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410. The Predator – All-ien 2024 (#—)

Posted on February 1, 2025 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Jess Dunne, this week with special guest Craig McKenzie, 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 second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This week, Shane Black’s The Predator.

These mysterious big game hunters have been coming to Earth for generations, hunting the most dangerous game of all. However, when an alien civil war finds its way to Earth, a band of decommissioned army officers find themselves serving as the last line of defense between the planet and a bigger threat than they would have ever dared imagine.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: Podcasts! | Tagged: Andrew Quinn, character dynamics, Craig McKenzie, dark humor, Darren Mooney, eugenics motif, film, film analysis, Fox, franchise, imdb, jess dunne, Mental Health, podcast, postproduction, production challenges, reshoots, Shane Black, societal discussions, storytelling, The 250, the predator | Leave a comment »

401. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem – All-ien 2024 (#—)

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Jess Dunne, this week with special guest Billie Jean Doheny, 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 second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This week, the Brothers Strause’s Alien vs. Predator: Requiem.

The peaceful community of Gunnison in Colorado finds its idyllic existence interrupted when a strange extraterrestrial vessel comes crashing to Earth in the woods at the edge of town. The unusual ship is carrying a dangerous cargo, but it also brings other outsid visitors to town. It turns out that there’s more than one sort of alien that the residents have to worry about.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best or worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: alien vs. predator, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, avp: r, billie jean doheny, Brothers Strause, crossover, dark, Fox, horror, jess dunne, monster movie, r-rating, requiem, slasher | Leave a comment »

398. Alien: Resurrection – All-ien 2024 (#—)

Posted on November 9, 2024 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Jess Dunne, this week with special guests Diamanda Hagan, 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 second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This week, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection.

In the distant future, the terror of the xenomorph is nothing but a distant memory. The company has faded into history. However, on a ship at the extreme reaches of known space, the government is conducting cloning experiments in the hope of resurrecting Ellen Ripley. However, these scientists are much more interested in the creature she carries inside of her, which is now part of her DNA.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: alien, Alien Resurrection, blockbusters, body horror, diamanda hagan, drowning, Fox, franchise, horror, jess dunne, joss whedon, resurrection, sigourney weaver, water, wet, winona ryder | Leave a comment »

397. Alien³ – All-ien 2024 (#—)

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Jess Dunne, this week with special guest Alex Towers, 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 second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, David Fincher’s Alien³.

A freak accident on her lifepod sends xenomorph survivor Ellen Ripley off-course. Plunging to the surface of a long-abandoned prison planet inhabited by the inmates so institutionalised that they refused to leave, Ripley finds herself haunted by the possibility that the monster that has taken so much from her is still with her, and that she is trapped inside of a prison of the creature’s making.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: alex towers, alien, alien 3, Alien³, all-ien, autuerism, david fincher, Fox, franchise, hollywood, imdb, jess dunne, Movie, podcast, The 250 | Leave a comment »

304. Speed 2: Cruise Control (-#97)

Posted on September 24, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Jason Coyle and Richard Drumm, The 250 is a weekly 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.

So this week, Jan de Bont’s Speed 2: Cruise Control.

SWAT team member Alex Shaw decides to take his girlfriend Annie on a luxurious ocean cruise, planning to propose to her. Fate has other plans, in the form of mysterious terrorist John Geiger, who has a score to settle and a score to pull, hijacking the liner and setting it on a collision course for disaster. Soon enough, it isn’t just Alex and Annie’s relationship that finds itself careening out of control.

At time of recording, it was ranked 97th on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: 1997, award, blockbusters, failure, Fox, jan de bont, jason patric, Keanu Reeves, podcast, sandra bullock, Speed, speed 2, speed 2: cruise control, success, The Bottom 100, titanic, water, water tanks, willem dafoe | Leave a comment »

298. The Sound of Music (#243)

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this time with special guest Síomha McQuinn, The 250 is a weekly 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, Robert Wise’s The Sound of Music.

Maria is a young woman lacking purpose and direction in her life. Exiled from a convent, Maria is assigned to work as governess for the von Trapp family, caring for seven children who recently lost their mother and are struggling to connect with their emotionally distant father. Maria strikes up an unlikely connection with Captain von Trapp, but the family soon finds their idyllic existence threatened as historical realities come to bear on Austria.

At time of recording, it was ranked 243rd on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: box office, christopher plummer, culture, Fox, julie andrews, musical, nazis, podcast, Robert Wise, síomha mcquinn, songs, The 250 | 2 Comments »

290. Network (#219)

Posted on July 9, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Ciara Moloney and Dean Buckley, The 250 is a weekly 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.

So this week, Sidney Lumet and Paddy Chayefsky’s Network.

Howard Beale is a veteran newscaster on a struggling network. When he is given his two weeks’ notice, Beale threatens to shoot himself live on the air as his final broadcast. The television journeyman becomes a media storm and ratings sensation, as the network eagerly seeks to capitalise on what could be a once-in-a-generation phenomenon.

At time of recording, it was ranked 219th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: america, Bryan Cranston, capitalism, ciara moloney, dean buckley, donald trump, exploitation, faye dunaway, Fox, fox news, hippies, media, money, ned beatty, Network, networks, Oscars, Paddy Chayefsky, Peter Finch, power, ratings, reagan, Sidney Lumet, Television, the sundae, yuppies | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The X-Cast – Season 8, Episode 2 (“Without”)

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Darren

The X-Cast is covering the eighth season of The X-Files. This is one of my favourite seasons of television ever, in large part because it’s a season that manages to build a convincing narrative and character arc around a very challenging production reality, and in doing so forced the show itself to evolve and change. I’m thrilled to join Sarah L. Blair for a discussion of the second half of the season premiere.

Without is a very meditative piece of television, which is a bold and interesting choice for the second half of a season premiere. It is essentially an episode about absences, about the lack of resolution or even meaningful linear progress. It’s an episode that is about confronting the reality that The X-Files no longer has one of its two leading characters available to it. What does that version of The X-Files look like? Without is essentially a story about wandering through the desert.

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

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Filed under: Podcasts!, The X-Files | Tagged: Arc, doggett, Fox, mulder, Robert Patrick, sarah blair, scully, season, the x-cast, the x-files, without | Leave a comment »

262. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (#250)

Posted on November 27, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, 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, F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.

In the countryside, a married man finds himself tempted by a visitor from the city. Deciding to murder his wife and escape from his mundane life, the man has a last minute change of heart. Their passion reignited, the married couple embark on an adventure to the big city, where they might get lost in the crowds and perhaps find each other once again.

At time of recording, it was ranked 250th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: f.w. murnau, films, Fox, German Expressionism, history, hollywood, Movies, murnau, silent cinema, sunrise, sunrise: a song of two humans | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On James Cameron’s “Aliens” as a Challenge to Ridley Scott’s “Alien”…

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. James Cameron’s Aliens is thirty-five years old this July, so it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look back at one of the best sequels ever made.

Aliens works in large part because it’s smart enough to avoid directly challenging Alien, in that it avoids simply recycling the original formula with a shift in location or with a new cast. Instead, it offers a very different approach to the core material. More than that, James Cameron positions Aliens as a direct challenge to Alien, deliberately and pointedly inverting some of the core themes of the original film. This choice enriches both films, turning Alien and Aliens into a conversation.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.