[00:00:06] Speaker A: Welcome to five minute film finder, brought to you by Pioneer Library system.
Hello, and welcome to five minute film, the podcast, where we take five minutes to sell you on a movie available on the streaming services hoopla or canopy. I'm Jamie, and I am here today with Amanda.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: Hey, Jamie.
[00:00:27] Speaker A: Hello. So today we kind of have a theme of movies about mothers and daughters, and both of our movies were directed by women. So we are going to tell you about those. We've got Wilhelm, who is going to start the timer for us, and Amanda, are you. You want to start us off?
[00:00:47] Speaker B: I'm ready.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: Okay. So, Wilhelm, you will start us off.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: Okay. I'm gonna talk about the film Miss Juneteenth. It's from 2020, which was, you know, some stuff was happening that year.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: A couple of things.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Yeah. So this may have, you know, slipped through the cracks a little bit during your movie year. That year. It is unrated, and the director is channing good free peoples, and it's her first feature. She's done some tv. This is her first feature link film, and it's starring Nicole Behari as Turquoise, the mom, and then Alexis Chikazi as Kaidenhe, who's the daughter. And then her dad is played by Kendrick Sampson, and his name is Ronnie. And you might know him. Yes. You might know him from. I know him from how to get away with murder is where I saw him. Owen Kai.
[00:01:33] Speaker A: I saw him in that. And he was in a couple episodes of Supernatural.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Oh, he was? Oh, okay. Yeah. I immediately was like, hmm, I know that he's from somewhere. Yeah. So it starts out, well, just a little bit of background about Juneteenth. It's a commemorative holiday that celebrates the end of slavery. And it started in Texas, and it's a federal holiday now. And this movie is set in Texas. I believe it's set in Fort Worth.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: I didn't know it started in Texas.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: That's what my research shows.
But, you know, if anybody has any info they want to say, they can contact us about that.
So it starts out, we meet Turquoise, and the film is primarily from her point of view, but it's definitely a mother daughter relationship film. And she's working in, like, a barbecue bar place, and she's cleaning the bathroom. And so one of the other employees in the barbecue place says, like, I can't believe Miss Juneteenth is cleaning the toilet.
And so it establishes right away that turquoise is a former Miss Juneteenth. And, you know, we get the impression that she wishes she'd done more with her life with that opportunity of being Miss Juneteenth. And so we see turquoise take her daughter Kaidenhe to enter the Miss Juneteenth pageant. And this is a pageant that's in. That's happening at the same time as the Juneteenth celebrations. And so we see her, like, riding a float and stuff. I don't know. When I was in high school, riding floats was fun. I don't know if it's still. Kids are still into that, really likes it, and it's just such a different world. I don't know if you had this impression when you were watching the film of when she goes to enter the contest. It's just, it seems very proper and, like, southern. Yes, and like a southern kind of like gentility to the whole thing. And everybody's kind of dressed up. And so I, as a viewer, really got the impression, like, oh, wow, this is like a whole other world than just like the regular world. I mean, I don't know what you would just, like your daily life, like, you know, going to school or what Kai has been experiencing normally with her, you know, just her friends.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And, well, and they take. They take it very seriously.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: They do. Yes, they absolutely take it seriously. And it just follows them as turquoise kind of coaches Kai to get ready for this competition. And we get the impression that Kai is not quite as into it as her mom is.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: And even turquoise even tells her, like, what your talent's gonna be. You know, you're gonna read the same poem that I read. And it was the poem phenomenal woman by Maya Angelou. And when her, she gets her daughter to practice it, her daughter is kind of reading it. She's not really into it. But then when Turquoise says, no, you do it like this. And she starts reading it, you can just see her face just light up and she's trying to tell, kind of like, this is how you do it. And you kind of get the impression that she's, like, maybe reliving her glory days as Miss June thinks a little bit. And so that's the first kind of introduction to this relationship with this mom and daughter. And I just really enjoyed this film. And, you know, not everything goes right for them. They have some hiccups and the ending is, to me, was just really touching the way it all wraps up and, oh, I just really liked it.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: Yes, I really liked it, too.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: The lead actress who plays the mom, Nicole Beharie, is so good, and she just really draws you in.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: And she. I was looking her up. She won a Gotham award for best actress.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: For this role.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: She absolutely deserved it. She's so good in it. And so if you're interested in thinking about maybe watching this movie, I would recommend it to people who I think of movies as kind of like fiction. You know, we have subjugatings for genres of fiction. So, like own voices, storytelling. I think there was some trivia on IMDb and then there's some reviews that I've read that peoples, the director, she has experience when she was growing up in Texas and competing in Juneteenth competitions.
[00:05:22] Speaker A: Yes, I read that. And I had no idea that there were, this was real, that they really had Juneteenth pageants. So I learned something. And to me, it also kind of felt very slice of life. I mean, a little bit of coming of age.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: Absolutely. And I love that stuff. Like, just character studies of. Yeah, I really liked it.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: I thought it was a really touching film.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: Is it on canopy?
[00:05:42] Speaker B: It is on canopy. And there are other references and reviews that I've read that it's. There's a lot of southern african american representation and cowboy african american representation. Oh, no.
So, yeah, I definitely recommend it. Since this film is unrated, I kind of wanted to talk about sometimes I think of films as, like, how would my grandma like this film if this was grandma age appropriate? And so I think she would have liked it. She loves women's stories. She loved family stories. She really identified as a wife and a mother. And there are some scenes of church life I think she would have really liked.
So, yeah, I think it would be age appropriate for a woman in her nineties. What would you think?
[00:06:27] Speaker A: Definitely, yeah.
I mean, it was pretty, fairly clean. I mean, maybe some language, but. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, thanks, Amanda.
[00:06:35] Speaker B: Thank you, Jamie.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: And thank you for picking this movie because I had not seen it and it had been, like, on my list for a while.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: Me, too. I was on a lot of the critics. I followed their end of year lists. And so, yeah, I'm really glad I finally caught up with it.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: Yay. Thanks. All right, well, we are going to take a quick break, and then we come back. I will tell you about my choice.
And welcome back to a five minute film finder. So we just heard from Amanda about her choice, Miss Juneteenth. And now I'm going to tell you about my choice. So while Miss Juneteenth kind of took more of the perspective of the mom, my film kind of takes more of the perspective of the daughter, although we do get a little bit of the mom so I will have Wilhelm start my timer, and I am going to talk about Lady Bird. So this movie is also on canopy. It is a 2017 comedy drama. It's rated r. It was written and directed by Greta Gerwig, who I think most of us may know, she directed Barbie. So I gotta say, I love this movie. I saw it twice in movie theaters, and then I've watched it maybe, like, three or four times since then. Since it's one of the movies, the.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Few movies my mom has been like, we have to see us together.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: Oh, nice. Well, yeah, very fitting. But it stars saoirse Ronan as Lady Bird, Christine Lady Bird McPherson. She coins herself. She gives herself the nickname Lady Bird. And that's one thing about the movie, is I don't really knew why she chose that. It was never really explained. But anyway, Laurie Metcalf plays her mom. And then we've got Oklahoma's own Tracy Letts, the son of author Billy Letts, playing Lady Bird's dad. And then we've got Lucas Hedges and Timothy Chalamet. And I think the first thing I ever saw him in a little bit, a few facts. It was nominated for five Academy awards, and it did win two Golden Globes. Best motion picture, musical or comedy, and best actress for Saoirse.
But it takes place in Sacramento, and it's kind of just like a year in the life of lady Bird. It goes through, like, her senior year of school, and she's trying to kind of figure out.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: And she's done kind of with all of it.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Totally. Yes. She's trying to figure out where she wants to go to college. And her mom, of course, wants her to stay close for financial reasons.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Between them is a lot of the conflict between them.
[00:09:09] Speaker A: But lady Bird wants to go to an east coast school. Cause she feels like she hates Sacramento. She wants to go where there's culture and art and all this. And so her and her mom, yeah, they fight a lot in this movie.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: But it's so true. At least my experiences with argans, with my mom, about how they'll just be talking and happy the next minute, next month, they'll just be bickering and just griping at each other, and then they're happy again, talking about something.
[00:09:33] Speaker A: Right. Someone says one thing and it just, like, sets off.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: I mean, they really get on each other.
[00:09:37] Speaker A: The first scene of the movie, they.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: Know how to push each other's buttons.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: Totally. Yes, for sure. But that dynamic was just. Yeah, but, yeah, but lady Bird goes through a lot of typical teenage things. She's gets dating and then trying to be friends with popular kids. But, yeah, most of all, she is clashing with her mom. And I will say that that, to me, of course, made this movie feel so real.
They reminded me of my own relationship with my mom when I was a teenager. And it just kind of does a really good job of showing how complex those relationships can be. And, of course, the whole cast is amazing. But Saoirse and Lori were really the standouts here, in my opinion. I think they brought depths to the characters. Like, even though they can be unlikable and they say these really mean things to each other, I mean, I feel like you understand why they act that way, maybe.
[00:10:29] Speaker B: Yeah. They kind of bring out the worst in each other. Yeah.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: Unfortunately, I feel, like, toxic, maybe might be.
[00:10:35] Speaker B: The great scene, I think, was in the trailer where they're arguing. It's at the very early part of the film when they're arguing and she jumps out of the car.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: That's the very first scene. Yes.
[00:10:45] Speaker B: Where the mom is just being so mean, how you're just gonna go to jail.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: And then something about, like, your grades aren't even good enough to get into college, you know, it's like, wow.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: It establishes their relationship right at the beginning.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: So.
And then there are times, I mean, lady bird, kind of a jerk to her, too.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Lady Bird is a challenging character, I think.
[00:11:05] Speaker A: Yes. But I think, I mean, saoirse replies her so well that you. I still like her, you know, even, you know, and for all the bickering.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: She does with her mom, whenever somebody is like, yeah, your mom's really hard on you. Like, she'll defend her every single time.
[00:11:19] Speaker A: I noticed that too.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: Like, I think she said.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: That. Yeah. So it kind of reminds of that, kind of that thing. Like somebody you can talk bad about somebody you love, your family or whatever, but the minute somebody else does, like, no, but some of my, kind of my favorite things, the soundtrack, really enjoyed that. There was some nostalgia there with Elena to Morissette. Dave Matthews Band.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: The Dave Matthews band scene is so great.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: Love that. It's very 2003. Isn't that when it's like, yeah. Oh, that's.
[00:11:48] Speaker A: I forgot to mention, it does take place in 2002, 2003.
I thought the cinematography, the shots of Sacramento were great. Oh, one more thing about the soundtrack I really like. There's a song called this eve of parting by John Hartford, and I was not familiar with it at all. And when it started, it actually kind of reminded me of, like, Neil diamond of gave me those kind of vibes. But, yeah, so, yeah, so great, great soundtrack, great cinematography, great writing, great acting. Like, just, I could just say great, great, great. But it felt very real to me. And now my time is up. Oh, no films.
[00:12:28] Speaker B: The more you watch it, it seems like the more I get from it each time.
[00:12:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I actually watched it a couple times over the weekend in preparation for this podcast. And there's, you know, yeah, there's scenes and lines that I hadn't noticed before, but.
[00:12:41] Speaker B: And every character gets like a backstory. Not that it's explicit, but they, they are a full character. Like their drama coach. Like, he has a side story about experiencing depression. Her best friend is not just her sidekick, she has her own story.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: And so, yeah, I really love how all the side characters are treated in the film.
[00:13:01] Speaker A: Yeah, it's fantastic.
All right, well, thank you, Amanda, for giving us your input on Miss Juneteenth.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: Thank you, Jamie.
[00:13:11] Speaker A: Thank you all for listening. If you enjoyed listening to our show today, please be sure to leave us a like and subscribe to our channel from wherever you receive your podcast. If you have any questions or you want to share your thoughts on the films we've covered, or if you have any recommendations for us, you know, feel free to leave a comment and a rating, or you can email
[email protected]. dot. Again, that is podcast, singular podcast at pioneer librariesystem.org dot. I hope you'll check out some of these movies and all the other things that they have to offer on hoopla and canopy. You can access them with your pioneer library system card. And so happy watching. So. All right, thanks again.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: Thanks, Tammy.
