, and I still don't care about tennis. But I do like some tennis movies.
Ryan: I think, in terms of. They've got this romantic thriller drama thing going on, I think tennis. They do a good job of making the tennis the perfect, uh, backdrop for the characters and their rivalry and their. I guess, the way that all this threesome kind of ties together. Um, and the history that they all have together. Because effectively, the film. The film is a jumpy, timey, wimey sort of thing.
Laura: Um, but don't worry. You can check out Zendaya's hair. If you don't know exactly where you are in time, if you forget. So the shorter it is. The shorter it is, the more present you are.
Ryan: The older she is. Yes. Um, which, I don't know, seems to be. That seems to be the way. I don't know. Is that kind of how you would define, like, women getting older?
Laura: Is that their hair gets shorter?
Ryan: Their hair gets shorter.
Laura: One. I mean, I don't know for sure, but I do know that there's a lot of grandmas out there with short hair.
Ryan: There are. Yeah. It's like. I don't know. Is it easier to maintain just having shorter hair?
Laura: Oh, yeah.
Ryan: Yeah. Okay. And then, uh, they get accused of being cabins. Cause they've got their fucking short ass hair. And it's like, oh, potentially grandmas usually aren't. Yeah. You look like you're about to cause some problems. Um, you're like. You're about to complain to a manager.
Laura: Oh, dear.
Ryan: Um, but yes.
Laura: So this film was originally meant to open the 2023 Venice Film Festival. But they pulled it. Like, the filmmakers pulled it a month before the festival because of the SAG aftra strike.
Ryan: Oh, of course.
Laura: In a film called Commandante replaced challengers as the opening night film.
Ryan: Wow.
Laura: I have not seen that film.
Ryan: No. I've not even heard of it. There are thousands of films out there that we've not seen. Oh, yes. At least. But yes. Okay. Well, yeah, I don't know. This film's now going. It's been doing the rounds for a while. And, uh, as of this recording, it hasn't been released yet. I think it doesn't come out till the 26 April.
Laura: I think it comes out the day before my birthday, which is April 27. And I tell you, every single year, I am blessed with an awesome film that comes out on my birthday weekend on a regular basis.
Ryan: What was it last year?
Laura: Shit. Last year. I don't remember. But I do know the year before was, uh, the unbearable weight of massive talent, which I really liked.
Ryan: And we went to go see that in the cinema.
Laura: We were the only ones there.
Ryan: I think we were the only ones.
Laura: There had my large free popcorn, and I had a great time. And the other ones that stood out for me were forgetting Sarah Marshall. And I love you, man. Also came out on my birthday weekend.
Ryan: Right. Okay.
Laura: I see in the past.
Ryan: In the past, uh, often it's a.
Laura: Nicolas Cage film, which I'm pretty stoked about.
Ryan: Okay. Okay.
Laura: This year is this one, which is even better. Honestly loved it. Spoilers for the end of the podcast. I was reading about this film, and apparently Tim. Tim Chalamet and Austin Butler were considered for the role of art, um, before Mike, uh, Feist got the role. And I don't even think I said who was in this movie? Let me just go back. Zendaya plays Tashi Duncan, Josh O'Connor plays Patrick. And Mike Feist plays art. Um, which I didn't recognize art from anything. I've seen Josh O'Connor before.
Ryan: I liked the fact that we were presented with a couple of actors who hadn't really seen anything before, because they are an absolute treat.
Laura: Mike Feist was wonderful. Apparently, he was in west side Story.
Ryan: Okay. Yeah. Film I haven't seen I have not seen that. The Spielberg one.
Laura: The Spielbergy one.
Ryan: Yeah. Okay.
Laura: Um, and Josh O'Connor, I've seen that guy's penis before in another movie that we have not covered on this podcast yet called Mothering Sunday.
Ryan: Okay. So I didn't recognize any of them. The most recognizable face is obviously Zendaya. Like, she's. Yeah, but she's Zendaya.
Laura: Mhm.
Ryan: It's not Zendaya.
Laura: No.
Ryan: I am also foreign friends.
Laura: Friends of Zendaya call her z. I've noticed. But we're not her friends, though.
Ryan: Well, the thing is, it's gonna end up getting into prince territory, you know, I mean, where she then just ends up being like a symbol and the symbol's like a z with like a horizontal cross through it or something. It's gonna get odd, probably for her. Um, but anyway, no, she's the most recognizable player in the piece. But it's. It's refreshing. It's refreshing to see her in stuff like this. Now, I'm. This is obviously, people are gonna be like, you fucking idiot. But like, I haven't really seen an awful lot of, um. Christ.
Laura: Euphoria.
Ryan: Euphoria.
Laura: Like, I knew you were going there. Cause I'm like, if you haven't seen her in a role like this, and this isn't like euphoria at all, but if you want to see her do some dark shit, this, uh, nothing that she does in this movie is dark.
Ryan: No, but if you want to see.
Laura: Her do something different than Mary Jane. MJ. M. Yeah.
Ryan: Either Spider man or the Disney Channel stuff. Um, I don't know about any of that. But her Disney Channel stuff, I don't know about any of it either.
Laura: I know she did it. I know that's her story.
Ryan: Yeah, well, she's just there with a litany of other prominent, uh, like prominent stars and actors from Miley Cyrus to Shia LaBeouf. Like, they all kind of ended up Ryan Gosling. Ryan Gosling was in the Disney boy.
Laura: He was a Disney boy.
Ryan: Holy shit. Right? Okay, so he did fine then. Um, but yeah, she's the most recognizable face, at least to me. Um, but the thing was, was that I went into the film completely unaware of what it was or what it was going to be. I did. I did get from the posters and from the initial clips and stuff that they put out there that there was a throuple that was going to happen. There was some kind of element of a throuple.
Laura: Hell yeah.
Ryan: Um, and you're not disappointed, but the thing is, that. And the thing is, is that I just did not recognize the two main guys. And I will say 100% like their relationship. And it's something that I quite like in a movie, which is like a, uh, best friends rivalry. Best friends. Not friends anymore, but, like, deep down they're always going to be friends because they always challenge each other. Kind of reminded me a little bit of Akira. Adorable. Yeah. Where it was. You know, if anyone's familiar with the anime, um, if that's anything that they're into.
Laura: Nerds.
Ryan: The very heart of that story is the relationship between Kaneda and Tetsuo and how they fight themselves to the death. Um, understandably so. But deep down, it's like they are friends and they will always be friends, um, even though they know that they have to fight each other at some point, which is kind of what challengers kind of is.
Laura: Wow, Ryan, look at you.
Ryan: Which is weird, right?
Laura: Holy crap. Yeah, maybe m that's why you liked it so much. You go, this is like Akira pro.
Ryan: The thing is that the way that their relationship is, is 100%. It is on point. Like, it is.
Laura: Is it a match point?
Ryan: It is. Oh, dear. Um, it is, uh, it is perfectly depicted in this film. It is. And they are so incredibly charismatic in this film. Um.
Laura: Um, they really are.
Ryan: Certainly the guy who plays spike. He is great.
Laura: Josh O'Connor is amazing.
Ryan: The art, like, art and Patrick's relationship in this movie, I, um, mean, it comes close to outshining as zendaya. Like, I mean, it just.
Laura: I think that they do, and I think that's a really important part of it, is that their relationship is so strong and it has such a deep roots.
Ryan: Yeah, it transcends. Like, it transcends vagina, pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. Like, these two divining rods come together in a docking station. Sorry, situation. And, um, it just. Yeah, it just. It just fucking works, you know?
Laura: Yeah, it does. They're great together. They had about six weeks before filming to do tennis training, and they also did a lot of rehearsal ahead of time. I think that's a big Luca thing, right? He's really into rehearsal and stuff. So they had the time and I guess, um. Oh, gosh, what is his name? Mike and Josh would go out together and run lines together and hang out together. Uh, they filmed it in Boston. So I don't know if that was where they were also rehearsing, but it might have been. But they had the time to work on that. I mean, Zendaya was there as well, and she also got to kind of work with them and, and create that base of their charisma and their relationship.
Ryan: Yeah, well, Zendaya, her character at least, um, is an outsider for the most part. She kind of is always on the fringes of these men's lives.
Laura: Um, they've been friends since they were little kids. I mean, there's the part of them.
Ryan: But the thing is, is that her, her character, Tashi, is cut from a, like a different cloth. Like, she is a, uh, like, she is a tennis, she is a tennis pro from a young age who, who transcends, like, transcends the, the, the tennis sport, so to speak. It's like she doesn't just live and breathe tennis. Like she, like, is the, is the, is as important to her as oxygen is. Like, that's how she sees tennis. And that it's this kind of passionate, um, like this passionate vocation. Like, it's the thing that makes her tick. And she does not stop talking about tennis. Um, so for her, yeah, so she's, I always see her in kind of like this elevated position. And if she isn't doing anything in regards to either playing tennis or being.
Laura: Associated with tennis, talking about tennis, coaching.
Ryan: People, she is not fucking interested, like, in the very least. And you do find that because of that, like, her inherent nature and certainly the way that she behaves through the course of the story, she comes across incredibly cold. And I do think that she is a little bit manipulative, and I think she definitely plays it to the strengths that she's looking for. But I just think overall, like, it just makes her very interesting. Like, uh, menage a trois, you know?
Laura: I think it's interesting that you point her out as being potentially a bit manipulative. When each of these characters start off very classically, not pure, necessarily, but on a neutral zone and a neutral plane. And then once a romance is kind of introduced, is where everyone starts pulling on these strings. And I do think it's not just her, but to be fair, Arya, she's.
Ryan: The puppet master, though. I think she's definitely not as much.
Laura: As she wants to be. But I think that's an interesting thing about it, is that they're all really quite codependent.
Ryan: Yeah. Ah.
Laura: And it really kind of sets the whole thing get set off because of, uh, I mean, you could put it back to where they, they have their little sexy time, their little sexiest time. We'll go back to that. But, ah, when art realizes that he wants to be with her and he doesn't want Patrick to be with her. And so he kind of sets in motion that discussion where he doesn't love you and that kind of thing a little bit later on.
Ryan: Yeah, I don't think she's. The thing is, she sets them up, like, immediately in that she won't give them their number because she refers to herself as a homewrecker.
Laura: She doesn't want to be a homewrecker.
Ryan: And she's like, she knows exactly what she's like. That's the thing. She knows indefinitely what sort of person she is.
Laura: It's so funny when the boys first meet Tashi and they're so enamored and they can't take their eyes off her, and they finally both decide to talk to her. I'm thinking these are two walking boners just coming in to ruin this woman's life who is starting off a career. She's trying to go to Stanford and play tennis, but then she's also gonna go pro, and she has her whole life and career in front of her. And these two boners come in, and it's hilarious. It's very entertaining. But then it flips right to where she comes in and I go, oh, no, she's the one that's going to ruin their lives. But then it's all kind of, I think it all ends up being quite equal into them all being the arbiters of their own destruction, in a way.
Ryan: Exactly. Yeah. Because, um, as time goes on. Yeah. You do see that, like, the passion that they have for tennis, it never diminishes because they just live and breathe the sport. But it is slowly but surely, it is the arbiter of their own destruction is their passion for the sport. Um.
Laura: Cause, yeah, like you were saying that Tashi said she called herself a homewrecker, but she said over and over again that she didn't want to be a homewrecker. Yet in the same breath, pits the two boys against each other in their one on one match.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And says, whoever wins gets my number. So she just sets them up for this immediately.
Ryan: Yes. Um, she's also younger at this point as well. Like, she's about to go to college.
Laura: She's, um, 18 years old.
Ryan: Yes. So she's, you know, I think what begins is a bit of fun, does devolve into quite an emotional rollercoaster.
Laura: I do want to talk about this.
Ryan: You know, that takes. That takes about, you know, 15 or 20 years, because, again, this is timey wimey, jumpy wumpy, um, sort of story, which is something, again, I quite like it's that the way that it's been written is that it is, um, it is juxtaposed against their current, um, challenger match at this current tournament. So it goes from each of the sets, I think, one to three, and then it gets pushed into a tie break situation as well. And you can see the parallels between the. Whatever way the match set or the match point goes and what character it favors, um, depending on, like, the emotional arc that's kind of being depicted in the rest of the scenes of the story, which I quite liked.
Laura: Yeah, it is pretty clever to have a story that does time jump back and forth constantly, to have it be also linear and pushing the story forward.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: You're never going back and feeling like you're going back. You're always pushing forward, even though you're going back in time, which was great. So it was never redundant or confusing. It was just. It worked. I do want to talk about this threesome scene, and I know that there's not a penis in this.
Ryan: There is not, no.
Laura: But I do like it a lot. And it was very interesting watching such a. It's rare. I feel like these days, it's quite rare to have kind of a, uh, sensual, erotic film out there in the theater as a wide release. This movie's pretty intense. Yes, the sexy times, but there's no.
Ryan: The fact that Zendaya is in it is that it's going to be immediately in the mainstream, relatively quite quickly. I mean, I, uh, mean, the audience that we were in and we were a part of were. I mean, for the most part was mostly kind of like, it was young women who were in the audience.
Laura: Some women dressed like they were gonna go play tennis, which I thought was funny.
Ryan: Some did, yes. But you can tell, like, the. The audience was there for. Were there because of the Zendaya. Um, the Zendaya casting, like, 100%. Um, they were there because Zendaya's in this movie, so it's immediately going to be in the mainstream. But I would agree that, like, yes, this film has a lot of sensuality around it. And this is this scene, this threesome scene, um, which begins more like a conversation in their grotty hotel room, um, after they've been drinking, and this is the night before, they have their one on one where she's like, whoever wins gets my phone number, basically.
Laura: Right.
Ryan: Um, but this is. This is where all the publicity. This is where all the publicity shots and stuff center around. Is this technically inadvertent commons threesome scene. Um, but it is mostly. Mostly just kissing. It's where most of, like, it's 100% kissing.
Laura: There's only kissing.
Ryan: It's only kissing. There's a boner. But, uh. But like, it's all.
Laura: I could talk about that for an hour.
Ryan: Yeah, but there was all. There's all, um. There's all this build up, you know, where they're like sharing stories.
Laura: That's like the foreplay. All of this sexy stuff is foreplay. And I think that's what they were trying to do as well, is like, that's the foreplay. And the tennis is the sex of this film. Because again, there's not really any sex in this film. But that part, there's plenty of sensuality. That part I said in my head when they were about to make out, I thought, looks like we're negotiating a threesome. I was thinking about get him to the Greek. Do you remember that part?
Ryan: I think so.
Laura: It's great.
Ryan: Yeah, I think so. I can't remember that movie that much. All I remember from get me to the Greek is, uh. Or get him to the Greek is the Geoffrey.
Laura: The Geoffrey and the fuzzy walls.
Ryan: Yeah, the Jeffrey walls.
Laura: The furry walls.
Ryan: I want to say they're Jeffrey.
Laura: That movie's funny.
Ryan: Yeah, it's pretty good, actually. That's not bad, that movie. Um, yeah, no, well, they start talking about like, where Patrick's, like, I taught art how to jerk off when they.
Laura: Were twelve years old.
Ryan: And he's like, he's like, well, hold on. You showed him how? How did he do it?
Laura: I loved that she asked every question that I also had in my head.
Ryan: Mhm.
Laura: Like, how did you show him? What do you mean exactly? Please explain piece by piece what you're talking about.
Ryan: This needs to be explained. Yeah, it's like we can't move on until you explain it. Yeah.
Laura: That was really. It was adorable and weird because, like.
Ryan: I bring that up because like, no one ever showed me how to jerk off. I just. I figured it, uh, out.
Laura: But it's interesting. Yeah, I mean, I think you have to.
Ryan: Yeah, you just, you know, things start to. Things start to.
Laura: Things start to change.
Ryan: Things start to go in motion.
Laura: You're not boarding school. So, like, these boys were where you're in a bunk and.
Ryan: Well, I was always alone at the weekends.
Laura: Okay.
Ryan: And there was soft core porn on the tv.
Laura: Yeah, that's where it starts.
Ryan: On channel four.
Laura: Yeah, that's where it starts.
Ryan: Or no, channel five. Sorry. It was, uh. You know who, uh. Oh, God, it's, uh. Who's the lead singer of, um, kiss. What's his name again? Um.
Laura: Oh my God, Gene.
Ryan: Gene Simmons, right? Yeah, Gene Simmons. His wife, Shannon Tweed is, ah, in a bunch of softcore porn movies. That is an impressionable, um, 1112 year old boy. Had a big effect on me.
Laura: I used to. I hope my mother never listens to this.
Ryan: Oh, dear.
Laura: But I remember USA, up all night, um, um, Gilbert Gottfried. And I wasn't into Gilbert Gottfried, but they had like, all those kind of sexy shows.
Ryan: Affleck.
Laura: I know people know what I'm talking about.
Ryan: Every time, every time I do that you do have, you get a little tingle.
Laura: I can't. Silk stockings. That's embarrassing. Anyway.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah, let's talk about that. Yeah. Because our stories are not essential as.
Laura: No, they're awkward. They're awkward to sell. And I said to you, also in the movie, that Zendaya, uh, is cooler. Like, Tashi is cooler than I ever was and maybe ever will be at 18, more self assured and cool. She says what? She thinks, when I was 18, I was a, um, mess.
Ryan: No one is like her at 18. No, they can't be fucking.
Laura: We way too cool. No, the way that she negotiates a sexy almost threesome with these dudes and then just leaves them with boners and walks away. Yeah, it is manipulative, but I loved it. Um, that's so cool.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Yes. And can I say the part that I love so much?
Ryan: Mhm.
Laura: Boner slap.
Ryan: Yeah, boner slap.
Laura: Art gets up and Patrick slaps his boner. Hilarious. Yeah, I mean, I know you guys have seen it by now, so you'll know what I'm talking about.
Ryan: Exactly. Plus, you shouldn't be listening to this episode if you haven't watched it either, because we warned you before. I told you.
Laura: Really warn them. Um, but they should know by now.
Ryan: Well, they should know by now. This is like episode 70. Whatever, you know, it's crazy. Yeah. Anyway, I told you, which is what he has on that t shirt.
Laura: Boner slap. That. I meant to look up what that meant, if that meant anything, and I didn't.
Ryan: Ahead of this, I told you I just liked it. Even if it didn't mean anything, I just liked it.
Laura: Yeah, I'll get a, I'll get you a t shirt for your birthday.
Ryan: I told you. Yeah. Um, but this leads directly into, um, from that scene. It leads directly to the dick scene.
Laura: It sure does.
Ryan: It sure does.
Laura: So this comes in at, uh, I put the timer on my phone, so I think it's pretty precise. Pretty close. Uh, 46 minutes and 50 seconds ish.
Ryan: Wow. Okay.
Laura: Um, yeah, I tried to get it as close as possible. So it might be more like 46, 30, something like that.
Ryan: It's give or take like a minute or 30 seconds. Odd. It's within that window. Um, you will know the minute you get into the locker room. Um, yes. And you're in a locker room situation. Patrick's on his phone and he's using Tinder.
Laura: He's got to figure out where to sleep that night.
Ryan: This is how he finds places to rest. Is he just. Yeah, he just picks up dates and does. Does that. Uh.
Laura: Pretty clever. Uh, it's pretty gross. It is clever. It is gross.
Ryan: It is a bit gross, but it's clever.
Laura: He's an attractive man, and people in the film, as his, like, the characters, complement that character's sexual prowess. Right. Um, in his body.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So he's going around looking good, feeling good.
Ryan: According to that. He smells.
Laura: Yes, they did say smells, but I assume that before he initiated any coitus with the tinder date that he was on.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: That he showered. He probably used that opportunity.
Ryan: I would hope so. Um, yeah, it's, uh.
Laura: Yeah, he could have shaved, but that shaved. That's also how you figure out where you are in time, is if he's got 05:00 shadow.
Ryan: Yes. Yeah. If you're looking at facial hair and haircuts, that's how they've got longer hair when they're younger and shaggier. Yeah. Because definitely with art, like, he's always baby faced and certainly Zendaya, because that's something I do appreciate, is that I don't know if we're in the same bunch, but I don't think. I definitely know I look slightly different, but I still look pretty much the same as I did when I was in my twenties.
Laura: I do like that there aren't, it's not a huge span of time in between, but there are movies where you have ten movie or ten years in between. Um, in a film and you have different actors playing the younger characters, and it's, like, stupid because they do look young. But 30, I mean, some of them are over 30 at this point anyway now, so it's fine. But I think that they did a great job with that, at least.
Ryan: Yeah, they did. I think it's jarring, though. Yes.
Laura: Is when you find out that Zendaya or Tashi and art have a daughter. That creeped me out. That was right in the beginning as well.
Ryan: And the daughter's also almost as big as art is, because you've gotta be maybe seven. She's massive. Six or five.
Laura: Maybe five. She's pretty old.
Ryan: Zendaya, at least compared to Tom Holland, is quite, uh. She's quite a leggy lass. She's pretty big. She's pretty tall.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: You know, um, so it's probably, it's probably totally. It's probably totally fine. But yes, they do have a child and she looks incredibly full grown. Like she's.
Laura: Yes, one of her first lines in the film, the daughter is mommy, can I watch Spider Verse?
Ryan: Yeah. Dunno if I appreciate that that much. I did write it down and I had, like, question marks about it.
Laura: I did laugh, but then if you. It's a silly little nod.
Ryan: It's a silly little in joke.
Laura: It's not even an in joke or a nod necessarily. It's like an obvious thing, considering who's in the film and the fact that Amy Pascal produced all of the new Spider man movies and the Spider Verse movies. And she claims to be the one that got Zendaya involved in this project in the first place.
Ryan: I mean, Zendaya also has a producing credit for challengers as well.
Laura: She sure does.
Ryan: So that's fine. Um, yeah, I mean, if you're gonna show your kid anything, those spider verse movies are. Ah, yeah, like, you can't really go wrong with those.
Laura: Wow. We really got off the subject of the penis scene.
Ryan: I know I just said locker room and then it was just kind of tinder. Tinder.
Laura: Uh, yeah. So, interestingly enough, the penises in this movie are not from our main actors. They are from people that we never meet and don't get to talk to or know anything about. They're locker room boys, tennis boys.
Ryan: They are? Yeah. They're different forms of players. And I guess, I mean, there's the self deprecating one who's like, kind of yelling into his locker. And, uh, the rest of them are kind of going around. I mean, one of them's porky. Picking it for a little bit.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Kind of just walking around. But I guess, like, the scene itself is. It's weird. Yeah. Because it's kind of strangely chaotic. And he's kind of in the middle of it all. And he's on Tinder and he's, you know, he's swiping right on gals and dudes.
Laura: Absolutely.
Ryan: Um, because we've already seen that he'll, you know, he's got no issue with, you know, giving dudes a little bit of a kissy.
Laura: Yeah. I mean, he's on. He's a variable on the sexual spectrum.
Ryan: He is. Yes.
Laura: And that's totally awesome.
Ryan: This is. Yeah, I mean, you see, it's multiple, at least two. It's like two or three. And, I mean, we got to this point in the movie, and, um, we just saw the kissing scene and we didn't see any dicks.
Laura: I knew exactly where the penises were going to be. I didn't know when it was going to happen, but I knew it was the locker room scene. But when it happened, you know, because we're in the theater, this is the first time we've seen this film. And, of course, and just fingers crossed there's gonna be a wiener in it, so we can talk about this movie.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Um, and it was more than we expected, but, yeah, I had to slap you in the middle of it. Like, look, that's happening.
Ryan: Well, I was writing stuff down because there was other stuff happening in the scene that I wrote.
Laura: Yeah, there was tons down.
Ryan: And then I just started writing down dicks, dicks, dicks. Um, but the. Yeah, it was, it was, um. It's. Yeah, I think. I think we have to, because of the fact that we're, like, watching the film for analytical and review purposes as well. I do feel like I need to watch the film again.
Laura: I'll buy this film just as a very, uh, happy to buy it and watch it again.
Ryan: I don't know if I'd want to see it in the cinema again because I don't know if I can, like, I can relive the experience the way that I had it the first time that I saw it, which is kind of. Kind of a shame. I feel like if it does come out, it does come out on Blu ray, then that's probably the better way for me to watch it.
Laura: We had a pretty good time.
Ryan: We had a very good time. And I'm just. I'm concerned about trying to recreate that, that time.
Laura: That was the day after ten days of me being at the Florida film festival nonstop, every day. And I still loved it.
Ryan: I mean, yeah, but you've got, like, you've got, like, an addiction, which is. This is a healthy addiction to have, at least, is that you go and watch movies, like, that's fine.
Laura: I have a stamina for it.
Ryan: Yeah, it's better than being addicted to smack. Like, I mean, it's much better. And getting aids and shit. Yeah, it's much better. Um, like, just watching movies and just watching movies all the time.
Laura: I do love watching movies.
Ryan: I do. I mean, I also do, like, watching movies. I didn't have anything to do with the film festival this year because, you know, I fucking. I work a job that just, like, works me to the bone. Um, for now. For just now. Um, but, yeah, no, I do. I like when. When I get to the cinema. I hate going to the cinema. But then when I get there, I'm like, okay, I've got my beer. And I'm, like, ready to watch a movie. As long as it's good. That's my thing.
Laura: It's funny because I don't, I don't even necessarily care if it's bad.
Ryan: Well, you're just all about moving pictures. That's the thing.
Laura: I do love moving pictures.
Ryan: And I do. It's like shining a laser pen at a cat and chases it around.
Laura: It's like meditation for me. A friend of mine said that, and it really clicked for me because I like the dark room. Um, and I can focus on anything other than what's going on in my life. And my life is pretty great. Like, I'm having a great time.
Ryan: Sorry, I don't believe you fucking said that.
Laura: I'm having a lovely time.
Ryan: We're actually doing very well.
Laura: That just doesn't sound good. It's just, it doesn't. I'm happy. I'm a happy person having a good time. But it's nice to just, I think that's what cinema is for a lot of people. It's just letting go. And you're shutting everything off. Your phone's off. You don't have it vibrating. You're just there. And that's all you have to think about. And you immerse yourself in the story. I saw some bullshit about who fucking said it. Jerry fucking Seinfeld.
Ryan: Oh, of course.
Laura: Loves Seinfeld. Did you see that shit today? This is gonna be in the future. But he said cinema's dead.
Ryan: Yeah, that's what he said. But then he made a movie anyway.
Laura: He said, I'm like, oh, sorry. That b movie wasn't the success you thought it was gonna be. Jerry Seinfeld, calm down. No one cares about your opinion. I know I love Seinfeld, but that annoyed me a lot.
Ryan: I'm like, yeah. I, uh, mean, I think. I think.
Laura: I disagree.
Ryan: I don't think it's like I need to take any stock of what Jerry Seinfeld says about the film industry.
Laura: For me, it is.
Ryan: I think the film industry is and will always be a source of money for anybody. And also, if you don't like mainstream movies. There are plenty of independent movies that you can go and watch. There are so many outlets for films now. It's. It's. It's laughable.
Laura: Yep. We have so eleven months until the next film festival, of course.
Ryan: And Florida film festival is not. You might know this already, that is not the only festival, um, that exists. So there are plenty of opportunities to watch countless other things.
Laura: Yes.
Ryan: Whether they are good or not, it doesn't matter. Um, there's, uh, plenty of opportunities to watch independent moving colors and pictures and.
Laura: Your local independent colors and moving pictures. Pictures.
Ryan: Yes. So, yeah, you're kind of like a magpie for celluloid. I mean, that's kind of.
Laura: I love that shit. But that's also why we're together, so.
Ryan: Sorry. True. Yes, that's exactly right.
Laura: Okay. So that was the. That was the penis scene.
Ryan: Yeah. I don't have anything else to really add. No. Uh, because, like, I think there's a. I think there's a deeper meaning and involvement in the scene. I just. Because it comes by so fast and we're writing notes and we're doing this and we're in the cinema and we're in the dark and it's like, honestly, my notes. There's stuff that's like, I've obviously written notes on top of notes. So when I was writing a sentence, half of the sentence has another half of the sentence right on top of it.
Laura: We should post this like we did when we posted the. The notes that we made.
Ryan: Ah. For. I mean, I'll even. I'll even say, um. Yeah, I've definitely written on top of things. Like, I'll take a photo of one of the primary offenders and I have no idea what the word is underneath it. I haven't got a clue. But, uh, yes. Uh, it's that sort of thing. So I would probably want to see the film completely unfiltered without me having to make notes and do all that sort of thing.
Laura: It'll be great to enjoy it. Like, really. I mean, I really enjoyed it. Um, but to not write notes and to just. Because I'm sure there's stuff that we missed as well.
Ryan: It's a good, like, it's a good experience in the cinema, I think this movie in general, I think just because of the sound design and the way that it's been put together, it's just. It's an interesting piece. Um, but certainly. Yeah. Um, it's a shame that, like, because we do. We do things the way that we do them that. Yeah. Sometimes I feel like, we're, uh, the.
Laura: Third film that we've done that's like a fresh theater film. We did Red Rocket and we did Saltburn. So it is interesting, and I've said this already, but I'm going to repeat myself, that it's surprising that there wasn't more nudity considering. Especially considering the fact that Josh O'Connor has gone full frontal before.
Ryan: Yeah, a lot.
Laura: Uh, a lot. And, uh, we'll talk about that movie another time.
Ryan: Are you talking about the sauna?
Laura: I'm gonna talk about the sauna. The cheap out, the total bullshit cop out sauna. Josh O'Connor or Patrick walks into a sauna where art is having a nice sauna himself.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And he's naked.
Ryan: It's actually. You know what? It's actually a really good scene. It's really good because. Not because of, like. Because the nudity would only add something to the beginning of the scene. Because they're referring. He's referring like, art is referring to the fact that Patrick is basically, like, bottomless and he can just see his deck and he comes in all dick swinging, basically.
Laura: Yeah. He's trying to be intimidating and he points it out.
Ryan: Yeah. But it's like. It's like a power reversal. Like. And then art throws it back on him later in the scene. Uh. I don't want to describe what happens.
Laura: Something like a tennis match, you would say it's fucking.
Ryan: It's just really well put together. The music's really loud, but you can always hear what they're saying.
Laura: Every tense conversation that they have is a tennis match in and of itself. Back, forth, back, back.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And it's really intense.
Ryan: And that scene's really good. And because of how good the scene gets, I'm, um. Like, the only thing. The only issue I have with it is the fact that they refer to his dick. And then he kind of. They do a sneaky little cover up y thing, which, uh, looked cheap as hell. It looked incredibly cheap. It looked bad.
Laura: Which made me think that there is a version of this that's different, potentially, yes. Because. Yeah. Uh, art could say, cover yourself up, you know, and it's fine. And he could do that.
Ryan: I mean, do you think this is gonna be Lucas? Maybe Lucas most. One of his most popular films, like, certainly within the mainstream. I mean, it probably will be.
Laura: I think this will be more popular than call me by your name.
Ryan: I think that because. I don't know, it's, uh. I'd say this is far more accessible than call me by your name.
Laura: I love that movie so much.
Ryan: You know, that's not to say because call me by your name is pretty much perfect.
Laura: But this film did not make me cry. I will cry every single time I watch that movie.
Ryan: No, but I think. I think, like, at the very heart of call me by your name, like, there's a sect of. There's a sect of the audience that won't find it appealing, you know, just, just by virtue of the fact of, like, the story it's telling.
Laura: Blame.
Ryan: Yeah, I mean, that's just, that's just the way that is, um, beautiful.
Laura: Beautiful.
Ryan: But at least. At least with this, like, you get a little bit of everything. Um, yeah, you do. You know, so I do think that this film will be more popular than that film, just in terms of interest, I think just because. Yeah, that's my feeling, certainly, because, I mean, you just look at the audience and the amount of people we had in the RPX theater, and that screen is massive. Um, just the amount of people there, the amount of people who just enjoyed the film, um, and just laughing the entire time. Because, I mean, I think the film, to me at least, it points. And I was high. But, you know, we're watching it and I was just like, is it just, is it me or is it acting a little goofy? Like, is the film being deliberately goofy and self referential? Like, is it being a little goofy? And I think it is a little bit, yeah. And I think that's fine because you don't want it to feel as niche as the tennis profession is as well, you know, where it's very much a kind of upper crusty sort of profession.
Laura: I mean, at the heart of it, you have, you have these codependent people that none of them are getting exactly what they want in their life, and they feel like they can maybe get it from somebody else. So Tashi wants the career that art has. Right? But then art wants what Tashi has, and then, uh, what Patrick wants is what both of them have. And so they're always pushing and pulling on each other, and they're never quite satisfied. So they're always going to be tugging at each other to try and get what they want or what they feel like they deserve. And they're willing to pull another person down. Well, uh, maybe not. It's like they're. I was thinking they're going to try to pull someone down to get what they want, but then eventually, at the core of it, you still have a great amount of love for one another.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Which is adorable.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So.
Ryan: And yeah. I don't really want to talk about the story of the film too much.
Laura: I'm done talking about this story now.
Ryan: Yeah. Because I think the film ends amazingly. It's got such a fantastic, satisfying ending.
Laura: I almost did like a, uh. Like my arms in the air. Like a fist pump thing.
Ryan: Yeah, you went a little bit crazy.
Laura: I did go a little bit, yeah.
Ryan: You did go a little bit crazy.
Laura: I had a great time. I had a great time.
Ryan: The slow mo craziness. It's like when. Yeah, when all that stuff kicks off at the end and it's like they're, you know, they're, uh, standing on like a sheet of glass.
Laura: So cool.
Ryan: Yeah. And it's the weirdest thing. And basically they just throw everything at you at that point. It's like a film going experience. It's fucking wild.
Laura: That took eight. About eight days to shoot that final bit of the film.
Ryan: Yes. Wild. Absolutely wild. Um, and it's. Yeah, and it doesn't. It doesn't look out of place. I was perfectly happy with it going a bit mental.
Laura: Hell, yeah.
Ryan: It's like that stuff in ambulance. It's like. I wouldn't. It's like an ambulance when they do that, uh, where Michael Bay does that drone stuff.
Laura: Oh, my God.
Ryan: From, like, drone videos he's seen online, which are completely incomprehensible. Like, it's just. It's just like drone pilot. Like, uh, buffoonery. But he puts it in a fucking movie and you're like, this is. This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. That's kind of like the end of challengers.
Laura: That's so weird that you say that, but I really love ambulance. Love it.
Ryan: Ambulance is damn. Um, good. It's just. It's a shame it's too long, but. Yeah, it's way too long, but it's pretty good.
Laura: It's a great one. It's a great one to dip in and out of, like on a Sunday afternoon when you're, like, cleaning or something. And you just. And then you can just kind of stand there with your hands on your hips for like 15 minutes and then go back to what you're doing and.
Ryan: You get to see something pretty and it's like, cool. Yeah, there's Jake.
Laura: You get to see Jake.
Ryan: Yeah. Everyone's pretty in that film as well. Even the gangsters in that movie are like, they're very pretty.
Laura: I just wanted to talk about Lucas next project that I'm really excited about, which is going to be an adaptation of William s Burroughs short book queer.
Ryan: Huh? Huh, interesting.
Laura: And the screenplay was written by Justin Kuritskis, who wrote the screenplay for challengers. Justin is also married to Celine Song, who directed past lives. I love it. All this weird web that they've weaved. Um, so Daniel Craig.
Ryan: I fucking love past lives.
Laura: Oh, God.
Ryan: Past lives is great.
Laura: Past lives made me weep, made me weak. I was a shell of a human when I left that film. Um, but Daniel Craig in queer. I don't know if they're going to call it queer. We'll see what that actually is named. That's cool. If they do, I'd love that.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: He's playing the renowned counterculture author's alter ego, an outcast american expat who lives in Mexico. Um, and he's playing in the film with Drew Starkey, uh, who stars as a younger man with whom he becomes madly infatuated. And the film is currently shooting in Italy. So apparently this book. I haven't read, uh, these Burroughs books, but this is the post junkie film. So Junkie was William Espros on heroin. And this is post heroine is queer.
Ryan: Interesting.
Laura: So it's. It was kind of written off for a while because of all the sexy homosexuality.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: So there's no. I'm super down for that.
Ryan: Well, no, yeah, no, that's a little bit more, uh. Yeah, I guess there are outlets for that sort of thing, though, that didn't really exist before.
Laura: Yeah, I'm into it. I'm excited. It's shooting now in Italy, so maybe we'll get to see that next year or the year after. Um, it's gonna be great. So, yes, ratings excellent. Go for it.
Ryan: Um, visibility in context. Is that what we're doing now?
Laura: Absolutely.
Ryan: Okay. Like we always do.
Laura: Like we always do.
Ryan: Um, so I'm gonna go with a, uh, four. And that you see everything, and contextually, it makes sense because it's in a locker room. I kind of. I just need a little bit more in terms of, like, what the scene's doing, um, in order for me to kind of make a better judgment on it. Um, yeah, I guess that's my thing. It's like I kind of feel a little bit lost about it.
Laura: Um, it is kind of weird because then you think about it as a whole, and you think about the sauna scene.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And you go, oh, I'm missing something here.
Ryan: Yeah. Like, there's something absent. There is something absent. There's a little bit absence, but, yeah. The issue is with the dick scene in general is that I think there's more to it. I just, I didn't get it the first time around. But then if you look at the sauna scene, um, and there's nothing. And obviously there's references to like, you know, erectics and stuff like that, slightly different, but they're all kind of boner slap, boner slap smack. Um, in his erection. Um. You know, I also think about the sauna scene and like how strong it becomes. Like do you need that in order to improve that scene? But then when we're sitting there and we're like, yeah, well, why you referring to it? It's like that scene in doom generation, um, where they're talking about the tattoo that he has on his penis.
Laura: Yes.
Ryan: It would be far more effective at that point to show it. Um, because otherwise for the sake of controversy. For controversy's sake, it would be like, yes, just take it the whole way. Um, and that's kind of what I feel like in these moments as well is that you kind of, you kind of feel like you've been a little bit cheated out of something. Certainly when it is referred to directly within the scene itself, you know, and certainly it has been alluded to that, like he's lothario and all this sort of thing. Like it would, it would make, it would make more sense because at the very least, um.
Laura: No, I still, I don't remember anything.
Ryan: Yeah, I don't, I can't remember it. It's completely forgettable as well.
Laura: Yeah, it wasn't that good.
Ryan: Uh, it wasn't that good. But like at least there.
Laura: Good luck to you, Leo. Grand.
Ryan: There you go.
Laura: At least, at least with Daryl McCormick.
Ryan: At least with that movie, you know, they did the, you know, they reference it. He's a gigolo. And then you eventually, you eventually get to see everything. So then it like, to us, to me at least, it felt like it was a payoff. So I do feel like with this, it's a little bit of a cheap out. Uh, but I still give the visibility with the locker room scene at least a four because of, you know, as much as you do see. But I do think there's a little bit more to that scene than we were able to get the time to digest.
Laura: I think I wrote down five and I think I might just stick with it. It is that kind of honesty. You're in a locker room, there's a bunch of dudes I hear about the locker room at the y. We've talked about it before. Everyone's got their wieners out. Um, so that's a very common, natural, honest situation.
Ryan: I don't know if I appreciate that. Uh, I feel like I have PTSD.
Laura: From every man that's walked into the locker room at the YMCA has PTSD, apparently.
Ryan: Yeah. It's weird.
Laura: That, uh, place is a. Is a hellscape.
Ryan: Fucking hog nest.
Laura: Hog nest?
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Oh, my God. Okay, so we're in the hog nest in the locker room, and I come.
Ryan: Out of the goddamn walls. Yes.
Laura: Well, that's a different thing. I mean, maybe that's a different section of the YMCA, but I don't want.
Ryan: Aliens, and everyone's on the wall, but, like, what comes out of their chests are just, like, dicks, which is kind of weird, obviously, because that's what the, uh, chest bursters were modeled on anyway. The aliens modeled on, like, big dicks.
Laura: Okay, that's amazing. But I don't want the sauna scene to take away from the one that we have, even though it's hard to kind of disconnect them when you go. Josh O'Connor does not have a problem with being full frontal nude. So there has to be something that I don't know and I didn't find in my research to figure out why that's not there. It does not detract from the movie in any sort of way that don't see his penis. But there is an issue for me, and I'm still talking about the sauna scene where they reference his penis. He walks in, and I'm not a filmmaker. Is it, like, in a mid. It's not a wide, but you see.
Ryan: His very specific framing choices.
Laura: Like, it's from his mid thigh up to his mid back, and you see art's face and everything. And I go, okay, so you're framing this in such a way to where we're staring at Patrick's butt. Um, many m many, many times during that sauna scene.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And then he goes, cover it up. I go, okay. No, like, there's something missing there. But in terms of the actual penis scene, I can still give it a five. There's a lot of them. It's happening. It makes total, total sense for it. And it's very, very funny that he's also on Tinder at the same time, swiping literally every man and woman that comes across his screen.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And it kind of made me think, like, could one of these guys take you to his hotel? Maybe. But he didn't. He picked somebody else.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So, um, would you like to go for the film?
Ryan: Yeah. I gave it five stars. Me too, and I'm not going to explain why.
Laura: I think the whole hour that we've talked about this film kind of explains why. Um, and I really like that. And I love when we both love a movie. Luca. I'm a big fan of his, and I'm a big fan of this movie.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So game, set, Toschild, a racket and a dick.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Wow. Well, I hope everyone goes to see this at the cinema. I hope you go bring and buy churros and hot dogs and bananas and have a big glass of whiskey and just enjoy being a little bit turned on during this film.
Ryan: Bring your family.
Laura: Yeah, bring your mom.
Ryan: Bring your kids. Bring your mom. Um, yeah, do whatever. Do whatever you need to do in order to see the movie and have a good time. Yeah. There you go.
Laura: Coming, uh, to you from Phil's tire town. I've been Laura?
Ryan: Yeah. Um, I'm, uh, Ryan. Yes. Why the fuck did I forget that? Yeah, I'm Ryan.
Laura: Grand slam.
Ryan: That's right. Are you ready for the grand slam? Yeah.
Laura: Balls in my face.
Ryan: Double, uh, folds.
Laura: Yep. Bye bye, Ace.