MFV #64 – This Film Is Not A Poo Explicit

This fortnight, one more swing into the big franchises with solo Star Wars move Solo: A Star Wars Story!

But before that, Nick and Alastair examine their recent consumption, including crime comic 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank and the esoteric music of Public Service Broadcasting.

That done, it’s time for the real business of the day as Nick and Alastair review Solo: A Star Wars Story (7:08), trying their best to stay focused on the contents of the film rather than just whether it needs to exist.

And then it’s on to this week’s related debate point, indulging the geekery a little more than usual: Marvel vs Star Wars! (21:02)

You may not be surprised which pod-host is representing each side.

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How Is Deadpool Like A Business Park In Slough?

How is Deadpool like a business park in Slough? They’re both postmodern. If you just wanted to find out the answer to the click-bait headline, there it is. If you want to find out more then read on.

For a better answer to the question we need to ask: what is postmodernism? Well, it’s like pornography, in that it’s only acceptable to look at it in public as part of an art installation or at the sort of parties that I don’t get invited to. Also, like pornography, it’s difficult to define, but you know it when you see it.

You can find postmodernism in contemporary art galleries, usually in the room that just has a load of tyres piled up in the corner. You can find it on the reading lists for MAs in contemporary literature. You can find in in the architecture of post-industrial areas that were rebuilt in the 1990s, the places where the decaying factories and wharves were replaced with Italian restaurants and coffee shops that aspired to be just like Central Perk.

Postmodernism might be a movement in high brow, high class, high cost, impenetrable, elitist and confusing art forms, but it doesn’t have to be an exclusive idea. You can see postmodernism in the cinema and you don’t have to go to the ICA or even your local Picturehouse to see it.

There’s lots of postmodernism in Deadpool and Deadpool 2. Looking at what makes these films different from every other superhero film will help us answer the question of what postmodernism is.

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MFV #63 – A Plea To Guy Ritchie Explicit

Way back in Moderate Fantasy Violence #1, Nick and Alastair covered a little film called Deadpool. And they’ve kept this up for so long that, yes, it’s time for the sequel!

But first of all – as briefly mentioned last time, their guest appearance on the And Then What? podcast is now up! Listen to Alastair talk about politics and film, Nick talk about weird crime and lovely hosts Amy & Becky dig into the drugs-and-organ-transplanting underworld. This was great fun to record and you should definitely check it out.

But back in the regular recommendations feature, Alastair’s seen Entebbe, a film that may or may not resemble Zero Dark Thirty, whereas Nick’s listening to The Weezer Bracket, a new podcast trying to find the worst Weezer song through a whole 64-item tournament bracket. There’s a lot of choice there.

And then they get into reviewing Deadpool 2 (11:04) – can it live up to the widely beloved original?

Last but not least, this week’s ultimate question – Are they any unmade sequels we’d like to actually see? (28:13)

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MFV #62 – If They’d Just Given Disney More Money, The World Might’ve Been Saved Explicit

At long last, the one you’ve (okay, we’ve) (okay, Nick’s) been waiting for – Avengers: Infinity War!

But first, it’s an instructive double-bill of other recommendations: Nick’s read Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge and Alastair’s seen new Gaiman adaptation movie How To Talk To Girls At Parties.

And then, at long last, the main event – Avengers: Infinity War with full spoilers! (8:06) Can it ever live up to the sheer length of the cast list?

Not to mention our related point: How standalone must a film be to count as a real film? (28:16)

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MFV #61 – How Indie Is A Film Produced By Michael Bay? Explicit

It’s oh-so-still this fortnight, as Nick and Alastair cover A Quiet Place, the hit horror film in which nobody can hear you scream, because you can’t even speak.

But first, Alastair’s been watching The City & The City, the new BBC adaptation of a China Mieville book, while Nick’s seem the first episode of his beloved surreal superhero show Legion.

(And yes, the original plan was to cover Legion as this fortnight’s main review, but it turns out, that too was surreal misdirection.)

And then it’s time to review A Quiet Place (7:02), with moderate plot discussion throughout and a few (carefully labelled) hardcore ending spoilers from 22:13.

Until 28:23, where this fortnight’s question is asked: How much do plot nitpicks really matter?

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MFV #60 – How Is Nostalgia Like Beer? Explicit

This fortnight, Alastair hits one of his most anticipated  releases of the year: Wes Anderson’s new cinematic canine cartoon Isle of Dogs!

Alongside that, in the brief intro, he’s also seen hot new Netflix scifi epic Annihilation, whereas Nick is the one person on Earth still watching Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.

And then it’s time for the dog show, as Alastair talks about how Isle of Dogs (9:15) fits into the Wes Anderson canon and Nick (who’s never seen a Wes Anderson film) also saw it and had thoughts.

And then Team MFV dive back into our childhoods, with this week’s big, broad question: Can any new talking animal film ever compare to The Jungle Book? (23:20) Or, really, whatever your favourite big nostalgic animated classic is.

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MFV #59 – I’m Jessica Jones, And That’s Why I Drink Explicit

In a highly anticipated episode (by Nick and Alastair anyway), they review season two of Marvel’s Jessica Jones, the hard-boiled super-powered noir Netflix show starring Krysten Ritter.

But first, Alastair has seen Hamilton and would like you to believe he’s mentioning it for reasons other than gloating. (As ever, Nick writes these notes.) The author himself, meanwhile, has been listening to the Buffering the Vampire Slayer podcast.

That done, they move on to Jessica Jones season 2 (10:31) with full spoilers after a quick early summary, throwing up a lot of questions about what the writers are trying to achieve, how much they succeed in any of it and whether it’s finally time for them to just take Nick’s oft-repeated suggestion and make the damn seasons shorter.

That done, Nick and Alastair investigate this week’s somewhat-related question: what makes a good difficult second album? (28:53) In which Nick refers to Heroes as a “recent” TV show and has now realised he is old.

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MFV #58 – Why Are They Flaying Clem Fandango? Explicit

Now that the first season of Star Trek: Discovery is over, Nick and Alastair check back in to see how the much-hyped scifi comeback maintained its dead serious premium tones.

But first, Nick’s relived the raw excitement of his teenage years with The End of the F***ing World on Netflix, while Alastair continues ticking off the Oscar movies with I, Tonya. (Which, predictably, leads to a few minutes of more general Oscar post-game chat.)

After which, time to launch at warp speed into Star Trek: Discovery (9:55), with spoilers all the way to the very last shot of the finale. How have things changed since Nick and Alastair last flew with them in MFV #48?

And finally, in a very uncontroversial and unloaded discussion, inspired by one specific line from Discovery, they ask: How subtle should allusions to real life politics in sci-fi/fantasy be? (28:49)

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MFV #57 – Make Us Laugh Or We’ll Hang You Explicit

It’s an Oscarbait special this week, as we dive into heavily award-nominated woman/fishman romance extravaganza The Shape of Water!

But first, Alastair’s investigating new BBC detective series Collateral, while Nick takes a pounding from superhero-bashing military thriller comic The Boys.

And then we go splashing in the waters of Sally Hawkins and the fish monster’s enchanting love with our review of The Shape of Water. (9:36)

And lastly, since this fantasy-horror-romance has been nominated for so many Oscars, does this mean their snubbing of genre movies is finally over? In short: when will Spider-Man finally win an Oscar? (24:34)

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