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155. The 250 Anniversary Special 2019

Posted on November 11, 2019 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.

This week, to mark the podcast’s three-year anniversary and passing the one-hundred-and-fifty-episode threshold, we decided to bring back as many of the guests from the third year as possible. So, joining Andrew and Darren on this podcast are:

Andy Hazell, who recorded Twin Peaks: The Return and Mary and Max
Tony Black, who recorded Avengers: Endgame
Carl Sweeney, who recorded Double Indemnity
Brian Lloyd, who recorded Twin Peaks: The Return
Alex Towers, who recorded Room, The Matrix and Fight Club
Doctor Bernice Murphy, who recorded The Exorcist and Exorcist II: The Heretic
Jess Dunne, who recorded Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
Luke Dunne, who recorded Bohemian Rhapsody, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation and Baby Geniuses
Phil Bagnall, who recorded L.A. Confidential, The Avengers, Three Colours: Red, The Lion King, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and Exorcist II: The Heretic
Richard Drumm, who recorded Twin Peaks: The Return
Niall Glynn, who recorded Twin Peaks: The Return
Chris Lavery, who recorded Sanjuro
Jay Coyle, who recorded Twin Peaks: The Return and Capernaum
Ronan Doyle, who recorded Capernaum
Grace Duffy, who recorded Fifty Shades of Grey, Star Wars, Spice World, Rush and The Matrix
Babu Patel, who recorded Race 3, Andhadhun, Escape Plan 2: Hades and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Doctor Giovanna Rampazzo, who recorded Race 3, Andhadhun and Escape Plan 2: Hades
Joe Griffin, who recorded The Sixth Sense

We thought we’d take the opportunity to have a talk about the best and worst of this list, both in general and over the past year, and also take a nostalgic look back at the year 1999.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: 1999, alex towers, andy hazel, anniversary, babu patel, bernice murphy, carl sweeney, chris lavery, giovanna rampazzo, grace duffy, into the spider-verse, jay coyle, jess dunne, joe griffen, luke dunne, niall glynn, once upon a time in hollywood, phil bagnall, richard drumm, ronan doyle, tony black | Leave a comment »

129. Avengers: Endgame – This Just In (#6)

Posted on May 4, 2019 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Tony Black, 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, Joe and Anthony Russo’s Avengers: Endgame.

At time of recording, it was ranked 6th 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: avengers, avengers: endgame, captain america, Content, endgame, film, hawkeye, hulk, meaning, Movie, podcast, thor, tony black | 2 Comments »

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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Filed under: Podcasts!, The X-Files | Tagged: allegorical, i love lamp, lyrical, metaphorical, poetic, pretentious, pusher real good, talitha cumi, the x-cast, the x-files, Thematic, tony black | Leave a comment »

103. The 250 Anniversary Special 2018

Posted on November 3, 2018 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.

This week, to mark the podcast’s two-year anniversary and passing the one-hundred-episode threshold, we decided to bring back as many of the guests from the second year as possible. So, joining Andrew and Darren on this podcast are:

Tony Black, who recorded Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and Avengers: Infinity War
Marianne Cassidy, who recorded Wonder Woman, Your Name, Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbour Totoro and Incredibles 2
Jay Coyle, who recorded Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049, Tangerines and Inception
Ronan Doyle, who recorded Tangerines
Grace Duffy, who recorded Get Out, Ah-ga-ssi (The Handmaiden), The Force Awakens, Singin’ in the Rain, Touch of Evil and Inception
Luke Dunne, who recorded Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Jack Hodges, who recorded Into the Wild
Charlene Lydon, who recorded The Shawshank Redemption, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Touch of Evil
Babu Patel, who recorded Lagaan, Dangal, United Passions, PK and Rang de Basanti
Giovanna Rampazzo, who recorded Lagaan, Dangal, PK and Rang de Basanti
Carl Sweeney, who recorded Double Indemnity
Alex Towers, who recorded Braveheart, Barry Lyndon and Inception

We thought we’d take the opportunity to have a talk about the best and worst of this list, both in general and over the past year, with particular emphasis on the changes that the IMDb made to their rankings of the worst films ever made back in July.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: anniversary, babu patel, carl sweeny, charlene lydon, giovana rampazzo, grace duffy, jack hodges, jay coyle, luke dunne, marianne cassidy, podcast, pub, pubcast, ronan doyle, tony black | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The X-Cast – Season 3, Episode 17 (“Pusher”)

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Darren

I’m back on The X-Cast this week, to cover a very special episode. Pusher is host Tony Black’s favourite episode, and we recorded this close to his birthday. So no pressure, then.

Pusher has long been a favourite of mine as well, a crackerjack suspense-filled episode from the powerhouse team of writer Vince Gilligan and director Rob Bowman. It’s an episode that works very well both within the confines of The X-Files itself and beyond. Even more than Soft Light, it is an episode that informs a lot of Gilligan’s core themes and ideas going forward. There is a surprising amount of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul to be found in the episode, for example.

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

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Filed under: Podcasts!, The X-Files | Tagged: masculinity, pusher, Rob Bowman, robert patrick modell, the x-cast, the x-files, tony black, vince gilligan, x-cast | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The X-Cast – Season 3, Episode 2 (“Paper Clip”)

Posted on June 8, 2018 by Darren

A real pleasure to re-team with Tony Black to round out our coverage of “the unopened file” on The X-Cast, following on from our discussions of Anasazi and The Blessing Way. And this time, it’s an even stronger line-up. The wonderful Chris Knowles is joins us for the discussion of the final part of the season-bridging trilogy.

As ever, a huge thrill to be a part of this. Anasazi, The Blessing Way and Paper Clip represent a landmark moment for The X-Files as a television show, and it’s been an honour to talk through those changes with Tony. However, Paper Clip is something special because it’s clear how much Chris loves this episode. There are few pleasures in life quite as satisfying as sitting down with somebody to talk about something they love.

I’ll be back on The X-Cast later in the season, to the point that I think the members of the Patreon may already have access to one of my own smaller side projects as part of the podcast. However, it was a delight to get to talk about three episodes that are so close to the core of what The X-Files is for a combined runtime of close to four hours.

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

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Filed under: Podcasts!, The X-Files | Tagged: america, anasazi, chris knowles, conspiracy, freudian, history, mytholgoy, nazis, paper clip, podcast, second world war, the unopened file, the x-files, tony black | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The X-Cast – Season 3, Episode 1 (“The Blessing Way”)

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Darren

I was thrilled to join Tony Black to launch the third season of The X-Cast, a podcast taking a tour through Chris Carter’s The X-Files.

I’ve been lucky enough to guest on a number of episodes, including the one covering the second season finale, Anasazi. After finishing up the second season, Tony took a bit of a break to rush through a podwatch of the entire series; I was thrilled to be invited to take part in that, commenting on episodes from Aubrey to Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man to Never Again to The Post-Modern Prometheus to The Unnatural and beyond. It was a real pleasure to be a part of that. And to contribute to Tony’s coverage of the eleventh season, including the final two episodes, maybe forever, Nothing Lasts Forever and My Struggle IV.

However, with Tony having covered all of that, we jumped right back into the regularly scheduled coverage. It was an absolute pleasure to talk about The Blessing Way, which is the third season premiere. I’ve gone on record in the past as both being a tremendous fan of the third season as a whole, which I think is one of the best twenty-odd episode seasons of television ever produced. I’ve also been a bit skeptical of The Blessing Way at the same time. I hope I’m fair to it here, where I confess why it’s both one of my least favourite episodes of the season and something that I’m very glad exists in this form.

As even, Tony was a fantastic host, and we had a fun and wide-ranging discussion about everything from abstract concepts of “truth” to why we love the Well-Manicured Man so much to the recurring theme of mirroring and doubling that plays through this three-parter in particular and the X-Files in general. Check it out the episode here, or click the link below.