Film Junk Podcast Episode #324: The Tree of Life and Cars 2

Posted by on June 29th, 2011   Filed under: Featured, Film Junk Podcast

0:00 – Intro
4:17 – Headlines: RIP Ryan Dunn and Peter Falk, Jamie Foxx to Star in Django Unchained, WarGames Remake, Ron Howard to Direct Spy vs. Spy Movie, Spy Kids 4 Will Use Aromoscope
20:25 – Review: The Tree of Life
1:02:00 – Review: Cars 2
1:25:45 – Trailer Trash: The Muppets
1:31:45 – Top 5: Best Movies of 2011 So Far
1:42:45 – Other Stuff We Watched: Wipeout, 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show, The Killing, Game of Thrones, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Cedar Rapids, Hell Comes to Frogtown, Triangle, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Kiss Me Deadly, The Harvest, Gremlins
2:27:25 – Junk Mail: Total Number of Movies Watched and Episode 189 in 3 Minutes, Picking Favourite Sports Teams, Reality TV Drinks and Junk Mail Selection Process, Directorial Continuity in a Film Series, Theatrical vs. Director’s Cut for First Watch, Superhero Films and Justice League, High Brow Filmmakers Liking Low Brow Films, Episode 322 in 4 Minutes
2:58:05 – This Week’s DVD Releases
3:00:15 – Outro

» Download the MP3 (83 MB)
» View the show notes
» Vote for us on Podcast Alley!
» Rate us on iTunes!

Subscribe to the podcast feed:
RSS iTunes My Yahoo!

Donate via Paypal:




 Recurring Donation $2/Month:

Sponsors:

This week’s episode is sponsored by Netflix, with thousands of movies and TV shows available to stream instantly in the U.S. and Canada. Head over to filmjunk.com/netflix and sign up for a one month trial absolutely free!



  • I about spit my Mountain Dew out when Greg said “was he the other guy in car with Ryan Dunn?”

  • Tree of Life is so far the best film of the year, nothing else is remotely close.

  • Agree with the kid’s performance. Everyone went bananas over the kids in Super 8, but I haven’t seen anyone else give the Tree of Life kid props for his superior performance.

  • Dave

    Michael Giacchino did the music for Cars 2. I know for sure he did the music for Ratatouille and The Incredibles so I’m sure he was bringing the Incredibles-style horn section to the spy music stylings for Cars 2. He might’ve done a couple other of the Pixar movies, but don’t quote me on that.

  • All the Mr. Nobody bashing fails to take into account the thing the film does best, the actualizing of time’s arrow in modern physics theory moved onto a movie-love-story. I think it is ludicrous to compare Mr. Nobody to Tree of Life, they have totally different ambitions.

    For the record, the ending of Mr. Nobody was something I’ve never seen in the film, and while I’ll conceded that musical choices (even one from Days of Heaven) and shot choices and a lot of ideas are stolen in the film, but the ending shot of ‘time’ is pretty damn good.

    Suck it FilmJunkers….

  • Tomoo

    All this talk of Tree of Life is killing me! I really want to see it but it’s nowhere in North Carolina. The letter about theatrical and director’s cuts was also good because at this very moment I am torn on whether or not to watch the theatrical cut of Blade Runner on Netflix or go find the director’s cut. Also I hope Doug comes on next week, the Transformers 2 episode is still one of my favorites!

  • csidle

    How is the Tree of Life review with regards to spoilers? I am eagerly anticipating it and would love to hear your thoughts, but I don’t want it ruined for me.

  • I don’t think it’s possible to spoil The Tree of Life.

  • Henrik

    If I can just get my thoughts in here, I’d say that is the same as saying it’s impossible not to spoil it…

  • I thought more about life and our world during Avatar than Tree of Life, boom, I said it, flame me.

    I’ve already posted my ideas in the written review but people comparing this film to 2001 is insult to Kubrick and his zombie ghost that will hunt you down. trust me, Kubrick would of though basing a major portion of a film on “one mans struggle with his father” beneath him. Kubricks central theme, in my opinion, was mans enteral destructive heart and how he destroys himself. TOL is comparable to a female filmmaker making her “vagina film”, so first year film school.

  • “I think it is ludicrous to compare Mr. Nobody to Tree of Life, they have totally different ambitions.”

    Kurt….come on now. Do I really need to go back through previous episodes of the Cinecast and point out the numerous times where you’ve unfairly compared countless summer blockbusters to some of the world’s greatest films (even if they share very little in common) simply to discount their worth? If you can hold Iron Man up to Robocop simply because they share men in armoured suits (or every modern comedy to A Fish Called Wanda), then I think it’s fair to compare two films that use nostalgia, science and the vastness of the universe to tell micro and macro-cosmic dramas. Are they really THAT far off that they’re not worth mentioning in the same sentence?

    “All the Mr. Nobody bashing fails to take into account the thing the film does best, the actualizing of time’s arrow in modern physics theory moved onto a movie-love-story.”

    I disagree. It does this lazily and the film is generally uninspired, unoriginal, and pompous. Having Jared Leto talk theoretical physics to the camera is not enough for me to consider this film smart.

    As for the visuals…you said it. Mr.Nobody is ugly and ostentatious and a bit of a joke when compared to Tree of Life.

  • Goon

    “Are they really THAT far off that they’re not worth mentioning in the same sentence?”

    But Mr. Nobody is an indie film, therefore its not fair :P

  • KeithTalent

    Why the hell would I apologize for liking Mr. Nobody? Seeing another great film does not make me regret liking a different, unrelated film. That makes no sense. I still love that film and I can’t see that changing anytime soon, no matter how many other films I see on what may be considered a similar subject matter.

    Anyway, I absolutely loved Tree of Life; it’s probably my favourite Malick film now, narrowly overtaking The Thin Red Line. He did an amazing job of making a relatively obtuse film relatable.

    Going to try and catch this in the theatre again before it leaves. Definitely my favourite film of the year so far and other films will be hard pressed to surpass it.

  • patrik

    you guys should check out Tucker & Dale vs Evil..

  • Tomoo

    Shit must be getting real if Jay is in the comments section! I think Kurt should come on the show and you guys can duke it out, he is one of my favorite guest Junkers anyway.

  • No matter how wrong Kurt is about Mr.Nobody, I will always be indebted to him for having introduced me to a delicious can of Vernor’s ginger ale!

  • KeithTalent

    That decronsuction of the Cars universe was freaking awesome. I could listen to a whole show of that. :D

  • Napalm

    You guys kinda ruined two big surprises of Game of Thones.

  • Damn, I was thinking about that afterward and was going to try to edit that discussion out. Sorry about that.

  • mitch

    the podcast is better than ever

  • Primal

    2nd April all the way

  • It’s all about the Vernor’s Jay. Now if only I could introduce you to alcohol, and Gibson’s Finest. The Gibsons & Vernor’s most assuredly my drink of choice.

    Of course Tree of Life is a 1000x better film than Mr. Nobody, but Mr. Nobody has its own original moments, and I’m not talking the ‘Leto-the-Science-Guy’ TV segments, I’m talking the very, very end of the film, that actually connects the expansion of the universe to time’s directional arrow. I thought it was an interesting way to do it up on screen, and the best part of the film. A literal ‘twist’ ending that is genuinely surprising. But I digress.

    Oh, and I heartily endorse TUCKER & DALE vs. EVIL. That movie is too much damn fun, and why the world needs more Alan Tudyk, and I don’t mean in Michael Bay movies….

  • And for the record, I stand by my comparison that Iron Man is a very, very, very, very shitty version of Robocop, even if Robocop was inspired by IM comics or whatever.

  • For those outside of Ontario or Mid-West US — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernors

  • Where does one buy Vernors Ginger Ale in Canada? I have never seen or heard of it, even though Ginger Ale is a drink of choice for me.

  • Sobey’s carries it, but I’ve seen it at Loblaws, Superstore and Longos.

  • kyri

    I LOVE IT WHEN jay COMPARES FILMS.

    jay HAS A TALENT TO COMPARE THINGS.

  • Alicia

    A brief lesson in prehistory:

    Humans, neanderthals, homo erectus, and their direct ancestors existed 2,500,000 years ago. Homo sapiens existed 500,000 years ago. Homo sapiens sapiens existed 200,000 years ago (to present).

    The maximum extent of glaciation was approximately 18,000 years ago.

    Also, the guy in Cedar Rapids played Clay Davis on The Wire, not Omar. Shiiiiiit.

  • Jay,

    There is a GREEN TEA GINGER ALE that I’ve had, and it is my favorite Ginger Ale drink although it is hard to find. The best of both worlds, although Vernon’s is excellent as well. Check it:

    http://www.bevreview.com/2008/10/27/canada-dry-green-tea-ginger-ale/

  • I don’t know if this makes me a bad person, but I would much rather hear Jay breakdown Cars 2 in minute detail, while exposing it for the turd it is, than an in-depth dissection of Tree of Life.

    Great episode!

  • RC

    Gotta agree with Kurt and Jay. If you are going to drink Ginger Ale, it’s gotta be Vernors. It tastes like no other Ginger Ale I’ve ever had.

    Not even Canada Dry, the champagne of Ginger Ales, can measure up to it.

    Nice choice of Mats Naslund, Greg! The Little Viking was my favourite player back then and the last Habs player to reach 100 points (110 to be exact).

    Speaking of vikings, has anybody ever seen “Eric the Viking” with Tim Robbins?

  • @RC: Yeah, I vaguely remember Eric The Viking. There were a few laughs here and there but I remember it being a letdown from the Monty Python crew. Although I saw it when I was younger and don’t have a clear memory of it. I’ve always wanted to see the “Director’s Son Cut” which is a 75 minute version of his father’s cut.

  • RC

    @Jim: Thanks for the info! I didnt know about a Director’s Son Cut.

  • Kasper

    #28 Hahaha I love Clay Davis – one of the best things about The Wire. Clay always has your back, partner!

  • Sean, I suggest a Friday Poll of the best/most successful poetic/lyrical films, some to consider

    TOL
    2001
    The Fountain
    Anti Christ
    Fantasia
    Enter The Void
    THe Holy Mountain

  • Austin in japan

    Meant to say this last week, but thanks for the heads up to stay for the credits in Super 8. Went on the weekend and though the movie was pretty good, the kids film during the credits were hilarious!
    Also top recommendation a while back for Party Down. F-ing awesome show!

  • Anthony

    My Top 5 of the year:

    Super 8
    X-men First Class
    Source Code
    Thor
    Scream 4

    Yeah.

  • Mason

    Dave (#4),
    I can almost quote you on that, since Michael Giacchino won his Oscar for the Up score. That was the one other Pixar feature he did- so one other, not “a couple”, if we’re going to split hairs. I love his music too- also in theaters now in Super 8.

  • They tried smell-o-vision back in the 60’s or something. They actually had tubes that would pipe in various smells. By the end the smells sort of mingled together and it was apparently terrible. It failed miserably. That said, I’d try it out one time. I’m curious. As far as I know it’s not been done in my lifetime.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smell-O-Vision

  • dirrrtyfrank
  • dirrrtyfrank

    *Now

  • T. Heilman

    The query about director’s vs. theatrical cuts is a fascinating one and I don’t believe there is a universal answer other than to say it is best to do research and gain a consensus on which is superior, start with that and then seek out the other version for comparison.

    Some restoration or director cuts are indeed superior and are the only essential versions:
    Blade Runner, Touch of Evil, Once Upon a Time in America, The Wild Bunch.

    Some are comparable or have issues:
    The Exorcist, The Alien Quadrilogy, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

    Some are disastrous:
    Apocalypse Now.

  • My name is Nat Almirall, and I agree with Frank’s message.

    I’d also add to the director’s cut discussion that the DC of Amadeus is not as good as the theatrical cut. But it does have boobies.

  • Kasper

    @Frank

    I love the version of Slash on there. Looks badass.

  • anton

    great episode. I was listening it on ipod while walking in the city, I had to put quite a lot of effort to keep a straight face and not to scare children and good citizens around me.

  • kyri

    I came to realize that it’s impossible to keep a straight face while listening to these guys.. I scare people at the Gym all the time. people at the streets look at me funny..

    But it’s all worth it baby.

    It’s like going to the circus and watch real CLOWNS!
    :p

  • theocean85

    @Kyri, I was walking my dog while listening to part of the episode and the second Jay said “ginger pubes” I laughed so hard my dog got scared.

    Film Junk is safest to be enjoyed when not out in public.

  • Justice

    I think Jay and the crew should record a commentary for Cars 2…that would be one reason to actually watch it.

    Also, Jason Segal is hugely popular because of How I Met Your Mother. Never watched it but it has a large following, especially now going into syndication.

  • Antonio

    I think this is Malick trying to correct season 6 of Lost . This is his version of how it should have been done.