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369. Memento (#57)

Posted on March 9, 2024 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Phil Bagnall and Kurt North, 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, Christopher Nolan’s Memento.

Suffering from a unique of amnesia, a man called Leonard lacks the ability to generate new long-term memories. Haunted by the death of his wife, Leonard has committed himself to finding the man responsible for her murder. However, Leonard finds himself in the midst of various competing agendas, unsure what he is doing from minute-to-minute. What is Leonard really doing? Who can Leonard truly trust?

At time of recording, it was ranked 57th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: carrie ann moss, Christopher Nolan, end of history, film, Guy Pearce, history, imdb, joe pantoliano, kurt north, leonard, los angeles, memento, memory, neo-noir, Nevada, phil bagnall, podcast, the matrix, unreality | Leave a comment »

368. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (#154)

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Luke Dunne, 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, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The legendary King Arthur sets about assembling a cadre of knights, and embarks on an epic quest to claim the Holy Grail. Hilarity ensues.

At time of recording, it was ranked 154th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: anarchy, Celtic, comedy, curation, Eric Idle, history, imdb, internet, John Cleese, jokes, king arthur, legend, luke dunne, media, Michael Palin, myth, podcast, review, terry gilliam, terry jones, The 250 | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: The Star Beast (Review)

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Darren

“There’s just this… gap.”

“It’s no great mystery. You had a bit of a breakdown, sweetheart. And then you got better.”

“Sometimes I think there’s something missing. Like I had something lovely, and it’s gone.”

Doctor Who is back.

Who’s back.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: continuity, david tennant, doctor who, Donna, Donna Noble, fan service, history, nostalgia, russell t. davies, the chibnall era, the doctor, the meep, the moffat era, the star beast | Leave a comment »

347. On the Waterfront – Leaving Cert 2023 (#187)

Posted on September 30, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Conor Murphy, this week with special guest Donald Clarke, 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 September, we are running a season looking at the films on the Irish Leaving Cert English Curriculum. So this week, Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront.

A down-on-his-luck former prizefighter, Terry Malloy finds himself doing oddjobs for the local union boss Johnny Friendly. When one of these jobs ends with dock worker Joey Doyle thrown to his death before he was due to testify to corruption within the union, Terry begins to question and doubt his involvement. A burgeoning romance with Joey’s sister Edie gradually awakens Terry’s conscience, throwing him into conflict with everything that he has ever known.

At time of recording, it was ranked 187th 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, blacklist, Cold War, communism, conor murphy, donald clarke, education, elia kazan, english, history, huac, leaving cert, leaving certificate, leonard bernstein, marlon brando, on the waterfront, Russia | Leave a comment »

344. Lady Bird – Leaving Cert 2023 (#—)

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Conor Murphy, this week with special guest Aoife Barry, 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 September, we are running a season looking at the films on the Irish Leaving Cert English Curriculum. So this week, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird.

Going by the name “Lady Bird”, Christine McPherson begins her final year of high school in Sacramento, California. Caught in a tense love-hate relationship with her mother, Marion, Christine dreams of escaping her surroundings to go to college. However, over the course of that turbulent year, Christine becomes more aware of life outside herself.

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: barbie, California, coming of age, education, Greta Gerwig, history, irish, lady bird, leaving cert, leaving cert english, leaving certificate, memory, nostalgia, sacramento, saoirse ronan, secondary school, The 250 | Leave a comment »

342. 12 Years a Slave (#182)

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Lee Murkey, 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, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave.

In 1841 New York, Solomon Northup is a free man. While his wife and family are away, Solomon earns his way as a travelling musician. However, two conmen take advantage of his trust, drugging him and selling him into slavery. Transported to Louisiana, Solomon finds himself stripped of all the rights and comforts afforded a human being. Through twelve years of brutality, horror and violence, Solomon struggles not only to survive, but to live – and to hold on to some vestige of his humanity in the process.

At time of recording, it was ranked 182nd on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: 12 Years a Slave, academy awards, america, Barack Obama, chiwetel ejiofor, donald trump, history, John Ridley, lee murkey, lupita nyong'o, Michael Fassbender, podcast, racism, Slavery | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the “John Wick” Movies as a Love Letter to Stuntwork…

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the upcoming release of John Wick: Chapter 4, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look back at the action franchise.

In modern Hollywood, the John Wick movies stand out from a lot of their competitors by embracing a very practical and material philosophy, leaning heavily on in-camera effects for maximum impact. However, the films are more than just a showcase for stuntwork as one of the industry’s most undervalued artforms. They are also an argument for stunt work as an artform unto itself, particularly in the way that they emphasis the importance of action as a means of storytelling and the way in which they frequently place their stunts in the context of more broadly-accepted forms of artistic expression.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, ballerina, ballet, buster keaton, charlie chaplin, history, hollywood, in the frame, john wick, Keanu Reeves, Performers, silent cinema, stunts, stuntwork, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Poker Face” as Must-See Mystery Television…

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Darren

I published a new piece at The Escapist this week. With the release of Poker Face on Peacock this week, I got to review the first six episodes of the show.

From director Rian Johnson and actor Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face is a love letter to seventies television. It’s obviously indebted to shows like Columbo or The Rockford Files, but it owes just as much to classic wandering hero narratives like Kung Fu and The Incredible Hulk. It’s a glorious and thrilling piece of television, that is both a love letter and an update to the medium’s rich history.

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

Filed under: Television | Tagged: america, columbo, history, natasha lyonne, poker face, Rian Johnson, Television, the rockford files | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the HBO Max and the Future of Disappearing Media…

Posted on December 26, 2022 by Darren

I published a new piece at The Escapist last week. With the recent chaos at HBO Max and the removal of content from the service, it seemed like a good time to discuss of film and television have suddenly become ephemeral again.

One of the big selling points of the streaming age was that everything would be immediately available to audience members at the click of a mouse; vast libraries of content would be made available to stream via these services, representing a boon for conservationists and archivists everywhere. Nothing would be lost, because everything would be at hand. However, the removal of entire shows from HBO Max illustrates that these projects are as intangible as they have ever been, and that they can removed and even destroyed without any warning whatsoever.

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

Filed under: Television | Tagged: access, archiving, availability, HBO Max, history, lost destroyed, preservation, record, streaming, Television, westworld, wiped | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! Rarely Going – “Star Trek: Lower Decks 3×09 – Trusted Sources”

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Darren

I was delighted to join the wonderful Kurt North for an episode of the animated Star Trek podcast, Rarely Going.

Trusted Sources is the penultimate episode of the third season of Lower Decks. It is an episode that is obviously teeing up the season finale, but it is also an episode that is engaged with the idea of continuity. Lower Decks is a show built around references to past Star Trek shows, but the third season of the show has seen Lower Decks becoming just a little more comfortable in its own skin. Trusted Sources is an episode about how these seemingly episodic adventures can build and escalate to pay off in interesting ways.

You can listen directly to the episode below or by clicking here.