Episodes

  • Remakes
    Aug 10 2025

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    It is too easy to suggest that remakes are a bad idea and yes, there are some pointless stinkers to pick from. But if you look properly you will find there are some absolute classics which are remakes, possibly many films that you had no idea were remakes, either from a film with a different name, a film made long ago, or a foreign language film.

    Remakes are tricky, get it wrong and everyone asks what was the point of making it in the first place (apart from money)? Some remake choices are baffling, for example, why remake Psycho shot for shot? Why remake Ben-Hur and what on earth was the point in remaking The Wicker Man, apart from the bees scene? The Disney live action remakes don’t escape scrutiny either, and nor should they. Matt and Lewis also share their thoughts on the same film watched in preparation and they are not good thoughts.

    We decide on which original and remake have the biggest gulf in quality either way and we discuss our favourite cover version songs.

    There are some occasions where the original and remake can peacefully coexist, such as The Seven Samurai and the Magnificent Seven. Do TV shows count? TV movies? How we answer that determines which films get in our top 10 lists.

    The difference between a remake and a reboot? Lewis suggests a film that can be seen as both. There are quizzes and the usual silliness and wildly off topic discussions too.

    This episode has the longest runtime that we have recorded to date. Please don’t ask us to remake it. We would only be doing it for the money.

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    2 hrs and 18 mins
  • Black & White Films
    Jun 16 2025

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    Black and white films were practically the film industry for the first 40 years, so there is an embarrassment of riches for us to choose from. No genre is off the table here, and with such classics as Casablanca, Psycho, 12 Angry Men and Plan 9 From Outer Space we have plenty to ponder for our top 10s. Black and White films haven't gone away, so more recent films such as Raging Bull, Schindler's List, Ed Wood and The Artist are all contemplated.

    Along with the normal categories we discuss our favourite Directors, Actors, Actresses and Lines from films, of which there are plenty. Also the iconic moments, such as the light on Harry Lime in The Third Man, the twist in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and fighting in the War Room from Dr Strangelove are discussed.

    As usual we stray off topic at numerous times, talking about Harrison Ford trilogy rankings, characters that derail films, James Bond Bingo and unexpected compliments from fast food delivery drivers.

    If you haven't watched many black & white films before then we hope that we have given you some ideas, but if you don't want to we're not that upset.

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    1 hr and 58 mins
  • Action Films
    Apr 28 2025

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    The perfect popcorn movie. The adrenaline rush you get from watching an action film is like no other cinema experience. Thrilling set pieces, chase sequences and great stunts are just some of the weapons in its armoury and the very good action films have the wow factor. The bad ones however can be hilarious as it is arguably the film genre with the worst acting standards. We reveal which films were watched in preparation, including one film that made us both rage.

    Is Raiders an action film? What about Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and James Bond films? Matt gives his opinion on them and he and Lewis have a film characters quiz for each other. We also give a lot of thought to which action film character we want defending us for our lives.

    Huge films such as Robocop, The Matrix and the John Wick, Bourne and Mission Impossible franchises are discussed along with Die Hard (obviously), which was responsible for much imitation, including by ourselves using a car as the setting.

    From Bruce Lee to Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Damon, Reeves and Cruise the role of the action hero has changed, but who is our favourite? Our favourite action scenes and stunts are revealed along with what we believe are the best punches in cinema history.

    Other topics include Matt's favourite ice cream flavour, people's odd dress sense in post apocalyptic worlds, how we make cauliflower cheese and why Lewis wouldn't want to watch a film with Charlie Sheen in the room.

    We hope that you enjoy this episode and if you listen to it we will look for you, we will find you, and we will kiss you.


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    2 hrs and 16 mins
  • Gene Hackman
    Mar 10 2025

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    A true legend of the cinema. The great Gene Hackman, who sadly passed away recently, was always going to command his own episode. With a career spanning over 4 decades and more than 70 films there is plenty of variety for our top 10 lists. Gene Hackman won numerous awards, including 2 Oscars. As an actor he was equally good in lead or supporting roles, or playing the hero or villain. He brought charisma and personality to all that he did and was probably the best at being angry on film, but is he the most famous Gene according to a list that Lewis found?

    Major characters such as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett vie for the top spot of our favourite performances category, but will they get past Senator Kevin Keeley, Agent Rupert Anderson, or indeed, Lex Luthor. The best scenes category also gives Lewis another opportunity to get emotional about Shelley Winters.

    Along with all things Gene, we discuss compering at dance and cheer competitions, planned train works on Sundays, the song 24 Hours From Tulsa, riding pillion on a motorbike and the only giant spider that Lewis can watch on film.

    Gene Hackman was not only the greatest criminal mastermind of our time, but (in our opinion) the greatest actor of our time. After all, he was mentioned as having the freedom of a fictional island in a play that Matt wrote in 1999 so he must have been good.

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    1 hr and 46 mins
  • Family Films
    Dec 8 2024

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    We need to offer a groveling, humble apology to our listeners for our lengthy absence. We have had a lot going on with weddings and less pleasant events affecting our lives. Fear not though as we are back to captivate you over the next 2 hours with an episode that covers most genres.
    We can be brokers of world peace as a result of some of the new countries that joined our listening family during our hiatus.
    What is a family film is quite the question. Is it a film that is suitable for all the family, or is it a film that watch together as a family? The answer to that defines the criteria for our lists as we talk about how films molded and inspired us growing up. We talk about E.T. The Goonies, Mary Poppins, Jason and the Argonauts and Back to the Future to name a few, but there are so many here that qualify.
    Great performances from Tom Hanks, Gene Hackman and Hugh Grant among others are joyfully discussed along with our favourite scenes, such as cheating at the athletics meet in Blackbeard's Ghost, playing the floor piano in Big and the football match in Bedknobs & Broomsticks.
    Alongside this we talk about blue comedians, the sexiness of actor Derek Nimmo, stupid film titles, the perfect jacket potato and the impressionist Bort Scrumpet.
    We could have been anything that we wanted to be and we and we are very happy to have recorded this episode which will hopefully keep you occupied until we return.

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    2 hrs
  • Female Protagonists
    Jul 1 2024

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    The tricky 31st episode features Female protagonists. Was it left this long to see if it could tempt Lewis into going to the cinema to see Furiosa, or Inside Out 2? The answer is 50% yes with Lewis, wearing his new Midnight Run shirt recalling his experience of going to the cinema as a wheelchair user.
    Female protagonists are more fragile and vulnerable than their male counterparts, but there are so many strong characters, such as Scarlett O'hara, Erin Brockovich and Ellen Ripley, which meant that there were lots of diverse films to watch in preparation. Which film that Matt watched made it into his top 10?
    We discuss the best genre for female protagonists and why animation is so good in that respect. We also talk about our favourite scenes, performances and Actresses.
    In order to get a female perspective we ask a super friend of the show to provide us with her top 10 list.
    Cunningly woven inside all of this delight we talk about our preferred soup, Matt bunking off school to go to London, people who use sports icons/badges as their social media avatars, Matt's misdirected anger at alphabetical order songs and his top 10 songs sung by women. They don't make him angry at all I might add.

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    1 hr and 55 mins
  • Films of the 2010s
    May 5 2024

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    Fresh from the success of their new play, our boys return with their long awaited 30th episode. The 2010s were a time where they admit to being less prolific in visiting the cinema. Did life get in the way, or did it seem like films became longer and we are talking generally and not specifically referring to The Irishman.
    This was a decade that featured prominent whoppers like Get Out, Mad Max: Fury Road and Gravity. There were revivals for the Star Wars and Jurassic franchises and it was a great decade for superhero and animated films. We also reveal who we thought were the prominent actors and actresses of the time as well as our favourite performances and scenes (so many to choose from). Lots of different films appearing in our top 10s with none of the same in the top 5.
    Matt has a quiz for Lewis, who has a box office quiz in return. One does significantly better than the other.
    Do extras in battle scenes just fight it out between themselves, or do they know what they are supposed to do? What food would Matt like for his stag weekend and gravestones.
    The 2010s were a decade that lost some of our enthusiasm for films, but is that true? Perhaps our minds are changed by the end of the episode. If not, after so many good films are in the spotlight, you will have your knives out for us.



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    1 hr and 54 mins
  • AFI Top 100
    Jan 28 2024

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    Feeling flushed with pride due to our new "On Air" sign, we triumphantly returned from a 2 month break with a different kind of subject. The American Film Institute top 100 films (10th Anniversary) list gave us an absolute scope of films to watch. Who had seen the most and which films could we not get hold of? What did we both think of Gone with the Wind after putting if off for so long. We discuss the AFI criteria and pick a film that we think should be included and one that we think should come off the list.
    Matt has to identify the Directors, Actors and Actresses that have appeared most in the list and we also talk about favourite performances and scenes from films that we haven't previously talked about often.
    The top 100 contained so many whoppers that it was monstrously difficult leaving films out of the top 10s and the agony of choice resulted in some surprises along the way.
    Our usual ramble resulted in us talking about subjects such as getting involved in other people's arguments, the most rousing National Anthem, The Traitors, our preferred dessert pie and the latest information on our new play.
    We have determined that listening to all of our episodes back to back would only get you halfway to the Moon, so there is some work for us to do.

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    2 hrs and 5 mins