🍿98: The Dead Don't Hurt
The launch of SP Premium, the SP Film Club and a special offer just for you! 🎬
“It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.”
~ The Godfather, 1972
An offer you can’t refuse…
It’s a very special week for Salty Popcorn as we’re launching a brand new paid subscription model to bring you exclusive movie content and events.
Our first announcement is the introduction of the SP Film Club, a monthly event exclusive to Premium Subscribers. It will work just like a traditional book club but for films, with meetups done via Zoom — more details below.
The second update is that Premium Subscribers will get an issue of Salty Popcorn every week, whereas Free Subscribers will continue to receive an issue every two weeks (just like the old days).
As our readership continues to grow, SP will continue to evolve and your support makes it possible, we hope you’ll join us on our journey.
So, in summary, here’s a breakdown of each subscription:
Free Subscribers:
🍿 SP Bi-Weekly | 2 issues per month (+guest reviews)
🍿 Limited Archive Access
Premium Subscribers:
🍿 SP Weekly | 4 issues per month
🍿 Access to the brand new SP Film Club (details below)
🍿 Full Archive Access
Special Offer:
To thank you for all your support so far, we’re running a special offer if you sign up within the next week. This means you can get SP Premium for just:
Monthly Sub: £4 / $5
Annual Sub: £40 / $51
Once the offer is over, prices will be set at £6 ($7.65) per month and £60 ($76) per year. To upgrade, all you have to do is click below.
Remember:
The price you pay will be locked in for as long as you’re subscribed. For example, if you sign up for £40 per year today, and the price increases to £100 per year, you’ll continue to pay £40 forever (provided you don’t cancel your subscription).
🎬 SP Film Club:
As mentioned above, the SP Film Club will work just like a book club — but for film! Here’s how it will work:
At the beginning of the month, Premium Subscribers will vote on a film to watch, and a date/time to meet on Zoom. The first SP Film Club will take place at the end of July.
We’ll provide more details next week once you’ve had a chance to sign up.
What’s Popping
Feathers McGraw, the evil penguin from Wallace & Gromit, is returning to the screen this Christmas in Vengeance Most Fowl (there’s a teaser too!). Read more.
Russel Crowe admits to feeling uncomfortable with the concept of the upcoming sequel to Gladiator and the fact that he gets no say in the plot. Read more.
Musician Pharrell is being transformed into LEGO (quite literally) for his upcoming biopic, Piece by Piece — there’s a trailer for this one as well. Read more.
And finally, Kate Winslet opens up on why kissing Leonardo DiCaprio was such a mess on Titanic (spoiler alert, it was the makeup). Read more.
Coming Soon
Dandelion
UK: TBC // USA: 12 July
Theresa (KiKi Layne), a struggling singer-songwriter falls into an intoxicating romance that leads her to a deeper appreciation of her artistic journey as she finds her voice.
Widow Clicquot
UK: 2 August // USA: 19 July
There’s more than just popcorn popping this week (and you can count on us using that pun again if we write a feature review) as Haley Bennett stars in Widow Clicquot, based on the true story of Veuve Clicquot, who was behind the champagne empire.
Memoir of a Snail
UK: TBC // USA: TBC
From Oscar-winning animator Adam Elliot comes this bittersweet memoir of a melancholic woman called Grace Pudel (Sarah Snook) — a hoarder of snails, romance novels and guinea pigs.
There’s not much information about the release date, but it will be showing in Australian cinemas from 17th October.
Fact of the Week
If any Lord of the Rings fans saw this week’s feature film, The Dead Don’t Hurt, then the most die-hard among you may have noticed an unusual cameo... No, we’re not talking about Viggo Mortensen, we’re talking about Andúril — Aragorn’s sword.
This won’t spoil the film for you (don’t worry!) but there’s one short dream-like scene in which there’s a medieval knight on horseback, and eagle-eyed LOTR fans will have spotted the hilt of Andúril on the saddle.
Despite how obsessed with LOTR I’ve become in the last year, I can’t say I would have spotted it if it wasn’t for Mortensen’s interview with GQ:
“We had everything for this sequence with a knight. We had found this great, spirited horse, the right kind of saddle, and we made a medieval kind of blanket, and we had the costume for the knight. Everything was right, and then I said, ‘Well, we should have a sword.’ And I did look and there were some good ones and I thought, well, it might be kind of good to use [Aragorn’s sword] that I had because it’s really good.
“But I knew I would have to ask permission [from Peter Jackson] because I’m sure somebody would notice it, even if you only see it for a few seconds, it’s not really essential to the scene and certainly not to the movie, it’s just something in passing that you either see or you don’t.”
Review: The Dead Don’t Hurt
Star Rating:
4 (out of 5)
Where to Watch:
USA: Only in cinemas
UK: Only in cinemas
Runtime:
2hr 9m
Director:
Viggo Mortensen
Blurb:
Olsen (Viggo Mortensen) is an honourable man living in a corrupt town on the edge of the American frontier. When he voluntarily enlists to fight for the Union, against the Confederacy, he sees no alternative but to leave the woman he loves, Vivienne (Vicky Krieps) to fend for herself. And when he returns from war, both Olsen and Vivienne must make peace with who they have become.
The Review:
As the writer, director, star and even composer of the score, few filmmakers are as worthy of their title as Viggo Mortensen is for The Dead Don’t Hurt. While this thoughtful film is more period drama than typical Western, its heartfelt story and stunning scenery make for a delightful watch that leaves gun-slinging machismo at the wayside.
What makes this film really stand out is its focus on Vivienne (Vicky Krieps), a fiercely strong and independent woman, as its central protagonist. She falls for Olsen (Mortensen) as much for his charm as his respect for her, and the fact that the story stays with her when Olsen goes to war really puts her in the spotlight.
Cinematography plays a vital role too, and while the director of photography, Marcel Zyskind, keeps things simple, the ultra-wide landscapes coupled with close-ups of the cast create an enchanting intimacy with the characters and the setting. It makes it hard to pull your eyes away from the screen because you’re either face-to-face with a key character or marvelling at the stunning serenity of the scene.
As is expected with any Western, there’s some violence but it’s not gratuitous. While the build-up to one particular scene (you might be able to guess which one from the trailer) made me feel tense, it was a relief to see such abhorrent violence displayed tastefully (for lack of a better word), rather than explicitly.
There’s some surprising humour to be had too, but for the most part, it’s a quiet and sombre film that does a good job of imagining what life may have been like 160 years ago, rather than creating a legend out of the Wild West. It feels authentic, and there’s a great level of attention to detail with the costumes and set design (excluding the sword from Middle Earth).
Scroll down to see what’s in the next issue.
If you liked The Dead Don’t Hurt…
The End We Start From
2024 | UK: Prime Video (£4.49) // USA: Prime Video ($5.99)
With a strong female lead, an emotive score and stunning landscapes, there’s something in The Dead Don’t Hurt that reminds me of Nomadland — only here we have a more compelling narrative, so it doesn’t feel like the best recommendation.
So, instead, we’re recommending The End We Start From this week, reviewed by
in SP#85. While it’s not set on the frontier, it’s an equally sombre portrayal of one woman’s fight for survival on the edge of a new world — and we loved it.Next Week:
Sasquatch Sunset
UK: 14 June // USA: 19 April | Watch the Trailer
Congrats Tom! So exciting.
The film club is a fantastic idea!