lego-batman-movie-poster-charactersTwenty-eight episodes, just like there are days in February! This time, Nick and Alastair both read actual books – specifically Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway and Maus by Art Spiegelman – and one probably had a cheerier time than the other.

But at least both enjoyed The Lego Batman Movie (5:25), an exercise in joyous Batglee like no other. Good to be back on the comic adaptations for 2017.

t2-trainspotting-teaserIn other franchise-sequel news, it’s time for T2 Trainspotting (20:41) (and for Nick to watch the original movie). Can these Scottish heroin addicts anchor a franchise with as much panache as Batman? Sticking with superheroes and tripping out, next it’s time to try X-Men-adjacent TV show Legion (36:09).

Riget(1)_foto_Henrik DithmerFinally, Alastair recommended Nick the Danish surreal-horror show The Kingdom (48:08). Did he like it? Will he include clips of its amazing theme tune in the show? (Yes.)

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Listen on YouTube over a static image here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!

Twenty seven episodes, right here in twenty-seventeen! It starts in respectable territory, as Nick read lost-classic adult-comic Miracleman by Alan Moore (credited as “The Original Writer”, because that’s how the guy rolls), Gary Leach, Alan Davis and co, while Alastair followed the Oscar nominations with interest. Such interest, in fact, that we stop for a longer chat about them (5:16).

a-series-of-unfortunate-events-neil-patrick-harris-social (1)It’s a smooth transition from there to a full review of hot Oscar favourite La La Land (12:06), and then on to the new Netflix adaptation of Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events (26:12), a show with a thoroughly excellent theme tune. (Don’t worry, we’ve included a clip.)

richard iii2Thirdly, and a small jump away from the rest, we’ve heard 11 Short Stories Of Pain & Glory (38:54), the new album from the Dropkick Murphys. Is it too screamy for Nick, or can he withstand it?

Finally, we cover Richard III (45:35) – specifically the 1995 Richard Loncraine movie starring Ian McKellen. It’s certainly got points to make about fascism rising in the Western world, which may or may not be interesting given recent news events.

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Listen on YouTube over a static image here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!

silenceEpisode twenty-six in the Moderate Fantasy Violence house! Unusually, Nick has read a book (namely The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell), while Alastair stares at the new Dirk Gently show on Netflix.

a monster callsMeanwhile, in this award-movie season, two trips to the movies this fortnight: first, Team MFV saw Silence (5:59), a new serious historical movie about priests from Martin Scorsese, and then A Monster Calls (21:03), an adaptation of the YA novel by Patrick Ness.

sherlock_the_final_problemThen back to Sherlock (31:55) for the second episode running – perhaps the last one ever – for a chat about the final two episodes of series four.

Lastly, Alastair has recommended Nick one of his favourite albums: Levelling The Land by The Levellers (50:18). Will it cause him to level up?

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Listen on YouTube over a static image here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!

sherlock-season-4-sherlock-with-dogTwenty-fifth podcast – would be a giant-sized special if this were a 90s comic! (Yes, Nick writes these blurbs, how did you guess?) Nick and Alastair are back from the holiday season to talk about things they’ve seen on their travels, such as Revolting Rhymes, The Eagle Huntress and Inside Number Nine!

In our first Steven-Moffat-run TV show of the fortnight, we’re covering the start of Sherlock series 4 (5:02), as we ask: how much crime is enough? Full spoilers here, by the way, and here’s the review of it that Alastair mentions.

netflix-the-oa_1Whereas we’re a bit more sparing with the spoils in our talk about The OA (21:36), a strange new Netflix sci-fi mystery – detail-free thoughts for a while, finally plunging into total ending details at 34:31. Here’s the article Nick mentions about whether it really needs a second season.

the-return-of-doctor-mysterio-promo-cast-imageThen back to Moffatland for the Doctor Who Christmas special (44:15) – fortunately, we’re releasing this on the twelfth day of Christmas so narrowly avoid suffering a curse.

Lastly, back in MFV #23, Nick recommended Alastair the first volume of JLA by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter (55:05) – will this straight action-superhero comic be a step too far?

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Listen on YouTube over a static image here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!

mfv-2016

Only took twenty-four podcasts, but Nick and Alastair are finally in the same room for this bonus year-in-review episode!

They attempt to talk down 2016 as a year in film and television, starting with a general chat about movies lately (1:19) before moving on to each listing their top five films covered in 2016 and negotiating them into a unified MFV top 3 without coming to blows (12:48). And if you want to read the good article about Arrival that Nick mentions during this bit, it’s linked here.

And if that wasn’t enough, they do the same for TV – a little broad discussion (27:07), followed by chart listings (39:05).

Finally, needing a little mutual back-slapping after all that controversy, they each give their favourites of the other’s 2016’s recommendations (59:55). All that and the first ever live incident of the Moderate Fantasy Violence drinking game!

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Listen on YouTube over a static image here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!

star-wars-rogue-one-castTwenty-three podcasts, just in time for the twenty-fifth of December! It’s nearly Christmas, and to celebrate, Nick and Alastair have seen An Inspector Calls and the Supergirl/Flash/Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow crossover. Neither of which are particularly festive. Oh well.

But we have at least got a review of new mega-film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (5:42). Can this latest spin-off justify its own existence, or is it a Star War too far?

the-man-in-the-high-castle-rufus-sewell-amazon-season-2Next up, a rare MFV complete disagreement as both our heroes have seen Amazon’s Philip K. Dick adaptation The Man In The High Castle (22:48), but only one of them likes it much. Which host is the Nazi sympathiser? You’ll have to listen to find out. We’re also taking a look at Nate Parker’s new film The Birth Of A Nation (42:04), chronicling the 1831 slave rebellion of Nat Turner.

die-hardThen we reach a seasonal feature at last, as Nick finally watches Die Hard (53:10). Some say it’s the best Christmas movie ever. Does he agree? Is it even a Christmas movie at all? Rest assured, this will be discussed.

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Listen on YouTube over a static image here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!

the-grand-tourTwenty-two episodes of our podcast and somehow 2016 is still going! This fortnight, both of us went on London outings, Nick to the SMASH comics-chat event run by the London Graphic Novel Network and Alastair to the BFI’s Black Star season. (We also both recommend the Kraken podcast, if you like podcasts.)

Moving on, in an MFV first, we talk about a whole novel! Specifically: The Hanging Tree (5:41), the latest Rivers of London book by Ben Aaronovitch, bringing Peter Grant back for another magical mystery. We also watch the first three episodes of The Grand Tour (21:05), a new motoring/banter hybrid from Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May on Amazon Prime.

the-hanging-treeNext, because we love Doctor Who and related media, we revisit teen-focused spin-off Class (37:18) now the first series is over, to see how it ended up. And yes, to justify covering it a second time, we’ll need to include some extreme spoilers. Also Nick complaining a lot about the Shadow Kin.

You can hear our first encounter with Class back here in MFV #19, with special guest Julianne Benford.

taxi-driver-6 Finally, Alastair recommends Taxi Driver (54:59) directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, a classic of modern cinema that Nick, unsurprisingly, has never seen.

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Listen on YouTube over a static image here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!

fantasticbeatsEpisode twenty-one! The podcast comes of age everywhere, just in time for the world to basically collapse. Alastair matches the mood with Hypernormalisation, a new documentary from Adam Curtis (available here if you have iPlayer access), while Nick is escaping into a surreal superhero dream with Grant Morrison and Richard Case’s Doom Patrol run.

train-to-busanForcing ourselves into the present day, we take on Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (6:45), a new film set in the past of the Harry Potter universe. To help us get to grips with this, we bring in blogger, booktuber and Potter-lover Claire Rousseau, last seen discussing Harry Potter And The Cursed Child with us in MFV #13. This leads to some continuity deep dives and, yes, EXTREME SPOILERS for the film, right from the get-go.

chew1If you enjoy Claire’s appearance here, you can get more from her at ClaireRousseau.com, @ClaireRousseau on Twitter, or talking about books on YouTube.

Lastly, some links we mentioned during that segments – the politics of Fantastic Beasts by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw at The Daily Dot and the episode of The Mispronounced Item podcast in which Nathan Ditum discusses the Star Wars prequels.

We’ve also got a chat about Train To Busan (50:47), a Korean zombie film aiming to change the way we all see rail travel, and, on Nick’s recommendation, we look at Chew (62:59), the recently-concluded hit comic about food and flesh-eating, by John Layman and Rob Guillory.

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Listen on YouTube over a static image here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!

black-mirrorEpisode twenty! Another numerical milestone, and one recorded before the recent American electoral news, so no mention of that here. However, we do have intro talk of Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and The Walking Dead from Nick, until Alastair raises the tone with indie film London Overground.

Our centrepiece this fortnight, though, is an in-depth chat about Black Mirror season 3 (6:35), covering all six of Charlie Brooker’s latest techno-horror tales. Are they as miserable as people like to say? Or is there… a twist?

arrival-amy-adamsMeanwhile, in cinemas, we’ve got a review of Arrival (40:05), the new scifi/semantics movie starring Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams trying to speak to aliens, and then Lo And Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (53:26), a new documentary from Werner Herzog offering a slightly more uplifting view of technology than Black Mirror.

Finally, we find out what Nick thinks of Alastair’s latest recommendation: surreal tower block sitcom 15 Storeys High (66:17) with Sean Lock and Benedict Wong.

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!

doctor-strange-trailer-poster-comic-conEpisode nineteen, and it’s almost feature length this time! But in our defense, there’s a lot to get through. Before any of that, though, we’ve been attending live recordings of other podcasts, specifically Welcome to Night Vale at the London Palladium and the very special 200th episode of SILENCE!

That done, we launch into new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Doctor Strange (5:38) and ask: is there room for yet another superhero origin? Also: is there such a thing as too many glowing magic bolts?

We’ve also got Class, the new Doctor Who spin-off (25:05), and since this is our first ever Who item, we talk for a fair while and bring in guest book blogger Julianne Benford to talk about the YA aspects of it all. If you enjoy Julianne’s appearance here, she’s @ladyjulianne on Twitter, and she also writes about books on This Fleeting Dream, about general lifestyle stuff on This Second’s Obsession, and YouTubes about books both solo on Better Than Dreams and collectively on Bookish Brits. Oh, and she’s also active on Instagram. Phew. Think that’s it.

i-daniel-blake-3Moving out of mainstream geek culture, we’ve also seen I, Daniel Blake (52:59), the new movie from Ken Loach about Britain’s none-too-fair welfare system. If you want to read Alastair’s take on the politics of this film, it’s right here at his Red Train Blog.

rick-and-mortyAnd then straight back into the nerdosphere, Nick’s recommended Alastair the first few episodes of anarchic sci-fi cartoon Rick & Morty! (68:14)

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!