WEBVTT - Highest 2 Lowest 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:07.240 Warning. Today's episode contained spoilers for Spike Lee's newest feature film, 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:27.080 Highest Lowest. Hello, my name is Jas Cacio and I'm 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:29.760 Rosie Night and welcome back to x ray vision of 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.040 the podcast Will We Dive Be to your favorite shows, movies, 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:35.360 comics of pop culture Company Roma our podcast where we're 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:36.960 bringing you three episodes a week. 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.640 In today's final episode of The Popcorn pop Out, we 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.000 are reviewing the latest from legendary director Spike Lee and 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:51.320 his ode to the iconic director and his friend Charactersaur. 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:54.880 We attended the premiere. We will be updating you on that. 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:59.400 Me and Jason were bemused and baffled and delighted because 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:01.680 we were definitely we were like, how did we get 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.000 invited here? It was great, We had a great time. 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:06.840 Then we're going to review the movie, which spoilerlat if 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:08.160 you follow us on that box, do you know we 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:12.480 both enjoyed haughtily. And then you had Rosie explains it 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.800 all UK edition. Well, now Jason's going to explain it 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:17.320 well New York edition and talk about what these movies 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:18.759 mean as a New Yorker. 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:26.120 But first the airlock. Okay, so we went to last week, 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:29.440 we went to the was it a premier or was 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.479 it LA premiere? Okay, So we went to the LA 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:39.399 premiere of Spike Lee's latest film, Highest lowist and adaptation 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:45.759 of the Akira Kurosawa masterpiece High and Low, his fifth 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:51.200 collaboration with Denzel Washington. We saw it at the Academy Museum, 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:54.160 and we just wanted to bring you into that because 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:58.080 it was definitely one of those situations where you're like, 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:02.440 why not only why are we here? Which is fine, 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:03.040 we've been just. 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:05.200 You know, we love to Yeah, we love to be. 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.440 Why am I? Why are we three rows from the front? 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:12.639 Yes, that was the funniest thing is vigate Fox. I know, 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:16.919 we were truly living life. We saw one of the 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:19.720 new lanisters from House to the Dragon. Was lovely to 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:20.880 see him as always. 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.320 I mean, let's yeah, let's name drop for a little bit. 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:28.000 Henson was was there? 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:32.280 One of my favorite things Jaden Smith. Jaden Smith was there. 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:37.800 He wearing an impressive kind of hat. Accoutremond also scarf hat. 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:40.880 It was a scarf hat. I was very very impressed 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.880 he it was. It was wrapping maybe made of leather, but. 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:46.720 Yeah, and like a priest from a different planet. 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:51.040 Oh yeah, Alien three priests. Look, maybe I feel like 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:57.399 it was vibing on. Also, we saw some incredible creators 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:01.359 and innovators in this space. There were all kinds of 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:04.480 cool people there. I'm trying to think of some of 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:09.560 the most one of the ones that and he was 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.600 wearing his beautiful high and low Cus Hour shirt that 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.079 he's been rocking on this press tour. Also as well, 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:18.440 just casually, like when we were leaving, because we're we're 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:22.239 not big partiers. Were we're homebodies. But when we were leaving, 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:25.239 as we were walking out, somebody was like, oh my god, 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:29.919 it there a ravo and just like screaming. So yeah, 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:32.679 there was, and there was autograph hunters outside. It was 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.280 definitely it was a real It was one of those 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.400 type of things. Yeah, And I think it was something 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:42.240 where people were just really excited to be at the 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.440 screening of such a legendary directors movie. Yes, like so 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:48.080 many people showed up and were just ready. 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:53.280 It opened with This is in collaboration with A twenty 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:57.360 four and Apple Studios, So I think it's a Apple 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:01.760 TV Apple production with dishoub and production handled by H 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:07.440 four and one of the executives from A twenty four 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:12.080 came up and made a speech, and immediately you and 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:12.560 I are. 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:16.240 Like, why is this guy is the hunkiest? 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:20.560 Why who is this Why? Why is the hottest guy 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:23.400 in the room the exec from eight twenty five? 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.200 Is he not in this movie? Like he had such 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:29.160 great presence. We were just both like, Wow, I love 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:31.320 this guy, and I think came up. 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:34.360 He gave a little a shpiel about like what an 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:37.799 honor it is to, you know, be working with Spike 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:41.120 Lee and for a twenty four to be collaborating with Spike, 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:45.840 the fifth collaboration of Spike and Densel Cell and the 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:48.640 history of that, and then he had and then he 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:53.000 introduces Spike Spike Lee. Spike comes in from the side door, 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:57.160 takes the mic strides like a couple of steps like 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:59.280 he's he's going to go to the front of the 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.279 theater to make speech, and he just goes, you're ready, okay, 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:04.520 and then he just turns around and watchs out you 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:05.200 start the movie. 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:07.480 Yeah, Because also you could tell there was a lot 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.200 of celebrities there because the movie started like half an 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:12.520 hour late, like they were really trying to see people 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:14.640 and we were in the ted Man Theater, which I 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.360 do love which is the smaller of the two Academy 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:20.880 Museum theaters, but not a theater made for like premieres. 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:22.880 There's not a lot of walking up and down that 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:26.080 you can do. Everyone was getting up every time somebody 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:28.120 needed to sit down, so we were all kind of 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.800 bonding over the close quarters. But yeah, what a what 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.360 a surreal event. We were definitely right at the front. 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:36.080 But you know what, Jason, as I said to you 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.559 on the night, you are the second most famous Knicks 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:42.520 fan after Spike Lee. So I think that they were like, 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:45.520 I think is up there. I think. 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:49.599 I think you're gonna have to go down the rungs 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.760 because I think currently it's obviously Spike Yeah, and then 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:57.200 a Chalo May He's Chalo May, Slash and Stiller. I 0:05:57.279 --> 0:06:01.680 think it depends on what your kind of interests in 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.279 age group are. But I think those two were battling 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:09.240 for two. Then I think you would go Eadie Falco. 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:12.919 I think John McEnroe is. 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.120 Yeah, I think you're above Mcam. I think you I 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:23.720 think that's the safe top five. But they were like, 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:25.520 we got to have him near the front. They didn't 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:26.720 put us right on the front row. 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:29.640 It was pretty crazy. I mean Fox was. 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.960 One row and to the right of us, So that 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.360 was you You love to see it, and you know 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:41.480 that was crazy Paula Patton looking. 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:49.440 In front, and I hopefully she hasn't heard us smirch 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:54.400 her French accents from possible. 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.080 Oh no, she knows physical. 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:04.000 This was all actually like a set up for how 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:08.960 to revenge on us because friend Jackson. But yeah, it 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:14.160 was a It was a truly unique and cool experience 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.680 and and and we were really stoked to be in 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:18.200 by it, especially as such big. 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:24.400 In a non spoiler way, let's give our top line thoughts. 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:25.880 We'll go to break and then we'll come back and 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.520 we'll talk about maybe in a spoiler fashion. I love 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:33.560 this film with the caveat that as a New York guy, 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:37.560 as a Knicks fan, there's so much red meat in here, 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:43.320 just on the Knicks front, that I'm already gonna be 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:46.800 heavily inclined to like this movie. I'm a Spike listen, 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:49.960 I'm a Spike guy. But I loved it, and I 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:55.440 thought there are a few scenes, namely the kind of 0:07:55.640 --> 0:08:04.440 the showdown between the tagonist and the antagonist, that I 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:13.080 think are are amazing, like incredible that some of his best. Absolutely, 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:17.080 it's the moment when David King, the kind of beleaguered 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:22.520 UH music executive, comes face to face with young Felon 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:27.200 played by Aesop Rocky, the man who is kidnapped, who 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:29.480 thought he kidnapped his son and has been holding him 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:33.599 for ransom, and they have this incredible like duel of 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:37.960 words that goes for like five minutes, and it's I've 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.439 just been thinking about it because it's like, it's amazing 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.000 and it's not it's very theater, like, you know, it's 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:46.120 not like something you would see in a movie these days, 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:48.760 and there's moments like that that that may stand out 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:49.000 for me. 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.040 I think for me that's why I came away just 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:55.719 really loving it because I think, while you'll write that 0:08:55.960 --> 0:09:01.000 five minute segment is like it's like having Shakespeare on 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.640 the screen, but in a way that you know, if 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:06.120 you said, oh, it's like rap Shakespeare, people would be like, 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:08.480 that's terrible, But it's not like that. It's like this 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:13.320 Shakespearean battle of words in the universe of this work 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:15.800 that works so well. But yeah, for me, this is 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:19.720 like weird big swing Spike where there are like multiple 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:25.800 different movies within this movie. There are different tone. There's 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:31.160 a kind of like lifetimey family drama. There's this Empire influence, 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:33.800 like I'm sorry Taraji being there. I'm like they knew 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:36.360 that Empire was an influence on this, like it was 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:40.480 and Anna, And there's this kind of soapy element to it. 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:45.360 But there are these moments right where Denzel and Jeffrey 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:49.199 Wright are just vibing with each other, and there's this 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:56.000 kind of like jazzy French new wave freeness and fun 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:59.200 to this movie that just feels like nothing we get anymore. 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:03.400 You're it is like watching a student of cinema show 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:05.760 off all the stuff he's learned about cinema in a 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:09.000 really lovely way. And I think that makes sense because 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:13.640 Kurisauer and Spike Lee they actually crossed paths early on 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:16.840 in Spike's career later on in Curisawa's quer and became friends. 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:19.719 And when I went to the Academy Museum when it 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:21.800 first opened, they had a Spike Lee room where he 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:24.280 was basically showing off all his cool collection of stuff. 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:25.920 He had a guitar from Prince that was in the 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.800 shape of the symbol, and he had Kurisauer posters that 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.959 were signed personally to him by Kurisauer, and I just 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.319 think that there is something really special here about a 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.559 guy who has managed to have such a unique and 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:42.320 incredible kind of trailblazing career, who decides, you know, at 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:45.000 an older age, to do essentially like an homage to 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:48.120 an old friend who has now passed away. That's also 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:51.679 seen as like one of that director's most surprising films. 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:55.079 And then they I think is one surprised me and 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:55.880 it's one of Spikes. 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.440 I think this is one of Spike's most surprising films 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:02.040 because the tone and vibe and feeling of this is 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.839 very different and the way music is used, and it's 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:09.640 very much a story about America in this much broader 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:13.080 way than necessarily Like I think a lot of Spike's 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.480 best films are really intimate and they're and really small scale, 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:19.360 but this has this really broad scale. And yeah, I 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:21.560 just thought it was so fun, Like I'm I'm really 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.640 excited to see it again. And that's always my biggest 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:27.000 kind of test of like did I really enjoy a movie, 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:29.000 and it's like, yeah, I really want to see this again. 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:31.480 I do think this is a all time a Denzel 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.920 performance as well. I just I loved the nuances that 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:38.559 he brought to this as like the tired old man 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:40.520 who has to imagine the future. 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:44.880 They played with his age in an interesting kind of 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:49.320 subtextual and mettextual mm hmm and flat out textual way 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:55.800 in this where he's he's slipped, but also he recognizes 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:57.800 that he's slipped and he wants to get back to 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.120 the top, and people are writing him off and asking 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:05.760 him to just hang it up, and it builds to 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:09.920 a moment there's a moment of physical exertion that it's 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.640 a credit to Denzel that you buy it like, yeah, 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:16.199 oh yeah, towards the end of this film, towards the 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:19.079 climax of this film. Yeah, it's a powerhouse performance. 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:22.320 Yeah, just so good. And he sat Rookie amazing as well. 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:26.160 All absolutely understand why you cost him. 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:29.679 Absolutely. Jeffrey Wright, who has never been bad in a 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:35.439 movie in my opinion, is wonderful here and brings a 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:43.679 a kind of drama and comic relief also that are 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:47.360 I think so important to the film. It's really really fun. 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:50.720 He's also like I think the haw of if Spike 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.240 is trying to say anything with this movie, I think 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:55.520 that is really interesting. Stuff, just like with High and 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:59.400 Low originally about like claws and how it is to 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:01.839 be like a or person in the circle of rich 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.840 people and stuff, and I just I think that Jeffrey 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.959 Wright's character is such an interesting commentary on that, and 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:12.360 I really loved the kind of way that the film 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:16.079 played with that and then still allowed these two guys 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:20.160 to have this really intimate and interesting friendship that they 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:22.000 kind of had to go on that journey themselves you 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:23.400 knock out where they both stand. 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:26.559 We'll talk about this more in the put in the 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.320 post spoiler section, but one of the things I appreciate 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:33.920 about Spike as a and have always appreciated him about 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.520 him as a filmmaker, and I love it about this 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:42.920 movie is that he's able to put his finger on problems, problems, 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:48.880 problems of race, problems of power and balance, and put 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.160 his finger on the complexity of those things. But it's 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:53.360 not like he's like and here's the answer. 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:55.880 No, No, he's never like, here is a solution, because 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:57.800 here's a solution, and he has. 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:02.040 A really feel right and preachy. It's just like there's 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:04.360 a moment, there are a few moments in here with 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:08.240 a white cop where you feel the animosity of this 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:10.920 cop and the kind of distrust that he has towards 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:16.200 Jeffrey Wright's character and the situation the kidnapping as a whole. 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:20.400 And you feel this antagonism in this animosity. But at 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.440 the same time, like Spike also doesn't do the easy thing, 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:25.800 which is just let you hate this guy and demonize 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:28.960 this guy. He's like, this is a person that exists 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:32.440 in your in life, and you're gonna have to grapple 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:36.040 with this guy. And he lets that guy also, I 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:40.080 wouldn't say redeem himself, but show the role that he 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:47.080 does play in this kind of you know, Greek chorus 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:50.720 of New York that story, you know, And I think 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:54.720 that is that's just what I really appreciate about it. Spike, 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:59.040 you you're so right. He touches on all of these 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:05.400 various issues use wealthy and quality, race, the carceral stitch, and. 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:09.840 What happened, like the way that people islamophobia, like. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.080 Gender politics within hip hop, you know, and he he 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:15.840 touches on all the There's this moment this is not 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:20.920 a spoiler, but you know when uh King David comes 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:26.200 into you know, confronts Young Felon, Young Felon calls his 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.120 partner like refers to as a bitch. And then there's 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:33.720 this moment where King David almost in this kind of 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.920 like surreal cutting pattern where he keeps coming back to it, 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:40.000 like why she got to be a bitch? Why she 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:42.600 got to be It's like Spike definitely wanted to ask 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.400 the question, but he also doesn't provide any answers. This 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.480 isn't immoralizing, like why are these young guys speaking about 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:53.040 women this way? This was here is the rich tapestry 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:55.440 and look, and it's something to puzzle over. But I 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:58.320 have no answers, And I think that's part of the 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.320 the maturity, the laxity, the thing that I really love 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:05.320 about this movie. At about swap, shall we take a 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:23.440 quick break and dive into the spoiler version? Okay, and 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.400 we're back. Before we talk about Hyas and Lois, let's 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:31.120 talk about the movie that it is adapted from, High 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:34.960 and Low. Akira Kurosawa is nineteen sixty three. I think 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:35.840 Masterpiece for. 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:39.320 Me, absolutely just such a fantastic movie. 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:44.920 Is it my favorite film of his? Maybe it might 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:48.360 be I rewatched because I think it's my most rewatched 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.000 for sure, Like I'm going to rewatch this before seven 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:53.360 Samurai Even or Ran or any of the other ones. 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:57.400 And I don't know about you, but for me, it's 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:01.080 the one. Obviously when you think Karasa, you're going to 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:06.600 be familiar first with his Samurai action movies. But it 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:08.840 was High and Low that blew me away because it is, 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.480 you know, filmed in nineteen sixty three, and it is 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:15.920 set in early sixties Japan, a Japan that is just 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:19.280 beginning to flex its economic and industrial muscles after the 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:25.359 devastation of World War Two, And it is just like 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:29.879 jaw dropping and exciting and like and and there's a 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:36.920 train hand off the ransom money sequence that is as 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:39.560 good as anything you'll ever see. It's an amazing film. 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:41.199 Your your thoughts on High and Low. 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.359 Yeah, I love High and Low. And it's basically we 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:47.879 don't need to dive too much into the plotline because 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:51.200 it is highest to Lowest is a very very very 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:57.080 very very like accurate adaptation beat the beat just in 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.320 a you know, set in a different time. But yeah, 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:01.639 I love High Low. I think it's one of the 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:06.600 most influential like police procedurals, like it definitely shaped the 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:09.399 way that other people would tell stories like that I 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:12.440 think it has so many interesting things to say about, 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:17.879 like class in Japan and the kind of notion of 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:21.640 like wealth and poverty and the wealth divide. I also 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:26.440 think something really interesting is that there is kind of 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:31.600 these huge influences that just we keep seeing from this movie. 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:36.119 Like there is a Indian remake of this from nineteen 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:40.240 seventy seven, there was Scorsese was going to remake this 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:44.960 with David Mammett on script work, Like there was also 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:49.400 a Japanese jay drama version of this, So it's really 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:54.399 interesting to see how it's kind of been reinterpreted. But 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:56.879 I really think that like even a movie, you know, 0:18:57.640 --> 0:19:02.280 like even even American directors like David Fincher as well 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:04.600 as like then Korean directors like Bong June Hoe, like 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:07.040 this is such an influential film on them, and I 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:12.960 think it's very fun to see Spike continue that legacy, 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:17.720 but by reinterpreting the film in a completely different way. 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:21.879 You know, this original High and Low sixty three, so 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.240 you're talking about like decades and decades past, And I 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:27.359 think that the two of them together are really great. 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:31.280 And I'm hoping because this is a cinema release for 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:33.320 a few weeks. You can see it in the cinema 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:37.000 right now. It's out in cinemas this weekend, but on 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:39.879 September fifth, it will be on Apple TV Plus. And 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.879 I'm hoping that somewhere somewhere in the world, somewhere in 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:48.080 La somewhere in New York, somewhere in a rural theater 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:50.880 where somebody just loves these two movies. I'm just hoping 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:52.800 that somebody does a double bill because I think for 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:56.160 like young film lovers who maybe haven't gone to see 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:58.400 High and Low, I think seeing them both together would 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:01.199 be just such an interesting thing. And yeah, I mean, 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:04.200 I think I love Chris Howers. He's a moss. And 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:07.440 I think High and Low is like a a really 0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:14.119 human film, and I think that in a way that 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:15.240 I think really worked. 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:24.359 Okay, so Highest to Lowest. The aging music impresario David 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:28.359 King has sold his record company, but now he wants 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:32.359 it back because it's on the verge of being seld 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:37.040 to sold to a like private equity funded media conglomerate 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:38.639 that's going to break it up and sell it off 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:43.280 piece by piece. David is he came up through the culture, 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:45.560 He came up through the music. He can't for all 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:51.119 the trappings of wealth. He is still very passionate about music, 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.760 about black music, and about its role in American society 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:58.399 and life. And so he wants his he wants his 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:02.360 baby back. But in the midst of all this, there's 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:04.879 a kidnapping. It seems as if for a moment that 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:07.960 it's his son that's been kidnapped. Actually it's the son 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:17.400 of his show his friend friend, Yeah, his friend and compatriot. 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:20.879 And like colleague, I guess you would say, who is 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:26.000 Paul who comes from the street and has done at 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:32.480 least one lengthy bid in prison and is now living 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:38.159 with David as basically part of his extended family. And 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:42.480 so David really struggles with whether to pay this ransom 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:46.920 for a person who is not his son, especially since 0:21:47.000 --> 0:21:51.119 he has just leveraged all the liquid cash that he 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:54.520 has to buy back the company. This would mean risking 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:58.600 his ability to buy back the company. But he, after 0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:01.720 much thinking about it, he decides that he's gonna pay 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:03.679 the ransom's. 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:04.920 Side seventeen million dollars. 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:06.720 It's seventeen Swiss. 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:13.680 In Swiss Franks because it will way less around the city. 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:19.560 So the money handoff, however, goes sideways and the kidnappers 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:23.320 get away with it, but Paul and Denzel manage to 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:26.840 track this guy down. They find him a Young Felon. 0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:30.879 They find him in his studio where he's recording, and 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:34.119 then you get this incredible confrontation through the studio window 0:22:35.400 --> 0:22:38.800 as David and Young Felon kind of much like the 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:44.560 climax of High and Low, debate the merits of this 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:49.120 crime scheme. And there's this other level too, where it's 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:56.639 like David is also critiquing Young Felon's music and saying like, okay, 0:22:56.800 --> 0:22:59.560 this is there's something, but like I don't know who 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:03.120 you are through your music. Tell me what you tell 0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:05.520 me your pain, tell me your dream, like all this stuff, 0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:09.040 and they keep and this turns into this like larger 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:12.760 argument about like you know, why why should I you 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:17.399 had your chance? And then eventually Denzel chases in the 0:23:17.560 --> 0:23:19.399 in the in the one part of the movie that 0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:22.359 maybe you have to suspend your disbelief a little harder 0:23:22.400 --> 0:23:28.320 than everything else. Sixty something year old Denzel Washington runs 0:23:29.160 --> 0:23:33.520 and pieces down thirty something year old He's up, Rocky 0:23:34.000 --> 0:23:35.320 catches him and then beats. 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:38.440 His ass suit Denzel's seventy so he really they make 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:41.480 you believe this, They make you believe that that this 0:23:41.640 --> 0:23:43.680 could happen next to you. 0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:46.560 But yeah, with the woman next to me when when 0:23:46.600 --> 0:23:47.760 Denzel was running. 0:23:47.960 --> 0:23:50.720 Was like okay, good no, yeah, she was like good, good, good, 0:23:51.000 --> 0:23:51.880 You're doing a great job. 0:23:52.160 --> 0:23:52.360 Yeah. 0:23:52.400 --> 0:23:55.560 And then you end up with this great kind of 0:23:55.880 --> 0:24:00.240 reflection of that argument in the studio where he goes 0:24:00.280 --> 0:24:04.119 to visit him in prison and Young Fella makes him 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:06.760 this offer of like, if you sign least my music, 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:10.119 we're going to be so huge, Like together, we're going 0:24:10.200 --> 0:24:12.800 to be so good, we're gonna it will be the 0:24:12.840 --> 0:24:15.520 biggest signing in music history because of what I did 0:24:15.680 --> 0:24:17.640 and because my songs are going crazy. 0:24:17.400 --> 0:24:21.200 Because of the notoriety, the attention. This end. If there 0:24:21.359 --> 0:24:25.000 is a thesis behind this movie, this is part of it. 0:24:25.240 --> 0:24:28.439 It's that, as they say, it's. 0:24:28.440 --> 0:24:31.359 Young Felon says that all that matters in the modern 0:24:31.400 --> 0:24:33.879 world of twenty twenty five is attention? Can you get it? 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:37.920 And David King thinks, there it should be more to 0:24:38.040 --> 0:24:40.200