Culture Gabfest - Drive My Batmobile
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Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 23 March 2022
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, New York Times columnist and Slate graduate, Jamelle Bouie, fills in for Steve as the panel begins by entering the Gotham of Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Then, for our final pre-Oscars round-up, the panel digs into Best Picture nominee Drive My Car. Finally, the panel discusses the trend of ever-elongating movie runtimes.
In Slate Plus, the panel questions Jamelle about his recent deep dive into the work of Martin Scorcese.
Email us at culturefest@slate.com.
Endorsements
Dana: Pedro Almodóvar’s addition to the Director’s Issue series of W Magazine, in which he interviews and photographs Penélope Cruz.
Jamelle: The 4K UHD version of the 1993 Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle Hard Target. Directed by Hong Kong director, John Woo, Hard Target is the first major Hollywood film made by a Chinese director. But, it’s Jamelle’s pick because it’s one of the best restorations of a movie he’s ever seen.
Julia: The Batman ‘66 series, which is a Batman that is different than the dark opus of Batman today. It’s good for adults but also great for kids. Then an addendum from Jamelle: the kid-friendly, highly funny Batman animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Nadira Goffe.
Outro music is "What Do You Want From Me" by OTE
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Julia Turner, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest, Drive My Batmobile edition. |
| 0:16.5 | On today's show, we'll discuss The Batman, the box office busting new film from director |
| 0:21.5 | Matt Reeves, in which Robert Pattinson roams around an even gloomier version of Gotham |
| 0:26.4 | than we usually see. |
| 0:27.9 | Then, Drive My Car, the meditative Oscar-nominated Japanese film from director Reyesuke |
| 0:33.3 | Hamaguchi, starring Hitatoshi Nishijima and a very, very pretty red sob. |
| 0:38.5 | Finally, long movie rundimes. Both of the films we're discussing this week pushed three |
| 0:43.5 | hours in duration. We'll discuss the best and worst ways to make 180 plus minutes of movie |
| 0:48.7 | and our relationships to super long cinema. Joining me today is Dana Stevens, the film critic for Slate. Hey, Dana. Hey, how you doing, Julia? And also joining us today in place of Departed Steve, not forever departed Steve, just departed once again this week, Steve, is Jamel Bowie, friend of the program and opinion columnist for the New York Times. Welcome back, Jamel. Thank you for having me. Always happy to be here. We are so excited to have you on. And in honor of your deep film |
| 1:16.6 | nerdery, we have gone full film today. So film nerds, get ready. Shall we do a show? Let's do it. |
| 1:25.9 | First up this week is The Batman, the latest iteration of the |
| 1:29.7 | Caped Crusader. Robert Pattinson's Batman is, has become the custom brooding, stoic, and fighting |
| 1:36.4 | villains in Gotham City. But he's also a bit younger than recent counterparts, just two years |
| 1:41.2 | into his caped vigilante career with a length physique floppy 90s hair and |
| 1:46.5 | eye black that gives him an emo air when he takes off his cowl. His nemesis this time around is |
| 1:51.7 | Paul Danos the riddler who's been killing prominent political figures around the city. And he also |
| 1:56.2 | encounters Zoe Kravitz's catwoman, Jeffrey Wright's James Gordon, and an unrecognizable Colin Farrell |
| 2:02.5 | as The Penguin. I think the best audio clip for us to give you guys a sense of the film |
| 2:08.2 | will be a clip from the trailer. Here you will hear Paul Dano's very spooky riddler voice, |
| 2:13.9 | and then Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz as Batman and Catwoman. |
| 2:19.4 | You came. |
| 2:21.1 | I've been trying to reach you. |
... |
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