Speaker 1:
0:00
Welcome to your go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it.
Speaker 2:
0:05
Gaming. Wait for it. Anime Plus Ultra.
Speaker 1:
0:11
Mr Eric Almighty and Phil Vafilippino yeah, they've got you covered, and all you gotta do is Wait for it.
Speaker 2:
0:35
Hey everyone, welcome back to the Wait for it podcast. I am your host, phil Smith, aka Phil Vafilippino, and joining me, as always, is your my other co-host, mr Eric Almighty. We're just gonna roll with it. It's been that kind of evening, ladies and gentlemen, and we are here with the November edition of International Feature. And, eric, this is a film that has been circled for me on my list for quite some time I know you saw it earlier in the year and we are finally getting the opportunity to talk about it A film that has garnered just a ton of critical acclaim, as pretty much all the films that we have watched during this series. So I am excited to have this conversation with you and break down this film.
Speaker 1:
1:18
Yeah, and it kind of works out perfectly. And this is why I like that we have this series on the podcast, because I was hearing a lot of buzz about this movie early on in the year, especially like early Oscar-worthy buzz, so it was already on my radar from a lot of content creators that I follow in the movie world. But because we were doing International Feature, I was like this is probably a movie we're gonna have to see anyway, so why don't I just knock it out? And, funny enough, this is a movie, phil. I saw it in theaters by myself, which was great, so no one can see the emotional disaster that happened. So it really worked out for me.
Speaker 2:
1:57
Boy. Emotional damage is what comes to mind when thinking about this movie, and we're going to break down all of our trauma here over the next half hour or so. So really excited. When did you see it, Eric? Was that like February, March earlier this year?
Speaker 1:
2:13
I was definitely, when it was in theaters, fresh in theaters. So yeah, a couple of weeks after its release, I just went for a mid-afternoon weekend showing. It was me and like two other guys in there crying, it was great.
Speaker 2:
2:27
Nice, nice. So I wish I could have seen that experience, just like when you went to go see Pursuit of Happiness. Remember that you were bawling.
Speaker 1:
2:36
I tell you one time that I cried at the end of Pursuit of Happiness and it's just like my whole fucking identity to you.
Speaker 2:
2:45
That was your perfect opportunity to be like it was like 12 years ago asshole.
Speaker 1:
2:49
People don't forget.
Speaker 2:
2:51
Oh boy, just a trash can list of random quotes that make up Eric and I's friendship. If those ever go away, that is also when the podcast will end. Yeah, whenever those random quotes just suddenly stop happening.
Speaker 1:
3:04
We need to list them out. Is what we need to like?
Speaker 2:
3:06
create just a list Really do understand when they jump in here, when we see there needs to be like some kind of bingo, maybe like a bingo card for people to do just throughout the year. Yeah, like a scavenger hunt. I think that'd be cool and then we'll give you a prize at the end of the year. I think that would be a lot of fun. So, yeah, be on the lookout for the wait for it. Scavenger hunt in 2024. You're welcome. That's how it happens here at the podcast. They just happen. The idea is just come to us on the fly. So, yeah, as I mentioned, we're really excited for this episode of international feature. You know, I finally found a film where it didn't leave me scarred for physical pain that people were going through, and instead I stumbled upon this. And because, again, just garnering so much praise throughout the entire year, seeing it on countless letterbox lists from a bunch of people that I also follow, eric, and, like you said, seeing it on social media talked about all over the place, has been pretty crazy. But we're going to get into this film here in just a moment. Want to welcome in the brand new listeners. Just as a reminder, if you want to find all the rest of our content, stick around. In the end episode, we'll let you know where you can find everything that you need. And, of course, welcome back to all of our returning listeners. Truly, couldn't do this without you as we wind down 2023. It's been a fantastic year and we can't wait to show you guys what's next. So, eric, I want to kind of hand it off to you first because, again, you saw this movie earlier in the year, way before I have, so it's fresh on my mind, but it was a little bit early, you know. It's been a few months for yourself. So what really resonated with this film is someone who got to see it on a big screen in theaters with your two best friends, apparently.
Speaker 1:
4:47
Yeah, the two strangers that we just we didn't make eye contact when we left the theater. We just knew we were in, we just went through an entire ride. Phil, the thing about this movie it is a very it's not a movie. I think everyone will like it, but it tells a very specific story and I think for the story it was telling it was in a nice under two hour package. It's a beautifully shot film, beautifully acted film by all of the people involved. You know, when we talk about some of the cast, phil, there's there's not a lot of people in this cast we are going to be talking about, if anything, maybe three people that we're really going to be highlighting, and the way that they controlled the scenery and they ate on the script. Just again, from an acting perspective, from the cinematography perspective, this movie just checked all the boxes for what you want to spend your time doing when you go to see a movie. If I'm going to go see a movie by myself, like I want to be taken on a ride, and this was an emotional ride and a journey that I heard about, I was excited about, wasn't quite prepared for, but ultimately I enjoyed it and it seems like a lot of people do. So I'm glad to see that it met the hype that I was starting to hear, because you know whenever you go into a movie with predetermined opinions and ideas and you hear these reviews, you kind of like are expecting to be disappointed. Luckily I wasn't.
Speaker 2:
6:21
Yes, Celine song, her directorial debut, which is pretty insane. This film, well, let me give you I didn't give you guys a synopsis for those of you who have not seen it, Just so you guys know. We will be speaking freely about the ending towards the end of this episode. We will give you ample time to leave, should you want to check out the movie and then come back and see what our spoiler thoughts are. But let me give you a little synopsis here. This is an A24 film, so that is the pedigree of movie that we are talking about here, Probably another reason why it has so much hype. A24, don't mess around. And this is definitely one of those examples. Nora and Hei Song, who are two deeply connected childhood friends, are rest apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love and the choices that make a life in this heart-rending modern romance. So this actually, because I did some research here before we got started this actually stemmed. This idea stemmed from an actual event that happened to Celine Song in her real life. She was sitting in a bar in the East Village with a childhood sweetheart on one side and her husband on the other and literally just translating the conversation between two of them, and I just think you know it's just one of those prime examples where really the best art comes from real life. This is totally different, Eric, obviously, but you know that a lot of my comedy comes from things that actually happened in real life and those are my best bits. Those are the things that I go back to all the time. It's the same with really any type of art, and the fact that Celine actually went through this, I think, is an incredibly awkward situation, as it played out in the movie when we see it, both opening and closing the film, but also just made for a really, really beautiful and heart-wrenching story, not just about love and past loves and what could have been for relationships, but also, you know, kind of letting go of a different version of yourself. I mean, Eric, you and I have gone through many different versions of ourselves and you know, for Celine to find the people that she did, to tell that story of not only the romance but also just realizing, you know, that they may have to move on from the person, from the people that they used to be, was also really really sad, but beautiful at the same time.
Speaker 1:
8:48
Yeah, and I mean Phil, this was her directorial debut. Like way to just swing the bat on your first attempt and hit a home run, like that's absolutely insane to me. And you know A24 has a huge amount of pedigree. You know it is one of the biggest studios out there now, like one of the like critically acclaimed studios. So when they release a movie people are already talking, and for good, for good measure. They have now Oscar-winning movies under their catalog and they have that type of, have always had that type of quality. So this was just again an all-around pleasure to watch, in the sense that it felt real and it felt like a genuine story, to your point. And it was just all paced really well too. Like there wasn't really a large part of the movie where I was bored. I was very curious to see what was, what was going to happen by the end of it, and I think that's why you want to talk about the ending right Is because you spend the whole movie to get to that point. But at the same time they also revisit things. Like the scene opens with what you were just talking about, that kind of translation that's happening and that scene specifically, but it's from the lens of these complete strangers. So later on in the movie, when you get the context on what's actually happening. I also really liked that filmography choice. I thought that was really clever, really well done. But Phil, this cast again was amazing and our three leads really two leads, maybe one supporting actor, but I really feel like all three of them are pretty much the leads here and they do fantastic.
Speaker 2:
10:27
Yeah, another thing that I saw Celine talk about is there is a scene where Nora and Heisong meet for the first time since they were kids in the park and that was actually the first time while they were filming that scene that they had actually touched, like physically, so to kind of get the raw emotion of that hug, you know, of seeing somebody you haven't seen in the longest time. You know, eric, you know we have friends that we have made over the years that have moved away. We only see once every three to five years, right, and like there's, I think there is a tenderness to that physical touch, you know, when you just haven't seen somebody in such a long time. And they portrayed that very, very well. Also, the two actors the as far as Heisong and Arthur, they didn't meet until that first interaction in the apartment. They actually that was the first time they had ever met. It kind of build the real life wonder and you know how you're thinking about how this other person is going to be, build that up in their own mind and then mean the first, and that first take is the one that ended up making the film. So a lot of really, really cool choices that were made by Celine in terms of building, you know, like I said, a universe there are. You know, you mentioned the other Oscar winning films that A24 has, obviously referring to one of our favorites everything everywhere all at once. And while that movie is insane and it's actually and it's some of our favorite stuff, I think some of our favorite parts especially for myself, in everything everywhere is the mundane, the beauty in the mundane, the beauty in the boring, and that's why I think you alluded to it. Like this movie is not going to be for everybody. I think it's, it's outstanding, but I know there are some people that are just not going to be looking for this kind of experience, certainly not when they think of a romance. This isn't going to be the story that they think they're going to want. So to find that beauty in just the, the every day, was incredible. But yeah, like you said, all three of these, these actors, outstanding, and they also You'll like this too the, the versions of the kid versions of Nora and Hay song. So they casted the little girl first and then they had three little boys that they had brought back in for callbacks and they had them each take a chemistry test with the little girl to see. You know, because you know that's the whole Everything of the movie relies on the chemistry that they have as the kids. So she had them each take a chemistry test with the little girl and had all three of the boys ad lib begging Nora not to leave Korea, to stay be continued to be my friend, and the little boy that was chosen actually made the little girl cry With his ad lib. So again, lots of cool stuff that you find out about this film as you kind of just dig into it. And again, choices that normally like who would even think about normally stuff like that? Who cares? Just cast the kid, the two kids that you know can get through the lines and then you move on. So Again, a lot of really cool stuff that I found out as far as the making of this film.
Speaker 1:
13:35
Yeah, and I don't know if this movie fell is going to be best picture worthy or if it's just gonna stay in the international category, but I can't wait to see what accolades this film gets and deservingly gets as far as nominations and hopefully wins, you know, with the Academy film. I know we want to talk a little bit about the ending, so before we transition to that point in the episode, let's talk a little bit about how this movie has been received. And then I also we have not talked about this I'm very curious where past lives falls, both for your letterbox score and your 2023 list that we have been trying to actively keep up with this year. So, yeah, let us know a little bit about, kind of how the movie has been received, and then let's go into your thoughts before we get into mine well, this is hovering at a lowly 98% certified fresh tomato meters score for critics and the 92% Audience score.
Speaker 2:
14:32
Again, not really surprised that there is a that little bit of difference. This is not going to be the type of quote-unquote, not even a comedy really, so just romantic movie that people are going to be looking for, but still an outstanding score For me, eric. I really kind of looked at my list After I finished this film and I had to figure out, you know, where I was going to put this, because it made me feel a lot of things that I had not felt at all this year and what a lot of films have really not made me feel ever. I initially had had this ranked Well first let me give my score, my letterbox score. I gave it a four and a half. Again. It was. It's a film that's going to stick with me for a long time. I know what. Like a set group of people I know I'm going to recommend this to because I want to just continue to talk about it. So I'd have just you and you and me. And now the ranking is where I had to kind of figure out where to put this. I had initially had it ranked 6th, behind they clone Tyrone and Guardians of the Galaxy, volume 3. So I had that four and five and then eventually I just had to move. I had to make some moves. I moved Guardians to number five. I put past lives at number four, just behind they clone Tyrone, and, honestly, that might change by the end of this year. I would like to go through and watch they clone Tyrone again. It's an excellent film, but it ended up at number four on my 2023 list as far as new movies. And yeah, like I said, it's going to be something that's going to sit with me for a while and I'm excited to break down the finale with you here in just a moment. What about you?
Speaker 1:
16:09
Yeah, so I went with a straight four. For past lives, I thought it was a fantastic film, absolutely. I think the fact that it can't be recommended to everyone and there are things that I think, both culturally and Actual experience wise, that would connect other people more strongly to this film than me, but I could still recognize that this movie is amazing and deserves all of the accolades and the praise. Right, it should also be noted I've only given a four or higher on Letterbox to four other movies. So this is my fifth movie of the year. My top five, and right above it, and not by a lot, is John Wick, chapter four, oppenheimer. Elemental is it too. I know, I know you don't agree with that. We'll have a hold to argument and debate. I've watched Elemental so many times and I love that film so much. And then, of course, across the spider-verse is the only movie that I've given a four and a half to this year, and it is. It is steadily at number one, and even four and a half seems like a hot take for some reason.
Speaker 2:
17:19
So yeah, I don't think either one of us have given out any fives, right? No fives. Yeah, four and a half. Spider-man, four and a half Nemona they clone Tyrone four and a half, so no four. I gave the clone Tyrone a four. But yeah, listen, our rankings are strange. Maybe we'll talk about it at the End of the year. Awards will be fun to go over all of our full list. So it has, I think. The average score on Letterbox is a 4.3, again continuing to show why they need a point to five system on Letterbox Again.
Speaker 1:
17:57
so and I want to make that point. This movie would be given a 4.25 if I had the chance. I had to choose again between do I give it a four and a half? Did I think it was my second favorite movie this year? Basically is what I was saying, or you know what I would I have to give it a four. So that that's where the four came from. I don't know if you felt that way or if yours was a clear four and a half, but that was my reasoning.
Speaker 2:
18:20
Yeah, my mind was a straight four and a half, and for a lot of, for one of the reasons you had just mentioned there as far as cultural experiences and we're going to talk about that here in a moment as we transition to the finale, to the ending of the film. So if you have not yet seen past lives, do yourself a favor. Go see it, knowing that it is not going to be your traditional story. There is going to be a good and leave. Yeah, just go. I thought you're going to say something like important.
Speaker 1:
18:50
It's just, I thought there was just kicking you out. No, I thought there was a pause. I was going to go and then you were like still going. So I was like, well, I'm already here. I can't really.
Speaker 2:
18:57
Yeah, he, just for those of you that are just listening, eric leaned into the mic and I thought he was going to be like, hey, your levels are off, or something like that. But no, he's just kicking you out. So if you have not seen the ending of past lives, please go watch it and then come back and listen to this part of the episode. So you have been warned. Let's talk about the finale of the film. Eric, so, after they have gone and had this interesting trio's date at the bar, they come back to the apartment and she takes she takes a song, nor takes a song walks him out to get to his Uber. And again they are standing there and nothing is being said. Again, the, the anxiousness, the beauty, the will, they won't. They of the mundane, where just nothing really happens. Until the car comes. And, you know, hayesung, before getting into the Uber, I had thought maybe he's just going to give her the buy again, as he did when she left Korea. But, you know, hits her with the question what do you think Like, are we together right now? Are we going to be together in the next life? And maybe, you know, we're in a past life right now. She says, I don't know. He goes and gets in his Uber. She makes that long walk back to her apartment and ends up crying into Arthur's shoulder Again. It's a moment in which you are I know a lot of people are waiting. Are they going to kiss? What's going to happen? Is he going to ask her to come back with him? What's going to happen? And and nothing happens. Really, he ends up leaving. She goes back to her life and she, for the first time, probably since she was a kid growing up in Canada, where she you know, she had revealed earlier in the film that she no longer is a crybaby cries to Arthur, who actually seems surprised that she used to cry a lot as a kid. So it seems like she has really bottled up these emotions. And you know, in that moment, eric, it was a, it was Nora saying goodbye to not only Haesong, who she loves, she does love but also, I think, saying goodbye to the 12 year old version of herself that she had reconnected with and rekindled with over his visit over the last seven days. And I think there is a sadness and also a beauty to it, because Nora made her, has made herself, an amazing life in New York City. I think she is living the immigrants dream and I think she has found someone who is, who seems really good for her, and has made her parents proud as well. But there it's fair to also have there be a sadness there and that the person that she maybe could have been in a past life is essentially gone, and in that moment you know. That's why I think it's it's one of the most beautiful and heart wrenching endings of a film I've seen in a very, very long time.
Speaker 1:
21:50
Yeah, I think this movie does a really good job of the what if, which is why, for a different multitude of different reasons, we loved everything everywhere all at once and they're very different movies but they both explore that what if-ness between these character relationships and I just think that is so special and powerful and it's so well done. And then there's multiple ways that you can kind of look at that ending and see it. You know, nora, is she being complacent? She's already built a life with Arthur, but at the same time you can also see that like breakdown in his arms as her translating that thing that she had with her past life to her current life, that she just kind of held off this entire time, and she's finally revealing that side of herself to Arthur, which I think again, the fact that you can kind of have these difference of thoughts but they all lead to a very similar story beat, is why this movie is really strong. This is how you do a movie ending with two characters not being together. Oh, do you know what movie I'm going to bring up? It's the first thing I thought of when the credits rolled was man. This is what people say La La Land is like, and it's nothing like that. There's nothing close to the feeling that you get at the end of this movie than you do with La La Land Absolutely ludicrous. You people are insane for driving this narrative that La La Land is this special thing because they don't link up together. It's fucking bullshit. It's bullshit, phil.
Speaker 2:
23:26
It's not. La La Land is a perfect ending.
Speaker 1:
23:28
You saw it coming from a mile away because you know you're wrong. It's a fantastic ending.
Speaker 2:
23:33
It's a fantastic movie, so I don't know what what Eric is talking about. But yeah, it's like I said, I did not expect to go to this movie to not only see a story again about a, a romance, a past love, a what could have been, but also a story about the modern day immigrant. You know, she left when she was 12 years old. They reconnected again when she was 24, where she both of them really realized that we need to focus on our careers and what we're doing here and then finding people separately, you know, and then moving on with their life and then again reconnecting 20 plus years later. Didn't expect there to be such a emphasis. I won't say it's. It is relatively subtle. I mean, she even mentions it. You know, she only speaks Korean when she's talking to her mom and hey song. So that version of her, that version of Nora, which isn't even her real name, you know, like we have so many immigrants come here and they completely changed their name. I remember meeting Chinese and Korean immigrants so when I was growing up and they went by a totally different, americanized name. Eric, you know this, I've always kind of struggled with my heritage as far as being Filipino, because I came here very differently, like my aim. I don't have an immigration story. I came here via the US Navy with my parents and, you know, grew up in, you know, in the middle of Michigan and in Texas and Panama city, florida, you know, very Americanized, and I went to go visit the Philippines between my ninth and 10th grade year and I somehow didn't feel either one. I didn't feel Filipino, I didn't feel American, and that's what a lot of what Nora is going through here in this story. So, again, as you mentioned, a lot of personal conflict that I related to, which led me to my 4.5 here in this movie, but I think it was a beautiful ending but also very heartbreaking and, yeah, it's just great. It was great.
Speaker 1:
25:34
I'm glad you felt that way, because again, we just like Lollaland. It's not just like Lollaland. Stop saying that I'm tired of it. I'm clearly tired of it. I don't want to hear any more people.
Speaker 2:
25:48
I don't want to be fair. You brought up Lollaland. I had no intention to bring you up.
Speaker 1:
25:52
You saw it coming like a plague, like it was, like it was ready to hit you right in the forehead. So so angry, but yeah, again, this movie was fantastic. I absolutely loved it. I would also be interested, and I think something we've been talking about doing is setting up a letterbox for our international features, for our late to the parties. I think we really need to do that Because, you know, I think past lives for both of us would still be pretty high up there. It was probably one of the best movies we've seen in quite some time, and we've seen a lot of good movies this year, but yeah, now definitely one of my favorites of the year in general. Can't wait to see what happens next. And this was a great, great episode because I thought for sure you were either going to be emotionally damaged or you were going to hate the movie. So this was a great turnout for me.
Speaker 2:
26:45
Yeah, plenty of just adding to the trauma. So we always lean into that. So it's always, always solid. So, for those of you that have seen past lives and for those of you that stuck around, regardless of the spoilers, how, first of all, how dare you? But let us know what you thought of the film and we would love to hear from you. And late to the party and international feature train is going to just continue to keep on rolling in December as we close out the year strong with two big time films, one of them an all time classic and another, we hope to be, an all time classic. So there's a little bit of a teaser for you. I'll give you another teaser. It'll be in the realm of animation. So there you go. That's what you have to look forward to as far as the December editions of not only late to the party but international feature Eric, anything else you want to mention before we wrap up this episode and go play probably, I assume, dead by daylight or something like that and, you know, get just again put ourselves in a better mindset after talking about this, exactly this mind bender of a film.
Speaker 1:
27:53
Exactly no, I think. At this point I think we're pretty committed to our November schedule. So just a couple other things you can kind of look forward to and you know Phil talked about next month, which we're recording here at the end of October. We've got a whole month in November to go before that next month comes along. So the next episode of late to the party we're going to be doing Shin Godzilla, which I think is really exciting. We've wanted to see that for quite some time. I hope it's good. We also have a episode with Nova Stars AC, which is really great for the creator spotlight, and we have been actively playing Marvel Spider-Man 2. So we're excited to bring on at least one guest to talk about that game in its entirety. And then we're going to end the month strong, or end the year, I should say strong, with more of your favorite content. So, phil, let everyone know where they can find everything. We'll wrap this up and we will continue strong for the rest of November.
Speaker 2:
28:48
I guess the one thing you know. I'll just end this on as well, eric, because we are coming up in the end of the month, which means the most prestigious awards show in entertainment, which is the Wait Forward Awards. Do you think we will have seen enough films to break up a best film and then a best animated film? So a lot of movies this year.
Speaker 1:
29:07
Potentially yeah, I mean there's already, if you think about it there's. There's already four movies off the top of my head that come to mind for animated films.
Speaker 2:
29:16
So I mean you would, we would have there's two more big ones coming out this year Exactly yeah, so so it would.
Speaker 1:
29:22
it would be curious, I'd be curious to see if we could, if we can, make that split for sure.
Speaker 2:
29:27
Well, again, the I'm sure any minute now, major publications are going to reach out to us talking and asking us about the Wait for it Award. So we're going to be very, very busy and you should keep up with how busy we are over on our social media pages. You can find them in our link tree link. Instagram and Tik Tok is where we are the most active. You also find a the library of all of our past episodes. You can listen to every single episode of International Feature that we have done. But, as I mentioned, as Eric mentioned, keep up with everything we have coming up for the end of the year. If you want to support the podcast a little bit extra, sharing an episode goes a very, very long way. Tagging us, letting people know hey, check out this podcast, check out this episode really, really big help. Also, you can add it over to Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Leave us a five star review Another really great way to help us drive up the podcast charts. We would very, very much appreciate it. But if you feel like you want to go another step further in supporting the podcast, eric will let you know how you can do that.
Speaker 1:
30:26
So you can go directly to our Buzzsprout page, which is in that link in the show notes, and you can monetarily support us there. Or you could instead go to Patreon, where there are exclusives that you could take advantage of, like our patrons Stefan and Briar. That's going to include things like unedited and early access to episodes like the one that you're listening to, in addition to a ton of other content. I feel like Phil's got some real surprising news to tell me when this episode ends. So if you are going to support us, you're going to want to hear that on the Patreon after credits. With all that being said, we appreciate the support. My name is Mr Eric Almighty. That is my cohost, phil the Filipino, and please don't forget, we release new episodes on the podcast every Wednesday and all you have to do is wait for it.
Speaker 2:
31:15
So I heard you're looking for a go to source for entertainment. Wait for it. Gaming, wait for it. Anime Plus, ultra.
Speaker 1:
31:26
Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino. Yeah, they've got you covered, and all you got to do is wait for it. This is the Wait for it podcast.
