Moderate Fantasy Violence

Following on from last episode, where they asked a gaming YouTuber about a film, this time, Nick and Alastair ask two TV/movie podcasters (themselves) about a film based on a game – Pokémon: Detective Pikachu!

But first, Alastair’s made his annual trip to the Sci-Fi London Film Festival and saw Perfect, whereas Nick stayed at home and watched The OA season 2 on Netflix.

And then they sniff out the secrets of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (9:57). Alastair grew up gotta catching them all, Nick is slightly too old – will this affect their enjoyment? In either direction? Could this be the best video game adaptation?

And further to that, the follow-up question: what about all the others? How do we make better video game movies? (29:03)

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At long last, Nick and Alastair are in the Avengers: Endgame, and to cover this epic team-up, they’ve recruited Jon from Many A True Nerd (stepping in for our advertised guest Claire Rousseau) to join the battle, and also run long. So very long.

But before they even get into that, they’ve got some recommendations for you, such as Jon’s thoughts on linguistics game Heaven’s Vault, Nick’s reading of some Horus Heresy novels and Alastair watching indescribable BBC bus show Don’t Forget The Driver.

After all that, Nick, Alastair and Jon finally start on Avengers: Endgame (16:34), complete with FULL TOTAL SPOILERS, individual character arc breakdowns, pondering where the Marvel media machine might go next and, inevitably, it all comes back to Jon’s love of weird Batman prequel show Gotham.

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Anything for a laugh this fortnight, as Nick and Alastair celebrate a sudden golden age of new British sitcoms by covering three of them in a single podcast: Derry Girls, This Time With Alan Partridge and Fleabag.

But first, Alastair’s caught up with old podcast subject Star Trek: Discovery, while Nick’s read Sweet Tooth (and a few other comics by Jeff Lemire).

And then, for the first time since changing the show format ages ago, our heroes cover three whole new releases in a single episode: Derry Girls at 8:51, This Time at 19:11 and finally Fleabag at 31:09, complete with ending spoilers for the latter.

Impressive work by our heroes, though it does mean no related question. Sorry.

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A fortnight after they should’ve but didn’t, Nick and Alastair cover Jordan Peele’s Us, a new horror movie about secret evil duplicates and scissors.

But first, Nick’s lurked in more conventional horror territory with The Walking Dead, while Alastair’s seen Hanna, Amazon’s latest film-into-series adaptation.

And then it’s time to cover Us (10:51), beginning above ground in the sunlight, and then descending into the dark spoiler tunnels around 21:02.

Lastly, they take this movie’s strange final act as a chance to ask: what makes a good horror movie ending? (30:39)

And yes, it’s about endings so there are more spoilers for Us in the question section, along with a few ending-details for such films as Scream, Dog Soldiers, Psycho, The Witch, Rosemary’s Baby, Cabin In The Woods, Don’t Look Now… basically if you’re behind on horror movies and care about being surprised, maybe skip that bit. Fair warning.

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This fortnight, slightly contrary to their trailer at the end of last episode (sorry), Nick and Alastair watch all eighteen stories in Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots, an assortment of scifi fantasy shorts offering a stunning combination of animation styles.

But first, Alastair’s watched Dark, a German scifi-horror show, whereas Nick’s back on old favourite Crazy Ex-Girlfriend for their final season, both of which are on Netflix.

After which, they get to Love, Death & Robots (8:24), giving you their view on the overall quality, whether the high volume of nudity and gore is an issue and then count down their respective top five episodes, to give you a warm flashback to the end of year shows.

Finally, after an unusually high density of Netflix in this episode (despite them not sponsoring us), Nick and Alastair ask: does Netflix know too much about you? (27:35)

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This fortnight, Nick and Alastair return to the bricky world of The Lego Movie to learn another important lesson about how to play nicely with others!

But first, Alastair’s been watching Nightflyers (and Nick takes the opportunity to drop some news on him), while Nick’s started Homicide: Life On The Street, the TV adaptation of David Simon’s book – yes, the one he told a story from in MFV’s guest appearance on And Then What?

And then it’s time to work together with your little sister and watch The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (8:53), so everyone can find out if it really needed a sequel.

Last of all, inspired by the multi-franchise toy commercial nature of this fortnight’s movie, Nick and Alastair ask: what film concept would involve more capitalism? (24:54)

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This fortnight, Nick and Alastair watch the entire second season of Marvel-Netflix’s The Punisher and proceed to spoil the hell out of it, much like The Punisher himself at a naughty child’s birthday party.

But first, some discussion of other culture consumed, such as I’m A Joke And So Are You, a book about the science and psychology of comedy by Robin Ince, and the hot hot hot new Netflix show Russian Doll.

And then Nick and Alastair armour up and dive into The Punisher season 2 (7:28), complete, again, with pretty full spoilers. Will they enjoy it as much as they did season 1, back in MFV #51? Are the cartoon mice at Disney willing to stare all the way into Frank Castle’s serial-killing heart?

Finally, after a season of it driving the villain in this show, they ask the related question: is amnesia a valid excuse? (33:42)

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Nick and Alastair stare through the Glass at the conclusion of M. Night Shyamalan’s grounded superhero trilogy, following Split and Unbreakable.

But first, Nick’s read Grant Morrison’s Supergods, a history of the superhero comic, while Alastair’s seen new movie Stan & Ollie, a history of Laurel & Hardy.

And then they begin exploring Glass (9:02), bringing the superheroic alter egos of Bruce Willis, James McAvoy and Samuel L. Jackson together for one epic… therapy session.

To follow that, it’s time to ask: what other films from 10-20 years ago need a belated sequel? (25:22)

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Big moment in MFV history this fortnight, as they tackle one of Alastair’s favourite shows: grim crime drama Luther staring Idris Elba!

But first, Nick and Alastair have other impressively recent culture to discuss, such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and well-reviewed new movie The Favourite.

And then they’re pacing the grim streets of London with the BBC’s trenchcoated angry-cop in the fifth series of Luther (7:47). Can he overcome his relationship issues with Alice to actually solve some crime?

More importantly, there’s the other question of the moment: is Luther this generation’s Poirot? (24:38)

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