Films & Friends

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias are joined by Torv to offer listeners a lucrative business opportunity involving bitcoin and talk about films a bit as well. During the podcast, Josh "bores the listeners" with his theory about guessing numbers, Tobias discusses his MTG-related discovery of the oft-overlooked Nicholas Cage vehicle The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Torv reveals his fears about being tracked by the KGB after watching Icarus. Elsewhere during the episode, the trio discuss their mutual dislike for The Hobbit trilogy, debate the contentious issue of whether, dancing scene aside, Spiderman 3 is really that bad and take a deep dive the highs and (mainly) lows of the Predator franchise. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

After a litany of recording issues and an unplanned week off, Film's and Friends returns with Josh and Tobias are joined by George for a chat ranging from war to Wes Anderson. During the episode, Josh reveals his guide to getting into David Lynch, Tobias delivers Films & Friend's weekly shout-out to Corridor Digital this time in the context of Jurassic Park and George discusses his controversial opinions about cinema's most beloved(?) Toms (Hanks and Cruise, if you're wondering) Elsewhere during the episode, the trio discuss their favourite film soundtracks, the relationship between architecture and film (which is genuinely far more interesting than it sounds) and Ricahrd Ayeoade's vastly underrated 2010 film Submarine. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films and Friends, Josh and Tobias are joined by Felix for a particularly spirited podcast which may or may not be related to the extremes of temperature in their respective recording locations. During the episode, Tobias reminices about the difficulty level of the Ratatouille tie-in video game, Felix reveals his appreciation for classic Japanese animation and Josh lowers the tone in a heavily edited rant about Community. Elsewhere during the podcast, the trio discuss the differences between UK and US comedy, explore the lesser known WWE-financed sequel to Surfs Up and reflect on the cognitive dissonance required to produce Cats (in the film rather than animal breeding sense). Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias are joined by Lily to discuss everything from period pieces to the origins of Star Wars. During the episode, Josh discusses his eponymous 'horseshoe theory of relatability', Tobias is shocked by Josh's disdain for his favourite musical of all-time and Lily reveals her complex relationship with science-fiction films. Elsewhere during the podcast, the trio discuss their favourite era for films to be set, their predictions for the big post-pandemic film trends and the horrifying implications of some Black Mirror episodes. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

Films & Friends is finally back with Josh and Tobias being joined once again by Josh's wombmate (read: twin) Jake to discuss a wide range of often tenuously film-related topics. During the episode, Tobias discusses his attempts to achieve the cinema experience at home, Josh goes off on a bit of rant about military recruitment and Jake renews his appreciation of Portrait of a Lady on Fire (as a thinly veiled attack on Josh's inability to pay proper attention to it). Elsewhere, the trio reflect on some of the social issues that have arisen whilst they've been off air, debate the transformation of horror into an often much maligned genre and reveal their favourite sports-adjacent films. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias are joined by Beth for a chat ranging from the first films they saw in the cinema to the portrayal of Jewish culture in Uncut Gems (one of the key subjects of Tobias' dissertation). During the episode, Josh discusses his (not so) secret appreciation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Beth relives the childhood trauma of watching Coraline in the cinema and Tobias reveals the story behind his equally traumatic viewing of La La Land. Elsewhere, the trio take a deep dive into the wild world of on-screen romance, debate the definitive ranking of Paddington films and explore the scissor-lore behind Edward Scissorhands.Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

After a brief hiatus, Films & Friends makes a triumphant return and begins its second season with Josh and Tobias at opposite ends of the country for reasons that probably don't need to be explained.During the episode, the pair reflect on season 1 of Films & Friends, discuss their plans for season 2 and go further into their own opinions about the world of film discussion and critisicm. Elsewhere, despite the notable absence of a third voice, it is still business as usual as Josh complains about the temperature of his new recording area and Tobias reminices about his online interactions with Zack Snyder fans.Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias are joined by confessed non-film fan Ellie to pretty much exclusively discuss children's films and BAD shark films. During the episode, Tobias experiencing some flashbacks to long-repressed films, Josh manages to alienate the good people of Leith and Ellie reveals her misunderstanding surrounding the imagined concept of regional accent dubbing (a phrase which will hopefully eventually make sense...)Elsewhere during the podcast, the trio debate the age of question of Shrek versus Shrek 2, discuss Henry Selick's horrifying 'children's' film Coraline and partake in some good old fashioned Lord of the Rings bashing.Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias are finally joined by Aisha to set a new record for the most expletive-covering required during the editing process of a single podcast. During the episode, Josh once again finds common ground with a guest over a shared appreciation of Wes Anderson, Tobias gets called out for turning up late for the recording and Aisha discusses her distaste for Frozen and whether or not she's ready to let it go. Elsewhere during the podcast, the trio discuss cultural representation in film, debate the age old question of dubbing vs. subtitles and take a deep dive into the bizarre and thoroughly interesting (to them at least) world of regional cinema release dates. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

On this week's episode of Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias finally reach the 21st century as they are joined live by Josh's wombmate (read: twin) Jake in Birmingham via the magic of the Internet. During the episode, Josh has a Mandela effect style conundrum over whether he has indeed ever watched The Fox and the Hound, Tobias validates his Bong Hive membership card during a discussion about Parasite and Jake reflects on the childhood trauma caused by a jump scare in How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Elsewhere, the trio discuss their favourite cinematic twins, the truly bizarre Martin Lawrence vehicle Big Momma's House and Josh's rather grim experience of watching Bad Boys whilst desperately hungover on New Year's Day. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias are joined by Sam for a particularly tangential discussion ranging from alien invasion films to the cinematic parallels between V for Vendetta and Love Actually. During the episode Josh and Sam bond over their shared appreciation of both Wes Anderson and Richard Curtis' charming 2013 romantic comedy About Time and Tobias gives a description of some particularly graphic violence in James McTeigue's Ninja Assassin. Elsewhere, the trio reveal their favourite dog-based films (leading to a digression about the intelligence of various animal species), debate the brilliance or lack thereof of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar and discuss the increasingly blurred lines between science-fiction and fantasy films. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias are joined by Pilar for a wide-ranging chat about everything from science in cinema to Argo. During the episode, Tobias takes a deep dive into the history of zombie films, Pilar discusses the underrated brilliance of Spanish comedy films and Josh reminices about the retrospectively bizarre mid-'00s video game rental industry. Elsewhere the trio discuss film scenes that have broken them emotionally, look at the suprisingly complex lore behind Avatar: The Last Airbender and 2/3rds of them take aim at the work of the Cohen Brothers. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

Following last week's accidental hiatus, Films & Friends returns with Josh and Tobias being joined by Claudia to almost exclusively talk about The Wolf of Wall Street and musicals. During the episode, Tobias reveals some choice opinions about the career of James Cameron, Josh gets far too animated discussing his love for The Beatles' jukebox musical Across the Universe and Claudia discloses some spicy takes on Star Wars. Elsewhere, the trio discuss their favourite Harry Potter films, their most watched films of all-time and somehow find time to have another chat about horror films, this time including Josh's harrowing memories of hearing the plot of The Human Centipede for the first time. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias return to their regularly scheduled programming and are joined by Mohsin to discuss everything from Borat to Uncut Gems. During the episode, Josh compares the journalistic work of Ali G to Louis Theroux, Tobias exercises his superior segue skills and Mohsin reveals his action figure-based role in the capitalist machine. Elsewere, the trio discuss their cinematic new years resolutions, the phenomenon of 'Oscar bait' and, for oncem, manage to discuss Martin Scorsese without mentioning Marvel. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

In the final Films & Friends bonus episode of the festive period, Josh and Tobias have run out of ideas, so have invented a 'game' in which they have to name the first film that comes to mind when given a random adjective. A game which, despite their good intentions, quickly devolves into some fairly NSFW discussions about the classic Jason Statham film series Crank, their personal picks for the most stomach-churning Jackass stunts and Flying Lotus' ultra-disturbing Kuso (probably best not to Google it). Elsewhere Josh explains his thoughts on Quentin Tarantino's latter career, Tobias reaffirms his love for the Italian Job and, thankfully, they both find time to reveal their opinions on the most quaint film of all-time towards the end. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

For this week's Films & Friends bonus episode, Josh and Tobias revisit their critically-acclaimed 'A Film Lover's Guide to Manchester' feature for The Mancunion to discuss the film scene in their adopted hometown. During the episode, the pair take a look at the vast array of cinemas, festivals and one-off film events that the city has to offer and discuss its place within the cultural fabric of the UK. Elsewhere Tobias reveals the worst film-going experience of his life, Josh details his cinematic dietary choices (complete with a rant about the vegetarian confectionary industry) and they both discuss the hypothetical film seasons they would curate. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

In this week's end-of-decade bonus episode of Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias are once again joined by Jack to take a cinematic odyssey through the last 10 years.During the episode, the group discusses their favourite films of the decade, their takes on the most underrated film of the decade and even find time to reveal the critically-acclaimed films that somehow escaped their viewing pleasure. Elsewhere in the episode, Josh offers the perfect strategy to kick of the roaring '20s with an abjectly miserable film, Tobias does a questionable impression (another one) and Jack engages in some pre-emptive (and retrospectively accurate) bashing of 2019's body horror classic Cats. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd.

In this week's festive Films & Friends bonus episode, Josh and Tobias are joined once again by Jack to try (and fail) to explore the world of Christmas cinema. Despite attempting to discuss their favourite Christmas films, the group instead reflect on the potential effects of nuclear war on the podcast industry, discuss the true Amazon-tinged meaning of Christmas and have a mostly retracted too-dark-for-Christmas chat about Michael Jackson. Elewhere in the episode, Jack finds time for some festive bashing of Paul Feig's Wham-packed Last Christmas, Tobias reveals his distaste for jukebox musicals (sorry ABBA fans) and Josh does his best to keep the whole sorry mess together. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias are joined by Maisie to talk about... well... mainly terrible direct-to-Netflix films.During the episode, Maisie dicusses her obsession with Inglourious Basterds (read: Eli Roth), Tobias explains Archie Comics-lore via the medium of Riverdale and Josh makes a suprisingly personal revalation about his sleepwear choices. There are also some choice opinions from Maisie about Call Me By Your Name (a dagger to Tobias' softboi heart) and an extensive chat about the pure nightmare fuel that is 2006's Monster House as well.Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Tobias and Josh are joined by Jack to for a wide-ranging discussion on everything film-related from Chinese cinema to Christopher Nolan. During the episode, Tobias reveals his heartbreaking experience of watching The Grand Budapest Hotel, Josh confesses his childhood obsession with a certain long-running BBC science-fiction series and Jack recounts his first and only experience of (accidental) cinematic fraud. There is also a thrilling game of 'guess which film I've added to the wrong list?' and some fantastic impressions from Tobias - including Ali-G and bizarrely OJ Simpson - to look forward to too. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

On this slightly noisy edition of Films & Friends, Tobias and Josh are joined by Matt to talk about everything from Czech cinema to Adam Sandler. During the podcast, Tobias talks Blade Runner cuts, Matt breaks down the linguistic brilliance of Arrival and Josh loses his train of thought for an embarrassingly long time (and has decided not to edit it out for some reason).There is also a rather extended Disney-bashing chat, which devolves into the trio divulging some very Scorsese-esque opinions about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to look forward to as well.Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias are joined for a particularly tangent-filled episode by Georgina to discuss an eclectic range of topics from pop songs in films to Die Hard. During the course of their chat, Josh relives his childhood trauma that stems from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Tobias discusses his cult-like experiences of ritualisticly singing a song from The Nightmare Before Christmas and Georgina delivers some potentially sacrilegious takes on Quentin Tarantino's recent films. There is also plenty of appreciation directed towards the world's biggest and most beloved cultural icon - Danny DeVito - at the beginning of the podcast to listen out for as well. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Josh and Tobias break with tradition and invite Josh's friend Zona onto the podcast to discuss a range of topics from David Fincher to Bollywood. During the episode Josh explains his fervent hatred of Funko Pops, Tobias heartily endorses Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, and Zona takes a deep dive into Avatar: The Last Airbender-lore (much to Josh's confusion). The question of 'which actor shouldn't be an actor?' also makes an appearance, leading to a potentially controversial hot take on Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's career courtesy of Tobias. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Tobias and Josh are joined by their first real 'friend' Richard to discuss everything from German cinema to Stanley Kubrick.During the podcast Josh reveals his love for Jurassic Park, Tobias admires Christopher Lee's musical talents and Richard discusses his views on late-stage capitalism via a particularly spirited rant about The Emoji Movie. The ever-popular topic of 'who would play you in a biopic?' also makes an appearance leading to a particularly bizarre revelation about Tobias' physical resemblance to a certain Jim Henson creation (yes there is an impression). Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Tobias and Josh are joined by Tobias' brother Oliver for a special, if slightly belated, spooky edition of the podcast. Spooks from the episode include, but are not limited to, Josh revealing his moderately scary pick for Greatest British Film of the 2000s, Tobias' appreciation of Halloween and Oliver's spirited dislike of Nightmare on Elm Street. Elsewhere the trio also find time discuss the questionable morality behind war films, the most disturbing acts of cinematic violence and even Guillermo del Toro gets a mention. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

This week on Films & Friends, Tobias and Josh are joined by their first eponymous 'friend' Becca to discuss everything from her fond memories of Fantasia to her passionate dislike of Luc Besson's Arthur and the Invisibles franchise. Elsewhere Josh reflects on the retrospectively harrowing nature of British children's TV favourite The Story of Tracy Beaker and Tobias reaffirms his love of Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive. There's also a little bit of film-related music chat towards the end discussing the problematic release of Jesus Is King and why Dark Side of the Moon does NOT sync up to The Wizard of Oz. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd

In the inaugral episode of Films & Friends, Tobias and Josh are sans friends, so instead decide to test the show format on each other - discussing their own personal history of getting into cinema and their plans for the show. During the episode Josh reveals his woeful underappreciation of non-fiction literature whilst Tobias discusses the bladder-based challenges of watching Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.There is also some actual film-related chat about favourite childhood films, most admired directors and, most importantly, greatest films of all-time to look forward to too. Intro / Outro by Joel Todd