MFV #112 – Everything is a meeting now Explicit

This fortnight, Nick and Alastair take off with Space Force, then venture into the forest of Family Tree.

But first, Nick’s gone back and read the original classic run on The Authority by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, while Alastair’s spent time watching plays like Frankenstein, Coriolanus and A Streetcar Named Desire on the National Theatre YouTube channel.

After all that, Space Force (12:30) waits for them in the stars (on Netflix). Can a new show from the lead writer and star of The Office US live up to that starry pedigree?

And then another big name – podcast favourite comic writer Jeff Lemire and artist Phil Hester bring us Family Tree (29:14), their new plant-horror book from Image Comics.

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MFV #111- Tugging off a light saber Explicit

This fortnight, Nick and Alastair meet a pair of action heroes who are both having their hearts melted by cute kids in Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Extraction. If only they’d planned this thematic cohesion.

But first, the introductory lockdown culture update section takes in Alastair’s latest Mission Impossible update and review of the new Altered Carbon season, plus Nick finally watching Westworld season 3.

And then, way after America thanks to Disney Plus’s annoying British release schedule, they finally head out on the plain with The Mandalorian (10:40), and for once they’ve even held back on the spoilers.

Lastly, they go way old school with new Netflix one-man-army action orgy Extraction (24:15), in which Chris Hemsworth murders hundreds, but still gets emotional about a child.

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MFV #110 – Notflix Explicit

This fortnight, Nick and Alastair take a break from their dystopian-level Netflix immersion to watch Devs on iPlayer and read new crime comic Friday!

But first, Nick’s finally checked out this year’s DC Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths, while Alastair’s… back on Netflix again to watch Ghost In The Shell: SAC_2045.

And then they dive into Devs (15:27), the thoughtful tech-thriller written and written by Alex Garland, with a few spoilers scattered throughout. Although they somehow manage not to ruin the ending.

Lastly, our heroes read Friday (34:40) by Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente, one of the few new comics making it to readers at the moment. This, of course, is because it’s only available directly from the Panel Syndicate website as a pay-what-you-want download.

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MFV #109 – Everything Is Awful Explicit

Whole lotta Netflix this episode, as Nick and Alastair catch up on Warren Ellis-written vampire video game adaptation Castlevania and viral smash hit big cat/murder documentary Tiger King.

But first, Alastair’s taken Nick up on one of his recommendations by going back and reading the Doom Patrol run by Grant Morrison, while Nick’s returning to an old review topic with Red Dwarf: The Promised Land.

With that done, it’s time for our heroes to march off into the night and confront whatever waits within: season 3 of Castlevania (13:07). How has the show developed since they last covered it back in season 1? And beware, there are broad plot spoilers for the ending of season 2.

Lastly, in a belated and hopeless bid to get on trend, Nick and Alastair watch Tiger King (26:48) and ask: whodunnit? And when will he finally get round to dunning it?

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MFV #108 – Philosophy Degree Vs Jason Mendoza Explicit

Back to the normal fortnightly schedule, albeit with a new dual review format, Nick and Alastair continue their hiatus catch-up with the final season of The Good Place, then catch back up to reality with new movie The Platform.

But first, Nick’s caught up on former podcast subject Curse Words, the funtasy comic by Charles Soule and Ryan Brown, while Alastair’s embarked on a rigorous lockdown entertainment programme of Mission Impossible movies and Ken Burns documentaries.

And then it’s time for one final trip to The Good Place (14:51), as the clever-stupid afterlife sitcom concludes. Since the finale went out a couple of months ago, our heroes let the spoilers hang loose on this one. You have been warned.

And finally, a grimmer abstract vision with Netflix’s grisly horror-scifi-thriller movie The Platform (35:58), a film which may or may not contain political metaphor. And a review which also contains a few spoilers, by the way. (Including hard ending details from about 46:18.)

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Does Doctor Who have an optimistic vision of the future?

The Doctor and companions

Are you feeling worried about the present? It’s rubbish right now, isn’t it? We can’t go outside because a killer virus is on the loose. We’re trapped and powerless to do anything about it. This could be the plot of any number of sci-fi stories or episodes of Doctor Who, only this time the Doctor won’t be showing up to save the day and let us all go outside again.

One of the fortunate things about human existence being now a largely indoor affair is that it’s a great opportunity to rewatch some favourite TV shows. The BBC, for example, have just uploaded every episode of Doctor Who broadcast since it was brought back in 2005 to their iPlayer. So, there’s never been a better time to rewatch some New Who.

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MFV #107 – Frankenstein’s Metaphor Explicit

Nick and Alastair return with their first episode of the year to be recorded within a week of release! And as you’d expect with the times, it’s all TV – specifically Doctor Who series 12 and Better Call Saul season 5.

But first, some talk of other media they’ve enjoyed in these closed off times. Alastair’s subscribed to Disney Plus (along with the rest of the UK, including Nick), while Nick went back and read all 75 issues of The Sandman.

And then on to today’s main business, as Nick and Alastair go back to review Doctor Who series 12 (15:21) and find out if it’s any improvement on the last one, including spoilers for those big finale twists from 29:43.

Lastly, almost bringing them all the way up to date, they’ve also seen the first 6 episodes of Better Call Saul season 5 (39:03) and are getting very emotional about the fate of Jimmy and Kim’s relationship.

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MFV #106 – Happy Gilmore was robbed!!! Explicit

This week, in the final of our two backlogged hiatus episodes, Nick and Alastair return to the heady days of February with reviews of then-new films Parasite and Birds of Prey!

But first, they discuss other culture digested in that simpler time, such as Nick reading the gargantuan Batman: No Man’s Land crossover and Alastair watching cult hit movie Uncut Gems.

After which, they swing into Parasite (12:14), with discussion of its Oscar success (and Joker’s comparative lack of same) and exactly which BBC show it reminds Nick of. Plus relatively few spoilers beyond the basic premise, for once.

Lastly, of course MFV must cover 2020’s first (and possibly only) superhero movie Birds of Prey And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (27:57), a fun film which takes superhero conventions and fires a glitter gun at them.

And that’s it for the backlog! Join Nick and Alastair in the near future for an episode recorded in the same week as release!

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MFV #105 – Neither of us have seen Cats Explicit

Nearly three months since the last episode, Nick and Alastair are back! Neither coronavirus nor Nick’s inability to edit on his crappy laptop could defeat them!

Up-to-date new episodes forthcoming, but before that, here’s the first of two our dedicated heroes recorded during their unwilling hiatus – the Moderate Fantasy Violence review of 2019!

Including such topical affairs as a review of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker instead of a recommendation section, plus some largely inaccurate Oscar predictions. And yes, due to the belated nature of the episode, no mention of a certain virus.

But most importantly, at long last, Nick and Alastair get stuck into the usual end-of-year admin, chatting about the year in TV (11:42) before counting down their 5 favourites each (27:41), before doing the same for film – first they chat (53:25), then they chart (61:05).

What was their favourite release of the year? What other shows, movies and trends caught their eye? Well, hopefully if you’ve paid attention, you know what it wasn’t…

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2019: A year in film

A year ago, I finished my summary of film in 2018 by saying that I had a feeling that the cinematic landscape will change because it has been the same for a while and nothing lasts forever. One year on from that pronouncement, I don’t think a huge change in our cinema diet is imminent, but I do think the conditions for change are present.

To explain this, I will start by talking about how 2019 was just like every other year I have summarised with this year-end essay. This year was another great year for Marvel. They pulled off the finale to stage three of their cinematic universe immensely well. Avengers: Endgame lived up to the promise of the previous year’s Avengers: Infinity War and the other 21 films that proceeded it. It wound an impressive number of characters and plot threads together to deliver a hugely enjoyable ending to this epic saga, with a few tearful farewells to some beloved characters.

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