Podcasts! | the m0vie blog

238. To Be Or Not To Be – w/ The Movie Palace (#199)

Posted on June 12, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, with special guest Carl Sweeney, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This time, a crossover with The Movie Palace, Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be Or Not To Be.

War rages across Europe. Hitler is on the march. In Poland, a troupe of actors find themselves cast as the most unlikely heroes in a daring mission to prevent vital intelligence from making its way to the Nazi authorities. Saving the day will require courage, guile and the ability to hit their marks.

At time of recording, it was ranked 199th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: american cinema, Billy Wilder, carl sweeney, carole lombard, comedy, ernst lubitsch, europe, fascism, film, genre, history, holocaust, imdb, jack benny, jewish, jewishness, Mel Brooks, Movies, Nazism, podcast, Poland, spoof, the movie palace, to be or not to be, tragedy, world war ii | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The Escapist Movie Podcast – “Does Army of the Dead Bite Off More Than It Can Chew?”

Posted on June 6, 2021 by Darren

The Escapist have launched a movie podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard and Lee Murkey for the eighteenth episode of the year, to discuss Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead and the perennial debate over movie lengths.

You can listen to back episodes of the podcast here, click the link below or even listen directly.

Filed under: Podcasts! | Tagged: escapist, escapist movie podcast, Movie, the escapist, the escapist movie podcast | Leave a comment »

237. Du rififi chez les hommes (Rififi) (#241)

Posted on June 5, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney and with special guest Luke Dunne, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This week, Jules Dessin’s Du rififi chez les hommes.

Master thief Tony has just been released from prison. He returns home to discover that his young apprentice Jo has hatched a plan for a daring jewelry heist. Against his better judgement, Tony finds himself drawn into a scheme that will have far-reaching implications for all of those involved.

At time of recording, it was ranked 241st on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: crime, france, heist, house unamerican activities committee, huac, international, jules dassin, luke dunne, podcast, The 250, the blacklist | Leave a comment »

235. Seppuku (Harakiri) (#32)

Posted on May 29, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney and with special guests Chris Lavery and Phil Bagnall, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This week, Masaki Kobayashi’s Seppuku.

It is a peaceful time in Japan. The samurai class have largely been rendered obsolete, with many veterans struggling to feed themselves or their families. A former samurai arrives at the estate of the powerful Iyi Clan, requesting to commit ritual suicide before them. He is the second such wanderer in so many days. However, nobody can expect what will follow.

At time of recording, it was ranked 32nd on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: bushido, edo period, hiroshima, history, Honour, japan, masaki kobayashi, nuclear war, podcast, samurai, Takashi Miike, Tatsuya Nakadai, Tôru Takemitsu, The 250, war guilt | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The Escapist Movie Podcast – “Talking The Expanse and Retro Sci-Fi with Ty Franck”

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Darren

The Escapist have launched a movie podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard for the seventeenth episode of the year, with a very special guest – the wonderful Ty Franck, co-creator of The Expanse. Ty joined us to talk about seventies science-fiction, in particular Logan’s Run.

You can listen to back episodes of the podcast here, click the link below or even listen directly.

Filed under: Podcasts! | Tagged: escapist movie podcast, james s.a. corey, logan's run, the escapist, the expanse, ty franck | Leave a comment »

235. Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) – Ani-May 2021 (#28)

Posted on May 15, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney and with special guests Deirdre Molumby, Graham Day and Bríd Martin, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This year, we are proud to continue the tradition of Anime May, a fortnight looking at two of the animated Japanese films on the list. This year, we watched a double feature of the last two anime movies on the list, Hayao Miyazaki’s Mononoke-hime and Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi.

This week, the second part of the double bill, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, perhaps Miyazaki’s breakthrough to western audiences.

Chihiro is moving to a new town and a new school. Her parents take a detour down a dirt road and stumble across a mysterious abandoned theme park. Chihiro quickly finds herself trapped in a weird world of spirits, witches and dragons. She needs to learn to navigate this mysterious setting and maybe find a way home.

At time of recording, it was ranked 28th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: ani-may, anime, anime april, brid martin, capitalism, coming of age, deirdre molumby, economy, employment, full employment, graham day, Hayao Miyazaki, japan, Life, miyazaki, podcast, spirited away, spirituality, The 250 | 2 Comments »

234. Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke) – Ani-May 2021 (#69)

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Darren

This week, the first part of the double bill, Mononoke-hime, the last film before Miyazaki’s first announced retirement.

A freak demon attack disturbs the peace of a remote village, and places a curse on a young prince. The hero must venture into the larger world in search of a cure, and quickly finds himself embroiled in a struggle between industrialisation and nature, between city and forest, between man and god.

At time of recording, it was ranked 69th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: ani-may, animals, animated, anime, anime april, brid martin, cartoon, deirdre molumby, environmentalism, fantasy, Forest, gods, graham day, history, japan, manga, nature, podcast, princess mononoke, The 250, wilderness, wildlife | 2 Comments »

New Podcast! The Escapist Movie Podcast – “TENET and 2020’s Not-busters”

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Darren

The Escapist have launched a movie podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard and Lee Murkey for the fifteenth episode of the year, for a discussion looking at the not-busters of the pandemic era, particularly Russell Crowe’s road rage thriller Unhinged and Christopher Nolan’s TENET.

You can listen to back episodes of the podcast here, click the link below or even listen directly.

Filed under: Podcasts! | Tagged: blockbusters, escapist movie podcast, jack packard, lee murkey, pandemic, TENET, the escapist, the escapist movie podcast, unhinged | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The X-Cast – Season 6, Episode 22 (“Biogenesis”)

Posted on May 8, 2021 by Darren

Coinciding with The X-Files‘ move from Vancouver to Los Angeles, there has also been a shift at The X-Cast. Tony Black is no longer running the show, but it is instead now being run by Sarah Blair, Kurt North and Carl Sweeney. I was thrilled to join Carl to talk about the sixth season finale: Biogenesis.

Following Two Fathers and One Son in the middle of the sixth season, Biogenesis is a very odd season finale for The X-Files. It’s the only season finale that doesn’t have the luxury of hanging on the central mythology and which isn’t designed to serve as a potential finale for the series as a whole. As a result, it’s a very odd episode of television, and offers an interesting prism on the tropes and conventions of The X-Files.

You can listen to the episode here, or click the link below.

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Filed under: Podcasts!, The X-Files | Tagged: belief, carl sweeney, chris carter, kurt north, mythology, religion, the x-cast, the x-files, x-files | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! “A Marvelous Escape” – Falcon and the Winter Soldier – “Full Season Review”…

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Darren

With a slew of Marvel Studios productions coming to Disney+ over the next six months, The Escapist has launched a weekly show discussing these series. I’ll be joining the wonderful Jack Packard and the fantastic KC Nwosu to break down WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki as they come out.

This week, we take a look back at the first season of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, including the news that Sam Wilson will be wielding the shield in Captain America 4 and trying to make sense of some of the season’s more chaotic plotting decisions.