Episode 233

Box Office Drop! 28 Days Later: The Bone Temple (2026)

Evan and Bill discuss the newest entry in the 28 Days Later series, "28 Years Later- The Bone Temple". Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Alex Garland, the film stars Ralph Fiennes reprising his role as Dr. Ian Kelson and Alfie Williams as Spike, alongside newcomers Chi Lewis-Parry, Jack O'Connel, Erin Kellyman, Emma Laird, Sam Locke, and Mirren Mack among others.

Listeners beware because this episode is not free of spoilers, including a bombshell reveal at the last moment of the film. We discuss the evolution of zombie films, how this series is closer to Romero's vision of zombies than many fans give it credit for, and the way in which it reflects some harsh realities we all need to grapple with during these very difficult times.


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Transcript
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Track 1: Hello and welcome to Left of the Projector. I'm your host, Evan,

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Track 1: back again with another film discussion from the left.

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Track 1: you've got the best taste around.

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Track 1: Wherever you're listening, give us a rating and subscribe so you'll be notified

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Track 1: of our weekly episodes that drop every Tuesday. And now on to the show.

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Track 1: Hello, this week on Left of the Projector, we are bringing you another fresh

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Track 1: from the box office, a box office drop.

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Track 1: We'll be discussing the new Nia DaCosta film, 28 Days Later,

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Track 1: The Bone Temple, which is the second in a new trilogy from the original series.

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Track 1: It stars, of course, Ray Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams,

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Track 1: Aaron Kelman, and Chai Lewis Parry. It was written by Alex Garland and,

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Track 1: of course, produced by Danny Boyle, who created the initial film 28 Days Later.

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Track 1: I have Bill with me today. How are you doing today?

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Track 2: I'm doing well. Snowed in as you are, I believe.

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Track 1: Yes. Everyone up here in the Northeast, lots of snow going on.

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Track 2: Honestly, I think it's most of America right now.

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Track 1: Yeah. Or if they're not snowed in, they're just like deeply frozen and it's

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Track 1: negative 8 million degrees.

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Track 1: Yeah. But this film is, I was, well, let me, we didn't do an episode on the 28 days, 28 years later.

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Track 2: No.

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Track 1: And we don't need to necessarily talk about that. But I'm wondering,

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Track 1: being that the two films came out so close together, do you think that was a bad choice?

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Track 1: I'm seeing a lot of people saying that they think it was, but only because the

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Track 1: first one didn't do as well as maybe they thought. And then now this one is

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Track 1: suffering because of it.

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Track 2: But I'm curious to why people think that waiting would have made that made an impact on that.

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Track 1: Yeah. I mean, the theory I heard, and again, this is like from people who are

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Track 1: like really into looking at, you know, how much movies make and all these things

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Track 1: as indicators of anything other than nothing.

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Track 1: Is that because the first one didn't do well, they're like, oh,

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Track 1: I just see another movie with the 28 days later.

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Track 1: Like, why would I go or 28 years later? Like, why would I go see that if I didn't

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Track 1: really like the one before it?

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Track 2: I mean, I don't really like, I don't really get that.

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Track 2: Um, I, I mean, I also don't like, you know, track, I don't try box office shit.

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Track 2: I'm like, you know, you know, I mean, I've watched every 28,

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Track 2: you know, every movie in the 28 days later, like, you know, franchise.

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Track 2: I, I do think that 28 years later, I don't think it matters that it came out

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Track 2: close to it because honestly, any of the problems people had with the 28 years

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Track 2: later, they're going to have the same problem upon temple.

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Track 2: This movie is in the same vein as Bone Temple. I mean, I'm sorry.

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Track 2: Bone Temple is in the same vein as the first 28 years later in many ways.

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Track 2: So anybody that doesn't like the first one isn't going to like this one.

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Track 2: It's going to suffer from the same misunderstandings and honestly misconceptions regardless.

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Track 1: Yeah, I liked this one more than 28 years later, and I liked the first one.

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Track 1: Like, it was good. But I do know a few people who didn't like the first one

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Track 1: who actually did like this one more.

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Track 1: I mean, maybe they didn't hate the first one, but they definitely like this

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Track 1: one more, which is interesting because in some ways, I hate this term, but like, less happens.

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Track 1: Like, it's a very short period of time, and there's sort of two simultaneous

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Track 1: plots that are happening, and then they sort of mix together.

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Track 1: And if you'd seen the previous one, you start, you basically like,

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Track 1: it takes all, it takes place immediately after the first one ended like days

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Track 1: later, if not the day later or something.

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Track 2: Yeah. If you've not seen the first one and then you go see this one,

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Track 2: like you're, you're going to be confused. Like, like you, I,

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Track 2: I don't think this movie stands alone.

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Track 2: And I don't mean that as a criticism. I also think the first one was an exceptional movie.

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Track 2: And I think that people overall, the criticisms against it are unwarranted and

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Track 2: largely come from a place of people don't like change and they don't like growth.

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Track 2: and they go into things like this expecting one thing and when they don't get

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Track 2: it, despite the fact that they were not promised that thing.

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Track 2: No one promised them 28 days later. Danny Boyle's 28 days later. No one promised that.

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Track 2: That's not what they offered. They never promised that. If you went into it

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Track 2: and expected that and they came out of unhappy, that's on you.

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Track 1: Yeah. And the other thing I was looking at, the first film, 28 years later,

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Track 1: not the first in the franchise, 20 years later, made $150 million on a $60 million

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Track 1: budget. So it didn't even do badly.

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Track 1: So that's why I don't buy. The new one has only made $46 million on a $63 million budget.

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Track 1: and this is going to be one of those cases

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Track 1: where i think in 10 years people are going to look back and say like that

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Track 1: movie was actually awesome the people who didn't see it and

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Track 1: the box office and critics or whatever like they're just idiots

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Track 1: you know it's one of those reappraisals and for

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Track 1: people who don't also know the director uh nia da

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Track 1: costa she has had two films released this

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Track 1: well i guess the other one was the end of last year was head

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Track 1: was heda which i have not seen and i need to go

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Track 1: see because i've heard it's really good she also directed the reboot of candy

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Track 1: man which was excellent amazing and the marvels which i think is also maybe

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Track 1: one of the more underappreciated marvel movies and probably suffers less from

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Track 1: her being involved than marvel and disney just being shitty but.

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Track 2: Also because brie larson and women and sexism like let's be honest like i don't

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Track 2: think Like most people, most people, the average viewer,

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Track 2: like, I don't mean to be, because I include myself in this, the average person

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Track 2: that watches movies does not pay attention to the director is.

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Track 2: Like, this is something that people who like movies need to come to terms with.

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Track 2: Like, movie people need to come to terms with the fact that the average person

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Track 2: that watches a movie does not give a shit who the director is.

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Track 2: They don't know and they don't care.

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Track 1: Yeah, you're true. It's true. I sometimes forget that as someone who like carefully

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Track 1: knows these things like knows other movies they've made yes you're you're you're right that.

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Track 2: I personally, like, I know very specific directors, and, like,

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Track 2: there are times when, like, I know directors, but, like, for the most part,

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Track 2: it's not the first thing I look at at all. It's far from the first thing I look at.

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Track 2: I think the Marvels really didn't have any, like, Marvel suffering had nothing

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Track 2: to do with Nia Dikasa, but everything had to do with every other woman involved

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Track 2: in that movie, and the sexism against those women.

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Track 1: Yeah, that's true.

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Track 2: She was spared the sexism because nobody knew that she was the director.

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Track 1: That's true yeah and i think separate from that

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Track 1: like talking about the movie today because we said how 28 years

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Track 1: later bone temple is literally just days or

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Track 1: less later than the first one it's kind of like a spoiler for the first one

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Track 1: like if you haven't seen most likely if you haven't seen if you've seen the

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Track 1: bone temple you saw the first 20 years later because it wouldn't really make

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Track 1: a whole lot of sense so just like as a spoiler of spoiler double spoiler you

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Track 1: know alert but the the The film, like,

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Track 1: leads off with the child who's in it, who's Spike, who, like,

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Track 1: escapes or is sort of had gone to Ralph Fiennes, who was a doctor,

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Track 1: to try and get some help for his mother in the previous film.

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Track 1: And he is now sort of, like, abandoned and comes across this group of the Fingers,

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Track 1: which is led by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, played by Jack O'Connell,

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Track 1: who is absolutely incredible in this movie.

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Track 1: I mean, pretty much every movie I see him in, he's incredible.

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Track 1: And this is no exception.

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Track 1: And he has this group of fingers, which is a bunch of other people that wear

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Track 1: blonde wigs and all go by the name Jimmy.

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Track 1: And they have this, he's essentially the child or the son of the Satan.

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Track 1: And they're out to basically...

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Track 1: What would you call it? Get retribution for the, you know, for,

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Track 1: I don't know. What would you call it?

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Track 2: They are serving old Nick's purpose because old Nick, Satan,

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Track 2: has unleashed his demons upon the world, the infected.

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Track 2: And they are fulfilling his purpose of cleansing the world of the people that are left, basically.

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Track 2: They perform what they call acts of charity, which are all just various brutal

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Track 2: methods of murdering people, which is really at the heart of it.

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Track 2: And this is why I think a lot of people that go into this expecting a zombie

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Track 2: movie or a or even a 28 Days Later

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Track 2: like movie are going to be not thrilled because this movie really does.

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Track 2: take the notion of humans are the monsters to a next level and that it does

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Track 2: not require the rage virus for someone to lose their humanity and in fact the

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Track 2: people with the rage virus there is still someone in there yes.

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Track 1: I think i think it's almost goes back to sort of a fundamental misunderstanding

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Track 1: maybe even of just like the franchise as a whole as a viewing as a zombie movie

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Track 1: like there's lots of movies that are, you know,

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Track 1: quote unquote zombie movies or vampire movies where sort of the script is flipped

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Track 1: on sort of the typical way you think of zombies, maybe in like Dawn of the Dead

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Track 1: or things like that, like the George de Romeo films.

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Track 1: This is not like that. This is a virus.

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Track 1: I mean, I guess some of them do use similar things like that.

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Track 2: I do think that overall, just in general,

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Track 2: the way most people, like the way pop culture in general,

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Track 2: the reductive nature of the way zombie movies are treated within pop culture in general,

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Track 2: I think is displays almost universally a fundamental misunderstanding of the

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Track 2: genre because it always is like people focus on the zombies to the detriment

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Track 2: of the material and to their detriment.

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Track 2: And they, they, they miss the point.

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Track 2: This goes back to the conversation we've had before about how people call zombie movies fascist.

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Track 2: And it's like, no, they fundamentally display the need for community.

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Track 2: Like, every time. It's like, there is never a zombie movie where it's like,

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Track 2: oh, yeah, the guy who, the individual that, you know, is like,

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Track 2: you know, the prepper is the one who lives and survives. It's like,

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Track 2: no, that never, ever happens.

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Track 1: No and i i would uh i would encourage anyone

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Track 1: who you know maybe doesn't always go into back

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Track 1: catalogs or podcasts we did like one of the

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Track 1: very early episodes of this show was dawn of the dead the sequel

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Track 1: to night of living dead and i think that one more than any it's it's people

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Track 1: usually say like the original one of that franchise is the best one but sometimes

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Track 1: i think dawn of the dead is more interesting from uh in different ways but it

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Track 1: really dives deep into that community and like what it is to be zombies.

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Track 1: Like the main plot of that is they're at a mall and people are,

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Track 1: zombies are like attracted to the mall. Like what is it they're actually attracted to?

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Track 1: And a lot of it is their loss of like a communal space where they can actually be together.

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Track 1: And this, you see, all of the communities you see that exist in this franchise,

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Track 1: the 28 Days Later franchise, is a community trying to like relive a world that

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Track 1: no longer exists to them.

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Track 1: And generally speaking, they do are welcoming of, people they find,

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Track 1: It's hard because the rage virus is different. It's not like a zombie that slowly

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Track 1: walks around with his hands up and says, like, I want to eat brains.

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Track 1: They actually are just chasing after you and are led by these alpha male jacked

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Track 1: dudes who we have in this as well. Yeah.

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Track 2: So how spoilery do we want to get here?

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Track 1: I mean, I think we can. I think we. Well, usually, I mean, pretty much every

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Track 1: episode is a spoiler. But we could.

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Track 2: How spoilery did we get? Yeah. on um Predator Badlands.

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Track 1: We I feel like we didn't hit the end of it I mean I just did we just did the

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Track 1: one or you weren't on it but I did the one on Marty Supreme.

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Track 2: Yeah and.

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Track 1: We basically went to the like the end I mean granted maybe it's a different kind.

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Track 2: Of film because I want to you know a lot of people like you know they complain

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Track 2: about these movies and they talk about George Romero and it's like oh they compare

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Track 2: it to those but this movie,

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Track 2: has one of the most fundamental aspects of like George Romero and like because

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Track 2: people hold George Romero up as like the like.

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Track 2: The creator of the zombie genre. And then they forget all the things he did,

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Track 2: such as implement the idea of the zombies evolving,

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Track 2: the zombies having personality, the zombies being individuals.

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Track 2: And this movie really with Kelsen.

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Track 2: So in this movie, to go back to the first one, Dr.

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Track 2: Ian Kelsen, they show him in the first one. He has this blowgun with the morphine

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Track 2: darts, and that's how he subdues the infected so that he can basically peaceably

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Track 2: coexist with them to a degree.

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Track 2: He lives outside of their general hunting grounds, doesn't go in there,

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Track 2: and if they come out, he darts them and then kind of just leaves them and they go back on their own.

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Track 2: and then in this you see he darts

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Track 2: an alpha and then heals the alpha i

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Track 2: really loved the nhs joke i thought that was really hilarious i thought

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Track 2: that was really funny uh um and

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Track 2: over time he develops a relationship with this alpha and it's again it goes

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Track 2: back to like the need for community because kelson is alone and you see this

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Track 2: like sadness he's like remembering everything and he's kind of reliving everything

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Track 2: he lost, but with this infected.

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Track 2: And then in the end he actually heals him or at least he makes,

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Track 2: he, he makes it, he makes, he makes it so that he,

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Track 2: think it's almost like he can control the virus or the rage because i don't

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Track 2: think he's totally cured i don't think he lived through all of that those attacks

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Track 2: without with i don't think that was uh.

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Track 1: Yeah i.

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Track 2: Don't think that was totally cured i think he basically he's reached equilibrium

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Track 2: with it which isn't in itself its own lesson.

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Track 1: And i think it's like a good juxtaposition so as you went through sort of like

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Track 1: the ray fines character he's living you know in the in that we we are introduced

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Track 1: to this bone temple which is really just kind of a.

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Track 1: Memoriam to the dead from this rage

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Track 1: virus and on the other side you have Jack O'Connell as

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Track 1: you know Jimmy Sir Lord

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Track 1: Jimmy Crystal and he is sort of the opposite of

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Track 1: this as he's going around there terrorizing people

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Track 1: skinning people alive he's forcing Spike

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Track 1: who's this little you know how maybe it's like 10-12 years old

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Track 1: as part of the gang because he was able to kill someone else

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Track 1: in there so he becomes a Jimmy and in the

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Track 1: same way like you eventually learn

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Track 1: that he is actually just a sad depressed

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Track 1: person who probably doesn't believe in any of these things and he's like coming

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Track 1: to terms with like do you think that do you think that uh that jack o'connell

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Track 1: actually by meeting ray fines and seeing that like you know he's not actually dr nick and he does he

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Track 1: Let me see if I can ask her, wait. Is he admitting to him that I'm just making

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Track 1: this all up this whole time, which he obviously was, and he was just doing it for control?

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Track 1: Like, what do you make of sort of his—the way that the two stories come together

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Track 1: is that one of the Jimmys sees Ralph Fiennes and thinks that he is the devil. And so they go to see him.

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Track 1: And he, you know, goes ahead of him to meet him first. And obviously he learns

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Track 1: that he's not the devil and that he's just this doctor. and they become sort

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Track 1: of friendly. He's good to talk to.

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Track 1: I don't know. Like sort of coming back and forth on.

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Track 2: I think, I think that, well, first of all, we need to talk about like where Jimmy came from.

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Track 1: Yes.

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Track 2: Jimmy is the child from the first, from the first 20 years later,

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Track 2: who watches everybody he knows die to the infected.

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Track 2: Yeah. After watching Teletubbies.

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Track 2: And then as his father welcomes the infected into the church,

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Track 2: raving, and then he watches his father die.

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Track 2: Like, I think that all, like all of this is like a, it's, it's a story about

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Track 2: deep, deep, deep trauma.

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Track 2: And the, the fact that if you don't address trauma and you don't learn from

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Track 2: things and you don't have anybody to lean on and you don't have anybody to listen to.

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Track 2: And the first person that he was forced really because of the circumstances

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Track 2: to sit down and converse with was Dr.

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Track 2: Kelson because everybody else he had to put on that show right to maintain his

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Track 2: own power for his own purposes in response to his trauma.

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Track 2: He had to put on a show all the time. He could never like sit down with like

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Track 2: a random person like, hey, so, you know, I'm having a rough time.

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Track 1: No, he's acting. Everything he's doing is an act the whole time.

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Track 2: Right. And then he basically, through chance,

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Track 2: he encounters someone that, due to the circumstances,

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Track 2: he is granted the ability to basically sit down and talk to a human being,

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Track 2: an adult human being, one-on-one, and really divulge some things.

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Track 2: And that is not to say that he is like,

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Track 2: you know, he doesn't, he's still

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Track 2: guilty of terrible things and deserves punishment, which he receives.

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Track 2: But like, I really, you know, this is deep seated, deep seated trauma.

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Track 2: And he basically sits down with a doctor and kind of like unpack some of it.

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Track 1: And it's, it was like almost sitting down to therapy.

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Track 2: Yeah. A hundred percent. Like, I don't think it's, it's not,

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Track 2: I don't think it's, you know, it's not a coincidence that this is a doctor.

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Track 1: Yeah, I mean, he even says to him, like, you know, you're easy to talk to.

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Track 1: And, like, he just stays there. And, I mean, in, like, a real world,

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Track 1: he probably wishes he could just, like, live with this guy.

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Track 1: Yeah. And have, like, a normal life. Because he's probably the age of his father, too.

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Track 1: Like, be a father figure to him. And not have to lead these fingers around just

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Track 1: committing horrific crimes.

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Track 2: Yeah.

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Track 1: And just skinning people alive. And, like, it's also clear that I don't think

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Track 1: he actually does any of the crimes himself. He's really just the one who.

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Track 2: I don't know. I mean, like.

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Track 1: I guess it's hard to say. You don't see him.

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Track 2: It's hard to say, yeah. I mean, you know, they also say Manson didn't do all the crimes.

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Track 1: That's funny. I was about to just compare him to Manson, too.

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Track 2: But he was still a fucking serial killer. I mean, and it's clear that,

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Track 2: like, you know, the fingers, not all the fingers, it's like they live in a world

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Track 2: in which there is no stability, no security, no anything for them.

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Track 2: It's like, because it's also clear, like, they don't.

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Track 2: don't all buy into it, you know, when the one is like walking away and she's

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Track 2: just basically like talking shit about like the whole, like the dipsy dude dance

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Track 2: or whatever from the teletopies. And she's like, yeah, I said, what the fuck?

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Track 2: You know, it's like, they don't take that seriously.

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Track 1: They don't. It's kind of, it's hearing all that.

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Track 1: And this is another thing that I wonder, and maybe this movie suffers from that.

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Track 1: Maybe even the previous 28 years later suffers from that is,

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Track 1: do you think that people maybe who hadn't either hadn't seen the original or

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Track 1: hadn't seen it in a long time were sort of just confused as to who and what these things,

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Track 1: you know, they didn't maybe understand what was going on.

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Track 2: What, The Infected?

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Track 1: Do you think that matters?

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Track 2: Well, I mean, 28 Years Later opens up with a screen crawl that explains The Infected.

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Track 1: Oh, you're right, it does. I hadn't seen it since then.

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Track 2: No, I don't.

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Track 1: Okay, okay, so sorry. But this one, they didn't do that because they're like,

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Track 1: you just saw that one like months ago.

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Track 2: These movies, they were filmed back to back.

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Track 1: Which is so interesting to me in the sense that they did that where Danny Boyle

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Track 1: only was involved directing lies from the first one.

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Track 2: It's an attraic, considering...

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Track 2: he didn't direct both of them and they filmed it back to me.

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Track 1: I know that's it well i mean i mean they feel like they almost had to in the

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Track 1: sense that like they have all these sets for the bone what are they going to

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Track 1: do like tear down this big money that's true and also spike would.

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Track 2: Grow up and it would be yeah.

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Track 1: That's yeah but i think that generally though

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Track 1: that like the the the i think the cinematography for

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Track 1: this one the bone temple i thought was better than

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Track 1: danny boils i thought that the just the the shots

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Track 1: and all of the sort of feeling you got

Speaker:

Track 1: from all of the different moments where they there's like lots of it's in

Speaker:

Track 1: both movies too they show lots of shots of just empty fields and mountains and

Speaker:

Track 1: and you know meadows and these things and it's sort of like this is what life

Speaker:

Track 1: is like and it could be this peaceful existence but then you have people like

Speaker:

Track 1: out there like jimmy in the same way like the at the cross of this in my review

Speaker:

Track 1: for this movie on Glitterbox,

Speaker:

Track 1: I said, it's basically sort of the long-standing sort of battle between science and religion.

Speaker:

Track 1: And kind of like at the crux of it, it is because you have this doctor who presumably

Speaker:

Track 1: has found a potential cure or at least somewhat of a cure to this devastating virus.

Speaker:

Track 1: And then you have someone who doesn't care about that and maybe doesn't even

Speaker:

Track 1: really know that actually.

Speaker:

Track 1: I guess he doesn't really tell him he had a cure and destroys everything because

Speaker:

Track 1: of his own ego of having to still prove to everyone that he's the son of, of St. Nick.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yeah. I, I really feel like these movies very much feel like these past two

Speaker:

Track 2: movies very much feel like an evolution of the zombie film,

Speaker:

Track 2: the zombie genre in response to what we are seeing in the real world. Because I.

Speaker:

Track 2: Historically we have mostly focused on

Speaker:

Track 2: throughout history of the genre what we've

Speaker:

Track 2: mostly focused on is survival and you

Speaker:

Track 2: know dealing with this and like coming to terms with it and like survival and

Speaker:

Track 2: this both of these movies very much feel more like it's the reconciliation with

Speaker:

Track 2: what comes after and kind of like confronting the viewer with what comes after large scale,

Speaker:

Track 2: like social devastation.

Speaker:

Track 2: It's almost like a lesson being, it's like, listen, you feel like we are facing

Speaker:

Track 2: right now, existentially as

Speaker:

Track 2: a species on this planet, we are facing wide scale, like climate collapse.

Speaker:

Track 2: We are looking at major fucking problems.

Speaker:

Track 2: we are staring down the barrel at like

Speaker:

Track 2: major social collapse in a lot of ways and what

Speaker:

Track 2: these movies are it's like to me

Speaker:

Track 2: it's like two things it's like first of all the

Speaker:

Track 2: sorry the world will go on the world will go on without you like you as a speak

Speaker:

Track 2: like you are not fucking important the world will go on so you need to make

Speaker:

Track 2: the choice are you going to change what needs to change so that humanity can move forward?

Speaker:

Track 2: Or are you going to hold on and then watch as humanity dies and what's left

Speaker:

Track 2: is open fields for the next thing?

Speaker:

Track 1: Yeah.

Speaker:

Track 2: Or, you know.

Speaker:

Track 1: Yeah, I like that. I mean.

Speaker:

Track 2: What are you going to do? Are you, and are you going to do what Kelson does,

Speaker:

Track 2: which is understand that you need as everybody, as a system,

Speaker:

Track 2: you need to reach equilibrium with the material reality you exist in,

Speaker:

Track 2: what the world has given you. You need to come to terms with that.

Speaker:

Track 2: You need to accept it for what it is and live in harmony with it,

Speaker:

Track 2: or you're going to fucking die.

Speaker:

Track 2: What can you do? You can either be Jimmy and prey on people and destroy what

Speaker:

Track 2: they have built, or you can be Dr.

Speaker:

Track 2: Kelson and you can live in harmony with the fucking world and understand what

Speaker:

Track 2: the material conditions have given you.

Speaker:

Track 1: I mean, basically in that description is Jimmy is the exploitation of capitalism.

Speaker:

Track 2: 100%.

Speaker:

Track 1: And Dr. Kelson is the living in harmony with your neighbors under socialism.

Speaker:

Track 1: I mean, it couldn't be any more blatant.

Speaker:

Track 1: And knowing what I know about sort of Alex Garland and some of his other films,

Speaker:

Track 1: I'll say I feel like his politics can be a little bit—we don't need to go down that rabbit hole.

Speaker:

Track 1: But I think in this case, I think it's very clear what he was trying to show.

Speaker:

Track 1: Maybe he wasn't thinking capitalism versus socialism.

Speaker:

Track 1: Maybe he's thinking, you know, barbarism or, you know, whatever term he wants

Speaker:

Track 1: to have in his head. Yeah.

Speaker:

Track 2: But it still comes down to the same thing. It's like that it just,

Speaker:

Track 2: it always comes back in comparison to most other movies in this genre.

Speaker:

Track 2: You very, so rarely have that kind of like bittersweet coverage of like sweeping,

Speaker:

Track 2: but acknowledgement of what, what was lost, but also like look at the way the world continues.

Speaker:

Track 2: That's not a thing you really say.

Speaker:

Track 1: Usually when I think of a lot of zombie movies that have now,

Speaker:

Track 1: how it's in the future, things are degraded.

Speaker:

Track 1: It's usually cruel and just people are monstrous and they have no willingness to change.

Speaker:

Track 1: They've just accepted the barbarism as that that's the only possible way to live forward.

Speaker:

Track 1: I just think of the movie or the show, what's that show, Walking Dead.

Speaker:

Track 1: I mean, I gave up on that show half a decade ago, but that show is cruel.

Speaker:

Track 2: I've seen it all.

Speaker:

Track 1: Oh, you've seen it all?

Speaker:

Track 2: Oh my God. I've seen it all. much to my dismiss, you know, like much to my own personal victimhood.

Speaker:

Track 1: Yeah, I got to where Negan was like, well, spoiler, I got to where Negan was captured.

Speaker:

Track 2: I do think that part of this has to do with peeing English,

Speaker:

Track 2: honestly, because it does harken back to those like old English ideals,

Speaker:

Track 2: like the romanticism of the pastoral nature of like English history.

Speaker:

Track 2: I do think that's part of it.

Speaker:

Track 1: I mean, that brings me to the very end, the final scene of the film,

Speaker:

Track 1: when they're literally talking about the history of, I mean,

Speaker:

Track 1: granted, not in the same way you're describing, but you still have to understand what came before you.

Speaker:

Track 1: And I think most people are unwilling to even do that in today's society.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yes which no one will learn from the past big spoiler okay so if you don't want

Speaker:

Track 2: to hear the ending of a big spoiler cut now and by cut i mean stop listening,

Speaker:

Track 2: the ending of the movie we cut to uh

Speaker:

Track 2: killian murphy and his daughter um

Speaker:

Track 2: only we only said and she is studying for upcoming quit or test which he is

Speaker:

Track 2: clearly like administering he's the And they're talking about post-World War

Speaker:

Track 2: I behavior of European countries and how it led to World War II.

Speaker:

Track 2: And the classic, like, when you destroy your enemy and then leave them with

Speaker:

Track 2: nothing, what do they do?

Speaker:

Track 2: they come back and try to eat you it's.

Speaker:

Track 1: Like the most such a like heavy fisted metaphor that i the but that's because

Speaker:

Track 1: the movie's woke bill that's why that's.

Speaker:

Track 2: Why they did that but i mean like it's such

Speaker:

Track 2: like but at the same time it is i feel

Speaker:

Track 2: like it makes the point that if you

Speaker:

Track 2: know actual history um because he's

Speaker:

Track 2: teaching it from a very it's presented as from

Speaker:

Track 2: a very like you know western bourgeois liberal

Speaker:

Track 2: kind of perspective but if you know actual history you're like well in reality

Speaker:

Track 2: like they still exploited those people still punished them even after world

Speaker:

Track 2: war ii and really all we did was just fold all that in like you know and the

Speaker:

Track 2: allied powers just attacked Soviet Union.

Speaker:

Track 2: When you really, it's like, they didn't keep that problem. He's like,

Speaker:

Track 2: what is it? I forget what he says.

Speaker:

Track 2: Basically, you have to learn the lessons. They didn't fucking learn those lessons either.

Speaker:

Track 2: He makes it be like, they didn't fucking learn those lessons either.

Speaker:

Track 1: You know what's weird is that technically Cillian Murphy's character is uncredited in this?

Speaker:

Track 2: I think it's probably because I wanted to keep him secret.

Speaker:

Track 1: Oh, okay. There you go. I mean, there was a lot of pretty heavy rumors that he was going to be in it.

Speaker:

Track 1: People thought he was going to be in the previous one as like a zombie.

Speaker:

Track 2: Well, they showed that zombie that looked like him.

Speaker:

Track 1: That was very intentional to like people, right?

Speaker:

Track 2: I think they wanted to keep it secret, even though like, yes,

Speaker:

Track 2: there was a lot of rumors, you know, but I think they wanted to keep it secret. I think that's why.

Speaker:

Track 1: Yeah, and apparently he's in talks to be in the third of the trilogy.

Speaker:

Track 1: It hasn't been announced yet.

Speaker:

Track 2: But I mean, I can't imagine. Yeah, I can't imagine I'm not.

Speaker:

Track 1: Yeah. And I think, and you see like the kindness that he shows to save this person.

Speaker:

Track 1: His daughter's like, you know, are we going to, are we going to help them?

Speaker:

Track 1: And he's like, of course we are.

Speaker:

Track 2: Of course we are.

Speaker:

Track 1: And he didn't, he wouldn't have survived the initial 28 days later,

Speaker:

Track 1: if not for other people helping him. So, I mean.

Speaker:

Track 2: Exactly.

Speaker:

Track 1: You see, you see again, like the Ralph Fiennes version of the world actually

Speaker:

Track 1: being necessary. Otherwise you're just going to end up with just, you know, barbarism.

Speaker:

Track 2: Barbarism. Yeah.

Speaker:

Track 1: Death. Killing. I thought that the actress, Erin Kellyman,

Speaker:

Track 1: who played the version of Jimmy that was basically the strongest one of all

Speaker:

Track 1: of them, for the most part. Kind of like the leader of the fingers.

Speaker:

Track 1: She was really good in it, I thought, her character.

Speaker:

Track 2: You mean the one that kind of protects Spike?

Speaker:

Track 1: Yes. I think that she eventually reveals her name is Kelly at the end.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yes, which they also foreshadow if you see when they're hanging out. That's Jimmy Inc.

Speaker:

Track 1: Yes.

Speaker:

Track 2: When they're hanging out by the trees, when they're all watching Dr.

Speaker:

Track 2: Kelsen, she's carving a K into the tree.

Speaker:

Track 1: You're right. You're right. I was thinking about that. I'm like,

Speaker:

Track 1: what is she putting into it?

Speaker:

Track 2: Because she did not.

Speaker:

Track 2: abandoned her identity the others you could tell like they really had abandoned

Speaker:

Track 2: their identity they fully bought into it she had not abandoned who she was she

Speaker:

Track 2: was still holding on to that part of her her humanity yeah.

Speaker:

Track 1: I mean it's interesting like you we didn't really talk as much about the fingers

Speaker:

Track 1: but very clearly these are people who are in a way i almost think of thought

Speaker:

Track 1: of that as kind of like the lost boys in.

Speaker:

Track 2: Like peter pan.

Speaker:

Track 1: But like the version in like the movie the lost boys where they're like not

Speaker:

Track 1: good people they're vampires.

Speaker:

Track 2: And they're just they're.

Speaker:

Track 1: Willing they don't they don't have these are people also that i mean they were

Speaker:

Track 1: born presumably after the beginning of the plague right they're all under 28 years old.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yeah they're all on the 28 yeah but i do think that you

Speaker:

Track 2: know to go back to like you know holding on to humanity we also

Speaker:

Track 2: see that like samson the alpha that kelson

Speaker:

Track 2: um is you know like befriends and forms a bond with the fact that he keeps going

Speaker:

Track 2: back to that train is also again part of that like holding on to this humanity

Speaker:

Track 2: because that's where that's the last time he was a uninfected human as a child yeah.

Speaker:

Track 1: And that's the only is that the only flashback to the real time in any of the movies in the franchise.

Speaker:

Track 2: I believe so and.

Speaker:

Track 1: It's And it's really depressing.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yes, it is.

Speaker:

Track 1: And especially, too, when the person is asking for his ticket,

Speaker:

Track 1: and then it's actually one of the infected that's standing above him,

Speaker:

Track 1: and he just absolutely, colossally, just destroys in that scene.

Speaker:

Track 1: I don't have a ticket. Talk about brutality.

Speaker:

Track 2: I don't have a ticket. And we finally see why the infected behave the way they do.

Speaker:

Track 2: This is not simply a physiological. It is also a psychological.

Speaker:

Track 2: It is a mental illness that is...

Speaker:

Track 2: inflicted upon them similar to where it's like you know it creates a terror

Speaker:

Track 2: of a thing it makes people terrified of other people without the virus i.

Speaker:

Track 1: Mean isn't that what capitalism does though like.

Speaker:

Track 2: We're meant.

Speaker:

Track 1: To hate the people.

Speaker:

Track 2: Around us we're.

Speaker:

Track 1: In alienation have to be in it for ourselves who cares who you step on as long

Speaker:

Track 1: as you survive i mean yeah.

Speaker:

Track 2: It is a virus that creates is schisming and alienation and separates you from other people.

Speaker:

Track 2: It makes other people look like a monster that you have to kill to survive.

Speaker:

Track 1: Yeah, I think that's why you're saying is that you said he doesn't,

Speaker:

Track 1: Ralph Fiennes doesn't fully cure him, but he's able to lift that fog.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker:

Track 1: Because he's still clearly, you

Speaker:

Track 1: know, I don't want to say like nearly invincible, right? Like he can't.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yeah, he's still he's still fought like fucking like, I don't know,

Speaker:

Track 2: like a dozen of them? came out like okay.

Speaker:

Track 1: And you briefly I feel like briefly you're like I think he's like he might.

Speaker:

Track 2: Die yeah I thought he was gonna die no and then he walks out just covered in

Speaker:

Track 2: gore it's like god damn he also ripped that once arm off you know.

Speaker:

Track 1: We haven't really talked. I mean, we did talk about Ralph Fiennes,

Speaker:

Track 1: but his performance, especially like the big reveal scene with.

Speaker:

Track 2: That's incredible. Just Iron Maiden.

Speaker:

Track 1: One of the best, like Ralph Fiennes. I hate saying this. I hate being like,

Speaker:

Track 1: oh, he's like an underappreciated actor.

Speaker:

Track 1: But in some ways he is like he's in so many. He's been a lot of horror movies

Speaker:

Track 1: recently, which is, I think, is an interesting career choice.

Speaker:

Track 1: Not in a bad way, but like he was in the menu and then he was in both of these.

Speaker:

Track 1: Um, I guess he wasn't in that many horror movies, maybe just those, but such a good actor.

Speaker:

Track 2: So incredible actor.

Speaker:

Track 1: I mean, maybe he's not underappreciated. Maybe I'm, maybe I'm like.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yeah, I don't think he's underappreciated, man. I mean, no, no.

Speaker:

Track 1: No, no.

Speaker:

Track 2: Let's see. Wasn't he full list of awards? Yeah.

Speaker:

Track 2: He has, uh, two Oscars.

Speaker:

Track 1: Wait, no, he doesn't. Does he?

Speaker:

Track 2: Yes.

Speaker:

Track 1: No, I don't think he's won.

Speaker:

Track 2: Oh, no, I'm sorry. He was nominated for two Oscars. He has won a BAFTA.

Speaker:

Track 2: He has won a Critics' Choice Award.

Speaker:

Track 2: He has won a Screen Guild's.

Speaker:

Track 1: Has he been knighted by the Queen yet or the King? I believe so.

Speaker:

Track 1: I just made that up, but maybe he was. Maybe he was. Who knows?

Speaker:

Track 1: He's also going to be in the new Hunger Games film.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yes. He has won 13 awards and been nominated for 57.

Speaker:

Track 1: He's not underappreciated. Sorry, he's not underappreciated.

Speaker:

Track 1: He's just a really good actor, and I like him.

Speaker:

Track 1: I also love him in, I mean, this is going back a long time,

Speaker:

Track 1: but he was really good in the movie Quiz Show, also really good in the movie

Speaker:

Track 1: In Bruges, even though he's not the main character, he's really good in that

Speaker:

Track 1: film. So, I love Ralph Fiennes.

Speaker:

Track 2: No, he has not been knighted. Okay.

Speaker:

Track 1: He was Lord Voldemort also in the Harry Potter.

Speaker:

Track 2: Unfortunately. Yes, he was.

Speaker:

Track 1: He was in Skyfall. I'm trying to think what else he was in.

Speaker:

Track 1: I guess he was in several of the new Bond.

Speaker:

Track 2: He's in a lot of movies.

Speaker:

Track 1: Yeah, I just look, in 2003, he was in six films.

Speaker:

Track 1: 2004, he was in three. In Conclave from last year, two years ago,

Speaker:

Track 1: he was nominated for this.

Speaker:

Track 1: Anyway, not underappreciated. He is appreciated.

Speaker:

Track 2: He's in Made in Manhattan, which is, you know, that was, I believe,

Speaker:

Track 2: actually a seminal work of his.

Speaker:

Track 1: Oh, man. Yeah, I don't know. I'm trying to think if there's anything else about

Speaker:

Track 1: this that, I mean, certainly this is more of, I wouldn't say it's like a short

Speaker:

Track 1: episode, but it's maybe not as in depth as some of the normal episodes.

Speaker:

Track 1: But is there anything we didn't mention or include here that we should have?

Speaker:

Track 2: No, I don't think so. I mean, I do think, you know, if you were going into this,

Speaker:

Track 2: if you're going into this expecting a standard zombie movie,

Speaker:

Track 2: you are going to be disappointed.

Speaker:

Track 2: This is a, this is...

Speaker:

Track 1: And also, it's a sad movie, but also not.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yeah.

Speaker:

Track 1: Like, at the same time. Like, it's sad, but then it also kind of has this ray of hope in it.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yeah, this movie is definitely one of those movies where it's like,

Speaker:

Track 2: it is a constant, it is a dichotomy in and of itself.

Speaker:

Track 2: It is constant, like, juxtaposition between the feelings and the presentation

Speaker:

Track 2: within it and, like, how you feel.

Speaker:

Track 2: you know it's like it's heartbreaking but also very hopeful and you know just

Speaker:

Track 2: idealistic or idealist in a way that is fulfilling um and also just like super just like,

Speaker:

Track 2: rough like the jimmy and the fingers like they're brutal people you know but

Speaker:

Track 2: then you switch to ray fines and it's like oh he's,

Speaker:

Track 2: such a caring and loving man and and.

Speaker:

Track 1: You see how spike has.

Speaker:

Track 2: Been influenced by all those things.

Speaker:

Track 1: Yeah i'm really curious if in

Speaker:

Track 1: because presumably like when you see him making sort of like the pills he gives

Speaker:

Track 1: to samson that kind of temporarily kind of cure him he's like writing in notebooks

Speaker:

Track 1: from like you know uh medical journals and books you do wonder in the third

Speaker:

Track 1: film if these are uncovered by...

Speaker:

Track 2: I guess we'll see.

Speaker:

Track 1: I hope if they didn't make the third one of this little trilogy or whatever

Speaker:

Track 1: you want to call it, I'd be disappointed.

Speaker:

Track 1: But this is well worth it. I think we both gave this four and a half stars in

Speaker:

Track 1: Letterboxd. I didn't give it a perfect five stars.

Speaker:

Track 1: And I don't know, maybe it's worthy of five stars. I don't know.

Speaker:

Track 1: I'm usually an over rater with things.

Speaker:

Track 1: I'm like, if I love this movie and I'd watch it again, for me,

Speaker:

Track 1: that's almost a five star.

Speaker:

Track 1: Close to a five. Very close.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yes, I also gave it four and a half stars, yes.

Speaker:

Track 1: Yeah, and I'm not a squeamish person when it comes to, you know-

Speaker:

Track 1: There is a couple of scenes in this that are tough to watch.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yeah. Yeah. I am far from squeamish. And there was, there was some scenes I was like, cool. Okay.

Speaker:

Track 1: Well, if you're listening to this episode, you can of course,

Speaker:

Track 1: subscribe at left of the projector.com or patrion.com slash left of the projector.

Speaker:

Track 1: And, uh, you can go to Instagram and see what movies we have coming up soon.

Speaker:

Track 1: If you're listening to this one and wondering what's going to be on tap,

Speaker:

Track 1: it's going to be THX 1138, which is a early George Lucas film.

Speaker:

Track 2: And if you go to our show notes, we have all of the links for both the show,

Speaker:

Track 2: but also all the individual hosts, all the,

Speaker:

Track 2: our various socials, including Letterboxd and Instagram and all the other places

Speaker:

Track 2: where you can, I don't know, tell us movies you want us to watch and talk about

Speaker:

Track 2: or yell at us, you know, whatever you, whatever you people do on the internets.

Speaker:

Track 1: We have gotten some, we have gotten some recommendations recently on Instagram.

Speaker:

Track 1: And so those do enter the queue for those out there listening,

Speaker:

Track 1: you know, Unless you pick something insanely crazy, like if you ask us to watch

Speaker:

Track 1: Red Dawn again, we're not going to do that.

Speaker:

Track 2: I've already committed to watching Black Panther 2 again, which I already feel

Speaker:

Track 2: not great about, so, you know.

Speaker:

Track 1: I haven't seen it since the theater, and I have this weird lack of memory of the movie at all.

Speaker:

Track 1: And so, maybe that's just because I sort of decided I'm going to just black it out in my mind.

Speaker:

Track 2: You memory hold that, baby.

Speaker:

Track 1: I think I just, yeah. But we have that coming up. We've got lots of good stuff.

Speaker:

Track 1: And Ward will be back soon from his quest to find... Gareth Edwards. Gareth Edwards.

Speaker:

Track 1: Ward, hope you find him. We need to chat with Gareth.

Speaker:

Track 2: Yeah, we need to get that chat.

Speaker:

Track 1: All right, everyone. We'll catch you next time.

About the Podcast

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