1
00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:10,629
S1: Hey, I'm Usman Farooqi and this is the drop a

2
00:00:10,630 --> 00:00:13,299
S1: culture show from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age,

3
00:00:13,300 --> 00:00:15,670
S1: where we dive into the latest in the world of

4
00:00:15,670 --> 00:00:19,479
S1: pop culture and entertainment. I'm here with Thomas Mitchell and

5
00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,030
S1: Mel Campbell. How you doing, guys? What's up?

6
00:00:22,060 --> 00:00:25,150
S2: Not too much. Just, you know, good to be back together.

7
00:00:25,180 --> 00:00:27,010
S2: We spent a lot of time together this week. Actually.

8
00:00:27,010 --> 00:00:29,800
S1: We have it's funny looking at you guys on the screen.

9
00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:31,990
S1: We spent quite a bit of time together this week,

10
00:00:31,990 --> 00:00:34,300
S1: which was really nice. And now we're separated again.

11
00:00:34,300 --> 00:00:37,120
S3: It is, but distance makes the heart grow fonder as

12
00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:38,590
S3: they say. So I'm sure next time we're all in

13
00:00:38,590 --> 00:00:40,390
S3: one room we'll enjoy it even more.

14
00:00:40,420 --> 00:00:42,670
S1: Correct. Well, you know, what makes the heart grow fonder

15
00:00:42,670 --> 00:00:46,540
S1: is watching movies in cinemas with with you together for

16
00:00:46,540 --> 00:00:49,600
S1: the very first time ever in our lives and our

17
00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,750
S1: professional lives and our personal lives. We all went to

18
00:00:52,750 --> 00:00:57,160
S1: the movies together, uh, to watch something collectively. Uh, it

19
00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,540
S1: was Dev Patel's directorial debut, Monkey Man. We're gonna have

20
00:01:01,540 --> 00:01:03,250
S1: a bit more to say that in a couple of weeks,

21
00:01:03,250 --> 00:01:07,270
S1: closer to the release. This is a big, crazy, fun,

22
00:01:07,270 --> 00:01:10,690
S1: wild film, but we'll keep the powder dry. I think

23
00:01:10,690 --> 00:01:12,730
S1: the most interesting thing to say about this is I

24
00:01:12,730 --> 00:01:17,140
S1: got another insight into the world of our man, Thomas Mitchell.

25
00:01:17,140 --> 00:01:20,770
S1: You are like the mayor of these screenings, my friend.

26
00:01:20,770 --> 00:01:25,270
S1: You are kissing babies, shaking hands, wandering around, jumping up

27
00:01:25,270 --> 00:01:28,300
S1: and down the aisles saying hello to people. What is

28
00:01:28,300 --> 00:01:28,780
S1: the go with.

29
00:01:28,780 --> 00:01:30,700
S2: That jumping up and down the aisle?

30
00:01:30,819 --> 00:01:33,819
S3: Walk in. You're like, hey there and you over there. Hello, hello.

31
00:01:33,819 --> 00:01:36,190
S2: Look, I have a lot of friends, so don't blame

32
00:01:36,190 --> 00:01:38,380
S2: me for being a social guy. And I'm a man

33
00:01:38,380 --> 00:01:40,300
S2: of the people. It's good to get out there and

34
00:01:40,300 --> 00:01:42,820
S2: meet the other people that get invited to these things.

35
00:01:42,819 --> 00:01:44,380
S2: And yes, there happen to be lots of people that

36
00:01:44,380 --> 00:01:47,020
S2: I knew from different walks of life is always going.

37
00:01:47,020 --> 00:01:48,850
S3: It is always good going to an event with you,

38
00:01:48,850 --> 00:01:51,640
S3: because I feel like I have quite bad facial recognition,

39
00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,070
S3: I think. And if I don't know who someone is

40
00:01:54,070 --> 00:01:57,190
S3: or I'm curious, I just you're like a human Google search.

41
00:01:57,190 --> 00:01:59,140
S3: I can just be like, who is that person? Why

42
00:01:59,140 --> 00:02:00,820
S3: do I know that person? And you are on it?

43
00:02:00,820 --> 00:02:02,650
S3: And then you're probably making your way over there to

44
00:02:02,650 --> 00:02:04,060
S3: chit chat as well, correct?

45
00:02:04,060 --> 00:02:06,190
S2: Yeah. It's good to, you know, it's just like it's

46
00:02:06,190 --> 00:02:08,980
S2: important to know people and to catch up with people.

47
00:02:08,980 --> 00:02:11,740
S2: So yeah, it's basically a mini reunion for me every

48
00:02:11,740 --> 00:02:12,700
S2: time I go to a screening.

49
00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:13,870
S3: That's lovely.

50
00:02:13,870 --> 00:02:18,280
S1: Would you say that was a, uh, like a oversaturation

51
00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,070
S1: of your friends at this particular screening, or is that

52
00:02:21,070 --> 00:02:22,540
S1: what it's like for you all the time?

53
00:02:22,750 --> 00:02:26,050
S2: I'm always surrounded by people I know everywhere I go. Uh, no, actually. Well,

54
00:02:26,050 --> 00:02:28,239
S2: I mean, one of the guys, he's like a movie guy,

55
00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,730
S2: so that's like what he does, um, on sunrise. So

56
00:02:30,730 --> 00:02:33,340
S2: he's like, basically at every single screening. Shout out to

57
00:02:33,340 --> 00:02:37,180
S2: Jason Jabber Davis, uh, of band in a box fame.

58
00:02:37,300 --> 00:02:37,660
S2: This is.

59
00:02:37,870 --> 00:02:41,320
S1: Today. Oh, like Jabba, like Jabba. Jabba from like to Jabba. Oh,

60
00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:42,250
S1: that's that was Jabba.

61
00:02:42,250 --> 00:02:44,410
S2: That's cool. He actually loves this podcast. He'll be very

62
00:02:44,410 --> 00:02:45,670
S2: excited that we're talking about him.

63
00:02:45,669 --> 00:02:48,160
S3: This is how you get so many friends from doing

64
00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:50,680
S3: shout outs like these. Like, this is the secret.

65
00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:52,480
S1: Do you want to just list every other friend you

66
00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:52,930
S1: spoke to?

67
00:02:53,020 --> 00:02:55,720
S2: So there was, uh, Gary Lou from Boss Hunting, who

68
00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:56,260
S2: I once.

69
00:02:56,260 --> 00:02:57,760
S1: Okay, you don't have to. You don't have to do this.

70
00:02:57,760 --> 00:02:58,600
S1: You don't have to do this.

71
00:02:58,630 --> 00:03:01,390
S3: Um, Osman, I have a question. You know, in the past,

72
00:03:01,389 --> 00:03:04,450
S3: I've spoken a lot about Thomas etiquette at the cinemas.

73
00:03:04,450 --> 00:03:07,779
S3: How did you find him? As. Because you sat directly

74
00:03:07,780 --> 00:03:09,370
S3: next to him as a movie companion. Yeah.

75
00:03:09,370 --> 00:03:11,380
S1: Well, one one of the things that did stand out

76
00:03:11,380 --> 00:03:13,030
S1: to me this time around, and I was going to

77
00:03:13,030 --> 00:03:14,560
S1: ask you about it, and I thought I'd save it

78
00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:17,260
S1: for when we are talking in front of microphones, you

79
00:03:17,260 --> 00:03:19,390
S1: do check your phone a lot. Like, did you have

80
00:03:19,389 --> 00:03:23,080
S1: a home situation? Were you bored in the movies or

81
00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:24,850
S1: is it just the thing you do like a nervous.

82
00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:26,290
S2: I knew this was going to come up because I

83
00:03:26,290 --> 00:03:28,900
S2: felt you catch me a few times. It was a

84
00:03:28,900 --> 00:03:31,270
S2: combination of two things, like I was texting my wife

85
00:03:31,270 --> 00:03:33,280
S2: a lot because she was kind of like, what time

86
00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,650
S2: are you coming home? Not she wasn't. She wasn't busting

87
00:03:35,650 --> 00:03:38,050
S2: my balls. But she was like, you know, she was like,

88
00:03:38,050 --> 00:03:39,460
S2: how's it going? What time are you coming home? And

89
00:03:39,460 --> 00:03:41,980
S2: then I was also I was feeling very tired last night,

90
00:03:41,980 --> 00:03:44,980
S2: so I was like kind of checking the time. I even,

91
00:03:44,980 --> 00:03:46,900
S2: I think I googled at one point, monkey man run

92
00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:49,030
S2: time to be like, what are we looking at here? Um,

93
00:03:49,030 --> 00:03:51,040
S2: as we were into, you know, the latter half of

94
00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,280
S2: the movie, but yes, I do check my phone often, um,

95
00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:56,230
S2: because I've got lots of friends contacting me who aren't

96
00:03:56,230 --> 00:03:56,920
S2: in the cinema.

97
00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,800
S3: And you do know you do know us. Like Thomas

98
00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,920
S3: brought us into disrepute at the June screening, right? Looking

99
00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,320
S3: at his phone so much. Yeah, I curity guard got

100
00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:05,680
S3: kicked out.

101
00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:05,920
S1: Yeah, this.

102
00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:06,309
S4: Is.

103
00:04:06,940 --> 00:04:08,800
S1: An issue with him. Look. Well, we will talk more

104
00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,010
S1: about monkey men and perhaps Thomas's phone etiquette. Uh, down,

105
00:04:12,010 --> 00:04:14,860
S1: down the track. But today on the show, there's there's

106
00:04:14,860 --> 00:04:18,460
S1: only really one thing happening in the world of media, culture,

107
00:04:18,460 --> 00:04:23,020
S1: celebrity at the moment. That is the scandal over the alleged,

108
00:04:23,020 --> 00:04:28,240
S1: I guess we'd say disappearance of Kate Middleton, the the

109
00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:33,099
S1: royal princess, the the future queen. It's not the kind

110
00:04:33,100 --> 00:04:36,279
S1: of topic we just generally have waiting to bit. We

111
00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:38,650
S1: realized this week that it's kind of all we were

112
00:04:38,650 --> 00:04:41,140
S1: talking about. It's all most of the people in our

113
00:04:41,140 --> 00:04:43,299
S1: lives we're talking about, and I think it sort of

114
00:04:43,300 --> 00:04:47,679
S1: says something about the way that like, we consume and

115
00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,980
S1: talk about celebrity now, the way things move so fast.

116
00:04:51,010 --> 00:04:53,679
S1: Kate had this long absence from public life that I'll

117
00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,680
S1: admit I was not completely across. But then we got

118
00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,460
S1: this bizarre proof of life photo accusations that had been

119
00:05:00,460 --> 00:05:04,089
S1: digitally altered and admission that had been digitally altered. That

120
00:05:04,089 --> 00:05:06,130
S1: there is a lot to unpack, I think, here, and

121
00:05:06,130 --> 00:05:09,430
S1: I think. This is not just going to be a

122
00:05:09,460 --> 00:05:12,190
S1: gossip session on on the royals. If that's what you're

123
00:05:12,190 --> 00:05:13,630
S1: worried about, they'll be a little bit of that, maybe.

124
00:05:13,630 --> 00:05:15,760
S1: But generally we're gonna look at this from the perspective

125
00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:19,000
S1: of why an event like this seems to have captured

126
00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,630
S1: the imagination of so many people, and whether or not

127
00:05:22,630 --> 00:05:27,040
S1: it's a good thing. Or maybe it speaks to a

128
00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,130
S1: kind of hollowness in our in our society and culture

129
00:05:30,130 --> 00:05:32,500
S1: of them. We'll we'll get there. We'll get there before

130
00:05:32,500 --> 00:05:35,289
S1: we get into the big one. We cover the Oscars

131
00:05:35,290 --> 00:05:37,570
S1: on a special episode on Monday. So if you want

132
00:05:37,570 --> 00:05:40,390
S1: to go back and listen to that for some more

133
00:05:40,390 --> 00:05:43,779
S1: in-depth takes, please feel free. But I think it's always

134
00:05:43,779 --> 00:05:46,450
S1: good to talk about these things with a bit more distance.

135
00:05:46,450 --> 00:05:48,609
S1: When the dust has settled, we can sort of look

136
00:05:48,610 --> 00:05:52,030
S1: at the reaction to the reaction, if you like. Uh,

137
00:05:52,029 --> 00:05:53,980
S1: one of the things that has come in since, since

138
00:05:53,980 --> 00:05:57,429
S1: today and Monday, the ratings, so on on sort of

139
00:05:57,430 --> 00:06:02,140
S1: linear broadcast TV in America, the Oscars attracted just under

140
00:06:02,140 --> 00:06:06,400
S1: 20 million viewers, which is actually their biggest result in

141
00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,099
S1: four years. They're not bad when you consider what a

142
00:06:09,100 --> 00:06:12,669
S1: big proportion of the US population is, how do those

143
00:06:12,670 --> 00:06:15,460
S1: numbers feel to you guys? It's kind of what you expected.

144
00:06:15,460 --> 00:06:18,190
S1: Did you expect it to be bigger with the, you know,

145
00:06:18,190 --> 00:06:21,159
S1: the additional Bobby Oppenheimer factors?

146
00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:21,400
S5: No.

147
00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:23,560
S3: I reckon best results in four years. That's kind of

148
00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:27,279
S3: their best since post-Covid makes sense given the caliber of

149
00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,789
S3: the cast. There were so many films stacked with really

150
00:06:30,790 --> 00:06:34,840
S3: big popular figures. Um, multiple ones of these films had

151
00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:37,359
S3: real ensemble cast, so it kind of makes sense to

152
00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,820
S3: me that they've probably got a wider audience than usual.

153
00:06:39,820 --> 00:06:42,430
S3: They've got the Barbie heads, the Opie heads, they've kind

154
00:06:42,430 --> 00:06:45,580
S3: of been able to capture quite a big demographic compared

155
00:06:45,580 --> 00:06:46,600
S3: to other years.

156
00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:47,859
S2: Yeah, I think so. I think it makes sense. I'd

157
00:06:47,860 --> 00:06:50,620
S2: be curious to see what happens next year. Like, I

158
00:06:50,620 --> 00:06:53,950
S2: do think that, as you all know, um, it for

159
00:06:53,950 --> 00:06:57,250
S2: me wasn't a great Oscars. And so, you know, the

160
00:06:57,250 --> 00:06:59,109
S2: audience has now like committed to it and watched it.

161
00:06:59,110 --> 00:07:00,670
S2: But like whether or not then next year you get

162
00:07:00,670 --> 00:07:03,280
S2: a hangover from people like, well, I watched the Oscars

163
00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:05,050
S2: for the first time in four years and, and it

164
00:07:05,050 --> 00:07:06,940
S2: was a bit boring. So like, I go back I

165
00:07:06,940 --> 00:07:07,750
S2: don't know. Yeah, but all.

166
00:07:07,750 --> 00:07:09,190
S3: The June heads will be tuning in.

167
00:07:09,190 --> 00:07:11,620
S2: That's true. Of which there are a lot.

168
00:07:11,620 --> 00:07:14,170
S1: I think one of the reasons that like, ratings are

169
00:07:14,170 --> 00:07:16,930
S1: so tricky these days. We talk about this with TV, right?

170
00:07:16,930 --> 00:07:20,200
S1: Most people, even if there's a show like, say, Survivor

171
00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:24,070
S1: or Married at First Sight that broadcasts on television, a

172
00:07:24,070 --> 00:07:26,800
S1: lot of people, particularly younger people, are watching that on

173
00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,980
S1: a streaming platform which isn't captured, uh, you know, in,

174
00:07:29,980 --> 00:07:32,410
S1: in the kind of old school rating system. But I

175
00:07:32,410 --> 00:07:34,810
S1: feel similarly with the Oscars, like there might not just

176
00:07:34,810 --> 00:07:38,530
S1: be people streaming it on whatever digital platform it's streaming on,

177
00:07:38,530 --> 00:07:41,230
S1: whatever country they live in, but people can basically watch

178
00:07:41,230 --> 00:07:44,830
S1: the Oscars in real time, on TikTok, on Twitter, on Instagram,

179
00:07:44,830 --> 00:07:49,420
S1: because you just see people cut little videos. The Oscars shares, uh,

180
00:07:49,420 --> 00:07:54,040
S1: speeches and and the musical performances on YouTube as well.

181
00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,920
S1: So I feel like that increase, which is the biggest

182
00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,650
S1: in foyers but not the biggest overall and certainly not

183
00:07:59,650 --> 00:08:02,170
S1: as big as the heyday, you know, in the olden days,

184
00:08:02,170 --> 00:08:06,400
S1: doesn't actually quite capture how much of a phenomenon this is,

185
00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,610
S1: because my guess would be most people who don't work

186
00:08:09,610 --> 00:08:11,860
S1: in the industry, who are under the age of like 35,

187
00:08:11,860 --> 00:08:14,710
S1: wouldn't be anywhere near a TV for the Oscars. They

188
00:08:14,710 --> 00:08:16,780
S1: would just be watching it on social media where it

189
00:08:16,780 --> 00:08:18,280
S1: pops up on their face.

190
00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,130
S3: Yeah, I think that's completely right that these figures ignore

191
00:08:21,130 --> 00:08:24,010
S3: the import it has kind of in other forms, or

192
00:08:24,010 --> 00:08:26,200
S3: people would just be consuming the stories about it all.

193
00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:28,810
S3: We know our live blog was very popular. People are

194
00:08:28,810 --> 00:08:31,180
S3: probably reading the live blog but not watching the Oscars

195
00:08:31,180 --> 00:08:33,280
S3: on TV. So I don't think the the viewer numbers

196
00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:37,210
S3: are necessarily, uh, kind of useful tool in the importance

197
00:08:37,210 --> 00:08:40,030
S3: and relevance of the Oscars because, yeah, as as you're saying,

198
00:08:40,030 --> 00:08:42,189
S3: I think people are accessing it and engaging with it

199
00:08:42,190 --> 00:08:44,500
S3: in entirely different ways to in the past.

200
00:08:44,710 --> 00:08:45,969
S2: Yeah, I feel like they used to do a thing

201
00:08:45,970 --> 00:08:47,620
S2: where they would do like, I remember when I was young,

202
00:08:47,620 --> 00:08:49,300
S2: I'm sure they used to do like a they would

203
00:08:49,300 --> 00:08:51,670
S2: cut an episode like a shorter version of it, and

204
00:08:51,670 --> 00:08:53,709
S2: it would run at prime time on like channel nine

205
00:08:53,710 --> 00:08:54,939
S2: or whatever. When we were younger.

206
00:08:54,940 --> 00:08:56,949
S1: They did do that. They did do that. Um, on

207
00:08:56,950 --> 00:09:00,400
S1: seven this year, 830, there was a Oscars, um, sort

208
00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,530
S1: of live event. I actually haven't looked at the ratings

209
00:09:02,530 --> 00:09:03,910
S1: for that. Would be interesting to see how that was.

210
00:09:03,910 --> 00:09:07,300
S1: But again, I doubt that that is attracting, you know,

211
00:09:07,300 --> 00:09:10,510
S1: anyone under the age of like 40 or 45.

212
00:09:10,510 --> 00:09:13,150
S3: Yeah, like the ceremony itself. It's kind of, yeah, to

213
00:09:13,150 --> 00:09:15,429
S3: sit and watch three hours of it or even an

214
00:09:15,429 --> 00:09:16,960
S3: hour and a half of it is a lot like

215
00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,270
S3: without also some of the red carpet and other bigger

216
00:09:19,270 --> 00:09:21,550
S3: moments that they might have cut out for that broadcast.

217
00:09:21,550 --> 00:09:24,069
S1: The other, the other thing that's happened in the last

218
00:09:24,070 --> 00:09:28,089
S1: couple of days since the awards, Al Pacino, Thomas, your

219
00:09:28,090 --> 00:09:30,880
S1: guy has, I guess, would have been forced to issue

220
00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:35,050
S1: an apology. This this goes back to his announcement of

221
00:09:35,050 --> 00:09:38,050
S1: the Best Picture winner, which is the ultimate category. It's

222
00:09:38,050 --> 00:09:39,640
S1: the finale of the evening.

223
00:09:39,850 --> 00:09:47,120
S6: Ten wonderful films, uh, were nominated. But only one will

224
00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:54,070
S6: take the award for Best Picture. And I have to

225
00:09:54,070 --> 00:09:58,540
S6: go to the envelope for that, and I will. Here

226
00:09:58,540 --> 00:10:05,229
S6: it comes. And may I see Oppenheimer?

227
00:10:07,420 --> 00:10:11,410
UU: Yes. Yes. Emma. Thomas. Charles. Gordon.

228
00:10:12,429 --> 00:10:15,460
S1: We talked a bit about how. Kind of fumbled. It

229
00:10:15,460 --> 00:10:18,579
S1: wasn't really clear whether he was announcing Oppenheimer or if

230
00:10:18,580 --> 00:10:21,160
S1: he was about to announce all the Best Picture nominees.

231
00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,740
S1: So people were sort of annoyed at him for two reasons. One,

232
00:10:23,740 --> 00:10:26,439
S1: he didn't list all ten nominees, and two, it wasn't

233
00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:31,240
S1: really clear or direct when he announced that Oppenheimer had won.

234
00:10:31,270 --> 00:10:33,820
S1: It now turns out that the producers of the awards

235
00:10:33,820 --> 00:10:37,809
S1: made the decision for him to not announce all ten.

236
00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,290
S1: They basically said, well, we unveiled them throughout the course

237
00:10:41,290 --> 00:10:43,540
S1: of the ceremony. Everyone knew who they were. So for

238
00:10:43,540 --> 00:10:47,050
S1: time reasons, we didn't need Pacino to just rattle off

239
00:10:47,050 --> 00:10:49,000
S1: all ten. And maybe they were also worried, given, you know,

240
00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,460
S1: his propensity to just go a bit rogue, that things

241
00:10:51,460 --> 00:10:53,290
S1: might have gotten out of hand if he started just

242
00:10:53,290 --> 00:10:56,439
S1: talking about his feelings on anatomy of a fall or whatever.

243
00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,050
S1: But Al Pacino has has issued a written apology. He

244
00:10:59,050 --> 00:11:02,620
S1: says there seems to be some controversy about my not

245
00:11:02,620 --> 00:11:06,730
S1: mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the

246
00:11:06,730 --> 00:11:09,130
S1: Best Picture award. I just want to be clear that

247
00:11:09,130 --> 00:11:12,070
S1: it was not my intention to omit them, rather a

248
00:11:12,070 --> 00:11:15,130
S1: choice by the producers not to have them set again

249
00:11:15,130 --> 00:11:19,150
S1: since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony. I realize

250
00:11:19,150 --> 00:11:21,910
S1: being nominated is a huge milestone in one's life, and

251
00:11:21,910 --> 00:11:25,480
S1: to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful. I mean,

252
00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,150
S1: we're at this point where, like Pacino is putting out

253
00:11:28,150 --> 00:11:32,290
S1: PR drafted apologies. It's just feel necessary. I'm interested in

254
00:11:32,290 --> 00:11:33,910
S1: your view, Thomas, on this. As a guy who has

255
00:11:33,910 --> 00:11:36,819
S1: been a staunch Pacino defender, I do love Pacino.

256
00:11:36,820 --> 00:11:38,500
S2: And I think I said the other day, like, you know,

257
00:11:38,500 --> 00:11:40,660
S2: give him a break. He's a new father and probably

258
00:11:40,660 --> 00:11:44,380
S2: very tired. And also he's 200 years old, so he's

259
00:11:44,380 --> 00:11:46,390
S2: also very tired from that. I mean, I think what's

260
00:11:46,390 --> 00:11:53,209
S2: funny is like. Pacino is 83. Uh, Warren Beatty is 86,

261
00:11:53,210 --> 00:11:55,640
S2: but was probably, well, it was over 80 when he

262
00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,010
S2: had his slip up. Like, I think maybe the message

263
00:11:58,010 --> 00:12:01,100
S2: for the Oscars is like, let's stop. Really old guys

264
00:12:01,100 --> 00:12:03,620
S2: do the biggest announcement of the night because they're easily confused.

265
00:12:03,650 --> 00:12:07,280
S3: No, I completely disagree. He was the winner from the

266
00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:12,079
S3: Oscars for me, and I am. I'm so saddened to

267
00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,770
S3: see such a great man brought to issue this apology.

268
00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:17,750
S3: He did the right thing not naming all the films.

269
00:12:17,750 --> 00:12:19,309
S3: We're just talking about how long it was. We didn't

270
00:12:19,309 --> 00:12:22,010
S3: need them all. And his performance was the one piece

271
00:12:22,010 --> 00:12:25,189
S3: of kind of unscripted gloriousness from the Oscars. It was

272
00:12:25,190 --> 00:12:27,380
S3: the moment we all said the Oscars need more of

273
00:12:27,380 --> 00:12:30,470
S3: a bit of ad libbing. Um, so I really feel

274
00:12:30,470 --> 00:12:32,510
S3: Pacino should not have issued an apology. He did a

275
00:12:32,510 --> 00:12:34,760
S3: good job. He did the best job of the night.

276
00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:36,740
S2: I mean, maybe we're talking a lot today about, like,

277
00:12:36,740 --> 00:12:39,469
S2: the machine that is, you know, Hollywood or when you're

278
00:12:39,470 --> 00:12:43,280
S2: a superstar celeb. Pacino has a memoir coming out later

279
00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:45,439
S2: this year. Is it beyond the realm of possibility that

280
00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:46,910
S2: his team were like, why don't we make ourselves a

281
00:12:46,910 --> 00:12:49,609
S2: moment here? And then shortly after that, we can, you know,

282
00:12:49,610 --> 00:12:51,560
S2: get people talking about Al Pacino again, and then his

283
00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:53,030
S2: memoir comes out and, you know.

284
00:12:53,390 --> 00:12:55,460
S1: I mean, it's a really good point. The, um, PR

285
00:12:55,490 --> 00:12:59,750
S1: statement went out announcing the memo the day after the Oscars,

286
00:12:59,750 --> 00:13:01,940
S1: or maybe even that the later on in that night.

287
00:13:01,940 --> 00:13:05,209
S1: It's called Sonny Boy. It's a story. It's like a

288
00:13:05,210 --> 00:13:08,570
S1: bit weird, I guess. Like that timing is obviously not coincidental.

289
00:13:08,570 --> 00:13:11,329
S1: And it's certainly interesting that he's made a moment of

290
00:13:11,330 --> 00:13:14,060
S1: it to be discussed. So that's worked well for him. Yeah,

291
00:13:14,059 --> 00:13:15,770
S1: that's a good point, Thomas. I wouldn't be surprised if

292
00:13:15,770 --> 00:13:17,750
S1: he just thought, what's something I can do to really

293
00:13:17,750 --> 00:13:20,510
S1: ham it up to make sure people remember me at

294
00:13:20,510 --> 00:13:21,680
S1: the end of this ceremony?

295
00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:23,840
S2: It is funny, but what is the actual process like

296
00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,500
S2: of picking who reads the Best Picture winner? Because it's

297
00:13:27,500 --> 00:13:30,780
S2: not like. Is there a is there a method to it?

298
00:13:32,020 --> 00:13:34,750
S1: Well, my understanding is that every year the the Academy

299
00:13:34,750 --> 00:13:38,170
S1: appoints a different producer. You know, it's been big directors

300
00:13:38,170 --> 00:13:39,939
S1: like Steven Soderbergh in the past. This year it was

301
00:13:39,940 --> 00:13:42,880
S1: a Canadian producer called Raj Kapoor. I don't know that

302
00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:45,400
S1: much about them. And I imagine there's some consultation with

303
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,370
S1: with other like heavyweights in the Academy, but it always

304
00:13:48,370 --> 00:13:50,469
S1: does feel a bit random. It's like they all make

305
00:13:50,470 --> 00:13:52,599
S1: sense in the sense that, you know, Warren Beatty is

306
00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:54,220
S1: a big figure that makes sense, but, you know, is

307
00:13:54,220 --> 00:13:57,459
S1: a big figure but doesn't really seem any reason why

308
00:13:57,460 --> 00:13:59,709
S1: it would be him this year and not like last

309
00:13:59,710 --> 00:14:00,850
S1: year or in five years.

310
00:14:00,850 --> 00:14:03,670
S2: Yeah, it's weird, but look, I mean, as as you said,

311
00:14:03,820 --> 00:14:06,849
S2: it was one of the, the more interesting moments, but, uh, yeah,

312
00:14:06,850 --> 00:14:10,480
S2: I still feel like. Yeah, but you know, like, he's

313
00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,150
S2: the guy has form, but this wasn't his finest moment

314
00:14:13,150 --> 00:14:13,660
S2: on stage.

315
00:14:13,660 --> 00:14:15,219
S3: Well, look, if it was any hint of what's to

316
00:14:15,220 --> 00:14:17,829
S3: come in the memoir, I will be reading A Sonny

317
00:14:17,830 --> 00:14:19,300
S3: Boy come October, I hope.

318
00:14:19,300 --> 00:14:21,310
S1: I hope they have to, like, reprint the memoir to

319
00:14:21,310 --> 00:14:23,650
S1: include his apology in his flat. That could be. That

320
00:14:23,650 --> 00:14:26,140
S1: could be a fun little addendum. You guys made fun

321
00:14:26,140 --> 00:14:29,080
S1: of me earlier in the week for guessing that, like

322
00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,479
S1: Dune Part two would be up for a whole bunch

323
00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,990
S1: of Oscar nominations next year because we were literally hours

324
00:14:34,990 --> 00:14:38,380
S1: out of this year's ceremony. So I thought, why not, uh,

325
00:14:38,380 --> 00:14:41,920
S1: take your laughter and sort of double down on this

326
00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,880
S1: idea of trying to predict what movies might be Oscar

327
00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:49,840
S1: contenders this time next year. We have no idea. Let's

328
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:52,330
S1: be honest. Like we have no freaking idea whatsoever. There

329
00:14:52,330 --> 00:14:55,840
S1: were movies that came out like past lives that no

330
00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,870
S1: one expected to catch the Oscars. There were movies that

331
00:14:58,870 --> 00:15:01,480
S1: got nominated and won awards, like anatomy of a fall

332
00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,450
S1: that weren't even on anyone's release radar this time last year.

333
00:15:04,450 --> 00:15:07,840
S1: So let's be very upfront. This is a fool's errand.

334
00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,960
S1: We are not genuinely predicting the victory of these kinds

335
00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,239
S1: of movies, but it's an interesting one to have a

336
00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:15,100
S1: look at. And maybe just for people listening who are

337
00:15:15,100 --> 00:15:18,730
S1: just curious to know what big name, big director, big

338
00:15:18,730 --> 00:15:23,080
S1: actor releases are coming up in 2024, that could be

339
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,770
S1: part of the race next year. Is this worth doing?

340
00:15:26,770 --> 00:15:29,920
S1: Do you think this makes sense or are you just indulging, uh, crazy?

341
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,620
S1: I was wanting to talk about some movies. He's excited about. Look, as.

342
00:15:32,620 --> 00:15:35,110
S3: Long as we don't need to revisit Dune, I'm keen

343
00:15:35,110 --> 00:15:38,350
S3: for this discussion. And in one year we will come

344
00:15:38,350 --> 00:15:40,780
S3: back and we'll see how right or wrong we are.

345
00:15:40,780 --> 00:15:42,729
S1: That'd be fun. It'd be fun to play back. Uh,

346
00:15:42,730 --> 00:15:45,400
S1: the the excitement I have in my voice when I

347
00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,040
S1: talk about these films. Well, the first one is the

348
00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,310
S1: one I'm both very excited about. That could go very well,

349
00:15:51,310 --> 00:15:53,590
S1: or it could be a complete mess. It is a

350
00:15:53,590 --> 00:15:58,540
S1: film called Megalopolis, directed by Francis Ford Coppola from The

351
00:15:58,540 --> 00:16:02,890
S1: Godfather trilogy. Fame and Pocalypse now fame. He's been working

352
00:16:02,890 --> 00:16:05,230
S1: on this movie for a very, very, very long time.

353
00:16:05,230 --> 00:16:08,650
S1: He has basically sold and mortgaged off his winery and

354
00:16:08,650 --> 00:16:11,680
S1: all his assets to make it come true, make it

355
00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:16,210
S1: be brought to life. It stars Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker,

356
00:16:16,210 --> 00:16:20,710
S1: Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf,

357
00:16:20,710 --> 00:16:24,700
S1: Jason Schwartzman, amongst many others. The concept for this movie

358
00:16:24,700 --> 00:16:28,060
S1: is crazy. It's about some architect who builds a new,

359
00:16:28,060 --> 00:16:30,850
S1: crazy futuristic city. That's kind of all we know, but

360
00:16:30,850 --> 00:16:33,490
S1: we know that Coppola has got form and making great

361
00:16:33,490 --> 00:16:38,320
S1: movies also form and making some pretty bad films. This

362
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:42,609
S1: could be a huge contender. It could be a total total.

363
00:16:43,260 --> 00:16:45,390
S1: Fudge of a film. Do you guys have any any

364
00:16:45,390 --> 00:16:47,490
S1: any early thoughts on Megalopolis?

365
00:16:47,850 --> 00:16:51,060
S3: I am hoping it's a huge contender, only because he

366
00:16:51,060 --> 00:16:53,190
S3: has put so much of his life into this. Like,

367
00:16:53,190 --> 00:16:55,770
S3: I think he started writing it in the 1980s, and

368
00:16:55,770 --> 00:16:59,910
S3: he's spoken previously before about how he made other films

369
00:16:59,910 --> 00:17:02,610
S3: like Dracula and The Rainmaker to get out of debt

370
00:17:02,610 --> 00:17:06,240
S3: because he needed to fund this film like that. This

371
00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,420
S3: film is pretty significant to him, so I'm really excited

372
00:17:09,420 --> 00:17:12,300
S3: to see it. The cast is amazing. Um, I hope

373
00:17:12,300 --> 00:17:15,330
S3: it stacks up and is everything Francis Ford Coppola wanted

374
00:17:15,330 --> 00:17:17,460
S3: to make and is obviously he sees it as the

375
00:17:17,460 --> 00:17:20,940
S3: kind of peak of his directing. So I hope, I

376
00:17:20,940 --> 00:17:22,439
S3: hope it does live up to the hype.

377
00:17:22,470 --> 00:17:24,840
S2: Yeah, it's interesting and like super stacked cast, but we've

378
00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:27,660
S2: spoken a little bit about Adam Driver. Um, he had

379
00:17:27,660 --> 00:17:30,450
S2: such a funny trajectory where he was like the man, uh,

380
00:17:30,450 --> 00:17:32,850
S2: for a while, picking all these really interesting projects and

381
00:17:32,850 --> 00:17:34,590
S2: doing great stuff. And then he's had a bit of

382
00:17:34,590 --> 00:17:38,160
S2: a slide. Um, so it's interesting whether or not this

383
00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,580
S2: will be like his comeback and Coppola's kind of like,

384
00:17:41,580 --> 00:17:44,159
S2: you know, Magnum opus or will it be indicative of

385
00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,830
S2: the fact that, yeah, he's he's continuing on this weird trajectory,

386
00:17:46,830 --> 00:17:48,959
S2: but I am very excited and obviously we'll see it.

387
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:50,790
S2: And yeah, you know, we've seen we've seen lots of

388
00:17:50,790 --> 00:17:53,850
S2: these like late stage directors, um, kind of having a

389
00:17:53,850 --> 00:17:55,680
S2: crack at Oscars glory again. So yeah.

390
00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,770
S1: Yeah, this megalopolis sort of feels a bit like it

391
00:17:58,770 --> 00:18:01,979
S1: could fall into the Napoleon or Ferrari space, which is

392
00:18:01,980 --> 00:18:04,109
S1: this director at the later stage of his career, and

393
00:18:04,109 --> 00:18:06,480
S1: it just does not work at all. So that's out

394
00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:09,570
S1: sometime in 2024, but the exact release date is unconfirmed.

395
00:18:09,570 --> 00:18:13,859
S1: And speaking of Napoleon, Ridley Scott is back already with

396
00:18:13,859 --> 00:18:19,260
S1: none other than Gladiator. Two sends Russell Crowe, who is

397
00:18:19,260 --> 00:18:21,600
S1: very disappointed, to not be involved. He's made that clear

398
00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,959
S1: in a few comments and interviews over the past few months. But, uh,

399
00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:29,640
S1: instead we have Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal starring

400
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,119
S1: this film. It's supposed to be released in November. We

401
00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,239
S1: don't have many details on this. We know that it

402
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:39,270
S1: is not based on the screenplay written by Nick cave

403
00:18:39,270 --> 00:18:42,869
S1: all those years ago. But I mean, look, Ridley Scott,

404
00:18:42,869 --> 00:18:45,570
S1: like Napoleon, didn't land for a lot of people, but

405
00:18:45,570 --> 00:18:49,710
S1: it was still a well-made movie with great action set pieces.

406
00:18:49,710 --> 00:18:54,119
S1: Paul Mescal, people like him, white people really like him. Um,

407
00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:58,020
S1: Denzel Washington, white and non-white people really like him. So this,

408
00:18:58,020 --> 00:19:00,629
S1: this movie, this movie has got something very.

409
00:19:00,660 --> 00:19:03,300
S2: Well wasn't I'm pretty sure Napoleon was Mel's family film

410
00:19:03,300 --> 00:19:06,150
S2: in the last 12 months. So she's like, obviously obsessed.

411
00:19:06,780 --> 00:19:10,230
S3: Look, no I'm not. I like obviously Gladiator is a

412
00:19:10,230 --> 00:19:12,510
S3: fantastic film and I do love it, but I just

413
00:19:12,510 --> 00:19:17,730
S3: I 2023 was the year for big films about men

414
00:19:17,730 --> 00:19:21,330
S3: doing things you're brought out. Yeah, yeah. I don't think

415
00:19:21,330 --> 00:19:24,690
S3: I need Ridley Scott on Gladiator two. Like I just,

416
00:19:24,690 --> 00:19:25,980
S3: I don't think we need it and I don't think

417
00:19:25,980 --> 00:19:27,270
S3: it will land. And I do think I know you're

418
00:19:27,270 --> 00:19:30,120
S3: talking about me liking Napoleon, but I do think if we.

419
00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:33,840
S3: If he's forming Napoleon is carried through to this film.

420
00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:36,449
S3: I'm not super excited about it. Like, I can predict

421
00:19:36,450 --> 00:19:39,750
S3: what it will be like. Lots of gory battle scenes,

422
00:19:39,750 --> 00:19:43,919
S3: some beheadings, lots of kind of big crowds cheering and

423
00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,280
S3: then dark, brooding. Paul Mescal not saying much. Probably a

424
00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:51,510
S3: nice female character who is not really being championed, a

425
00:19:51,510 --> 00:19:54,060
S3: nice female character to bring out the softness and to

426
00:19:54,060 --> 00:19:55,980
S3: give a love angle to it. I don't know, I

427
00:19:55,980 --> 00:19:58,200
S3: think I kind of, I want to be wrong and

428
00:19:58,200 --> 00:19:59,760
S3: I want it to be a film that we need,

429
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:01,080
S3: but I don't know if it is one.

430
00:20:01,170 --> 00:20:04,649
S1: The one that I'm probably the most excited for is

431
00:20:04,650 --> 00:20:08,970
S1: a film called Blitz. It's, uh, directed by Steve McQueen,

432
00:20:08,970 --> 00:20:13,260
S1: who is, I think, one of the underrated directors of

433
00:20:13,260 --> 00:20:15,359
S1: the last few years. To be honest, his film widows

434
00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:17,130
S1: with Viola Davis is one of the best sort of

435
00:20:17,130 --> 00:20:20,609
S1: heist movies around that I don't think was watched enough.

436
00:20:20,609 --> 00:20:24,480
S1: He also released this anthology, Small Axe, a few years ago.

437
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:26,400
S1: I think in the middle of Covid, it was five

438
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,060
S1: of the best films like this century. He is a awesome,

439
00:20:30,060 --> 00:20:33,480
S1: awesome director, and Blitz is a World War two drama

440
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,830
S1: set in London during the Blitz. It stars, uh, Sasha Ronan. Uh,

441
00:20:37,830 --> 00:20:40,379
S1: release date for this? Also not confirmed, but this is

442
00:20:40,380 --> 00:20:42,330
S1: the one that I'm personally most excited about, and also

443
00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:43,170
S1: the one that I think.

444
00:20:43,170 --> 00:20:44,010
S4: Could.

445
00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,639
S1: Like legitimately be a real Oscar contender just because of

446
00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:51,119
S1: the the, the topic, the combination of of McQueen in

447
00:20:51,150 --> 00:20:54,930
S1: that topic and Sasha Ronan, who we know the Academy uh,

448
00:20:54,930 --> 00:21:00,210
S1: enjoys as nominated before. So I think yeah like Gladiator

449
00:21:00,210 --> 00:21:03,119
S1: two these kind of big action ones. There's a chance

450
00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:04,800
S1: if they work they might pull off. But out of

451
00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:06,540
S1: the movies we know that are being released so far

452
00:21:06,540 --> 00:21:09,510
S1: this year, I reckon Blitz is, um, it's got a

453
00:21:09,510 --> 00:21:12,420
S1: strong chance. You guys got any, any vibes on Blitz?

454
00:21:13,050 --> 00:21:15,780
S3: Well, yeah. I mean, I guess my only takeaway is

455
00:21:15,780 --> 00:21:19,800
S3: that if historical films or kind of more recent history

456
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,740
S3: films are back in vogue, thinking of Oppenheimer and World

457
00:21:22,740 --> 00:21:26,310
S3: War II, then? Uh, yeah, this probably has a lot

458
00:21:26,310 --> 00:21:27,780
S3: of Oscar bait written all over it.

459
00:21:28,020 --> 00:21:31,410
S1: The other one that is coming out very soon, April 18th, uh,

460
00:21:31,410 --> 00:21:35,880
S1: challenges Luca Guadagnino's film, uh, delayed because of the strikes

461
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:39,510
S1: last year, starring Zendaya in a sexy tennis love triangles.

462
00:21:39,510 --> 00:21:42,150
S1: And I actually coming out to Australia in a couple

463
00:21:42,150 --> 00:21:44,169
S1: of weeks for the. I'm here in Sydney. You're excited

464
00:21:44,170 --> 00:21:44,740
S1: about that?

465
00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,250
S2: I'm very excited about that. I love tennis and I

466
00:21:48,250 --> 00:21:51,400
S2: love Zendaya and I love Josh O'Connor. Uh, they're coming

467
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,500
S2: out here for the premiere, which is like in late March.

468
00:21:53,500 --> 00:21:56,260
S2: So before the rest of the world gets it, um,

469
00:21:56,410 --> 00:21:59,050
S2: and no doubt that'll be a huge deal. Um, obviously

470
00:21:59,050 --> 00:22:00,909
S2: the whole cast is coming out, and as you said,

471
00:22:00,910 --> 00:22:02,350
S2: I feel like hype has been building for a really

472
00:22:02,350 --> 00:22:04,240
S2: long time. It was one of those films that, like,

473
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,479
S2: the trailer dropped and it was very like risque and

474
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:09,760
S2: everyone was like sending it around and people were super hyped.

475
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,100
S2: And then obviously the momentum was killed off when it

476
00:22:12,100 --> 00:22:14,409
S2: got delayed. But yeah, I think I'm very keen and

477
00:22:14,410 --> 00:22:15,550
S2: we all love his work.

478
00:22:15,550 --> 00:22:18,760
S3: Yes, I love his work. All the repressed desire, usually

479
00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:22,300
S3: hot weather, the kind of quite vivid coloring. I think

480
00:22:22,300 --> 00:22:24,370
S3: this is going to be probably a standout film of

481
00:22:24,369 --> 00:22:25,060
S3: the year for me.

482
00:22:25,060 --> 00:22:26,860
S2: Best tennis film since Match Point? Yeah.

483
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,820
S1: It's like they love making sexy tennis movies. Tennis?

484
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:32,560
S2: Yeah, but tennis is pretty sexy.

485
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,470
S3: Yeah, the back and forth, the noises, the you know.

486
00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:36,490
S4: Yeah, yeah.

487
00:22:36,940 --> 00:22:39,250
S1: Mel, you've got a couple of other films you wanted

488
00:22:39,250 --> 00:22:41,139
S1: to shout out that you're excited about. I'm going to

489
00:22:41,140 --> 00:22:43,240
S1: say early that I don't think any of these have

490
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,690
S1: any Oscar buzz whatsoever to weed editions. They're weird additions

491
00:22:46,690 --> 00:22:48,100
S1: to this list. But if you just want to mention

492
00:22:48,100 --> 00:22:51,220
S1: some nice movies that you are excited for, you're more

493
00:22:51,220 --> 00:22:51,940
S1: than okay.

494
00:22:51,940 --> 00:22:54,430
S3: Well, I am excited for you to eat your hat

495
00:22:54,430 --> 00:22:58,090
S3: in next March. Okay, I don't fully agree. I'm furious.

496
00:22:58,090 --> 00:23:00,369
S3: That could have a bit of Oscar buzz about it.

497
00:23:00,369 --> 00:23:02,800
S3: Like people are going to like that industry category.

498
00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:03,100
S2: Okay, so.

499
00:23:03,100 --> 00:23:04,570
S1: I didn't know that we were predicting like what's going

500
00:23:04,570 --> 00:23:05,650
S1: to win best costume?

501
00:23:06,130 --> 00:23:06,850
S2: No. Exactly.

502
00:23:07,570 --> 00:23:10,240
S3: Okay. Cinematography. That's a big category. I reckon mad Max

503
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,270
S3: could get a best film nomination. There you go. Yeah.

504
00:23:13,270 --> 00:23:13,540
S3: So tell.

505
00:23:13,540 --> 00:23:14,080
S1: Us about Fury.

506
00:23:14,109 --> 00:23:16,930
S3: Furious. So this is the fifth prequel in the series? Yeah,

507
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:21,609
S3: both prequel and sequel. It's about the origin story of Furiosa. Um,

508
00:23:21,609 --> 00:23:24,580
S3: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth. I mean, I feel like we've

509
00:23:24,580 --> 00:23:27,100
S3: been talking about this for years, and it's been kind

510
00:23:27,100 --> 00:23:29,620
S3: of the release has always been a bit unsure. It

511
00:23:29,619 --> 00:23:31,990
S3: is coming out this year. Are you guys mad Max heads?

512
00:23:31,990 --> 00:23:33,760
S3: Maybe that's why I'm so backing this.

513
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,330
S1: I loved Fury wrath. It was amazing. Um, and I

514
00:23:37,330 --> 00:23:40,270
S1: guess I just I'm not on the Anya Taylor-Joy train

515
00:23:40,270 --> 00:23:44,710
S1: as much as other people. Uh, the early, early trailers

516
00:23:44,710 --> 00:23:48,460
S1: of this one do CGI, and the effects don't look

517
00:23:48,460 --> 00:23:50,470
S1: as good as Fury Road. But I also know that

518
00:23:50,470 --> 00:23:53,169
S1: sometimes trailers are, like a little bit rough, and maybe

519
00:23:53,170 --> 00:23:55,060
S1: I just need to wait to get blown away in

520
00:23:55,060 --> 00:23:56,530
S1: in the cinema, though. I did see the trailer for

521
00:23:56,530 --> 00:23:59,980
S1: this at Imax before watching Dune, and it just didn't

522
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,950
S1: didn't really land for me that much. But I trust

523
00:24:02,950 --> 00:24:05,590
S1: George Miller and I do like the mad Max world,

524
00:24:05,590 --> 00:24:07,780
S1: so I'm I'm coming in with open eyes, I'm ready

525
00:24:07,780 --> 00:24:08,200
S1: to be wet.

526
00:24:08,380 --> 00:24:10,750
S3: And maybe they're just managing expectations. And look, the other

527
00:24:10,750 --> 00:24:13,000
S3: one I had on the list, which I agree, it's

528
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,120
S3: not an Oscar nomination film, but I wanted to just

529
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:17,950
S3: shout it out because I'm excited to see this one

530
00:24:17,950 --> 00:24:21,369
S3: fall guy, which is the new Ryan Gosling Emily Blunt.

531
00:24:21,369 --> 00:24:23,859
S3: If their chemistry at the Oscars was anything to go by,

532
00:24:23,859 --> 00:24:26,080
S3: I'm like, looking forward to this film. He plays a

533
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,780
S3: stunt man who's filling in for an actor who has

534
00:24:28,780 --> 00:24:31,030
S3: gone missing, and he kind of gets wrapped up in, um,

535
00:24:31,030 --> 00:24:33,550
S3: wrapped up in the mystery. It obviously has quite a

536
00:24:33,550 --> 00:24:36,340
S3: bigger impact here because they close down the Harbour Bridge

537
00:24:36,340 --> 00:24:38,830
S3: for a day, and everyone was kind of upset about it. Um,

538
00:24:38,830 --> 00:24:41,679
S3: so I'm excited to see Sydney again in a film.

539
00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,650
S3: And I think Ryan Gosling, funniest actor at the moment,

540
00:24:44,650 --> 00:24:47,080
S3: going on, going around. So, um, yeah, I reckon that

541
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:47,980
S3: will have a lot of buzz.

542
00:24:48,550 --> 00:24:51,640
S2: Yeah, I agree, I'm very excited for that. Um, and yeah,

543
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:53,710
S2: seeing Ryan Gosling on the bridge will be good, but

544
00:24:53,710 --> 00:24:55,419
S2: I actually have one that I think is going to

545
00:24:55,450 --> 00:24:58,030
S2: be really good. And we'll also be maybe like a

546
00:24:58,030 --> 00:25:01,210
S2: potential Oscars boater. Uh, this will shock you, but it's

547
00:25:01,210 --> 00:25:04,780
S2: being made by A24. Uh, and it is Civil War.

548
00:25:04,780 --> 00:25:08,500
S2: So the new Alex Garland film coming out April 26th. Um,

549
00:25:08,500 --> 00:25:11,350
S2: basically it's kind of like, you know, set just in

550
00:25:11,350 --> 00:25:13,720
S2: the near future. And the US has fallen into a

551
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,420
S2: state of civil war. It's very much like cherry picked

552
00:25:16,420 --> 00:25:18,550
S2: from recent history to create this kind of, like, very

553
00:25:18,550 --> 00:25:20,650
S2: meta film. Uh, obviously, I don't know if you guys

554
00:25:20,650 --> 00:25:22,689
S2: know this, but there's a US presidential election this year,

555
00:25:22,690 --> 00:25:23,920
S2: and so like, oh, when's.

556
00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:24,580
S1: It, when's it on?

557
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,869
S2: Uh, late November. Is that right? Did I get it right?

558
00:25:27,900 --> 00:25:28,980
S1: They're always innovators. Yeah.

559
00:25:28,980 --> 00:25:31,080
S2: You're right. Uh, but no, like, I feel like it's

560
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,300
S2: coming at a at a really interesting time. Um, it's

561
00:25:33,300 --> 00:25:36,929
S2: got a great cast. Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Nick Offerman,

562
00:25:36,930 --> 00:25:39,750
S2: and Cailee Spaeny. The thing I think is really interesting

563
00:25:39,750 --> 00:25:41,580
S2: is I have had this feeling for a long time

564
00:25:41,580 --> 00:25:43,919
S2: that we're, like, soon to enter the real era of

565
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,040
S2: Jesse Plemons. Like, he is such a great actor. He

566
00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:48,899
S2: picked such interesting roles. Like, I know it's not exactly

567
00:25:48,900 --> 00:25:51,210
S2: he's like a new find. And he has previously been

568
00:25:51,210 --> 00:25:54,570
S2: nominated for an Academy Award in 2022 for Best Supporting Actor.

569
00:25:54,570 --> 00:25:56,429
S2: But I just have this feeling that, you know, it

570
00:25:56,430 --> 00:25:57,960
S2: could be a bit of a a bit of a

571
00:25:57,960 --> 00:25:59,550
S2: bolter for the Oscars next year. And I feel like

572
00:25:59,550 --> 00:26:02,429
S2: Plemons is like perhaps going to be the next generation's

573
00:26:02,430 --> 00:26:04,590
S2: Pacino or De Niro. He's got that kind of range.

574
00:26:04,590 --> 00:26:06,629
S2: So yeah, I reckon, um, Civil War could be a

575
00:26:06,630 --> 00:26:07,500
S2: big deal this year.

576
00:26:07,619 --> 00:26:09,930
S1: Yeah, it's a really good shot. The trailer is really

577
00:26:09,930 --> 00:26:13,320
S1: fascinating and and it has that sort of haunting thing

578
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:15,149
S1: of being like, well, basically everything they're talking about I

579
00:26:15,150 --> 00:26:17,760
S1: feel like is ripped from the headlines, but they're projecting

580
00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:21,120
S1: it forward in a pretty dark way. So I'm really

581
00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:21,990
S1: excited for that film.

582
00:26:21,990 --> 00:26:23,670
S2: But also that's the other thing, like the Oscars love

583
00:26:23,670 --> 00:26:26,340
S2: that that maybe they'll both get nominated. They can go together.

584
00:26:26,340 --> 00:26:28,500
S2: Like it's all like kind of written in the stars.

585
00:26:28,859 --> 00:26:30,629
S2: And then there was one other I wanted to mention

586
00:26:30,630 --> 00:26:33,240
S2: and that's Back to Black. Uh, so that's a biopic

587
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,330
S2: about Amy Winehouse. We've seen Amy's kind of like tragic

588
00:26:36,330 --> 00:26:38,460
S2: story on screen a few times in docs and stuff,

589
00:26:38,460 --> 00:26:40,710
S2: but this is a proper, um, you know, biopic. Marisa

590
00:26:40,710 --> 00:26:43,260
S2: Abella is playing Amy Winehouse and it's being directed by

591
00:26:43,260 --> 00:26:46,469
S2: Sam Taylor-Johnson. This really could go one of two ways.

592
00:26:46,470 --> 00:26:48,719
S2: It could be like, you know, this is one of

593
00:26:48,930 --> 00:26:51,900
S2: those great, like, stories, like a kind of Freddie Mercury

594
00:26:51,900 --> 00:26:54,120
S2: type thing. Or it could be a weird knock off. Um,

595
00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:56,340
S2: I will personally watch it because I loved Amy Winehouse,

596
00:26:56,340 --> 00:26:58,800
S2: but yeah, remains to be seen if it'll be any good.

597
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:00,900
S2: That hit screens May 10th.

598
00:27:02,090 --> 00:27:05,240
S1: I mean, getting the director of 50 Shades of Grey

599
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:09,080
S1: to do this is such a curveball choice. But I

600
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,990
S1: love I mean, I loved Amy Winehouse. I'm very interested

601
00:27:11,990 --> 00:27:15,050
S1: to see this story brought to the big screen. So again, I'll,

602
00:27:15,050 --> 00:27:18,230
S1: you know, withhold expectations. But I think you'll you're totally

603
00:27:18,230 --> 00:27:21,230
S1: right that this could this could just be a mess.

604
00:27:21,230 --> 00:27:22,669
S2: And then I guess the only other obvious one is

605
00:27:22,670 --> 00:27:27,410
S2: Bad Boys for um, which is June 14th. Yeah, I know,

606
00:27:27,410 --> 00:27:28,489
S2: I know, you will say that.

607
00:27:29,750 --> 00:27:31,760
S1: I definitely see it. I definitely this is not this

608
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:33,170
S1: was not supposed to be a list of movies that

609
00:27:33,170 --> 00:27:35,359
S1: I'm excited to watch in the movies. It was supposed

610
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:37,280
S1: to be a list of movies that could win Oscars.

611
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:39,770
S1: You guys weren't totally wrong. Uh, I mean, Thomas stayed

612
00:27:39,770 --> 00:27:42,320
S1: on brief a bit more for good. Gosh.

613
00:27:42,470 --> 00:27:45,020
S3: Yeah, yeah, I clearly missed the break. But, you know,

614
00:27:45,020 --> 00:27:46,879
S3: I bet we'll be talking about the fall guy soon.

615
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:51,770
S1: Um, and. Yeah, fall Guy and fearless, both filmed in

616
00:27:51,770 --> 00:27:53,929
S1: New South Wales, which is, which is cool and exciting

617
00:27:53,930 --> 00:27:56,600
S1: and a bit of a a fun renaissance for Australian

618
00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:07,800
S1: film production. So excited for all of those. All right,

619
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,920
S1: let's let's move on to the big topic of today's episode,

620
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:15,149
S1: the royal shenanigans underway. I was, I'll admit, and you

621
00:28:15,150 --> 00:28:16,770
S1: can make fun of me if you want. I was, like,

622
00:28:16,770 --> 00:28:22,680
S1: pretty oblivious to this furore around Princess Kate Middleton's disappearance,

623
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:28,680
S1: until this frenzy around the allegedly altered photo started sparking

624
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,070
S1: 100 conspiracy theories, became the only thing I saw on

625
00:28:32,070 --> 00:28:36,300
S1: my social feeds, and was inundated at work with conversations

626
00:28:36,300 --> 00:28:39,240
S1: about it, people asking me what I thought was going on.

627
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,250
S1: So I realized I had to pay a bit of

628
00:28:41,250 --> 00:28:43,890
S1: attention to this one. I thought the way we could

629
00:28:43,890 --> 00:28:46,980
S1: structure this is maybe we'll talk about the photo situation itself,

630
00:28:46,980 --> 00:28:51,210
S1: which is kind of captured everyone's imagination, and then explain

631
00:28:51,210 --> 00:28:54,870
S1: a bit of how we got here. So on March 10th,

632
00:28:54,870 --> 00:28:57,810
S1: it's just a few days ago, a family portrait of

633
00:28:57,810 --> 00:29:00,780
S1: Kate and her three children was posted to the Prince

634
00:29:00,780 --> 00:29:04,830
S1: and Princess of Wales Instagram account. It's normal stuff. That's

635
00:29:04,830 --> 00:29:08,520
S1: what people do on Instagram, the caption thanked the public

636
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:11,790
S1: for their support and wish them a happy Mother's Day

637
00:29:11,790 --> 00:29:15,150
S1: because in the UK, Mother's Day is in March. The

638
00:29:15,150 --> 00:29:18,240
S1: photo credit. It had that cute little, you know, camera

639
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,080
S1: Icon that people use when they're like crediting a photographer. Uh,

640
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:26,400
S1: was signed the Prince of Wales 2024, so presumably that's

641
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,220
S1: the family. William's taken this photo and they've uploaded it

642
00:29:29,220 --> 00:29:33,930
S1: to Instagram. All great. Normal royal family stuff. Then the

643
00:29:33,930 --> 00:29:37,380
S1: British media starts rolling out that photo, because it was

644
00:29:37,380 --> 00:29:40,740
S1: one of the first that they'd seen of Kate in

645
00:29:40,740 --> 00:29:43,350
S1: a couple of months. Then very quickly. And this is

646
00:29:43,350 --> 00:29:46,470
S1: something that happens in media, not that often, but when

647
00:29:46,470 --> 00:29:49,830
S1: it does, you stand up and pay attention. The AP,

648
00:29:49,860 --> 00:29:55,080
S1: the the newswire service, issued a kill notice, which is

649
00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:59,250
S1: such a dramatic term journalists love using extremely dramatic terms,

650
00:29:59,490 --> 00:30:03,060
S1: though perhaps in this instance it was literal as well as, uh,

651
00:30:03,060 --> 00:30:06,120
S1: they said that they said that this photo had been

652
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,990
S1: digitally altered, had been manipulated at its source. They couldn't

653
00:30:09,990 --> 00:30:13,470
S1: trust its authenticity. So they said that it should no

654
00:30:13,470 --> 00:30:16,620
S1: longer be distributed. They were like basically pulling it back

655
00:30:16,620 --> 00:30:19,470
S1: from publication. And all of a sudden things went crazy,

656
00:30:19,470 --> 00:30:22,830
S1: because this is a photo of the royal family that

657
00:30:22,830 --> 00:30:25,770
S1: major news networks which previously ran with it are now

658
00:30:25,770 --> 00:30:29,040
S1: saying should not be out there. It is fake. That

659
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,260
S1: is when people started pointing out that there were a

660
00:30:31,260 --> 00:30:34,350
S1: lot of weird things with this family portrait. There were

661
00:30:34,350 --> 00:30:38,040
S1: glitches on the slave of, uh, her daughter Charlotte. Uh,

662
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,920
S1: Charlotte's cardigan looked like it had been manipulated. All these

663
00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:43,230
S1: different little things that I'm sure that we can explain.

664
00:30:43,230 --> 00:30:45,750
S1: But this is where I wanted to pause for a second.

665
00:30:45,750 --> 00:30:48,330
S1: Because while some of this is a bit wacky, it

666
00:30:48,330 --> 00:30:51,600
S1: becomes weirder when you understand the context to this. And

667
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:53,580
S1: I need one of you guys to help me out here. Like,

668
00:30:53,580 --> 00:30:57,360
S1: how did just one photo of Kate become such a

669
00:30:57,390 --> 00:30:58,140
S1: big issue?

670
00:30:58,140 --> 00:31:00,120
S3: I am ready to step up to the plate. This

671
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:01,920
S3: actually reminds me of succession. Like when we used to

672
00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:05,880
S3: have the fun fact music. Like the kind of I'm okay. Well,

673
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:07,709
S3: I think this dates back to Cast your Mind back

674
00:31:07,710 --> 00:31:11,580
S3: to December 25th, Christmas Day. You were probably having Turkey. Um,

675
00:31:11,580 --> 00:31:16,800
S3: Thomas and Trent, um, Catherine's last public appearance. She was

676
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:18,810
S3: out and about, um, walking with the rest of the

677
00:31:18,810 --> 00:31:20,729
S3: family to greet the public as she does so. That

678
00:31:20,730 --> 00:31:23,520
S3: was December 25th. That's the last time we've kind of

679
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:28,140
S3: seen Kate do a royal duty. Then on December 28th,

680
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,540
S3: I know everyone's a bit curious. They see a royal

681
00:31:30,540 --> 00:31:34,920
S3: motorcade go past heading towards a hospital in in London.

682
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,620
S3: It's noted. But, um, you know, not not too much

683
00:31:37,620 --> 00:31:41,610
S3: detail about it. January 17th Royal family comes out and

684
00:31:41,610 --> 00:31:45,750
S3: they say Catherine's in a hospital. She's had abdominal surgery

685
00:31:45,750 --> 00:31:48,120
S3: the day before. They've said it's been successful. She won't

686
00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:52,200
S3: be returning to public duties until after Easter March 31st.

687
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:53,160
S2: It's a long break.

688
00:31:53,250 --> 00:31:55,140
S3: That is a long break. But have you ever had

689
00:31:55,140 --> 00:31:56,400
S3: abdominal surgery? No.

690
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,320
S2: Like I thought, it sounds like an appropriate break, but

691
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:00,750
S2: that's a long time. Like it must be a big surgery.

692
00:32:00,900 --> 00:32:06,690
S3: Yeah, yeah. Doctor, doctor. Mitchell. Um, so then, uh, so. Okay,

693
00:32:06,690 --> 00:32:09,720
S3: we know Catherine. Everyone's been curious. About what abdominal surgery

694
00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,270
S3: is like. Well, what specifically was going on? They didn't

695
00:32:12,270 --> 00:32:15,270
S3: give any more details. We know that, um, will went

696
00:32:15,270 --> 00:32:19,140
S3: to go visit Catherine a few times. Then around January 20th,

697
00:32:19,140 --> 00:32:22,560
S3: late January, some kind of reports come out in Spain

698
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:25,710
S3: that Catherine's condition was worse than reported, that she was

699
00:32:25,710 --> 00:32:28,590
S3: hospitalized on December 28th, and that was what the motorcade

700
00:32:28,590 --> 00:32:31,920
S3: was about. Then more reports kind of come out from

701
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,200
S3: this one journalist in Spain saying she was in a

702
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,190
S3: medically induced coma. Um, royal family fights back about this.

703
00:32:38,190 --> 00:32:41,820
S3: They announce that she's released from hospital. She's recovering in Windsor.

704
00:32:41,820 --> 00:32:44,280
S3: They deny those reports, which is quite rare for the

705
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:45,870
S3: royal family to do, but they do come out and

706
00:32:45,870 --> 00:32:49,920
S3: deny it. Um, and then essentially, really, we haven't seen

707
00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:53,190
S3: or heard much from her until the photo saga which

708
00:32:53,190 --> 00:32:55,740
S3: you outlined. We know she left Windsor to go and

709
00:32:55,740 --> 00:32:58,680
S3: spend the school holidays with the children. Um, but other

710
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,410
S3: than that, she's not really been seen or heard of.

711
00:33:01,410 --> 00:33:05,370
S3: So I guess the groundwork was laid for all of

712
00:33:05,370 --> 00:33:08,010
S3: this to explode when this photo was. Released and people

713
00:33:08,010 --> 00:33:10,110
S3: started to think it had been manipulated.

714
00:33:10,290 --> 00:33:13,050
S1: And what you guys like much plugged into this, like,

715
00:33:13,050 --> 00:33:15,240
S1: I don't I don't think we've talked about the Royals

716
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,450
S1: heaps on, on this podcast or in our personal lives,

717
00:33:18,450 --> 00:33:21,090
S1: but was this something that you were like clocking in

718
00:33:21,090 --> 00:33:23,070
S1: people in your lives, maybe you were talking about and

719
00:33:23,070 --> 00:33:24,060
S1: speculating on?

720
00:33:24,060 --> 00:33:28,530
S2: Well, yeah, funnily enough, like I personally wasn't plugged into it, but, um,

721
00:33:28,890 --> 00:33:30,570
S2: I guess this is how the flow of information works.

722
00:33:30,570 --> 00:33:33,870
S2: My wife is from the country or her family's from

723
00:33:33,870 --> 00:33:37,290
S2: the country, and, you know, her grandparents and country people generally.

724
00:33:37,290 --> 00:33:39,150
S2: I think it's safe to say love the royal family.

725
00:33:39,150 --> 00:33:43,050
S2: And so she my wife two weeks ago received a

726
00:33:43,050 --> 00:33:45,690
S2: call from her grandmother who was like, this probably happens

727
00:33:45,690 --> 00:33:48,270
S2: to you guys to like, when your grandparents know you

728
00:33:48,270 --> 00:33:50,219
S2: work in the media, they think you just like have

729
00:33:50,220 --> 00:33:53,280
S2: all the information to every news story. So her grandma

730
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,070
S2: was like, hey, I'm really curious about where Catherine is.

731
00:33:56,070 --> 00:33:58,620
S2: Can you, like, use your sources to find out? My

732
00:33:58,620 --> 00:34:02,040
S2: wife works for, like a website that doesn't cover royals. Um,

733
00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:05,010
S2: but anyway, she was obviously can't say no to your grandparents,

734
00:34:05,010 --> 00:34:07,350
S2: so she was like, absolutely got it. Luckily, one of

735
00:34:07,350 --> 00:34:09,149
S2: our friends actually is a royal reporter and has just

736
00:34:09,150 --> 00:34:11,310
S2: moved to the UK. Um, to take up a posting

737
00:34:11,310 --> 00:34:13,590
S2: over there. So she called her and basically was like,

738
00:34:13,590 --> 00:34:16,230
S2: what's happening with Catherine? And that was for me the

739
00:34:16,230 --> 00:34:17,760
S2: first time. I was like, oh yeah, this is like, really?

740
00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:19,890
S2: People are really. I knew that vaguely something was happening

741
00:34:19,890 --> 00:34:21,690
S2: with her and that she had had surgery, but that

742
00:34:21,690 --> 00:34:23,219
S2: was the first time I got clued in to like, wow,

743
00:34:23,219 --> 00:34:26,549
S2: people are now worried beyond the point of like, it

744
00:34:26,550 --> 00:34:29,040
S2: being a funny joke about what's going on with her. Uh,

745
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:30,960
S2: and I believe that, you know, our friend who's the

746
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:34,020
S2: royal reporter was like, oh, yeah, the essentially the Intel

747
00:34:34,020 --> 00:34:36,450
S2: she had was at the surgery, um, was a much

748
00:34:36,450 --> 00:34:39,299
S2: bigger deal than the Palace had let people into. And,

749
00:34:39,300 --> 00:34:40,980
S2: you know, the recovery was taking much longer. That was

750
00:34:40,980 --> 00:34:42,719
S2: all information she kind of shared.

751
00:34:43,390 --> 00:34:45,850
S3: Yeah, I mean, I hadn't really I kind of knew

752
00:34:45,850 --> 00:34:48,160
S3: she went into surgery and people were questioning, what does

753
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:51,850
S3: abdominal surgery mean? What's happened? But I thought the conspiracy

754
00:34:51,850 --> 00:34:56,410
S3: theories about Kate dying or being replaced or getting divorced

755
00:34:56,410 --> 00:34:58,630
S3: or any of that, I kind of thought that was

756
00:34:58,630 --> 00:35:03,130
S3: an extreme fringe kind of discussion, and it's only really

757
00:35:03,130 --> 00:35:05,290
S3: kind of entered into the mainstream. Not that those theories

758
00:35:05,290 --> 00:35:08,200
S3: are really getting much airplay, but more kind of the

759
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,230
S3: questioning about the Palace's handling of this and what actually

760
00:35:11,230 --> 00:35:13,420
S3: is going on. It was only with those photos that

761
00:35:13,420 --> 00:35:15,189
S3: that really came to my attention. Yeah.

762
00:35:15,190 --> 00:35:17,109
S1: So I think that is probably a good point in

763
00:35:17,110 --> 00:35:21,400
S1: which to talk about what happened next, because this really

764
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:27,440
S1: set all the conspiracy. Theories ballistic. So Monday night things

765
00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:30,410
S1: get really weird after people have been speculating about what's

766
00:35:30,410 --> 00:35:33,140
S1: happened to this photo. It's been killed by AP and

767
00:35:33,140 --> 00:35:37,940
S1: other news organizations. Catherine on Twitter, or at least someone purporting.

768
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:38,390
S4: To.

769
00:35:39,170 --> 00:35:44,750
S1: Says, like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.

770
00:35:45,110 --> 00:35:48,590
S1: I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion. The

771
00:35:48,590 --> 00:35:52,910
S1: family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating

772
00:35:52,910 --> 00:35:57,980
S1: had a very happy Mother's Day signed C. This is crazy.

773
00:35:57,980 --> 00:36:02,240
S1: I'm sorry. Like, like, I totally understand why people who

774
00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:05,270
S1: like your your grandmother in law Thomas, or just other

775
00:36:05,270 --> 00:36:08,060
S1: people casually following along and like, it's a bit weird,

776
00:36:08,060 --> 00:36:09,950
S1: but maybe the surgery is just gone on a little

777
00:36:09,950 --> 00:36:11,690
S1: bit longer than it needed to, and we don't know

778
00:36:11,690 --> 00:36:13,969
S1: what it is. And we'll put a pin in the

779
00:36:13,969 --> 00:36:17,120
S1: whole surgery speculation conversation, because I think that's something to

780
00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:20,300
S1: talk about kind of on its own. But regardless of

781
00:36:20,300 --> 00:36:23,690
S1: like what had and hadn't happened behind the scenes, putting

782
00:36:23,690 --> 00:36:27,739
S1: out a photo that was obviously digitally altered as an

783
00:36:27,739 --> 00:36:29,750
S1: example of trying to show to the world that she's

784
00:36:29,750 --> 00:36:33,620
S1: all okay having that photo be withdrawn by the media,

785
00:36:33,620 --> 00:36:36,350
S1: and then admitting that you digitally altered the photo while

786
00:36:36,350 --> 00:36:40,190
S1: you've been recuperating from this illness, this idea that Catherine

787
00:36:40,190 --> 00:36:43,610
S1: was like the evening before Mother's Day, hanging around on

788
00:36:43,610 --> 00:36:48,440
S1: Photoshop to edit her daughter's cardigan, doesn't. None of this

789
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:50,810
S1: makes any sense to me, and I think maybe there's

790
00:36:50,810 --> 00:36:53,540
S1: two halves to this conversation. One is like the mechanics

791
00:36:53,540 --> 00:36:55,790
S1: of what actually went on. And then the other half,

792
00:36:55,790 --> 00:36:57,230
S1: which we alluded to at the start of the episode,

793
00:36:57,230 --> 00:37:00,529
S1: is why we can't stop talking about it. And what

794
00:37:00,530 --> 00:37:03,529
S1: it might say about the way that we fixate on

795
00:37:03,530 --> 00:37:06,020
S1: things in kind of modern society right now. But what

796
00:37:06,020 --> 00:37:09,680
S1: were your immediate reactions to seeing that tweet, to seeing

797
00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:12,529
S1: this level of confusion around this photo?

798
00:37:12,620 --> 00:37:15,229
S3: It was two things. It was the C sign off

799
00:37:15,230 --> 00:37:17,120
S3: that threw me. I was like, she doesn't present as

800
00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:20,090
S3: a C girl. Like just signing off with the casual C.

801
00:37:20,090 --> 00:37:21,770
S1: I honestly, when I saw the C, I was like,

802
00:37:21,770 --> 00:37:24,140
S1: who is this? Because I, I guess this is how

803
00:37:24,140 --> 00:37:26,300
S1: little that I like full of roles of day to day.

804
00:37:26,300 --> 00:37:29,719
S1: I'm like, She's Kate. But then I'm like, now she's Catherine. Like,

805
00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:31,250
S1: now we have to call it Catherine, that's the thing.

806
00:37:31,250 --> 00:37:34,609
S3: Or just see, is that what we are? Comfortable? Yeah. Yeah.

807
00:37:34,610 --> 00:37:36,770
S3: So that really struck me. But then I was also

808
00:37:36,770 --> 00:37:40,190
S3: struck by the royal family famously tries not to engage

809
00:37:40,190 --> 00:37:42,739
S3: with rumors in a direct way like that, like they're

810
00:37:42,739 --> 00:37:46,400
S3: obviously backgrounding journos and have deep ties in the media,

811
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:50,600
S3: but very rarely are they so directly addressing gossip. Which

812
00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:52,370
S3: kind of did make me question about what is going

813
00:37:52,370 --> 00:37:55,250
S3: on in that PR department and how did this happen

814
00:37:55,250 --> 00:37:57,259
S3: in terms of the actual photo editing, I think people

815
00:37:57,260 --> 00:38:00,650
S3: were losing their minds a bit over a photo being edited.

816
00:38:00,650 --> 00:38:03,830
S3: Like people edit photos all the time. I'm sure every

817
00:38:03,830 --> 00:38:06,710
S3: photo they've ever shared has been edited. Not hugely, but

818
00:38:06,710 --> 00:38:09,950
S3: they're definitely touching up photos. Like, there's no doubt in

819
00:38:09,950 --> 00:38:12,230
S3: my mind that when they release a royal family, they're

820
00:38:12,230 --> 00:38:15,890
S3: getting out shadows, they're smoothing backgrounds, they're playing up certain colors.

821
00:38:15,890 --> 00:38:18,500
S3: The editing never bothered me and like, yes, it was

822
00:38:18,500 --> 00:38:20,839
S3: bad editing and they probably need to, you know, address

823
00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,120
S3: the person or photographer who did that was really new

824
00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:23,689
S3: to Photoshop.

825
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:24,530
S4: Yeah, right.

826
00:38:24,620 --> 00:38:26,960
S3: But like, I think the response to the photo editing

827
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:30,080
S3: itself is kind of insane. People are so quick to

828
00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:32,660
S3: read something bad into what I think is a pretty

829
00:38:32,660 --> 00:38:34,610
S3: normal practice for media.

830
00:38:34,610 --> 00:38:36,140
S2: Yeah, but it wouldn't be an issue if she'd been

831
00:38:36,140 --> 00:38:38,450
S2: like at a hospital last week cutting a ribbon. It's

832
00:38:38,450 --> 00:38:40,670
S2: it's all compounded that because no one knows where she is.

833
00:38:40,670 --> 00:38:42,680
S2: And so it's like, oh, this is even weirder now.

834
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,950
S2: Like the context is important. I thought it was very funny. Like, agreed,

835
00:38:45,950 --> 00:38:48,380
S2: the C sign off just was like an added mystery

836
00:38:48,380 --> 00:38:50,360
S2: they didn't need. It reminded me of like, Pretty Little Liars.

837
00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:51,770
S2: Don't know if you guys ever watched that show, but like,

838
00:38:51,770 --> 00:38:53,210
S2: all the letters came from a.

839
00:38:53,660 --> 00:38:55,880
S1: Um, great show. Back to a great.

840
00:38:56,090 --> 00:38:58,310
S2: Yes, it was, it was a great, terrible show. But yeah,

841
00:38:58,310 --> 00:39:03,410
S2: it was very odd and, um, definitely didn't do anything to, like,

842
00:39:03,410 --> 00:39:05,480
S2: hose down the rumors that perhaps she's, like, in a

843
00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:08,330
S2: basement somewhere with David Miscavige, his wife, um, waiting to

844
00:39:08,330 --> 00:39:12,020
S2: be released sometime in the future. It's all just very strange.

845
00:39:12,020 --> 00:39:15,500
S2: And it does make you then, like, I guess almost

846
00:39:15,710 --> 00:39:17,030
S2: for a lot of people, no doubt this is a

847
00:39:17,030 --> 00:39:20,330
S2: reluctant thing that they know about. Um, and and yet

848
00:39:20,330 --> 00:39:23,900
S2: it is fascinating now because for me, my immediate thing

849
00:39:23,900 --> 00:39:27,290
S2: is like, okay, why can't she just then if she's

850
00:39:27,290 --> 00:39:29,660
S2: going to be obviously she's quite good at Photoshop or

851
00:39:29,660 --> 00:39:32,060
S2: she's learning and she's using Instagram, why not jump on

852
00:39:32,060 --> 00:39:35,029
S2: like stories and be like, hey everybody, what's up? Um, like,

853
00:39:35,030 --> 00:39:38,540
S2: Will's just cooking and like, what are the kids names? Charlotte. And, like,

854
00:39:38,989 --> 00:39:41,810
S2: George and, um, whatever the other one's name is, they're

855
00:39:41,810 --> 00:39:43,610
S2: all just playing around, but, like, we're all good, and, like,

856
00:39:43,610 --> 00:39:45,800
S2: here I am, and I'm definitely alive. Like, it's just

857
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:47,690
S2: all getting, like, outrageous now.

858
00:39:47,690 --> 00:39:49,790
S3: Yeah, like C would do that. C would just jump

859
00:39:49,790 --> 00:39:51,170
S3: on the live story.

860
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:52,489
S2: Hey, loads of you guys have been asking me like

861
00:39:52,489 --> 00:39:54,650
S2: where I am, just go full influencer.

862
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,020
S1: I agree with a bit of what you're saying though.

863
00:39:57,020 --> 00:39:59,150
S1: Like some of the stuff on social media is both

864
00:39:59,150 --> 00:40:01,910
S1: hilarious and ridiculous. People are like, I know what they've done.

865
00:40:01,910 --> 00:40:06,050
S1: They've taken the portrait photo of Kate from Vogue, and

866
00:40:06,050 --> 00:40:08,840
S1: they've angled it differently and use that to construct her.

867
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:11,239
S1: And everyone's like, you figured it out. I'm like, that

868
00:40:11,239 --> 00:40:14,750
S1: to me, seems ridiculous. Her face is her face, right?

869
00:40:14,750 --> 00:40:17,390
S1: Of course, it looks similar to a photo she took

870
00:40:17,390 --> 00:40:19,759
S1: like a year ago or whatever. Like it's her face.

871
00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:22,430
S1: That's that's it's not going to change drastically. And people

872
00:40:22,430 --> 00:40:25,400
S1: who are used to posing for photos have a similar

873
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,270
S1: pose that they strike. So it'd be ridiculous to be like, well,

874
00:40:29,270 --> 00:40:32,000
S1: it doesn't fit in. It's the same person, but at

875
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:35,360
S1: the same time, I don't think it's weird to stop

876
00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:38,420
S1: and dwell on it for a second, because what? So

877
00:40:38,420 --> 00:40:41,300
S1: what in your in your sort of chain of events

878
00:40:41,300 --> 00:40:43,670
S1: that you think is totally normal? After months of this

879
00:40:43,670 --> 00:40:46,730
S1: weird absence, they feel the pressure to post a photo.

880
00:40:46,730 --> 00:40:49,730
S1: They choose to do it on Mother's Day. William, according

881
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:53,450
S1: to the credit caption on Instagram, takes the photo. And

882
00:40:53,450 --> 00:40:57,460
S1: then what? Like airdrops it to Kate? Who then opens

883
00:40:57,460 --> 00:41:02,400
S1: up her photo manipulator app. Touches up like the positions

884
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,989
S1: of the bodies and then sends it out. Is that normal?

885
00:41:06,989 --> 00:41:07,890
S1: That's not normal.

886
00:41:07,890 --> 00:41:12,000
S3: Okay, my question to you, I would question the weirdness

887
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,240
S3: of the absence. They have said that she won't be

888
00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:17,880
S3: back to duties until March 31st. We know she went

889
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:20,850
S3: into hospital in kind of early January. We know she

890
00:41:20,850 --> 00:41:23,250
S3: came out late January. They've always said she won't be

891
00:41:23,250 --> 00:41:25,739
S3: back to work till March 31st. So I don't actually

892
00:41:25,739 --> 00:41:28,680
S3: know if the absence is that weird, right. If if

893
00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:31,440
S3: this other if this Spanish journalist and those reports hadn't

894
00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:34,740
S3: come out to kind of throw a doubt on the absence,

895
00:41:34,739 --> 00:41:37,050
S3: wouldn't you just be like, she's had some serious surgery,

896
00:41:37,050 --> 00:41:39,360
S3: I don't know, I know people have had hip replacements

897
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:41,100
S3: and it takes them that long to get back out

898
00:41:41,100 --> 00:41:45,810
S3: and about. Like, isn't that if you have major invasive surgery? Yeah,

899
00:41:45,810 --> 00:41:47,490
S3: you're probably going to be out for a few weeks.

900
00:41:47,489 --> 00:41:49,799
S3: And they've said she's had major surgery and what is

901
00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:52,080
S3: she out for a few weeks. But in saying that,

902
00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:53,310
S3: I don't want to be like a killjoy because I

903
00:41:53,310 --> 00:41:55,950
S3: love when the internet gets on these things. But I

904
00:41:55,950 --> 00:41:58,830
S3: wouldn't take it much further than the internet. Just having

905
00:41:58,830 --> 00:42:01,439
S3: a really fun time, like the internet, is a place

906
00:42:01,440 --> 00:42:05,310
S3: where people get behind these kind of moments. And I

907
00:42:05,310 --> 00:42:07,710
S3: do see you think you see a lot of creativity

908
00:42:07,710 --> 00:42:10,439
S3: and joyfulness on the internet on these kind of occasions.

909
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:12,210
S3: And the New York magazine had a really good quote

910
00:42:12,210 --> 00:42:14,879
S3: where they were like, when we hear hooves, it's more

911
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:17,819
S3: interesting to think it's zebras than horses. And I think

912
00:42:17,820 --> 00:42:20,430
S3: that kind of sums it up like it's just an

913
00:42:20,430 --> 00:42:23,730
S3: internet culture moment. I think that we're all getting excited about.

914
00:42:23,730 --> 00:42:25,710
S3: We're all having a lot of fun with. It's got

915
00:42:25,710 --> 00:42:29,940
S3: everything we need from internet conspiracy theory. So I understand,

916
00:42:29,940 --> 00:42:32,100
S3: and I celebrate the internet for doing its thing at

917
00:42:32,100 --> 00:42:34,290
S3: the same time as I'm like, guys, I've said she's

918
00:42:34,290 --> 00:42:37,230
S3: been she'll be away. She's still away. Like, what's they

919
00:42:37,230 --> 00:42:40,770
S3: release a photo that someone is badly edited, but that

920
00:42:40,770 --> 00:42:42,300
S3: doesn't mean she's dead.

921
00:42:42,450 --> 00:42:44,700
S2: Sounds like something that someone would say.

922
00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:48,569
S1: Yeah, yeah. Nice try Charles. Like what? What are you talking. No,

923
00:42:48,570 --> 00:42:51,239
S1: I think yeah. Okay. Well, let's talk about the let's

924
00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:53,489
S1: talk about the internet side of things. I'm not letting

925
00:42:53,489 --> 00:42:55,290
S1: you off the hook that easily. I think there's more

926
00:42:55,290 --> 00:42:57,390
S1: royal stuff here to unpack, but I think I think

927
00:42:57,390 --> 00:43:00,420
S1: you're right. Like, kind of half the reason or more.

928
00:43:00,420 --> 00:43:02,940
S1: We've ended up at this point is because this is

929
00:43:02,940 --> 00:43:05,940
S1: how things work now. Right. And I think one thing

930
00:43:05,940 --> 00:43:09,360
S1: crystallize it for me. I saw someone share a tweet

931
00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:13,770
S1: from another account that was doing like micro-level analysis of

932
00:43:13,770 --> 00:43:17,220
S1: the shadows on all these other photos. And that person

933
00:43:17,219 --> 00:43:19,770
S1: happened to be a Taylor Swift Stan account. And this

934
00:43:19,770 --> 00:43:22,410
S1: person shared and said, oh man, the Swifties have figured

935
00:43:22,410 --> 00:43:25,800
S1: this out like the Royals are totally cooked. And obviously

936
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,490
S1: this acknowledgement that Taylor Swift fans have been for like

937
00:43:29,489 --> 00:43:34,320
S1: nearly 20 years now, trained to find Easter eggs and

938
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,380
S1: codes and all these little things on everything that a

939
00:43:37,380 --> 00:43:40,980
S1: celebrity in this case Taylor releases to piece together the

940
00:43:40,980 --> 00:43:43,169
S1: the puzzle and figure out what's really going on. And

941
00:43:43,170 --> 00:43:45,390
S1: even at the Oscars this week, you just see the

942
00:43:45,390 --> 00:43:48,120
S1: way that we consume an event now isn't just by

943
00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:49,710
S1: watching it on TV, or just not even just by

944
00:43:49,710 --> 00:43:54,630
S1: watching clips. It's by looking at everyone's Instagram account. Who

945
00:43:54,630 --> 00:43:57,630
S1: was there, everyone's TikTok account who was outside trying to

946
00:43:57,630 --> 00:43:59,910
S1: see what people are wearing, who they're talking to. There's

947
00:43:59,910 --> 00:44:03,900
S1: a clip of Marty Scorsese is talking to Lily Gladstone,

948
00:44:03,900 --> 00:44:05,370
S1: and someone said, well, if you look at the way

949
00:44:05,370 --> 00:44:08,669
S1: he's gesticulating his hands, it looks like he's counting all

950
00:44:08,670 --> 00:44:12,120
S1: the times he's been nominated and has lost other people.

951
00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:15,000
S1: Saying that, Emma Stone whispered, he's such a prick. When

952
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,400
S1: Jimmy Kimmel made fun of it. Like, this is the

953
00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:19,950
S1: way in, in a in a media culture where we

954
00:44:19,950 --> 00:44:23,790
S1: are saturated by, by content, by photos, by videos, and

955
00:44:23,790 --> 00:44:26,340
S1: audiences have been trained or just have nothing else to

956
00:44:26,340 --> 00:44:31,469
S1: do other than harmlessly, most of the time, hyper analyzing

957
00:44:31,469 --> 00:44:38,069
S1: these things that then gets transferred to this situation where

958
00:44:38,070 --> 00:44:43,110
S1: because I guess of like the history of secrecy around

959
00:44:43,110 --> 00:44:47,040
S1: the royals, the history of conspiracy, and honestly, the history like,

960
00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:51,060
S1: particularly around Princess Diana of accusations of nefarious behavior, I

961
00:44:51,060 --> 00:44:53,460
S1: think the collision of those two things has made this

962
00:44:53,460 --> 00:44:55,140
S1: such a crazy thing. So that's kind of why I

963
00:44:55,140 --> 00:44:57,150
S1: agree with half of you. Half of you.

964
00:44:57,150 --> 00:44:57,420
S4: I don't know.

965
00:44:57,989 --> 00:45:01,110
S1: I half agree, that's why I half agree with you,

966
00:45:01,110 --> 00:45:04,590
S1: because it is a sort of harmless internet thing. But

967
00:45:04,590 --> 00:45:09,029
S1: what if all this training that internet pop culture sleuths

968
00:45:09,030 --> 00:45:12,089
S1: have been doing on things like the Oscars, on things

969
00:45:12,090 --> 00:45:16,500
S1: like Taylor Swift, is now stumbling onto a very real

970
00:45:16,500 --> 00:45:17,850
S1: issue for the royals?

971
00:45:17,850 --> 00:45:18,660
S5: Well, the issue.

972
00:45:18,660 --> 00:45:22,710
S3: I think it's stumbling onto is probably how they handle PR.

973
00:45:22,710 --> 00:45:26,400
S3: I think this is a big lesson for a legacy

974
00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:30,540
S3: institution about how to handle new media. But you tell me, Oz,

975
00:45:30,540 --> 00:45:33,480
S3: what do you think they are stumbling onto?

976
00:45:33,900 --> 00:45:35,880
S2: I've just been waiting to bring up this Reddit thread

977
00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:39,330
S2: I was on about Prince Louis hand formation last night.

978
00:45:39,330 --> 00:45:39,779
S4: Yeah.

979
00:45:40,050 --> 00:45:40,739
S1: It is weird.

980
00:45:40,739 --> 00:45:42,540
S4: What is this symbol that. Yeah, it's obviously.

981
00:45:42,540 --> 00:45:44,549
S2: Some kind of subliminal cry for help where he's like,

982
00:45:44,550 --> 00:45:46,260
S2: it's like some kind of some kind of thing from

983
00:45:46,260 --> 00:45:49,140
S2: outer space where he's like, this whole family is fucking mental.

984
00:45:49,140 --> 00:45:51,480
S2: Please get me out of here. And on the thread

985
00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:54,120
S2: I was on, uh, everyone was like, posting pictures of

986
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:55,859
S2: themselves trying to do it. No one could do it

987
00:45:55,980 --> 00:45:59,550
S2: because obviously it's not real and everything is.

988
00:45:59,670 --> 00:46:00,030
S4: Ly.

989
00:46:00,900 --> 00:46:04,109
S1: So to answer your question, Mel, like to go to

990
00:46:04,110 --> 00:46:08,160
S1: go back to your point this. We don't know what

991
00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:11,580
S1: Kate's illness is. And a lot of me, most of

992
00:46:11,580 --> 00:46:14,670
S1: me feels really uncomfortable speculating on it. Like there are

993
00:46:14,670 --> 00:46:18,870
S1: theories around like what abdominal surgery could be and why

994
00:46:18,870 --> 00:46:20,610
S1: it would take out of action for a long time.

995
00:46:20,610 --> 00:46:22,080
S1: I don't really want to get into that, if I'm

996
00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:24,480
S1: honest with you, like I. And it's not because I

997
00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:27,090
S1: don't think the Royals are worth interrogating. It's what we're doing.

998
00:46:27,090 --> 00:46:29,670
S1: But the ins and outs of a particular kind of surgery,

999
00:46:29,670 --> 00:46:31,920
S1: I don't think matter that much other than to say

1000
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:34,710
S1: that's what it could be. It could be complications from

1001
00:46:34,710 --> 00:46:37,680
S1: a more complicated surgery than we've been let in on.

1002
00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:39,780
S1: And she's just been out of action for a bit.

1003
00:46:39,780 --> 00:46:42,870
S1: And so this photo thing is like a harmless accident

1004
00:46:42,870 --> 00:46:46,260
S1: that speaks to naivety around the media than anything else.

1005
00:46:46,710 --> 00:46:50,160
S1: But I think what overshadows all of that is this

1006
00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:54,030
S1: is an institution with both a long term and very

1007
00:46:54,030 --> 00:46:58,890
S1: recent history of media manipulation and character assassination, right? Like

1008
00:46:58,890 --> 00:47:02,580
S1: we have seen and read the way that the Palace

1009
00:47:02,580 --> 00:47:06,629
S1: handled things like Princess Diana to protect Charles. We have

1010
00:47:06,630 --> 00:47:09,840
S1: seen most recently in the last few years, the Harry

1011
00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:12,810
S1: and Meghan stuff. This is a big they call it

1012
00:47:12,810 --> 00:47:16,560
S1: The Firm. It's this big, powerful institution that goes after

1013
00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:19,560
S1: people that it doesn't like and uses every resource at

1014
00:47:19,560 --> 00:47:23,730
S1: its disposal to protect people that it does like, and

1015
00:47:23,730 --> 00:47:26,250
S1: the lack of any detail, even though I don't need

1016
00:47:26,250 --> 00:47:29,609
S1: to know the the kind of whole rap sheet for

1017
00:47:29,610 --> 00:47:32,550
S1: what happened in hospital or whatever, the fact that in

1018
00:47:32,550 --> 00:47:35,400
S1: this situation there has been such little detail and the

1019
00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:38,880
S1: little media engagement that has been has been so hamfisted

1020
00:47:38,880 --> 00:47:42,000
S1: that being the photo thing, I think raises a lot

1021
00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:44,819
S1: of questions. I think it's really hard to write this

1022
00:47:44,820 --> 00:47:48,270
S1: off as a bunch of just accidental, you know, one

1023
00:47:48,270 --> 00:47:53,009
S1: consequence after another. It just feels too murky given the

1024
00:47:53,010 --> 00:47:54,660
S1: history of this family.

1025
00:47:54,660 --> 00:47:59,010
S3: Yeah, I understand what you're saying and like, but again, realistically,

1026
00:47:59,010 --> 00:48:02,190
S3: I think this is probably more about how they've handled

1027
00:48:02,190 --> 00:48:07,360
S3: it then. You know, something that particularly bad that's going on? Like,

1028
00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:09,340
S3: I mean, if something bad is going on, it's probably

1029
00:48:09,340 --> 00:48:11,680
S3: related to her health. And then you've said you don't

1030
00:48:11,680 --> 00:48:13,690
S3: want the ins and outs of the health, but you

1031
00:48:13,690 --> 00:48:17,020
S3: want more. I guess it's a balance between like what

1032
00:48:17,020 --> 00:48:18,940
S3: you tell the public and what you don't tell the public.

1033
00:48:18,940 --> 00:48:21,070
S3: Because if something bad has happened with her health and

1034
00:48:21,070 --> 00:48:23,469
S3: they don't want to announce it publicly for whatever reason,

1035
00:48:23,469 --> 00:48:26,800
S3: then I guess that's acceptable. But this is the fallout

1036
00:48:26,800 --> 00:48:27,430
S3: from that.

1037
00:48:27,430 --> 00:48:28,870
S1: No, I think I think what I'm saying more is

1038
00:48:28,870 --> 00:48:31,540
S1: I don't want to speculate on what could have happened.

1039
00:48:31,540 --> 00:48:34,630
S1: But I also think that the royal family, like with

1040
00:48:34,630 --> 00:48:37,570
S1: a serving politician or whatever, they're going through something. There's

1041
00:48:37,570 --> 00:48:40,990
S1: an obligation on the public, particularly the public, who like

1042
00:48:40,989 --> 00:48:43,780
S1: they rule over and who we, you know, whose taxes

1043
00:48:43,780 --> 00:48:46,420
S1: they benefit from or whatever. There's an obligation from them

1044
00:48:46,420 --> 00:48:48,190
S1: to tell us what's going. You don't get to have

1045
00:48:48,190 --> 00:48:50,920
S1: both ways. You don't get to benefit from being part

1046
00:48:50,920 --> 00:48:53,379
S1: of this institution and never have to work a normal

1047
00:48:53,380 --> 00:48:55,360
S1: job and live in a palace and whatever, and then say,

1048
00:48:55,360 --> 00:48:56,859
S1: but we're not going to tell you anything that's going

1049
00:48:56,860 --> 00:49:00,580
S1: on other than these weird photo issues and recalls. That's,

1050
00:49:00,580 --> 00:49:01,959
S1: I guess, my perspective.

1051
00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:02,890
S4: Yeah. Didn't we get.

1052
00:49:02,890 --> 00:49:04,750
S2: The when Charles went into hospital, it was like, he's

1053
00:49:04,750 --> 00:49:07,120
S2: got a massive prostate. Prostate is all fucked up. And

1054
00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:09,190
S2: then they were like, yeah, also he's got cancer.

1055
00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:11,259
S3: I do I, I think as I.

1056
00:49:12,969 --> 00:49:13,480
S4: Was.

1057
00:49:14,050 --> 00:49:14,710
S1: That is that was.

1058
00:49:14,710 --> 00:49:17,020
S4: Word for what the statement I believe that that guy got.

1059
00:49:17,020 --> 00:49:19,600
S2: Fired. Who wrote that one. That was he was an intern.

1060
00:49:19,719 --> 00:49:20,920
S4: I do think he's.

1061
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:21,580
S1: Now he's now the guy.

1062
00:49:21,580 --> 00:49:24,250
S4: Doing the Photoshops and I.

1063
00:49:24,250 --> 00:49:27,580
S3: Yeah. I mean, obviously how the King Charles health issue

1064
00:49:27,580 --> 00:49:29,620
S3: was handled was very different. And I.

1065
00:49:29,620 --> 00:49:30,430
S2: Wish they had lied about.

1066
00:49:30,430 --> 00:49:31,060
S4: That. Yeah, I.

1067
00:49:31,060 --> 00:49:32,770
S3: Know that was too much detail. And the Cancer Council

1068
00:49:32,770 --> 00:49:35,529
S3: websites have spoken about how they've had huge increase in

1069
00:49:35,530 --> 00:49:38,290
S3: visitors to their site since that announcement. So it's obviously

1070
00:49:38,290 --> 00:49:43,840
S3: serving a public education agenda as well. But to Oz's point,

1071
00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:46,720
S3: I do think it's a bit simplistic to say, like,

1072
00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:50,170
S3: I think the right to privacy is very important and

1073
00:49:50,170 --> 00:49:53,410
S3: we should be careful about who we declare doesn't have it.

1074
00:49:53,410 --> 00:49:55,390
S3: Because I do think when you take it away from

1075
00:49:55,390 --> 00:49:58,180
S3: some people, you open it up to be taken away

1076
00:49:58,180 --> 00:50:01,029
S3: from the rest of us. And we're in a generation

1077
00:50:01,030 --> 00:50:03,250
S3: and an era where privacy is not valued and it's

1078
00:50:03,250 --> 00:50:05,319
S3: not important, and we all give it away all the time.

1079
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:07,810
S3: And we've got a generation that just doesn't care about it.

1080
00:50:07,810 --> 00:50:11,890
S3: And I Thomas was laughing at me. He shares too much, obviously.

1081
00:50:11,980 --> 00:50:13,960
S2: Yeah. And you are so private. Yeah.

1082
00:50:14,739 --> 00:50:17,169
S3: But I do think, like, you know, just I think

1083
00:50:17,170 --> 00:50:19,240
S3: the right to privacy is enshrined, right? It's like a

1084
00:50:19,239 --> 00:50:21,580
S3: human right as well as the law. So like, I

1085
00:50:21,580 --> 00:50:23,049
S3: don't think we should stand up and be like, we

1086
00:50:23,050 --> 00:50:25,300
S3: have the right to know everything about you because you're

1087
00:50:25,300 --> 00:50:28,180
S3: part of an institution. Yes, I take your point. I

1088
00:50:28,180 --> 00:50:31,540
S3: take your point that they serve the people. And, you know,

1089
00:50:31,540 --> 00:50:33,819
S3: this is an institution that protects them. They do owe

1090
00:50:33,820 --> 00:50:37,630
S3: us something. But I guess I do worry about just

1091
00:50:37,630 --> 00:50:40,810
S3: saying she should go into all the details about the health,

1092
00:50:40,810 --> 00:50:43,060
S3: when for me, I'm kind of comfortable with sitting with

1093
00:50:43,060 --> 00:50:46,360
S3: the fact that she had probably major surgery and isn't, well, like,

1094
00:50:46,360 --> 00:50:48,370
S3: I don't really need to know what it is. I

1095
00:50:48,370 --> 00:50:50,710
S3: hope hope she gets better, but I don't know if

1096
00:50:50,710 --> 00:50:52,750
S3: we are owed and should feel that we are owed

1097
00:50:52,750 --> 00:50:54,730
S3: more than that. And I think people need to be

1098
00:50:54,730 --> 00:50:57,580
S3: careful about being like public figures, even if they are

1099
00:50:57,580 --> 00:51:03,790
S3: taxpayer funded. Sponsored, um, need to tell us more about themselves. Like,

1100
00:51:03,790 --> 00:51:05,860
S3: I think that's a slippery slope and it worries me.

1101
00:51:05,950 --> 00:51:08,649
S1: What do you think about the fact that even if

1102
00:51:08,650 --> 00:51:12,640
S1: that is a a fine principle, that when there's an

1103
00:51:12,640 --> 00:51:16,720
S1: information vacuum and when people are doing their pop culture

1104
00:51:16,719 --> 00:51:21,669
S1: kind of sleuthing on this and creating conspiracy theories, and

1105
00:51:21,670 --> 00:51:23,980
S1: even if some of them seem obviously ludicrous, but they

1106
00:51:23,980 --> 00:51:27,880
S1: are getting traction, they could be easily killed, like Thomas suggested.

1107
00:51:27,880 --> 00:51:30,580
S1: Hey guys, I'm c just going live on Instagram here.

1108
00:51:30,580 --> 00:51:32,620
S1: Like they could be dealt with by the release of

1109
00:51:32,620 --> 00:51:35,319
S1: more information or photos or videos. The absence of that,

1110
00:51:35,320 --> 00:51:38,140
S1: does that not create some sort of harm or does?

1111
00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:42,239
S1: Is it not corrosive in some way to just. Let

1112
00:51:42,239 --> 00:51:46,860
S1: the the sort of field be flooded with random TikTokers,

1113
00:51:46,860 --> 00:51:49,140
S1: Instagrammers or whatever. Or do you think that this one

1114
00:51:49,140 --> 00:51:52,439
S1: is ultimately like a bit of harmless fun? Who really

1115
00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:55,950
S1: cares what people post or what sort of Reddit threads

1116
00:51:55,950 --> 00:51:56,850
S1: get traction?

1117
00:51:56,880 --> 00:51:59,339
S3: No, I mean, I, I think that I'd love to

1118
00:51:59,340 --> 00:52:01,680
S3: see C come out and do that, but I also

1119
00:52:01,680 --> 00:52:04,950
S3: think that people's release of information shouldn't be based on

1120
00:52:04,950 --> 00:52:07,379
S3: what TikTok is, an Instagram as they're doing. Like how

1121
00:52:07,380 --> 00:52:09,390
S3: bad a how bad a precedent is that to set

1122
00:52:09,390 --> 00:52:11,100
S3: that just because the public I mean, is it any

1123
00:52:11,100 --> 00:52:13,740
S3: different to cancel culture but directed in a different way

1124
00:52:13,739 --> 00:52:16,710
S3: just because the online masses want something? Well, we now

1125
00:52:16,710 --> 00:52:19,530
S3: need to give it to them to counteract what what's

1126
00:52:19,530 --> 00:52:21,569
S3: going to happen. Like that's kind of bullying, right? Like

1127
00:52:21,570 --> 00:52:24,480
S3: I do take your point that, you know, the PR

1128
00:52:24,510 --> 00:52:26,370
S3: has not been handled well on this, but I don't

1129
00:52:26,370 --> 00:52:28,770
S3: necessarily think they should cave just because that's what the

1130
00:52:28,770 --> 00:52:31,620
S3: people want. Like that's not a good precedent either. Otherwise,

1131
00:52:31,620 --> 00:52:33,480
S3: like imagine the information we could get out of people

1132
00:52:33,480 --> 00:52:35,820
S3: if we started these kind of campaigns.

1133
00:52:35,910 --> 00:52:36,149
S4: I mean.

1134
00:52:36,150 --> 00:52:38,040
S1: It is it is this is the other side to it.

1135
00:52:38,040 --> 00:52:40,590
S1: It is often how the media operates, right? Aside from

1136
00:52:40,590 --> 00:52:43,080
S1: social media like a lot of how we get information

1137
00:52:43,080 --> 00:52:45,210
S1: from people and a lot of people don't necessarily like this,

1138
00:52:45,210 --> 00:52:47,009
S1: and there are some outlets that do this way more

1139
00:52:47,010 --> 00:52:50,070
S1: than others. But it is sometimes in the celebrity space

1140
00:52:50,070 --> 00:52:53,430
S1: about hounding someone day in, day out until you find

1141
00:52:53,430 --> 00:52:56,489
S1: out whether that divorce rumor is true, whether they are

1142
00:52:56,489 --> 00:52:59,640
S1: having a kid, whether they are experiencing substance abuse issues

1143
00:52:59,640 --> 00:53:02,279
S1: or whatever like that is being part and parcel of

1144
00:53:02,280 --> 00:53:06,450
S1: this world for so long. And I guess it seems

1145
00:53:06,450 --> 00:53:08,520
S1: like what you're saying is like, that wasn't good then.

1146
00:53:08,520 --> 00:53:11,970
S1: And just because it's shifting to social media now doesn't

1147
00:53:11,969 --> 00:53:13,350
S1: necessarily make it better.

1148
00:53:13,350 --> 00:53:14,640
S3: Yeah, I mean, I think so, and I think this

1149
00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:17,100
S3: is obviously quite a real, very real issue in the

1150
00:53:17,100 --> 00:53:20,700
S3: UK as well with the phone hacking scandal and Princess Diana, like,

1151
00:53:20,700 --> 00:53:22,710
S3: I do see it all as part of the same

1152
00:53:22,920 --> 00:53:25,110
S3: illness in society to an extent.

1153
00:53:25,410 --> 00:53:26,820
S2: How much did we'll pay you to say all that

1154
00:53:26,820 --> 00:53:27,120
S2: as well?

1155
00:53:27,270 --> 00:53:27,900
S4: Out of curiosity.

1156
00:53:27,900 --> 00:53:29,640
S3: I'm getting a jump at the Royals. Guys.

1157
00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:31,200
S4: Little George.

1158
00:53:31,200 --> 00:53:33,690
S1: I guess the the interesting thing for this is like

1159
00:53:33,690 --> 00:53:38,279
S1: where it goes next. And I think without more information, honestly,

1160
00:53:38,280 --> 00:53:41,700
S1: without like a live video where she's holding the newspaper

1161
00:53:41,700 --> 00:53:44,339
S1: of the day and like responding to people like a

1162
00:53:44,340 --> 00:53:46,980
S1: streamer or something like that. Like unless she jumps on

1163
00:53:46,980 --> 00:53:49,860
S1: a twitch and is like playing Fortnite and responding to

1164
00:53:49,860 --> 00:53:52,560
S1: people in real time, I don't think these rumors are

1165
00:53:52,560 --> 00:53:56,489
S1: going to go away. Uh, do you guys just see

1166
00:53:56,489 --> 00:53:59,370
S1: that they'll be more of this stuff? Are you going

1167
00:53:59,370 --> 00:54:02,460
S1: to continue to follow it and read these things, or

1168
00:54:02,460 --> 00:54:04,259
S1: do you think it's reached like a bit of the

1169
00:54:04,260 --> 00:54:06,690
S1: fact that, like, old people on podcasts are talking about

1170
00:54:06,690 --> 00:54:08,520
S1: it like us? It's like, ah, it's not cool anymore,

1171
00:54:08,520 --> 00:54:09,600
S1: so let's all move on.

1172
00:54:09,630 --> 00:54:11,820
S2: She'll probably do like a sit down with Oprah at

1173
00:54:11,820 --> 00:54:15,630
S2: Tyler Perry's house in, like, Calabasas. Um, and then that

1174
00:54:15,630 --> 00:54:17,520
S2: will be her big comeback. No, it's true. Like, I

1175
00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:20,580
S2: think what Mel said as you saw off in the case, um, begrudgingly,

1176
00:54:20,580 --> 00:54:26,400
S2: was actually very smart and wise. But I do think that, like, the,

1177
00:54:26,400 --> 00:54:29,730
S2: the context and history of the family makes this particular

1178
00:54:29,730 --> 00:54:33,660
S2: situation very different, particularly, as you said, like their history with,

1179
00:54:33,660 --> 00:54:36,120
S2: you know, the female members of the family, especially marrying

1180
00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:39,930
S2: into the family. So like, I really do understand, I

1181
00:54:39,930 --> 00:54:41,850
S2: don't I personally don't care. I'm sure she's fine and

1182
00:54:41,850 --> 00:54:43,530
S2: just I don't know, maybe she's like got, you know,

1183
00:54:43,530 --> 00:54:46,980
S2: Photoshop for dummies open right this very second. But like,

1184
00:54:46,980 --> 00:54:49,680
S2: I do understand that now, especially with all these like

1185
00:54:49,680 --> 00:54:52,320
S2: additional things happening, why people are like, okay, this was

1186
00:54:52,320 --> 00:54:54,390
S2: like funny at first, but now it's a little bit

1187
00:54:54,390 --> 00:54:58,470
S2: like what's going on here? This is pretty weird. And

1188
00:54:58,469 --> 00:55:01,140
S2: perhaps it is worth the royal family like just addressing

1189
00:55:01,140 --> 00:55:03,239
S2: it in a way that like kills the story dead.

1190
00:55:03,239 --> 00:55:06,239
S2: So you don't have people continuing to speculate. And yeah,

1191
00:55:06,239 --> 00:55:08,850
S2: it might set a dangerous precedent, but it's not really

1192
00:55:08,850 --> 00:55:10,530
S2: going to happen to then everyone else. But like the

1193
00:55:10,530 --> 00:55:13,680
S2: Royals are perhaps one of the few institutions that deserve

1194
00:55:13,680 --> 00:55:14,340
S2: that kind of treatment.

1195
00:55:14,340 --> 00:55:16,920
S3: I think. I think it's been so badly PR handled

1196
00:55:16,920 --> 00:55:18,840
S3: up to now, but if I was like the crisis

1197
00:55:18,840 --> 00:55:22,109
S3: comms cord in at this moment, I think you've got

1198
00:55:22,110 --> 00:55:24,150
S3: to I think this story will die out on its own.

1199
00:55:24,150 --> 00:55:26,190
S3: The internet has like a goldfish mind. It will be

1200
00:55:26,190 --> 00:55:27,120
S3: on to the next thing.

1201
00:55:27,120 --> 00:55:28,439
S1: Yeah, something, something else will happen.

1202
00:55:28,440 --> 00:55:30,870
S3: Like Taylor Swift will get engaged and this will it

1203
00:55:30,870 --> 00:55:32,760
S3: will die out in a second. So if I was

1204
00:55:32,760 --> 00:55:35,790
S3: crisis comms coming on now, I'd say C has to

1205
00:55:35,790 --> 00:55:38,790
S3: be above this. And the only way to keep her

1206
00:55:38,790 --> 00:55:40,680
S3: above this is to keep her out of it. And

1207
00:55:40,680 --> 00:55:42,210
S3: the only way to keep her out of it is

1208
00:55:42,210 --> 00:55:44,430
S3: not to address it. When they go low, we go high.

1209
00:55:44,430 --> 00:55:47,250
S3: On Michelle Obama, I would say C says nothing. C

1210
00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:49,319
S3: turns up on March 31st, when she was due to

1211
00:55:49,320 --> 00:55:51,480
S3: come back to work in perfect shape with a big

1212
00:55:51,480 --> 00:55:55,080
S3: smile on her face. And oh yes, I'm feeling much better. Yeah. Um,

1213
00:55:55,080 --> 00:55:55,860
S3: and so finishing.

1214
00:55:55,860 --> 00:55:56,310
S2: In the corner.

1215
00:55:56,310 --> 00:55:57,419
S4: Hello everybody.

1216
00:55:58,200 --> 00:56:00,690
S3: She's like, put up a photo of herself, like, all, like,

1217
00:56:00,690 --> 00:56:03,719
S3: glammed up with Photoshop. Um, yeah. And then I think

1218
00:56:03,719 --> 00:56:06,510
S3: it moves on and everyone. And it never gets more

1219
00:56:06,510 --> 00:56:10,049
S3: oxygen by being addressed. The royals like to see themselves

1220
00:56:10,050 --> 00:56:14,070
S3: as away from the muck, for better or for worse.

1221
00:56:14,070 --> 00:56:15,779
S2: One thing I would love to say though, like, wouldn't

1222
00:56:15,780 --> 00:56:17,790
S2: you just love to be a fly on the wall

1223
00:56:17,790 --> 00:56:20,400
S2: at Harry and Meghan's house listening to the chat on

1224
00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:22,620
S2: this like, oh god.

1225
00:56:22,710 --> 00:56:24,750
S4: Yeah, Meghan's like offering them advice, I.

1226
00:56:24,750 --> 00:56:27,240
S1: Reckon. I reckon you're probably right Mil. I think they've

1227
00:56:27,239 --> 00:56:29,850
S1: probably counting down until the release of the Tortured Poets.

1228
00:56:29,850 --> 00:56:31,379
S4: Department like April.

1229
00:56:31,380 --> 00:56:33,510
S1: 19th, and they're like, please, can we change the narrative?

1230
00:56:33,510 --> 00:56:35,700
S1: My last, my very last question is, and I think

1231
00:56:35,700 --> 00:56:38,010
S1: I know the answer because of the things that you

1232
00:56:38,010 --> 00:56:41,310
S1: said in this conversation. Mel, do you believe that the.

1233
00:56:41,410 --> 00:56:46,239
S1: The royal family had no role in the death of

1234
00:56:46,239 --> 00:56:47,230
S1: Princess Diana.

1235
00:56:49,390 --> 00:56:50,170
S4: Wow.

1236
00:56:50,650 --> 00:56:52,930
S3: And I was gunning for a job there. Do you?

1237
00:56:53,920 --> 00:56:55,480
S3: I mean, role is a broad.

1238
00:56:55,630 --> 00:56:57,040
S1: Don't ask me the question. I'm asking.

1239
00:56:57,040 --> 00:56:58,239
S4: You the whole.

1240
00:56:58,420 --> 00:57:03,550
S3: Question. Term like kind of responsibility and morality is where

1241
00:57:03,550 --> 00:57:05,979
S3: do you define it? Like it's a very extensive term.

1242
00:57:06,010 --> 00:57:08,560
S3: Did they have a role? Yes. Obviously they had a role.

1243
00:57:08,560 --> 00:57:12,160
S3: But the level of that role, who's to say I'll

1244
00:57:12,160 --> 00:57:13,420
S3: be taking no further questions.

1245
00:57:15,969 --> 00:57:19,420
S1: Well, to make this conversation loop back towards pop culture,

1246
00:57:19,420 --> 00:57:21,310
S1: I thought it'd be fun to talk about some of

1247
00:57:21,310 --> 00:57:25,720
S1: our favourite films about the Royal family. Uh, one of

1248
00:57:25,720 --> 00:57:31,540
S1: mine is about Diana. It's a 2021 Spencer by Pablo Larrain,

1249
00:57:31,540 --> 00:57:35,470
S1: starring Kristen Stewart. Uh, the films about Diana's crisis, she

1250
00:57:35,470 --> 00:57:38,800
S1: has during the Christmas of 1991, when she's thinking about

1251
00:57:38,800 --> 00:57:42,820
S1: divorcing Charles and leaving the family. It's a really smart

1252
00:57:42,820 --> 00:57:46,360
S1: and interesting film. Kristen Stewart gives an awesome performance, and

1253
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:49,330
S1: it's almost shot like a horror, which I think captures,

1254
00:57:49,600 --> 00:57:51,970
S1: I guess, a perspective that Diana would have been going

1255
00:57:51,970 --> 00:57:54,520
S1: through at that time. Maybe that's why I have the

1256
00:57:54,520 --> 00:57:57,340
S1: feelings that I do about this situation, because I watched

1257
00:57:57,340 --> 00:57:59,860
S1: that movie not that long ago, and that's thinking about

1258
00:57:59,860 --> 00:58:02,440
S1: Kate in a similar situation. You know, maybe she's in

1259
00:58:02,440 --> 00:58:04,840
S1: a in a get out kind of frame or something

1260
00:58:04,840 --> 00:58:08,110
S1: like that, but it's a really, really, really well-made film.

1261
00:58:08,110 --> 00:58:10,120
S1: The other one I wanted to shout out, uh, this

1262
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:13,810
S1: is Yomi Thomas. Yorgos Lanthimos is the favourite from 2018

1263
00:58:13,810 --> 00:58:16,990
S1: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Wise just super fun, uh,

1264
00:58:16,990 --> 00:58:20,860
S1: co-written by Australia's own Tony McNamara. Surprisingly, a lot of

1265
00:58:20,860 --> 00:58:22,450
S1: people I've talked to about this movie haven't seen it,

1266
00:58:22,450 --> 00:58:24,430
S1: but could not give it a stronger rec. I think

1267
00:58:24,430 --> 00:58:26,530
S1: it's very fun and it's very sexy.

1268
00:58:26,710 --> 00:58:29,470
S3: Both of those are fantastic films, and I think the, um,

1269
00:58:29,470 --> 00:58:31,810
S3: Spencer is like, highly underrated as well.

1270
00:58:31,810 --> 00:58:33,100
S4: Yeah. Sam, I loved that. Yeah.

1271
00:58:33,100 --> 00:58:35,650
S3: Didn't get the attention or the kind of acclaim it deserved.

1272
00:58:35,770 --> 00:58:36,130
S4: Mel, why.

1273
00:58:36,130 --> 00:58:38,260
S1: Don't you share your recommendations?

1274
00:58:38,260 --> 00:58:41,170
S3: Well, maybe this goes to why I think more positively

1275
00:58:41,170 --> 00:58:46,300
S3: of CS experience. Mine is Maria Antoinette, Sofia Coppola's film

1276
00:58:46,300 --> 00:58:48,760
S3: Kirsten Dunst, isn't it? We've already had a mention on

1277
00:58:48,760 --> 00:58:51,640
S3: this pod today. Um, from 2006. I don't know, I'm

1278
00:58:51,640 --> 00:58:54,040
S3: a real Coppola head. I love everything she's done. I

1279
00:58:54,040 --> 00:58:55,420
S3: love I know some people.

1280
00:58:55,420 --> 00:58:57,340
S4: That's so surprising, isn't it?

1281
00:58:57,760 --> 00:59:01,270
S3: I know, I know, some people don't like this film

1282
00:59:01,270 --> 00:59:04,930
S3: and her style, but I think it's fun. Over the top. Silly.

1283
00:59:04,930 --> 00:59:07,240
S1: I like Sofia Coppola and I like us a lot,

1284
00:59:07,240 --> 00:59:08,950
S1: and I liked this film. But I think the worst

1285
00:59:08,950 --> 00:59:12,160
S1: thing about this film is the whole like, let's reclaim

1286
00:59:12,160 --> 00:59:14,170
S1: like the narrative of the woman who was actually the

1287
00:59:14,170 --> 00:59:16,900
S1: victim here when we're talking about Marie Antoinette. And it's

1288
00:59:16,900 --> 00:59:19,630
S1: interesting you compare that to your attitude to this situation,

1289
00:59:19,630 --> 00:59:23,380
S1: because I can see how if you're adopting the Pablo

1290
00:59:23,380 --> 00:59:25,720
S1: Larrain perspective, you're like, well, these people are all crooks

1291
00:59:25,720 --> 00:59:28,060
S1: trying to murder everyone. And if you're adopting the Sofia

1292
00:59:28,090 --> 00:59:31,780
S1: Coppola Marie Antoinette perspective, you're like, well, you're just trying

1293
00:59:31,780 --> 00:59:33,430
S1: to have a good time. And other people are ruing

1294
00:59:33,430 --> 00:59:35,590
S1: their lives. And can we just, like, listen to some

1295
00:59:35,590 --> 00:59:37,060
S1: indie rock and chill out?

1296
00:59:37,060 --> 00:59:37,840
S4: I mean, I don't.

1297
00:59:37,840 --> 00:59:40,300
S3: Think that's really the perspective I adopted on this. I

1298
00:59:40,300 --> 00:59:42,280
S3: think it was quite nuanced, nuanced and okay.

1299
00:59:42,280 --> 00:59:43,390
S2: You were in your head with this film.

1300
00:59:43,390 --> 00:59:45,940
S4: Came out. So let's. Yeah, it.

1301
00:59:45,940 --> 00:59:49,270
S3: Has shaped me. Um, yeah. Great. Great royal film.

1302
00:59:49,390 --> 00:59:51,190
S1: Thomas, I just saw what you put in the.

1303
00:59:51,190 --> 00:59:52,090
S7: Document is.

1304
00:59:52,090 --> 00:59:52,780
S1: I'm laughing out.

1305
00:59:52,780 --> 00:59:54,280
S4: Loud. I think it's a.

1306
00:59:54,310 --> 00:59:57,730
S2: Fucking crime that neither of you picked this movie. And

1307
00:59:57,730 --> 01:00:01,090
S2: I guarantee our loyal listeners, including all the Thomas heads

1308
01:00:01,090 --> 01:00:03,880
S2: out there, um, shout out to you guys. The tens

1309
01:00:03,880 --> 01:00:06,550
S2: of you out there. Uh, I was thinking, why has

1310
01:00:06,550 --> 01:00:09,640
S2: no one mentioned The Princess Diaries? Easily the greatest royal

1311
01:00:09,640 --> 01:00:13,630
S2: film of all time, uh, released in 2001. Uh, I mean,

1312
01:00:13,630 --> 01:00:16,210
S2: what more can I say about this film? This was

1313
01:00:16,210 --> 01:00:18,760
S2: what gave us Anne Hathaway. Was that a good thing?

1314
01:00:18,760 --> 01:00:21,250
S2: Remains to be seen. But, like, this is a legendary film.

1315
01:00:21,250 --> 01:00:23,530
S2: It was like part of that era when these films

1316
01:00:23,530 --> 01:00:26,140
S2: still made a lot of money. It made $165 million

1317
01:00:26,140 --> 01:00:28,720
S2: at the box office, which is, uh, like.

1318
01:00:28,720 --> 01:00:29,650
S3: More than June.

1319
01:00:29,650 --> 01:00:30,220
S4: Yes.

1320
01:00:30,220 --> 01:00:32,950
S2: It's crazy. Uh, and basically, you know, we all know

1321
01:00:32,950 --> 01:00:35,530
S2: the story. Anne Hathaway plays Mia, a 15 year old

1322
01:00:35,530 --> 01:00:37,750
S2: who discovers that she's actually the princess of a small

1323
01:00:37,750 --> 01:00:39,910
S2: European state. And then she has to kind of go

1324
01:00:39,910 --> 01:00:42,010
S2: on this journey to to kind of claim her spot

1325
01:00:42,040 --> 01:00:44,140
S2: on the throne. Uh, the Princess Diaries has become one

1326
01:00:44,140 --> 01:00:46,660
S2: of those weird films that's like, weirdly, a part of

1327
01:00:46,660 --> 01:00:49,240
S2: pop culture now. Um, and yeah, I think it was

1328
01:00:49,240 --> 01:00:52,390
S2: just such a fun movie and led to The Princess Diaries, too,

1329
01:00:52,390 --> 01:00:54,190
S2: which also made a shitload of money. And then I

1330
01:00:54,190 --> 01:00:55,630
S2: think they were going to make The Princess Diaries three,

1331
01:00:55,630 --> 01:00:57,550
S2: and then Anne Hathaway was like, oh no, I'm actually

1332
01:00:57,550 --> 01:00:58,270
S2: in good stuff now.

1333
01:00:58,270 --> 01:00:58,660
S4: Did you read.

1334
01:00:58,660 --> 01:00:59,290
S3: The books too?

1335
01:00:59,290 --> 01:01:00,100
S2: I did not know.

1336
01:01:00,100 --> 01:01:00,910
S4: Still time.

1337
01:01:01,720 --> 01:01:03,340
S1: I did. I did read the book. Shout out to

1338
01:01:03,340 --> 01:01:05,650
S1: my friend Renee in high school, who would lend me

1339
01:01:05,650 --> 01:01:07,840
S1: her copies of the books after she was done with them.

1340
01:01:07,840 --> 01:01:10,270
S1: I wasn't laughing at you mentioning this film, Thomas. I

1341
01:01:10,270 --> 01:01:12,670
S1: think it is genuinely like a great film, a very

1342
01:01:12,670 --> 01:01:14,680
S1: fun film. More that I thought you were going to

1343
01:01:14,680 --> 01:01:16,870
S1: read out the Wikipedia summary that you'd copied and pasted,

1344
01:01:16,870 --> 01:01:20,320
S1: which just reads hilarious. So I'm glad you didn't do

1345
01:01:20,320 --> 01:01:20,950
S1: that was just more of a.

1346
01:01:20,950 --> 01:01:24,460
S2: Problem for me because I haven't watched it since 2023.

1347
01:01:24,460 --> 01:01:26,770
S3: That can be fun to watch with. Archie, your royal baby.

1348
01:01:26,770 --> 01:01:27,460
S4: Yes. Correct.

1349
01:01:27,460 --> 01:01:28,780
S2: Oh yeah, that's right actually.

1350
01:01:29,740 --> 01:01:32,500
S1: And look, if that's not enough recommendations for you, we

1351
01:01:32,500 --> 01:01:37,090
S1: do still have our regular Impress Your Friends segment where

1352
01:01:37,090 --> 01:01:40,510
S1: we share something that we loved watching, reading, listening to,

1353
01:01:40,510 --> 01:01:41,230
S1: or consuming in the past.

1354
01:01:41,520 --> 01:01:42,120
S8: Wake.

1355
01:01:42,330 --> 01:01:43,650
S1: Mel, why don't you go first?

1356
01:01:43,680 --> 01:01:45,720
S3: Okay. Mine is. I know I've had a few books

1357
01:01:45,720 --> 01:01:50,100
S3: and I've received feedback from my colleagues here. Um, I've

1358
01:01:50,100 --> 01:01:51,690
S3: gone with the TV show this week. Now, if you

1359
01:01:51,690 --> 01:01:53,910
S3: watch the NFL because of Taylor and you had no

1360
01:01:53,910 --> 01:01:55,560
S3: idea what was going on, or just because you wanted

1361
01:01:55,560 --> 01:01:57,720
S3: to watch the NFL for the first time, there's a

1362
01:01:57,720 --> 01:02:01,560
S3: new documentary on Apple TV, The Dynasty New England Patriots,

1363
01:02:01,560 --> 01:02:06,450
S3: which is a really great introduction to the NFL over

1364
01:02:06,450 --> 01:02:09,060
S3: the past decade or so. It does focus on the

1365
01:02:09,060 --> 01:02:12,150
S3: New England Patriots, which is the team of Tom Brady.

1366
01:02:12,150 --> 01:02:16,500
S3: Very good. Um, who is famously the best quarterback of

1367
01:02:16,500 --> 01:02:18,540
S3: all time, has won more Super Bowls than anyone else

1368
01:02:18,540 --> 01:02:21,840
S3: in NFL history. It kind of focuses on the franchise

1369
01:02:21,840 --> 01:02:25,410
S3: since he's been there. It's a bit strangely paced, but

1370
01:02:25,410 --> 01:02:27,210
S3: it is really good because it looks at how Tom

1371
01:02:27,210 --> 01:02:29,580
S3: Brady kind of came in as a replacement quarterback. He

1372
01:02:29,580 --> 01:02:32,430
S3: was a really late draft pick. How he then dominated

1373
01:02:32,430 --> 01:02:34,740
S3: that team. It covers some of the scandals of the

1374
01:02:34,740 --> 01:02:37,530
S3: team as well. There was a big cheating, um, for

1375
01:02:37,530 --> 01:02:40,770
S3: all that broke out. So it's really like interesting. Look

1376
01:02:40,770 --> 01:02:45,300
S3: at the state of America through the lens of this team. Um,

1377
01:02:45,300 --> 01:02:47,220
S3: it kind of one of the real interesting things is

1378
01:02:47,220 --> 01:02:50,070
S3: the kind of role the team played post 911 and the,

1379
01:02:50,070 --> 01:02:53,130
S3: the treatment of American sport during that time. Anyway, it's

1380
01:02:53,130 --> 01:02:56,250
S3: one of those really interesting sports documentaries that pretends it's

1381
01:02:56,250 --> 01:02:59,700
S3: about sport, but is about the world generally as well. So, um,

1382
01:02:59,700 --> 01:03:03,240
S3: any good one? Uh, snapshots of Giselle. She doesn't speak,

1383
01:03:03,240 --> 01:03:05,820
S3: he's dead. Speaks, and his sister speaks, and he speaks

1384
01:03:05,820 --> 01:03:09,060
S3: as well. And they're actually really they're quite forthright about him. Like,

1385
01:03:09,060 --> 01:03:10,890
S3: it's quite a good insight. I mean, we all know

1386
01:03:10,890 --> 01:03:13,830
S3: he's the kind of maniac in a way, like super competitive,

1387
01:03:13,830 --> 01:03:16,230
S3: but they do give lots of fun anecdotes of how

1388
01:03:16,230 --> 01:03:18,420
S3: he's shown that over the years. You can watch it

1389
01:03:18,420 --> 01:03:19,410
S3: on Apple TV.

1390
01:03:19,920 --> 01:03:23,850
S1: I'm cheating. I got two, but they're pretty quick ones.

1391
01:03:23,850 --> 01:03:28,740
S1: Charlie has released her first single from her upcoming album, brat,

1392
01:03:28,740 --> 01:03:31,380
S1: which is out on Monday. Singles called Von Dutch. And yes,

1393
01:03:31,380 --> 01:03:34,200
S1: it is an obvious throwback to the classic fashion brand

1394
01:03:34,200 --> 01:03:36,630
S1: that we all loved. Thomas Von Dutch Guy.

1395
01:03:36,840 --> 01:03:39,900
S2: I was like, fucking dripped out in Von Dutch. And

1396
01:03:39,900 --> 01:03:43,350
S2: to make things even worse, uh, in the year 2000 year,

1397
01:03:43,350 --> 01:03:45,690
S2: the Sydney Olympics, uh, my family went to Thailand and

1398
01:03:45,690 --> 01:03:48,120
S2: so I bought all knock off von Dutch came home.

1399
01:03:48,120 --> 01:03:50,970
S2: I was like, so flammable, so itchy, but just dripping

1400
01:03:50,970 --> 01:03:53,190
S2: in Von Dutch. I look like Nicole Richie at Sydney Airport.

1401
01:03:54,750 --> 01:03:57,930
S1: That's really funny. Look, this this track reminds me of

1402
01:03:57,930 --> 01:03:59,550
S1: the sounds of that era as well as a lot

1403
01:03:59,550 --> 01:04:02,910
S1: of late 2000 kind of Ministry of Sound club banger vibes.

1404
01:04:02,910 --> 01:04:05,640
S1: It's really fun. I've mentioned Charlie a couple of times

1405
01:04:05,640 --> 01:04:07,740
S1: on this, but I'm really excited for this album. But

1406
01:04:07,740 --> 01:04:09,840
S1: if you want a fun Friday night track, give that

1407
01:04:09,840 --> 01:04:12,570
S1: one a spin and a little bit of a play

1408
01:04:12,570 --> 01:04:16,470
S1: here from people I've recommended Curb Your Enthusiasm final season,

1409
01:04:16,470 --> 01:04:18,600
S1: which is on binge right now before, but it is

1410
01:04:18,600 --> 01:04:20,850
S1: just getting better and better. It is building up to

1411
01:04:20,850 --> 01:04:24,030
S1: something extraordinary. There's a lot of theories and guessing. I

1412
01:04:24,030 --> 01:04:26,160
S1: know that, Mel, you're involved in this as well, that

1413
01:04:26,160 --> 01:04:29,880
S1: we're going to get a repeat of the infamous Seinfeld

1414
01:04:29,880 --> 01:04:33,720
S1: season finale. Larry David, who was a writer on that show,

1415
01:04:33,720 --> 01:04:37,560
S1: co-created this. The show with Jerry, uh, has been putting

1416
01:04:37,560 --> 01:04:40,230
S1: a lot of clues in this season as to what

1417
01:04:40,380 --> 01:04:43,200
S1: he's building up to. Please jump on this. This is

1418
01:04:43,200 --> 01:04:46,530
S1: a very, very, very, very, very funny and good show.

1419
01:04:46,560 --> 01:04:48,630
S3: Yeah, it is. And I envy people who haven't seen

1420
01:04:48,630 --> 01:04:50,580
S3: any curb who get to go and watch all of

1421
01:04:50,580 --> 01:04:52,470
S3: the seasons all over again, because it truly is a

1422
01:04:52,470 --> 01:04:54,030
S3: kind of one of a kind show.

1423
01:04:54,150 --> 01:04:57,600
S1: It's a great gift. Uh, and Thomas, last but not least.

1424
01:04:58,110 --> 01:05:01,710
S2: Uh, yes, surprising one for me this week. I'm actually recommending, uh,

1425
01:05:01,710 --> 01:05:05,610
S2: I guess, like a new columnist, a series of essays. Uh, basically,

1426
01:05:05,610 --> 01:05:08,880
S2: Jay Caspian Kane is a writer with The New Yorker.

1427
01:05:08,880 --> 01:05:10,920
S2: You may know his byline from The New York Times.

1428
01:05:10,920 --> 01:05:13,290
S2: He also has worked on the very successful podcast This

1429
01:05:13,290 --> 01:05:16,170
S2: American Life. He has started a new, uh, weekly column

1430
01:05:16,170 --> 01:05:18,780
S2: for The New Yorker called faultlines. I sent it to

1431
01:05:18,780 --> 01:05:20,850
S2: you both on the weekend, his first article, because I

1432
01:05:20,850 --> 01:05:23,190
S2: thought it was really interesting and really well written. It's

1433
01:05:23,190 --> 01:05:25,830
S2: called Arguing Ourselves to Death. And basically he kind of

1434
01:05:25,830 --> 01:05:28,919
S2: talks about, um, well, he's started off by talking about

1435
01:05:28,920 --> 01:05:31,620
S2: his love of surfing, but really it becomes this, you know,

1436
01:05:31,620 --> 01:05:34,500
S2: discussion about the ideology of the internet and how, you know,

1437
01:05:34,500 --> 01:05:36,240
S2: we all talk so much. I mean, as we have

1438
01:05:36,240 --> 01:05:38,340
S2: done today on this podcast about the good and the

1439
01:05:38,340 --> 01:05:40,830
S2: bad and the reality of the internet, and he talks

1440
01:05:40,830 --> 01:05:44,040
S2: in a really interesting and intelligent way about how it's

1441
01:05:44,040 --> 01:05:46,050
S2: maybe not about whether or not the internet has helped

1442
01:05:46,050 --> 01:05:48,030
S2: us or harmed us. It's just, you know, it exists

1443
01:05:48,030 --> 01:05:49,860
S2: now and we have to learn to live around it.

1444
01:05:49,860 --> 01:05:52,620
S2: But he's a great writer and the column is amazing.

1445
01:05:52,620 --> 01:05:54,510
S2: And if you're going to check out any weekly column, obviously,

1446
01:05:54,510 --> 01:05:57,270
S2: besides mine on Sundays in the Sun-Herald, then yeah, I

1447
01:05:57,270 --> 01:06:00,030
S2: would highly recommend this. It's called Fault Lines. The author

1448
01:06:00,030 --> 01:06:03,060
S2: is Jay Caspian King. Um. Highly recommend. You can find

1449
01:06:03,060 --> 01:06:05,490
S2: it in the New Yorker. And yeah, you won't be disappointed.

1450
01:06:05,490 --> 01:06:08,220
S1: Yeah, really great column was very, uh, happy that you

1451
01:06:08,220 --> 01:06:09,960
S1: recommend it. It was an awesome thing to read and

1452
01:06:09,960 --> 01:06:12,120
S1: I'm hooked in for the rest of them. So thank you.

1453
01:06:12,120 --> 01:06:15,600
S1: Great Rex team. Great conversations. Sad to not be in

1454
01:06:15,600 --> 01:06:17,670
S1: the room with you physically, but hopefully we'll get to

1455
01:06:17,670 --> 01:06:19,560
S1: go to more movies in the future. And I can

1456
01:06:19,560 --> 01:06:22,620
S1: continue to make fun of Thomas's weird cinema habits.

1457
01:06:22,620 --> 01:06:24,210
S2: Yeah, but also we can just take a photo of

1458
01:06:24,210 --> 01:06:25,740
S2: the three of us and the manipulated so it looks

1459
01:06:25,740 --> 01:06:26,880
S2: like we're in the same room.

1460
01:06:29,520 --> 01:06:32,130
S1: Uh, very, very, very funny. Uh, take care guys. Great

1461
01:06:32,130 --> 01:06:39,230
S1: to chat. Bye bye. This episode of The Drop was

1462
01:06:39,230 --> 01:06:42,710
S1: produced by Qi Wang. If you enjoyed listening to today's

1463
01:06:42,710 --> 01:06:44,510
S1: episode of The Drop, make sure to follow us on

1464
01:06:44,510 --> 01:06:47,690
S1: your favorite podcast app. Leave us a review or better yet,

1465
01:06:47,690 --> 01:06:50,660
S1: share it with a friend! I'm Usman Farooqui. See you

1466
01:06:50,660 --> 01:06:51,320
S1: next week!