From the dungeons of Morningstar, my name is
Clint. And I'm Stretch, and this is Prevailing
Strange. Welcome back guys to our week in review,
a segment of Prevailing Strange where we get
to talk about some of the content that we've
checked out this week. If you like what we're
doing here, guys, please like, comment, subscribe,
follow along, share us around to your friends,
family, and loved ones. Love, peace, drink, grace.
So this week we checked out Train Dreams, which
is on Netflix. We're kind of going on the Oscar
-nominated best pictures at the moment, a little
bit of a run. So this is not only nominated for
best picture, it's also nominated for best cinematography.
Dude. It's also nominated for, I've got it written
down here, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original
Song for Train Dreams by Nick Cave. It is directed
by Clint Bentley. He's only got one other movie
out besides this called Jockey, which was his
debut. I don't know anything about it. But it
stars Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainer, Felicity
Jones as his wife, Gladys, William H. Macy. Yeah.
Carrie Condon, sorry, as Claire, and Will Patton
as the narrator. Is it just me or could you listen
to Will Patton talk? I could. All the time. The
first time I ever seen him in a movie was in
Remember the Titans. Yep, as a side coach. Yeah.
He's been in heaps of TV too. So much. His voice
is so. It's just so relaxing, dude. Dulcet tones.
And as the narrator, man, he just kills it. And
you can pick it as soon as he started talking,
you know, Will Patton. So this is based on the
novella by… Dennis Johnson. Dennis Johnson, yes.
And the audio book is actually read by Will Patton.
Oh, really? Dude, great idea. That's a good thing,
putting them, you know, crossing those two mediums.
Yeah. I thought this movie was… Absolutely stunning.
Wasn't it? So beautiful. The Vistas, man, were
incredible. I thought it would be a bit divisive.
I didn't know whether you would have liked it.
Because I never read anything about it, I didn't
watch the trailer, I went in completely blind
with it. Same. I'm like, hang on a minute, what
the fuck's going on here? And they opened up
with, oh, you know, Greener was a logger. I'm
like, oh, fuck, this is going to be boring as
shit. That was one of the first notes I wrote
down. Oh, no, what have I done as a narrator?
This movie was stunning. Gorgeous. The story
was a bit hit and miss for me, but at the same
time I didn't want to turn it off. Last night
I was so tired and I fell asleep about 25 minutes,
30 minutes from the end, and I re -watched it
today whilst I was tattooing. But the fact that
Will Patton does such a great job narrating,
you don't need to watch it. To know what's happening
on the screen. Not really. Especially when, you
know, like there's not a lot of dialogue, especially
for the main character. At all. Exactly right.
Because he's alone in a lot of this and it's
just him living and reacting and being in his
grief. Yeah. And some of those scenes, man, where
he's just in his grief are heavy as shit. Aren't
they? As dads. Mm -hmm. It hit really hard. You
know, he was a logger. He's away from his family
for months at a time. Spoilers, by the way, people.
Yeah. He's away from his family months at a time.
So when he gets back and he's like, he doesn't
want to be away. No. But the fact that he is
and it's the only way he can earn money, it's
relatable, dude. Because, you know, we don't
want to be away from our families all the time.
Yeah, we don't want to spend time away from our
kids. No, especially months. And you sit there
and you look. And when they're doing the work
that he's doing on his way, I'm like, man, I
couldn't have lasted back then. No. Like they're
cutting down trees bigger than this table by
hand. Big redwoods. Yeah. When we spoke about
it being a beautiful movie, it's not just the
writing, the performances, the music, the scenery
in this thing just chews it up. It is so beautiful.
It's one of the heavy lifters, I think, is the
scenery in this, just the cinematography. And
that's the thing too. Clint Bentley used. All
natural lighting. Yep. So the candles that we
used, that was his form of lighting. They used
real fire all the time. Like them scenes of things
burning in his dreams and that were all real,
man. Like they set fire to shit. So they actually
used a digital medium because they only had a
shoot of 29 days. Really? With a $10 million
budget. Yep. So using film would have kind of
chewed up a lot of time. Yep. A lot of resources.
So they went digitally, which I think you can
see. Because when I was watching it, I'm like,
this is so clear. It's like a clear day after
rain. This whole movie, it was fucking gorgeous.
You're not bloody wrong. There's parts in it
where I'm like, what is going on? There's that
scene where the Asian man is. And I'm like, hang
on a minute. why do you have that guilty conscience?
Was it the fact that you didn't do enough to
protect him, to save him or do any of that? Because
through the whole movie, he's suffering grief
in one form or another. Yeah. It's either mourning
that dude and then mourning the fact that he
didn't do enough or it's what happens later on
in the film. But he does it, Joel Edgerton does
it so well. Oh, yeah. And you're like, you sit
there listening to him, you're like, oh, okay.
You can literally hear it in his voice. I reckon
he's such an underrated actor, dude. Definitely,
definitely. He's really good in this. So the
story kind of deals a lot with the themes of
loss, hardship and regret, but also love, wonder
and healing too, in a way. It's quite balanced,
even though those hits are fucking hard hits.
Oh, they hit you hard, bro. Yeah. I did get a
bit confused towards the end with the timing.
Yeah. Like it would have been nice to kind of
have like how many years had passed or when things
were happening because it was just kind of jumbled
up towards the end. It was like, okay, we're
going to show this time and it's going to be,
you know, 45 minutes the movie is going to be
shown over a six -year period. And then the other
45 minutes the movie is going to be. 60 -year
period, and you don't know when that changes
up. No. There's a scene in it where I was like,
oh, shit, they're still alive. Fuck off. And
it was the scene prior to that which I thought
was so gorgeously written when he's having the
conversation with the lady that he's taking to
the fire, the tower. Yep. And he's in there and
he's like. I'm sorry if I get choked up here,
but it's fucking heavy. This movie is beautiful.
And he's like, sometimes I hear their voices
and I don't want to turn because I don't want
to scare them away. So I just sit in silence
and listen. I can get that. I get that shit.
And the way he performs it in that, it's not
Joel Edgerton. It's a bloke telling a story of
this fucking immense loss that he feels. And
I think. In that part as well, because it is
a real location, the sound designer, his name
is Lee Sullivan, absolutely nailed it because
it's not – we talk about the music in the movie
we watched last week, which is One Battle After
Another. Yep. One Battle After Another. One Battle
After Another, you got it. And it's just that
unrelenting piano just beating you over the fucking
head. The sounds in this, it's not you hear the
wind, you hear the trees, you hear the grass
rustling, you hear the crunching of the leaves
when they're walking. The sound isn't what does
it because he wants you to feel that isolation.
He wants you to feel that aloneness and that
despair that he's feeling. So all you hear is
what he hears. Music is very far between in this.
The silence does the work. And I think the sound
engineer... Sullivan really just nailed it, dude,
especially the dream sequences. They were harrowing.
Yeah, I think Joel Edgerton was stoically sublime
in this. He did so well with very little words.
Felicity Jones was enchanting. She was so good.
Not in it for a whole lot, but when she was in
it, you're, like, captivated. Yeah. Same as William
H. Macy. He can do no wrong. Very little to do.
Yep. Except get hit on the head by a fucking
branch. But, dude, whenever he's on screen, you
just had to listen to what he was saying. Yep.
Because you couldn't pull away from it because
it was so well written. And if this is Clint
Bentley's second, second movie, holy shit. Yeah.
Because you could very well go into this and
shit the bed with it completely. Oh, absolutely,
yeah. So easily. I think you really, really knocked
it out of the park. And, like, there's so many
location shots in it, like Washington State,
Spokane, Toccoa, Seattle, North Bend, a heap
of places up in Canada. But they were all real
locations. They did build sets, which was the
cabin and the fire tower. But, dude, they used
all the locally sourced timber in the region
to make it blend in with that. because you're
not going to bring in trees from elsewhere to
build the cabin. You're going to use trees that
are there. So that's what they did. And you can
tell just by looking at the beautiful scenery,
dude, the mountainscapes in the background, just
when he's riding a horse, yourself, it's gorgeous.
And another thing about the scenery and the trees
being about a logger, they only felled two to
three trees in this entire movie. Yeah. The rest
of them were either practical effects or pre
-cut timber. from lumberyards and whatnot. Exactly.
Well, even when he's like, when she's like, you
know, you don't have to be away. We can start
our own lumberyard. And I'm like, oh, shit, here
we go. Here's William H. Macy's story about the
trees always remember and they always take back.
Yeah. You could tell something's about to turn.
I was just waiting for it to happen. I was waiting
for it to happen. And then when it did happen,
I'm like, oh, shit. Mm -hmm. 100%. That returning
home to seeing the smoke and it was petrifying
to watch him walk into the fire like that. Yeah.
Oh, man. And you're like, oh, okay, is he going
to survive this or whatnot? And he does. And
all he finds is the ashes of his cabin. No sign
of them. He held out hope, and I think as a viewer,
I held out hope too. I held out hope, dude. I
held out hope. I'm like, when she showed up,
and I'm like, oh, it's another dream, but then
the leg's broken. I'm like, oh, shit, she's injured.
He's set in the leg. This could be real. There
are spoilers, guys. And then he wakes up and
goes for another walk to try to find her again.
See, that's the part of the movie, the third
act, that I got a little bit confused with. Yeah.
So Claire comes to town. He's giving her a ride
to the lookout. Pretty interesting. When she
came on, I'm like, oh, she's a decent actor.
Like, okay, she's going to play a decent role
in this. I'm like, oh, is this going to be a
new love interest, a new flame, if you would.
But then she's working the fire lookout, which
is a direct correlation to something that has
claimed his family. Yeah. in the years past and,
like, okay, that's a thing. And then he goes
and he talks to her. No, sorry. First he gets
sick. He gets sick and gets feverish. And then
he has some nightmares and it's fucking pretty
harrowing to watch. Oh, God, yeah. But then he
wakes up refreshed to a new snow. gets up, chucks
the axe on his shoulder and goes walking out
into the snow. Now, we were told the last time
he was away, when there was a time skip and they
were using chainsaws all of a sudden and everything
was different, that that was the end of him being
a logger. So where was he going? There was the
snow and then all of a sudden he's at the base
of the tower. Chainsaws didn't come in until
after then. It was like 10 years after. That
was it? Yeah. No, he did the chainsaw thing.
Then he came back and then he went up to the
tower to see her because he quit logging and
was doing the horse and cart thing afterwards.
No, but he went back to logging because that's
when he met up with old mate who was, he was
like, oh, you know, I was here with Peoples,
William H. Macy's character, and like I was friends
with Peoples. And that was when he, that was
his last bit because that was when the chainsaw
and all that was there and he's like, I can't
keep up with these young fellas anymore. So he
left and went and did the, and that's when he
went back. No, I watched it today, man. So did
I. That's not how it happened. He went away,
couldn't do the logging anymore, came back, got
sick. Have a look how your notes go. No, you
wait. And then he went through the snow and then
all of a sudden he's at the base of the fire
tower. Maybe he was just, maybe it's just a habit
though of like taking the axe whenever he goes
for a walk into the forest. It definitely looked
like because he went up into the mountains and
stuff. Yeah, it was after he was sick because
I remember it's like, okay, he's woken up from
being sick and there's new snow. I'm like, okay,
is this a new beginning, the beginning of the
third act? Is he going to kind of see her and
whatever spark up a relationship? Goes through
the snow but then he rocks up directly after
going to the top of this mountain in the snow
to the fire. Look out. Tower, yeah. Wearing different
clothes, no gear. Don't know why he was carrying
the axe. Anyway, pardon me. And then he has that
D &M with her, deep and meaningful, which I was
like, okay, he's being really kind of open with
her, which he's not like that in any other time.
No, it's very much the very first time he ever
talks to anyone about the loss of his wife and
kid. So you have that and then it kind of skips
over that. see if anything happens. But the time
jumping is. It does get a bit despondent in the
arse end of it. Yeah, because he's getting a
bit of grey in him, but this is meant to be over
80 years. He's definitely not 80 by the end of
it. But then. But then even like when they go,
he looks into the mirror for the first time in
over a decade. And he's in town and he sees the
space flight and then he gets in a plane himself
right at the end. Very. Alaska King vibes at
the end there. Alaska King. I don't know, what
was it called? Sky King. Sky King, sorry. It
was, yeah, it was like my whole life's done this
to me and I've lived. He didn't really live after
his wife and daughter perished. Like he didn't
want to leave the cabin in case they ever come
back. So he never left it. Yeah. But towards
the end when he's like, they're really gone,
I need to go and do some shit. And then he sort
of. feels content right at the arse. So he's
in the plane and he finally feels connected to
it all, the narrator says. But then it says that
he died in his home peacefully. Yeah. And then
you go back to the cabin and it is rotted and
overgrown and I'm wondering whether he died from
that illness. Before he went and seen all of
them in the cabin. Before you get the snow, which
is kind of weird. That's a brilliant take that
I never thought of. Yeah, and then you get. Like
he talks to her openly and he sees the world,
which he probably always thought he would after
talking to all these loggers over the time. I'm
going to listen to that book, man. I think that
might explain it a bit because that's a great
take. Yeah. That's a fantastic take. I think
that's what happened because I don't see that
cabin rotting the way it did. If he was to return
home from the city to the cabin to let it rot.
No, no, no. The cabin burned down and he rebuilt
it and then he left. Yeah, and then right at
the end it's all decrepit and there's holes in
it and the bed's all overgrown. Yeah. And it
looks like he could, because he died in his bed.
Yeah, but he could have died in his bed at the
house that he bought, you know, in Spokane. That's
how I'll take it. He died in the bed. At the
cabin. Yeah, in the cabin. But they also said
he died at 88, like he died in his sleep peacefully.
Like he wasn't 88 when he got sick. Well, no,
it was in 68. 68, that's right. He died in 68.
Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Dude, that's a great
tale. I never thought of that. I didn't think
about that at all. And, like, I've read a couple
of things, but it doesn't say that, yeah, he
died in his bed that was at the cabin. But, dude,
that's a great take. I'd like to read the book
to see if we get any kind of more insight. Now,
if you're going into this movie thinking that
you're going to see an epic adventure or a violent,
you know, what was it? The revenant sort of story
where they're fighting bears. You see one bear
and he just walks on by like he's having the
best time of his life. I would recommend this
movie. Yeah. I would. It's a beautiful watch.
I would preface it as it's not a whole lot happens
action -wise. No, it's good, no. A lot of the
time you're sitting there looking and going,
wow. Yeah. It's definitely like a slice of life
type movie. Very autobiographical, even though
it's not about an actual person. But going back
to the dream sequences, they were spectacular.
Gorgeous, man. The lights moving through the
trees where they're walking down the path, the
flames in slow motion. I thought when he arrived
home on that train and there was smoke everywhere
and he sort of stepped off and you can see these
massive redwood trees towering above everything
else, but you can still see the flames above
these trees, man. That was horrific. Oh, yeah.
And just walking through going. Just walking
with him knowing that this is that thing. This
is the fucking flip in the story where you've
met the woman who he's loved more than anything
in the world. Now he even says how much he loves
this woman and how perfect she was and blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah. And you see that interaction
with the pair. And they are perfect. And you
know that this dick punch is coming. 100%. And
then when it gets there and the. The point is
he's got nothing to mourn. It's just Ash. Yeah.
There's no bodies of his loved ones. There's
no cabin. There's no lounge. There's no photographs.
There's no paintings or anything of his kid or
his wife has ever existed. Wiped off the planet.
Yeah. So he's not just mourning that. He's mourning
memories that he'll never, ever have except what
he's got. And then the waiting. Like he waits
around and sleeps in the ash for years. Yeah,
it's not until Ignatius Jack rocks up and kind
of prods him along to. He was so cool too, that
guy. Yeah, to get to work. No, that was the first
person he happened, he's hard to, that fella.
Yeah, he has a moment with him. And then they
build the walls to the cabin again and hunt and,
you know, puts him back to work to kind of, you
know. To move on. And then he meets the dogs.
The dogs that she always wanted. Oh, the dogs.
And, of course, they're fucking border collies.
I'm like, oh, man, come on. You didn't have to
do that. Yeah. But it was beautiful, man. And
I think the whole production from the story to
the people who they cast in it to the music to
the. Just the vistas, man. The camera work. I
will watch this again. I will because I want
to pick up that part that you did. I want to
look at that through that prism and go, hang
on a minute, he's right. I hope it wins cinematography.
I don't know if it's got best picture in it.
I don't think it does. It is beautiful. I think
Sinners has taken that so far. We haven't seen
Begonia yet, but I think Sinners is. Well, that's
what we're watching. Next week. Next week. That
one is my choice and I'm going to delve into
that one as well. But, dude, I think you nailed
it with this one. It was such a beautiful movie.
It's funny. The book club I'm in, they talked
about it and I had nothing about it, heard nothing
about it. And they're like, oh, it's beautiful.
I'm like, mm -hmm, I'll give it a go. I'd give
it a four and a half. Solid. Same. The thing
that pissed me off too, last night when I was
looking for it, Now, this is an Academy Award
nominated film. I was looking for it on Netflix.
I had to write in train DRE before it even showed
the cover. And I'm like, what the hell? Well,
actually, when I went looking for it, there was
two down nominated to do with the – there was
a whole section of movies to do with the awards
season. And it was the second one across. Yeah,
no, I just went searching for it. But I give
this a four and a half stars, mate. It is gorgeous.
It is something that I'll remember. It's much
like Mary Bone. Much like that. Surprising. Looked
fantastic. Heartfelt. Yeah. And it's funny coming
from a pop culture podcast that's about comics
and superheroes and all that kind of stuff. Special
effects, explosions. Yeah, no, this is fantastic.
Fantastic movie. Yeah, I agree with you, mate.
You've done well, dude. Thank you. I really rate
this and I thought it was absolutely gorgeous
and I'm excited to see what Clint Bentley does
next. I really do believe that Joel Edgerton,
he deserves something big for this because he
does a kick -ass job. I thought he did a great
job. He hasn't been nominated for Best Actor
this year. So he didn't get even a nomination
for it? No, it was cinematography, best picture,
the soundtrack and screen adaption from a book.
So something that's been adapted from a book,
yeah. We know which movie should win an Academy
Award for screen adaptation. Next year, we'll
see. Should be this year. They should give it
to him anyway. So do you want to hear my notes
as I wrote them? Oh, hang on. I've got news.
Have you seen the cast for fucking... Sorry,
let's keep going. No, sorry, I'm ADHD as fuck.
Yes, I want to read your notes as you wrote them
down. Okay. To begin with. You know that I didn't
do this this week because I thought I'd be mature
and do what you did and you've gone and done
what I did. You fucking child. You told me to
last week. You child! I had good notes as well,
thank you. Okay, good. I did both. Interesting
ratio. The ratio wasn't quite widescreen. There
was that little sliver on the edge. It was very
kind of reminiscent of The Lighthouse. It's a
very similar ratio. Watch the air. It's good.
Oh, no, what have I done? It's narrated. I thought
Clint's going to hate me. Couldn't remember the
name of the voice, but, like, I could see his
face. I know it. Well, it sure looks fantastic.
What's with the boots on the tree? That was because
that was how they. I'll get to that. Oh, sorry.
This is as I watch it. Oh, okay. I'll stop interrupting
you. You should. Crazy that people can go their
entire life without seeing the ocean. They were
talking about that. Wild. Even to this day. Yeah.
That's a gnarly looking bridge. Yeah. The building
bridge. What did he do? Fuck, that was brutal.
Yeah. I want to know what he did. Yeah. That
was wild because he's like, what do you do? And
then he goes to help him, and then he gets kicked,
and then he doesn't, and then that whole thing
happens. Yes, we're good bridge builders, but
we're going to send a train across with nobody
in it just to make sure it holds. It's not even
a train. It was a cabin. Yeah, or it was a loco.
Speaking about cabins, I want a cabin after he
comes back to the cabin built. This is gorgeous.
It's so clear. The Nightmare images are very
compelling. Is this just going to be a very slice
of life kind of movie? Man, it would be hard
to leave home like this. Ah, the type of cunts
you have to work with. Not you. I'm pretty sure
he got the message. Which message? And the black
fella comes looking for his message and then
he shoots him. Like, oh, fair enough, he deserves
it. Anybody else have an issue with what I just
did? Sort it out now. William H. Macy. Sure loves
a tall tale. Has obviously got a degree in work
avoidance. Oh, that's what happens with the boots.
Look at all them chickens. His daughter's talking
about all the chickens. Man, every shot of this
is beautiful. It's like a music video is what
I was thinking. It was like a screen saver to
me of an awesome scene. Ah, shit, something bad's
going to happen. Yep, there it is. Fuck that.
The glistening snot in the morning sun. They've
killed the buck. The newness of the experience
when they're talking about the wolf pups. and
the newness of the experience. That night train
shot when he's going back to work for the first
time when everything's changed, going over the
bridge in the dark was fucking fantastic. What,
they have chainsaws now? What year is it? How
much time has passed? It's the thing, they never
told you what year you're in. Crazy old coot
when he's forgotten people's has died. Oh, yeah,
I know that water's cold when he gets into the...
The lake there. Oh, the light moving through
the trees in the dream sequence. That was fucking
cool. That's a big -ass pumpkin. And he's got
the... Magic pumpkin. What the fuck? And then
I was like, oh, it's Rebecca Ferguson. No, it's
the Irish lady, Kerry Colden. New love interest?
Question mark. Oh, look, a fire lookout. Hang
on. Potential new flame. Works at a fire lookout.
Probably has to do with correlation to... Potential
flame, dude? New flame. Potential new flame.
Bad word usage. It was all to do with fire. Yeah.
And it was on purpose. Yeah, and a direct correlation
to the fire that claimed his family. Fuck, I
hate being sick. Oh, fever dream. Oh, goddamn.
That was when the flashback of how the fire hit.
Waking from a nightmare to new snow. New beginning,
question mark. Hang on, what? An axe? I thought
he was done with. Being a logger. Wait, where's
the snow now? He's at the lookout. Did he die?
He's been pretty open with her. Is this still
a dream? The world needs a hermit in the forest
as much as it needs a preacher in the pulpit.
Lol. Take from that what you will. Probably doesn't
need either, but anyway. What the hell? A little
late for a side story. That can't be his daughter.
Hang on, how much time has passed? Where'd the
girl go? We've got some Sky King vibes going
on here. Even the music is similar. So did he
die in his sleep when he was sick? Was that all
a dream? He felt connected to it all. Did he
actually die? Is that why he feels connected
to it all? And then at the end I was like, well,
I think this is going to be divisive. I love
the movie, dude. Not divisive at all. I think
he survived and he just. The last couple of years
of his life he just went in and experienced things
that he didn't because he knew for a fact that
his wife and child were now perished. I kind
of hope that's the case. Yeah. And that maybe
he did have a on and on, on again, off again
relationship with old love. I don't think that
happened at all. I think they had that conversation
and he left. Maybe. I mean, there's kind of,
it's open to a lot of kind of interpretation.
Anything could have kind of happened in those
years, but yeah. No. I think this movie's going
to stick with me for a while. I think so too.
There's a lot of stuff to think about as well.
Yeah. Yeah, four and a half, man. I'd thoroughly
recommend it to anybody. Even if you're just
sitting at home and there's nothing for you to
watch and it's a rainy day and it's always a
bit light, put your phone down and watch it.
Just watch it for the views. It is so gorgeous.
You'll feel things. It looks sensational and
I think you'll have something to mull on later.
And it doesn't go fucking ages, man. It's an
hour and 47 minutes, including credits. Yeah.
It's a quick watch. It's a slow, beautiful burn,
but I recommend it, man. Listen, if you've watched
to the end of this episode, let us know what
you think about it in the comments. Absolutely.
Give us your thoughts on it. It is, like you
said, it is a movie that's going to stick with
me, man. It was gorgeous. It's not as great as
Marabone, and I think of Marabone every day.
And I'll think of this one for a few times every
day for a while. I think Marabone has that sixth
sense kind of gut punch, like, whoa, hang on,
where this is on a similar level. I agree. But,
yeah. Again, tip of the hat, Joel Edgerton. You
absolutely killed it, my friend. That's all I've
got. Thanks for joining us again, guys, for Week
in Review. Please, guys, like, comment, subscribe.
Tune in next week where we're going to talk about.
Begonia. And, yeah, we'll go in -depth again.
Love, Peace, Chicken Grease. See you.