Film Chat

Apologies for the delay in release but while making this episode Sam sprained his wrist while attempting to pour a glass of Prosecco and we had to shut down production for 12 days. Never fear though for this bumper edition of film chat is now here and features:A review of the biggest movie in the world right now, Mission Impossible 6!A review of a documentary nobody is watching and is apparently kinda shit, Generation Wealth!A rundown of the biggest trailers from Comic Con!A discussion of James Gunn's controversial firing!And much more!!!!PLUS we bid a fond farewell to our long-suffering producer Katie Rogers who has gone to Sweden to launch the Swedish version of the podcast in which we exclusively discuss Fanny and Alexander (the 188 theatrical cut obvs not the bullshit 312-minute tv version).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we review the long-awaited Pixar sequel Incredibles 2, which is still in cinemas, I've checked. We both felt it was a bit of a mess, but the villain Screenslaver made some good arguments about people in modern society being too attached to their screens. In this podcast's opinion, that is an implicitly pro-podcast message. We also natter about Sacha Baron Cohen and his big bag of satire prosthetics, we contemplate setting up a Film Chat dating service, we try to work out what's going on with the new film about the Joker, and we talk a bit about Jim Jarmusch.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Behold an episode which hasn't dated at all since we recorded it last week!First of a discussion of how England will definitely win the world cup (we didn't).Then we speculate what Sacha Baron Cohen's latest project could be (it's a TV show that airs tonight).Then we question Scarlet Johansson's decision to plays a trans man (she's now left the role).Then we give reviews of Mcqueen, Sicario 2 and The Endless (very unlikely that any of these films will still be in the cinema).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Danny reviews a film about a group of women having a whole lot of fun doing some crimes, the latest franchise reboot/remake/sequel hybrid Ocean's 8. We then tackle a horror about a family having no fun at all, the much-hyped and certainly-not-at-the-cinema-anymore Hereditary. We also talk about the second best film of the year so far, series 2 of Queer Eye; we discuss prospects for the recently announced sequel to The Shining; and we check in with an increasingly strange Johnny Depp.Just a quick note about this episode, we recorded it about two weeks ago and Sam would like to apologise profusely for how long it took him to edit. We are aware that a) his comment five seconds into the episode about how quickly he's going to turn it around is now bitterly ironic and b) it does date itself quite badly at the end when we make a reference to England still being in the group stages of the World Cup. Other than that the episode remains as fresh and relevant as ever.  See acast.com/privacy for pri

On this episode, we review the eagerly awaited sequel (at least by Spielberg's accountants) Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom.It's a high octane blockbuster which actually asks a lot of very deep and interesting questions. Namely, how can a film that features dinosaurs and an exploding volcano be so dull?PLUS we discuss Jeremy Renner's CGI arms, analyse the controversy surrounding the Mortal Engines movie, and spend possibly too much time talking about the upcoming projects from Film Chat's favourite director/5 time winner of upper-class twit of the year competition, Matthew Vaughan.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we review Solo: A Star Wars Story, the film that teaches you everything you need to know about the sexy Star Wars rogue Han Solo - where he got his name, how he met Chewbacca, who gave him that jacket, how he has his eggs, everything. Think of a question about Han Solo. This film answers it. If it's not in the film, it can't be a possible answer to a question about Han Solo. Needless to say it is a masterpiece.Plus, Danny reviews a pair of acclaimed smaller films that teach you nothing about Han Solo (ie they are obviously garbage), the Argentine period piece Zama and the ravishing Afghanistan-set animation The Breadwinner. We also discuss the overplayed Jurassic World trailer, the fanciest-possible cinema experience for watching Sherlock Gnomes, and some not very exciting (and by now quite out of date) news. Did you know they're making a Boba Fett film?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We have always prided Film Chat in being ridiculous, irreverent and totally irrelevant and as such we feel totally out of our depth reviewing the very serious film Deadpool 2. However never fear we rise to the occasion and discuss in great detail the film's mise en scène, its use of diegetic and nondiegetic music as well as the many innovative visual and editing techniques that result it being one of the most important films of all time #Gamechanger.PLUS we discuss if Johnny Depp should be allowed in films where he's required to play anything other than a mumbling washed up actor, TAKE a deep dive into Spiderman's most iconic villain, Mysterio AND discuss how a recent movie about a talking dog is making kids susceptible to abuse  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this week's extremely late-arriving podcast Sam reviews I Feel Pretty, Amy Schumer's high-concept, low-Rotten-Tomatoes-score comedy about a women whose self-esteem receives a dramatic boost after a head injury. Sam liked it more than most critics seemed to, but struggled to articulate why and ended up re-recording his entire review multiple times. Fortunately only one of those efforts is included in this episode. Danny meanwhile eloquently explains why he liked Jeune Femme, the too relatable tale of a woman who reaches 30 without remotely having figured her shit out. She'd probably have trouble reviewing I Feel Pretty as well.We also discuss the half-hearted retconning of some LGBT diversity into Solo: A Star Wars Story and other movies, we talk about Gary Oldman's next directorial project, we question the wisdom of making a film whose plot revolves around people reading 50 Shades of Grey, and Danny quizzes Sam on the Royal Wedding. Sorry, it was still a hot topic when we recorded this.  See acas

Danny and Sam put their intergalactic dispute over Infinity War behind them to review some more low-key, earthbound fare. FIRST, Tully, in which the team behind Young Adult returns to again explore the stress of not being a child, this time through the lens of motherhood, which tuckers a person out by the sounds of things, and SECOND Lean on Pete, an indie drama about the stress of being a penniless child looking after a horse, especially in this day and age. We also discuss Nicolas Cage's next "loses his shit" film project, we check on on Terry Gilliam's outrageously ill-fated Don Quixote movie, and Sam goes on a bit of a low-energy rant about the media. Finally, we touch on Ricky Gervais's latest TV show, which is probably one of the worst-sounding ventures of all time in the broadest possible sense.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We return from our break to review an absolute unit of a film, Avengers: Infinity War. Like the movie itself, the review is a titanic struggle between the forces of good (Sam, who liked it and is writing this) and evil (Danny), it goes on for too long, and some of the jokey banter feels flat and forced in the unusually grim, apocalyptic atmosphere. When not butting heads over what is undoubtedly an excellent film for the whole family to enjoy, we give our quick takes on A Quiet Place and Love, Simon, and ask whether The Phantom Menace is George Lucas's directorial nadir. We also discuss rumours of Ben Wheatley branching out into superhero movies and Guy Ritchie self-pruning by venturing back into knockabout lad gangster larks.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week we argue whether Wes Anderson is racist or just misguided when reviewing Isle of dogs...whether Robin Campillo is a good director or a great director when reviewing 120 BPM...and whether anybody will be going to see I Kill Giants when reviewing I Kill Giants.PLUS we find time to discuss the latest film projects by so-hot-right-now director Taika Watiti and everyone's favourite man child/performance artist Shia La Boeuf. I the words of this episode's editor: "This took forever to edit and I'm now very sleepy so please listen to it"  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Film Chat is often asked: what do you do when you're not recording your opinions and asking people to listen to them? Well, we spend each morning gaming, and in the afternoon we watch a classic film. Then in the evening, we put on leg warmers and head to the skate park to boogie all night to Joy Division and practice solving Rubik's Cubes. For that reason, Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One is our favourite film of all time. Listen to this episode for a RAVE review. Danny also gives his verdict on Journeyman, Paddy Considine's sad boxing drama, a downer both in terms of its subject matter and quality. PLUS! Sam belatedly catches up with I, Tonya, we hail news of the next film that will absolutely DESTROY Donald Trump, and we read from Sean Penn's masterpiece, Honey Do Boy or whatever it was called.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Sam reviews the new Tomb Raider movie starring Alicia Vikander as the iconic Lara Croft. Danny refused to accompany him as he was strongly put off by the lack of giant triangular tits or as he put it, "The PC brigade have cucked my childhood!" Sam, however, thought it was ok.Instead, Danny went to see Ruben Ostlund's The Square, the Palm D'or winning film about how modern art is shallow and the middle classes are all twats or something? As a middle class, pretentious moron he loved every second of it and during the screening was heard yelling stuff like "That's what i'm like!" "HAHA good one Ostlund!" and "I am being lampooned really well!"They also found time to discuss the latest project from Spike Lee and have their eyes opened to the fact that the Men In Black franchise is fascist propaganda the likes of which Leni Riefenstahl could only dream about.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we review two highly dramatic, extremely intellectual films. They'll fly right over the heads of your average slack-jawed multiplex chump, but for discerning minds, they've got everything—languid close-ups of everyday objects, sad protagonists with tragic backstories, and cool violence. I'm referring to Annihilation, Alex Garland's latest headscratcher starring Natalie Portman and a collection of weird-ass plants and animals, and You Were Never Really Here, Lynne Ramsay's moody crime thriller starring an almost comically intense Joaquin Phoenix.We also discuss some unappetising tidbits of news regarding the upcoming BBC adaptation of His Dark Materials; a shit-sounding cop film that James Mangold is making; and that guy who fucked a dolphin.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this episode, we give our piping hot takes on the Oscars...a mere 8 days after they happened. We pour scorn on Jimmy Kimmel's lackluster hosting, gnash at teeth at the news that Johnny Greenwood didn't win best score and generally convey extreme apathy for an event which is essentially meaningless.However, we are far more enthusiastic about the films Sweet Country and A Fantastic Woman which we thought were ace...but don't worry Sam shits all over Red Sparrow.Finally, we give our fans what they've been clamoring after since episode one, a thorough 20-minute discussion on the merits of Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2. #TeamEdward4DaWin  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we tackle two of the early frontrunners for Best Picture 2019—you heard it here first folks!! First, Danny offers his take on Finding Your Feet, the latest film about twinkly-eyed, ageing posh people that he went to see with his dear mother. Tune in to find out if he found watching it painful like bunions or pleasant, like a nice foot rub. We also give our verdict on Duncan Jones' messy sci-fi noir Mute, which explores what would happen if you put a man who uses no technology (because he's Amish) in a world with lots of technology (because it's the future). As you can imagine, it's absolute madness.Plus, we discuss the weird Buddhist movie blog launched by a recently-disgraced film critic, an upcoming oddity about Bob Geldof solving a murder, and some Bond news. We also lament the low numbers on a tweet Danny did, not realising that a few days after recording it would actually get quite a few retweets and likes. The lesson is: never give up on your dreams.  See acast.com/privacy for privac

This week we tackle Lady Bird, the final Oscar-nominated film to make it to UK shores. As a couple of absolute legends whose teenage years were spent banging chicks, doing hard drugs and basically having a great time we struggled to relate to the film's themes of anxiety and the struggle for self-identity but we thought the jokes were good.PLUS we discuss the winners, the losers, the snubs and the flubs at this year's Baftas, detail the exciting news of a fourth Ryan Coogler/Michael B Jordan collaboration, and talk about this year's most anticipated movie, a spinoff from To the Wonder.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we review Guillermo del Toro's acclaimed grown-up fairytale The Shape of Water, a film so romantic Sam added "would bang a fish" to his Tinder profile. We also declare Black Panther to be good, an endorsement that should give Marvel's latest blockbuster the box office boost it so sorely needs.Plus! We talk about the film Pan and how shit it is, Uwe Boll's feud with Paul Thomas Anderson, and some upcoming projects from Paddington director Paul King, Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish. Danny also pitches a train-set thriller about him getting on a train.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we review Paul Thomas Anderson's sumptuous period drama Phantom Thread, a film which is going straight into my top four films with the word "Phantom" in the title*.Then we tackle Loveless which unfortunately is not a Wild Wild West spinoff film focussing on Kenneth Branagh's villain but the latest masterpiece from acclaimed Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev. If you like your art bleak, uncompromising and totally enthralling then this is the movie for you!We also try our best to speak vaguely intelligently about Tarantino and the latest wave of sexual assault allegations, discuss the various Superbowl trailers and talk about how The Cloverfield Paradox was dumped on Netflix like the steaming dump it is...because it's shit?...I don't know there's a joke there somewhere.*Official Rankings1. The Phantom 2. The Phantom of the Opera3. The Phantom Menace4. Phantom Thread  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's the landmark 150th episode of Film Chat, which we celebrate with a completely normal episode that is the same as all the others—though it does depart from our recent bitter denunciations of prestige dramas by tackling some gentle kiddie films. Danny reviews Coco, Pixar's latest magical journey with laughs along the way and a nice big cry at the end, and Sam gives his thoughts on Early Man, the new claymation adventure from Aardman Animations.Plus, we get judgey about the following people: Ridley Scott for having a patchy filmography, JK Rowling for backtracking on the diversity she previously retconned into the Potterverse, and Mel Gibson for shamelessly rubbing his rehabilitation in our faces by making a sequel to his antisemitic torture porn film, Passion of the Christ. Finally, our pal James drops in at the end to hear about some stupid trailer Sam watched on YouTube.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.