I interviewed John Maclean, the director of the coming-of-age samurai revenge movie TORNADO. The titular character is a teenage girl (Koki) avenging her father's murder at the hands of a band of thieves led by Sugarman (Tim Roth) and his son Little Sugar (Jack Lowden).

I swear I didn't mean for this episode to drop on Father's Day but it feels appropriate. The movie features two sets of father and child struggling with communication and good old-fashioned rebellion. It doesn't matter that Fujin (Takehiro Hira) nurtures and disciplines his daughter while Sugarman has left his son to fully grow into adulthood with little more than an idea of how to lead a group of ruffians. Either way, kids will roll their eyes. They'll pull a 180 to spite whatever you say.

Maclean and I discussed the importance of leading by example, the necessary shift of perspective from one who rejects their parents' tutelage to one who embraces it with warmth.

But don't worry, I didn't forget this is a samurai flick, spraying blood and sword-slashed limbs as Tornado's wind-blown hair shrouds her face in captivating mystery. You know I had to talk the Kurosawa influence, especially one shot that genuinely looks like an anime finisher.

This was a fun conversation. Maclean is a thoughtful guy, in love with so many different facets of what film has to reveal. I hope y'all enjoy this as much as I did recording it.

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First things first: Thank you for 200 episodes! It's been continuously joyful to keep showing up for y'all, to chat about the art form that fuels my love and obsession. I gave myself a goal to get here by December, so the fact that it's May tells me I've put a decent-sized proverbial fire under my ass.

Today, I interview Bille August, the director of the new romantic drama THE KISS, about soldier-in-training Anton (Esben Smed) courting wheelchair-bound aristocrat Edith (Clara Rosager) in 1913 Denmark.

At first, this sounds like the stuff of airport love novels, but Anton's main concern is to pull himself up by the bootstraps out of poverty. This pursuit of upper class ends up creating a rift between his feelings for Edith because his prejudice, quiet though unchecked, ensures, in his mind, that a serious romantic relationship would be judged negatively by his community.

He does care for her, so he won't be callous as his fellow soldiers do behind her back, but he also won't defend her. He overcompensates with compassion to soften any blow regarding blowing off plans or sneaking in a lie to cover his whereabouts. Compassion bleeds into pity, reflecting the warning posted in the title of the Stefan Zweig novel on which the movie's based: BEWARE OF PITY.

August and I spoke about pity, the idea of too much compassion being the real villain of a decidedly thorny, frustrating story. Anton hits too close to home regarding how we pity others, how our own prejudices go unexamined due to cowardice. In this, the movie's evergreen.

THE KISS is currently playing in select theaters.

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THE KISS is based on Stefan Zweig's novel BEWARE OF PITY. Pity is the word. It's the emotion that keeps Anton (Esben Smed) at an arm's length from Edith (Clara Rosager).

Anton is a poor kid trying to raise his social status by rising through military ranks. Edith is the wheelchair-bound daughter of the wealthy Baron Løvenskjold (Lars Mikkelsen). He makes her laugh. She loves his company. He looks strapping in uniform. She's gorgeous. The movie's called THE KISS. The poster has them an inch away from locking lips; this should be a romance for the ages, right?

Not necessarily. Anton's quest for a higher class leaves him susceptible to external (and subsequently internal) judgment. The ableist muttering from other soldiers and cries of "You're not really with her, are you?" are enough to keep him quiet. He doesn't join in the jeering but he also doesn't defend her.

The prejudice is quiet yet strong. He flakes on commitments; he lies to her. He clearly enjoys spending time with her but a wheelchair-bound wife isn't great for the image. That's enough for him to justify his distance by extending too much compassion, by doubting Edith's abilities, pushing back on any of her attempts to let loose. Compassion festers into pity. Pity is myopic: It only sees a person for what they can't do, who they can't be.

This makes for an appropriately frustrating lead. I think it's going to frustrate because for the most part, Anton's a stand-up guy. But he's got that prejudice. He recognizes it and cowardly remains inert about it. A lot of us can probably see ourselves in Anton and as much as we fear other people's judgments, we fear our own the most. THE KISS isn't the most riveting movie, but it made me point the finger back towards myself.

THE KISS is currently playing in select theaters.

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ADA: MY MOTHER THE ARCHITECT is a documentary directed by Yael Melamede, the daughter of the titular mother, Ada Karim-Melamede.

Karim-Melamede is one of Israel's finest architects, receiving the Israel Prize for architecture in 2007, an honor she shares with both her father and brother. She co-designed Israel's Supreme Court with her brother from 1982 to 1992. This was a move intended to only keep her separate from her American-based husband and three kids for a year. 40 years later, Ada continues to live alone in Tel Aviv.

This tension between mother and daughter is inherent to the story, but never beholden to it. Yael, a self-proclaimed failed architect in her own right, approaches interviewing her mother against a typical cradle-to-career-to-family path. She gets Ada to talk the most by asking about architecture.

It's through Ada's breakdowns of five concepts that Yael is able to blend a primer on architectural appreciation with her mother's history. This movie coming in the wake of THE BRUTALIST's success last year doesn't surprise me. What it does do, however, is expand the horizons of my understanding. You can look at a pretty building all day, but once you understand how the architect chooses, characterizes, synthesizes each decision, almost like a filmmaker blocking each frame? It's hard to ever again look at a building with merely a passive gaze.

Via Ada's conversations about architectural roots, the role of one's heart, the passage of time and the need to respect the past when it comes time to carve a creative future, I learn about this woman's devotion to the environment, history, the fulfillment of a grand ideological promise, and mostly, the benefits of creating within a community.

What Yael Melamede is able to pull off in 80 minutes is astonishing. I shouldn't have expected any less from someone with such a history in design. ---
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This week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced some new rule changes regarding eligibility and voting for the Oscars.

The main change? Oscar voters are, as of this season, REQUIRED to watch all nominees in each category they vote in. Why this wasn't a rule beforehand is beyond me, but y'know, if the best time to throw water at a burning house is at the start, the second best time is now.

Along with this is some language regarding generative AI, new submission deadlines, updates to the voting process for the Animated Short Film and Cinematography categories, and the rule reveal for how the new category for Best Casting will be decided.

I was fully ready to let this Oscars news be the full episode, but Thierry Fremaux and his band of merry folx had different plans. Part deux of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival lineup dropped yesterday, adding 16 films to the official selection, including Kristen Stewart's directorial debut THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER and Lynne Ramsay's DIE MY LOVE (which will be featured In Competition).

How can I pass up an opportunity to talk about even more potentially kickass movies? Do you SEE the name of this podcast?---
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Please rate, review & subscribe to The Movies wherever you listen to podcasts!
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