lee murkey | the m0vie blog

419. Sinners (#—)

Posted on May 18, 2025 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week with special guest Lee Murkey, 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, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners.

Twin brothers Smoke and Stack return to the Mississippi Delta from Chicago, bringing with them money and booze. The duo plan to open a juke joint for the local community, and set about preparing for the launch. Little do the pair realise that something sinister is stalking through the night, lurching towards their speakeasy, drawn by the siren call of the blues.

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: This Just In | Tagged: america, Andrew Quinn, black identity, capitalism, complicity, cultural significance, Filmmaking, hollywood, iconic director, IMAX technology, imdb, indie filmmaker, lee murkey, Lee Murky, Ludwig Göransson, money, race, ryan coogler, Sinners, storytelling, The 250, vampires | 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 »

281. Idi i Smotri (Come and See) (#106)

Posted on April 2, 2022 by Darren

So this week, Elem Klimov’s Idi i Smotri.

As the Second World War rages, the inhabitants of Belarus prepare for the sweeping advance of the Nazis from the West. A young boy named Flyora dreams of joining the local partisans so that he can fight in the guerilla war against the hostile invaders. However, Flyora quickly discovers that war is not a place for heroes, and that any childhood innocence will soon be left behind.

At time of recording, it was ranked 106th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: antiwar, come and see, elem klimov, holocaust, idi i smotri, lee murkey, nazis, russian film, soviet cinema, tarkovsky, The 250, war | Leave a comment »

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 Escapist Movie Podcast – “Let’s Talk About Zack Snyder’s Justice League”

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Darren

The Escapist have launched a movie podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard for the tenth episode of the year, with a special guest Lee Murkey, to talk about Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

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