David Leitch - Atomic Blonde

0:00 I was thinking about the best spy movies. You know, obviously we immediately go to James Bond, But if I had to pick maybe one of my favorites if we're going all time, yeah, Goldfinger obviously if we're talking James Bond. But I think if we're going all time, I might pick something like a north By Northwest. How about you. It's weird for me to try to pick something from the spy genre because I'm not a huge spy movie guy. I mean, obviously there's Bond, like you said, grew up with Bond, he can't escape Bond. But I'm gonna I'm gonna pull a couple like eyeball ones out. And one of the first ones that actually came to mind was starring Val Kilmer top Secret. Top Secret is a deep gut Man. I thought you were about to say, uh, what's that one he did with Elizabeth Shoe The Saint. I thought you were gonna go with the Saint when you said that was a pretty cool one as well. And hey, the other one that came to mind was more recent is The Kingsman.

1:02 Oh I love the Kingsman movies. Yeah, totally love that film. I look for something different when it comes to spies. Maybe you know, maybe it might taste in movies a little bit more pedestrian than some others. But well, you want something a little bit different, let's talk about a film by David Leach, his twenty seventeen action packed spy thriller Atomic Blonde.

1:49 Hello everybody, I'm Jeff Johnson. This is a Film by podcast and I've got an amazing guest to just discuss Atomic Blonde with me today. Before I Before I introduce him, though, I do want to shout out the following people hope hopefully they're listening to this episode. Jonathan Sigurdson Bridge and Amber Harris. These three individuals are actually following us on Patreon as free members, and I just wanted to shout them out because we're glad that you're following along. And I got to remind everybody we we occasionally do drop some some free stuff on Patreon. So if you have not checked us out on Patreon www dot Patreon dot com, backslash a film by podcast, head over there hit the follow button so that way you can see some of the stuff that's exclusive to Patreon. And if you like what you hear, subscribe get in on the real exclusive stuff by by joining and uh, you will not be disappointed.

3:02 Speaking of not being disappointed, I am so excited to finally have this guy on a film by podcast talking about a good friend and an amazing artist, John Wright. Hello, John, Hey, how are you doing. I'm doing great, man. I am so happy that you were a you had some time to come on to the show and especially talk about this movie. I've been looking I've been looking forward to it, man. Oh, me too, me too, absolutely, And this was the first time watch for you, right, Atomic blont was. Yeah, I believe so, I seemed to when I was watching it. I seem to remember some things here and there stop. I probably caught it on cable, you know, after its theatrical run, but I don't remember like it making. It either didn't grab my interest or my you know, paint fumed induced brain or whatever you want to call it that's left up there, just it. It just didn't resonate with it at that time. But yeah, this was so essentially for me, this was a first watch, all right. Well, before we get into what Atomic Blond is all about, tell us a little bit about the art of John Wright. Well, I used the I use the word art somewhat loosely, but I'm just your your average old nerd who grew up loving comic books, grew up love and sci fi, grew up love and horror, and didn't have a whole lot of friends. So the babysitter and the parents would give you, give me a pencil or a crayon and some

4:34 paper, and it would occupy me for hours and hours and hours. And you know, slowly but surely, I kind of got away from art, got back into it the past few years, done a few things here and there, and kind of inching my way closer and closer to having my own book Fingers crossed. I know you did an amazing commission for for us. Actually we wanted to send something to a very special lady, Valley. You did this incredible Superman piece that just blew us away, you know, Senace A Valerie. Valerie obviously loved it. And since then, yeah, I've got I've got several pieces of your work because you know, we've we've caught you on the convention circuit where you just man your stuff just it blows me away, Man, just blows me away. But I do appreciate that well, I'll tell you what listeners if you if you're not familiar with Atomic Blonde, let me give you a little synopsis. Sensual and savage. Lorraine Broughton is the most elite spy in m I six, an agent who's willing to use all of her lethal skills to stay alive during an impossible mission. With the Berlin Wall about to fall, she travels into the heart of the city to retrieve a priceless dossier and take down a ruthless espionage ring. Once there, she teams up with an embedded station chief to navigate her way through the deadliest game of spies. John this movie, we get the opening archival footage

6:08 of Reagan doing the whole you know, mister Gorbachev, tear down your wall. You know this is it's Berlin, It's November nineteen eighty nine, and we opened the movie's we see a hit on this guy body gets dumped into the water, and then we transitioned to Charlie's coming out of out of an ice bath and we're off to the races. Man. Absolutely, absolutely, it was very cool watching this, like we said a few minutes ago, for the first time with fresh eyes, because yeah, I was actually lucky enough to be in Berlin a couple of years prior to the wall being torn down. What yeah, so I've been in both East and West Berlin.

6:51 Actually got lost in East Germany for a day. We took the subway and got off from went the wrong spot. So the vibe that this film captured was pretty nostalgic for me. Well how accurate? I mean, because I know it's a hyper violent action film, But did they get the esthetic a little bit? Like it just looks cold and desperate? And yes and no. I mean when we were there, we were there on school trip and there was a sanctioned tour into East Berlin, so obviously they kept us to the quote unquote nicer parts of Berlin, the cleaner parts. I didn't see a lot of trash or debris or you know, the soot, although some of the buildings were very, very soot covered compared to West Berlin. But the most realistic thing for me was when they're at the checkpoint overlooking the wall, because that was I did that. I mean, that looked dead on like it. I'm impressed, man, and I'm I'm a little jealous that you got to watch this movie with that kind of experience in your past, unbelievab. So this is this is the directorial debut of David Leech. Now he did co direct John Wick a couple of years prior with Chad Stahelski, and we'll get those philmography later, but I love the fact Leech is hand chosen by Charlie Stone after she sees John Wick. Yeah, I mean I'm

8:22 not I've not seen Wick. I've only seen the first one. If I'm honest, I've glimpsed some of the sequels. But again, you know, I have this habit of putting movies on and trying to draw while I'm watching movies. So one of two things happen. Either I get no art done or I fall into the art and I have no idea what's going on in the movie. But yeah, and I did not know that this was the same director. So when I'm watching this, I got like a really really strong John Wick vibe right from the action and from just the way it's shot. Yeah, very very, very very stylish. The movie feels very connected to the John Wick universe, so much so much that when asked in twenty seventeen whether a potential crossover could happen. David Leitch smiled and responded, that sounds like a great idea. Before we get to the cast, there's one other. There's someone else. I got to point out to Jonathan Seali's cinematography is superb, the neon colors of the underground clubs clashing with the cold, harsh setting of the Cold War era Berlin. Camera's always moving and oftentimes, John it kind of feels like it's framed like a comic book. It does, and it's based on a comic. You're trying the Coldest City? Thank you? Yes, I would. I would love to get my hands on a copy of that now, now that I've done a little digging on this on this film, love to get a hold of that one. Because I'm I don't know about you, I'm a big fan of the graphic novels that aren't necessarily about the DC and the MCU characters. Yeah, when you get

9:56 something something like this or something like from Hell or Ghost World, I love I love books like that very much. So let's let's talk about this cast. Charlie's their own as in My six agent Lorraine Broughton. She's also a co producer in the film and for for a very good reason, because uh, she receives an unpublished manuscript of the graphic novel. Yeah, and she spends the next five years trying to get at Greenlit. That's not something you would I would necessarily associate with Charliet their own you know. However, you know, looking back at you know, like Mad Max, you know, her role as Furiosa, I can definitely see that now. But yeah, when when this was first coming out, I'm like, I just don't see her as an action hero. But she, I stand correct, she proved me wrong. Yeah, and you know she she herself. She credits the success of Mad Max Fury Road for getting this one developed and on the screen.

10:52 One thing I love. She works with eight personal trainers to prepare for the physicality of the role, which I know we're going to talk a little bit about, but during which she cracks her teeth and bruises ribs and John. I don't know if you know this. She has a very unusual sparring partner and well, but more on that, you know in a bit. I'll save that for I'm gonna kick that down the road so we can we can talk about that. I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you. Yeah, is she not the sexiest woman to smoke on camera since Sharon Stone? And basic instinct? Yeah, you know, be it, be it. You know, I'm not a fan of smoking nor I yea and everybody in this movie, but like two people I think smoke. This could have been sponsored by Marlborough. Man, it's definitely so it's unreal. But I'll tell you what.

11:41 When when when she takes uh, when she takes that cigarette out of McAvoy's mouth, it takes a slow drag. I'm all in. I'm like, you know, I don't like cigarette smoking, but I don't I don't smoke. But man, she she's welcome to. I think it goes to show that where she's at with his character, This character is a female in a quote unquote male dominated or at least perceived as a male dominated game. Absolutely, he's out to say that, you know, I can. You guys think you're something I can't. I can. You know I can hang with the best of you. I'm better than I'm better than anybody out there.

12:22 Yeah, she leaves the pack as far as I'm concerned. Uh, yeah, what I said, macavoy. So we're talking about James McAvoy. He plays David Percival. He's the My six agent who's gone slightly rogue after being undercover for a decade in Berlin. I'm a I'm a big macavoy fan. I don't know about you, but you know, yes, I love his work, Yes I did have. I did have trouble separating him from the Beast a little bit in this because of the haircut. You know, it's the same haircut, it's the same as you know. Well, there's a reason for that because he's kind of he's kind of he's doing pickup shots for Split, you know, while he's also filming this. I did not know that. And here's a great thing. His character gets injured in the movie. You know, he wears a cast for like about half the movie.

13:13 There's a reason for that because when they were on a filming break, he went back to shoot several scenes on Split. He broke his hand on the settle Split. He calls David Leach up. He says, hey, I got a problem. I broke my hand and Leech says, oh, that's not a problem. Leech rewrites the script right there to add it in. So you see him wearing a cast it's it's not because it's aesthetically pleasing for his character. It's because he legitimately broke his hand and he had to protect it. How about that. Yeah, Split's an awesome one. I'd love to Yeah, Split's awesome. You know, we might have to cover that one if we do another m Night movie, because that one's fantastic. That is, let's talk about We got a couple other supporting players here.

13:56 John Goodman as Cursefield. He's the senior CIA agent. John Goodman is one of my favorite character actors of all time. I mean, everything this man touches is golden, from King Ralph to Dan Connor to this, I mean, the guy is great. I just I absolutely love him in this role. Leach speaking about his performance. I read something where Leach said, when you get John Goodman, you use him as much as possible. And let me ask you this because I know we're about to talk about Toby Jones. Also, I love the framing of this movie where when we open, you know, I talked about Charlie's coming out of that ice bath, She's she's had the hell beat out of her. I mean she has bruised, cut, scarred. She gets out of this ice bath. It's an amazing moment with an incredible David probably my favorite David Boie song talking about uh putting out fire. Yes, you know the cat the cat People's song. Mm hmm.

15:05 It's so good, and you're like, what happened to her? And then we we kind of get that we pull back, it's like ten days later and that what we see is like it's the movie's juxtaposed to where we're getting a debrief She's being debriefed by Bye by John Goodman's character the you know, he's he's c I A. And then we got Toby Toby Jones playing Eric Gray. He's the m I six superior. I wish we could have more John Goodman and Toby Jones. I know we can't for the obvious reason. But what did you think of that? How they kept pulling, pulling you back and forth. I really enjoyed that, and I really enjoyed that Toby is not Toby is not a physically intimidating person. Yeah, you know, and there's one point in the interrogation where she basically looks at him and he's like, who are you? And he's like, I'm your superior and she looks at him, and her eye she never says it, but her eyes clearly say she's like, no, you're not, yeah, not even close. Yeah, she I mean Goodman's sitting there, you know, because she has that moment where she's like, hey, I respectfully request that he'd be removed, and I love that he hits right back. He's like, hey, I can go stand behind the two way glass with everybody else if that makes you feel feel fine. But he's he's hold his own Tell me, Jones, you're right, he's not. He's not intimidating, and that he does have that moment where he barks. But she clearly you know, right, she might as well roll her eyes. But uh, I love Toby Jones. He always it seems like he's always playing the senior official who's

16:37 he's either debriefing you or he's someone providing information for you. Right. I'm a fan of him. Yeah, I am too. He's always playing the smartest guy, or at least he thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, you know. And it's interesting because because good Goodman comes off as the grizzled vet. He's been in the field. He knows what it's like he's now on the management side of things for lack for a better term. And Toby has never been out of the office. You know, I find it hard to believe he'd ever done any field work. He's he's the guy that has done all his stuff on like simulations. Absolutely. Yeah. And uh, there's a there's a scene. Well you know what. Uh, well, I'll tell you what. Let me let me segue it to Sophia Botella to get to that conversation because she's playing uh Delphine, the undercover French intelligence agent. Mm hmm. Okay. So the character was originally a male spy in the graphic novel, and the screenwriter and Charlie's decide, let's change this character to a female because it's gonna make it a little more provocative and and give it a little more contemporary feel. So let's let's just get it out of the way. Uh, let's we got we got to talk about this, uh, you know, the steamy sex scene that her and Charlie's have now now. Sophia states it was an easy scene to do because they both had been dancers and they were comfortable with being naked, and it wasn't too

18:11 hard because to her. Uh, to her point, Charlie's is gorgeous. I mean, yeah, I like that. I like I like that she might she mentions the dancers thing because it is. It's when you when you watch that moment, it's it's almost like two dancers working, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean and that made me think of this. This movie does an excellent job of like sinking the music up to the scene. Yeah, and this one, this one is obviously the if this were this is the dance scene in the movie, you know, just so happens to take place between two women. And you know, it's kind of interesting that I do like the character of Delphine because you can tell she's in nobs at this, but she's out, She's very much out to prove herself.

18:59 Yeah, and looks up to Charlene's character as a role model. I mean she I like it when she's basically that, she's like, your cover is not as good as you think it is. I know who you are, you know. She basically confesses, you know, yeah, I'm I'm playing this game as well. She she has, and she orders a Shelley. She orders her her Stoley on ice. I'm She's like, I pay attention to the little details, and she does. Fia Sophia's character is fantastic, and you're right, she's she's so green and so excited to be out in the field and entering the game. As McAvoy likes to call it throughout the movie, it almost it's it's almost a little tragic because when you watch this, like when you do a rewatch of this, you kind of see the arc of her character, and she's one of those you know, oh, I really love that person, but she is not gonna last long, right, She's not long for the world unfortunately, right. I think that's I think that's the tragedy that Charlene's character sees in her that she's like, if this girl doesn't either get out or or get really tough, she's not gonna make it much longer. I almost get this, like I'm going to look out for her. You know, there's there's feelings there. I think.

20:18 I think that's the weakness of Charlene's character is that she she does fall in love very easily, and and it's not from what you see in the movie. You know, this is somewhat of a revenge case for her, based on the agent that was killed and in this one, you know she you see it a lot in the Bond movies that you know, Bond loves them and leaves them, and I don't think you get that from Charlie's character. It's more of a when she falls in love, she falls in love. Yeah, I mean, spies are known for having in the in the in the movies, spies are known for having these disposable relationships. But the great thing about Charlie's her carecharacter. Yes she does have them, but but she connects with with the person and it's upsetting for her when when she loses them or when she sees them hurt. So uh. But back to Toby, you know we were talking about this this uh, this steamy sex scene that her and Charley's their own do. I love that it cuts back to the debriefing and he he looks embarrassed to have heard what you assume her you assume Shirlene's character Lorraine has given him very specific details. And I love that moment where he's kind of like, so you you made contact with French intelligence and she goes, obviously yes, and there's no there's no assumption there. She told him everything in graphic detail. Yeah, yeah, he's he's a little

21:49 embarrassed. I think three other guys. Well, I want to point out we can talk about him as much as you'd like, John, but we also in small supporting roles. We see Till Schweiger, who if you haven't seen The Man from Uncle or you haven't seen Tarantino's and Glorious Bastards, this guy is amazing and he's got such a small role, but it's a it's an important one. He's the watchmaker. Uh yes. And then you got you got Eddie Marson who's playing Spyglass. He's like the the leak, you know, he's the guy that has the list of the double agents. And surprisingly, I forgome I had completely forgotten about this. But uh we get a young Bill scars Guard. Yes, that caught it caught me way off guard. I was like, wait, wait a minute, that's scars Guard.

22:34 Yeah. And you know, John, I know you said that you you hadn't seen all the all the Wick films, but he is like the heavy he's the main guy in the last one real Wick has to take on, and he is. He is perfect in the role. He's absolutely perfect in the role. But kind of cool to see him here years before. Definitely, so definitely so. I mean, I I obviously know him more from it than anything else. And I love his portrayal of penny Wise. But in this one it's a small role, but it's pivotal, and he he chews up the scenery when he's on screen, and he he holds his own very well. I love it when Charlie meets him in East Berlin and he's sitting on top of the on the top of the rooftop of the roof, yeah, and she's like, what are you doing. He's like, I'm kind of a fixture for the now and he flips him off. You know. That's his way of waving to the spies that are watching him.

23:29 He's like, I know I'm being watching. I don't care, you know. Yeah, he has a great what's he has? He has like one of those uh, keep your friend, you know, keep your enemies close to your friend's closer type of type of lines. He's he's very, very sly. He's fantastic in this John. I think we need to take a quick break. When we get back, we'll talk a little bit about the background of the film. We got to talk about these fight scenes. So there's three fight scenes. I want to I want to kind of dissect with you, So stay tuned. We're back talking with a friend and artist John Wright. It's David Leech's Atomic Blonde. John we talked about this one being based off a graphic novel The Coldest City. Uh, it was Anthony Johnston and Sam Hart that came up with this. I I don't recognize their names in the in the in the comic world, so I don't know if this was like a one off or what. But I'm not really sure, but I'm I'm like you, I think I might be trying to hunt this one down. I'm absolutely looking for this one. David Leach chooses to direct Atomic Blonde over John Wick Chapter two, but both films are using the same trainers, which leads to Charlie their own befriending and becoming sparring partners with John Wick himself. Keanu Reeves. I did not know that. How amazing would that be to be like, oh, yeah, I'm working on the John Wick

25:02 movie, or I'm working on this Atomic Blonde movie, and oh there's there's Charlie's and Kna Reeves sparring and training together. I'm down for it. I mean, if they, like you said, there needs to be a crossover, even if it's just even if it's just a scene in either Atomic Blonde two, which is rumored to be happening, or the next John Wick where they just bump into each other's shoulders as they're walking down the street and kind of give each other this knowing look. Just something to connect these worlds. This is so Charlie's. This is nineteen eighty nine, the setting of this movie. So either give us a young Wick in an Atomic Blonde two or give us Charlie's now in a Wick film. I absolutely, you know, just a just a passing glance that would be enough to salivate every every fan of these films. I think. Speaking of John Wick, the Carl F.

25:55 Booker watch is prominently featured throughout the film. Leech happens to be a brand ambassador. So that's why it's kind of like the mcguffin in this movie, and that's why it's also won by John Wick. But that's not the only product placement, because you'll spot Lorraine, you know, Charlie Saron's character, she us she's using several Christian der products because Charlie's happens to be a brand ambassador for them. So whether it's her per perfume or the or the stiletto heels that she wears, which we're definitely gonna talk about here in a minute, you'll you'll find you'll find the Christian Dior scattered throughout the film as well. One thing I love and uh, I know, we're definitely gonna talk about this also. Uh songs were specifically chosen by Leech to help drive the movie, and it was so important that he played songs on set to capture the mood and help the actors pace their movements. So to your point, you were like, hey, you know, it almost feels like they were listening to it the music while they're moving. Several scenes he had the music blaring on set so they could, like Charlie's could could pace her walk to to match it. Other you know, the club scenes, the when we get ninety nine left balloons, when the Russian is is making good use of a skateboard. I'll say, yeah, yeah, yeah, so and you know that kind of takes me back to one of your earlier questions about the esthetic and stuff when we were there in Berlin. I was lucky enough

27:26 to spend two days, two and a half days there. One of the nights we went to they took us out to a nightclub. So it's, you know, a bunch of high school kids in a night club. But I mean, this was the music that was on in the club, you know. I remember. I think that was the first time I heard ninety nine loft balloons in German, you know. I remember Falco, you know, and Goakoma Sar and all this stuff, you know. So my favorite Blue Monday song in it. You know, I'll tell you you know what you get, you get me fired up for the for the music. So we're gonna jump to the music. First off, I'll say the score for this is fantastic. And if you're a John Wick fan, you recognize the style of the music because it's Tyler Bates. He takes inspiration from Tangerine Dream, but he also builds a score that will compliment the songs that David Leech has chosen. So, John, let's talk about what might be the greatest various artist soundtrack for a film in the two thousands. I'm gonna I'm gonna run down this track list because you started, you start, you started, you started naming them. So listen to this soundtrack track. No, no, we're we're right on track. So we're talking David David Bowie's Cat People putting up Fire, which I honestly I had never heard that till Inglorious Bastards.

28:48 That was I don't remember that from The Glorious Bastards, but it's been In my defense, it's been a long time since I've seen it. Remember at the end when Shoshana is they're about to, you know, set fire to the theater, and she's kind of she's putting on our makeup, but it most feels like she's she's putting on war paint. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's that's when you get it. But uh, but back to this incredible uh set list. Here you got Bowis Cat People, you got Major Tom by Peter Shilling. You mentioned Blue Monday by New Order. We got Nine on Left Balloons by Nina dr Kamisar by Falco Cities in the Dust. I hadn't heard that song in forever. That's Susie and the ban Cheese.

29:30 Yes you also have you also have Iran by a Flock of Seagulls voices Carrie By Too by Till Tuesday. When that one is used so well in this it is used it's just perfect. That's probably the best best use of a song in this smooth in this film. Uh And obviously you got London London Calling by the class. That's just that's just a handful. Because we also are treated to some great uh, some great covers. You know, we got we got an under Pressure cover, we have a Blue Monday cover, we get the Peste mode behind the Wheel. I haven't heard that one in a long time. I don't know if this this might be one of the great I think this has to be the greatest various artists soundtrack for a film after the year two thousand. It's up there. There's a couple I'd probably put up against it, but we'll go down a whole other tangent and be talking about them forever. So but it's it's definitely good. It's probably the I would argue, if it's not the best soundtrack, it's the best used soundtracked within the context of a film, because I like that every song is matched perfectly to the scene it is in. Okay, I liked I liked that best best use of existing music in a film. I think that works. That absolutely works. We got to talk about these fight scenes absolutely, So let's start. Let's start with what I I'm want to call this.

31:00 This is the this is one. This one's a bit of a tease. It's it's the back it's the back seat fight. Gun versus stiletto, high heel h wow clost quarter combat at its finest. I love. I love anytime like you get a close quarter combat fight like uh like cap and Civil War in the elevator side or the raid going down that hallway. I think Daredevil, the Daredevil series did did some great close quarter combat. But she is beating the ship out of this guy in the back seat, and she's using her high heel shoe, she's using the seat belt. He's trying to you know, blow her head off. It's it's just awesome. For for like a minute, you're just like, what's gonna happen? Right, It's it's it's so great. And she gets the warning signs that something's not up, something's not right with these two guys that have picked her up from the airport, and she just you know, like like you do sometimes when you get off a plane. She kind of bends down to take her take her shoes off, and kind of stretch her feet a little bit, and the next thing you know, it's a stiletto to the chest, knocking the wind out of the guy that's next her. And then the little details like when she punches him and knocks him into the window, there's a little a little blossom of blood on the splintered window in the guy a little spider crack.

32:22 Yes, it's beautiful. It's beautiful. And I don't know if you caught this. You know, during this scene, right after the scene is when she first meets Macavoy's character. Yeah, And he's taking her to where she's staying in Berlin, and she's like, my hotel's right up here, and he's like, I thought she said you'd never been to Berlin before. She never tells him she's never been to Berlin. She tells the two guys in the car that pick her up that she's never been to Berlin. I can't believe I missed that. It took a couple of watches to pick up on that. That is, so he he gives himself away right there exactly. And this is double agents and triple Agents and you just assume like he's just like, you know, she's coming to rein him in and he's gonna help her out. But wow, I never even I never picked up on that because it's you know, because she has a great line there where he's like, I thought, you know, it's just like I can read a map exactly, you know, but I didn't pick up that's a big easter egg, man. I never even noticed that. I thought it was.

33:21 I didn't know if it was intentional or not, you know, but it works within the context. But you know, back to the fight scene, it's it reminds me a little bit of I'm a huge Jackie Chan guy, and this reminds you of like something I would see in a Jackie Chan movie. Granted it's truncated from what you would see in a in a Chan movie, and it's not quite as over the top, but it's it's awesome. And when she you know, she unbuckles the driver's seat and reaches over and cranks the wheel, and then she dives in the back seat to grab the seat belt, it's like, you know, it's probably one of the more real fight scenes that I've seen in movies. You know, she like you said earlier, she doesn't walk away from any of these scenes without scars or bruises or cuts or or something. She literally gets the shit kicked out of her this entire movie. She's she's not the invincible superhero type of of of hero that we see in some movies, right, She's she's more of a Jama clan. She is like when she gets hit. When she gets hit, you feel it. When she hits someone, you feel it worse.

34:30 It's fantastic. I'll tell you one one more thing before we leave the backseat fight. If there's something about that tunnel it must just it just must bring fights to it, because I think you know what I'm talking about. This is the same tunnel. What am I talking about? Let the listeners know. I think would have to be Civil War it is. This is the same tunnel that the Black Panther goes after Bucky Barnes in Captain America Civil War. So moving on, if this backseat fight was the teas the apartment fight, now now now we're in the action. Because I'm sorry, but you will never look at a garden hose the same way again. No, God, no, no, Charlie's you know versus several cops a small garden hose and she's she's she's using it like a bull whip, she's using it like a baton, she's using it to strangle them. Mm hmm. It's incredible.

35:34 And the fact that it's so high octane, but you're kind of you're kind of feel like you're watching in slow motion because George Michael's Father Figure is playing throughout the entire scene. Yeah, that's one of those weird music chased choices, but it God, it works, it does, right. Leech actually wanted Take My Breath Away from Berlin, but he couldn't get the rights, so he settled. He settles on Father Figure. But I think Father figures the better way to go. Yeah, I could see it working with the other one, but Father Figure is definitely the way to go because it out of context. It's it's totally out of context, but it works, it does. I I love when she grabs the frying pan as just beating the snot out of the guys with the frying pan, you know. And and of course my favorite is the balcony escape. Okay, so again where it's not that it's it's not as close as the back seat of a BMW.

36:29 But we're in these tiny, cramped little apartments, and when she's grabbing anything that's within reach, this woman makes a weapon out of anything from the guard hose to the to the to the pots and pans. And I catch myself like my my jaw drops or like my wins a little bit, depending on some of the hits that you see people take and some of the hits that she takes. But the escape where she wraps she wraps the guard hose around a guy's through, using him as an anchor basically, and then just runs and jumps off the balcony. It's awesome, exactly. I wish we'd gotten a little bit more of what happened to that guy. You know, it did end well fore, but it does not end well for that guy.

37:14 And I'll tell you though that that scene it ends well for us because I was like, man, I I don't know if I can take much more, Like this is what do you get? What do you got next? And I'll tell you what we got next? John. If we if we've had the t's and we've we've had the action, get ready for the get ready for the climax, because this hotel fight at the end. Without question, it's the bloodiest. It's the most brutal fight sequence I've seen in any film, and it's perfect. There's no music, so when you hear glass breaking and the character's heavy panting, it's really amplified, like you're right there with them. I feel like, yeah, and this scene goes on for ten minutes? Does it really go on that long? It's almost ten minutes that it clocks in at Oh my god, telling you you feel every punch, you feel every kick, and they exhaust themselves. I mean, think about that. Yeah. I love the fact that as as she continues to dispatch people like the one, the one guy, like you know, he's he's one of the main henchmen who kind of you know, he he goes the distance with her basically and they are stumbling, they're falling back, like she gets up but then she falls just just collapses. Yeah. Get we talked about realistic fight scenes. I feel like this is one of the most realistic things because we're watching people just destroy each other, but they are taking time to you know, get catch their breath, and they're they're crawling,

38:45 they're not hopping back up. It's amazing. There's the one guy in it. This may be the main henchman that you were referring to. It's towards the end of the fight scene where she eventually gets the better of him and he falls over back words on these steps, and I mean, kudos to this stuntman, because the dude was stiff as a board when he did this, And I'm like, how in the world did they pull this stunt off? I mean, the guy drops like he's dead, and he doesn't. He doesn't flop. I mean, he drops and you can tell it hurt. Yeah, I mean, and think about this. Kudos to Charlie's their own also, because she does the majority of her own stunts, including the tumble down the marble stairs, And I'm like, how do they do that? How do they do that? I did some digging. It turns out that those stairs were actually padded. They're like pads that they made look like marble. Oh wow, I don't care. They're like when you watch her get thrown down a flight of stairs, it's still like, I don't care if it's pads or not. How how is this woman doing it right?

39:51 Because in this it looks bad, you know, And this fight scene in particular, you'd reference Daredevil a few minutes ago. This is the Aredevil fight scene. This is that hallway fight from Daredevil on steroids because it seems like it seems like, you know, it starts out as a gun dottle and it ends up hand to hand combat. And I love when she's she gets she gets the guy up to the room and he's he's been shot. He's hurt. Spyglass, Yeah, spy Glass is hurt, and she's like, go over there, you know, she kind of motions him over to the side. She you know, she hides with the gun. She takes one guy out when he comes in the next guy and she's out of bullets and she's behind the wall and she's got that gun wrapped up and she's gonna use it. As you know, the butt of the gun is a weapon.

40:36 And I'm like, I've never seen anybody like you see people do it all the time and these but you've never actually seen it played out realistically like it is here. Yeah. Absolutely, the whole sequence was based off of Children of Men. There's a there's a there's a sequence of Children of Men that is kind of close quarter combat throughout a throughout a hotel uh and Leech kind of took inspiration from that because he felt it was important to stay up close and personal with the character until it ends. By far, it's one of my favorite fight scenes that I have seen. Its h I was sitting here before we started, I was like, Okay, what's the best fight sequence I've ever seen in a movie that's that can top this? And there's probably one out there. I'm not thinking about it, but the fact that I'm struggling to the fact that it can't just instantly we can't say, oh, it's it's such and such in this movie, right that says something about how amazing this fight sequence is. That's what That's where I'm at with it.

41:37 Yeah, the choreography on this fight scene is it's amazing. There's no other word for it. It's the aesthetics of it. And you know, I've talked about it on a couple other podcasts have done on with when we're talking about like fight scenes and stuff in the way they're shot, and this one shot, like you said, you feel like you're in the middle of this with them. You're you're not involved in the fight, but you're seeing everything that goes on. You're you're just off to the side. You know, you're if this was Rocky, you'd be the guy, and you know you'd be Burgess Meredith's character in the in the Corner of the Ring, absolute water and everything. It's just it's so well done. It is. We're gonna take one more break, and when we get back, we're gonna talk about David Leach and his small but impressive filmography. All right, John, So I'm gonna give you. I'm gonna give you two little tidbits about David Leach and then a quote. All right, So he enters Hollywood as a stuntman in nineteen ninety five, just so happens to be Brad Pitts stunt double.

42:54 He's worked with him on Fight Club, The Mexican Spy Game, Ocean's Eleven, Troy, and Mister and Missus Smith. He's also doubled Van Dam twice. Another interesting fact, David Leach is skilled in several martial arts, including muy Thai shoot wrestling, boxing. He's competed in kickboxing on the national level. And when I found that out, if you remember us talking about Guy Ritchie a few weeks ago, him being a black belt in several martial arts. Let's see these two in the ring, like just you know, friendly, but you know i'd pay money to watch that one man. Yeah, I mean, And I had looked up after I looked up to who directed this, and I saw I didn't read his entire bio, just a couple of sentences. And that was the first sentence in his bio that he is you know, he holds belts and all these disciplines, and like we were talking about before the break the fight scenes, it shows in these fight scenes. It really shows. Yeah, well to that point when we're talking about how how he likes to direct, this is a This is an amazing I think this is a great quote from him. David Leech says, quote, I think the biggest thing you take from the stunt world is your understanding of the filmmaking process. For years, you've worked with every other department closely.

44:20 You know hair, makeup, wardrobe, special effects, and you know what everybody's needs are and their expectations. You also know how to collaborate with them. That's that's fantastic. I mean that this is a guy who you can tell he's involved from all aspects, right because he is. He's worked on everything from the The Conan, the Barbarian remake, to The Wolverine to to Jurassic World and Captain American Civil War as an as an assistant director. So so he's definitely one of those guys that you can tell he knows about everything on set because he cares about everything on set. And that's what that's what I think about this guy. Yeah, it does show, and it does show in his filmmaking that he's got an incredible grasp of everything that's going on. I think you don't always see that with a director, especially you know, a director that's never really done much else other than maybe direct.

45:21 You know this guy, this guy's been on the other side of the camera, like you said, a few a few times I had. I had no idea. It was Brad Pitt's stunt double and you know double for Van Dam, which I find kind of fun. Yeah, It's it's one thing. I mean, if you and if you look at the guy, he's he's got a little bit of a Tyler Jurdon look to him. If if you look his name, look at his picture. So I see that. But but Van Dam, that's okay, Like what Okay, interesting choice, but hey, I guess you know the check cleared, So why not? Why not? Uh? Why not talk about this guy's film. Like I said, he hasn't done that many, but I feel like he is just getting started. We've been talking about Atomic Blonde's that's his solo directorial debut in twenty seventeen. The very next year, he gives us Deadpool two. I love that film. I absolutely love that film. Deadpool changed the superhero movie in ways we never expected. And for anyone to come along and say, hey, I'm the new guy gonna I'm gonna do the sequel, that's a big Those are some big shoes to fill, I feel like, but Deadpool Too is just as good. Yeah, it does have a different aesthetic to it somewhat than the first one, but it's very much it's very much in with the first one and a visual light visually. And I remember, you

46:52 know, I'm a big fan of Kevin Smith and listening to his podcast and they're talking about the first one and how this guy comes out of nowhere to do in a video game. To director, I think he was to direct Deadpool one, and and this guy's kind of coming out of nowhere as well too. And here's a stuff mans. Yeah, oh yeah, you know, here's a stuff man that's direct now yeah, and we've seen that before. I mean, like, the most notable that comes to mind for me is how neat him and doesn't compare it. No, yeah, doesn't compare it, you know, you know, but yeah I can. I can see it, you know, having looked at his filmography, which you'll go more into in a minute, I've seen it. I've seen snippets of that in this of every one of those films, in this film and vice, I agree with you, and for me, the draw when when the when the trailer came out for Deadpool two. I don't know about you, but Cable was always one of my favorite that's been so I was like, don't don't screw this up. You got Josh Brolin, don't screw it up.

47:53 And he hit a home run as far as I'm I'm concerned. Twenty nineteen, he jumps into the Fast and Furious world with in my opinion, one of the better films because it's the Hobbs and Shaw. It's like the the movie that's it's part of the Fast and Furious, but it's not that's serious adjacent. Yeah, it's fast and furious adjacent. Because you got hob you got you got to you know, I I apologize because I love those movies. I own them all, but I couldn't tell you one from the other because they're just they're just junk food movies. But you got you got the Rock. You know, he's he's playing Hobbes, and then you got Jason Statham who is Shaw, and they kind of make they kind of do like this midnight run, like this buddy cop type of situation with them because they gotta they gotta take on Idris Elba, who is sort of I'm not gonna say superpowered, but he's he's amplified, to say the least. I don't know the movie. It's it's it's it's a dumb popcorn movie, but it's a lot of fun. It's got a killer soundtrack. Vanessa Kirby's in it, Helen Mirren, Eddie Marson who also so you know, I think at Marson shows up a lot in uh in Leeches films, but uh, I don't know Hobbs and Shaw. I think it's one of the better fast and furious movies, even if it's not a fast and furious movie. Fast and Furious. I like the first one. I haven't really liked much since if I'm honest, and the first one is is flawed, just like the rest of them. But like you said, these aren't movies you're going to for deep You're not looking for new meaning in a fast and furious movie. I

49:27 mean, they're the equivalent of from my childhood the afternoon Kung Fu theater. Yeah, you're not looking You're watching it for the stunt. You're watching it, like, what are they gonna what are they gonna do this car motorcycle next? You know? Yeah, I think as far as spinoffs go, though, you could do a lot worse than Hobbs and Shall Like I said, I it's a fun time as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, I'll tell you one that that caught me off guard. I did not expect it to be as amazing as it was. I know our buddy Dayton Johnson feels the same way because we covered it. We did it. We did one of our back to the box office movie reviews because we went out and saw it on opening night. Talking about Bullet Train with Brad Pitt, Did you catch that one? John I caught it on I caught it on Prime not too long after it hit there. Really really enjoyed that flick. Oh yeah, it's again one thing that Leech I feel like he definitely has a knack for. It's the the hyper violence, the stylized set pieces, the great banter between characters. Yep, Bratt, Brad Pitt, Aaron Taylor, Johnson, Brian Tyree, Henry. This movie's packed with some some great some great people. One of my favorite guys, Hirooki Sonata, is in this one.

50:47 It's just fantastic, man, It's it is a fun action film. Yeah again, you're not it's nothing. You're looking for deep meaning in and I do you no insult by me saying that it's a popcorn movie. But it's like you said, it's visually, it's you know, it reminds me a little bit of this movie visually, now that I think about it, You've got the he tends to not so much in Deadpool, but maybe some of the other ones he tends to like he uses a lot of Neon. Oh yeah, I know. Neon is kind of big and some of the Japanese culture and the landscape because of the way the cities and stuff are built up. But yeah, I mean the the aesthetic for this now, you know, it's kind of in line with Atomic Blonde. It looks a lot that both movies are very very similar looking. Yeah, it absolutely. It just it blows my mind that we can have this much action on a train that's you know, it's not like the train's going to derail or go, you know, explode or anything like that. But what do you think, John, if we're talking intense train movies, I'll give you I'll give you Chris Evans and snow Piercer, I'll give you Brad Pitt and Bullet Train, and then I'll give you that awesome I think it was Korean last Train to Bussan, the zombie one on the on the train. I will, okay,

52:22 but I to do yes. I was gonna ask you, like, you know, where do you put Bullet Train? Is it? Is it the best out of train out of what I've seen. I'm gonna rank it number one? Okay, all right? Yeah, I'm and no disrespect to like the some classics like I know, uh Void, John Void did Runaway Train. Yeah, it's it was good. I liked it, but it's not bullet trained. It is definitely not bullet trained. Let's talk about what's next for Chad Leech and maybe what we want to see. So this I'm excited for if I feel like he basically he's doing this one for you, John This, if if this, if this, If there was ever a John Wright film, it's this one. He's in pre production on a movie called Undying Love. It's based on a comic book series by Tom Coker and Daniel Friedman. Listen to this synopsis. An ex soldier falls for a vampire, though in order to be with her, he must take on her creator, who is protected by an army of monsters in the Hong Kong underworld.

53:31 All right, I'm in shut up and take my money. Right? When is this coming out? We have got to watch this? Uh? You and I You and I got to be there on opening night for this. Oh that sounds awesome. Heck yeah yeah you uh you know you talked earlier Charley's there on you know you mentioned that she had revealed that the sequels being set up to Atomic Blonde with Netflix. He's he's gotta be the obvious choice, right if if he's not directing it, he's got to be a consultant. He's got to he's got to have a heavy hand in it. And I don't think given what we saw to this one, I don't think she'll I can even see her saying I'm not doing it without it. I would hope that she says something like that to that effect. Uh. And you know, he's and he's he's only gonna he's only getting bigger with his popularity and his his talent to close out his filmography. Obviously, A fall Guy is in theaters now and it is fantastic. I strongly recommend seeing it on the biggest, loudest screen you can find. It is it's hilarious, it's it's fun, tons of action, and who better to direct a film about a stuntman than one of the one of the greatest stunt men we've had in a long time. So very good point. Yeah, as far as Atomic Blond goes, I definitely recommend this one. If anything, it's a highly visualized action film that rewards us with what I feel as Charlie's the best performance,

55:06 and it reminds us, honestly, to me, it reminds us how much we desperately need more female action heroes. What what? What do you think? Definitely need more female action heroes. I'm all here for it. This was a sleeper for me, I'll admit, but I really really enjoyed it and it's it's it's a really good movie. I can't. I really enjoyed this one. Yeah, and it shows us uh you know Furiosa Lorraine Broughton. I would I would happily watch another few, you know. I know we got the you know, Furiosa movie coming out with Anna Taylor Joy mm hmm. But I would love if if they could find a way to jump back and uh give us more Charlene or jump forward in the story, I'd be I'd be up for that too. Uh. They they've teased her in their Marvel universe, so I'd love to see what she's gonna do.

55:54 If they're gonna utilize her in the Marvel universe, I hope they don't waste her. That was the that multiverse of Madness endings. Yes, come on, we want more Shirleys there on obviously, you know. And as far as Leech goes, you talked about him like what we want to see out of him? Give him blade? Oh man? Who? Because that one's still have they figured out who's directing it. I know people can think it's I think it's still in purgatory. But give him Blade. He needs to do Blade because I mentioned his stunt work. He was a something in on the Wesley Snipes Blade really, so he's he knows the material. Let's let's get Let's get David Leach for that one. I like where you're going with that, John absolutely. I Tally Blond. Unfortunately it's not streaming anywhere, but you can rent it for three ninety nine pretty much on any you know Prime, you know, google all of them. Apple, I for once suggest the gorgeous four K Blu ray. It is packed with behind the scenes features, it's got deleted scenes, it's got a killer audio commentary from David Leach and his longtime editor, Elizabeth Ronald's daughter. It's just and they're just having fun. You could tell. The funny thing is and they mentioned this in their their audio commentary. They were specifically told do not sing along with the songs when you're doing your audio commentary. And this poor woman, Elizabeth, she's like, I really want to seen, but I know where you're told not to. But that's hard not to sing along. That would be

57:28 my curse. If we're blessed to do an audio commentary, I would be humming along with song. Do you have a lung? Yeah? I don't know. I well listen. I'm glad. I'm glad you're a fan of this movie. I feel I felt like you would be, and that's that's why I was excited to have you. Have you joined me with it was very cool and I'm really glad you recommended it to me. Absolutely, listeners, what do you think of Atomic Blonde? You can let us know on social media on Facebook, Instagram, x. You can check out a film by podcast dot com where you can get all of our episodes streaming free on your platform of choice. You can write to us at a film by Podcast at gmail dot com with your questions, comments and concerns. We may just read your response on the show and send you some a film by swag.

58:15 I say may, but I just sent like six boxes out earlier today, So yeah, it's all coming. I promise join us tomorrow for our Star Trek themed series Phasers Set to stun. Wayne, Dave, and Scott are continuing their recap of Discovery's final season on Friday, our limited series nineteen ninety six returns with another guest from the docu based seventy seven podcast. Robert Burnett and I are going to talk about the fun and nostalgia that the small wave of Pulp era heroes provided with our conversation about Billy Zane in The Phantom, John, real quick, are you? We're you a fan of the fan them? Phantom was a really it was. I remember really enjoying that because I knew nothing about the character and it's just it's like this, it's just a fun movie. It is it is. Yeah, check check that one out, John, I think, I think Robert will will do you and the others at docum Base seventy seven pretty proud. And next time on a film buy Andy, Tom and I will talk about one of John Wu's greatest films, Hard Boiled, which certainly isn't an underrated film, but we're talking about it because it's being brought to you by our Patreon producer James Buckley.

59:37 That's right. When you subscribe to our Patreon at the top tier, you have the opportunity to select the episode of your choice. Basically, you're you're the boss. You're putting us to work. So John, I want to thank you for joining me today before it yeah, before we go. Any appearances coming up. Nothing on the books for the remainder of May. June. I'm taking I'm taking off. It's my birthday, my wife's birthday, our wedding anniversary, just vacation. There's just way too much going on in June. July. Should be back out here right now. We're looking at jim City Comic Con. Beyond July. Some other highlights will include Horrorhound.

1:00:21 Just got word that I'll be back at September's Horrorhound, so I'm really really excited for that, and Cincinnati Comic Expo and a new show for me, Horror at the Ohio in Madison, Indiana. It's a horror film festival. Guys inviting me to come along. I believe the Sleepaway Camp is going to be probably represented there inten tent, so yeah, could be could be kind of fun. Speaking of fun, Uh, what was it last month at Horrorhound. It was so awesome to see you there. Yeah, you looked I mean you were busy too, Like we kept trying like all three day, we were there all three days. Every time we try to start up and uh and touch base with you. You just you had a lot of people, you know. So yeah, I was so I was so blessed to have you know, have everybody that stopped by stopped whether you bought something or not. You don't know how much that means to a guy like me.

1:01:15 You just don't know. Yeah. And did it? Am I wrong? Or did I see you? Uh? It looked like you were having a pretty good conversation with the EDWARDO. Sanchez and the the cast of the blair Witch Project. That was so awesome. I got to meet them. I did a Scooby Doo blair Witch mashup and word got out to them and they basically said, come on over, let's let's sign something for you. And Edward Sanchez was telling me that one wall in their house is nothing but fan art, and he said that it was definitely going on the wall. So I again so humbled. For a guy like me with really no book or title of his own right now, to get that little bit of recognition, It's just so awesome and so humbling. John. Where can the listeners find you and your stunning work on social media? Social media right now?

1:02:09 The easiest way to find me is Facebook at jw Art Studios, The Art of John Wright. All right, i'll tell you what. I'll put that in the show notes so people can link to your stuff and check it out. Listeners, please check out the Art of John Wright. And as always, for those of you liking, sharing, following, and subscribing on your streaming app of choice as well as Patreon, we thank you.