Martin McDonagh - Seven Psychopaths

0:00 When we're talking about black comedy, we're talking about a film or other work that deals with tragic or distressing subject matter in a humorous way. Andrew, do you have a favorite black comedy does? What does one come to mind? It's a that's a tough category. I'm a big fan. I think I'd probably have to go with Fargo. I think the Coen Brothers do dark comedy about as well as anybody. I think you're right, that definitely would be at the top of my list. I would. I I might have to go with Heathers possibly, but I love I love it. I love a good black comedy. Let's talk about one of them today. Let's talk about a film by Martin McDonough, his twenty twelve satirical crime drama Seven Psychopaths.

1:19 Hello, everybody, I'm Jeff Johnson and I am Andrew Blakeley, and this is a film by podcast Andrew. It is great to have you back. You've been away for a couple of weeks. Yeah, I'll call it call it paternity leave. Yeah, you've been you've been. They going good, I hope, Oh yeah, yeah, I know. It's fantastic. I'm definitely feeling a little like a psychopath myself a little sleep deprived, but fantastic. I knew this one would draw you back out. Uh, this is one of your favorite directors, if I'm not mistaken. Absolutely, you know, talking dark comedies, he three of his four probably in my my five dark comedy lists of all time. He's brilliant and this is one underappreciated work. In my opinion, I'm inclined to agree with you. Let's talk about seven psychopaths. Boozy writer Marty played by Colin Ferrell, is a man in search of a screenplay. He has a catchy title, but no story to go along with it. Marty has a couple of odd ball buddies, Hans played by Christopher Walken and Billy played by Sam Rockwell, who make a living by kidnapping rich people's dogs, then returning them and collecting the reward.

2:34 However, this time the fur flies when Hans and Billy kidnap the beloved pooch of a gangster played by Woody Harrelson, and Marty uses the ensuing events as fodder for his screenplay. I gotta tell you, I think that that actually represents what this movie is. But even so, this movie takes so many left turns. I was struggling to keep up with it. Man. Yeah, it's definitely. It would be hard to write, you know, sort of a back of the box blurb for this, because it's it doesn't really fit neatly into any category. It's narrative, kind of jumps around a bunch.

3:15 It's it's a very interesting movie. And I think that's one of the things that always draws me to make done as movies is they're always unexpected. They're never what you're what you think you're gonna get, they never go where you think they're gonna go. And this, this movie does that a lot. Admittedly, this was a first time watch for me, and as recent as several hours ago, I sat down to watch this for the first time and I just didn't know. There are parts where I'm like, this is this is brilliance, this is genius, and other parts I'm like, what the hell am I watching? What's going on? But yeah, I'll tell you, the first time I watched it, I felt the same. I don't. I'll be honest, I don't think I liked it the first time I watched it. Okay, I was coming hot off of n Bruges, which is genuinely one of my favorite movies of all time. It's amazing, and you know, I'd watched it one hundred times. So when this came out, because this was there was a few years between in BRUEs and this, this was his sophomore outing, I was expecting something more like that, and this very clearly is different. So I was a little disappointed. But I've watched it a few times since, and I gotta say I've come around on it a lot. I really like it. I think there's a lot more to it than its silliness kind of betrays. A few days ago, our Patreon released another one of our lost nineteen eighty six episodes we did at close Range, starring Christopher Walkin. Yeah, so I was all amped up

4:45 ready for Walking and I will. I gotta say he does not disappoint in this film. Looking forward to talking a little bit about his character for sure, And there are just moments where I genuinely I hung in because I thought, you know what, I'm gonna end up liking this movie. At the end of it, it's gonna it's gonna take another turn and I'm gonna I'm gonna applaud it. So I'm glad. I'm glad you picked this one man. Yeah, me too. I mean, I love the idea. I love getting your your reactions to this because, as I said, I was conflicted coming out the gate. But I will say, uh, you mentioned walking. I think both he and Rockwell just absolutely steal the show. Rockwell's performance is so nuanced and silly but also empathetic. It's really really well done.

5:31 The cast of this, just even Tom Waits, he's not in the movie a lot, is so brilliantly weird as only Tom Wits can be, as only Tom Waits can be. Let's talk about this cast. And I'm struggling with this even because I want to say Colin Farrell in the lead role, but yeah, I think that's at times. I think that's the intention, but maybe at times Sam Rockwell takes the lead. Is that this is this is a movie about a screenwriter writing a movie called Seven Psychopaths, and it's a movie called seven Psychopaths. So I think that Marty is sort of a self insert for McDonough. I mean, they even share the same first name. They're both Irish. So although I don't know if if McDonough has a drinking problem or not. So I think he's just sort of meant to be our our inroad to this because it's very self aware as self referential, and I think he is he is our endpoint to that. But I don't know that there is necessarily a main character. I think this is very much writing on the ensemble energy. I agree, I agree. What do you think of Coln Farrel? He doesn't do anything necessarily bad or wrong in this movie, but I think he's upstaged by just the the zaniness of everybody around him. He's a very normal character, and nobody else in this movie is normal. I know, he's the character that we're we're kind of seeing the the film transpire through. But he doesn't hold a candle to Sam Rockwell when

7:06 when Rockwell's on the on the screen with him. Yeah, I mean, I think Sam Rockwell is one of those actors that whatever he's in, he elevates. And if he's made the choice to be in a movie, I'm probably gonna like it. You know. He's also in He works with mcdona and McDonough again in Three Billboards Outside of Eving, Missouri, YEP, and was just a wholly different character. But every single thing he's in, even bad movies, he just takes him up a level and this is no different. He's got this. He almost seems he's really leaning into the idea that he is having to fake or emulate emotions and he's not quite good at it yet. Yeah, you can see like he's he's practiced. Things he wants to say to Marty and so he'll repeat them verbatim with the exact same tone if they didn't land the way he wanted. And just little little things like that I think really elevate his performance. His character Billy Bickell at times feels like I'm almost like he's like a comic book character. And I think I know a lot of that's Sam Rockwell, just his gravitas, just taking it over the top. But I gotta wonder if it's gotta be a not to taxi driver. The fact that his last name is Bickell and he has a scene where he's rehearsing himself in the mirror. Oh yes, I think there's quite a few references because of the nature of you know, a film about a film, so to speak. I think there's a lot of film references throughout this because it's sort of playing on and mocking the idea of those overly

8:37 macho psycho characters, and I you know, I think to an extent that might be an affectation Billy intentionally puts on because he wants to. He wants to be that guy. He wants to be that psycho, well, someone that's usually not overtly macho, but definitely borderline psychotic. Christopher Walkin playing Hi Kislowski also Andrew, can we are we gonna talk spoilers? I mean this movie, I think we have to. It'd be hard not to. But Okay, if you have not watched this movie, stop now, because this movie takes some weird turns and I want you know, everybody they'll be able to experience it. Okay, So I'll tell you what if you if you want to go spoiler free, hit stop, come back and see us here in a couple hours, head over to Paramount Plus watch Seven Psychopaths, and then come right back. And now that we've taken care of that business, Christopher walking doing double duty. He's he's Hans, but he's also we come to find out that he's the Quaker, this enigmatic character who we initially see played by Harry Dean Stanton in a quick cameo. What a fascinating character man.

9:50 Absolutely as far as one of the psychopaths go. I love this guy well. I love the the play on, you know, being a essentially a pist psychopath. I mean, he's clearly brave, he's clearly a lunatic, but he never lifts a finger in violence towards anybody, and he's not ever going to. And I think that's such a a cool way to do that, especially in a movie like this that's sort of they talk about both celebrating and rejecting violence, and so to have a character like that and played by somebody like Walkin who can just he can sell absolutely anything, and it's so weird in the best way. I'm gonna tell you. I know this.

10:30 I'm skipping way far into the towards the end, but I think maybe my favorite scene in the whole movie, my favorite moment for a character is his moment at the end, and it's a it's an improvised scene where the guy, you know, the Hinchman, tells him those hands up and he goes, oh no, but I have a gun. I have a gun. I don't care. It doesn't make any sense. It's brilliant. That's brilliant, right. I love that moment for Christopher Walkin. Absolutely. Yeah. There's also a beautiful scene with him that I want to talk about, and I can kind of lead us into the next character I think is worth talking about. But he has sort of a stare down with I guess you could call the villain of the movie played by Woody Harrelson. Okay, it's his stare down, there's so much behind it, but it's also still that kind of quirky Walkin esque delivery that makes it, even though you know he's a pacifist, incredibly intimidating. All Right, I want I want you to put a pin in that scene because I do want to talk specifically about that scene here here soon. But you know you mentioned Woody Harrelson. Let's let's talk about Woody Harrelson. He's the gangster Charlie Costello. Yeah, and such a great choice to get Woody Harrelson. He wasn't actually initially the first choice.

11:56 Mickey Rourke was originally in the role and ok it had it locked down and apparently had such a disagreement with McDonough that he just called him an asshole. And left, So Harrelson kind of came in near the end, and having watched it now, it'd be hard to imagine anybody else in that role. He's so perfect for it. He does the perfect psycho terrifying but also like really funny, and not many people can pull that off the way what he Harrelson can. I Yeah, when I think of Woody Harrelson playing funny but also playing fearsome, I always think of Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers. Yeah, Oliver Stone, because he's he's hilarious in the movie, but he's also intimidating. He's terrifying, you know, and he's another serial He's playing a serial killer. The guy has the type. He has a type.

12:39 But maybe Mickey Work has a type because you said he he's in this role, fights with the director, gets and then walks off the set. I thought the same thing. I thought that same thing happened for The Expinnables too, which is also this year. So is Mickey Work just fighting with everybody? Twenty twelve just haven't had a rough year. I guess bad year for Rourke, yeah, or bad year for everybody that had to work with Roork I guess or yeah, that's another way to look at it. Whatody Harrelson though, he's there's a distinct scene where you know, he realizes he may not get his dog back and his dog's gonna die, and the entire movie hinges around how this completely cold, psychopathic killer is absolutely obsessed with his dog us so much. Yeah, and so there's a scene where he's crying and crying because he's not going to get his dog back, and it's just nothing about it. I mean, this man has killed several people and will kill several more in cold blood, and you're just watching him sob over his dog and it's it's weirdly sad and funny in a way that I don't think many people could do. Yeah, I don't think anyone could do this the way he does it. And something about his coldness in this film too, because we're we're getting some chuckles with a scene like that. But at the same time, the scene where he goes to visit Hans Christopher Walken's wife in

14:11 the in the hospital, he's terrifying and he's he is an out and out villain in that moment, because you're like, come on, you're not gonna You're not gonna kill a an elderly woman in a hospital and he splatters her brains all over the wall. It's just it's and I was like, whoa what? And you know, we talked about this movie taking some crazy left turns. I did not expect that, you know. I thought I was watching a dark comedy here, like you know, and then all of a sudden, it gets it got serious. It got real real quick, you know, absolutely, and he did it so coldly, like you said, there's no anger. It's not rage. It's just he's just kind of there hanging out and has no problem shooting this old lady in the face. Man.

14:56 I was very strange. Yeah, I was. I was hoping, you know, because because Walkin's wife is a black woman and he's got the Polish name. So when he comes in and says, hey, where's where's missus uh kills loss Lobsky and she's like, oh, she's in surgery, and you're like, yes, he's she's gonna out smart him. And when he puts it together, you're just like no. And then you know this, it's fair to say that there's some language in this film. And mcdona's look, macdonna's yeah, he's he's known for some language, but I'm talking about uncomfortable language, and this, this scene really turns the movie in a different direction. And that's this is one of my first times like what what the hell am I watching here? You know? Yeah, And that's you know, I remember feeling that the first time I watched in Bruges as well, and you know, it comes up again as other movies, like there's always something that happens, and I think that there's a level of like, we don't expect that to happen in a movie. You don't cross that line or you don't do that, because that releases tension. And I feel like McDonough as a writer, anytime you have an expectation of where you think it can or should go, he takes a hard left. He does the unexpected thing, and that's one of the things I really like about it. Yeah, Okay, I definitely like all the supporting roles we see here. We've got some some powerhouse performances. We mentioned Tom Waits, we got Abby Cornish, Olga Carelinko, we mentioned Harry Dean Stanton and even Kaborne Sadibe is in here for a few minutes. Anyone anyone stand out to you. Who did

16:29 you love in these small roles? I mean I mentioned Tom Waits already. I think his role is so quirky and strange and uncomfortable, but like, yeah, very intentionally so, and I think he absolutely crushed it. I remember rewatching it this time and I had forgotten this a line, but as I was watching, I was like, I feel like both Abby Cornish and Olga Kirilenko were grossly underused. Their characters are underdeveloped and it sucks. And then at a certain point, Walkin's character Hans is reading Marty's script and talks about how he sucks at writing women and they're not very well developed and they don't have any real autonomy, and it definitely feels like McDonough kind of calling himself out and me like, oh, I suck at this. Yeah.

17:11 I do like the meta commentary that's going on in this movie, because I feel like the these two, especially you know, Abby Cornish and Olga Carinco, they're kind of playing generic female characters that are objectified throughout the movie. Yeah, I mean so much of the fact that Abby Cornish, like the last time we see her, she randomly pops up and I get that we're in Sam Rockwell's crazy fever dream of a movie where he's trying to pitch the movie, but she just she like she randomly pops up in like a it's like raining all of a sudden, and she's in a sheer shirt like firing guns and it's like, what really, like, we could do more with Abbie Cornish. She's a good actress, like you know, a couple.

17:56 This is well below her paygrade, for sure, it is. It is, But Macdonna, you gotta remember he wrote this as well, and he is. He's being pretty transparent, Like the first time she shows up, she opens the door Sam Rockwell and he's like, what are you doing yoga? Can I watch? He's creepy, you know for sure, And you know, obviously as the movie develops we see why he's entirely broken. But yeah, I go back and forth on whether or not that was an intentional commentary on the genre, because obviously this was a very intentional attempt to deconstruct that glorified violence, glorified psychopath genre, which usually at best fridges women, or if that was just McDonagh doing that because he is bad at writing women.

18:42 I'm not sure which it is. I'd be curious to hear from him, like what his intentions were with that. I would too. And while we're thinking about that, let's hear from some of our sponsors. We're gonna take a quick break. When we get back, we'll talk a little bit about the film's background and what we think might be the pivotal scene. We are back discussing Martin mcdonna's Seven Psychopaths. So a couple of things that are noteworthy here Andrew. This script was featured on the two thousand and six Blacklist, which is a list that runs around Hollywood. It's the best unmade scripts of the year. As we mentioned before the break, it's written, directed, and produced by Martin mcdonnaugh, shot in and around Los Angeles as well as Joshua Tree National Park. And I think anyone that's been to LA or lives in LA can quickly pick up on this stuff. Oh absolutely yeah.

19:38 And I've been to Joshua Tree several times. I'm a huge fan. It's beautiful, it's fun to climb around on those rocks. It's very isolated, but so unique looking. I love that he chose to do it out there. You know, they even make the joke like it's a perfect place for a final shootout, because it is. I mean, there's so many places like that in Joshua Tree, and I'm glad they went out there. Here's something I I found that I really appreciate the doctor's paging. That announcement that's in the background during the hospital scenes. It's generic, it's just there, But that actually is a famous SoundBite that's been used in plenty of films and television as far back as nineteen eighty six. Nice and was first used on The Cosby Show. Interesting, very interesting. I'm gonna have to go back and listen for it. It's gonna I can add that to my Wilhelm Scream drinking game. It definitely it's a like a doctor doctor Haywood or doctor Blair, I think is what they say something like that. It's like a repeating thing. Andrew, we've talked about a couple scenes. Let's talk about what you think is the pivotal scene in this film, because I think you started to mention mine earlier and I asked you to to hold off because it is definitely what I want to talk about. Yeah, I think there's a couple this movie takes a couple of really big turns, and so any one of those turns I feel like could be, you know, the pivotal scene, but I think for me it would have to be once the realization hits for

21:12 Hans and Marty that Billy is psychopath number one, he is the Jack of Diamonds as he's trying to get going. That realization, you know, changes the tone of the whole movie, changes what's going on. It sets the stage for the rest of it because we as the viewer, only just found out a few scenes prior, and we're starting to realize how broken Billy's head actually is. Yeah, that's one of my favorite parts about the movie, and even on the rewatch, kind of seeing that being played out. So it's that culmination just felt so cool. I'm watching this for the first time and two things are running through my head I feel out the entire film.

21:55 The first is who was the first psychopath? Because we get as we in characters, we get this like typer type written, you know, you know, we psychopath number one, psychopath number two. We never see psychopath number one on the screen. So for a while, I'm like, wait, who was who? What did I miss? I didn't take a bathroom break. Who's the first psychopath? And on top of that, we've got this cool subplot going through the movie where this Masked killer is bumping off bad guys and then dropping Jack of Diamonds playing cards on them, and I'm like, Who's the Jack of Diamonds. So the end, when we when we get that big reveal that Billy is in fact the Jack of Diamonds killer, we get the you know, psychopath number seven and Psychopath number one, and I thought that was just excellent. I loved I loved how he did that.

22:45 Right. So you mentioned that opening scene where we're introduced to the Masked Killer the Jack of Diamonds, and you know, you have this dialogue that feels sort of tarantino asque, like something out of pulp fiction where Mychael Pitt and Michael I think it's stallbarg are are talking and just having this conversation about killing somebody and shooting them through the eyeball, and it's like really weird and quirky. It very much felt like something Tarantino would do, and then boom, they're both killed. You just see this character walking slower from the background shoots him in the head and kicks off the movie. It's very strange, very jarring, and I love the way it set the tone for that. So then to come back around and realize he was setting the tone for the whole movie. He was he was kicking off the events of the movie intentionally.

23:26 It's just so cool. I absolutely love it. And I thought that was a fun, fun way to start the movie with that cameo because I know these guys, if I'm not mistaken, both of them were on Boardwalk Empire during filming of this movie, so I don't know that would be around the time. Yeah, yeah, so I don't know if they were like on set and hey, come on over. But do you like it? The pivotal scene for me though? And you started to discuss it when you when you start talking about Woody Harrelson Hans meeting Charlie in the hospital waiting room. Yep, And you talked about that that stared on they have that The tension is so thick in that scene. Yeah, it's it's brilliant. And the reveal as Walking takes off his cravat and hands it to him. It's the intimidation factor that the psychological games they're playing it's and the emotion behind it too, because you know, Walkin doesn't break down crying, you don't have this huge emotional release. But he just found out his wife was killed by this man. Yeah, and he's processing all of that and it's it's so intense, but it's also and this is the thing that that happens a lot in this movie. It's very poignant and intense, but also really absurd, like really silly, which adds this level of humor to the darkness that I love.

24:45 I'm sitting there watching it and Harrelson asking, Hey, what is that around your neck? And you know, he explains what it is, and he starts, I want you to have it. And then you're like, that's kind of a weird flex but sure. And then when you see the scar, immediately your head goes, wait, he's the Quaker. This is this is a real guy. And for me that was such a pivotal moment because I was like, now it's all coming together. You know, these these characters that we're hearing about, they're real people. They're not just fictional characters. Love that moment. There's a really good scene earlier too that makes a lot more sense. After that reveal where Martin is explaining the story of the Quaker to two Hans and yes, when he realizes what's happening, Billy runs over and tries to interrupt, like, oh hey, hey, no, no, no, that's yeah, and you realize, you know, in retrospect, it's because he was telling Hans his own story, but as if it was something he just made up. It's it's super uncomfortable and weird, and that reveal just because so much heavier as a result. It does, And I think that's probably the one scary moment that Walkin's character has, or the one moment where he he gives you a scare because he's like, oh, I want to hear the end. Yeah, you know he knows.

26:06 Yeah. For a man that you know is a pacifist, he is very scary in this movie. Yes, yes, he is someone who is not scary. You want to talk a little bit about Martin McDonough, Yeah, I one of my favorites. I'd love to. Yeah, So a couple of fun facts about this guy. A British playwright, screenwriter, director and producer. He he is wearing many hats in his career. We've been talking about the you know, the use of black comedy. He's kind of known. This is his thing, this is his his his genre, if you will. His movies typically feature gory violence, profanity, fast paced dialogue, and characters with politically incorrect attitudes. I think this movie specifically is a perfect example of that. Yeah, the gory of violence, everything, the politically incorrect, I feel like is a is a very mild way to put it. Yeah, And I you know, I wonder sometimes if it's a thing that he's putting in there, you know, sort of again to reference Tarantino, it's sort of a wish fulfillment, like, you know, these guys are cool, some like that's a way to make them cool, or if it's a way to intentionally make them jarring and unlikable. But either way, I definitely feel like it takes it far enough where I'm like, I dud dial it back, chill. Yeah, I feel like this is something

27:37 he does a little a little much of. And you know, you said to Tarantino, and Tarantino definitely is one that will use certain words to elicit a response and and maybe to kind of get away with it. Uh Yeah, And to your point, yeah, I think a lot of times like like Woody Harrelson using a specific slur when he murders Christopher Walken's wife. I'm like, man, this guy's a piece of shit. I don't like him. But when Walkin does does it later and he's using a different slur, he's kind of like saying, oh, well, you know what, I don't think they like that. You know, he's talking in the tape recorder giving his ideas for the movie. So it's still uncomfortable, but you're not going to dislike walking for it, which is which kind of puts puts you in a weird headspace. I think, yeah, and I like playing with that space. You know, we talked about in Bruges a bit earlier, and there's a scene with quite a few racial remarks in m Bruges where Colin Ferrell's character is taking a bunch of drugs and drinking a lot and hang out with you know, a guy he met there in Bruges, a little person, and so they use the the M word to describe little people a few times, they use quite a few others, and while they're very hopped up on drugs, they say like there's going to be a race war and all this stuff. But then later when he's sobered up, he's like, hey man, that was like that was the drugs talking. That wasn't cool.

29:03 So for that it seems like that made sense for that scene, not the whole movie. If that makes sense, it makes sense. This guy, Andrew. He's won the Academy Award, he's won four Golden Globe Awards, and he's been nominated for five Tony Awards. You could say his career has been pretty successful. Yeah, I still think he was robbed. I think Banshee's venas she Heerian should have won. But that's you know, that's just me. I might be in the minority on that one. You might be, you might not be. We're gonna take one more break, and when we get back, we're gonna discuss his filmography. We're back, Andrew.

29:44 Let's discuss the filmography of Martin McDonough. We mentioned before the break, We mentioned that he does have an Academy Award that was for Best Live Action Short. He got that in two thousand and four for his film six Shooter, which featured Brendan Gleason, who I think is one of his go to guys. If I'm not mistaken, did you ever see this one I did a few years back. I remember liking it, Honestly, I don't remember a whole lot about it. I went to see it after, I believe, right after three Billboards Outside of Eban, Missouri came out. I was like, man, this guy just doesn't miss I want to see what else he's done. So I went and found it. Then, Okay, it's definitely what I want to look for because I love I love Brendan Gleason, and I know I'm gonna lose some points here. Let's talk about two thousand and eight when he breaks in with within Bruges Andrew. I haven't seen this one yet, oh, Jeffrey, I did not have. I wanted to have time to watch it. Oh man, I discuss it with you, because I know how much you love this film, and I know I know I'm letting you down right now, and I promise you I'll see it. But I do want to hear you know your your take on in Bruges, and I know I know you love it because you You've referenced it several times this episode already. So yeah, tell us a little bit about it. I'll give you my spoiler free thoughts on it. It is a perfect dark comedy in the sense that it is very funny and silly, but it has some truly harrowing moments, like it really goes to some dark places and it's, you know, much like you said this movie Seven Psychopaths, you really feel

31:15 La and you feel Joshua Tree. In Bruges takes place entirely in the city of Bruges in Belgium, and it's just an absolutely gorgeous city. About five years ago, my wife and I were road tripping through Europe and I made it a point to stop in Bruges for a day because this movie just makes it seem magical, and it really is. It's absolutely beautiful. It's like the cobblestone streets and little canals and whatnot. So to have all this violence and absurdity in such a beautiful, magical place was a stroke of genius. And then to put Brendan Gleeson and Colin Ferrell together, they play off each other so well. It was magic. First time working with Colin Ferrell, I think, second time working with Brennan Gleeson. It opened the two thousand and eight Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Best Original screenplay at the Academy Awards. So definitely on my list. I would have to believe that this is one that you absolutely recommend to our listeners. Yes, that's ten out of ten, I reckon. I mean, I will say much like Seven Psychopaths, it is violent, It goes to some dark places. It definitely uses some language that pushes the envelope. So if that's your thing, yes, that's not your cup of tea. Maybe not for you. Well, we've been talking about twenty twelves Seven Psychopaths twenty seventeen. He is back on the award circuit. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri. Sam Rockwell's back, Woody Harrelson's back, Abby Cornish's back. This is a guy who he has

32:50 a specific core group of actors and actresses he likes and he uses some time after time. Your thoughts on Three Billboards someone, I don't know that it checks the comedy box in the darker comedy it is. This movie is just is just dark, but it's really good. I mean, it is powerful, it is emotional. He wrote it the lead specifically for Francis McDormand, and I mean she is just so powerful and heartbreaking as I mentioned Sam Rockwell always he's always a ten, but it's this is this is the movie where I feel like he really elevated his game to be like Oscar Worthy. Yeah, there's one like Long Shot. It's a very complex shot where Sam Rockwell's character walks up some stairs, beats the crap out of a guy, throws him out of a window, walks back downstairs, all of this in a single take, which logistically had to be insanely complex. But it really makes you feel like viscerally, what's going on in the moment, and it's it's so good, so good. Yeah. McDormand wins the Best Attress Academy Award for this one. I know, a couple of episodes ago, me and Amber were talking about Ladybird and I said it then, I'll say it now.

34:07 I really think Lori Metcalf was the the better actress that year. However, Francis McDorman was pretty powerful. I'm not I'm not taking anything away from her her performance. I'm just I'm just reiterating I still think Ladybird's uh Rory metcalf might have had it. That's fair. Yeah, I can see I can see the case either way. Okay, Okay, now it also this one, it's a Best Supporting Actor. Harrelson and Rockwell are nominated against each other, and Rockwell wins, So I feel like that's that's a win win no matter how you slice it. Honestly, Yeah, would, I would? I did the right guy get it? Andrew? Yeah. That character goes on such a journey and is so layered and complex, and Rockwell pulls it off because, like you really hate him for a lot of the movie, but also you sort of sympathize with him, and he has like sort of heroic moments and they all make sense. It doesn't feel forced. It's a very interesting character. I don't like him at all, which is Sam Rockwell's one thing is he is charming as all hell. Yes, So for him to be able to stow that and still bring such power to it, yeah, I think he was. He absolutely deserved it that year. I need to do a rewatch of this one because I remember loving it. But like you said, this is a really dark film. I don't remember feeling any moment of levity, any moment of comedy. He call it up, you know, and it's listed as a black comedy. A lot of people call it a dark comedy, but I don't see it that way. Maybe

35:39 maybe I need to rewatch it. It's been a couple of years. No, definitely nowhere near. I'm not laughing at all during that one where it's like in Bruises and Seven Psychopaths, there are genuinely funny moments that you can point to and be like, that's absurd, that's silly, that's a comedy. His most recent film twenty twenty two's The Banshees of Initiarin in a shearing, I believe in a shearing, Thank you, thank you. What can you tell me about this one? Andrew, like all the others, I think his cinematography and his use of like the the place that this takes place is perfect, Like it makes you want to go to Ireland and just go find some random island and like live on it. It was really it was some really interesting choices in it, but again it really leans heavily on Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, and they they were amazing. Farrell's like this just kind of sad sack, really simple, innocent, kind of dumb guy, like kind like a good kind person, and he plays it so well. I think he all all of these movies that really revolve around the cast, and I mean, this guy puts together a hell of a cast. Well, speaking of that, I'll tell you the reason why this one's on my radar.

36:58 I need why I need to see it. I saw that it was not. Barry Keegan was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, again against Brendan Gleeson. Like McDonald's movies have a habit of pitting two of its stars against each other for the same award. But I'm I'm really on a Barry Keegan kick after seeing Saltburn. Yeah. I think the guy's incredible. I mean, I've loved him in Dunkirk and everything else he's done. But now it's like, what, what have I not seen that Barry Keegan's in? So this was on my list? Yeah, I'll tell you it's it's really slow. It's a really slow movie. Barry Keegan's character is he It's just it's really good, but it's very slow, very weird, and the humor in it isn't quite as like chuckling laughing out loud humor, but it's it's still very funny. There's some really good stuff in it. Well, i'd like to talk about what's next for this director, but we can't. Currently he has nothing in development. He's he's not writing anything, he's not in pre production directing anything. He's not he's not in the theater. I don't know what he's doing. I do know that he's dating. He's been dating Phoebe waller Bridge for several years, so maybe he's just taken a nice long holiday and relaxing. But what would you want to see? Like, if you could pick his next project, Andrew, what would you want to see from Martin McDonough. Honestly, he's done four movies. I've loved all four of them,

38:29 and none of them are really what I was expecting or what I would have thought of from him. I mean, after these first two, for him to go on and make a like a tragic dark movie and then to follow that up with a period piece about some small interpersonal drama between two random dudes living on an island alone, Like I don't. I don't think there's any way to predict what he's going to do or how he's going to do it, And that's one of the things I like about him. He's always surprising. So I don't know. I just want him to make something man anything, I will see it. I'll be there, I'll be in line. Fantastic. You can check out Seven Psychopaths. It is currently streaming on Paramount Plus. You can always rent it on most pretty much all the streaming apps, but if you have paramunt Plus, check it out. We want to know what you think of Seven Psychopaths. Let us know on social media.

39:21 We're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can check out www dot a film by podcast dot com for all of our film and TV articles and our entire library, which is streaming free. You can write to us at a film by Podcast at gmail dot com. It seems like a lot of people are doing that lately, Andrew, so we're trying to get to all the emails, and as always we will shout you out when we when we when we read them. But you can give us your questions, comments and concerns, and as I just said, we will probably read your response on the show and we'll send you some of our Film by swag. You can join us tomorrow for our Star Trek theme series. Base are set to stunt. Wayne, Dave and Scott are continuing their conversation about Star Trek the next Generation with their top ten episodes of season seven, and on Friday, are Limited series A Film at forty five will celebrate the forty fifth anniversary of the Chuck Norris Classic Force of One. Hell yeah, Andrew, you love Chuck Norris too, right? I mean, how do you love an interesting word? I love watching Chuck Norris, You love watching Okay, Okay, that's fair. Yeah, that one's fantastic. Looking forward to seeing what David Scott have to offer for that one. And next time on a film by we are preparing for the release of Alex Garland's Civil War in theaters and we'll be talking about his twenty twenty two British Folk Corps film Men. Interesting pick

40:53 considering we just wrapped up Women's History Month and had all these great female directors and and women on the show, so we're taking a hard left. Like Martin McDonald talking about Andrew, it was a blast having you back, man. I'm so happy you're back in the rotation. Man. I'm happy to be back. Man. I love any excuse to watch this movie and talk to you. All right, Well, we've got plenty more options in store for you, so I know we'll be talking to you very soon can't wait. And to all you out there hitting the like, follow and share buttons, we thank you. I would have giming you what this someone who's tone up? Man, he's taking it almost so bad. I hook. But if you wanna try to love a hookey abra never been line, those cards are deep this bas Those cards are deep this but when it comes up being lucky