This episode Luke and Conor talk CHAPPiE, Better Call Saul and more. Note that owing to some technical difficulties a very informative conversation about Abe Lincoln’s detective work and sexuality was corrupted and did not make it into the show. Maybe another time. Enjoy.
Conor and Luke are back in the podcasting saddle and discuss John Cazale by way of the documentary “I Knew It Was You”. Also on the show this week: Dog Day Afternoon, The Dog, Bojack Horseman, Grand Theft Auto V and Luke’s bath salt adventure. Steam burn!
Here’s Luke talking about Fifty Shades of Grey on the Feb 13th edition of ‘Good Morning Dublin’. Enjoy.
Conor and Luke look at the films of 2014 and pick their favourites. Find out how Chef saved Conor’s life, how Luke was moved by Magic in the Moonlight’s cheap tricks, why Jersey Boys is a good alternative to going to the theatre and much much more.
Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) a once popular movie star on the descent is making his theatrical debut as the director, writer and star of an adaptation of the Raymond Carver short story, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. The production is marred by various setbacks and Riggan finds himself in-crisis, caught between his artistic aspirations and the looming threat of almost-certain failure.
Ho ho ho-lo and welcome to The Movie Express Christmas Special in which Conor and Luke discuss the spirit of the season and, the reason for the season Chevy Chase!
On the latest edition of The Movie Express, Conor and Luke talk about The Game, with Michael Douglas, Rolling Thunder, with Tommy Lee Jones and MANDOM, with Charles Bronson. Enjoy the show and remember, all the world loves a lover.
This week Conor and Luke discuss bad bets with Cheap Thrills, Gutshot Straight and 13 Sins. Table time features a lengthy discussion of Daniel Bedingfield (and his sister). Listen and enjoy!
Conor is back and he’s not a diamond geezer but he is in London, England. This week Luke and Conor look at NIGHTCRAWLER, THE RIOT CLUB and INTERSTELLAR. It’s a big show, enjoy it!
Interstellar opens on an Earth that’s struggling to sustain itself. Frequent blights on crops and seemingly never-ending dust-storms force humanity to eke out an existence as career farmers. One such farmer, Cooper (McConaughey), a former engineer (and NASA test-pilot) is called up for a dangerous mission beyond our solar system to seek out out a new home for the human race.
(A heads-up: There’s some discussion of the later moments of Interstellar in this review, if you wanna go in fresh save it for later.)
I spoke with a friend about my distaste for The Riot Club and she responded:
“Ah, if you’d only been here during that whole thing, you haven’t been in London long enough so you can’t understand how strong those feelings of resentment toward that particular type of toff are.”
The Riot Club is based on the Laura Wade play Posh, a smash hit in London’s West End in 2010. It concerns a ‘dining club’, similar in some ways to a small and elite fraternity, a body of privileged young men who meet regularly to dine and drink on a bacchanalian level.
The Riot Club takes a long time to reveal its intentions, which would be fine if there were a stronger tone to engage with. By the time the film revealed its inevitable message, I was left vaguely uncomfortable but not at all in the way I imagine the filmmakers intended.
You see The Riot Club is a film full of condemnation of the casual hatred it accuses the wealthy (and upper class) of having towards “the poor”, which in this context I’m assuming means more or less everyone else. Disgustingly lacking in empathy or grace, these young men do not just drink too much or behave foolishly: they humiliate people they have any upper hand over, they treat women with absolute contempt that becomes downright sexually predatory at times and they believe themselves above accountability for anything at all, even a horrifying act of brutality.
This is not a difficult position to get behind. It’s easy to summon up anger and disgust at the idea of young men who have no regard for any other human beings but yet consider themselves the only worthy people alive. It’s easy to feel disdain for people who substitute bragging about wealth and privilege in place of any attempt to relate to the people they encounter.
It’s far, far too easy.
A condemnation of class hatred that drips with class hatred is an uncomfortable watch. I think there are few things more uneasy than watching someone do something that portrays themselves in an embarrassing, unflattering light and knowing they are unaware of it. That was the central discomfort of the film for me, rather than any incisive commentary on the apparent automatic inhumanity of anyone born in a certain demographic. The whole thing felt like a giant play of straw men, presenting no character or conflict but simply something to hate. I was uncomfortable because the film made me feel like I had walked in on an act of onanism that the filmmakers were too intent on to realise they were being observed.
★★
Conor Mahood
Morgan McBride joins Luke in an extended Table Time discussion of TWIN PEAKS, THE EVIL WITHIN, BOJACK HORSEMAN, THE AFFAIR, BOB’S BURGERS, WORLD’S GREATEST DAD and more… Enjoy dear listener.
Luke Maxwell and Eoin Dowling raise anchor and head out to sea in the latest episode of The Movie Express. This time we discuss All is Lost and Deep Water. Turns out the sea is a frightening and fascinating place.
Conor is back in an all new episode of The Movie Express. This time Luke talks The Guest, Conor gushes about Land Ho and we weigh up The Princess Bride against My Dinner With Andre. Also on the table this week Lord Love a Duck and RuPual’s Drag Race. We’d also like to give a big shout-out to the guys at Simply Unemployable; they’re funny guys.
Conor’s away chasing the sun but Luke and his pal Jake have you covered. Join them for a lengthy discussion of cult favourite, The Room. Also featured: The Exotic Time Machine, Doctor Who, The X-Files, Mortal Kombat, Sin City 2 and more.
It’s a minicast, you know, a minicast! Join Luke as he reviews an adaptation of a video game and an adaptation of a novel. One of them has Aaron Paul in it, the other one is set in Scotland. They both have cars in ’em.
Luke takes a look at Akiva Goldsman’s adaptation of Mark Helprin’s classic fantasy novel, A Winter’s Tale. This feature starring Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Will Smith and Jessica Brown Findlay tells a century-spanning story of thievery and celestial conflict. It’s nutso.
Cheerfully Inaccurate: Luke refers to Jessica Brown Findlay by another name that he misread and sounds nothing like her name!