Wednesday, 21 December 2011

FN Movies Ep 8 Mini Us

Just a quick hello to remind you to send in your nominees for our end of year show, Plus a little bit of news. Have a great holiday folks!

Thursday, 15 December 2011

FN Movies Ep 7 Mother's Ruin

This week we are joined once again by The Offical Mildred. In the news we chat about Oscar hosts, Doctor Who on the big screen and the mysterious death of Natalie Wood. We highlight a couple of interesting trailers, announce a new show and review Love And Other Drugs, Tron, Paul and Invictus. Remember to rate us on iTunes and “Like” us on Facebook where we discuss all things relating to the show.

Wednesday, 7 December 2011

FN Movies Episode 6 He makes every song a sea shanty

And indeed we are back. We discuss the post-DVD boxset blues, REM splitting up and the joys/pain of Portal. In the news we cover, Transformers, Les Miserables, Arrested Development and the latest trailers. This week we review Wings of Desire, Faraway So Close, Away From Her, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Kramer Vs Kramer, Thor, Man on the Moon and Perspolis.

Friday, 16 September 2011

FN Interview : Paul Hough

Pete interviews Paul Hough, director of extreme wrestling documentary, The Backyard, award winning short film The Angel and upcoming sci fi/horror movie The Human Race.

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Knight And Day Review

These movie superhero team ups always worry me. The names of the leads, big and bold on the advertising poster seem to scream, “Look! It’s Him! It’s Her! Together! Need we say more?” Once the lights dim and the trailers finish though, we are not always treated to the most substantial of films. Is it wrong to ask for a rewarding film experience or should we just be grateful to the producers for allowing us to share time with Him and Her, Together?

Knight And Day then.

Tom Cruise plays a highly trained rogue CIA operative. Cameron Diaz plays the woman that gets unwittingly dragged into his attempts to keep a perpetual motion battery out of the wrong (or, swerve, right) hands. They are pursued across the world by the good guys, the bad guys and the guys in between. It’s a flimsy plot but it serves its purpose, that being to allow the chemistry between these mismatched characters to simmer and bubble as they run, fight and drive through a world of beautiful locations which frequently end up on fire.

Bit of a problem here though and this comes back to my original point. Tom Cruise is a good, sorry, great looking action man with a winning smile and Cameron Diaz is an equally great looking and charismatic tomboy. They are going to fancy each other, right? It’ll be like Keanu and Sandra in Speed. Unfortunately someone forgot to tell the actors. And the writers. And the director. And catering. This is a relationship of zero chemistry. Sure they bicker at first, sure he notices her charm and good looks while she notices his abs and smile and sure the predicaments they are thrown into lead to much landing on each other and rolling about on sandy beaches but they may as well be brother and sister. Sexy brother and sister yes but still. I found myself frequently having to fill in blanks in my own head when it came to their developing intimacy and that can’t be a good thing. I didn’t play the, “It’s Tom, it’s Cameron,” game and I think that plenty of other viewers will have the same problem.

Obviously there is more to this film than the pair’s pairing off but you need to do a fair amount in an action romantic comedy these days to impress, particularly when your USP isn’t that U. The plot is completely disposable, the action set pieces are fine but I left the film feeling unsatisfied, somewhat cheated and wondering if I had only myself to blame for buying into that poster in the first place.

If I keep paying to see movies like this, can I blame Hollywood for continuing to make them? Do I deserve better? Do you?

Let me know what you think.


BSP

FN Movies Episode 5 He's not a fisherman's friend

In a very special (poor quality, alcohol fuelled and factually inaccurate across the board) episode, Jackson, Pete and The Official Mildred sit down together to record this show. We sing the praises of David Duchovny and Colin Firth and remember Peter Falk. We (try to) review Vera Drake, 127 Hours, The Karate Kid, A Single Man, The King’s Speech and The Perfect Storm.

Sunday, 4 September 2011

Four Lions on C4 in the UK tonight

If you are in the UK don't miss Four Lions on C4 tonight at 9pm. Great film featuring the winner of my best performance of last year award by Kayvan Novak.

Thursday, 1 September 2011

Super Review

Movie viewing is subjective but you already know that. Chatting in the bar with friends, it’s easy and fun to share strong opinions on a film and argue their worth with the pals that disagree. Reviewing films, being a film critic, is different and frequently difficult. Obviously a review is not worth reading if the writer has not put their personal opinions into it, however the same writer must remember that their audience is far larger and more diverse than the guys and girls in the pub. A critic must be able to see beyond their immediate personal response and consider that a film that was not to their tastes, will probably entertain someone, somewhere.

So, Super.

Starring The Office’s Rainn Wilson and Juno’s Ellen Page, Super is a tale of one simple, lonely man’s crusade against the perceived injustices in the world around him. Donning a makeshift superhero costume he grabs a large wrench and goes to work. Soon his actions draw the attention of the police and the local comic shop clerk.

Audience members that pulled this title off the shelf because Rainn Wilson was plastered on the cover looking goofy with a funny catchphrase are in for an interesting night. It’s not a comedy, he’s not Dwight Shrute. It is very violent with plenty of blood and a little bit of rape. It’s not for everyone. With a fairly forgettable supporting cast this really is an opportunity for Wilson to step out of the small screen and carry a movie. It is admirable that he didn’t just go for some silly, cheap romantic comedy or angry school teacher kid’s movie and amongst the violence and comic book references, you will find moments of solid introspection of a complex character in Super. Rainn Wilson can definitely pull off a good performance for longer than 22 minutes, he has proved that.

Ellen Page annoys me, always has. She always plays her characters in the same way and seems to have little range. If you like her though, you’ll like her in this. She balances out Wilson’s character with a typically bubbly, quick talking, wise beyond her years performance and writer/director James Gunn is not shy about investigating the unlikely attraction that builds between the leads. Their relationship is not as charming as that of Kick Ass or The Green Hornet, but it does feel more at home in the, “real world.”

Is this film for you? Do you like comic book movies? Do you like violence? Do you like your action movies with a little bit of indie thrown in? Then yes, if you really like violence. Obviously the gore is frequently undercut by witty remarks post and pre kill and we get the old school Adam West Batman cartoon “Kapows!” but this critic failed to see the humour or even the cool factor amongst the blood. It’s funny, but not funny enough. It’s dark, but not dark enough. It’s indie, but not indie enough. It’s real, but not real enough.

It’s alright, but it ain’t super.



Let me know what you think.

BSP

Episode 4 Young In '97

Right Click and save as the title to download, click to play (it's a long one this time)

We insult the few listeners we do have and chat about E3, Manly Men casting and Oscar fatigue. This week we review Get Him To The Greek, The Lives Of Others. Bob Dylan No Direction Home, The Backyard, Copland, Lovely Bones and Face/Off.

(Warning - Explicit)

Saturday, 18 June 2011

Show time

About to record a show. Last chance for any comments or opinions.

Episode 3 Clothes are a dealbreaker

Filthy Hypotheticals – coming soon to a cinema near you. More news from Jackson, live from the Hobbit set (flogging this horse folks) regarding The Hangover 2 (3?) and American Pie. We review Touching the Void, Dan in Real Life, Extract and The Wave.

(Warning - Explicit)

Saturday, 4 June 2011

Episode 2 Inhibit This!

click on the title above to play or right click and "save as" to download.



Did Jackson get a role in The Hobbit? Find out today. We also discuss what has grabbed us this week in and out of movies. We chat about the film news and review The Constant Gardener, Summer Of Sam, Che 1 and 2, Pan’s Labyrinth, Swimming With Sharks and The Crucible. Plus the debut of The Official Mildred bumpers and Pete prophesizes not one but two future Oscar winners. Enjoy. 

Thursday, 12 May 2011

FN Special - Citizen Kane

click on the title above to play or right click and "save as" to download.

We get Kaned and discuss "The Greatest Film Of All Time".

Monday, 9 May 2011

Episode 1 Cadre!

click on the episode name to play or right click and "save as" to download

Black auditions for The Hobbit plus we tiptoe around Blazing Saddles and review Ghost World, American: The Bill Hicks Story, The Ugly Truth, Serenity, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part One, An Education and The Never Ending Story. Warning : *some* hosts can't control their language so this podcast is marked explicit.