This fortnight, Nick and Alastair begin a long dark journey into the depths of the human soul with The Batman and Euphoria season 2.

But first, in a rare brighter moment, Nick’s finally watched Agents of SHIELD season 7, while Alastair’s slightly more up to date with The Dropout.

After which, they zip up their cowls and dive into the dark heart of Gotham with The Batman (12:53). Does the world need another gritty Batfilm? And should it be this one specifically?

Relatedly, Euphoria season 2 (29:22) dares to ask – what if the whole world was really bad?

And finally – as you’ll know almost immediately if you listen to this podcast episode, Nick has a new comics Kickstarter running for his epic fun-goth dark magic graphic novel Death of a Necromancer with Robert Ahmad, David Cooper and DC Hopkins. Fancy giving it a look, and maybe backing for this powerful journey into the dark? Head on over and get involved.

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This fortnight, Nick and Alastair attach themselves to Netflix once again to cover improv crime-sitcom Murderville and Oscar-contending cowboy movie The Power of the Dog.

But first, Alastair’s continuing his awards season diet with strong contender Parallel Mothers, while Nick’s finally watching universally beloved optcom Ted Lasso.

After which, they finally sign into Netflix to consume all six episodes of Murderville (12:02) and find out whether the one thing past popular TV cop sitcoms needed was a main character improvising the whole time.

Lastly, as part of their annual quest for Oscar relevance, Nick and Alastair watch Jane Campion’s acclaimed western The Power of the Dog (25:04) and puzzle over exactly where it fits in the pantheon of past Cumberbatch roles, plus (of course) how it connects to Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

PS – if you want to get involved with Nick’s upcoming comic about Necromancers, the Kickstarter notification page thing is up now.

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This fortnight, Nick and Alastair armour up and hit the trail with Star Wars: The Book of Boba Feet, then hunker down for the apocalypse with Don’t Look Up.

But first, a rare detour into music reviewing as Nick’s heard the new Frank Turner and Mitski albums, while Alastair’s enjoying not just the new Black Country, New Road record, but also movies The Souvenir and The Souvenir Part II. Bloody hell.

But, at last, they must sit down and watch the latest Disney+ Star Wars antics in The Book of Boba Fett (14:30), chronicling one man’s rise to somehow being the second most popular man to wear his armour despite getting there first. Spoilers throughout.

And then it’s time to embrace oblivion in apocalyptic Netflix comedy-drama Don’t Look Up (29:48), starring… more or less everyone.

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This fortnight, Nick and Alastair take their annual stab at catching some films which will go on to win Oscar glory with Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza and Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. Their success has been variable in the past, will these films finally win out?

But first, Alastair’s back on the Netflix subtitled drama with The Silent Sea, while Nick’s finally gone back and watched all of HBO scorched-Earth political satire Veep.

And then they cruise back to the 70s with the smooth romance and weird Hollywood satire of Licorice Pizza (11:02).

Last of all, going forward in time to their GCSE years, Nick and Alastair take a look at The Tragedy of Macbeth (23:03).

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Nick and Alastair cover the last month in expansive form, with a packed episode covering Spider-Man: No Way Home (at last!), The Matrix: Resurrections (surprise extra!) and Dexter: New Blood (uh-oh!).

But first, even more franchises folded in, with recent Doctor Who special Eve of the Daleks, plus Alastair’s seen the latest season of The Witcher.

And then, a full month after release, Nick (and also Alastair) has finally seen Spider-Man: No Way Home (15:56), and they’ve got a lot to say, including full film-ruining spoilers from 22:30.

As a small apology for trying and failing to cover Spidey before Christmas, they’ve slotted in a bonus un-trailed review of The Matrix: Resurrections (40:20), including scattered spoilers throughout.

Lastly, Nick and Alastair return to the scene of the crime with Dexter: New Blood (52:05), a show they enjoyed a lot in its heyday. Can this revival mini-series recapture any of the old killer magic? Finding out will require full-on ending spoilers from 63:05.

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Happy New Year! It’s the end of 2021 wrap-up episode so, as the ancient traditions demand, Nick and Alastair must check off their top five TV and film releases of the year.

But first, one last catch-up review as they finally take aim at the full first season of Marvel’s Hawkeye show. (But still not Spider-Man: No Way Home. It’s coming!)

And then, at last, Nick and Alastair get into the sweet summary material with TV (15:37) and film (38:47) given the rigorous treatment of chat and then chart. Plus, with increasing amusement, the hotly contended worst of each medium.

And if you want still more end-of-year type content, Nick’s Top Ten TV Shows and Alastair’s Year In Film articles are also now available on this very website.

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Reading back my summary of film in 2020, I was reminded of the desperate state cinema was in a year ago. In 2020, cinemas were dogged by closures and low audience numbers, due to many people being too frightened of Covid-19 to see a film during the few points of the year where cinemas were open. One year down the line, I would like to reassure my past self that, yes, I did make it to the cinema at least once in 2021 and, yes, Black Widow and No Time to Die did come out.

2021 was a cinematic year of two halves. In the second half of the year, cinemagoers experienced a return to normalcy, with blockbuster films coming out and audiences packing out cinemas to enjoy them. I also managed to make it to in-person screenings for the London Film Festival and have (so far) avoided getting Covid-19.

However, many questions still hang over the future of cinema. Audiences are not back to where they were in pre-pandemic times and the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant may keep them low for the foreseeable future. Can the current form of the franchise blockbuster, which has dominated cinema for so long, survive these uncertain times?

Continue reading →

Ladies and gentlemen, ten years of top ten TV lists. Ten sets of ten. The big ten tens.

Weirdly, it feels both a long time and… almost not long enough. My relationship with time truly is fraying as I move through both this pandemic and my late thirties.

Those previous nine years? Here they are:

Anyway, this has been a weird year in me watching television. I’ve somewhat failed to stay on top of big Premium Telly shows in the same way I might’ve done in previous years, perhaps in part because there’s so many of them now, plus a few haven’t put a season out due to the pandemic. (Although yes, not seeing Succession season 3 is entirely on me.)

So there’s a few more genre shows (which means, yes, more comic adaptations), plus plenty of older shows and comfort viewing for the Honourable Mentions, such as the Sorkin seasons of West Wing.

Nonetheless, I’ve seen enough to put together a top ten, and oh, I have… Continue reading →

Merry Christmas! Let’s mention it here since Nick and Alastair barely do in the episode! Because they’re too busy reviewing Doctor Who: Flux and Wrath of Man!

And yes, sorry to say Wrath of Man comes to you instead of the promised Spider-Man: No Way Home, as Team MFV didn’t make it out to the cinema due to the Omicron variant. Much to Nick’s extreme disappointment.

But first, Nick’s channelling his Spider-FOMO into the subtle tension of The Americans, while Alastair’s ending the year as he spent most of it – watching subtitled Netflix drama, specifically My Name.

And then they hit Doctor Who: Flux (11:00), complete with full total ending spoilers. Will Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor finish on a high, or slink out quiet and shamed?

Lastly, Nick and Alastair explore the Wrath of Man (26:47) with Jason Statham, in a movie which might be a subtle, nuanced exploration of male rage. They’re not sure.

One thing’s for sure, though – it’s not the new Spidey sequel.

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It’s another full-Netflix episode to start the next hundred-and-fifty, with smash hit animation Arcane and mega-musical-movie Tick, Tick… Boom!

But first, Alastair’s reached the final season of Hanna, while Nick keeps up a time-honoured tradition by giving us an early check-in with new Marvel series Hawkeye.

And then they blast their way into Arcane (13:55), only a short time after everyone else did, to find out why this video game adaptation has taken the internet by storm.

Lastly, but more tunefully, it’s time to get musical about musicals with Lin Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut Tick, Tick… Boom! (26:10), an adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical show featuring an all-singing all-dancing Andrew Garfield.

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