Ep 78 - Sing Street (2016)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Sing Street, 2016. A young lad wants to get hot and heavy with a gal across the street. So he figures the easiest way to get her attention must be by starting a band and writing music just for her. That accent was all over the place. [00:00:16] Speaker B: I was gonna say, did you get more Irish as that went on? [00:00:22] Speaker C: Oh, Bo. [00:00:32] Speaker B: Hello, everybody, and welcome back to our rating the show where I get to go to my friends, we discuss a movie franchise, break it down by film, give it an overall score, and throw it back up on the board. However, for March Movie Madness, we are picking any movie we want. So Brian's gonna pick one, Will's gonna pick one, I'm gonna pick one. We're gonna discuss that movie. That way we can kind of flex our muscles, talk about something other than a franchise for once. This week, it's my choice, and I'm choosing the movie Sing Street. I was a little bit harsh. Well, I was very harsh on Will's movie and I was a little bit harsh on Brian's movie. So they're gonna be in a bit of revenge this week, unfortunately. We'll see how that goes. Will and Brian, how are you guys doing this week? Doing good. [00:01:07] Speaker A: Doing great. Brian? [00:01:09] Speaker C: I'm good. I'm good. Dan, are, you know, at the end of these, of course, we bring up the billboard of ratings. We put this along with our Patreon picks because they're individual movies, but we also have a rating for our franchise films and they get a score from. From me, Dan and Will. Dan, are you a little bit nervous? Because neither Willard nor I saw this movie coming into it. You had no idea what we're going to react to. What do you think our reactions are going to be to this film? [00:01:36] Speaker B: To be perfectly honest, we watched this with the Page. Well, not really with the Patreon, but on our Discord, it was a free watch. Anybody could come join us. We had a pretty good turnout. We had, like, the most, I think we've ever had at one of the shows. The first five minutes, I was sweating buckets. And then I remembered why I loved this movie so much, and I was like, no, I'm. I'm confident in this pick. I really like it. I think it's going to get a good reaction for guys. Most of the people who are there stuck around for the entire film, which is great to see. Lots of conversation throughout. So I had a great time watching it. I believe you guys are going to have a good time watching it. Maybe not as good of a time as me, and I'm sure. There'll be plenty of jokes at my expense about how bad this is and the child actors and whatnot. I think Will's gonna come in higher than Brian, but I don't imagine either of you are going to come in as high as I am. [00:02:23] Speaker C: Okay, that's fair. That's fair. [00:02:26] Speaker A: Well, let's find out, shall we? All right, I want to start by asking you a question. [00:02:33] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:02:34] Speaker A: How did you find this movie? Why do you like this movie? What drew you to this movie? What made you want us to suffer through this movie? [00:02:44] Speaker B: Yeah, there's joke one. So this movie is significantly more recent than either of yours. Are this coming out in 2016 compared to, I think you had 1996. So, like, 20 years later. So I don't have, like, an emotional. Like, I saw this as a kid with my brother, my dad, or whatnot. I discovered this one because I used to. Well, I still do, but I was listening to a lot of podcasts about movies and such, and this is one that every podcast I was listening to just kept bringing up. Wasn't getting Oscar buzz or anything like that that I remember. It was just. Every podcaster was like, have you seen this? It's incredible. It's so much fun. You have to check it out. I believe it was on a streaming service at that time, so I was able to watch it with my wife, and we both just absolutely fell in love with it. The soundtrack to this is something we'll probably discuss or he must be discussing later. Very infectious. There's songs on this soundtrack that are still on my actual playlist that I listen to fairly regularly, but there's no, like, nostalgic grab to it. Like, again, I didn't watch this growing up or anything like that. [00:03:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:03:44] Speaker B: It's just one that I watched with my wife. We both really enjoyed it. It since left streaming, so I had to go and find a copy of it because there's no, like, YouTube or anywhere to rent this one, unfortunately. But now that I have the full copy of My wife, John, I've seen it a couple of times since we watched it with the Watch Party. And watching with the Watch Party, I went upstairs afterwards glowing, and I was like, we need to show the twins. Like, they're old enough now. There's nothing in this that's, like, all that bad. Like, even the language isn't awful. There's nothing. No risky scenes or anything. I think they'd really enjoy it. So there's a good chance I'm gonna be watching this one again very soon. I just think it's a heartwarming love story. I think the music is infectious and it manages to tell the story once, the coming of age story, without any of the, like, Americanized tropes of like the. The second hand embarrassment or those really cringy scenes where you're just like, oh, I can barely even look at the screen during these scenes where, like, the little boy is trying to talk to the girl or whatnot. Like. [00:04:38] Speaker A: Right. [00:04:39] Speaker B: It just comes across more natural and more heartfelt than that. And I really appreciate that now. [00:04:45] Speaker C: It's. It's a well known fact that I don't have a love for musicals. I think there's two or three that I really like and then I pretty much hate all the rest of them. This is a quasi musical film. I mean, it's not. I wouldn't classify it as a musical, but it has a lot of musical numbers in it in a variety of, like, they start out barely able to play the instruments, it sounds like. And then by the end they're full on rock stars. So a variety there. Where do you guys land on musicals? Do you like musicals in general? Is this the type of thing you go for normally start with you, Dan? [00:05:22] Speaker B: I would have told you that I don't really like musicals all that much. And then kind of going like, this was the pick I chose. It's not a musical in the classical sense. Like the. The music doesn't really progress the plot so much as it's just infused with music throughout. We watched Sound of Music recently. I really enjoyed that. Hamilton I will put on constantly. It's a safe thing to watch, to listen to in front of the kids in the car and the music in that is absolutely fantastic. I think I'm on board with what you said where, like, there's a couple that I really, really like and there's a whole lot that I could just completely pass on. [00:05:58] Speaker A: Yeah. For myself, I kind of want to classify this as like the modern musical where the music is still a huge part of it because they're in a band. It's. It's about the music. And so there are these fantasy musical numbers within the muse, within the movie. But it's not like, let's break out into song and dance to tell this or push the story forward like Dan mentioned. Right. And from what I've researched about John Carney, he also did Once and Begin Again and they were very similar. Once is about somebody who creates music. And so it's this kind of modern take on musicals. And he. He is A he's good at what he does. Both Once and Begin Again were Oscar noms for best original music I believe. And Once won for that. And so yeah, it's, it's funny though because I'm not a huge musical fan either. There are some classics that I do enjoy but you know, I think we're past the time of like the, the music. I don't know, there's just like this cheesy almost element to, to the classic musicals that I just don't think people go for. Younger audiences go for where. That being said, I've seen newer musicals. Like there's one that's called Six which is like pop rock opera of like the six wise of Henry VI or whatever Henry vii, whoever it is. And, and it's like it's like a frickin concert. Right? They are just like every number is like a ballpark hit and you're just there for like a live concert experience. And so like it's, musicals are evolving and I think this is like how musicals are evolving on screen and it's kind of refreshing to see. [00:07:54] Speaker B: That's very fair. [00:07:55] Speaker C: I will say there was a lot of things in this movie that were fresh and new and I did enjoy because it is a coming of age story and those are for me a drag. I, I, I thought I'd seen it all and there wasn't really anything new to the genre. But this one did bring something new. Having him walk up to the girl and come up with the idea of a band and get her number right off the bat like. And it wasn't like you said, Dan. It wasn't like oh, I was expecting something embarrassing to happen and it didn't. It was pretty smooth and kind of fun and that was refreshing. I like the take that this movie has on the coming of age idea. [00:08:36] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a lot of things in this movie that are very tried and true but somehow this movie does it in a way that doesn't feel samey to everything that came before it. You, you, you recognize like oh, there's the bully in the new school. Oh, the teacher's a jerk. Oh his parents, whatever. Oh the brother who's you know, the cooler one but you know, like all these things you've seen a thousand times but it just, you're so endeared to the characters. The older brother especially is just oh, he's amazing. Yeah. Favorite of mine every time I watch this and I'm just like this character, this actor just needs to be in more things. Jack Rayner's his name. He's in a couple of things that I've seen. Mid Summer, one of the Transformers movies, but not a standout character in those ones. But in this movie, I just absolutely adore him. [00:09:21] Speaker A: Yeah, he was great. It's also funny, Dan, you mentioned that this isn't like, a nostalgic movie, but it has the nostalgic vibe, right? Like, yeah, we're set in the 80s. We've got all these 80s hits playing in the background in various renditions. It's the coming of age story. Like, it is a nostalgia movie, but it was made in 2016. So it's. It's funny that you said it. You don't have nostalgia for it, but it just. It has that feeling. It as its essence. You're absolutely kind of fun. [00:09:51] Speaker B: You're absolutely right. I guess what I meant was, like, A Few Good Men is a movie I remember watching with my dad growing up. Or, like, the Princess Bride is one that we, as a family, watch growing up. So, like, I have a nostalgic love for those where I don't feel like this one does. Also, this one takes place in 1985. I was three. Like, I don't have the love for the 80s bands that this movie or the director of this movie clearly does. I think the music in this is great, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't remind me of my childhood. Yeah, yeah. [00:10:18] Speaker A: That's funny, because I listen to this music all the time still. But, I mean, I grew up with that kind of music and still love it. And I watched all those 80s movies and still love them. Right. Like, it does remind me, even though it's not the American version of, like, say, Footloose or, you know, Sixteen Candles Breakfast Club. Like, they're all very similar, but this one's take with the music and the band kept it fresh, you know? Yeah, Yeah. I don't know. There was a lot of fun elements to it, for sure. [00:10:49] Speaker C: How. How do you guys feel about the British influence of this. The cultural aspect of it being. It's filmed, you know, the Catholic school where the. The. The priest, the father is hitting him, like, almost drowning him. The bullies are horrendously bad. You know, most of this stuff would be illegal and get people expelled or go to prison here in America and today. But back then and overseas, that was just a function of how it worked. [00:11:18] Speaker B: In fairness, in 1985, on this side of the ocean, you could probably get away with a lot more of that stuff. [00:11:23] Speaker C: True. [00:11:23] Speaker B: You can now, too. But, yeah, I will point out. And I'm not correcting you so much as I'm correcting myself. I've been calling this a British indie film for weeks. For the record, it is Ireland. I know some people are going to be very upset at me if I don't correct that at some point, so I just want to make sure. [00:11:37] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:11:37] Speaker C: Yep. [00:11:37] Speaker B: Yes, I was wrong. Apologize. [00:11:39] Speaker A: That's why I had the bad Irish accent at the beginning. [00:11:42] Speaker B: You know, that's what that was. Okay, moving right along. Yeah, yeah, I. There was a scene again, so I tried to be on camera for the watch party because I figured, this is my movie. You should get a reaction from me. Brian's on camera every time we do one of those. And it was just making the film a little bit choppy. It just wasn't coming through properly. So I did have to turn myself off. I was smiling for most of this. But as I mentioned, the first couple of minutes, I was a little nervous. And especially the first time you meet the bully and he takes him into the bathroom with the slingshot and like, he's just like, all right, now take your pants off and dance for me. I'm like, oh, I'm gonna get roasted for this. [00:12:19] Speaker C: Like, that was kind of a harsh scene. [00:12:21] Speaker B: Yeah. And then they move on from that relatively quickly. And it's. It's great after that. But, like, for a minute, I'm just like, somebody's gonna have a comment. Somebody's gonna say something. [00:12:29] Speaker A: That actually was kind of one of my issues with the movie is, like, they bring up a lot of, like, the bad things this kid's going through. Like his parents getting a divorce, always arguing, things like that. I mean, getting separated, they can't be divorced at that time. You know, the Catholic school just breathing down this kid's neck. The bullies, everything is on this kid. And he kind of just. He just kind of walks through it very gracefully. It seems like everything came about too easily in this movie. And I know it's like a feel good movie and you. You're rooting for him, but it's like, you don't even have to root for him. The guy's got it under control, like, very little. Do you ever feel like, oh, he's not gonna make it. In my mind, that's. [00:13:20] Speaker B: You're not wrong. I. I misremembered the ending, to be perfectly honest. The ending's wild when they're on the boat and it's like, spoilers, I guess, when they're on the boat and like, there's a storm. I completely forgot about the ferry. I thought it kind of ends with this ambiguous. Not only do they make it as rock stars but like do they even make it to England? [00:13:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. [00:13:42] Speaker B: And then the fairy shows up and kind of like does the older brother thing and just like paves a path, clears a path. Yeah, there's a path for them which was like. Was very on the nose but also very fitting for the themes of the movie. So it kind of worked. But you're not wrong. Like there's a lot of scenes in this where everything just kind of works so easily. [00:14:03] Speaker A: It just resolves itself very well. [00:14:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Like the bullies picking on him until he's not. The. The priest is picking on him until he's not. His parents get divorced, but he really doesn't seem to care that much. Like his brother seems more upset about them getting divorced than he or separated than he does. [00:14:20] Speaker C: I would have thought the. That both the kids would have been relieved because then they wouldn't have to listen their parents so much. You see that sometimes in movies when the parents finally to separate and the kids are like finally, you know, we can move on from this. Like why haven't you guys seen this sooner? There was a bit of a limbo in there when he's like this is bullshit. And I was like, I don't. I don't sense you being mad about this. You were so easy going about them arguing and just ignoring it and just waiting for it to be over. I thought you expected this to happen and it didn't really happen that way. It. It felt a little discombobulated at that point. So. So there's that there's the issue with him just overcoming everything bad just kind of happens real easily. You know, he kind of Harry Potter's his way through this. And those were points of contention for me in the film. [00:15:10] Speaker B: Sure. I will say the, the what you're talking about with the divorce and like the kids should be like, oh, I'm just happy it's over. My first. My parents are still together, but my friends. Back in late public school his parents went through a divorce and I remember feeling awful for him and he was that he was the kid who's just like I'm just happy it's over. Like they just fight all the time. [00:15:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:30] Speaker B: I'm just happy it's done. And that blew my mind. Is like a 12 or 13 year old. I was just like what? Like your. Your parents are getting divorced. Like this is a big deal. Would have been to Me, and he's just like, whatever, it's, it's fine. But I did like that the older brother put on that show in front of the whole family and then had his little meltdown only in front of his younger brother, who's clearly the closest within the group. Like, he was just kind of, he was still playing the calm, cool, collected, too cool for school kid until he was safe. And then it was the, this is, and, you know, I had to do everything for you, and you get everything so easily. Which, again, is kind of just a theme of the movie. Whether that hits for you or not is kind of one of the points. [00:16:13] Speaker C: That was actually a fresh take as well. I liked that. It was, it was honest. And that was an experience that these two characters, the, the lead character, I forget his name, and the older brother were. Connor, they were the, the best characters, in my opinion, in the movie. And that scene when they go back and forth, that felt so real to me. I, I enjoyed that. That felt honest. I liked it. [00:16:37] Speaker B: I, again, I'm gonna gush about the brother a lot. I think a lot of the scenes with the brother felt very phenomenal, very, like, realistic. My brother was not that necessarily growing up, but he was awfully close. And so, like, I recognized this relationship very quickly, and I, I really did like that. Another character of mine that I just really enjoyed while we're talking about that is, I don't, I don't remember his name, but the, the kid who they meet who can play all the instruments. [00:17:04] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:17:05] Speaker B: And it's just always down. Like, he shows up and says, like, hey, want to help me write a song? Always? And they just go and do what they want to do. I, I, it's one of those things, and I'm going to touch back. One of the things I love about this movie kind of goes back to one of the best pieces of advice that I've ever received. And it's not something that I received so much as it was from a podcast. And ironically, Kevin Smith, he's a person I bring up a lot on this. He's a director and a podcaster and whatnot. And one of the things he said years ago that really resonated with me is, in life, you're going to find, I'm going to butcher this a little bit. But you'll get the point. In life, you're gonna find two kinds of people, the whys and the why nots. The whys are going to try and stop you from ever doing anything. You're gonna Be like, hey, I want to, you know, try out for the football team. I want to make a podcast. I want to go make a movie. And they'll just be like, why? Why would you bother? Why do you think you have a voice that anybody wants to listen to? And then you're going to find the why not people where you're like, I want to make a podcast. Like, yeah, why not? That sounds fun. This movie is all about him finding why not people and then bringing out the absolute best in him. And I think that's absolutely amazing. And it's one of those things where if I can be sappy for a second, I love about Brian and Will, where I came to these guys two years ago almost at this point, I was like, I'd love to make a movie based podcast. This is the idea I've got. This is the goofy little name I've got. And neither one of them bumped up against it. They were both just like, yeah, why not? I love talking about movies. That sounds like a lot of fun. So a thank you to both of you guys. But also that really resonated with me that he found this kid who's just like, I just want to make music. I just want to hang out. Why would we not try our absolute best? I. I thought that was a beautiful relationship between the two of them. Some might say it's unrealistic how quickly they got the Bangs bands together and how quickly everything formed, but it's an hour and a half long movie. Like, you don't want it to take forever for them to find a drummer or something. [00:18:49] Speaker A: I think it's not the point of the movie exactly. [00:18:51] Speaker B: I think it was paced very nicely for what it was. Yeah. [00:18:53] Speaker A: Now I just have to say, how am I supposed to tear this movie down now that you spoke so highly of us? Like, what an a hole move. Yeah. [00:19:01] Speaker C: And we got to change the name of the show to Movie Street. Now. [00:19:10] Speaker A: I do think that. I think the character's name was Eamon or something. [00:19:13] Speaker B: The. [00:19:13] Speaker A: The buddy. And I thought at the end of the movie, I'm like, why is he bringing this girl? He should be bringing this guy who knows. [00:19:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:20] Speaker A: How to make music and play every instrument. He was the driving force of their success in my mind. [00:19:26] Speaker C: Not, you know, not that she was amused, though. She was amused. I think he needed both. You could probably do away with the rest of the band if you had to. She was amused Underneath the boat. Let me, let me, let me ask you something. Him and the girl were going to England to promote Their band, though, right? Like, they were gonna come back. He brought the tape and he was hoping to get the whole band involved. He wasn't just gonna run off on his own, right? [00:19:53] Speaker B: No. They discussed him going ahead, finding a music deal, getting in touch with some people, and then coming back and rescuing them from. [00:20:01] Speaker C: I see. Yeah. [00:20:02] Speaker B: Dublin, I think it is. [00:20:03] Speaker C: That's okay. That's what I thought. Yeah. [00:20:05] Speaker B: Yeah. So [00:20:07] Speaker C: they cut, like, the way they let, like, the brother hugs him goodbye. The brother hugged him goodbye. Like, I'm not gonna see you again for a very long time. [00:20:16] Speaker B: You're off to start a coffee storm. [00:20:18] Speaker C: That's true. Honestly, watching that, I wasn't sure if he wasn't gonna turn the boat around. I was sure. I wasn't sure if he wasn't, you know, if he was gonna stop. Like, it got dark and choppy fast, and I was like, oh, this is when reality hits him and he realizes there are some things you can't do on passion alone. But then Boat comes and saves the day, and he gets to follow a boat safely to England, which was kind of the pace for the story. [00:20:50] Speaker B: So, yeah, it fit the theme, whether you agree with it or not. [00:20:54] Speaker C: Fit the theme. [00:20:57] Speaker B: One of the things I was reading up online after the fact is you see Brendan, the older brother, give him some lyrics because, like, he was a musician first. He just never chased his dream. He kind of burnt out on weed and dropped out of school and whatnot. He gives him some lyrics to Connor, the main character, like, hey, you know, put some music to these whatnot. And then they get on their boat and they start going across and like you mentioned in the chat party, like, wow, this music is really on the nose. The song you're hearing at the end there is, in theory, Connor singing the lyrics that Brendan gave him down the road. Like. Like, he did take those song lyrics. He did make. Oh, something out of them. And that became the song that you're listening to at the end. There's. If that's not clear in the movie whatsoever, that's just the director spitballing okay. But I was like, okay, that's kind of cool. That adds a little element to it. And that makes sense why it's so on the nose for what you're looking at. Talking about you and the model and sailing away. You're like, okay, [00:21:52] Speaker C: yeah, I did. [00:21:53] Speaker A: I did like the brother as well. He was like the. You know, the wise one you go to advice for. But like every other movie, those characters are like, perfection. And in this, the brother is Far from it. And you see all of his issues and you see, you know, his laziness and why he isn't successful. You see his anger towards even his brother. Even though he. He's proud. You can tell he's proud of his brother and he wants the best for his brother because it's what he always wanted. But just having that flawed character really made him more real and made me appreciate his character in general a lot more than most. [00:22:34] Speaker C: I love flawed characters, realistic characters, because in reality, nobody is perfect. There is no one in your life who is perfect. You might say that to your wife's face, but we all know. And so it was. It was nice seeing Connor and his brother and their interactions. I think they kind of stole the show. Those characters were really well developed and did very real things for the most part. There were some wardrobe changes which were weird but hilarious, and I loved it. Like every week he had a whole new style because he had a whole new influence. And that influence was shown in the music and it was. It was really well showcased in it. Clearly he was stealing clothes out of his parents wardrobe and everything, but still a very real character. And we all went through hairstyle, wardrobe changes in high school, maybe not every week, but we all did that. And so I remember that these were great characters. I really liked them. I didn't think that a lot of the other characters carried as well in this movie. His good friend that plays all the instruments, the one with the mullet. I forget his name. I forget all their names. [00:23:51] Speaker A: He. [00:23:52] Speaker C: He seemed very, like two dimensional, very flat. And I'm not sure if it was supposed to be like, that's just his character or if this was kind of bad acting. I'm not sure. Some of the other members of the band had more personality than him, but a lot less lines and they didn't get to be showcased as much. The black kid on the keyboard. Holy cow. BD energy right there. I love that kid. He should have had a bigger role. I love how he kept, like, creeping up in front of the camera to kind of try and steal the show all the time. Great character. Didn't have enough air time for me. And then like the bully, his character was a little bit all over the place for me. I liked his character, but, like, he just came in too hot and that whole sequence at the beginning threw me. So I did have some trouble with some of the acting, some of the characters. I thought the dialogue was really good throughout the movie, but the acting was troublesome. [00:24:52] Speaker B: There's a couple of Scenes that I just want to touch on really quickly based off some of the characters you mentioned. For one, you need to have a whole band of kids. You need to have a school full of kids. There's going to be a lot of kids that get two or three lines. I'm not too terribly opposed to this. This is very much Connor's story. It is Rafinia's story. It is to some extent Brendan's story. [00:25:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:11] Speaker B: The older brother. It's not the bassist's story. He's there. He gets a line or two. He gets residuals. Good for him. I liked as far as the bully goes. You're right. Like, he is a lot to take, especially the first time you see him. But I love the scene where him and his dad are walking up to them and like, the dad's like, why don't you do anything with your life? And like, you can see the, the generational abuse or the generational trauma in action. And like, you know, he's just like, you're, you're dead. Like, he went from being like, what you're doing is silly to like, I'm gonna kill you because, yeah, you made me look that much worse in front of my dad who already hates me. [00:25:47] Speaker C: It was a great scene. It was like 10 seconds long and you got an hour's worth of information from it. It was a really good, well placed scene with good dialogue there. I liked it. [00:25:56] Speaker B: Exactly. Another one. Another, like, nothing little scene, but again, just added a ton to it. And honestly, you could have taken some of the divorce aspect of this. Like, the Doors came up a lot. But the one scene where you just have Aiden Gillen, the dad, just sitting on the couch and just lonely, eating this stale sandwich was such a small little scene and just spoke so many volumes. Like, yeah, you're poor, you're going through this divorce. Like, life did not go where you thought it was gonna go. And like, you think you'll be happier without that person, but this is what your life is actually gonna look like. It was so instantly depressing in this otherwise up upbeat movie. And it just, it. It's instantly told you everything you need to know about that character and his future. And I loved it. I don't know, it's. It's so awful for that character, but for the storytelling, the movie, I really enjoyed it. And the older brother, again, at one point, he's like, when he's getting mad at his kid, like, have you noticed I've been off? Like, I've been, I'm, oh, what's he. I'm withdrawing because I haven't had weed in two days. And like you used to be nothing and I used to be alone with him and I used to be a jet engine. And now you're just like carving in the path that I. Or you're just following the path that I carved. And then like the next scene you see him on the couch smoking weed again. Like he tried for two days and that was the most he could muster and he's right back to his old ways. I. There's just little scenes like that that are quiet but that are so important to the movie. [00:27:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. I think this movie is a three hander. Right. It's. It's Connor, the Mrs. And the Brother. Those are the three like fully fleshed out characters. The rest of the film to me is like a truncated version of all the events that need to happen to see those characters stories through. And I'm okay with it. Obviously, you know, it made for some fun laughs and, somewhat two dimensional characters. But I think that it's the only way to do it successfully to get those intimate moments with those three characters. [00:28:03] Speaker C: Yeah, and. And I thought I liked the pacing of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for more dialogue from some of those side characters. I just feel that stronger actors could have produced, could have squeezed a little bit more out of those scenes. But for what it was, I mean, I was laughing the whole way through this movie. It's a heartfelt movie. It tugged on the heartstrings, it showcased what it needed to and it, it hit you where you wanted to be hit even though you didn't even know you wanted to go there. So it was, it was definitely. It was a good ride for me from start to finish and I tried to give Dan a really hard time about this movie. But in general I, I actually really did enjoy this from start to finish. [00:28:45] Speaker B: I'll take that as a win. Okay, so we've been talking a lot about the fact that it's a musical. What do you think about the actual music? Whether it is the, the musical drops of like the Clash, Aha. Duran Duran, like the bands. Or whether it's the, the Sing street original songs. [00:29:05] Speaker C: Yeah. Do you mind if I jump in on this one, Will? So the Sing street original songs were better than I thought they were going to be. Not as good as the music that they showcase throughout the film. The real music that came from outside this film, those I just loved, they had. It's got a great soundtrack to it the same street. Original songs were pretty good, though. The one thing that kind of didn't quite. The gears didn't quite line up right was that music kind of saves him sort of. But I didn't really see how it was. Just one day he shows up at school and he tells off the bully because he's now got the confidence. But I'm not even sure how he got the confidence just from making music with his friends. Maybe. Maybe it progressed so fast we weren't allowed to see something more develop. But I just felt like they were trying to say he's leaning into his music and that's what's carrying him through these hard times. But I didn't really see how it did. And it was wonderful and it was a fun ride. But like, things maybe happened that I didn't see. I guess I'm not sure if that makes sense. [00:30:24] Speaker B: It does. There are a couple of times we see Connor stand up for himself, which I really liked. Including like the first two minutes. Like the first time the bully puts him in the. [00:30:32] Speaker A: In the. [00:30:34] Speaker B: The bathroom with the slingshot. I think he asked him to do something and he kind of like dances a little bit. He's like, oh, take your pants off. He's like, no, I'm not doing that. And then that scene kind of just ends. He walks away. Then, yes, there's a bully. He stands up to the bully later on when he is kind of like, well, I'm in the band now, so you can't hurt me. And it's like, right. I think he's still good. [00:30:50] Speaker C: He's like your inspiration for my music. And I was like, I don't remember you writing any songs about bullies at all. So I don't know how that was inspiration, like, you know, but then later [00:31:00] Speaker B: on, this girl that he's been chasing and that he's idolized, like, who was [00:31:04] Speaker C: definitely inspiration for his music for sure. [00:31:06] Speaker B: The whole riddle of the model song, like what he says about that song at the beginning is like, well, when you first meet somebody, they're a mystery. They can be anything. And then when the more you get to know them, you put them in a box and they become this one specific thing. And later on when you find that she didn't run away with her boyfriend and she's talking down about what her life is gonna be, like, oh, I guess I'm just gonna work at McDonald's and like hang out with some 15 year old. And he's just like that. He just like gets up and walks away. From her. And she's like, well, tell me this. He's like, no, I don't think I will. Like, he's just, he. I love that he's had enough wherewithal to stand up for himself in that he's been chasing her for so long. [00:31:40] Speaker C: Good for him. [00:31:41] Speaker B: A lot of movies where he's just like, you just keep simping. You just keep simping. And he's just like, no, I know what I am. I know what I'm worth. If you're gonna wallow in sadness and, and spit down on me, you're just like everybody else. And he, and he walked away from it. I just love that so much that he stood up for himself. Not just against the bullies, but also against. [00:32:00] Speaker C: There. There was a scene where his brother introduces him to a band. I forget the band, but he says, this is happy sad. This is how you be sad and happy at the same time. And he goes to school the next day and he's like, this is just how life is. We're going to deal with it. We're going to move on. And that was the one time in the movie where I really felt the music influenced him in a way that helped him to progress through a situation. But otherwise the rest was just him kind of idolizing that girl and inspiring him to write music and then him randomly dealing with the bully in a variety of different ways. One, he says no in the beginning. Two, he has this full on demonstration in front of everybody at the middle of the film. And then three, he invites him to come be a roadie and help them out. Which was hilarious in its own right. All great scenes and everything, but all kind of weird and didn't really have anything to do with the music. He said it did, but I didn't see it. [00:32:53] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I can't, I can't argue that. [00:32:57] Speaker A: I mean, they only had time for five songs, right? So he had to pick and choose which ones. Yeah, yeah. [00:33:02] Speaker B: Fair. [00:33:04] Speaker A: To answer your question from earlier, I, I like the, I like the inspiration and seeing how that affected each new song that they released. I thought that was super fun to see though, those elements of the different bands influences on the music that they're putting out. You know, they dramatically got better as, as the movie went on, which is, which is fine. You know, they again, truncated that, but yeah, yeah, it was, it was. I think, I think John Carney is very talented. He knows music. He grew up in a, in a school band just like this kid, you know, So I think there's a little Bit of writing from his own life here, which makes sense. And, yeah, I think he's very talented writer and director when it comes to these modern musicals that I'm tagging this as. No doubt about it. He knows what he's doing, and he knows how to get a. Get a nice story out of. Out of these. Out of these pictures and. And move you with the music. [00:34:02] Speaker B: There's so many just, like, little things, like, I could just gush about this movie. There's so many, like, little. Little scenes where I'm just like, oh, I love that scene. I love this scene, the. Where his brother is telling about Jordan. Like, oh, you know, the jury's still out on which direction they're gonna go about this, but this guy has a great guitar. And then you hear him quote the exact verbatim later on, like, hands up. If you've done that exact thing before where you're just like, I don't really know what I'm talking about. [00:34:23] Speaker A: But, like, every week on this show, [00:34:26] Speaker C: man, everybody goes fake until you make it, baby. [00:34:30] Speaker B: Yeah, it just. That just comes across as so real to me. I don't know. [00:34:33] Speaker C: I. I like the scene where he kissed the girl, and then he's like, well, what about Evan? And she's like, and you ruined it. And she got up and walked away. And I was like, yeah, that's. That's a good one. I like that. That was funny. [00:34:45] Speaker B: Well, that. And another scene that, again, could have been super cringy, like, because he goes to kiss her and then asks about Evan, and they don't kiss, but then later on, they do kiss when they're on the island or whatever. And then he, like, kisses her, like, three times, and he sits back, and they have, like, a little cracker, and they're just, like, thinking about. He's just like, no, I want to keep kissing you. And he, like, moves up. She's like, I. I just put something in my mouth. [00:35:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:35:04] Speaker B: And, like, he's just like, oh, sorry. He just, like, patiently waits for her to chew, and then they continue making out. I'm just like, I don't know. I feel like there's so many different ways to do that exact scene where you just, like, oh. And you're, like, looking away from the screen just out of embarrassment. And in this one, I'm just smiling the whole time. [00:35:21] Speaker C: Yeah, I. I can't stand those movies where they have cringe. Embarrassing things happen. They make me feel uncomfortable while I'm watching, which is what they're supposed to do. But I Don't like that feeling. I don't like feeling sad or uncomfortable. You know, like, there's a new show with, oh, the guy from the office called Rooster, and I'm watching that Steve Carell. And Steve Carell is a master of that uncomfortable comedy that makes you kind of cringe and go, oh, man, I don't want to go through that. Steve Carell's probably the only person that I watch that type of comedy with and enjoy because it doesn't. He, for some reason, nails it for me, but. But everybody else, it just makes me uncomfortable. It stresses me out, and I don't want to watch that. So that's why normally coming of age movies, not my bag, but this one, this one, just from start to finish, with a very few exceptions, just makes you feel good. [00:36:20] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:36:25] Speaker A: You'll have to tell us what your twins think of this movie. [00:36:28] Speaker B: I will absolutely do that because I. [00:36:30] Speaker A: I don't want to. They're closer to the age of the move kids in the movie, so I want to see how they kind of relate to it or. Or if they can, well, hone in [00:36:39] Speaker B: on closer to that age. But they'll also have no reference point for the songs in this, or at least none that I'm sure. [00:36:45] Speaker A: But that the. The, you know, coming of age story is kind of a universal thing. I just want to see how it. How it plays with. With that younger audience. [00:36:55] Speaker B: Sure. Yeah, I can absolutely, you know about that. Do you guys have anything else before we move on to rating this thing? [00:37:01] Speaker C: The makeup was a little weird for me. She's like, well, you guys need stage makeup. And I'm like, like, I performed on stage and I'm used to doing stage. In fact, I did the makeup for the girls at my school because I lived in such a hick town growing up that they didn't know how to apply makeup. And so I learned how to apply stage makeup, which is excessive. It's not something you would put on to go out to the mall or something. But anyway, I understand stage makeup. And so I saw them wearing stage makeup plus, and I was like, that's kind of weird. They sort of look like vampires. And then he's wearing it to school on top of that, which was another choice. The makeup was intense, and I think that it was a little bit more for the time period they wanted to demonstrate. 85, I believe. And so it was okay, but it was. It was awkward to see. I was expecting them to her to do those kids up with makeup that would make them look good. On camera. But instead it gave them a style on camera, rather, because it was so intense. Like the white with a dark eyeliner, red highlights in the corners and stuff, and lipstick and whatnot. And so it was kind of intense. [00:38:15] Speaker A: Yeah. It's the pop groups of the time, man. [00:38:18] Speaker C: Yeah. I think that was look and things. [00:38:21] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. [00:38:22] Speaker B: Well, and also, especially if you're talking about, like, the alleyway scene the first time they put on the makeup. [00:38:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:38:27] Speaker B: Who knows if she knows what she's doing either, right? [00:38:29] Speaker C: Yeah. She might just be BSing it. [00:38:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Like you said, you learned how to do that. I don't know what your first show looked like. Right. Who knows? I'm just saying, like, I don't know. Maybe you were a natural or they [00:38:43] Speaker C: all look like mines. I don't know. [00:38:47] Speaker B: I. This is the first time. This is like, probably the fourth or fifth time I've seen this movie. This is the first time I noticed when they're shooting the pure one that the little black kid is wearing white face, and you're just like. Nobody else even has makeup on. What are you doing? [00:38:59] Speaker C: I saw that. I saw that. He's fully powdered up. [00:39:02] Speaker B: Okay. [00:39:04] Speaker A: Anything to stand out, man. Anything to stand out with that guy. [00:39:07] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, he was. He wanted center stage. It was. He was pretty funny every time. [00:39:10] Speaker A: Super funny. [00:39:13] Speaker B: The last thing I'll have to say then, I guess is I really like how. And this is the first time that I really picked up on this. When they're going into the. Near the end, they're doing the dance video for Drive it like you stole it. And he wants her to show up, and she doesn't, unfortunately. But he's kind of walking through, like, what he wants that video to look like. Like, she's gonna come in from the exit, walk down the center. Everybody's gonna clear a path. Everybody's dancing. They're going to clear a path. She's going to make eye contact. We're gonna run off into the night. That'll be the thing. And then we talked to his brother. He's like, well, I'd really love Mum and dad, too. Like, we're playing at the dance. I'd really love mom and dad to show up. I'd really love you to be there. And his brother's like, yeah, you know, I'll see if I can make it. And when they're shooting that, like, they're shooting the video, but it's like the dream, essentially. The parents show up, the brother shows up, the. The school marm or whatever. The priest kind of like gets into it, like, all these ridiculous things happen. But when it actually comes time for the show, Rafinha is the only one who shows up for him. [00:40:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:09] Speaker B: Like, his parents aren't there. His brother doesn't show up. But she comes in, does the exact same thing, walks through the crowd, everybody's singing. Sure, maybe it's on the nose, but I thought it was really beautiful that, like, he's done all this for her and finally she's coming through for him. Yeah, [00:40:25] Speaker C: well, after she insults him in the park, she better do something nice. [00:40:29] Speaker A: I just like the knife fight. That was. That was the good part. The brother at the knife fight. [00:40:32] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's so. [00:40:34] Speaker A: And then they're just like, shake hands. And then they're just enjoying the music. [00:40:38] Speaker C: Yeah, just go with it. [00:40:39] Speaker B: Yeah, very 1950s back to the Future. [00:40:41] Speaker A: Yeah, it was good. [00:40:44] Speaker B: All right, good. [00:40:45] Speaker A: Let's do it. Let's break the thing. [00:40:47] Speaker B: All right. If you like what we do and you want to help support us, consider joining our Patreon. There's a link down below. Thank you to our producers as well as our executive producer, Dino, and a huge shout out to our writers, Elder JM 990, Ms. Hillary and Real Bubba Hotep. Thank you all very much. Next week is our Patreon pick, and I believe we are doing American Beauty, if I remember correctly. So come on, hang out for us for the Watch party and check out that episode next Thursday night. [00:41:18] Speaker C: Okay. So this movie had its flaws for me. I think acting was something that I struggled with. I wasn't sure if it was the direction or the dialogue of the characters or if it was their acting. I always have trouble depicting that, but I do think that some of the. The smaller roles just didn't squeeze out as much as I could have. And some of the characters were either a little too on the nose or a little too intense or not intense enough. It was kind of all over the place. The People who Mattered did amazing, though. And so it wasn't a big issue for me as far as everything else. The only thing I really had a problem with was probably the cinematography. I just didn't enjoy the cinematography. It was bland. It kind of had some harsh lighting. They were also trying to show them and their recordings, which their recordings were naturally shaky camera recordings on old school VHS cassettes. And so that was, you know, in there supposed to be. But when they were doing the real shots, they had some weird camera angles that made some people look shorter or taller when they shouldn't. Have they had some wide angles or people just not boxed in the shot the way I would want to do. And so the cinematography was just driving me nuts. But that's a technical thing that probably only bothered me. The film in general was a really good film that had me laughing. It was tugging on my heartstrings not too hard. It didn't make me cringe. Except for maybe the scene in the bathroom with the bully. But it didn't really go anywhere and had a. A kind of a. An ending that I was like, oh, okay. That didn't go where I was expecting it to go. And so I was able to sit through this movie and really enjoy it. I'm giving it a 71, which is a lot higher than I thought I was going to give this film. And I will actually admit something. When we started watching this movie, I was like, oh, I remember the trailer for this. This was a movie that I wanted to see. [00:43:25] Speaker B: Oh my. [00:43:27] Speaker C: Yep, that's fun. [00:43:29] Speaker B: Okay, nice. [00:43:31] Speaker A: Okay, now you have. [00:43:34] Speaker C: Now I have. [00:43:34] Speaker A: Check it off. [00:43:35] Speaker C: All because of. Of you two and, and the R rating show. [00:43:39] Speaker B: Boom. Our rating. Bringing people in movies together. All right. I've gushed about this movie for the last hour. I don't have a whole lot of negatives on this one now I'm not. I struggled for the tiniest bit. Not that I think this movie actually deserves a hundred. But just like, where do I actually find fault with this film? The sound design. There's a couple of times where they will start playing an instrument and then it very clearly switches over to a pre recorded of the actual music. It's noticeable in like a scene or two. But overall I don't really mind it because obviously they're probably not playing their own instruments. It's just easier for the sound technicians. It is still an indie film, although it does have a significantly higher budget than last year. Last week's film. But the, the sound design, the music in this overall was just absolutely fantastic. I love the songs in this. Both the needle drops as well as the original. The acting I don't have too much of an issue with. And like they said, the characters that matter nail their performances. I believe the brother. I believe him. I. I really like Rafina and even the. The best friend who like we said, didn't have a whole lot to do, but every time he had something to do, he was just in there for his friend. He's just like, yeah, absolutely. What are we doing now? Let's do it. I really liked that, the cinematography. It's a little bland. You're not wrong. It's like the one scene that I would fight back on that would be the dream sequence where they're like. They're recording the 50s dance in the gymnasium. I thought that was actually quite a fun sequence. But for the most part it is like just sitting around and talking. So I get that the plot on this one, it is a lot of things you've seen before in a coming of age story, but it does it in such a way that makes it feel fresh and fun. I have a smile on my face the entire time I'm watching this. This enjoyment level on this one could not be higher for me. This is a 94 for me. I adore, adore this film. And I'm gonna watch it again very soon. [00:45:31] Speaker A: Very nice. Yeah. Again, I think we said a lot of what we've said and I don't have a lot to add. I do want to push back a bit on what Dan said about like the. The music choice of them playing their instruments and then going into like that pre record. I kind of felt that was in the. In the vibe of the truncated storytelling of them. Hey, we're trying to pick up these instruments and now we know the song. And that was their way of like just blending those two scenes together. Specifically, there's one in the living room where they were like strumming out the music and starting to sing with the best friend. And then the keyboardist comes in and then the bass player comes in and then the whole room is filled. And that was like the transition of them being like, yeah, now we're actually banging this song out. So that didn't bother me as much overall. I mean it's a. It's a feel good movie. It's hard to hate on it. Unless you hate 80s music for some reason or you hate coming of age movies for some reason. I, I just think it's a fairly safe movie. There's not a lot of like groundbreaking or, or pushing the barrier or anything like that. Not that any, you know, or all movies have to be that. It was enjoyable. Yeah, it's the modern musical. So if you're into that, give it a. Give it a check out if you can find it. Just knock on Dan's door, He'll lend it to you. I give this a 78 out of 100. Not too shabby. [00:47:00] Speaker B: I'll take that. I'll take that. [00:47:02] Speaker A: You don't have a choice. [00:47:07] Speaker B: Sorry, go ahead. [00:47:08] Speaker C: I like the, the music transitions the way they did it. I didn't Feel it was. I thought that everything was intentional there. So it didn't. [00:47:16] Speaker B: So maybe I wasn't clear in what I was saying. Not like where you're talking about where they're learning their instruments, but like when it's one of the times when they're on stage at the end of the movie. I can't remember if it's the dream sequence or if it's when they're actually performing live in front of a crowd. But like, you can hear like, he strums the guitar. He strums the guitar and it's like the live actor doing it. And then like you can almost hear a click of an audible, like turning the tape on. And then it is like the sound quality, just full studio. [00:47:47] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:47:47] Speaker B: Yeah. And like it didn't take me out of the film by any stretch, but it's one of those, like. [00:47:53] Speaker C: I know you're talking about now. Actually, I. I remember that too. Yeah. They go into one of their heavier rock songs. He's on stage, he's got the red guitar and he's strumming it. And about halfway through his first couple of strums, it does, it does switch over to a pre recorded. You don't hear the sound of the auditorium anymore or anything. So I. I did remember that, you're right. But that was the only one time that that ever really occurred to me. [00:48:16] Speaker B: It's just one of those, like, if I. If I'm not going to give it 100, there has to be a reason. So I had to choose some pretty small things. Right. And with that, we see Sing street coming in fourth place with a score of 81. That was a 94 from me, a 71 from Brian, and a 78 from Will. Guys, how do you feel about this score? [00:48:34] Speaker A: It's a feel good movie. It feels good there. [00:48:37] Speaker C: I'm okay with it. [00:48:39] Speaker B: Fair enough. [00:48:40] Speaker C: I like it better than Shutter island, actually. I. I think it's got its problems and that's why my score is lower than Shutter island score. But for fun, for entertainment, for what I want to watch, I would come back to Sing street before I come back to Shutter Island. But I do like Moon better than Sing street, so I. I think it fits pretty well right there. [00:49:01] Speaker B: That's fair. I was also pretty happy to see it coming above Shutter Island. I'm not gonna lie. I think. I think the top four movies here, ones that I would pretty happily watch again at some point, and then, you know, it gets sketchier after that for me. [00:49:15] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Hey, we're not gonna like everything. [00:49:18] Speaker A: And that's a. Okay part of the fun. [00:49:23] Speaker C: Honestly, I've said this before. I really like it when our opinions diverge drastically and we have really different views of what was good and what isn't. And I'm almost frustrated sometimes when we all come in within five points of each other or something. Yeah. And it's like, you know, I. I did. I know Dan saw me laughing, like almost the entire way through at the watch party, so he knew I was going to be enjoying this, at least to a degree. But I really did kind of want to, like, scare him or stick it to him or come in and make it sound like I was gonna bomb this movie. But it's a feel good movie. It's done right and I enjoyed it. [00:50:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. You like. The second the movie was done, you're like, I don't want to give Dan anything by click and you're gone. I'm just like. You were laughing the entire time. I already have everything. [00:50:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:50:12] Speaker B: If you'd stuck around, I probably would have quoted the Princess Bride like, you fool, You've given everything away. I know where the poison is. All right, that's our rating of Sing street, but what's yours? Leave a comment down below. I'd love to hear from you. Is this a movie you've seen or heard of before, or is this your first time hearing about it? We record these live or at Twitch tv, the Mongolie Show. So you can head over there and hit the follow button if you want to check us out live. Or if you want to see these more of these videos, make sure you hit like and subscribe on this one so we see you in the next one. [00:50:46] Speaker A: Sam.