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New Podcast! Scannain Podcast (2018) #45!

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Darren

It’s time for the latest Scannain podcast! Apologies this time, as I have a bit of a throaty cough on it. I try to keep it under control.

This week, I join Jay Coyle, Luke Dunne from Film in Dublin, Grace Duffy and Scannain editor-in-chief Niall Murphy to discuss the week in film news. As usual, we talk about the top ten, the new releases, and what we watched this week. Jay made one last effort to get his mileage out of Filmstruck, and proved himself “down with the kids” by watching Cam and Searching. Luke delved into gay and exploitation cinema, with a healthy helping of Suspiria. Grace watched a pair of surfing documentaries on Netflix. Niall reopens old wounds with Batman vs. Superman and introduced his son to the original Wreck-It Ralph.

In film news, this week marked the passing of a number of industry legends, including Nicholas Roeg and Bernardo Bertolucci. We also discuss the five Irish films premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, along with the new Arc Cinema opening in Navan. Because Niall is here, we also have some interesting facts about the composition of the top ten.

The top ten:

  1. Planeta Singli 2
  2. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
  3. The Girl in the Spider’s Web
  4. Nativity Rocks!
  5. Widows
  6. Robin Hood
  7. A Star is Born
  8. Bohemian Rhapsody
  9. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
  10. The Grinch

New releases:

  • Three Identical Strangers
  • The Possession of Hannah Grace
  • Disobedience
  • Anna And The Apocalypse
  • Wreck-It Ralph Breaks the Internet
  • Creed II

You can download the episode here, or listen to it below.

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107. Cidade de Deus (City of God) (#20)

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney and this week with special guest Aine O’Connor, 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 Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This time, Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund’s Cidade de Deus.

Over three decades in the eponymous Brazilian slum, lives intersect and collide amid poverty and criminality. A young by named “Rocket” tries to navigate – and account for – the fickle winds of chance in a turbulent urban environment.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 20th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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New Podcast! Standard Orbit #246 – “A Tale Of Three Producers “

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Darren

I was thrilled to be invited to join the great Zach Moore on Standard Orbit, a Star Trek: The Original Series podcast hosted over at Trek FM. I appeared on the show last year to discuss the third season of the series, and so it makes sense that I should be back to discuss the second season.

Zach got in touch after reading some of my reviews for the second season from several years back. He was particularly fascinated with my breakdown of the season between three producers: Gene L. Coon, John Meredyth Lucas and Gene Roddenberry. Each of those three producers had their own unique style and each brought their distinct sensibility to the series. In fact, watching the season in production order, there a discernible shift between the three talents involved. Coon was much more interested in playing with the tropes and conventions of the young series, while Lucas was engaged with more traditional science-fiction storytelling and Roddenberry had his own strong idea of what the series could be.

Zach was, as ever, a very gracious host. I had great fun discussing it. You can hear the full discussion below or visit the episode page here.

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106. Fifty Shades of Grey (#-91)

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with Marianne Cassidy and Grace Duffy, The Bottom 100 is a subset of the fortnightly The 250 podcast, a trip through some of the worst movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This time, Sam Taylor Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey.

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New Podcast! Scannain Podcast (2018) #44!

Posted on November 22, 2018 by Darren

It’s time for the latest Scannain podcast! Almost live from the Dublin Feminist Film Festival this week.

Recorded late on Wednesday evening, following the screening of the festival shorts and Parklands. Directed by Kathryn Millard, with cinematography by Mandy Walker, Parklands is notable as Cate Blanchett’s first starring role. So Jay Coyle, Ronan Doyle and I talk a little bit about our reactions to both the shorts and the film itself.

As usual, we talk about the top ten and the new releases, as well as what we’ve watched this week outside of the festival. In this episode, Jay discusses both the massive list of great films he has to watch before the end of the year, and his decision to watch both The Meg and Skyscraper instead. Ronan has seen two of the films in the top ten, having very strong opinions about both A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody.

There is a lot to cover in news, including the announcement of a new Criterion streaming service risen from the ashes of Filmstruck, the awards at the Cork Film Festival, the Irish Film Festival London, the Polish Film Festival at the Irish Film Institute and the launch of Screen Skills Ireland. So a busy week.

The top ten:

  1. Overlord
  2. Johnny English Strikes Again
  3. Burn The Stage: The Movie
  4. Smallfoot
  5. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
  6. Widows
  7. A Star is Born
  8. Bohemian Rhapsody
  9. The Grinch
  10. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

New releases:

You can download the episode here, or listen to it below.

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105. Bohemian Rhapsody – This Just In (#123)

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and with special guests Marianne Cassidy and Luke Dunne, This Just In is a subset of The 250 podcast, looking at notable new arrivals on the list of the 250 best movies of all-time, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This time, Bryan Singer and Dexter Fletcher’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 123rd best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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New Podcast! The X-Cast – Season 3, Episode 24 (“Talitha Cumi”)

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Darren

I’m back on The X-Cast this week, covering Talitha Cumi with the one and only Tony Black, a nice companion piece to last week’s episode covering Wetwired.

Talitha Cumi is a controversial and divisive episode, particularly among fans of the series. It is relatively unique as far as season-finales go, in that it is perhaps the only season finale in The X-Files that could not also serve as a series finale as well. It is very poetic and very lyrical story, but also one that largely eschews a lot of the structures and rhythms that audiences expect from narratives. I have always had a soft spot for it, and I think I get a chance to articulate why on the podcast. As little sense as the actual plot of Talitha Cumi makes on a beat-by-beat basis, it works very well as a thematic piece meditating on big ideas.

It was, always, a pleasure and an honour to discuss the episode with Tony. I’m always flattered to be asked back. There were a few recording hitches with the episode that meant we had to record it, and some of that giddiness shines through a little bit. I hope it’s enjoyable to listen to, as it was one of my favourite podcasting experiences. We also talk a little bit about the third season of the series as a whole, about whether it is the best season and even how we measure such things. It’s quite an extended episode, but I hope you enjoy it.

The truth is in here. You can listen to the episode here, or click the link below.

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New Podcast! Scannain Podcast (2018) #43!

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Darren

It’s time for the latest Scannain podcast! A somewhat abridged edition this week, due to time constraints.

This week, I join Jay Coyle and Grace Duffy to discuss the week in film. As usual, we talk about the top ten and the new releases, as well as what we’ve watched this week. In this episode, Jay discusses continues his disaster movie marathon with Volcano and the questionable inclusion of Cliffhanger. Varda Season continues apace. Meanwhile, Grace gets into the Christmas spirit and walks us through some highlights of her binge of research into Netflix’s Christmas films.

The news this week is abridged, but there’s a brief discussion of the passing of Stan Lee and the awards given out by Irish Film London before the Irish Film Festival London.

The top ten:

  1. Hurricane (Squadron 303)
  2. Goosebumps II: Haunted Halloween
  3. Overlord
  4. Johnny English Strikes Again
  5. Smallfoot
  6. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
  7. Widows
  8. A Star is Born
  9. Bohemian Rhapsody
  10. The Grinch

New releases:

You can download the episode here, or listen to it below.

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New Podcast! Scannain Podcast (2018) #42!

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Darren

It’s time for the latest Scannain podcast!

This week, I join Jay Coyle, Ronan Doyle, Grace Duffy and Doctor Jennifer O’Meara from the Dublin Feminist Film Festival to discuss the week in film. As usual, we talk about the top ten and the new releases, as well as what we’ve watched this week. In this episode, Jay discusses The Other Side of the Wind, Ronan rewatches Waltz with Bashir, Grace celebrates Netflix Christmas movies, and Jennifer contemplates The Congress.

The big news feature this week is Doctor Jennifer O’Meara discussing the fifth annual Dublin Feminist Film Festival, which is taking place the 20th-22nd November in the Lighthouse Cinema. Jennifer walks us through some programme highlights. We also discuss the iffy short film festival, Netflix’s collaboration with Nora Twomey and Cartoon Saloon on My Father’s Dragon, a recent Prime Time Investigates look at reports of bullying the Irish film industry and highlights of the Screen Ireland funding decisions for the third quarter.

The top ten:

  1. 7 Emotions
  2. First Man
  3. Venom
  4. Halloween
  5. Goosebumps II: Haunted Halloween
  6. Johnny English Strikes Again
  7. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
  8. Smallfoot
  9. A Star is Born
  10. Bohemian Rhapsody

New releases:

You can download the episode here, or listen to it below.

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104. Double Indemnity – w/ The Movie Palace (#88)

Posted on November 10, 2018 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a fortnightly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

This week, a special crossover episode with The Movie Palace Podcast, a film podcast hosted by Carl Sweeney taking a look at the classics of Hollywood’s golden age. Carl suggested a crossover episode taking a look at the list, and particularly some of the classic movies listed on it.

So this week, Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity.

Regarded as one of the earliest codifiers of film noir and one of the strongest examples of the form, Double Indemnity is the tale of door-to-door insurance salesman Walter Neff. Through chance, Neff wanders into the life of a young wife by the name of Phyllis Dietrichson. When they get together, it’s murder.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 88th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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