Digger and Primetime, plus Chicago International Film Fest Preview | #1084

Josh Larsen (0:00)

Filmspotting is presented by Regal Unlimited, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. See any standard 2D movie anytime with no blackout dates or restrictions. Sign up now on the Regal app or at the link in our description and use code FILMSPOT26 to receive 15% off.

SPEAKER_2 (0:24)

What kind of a show are you guys putting on here today?

SPEAKER_3 (0:27)

You're not interested in art?

Adam Kempenaar (0:28)

No. Well, look, we're going to do this thing.

SPEAKER_5 (0:30)

We're going to have a conversation.

Adam Kempenaar (0:34)

From Chicago, this is Filmspotting. I'm Adam Kempenaar.

Josh Larsen (0:37)

And I'm Josh Larsen.

SPEAKER_2 (0:38)

I'm not going to sugarcoat it. We're in a tight spot. Now, do me a favor.

Imagine they're one of those people who think that Digger Rockwell is Satan himself. What are some of the harshest attacks I can expect from those folks who think that I'm a scum of yours?

Adam Kempenaar (0:53)

Tom Cruise joined forces with two-time Best Director Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu for Digger, and the result was one of the biggest box office failures of the year.

Josh Larsen (1:04)

File this one under failures worth talking about?

We've got a review. Plus, Robert Pattinson in Primetime, a preview of the Chicago International Film Festival and more ahead on Filmspotting.

Adam Kempenaar (1:28)

Welcome to Filmspotting, Josh. We have two hometown film festivals coming up, the Chicago International Film Festival in October. We will have a few picks, recommendations to have on your radar as we always do at this time. And then, Iowa City's Refocus Film Festival coming up the following weekend in Iowa City. Chances to see us certainly there. You're coming to Iowa City. Michael Phillips may be here. Matt Singer is going to be here. Sam Van Holgren will also check in. It's going to be a big Filmspotting Family reunion.

Josh Larsen (2:03)

How about that? I can't wait to see you all in Iowa City. And yeah, before that, I'll be hitting the Chicago Fest. What a great month. I mean, it's going to be a riches overflowing cinematically for me this October.

Adam Kempenaar (2:16)

Some Fest talk ahead. Also, your thoughts on Robert Pattinson in Primetime, regrettably, I still haven't had a chance to see it yet. We'll have poll results, your responses to our poll question that tied in with Matt Singer's new book, Funny Business. It is out now and more. A reminder that you can watch us talk. Filmspotting is now a video podcast. You can see the show over at youtube.com/filmspotting.

First up, Digger.

SPEAKER_2 (2:49)

Mr. President, 55 minutes ago, my company informed me of the explosion on our rig, causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. What the hell is that?

SPEAKER_6 (3:08)

That thing is huge.

Adam Kempenaar (3:11)

For some, perhaps many, Alejandro González Iñárritu's new film, Digger, may mirror the arc of his career as a filmmaker. It begins one way, then becomes increasingly affected, overstuffed, and overblown. Sure, his 2000 debut, Amores Perros, showed some formal ingenuity, linking three separate stories via a car crash, but his work since, including films such as Babel, Birdman, and The Revenant, has increased in grandiosity and, according to his detractors, pomposity. In his Letterboxd review of Digger, Isaac Feldberg writes, The joke is on us for seeking entertainment from an artist who'd rather make art to endure. Which speaks succinctly to my main issue with Iñárritu over the years, his apparent belief in the wisdom that is born from suffering. The more punishment he inflicts on his characters, the more edified and enlightened we are as an audience. But hear me when I say, I come to praise Iñárritu, not to bury him, at least for this set up. Because Digger is taking such a brutal beating at the box office that the story of its failure could be fodder for a future Iñárritu movie.

Just before taping, I saw this from Deadline, Tom Cruise's Digger to lose around 150 million. The Washington Post, Digger is Tom Cruise's biggest opening weekend flop in almost 20 years.

And then there are critics like Feldberg and the Boston Globe's OD. Henderson, also writing on Letterboxd, who gave it half a star, proclaiming, Note in all caps, this is really a zero-star review, but Letterboxd doesn't recognize no stars.

Josh Larsen (4:51)

I didn't know that. Okay.

Adam Kempenaar (4:53)

I already know, Josh, that you have some positive things to say about Digger, which stars Cruise as an aging oil tycoon whose tracklessness may have set in motion a global disaster. And that's about all I can say about the plot with getting into major spoilers. Suffice it to say, the dig or die tagline on the posters is at best semi misleading, and the official one-sentence synopsis, the most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything, is completely so.