Ryan McNeil
Runtime
84 minutes
Show Contents
0:00 Introduction
3:05 Know Your Enemy with Guest –ANDREW JAMES
22:41 The New Slang: KIMI
1:03:23 The Other Side: Andrew and Ryan talk further reading after Steven Soderbergh’s film
Thoughts from your host…
I got my haircut this week (why thank you, I do think Anka did a great job!…)
While I was sitting there paying a friendly Romanian to take sharp objects to my head, she asked me if I remembered what I was feeling when I sat in that chair this time last year…and likewise the year before that. She was asking about failure. She was asking if I remembered what it felt like to be told I wasn’t good enough – and then watching someone prove it.
Failure is a funny thing, and I think about it because I find today’s film an “interesting failure”.
On the one hand, it’s a loss – an undeniable missing of a mark. It comes with negative emotions and labels of an opportunity missed. Big failures can be costly,but little failures might go unnoticed. Almost seems like a contradiction, since you would think that “a fail is a fail”.
That brings me to the other hand – failure can be a good thing because it’s how we grow. We all learn from our mistakes. Heck, we’re likely more prone to reviewing and analyzing something we did wrong than something we did right, so in a weird way a failure could be more valuable in the long run than a success.
Whether it’s artistically, professionally, or personally – we all have to face failures with an uncomfortable degree of regularity. We all want our endeavours to turn out like TRAFFIC, but once in a while they turn out like KIMI (or FULL FRONTAL, or THE LAUNDROMAT, or THE UNDERNEATH). There’s nothing wrong with that. What matters is only what film we decide to make next.
We mustn’t be afraid to fail – we should only fear not having the strength to try and try again.
Links mentioned in Episode 279…
Matineecast 92 live from Minneapolis where Andrew James and I discuss FARGO
Andrew’s Letterboxd list of Minnesota Movies.
The alternate ending of INDEPENDENCE DAY:
Andrew’s Letterboxd rankings of Steven Soderbergh films
Eddie Murphy’s Ice Cream Man routine from DELIRIOUS:
The book Andrew chose as an Other Side selection – “Breaking Gravity” by Mitty Walters
Trailer for Alex Garland’s new film starring Jessie Buckley, MEN:
Andrew’s Letterboxd feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank-you very much for listening.
Enjoy!
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