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439. Marty Supreme (#249)

Posted on February 14, 2026 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week with special guests Aoife Barry and Darcie-Jade Faccio, 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, Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme.

A young Jewish man from New York, Marty Mauser is an American ping-pong champion, the future of the sport. However, Marty finds himself constantly struggling to stay one step ahead, as a variety of factors come together to stop him from realising his dream of mastering the sport on the international stage. Marty has to use all his wits and charm in pursuit of his dream, no matter the cost or the collateral damage.

At time of recording, it was ranked 249th 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, aoife barry, capitalism, controversy, Darcie Faccio, darcie-jade faccio, imdb, jewishness, josh safdie, kevin o'leary, marty supreme, movie stars, ping pong, podcast, stardom, table tennis, The 250, the american dream, the safdie brothers, the safdies, timothée chalamet, vampirism | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The X-Cast Season 11 #35 – Barbara Beaumont and the Cult (“Nothing Lasts Forever”)

Posted on March 18, 2018 by Darren

The second of three podcasts looking at the penultimate episode of what might be the final season of The X-Files, Nothing Lasts Forever.

Once again chatting with Carl Sweeney, this time we discuss the “monster of the week”, washed up immortal sixties starlet Barbara Beaumont and the cult that she has built around herself. Along the way, we discuss other supporting characters like Juliet and Doctor Luvenis, along with constructing a twenty-first century vampire story.

We’ll be back tomorrow talking about the combination of writer Karen Neilsen and director James Wong. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the episode. Click here, or check it out below.

Filed under: Podcasts!, The X-Files | Tagged: Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, capitalism, carl sweeney, nothing lasts forever, the x-files, vampires, vampirism, x-files | Leave a comment »

The X-Files – 3 (Review)

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Darren

This August (and a little of September), we’re taking a trip back in time to review the second season of The X-Files. In November, we’ll be looking at the third season. And maybe more.

3 is the first absolute misfire from the second season of The X-Files.

It’s easy enough to account for the problems with 3. The production on the episode was a mess. It was the first episode produced without one of the show’s two lead characters. It existed to plug a hole in the schedule caused by factors outside the control of the production staff. Writers Glen Morgan and James Wong were working on both this and One Breath simultaneously. And it’s also a traditional monster story, which is something that The X-Files had struggled with and would struggle with again.

Vamping it up…

To be fair, 3 does what it says on the tin. It is the episode between Ascension and One Breath, a forty-five minute breather that fills a broadcast slot and allows the show to continue on while Gillian Anderson takes maternity leave. The fact that there was only one slot to fill without Anderson is a testament to both the production team’s organisational skill and Anderson’s work ethic. Really, all that 3 needs to do is exist.

Even with that in mind, 3 still feels like a disappointment. Given how Anderson’s pregnancy managed to spur the production team to create a compelling long-form story for the show, culminating in stories like Duane Barry and One Breath, it’s disappointing that her absence doesn’t inspire the same creativity. Seeing The X-Files without Scully should be the opportunity for a fascinating adventure or insightful character study; it could play with audience expectations or the show’s rigid format. Instead, the result is just a mess.