Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What reviews are featured in this episode?
Now, Mark, you were telling me the other day about this Saley eSIM app. Which one was that? Well, the one I just install on my phone before I go abroad so that I can save loads of money on roaming and data charges when I'm there. Ah, yes, it's dead simple. Install the Saley app on your device and choose a data plan.
There are multiple plans in over 200 destinations available at some of the best rates online. Then follow the instructions on the app to install the eSIM and it'll be activated instantly on arrival. So I don't have to buy a new SIM card when I get there? Nope, there's no queuing at a dodgy airport kiosk.
A Saley eSIM only needs to be installed once, and then you use the same one for each country you visit. Great. Does it let me skip all the other queues too? Well, funnily enough, with Saley Ultra, you can enjoy VIP travel perks like airport lounge access, fast track services, priority support, advanced online security, and much more. You'll be telling me we've got a voucher code next. Oh, yes.
And don't forget to apply the code TAKE, T-A-K-E, at checkout to get a 15% discount. Howdy, partner. Hello, Simon Mayo. I was just thinking the other day about the good old days. What? The good old days in the Wild West. What's with the howdy, partner thing? Well, I was just thinking that when we started out in the radio, we were lucky because we had each other to bounce off.
But most people don't have that support from a partner when they're starting out in business. and they can get overwhelmed easily. Yeah, very true. But they could try Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world, from household names like Mattel and Heinz to brands just getting started.
Shopify can help you get more efficient, whether you're uploading new products or trying to improve existing ones. And if people haven't heard about your brand, Shopify helps you find your customers with easy-to-run email and social media campaigns. Start your business today with the industry's best business partner, Shopify, and start hearing.
Sign up for your £1 per month trial today at shopify.co.uk slash take. That's shopify.co.uk slash take. Before we begin, a quick reminder that you can become a Vanguardista and get an extra episode every Thursday. Including bonus reviews. Extra viewing suggestions. Viewing recommendations at home and in cinemas.
Plus your film and non-film questions answered as best we can in questions-smestians. You can get all that extra stuff via Apple Podcasts or head to extratakes.com for non-fruit related devices. There's never been a better time to become a Vanguardista.
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Chapter 2: How does 'Half Man' tackle themes of male repression?
Free offer now available wherever you get your podcasts. And if you're already a Vanguardista, we salute you. I don't like technology and I don't like progress. These are the two defining factors for my particular day today. Do you want to explain specifically to the listeners what it is about technology in particular and progress in general that has been knocking you this morning?
Those who – the paymasters have decided that we have to improve the video content of this podcast, which is, you know, in general a good thing. You need something to look as crisp and gorgeous. Do you? Do you, though? No, not really. No, blurry lens, please. So I now have a camera installed here next to my laptop, which knows where I am so that – I'm looking at you, right? Yeah.
But if I move off to my right... The camera follows you.
Chapter 3: What insights does Richard Gadd share about his character?
The camera follows me and I can't escape it. If I go down here, it follows me. It's like it knows where I... It's been programmed... So that it follows me everywhere. I just need to run away from this room, which obviously wouldn't make a very good podcast. It's the camera equivalent of the Mona Lisa, whose eyes follow you around. Simon is now putting on an eyes wide shut mask.
Yes, this is how I intend to continue on the show. So that no one knows where I am. Well, I should point out that we both have the same camera and Josh came, he does all the sort of clever stuff, came around here and went into the, and disabled my follow mark around the room function. So my camera, I can do this and it's just, it's staying absolutely still because I've killed it.
Well, I need to, I need that function. because, you know, if I go over here, you can see all the shelving that's just arrived, which you shouldn't normally be able to see. I can't fool it. It knows where I am.
Chapter 4: What is the significance of 'Rose of Nevada' in the episode?
And life has become like this. I need to, even if I flip it so it is looking at the ceiling, it will just track down until it finds me again. I'm going to make you a little bit louder in my headphones.
Okay. Because I can do that.
You mean you haven't got a machine that does that automatically for you? No. I'm sure you can find that. Anyway, welcome to the podcast. So we've finished the technical discussion now.
Chapter 5: What are the highlights of the Box Office Top Ten?
This is now the Bon Ami section. How are you, Mark? I'm fine, actually. Now that I've done the thing, in order to make you louder, the only way I can do it on this, this is technology again, is I have to turn me down and then I have to press a button and then I have to bring everything else up. Do you remember when... You can't even see the T-shirt that I'm wearing, can you?
Because of the angle which has been selected by the man. Can you stand up? Is it a brand new floozies? No. As you stand up, it follows you up. It follows your head. So literally you stand up, the logo brief comes.
So it says.
It just says minimal. Minimal. That's what it says. Very good. And I thought, Mark will like that. I'll wear it on the podcast. It's very good. And because of our computer overlords, it's decided that you're not allowed to see what I'm wearing. It's just really hilarious. If you're listening to this, not watching it, what happened was Simon's got the logo on his chest.
So he stood up so that the logo would be in front of the camera. But because the camera is fixated on his face like a dog, it just looked up. So... Do you know what? I'm going to disable it. I'm going to put a scarf over it.
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Chapter 6: How does the 'Michael' biopic portray Michael Jackson?
There you go. There we go.
Suck that.
Okay. Now I can't be seen. Okay. The computer overlord is going to go crazy at this point, isn't it? It's like putting a cloth over the birdcage.
Okay.
All right.
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Chapter 7: What controversies surround the 'Michael' film?
Thank you. It's going to find me in the end. There you go. Anyway. You could just sellotape it in place. You could literally just put a bit of sellotape over it. So even if its robot brain wants to move, it can't because it's being sellotaped in place. I'm just waiting. Oh, God. It's now looking at the ceiling.
Chapter 8: What correspondence is shared at the end of the episode?
Ha! Look at that. You've defeated it. I have. Now it doesn't want to look anywhere else, anywhere pointless. What's the point of this kind of technology? This is radio, isn't it? It's a podcast thing. Who cares what we look like? What's happening on the show later when we talk in radio terms about stuff that people can see with their eyes? We have some majestic reviews.
We have Rose of Nevada, which I've been talking about for a long time, which is the new film by Mark Jenkin. We have Michael, which is the long-awaited and much-debated Michael Jackson. I don't know if you can actually call it a biopic, but we'll get to that. And Half-Man, which is the new TV series for which we have our very special guest.
who is actor, writer and comedian Richard Gadd, the guy who brought you Baby Reindeer to much acclaim and lots of attention. He has a new series for the BBC and it's called Half Man. And we'll be talking about that. Mark has seen the whole thing and I've seen half of it. And you can hear Richard Gadd talking to us later.
Can we just address the elephant in the room, which is that when you said Half Man, at least half of our audience went Half Biscuit. Yes. And there is a point in the interview where I should have made that point, but I thought Richard might crumble at that point and say, yes, you're right. I should never have made it. And whoever came up with this idea was completely correct. Yes.
By the way, on the Michael subject, there was a review in The Times. All right. I haven't seen it. Which used more curse words than I've ever seen in a review. Oh, really? All of them involving excrement. Yes. Wow. Films in take two, Mark. Exit 8, which is a really kind of interesting psychological horror thriller based on a video game.
And back in cinemas, reissued Fight Club is punching its way back onto your screens. Also in take two, you'll get even more of the good stuff, including five-question film club. Three questions, Your Majesty. Available for you on Patreon, our intros to Cold War, The Silence of the Lambs, Heathers and Withnail and I, amongst many others. So head on over to Patreon if you'd like to join the club.
Plus you get all the other top quality content ad-free. I'd say it to the camera there. I'm saying it to the camera. Ad-free. There'll be questions in which Mark and I answer top questions, including which film tropes most annoy you or even take you out of the film that you're watching, which is a very good question.
Now, I have to say, because of the high quality of our listeners, something that we've discussed many times, there are at least two emails in our takes today that I don't really understand. Okay. And here is the first one. Right. We have been inundated with existential emails following Mark's review in our discussion of l'étranger, the stranger.
And while we accept the existence of these emails, we struggle to find meaning in them. For example, robbing Cambridge. Okay. I'll show it to you. Okay. Wowzer. Cambridge, not a surprise. Shall we mark it and send it back to him? Dear Sisyphus and also Sisyphus. So I'm already thinking, okay.
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