Moderate Fantasy Violence

Teenage Music Revisited: ‘Around The Sun’ by R.E.M. (2004)

29th March 2021

This week, I’m revisiting R.E.M.’s Around The Sun – an album that really pissed me off at the time. Will time heal this most disappointing of wounds?

Context matters, so I’d better explain how I came to this album. My introduction to the colossus of alternative rock that was R.E.M. was through their excellent 2001 album, Reveal, and from there I discovered the rest: Automatic For The People, Out Of Time and Document.

R.E.M. are an enigmatic band, whose albums contained big singalong hits alongside poetic, thoughtful tracks with often quite esoteric, folk-infused lyrics. R.E.M. were, in my opinion, one of the biggest bands in the world because they were one of the best bands in the world.

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Teenage Music Revisited: ‘Audio Lessonover?’ by Delirious? (2001)

22nd March 2021

“Something of a rarity this, a Christian band who are neither Celtic nor crap,” was Q Magazine’s 1999 verdict of Delirious?, probably Britain’s most successful Christian rock group (and question mark enthusiasts). In this article, I’ll be revisiting the album Audio Lessonover? – and a teenage obsession.

In my mid-teens, Christianity was a big part of my life. Church had evolved from something I did because some of my friends attended, into a central pillar of my identity. This mostly involved trying to appear as ‘spiritual’ as possible and looking forward to going weekend Christian youth events where I would discover Delirious?.

Q Magazine had been correct; most of the music at these events wasn’t great – mainly samey worship songs. But Delirious? were different. The Christianity was inspiring, not preachy, and with their Radiohead and Manic Street Preachers influences, here was a band that not only shared and reinforced my beliefs, but was also capable of accompanying the emotional ups and downs of teenage life.

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Episodes

MFV #132 – Boner on the end Explicit

18th March 2021

This fortnight, Nick and Alastair enter the current TV discourse with a bang, bringing you their thoughts on wildly popular Marvel series WandaVision and less-discussed Netflix dystopia Tribes of Europa.

But first, Nick’s finally run out of his two comfort shows, Lucifer and New Girl, and is left bereft, while Alastair’s digging further into the Netflix menu with Code 8.

And then, at last, they catch up on WandaVision (14:38), with their thoughts on all your favourite fan theories, exactly what type of show this is and whether Agatha Harkness is common knowledge – along with, of course, full and total spoilers.

Finally, and also with spoilers throughout, it’s Tribes of Europa (39:48), a Netflix series about a dystopian Europe from both the future and… about ten years ago, aesthetically speaking.

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Teenage Music Revisited: ‘Just Enough Education To Perform’ by The Stereophonics (2001)

16th March 2021

Being a teenager sucks, but at least we’ve got music to get us through it. Recently, I’ve been revisiting the soundtrack of my teen years of the early 2000s to see how some of the albums I listened to back then stack up today.

In the first of a series of articles, I’m looking at The Stereophonics’ Just Enough Education To Perform – or ‘JEEP’ if the lawyers at Daimler-Chrysler hadn’t intervened. This one was absolutely everywhere. The distinctive green cover was to be found even on the shelves of friends whose tastes veered more towards manufactured pop or Ibiza dance music than indie-rock. Or who weren’t particularly interested in music at all.

I actually remember buying this album, queuing in the Lichfield WH Smiths to buy the CD in its security protected Perspex container, as you did back when CDs were sufficiently valuable that shops actively worried about people nicking them. I recall liking it at the time, but what about now?

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Episodes

MFV #131 – More digging, less ploughing Explicit

4th March 2021

This fortnight, Nick and Alastair are back to scraping at the cultural coalface of this pandemic era – Netflix movies! Specifically, Space Sweepers and The Dig.

But first, Alastair’s begun his annual Oscar movies viewing festival with Minari, while Nick’s trying to read prose again, beginning with Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, House of Government by Yuri Slezkine and A Closed And Common Orbit by Becky Chambers.

Then it’s away to the outer reaches of the galaxy with Space Sweepers (11:01), the new Netflix space movie for fans of family-friendly adventures yet also sudden death.

Lastly, they get down and dirty with The Dig (26:40), an emotionally affecting period archaeology movie with bonus sexual tension. If you’d like to check out the very good Book to Screen Club podcast episode Nick mentions and get a little more about the film’s context in both book and reality, their show is available from these links.

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His House uses horror tropes to help us empathies with refugees

1st March 2021

His House is that rare thing: a horror movie that takes a well-worn trope and does something original with it. In this case, it’s the trope of the haunted house, updated for our modern age and transposed from a gothic manor in the countryside to a rundown terrace in a sink estate.

Like the best horror films, the source of the horror isn’t the setting, but the characters. Whilst watching His House, I was reminded of some of my favourite character-driven horror films such as Don’t Look Now and The Omen.

His House follows Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) and Bol Majur (Sope Dirisu), two refugees who fled to the UK to escape a violent conflict in an unnamed Sub-Saharan African country. They have been held in an immigration detention centre and have just been offered the chance to live in a house and integrate with British society.

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Episodes

MFV #130 – You’re welcome, universe! Explicit

18th February 2021

Five years of Moderate Fantasy Violence! Happy birthday to this podcast on this very day, and to celebrate the world’s continuous improvement since they started in February 2016, Nick and Alastair dig into their personal vaults to bring out some real classics: Alan Moore’s character-redefining run on Swamp Thing and Alfred Hitchcock’s cinema classic North by Northwest.

But first, slightly more currently, Nick’s finally watched the second season of His Dark Materials, while Alastair’s up to the third run of Disenchantment. Both shows which got a pasting last time they appeared here – have things improved?

And then it’s back to the eighties, before either of our heroes were born, for Nick’s recommendation: the opening eight issues of Swamp Thing (9:47) by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette and John Totleben, including the classic Anatomy Lesson issue and a lot of relatable plant material.

Finally, reaching even further back to 1959, Alastair suggests North by Northwest (27:55), Alfred Hitchcock’s influential suspense movie featuring Cary Grant, a beautiful suit and apparently no symbolism whatsoever.

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Episodes

MFV #129 – Going to town on the Enterprise Explicit

4th February 2021

This fortnight, Nick and Alastair return to the blasted hellscape of 2020 to cover some leftover cultural scraps: last superhero movie standing The New Mutants and spinoff scifi sitcom Star Trek: Lower Decks.

But first, they mention a few more recent items to make the podcast seem vaguely relevant. Alastair’s watched French heist show Lupin, while Nick’s listened to the new albums by Sleaford Mods and Weezer.

Once that’s over with, time to witness the full horror of The New Mutants (13:52). Is this film an overlooked gem scuppered by the pandemic, or can you safely forget it happened?

Lastly, they’ve also watched the whole first season of Star Trek: Lower Decks (25:04). How much fanwank is too much? Is this a comedy, a drama or… something else? All this and more! (Also, mild spoilers for moments in later episodes, be warned.)

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Episodes

MFV #128 – The Affirmation Frontier Explicit

21st January 2021

This fortnight, Nick and Alastair finish up Star Trek: Discovery season 3 and keep mopping up last year’s movies with Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

But first, Nick’s played Burton-esque indie platformer Hollow Knight, while Alastair’s continuing that 2020 catch-up with His House.

And then they dig into the final two-thirds of Star Trek: Discovery season 3 (10:24) to find out whether anyone on this spaceship will ever exchange a cross word, including hardcore ending spoilers from 22:50.

Lastly, it’s time to check out Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (38:21), a film on Netflix based (very obviously) on a play by August Wilson and featuring the last ever performance by Chadwick Boseman.

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

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Episodes

MFV #127 – The 2020 Consensus Explicit

7th January 2021

Only one week into 2021 (unlike last year when it was three months), Alastair and Nick unite to give one last run-down of 2020 – the highs, the lows and the other lows.

But first, one last quick film review from the tail-end of the year, as Alastair (and also eventually Nick) saw new Pixar movie Soul, while Nick was left watching Tropic Thunder on Christmas Eve because his internet crashed.

And then, before writing off last year, our heroes take a short pitstop in 2021 with a review of Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks (10:21), the latest holiday special from their favourite inconsistent sci-fi show.

At last, it’s then time to dive into that hot retrospective material, with some analysis of the year in film (19:46), complete with Nick and Alastair each counting down their top five releases and agreeing on a unified MFV top 3 (plus the inevitable worst one), before turning to do the same for TV (47:38).