Episode 273: Last night in Soho/ Ghostbusters: Afterlife

It’s an original recipe special this week, as Martyn and Gerrod sit down to give spoiler-free reviews on Last night in Soho and, Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Spotify, Amazon Music, PodchaserPlayer FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

We also have a Smartlink.

Artwork by Penny Smallshire.

We sound familiar can be found here.

More than just an impression can be found here.

Comedians talking about football can be found here.

Sam’s YouTube channel can be found here.

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Edgar Wright drops out of Ant-Man

Here is a bit of surprising news. Edgar Wright has dropped out of directing Ant-Man.
Wright has been working on the project since 2006.
For years he and Joe Cornish have worked on the script, adapting it to fit in with current Marvel continuity. Everybody involved in the Marvel universe has previously said how excited they were to see a Wright at the helm.

Marvel have apparently found a new director and the film is still scheduled for release on July 17th, 2015.

Episode 104: The World’s end

In which Pete returns and he and Martyn take a look at the final in the cornetto trilogy.

They also get drunk-well, Martyn gets drunk.

Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from twenty years earlier unwittingly become humanity’s only hope for survival.

The podcast can be accessed via different places, including Miro, Stiticher, Blubrry, Player fm and Itunes.

Check out the kickstarter for parallel house.

Check out our reviews of
Shaun of the dead and Hot Fuzz.

Episode 92:MCM EXPO

In which Martyn, Gerrod and Rix give you a quick review of The MCM expo and, when we say quick-we mean quick.

It was recorded in the car, after being on our feet for 9 hours. A longer episode is coming soon where we’ll talk about the expo in more detail, as well as Doctor Who and Star Trek:Into Darkness.

The show can be accessed via different places, including Miro, Stiticher, Blubrry and Itunes.

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Why I don’t care for Big Bang Theory

Many of my friends and family LOVE The Big Bang Theory. I’ll admit, I’ll watch it if there’s nothing else on. but, something 20130309-165819.jpgabout the show has never sat right with me and, I think I’ve just figured out what. I’ve recently been suffering from a bout of chronic insomnia. So, one sleepless night I reached for the ever faithful, ever comforting, continually funny, Spaced.

Now, Spaced is without doubt the best geek TV show ever made. It’s made by geeks, for geeks.

For the unfamiliar, it’s a British sitcom about two strangers — Daisy and Tim (played by co-writers Jessica Hynes and Simon Pegg) —who have to pretend to be a couple to get a flat.

Like the Big Bang theory, Spaced featured in-jokes and movie references. With the Big Bang theory, they’re screaming “There’s a reference coming, We’re about to make a reference, here’s the reference, Did you get the reference? No, ok. Well here’s what the reference was about”.
Spaced was smarter, it worked on multiple levels. If you watch it as a straight sitcom, with no idea of the references, it will still make you laugh, but if you watch it and you pick up the references it makes you laugh in a different way.

It rewards multiple viewings. 14-years later and I’m still picking up things I’d missed before. The references aren’t gratuitous, they move the story along. There isn’t a random reference, for the sake of a random reference.
I can’t help but feel that the Big Bang Theory is just making fun of “geek culture”. Pointing the huge finger and shouting “THIS IS WHAT NERDS DO!”. Most of the humour comes from the audience laughing AT the characters and not with the characters. You’re not meant to be laughing at the jokes they make, you’re meant to be laughing at the guys themselves and that’s what doesn’t sit right with me, I’m meant to be laughing at myself, at my friends.



The characters aren’t likeable at all, now. Not every character has to be likeable. Every character in Seinfeld, Curb your enthusiasm and Arrested development was a detestable human being. But it takes skill to do this. The writing team on TBBT are too busy high-fiving themselves for squeezing in another reference, or lazy pop shot at geeks to give us believable characters. Instead, we get another overused stereotype, not seen since saved by the bell.

Leonard is whiny, weak and a mummy’s boy, Raj is shy around women and just irritating, Howard is sleazy and belongs on some sort of register and the star of the show, Sheldon is just a complete and utter dick.
Would anyone really be friends with him?

At first, I thought it may just be a cultural difference between a US show and a UK show. But, step forward Community. A show made by NBC which like Spaced, deals with geek culture in a respectful and realistic way. With community and Spaced, you never laugh at the characters, you laugh with them.

Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg start work on ‘The World’s End’.

After being announced in 2007, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have finally started writing their third movie, in the blood and ice cream trilogy, “The World’s End?”.

In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, the dynamic duo expanded a bit on the film’s title and gave a brief plot synopsis.
“20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hell-bent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King, a 40-year old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their home town and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub, The World’s End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realise the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind. Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.”

Shaun of the Dead was Pegg and Wright’s homage to horror, Hot Fuzz to action films, The World’s End seems like it could be their homage to sci-fi disaster films. Could we possibly be looking at their answer to an Alien invasion movie?

The pair is scheduled to start shooting in the Autumn and are aiming for a 2013 release. I can’t wait for this movie. I’ll see you at The world’s end.



DVD Review-Attack the Block

In 2001, British writer and director Joe Cornish had a life-altering experience when he was mugged outside his house. He couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if an alien invasion had taken place during the attack, and the savagery of his young assailants had become an asset in fighting the extraterrestrial threat. This idea stayed with him for a decade, until it finally became the basis for his feature film debut, Attack The Block.

In the movie, Cornish replaced himself with a well-spoken, recently graduated nurse named Sam (played by Jodie Whittaker). Sam becomes the victim of a mugging by a gang of youths, led by fifteen-year-old Moses (John Boyega), who later decides to “tool up” and defend their block against invading aliens. The film is a fast-paced, thrilling ride that doesn’t give the audience a chance to catch their breath. The kids initially come across as caricatures, but as the story progresses, they win us over and we find ourselves rooting for them.

While Attack The Block is not a perfect movie, with the aliens resembling something out of 80s Doctor Who and the final scene lacking the emotional impact it aims for, it’s still a fun and enjoyable film. The sight of Moses heroically swinging from a union flag may not have the intended effect on British audiences, but it could play well in an inevitable American remake. If Cornish’s next film is as good as his debut, there’s no doubt he’ll be a powerhouse in Hollywood in the years to come.

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