'Tis the season to watch some Christmas movies, and in true Mike and Mike fashion, we picked the most violent ones. It's time for a Mike Makes Mike Watch - Mike D is making Smith watch Ben Wheatley's hitman horror movie KILL LIST, while Smith is making Mike D catch up with the zombie musical ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE!
[00:00:02] Let's get together, talk about the movies that we saw this week. We'll have discussions, talk film news, we'll laugh a lot and act like geeks. Sometimes we'll have a guest or two, sometimes it's just the two of us. Let's crack some jokes and tell some folks to come along and hang with us!
[00:00:12] It's Mike and Mike Smith.
[00:00:28] It's time for a special Christmas edition of the podcast, which of course means we're talking about zombies and murderers. It's Mike and Mike Go to the Movies. I'm Mike Smith and joining me as always is a hitman who has stumbled upon a folk horror conspiracy.
[00:00:41] Mike Scriccio.
[00:00:42] How are you doing today, Mike?
[00:00:43] I'm doing great. Don't you update when that happens? It's like, oh man.
[00:00:49] Yeah, I realize that's sort of spoilers actually for the movie that I'm talking about.
[00:00:55] Yeah, what's going on with you, Mike D?
[00:00:56] Not a whole lot. It's, you know, the holiday season, asterisk, question mark. I don't really know when this is gonna come out, but it's soon.
[00:01:04] It's here, we're there.
[00:01:05] Yeah, should be out before Christmas, I think.
[00:01:07] All right. Podcast time travel. So yeah, it'll be there. It'll be then.
[00:01:10] I'm excited to hang out with you in person soon. We'll be doing a podcast in person again as is tradition.
[00:01:17] Yes.
[00:01:18] So that'll be fun.
[00:01:19] Yes. So yeah, it was kind of up in the air about whether I was gonna be coming back home for Christmas or what was going on and all that kind of stuff.
[00:01:24] But it is happening. I'll be back in New York and as is tradition, we were able to make it work where we will be doing an in-person
[00:01:31] podcast with a few of our friends as well, most likely. However, this year, the in-person podcast will not be a new release movie that we're talking about.
[00:01:40] Yeah, the bastards wanted to torpedo the podcast with the release schedule. So that's why they did that.
[00:01:46] Just to us.
[00:01:47] Yes, exactly. No, I think ideally, you know, in an ideal world, I mean, there isn't really like a major blockbuster this year like there has been in years past, unless maybe Son of the Hedgehog three counts.
[00:01:57] Although I have not seen the first two Sonics. So that's out.
[00:01:59] That's right out. We never could have done that.
[00:02:01] Yes, exactly. I think we were both kind of like, if we can do Nosferatu, we should do Nosferatu.
[00:02:07] Yeah.
[00:02:07] But if it comes out on Christmas, I won't be here for that much longer after Christmas Day. So it's just like, ah, it's kind of tough to make that happen. Maybe we'll do like a bonus episode on Nosferatu, like down the line. So I'm sure we'll both see it.
[00:02:18] Yeah. But yeah, no. So instead, because our music supervisor slash editor, Kyle Cullen has never seen Die Hard, we're going to make him watch Die Hard for Christmas.
[00:02:30] Yeah. Why? Yeah. Why would we not?
[00:02:34] Yes. So that'll be a lot of fun. I'm excited to talk about Die Hard. Always a good time. And I was going to say I was going to say, like, oh, man, it's been so long since I've watched Die Hard. I watched it last year around this time.
[00:02:45] But when it's never, it's always too long, no matter what that length of time is between viewings, that's too long.
[00:02:51] Yeah, that's a good point. That's a good point. So, yeah. So we'll be watching Die Hard. We'll be talking about it for the in-person podcast at the end of the year. We'll maybe do a bonus Nosferatu episode. And then, of course, our top 10 episode will be coming out in early January. So be going to look out for that. A lot of stuff happening in the podcast world.
[00:03:07] Yes. Here on the bonus episodes.
[00:03:09] Yes. Of the complete works, which, of course, the Roy Shatter episodes will continue through probably right before Christmas, I think.
[00:03:15] And then maybe a couple of weeks off while we get that back together and situated. But bonuses will be happening in the meantime.
[00:03:20] But today we're doing the last Mike Makes Mike Watch of the year, Mike.
[00:03:24] We are. We did it. This brilliant idea that I stole from Twitter.
[00:03:30] Why don't we just do this once a month?
[00:03:33] OK. Yeah. It turns out it makes it easier to schedule things if you do it that way.
[00:03:37] Yeah. No. So we're doing the last Mike Makes Mike Watch of the year.
[00:03:40] I've got next year's Mike Makes Mike Watch is pretty much mapped out, I think, for you at least.
[00:03:46] I don't know if you have the same for me, if you know what you're making me watch.
[00:03:49] No. I think maybe I had seven picked out.
[00:03:52] So I got to fill out the calendar.
[00:03:54] Yeah. Which I guess I'm on the clock.
[00:03:55] There's only a couple of weeks left before we got to start.
[00:03:57] So, yeah. So we will reveal what those are, I guess, sometime in January when we haven't we haven't figured it out.
[00:04:04] But today is the season.
[00:04:07] We are going into two Christmas movies.
[00:04:09] Question mark. Question mark.
[00:04:11] One for sure. One.
[00:04:13] I could stretch.
[00:04:14] Yeah. You know, I think, you know, so Anna and the Apocalypse is the movie that I'm making you watch today, which is for sure a Christmas movie.
[00:04:20] Yes.
[00:04:20] You're making me watch Ben Wheatley's Kill List, which I think does start at Christmas or it's like around Christmas, right?
[00:04:28] They're like they definitely have like holiday festive sort of sweaters on.
[00:04:33] True.
[00:04:34] And I believe there is a gift exchanged to the kid.
[00:04:38] So I don't know if it's like I don't know if it's like explicitly said that it's Christmas or not, but I feel like it's Christmassy.
[00:04:43] Yeah, sure.
[00:04:44] I'm not going to say no.
[00:04:45] If you remember those things, then you saw them for sure.
[00:04:50] Fair enough.
[00:04:50] All right.
[00:04:51] Which which of these movies would you like to talk about first, Mike?
[00:04:53] Let's talk about Kill List first because it's the the stretch holiday movie.
[00:04:57] Yeah, fair enough.
[00:04:59] All right.
[00:04:59] Let's do it.
[00:05:00] It's time for a Mike makes Mike watch.
[00:05:03] I hope they choose right.
[00:05:05] Mike's watching Mike's movie.
[00:05:07] Picked for him specially.
[00:05:10] Whoa.
[00:05:10] It's just watching Mike's movie.
[00:06:54] All right.
[00:06:55] That's from the trailer for Kill List, the movie directed by Ben Wheatley from 2011.
[00:06:59] And Mike D, why Kill List?
[00:07:02] Why did you want to make me watch this movie?
[00:07:03] So I knew this was a movie that you hadn't seen.
[00:07:06] So check.
[00:07:07] Yeah.
[00:07:08] Right.
[00:07:08] Sure.
[00:07:08] That's first first step.
[00:07:11] And yeah, I don't know.
[00:07:12] I think Ben Wheatley was a director that I sort of discovered post, I guess, Midsommar or maybe I can't remember exactly what movie.
[00:07:19] But but like there was like I feel like a resurgence in the interest of folk horror.
[00:07:23] Right.
[00:07:23] In the last couple of years.
[00:07:25] And you were very into like a field in England and stuff like that.
[00:07:27] And I discovered field England.
[00:07:28] I discovered Kill List.
[00:07:30] I discovered I got that Severin box set with like the 30 folk horror movies and stuff like that.
[00:07:34] So, yeah, I got really into the genre in general.
[00:07:36] And I was like, holy shit, this movie is great.
[00:07:38] The genre is great.
[00:07:39] I love this.
[00:07:40] And I knew you hadn't seen Kill List.
[00:07:41] And I think you've seen Field in England.
[00:07:43] I don't actually know.
[00:07:43] I have not seen Field in England.
[00:07:45] OK, maybe that'll fill out one of the episodes next year.
[00:07:49] Um, sadly, weirder movie, but also stars Michael Smiley, which is fun.
[00:07:54] But yeah, I don't know.
[00:07:55] And so to stretch the the the Christmas of it all, you know, pagan rituals, folk traditions, Christmas coming out of that tradition, pre-Christianity and all that stuff.
[00:08:08] It's like it's a connection.
[00:08:10] I don't know how deep you want to get into that, but or how deep you should look into that.
[00:08:14] Um, but yeah, so and and basically, like I had said before, I think it was was it September?
[00:08:19] I don't remember the exact order, but yeah, like just the back half of the year.
[00:08:23] I was like, it'd be kind of funny to make what to make Mike watch.
[00:08:25] It's nothing but horror movies in the holiday season, like last month doing audition for Thanksgiving.
[00:08:31] Sure.
[00:08:31] So what if I just what if I just do a bunch of feel bad movies in a row is pretty pretty much what happened.
[00:08:37] And yeah, I don't know.
[00:08:38] I just sort of landed on Kill List in December without really much consideration to the holidayness of it all.
[00:08:43] So that was where where it came from, just because I really like this movie and I thought you might enjoy it.
[00:08:49] Fair enough.
[00:08:49] Yeah.
[00:08:49] So I had wanted to watch Kill List for a long time.
[00:08:52] I remember this was like his second film, I think, Ben Wheatley.
[00:08:55] But this was a kind of his breakout movie.
[00:08:56] This like got a lot of buzz when it came out.
[00:08:58] And this was like 2011.
[00:08:59] So I was like 17, 18.
[00:09:01] This is like around the time when I started really getting into following film blogs and like all like, you know, all that kind of stuff.
[00:09:07] Right.
[00:09:07] And so I remember seeing this movie on a lot of top 10 lists, hearing about it on podcasts.
[00:09:11] And for whatever reason, I just never got around to watching it.
[00:09:14] But it brought my attention to the name Ben Wheatley.
[00:09:17] Like it's and so I saw a few of his other movies.
[00:09:20] And I've always been like, yeah, I like Ben Wheatley.
[00:09:23] Like in general.
[00:09:24] Yeah.
[00:09:24] I feel I've always said like, yeah, I think I like Ben Wheatley.
[00:09:27] And then I was looking at his demography and I was like, OK, I've seen four other Ben Wheatley movies.
[00:09:32] I've seen High Rise.
[00:09:33] I've seen Free Fire.
[00:09:35] I've seen Rebecca, his remake of Alfred Hitchcock's movie.
[00:09:37] And I've seen Meg to the Trench.
[00:09:39] Why does it got to be those four movies?
[00:09:41] I got to say, I didn't like any of these.
[00:09:45] I think High Rise is probably the one I liked the most, but I definitely didn't feel like I got it when I watched it.
[00:09:51] Have you seen High Rise?
[00:09:53] I have not, actually.
[00:09:54] OK, that's the one with Tom Hiddleston.
[00:09:55] And it's, you know, it's sort of a dark comedy.
[00:09:57] It's OK.
[00:09:59] Free Fire is what I was very excited for.
[00:10:01] I really wanted to like Free Fire because the premise of that movie is just like, what if the gunfight is the whole movie?
[00:10:07] And that's what it is.
[00:10:08] And it turns out that's kind of boring, which is which is a bummer.
[00:10:12] And Rebecca, I really didn't like.
[00:10:13] It looks great.
[00:10:14] Cinematography is amazing, but didn't like that movie.
[00:10:16] And then Meg to the Trench is Meg to the Trench.
[00:10:18] It is what it is.
[00:10:19] That said, I liked Kill List more than any of those movies.
[00:10:22] All right.
[00:10:23] I still didn't like love it.
[00:10:25] I really wanted to love it, but I thought it was pretty good.
[00:10:27] I enjoyed a lot of aspects about it.
[00:10:29] I liked the kind of back and forth between the two main hitmen, one of which is Michael Smiley, which is great.
[00:10:35] And I liked how very like down to earth it was for its first like two thirds, which makes the last like 20, 30 minutes really hit much harder when you discover that this is like some kind of insane cult ritual thing that's been happening.
[00:10:48] Yeah, I think that's the hesitate to use the word joy talking about this movie.
[00:10:54] But the pleasure, I think of the movie, just like in its structure, it's that you're it is this really grounded, melodramatic relationship drama with this hitman thing going on.
[00:11:05] But it's about their friendship, their their relationship with their wives or girlfriends.
[00:11:11] Right.
[00:11:11] And all this stuff is it's just like slowly becoming more and more unhinged.
[00:11:16] What's going on with these characters are experiencing and stuff's not adding up until that final reveal of just like what the fuck is going on?
[00:11:23] Why are those people walking through the woods in masks in the final 15 minutes or 10 minutes or whatever it is that is just like this whole time?
[00:11:31] Like what?
[00:11:32] It completely rearranges like everything you've been thinking about the whole time.
[00:11:35] So I think that's really fun.
[00:11:36] Yeah, absolutely.
[00:11:37] And I think what I what I also liked about it, that first like, you know, 20, 30 minutes or so, it's just it's very clear.
[00:11:43] Like it's just this it feels like it's just going to be this relationship drama for a while about this guy who has been out of work for several months.
[00:11:49] You don't find out what he does for work for a very long time.
[00:11:52] So you don't know that he's a hitman, but he's been like out of work for like eight months.
[00:11:55] He's been hanging around the house and his wife is just like up to here.
[00:11:58] Like with it's just like really sick of him just being around, not working, not really contributing to the household, all that kind of stuff.
[00:12:04] A very strained relationship with her, a very strained relationship with his kid.
[00:12:08] And then they have his friend over for dinner, Michael Smiley and his new girlfriend.
[00:12:13] And, you know, things kind of come to a head.
[00:12:15] And they Michael Smiley kind of offers him like, hey, I have somebody who wants to give us a job.
[00:12:20] Let's check it out.
[00:12:20] And it might help you out around here.
[00:12:23] And that's when you discover that, oh, their job is they kill people.
[00:12:25] That's that's their whole thing.
[00:12:27] And what I also like about it is that when you hear that, you're like, oh, this must be like a secret thing that his wife doesn't know about.
[00:12:33] And in fact, no, she's very much like she is very, very much where she's a hitman.
[00:12:38] And like may have also done it in the past.
[00:12:40] Yeah.
[00:12:40] When she starts defending herself from the guys invading their house and she whips at the gun and starts shooting people.
[00:12:46] That was a big like, fuck, yeah.
[00:12:48] It's like it was really cool.
[00:12:50] Yeah.
[00:12:50] Yeah.
[00:12:51] I love that moment earlier in the movie when they're at the dinner with the girlfriend, with Fiona, the girlfriend.
[00:12:57] And she's asking about, oh, is this you?
[00:12:59] And it's like a picture of the wife in military uniform.
[00:13:02] And she's like, yeah, I figured, like, why should all the boys have all the fun?
[00:13:04] Right.
[00:13:04] Like, oh, shit.
[00:13:05] She's she's just like them.
[00:13:07] Basically.
[00:13:08] Yes.
[00:13:08] You get that.
[00:13:09] Yes.
[00:13:09] Which is very, very fun.
[00:13:11] So, yeah, I liked all that stuff.
[00:13:13] I think also this movie has it has an incredible moment of foreshadowing, which you don't realize until you've seen it.
[00:13:20] Maybe the second time or whatever, where he the main character whose name I forget.
[00:13:25] I can look it up in a second.
[00:13:27] And he's great, too.
[00:13:27] He's he's from Utopia.
[00:13:29] I think there's the BBC show that they made a U.S. thing.
[00:13:33] Oh, yeah.
[00:13:33] Yeah.
[00:13:34] Disease stuff.
[00:13:35] And he's great in that.
[00:13:37] That shows the BBC version of that show is incredible.
[00:13:39] Nice.
[00:13:40] But where he goes out grocery shopping and it's part of the strain on the family.
[00:13:44] And she's like, you spent one hundred fifty dollars on wine and 30 cans of tuna or something.
[00:13:50] Right.
[00:13:50] Like all this like stupid shit.
[00:13:51] It's like irrelevant.
[00:13:54] Jay, played by Neil Maskell, Maskell, Maskell is a character.
[00:13:58] And he buys these foam swords for his son and they like have a fake sword fight.
[00:14:02] Yes.
[00:14:03] And in that fake sword fight, the mom has the son on her back and they're having a big sword fight in the front lawn.
[00:14:09] And he's the dad wins.
[00:14:12] And then when I saw this, which I've seen, it's actually I think I guess maybe the second or third time I've seen it.
[00:14:17] I haven't seen it that many times.
[00:14:18] But yeah, when it happened this time, I was like, whoa.
[00:14:21] And like I sat up in my chair and was like, holy shit.
[00:14:23] Because, you know, the way the movie ends.
[00:14:25] Sure.
[00:14:25] The movie ends with this knife fight that the cult is looking over and he has to fight somebody with a knife that's like covered up in a hood.
[00:14:32] So you don't know who he's fighting.
[00:14:34] But then when he stabs the person, it turns out it's his wife with the kid on her back.
[00:14:37] Yeah.
[00:14:38] And he's killed his kid.
[00:14:40] Yeah.
[00:14:40] The wife died.
[00:14:41] He kills the wife, too.
[00:14:42] Yeah.
[00:14:42] But she doesn't die right away, which is that that's one of the most fucked up.
[00:14:45] Like, you know, there was a thing going around on Twitter recently, like this past weekend.
[00:14:49] Also, just the original teaser trailer for David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
[00:14:55] And how it had the tagline, the feel bad movie of the season.
[00:14:58] Yes.
[00:14:59] And that's really how I felt about watching Kill List this weekend.
[00:15:03] Where it's like, what if it's just the feel bad movie that I watched this weekend?
[00:15:06] Because, yeah, that moment, right?
[00:15:07] The cults.
[00:15:08] Everything has happened.
[00:15:09] He's been crowned.
[00:15:11] Or actually, he hasn't been crowned yet.
[00:15:12] But he's thrown into the circle to fight the hunchback, which has the title card, the hunchback, like all their targets on the kill list have had.
[00:15:18] Right.
[00:15:19] And he has a knife fight with this person and wins.
[00:15:22] And when they rip the sheet off, it's his wife and kid.
[00:15:25] And the wife is laughing.
[00:15:26] She's part of it.
[00:15:27] She's just like she's like smiling and laughing at him as he like just has no idea what's going on.
[00:15:32] And it's looking around at all these people that have been in the movie, the people that gave him the contract.
[00:15:35] Fiona.
[00:15:36] People working at the hotels, like all this stuff are all standing there cheering and laughing also.
[00:15:40] And he gets the crown put on him or whatever.
[00:15:43] And then just then they just hard cut to black.
[00:15:45] Like there's no explanation.
[00:15:47] There's no coda.
[00:15:48] There's no epilogue.
[00:15:49] Nothing.
[00:15:50] He has just been put through this experience and have his life destroyed.
[00:15:54] Yes.
[00:15:54] No, everybody in the movie is involved in this in some way.
[00:15:58] But you don't really know how they are.
[00:16:00] They just are.
[00:16:00] They just are.
[00:16:01] Yeah.
[00:16:01] And the other thing I picked up on this watch is all the targets on the kill list say like thank you before they kill.
[00:16:08] Like they're like, you know, it's like to them, it's like an honor to be killed by these people or by Jay in particular.
[00:16:14] Even Gal, even Michael Smiley's character, when he is like dead stabbed and his guts are hanging out and he's like, I'm not going to make it.
[00:16:21] And Jay stands up and lifts the gun at him and he says thanks and he shoots him.
[00:16:25] And it's like, even he said that, like even him.
[00:16:27] It's different context.
[00:16:28] But he still says thank you before Jay kills him.
[00:16:30] Uh, just holy shit.
[00:16:32] So the implication being everybody who was being killed is also part of this in some way, right?
[00:16:36] Yeah.
[00:16:36] It's some kind of sacrificial ritual thing that they're going through or that, that they're putting Jay through to like upend his life and put him in the headspace to kill his family.
[00:16:46] Um, yeah, that they're like the whole thing is a, is a construction by this cult.
[00:16:51] Right.
[00:16:51] But yeah, Ben, you don't really know any of that while you're watching the movie because the cult stuff doesn't come in until the last like 15 minutes or so.
[00:16:57] Yeah.
[00:16:57] And so like for most of the movie, you're just watching Jay and Michael Smiley, you know, just kind of going out, doing their contracted hits.
[00:17:04] Uh, and so, you know, the title card will appear on screen being like the priest and they have to kill this priest and it's like the librarian and they have to kill this like librarian who like keeps a bunch of stuff videos like around.
[00:17:14] Right.
[00:17:14] Yeah.
[00:17:14] Yeah.
[00:17:15] That whole, that middle sequence is just insane.
[00:17:17] The lower, the librarian sequence.
[00:17:19] Yeah.
[00:17:19] That he has like, um, like a con X shipping container full of videos and they don't ever see what's on them.
[00:17:25] You hear people screaming.
[00:17:26] It's, and it's implied that it's snuff films or stuff like that, illicit videos.
[00:17:31] And it sends Jay spiraling, spiraling, right?
[00:17:33] It puts him off his game.
[00:17:35] All of a sudden he's torturing this guy.
[00:17:37] He's tracking down people that are not on the list and he's doing all this stuff.
[00:17:41] All while gal finds in his safe, in the librarian safe, cause they go to look for extra cash, a file on the two of them in the librarian safe.
[00:17:50] Right.
[00:17:50] Uh, and so yeah, they themselves are being part of surveilled and part of this whole thing.
[00:17:54] And yeah, it's just turning their world upside down basically.
[00:17:57] Right.
[00:17:57] Now do you feel that gal was part of it from the beginning or do you think he was like, he becomes part of it later if he's saying thanks?
[00:18:03] Uh, I think he, I think he's not part of it.
[00:18:07] I think Fiona obviously is.
[00:18:08] She also at the beginning of the movie carved something in the back of the mirror.
[00:18:11] She carves like that weird symbol.
[00:18:13] Oh yeah.
[00:18:14] Yeah.
[00:18:14] When she's there during the party or during the dinner.
[00:18:16] So yeah, I don't, I think, I think gal is unwittingly tricked into them accepting this contract.
[00:18:22] Um, but even, but even in the end he plays a part.
[00:18:24] He says, thank you.
[00:18:25] Like, right.
[00:18:25] I don't, I don't think he knows that and they don't think they realize it, but even him,
[00:18:29] his, his best friend, like it's the final person he would trust with his life.
[00:18:33] Right.
[00:18:33] Even he's betrayed.
[00:18:34] Right.
[00:18:35] Or betrays him.
[00:18:36] Yes.
[00:18:36] And when he, and when Jay goes back to visit his wife, like, you know, wife and he's like,
[00:18:40] Oh, I have a day off.
[00:18:41] I'm going to come and visit you guys.
[00:18:42] Like Fiona's at the house already.
[00:18:44] She's just hanging out.
[00:18:45] Yeah.
[00:18:46] Yeah.
[00:18:46] Doing weird things.
[00:18:47] He knows something's wrong.
[00:18:48] Right.
[00:18:48] And then his cat's dead.
[00:18:49] I don't know.
[00:18:50] Yeah.
[00:18:50] I just, I just love the, the like slow escalation of this movie being, you know, like first act,
[00:18:55] this very scary, uh, relationship drama.
[00:18:58] These two abusive couple, everything's wrong.
[00:19:01] Every blah, blah, blah.
[00:19:02] But yeah, just the way that his Jay's life just like is totally unraveled, uh, by this
[00:19:06] cult that he has no idea like the whole time.
[00:19:09] Yeah, absolutely.
[00:19:09] No, the, uh, it is one of those things where like, I feel like when I watch Kill List again,
[00:19:13] probably a long time from now, cause it's pretty rough watch.
[00:19:15] It is, it is not a fun sit.
[00:19:17] Yeah.
[00:19:17] Yeah.
[00:19:17] But if I were to watch it again, like I feel like I would get a lot more out of it because
[00:19:21] now I know about all the cult stuff.
[00:19:23] Yeah.
[00:19:23] And I can look for those hints, like kind of what you were saying, where it's like, oh
[00:19:26] yeah, you can see the foreshadowing here and you can see all this.
[00:19:28] And like, now I know that like this person's in a cult and this person's part of it too.
[00:19:31] And this person's part of it.
[00:19:32] And just like, yeah, you don't know that when you're watching it, when you're watching it
[00:19:35] for the first time, you're sort of like, well, how does this all fit together?
[00:19:37] What's, what's going on here?
[00:19:39] Yeah.
[00:19:39] Yeah.
[00:19:39] I mean, it feels, you know, in that regard, like, you know, like the original wicker man
[00:19:43] or whatever, we were just like, this is all just weird.
[00:19:45] Like what is going on?
[00:19:46] Like, I don't understand what's this building to until the final climax and reveal.
[00:19:50] Yes.
[00:19:50] Yeah.
[00:19:51] So I'm glad you liked it.
[00:19:52] Yeah.
[00:19:52] I liked it.
[00:19:53] Also wanted to mention that, uh, I think it's very funny when they are arguing at dinner and,
[00:19:56] uh, you know, she's, she like makes some kind of like weird, like a comment about
[00:20:00] him and he's like, and he like lifts up his plate and just puts it upside down.
[00:20:04] Yeah.
[00:20:05] And he's like, I'm done.
[00:20:06] And then he stands up and does the, the tablecloth trick and whips it out from underneath everything.
[00:20:11] Yeah.
[00:20:11] So everything just goes flying.
[00:20:13] Yeah.
[00:20:14] Uh, and he says abracadabra.
[00:20:16] Yeah.
[00:20:16] I don't know.
[00:20:16] I just like all the weird, subtle, like magic stuff, you know, not that he's doing magic
[00:20:21] in that point, but you know, that's right.
[00:20:22] I don't know.
[00:20:23] Uh, there's just weird, weird things you don't pick up on, uh, the first time or, or just
[00:20:27] like kind of lead to this context that you're not aware of yet until the final reveal
[00:20:31] that when you go back and watch it again, you're like, Oh shit, it's there all along
[00:20:34] kind of stuff, you know?
[00:20:35] Yeah, absolutely.
[00:20:36] Uh, yeah, that is kill list.
[00:20:37] Um, it's available on shutter right now.
[00:20:39] That's where I watched it.
[00:20:40] Uh, and so, yeah, people want to watch it.
[00:20:41] It's there.
[00:20:42] Yeah.
[00:20:42] I think definitely, you know, like I said, I, I thought I liked Ben Wheatley and then
[00:20:46] it turns out I looked at all of his movies that I've seen.
[00:20:48] It's like, I don't like any of these.
[00:20:49] Uh, but I, but I, I do like kill list.
[00:20:52] I think it's very good.
[00:20:53] And I, and I would like to watch a field in England, which I think is supposed to, which
[00:20:56] I've heard is supposed to be great too.
[00:20:57] That is really good.
[00:20:58] Yeah.
[00:20:58] Yeah.
[00:20:59] One of these days he's going to win me over.
[00:21:00] I, uh, I really, I really thought I liked him because it was just like, oh yeah, people
[00:21:04] talk about Ben Wheatley.
[00:21:05] Like he was a filmmaker.
[00:21:06] And then like every, every time I see one of his movies and like, I didn't like this.
[00:21:09] Did you see in the earth?
[00:21:10] You didn't see that?
[00:21:11] His like pandemic movie?
[00:21:12] I never, I wanted to see in the earth.
[00:21:13] I never got around to it.
[00:21:14] Uh, I've, I've heard that's pretty solid.
[00:21:16] I've heard it's pretty good.
[00:21:16] Yeah.
[00:21:17] Yeah.
[00:21:17] I remember watching it.
[00:21:18] Um, I don't really remember what I thought, which I guess is a sign that it's not, didn't
[00:21:21] like blow me away.
[00:21:22] It's not great.
[00:21:23] But, uh, but it is, I remember it being very intense and you know, it's all about isolation
[00:21:26] and yeah.
[00:21:30] Like filmed in 2020 or something like that.
[00:21:32] Like one of those movies.
[00:21:33] So yeah.
[00:21:34] Interesting.
[00:21:34] There you go.
[00:21:35] We'll get you, we'll get you field in England, uh, next year and we'll see if there's at
[00:21:39] least two Ben Wheatley movies that you like.
[00:21:41] Yeah, there we go.
[00:21:41] All right.
[00:21:42] Uh, that is kill list.
[00:21:44] And now let's move on into the movie that I'm making Mike watch, uh, which is Anna and
[00:21:47] the apocalypse.
[00:21:52] Towards the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not
[00:21:59] even a mouse.
[00:22:00] Young Anna was nestled, all snug in her bed, not knowing tomorrow she'd meet the undead.
[00:22:08] How would she survive?
[00:22:10] What this season would bring?
[00:22:12] Well, that's simple.
[00:22:13] She'd stab, she'd slap, and she'd sing.
[00:22:17] A time to be alive.
[00:22:25] What a time to be alive.
[00:22:31] Be alive.
[00:22:36] Oh no.
[00:22:37] What?
[00:22:39] Justin Bieber's a zombie.
[00:22:41] Ah!
[00:22:44] All right.
[00:23:07] That was in the trailer for Anna and the Apocalypse, uh, from 2017, directed by John McPhail.
[00:23:12] And I think the reason I wanted to make you watch this movie, Mike, is, uh, because, hey,
[00:23:16] I like it quite a bit.
[00:23:17] It came out, I said 2017, but I think it was 2018 when it hit the States.
[00:23:21] Uh, and I remember seeing a lot of positive reactions to it.
[00:23:24] I think it played fantastic fest and got like a big response there.
[00:23:27] Saw a lot of like kind of year end, uh, maybe not top 10 lists, but a lot of like people
[00:23:31] who were like, hey, I really liked this one.
[00:23:32] And so I got to see it around that time and really, really dug it.
[00:23:36] And then I watched it again, like less than a year later on a plane and, uh, also just
[00:23:40] really dug it.
[00:23:40] And I feel like since then, like, I feel like it got a lot of buzz around then.
[00:23:44] Uh, but in the years since I feel like people aren't talking about it as much.
[00:23:47] And to me, this is a movie that like, I don't know, it feels like people are sleeping
[00:23:49] on a little bit.
[00:23:50] Like this is a good, like a good holiday watch.
[00:23:52] If you're, if you want a Christmas movie, that's not diehard or gremlins, but you want like
[00:23:55] some kind of, but you want some kind of like alternative
[00:23:57] Christmas movie kind of thing, right?
[00:23:59] Like an off, like a more offbeat horror tinged, weird thing.
[00:24:02] I think this is a good, like modern one that, uh, people should watch.
[00:24:05] So what did you think of Anna and the apocalypse, Mike?
[00:24:07] Yeah, I definitely agree with you that it is definitely a, a, uh, like less talked about
[00:24:12] or, uh, slept on kind of thing.
[00:24:14] Um, cause I think really you're probably the only person I've heard talk about it like,
[00:24:17] like a lot.
[00:24:20] Um, and, uh, yeah, I think it's okay, which is unfortunate.
[00:24:23] Cause I was like all hyped and I mean, it's not bad by any means or anything like that,
[00:24:27] but it definitely did not grab me the way I hoped or expected it would.
[00:24:30] Um, which made me think about wicked a lot, which is very strange.
[00:24:34] Cause we talked about on that episode a lot, how I'm like, not particularly in the bag for
[00:24:38] musicals.
[00:24:38] Maybe I'm just like not a musical guy.
[00:24:40] Yes.
[00:24:40] Um, and there's a couple, you did ultimately like wick quite a bit.
[00:24:42] And I did, which is like crazy to think about.
[00:24:44] It's like, Whoa, wicked must be good.
[00:24:46] I guess.
[00:24:47] Um, if I, if I liked it, uh, which is wild.
[00:24:49] So I didn't, I didn't like dislike Anna and the apocalypse.
[00:24:52] I had fun with it.
[00:24:53] I think, I think it has the like cheeky, like self-awareness thing about zombie movies.
[00:24:59] Um, like the poster or whatever says like Shaun of the dead beats a musical.
[00:25:03] La La Land.
[00:25:03] La La Land.
[00:25:04] Yeah.
[00:25:04] Yeah.
[00:25:04] Yeah.
[00:25:04] Which is very funny to, to pick that.
[00:25:06] But yeah.
[00:25:07] So I enjoyed that stuff.
[00:25:08] I enjoyed the like zombie comedy aspects of it.
[00:25:10] I think the songs aren't really that great.
[00:25:12] Uh, which might've been what, you know, once that starts happening and you start being like,
[00:25:16] Oh, I'm not super enjoying this song.
[00:25:18] Um, not that I was like, didn't like them, but I just wasn't like, Whoa, this is amazing.
[00:25:22] And then, and then every time another song happens and you're like, yeah, I guess, uh,
[00:25:27] it just like starts to add up into a weird cumulative effect of that.
[00:25:31] So I don't mean, but I, I do like, like, I really like Sing Street.
[00:25:34] Uh, so like, I don't know, I don't know what it is about the, the songs in this
[00:25:37] that just didn't really hook me the way, uh, I kind of wanted them to slash the movie
[00:25:41] sort of needs to.
[00:25:42] Um, cause it, I think it's only an hour and a half or whatever, but it does, you know,
[00:25:46] if you don't super enjoy the songs in musical, you're going to be in for a bad time.
[00:25:52] And I think some songs are bad, like are, are good and fun.
[00:25:55] I like the, uh, like minute war or whatever that like the soldier at war.
[00:25:59] Yeah.
[00:26:00] Soldier at war.
[00:26:00] Yeah.
[00:26:00] That song rips.
[00:26:01] Um, so, uh, the, the like zombie fight in the bowling alley song fun.
[00:26:07] Um, so yeah, there's moments that are really fun or songs.
[00:26:09] I mean, that are really fun, but just sort of like overall, it's kind of like, yeah.
[00:26:12] Okay.
[00:26:13] Uh, which I'm sorry, you know, man, devastating, a devastating, tragic.
[00:26:16] I wanted this to be the one also, you know?
[00:26:18] Uh, yeah.
[00:26:19] Well, so for those who don't know what Anna and the apocalypse is, uh, it is a, a Christmas
[00:26:23] movie.
[00:26:23] That's also a musical.
[00:26:24] That's also a zombie movie.
[00:26:26] Yeah.
[00:26:26] And it's about this, uh, girl named Anna played by Ella Hunt.
[00:26:29] Um, who she's great.
[00:26:37] Yeah.
[00:26:37] She, she has like a bit part in Les Mis, but, uh, she's actually been popping up in a few
[00:26:40] things recently.
[00:26:41] She's in horizon.
[00:26:42] Yeah.
[00:26:42] The, uh, the Kevin Costner movie.
[00:26:43] Uh, and she'll, she'll be in part two and apparently is filling part three right now.
[00:26:47] I just, I just started watching horizon the other day.
[00:26:50] Horizon.
[00:26:51] Pretty good.
[00:26:51] I actually just watched it a couple of weeks ago.
[00:26:53] I liked it.
[00:26:53] Uh, did you, I didn't finish it yet.
[00:26:56] Um, and that's not necessarily a sign of like quality or anything.
[00:26:59] It's just, it is just long.
[00:27:01] It's three hours.
[00:27:01] Yeah.
[00:27:02] I think I watched an hour and a half or maybe an hour or so.
[00:27:05] Uh, it is structured like three episodes of a TV show.
[00:27:08] When I got to when Kevin Costner finally shows up into his movie and I was like, okay, this
[00:27:11] seems like a good act break.
[00:27:13] And it's like, we're an hour and 20 minutes or an hour into this movie or whatever.
[00:27:17] Um, so I just haven't gotten back to it yet cause I've been pretty busy, but, um, I was
[00:27:21] into that first, uh, half like in the settlement stuff on the river.
[00:27:25] There you go.
[00:27:26] Uh, yeah, but she is in horizon.
[00:27:28] She's also in Saturday night.
[00:27:29] She plays Gilda Radner, uh, in, in the new movie.
[00:27:33] Uh, but yeah, I think she's really terrific, uh, as Anna and she is like, you know, this,
[00:27:36] um, you know, like senior in high school and like British in, you know, movies in Britain.
[00:27:40] Uh, and, or actually, no, it's in Scotland actually.
[00:27:43] Right.
[00:27:43] And yeah, she's about to finish school and she's planning to like travel for a year before
[00:27:46] going to college and her father's upset about it.
[00:27:49] Uh, and all of her friends have like their own kind of issues that they're all dealing
[00:27:52] with.
[00:27:52] And then, uh, a zombie zombies happen.
[00:27:55] A zombie apocalypse breaks out.
[00:27:56] And yeah, I, I think there's so much like joy and fun, especially in the first few
[00:28:00] songs.
[00:28:01] I really love Hollywood ending, which is really fun.
[00:28:03] I like the, uh, the first, like the breakaway song.
[00:28:05] I also really love the day after the zombies, uh, like the zombie apocalypse happens like
[00:28:10] at, in the afternoon evening.
[00:28:11] And when they wake up the next morning and they have the song where there's completely
[00:28:15] oblivious to the zombie carnage that's happening around them.
[00:28:17] Yeah.
[00:28:18] Yeah.
[00:28:18] Yeah.
[00:28:18] It's really, really fun.
[00:28:19] And obviously like very reminiscent of Shaun of the Dead, uh, which has like that exact same
[00:28:22] bit, just like in a non-musical, uh, version.
[00:28:26] Yeah.
[00:28:26] Yeah.
[00:28:26] It's like, it's like the beginning of Dawn of Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead.
[00:28:30] Uh, but like they're oblivious cause they're just falling in love.
[00:28:34] That is pretty funny.
[00:28:35] Yeah.
[00:28:36] Yeah.
[00:28:36] I really enjoy that one.
[00:28:37] Uh, and yeah, and I think the zombie stuff is really, really fun.
[00:28:40] I think they have a lot of like a very fun stuff with it.
[00:28:43] Like they had, you know, there's a lot, a lot of zombies in the movie is like, it's
[00:28:46] good zombie makeup, a lot of carnage and like just a lot of good gags, uh, with the
[00:28:50] zombies.
[00:28:55] Through the, uh, like hits the pins in the bowling alley and then comes back in the ball
[00:28:59] return.
[00:28:59] Yeah.
[00:29:00] Which is very funny.
[00:29:01] That is a good bit.
[00:29:02] Yeah.
[00:29:03] Um, yeah.
[00:29:04] So I mean, I, I didn't like not, I didn't hate it or anything.
[00:29:06] I just wasn't like, oh my God, I'm, I don't think I'm joining the, uh, marching through
[00:29:11] the street, shouting the praise, singing the praises of, of Anna and the Apocalypse the
[00:29:15] way you have Mike.
[00:29:16] Yeah.
[00:29:16] Fair enough.
[00:29:16] Uh, I will also say, uh, Paul K is the, um, the, uh, principal of the school, the vice
[00:29:21] principal or whatever, who's best become principal.
[00:29:23] He's, he was a Thoros of Mir and game of Thrones.
[00:29:26] Um, I was like, where the fuck is this guy from?
[00:29:29] Um, yeah, a hundred percent.
[00:29:31] And I like how just unhinged he becomes, uh, throughout the movie where like he goes mad
[00:29:35] with power and he's like, yes, zombies.
[00:29:37] Finally, let's kill everyone.
[00:29:39] It's very, very fun.
[00:29:40] And I also like, uh, you know, like I said, it's a very funny movie, I think.
[00:29:43] Uh, and yeah, I, I like a lot of musical numbers.
[00:29:46] If you don't, then that's going to be a, might not work for you.
[00:29:48] I like how melancholy the movie gets towards the end.
[00:29:50] Like, I like how it gets very sad.
[00:29:52] Yeah.
[00:29:53] You know, like most of the characters do die, uh, by zombies, uh, you know?
[00:29:58] Uh, and so there's, you know, her like best friend who like has a crush on her that gets
[00:30:02] unresolved because he gets killed by zombies.
[00:30:04] And yeah, the way that, that she like settles with the bully guy or whatever, it was like,
[00:30:09] this is weird.
[00:30:10] He was a villain sort of her most of this movie.
[00:30:12] Yeah.
[00:30:13] Now that the other guy that I thought they fell in love is dead.
[00:30:15] She goes back to him.
[00:30:17] I don't know.
[00:30:17] But yeah, that's fun.
[00:30:18] The, uh, the, the one American is fun.
[00:30:21] She's pretty good character.
[00:30:22] That like blonde girl.
[00:30:23] Oh yes.
[00:30:23] Yeah.
[00:30:24] I liked her.
[00:30:24] Yeah.
[00:30:25] Yeah.
[00:30:25] And Chris and Lisa, the, uh, like the star crossed lovers who both like die with zombies
[00:30:28] together.
[00:30:29] Great.
[00:30:30] Love all that.
[00:30:30] Yeah.
[00:30:31] I don't know.
[00:30:31] I, I, I like this movie quite a bit.
[00:30:33] I'm a, I'm saddened that you aren't going to join my, like join my cult.
[00:30:37] Yeah.
[00:30:37] And in the apocalypse.
[00:30:38] But yeah.
[00:30:39] I did like, I did think, um, it was very funny in Hollywood ending how it's all about
[00:30:44] like unrequited, like, you know, it's not like the movies.
[00:30:46] It's the unrequited love stuff, except for the two people that are in love that like they,
[00:30:51] they like are singing about getting their Hollywood ending.
[00:30:54] Um, yes.
[00:30:54] It's a very ironic, fun, ironic twist.
[00:30:56] Um, yes.
[00:30:57] And then they die and then they die eventually.
[00:30:59] Yeah.
[00:31:00] Yeah.
[00:31:01] But I, I, and I do like, uh, you know, there's, uh, the director of the movie has kind of talked
[00:31:04] about like, yeah, you know, I was influenced by a lot of different things like Rocky Horror
[00:31:07] Picture Show, West Side Story, Shaun of the Dead, uh, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical
[00:31:11] has, is cited, um, like Shaun of the Dead.
[00:31:14] Uh, but there's also a specifically, uh, according to the computer page, the crop tops
[00:31:18] and short shorts seen in the film were inspired by the costume design in the slasher
[00:31:21] film Sleepaway Camp, which.
[00:31:22] Yeah.
[00:31:23] Okay.
[00:31:26] The Impalips.
[00:31:27] Uh, number one Sleepaway Camp guy, Mike D.
[00:31:30] Mike, that's right.
[00:31:31] Yikes.
[00:31:32] I don't know what that would say about me.
[00:31:33] Uh, but no, that's pretty fun.
[00:31:35] Yeah.
[00:31:35] And I, and I think it does show its influences and stuff.
[00:31:37] I think, I think maybe it felt maybe a little too, uh, like Disney Channel original movie
[00:31:43] kind of thing.
[00:31:43] And I don't really, I don't know how I like why I think that it's just like a lot of,
[00:31:47] it does kind of draw on high school musical very heavily.
[00:31:50] High school classes, like stomping and stuff, um, and like banging on desks.
[00:31:56] I don't know.
[00:31:56] I don't know.
[00:31:57] They just kind of like put me in, in a weird reference headspace.
[00:32:00] Uh, and I was like, I don't know if I like this.
[00:32:02] Um, yeah.
[00:32:03] So yeah, I don't know.
[00:32:04] I mean, I'm not, I wouldn't be opposed to watching it again sometime and giving it another
[00:32:07] try and maybe, maybe I'll come around to it.
[00:32:08] You know?
[00:32:09] Fair enough.
[00:32:09] Did you enjoy the penguin rap?
[00:32:12] Honestly, best part.
[00:32:13] The penguin rap rules.
[00:32:14] It's penguin rap rules.
[00:32:16] And actually rhyme hell of it with halibut.
[00:32:18] Uh, and it's pretty Hamilton vibes.
[00:32:20] Um, and then, uh, actually the followup to that, what it's like the disgustingly overt
[00:32:26] sexual Santa song, uh, from the one girl and the pageant and very funny.
[00:32:32] Uh, all those double entendres are very good.
[00:32:34] Yes.
[00:32:35] Yeah.
[00:32:35] That was solid.
[00:32:36] Uh, yeah.
[00:32:37] All right.
[00:32:37] Anything else about enemy apocalypse you want to throw out there, Mike?
[00:32:39] Anything that you want to say?
[00:32:40] Um, I do want to shout out, um, which you sort of mentioned already too, just the, the zombie
[00:32:45] effect, uh, and effects are very good.
[00:32:48] The movie is when the zombies come all of a sudden it's like mighty Python level fountains
[00:32:52] of blood.
[00:32:53] Like it becomes very gory and gross and squishy, uh, and everything.
[00:32:57] And that is pretty fun.
[00:32:58] Uh, cause the movie up till then is like super sanitized, you know, this kind of, uh, high
[00:33:03] school musical kind of thing.
[00:33:04] And then all of a sudden we're chopping heads off.
[00:33:06] We got limbs.
[00:33:06] We're getting people's throats ripped out by zombies and stuff when they get bitten.
[00:33:10] So, uh, and as like signature weapon becomes like a candy cane.
[00:33:14] That's like taken, like a taken from the ground.
[00:33:16] Yeah.
[00:33:16] Like, yeah.
[00:33:17] Ripped out of decorations and like sharpened.
[00:33:19] Um, and she's just stabbing zombies through the face with it for most of the movie.
[00:33:23] So that's fun.
[00:33:24] Yes.
[00:33:25] Pretty cool.
[00:33:25] All right.
[00:33:26] Well, is that a wrap things up today, Mike?
[00:33:28] Is that going to be it?
[00:33:29] Yeah.
[00:33:29] Yeah.
[00:33:30] I think so.
[00:33:30] I think, you know, these movies both sit in the, the, the British tradition of like
[00:33:35] scary, scary Christmas story stuff.
[00:33:39] Right.
[00:33:39] And I think we're going to try to make some more thematic connections between the two.
[00:33:43] Uh, that's really it.
[00:33:45] I can't really think of other ones.
[00:33:47] No, fair enough.
[00:33:48] Uh, so yeah.
[00:33:48] Kill list and Anna and the apocalypse.
[00:33:50] Kill list is available on shutter and Anna apocalypse.
[00:33:52] I was able to watch on to be, uh, so you can watch it.
[00:33:55] Yeah.
[00:33:55] There you go.
[00:33:56] All right.
[00:33:56] Mike D where can we find you online this week?
[00:33:58] You can find me at MD film blog on Twitter and letterboxd and blue sky.
[00:34:02] And you can find the show on blue sky as well at Mike and Mike pods.
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[00:34:13] Pick a topic of a bonus episode here on Mike and Mike, go to the movies.
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[00:34:20] dot red bubble.com.
[00:34:21] There you go.
[00:34:22] You can find me online at Ms.
[00:34:23] Smith film blog on Twitter, Mike Smith film on letterboxd and radio.
[00:34:26] Mike sandwiched Instagram.
[00:34:27] Uh, thanks so much.
[00:34:28] Let's make my go to the movies.
[00:34:29] I'm Mike Smith.
[00:34:29] It's my decree show.
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[00:34:46] And that's going to be the end of this week's episode of Mike,
[00:34:49] go to the movies.
[00:34:50] We will see you on the other side.