A podcast series dedicated to watching, reviewing, and thoroughly dissecting a series of terrible films to come from the United Kingdom, to understand why the films we review have achieved notoriety for being among the worst ever made in the history of British cinema.
The final of the BOndWOB series finds Lorcan and Thom much closer to the present day, as they review the much-maligned followup to 'Casino Royale' as Daniel Craig returns for 'Quantum of Solace'. Does it deserve the panning it received, or did people decide they hated it because of the silly title? The BOWOB boys have brought in comedian Tom Mayhew to help them uncover this politically charged attempt to channel some of the more serious political themes of the Bourne films and apply them to a movie franchise that has had invisible cars and space battles. bowobpodcast@gmail.com https://twitter.com/bowobpod https://facebook.com/bowobpod
Lorcan and Thom are joined by Andy Hughes of the wonderful Dinosaur Man podcast, as Bond becomes not something in the abstract past to our hosts, but a very real and nostalgic part of our childhoods, since Pierce Brosnan was the Bond of this generation of millennials. Unfortunately, after the all-time classic of the Bond series that was GoldenEye, things took a turn for the worst from there for Brosnan, ending with the catastrophe that was Die Another Day, which probably caused the biggest course correction in the Bond series's history. https://twitter.com/bowobpod https://facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
The second of four Bond films to get the BOWOB treatment, this time Lorcan and Thom are joined by the wonderful comedian and actor Mary Flanigan to pick apart Roger Moore's penultimate offering to the franchise, and the only film so far to have its Bond girl as the title character. A sign of progression and acceptance of women as actual people with dimensions and an opportunity for quality roles? Nope. But a lot of ladies get into fights whilst scantily dressed in clothes not appropriate to the cultural heritage of the vast majority of them!
It's the first of our Bond mini-series for the month of September, leading to the release of the twenty-fifth EON produced James Bond film. Lorcan and Thom are your regular co-hosts, but for each episode of this run, the MIA Michael will be replaced by a different guest to offer a new perspective on both the BOWOB formula, and the Bond franchise specifically. For this episode we've invited the comedian, podcaster, improviser, and circus performer Aaron Twitchen (@aarontwitchen) to discuss the disappointing return to the series for Sean Connery after George Lazenby's one-and-done. It may be the role that made him famous, but it's fair to say that Connery wasn't that enthused to be returning to the role. The less than classy environs of early 70s Las Vegas doesn't help things either. Combine alll of that with two of the worst-written of all the Bond girls and it's a feast for the critical eyes! You can hear Aaron Twitchen in his Girlband Popcast, Pod of the Pops, where he and his co-hosts discuss the solo careers, and provide a full band history as well, to two of the classic girl groups of the 90s and 00s - the Spice Girls and Sugababes. It's a fantastic listen that you should all check out! https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pod-of-the-pops-the-girlband-popcast/id1453298992 In the time it's taken between this episode being recorded (before we became aware of the multiple delays in its release due to COVID) and released, Aaron has even gone onto produce another hugely successful podcast series - A Matter of Pride: A Comedy Education of Gay History, in which Aaron provides context for significant events in LGBTQ history, and answers the questions you may have about the gay lifestyle but have been too embarrased to ask! https://twitter.com/bowobpod https://facebook.com/bowobpod bowobdpocast@gmail.com
F**k you, Adam Mason https://twitter.com/bowobpod https://facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
It's a schooner of a lineup this time, as Lorcan and Michael are trying to hold the defences up for lng enough for the full time whistle to blow. It's the start of a new trilogy, as a Mexican-American soccer startlet Santiago Munez takes a trip to tha Toon to try to make it as a professional footballer. Will he suceed? Will the Toon Army see Champions League glory? Will the absence of Thom holding the defensive barrier to stop any bullshit banter cause the whole podcast to fall apart? You'll have to listen to the episode to find out.
A widow has an affair with her son's decorator, who is seeing her daughter behind his wife's back. Because they're all middle class that means this is art instead of an episode of Jeremy Kyle.
The final chapter in the cinematic career of Cliff Richard sees him play a greedy businessman moving to Birmingham and setting up a burger business whilst trying to broker a deal between the warring political factions. It's a musical that can't decide if it's a musical, but will the BOWOB lads decide if it's worthy of derision or an underrated gem? Or will they just drop in so many obscure Brummie references everyone outside of the WMCA will not have a clue what they're on about? Listen to find out! https://twitter.com/bowobpod https://facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Our final episode for a little while now sees Lorcan chat to Michael about one of the main ways he kept himself fresh and mentally healthy during this lockdown period - by starting up an Instagram account (@bench_spotting) that documents and reviews benches found not just nearby, but all around the world. Lorcan also provides an update on what the BOWOB release schedule will be going forward. We'll see you in April. But always remember: the joy is in the spotting, not the sitting.
It's another example of the excesses of the Britpop late-90s resulting in a mess of a film. Not even the acting powers of Anna Friel, Joanna Lumley, Greg Wise, and many others, adapted from a hit novel that came to embody the "chick lit" era until Bridget Jones turned up, could salvage this tripe. SATIRE!
Lorcan asks Michael about how his year of Covid has been as a front-line worker. Next week we'll be back to the normal BOWOB with 'Mad Cows'
It's the final chapter of the On the Buses BOWOB trilogy, as your regular hosts discuss the inevitable TV-to-movie plot of our characters going on holiday. Due to unfortunate lockdown recording requirements, the original version is forever lost, but we've stitched together a quick summary of the lost first third, and from then on it's high quality laughs with slightly lower quality audio. https://facebook.com/bowobpod https://twitter.com/bowobpod bowobdpocast@gmail.com
Lorcan is here to once again give you an update on how series three is going to differ in a number of ways to the previous two. We'll actually be providing you with more content, but it's going to be a bit more varied, spread out, and, in this episode's instance, a bit more stream-of-consciousnesses. It's fair to say, and unoriginal too, that this has been a year to forget, but Lorcan, Michael, and Thom will take a brief moment (in Mike's case slightly brief, in Thom's VERY!) to offer you some recommendations of films, TV, or online entertainment that have kept them going for the past year. Lorcan then spends the second half running down his top 100 films of the 2010s a full year later than it would have been useful, and offering quick thoughts as he goes along to the films tha the feels like discussing further. https://facebook.com/bowobpod https://twitter.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
In the spirit of Christmas, your BOWOB boys have watched a frequent fixture on the telly during the holiday season. Lorcan, Thom, and Michael are here to chart the many romantic flavours on display in Richard Curtis's divisive directorial debut Love Actually. Will they fall swooning for it like a woman in a lower-status job? Or blubbing with the rage of a thousand scorned Emma Thompsons?
Before another series of BOWOB starts next week, we're taking a little detour with the first of what we hope will be a series of special episodes where we chat with someone who has actually done something within the UK film industry! For this episode, Lorcan has had a conversation with BAFTA-nominated writer, actor, comedian, and director Nat Luurtsema to discuss her experiences in producing short films and the hoops she has had to jump to finally reach a point where a number of her feature projects are entering production. facebook.com/bowobpod twitter.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
It's the end of another series or season of films for the BOWOB lads to cover, and they have reconvened one last time to put the final kick into those movies that were particularly harrowing to each of them, before setting on a final anti-recommendation list to save everyone else the perils that these three have put themselves in. We'll be back later in the year with a Bond mini-series, followed by a new dozen shortly thereafter, so keep tabs on us to find out when we'll be back! https://twitter.com/bowobpod https://facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Ugh. twitter.com/bowobpod facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Still haven't had chance for al the BOWOB boys to reunite and record the final couple of episodes for the season, so here's a little bonus "deleted scene" audio. You can now finally understand the thinking behind the definitivev list of late 80s-to-early 90s pop groups as decided by a group of white men either about to hit their 30s or well deep into it. Therefore, the most knowledgeable and best qualified demographic to make such a list! facebook.com/bowobpod twitter.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
It's the sweariest episode of BOWOB to date, but that's a natural consequence of watching a film set in an English football ground. Especially if that ground happens to be that of West Ham United. It's a Die Hard knock-off from start-to-finish as Dave Bautista (the wrestler) finds himself tackling Russian terrorists whilst the Hammers' players try to tackle that European great Dynamo FC. They're only running on 66% capacity, but the lads will continue to provide 110% effort until the final whistle. facebook.com/bowobpod twitter.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
It's time for something for the kiddie-winkles! Unfortunately, that involves human walking winkle James Corden trampling over a beloved childhood literary figure. But could some actually well-written jokes be enough to make this among the more tolerable films for the BOWOB boys? Listen to find out! twitter.com/bowobpod facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
It's Fat Slags. There's nothing much else to say. But if you want us to chat about the Sky One football soap opera Dream Team... facebook.com/bowobpod twitter.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
It's sequel time yet again, as the BOWOB team return to the land of Nazroth and the twelve kingdoms to see what the makers of Knights of the Damned did after their lunch break. It turns out they made a whole extra film - with two titles for the price of one! Along the way they encounter blue demons, passage monsters, voodoo zombies, and beligerent TK Maxx staff. One of those they might have made up themselves. You have to do something to keep yourself entertained during these things, you know!... @bowobpod facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
In perhaps the most contentious episode so far in BOWOB, the hosts round off their popstar trilogy with the cinematic debut of S Club (not 7) in a sci-fi clone comedy where once again the disposability of a band is presented to themselves by the people that are in charge of their careers! Satire, cynicsm, or somewhere in between? Let's find out together! @bowobdpod facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com bowb
The second chapter of their pop star movie trilogy sees the BOWOB boys going back to 2000 to go further back into the 60s and swinging London as three-quarters of All Saints, your hipster's alternative Spice Girls, are a trio of sisters who rob and swear and drink and shag themselves silly, until dodgy criminals, hunky Americans, and Nick Cave lookalikes start getting involved in their shenanigans. @bowobpod facebook.com/bowobpod bwobdpodcast@gmail.com
Starting a self-contained trilogy of late 90s/early 00s movies built around pop groups of the period, our trio start of at the peak with the biggest selling girl group of all time, in the zeitgeist-catching Spice World movie of 1997. Appearing to be produced in a time window similar to what you may expect a music video to have been made in, this will inevitably cause some issues with quality control, and the BOWOB crew are always ready to analyse those potential pitfalls, whilst also remembering their own relationship with this unconventional collection of five young women given one defining trait and having to let it define them. @bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Depending on how you look at it, the fact that this episode was recorded before a number of events rocked the royal family is either highly unfortunate or highly fortunate. Either way, it's an intersting time for our BOWOB boys to watch a film about an American woman from less-than-ideal family circumstances fall in love with a high-ranking royal and the scandal that ensues. What a shame that such an interesting concept had to be directed by Madonna, the human embodiment of 'How can I make this more about me?' bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Perhaps the most popular episode in the first series of BOWOB receives the sequel treatment, as Stan and Jack and the rest of the ragtag bunch of clippies, drivers, and Blakeys reunite a year later to provide further saucy comedy nonsense. It's a stunt spectacle that would make John Wick's head turn as our "heroes" attempt to fight back against a new uptight management regime. Will they rely on pissing laxatives and body shaming? You'll have to tune into find out!... bowobpodcast@gmail.com
If this film had a face you'd see the white powder leftover in the nostrils. Rhys Ifans, Joseph Fiennes, Keith Allen, Sadie Frost, Tara Fitzgerald, and Steven Berkoff are all onboard, and at least a few of those names should have been a clue about what the gang were about to see. Nevertheless, they persisted... https://twitter.com/bowobpod https://facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
It took them long enough, but the gang are back and we catch them on their Christmas field trip as they braved the harsh cold and the even harsher critics to see a film that, in the eyes of many, had already attained legendarily bad status on the basis of its first trailer! Being based on the stage musical that essentially created the modern box office juggernaut of the large-scale musical has not been enough to shield it from the worst reception. If anything it probably contributed to it since this is an adaptation of an Andrew Lloyd Webber from the director behind the Les Mis debacle from earlier in the decade. It's a tough opening assingment, but Lorcan, Michael, and Thom should be battle-hardened enough from season 1 to be up for the task this time. But please keep them in your thoughts and prayers... https://twitter.com/bowobpod https://facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
After fifteen weeks of self-inflicted cinematic sadism, Lorcan, Thom, and Michael have reconvened to rank every film that they have reviewed for the first season of BOWOB to see how they compare, how each of them predicted the others would rate them, and reach a definitive list of the worst of the worst of British. Our intrepid podcasters will now rest for a few months before returning with another frightful fifteen films to consider, critique and condemn. In the meantime please keep following us on the social medias, give us a positive review, and recommend us to all of your friends and enemies. https://twitter.com/bowobpod https://facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
As Michael, Thom, and Lorcan prepare for their end of season shindig, after watching this movie it's fair to assume they will not be visiting any village fetes. A very desperate and failed attempt to cash in on a Britain's Got Talent victory, the BOWOB boys try to push on through one last time before they can rest and prepare for a second series in the near future. But stay tuned for our end of season finale this time next week! https;//twitter.com/BOWOBpod https;//facebook.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Snakes are bastards, aren't they? Even then, are they a match for the combined insanity of Oliver Reed AND Klaus Kinski? It's up to Thom, Lorcan, and Michael to find out as they investigate a film that will probably be inadvertently downloaded by a number of people currently hoping to watch Tom Hardy turn into a big black gooey thing without having to venture to the cinema https://facebook.com/BOWOBpod https://twitter.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
This may very well prove to be the longest episode in BOWOB history, but would it shock you to learn that there was still an hour taken out of it?! Yes, Lorcan, Thom, and Michael had a lot to say and needed a lot of time to say it when it came to this film. Described as "Amelie for the Maxim set", the BOWOB boys try to dismantle every misguided opinion the film has about itself and uncover the true nature of its central character, the film's premise, and just how many ways it can be considered both insultingly misogynistic and teeth-grindingly pretentious at the same time. https://twitter.com/bowobpod https;//facebook.com/bowobpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
In many ways, it's remarkable that we waited a dozen episodes before dipping our toes into the saucy waters of the Carry On world. Michael, Lorcan, and Thom start near the end as they assess the penultimate film in the series. It's a clash of cultures as the cackling Brits are taken aback when they deal with a French woman who actually (GASP!) wants to have sex! Along the way the team encounter the first signs of the incel movement, the first signs of Brexit, and one of the most controversial decisions in a football match in the history of both fiction and non-fiction! https://facebook.com/BOWOBpod https;//twitter.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Perhaps you're listening to this podcast whilst taking a lovely long walk through one of Britiain's many beautiful public parks. If so, please refrain from making a movie about whatever insipid conversation you may have with anyone else and expect the BOWOB boys to see it! Because after sitting through this all-star ensemble movie, Michael, Thom, and Lorcan will probably try to avoid anything involving walking or talking for as long as they can. https://twitter.com/BOWOBpod https://facebook.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
The 80s are a decade synonymous with iconic slasher franchises and their larger-than-life villains: Friday the 13th and Jason, Elm Street and Freddy Krueger, Child's Play and Chucky. It's fair to say that when the people behind Don't Open Till Christmas made the film, they hoped that it would also gain an iconic status that would be remembered for years to come. Lorcan, Thom, and Michael take it upon themselves to see if this is a film that requires reinterpretation. Does it? You'll just have to listen to find out... https://facebook.com/BOWOBpod https://twitter.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Everyone remembers the late 90s. Even those who weren't born then! FHM, WWF Attitude, N64s, Michael Owen, and, according to this film, 27-a-side games of basketball and extremely impressive virtual reality systems that can create the real-life embodiment of your dream man. Have Michael, Lorcan, and Thom uncovered a hidden romcom classic? At least one of us may think so. Find out to see how these differing opinions may clash! https://facebook.com/BOWOBpod https://twitter.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
For almost as long as there have been new cultural phenomena created by a hit film, there have been less talented people wishing to cash in on said phenomenon to make money fast, and quality of the actual film be damned! Whilst Hammer Productions created a fair share of great horror films, their foray in the mid-70s to cash-in on the kung fu craze by having a failed Hollywood leading man visit a very drab-looking Hong Kong to try to get paid for an assassination job in an unnamed African military dictatorship. Along the way, the filmmakers decide to show commuting. A LOT of commuting. Can Thom, Michael, and Lorcan survive all the way through to the end? SPOILER ALERT: Not all of them do! facebook.com/BOWOBpod twitter.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Budgets don't get much lower, and productions don't get much more amateur, than the film Lorcan, Thom, and Michael find themselves reviewing this week. A film filled with dragons, zombies, warrior women, knights, mermaid/water demons, wolves, and a hot goth. How could it be so terrible you can may well rather watch The Room on grounds of wanting to watch something made by more talented people? Let the BOWOB lads find out so that you don't have to, and just chuckle as they provide testimony after the fact... facebook.com/BOWOBpod twitter.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Paul McCartney gave us many of the greatest love songs of the 20th century. He also gave us a film that barely qualifies as such. Michael, Thom and Lorcan take it upon themselves to go back and trawl the back catalogue of McCartney that doesn't usually receive the retrospective treatment. And all in the name of Best of Worst of British. https://facebook.com/BOWOBpod https://twitter.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
You won't find Thor, Iron Man, Rocket Raccoon, or any other Marvel characters in this one. Instead, you will find a dapper Ralph Fiennes, a drowsy Uma Thurman, a baffling Sean Connery, a mute Eddie Izzard, and a bemused Lorcan, Thom, and Michael as the BOWOB boys "celebrate" the 20th anniversary of one of the biggest flops of the 90s, and a film frequently high charting in Worst of All Kind lists. https://facebook.com/BOWOBpod https://twitter.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Two of British cinema's biggest ever names directed by one of the most successful British directors of the 70s and 80s. It should be a recipe for success. Instead, it may be the worst film that at least several of the hosts of BOWOB have seen in their lives. Sexist, racist, and just out-and-out inept, they struggle through this so you don't have to. We'll be honest with you lads, this was a tough one. https://facebook.com/BOWOBpod https://twitter.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
Arguably the biggest news event of the 90s was the premature death of the biggest celebrity of the same decade. Seventeen years later a seemingly guaranteed success was released starring Naomi Watts portraying 'The People's Princess' as the true romance of her final two years. What should have been a tasteful biopic, or perhaps even a tasteless parody, instead was dismissed by most as a dull, terrible film with no real reason to exist. Well, the guys at BOWOB have taken it upon themselves to reappraise this mostly ignored flop from only a few years ago to see if it received the correct amount of disdain it received, or maybe deserved a reappraisal. I imagine you will be able to correctly guess what conclusion is reached. https://facebook.com/BOWOBpod https://twitter.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
The UK is in a perilous state in a heated time for political discourse. Sexism, racism, privilege and the spectre of Brexit haunts our every waking moment. So it's fair to say that it came as a surprised to our BOWOB hosts to find that all these issues may have been perfectly distilled in one "saucy" TV sit-com spin-off film from the early 1970s. Lorcan, Thom, and Michael thoroughly recap and analyse the most popular film in the British box office for the year of 1971. A show so beloved in its time it makes The Inbetweeners seem as culturally significant as Come Back Mrs. Noah (look it up) https://twitter.com/BOWOBpod https;//facebook.com/BOWOBpod bowobpodcast@gmail.com
The very first episode of the Best Of Worst Of British podcast, presented by Lorcan Mullan, Michael Bell & Thom Hodkinson. In this episode, the trio aim their critical arrows at Guy Ritchie's "Revolver". Will the team appreciate the subtle references to Kabbalah through out the movie? Will the characters be referenced by name? And what exactly have little boy's shoes have to do with it? All this, and more, in BEST OF WORST OF BRITISH: EPISODE 1 - REVOLVER!!!! https://twitter.com/BOWOBpod https://www.facebook.com/BOWOBpod
Season 1 of a new podcast dedicated to dissecting the worst films that Britain has ever produced. We will not rest until we have thoroughly investigated every nook and cranny of terrible cinema produced in the United Kingdom. We could be here for a long time. Follow us on Twitter (@BOWOBpod), like us on Facebook, and drop us an email (bowobpodcast@gmail.com)
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