Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Natey & Katy are two friends who love movies and love talking about them. Join them on their cinematic journey!
Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Classic Cons and Spirited Escapes
What happens when classic cinema meets unexpected twists and turns? This week on Natey & Katy: At the Movies, we kick things off with a personal anecdote about the surprise of discovering Robert Earl Jones in "The Sting" and his connection to the legendary James Earl Jones. Our conversation takes a turn down memory lane with the unforgettable performances of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, sparking a fun debate on whether Brad Pitt’s role in "Ocean’s Eleven" was influenced by Redford. Katy, ever the skeptic, challenges the film’s appeal while we both laugh about getting lost in the complex plot and the myriad of characters.
In a delightful plot twist, Katy introduces a double feature with Pixar and Disney’s "Up," revealing she has never seen this animated gem despite its significant cultural footprint. We delve into the emotional highs and humorous moments that make "Up" a perfect pick as we transition from September to October. This episode is a blend of classic movie critique and new film excitement, sprinkled with our signature playful banter. Tune in for an engaging mix of old favorites and fresh discoveries!
Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new episode of Nadie and Katie at the Movies. I'm your host, nathan aka Nadie, of course, and on today's episode is my good friend Katie. Hi Katie, how are you?
Speaker 2:I'm good. Sorry, I'm finishing swallowing a boiled peanut. I feel like I didn't mean for this to become part of our show, but I am always eating, so today is sponsored by hampton farms jumbo salted roasted peanuts packed with protein and fresh. Anywho, I'm excited to be on the show today and review a movie with you. Was it one you liked?
Speaker 1:well, I guess we'll find out because we're talking about the sting, a classic con man movie starring some classic actors. But before I can talk about anything I gotta go over the synopsis. Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con. The sting stars paul newman, robert redford, robert shaw, charles Sting stars Paul Newman, robert Redford, robert Shaw, charles Durning and I don't know if you noticed this, katie. I watched this with my wife and we're watching this movie and the guy who plays Robert Redford's friend at the beginning of the movie Did you realize who that actor was?
Speaker 2:Wait, which friend? The guy that died Luther, huh, no, which friend?
Speaker 1:The guy that died Luther.
Speaker 2:Huh, no, I did not realize that.
Speaker 1:Okay. So we're watching this movie and I'm the type of person who, when I watch a movie and I either recognize the face or I recognize the voice, I'm like, oh my gosh, I know who that is. So I have to look it up right. So Luther starts talking and it sounds just like James Earl Jones. So I'm like, oh my gosh, is that James Earl Jones? So I look up and it's not James Earl Jones. It's not, it's Robert Earl Jones. Do you know who that is? James Earl Jones's father. His dad was in this movie and he sounds just like him. It's father His dad was in this movie and he sounds just like him. It's crazy.
Speaker 1:And it's kind of ironic because rest in peace James Earl Jones. He just passed away, Not his father, but James Earl Jones himself. He just passed away recently. So I thought that was kind of cool. That was like one of the only things in this movie that I was like, oh my gosh, that's so cool. So let's talk about. Let's talk about the sting yeah, hold on.
Speaker 2:That's Nathan. That's not a good start. You're telling me that the coolest thing about this movie a person that you likes dad, was in the movie. That that says it all right there. I, I had something, way. I thought that was really cool. That felt like a connection as well. That I think was way way cool. Robert, was it Robert Redford? What's his name? Robert Redford yes, robert, Redford is like Brad Pitt. Is Robert Redford reincarnated? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:That's not a real. It's not a real connection. It's it's something you observed about him no, they're like another actor, they're not brothers. I thought you were gonna say robert redford is the great uncle of brett. I'm like no mine as well.
Speaker 2:I mean, they look really. It is uncanny to me and I was just talking to some friends about this the other day Shout out, lee, she was, she's like man, he's such an attractive man. And I said, I know, and he looked so much like Brad Pitt. And it is even more humorous and interesting to me because of that connection. I wonder how much this movie influenced Ocean's Eleven. Yeah, what go there with me.
Speaker 1:I know that's a movie about it, because it's about you, do understand that oceans 11 is a remake of a movie literally called oceans 11, so there's already.
Speaker 2:There's already a movie that you know how could I, how could I be expected to know that? Um, my point being I think that maybe brad pitt um, used this character as inspiration because the mannerisms, like the eating in scenes and like the, the way that they like make their face and the speech that they look when they've dressed up in a tux. I feel like I was having a hard time watching this and not thinking it was brad pitt, and then that would make the other guy, uh, the george clooney I mean, I guess, I guess you can make that connection.
Speaker 1:But let's go back to our likes and dislikes about this movie. So I again. I watched this with my wife. My wife actually ended up enjoying it. She thought it was pretty good. Um, surprisingly so, because I'm sitting there the whole time and I don't even. Okay, can we, can we make? Can we make a deal? Katie, if you watch a movie before me, don't text me and let me know what you thought of the movie, because I don't know if I didn't like it as much, because you literally text me and said it's, it's not that exciting in my opinion. So don't get your hopes up. And so that's how I come into this movie with that already in my mind that I'm already not gonna like it. And then I don't. I don't really like it power and persuasion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's fair. I could. I feel like that. That is a spoiler. I shouldn't have done that. Um, and I do stand by that. I just was trying to help you out. I guess it wasn't that bad, so I shouldn't have had to warn you. I'd rather something be boring than terrible and don't want to watch. I know you and I talk about dozing off sometimes. This one was not a dozing off as much as a skip forward. Skip forward, skip forward. This just keeps going, skip forward. I'm not invested.
Speaker 1:I'm folding laundry. Yeah, do you think it could be because this movie does a lot of like there's a lot of action, not action, but there's a lot of stuff going on, and then they just pause and have like a cue card with, like I guess, chapters like chapter two, the surprise, and they play, like this old time jazzy music and then they keep going. Do you think that that could have contributed to the slowness of the movie, like if they had just if they had just continued the movie going on and didn't have those little pauses in between.
Speaker 2:maybe I don't think that was the cause. I think it definitely didn't help. In fact, it actually probably gave me hope. I kept thinking, oh good, this is a new scene or a new setting and I'd get excited, thinking, well, this next one will be more exciting, and it's not. I also think excited, thinking well, this next one will be more exciting, and it's not.
Speaker 2:I also think, nathan, as we talk about a lot, we're watching this film not when it came out, and I think we have so many heist and maybe con man type movies. We've seen that this was not so shocking and crazy and plot twist as much as it maybe would have in that time period, if that makes sense. And again, ocean's 11 is not correct. That's more of a heist movie, but there was a movies with like a con man. We've had a lot of them come across in the two thousands and so I think this was not such a like Ooh, new topic to me. I think the acting was incredible If I had to give it a positive. I don't me. I think the acting was incredible. If I had to give it a positive, I think everyone knocked it out of the park. Like I said, I was just totally enamored by Robert Redman and just.
Speaker 2:Redford sorry and couldn't think of him, as it's just like Brad Pitt, but the other guy whose name escapes me again.
Speaker 1:Paul Newman. The more famous of the two, the more classic of the two.
Speaker 2:Paul Newman. This is probably not true, but I saw a statistic that said Paul Newman's highest grossing movie was cars, which I guess may make sense because his movies are older, yeah.
Speaker 1:I could see that, Unfortunately. Yes.
Speaker 2:How sad, I know.
Speaker 1:Because he's been in so many.
Speaker 2:I thought he was so charming and they both have those beautiful blue eyes. I liked the twist at the end. There's a little twist where they get to. But I think also part of my thing that made me think it was boring, Nathan, was how confusing it was Knowing everyone's name and keeping track of who's who's boss and who's trying to like. I don't think I could tell you the characters names. Like half the movie I couldn't remember who was who and the mob boss and who's died and whose side are we on, and maybe that's part of it. They want you to be confused. But I also think it made me not as excited when the end comes because I was so lost. It didn't mean anything.
Speaker 1:Robert Redford and even some of the the side characters I recognized from other movies. So it had a pretty, you know, recognizable cast too, and there were a lot of twists. Like you didn't know if Robert Redford was actually going to betray Paul Newman's character a couple of times. So, like there were, there were things about it that if it was more interesting, I probably would have cared more and I probably would have been invested more. But I don't know because, like you said, the acting wasn't bad, the acting wasn't flat, the line delivery were good.
Speaker 1:I don't know what it was about it and I kind of wish you know we had Tim and Patrick from the film brothers championship podcast on our last episode. You should take a listen to that. I thought it was great. I kind of wish they were on this episode because when we talked about that this is what we're going to watch both of them had nothing but high praise for it, and so when I'm watching this I'm kind of keeping that in my mind too, that two guys who are pretty good at knowing a good film liked it.
Speaker 2:And I'm sitting here and then you had me say I didn't like it, so you chose to listen to me, the dumb dumb, instead of listening to them and not and not you guys who you in-depth with their reviews and stuff.
Speaker 2:Here's the thing I mean to counter that point, nathan. I shouldn't have to know all this stuff to enjoy a movie, and I think that's what really sets a movie apart for me, and why I rate movies the way I do is I shouldn't have to go deep, dive, research or learn more things or view it in its time. Right now it is 2024. And that is what I'm viewing it for is what's entertaining to me now what's entertaining to me on the surface level. You and I have talked about that a lot.
Speaker 2:Some of these movies where we became very interested in them only after the fact and, to be fair, we've only watched them one time. You know a lot of these. Maybe upon multiple viewings it would change my perspective, but yeah, it was just kind of a snooze fest to me, honestly. Well, can I tell you though I did. If I had to say like a shining moment in the movie, it would have been the poker scene. I don't know. I'm sure that's probably a highlight for many people who've watched this movie. There's a scene where kind of the big baddie that we're trying to, I guess, con is is he's actually been cheating in a poker game, and then, um, paul newman comes in there and just is absolutely ridiculous. But the the acting and the tension in that room and the humor I've loved yeah, I mean there there were moments.
Speaker 1:There are definitely moments, because with a movie with paul newman in there's going to, there's got to be those great acting moments, you know, like in Cars. He was great, and so I don't know, I don't know why this movie was such a miss for me, but yeah, I do One. One other good thing is I like the soundtrack, I like the, the jazzy music. I liked it, but again, the only two highlights for me were the jazzy music. I liked it, but again, the only two highlights for me were the jazzy music and the fact that James Earl Jones's dad was in this. I seriously thought that was awesome, and I was. I was really upset Spoiler alert when they killed his character off. I was very upset because I thought I was hoping he would be in it, more especially when I realized who he was. But are there any? Do you have any final thoughts or can we just go ahead and rate this thing?
Speaker 2:let's rate this bad boy.
Speaker 1:All right. So I'm gonna give the sting. Mostly because of just the classic actors in it and robert earl jones and the jazzy music, I'm going to give it a solid four out of six. Because it's still it's considered an iconic film, so why not? I'm going to give it a four.
Speaker 2:You see, I'm not going to let these you know Raiders and voters persuade me, and I'm sorry to you actors that are classics, but I'm giving this a one and a half. I just really found it boring. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and the one and a half is going to those, paul Newman and Robert Redford. They're the only ones that got this movie points for me Because, again, they did an incredible job. I feel like maybe in another movie I would appreciate it even more.
Speaker 1:Well, there you have it, folks. That's the sting right there. Paul Newman, robert Redford, katie and I didn't like it. Sorry, we just didn't like it.
Speaker 2:Oh, it stings.
Speaker 1:So coming up next, on our last episode of September, we were both going to review a Stanley Kubrick classic. I mean, I guess people consider it a classic A Clockwork Orange. Now, I actually did watch this because it's on our list and I've been advertising it on our Facebook, Instagram, tiktok, all the social media that you can find us on. You should follow us, by the way. Shameless plug for our social media. So I've been advertising for it. So I was like we're going to watch it, and then Katie was like I don't want to watch it, so Katie is not going to watch it.
Speaker 2:I just, you know it's not. It doesn't seem like I watched a trailer. It doesn't seem like it's worth the $3.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's another thing. A three dollars yeah, that's another thing. A little, a little, a little, uh, a little. Tirade, uh, if you will, and tirade I don't know if that's the word I'm looking for. So I originally made this list because I was like let's find all the movies that are streaming, so you don't have to buy anything. Well, well, by the time we get to some of these movies, they're off the streaming services. So you have to buy them, you have to rent them, so yeah, so I rented a clockwork orange and I that's one of the reasons why I'm going to talk about it. I'm not even going to play a clip from it. I already just told you what it is. But katie decided that she wanted to make it a double feature. You know kind of like what I do on our surprise saturday episodes, which you should also listen to because those are fun. So katie picked a movie and here is a clip from the movie that she picked and stop, stop.
Speaker 2:Hey, what do?
Speaker 1:you think you're doing? I am am so sorry, sir, don't touch that. No, no, no, let me take care of that for you. Get away from our mailbox, sir. I I don't want you to touch it. Ow, oh, oh.
Speaker 2:No, that looks bad.
Speaker 1:Katie, would you like to tell everyone, if they don't understand, where that clip is from?
Speaker 2:Up, up, up it's from I can't believe I'm saying this a movie I've never seen before Pixar, disney's Up. I know I'm aware of all the pop culture references. There's Lego toys about it. I've seen clips. I know the characters. I've never seen the movie.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, this is going to be like a polar opposite episode to end September, leading us straight into the month of October, which has a plethora of random movies in it, and I can't wait, I'm excited, I'm excited.
Speaker 2:You know, it kind of matches September because some days it's like 90 degrees and other days it's like 60, maybe even 50. So it's hot and cold. I'm excited to to watch that and to not watch the other movie. But do you have a quote from our movie today?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, sometimes when we start our episodes later than usual, like when we were recording, sometimes I feel like I just have to say sorry, I'm late, I was taking.
