Breakdown The Universe

Oh, hello to the people who are still listening. Yes, we're still here... for good or bad.Please note: this was recorder well before the passing of Dame Maggie Smith. Any discussion of her is intended to be only complimentary.Today we will discuss the worst book (and film), but that doesn't = bad. But it's the Chamber of Secrets, and everything that goes with it.We discuss the Dobby and The Problem With House-Elves, the concept of The Trace, the introduction of Lucius Malfoy - the true villain of the story, the dumbest decision ever made by anyone in the series, the concept of magical racism, and that's before the school year even starts!Harry hears things, The Heir is back (beware), is Harry guilty, who is Tom Riddle, how clever is Hermione (hint: very), why did Hagrid get expelled, who is Tom Riddle really, and would Lucius Malfoy really have killed Harry?

Oh, hello. Wow.Sorry, nothing too elaborate to see here. It's F.U.C.K.S 32, and we are here to spread the good news... actually, very little is good, most is just stuff.In this episode we discuss the world's attempts to force Henno into having a supposedly important party, our experiences with massive internet outages, the USA (United States of Assholes), and some DC and Marvel stuff (sorry Meg). We also reveal or Top 10 Films of the last 10 Years, and revisit our thoughts on the 2-1-3 theory.Listen, or don't, or maybe do. You are in control of your own destiny.

Welcome to our latest (and at this point, by far the most comprehensive) topic - Harry Potter.Firstly, the book we are discussing is Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, not The Sorcerer's Stone - like in so other ways, America is totally wrong.More importantly, we a podcast (and as decent human beings) do not support the views of the author. They (ha) have taken some strong stances, and we do not agree with them.So, we go through sooooo much stuff; was there always a grand plan for 7 books? How big was the impact of the series? Do the Dursleys belong in jail (spoiler: they do)? Did Vernon beat Petunia (probably)? Did they have a long-term reason for their hatred of Harry (no, no they didn't)?We go over Harry's into to magic, his meeting of his best friends on the Hogwart's Express, his first year at the school, the eventually signature twist, and the setup for the success of the franchise.This topic will go for ages. Sorry, but if you like Harry Potter, enjoy like you've never done before.

Hey, hey , hey... nothing interesting to see here, except for our new logo. This episode we get feedback about our subject matter (sorry, but not sorry Meg) and about our swearing (sorry Henno's mum, but tough). We later discuss some App scams, some MCU and Star Wars updates, a frank discussion about American idiots, and keeping in touch with people in our lives. Oh, and we unbox some wands, which is cooler than it sounds. Peace out, homies!

Oh, hi there everyone. Keen on this episode? No? Oh, well... here it is anyway. We discuss the last project the Pythons ever did together - The Meaning Of Life. What is this film about? Well, the stages of Life, of course. We don't need to break them down, but it ranges from Birth, through to Sex, and finally to Death. We also talk about why Monty Python is so enduring, and also what is coming next. Here you go. Accept it for what it is.

Yep, we're using the correct spelling of "armour". We belatedly celebrate our 100th episode, go over what we did at Christmas & New Year, detour to Pokemon, go over what we look forward to this year, show our optimism for the new Superman film, and gush for ages about Ted Lasso. We hope you have a wonderful experience, but definitely don't guarantee one.

Sorry for the even more delay in episodes, but here we are - talking about The Life of Brian. It would be impossible not to mention the controversy surrounding this film, to the point a Beatle had to create a film studio to save it (George Harrison, we love you). We discuss the fact that Gender Identity was raised in this film, as well as the accidental Messiah, the legend of Pontias Pilate, the foiled final rescue, what satire is supposed to be, the ongoing legacy, and I last dig at co-worker Lisa. Only the true podcast listener will deny it's enjoyability... sorry, tried to adapt a quote there.

It's our 100th official episode (which we don't mention at all) and we do the normal stuff. It's the Christmas / New Year period, so we go over our plans, we go over our favourite things from the year, we argue which part is the front of the desk, we talk the Star Wars TV show, the end of Sony's Marvel universe, and the future of the MCU. 100 episodes down, who knows how many to go? Anyway, Happy New Year. We can't wait to see what happens in 2025.

It's the last Pod of Christmas, and so today we discuss a weird, possibly offensive film about a Santa who has no problem with killing: Violent Night. This movie was better than it had any right to be, and surprisingly has a lot more Christmas spirit than some of the other Pods this year. Enjoy if you're okay with gore and Santa crushing skulls. Also, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

It's the second to last day of Christmas, and we today discuss a fun semi-stoner film, The Night Before. Join Joseph Gorden-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie on an OTT wacky adventure to party, but also grow up. One more to go...

It's the 28th anniversary of our first F.U.C.K.S episode, so we celebrate this non-milestone by doing the usual nonsense. After a brief chat about our lives, we (rightfully) gush about the masterpiece of film-making that is Wicked (seriously, it's amazing), we talk Star Wars... for ages, and then pivot to Marvel... also for ages, before discussing the best TV show of the past 10 years: Taskmaster. Listen and absorb our ridiculousness at your own peril.

We're in the double digits for this year, and on the tenth day of Christmas Blaze (not Henno, sadly) discusses the anime film Tokyo Godfathers. This film is pretty full on, but is also incredibly well done. Even if anime isn't your thing, have a look at giving it a go.

Here we are at day nine, and on this ninth day of Christmas we watched a proper classic film from 1947, It Happened On 5th Avenue. If you can see past the black and white nature of the film, it is an absolutely charming love story, set across the backdrop of Christmas. It's a wonderful film. If you can find it, give it a go.

We're officially in our second year of the podcast, and to celebrate we... talk the same shit a usual. There's the obligatory extended chat about everything Marvel, will we ever see an Avengers v Justice League movie, what's happening with our 12 year old co-worker, has Harry Potter found its Dumbledore, and is Star Wars all about nostalgia these days? Peruse at your own convenience.

Welcome to the fourth episode of our series on Monty Python, and in this episode we switch from the TV series to the feature films. Today we discuss Monty Python and The Holy Grail. We go over our favourite moments, the best quotes, the genuinely cinematic nature of the production and then, weirdly, a short rant on Airplane / Flying High. If you don't listen to this then we fart in your general direction.

As we enter the eighth day of Christmas, we decide to watch the sequel to one of our first Pods of Christmas, and put ourselves through Bad Santa 2. Not good, not bad, but entirely unnecessary. Please enjoy.

Day Seven is here, and we discuss the "classic" Christmas film, A Christmas Story. Not much to say in this one, but the word "classic" has been stretched to its limit here. Finally, something the hosts agree on. Enjoy the episode, but avoid the film. It sucks.

It's the sixth day, and instead of swans swimming we've got stoner's smoking, in A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas. This, like the other Harold and Kumar movies, is a pretty weird, yet ultimately repetitive story. It's a bit of fun, but definitely not for the kiddies.

On this, the fifth day of Christmas, we watch a "polarising" film (get it?) - The Polar Express. If you like generic Christmas films, made entirely in motion capture before the technology had been properly refined, resulting in some creepy-arsed, expressionless zombie-children, then this movie is for you.

On the fifth day of Christmas we discuss an absolute classic: Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer. It's the story we all know, but do we remember that most of the characters are assholes? No, neither did we, but that's what we're here to talk about.

It's the Third Pod of Christmas, and today we discuss the classic Jim Carey vehicle, How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Full plot, fun facts and some Dr Suess film facts make up this episode. it's a bit of fun. Enjoy.

It's the movie we were always going to do. It's Love, Actually. Blaze, totally against. Henno, mostly for. This movie has become an absolute favourite for some, a source of hated for others. But no one can question the fact that it's become a classic Christmas film. Feel free to love, or hate, actually.

The 12 Pods of Christmas are back for 2024. On day one we watch a new release film, a Netflix film called Hit Frosty. This is an... interesting film, with the... interesting plot line of a snowman brought to life who falls in love with a lonely widow. Yep, it's just as... interesting as you think.

So, it turns out we've been doing this for a year, so we bring you a supersized Anniversary Special. In this episode we welcome a very special guest, Internet Personality (I think that's what we settled on) Kittentik, who joined us in the "studio" for a slightly different episode. During a 4 hour live Twitch stream we discussed a multitude of random topics, ranging from Community to Dagwood Dogs. Settle in for this one - it goes places.

It took us a while but here we have it - the last episode on Monty Pythons Flying Circus. We discuss how bizarre the show became, even while the episodes finally started to have a cohesive story. We also go over John Cleese' departure, the fact that several jokes just went for too long, and there was even more stuff you just couldn't do these days. Please enjoy.

We're finally up to date. Welcome to F.U.C.K.S 25. So, we start off with an announcement: our next F.U.C.K.S episode will be recorded while live-streaming on Twitch. In another announcement, Blaze is now an Uncle, while Henno celebrated the wedding of a close family friend. We get into a Spider-Man and Superman discussion, Agatha All Along comes up again, we ponder if Andrew Garfield would make a good Remus Lupin, and we give our love to the Marvel Netflix / Defenders series.

So close to being caught up... welcome to F.U.C.K.S 24 After the usual life updates, we jump right into it with a non-spoilery review of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, we go over the Sony Villain-verse and some more Spider-Man stuff, we pay our respects to the legendary Maggie Smith, Henno's mum gives some more feedback, The Thunderbolts* is looking better and better, Captain America: Brave New World makes it look like Sam Wilson might be "juicing", Joker: Folie a Deux is struggling, is The Batman the best Batman film, and we delve back into politics.

So, at the start we accidentally call it F.U.C.K.S 22, but it's not. It's F.U.C.K.S 23. We're not sure about The Office Australia, we discuss Rings of Power and The Hunt for Gollum, Agatha All Along has released, we go back to the Harry Potter TV series, and then move on to the Narnia reboot. We also pay tribute to James Earl Jones, the legendary actor. Nearly caught up now.

So, what do we decide to discuss today? First up, it seems that the Festive Season might be the time for making babies, then we have a fascinating discussion of weather, survival and cannibalism, an in depth look into Green Lantern in film, a somewhat negative review of Rings of Power S2, a look into the Minecraft movie trailer and a greater discussion of Franchise hate, plus some more Star Wars stuff and the most love we've ever given to Andor. Enjoy if you feel like, or just listen if you don't and judge us silently.

It's time for F.U.C.K.S 21st - shame we didn't throw it a party. We have a quick catch-up on our lives before discussing the new Lord of The Rings film War of The Rohirrim, Sonic 3, a bit of love for actor James Marsden, Henno's continued fury with Star Wars trolls, a Thunderbolts* update, and a discussion about a possible World War Hulk project. Again, we're a bit behind with this one, but we're catching up.

It's our Emerald F.U.C.K.S episode, as today we celebrate (with no actual celebration) our 20th edition! In this episode we go over our recent activities (possible collabs, Blaze ate some "fun fungus" and Henno drank several free beers at a beer launch), we discuss Robert Downey Jr's casting as Doom a bit more, we discuss Jonathon Majors and his firing from the MCU, we return to Deadpool and Wolverine, Scarlett Johanssen's beef with Disney, but also where does the MCU go from here, Disney's D23 launch and some possible issues, is Rings of Power a bit "meh", a comprehensive fan-cast of the Harry Potter series, and a little bit of Pokemon talk. More to follow...

What? Another episode already. Yes, because we're playing a massive amount of catch-up. In the second Monty Python episode, we discuss both the origins and post Python careers of the group, the amount of cross-dressing that went on, whether or not a show like this could be made these days, the prolific use of all types of slurs (and the reactions of the remaining members to "cancel culture), and of course our favourite sketches of Season 2.

It's a F.U.C.K.S episode that was recorded several fortnights ago, so some of the stuff isn't quite as relevant as it should be. We give our spoiler-free thoughts on Deadpool and Wolverine, we discuss the announcement of the new Dr Doom, we start fan-casting the new Harry Potter TV series (recorded weeks before the sad passing of Maggie Smith), the Chronicles of Narnia stole our naming trend, and we get back into politics. More episodes to follow soon...

It's been a while, but we're back, and with a new topic - it's Monty Python. We have brief introduction to the 6 main Pythons (and Carol Cleveland) and discuss the concept of Stream of Consciousness comedy with no punchlines, some of our favourite sketches from the first season, the things you definitely couldn't do on TV today, and the impact Monty Python had on comedy. These ones are a bit shorter, so enjoy the brevity

And we're back after... something, like, kind of a delay, but just... we're back! And we're here to discuss The Office, seasons Eight and Nine. For Season Eight, we discuss the new bosses, the issues Andy has in his new position, how Jim and Pam are "tested", the weird life of Robert California, the introduction of Nelly, the Dwight and Angela saga, the havoc caused by Robert and Nelly, the return of David Wallace, and Oscar's scandalous new relations, hip. Season Nine has Andy back as the boss... but he's a jerk, Clark and Plop (Pete) are introduced, the Documentary crew become a plot point, Oscar, Angela and the Senator have a love triangle, Michael makes a return that is not at all satisfying, Dwight carries the series, and Jim and Pam suffer through their worst storyline. Anyway, listen to the episode if you want to. If not, tell someone you know that the podcast is out there. They might appreciate us more.

F.U.C.K.S Eighteen is finally here, and it can finally buy booze on it's own (in Australia, at least). Straight off the bat, men are the worst (am I right?), we discuss the exciting stuff going on in our lives, Costco shouldn't still be a novelty in Australia, the podcast gets political... sorry America (not sorry), a Gladiator sequel prompts discussion of ancient Rome, we go over this week's MCU updates, and we finish with a long discussion of our love of Disney. Hope the political stuff doesn't annoy you, but if it does, maybe have a good hard look at yourself.

Get ready for some for some Happy-Sad, because it's Michael's last season. Join us as we discuss Season Seven of The Office. We discuss the fact that Steve Carell probably didn't need to leave, that Andy becomes a main Character, Pam's genius manipulation into a new role, the possible identity of the Scranton Strangler, Michael and Holly's true love story, the long-goodbye to Michael, Will Ferrell's brief role as manager and the search for a new boss. Blaze is finally into the show, so enjoy.

We're starting to fuse episodes together, but here comes the the latest episode of BTU, the focus being Season's Five and Six of the The Office. Season Five is dominated by Michael and Holly's burgeoning relationship, the introduction of Charles Minor (Idris Elba) and the eventual creation of the Michael Scott Paper Company, the introduction of one of the best characters in the series (Erin) and the kind-of-announcement that Jim and Pam might be expecting. Season Six has the new concept of Co-Managers, Jim and Pam finally tie the knot, Michael does the worst thing ever with the best intentions, Dunder Mifflin is a part of Sarbray, Kathy Bates joins the cast, and Michael's future gets a big tease. It's a longer ep, but there's a lot in here. Enjoy.

He he he, 69. In todays F.U.C.K.S episode - the 17th edition - we start off with the unsurprising declaration that men suck, before moving into the usual stuff: We give love to Taika Waititi, long tunning film franchises, updates on our lives, eclectic musical tastes, a variety of feedback, X-Men movies and their fluctuating quality, more random marvel stuff, The Boys are back, and how good is Karl Urban. Feel like listening? Sure you might.

After a few weeks of technical issues, we are back... again. This season is shorter, but by no means lesser - welcome to Season Four of The Office. Today we discuss the good (and the bad) of Toby, the changing of the status quo between Jim and Ryan, the number of relationships (most of them toxic) that are going on at the start of the season, the reasons Michael should be in jail, and the introduction of Michael's soup snake - Holly. Listen if you feel like it.

In this episode we officially start Seaon Three of The Office. Now we're getting into the meat of it... that's what she said. Topics for discussion today are a 3 Season synopsis, the problematic nature of the series, the changing up of the status quo, the toxic relationships of Dunder Mifflin, the new key characters, how this show compared to other sitcoms, the few times the show got emotional, the show is growing on Blaze and Henno is a true super-fan.

Welcome to F.U.C.K.S. Sixteen - these episodes can officialy get their L-Plates. We thought we'd struggle for content, but in this episode we discuss Birthday Brunch, The Acolyte opening up Star Wars lore, which is the worst retcon in The Rise of Skywalker, was it Agatha All Along, short TV seasons (and short episodes) suck, The Boys are back on Amazon, Deadpool and Thunderbolts* have updates, Superman has their Perry White, Batman will hopefully introduce the proper Bat-Family, We give a bit of love for James Gunn and we put out our wishes for a Midnight Sons movie. Listen if you want. No pressure.

It's time for the second episode of our ongoing series on the US version of The Office. Who saw this being the most contentious topic yet? We're in Season 2 and Blaze and Henno do not agree on the quality of this show. But what we do discuss is: Michael is still a bit of a jerk but is starting to become less turdish, Toby isn't a bad guy (but HR sucks everywhere), Jim might not be the nicest guy, Pam is too good for all of the guys who are into her, Dwight is the most fun character, and we provide many spoilers for the future of the series. Enjoy

And we are back! After a brief hiatus we return to talk nonsense about stuff and things! After a brief chat about crying at Guardians of the Galaxy films, we discuss our return to the original release structure for the podcast, the changes going on in our lives, the birthdays just past and soon to be, and we get into too much Star Wars... again (this time ranking the movies, discussing our thoughts for the future, discussing how the prequels could have been better, and going over the unnecessary hatred of The Acolyte). We also set ourselves a challenge to earn money playing games and Blaze announces a dedicated Discord section for this podcast (link below). Enjoy at your leisure. https://discord.com/invite/nvV9pmwa

And we finally reach the last episode of the Original Trilogy and the Expanded Universe of Star Wars. And we go off the topic while also staying totally on the topic in this one. The discussion points for today (if you can call them that) are: things we might change in the OT, why are the lightsaber blades so thin in Rebels, will the Yuuzhan Vong ever enter join the fray, what should become canon from the EU, where do we think the series will go from here, what don't we like much about the current canon, and we give props to Disney. We also play "Which Stupid Thing From The EU Is Fake?" and we gush over the best Star Wars character from current canon - Ahsoka Tano. It's a long one, but we do cover a lot. Try to Enjoy.

Welcome to the latest F.U.C.K.S episode, the fourteenth, in fact. We cover quite a lot in today's episode, including (but not limited to): pub schnitzels, new Lord of The Rings movies, some possible new Marvel content, the dumpster-fire that was Inhumans, and the new Superman costume. We also remember the legendary actor Bernard Hill - vale, King Theoden.

It's the penultimate Star Wars episode (for now) and we are discussing the biggest story in the Expanded Universe - the Invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong. We discuss how Lucasfilm needed to find a limit to Luke Skywalker's powers, how the Yuuzhan Vong changed the entire status quo for the Star Wars Galaxy going forward, and how in turn it influenced the Disney-era films and television shows going forward. Also, we have another nerd fight, but at least this time it's contained to the subject at hand... mostly. Enjoy.

Welcome to our new topic, the only really good American adaptation of a British TV series: The Office. Today we discuss the starting point of the series; how the first 6 episodes were not indicative of what was to come, how the writers became actual characters, rounding out the whole cast, Ross and Rachel were on a break and that time Ross was right (I know, it's the wrong show) and how the show started to utilise it's main weapon: Steve Carell.

Here we are today, to discuss.. well, Star Wars, but we'll use the games as the Framework. We discuss the Knights of The Old Republic, the reason lightsabers became so complicated, how the games relate to everything else, and parts of the games and old canon that might not have been the best. Please enjoy.

It's the Baker's Dozen for Breakdown The Universe, and we discuss... nothing overly important, but this episode is a little bit special. On top of being our thirteenth episode, this is our six month anniversary of doing the podcast (insert celebration noises here). Outside of discussing May the Fourth, The Star Wars Christmas Special, live action Disney, and how much it costs to make your own lightsaber, Blaze introduces a new game; who would win between all of the franchises we have discussed? The answers may (or may not) shock you.

Sorry to those who don't know/care about this stuff, but we're gonna have to do it. Welcome to the Expanded Universe. Today we will discuss Hennos' favourite... everything. Sorry Blaze fans, he will be taking a back-seat. We mostly discuss Grand Admiral Thrawn (the OG), the best character that never made her way to canon (Mara Jade, the GOAT), how much Lucasfilm pretended the EU was meaningless (it wasn't), how Lucasfilm should have treated Rey, how Henno nearly gave his kid the best name ever and why the Legends canon might be better than what we got later on.