Frame by Frame

We ride on into the episode with a review of Deadpool, and then all hell breaks loose when we decide to discuss the issues with the new Ghostbusters Trailer.

Predator movies are synonmous with the Alien franchise and it has taken 49 episodes for us to visit these movies. We talk about Schwartzenegger and Glover, cover Brody and the beast itself.

This is our second podcast about the X Files. You would be correct to assume we are definite fans, however we go in with a full hour to cover six episodes, five of which we're happy with.

We finally get on board and watch The Force Awakens. we wanted to also address that one movie that had been given the worst rap by respected film critic and film scholar, Mark Kermode, so we really wanted to cover in depth, the filth and nastiness that is Sex and the City 2. But what movie would we pit against such an atrocity? Well, the Green Inferno ofcourse.

This week, we talk about the passing of David Bowie and Alan Rickman, and even though we really didn't do it justice how important these two men were to the world of music and film and to art itself, the month of January for 2016 will not be forgotten in a hurry.

It took Stephen's wife several days to shake the image of this movie out of her mind. For her it was disturbing, and yet strangely compelling. I would have to say that this is true on both counts, but where we as reviewers go with this movie is to remark mainly on it's message, its cleverness... its versatility and unpredictability as movies go. This simple story reaches many avenues of the human psyche. Naturally, you would come to expect this from David Lynch. Also, we review his short film Rabbits which to some might be impossible to review. it's like a painting. Open to interpretation and doesn't amount to a hill of beans when it comes to how you make sense of it. There are clues... and nobody really should spend time organizing them in any order.

We talk about Dawn of the Dead remake from 2004, and then turn to the idea of exploring all Horror Film Remakes. Some work, some don't. We hit all films from The Fly to The Grudge. The Ring, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (yes, again) Nightmare on Elm Street, Evil Dead, Last House on the Left and more... NOTE: this episode was recorded prior to the event of Wes Craven's passing.

This episode fell behind the lines for several weeks due to a hefty editing process. Something to do with complex and uncertain placement of plot detail and making sure it sat in the right topic within the correct movie. You see, all these films are dense with action sequences, but they don't all carry the same flavor. Some action sequences could have been placed anywhere and for whatever reason. We go through the five film incarnations and indulge in a little guitar, a few buzzer sounds and explosions... lots of explosions. Also, please count how many times Andy says "rogue" and skull a shot of your choice of liquor. Chances are you will be smashed before we land in the third movie. Your mission should you... ahh to hell with it, enjoy the podcast!

The sad passing of Wes Craven has preempted a change in the regular scheduled episode. Sorry Mission Impossible but this is an important one that requires our special time. Wes Craven's love of the darkness of cinema has transformed our movie going habits. Now we have the disturbing Last House on the Left, the relentless Freddy and the ever illusive ghost face. Thanks Mr Craven!

We don't make things easy on ourselves. It is hard to imagine that any other country would have been brave enough to make a 3 hour movie from the point of view from a interstellar earth traveler (which Stephen argued against being anything but science fiction) who, among his group of scientist peers, happen upon and begin to observe a planet from which the people have remained within the dark ages. That wasn't easy to write, and far be it for me to say that this wasn't an easy film to watch. Unlike most movies that hit the cinema, this one is one of observation and endurance. We love black and white movies, and had this been in color, then the content may have been far too graphic. It's definitely one that falls under the "love it or hate it" category. If you are the one who says "I don't get it." or "I didn't follow the plot." then they are both right... and also misinformed as to what it is they have truly experienced. This is a film, for art, not for popcorn and buttock squeezes with your girlfriend on a Saturday night.

The podcast which you are about to listen to is an account of the tragic meeting between two film fanatics whom had fallen upon the sharp words of a social media post that put them on a path to do the impossible. No, this isn’t the podcast where they finally review Spice Girls the Movie. What you’re about to listen to go far deeper… which isn’t difficult. 3rd August 2015, Stephen read the post from Dan the Man Morales – beloved punk hardcore music entertainer who’s songs include I want you, I love you Lindsay Logan and Slut Hunt – not to be confused with the children’s classic story, we’re going on a bear hunt – anyway, Dan the Man Morales wrote: "All you need to know about the USA can be learned by watching the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Cocktail starring Tom Cruise." - Dan the Man Morales. This quote blew Stephen’s mind, and Andy was also fascinated – which was probably down to a mixture of post exorcist Christening cake and hard liquor – he posed the notion of doing a podcast based on Dan the Man Morales’ post. They could not have expected nor would they have wished to see as much of the mad and macabre as they were to see two weeks later when they sat down to record the podcast that would blow the minds of the fans – both of them. For them an idyllic summer afternoon recording session became a nightmare. They had to talk about the movie Cocktail. Things got better when they compared it with the discovery of one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Yep. Exorcist. What more can we say? The first setup a whole new future of horror and, well, blockbusters where cinema lines became an overnight event. Star Wars would not have been as successful if it wasn't for the cinema going trend that started with this terrifying event. As for Heretic, Beginning and Dominion... these movies should never have been made. Only Exorcist III, Legion stands out for being brave enough to play with the genre. We have Blatty to thank for that too. So covering Exorcist, Exorcist II The heretic, Exorcist III Legion, Exorcist the Beginning and Dominion the prequel to the Exorcist. At least the last two were good background sounds while vacuuming. The English Patient was scarier than either movie.

We dive into the dark side of the internet with internet stalking ghosts in the machine, cyber bully frenzy with the movie Unfriended. Conceptually fascinating and there may be some room for our usual segway antics. We also figure out how useful Facebook is, and how promoting on the web is a meaningless activity that you have no control over. Unless you're really really really prolific or promise the solution to ripped abs... which we don't have. Okay, on with the show.

We didn't want to jump on the bandwagon when this one was released. We knew it would gain massive attention, but we would get lost in a crowd of podcasts from those who know and those who don't have a clue what it is they are watching. Let it be said that Mad Max has never had a straight line of continuity, which made it easy to fall back into it again after all these years. Sure Mel isn't there, but Toecutter is back in the incarnation of Immortal Joe. Like visiting Australia itself, I knew that I would love it. It is exactly what it says on the box. Pure indulgence without pretense and nobody but George Miller can give that to us. This is a masterclass in action films.

We learn that the Beach Boys are much more than just a surfing inspired, happy go lightly band. We take a look at Love and Mercy, the new biopic that courses through the trials and tribulations of Brian Wilson, the music maestro, writing genius at the very core of the Beach Boys success.

This is the first episode where we visit a film which has been given a short back and sides - or in this case, banks trimmed and what's taken off the banks is added to the eyebrows. In other words, we cannot find a true reason why X Men Rogue Cut for Days of Future Past exists. Naturally, it's about the money. Fans have to set aside more cash when they already paid for what was a cut accepted for theatrical release. Why take more? Now in the future, we hope to revisit more re-cuts, special editions, directors cuts, ultimate editions, and anniversary cuts and find out which ones are worth buying. One thing is for sure... Star Wars is not one of them, especially when they claimed that the original version would be available for the last time... on VHS... Go figure.

We drift in and out of the realm as we figure out why we're not sure if we liked this thrill seeker horror flick. Horror is either going to challenge or entertain, have character depth, thrill and scare. if you have a film that does all that and more then it's probably not Insidious. We also cover Terminator Genisys, although there's nothing that we can't squeeze into the 2 minute 40 that we assigned to it. Thank goodness we realized there was no podcast to be had. Stephen urges Andy to re-watch Mad Max Fury Road for the need to have a complete view of that movie before we review. Then there's an overview of two documentaries that we want to cover in depth: Brian Wilson, music multi-tasker and co-found of the Beach Boys, genius and the under-appreciated when she was alive but suddenly fascinating and heartfelt after death, Amy Winehouse. The future is good.

Remakes always make us feel uncomfortable, especially when we see no reason to add to what is already a complete experience. Perhaps this remake could take the theory of "poltergeist" and make sure everything that doesn't fit the definition is excluded? So we could have a poltergeist movie with poltergeist activity: moving objects, creating hallucinations and manipulating electricity. We get that, but how can a poltergeist manifest, steal a child and stick her inside a TV? How come everybody in the movie seems to know what's going on without even thinking or picking up a book? Could there be an awareness of the Tobe Hooper directed Spielberg produced original? We also mark the passing of the legendary composer James Horner who passed away last week. One error I would like to correct: we call the character Tangina from the original Poltergeist movie "Tangine". For that we are truly sorry. We also forgot the name of every character in the remake. For that, we are not sorry.

It was bound to happen. Focusing on the rogue yet brilliant director of life as we fear it, we unravel the films of John Carpenter. There's the music, Jamie Lee Curtis, there's Kurt Russel and things that lurk in dark shadows. Yes, the last one would indeed be Donald Pleasence who needs no introduction. He's that good. Through a career that seems to have halted more times lately then we care to comment on, he went from indie to almost mainstream, and back again. Lately he's also watched almost every film of his become rebooted, either very weakly or average, unable to topple his greatness. Which makes you wonder: what will we see in the future from Mr Carpenter, and is he going to shake us to our very core one last time?

We go theme park gone wrong mad today as we review the latest outing for the Jurassic Park franchise. Not a reboot, nothing all that memorable, but an experience you enjoy in the moment. WestWorld is a classic albeit obvious questionable ideas such as how loaded weapons get in the hands of a robot... other than that, it's a movie that gets your circuits sparking. FutureWorld could have had everything, but it has an actual resort missing, a rock steady Yul Brynner scene missing, and an ability to not use a factory boiler room over and over again. Frankly, while you watch it you are making up your own version of what a great film it good have been. These are theme parks you don't want to get on the wrong side of. Best stick with a bouncy castle in the back garden. Plus, we talk about what it means to be an icon, product placement and the passing of Christopher Lee

We're back after two weeks hiatus. As we warm up to more single hit movies (and those bombs that we dredge up every now and then) we will go through a list from Time Out's Top 100 Science Fiction Movies. We take 30 of these as honourable mentions. We however decided that we didn't want to mention Star Wars. There's really nothing else to add there. Oh, and we've already done the Alien Franchise, and we are saving the Mad Max films for another time, so here we go, it's not to everybody's liking and if we had two hours, we'd mention Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, Super 8, etc... there are too many to choose from!

Episode 30! We're still here. We're still finding new good horror movies, although, really, thinking about it, it's not really a horror. I would class this as a supernatural thriller with historical ties with slasher movies of the 80s. With it's electronic synth score and it's evenly paced, brilliantly photographed presentation throughout, it's in the list of most effective films of its kind to come out since Halloween. That's saying something. It is clearly a good time for "horror" and "scary" movies, and by the very thought of not being able to pin down a genre, there is a definite edge to this movie that stands out like a strikingly tall Swedish typist with a good sense of rhythm....... I hope it does well. and futhermore, I hope sequels don't suck. Also in the news, David Letterman retires. You can tell the world will never be the same again. Oh and Stephen's son is in the background. Please fund us so we can afford a babysitter! You can keep up to date with posts for the Frame By Frame Podcast, join the FB group: https://www.facebook.com/framebyframe78 Please subscribe to the Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/sr5se Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/framebyframe78

What exactly makes a pure action movie? We can agree that action can exist in many forms, but if a romantic movie has a car crash, you can't exactly call it a romantic action movie? It's all about context and also, it's about the intent and delivery of that action. There is only one way to resolve this... FIGHT! We run the course from the early silent movies through to the action cinema from Chinese superstar Jackie Chan right through the American muscle explosions... and then resting at Matt Damon and Keanu Reaves... and Tobey Maguire? Wait a minute! We need to define action! We can't have Tobey Maguire put in the same box as Arnie? Can we?..............

For several weeks of planning we (Andy and Stephen) could not decide what we wanted to review first. John Wick or Snowpiercer, both films we wanted to do but could we decide which one went first? No. So there was only one way we could decide. FIGHT! Oh, wait, that's not our show. We tossed a coin, but that coin did something we didn't expect. So here we are, two films, very different all be their being action orientated, they come from totally different backgrounds, but do they end up in the same fight to the death? Will Chuck Norris start to factor in as the new reference figure instead of Michael Bay? Will Joss Whedon be able to defend himself from an army of misguided trouble-making fem-bots? Oh, and Keanu Reaves is back... Whhooow!

Andy and Stephen scare each other as they discuss those real life events that inspired movies such as The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Poltergeist, and naturally, the Exorcist. We want to pretend that "The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist" doesn't exist, but alas, it's there. We delve into the world of the Enfield Poltergeist and the Anneliese Michel case. We also talk about one of Britain's most controversial televised events: a drama known only as "Ghostwatch" which drew elements from the Enfield Poltergeist case. Ghostwatch was lathered with complaints in its portrayal of a live event which convinced many that what they were seeing was happening live, in real time and was absolutely real. They were then duped when they realized it was nothing more than a dramatization. That's right, our very own "War of the Worlds" event, but it lead to giving Anne Robinson (from the Weakest Link) a chance to leap ahead in her ratings. I wonder if we can blame Ghostwatch for her consuming popularity. You can keep up to date with posts for the Frame By Frame Podcast, join the FB group: https://www.facebook.com/framebyframe78 Please subscribe to the Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/sr5se Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/framebyframe78

Here we are, our talk about Avengers: Age of Ultron. Joss Whedon did it, it's the perfect comic book movie. Fast, fun and incredibly exciting. We loved it. In a change from the norm we actually reviewed the film in the car on the way back from the cinema. How's that for fresh from the press? There are a few spoilers, so listen at your own risk.

Here we are with part 2 and as we expected, it's a heavy one. Almost two hours riding through in our own unique way a portrait of stand-Up Comedy in the states, how it differs from that of the U.K and who those pioneers of the form are and why. I suppose we answered almost all of those questions, or at the very least, had a blast trying. We mark episode 25 with 9 posters for Frame By Frame - we however went with the Marc Maron one as a cover... just because.

Three ghostly devil related psychological horror films from three completely different eras. Chronologically, The Innocents came out in 1961, the Amityville Horror in 1979 and Borderlands (international title, Final Prayer), 2013. We aimed to do something a little different, looking at the angle of Amityville from a perspective of whether or not the actual house is the only attraction there is to find in Amityvlle. We found other things to do. The Innocents proved to be a film that set the bench mark in creepy kid cinema, but is not spoken of in any sense of the word, classic or otherwise. The Borderlands is one of those more recent happenings that also deserves attention, albeit not for the usual tear and share comments we would have for "found footage movies" but on merit that keeps things relative and realistic to the end. So sit tight, keep the light on and enjoy.

In true "Raiders of the Fandom" fashion, we discuss the power of the people in how fans of a cancelled television show can unite in their love and appreciation for a show to support two of Firefly's main cast members on a television project. Having already raised over 600% beyond their target, Fillion and Tudyk's "Con Man" has broken records in crowd funding for a creative project. This can't be ignored. This has to be celebrated. This is the power of fandom, and no networks or studios can ignore that. Firefly and Serenity, 14 episodes and one film. That's all it takes.

This is what you would call a spread out part 1 of 4 season of comedy podcasts. The reason why its a season? because at the end, Andy has a plan to do something a little crazy. Although the official end date for this adventure in podcast is up in the air, you can rest easy knowing that part 4 will be the main event. That been said: this episode is all about British Comedy, in particular, stand-up. We cover the traits and delivery, chart the life and times of Stewart Lee, Billy Connolly, Eddie Izzard, Steve Coogan (as well as sidelining those comedians who we believe either play it safe, or don't do us justice) enjoy!

So in this episode, we get abducted - again - and we find ourselves in an alien restaurant known as Tiramisu (which is Italian for "Take me up") but that's quite lucky as it seems, both Andy and Stephen have watched a number of alien abduction movies at late. They seem ready to question the signs and the times of the film Fire in the Sky, and all too keen to get wrapped up in Christopher Walken's performance in Communion, and dwell over the questionable lack luster yet amiable Dark Skies - of which carries strength in that it has J.K. Simmons in it. - They don't even seem concerned that they are themselves surrounded by extra terrestrial lifeforms, but then again, after the ordeal they endured with the Spice Girls, an event such as this would be a cake walk.

Two films kick off this, our 20th episode. Both of them concern body shock changing experiences, and therefore the metamorphic change of both mind, body and nature break through to explore the unseen side of the human psyche. We also talk about the vagina dentata, simply because we had to study the Freud ridden theory of scopaphilia alongside the concept of the vagina dentata for extra kicks. The frantic brilliant nature of Starry Eyes and the low key personal self destruction of Honeymoon... and a little bit on Teeth. A film that can either bring out the immaturity of what can only be a fear of castration. That being said, these are movies cashing up the cash register of "cautionary tales"... there is no how to guide here.

We lived all of our lives knowing that Leonard Nimoy was in this world. It was a comfort, and now that he has passed, the feeling of loss can be felt throughout this small planet. Yes, we are trek fans, but we also watched "In Search of..." and sang to celebrate Leonard Nimoy having a hammer. We felt comfort knowing that he was there to help Brooke Adams get over her paranoia in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and we were left to change nappies with three men in one of his more popular directing assignments. It's not just about a television character. It's about identifying with the greatest qualities that human nature has to offer. That nature is the force and life of Leonard Nimoy.

There isn't a lot we can say other than, Cameron Crowe is one of the golden nuggets found in the Hollywood movie gold rush of the late 20th Century. He makes it look easy, and with his background as a writer for Rolling Stone, he has experienced the entertainment industry from the outside of many boxes... looking in and out again. He's got the goods. He makes nice movies. Movies that make you feel right about the world. Although, there is Vanilla Sky....

We hit off on awards season with a trilogy of films that didn't win any Academy Awards. But it didn't need to. The Cornetto Flavours Trilogy made their money. The director mastered his craft and the cast leads, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have made it within the larger than life world of Hollywood, with A+ credits. There films are all very similar in style, but they all have the willingness to take a spin on the obvious cliche take on Zombie apocalypse, police action films and... science fiction pub crawls? I mean, what genres are we settling with here?

Okay, so we gave up on the whole "we were sent to Israel instead of LA" gag, but we are working under other extreme circumstances. Talking about snubs isn't a popular thing, but we wanted to put this out as a cautionary tale. Remember that there are likely to be so many other reasons why a film doesn't get nominated beyond the pure and simple snub. The Oscars will be with us soon. George Clooney is already getting his suit ready. Meryl Streep is checking the "repeat annually" tag still works in her digital calendar and Charlie Sheen plans to oversleep... with far too many names to remember already in one bedroom.

We were supposed to fly to Los Angeles, but somebody got confused when I spotted Bill Gates at one of the Terminals at Heathrow and somehow, we found ourselves in Israel instead. The coffee is great! the oscars preview? It's all good! We have time on our hands to make sure we go through as many nominations as we care to run through. We might not have been able to watch everything but we've done pretty well to cover those that matter. The 87th Annual Academy Awards could be extremely interesting. Remember that part 2 will follow behind within the same day.

Having made our escape from certain "death by spice" we decided to put our attention to "life in space". Sitting around the campfire, we looked up and found a common goal. To review Interstellar while it is still fresh in the minds of all. Before the onset of the Oscars from which Interstellar is called up for technical awards. We do wonder how it slipped best picture nomination whereas Gravity had 10 nominations including best picture. Maybe it was all because of the science. Science can be overwhelming... but then so can the smell of dead boy band flesh...

Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey bring to light a dark and filthy tale of 7 deadly murders through 7 deadly sins. We on the other hand are in over our heads with the unfortunate kidnap scenario. Having been abducted by the Spice Girls (yes, those five British has-beens) we find a way to cope by talking about the darkest yet most brilliant David Fincher film, Se7en. Only then do we muster the strength to figure out an escape plan. Will we get out of this one alive?

Please take a seat. Don't worry about the man in the corner smoking a cigarette. He isn't here because of anything you have done. You're job is to listen to this podcast and decide if what you hear is worthy of further investigation. The X Files blasted onto our screen in 1993 and changed the world of supernatural, investigative television forever. We explored the standalone episodes (excluding the mythos episodes) and then something at the end takes Andy and Stephen by surprise.

I can't get the song out of my head. It's not even a song. It's a fragment of a melody and the repetition of three simple words "Into the Woods"... Or as Disney call it, "Show me the Money!" Well, this is one of those shows where the gloves come off, and we reveal a little of what could have been a nothing cinematic experience.

Indiana Jones is everybody's favourite trilogy second to the Star Wars Trilogy, the Alien Trilogy, The Die Hard Trilogy, and every other trilogy that definately doesn't have a 4th, 5th, or 6th movie sequel. In fact, I would safely say that the rule of three is the most important thing you can do in film. To move beyond the trilogy means that you are open to making a lemon. You are at risk of making the worst film sequel ever in the history of any franchise. If you decide to go ahead and make a 4th film in what had already been a successful trilogy, you might as well declare war on film and burn every masterpiece made by every popular film studio that made Hollywood what it is today. Or even worse than that you could go ahead and make Indiana Jones and the Crystal Face.

When people see Michael Keaton top billing the poster for Birdman, they'd be forgiven for asking "where has he been all these years?" The answer is, Montana.. most of the time, and in studios/location for the consistent stream of supporting film roles. Actors like Keaton don't have to always be in the lime-light. We are reminded that he is a human being afterall. Birdman is a rare treat, and despite finding link references to Spiceworld the Movie we came through this podcast without casualties.

So here we are, hitting the first podcast of 2015 and what do we do? We rip the world a new hole with a post-apocalyptic review of two dystopian future (first in a series) science fiction action adventure movie: Maze Runner and Divergent. I supposed we could have been talking about many, many other films: The Hunger Games. and. So here we go, put on your pastel coloured all-in-one outfit, roll up your sleeves in an act of socially unexceptionable rebellion and listen to us as we cover the new year up in a blackout curtain

We sit down too discuss our top 10 Christmas Movies. Along the way we discover if Die Hard is actually a Christmas Movie, whether Andy can go a full podcast without mentioning Spice World: The Movie and how much Stephen likes the dark side of Christmas.

Well we finally broke the mould and found two movies that we are not entirely fond of. Yes, We went hard into both Birdemic and The Room but we did try hard to dig deep and find a hidden sense of appreciation for the effort. Yes. effort. Whether technically proficient or not, No matter how clumsby the dialogue is or how aweful the FX are, they are watchable but only in the case of "three's a crowd." - warning, do not watch these kind of films on your own. It can damage your essence and put a boot to the balls of your respect for life. "I put Andy through his paces with these two" Stephen says, "But I think it will make him stronger. Enough to one day handle the likes of Spiceworld, should we ever get him restrained and locked in a room long enough to get through it."

David Lynch was never going to be too far away from our reviewing minds. He is the painter of the film industry and is not afraid to stick to a vision without sacrifice. There are no product placements, and you cannot watch it on a phone. It's Twin Peaks but darker, and doesn't shy away. It is FIRE WALK WITH ME

It's on blue tooth I mean blu-ray. Naturally everybody should go buy Guardians of the Galaxy (but leave the raccoons in the wild. they do not make good pets) - so our review of GotG came about as a surprise. We were all pumped up ready to review two really bad films, but two bad films do make a good one. This was a surprise of a film and finally, we have something in the cinema that is action packed that we do not question. It's allowed to be what it is and that is a very cool thing to be. For a movie anyway. Join Andy Lewin and myself for another episode of Frame By Frame.

Once again we delve into the beautiful yet fractured world of the Alien franchise, charting through the uneasiness of Alien Resurrection only to find ourselves in crossover territory with Alien Versus Predator. Then we rush past Alien Versus Predator 2: requiem (simply because we couldn't even SEE anything happening in it) to find solace in the Ridley Scott adventure, Prometheus. We then go full circle with the amazing Alien Isolation game that takes you back to the original.

Part 1 of two episode breakdown of the Alien Franchise, stopping short of everything except the novels. We go full circle beginning with Ridley Scott's landmark movie, taking us to war with James Cameron's vision of superior firepower. We then hit a visually impressive yet horribly depressing Alien3 which was still a remarkable debut for director David Fincher.

Andy Lewin and Stephen Radford talk about the Australian made psychological / chiller "Babadook" - we go on a rampage through trailer to feature comparisons first, successfully with babadook, and then we move to those where the trailer held out more promise than the movie could ever deliver: here we talk, Godzilla (1998) Prometheus, Superman Returns. After that we go on a spin on the whole superhero genre. Will Stephen ever get into the Marvel universe? Will Andy get his wish and finally get to review Guardians of the Galaxy?