UnPrisoned, Blink Twice, Reasonable Doubt and Kneecap

Full transcript of UnPrisoned, Blink Twice, Reasonable Doubt and Kneecap.

0:00KT: It's another week in the For Your Reference household, and it is another edition of Ref Max. We are almost in non linear time with you, friends and lovers. On the list today, we have UnPrisoned Season 2, Blink Twice, Reasonable Doubt, Morris Chestnut Season 2. I think that's the official title, right?

0:19Oti: official

0:21KT: And Kneecap. Let's get on with the show. friends and Morris Chestnut, and I guess other people lovers. Welcome back to the For Your Reference podcast. You've got your host, KT.

0:35Oti: And Oti.

0:37KT: You almost lost me there, Oti. I almost got swept away. Uh, welcome, welcome friends and lovers. Uh, thank you for all of the love for the Supacell. Um, it was nice to get the pen out to get that exercise for a full review, but we are back today. This Ref, Reference Max format. Everyone can get in and have a good time. Non spoilers as much as possible.

1:01KT: We are going to be starting off with Kerry Washington, Delroy Lindo, what a great cast, what a show. Thank you to the team at Scenario PR. This is UnPrisoned Season 2. Oti, kick us off with

1:15Oti: And Season 2 deepens the exploration of Kerry's and Lindo's struggles with generational trauma. Enriched by new storylines and guest stars. Delivering a powerful and compelling continuation.

1:29KT: know you're talking about

1:31Oti: For real? It's delicious

1:34KT: delicious time. The show is already out, friends and lovers. Season 2 draws the heart from the first season and layers the learnings of all characters, especially Paige. Even those that are hurt can still heal and

1:50Oti: Oh.

1:52KT: So what do you think? We really enjoyed the first season. It's always nice when we get screeners for stuff we're already watching.

1:58Oti: It is.

1:59KT: Wow. See, this is why you can't enjoy Mr. Morality.

2:08Oti: you know, I'll, I enjoyed this. I feel like it's sort of that it's a necessary watch. Right. And I feel like they uncover so much and the fact that they put, you know, therapy front and center of everything they do, keeping that, you know, we all have to heal, we all have issues regardless, you know, so I love that aspect. I just feel like they took like a left turn somewhere in this season.

2:43KT: Interesting, therapy wise or

2:47Oti: Oh, even, I guess therapy wise, you'd say, because now we're going into the more sort of way, which I think It's good to get Paige questioned because she needs that in her life. Uh, I guess that's one of the things that you actually enjoy, seeing her being questioned on the things that she was so assured on. That this is how it's supposed to be, this is how I work. And even in the interactions between Paige and her son, I was like, yes! There's some truths that had to be said.

3:18KT: That had to be said it. Oh, I just, oh, I just, I just love him. I can't wait to watch everything he's in. Like, must protect. Every time I saw him, I'm like, little baby, I will protect you. Even from your own mother. But, you're absolutely right. I think, with Paige's character, because there was so much neglect, because there was so much that was in want of her seeking out a sort of parental, especially a father figure, she felt that there wasn't anything that she needed, like she didn't need to meet halfway at all.

3:56KT: It was always, you hurt me, you abandoned me, which is true. But if you're going to have a relationship, and I guess in this case, like between a father and a daughter, if you're going to have a relationship, you actually need to get in the trenches together.

4:09Oti: Yeah.

4:10KT: You can't just have your dad groveling forever because that's not, and you know, I don't even need to talk about my own life, but even then. There are moments in this where I was like, because I, I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm good at setting boundaries. I'm just, I'm just KT Scissorhands. Like, I'll just cut you the fuck out.

4:31Oti: Yeah, But like Paige has achieved a lot in her life. She's successful. But

4:37KT: it was in spite of,

4:39KT: and that becomes very clear.

4:40Oti: Yeah, it was in spite of. John Samos, way. But whenever the dad is around, she's that 12 year old. She's that baby. She's that kid.

4:49KT: Everyone is though. You get, you get, it's like a regression. Whether it's in like a family home setting or otherwise, you kind of default to that same sort of dynamic,

5:00Oti: right? Yeah, and I guess I'm not the most forgiving person, but damn, man, like, there were moments in this, watching this, I was like, Paige, come on now! It's time!

5:13KT: Because it works both ways, right? You can't say that, uh, you're in want of a better parental figure without realizing that potentially you might've caused the same non intended harm to your own child.

5:27Oti: And that's why I said generational trauma because that shit slides down like a, you know,

5:33Oti: it's, it's her passing, whatever it is that she experienced, her fears, and exposing the

5:41KT: anxious little ball, isn't

5:43Oti: Yeah. Seeing that kid grow up like I'm like, brah, I keep breathe. Oh yeah. It's, it's a, it's a very delightful watch. I think everyone would enjoy it. It's, it's amazing to see just Kerry and Lindo doing this stuff.

6:05KT: This is going out to no one in particular, but I don't need to see my therapist talking about me anonymously on an Instagram live. I'm this bitch, no I'm kidding. But oh, loved it, loved it, loved it. And you know, as much as it's like you want to enjoy and you want to have fun, and it is a very like cute show. I love the way that they kept layering What healing looks like and also what learnings and unlearning look like as well.

6:35Oti: Yeah and healing isn't.

6:37KT: built that up for a reason, but she had to, I guess, tear down those walls for her son to be able to breathe.

6:44Oti: Yeah and healing isn't linear you

6:47KT: nice.

6:48Oti: it's it's a process of ups and downs and You feel like you've turned a corner, but then, you know, it's the ebb and flow of it. And I think they, they show it so well in this and how forgiveness would look like where you think you like, Oh, I'm past it.

7:04Oti: But are you though? How does that, how does that transpire? How does that show itself when you're walking down the street or dealing with something similar? Or, you know, there's so much in this show that I'd love and you wish you could just package it up. You know, it almost gave me. a vibe of when we're watching Marcella's Cox, Mickey Hadaway, you know, and getting to see that healing and how it looks like and therapy and not being afraid to ask for it

7:32Oti: seeking it. And I'm like,

7:34KT: yeah, and be ready to receive it once you, once you sought what you seeked and you seek what you sought.

7:40Oti: Exactly. I'm glad there's a show like this streaming.

7:43KT: I think everyone when we watched the first season, we enjoyed it a lot, but Personally, I wouldn't have been surprised if, aside from the cast being amazing, I would have been, I wouldn't have been surprised if the show didn't get a second season just because of the natural sort of churn of streaming at the moment. Shout out to Onyx. Shout out to Hulu. Thank you so much, Scenario PR. We will see you for another review,

8:08Oti: Onyx are making moves, man.

8:10KT: Onyx are making moves. Shout out to Natasha Rothwell. Her show's coming out soon. So hint, hint, hopefully, otherwise we'll just watch it. Usually. Um, let's get into Blink Twice. You haven't seen this, Oti. I do have a lot to say about it. I will try not to spoil it. Ooh, but I have a lot to say about it in a hashtag way.

8:33Oti: Oh, just, just know man, there's a Zoe Stan in this house.

8:39KT: Shout outs to that is a Canadian show. It's called Jane. It's very funny.

8:44Oti: Oh yeah, Jan. Yeah, Jan, Jane. Yeah. I remember.

8:50KT: let's continue on Blink Twice. Here are my initial thoughts. Please tango to tango with me. If you're nasty, not all that glitters is gold, and while Blink Twice aesthetically delivers, the choice to tackle trauma for those in the industry is outmanoeuvred by its very inability to blink past the surface.

9:15Oti: Blink past the surface? Alright, alright. Let us know what that means.

9:23KT: A lot of thoughts, had a lot of thoughts. thank you to Universal. I had the opportunity to watch it, before the, actually, I don't even know if they had a bigger screening for it, but there was a theatrette sort of, uh, screening that I had the opportunity to go to. it was, it was in a moment of, I think around the same time globally, like press were watching it at around the same time.

9:46KT: so it's just like waiting for it. Also, shoutouts, thank you to Warner Brothers slash Universal. We got baby's first, got their pull quote on a social media reaction.

9:57Oti: Oh, what was the pull quote?

9:59KT: And I meant it, but I meant it in a derogatory way.

10:07Oti: Oh.

10:08KT: Yes.

10:10Oti: Alright, alright.

10:13KT: friends and lovers, if I were to give you a tasting notes, if you'll pardon the pun, I think of The Menu. I think of Saltburn. Essentially what I'm saying is rich hot people movies doing rich hot people things is not for me. It's not my genre.

10:32KT: I don't care how delicious, I actually, I do love Barry Keoghan so he's very delicious, but I don't care how delicious these people look, how lush they look, how rich they look, how the lining of the sun and the twilights and all of that aligns. I don't necessarily gravitate to that in a film. Right. I actually, it's not something that I necessarily care for, but it's very much that, it's very much Promising Young Woman.

11:00KT: And I think that might be the most, uh, thematically. It's the most aligned in regards to Blink Twice. I was surprised that in the screening, there wasn't a trigger warning, but, uh, Warner Brothers, at least on the Australian social media account, they did issue a trigger warning for it. I'm not going to go into detail, but essentially the trigger warning would be for assault, sexual assault.

11:25KT: and I don't know if I can say. That there is a film that I had felt that has been able to do that in a way that isn't fully serious, like She Said, for example. But I'm not saying that it's not possible. However, I don't think it was tackled in a way that had resonance in Blink Twice.

11:52Oti: so when you say had resonance in Blink Twice is how in the manner it was covered didn't cater to all angles you'd want to see covered in a movie like

12:07KT: if, if I, if I bring a positive to Blink Twice, you know, you know how we talked about, friends and lovers, if you didn't love, or you wanted to hear more discussion and layering in Jordan Peele's Nope, check out our review on it. but remember how we talked about in Nope, how you can just tell. That Jordan Peele was writing from experience, whether it was on film sets and that sort of thing.

12:34KT: You could feel that in Blink Twice, like you could feel that, you know, Zoe Kravitz in and of herself. being a part of the industry, that she's experienced these sort of lavish parties, these rich billionaires, and that sort of thing.

12:48KT: So I would say that the world felt believable. I don't think there was ever a moment. And if you do, you're yucky and you're gross, and I don't want to talk to you. But it wasn't like, Oh, like, I don't feel bad for these. Gals going on an island of a billionaire's island. It wasn't that, or at least I didn't feel that particular way. I feel like the world was believable. It makes sense that, you know, shout outs to Maeby from Arrested Development. Like also shout out to Christian Slater. Christian Slater was

13:14Oti: Christian Slater. Haley

13:15KT: Haley Joel Osment was also here as well. oh, not as well.

13:19Oti: He's not the reason

13:21KT: not the reason you would go to the island, right? Oti? He could have just stopped. Well, I guess while we're talking about Haley Joel Osment, uh, his character in Silicon Valley, they kind of, and I love, I love Haley Joel Osment, but they kind of relegated him to like a schlub sort of character. They made him a schlub character in this, which I didn't think was very nice, but I guess in a world of skinny hot people, to me, I felt like he could have had a bit more dimension.

13:50KT: To his particular character. if you're talking about the aesthetics, if you're talking about the world being believable, I would absolutely agree with that. I think where it starts to fray is it's kind of the same thing. And I guess Saltburn is a good example of that where, you know, I'm probably not the original person to say it, but like, just because you're showing a thing doesn't mean you're doing a thing.

14:14KT: Doesn't mean you're doing a commentary on the thing. Right. Because, and I don't know why they did it this way, but the trailer revealed the whole, like, plot of the movie.

14:26Oti: Oh

14:27KT: Like, there's even a moment, and I'll say it because it's in, it's in the trailer. Channing Tatum's like, well, everyone's dead now. And it's like, why would you, why would you put that in the trailer? But the point is, the reason why I'm saying this is, uh, his character is a billionaire character. Uh. And he has to apologize, and it doesn't succinctly say that the severity of like beyond harassment, it just said that he sexually harassed someone or there was some, you know, Baka got a weird case. Why is he around?

14:59KT: Right? So they didn't add the intensity. They just wanted to have a light enough. So you don't hate this guy enough, which is weird, right? Because, you know, we'd be seeing the list and the papers out there.

15:11Oti: Yeah. So not like how we had in The Boys where you had the Deep going through some shit, you know, like how are we supposed to like the Deep now? Exactly. Ah, all

15:23KT: Exactly. But friends and lovers, we are learned and we read the comic. So we do like the Deep,

15:28KT: he absorbed all of the, all of the actions of the Seven. But I just, there was a disingenuousness because they wanted to have this billionaire be like, you know, I'm, I'm healing. I'm on therapy. I got my little chickens in my island. And it's like, just because you're showing that doesn't mean you're actually critiquing it or doing a commentary on it.

15:53KT: Right. Channing Tatum, as great as he is, he just looks like Channing Tatum playing a rich guy with hot gals on his island.

15:59Oti: So playing himself.

16:01KT: Right. I do have a lot more layered, succinct and a lot more, frustrated, like not to the level of America Ferrera in Barbie,

16:14Oti: Oh, jeez.

16:15KT: There were some frustrating moments in this. And I would say, you know how sometimes you would watch like, uh, like we'll watch like a queer film or like a film with a trans character and then being trans is like the whole punchline. Like it's the whole plot twist. This subject matter was that. And I don't know why he didn't like that. It wasn't enjoyable to me. I would have preferred watching Terrifier. Terrifier 3 is coming out soon. So it is very exciting.

16:44Oti: Wow. Beep, beep, shoot, shoot, shoot. I hear you. You're about to go on that. Good thing it's a Ref Max and we can't go over

16:56KT: Blink Twice we get shaky ya, Pakistan.

16:58Oti: Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ah,

17:02KT: me in the DMs, uh, friends and lovers. It wasn't, it wasn't frustrating because it wasn't too self righteous, but it did fail to actually provide a critique on the very subject matter, and world that it was reflecting.

17:19Oti: Uh, I, yeah, uh, I guess I'm intrigued and I want to watch this. Uh, it being not only Zoe Kravitz directorial debut.

17:33KT: Yeah,

17:40Oti: okay, uh, hopefully it gets to streaming soon and, uh, yeah, get to watch it.

17:46KT: Well, if you never see a pull quote from Oti, friends and lovers, you'll know what he thought of the film. Uh, let's move on. Shout outs to Scenario PR again. We have Reasonable Doubt. Season two Oh

17:56Oti: Reasonable Doubt Season 2 keeps you hooked with its twists and turns. Paired with a soundtrack that will keep you moving. It's a show that will have you shouting at the screen in the best way.

18:10KT: That's not even the Denzel, uh, Gladiator. I called it Denzel Gladiator. There you go.

18:17KT: know our demographics, friends and lovers. Reasonable Doubt season two has managed to build on its playful approach to a popular genre with charm and wit.

18:28Oti: Yeah.

18:29KT: I love it. It's a lot of fun.

18:32KT: I love it.

18:34Oti: Uh, what better way than watching, you know, we had Michael Ealy exit season one, but

18:43KT: entered and he

18:46Oti: Yeah, but we get Chestnut showing up in season two. damn man, you know, like

18:55KT: They don't make him like that

18:57Oti: Respect to your

19:00KT: respect to your son, but they don't make him like that anymore. They don't. know! I look at him! And I

19:12Oti: appreciating all the movies he's been in and what he's done and seeing him still thriving in the Lord's year of 2024. I'm here for it. And to see him execute only Just, this show, the writing is,

19:28KT: It doesn't take itself too seriously. I think Women, Why Women Kill? I, I don't have a reference cause I didn't watch it, but Desperate

19:37Oti: Housewives. Yeah, exactly. I would say it's a marriage between Why Women Kill and Desperate Housewives. And you're just here for the hijinks, the fun, absurdity.

19:47KT: And there's an art to cliffhangers.

19:49Oti: Yeah, there is. And this show does it. And it

19:56KT: And it brings back like, what, what are people tweeting on the Twitter? Because I just like, we just need to know what's going down.

20:03Oti: Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's very, enjoyable. It's definitely one of those shows where you can just chill, watch, and you will be, you know, with friends. It will even be more enjoyable that way.

20:22Oti: that. I can see that. but wow,

20:28KT: I can see that. I can see that. Throughout both of the seasons is friendship and sisterhood, right? maybe Set It Off level sisterhood. But the way that they ride and die for each other is so heartening, but then it also gets in the way of all known logic.

20:52Oti: Yeah. Yeah. Logic. Logic isn't here, man.

20:56KT: No.

20:57Oti: He left his end card outside the

20:59KT: No, he's always got it on

21:07Oti: But fun characters, uh, people making questionable decisions that will get left, leave you gasping. And just a fun time to be had with this

21:33Oti: fun. Yeah, it's Good to see the different hairstyles as well.

21:41KT: You mentioned it. to see it. Thank you so much. Uh, shout outs to Madman as well as Nyxco. This is Kneecap.

21:51Oti: Oh

21:52KT: Oh.

21:55Oti: No, no, nothing bad. Nothing bad. I loved hearing Gaeilge brought to life and the performances of their songs really stuck with me. Kneecap offers a mix of hijinks and heart. A movie I thoroughly enjoyed.

22:10KT: Kneecap has a lot to say about preserving the Irish language and strengthening bonds through resistance. Providing context for non-Irish audience and committing to the same level of passion as the band itself would have elevated this film even further.

22:29Oti: Oh, I hear you. I see you. Uh, well, I think from my perspective watching this, I felt You know what? It's an underdog story.

22:45Oti: I'm always there for that. Fuck the police. I get that.

22:50KT: ACAB.

22:52Oti: Like there's a lot of aspects where this movie got me and nothing that they were doing or they're trying to do got me to feel like I'm not here with you a hundred percent. I didn't think I've never listened to, uh, Gaelic rap.

23:12KT: Rap.

23:13Oti: out, man. It's a trip. It is a bloody trip. I enjoyed every aspect of the fact that they are actually a group and Who am I but a, but a humble Kneecap fan at this point?

23:29KT: phone? I'm Irish! From, from,

23:33Oti: I'm Irish From just grand around the table bro, you saw

23:38KT: I am. And

23:40Oti: am I am and the fact that I can go to Ireland right now and not stick out because Every other corner. There's a black person. Bam. Yes. Take me to Ireland. Actually, they need to use this as tourism Ireland, you know?

23:57KT: You'll be the poster boy. Yeah,

23:59Oti: So you're a regular Irish bloke.

24:04KT: guy with the ski mask and Kneecap. They take it off and it's you.

24:07Oti: Yeah. Who would

24:11KT: You've been in there. You've been in there the whole time. I feel, I feel like I knew broad strokes enough history to understand, uh, the tension and the conflict between the Republic of Ireland and, like, Britain. Like, I feel like I knew enough to get me going. Probably more, I don't know if I would know more than the average person, but I knew enough broad strokes.

24:37KT: There were so many nuances specific to the now, Of what those tensions look like, that I think it didn't, I wouldn't say it doesn't play with global audiences because you know, the number one Irish over here. but there were definitely storylines that hinged on my understanding to really drive home that component of resonance, right?

25:01KT: There was a moment, and it's not a spoiler, friends and lovers, but there was a moment in the film where like there was a character that got angry because of the lyrics of the song because the lyrics had something to do with her neighborhood which I don't know if it's still part of the colony or if it's just British friendly but it was very confusing it was so nuanced it was so granular that I couldn't even understand why they were fighting because I'm like you're all in Ireland. You know what I mean? And I think, you know. Researching for the interview and just in general, hearing the guys speak, especially on Palestine, especially on the solidarity that Irish people have with Palestine, even talking in interviews about how Irish people were like the guinea pigs of colonialism, of how we know the empire to be, and then they just fucked over the rest of the world.

25:58KT: I'm literally quoting them. The fact that they can speak with that much fervor. And then you watch this movie, I'm like, come on, Like, I need your whole fist. I need your whole fist in the resistance. Because at that point, I'm like, okay, this is an independently made film.

26:17KT: You guys are very staunch. They dropped out of South by Southwest because for whatever reason, South by Southwest was funded by U.S. arms dealers. How the fuck does that make sense? But in capitalism, it does make sense. They dropped out of South by Southwest in solidarity. Do you understand what I'm saying? So if that's what they dropped out of, and this film didn't bring its whole pussy, Then I guess my pussy belongs in the Pacific, because it wasn't in Ireland.

26:43Oti: so you see, uh, all that I didn't know. So I watched it from the lens of what's being

26:54KT: But did you feel it emotionally in your core? Because I feel like that's what the goal of this film was. Did you feel it emotionally, intrinsically?

27:03Oti: Did it want me to go outside and, and fist bump and run around and, and yell in Gaelic that, you know? Maybe not, but I do understand where you're coming from. I think from my perspective, just watching it is try and understand, maybe not the nuance to the level of what you went through more from there. Okay. This was the messaging. This is what they want to deliver. And maybe not the way you want them stamping their pussy on it and be like, Oh, Hey, you know,

27:38KT: Uh huh.

27:39Oti: I don't feel like any, anything I've watched. I've ever been that direct.

27:43KT: Well, no, let's, let's, let's put it this way, Papa Tame Iti and Cliff Curtis, that movie Muru, right? We're both not Maori, but like, even for you not having full context of, like, Maori indigenous sort of, uh, storytelling, you still felt feelings watching that film, correct?

28:04KT: I did. Shoutouts to Rachel House, love lorded icon forever. You felt something watching The Mountain, didn't you? So that's what I'm saying. I feel like then, like, if you want us to feel, because obviously I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the film. But if you want people to really feel something, you need to give some sort of historical context. If it's hinged off of that, you get me?

28:27Oti: I got you. I got you

28:28KT: I don't play about solidarity, Oti.

28:36Oti: clearly, you know

28:38KT: And solidarity through the pussy that's, that's, that's how you get it. thank you friends and lovers for joining us another week in the For Your Reference podcast. we have a lot more reviews coming. We have some interviews coming up, which is very exciting. if you want to fight, love sploosh everywhere, all over us, uh, Twitter, Instagram, still Bluesky when I'm not scared, TikTok. We're at fyrpod.

29:01Oti: fyrpodcast.com.

29:05KT: We're also on, Oti for Irish tourism campaign.

29:10Oti: A hundred percent. Come on now. Let's get that done.

29:13KT: Are you more Irish than Peter

29:15Oti: Yes. Yes. First generation over here.

29:24KT: This is what we're doing here. Friends and lovers. We love you. Leave us a rating and review and we'll see you guys on the next one.

29:31Oti: See y'all.

29:32KT: Bye.