Ep. 819 - Warfare
Added 2025-04-15 16:00:17 +0000 UTCDavid, Devindra, and Jeff fall into the Hitchcockian pleasures of Drop, praise the brilliant storytelling of Common Side Effects, and wonder why Hacks doesn't just let the two main leads be friends. Then, it's time to discuss Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza's new movie, Warfare.
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Weekly Plugs
David - Decoding TV: Matt Goldberg’s The Last of Us recaps
Devindra - Engadget Podcast: Pixel 9a review + bracing for tariffs
Jeff - cameo.com/jeffcannata
Shownotes (All timestamps are approximate only)
What we've been watching (~00:16:05)
David - Drop, G20, The Last of Us S2
Devindra - Last of Us S2, Hacks S4, The Pitt finale
Jeff - Common Side Effects, Your Friends and Neighbors
Featured Review (~01:04:00)
Warfare
SPOILERS (~01:29:15)
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Credits:
Our theme song is by Tim McEwan from The Midnight. This episode was edited by Noah Ross who also created our weekly plugs and spoiler bumper music. Our Slashfilmcourt music comes from Simon Harris.
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Comments
Back when Jeff announced his book of limericks, he said how he titled it the thing he says each week before he delivers the limerick, anyone else thought the title of the book was going to be “Well Dave…”
FlipZillaKong
2025-04-28 15:28:24 +0000 UTCPretty sure Dave and Devindra are fans of Starship Troopers, which completely goes against their arguments about how Warfare was received by certain audiences.
Aaron Pinkston
2025-04-27 16:18:14 +0000 UTCIt sounds like you guys keep saying this happened before 9/11. The movie very clearly tells you in the beginning this is from 2006. That is post 9/11.
Papool Chaudhari
2025-04-18 18:00:53 +0000 UTCGreat discussion! I haven't finished yet, but wanted to point out, to Dave's point, the films ends with a tribute, "For Elliott." But NOTHING for the Iraqi who we see literally sliced in half. And that's a major disappointment.
Papool Chaudhari
2025-04-18 17:56:48 +0000 UTCThis is going down as one of my most memorable episodes yet. Thank you Dave, Devindra and Jeff for this engaging discussion, and for demonstrating how we can still have varying opinions about one subject, but maintain respect and decorum doing so. It’s a lesson I wish more of us could learn. All this to say, art doesn’t exist in a vacuum. More and more I am finding it is impossible to remain neutral, apolitical, or evaluate a medium of art without considering it’s impact on the general public who believe in “alternate facts”. I haven’t seen Warfare, nor do I intend to, as I know it will only trigger me as I am a brown person of a certain faith who experienced a post-911 world as a teenager. Also, the premise itself of soldiers taking over a family’s home in Iraq only reminds me of the Mahmudiya rape case from 2006, which is not talked about, let alone in anyone’s recent memory. Many untold stories of Iraqi and Afghan lives destroyed from US military occupation pollutes any narrative from this genre for me. I realize I am in the minority as well. I get why some folks will see Jeff’s POV, and I also see that we’re are not in much disagreement. However, movies like this are problematic, because it just continues to otherize minorities to the general public, and some of us have to exist in that reality. Thank you guys for your nuance and holding space for all thoughts.
Minha A
2025-04-16 20:49:10 +0000 UTCThis is my first time commenting on this podcast, which I love listening to during the past few years. I completely agree with Jeff on this. To the extent that I am a bit confused as to how Dave and Davindra came to their views of this film after seeing it. This movie had a such an effect on me that it changed how I feel about war and how I will act politically towards this issue in my voting and support. I agree with Dave and Devindra's observation that Ray Mendoza might be saying one thing about wafare, and that Alex Garland is saying the complete opposite. This film is complex and leveled. The service people Devindra talked about in his viewing got one thing out of it (current service people mind you and not necessarily the veterans who served in W's war). For others like Jeff and me, we may see something else. Something more buried in the action, which is how warfare is pointless for those who fight on the ground at times. Warfare is the protagonist, not the characters. We see this in Dave's observation that we know nothing about these soldiers, and the film does not attempt to try and show them as such. They are props in a way. The real subject is war. How we as a society need to understand and see this aspect of war, instead of just the "support and honor our troops" that we are exposed to in society. I believe this film is trying to start that conversation, to usurp that notion and give us a moment of pause. I found this film unforgettable. It changed me and my views. And that is something for a film to do.
Joshua Kim
2025-04-16 12:09:23 +0000 UTC
